THE OOLOGIST 



89 



The Hawks and Owls are disappear- 

 ing fast, as ever fellow that can carry 

 a gun are out after them. The hunt- 

 ers say, "There goes that Hawk or 

 Owl that is stealing chickens every 

 night." Then bang goes their gun and 

 drop goes the bird and maybe the 

 Hawk or Owl has never seen a 

 chicken, let alone eat one. 



Next take our Turkey and Black 

 Vultures that never do any harm. 

 These said hunters will kill one to 

 see it fall and then say with pride, I 

 have helped my country by destroying 

 that disease spreading Buzzard. When 

 if this hunter would use a little sense, 

 he might know that a Vulture destroys 

 more disease than he spreads. 



Cedar Waxwings were observed ten 

 to fifteen at a time. Several years 

 ago one hundred would be a small 

 bunch. Cardinals are holding their 

 own, but a red spot makes a good tar- 

 get for children. Coots have nearly 

 disappeared from the lake and they 

 used to be plentiful. They have 

 another play ground but they are not 

 here in large numbers. 



Blue birds and Chickadees are about 

 the same. Wren are not as plentiful 

 as before. Cranes and Herons are on 

 the down hill go. Belted Kingfishers 

 are getting wise enough to tell when 

 they are shot at. Gold Finches were 

 observed this year. Juncos and Tow- 

 hees are still passing by and passing 

 away. 



We still have the birds and animals 

 but they can't last always so all get 

 together and don't kill any bird or ani- 

 mal without they are preserved or 

 put to some use. 



Ramon Graham, 

 Ft. Worth, Tex. 



out, many persons suppose that Wood- 

 peckers use their sharp-pointed 

 tongues as darts with which to trans- 

 fix their prey. It is true that the 

 woodpecker, like the hummingbird, 

 can dart out its tongue with extra- 

 ordinary rapidity and that its mouth 

 is furnished with an elaborate 

 mechanism for this purpose, yet in- 

 vestigation shows that the object of 

 their swift motion is only to catch the 

 prey, not to pierce it. For the purpose 

 of holding the captured victim the 

 woodpecker's tongue is furnished with 

 stick secretion. 



Inasmuch at it possesses the power 

 of imitating speech, it is not surpris- 

 ing to learn that the parrot's tongue 

 resembles that of a man more closely 

 than any bird's tongue does. It is not 

 because the parrot is more intelligent 

 than many other birds, but because 

 its tongue is better suited for articula- 

 tion than theirs, that it is able to 

 amuse us with its mimicry. 



In some respects the humming 

 birds tongue is the most remarkable 

 of all. It is double nearly from end to 

 end, so that the little creature is able 

 to grasp its insect prey very much as 

 if its mouth were furnished with a 

 pair of fingers. — The Classmate. — W. 

 A. Strong, San Jose, Cal. 



Birds' Tongues 

 A German naturalist has gathered 

 some curious data witli reference to 

 the tongues of birds. As he points 



Notes from Camp Graham 



Verlain Daniels found a Screech 

 Owl today, March 30th, 1919, setting 

 on four eggs. He took the bird from 

 the nest and to his surprise she was 

 sitting on four eggs and a large wasp. 

 Also collected a set of Red Tail 

 Hawks. 



Earl Moffat of Marshall found a 

 Kingfisher digging a hole in a bank 

 about two hundred feet from my 

 Camp. He also collected a set of 

 Crows. 



Jake Zeitlin collected on March 30 

 a set of Screech Owls, and a nice set 



