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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



nested under favorable conditions. He 

 also received in May, from Port Clyde, 

 Me., a female Parasitic Jaeger (Ster- 

 corarius Parasiticus), and a Sooty 

 Shearwater (Puffinus Strickland!) 

 wich was caught in a trawl, some six 

 miles below Seguin. The bird was un- 

 der water an indefinite time. A 

 friend of the Captain's saved it for 

 him. The Captain says: "You can im- 

 agine in what condition the bird was 

 in, after being in a trawl, under water, 

 all night, and being left in the sun, on 

 a lobster trap, all the next day." But 

 the Captain has learned to have a 

 great deal of patience and after much 

 difficulty has a nicely mounted speci- 

 men for his cabinet. 



Prom an interesting letter from Mr. 

 Jas. H. Hill of New London, Conn.: 

 A member of the "A. O. U. committee 



on Protection of N. A. Birds." also 

 member of the "Conn, special com. for 

 the Protection of the Gulls and 

 Terns," we quote the following: 

 "Conn, has followed in the steps of 

 Maine and passed the 'A. O. U.' non- 

 game protection law" in every respect. 

 The House Sparrow, Hawks (except 

 the Fish hawk). Great Horned Owl 

 and Crows, not protected. The milli- 

 nery interests tried to change the plu- 

 mage clause, but did not succeed." 

 We are glad to see our sister states 

 fall into line and do the right thing 

 for the protection of birds. Let the 

 good work go on. 



Chester Barlow, editor of "The Con- 

 dor," the official organ of the "Coop- 

 er Oi'nithological Club" of California, 

 writes that the Cooper Club boys did 

 all in their power to get the A. O. U. 

 bill passed. Their bill passed both 

 houses, but the Governor returned it 

 unsigned, without any explanation. 

 They will make another effort for its 



passage at the next session of the leg- 

 islature. We are sorry to see so en- 

 terprising a state as California with- 

 out this law. Sorry, too, that they 

 have such a narrow, pessimistic Gov- 

 ernor, in this respect, and wish the 

 "Cooper Club" the success they so 

 much deserve at their next trial. 



With an "eye out" for breeding 

 specimens of the Prairie Horned Lark, 

 I have watched for indications of 

 nesting, at Pishon's Ferry, as I have 

 passed the last year's breeding 

 grounds. (See Joui'nal, Vol. II, No. 

 4, P. 34) or (Auk. Vol. XVII, No. 4, 

 P. 387), with the following results: 



On April 23, I saw a pair nest-build- 

 ing in a. large field of stubble. The 

 peculiar, twittering, greasy song of 

 the male was the first to attract my 

 attention to the birds. Three weeks 

 later, (May 14) I located the male by 

 his uttering, frequently, his peculiarly 

 penetrating song. He was perched 

 upon a fence-post, near the supposed 

 nesting-place. The female flushed be- 

 fore I saw where she arose from. In 

 fact, she ran along the stubble some 

 distance from the nest, and pretended 

 to be feeding, as unconcerned as pos- 

 sible. I watched her some time, and 

 after joining the male, they circled 

 about over considerable territory, but 

 finally the male settled back on a rail 

 near by. The female circled about the 

 nest, dropped to the ground and fed 

 about the nest, leisurly and unconcern- 

 edly, but kept drawing nearer the 

 nest, moving in smaller circles, and 

 soon settled on to the nest. I flushed 

 her and she joined the male. Leaving 

 a fellow commercial man and Mr. 

 White (the owner of the fleld) by the 

 nest, I went and shot both birds. The 

 eggs, four in number, were typical 

 eggs of Proticola, and were about one- 



