148 Correspondence.


that the black tanager has a carved beak, whilst my birds’ beaks are quite

straight. WM. SHORE BAILY.


SIR, - I do not know if the following proposal will find favour in the eyes

of the Editor and of the members of the Avicultural Society, but as an amateur

keeper of a small quantity of birds, principally ornamental waterfowl, I write

to ask if it would be possible to have advice given in the magazine on the doc¬

toring of birds, and in the form of a letter on the subject each month. The

management of birds during their moult would be a great assistance to the

amateur. What to give when a bird has a cold. What to do when they are

egg-bound, etc., etc. ; also on the proportions of medicines for different sized

birds. My one and only panacea for all ills is a dose of castor oil, which I am

sure would horrify those of our members who are up to date in bird management.


I make the proposal in all diffidence, but should be delighted if it is

thought possible to do anything in this direction. HELEN ATHERLEY.


^


As will be seen by Mr. Galloway’s kind promise in his invaluable article

on feeding insectivorous birds, our members will be assisted later on by his

experience in doctoring and nursing. EDITOR.


Our thanks are due to Bird-Lore ” for the three following extracts.

THAT MOCKINGBIRD.


By JOHN V. FREDERICK, Los Angeles, Calif.


During the last nesting season a mockingbird spent most of his time on a

certain chimney. Many times a day he came to the rail of our sleeping-porch to

eat suet, along with other mockingbirds and two Audubon warblers.


He often jumped up in the air while singing, only to alight again without

ever stopping his song. There came a time when for nearly a week he hardly

left the chimney from daylight until dark. His trips to the suet were straight

and swift, with no stops along the way. His song was just as continuous as his

presence on the chimney, and his vertical flights into the air became more

frequent. He would spring up from two to eight feet, drop again, .alighting in

the middle of one edge of the chimney and run to the north corner, facing the

north until the next flight, when he would alight in the middle again, but run

to the south corner and face the south.


After a couple of days of this unusual activity, we timed his flights and

found that he jumped twenty times in four minutes, or an average of once every

twelve seconds, and this would be about the average for the whole day. In a

few days, however, this all changed ; for he was very busy catching bugs

and worms for a new family, and he stopped coming for suet.


Two years ago two mockingbirds would occasionally come around. Last

year two pairs spent most of their time around here, and came for suet many

times a day. This summer these two pairs raised their families, and a few

weeks ago there were eight in our yard at one time.



