72 The Oologisis' Record, September i, 1921. 



after he had taken it over, had a census taken of the number of 

 breeding birds. " The bird census, taken in the week of June 15th 

 to 2ist, showed that on the first acre, they had one pair of Flickers, 

 one pair of Bluebirds, one of Yellow Warblers, two of Orchard 

 Orioles, two of Catbirds, one of Song Sparrows, two of Chipping 

 Sparrows, one of Phoebes, 14 of House Wrens, seven of Robins, one 

 of Kingbirds and twenty-six of Purple Martins." There were 

 other acres for which a census was taken but no other came up to 

 this total of 59 pairs. 



" I attribute our success primarily," writes Mr. Grosvenor, " to 

 shooting the English Sparrows and driving cats away, to putting 

 up many boxes, keeping fresh water handy at all times, etc. We 

 do everything we can for the comfort of our birds. For instance, 

 we put on twigs little pieces of the oiled paper that our butter was 

 wrapped in, and we left mud in convenient places for the Martins. 

 The Catbirds used the oiled paper for their nests ; in fact, they used 

 all kinds of scraps. Imagine the delight of the family, when, on 

 examining one of the Catbirds' nests in the autumn, we found 

 one of the children's hair ribbons and also a piece of an old dress of 

 the baby." Mr. Grosvenor relates, how, on placing a stuffed owl 

 in the garden, all the small birds came to inspect it, how a pair of 

 Red-throated Hawks, which nested in the orchard, had to pay the 

 penalty for their misdeeds, how a pair of Phoebes had a nest on 

 the cornice of the piazza, up and down which children ran all day, 

 and much besides. 



A separate article by Dr. Henshaw on American Game Birds 

 will be read with great interest by British sportsmen, as the con- 

 ditions are so different from those that obtain in Great Britain. 

 He relates at length the alarming shrinkage in their feathered 

 game and the steps that are being taken to stem it. He does not 

 say so, but we would suppose that the creation of large landed 

 estates, a new and increasing feature in American rural life, will 

 perhaps tend to help matters if preservation is systematically 

 undertaken as it has been for centuries in England. Our large 

 landowners, though blamed for so much, can never be blamed for 

 not protecting our game birds. Even the cutting up of so many 

 large properties that has followed the War will not alter things much, 

 though one could wish that other species were protected as well as 



the. game birds. 



The Editor. 



Harrison & Sons, Ltd., Printers in Ordinary to His Majesty, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. 2, 



