368 



General Notes. \_^m. 



not take kindly to my invitation, for he would give the open window a 

 wide berth. One of the junior professors, M. Stein, of your town, had 

 better success in this particular than I had. He happened along the 

 lower corridor, when he found the bird hammering away at the window, 

 lie watched a few moments and opened the window. Without further ado 

 the bird Hew through and lighted on the window stool ; and what is singu- 

 lar, the bird allowed M. Stein to approach and take him into his hand. 

 The bird was set at liberty soon after. The strange conduct of the bird 

 excited general comment in our end of the house, and as many as six or 

 eight professors watched his pranks at a time. It was quite a sight to 

 watch him, so intent he was in his work, and the feathers of his neck fairly 

 on end with the nervous tension. 



" The solution of the bird's strange conduct was found one morning 

 while we were at breakfast, when he was again laying one of his periodic 

 sieges to the windows. From the situation of the dining room in the 

 north wing of the building, the eye sweeps across the open court to the 

 west wing, the north windows of which were the point d' attraction for 

 the bird. It was then noticed that the light was reflected from the glass, 

 and objects out in the court were plainly mirrored in the panes and the 

 image of the Tanager was quite well defined. The mirror-like reflection 

 was particularly strong and sharp in those windows from which the storm 

 windows had not yet been removed and where the corridor received light 

 only from one side. Not long after the storm windows were removed, and 

 the windows were left open most of the time, when the bird disappeared, 

 having spent quite an amount of time, for about two weeks, in the manner 

 described above. As you are aware, there are eight maple trees standing 

 in the open court, three of them within twenty-five feet of the windows; 

 to these he would withdraw at intervals, to catch his second wind, as it 

 were, before returning to the charge. I tried to ascertain whether he had 

 a nest in the adjoining trees, but failed to discover one. It is likely though 

 that he is domiciled near by, and that his vicious attacks on his image in 

 the glass were meant for an imaginary foe, who might endanger his little 

 household." 



So far my correspondent. I might add that during my sojourn at the 

 college, a Summer Tanager was a constant visitor to the grove on the 

 College Campus, and nested there for a number of years 



Here is another little item in connection with bird lore that may be 

 of interest. On one of my visits to the college, three years ago, I was 

 informed that a certain bird had often been seen in the students' chapel. 

 As the chapel is skirted on two sides by trees, and the windows are usually 

 open during the summer, it is not a rare occurrence to find a stray bird 

 fluttering about on the inside. But here was said to be a case of a frequent 

 visitor to the sacred enclosure — a bird with a religious turn of mind, so 

 to speak. I examinied into the matter, and, sure enough, there was my 

 bird, a female Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzns americanus). She was 

 not flying about, but stood on the floor, on which she had laid an egg, and 

 to all appearances was standing guard over it. I secured the egg, which is 

 now preserved in the college museum. — Pirmine M. Koumly, Seneca, 

 Kansas, 



