ing Italians. It is well to encourage the interest in the habits 

 of birds, their home building and nesting, their long migra- 

 tions, especially those birds which stay with us throughout 

 the year. How we should miss them all, if by reason of lack 

 of protection or lack of public sentiment favoring such pro- 

 tection any should be exterminated. What could be more 

 companionable to a lonely woman in a lonely farmhouse than 

 a phoebe building its nest on a convenient shelf not eight feet 

 from the kitchen window ? From the arrival of the first par- 

 ticle of mud to the time when the fledglings were crowding 

 each other from the nest for their first flight, my daughter 

 watched a pair in their home-making last spring, while busy 

 about her own household work. What a pity it would have 

 been to have disturbed them in their building or to have al- 

 lowed anyone to do so. And what an opportunity to watch 

 their habits ! 



An old blue heron took up his abode last summer on a 

 small brook running past my sugarhouse. He came there 

 almost every day and spent his time fishing or catching tad- 

 poles. If disturbed he would flap heavily away only to return 

 on the morrow. The boys made several attempts to shoot 

 him until I vetoed it. I became so attached to the lonely crea- 

 ture that I would as soon have thought of having a calf or 

 sheep shot for the fun of it. 



One of my boys caught two gray squirrels in the cornfield 

 in the fall. After keeping them as pets a short time we let 

 them go, but instead of being shy, they came back to the 

 cornbarn for an ear of corn every day or two in the early 

 winter. I had not the heart to have them shot for their petty 

 thieving, which really amounted to but little, and nuts were 

 scarce. 



In all our laws for game protection I think we should mix 

 a little touch of humanity ; a good deal more live and let live 

 in our treatment. 



The annual summer meeting of the Bird Club was held at 

 Brandon, July 6 and 7. The attendance was diminished some- 

 what on account of the intense heat of the first day. However, 

 several people climbed Mt. Horrid. On the second day a larger 

 number visited Crystal Lake and vicinity. Eight new members 

 were added to the club. 



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