48 
at first, but on the first sign of a snail or beetle, 
discard it for your fingers, and work slowly or 
you will overlook your game. 
_— Cychrus lecontet and C. stenostomus have a way 
of standing upright on the very tips of their tarsi 
and remaining perfectly still in this position for 
several minutes after they are disturbed. Many 
escape capture by this artful manceuvre, being 
readily taken for anything but beetles. 
Experience has taught me not to be discouraged 
if at first my search proved fruitless. To be suc- 
cessful, a good locality must be found, and this 
may be a difficult thing to do. Cychrus seem to 
have some eccentric ideas regarding their habitat. 
In Pennsylvania I found them on the woody 
banks of rivers; in Connecticut on the south side 
of thinly wooded hills; but like many other in- 
sects they prefer the border to the interior of the 
forests. 
A few days at this season of the year could well 
be devoted to collecting under stones and leaves, 
and it would pay well even if the species of 
Cychrus were poorly represented in your total, 
for many other rare Carabide can be found now 
that are unobtainable later on, and it will be 
policy to keep all you find, for most of them can 
be readily exchanged for other species. 

CORBRESPON DENGE. 
The Medium of ‘‘ Bird Protection.’’ 
Editor of ORNITHOLOGIST AND OO6LOGIsT—Sir: Surely 
the protection of our birds is an important work for orni- 
thologists to devote their labors to, and anticipating some- 
what (from the circular of the A. O. U. committee) the 
methods to be adopted, I would suggest that it would be un- 
wise to rigidly exclude all amateur students in ornithology 
from collecting specimens, even if they are not conducting 
their work according to the plans adopted by the “scientific 
association collector.” It is rather harrowing to the “hu- 
man nature” of the amateur who devotes only a portion of 
his leisure time to his favorite science, to be debarred from 
further investigations through the influence of men, who in 
their association “organ” relate the comparison of speci- 
mens from their collection, with a cabinet number of over 
ten thousand, with specimens from some equally over- 
stockéd cabinet of another ‘‘scientist.” No. Such laws 
will not work, our Republic affords equal liberties to every 
one, provided the principles and intentions are alike, regard- 
less of associations or pecuniary worth. 
3ut the evils of collecting birds for millinery purposes, 
the committee of the A. O. U. will do well to check, and 
moreover I think the persons engaged in such nefarious 
traftic show a lamentable short-sightedness in business prin- 
ciples, for such havoe as they perpetrate will tell sadly on 
the deficiency side of bird life, and some morning they will 
wake up and, like Othello, find their ‘occupation gone.” 
That such persons will feel loth to forsake a business by 
which they ‘make money” I am aware, and would give 
them a hint. A taxidermist friend of mine has made a 
snug sum this past season by making hat ornaments— 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 3 
which by the way require neither conformity of shape or 
durability—from the dyed feathers of the common fow), 
purchased cheaply from poultry dealers, and mounted on 
“forms,” and he asserts that he realized a larger profit than 
when dealing in birds. 
I think that the dealers (in stuffed birds, skins and eggs) 
who carefully conduct their business, should not be too se- 
verely criticised, for by them an opportunity is afforded for 
disposing of duplicates for desiderata from distant localities. 
Perhaps the ‘‘ubiquitious small boy” who cannot appre- 
ciate or care for the fragile beauties, should be kept from 
collecting eggs, and in this case, a word from interested pa- 
rents would prove more successful than legislative enact- 
ment; but when in mature years our young men (or ladies) 
desire tolearn more of ornithology and possess a collection 
illustrative of their exploits, is it not better to encourage 
and advise them as to the proper methods, rather than to 
take the privilege away ; and I would add that it would be 
better for the morals of our youth to pursue some such rec- 
reation during their leisure hours than to frequent some 
places—whicbh I will not mention—during such times. 
In view of present facts, 1 would advocate that if permits 
to collect birds are to be granted to any then all be accorded 
the same privilege: each one giving some proof of their in- 
dividual interest in the science, such as specimens of their 
work (of preservation of objects), and witnesses as to the 
veracity and extent of their collection, added to this a 
promise not to deal in ‘“‘millinery specimens,” and with a 
limit set as to the number of specimens of each species, I 
am of the opinion that every sincere student of ornithology 
and odlogy can proceed with his work without extermina- 
ting our birds.—C. H. Freeman. 

The Camera as a ‘“‘Field Necessity.’’ 
EDITOR OF ORNITHOLOGIST AND OdLoGIsT—Sir: In the 
last issue of the O. and O., T noticed your remarks, briefly 
setting forth the value of the camera to the ornithologist, 
and recommending it as a “valuable field adjunct.” 
After seven years’ experience with the art as applicable 
to field, I can speak in stronger terms, and call it a “field 
necessity”; a few contrivances of my own invention, al- 
lowing me to focus a nest, even though it be in a tall tree, 
which, if it will admit of being ascended, the camera can 
be easily brought up, and dispensing with the ‘‘tripod,” it 
can be operated with success. 
A small size, 4x5, will be found the most handy in a day’s 
tramp, and photographs of good quality may be secured 
with an instrument of low price, if of that size. A few dry 
plates can be carried in a light, tight box, in the coat 
pocket, or better still in the plate-holders, and nothing is 
required after the exposure, save to preserve from contact 
with light, until some leisure day, when in the bringing out 
of the latent image and printing the photos, one can again 
live over his pleasant trips a-field.—D. H. French. 
aa eS hates 
W.T.M.: The Pileated Woodpecker (Hylotomus pilea- 
tus), is aresident in only the heavily wooded and moun- 
tainous parts of New England; and we think your inform- 
ant must have been mistaken when he alleged to having 
shot one in Connecticut. 
R. C. RicumMonD, Portland, Me: In our own experience 
of preserving skins we have never found a substitute for 
arsenic, or some compound into which it enters largely as 
an ingredient. 
pee Sos SCPE 
REcEIVED: F. W. Andros, A. H. Lockett, A. L. Browne, 
Walter Howie, C. S. Brimley, F. H. Jackson, J. C. Cahoon. 
