192 
which I concluded that they must have formed a 
sumptuous feast for the mice that infested the 
place. 
This closed my Sphinx ligustri experiment. 
This moth is now found wild in Illinois, and is 
too common to breed, except for the purpose of 
noting its habits. 
The moth measures four and one-half inches in 
breadth of wing. The fore wings are reddish- 
gray, veined with black above. The hind mar- 
gin having a brown band upon it, extending to 
the outer third; upon the out edge of the wing 
are two white and a black line running two- 
thirds its width. The hind wings are rose-col- 
ored, with three black bands. The thorax is 
dark brown and the abdomen is ornamented with 
eight transverse bands, rose-color and black al- 
ternating. There is a brown stripe on the top of 
the abdomen, divided by a black line. It is 
known popularly as the privet hawk moth in 
England, and is very pretty. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Birds and Man. 
EDITOR ORNITHOLOGIST AND OdLoaiIstT. Dear Sir:—How 
many of our active ornithologists, while engaged in the de- 
lightful work of studying birds, consider that the birds too 
are busy—studying man? The swallows know the kindly and 
intelligent farmer who permits them to construct their 
homes unmolested in the eaves of his barn, and year after 
year they return to that secure retreat and raise their young 
in peace, amply repaying the farmer for his protection by 
the destruction of myriads of insects. 
Persecute the graceful birds andin a year or two they 
will cease to return to that spot to build. They have learned 
something of human nature and will henceforth avoid those 
who treat them with cruelty. So it is with all birds; man 
is their most terrible enemy, but how soon they learn to 
know those who are gentle and kind, doing them no eyil. 
Aside from the instinct which guides the birds to note the 
good and evil of mankind for the protection of their young, 
many evince a great curiosity to know something about 
that most curious animal—man, that is indeed interesting. 
In the woods I have found that often the best way to study 
birds was to rest quietly in some shady nook and wait for 
the birds to begin investigating me. There is quietness 
round about ; now a gentle rustle of fallen leaves, a crack 
of atwig show that feathered friends are approaching to 
satisfy their curiosity, and soon I will be as much an object 
of interest to them as the Chinese giant to the visitants of 
adime museum. However, I feel that I can endure such 
scrutiny, and return the compliment by taking notes of 
their appearance and actions. 
~ The sea-birds, also, are inquisitive. While sitting mus- 
ingly on a great rock by the sea at Monterey, lately, I found 
myself an object of singular interest to a pair of Loons, 
(Colymbus pacifieus.) At first they were quite far out from 
shore, but came nearer by successively diving until within 
gunshot. A suspicious movement on my part would cause 
them to withdraw, but several times they approached very 
near me, showing plainly by their actions a desire to make 
mIny acquaintance, provided I did them no harm. 
H. R. Tayror. 

_ORN ITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 12 
The AOU: and the Retatowta: 
EDITOR ORNITHOLOGIST AND >) Obzoorse Sir: : In the 
October issue a correspondent, Montague Chamberlain, 
very gentlemanly endeavors to force some of his state- 
ments on your readers as facts. He arraigns my statement 
that ‘‘there is a disposition of the members of the Union 
to ignore the privileges of the young students of ornitholo- 
gy” as false. I again reiterate the statement and fully be- 
lieve lam supportedin my views by many. As the laws 
are now worded, a person to gain a permit to collect, must 
give bonds, and I know that many who are entitled to a 
permit are debarred for that reason. What scientific body 
recommended such laws? Also, did not the A. O. U. desire 
a law by which all applications for a permit must be signed 
by some scientific gentlenan? Who are these scientific 
gentlemen? Why! members of A. O. U., and they would 
thus have the whole thing in their control—if they could. 
I also know of a member of A. O. U. who offered to pro- 
cure a permit for a taxidermist, but there wasa reason. He 
wanted to send the taxidermist on a collecting trip for his 
(the ‘ scientist’s”) collection, already overstocked. The 
taxidermist refused to collect for him in such quantities as 
he desired, and asked him to sign an application for his 
(the taxidermist’s) own collecting in a small way. He was 
refused. You can see the motive at once, and I am sick of 
such doings. I have no objection against the scientists 
collecting all they choose, but don’t like to see them pre- 
tend to do better than the amateur. 
Mr. Chamberlain an amateur! Very well, perhaps Mr. 
Chamberlain will define tne word “‘amateur.” We may be 
obliged to coin a new word for those who aspire to less 
pretensions than Mr. C. if he claims to be an amateur. 
W. DEForREsT NorTHRUP, M. D. 
Las Vegas, N. M., Oct. 30, 1886. 
The A. O. U. Meeting. 
The fourth annual meeting of the American Ornitholo- 
gists’ Union, was held at the National Museum, Washing- 
ton, D. C., beginning Noy. 16th. Among the gentlemen 
present were Mr. J. A. Allen, Mr. G. B. Sinnett, Mr. L. S. 
Foster and Mr. Wm. Dutcher, of New York; Prof. Baird, 
Mr. Ridgway, and Drs. Coues, Merriam, Fisher and Stejne- 
ger, of Washington; Mr. Wm. Brewster, of Cambridge ; 
Mr. J. H. Sage, of Portland, Conn., and Col. N.S. Goss, of 
Kansas. The officers elected for the ensuing year are as 
follows: President, Mr. J. A. Allen; Vice Presidents, Dr. E. 
Coues and Mr. R. Ridgway; Secretary, C. H. Merriam ; 
Treasurer, Mr. C. B. Corey ; additional members of council, 
Prof. 8. F. Baird, Mr. Geo. N. Lawrence, Mr. Wm. Brews- 
ter, Mr. M. ‘Chamberlain, Mr. H. W. Henshaw. 
The meeting ‘was not characterized by any important 
action looking to other than the development of the several 
branches of its work already begun.” 
The next annual meeting will be held in Boston, Oct. 
10, 1887. Wa Wee 



0 
The crusade against the hawk and owl scalp bounty is 
gaining strength daily. The border counties of Western 
Pennsylvania complain that the Ohio farmers gather the 
eggs of owls and hawks and raise whole broods of such 
birds for the Pennsylvania bounty trade. This will never 
do. The Legislature will either have to put a tariff on owls 
and hawks and protect Pennsylvania’s ow! and hawk-rais- 
ing industries against the pauper owl and hawk raisers of 
Ohio, or it will be forced to repeal the bounty law on scalps 
and compensate the farmers for each chicken stolen by 
these winged marauders. If the present bounty law is more 
absurd and liable to abuse than a law compensating farm- 
ers for lost chickens, what an absurd law it must be, to be 
sure.—Phila. Limes, Nov. 30. 
