144 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-:No. 9 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST^'OOLOGIST 



A Monthly Magazine of 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STIDY OF 



THEIR NESTS AND E(4GS, 



and to the 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 



FRANK R. WEBSTER, 

 J. PARKER NORRIS, 

 FRANK A. BATES, 



Boston, Mass. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Boston, Mass. 



PUBLISHED AT 



FRANK B. WEBSTER'S 



NATURALIST S' SUPPLY D E P O T, 



Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid snb- 

 scriber. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



Brief Notes. 



otto GruiKluiann, a native of Meissen, Sax- 

 ony, for a number of years connected wirli the 

 Art Museum, Boston, as a director and in- 

 structor, died early in September wliile on a 

 visit to his native city. Mr. Grundmann was 

 a true U)ver of nature, seeing beauty in all its 

 branches. During the i>ast five years he has 

 been a constant caller at our office. The finest 

 specimens of inounted birds that we could 

 obtain were always put aside for his inspection. 

 It was his intention to present to the High 

 School of Meissen a complete collection of 

 birds of North America, and many a fine lot 

 has been sent. His untimely death will be a 

 great loss to those whom he intended to benefit. 



Several sets of eggs of the Florida Burrow- 

 ing Owl have found their way into the market. 

 It looks as if some one had struck a colony. 

 They are rare just the same. 



Those of our readers who have stuffed heads 

 in their collections should look to them at tlli.^ 

 season. No matter how well they may be 

 cured or poisoned. If there is any appearance 

 of insect pest, lose no time in applying a bath 

 of naptha over the surface with a cloth or 

 sponge. It will arrest their depredations. 

 C^are must be taken to have no light or lire 

 near as naptha is highly inflammable. 



One of our correspondents asks "Wliat are 

 considered the rules of exchange?" 



Dealers, we think, uniformly allow one half 

 rates on eggs and skins, re<piiiing them to be 

 sent subject to api)r<)val. 'I'hat is, for every 

 ten dollars' worth sent, if found to be as rep- 

 resented five dollars' worth will be sent in 



return. Those who are not dealers exchange 

 at even rates. In making exchanges it is well 

 to be sure that you are trading with respon- 

 sible parties. There are two reasons why in 

 trading a favor is made to a dealer. First, a 

 dealer will make a larger exchange, taking 

 with rare eggs many of the common ones that 

 could not otherwise be disposed of, and will 

 offer a better assortment in return. Second, 

 a dealer must live by the exchange, while 

 other parties indulge in it as pastime. There 

 shouhl be no friction in the matter. The 

 dealer and the collector are mutually depend- 

 ent upon each other. 



Some of those little artificial birds that just 

 now crowd the millinery stores are not all as 

 innocent as they appear. Some that we exam- 

 ined a few days since had the entire wings and 

 tail of European Skylark wired out the body, 

 others had feathers from songsters that we 

 did not recognize. 



A flock of Passenger Pigeons that lately ar- 

 rived at our i)lace are quite wild. The males 

 indulge in a peculiar noise, an inexpressible 

 squawk with a broken back. We hoi>e to be 

 successful in keeping them. 



A change in the law in this state no longer 

 donates one half of the fines imposed to the 

 lean purses of the " efficient V " game warden, 

 and now these poor fellows have reduced their 

 energy to meet the emergency. 



One of the best jokes of this permit business 

 was a case last year where a holder of a per- 

 mit got fined. He was arrested for shooting 

 and did not happen to have his permit witii 

 him. He was squeezed just enough to diaw 

 blood. It would have been a case that the 

 Massachusetts League of Ornithologists would 

 have had fun with if they had been inclined to 

 pick it up. 



It is just a trifle ludicrous the value some of 

 our exchanges jilace upon their publications. 

 It looks in some cases as if they had hard 

 work to give them away. 



We surmise that Walter E. Bryant is the 

 advertising manager of Zoe. The August 

 number announces that he stai-ti-d south and, 

 as all the advertisements dropped f)ut, he must 

 have taken them with them. 



Publishers will take notice that, as a ruif, 

 we do not intciul to review works not having 

 a direct bearing on Natural History. 



The Naturalist will hereafter be published 

 by the Kansas City Academy of Science, wliich 

 will have a large exhibit at the Interstate fair, 

 Sept. 22d, when some 10,000 copies of this 

 pai)er will be distributed gratis. A Mr. Scar- 

 rett will donate (pajters tt) be drawn soon) a 

 large lot in the picturesque neighborhood of 

 Twenty-six and McGee streets, tor the use of 

 the Academy, and they are now making dili- 

 gent efforts to secure a sufficient sum to erect 

 a suitable building to cover their collections 

 and growing library. The outlook in this 

 respect is very bright. 



