180 



OKOTTHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 12-:N'o. 11 



up a plaintive clucking note. The eggs, two or 

 three in number, are placed on the bare rock, 

 or occasionally hollowed out in the dirt and 

 lined with chips of shale. The boulders and 

 rocks which lay in every sort of inexplicable 

 positions and postures, as if an earthquake had 

 shaken them from their original foundation, 

 offered excellent nooks and corners for the 

 shelter of the nests of C. grylle. The eggs are 

 sometimes inadvertantlj'^ laid too near the 

 water's edge and washed away by the incoming 

 tide. A small subterranean (;ave which we reach- 

 ed after a tedious crawling over the sharp rocks 

 on hands and knees, contained several nests 

 which we found by candle light. They are ex- 

 ceedingly skillful in hiding away their nests, 

 and one may poke about the clitts for some 

 time ere he gets the "■hang"' of finding their 

 eggs. As it was, 1 failed to acquire this art, 

 and came away with little to show for the 

 trouble. 



Birds and their Relation to Agricul- 

 ture. 



BY THEO. G. LEMMON, WESTPORT, MO. 



About the time the O. and O. published my 

 first query, I met Hon. J. C. Evans, President 

 Missouri Valley Horticultural Societj'-, and with 

 him discussed some of the pet theories of or- 

 nithologists and horticulturists on the pro- 

 tection of birds. 



His remarks led to a course of studj- during 

 the next season, which, with compiled facts, 

 was at the request of the Secretary of the State 

 Horticultural Society, Mr. L. A. Goodman, fur- 

 nished by me in a paper entitled "A Plea for 

 Our Birds," published in full in the Kansas 

 City Livp. Stock Becord and Farmer of December 

 16, 1886 and in Colmari's Bural World of about 

 the same date. 



Yesterday, on the invitation of Mr. Good- 

 man, I attended a picnic and meeting of the 

 Missouri Valley Society. 



In a conversation with the president, I re- 

 lated the difficulties in the way of the ornitho- 

 logist rendering valuable aid to the horticultu- 

 rist because of the ignorance of what the hor- 

 ticulturist wanted, in the first place, and because 

 the ornithological student was a denizon of the 

 town or city and largelj' debarred from study 

 in the vineyard and orchard, or the small fruit 

 plant of the horticulturist at the time such 

 study could best be carried on. Debarred bj^ 

 the horticulturist himself upon grounds of 



economy — grounds which the jovial president 

 soon forced me to admit were well taken. 



Classing me as a scientist, he assured me 

 that when we scientists talked we invariably 

 overshot — a result attained, I presume, by aim- 

 ing high — I, of course, felt sure of his mistake 

 except in occasional cases. 



A few moments later I was convinced he was 

 right and I was wrong. The session was 

 called and reports of committees called for. I 

 was soon convinced that if I had overshot at 

 my birds they were overshooting with fruits 

 and vegetables, not a single apple, peach, po- 

 tato, grape, plum, cherry or berry passed near 

 enough to me for me to fix the flavor or even 

 detect the aroina — if it had any. 



When I left, though I was all in doubt about 

 whether the paw-paw and the smock should be 

 trellised or trained along the ground ; whether 

 the yellow Nousemond would mature earlier if 

 engrafted upon a Captain Jack stock; whether 

 the largest yield of black caps came from 

 planting small seed whole or single eyes; 

 whether the bunches of Heath clings or Early 

 Ohios were most suitable for jellies or jams — 

 but with not the least doubt but that I had 

 spent an afternoon with a body of educated, 

 well-posted, intelligent ladies and gentlemen, 

 who niake it a part of their life work to be 

 well read in current literature as well as devote 

 time and energy to keeping posted in their 

 special work. 



After adjournment, a member of the stand- 

 ing committee on ornithology told me he knew 

 almost none of our birds, and was unable to 

 get hold of descriptions that would enable him 

 to recognize them. Brother ornithologists are 

 you surprised that this man, though an intelli- 

 gent observer, should find himself in this pre- 

 dicament? Have you ever had to change the 

 specific name on one of your labels? Can you 

 label the birds of your State without the opera 

 glass or the shot gun? 



Now I think every ornithologist will agree 

 that I am doing the pi'oper thing in accepting 

 an invitation to go before this Society by the 

 third Saturday in October and taking from my 

 collection of skins, Cuculidcti^ Icteridce, BicidcB, 

 Vireonidce, Certhiadce, etc., and making these 

 known with such of their habits and proclivities 

 as I can, and asking contributions of knowl- 

 edge from these observers at future meetings. 

 I know the punctillious ornithologist — the 

 Grand Mogul who knows he has 60 per cent, of 

 the vowels in his title and thinks he has 100 

 per cent, of sclentifiic knowledge on the sub- 

 ject — will object that the observations of the 



