ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



MKDAI. I'liKSKNIKl) l() DH. IIOKNADAV 



■(ImI ..nil.- N;iti.inMl A(<'lii 



In the Spring and Eall, thousands of birds 

 are killed by strikng the telei)hone wires. The 

 other day, I picked up four birds, a rail, two 

 olive-back thrushes and one white throated 

 sparrow — all within the space of twenty feet. 



Among those that I picked up at different 

 times under the telephone wires, I can recall 

 five or six ruffed grouse, four or five woodcock, 

 one blue] ay, one golden shafted woodpecker, 

 and five or six unidentified birds. These were 

 small birds which were beheaded by attempting 

 to fly through the network of the wires. There 

 were also several varieties of thrushes, various 

 kinds of sparrows or finches, a Wilson thrush. 

 all of which were accidental finds. 



The telephone wires being along the sides 

 of the road, when the birds strike them, they 

 fall into the weeds and underbrush where they 

 are concealed from view, but in front of my 

 own house, Mrs. Beard tells me that she can 

 often hear them strike the wires and sometimes 

 see them do it when she is sitting at the win 

 dow sewing. 



Reddvic,, Conn., October 1-i. VJU. 



OUR NATIVE HUMMINGBIRDS. 

 There are certain groups of native birds 

 which do not thrive in captivity and are 

 alwavs liberated when brought to the Park 

 by well-meaning friends. Among these are 

 kingfishers, nighthawks and whipjioorwilK 

 and until very recently the Rubythroated 

 Hummingbird was included in their num- 

 ber. On Mav 20, 191i!, an Italian laborer 

 appeared at the Park with a feathered mite. 



safely enclosed in a very dirty milk bottle. 

 On inverting the bottle, the little creature fell 

 out and proved to be a female Ruby-throat. 

 She was in very wretched condition and quite 

 exhausted from constant fluttering against the 

 bottle. Without the slightest hope of being 

 able to revive her, liquid food, which forms 

 the diet of the Sun-birds, was ])laced near and 

 the hummer's beak dipped in it. She sujjped 

 the sweet fluid eagerly and seemed much re- 

 freshed. Still stiff and numb, she was placed 

 on a shelf in the sun and about ten minutes 

 later was buzzing about the room. After some 

 difficulty the tiny bird was recaptured and 

 ])laced in a large cage covered with wire mos- 

 quito net. once utilized for hatching moths from 

 cocoons. This proved an ideal home for the 

 hummingbird, which at this time is in as per- 

 fect condition as if she were at full liberty. 



Hummingbirds have been taken to England 

 from South America on several occasions, but 

 have never survived longer than a few weeks. 

 The Ruby-throat is one of the smallest of the 

 hummingbirds and if it survives for a reason- 

 ably long jjeriod, a wonderful new field will 

 be opened to us, for tropical America abounds 

 with the most gorgeous species of humming- 

 birds, many of them much larger than our own 

 and therefore apt to be more long-lived in cap- 

 tivitv. " L. S. C. 



During the severe electric storm of the night 

 of June 25. a very fine female Grant zebra, 

 only two weeks in the Park from East Africa, 

 dashed in fright against her range fence and 

 broke her neck. 



