64 



THE OOLOGIST. 



strongly attached to it. The puzzled 

 little Ruby-throat would sit upon it 

 often for an hour, and contemplate its 

 companion that mimicked it in every- 

 thing; and I think the mystery was 

 never solved, for the mirror never lost 

 its attraction. 



Strange to say we never gave it any 

 particular name; but without that 

 usual maker of familiarity, it was ever 

 adept in understanding our wishes, and 

 also in obeying them. 1 was told that, 

 when provoked, Hummingbirds often 

 fell into a great rage, and that if mine 

 should ever show traces of such, I was 

 to be very careful lest it dart at my 

 eyes. But with all the handlings, teach- 

 ings, caressings, and sometimes, I fear, 

 slight teasings which it received, its 

 gentle disposition was never moved to 

 anger. If a tinger were held up, it 

 would leave its perch, and alight upon 

 it. Often it chose the rim of a hat for 

 its place of alighting; and it was never 

 startled from its seat if the person 

 wearing the hat rose to walk. 



For its food we dissolved sugar in 

 water, and poured this into a small 

 number of bugles which were always 

 kept in a vase in its room. At times 

 small insects were given it. Lat- 

 er in the summer when the flowers 

 began to fall, and there were no more 

 bugles, we were forced to offer the 

 sweet solution to our little pet in a 

 spoon ; and it readily adopted this new 

 manner of taking its food. It was a 

 pretty sight to see it hovering over the 

 spoon, and sucking in the syrup with 

 its long bill. 



Many a pleasant hour did it beguile 

 away, and very pleasant are the mem- 

 ories of those hours. Late one after- 

 noon in the latter part of the summer 

 my Ruby-throat began to show signs of 

 uneasiness. It refused to sit upon its 

 perch and flew continually about the 

 room, and struck itself against the walls 

 and ceilings in a kind of dazed flutter. 

 I remembered the injunction with 



which I was allowed to keep it, and 

 taking it into my hand I carried it out 

 of doors, and placed it upon a tree. It 

 remained there a few moments and 

 then darted away. It had grown so 

 familiar with us that I hoped it would 

 return to us the next spring, but we 

 never saw it again. 



William Turk, 



Macon, Mo. 



Another Use for Toothpicks. 



Several friends have adopted the use 

 of wooden toothpicks to strengthen the 

 neck in making up fresh bird-skins; the 

 method being to wind a shred of cotton 

 upon the stick to the required length 

 and thickness — the balance of course 

 being broken off. 



This is pressed firmly into the neck— 

 the wingbones having first been tied to- 

 gether the proper distance from each 

 other. 



The advantages claimed are stronger 

 skins, standing rougher usage in the 

 mails, and that exchanges never have 

 occasion to find fault with broken 

 necks in your specimens. 



Horace G. Smith. 



Nesting- of the Canvas-back. 



The Canvas-back nests in suitable 

 places throughout North Dakota. I ex- 

 amined three nests the past season. 

 They were placed among rushes where 

 the water was from three inches to 

 three feet deep, and similar to Coot's 

 nest in construction with an additional 

 lining of down. Shooting a female 

 Canvas- back as she flies from a nest 

 does not prove the eggs it contains be- 

 long to her. Red-head and Ruddy 

 Ducks often deposit their eggs in it be- 

 fore she has the nest completed. The 

 eggs are seven to twelve in number of 

 large size and ashy-green in color. 

 Edwin S Bryant, 

 Davison, Mich. 



