231 



THE OOLOGIST 



lie would appear dripping wet from 

 a bath in the river some distance 

 away. But he never left the garden 

 for long, for whenever I went to call 

 him alnost immediately I would see 

 him flying towards me eager to a- 

 light on my shoulder. Then the 

 difficulty was to get rid of him. For 

 if I tossed him off .he would at 

 once return, often half a dozen 

 times in succession. It was this per- 

 tinacity that gave him his name 

 Boomerang. 



His baby plumage soon gave place 

 to the glossy black head, like silk 

 velvet, and the irridescent green 

 and purple tints of the adult starl- 

 ing. A strong, vivid, handsome 

 creature he was, absolutely fearless 

 and friendly, a constant pleasure to 

 us all 



And so the summer passed and 

 with October came the time for my 

 return to America. "Will you not 

 take Boomerang with you?" my 

 friends asked me. But never could 

 I have consented to condemn that 

 bold bright spirit to a life of captiv- 

 ity, however gilded might be the 

 bars of his prison. So I left him — 

 and who knows but that when I re- 

 turn to my English home I may be 

 greeted by the clear, loud whistle, 

 followed by the familiar flight to my 

 shoulder, and thus meet my starling 

 again. 



Christine S. Norris. 

 New York, N. Y. 



PERSONAL. 

 New Editors. 



Whitmer Stone of the Academy of 

 Natural Science, Philadelphia, one or 

 the best known naturalists in America, 

 has recently been elected Editor of 

 The Auk. A better selection would be 

 hard to And, and we have no doubt 

 The Auk will maintain its present 

 rank as an ornithological publication 

 under his administration. 



Robert T. Moore of Haddenfield, 

 New Jersey, has been selected as Edi- 

 tor of The Cassinia, published by the 

 Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, 

 and we extend to him the hand of fel- 

 lowship as he enters the field of jour- 

 nalism. 



To South America. 



The well known naturalists, Paul G. 

 Howes of Stamford, Connecticut, and 

 Prank M. Chapman of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, are ar- 

 ranging a three months ornithological 

 trip into the wilds of Equador for the 

 purpose of gathering material for life 

 groups for the Museum. 

 Fire! 



It is with sorrow that we are com- 

 pelled to chronicle the fact that the 

 home of our old friend, C. L. Rawson, 

 (J. N. W.) at Putnam, Connecticut, 

 "The Quail Trap" has recently burned. 

 With it went complete files of The 

 Oologist, Auk, Nuttall Bulletin, Bird 

 Lore, O. & O., Western Ornithologist, 

 Hoosier Naturalist, Maine Ornitholo- 

 gist, and of most of the other amateur 

 ephermal bird publications; besides 

 his ornithological library of about two 

 thousand volumes, and a thousand 

 mounted birds; also what was probab- 

 ly the best collection of mounted ani- 

 mal skins in New England. 



What really hurt J. N. W. the worst 

 was the loss of eight hundred pages of 

 manuscript, for many years in prepara- 

 tion, for his intended work on "The 

 Birds of Connecticut," practically 

 ready for the printer. 



We extend our sympathy to our old 

 friend in his misfortune. This should 

 be a warning to all possessing really 

 valuable collections or libraries to 

 build therefor, a non-burnable build- 

 ing of some character. 



R'aptores of Central Alberta. 



Within the last five years I have ob- 

 served the following Hawks and owls 

 in central Alberta. , . 



