316 



THE OOLOGIST 



of Kinchinjhow and winging their 

 way at an elevation of some 22,000 

 feet. 



Geese fly at immense elevation and 

 Condors soar higher than any of the 

 elevated Andes, some of which are 25,- 

 000 feet high, so it will be seen that, as 

 usual, newspaper ornithology is wrong 

 and misleading, as it generally is when 

 it treats about birds. 



Let us hear from others in regard 

 to the height reached by birds in 

 flight. As I have merely touched upon 

 the subject I may have something 

 more to say about the "problem" at an- 

 other time. 



Richard P. Miller. 

 Harrowgate, Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Egret. 



It is known to nearly all bird lovers 

 that one of the most beautiful of North 

 American birds, the American Egret, 

 is fast nearing the stage of complete 

 extinction. This solely because of the 

 barbaric custom of killing the bird 

 while it is nesting, leaving the nest 

 full of eggs or young to rot or starve; 

 that its beautiful plumes may be se- 

 cured for millinery purposes. 



We are sorry to note the fact that 

 we have observed more egrets worn 

 by women within the state of Illinois 

 this present year than ever at any 

 time before. It is a source of wonder 

 to us that women will be a party to 

 such atrocities as the starvation of a 

 nest full of little birds, that she may 

 have the temporary pleasure of be- 

 decking her head with the plumes of 

 the mother. 



Another thing that we have observ- 

 ed in this respect is that in the cities, 

 a very large proportion of these 

 plumes are paraded up and down the 

 streets by the scarlet women of the 

 street, at whose lack of natural in- 

 stincts of motherhood we are not so 



much surprised. But confessedly we 

 fail to understand what moves the 

 other and better class of ladies to fol- 

 low this fad of their fallen sisters. 



Thirty years ago thousands upon 

 thousands of egrets migrated up and 

 down the Illinois river and nested in 

 large colonies in suitable places along 

 the river. Today there is not one. The 

 last known nesting place of the Egret 

 in this part of the Illinois valley con- 

 taining five or six nests where former- 

 ly there were hundreds, was shot out 

 by plume hunters in 1907. 



We hope to see Illinois pass a law 

 making the wearing of an egret illegal, 

 and attach to it, sufficient penalties to 

 stop the abhorent practice. — Editor. 



The Cardinal at Harmarville, Pa. 



During the years in which I have 

 studied the birds in this locality, I 

 have always found the Cardinal at all 

 times of the year very plentiful. These 

 birds are really even more plentiful 

 during the winter months and I have 

 never failed to go out without seeing 

 at least fifteen of them. On the 10th 

 of last February (1912), it was very 

 cold, the temperature being below zero 

 all day, and yet I found the Cardinal 

 very much in evidence everywhere. 

 As far as I can see, they seem to have 

 no preference for any certain locality as 

 I have found them on the hills, in the 

 valley, fn the open and in the more 

 secluded places at the same time. 



They usually begin to nest about the 

 second week in April, the earliest data 

 that I have, being found April 16, 1910, 

 containing three eggs. But during 

 1911 they were very late in nesting, 

 for although I searched everywhere I 

 was unable to locate a nest containing 

 eggs until the 13th of May. This was 

 probably due to the late spring we 

 had that year; for this year they be- 

 gan at the usual time again. In se- 



