THE OOLOGIST. 



tiful colors and delicate tints and often 

 magnificent contrasts, and, as to their 

 songs, in them many have great varia- 

 tion, some of them are exquisite and 

 others harsh, while many have a touch- 

 ing pathos. 



Audubon writes that at the sound of 

 the Wood Thrush's melodies, he has fal- 

 len on his knees and prayed, then and 

 there, and adds that "This never failed 

 to bring me the most valuable of 

 thoughts, and always comfort, and 

 strange as it may seem to you, it was 

 often necessary for me to exert my will 

 and compel myself to return to my fel- 

 low-beings." But then, the surround- 

 ings have a great deal to do with the 

 impression of a bird's song, the fresh 

 air, green herbage and clear sky, all 

 bring the mind to that state in which it 

 is the most prepared to receive the 

 song. Sometimes when walking 

 through some silent wood, or resting on 

 a mossy couch, you often expect to hear 

 a song or bird note of some kind, and if 

 you do not, you are wondering at it, for 

 the songs of birds are associated with 

 such a place. This fact was observed 

 by Emerson, when he wrote: 

 "I thought the sparrow's note from 



heaven, > 

 Singing at dawn on the alder bough; 

 I brought him home in his nest at even; 

 He sings the song, but it pleases not 



now, 

 For I did not bring home the river and 



sky;— 

 He sang to my ear— they sang to my 

 eye." 



Few sciences are so little known to 

 the general public, as ornithology, and 

 the average person would laugh at a 

 man like Audubon and call him a 

 "crank," but if one gets actually inter- 

 ested in the study, you will find that it 

 is uplifting, enobleing, and a lasting 

 benefit. Then it is a recreation and 

 pastime, it sharpens th« senses, trains 

 the eye, makes the ear acute and brings 

 back the exhilaration of youth. 



But it requires something besides 

 reading to become acquainted with our 

 feathered friends, it requires actual ex- 

 perience, and, as it is impossible to re- 

 member all that happens, it is of the 

 greatest importance to take notes, when- 

 ever it is possible to do so, and to com- 

 pare them with others of your own, or 

 with those of other ornithologists, for 

 by this means many valuable facts may 

 be obtained. 



Do not collect eggs or skins unless 

 you intend to really make a specialty of 

 it. for if you only intend to amuse your- 

 self by collecting, don't do so, as enough 

 can be learned from books, written by 

 men who have spent their lives in the 

 study of birds, their nests and eggs. 



In all things keep your ears and eyes 

 alert, exercise your faculty of observa- 

 tion, and whether an ornithologist or 

 not, do all in yovir power to save the 

 birds, and try to induce others to fol- 

 low your example. Don't be afraid of 

 being laughed at because your are not 

 cruej, and above all never take an egg 

 or skin unless you think that you will 

 learn something by it, or that science 

 will be benefited. 



To the student of birds, their nests 

 and eggs are very interesting, as is 

 proved by the great number of large 

 collections in existence, for from the 

 time when Sir Thomas Browne, of Nor- 

 wich, about 1681, began to collect eggs 

 for study, the mania has spread all over 

 the civilized world. I say mania be- 

 cause with comparatively few it is a 

 study, although a branch of Ornitholo- 

 gy. Investigations have shown the fact 

 that under the microscope, the eggs of 

 certain families of birds have their own 

 peculiar grain and structure. Many of 

 us have noticed the fact that while the 

 surface of some eggs are smooth and 

 often glossy the surface of others will 

 be quite rough and chalky; the fact is 

 well known but the reason is yet to be 

 discovered. In a large series or collec- 

 tion of eggs, there is exhibited almost 



