264 



Bird - Lore 



Chapman's 'Handbook of Birds/ Reed's 'Bird Guide,' and Miss Blan- 

 chan's two books, 'Bird Neighbors' and 'Birds that Hunt and are Hunted' 



were consulted, but used 

 merely as a corrective to 

 the study, since strict 

 care was taken not to 

 present any fact which 

 was not known to be true 

 through personal experi- 

 ence. The advice and help 

 of the professor of biology 

 was also frequently 

 sought as a further 

 measure to avoid error. 



The observations were 

 discontinued May 10, as 

 the thesis had to be 

 finished by the twentieth. 

 The material gathered on 

 each species was then 

 written up in an attrac- 

 tive style, avoiding a 

 merely dry presentation 

 of the notes and statis- 

 tics. As an example of 

 the method of presenta- 

 tion, a portion from the 

 write-up on the Starling 

 is here given: 



^',»- 



THE MEADOWS OF CEDAR CREEK 



"With the exception of the Crow, the Starling is the only black- 

 colored bird to be found on the campus during the winter. It is a little 

 smaller than the Robin, and under good light conditions its general black 

 appearance shows touches of burnished purple with tinges of brown. The 

 flight is graceful and frequently interspersed with smooth sailing, and 

 this feature helps to distinguish it from the more clumsy Purple Grackle. 

 Another characteristic is the short tail, which extends but an inch or so 

 beyond the tips of the wings when they are folded against the sides. 

 From the first week in February, when the study was begun, to the 

 end of March, a group of about twenty was generally to be found among 

 the trees near the orchard and farm. Only occasionally was it seen on the 

 northern and more exposed parts of the campus. This group broke up 

 during April, and the first week of May a pair was observed nesting in the 

 North Grove. To the novice, the Starling has a most bewildering series of 

 calls. There is a low single tone, clear whistle, as though a Quail started 

 to whistle 'bob-white' but stopped on the end of the first note, letting it 



