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Early Breeding of the Pine Siskin 



Small flocks of Pine Siskins have been 

 frequent visitors at my home for several 

 weeks. On April 14, 1900, I observed 

 them as before, and while enjoying their 

 presence I heard an unusual sound which 

 instantly reminded me of young birds. 

 I took my glass to find, if possible, the 

 cause of the outcry, when, only a few 

 feet from where I was standing, I saw 

 a parent Siskin feeding its young and 

 near by sat another waiting to be fed. 

 There may have been still more young 

 in the evergreen trees close, by but I 

 was only sure of two. They were quite 

 small and looked like little round balls 

 of feathers. 



On the morning of April 17 Mr. Hor- 

 ton observed them in the same location 

 while being fed by the parent bird. — 

 Mrs. Wm. C. Horton, President of 

 Brattleboro Bird Club, Brattleboro, 

 Verynont. 



An Oriole Tragedy 



Some time ago two boys brought a 

 nest to my office which they had found 

 in their wanderings afield. It was the 





^^^y 



AN ORIOLE TRAGEDY 



finely woven pendent of the Baltimore 

 Oriole, made entirely of twine, a mate- 

 rial which proved fatal to the little 

 architect, for there she was hanging pa- 

 thetically by the neck from the lintel 

 of her own doorway, her nestlings starved 

 within. As far as I know this accident 

 is unique in that it occurred after the 

 period of incubation. Let us hope that 

 the struggle was soon ended, that the 

 unfortunate mother was not long com- 

 pelled to listen in impotent distress to 

 the appealing cries of her starving young 

 until kind death at last brought relief, 

 — J. HoLBROOK Shaw, M.D., Plymouth, 

 Mass. 



The Newport Robin 



Many summer visitors to Newport, 

 Rhode Island, are acquainted with the 

 establishment of Mr. Charles E. Ash, of 

 No. 3 Market Square. Mr. Ash and 

 his son are devoted to pets. Mike, an 

 old Barbary Ape, was the recipient of 

 much attention from visitors, and doubt- 

 less promoted a better understanding of 

 human character among the thoughtful 

 ones. 13ut the monkeys, dogs, cats and 

 squirrels were not always the favorites. 

 A common Crow that said "papa" and 

 ''hello" was in high favor with the chil- 

 dren ; and a wonderful Robin that whis- 

 tled a march to the step of the police 

 squad marching to and from the neigh- 

 boring police station was certainly one 

 of the best known and most popular 

 individuals of the feathered tribe in 

 America. 



This Robin closed a long and happy 

 career before my arrival in Newport. 

 He lived on a busy thoroughfare, where 

 a tiny fountain played into a marble 

 trough in which horses slaked their thirst 

 in front of a police station and the 

 Robin's cage; but he never saw a grassy 

 lawn or a green tree, having been taken 

 from a nest built in a post on Bellevue 

 avenue when a very wee bird, by Mr. 

 Charles E. Ash, Jr., who told me that 

 the male parent of this Robin was the 

 finest singer of any he had ever heard. 



