The Audubon Note Book. 



26r 



although it seems to be tolerated, and indeed ren- 

 dered necessary by the ordinary course of education 

 in schools, it is, in reality, a scandalous blot on our 

 educational system. 



"The remedy is extremely simple. Introduce 

 among- the school books a short manual of natural 

 history, dealing rather with the interesting character- 

 istics of animals than with the science of their struc- 

 ture — just those things which interest youth without 

 producing a strain on the intellect — and the result 

 will be a far more widely spread knowledge of the 

 inhabitants of our fields, streams, and woods than 

 that which now prevails. Another result will be a 

 greater sympathy with the non-human portion of life, 

 and a diminution of that cruelty to animals which is 

 one of the very worst characteristics of our people, a 

 cruelty which is, sometimes at least, a result of some 

 infinitely absurd superstition, as in the case of the 

 treatment of young yellow-hammers in parts of Scot- 

 land. 



"Indeed, the omission of the teaching of natural 

 history (in an easy and interesting shape) in our 

 schools fits ill with the vast importance now attained 

 by biology, a science of immense possibilities, and 

 one which is 'advancing by leaps and bounds.' " 



WHAT THE KANSAS MAIL BROUGHT US. 



Beverly, Lincoln Co., Kan., Nov. g, 1887. 

 Audubon Society: 



Dear Sirs — As many are writing about their pets 

 I thought I would write about mine, too. 



I have a sparrow that I caught one evening after 

 school. 



I think a cat had caught him once, for one wing 

 was bruised and the skin was torn on his head, but 

 he is all right now. 



I put him in a cage with some canaries and he 

 began to eat as soon as he saw the canaries eating. 



He now hops about in the cage like the canaries, 

 but is still pretty wild. 



I also have a male brown thrush, over a year old. 



He does not sing much but is very amusing. 



If a stick or anything loose is left in his reach, he 

 will pull it into his cage if possible. 



We once had a crow blackbird and I think he was 

 the funniest pet we ever had. 



One day he got into a gallon can which had a little 

 green paint in the bottom and got nearly covered 

 with it. 



He would roost in some trees in front of the house 

 and in the morning he would come to the door for 

 his breakfast. 



One day he disappeared and I think a cat got him, 

 for he never came back. 



It was in the summer so he did not go south. 

 Ever your friend, Davis A. Bovles. 



A DISHUMANIZING AMUSEMENT. 



"Not once or twice only, at the sea-side, have I 

 come across a sad and disgraceful sight — a sight 

 which haunts me still — a number of harmless sea- 

 birds lying defaced and dead upon the sand, their 

 white plumage red with blood, as they had been 

 tossed there, dead or half-dead, their torture and 

 massacre having furnished a day's amusement to 

 heartless and senseless men. Amusement ! I say 

 execrable amusement ! All killing for mere killing 

 sake is execrable amusement. Can you imagine the 

 stupid callousness, the utter insensibility to mercy 

 and beauty, of the man who, seeing those bright, 

 beautiful creatures as their white, immaculate wings- 

 flash in the sunshine over the blue waves, can go out 

 in a boat with his boys to teach them to become 

 brutes in character by finding amusement — I say 

 again dishumanizing amusement — by wantonly mur- 

 dering these fair birds of God, or cruelly wounding- 

 them, and letting them fly away to wait and die in 

 lonely places?" — Archdeacon Farrar, in a sermon 

 preached at Westminster Abbey. 



At the Boston meeting of the American Ornitho- 

 logists' Union, recently, a letter was read from Mr. 

 William Lloyd, of Texas, telling of his observations 

 in the arid region of western Texas to determine 

 what birds indicate proximity to "water and at what 

 distance. The observations extend over four years 

 and Mr. Lloyd gives the following list "as certain- 

 ties," with the greatest distance at which each occurs 

 from water: "Cardinal, one mile; warblers (includ- 

 ing chat), one mile; vireos, two miles; mockingbirds, 

 two and one-half to three and one-half miles; blue 

 grosbeak, the same; orchard oriole, Bullock's oriole, 

 and nonpareil, each three miles; Carolina dove, three 

 to five miles; black-capped titmouse, four miles; 

 Texas cardinal, six miles. This only applies to sum- 

 mer, and will not hold in winter or during migra- 

 tions." The letter further states that Mr. Lloyd has 

 put the result of his observations to practical use. 



TYi^Y. Journal of Geneva, a Swiss newspaper, con- 

 tained, during a severe "cold snap" last spring, the 

 following advertisement: "Notice to the Chari- 

 table. — On account of the heavy snow-fall and the 

 extreme cold, the resident birds, and birds of passage, 

 in-Geneva, make this pressing appeal to a generous 

 public. They earnestly request that the reader will 

 place, in some place not likely to be covered with 

 snow, a plate containing seeds, or a modest provision 

 of bread crumbs. In return for this favor, they here- 

 by engage, as soon as the warm weather returns, to 

 wage unrelenting war against destructive insects of 

 every variety." This pathetic advertisement was 

 very generally "answered," and the birds of Geneva 

 fared very well as long as the snow lasted. 



