14 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



The NiDioLOGiST. 



AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



DHVOTEU TO THK STl'DY OK 



ORNITHOLOGY, 



With Special Reference to the 



N'miFiCAriON of North American IJirds. 



H. K. TAYLOR, Editor and Publisher. 



IsSimU AT Al.AMKDA, C.M.IKOKNIA. 



Subscription (in advance) ..... One IJoll:ir. 

 Single Copies, 15 Cents. 



NCW YORK OFFICE, ROSS TAYLOR, ISO FIFTH AVENUC. 

 FOREIGN AGENT, H.T. BOOTH, T8A UPCERNE ROAD. CHELSEA, LONDON 



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Entered at the Alameda Post-office as second class matter. 



The rather severe criticism by "William Henry" 

 in our August number has brougnt forth a letter to 

 the NiD. from "F. H. K." of the United States 

 National Museum, of which we publish a brief ex- 

 tract: 



William Henry works himself into a high state 

 of frenzy over the reported finding of an Owl's 

 nest in Illinois in a sj-acamore tree 150 feet from 

 the ground. He says: "Now let me say for all 

 collectors * * * tliat there is not a sycamore 

 tree in the State of Illinois 120 feet tall, and it is 

 sincerely doubted if there is any tree in the .State 

 (pin es perhaps excepted) which is 140 feet to top- 

 most branch." Now, as a matter of fact, William 

 Henry is about as far from the truth as that Owl's 

 nest was from the ground! 



If he will take the troulde to look in the "Pro- 

 ceeedings of the United States National Museum, 

 Vol. V, page 49, he will find an article by Mr. 

 Robert Ridgway on "The Native Trees of the 

 Lower W'abash and White River Valleys in Illinois 

 and Indiana," in which he enumerates the species 

 growing there, with tables of heights and sizes. 

 The tallest sycamore that he records (see page 56) 

 was 1 76 feet high; was 33 j, feet in diameter 3 feet 

 above the ground, and 68 feet from the ground to 

 the first branch. On page 74 Mr. Ridgway gives a 

 table relating to the sycamore. From this it ap- 

 pears that four trees measured by himself in (iil)- 

 son county, Indiana, were respectively 160, 160, 

 145 and 140 feet high. Five in Wabash county, 

 lUijiois, were 16S, 140, 129, 141 and 139 raspec- 

 tively. 



I cannot refrain, in closing, from (juoting Wil- 

 liam Henry's final sentence, for it so happily char- 

 acterises his own statements! ''\',\txy lionest oh- 

 seri'iiifr collector of experience \^ laughing and al- 

 ternately ])rotesting at sucii nonsense!" 



Rkv. p. li. P1';ah()I)V, in a communication cap- 

 tioned, "We Also 'Take ICxceptioiis'," which we 

 should have liked to publish entire, says: "Will 

 you permit one of your sub.scribers to voice the 

 undoubted sentiment of others, in entering a mild 

 protest to the flippant tone of the otherwise inter- 



esting article of ' Anser Californicus ' in your 

 August number? 



"In the feverish hurry and rush of our American 

 life, scant space and respite for rest and for recrea- 

 tion are left to the most of busy men, except on 

 Sundays. And very many of our most enthusias- 

 tic Ornithologists would be debarred, altogether, 

 from the delights of field observation but for the 

 opportunities that vSunday 1)rings. INIany of my 

 most delightful hours, of late years, have been 

 spent, far afield, with wife and child, by lakeside 

 and woodside, on Sunda}- afternoons, among the 

 birds. But I should take, at best, but a sneaking 

 pleasure in .such outings had not the best hours of 

 the morning been given to the worship of Hini 

 who is the author and finisher of all beautiful 

 things, and from whom are all the bles.sings of rest 

 and refreshment of soul, through the in-breathing 

 of Nature's ])alm, and through the delightfu- 

 yielding of one's whole being to her subtle influ- 

 ences." 



Thk review (with illustrations) of Dr. Shufeldt's 

 work, "Scientific Taxidermy for Museums," as- 

 well as of Mr. (Oliver Davie's new book, "Modern 

 Methods in the Art of Taxidermy," are deferred 

 until the next number. 



It is gratifying to receive articles of unusual 

 scientific value, like many which have already 

 been publshed in The Nidiologist. We have 

 now on hand, or are promised: "Notes on the 

 Rufous-crowned Sparrow," " Nesting of the Dotted 

 Canon Wren," "Nesting of the Spotted Owl," 

 "Nesting of the Swallow-tailed Kite," " Blue- 

 fronted Jay," "The Yellow Palm Warbler" (with 

 illustration), "Nesting of the Osprey on Santa 

 Margarita Island " (with illustrations, nest on 

 top of giant cactus, and camp on beach,) and 

 othens. 



Walter F. Webb writes: "Just received this 

 telegram from a collector down South: 'Send to- 

 day 4000 eggs, 1000 skins.' How is that for one 

 season's work with a few assistants?" 



"Do you know why we have some of the finest 

 varieties of wild Ducks in the world here?" asked 

 Joaquin Miller, the "Poet of the Sierras," of the 

 editor of the Nil), recently. Various answers 

 were ventured, l)ut the poet wanted Wi^/u/uiamen- 

 /■(?/ reason. "Give it up; wlu' is it?" "Well," 

 said Mr. Miller, "the rea.son we have such fine 

 Ducks in California is that Sir PVancis Drake dis- 

 covered San P^rancisco Bay!" 



Wic could fill a special number with letters like 

 the following: 



"September is the memorable month in which 

 the Ornithologists celebrate the anniversary of 

 The NiDioi.or.isT. Let us not forget to .send our 

 congratulations in a befitting manner through the 

 postmaster. P^nclosed please find his order to 

 keep my name in good memory until the next 

 anniversary. — O. WiDMANN, Old Orchard, Mo," 



" F/Uclosed find one dollar to renew my subscrip- 

 tion to The NiDioLOGi.sT, Allow me to con- 

 gratulate you upon the great success you have 

 made of your venture during the first year, I 

 doubt if anything to equal it has ever been done 

 by private enterprise in your field, certainly not in 

 this country. — Kgbert Bagg, Utica, N. Y. " 



