230 



Bird- Lore 



of sheet metal placed around the opening 

 might be of use in these cases.) 



"Boxes under the eaves of a shed and 

 in very exposed places seemed to be pre- 

 ferred by the Swallows. One Swallow 

 occupied a box on the trunk of an apple 

 tree, not four feet above ground. It is 

 fair to say that the orchard to which the 

 birds were attracted had never been used 

 by the 'hole-nesting' birds before, as the 

 trees were young and devoid of hollow 

 limbs, etc. 



"As regards future work, it is proposed 

 this fall to place in position a large number 

 of boxes, mostly sizes B and C. More 

 fav(3rable sites will be chosen, and the 

 denser parts of the woods will receive a 

 smaller proportion. 



"The English Sparrows and the red 

 squirrels will be consistently shot and 

 trai)ped during the whole fall and winter. 

 The Crows will be negotiated with a 

 decoy Owl, Crow decoys and Crow call. 



"The winter birds will be regularly fed 

 under improvised shelters and with the 

 food bell. The Berlepsch 'feed tree' will 

 also be tried. P21ongated, curved forceps 

 will be obtained for extracting young 

 English Sparrows from the boxes. 



"Considering the lateness of the season 

 at which these boxes were put out, the 

 results appear to me to be very encourag- 

 ing. If, however, the Sparrows are not 

 kept more or less under control, I believe 

 the placing of the nesting-boxes will be 

 found of very doubtful advantage, as they 

 offer ideal conditions for the increase of 

 Passer domeslicus/' 



The .Association has been unable to 

 fmd any manufacturer who will furnish 

 nesting boxes at a price that approxi- 

 mates the cost of those manufactured in 

 Germany, plus the duty and freight. 

 Several large orders for these boxes and 

 food bells have just been forwarded to 

 Clermany, at the rccjuest of some of our 

 members. — W. T). 



Indiana News 



In addition to the rigid enforcemcnl of 

 the law, Z. T. Sweenev, State Fish and 



Game Commissioner, has for several 

 years carried on a campaign of education 

 among the boys of the state, through the 

 parents and public schools, with the 

 result that there is far less destruction of 

 birds' nests in the spring and far less 

 killing of liirds in the spirit of wantonness. 

 In this work, the Commissioner states 

 tliat he has been greatly assisted by the 

 Indiana .\udubon Society. 



Work of this character is highly ap- 

 j)roved of by the National Association, as 

 it is undoubtedly a fact that work among 

 the children produces far better results 

 in bird-protection than any other line of 

 effort. 



A Friend of the Farmer 



Miss Rose Williams, of Newark, N. Y., 

 one of our valued members, reports the 

 following interesting item: "A Pheasant 

 was run over by a mowing-machine a few 

 days since, and was killed. As there had 

 been some discussion among the farmers 

 of this locality regarding the food of the 

 Pheasants, and as some of them claimed 

 that the birds ate a great deal of grain and 

 corn, the crop of this Pheasant was 

 opened, and in it were found over two 

 hundred potato bugs." 



If these introduced birds have acquired 

 a taste for potato bugs, they will prove 

 valuable machines for every farmer to 

 own and distribute wherever these insect 

 pests are found. 



Old Man Island Reservation 



Cajjtain Small, our warden, sends the 

 following interesting report: "This has 

 been one of the best seasons for the Ducks 

 and Gulls I have seen during my term as 

 warden. The Eider Ducks left the reser- 

 vation on the 15th of August, and the 

 Gulls are all large enough to fly. I found 

 that one Duck laid and hatched her young 

 on Cape Wash Island, about one-quarter 

 of a mile from Old Man Island. I saw 

 her coming from the brush, and have seen 

 the young Ducks on the island. There 

 were about tiftv Midcr Ducks this season. 



