The Audubon Societies 



231 



male and female, and I think there were 

 about sixty young Ducks on Old Man 

 Island and four on Cape Wash Island. 

 The Gulls took quite a jump this season. 

 I am calling them two thousand five hun- 

 dred old birds and two thousand eight 

 hundred young." 



How to Attract Martins 



Mr. C. E. Hamilton, superintendent of 

 Heart's Delight Farm, Chazy, New York, 

 writes that they have probably one of the 

 largest colonies of Martins in the country. 

 The accompanying illustration shows 

 their two Martin houses. The smaller 

 one, in the foreground, was occupied by 

 a colony of from two hundred and fifty 



arrive in the spring they all come in one 

 flock, and seem to have flown a long dis- 

 tance, as. they are very tired. They usu- 

 ally arrive in the afternoon, and will lie 

 on the roofs and ground nearby, com- 

 pletely exhausted. On several occasions, 

 we have picked them up, and they were 

 so tired out they did not attempt to get 

 away. They seem to be very prolific, and 

 are an exceedingly nice bird to have- 

 around the place." 



About the Aigrette 



Mr. Julian A. Dimock, the well-known 

 explorer, photographer and magazine 

 writer, sends us the following appeal: 

 "■Better than most men, I know the devas- 



MARTIN HOUSES 



to three hundred birds during the present 

 summer; the other house, unfortunately, 

 was not completed by the contractors in 

 time for the Martins to occupy this year; 

 it has accommodations for five hundred 

 birds. 



Mr. Hamilton sends the following natural 

 history item: " One very interesting feature 

 about these Martins is, that when thev 



fating results of plume-bird hunting in 

 Florida; therefore, it is to aid in the fight 

 against the total destruction of Florida 

 bird life that I appeal to you. Of his 

 experience in plume-hunting in the Ten 

 Thousand Islands a hunter-boy thus 

 spoke to me. The first day he and his 

 brother shot a few birds in the rookery. 

 The next day the little birds, orphaned^ 



