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Bird - Lore 



away. Sometimes both will fly all day to 

 the same place, so that the ground beneath 

 looks as if lightly sprinkled with sawdust. 

 When engaged in this work, they are very 

 bold and will sometimes allow themselves 

 to be photographed without showing 

 any fear. 



The Chickadee has also a peculiar habit 

 of beginning nests very early in the spring, 

 which are seldom completed and never oc- 

 cupied. On March 13, 1902, a pair began 

 carrying chips out of a knot-hole and did 

 desultory work there for several days. 

 March 18, J901, a pair commenced an ex- 

 cavation in a dead limb of an apple tree and 

 finished but did not breed in it, perhaps be- 

 cause of the annoyance caused by House 

 Sparrows. Another pair made and lined a 

 nest in an apple tree within twenty feet of a 

 house, but eventually deserted it. It is 

 common to see a pair do a few hours' work 

 in a knot-hole, where they soon find the 

 wood too hard for them. In a single season 

 I have seen half a dozen nests begun near 

 m}' residence in this village, none of which 

 were ever occupied for breeding purposes. — 

 RoscoE J. Webb, Garretts-ville, Ohio. 



Snowflakes in Trees 



While walking along an old highway in 

 March, 1902, I was attracted by the twitter 

 of Snowflakes which apparently came from 

 a field near by. I stood for several minutes 

 trying to locate them in one of the numerous 

 patches of dried grass where the snow had 

 been blown away, but with no success. 



Thinking I might be mistaken, I looked 

 over to the woods beyond the field, and 

 there, perching in the top of a tall red oak, 

 which stood some distance in from the edge, 

 were about one hundred Snowflakes 

 {Plectrophenax ni-valis). I could hardly 

 believe it at first, as I had always heard 

 that they never perched on trees. There 

 could be no mistake, however, as they flew 

 in a few minutes and alighted in an old 

 corn field, where I was able to approach 

 near enough to clearly distinguish their 

 markings and identify them all as Snow- 

 flakes.— -Laurence J. Webster, Holder- 

 ness, A^ H. 



California Nature Books 



The coming pilgrimage of ornithologists 

 to the Pacific coast prompts us to include 

 several articles and pictures illustrative of 

 California bird-life in this issue of Bird- 

 Lore. 



For the same reason we append a list of 

 books with which visiting ornithologists 

 would do well to provide themselves, as 

 follows: I. ' Handbook of Birds of Western 

 United States,' ' A-Birding on a Broncho,' 

 Florence Merriam Bailey (Houghton, 

 MifHin & Company) ; 2. ' Check - List of 

 California Birds,' Joseph Grinnell (Palo 

 Alto, Calif.); 3. 'Bird Notes Afield,' 

 Charles Keeler (Elder & Shepard, 

 San Francisco) ; 4. ' The Mountains of 

 California, ' John Muir (The Century Com- 

 pany) ; 5. 'Mountaineering in the Sierra 

 Nevada,' Clarence King (Charles Scrib- 

 ner'sSons); 6. ' Our National Parks, 'John 

 Muir (Houghton, Mifllin & Company). 



The Michigan Ornithological Club 



From a circular issued by Bradshaw H. 

 Swales, Secretary - Treasurer, 135 Warren 

 Avenue, E., Detroit, Michigan, we learn 

 that the Michigan Ornithological Club was 

 organized February 13, 1903, and the fol- 

 lowing officers were elected : President, 

 A. B. Covert, of Ann Arbor; vice-presi- 

 dent. Dr. P. E. Moody, of Detroit; sec- 

 retary-treasurer, Bradshaw H. Swales, of 

 Detroit; editor and business manager, 

 Alex. W. Blain, Jr. 



It was decided to publish a quarterly 

 magazine, termed ' The Bulletin of the 

 Michigan Ornithological Club,' after the 

 former club publication. The annual 

 dues were made |i, including the club 

 organ. A Committee on Bird Protection 

 was appointed. 



The object of the club is the advance- 

 ment of ornithology of the Great Lake 

 region. One of the principal objects will 

 be the compiling of an authentic state list, 

 and, to this end, an observer is needed 

 in every county or at least every section of 

 the state. Very little is known of the birds 

 of many sections of Michigan, and the sec- 

 retary will be pleased to receive county lists. 



