Trays, Oh! Trays. 



Collectors, do you use trays? If not, let me 

 advise you to try them. You will find them to be 

 the most convenient arrangement yet invented, 

 for the purpose of keeping your collections in 

 good order, with the least trouble. As two trays 

 of one size just equal one of the next, you will 

 readily see that a place may be hastily made in 

 one's cabinet for any newly obtained set, what- 

 ever the size. 



Size 1, Per 100 $ .65 



" 2, " 75 



" 3, " 85 



" 4 " 1.00 



" 5, " 125 



I have just had several thousands of these trays 

 made up, and to introduce them I will express 

 50 each of sizes 1, 2, & 3 for $1.00, or 50 each of 

 sizes 4 & 5 for $1 . 00 . Dont fail to avail yourselves 

 of this offer as it will not be kept open beyond 

 April 15 . Owing to bulk, all trays will have to be 

 shipped by express. 



Address, T. VERNON WILSON, 



Austin, 111. 



The 



Bay State 



Oologist, 



A monthly magazine, devoted exclusively 

 to students of birds, their nests and eggs. 



Send 4 cents in stamps for a copy, to 

 W. H. FOOTE, Ed. & Pub. 



43 Fenn St. Pittsfield Mass. 



A. Great j± uk 's JZgg. 



At Mr. J. C. Stevens's auction-rooms in 

 King street, Covent gardens, the other 

 day, a large number of ornithologists as- 

 sembled to witness the sale of an egg of 

 the Great Auk. Before offering the lot 

 Mr. Stevens remarked that in 1880 two 

 eggs of this bird, both of which had been 

 broken, were sold by him, and that they 

 fetched 100 and 200 guineas, respectively. 

 Of the recorded eggs 25 were in 18 muse- 

 ums and 41 in 19 private collections — 43 

 out of the 66 being in Great Britain. The 

 first bid of 50 guineas was made by a well- 

 known ornithologist, and this was f ollowed 

 by 60 guineas from Mr. L. Field, to whom 

 the egg was eventually knocked down at 

 160 guineas ($840).— London Times. 



— The speed obtained by a falcon in 

 pursuit of its prey, has been calculated 

 to be at the rate of 150 miles an hour. 



Taming two Humming-birds. 



A young lady, an invalid, residing at 

 San Rafael, one of the health resorts of 

 California, illustrated St. James' assertion 

 that every kind of bird has been tamed, by 

 taming two free, wild humming-birds. 



Her doctor ordered her to recline daily 

 during the Summer on rugs spread on the 

 garden lawn. While taking this agreeable 

 prescription one day, she noticed that two 

 humming-birds were inspecting her from 

 a safe distance. 



Their wise little heads, turned to one 

 side, showed their curiosity, and she, tak- 

 ing advantage of it, planned for a more 

 intimate acquaintance. She plucked a 

 fuchsia, attached it to a branch over her 

 head, and filled it with sweetened water. 

 In a few minutes the two little birds thrust 

 their slender bills down into the flower 

 and took long draughts. 



The next day she filled a fresh fuchsia 

 with honey. The actions of the birds 

 showed that they preferred it to sweet- 

 ened water. In a few days the birds be- 

 came so tame and so impatient that they 

 scarcely waited for her to leave the flowers 

 before thrusting their bills into the honey. 



One day, while she held the flower she 

 was filling with drops from a spoon, the 

 birds caught the drops as they fell, and 

 then, becoming impatient, darted their 

 thread-like tongues into the contents of 

 the spoon. The two birds were both males, 

 and therefore fought for possession of 

 the honey-filled flower. But they united 

 to keep other humming-birds away, and 

 when a wasp or bee came near, it was 

 chased away. 



When the beginning of the rainy season 

 drove the young invalid into the house 

 she tried to coax them to the parlor win- 

 dow. At first they acted as if they thought 

 there was some mistake. They would 

 hum about the window, where she stood 

 with the flower and the spoonful of honey, 

 or watch her from a neighboring branch, 

 but not a sip would they take. But at last 

 one bird, responding to her call, hovered 

 about her hand, and took from it repeat- 

 edly drops of honey. — Youth's Compan'n 



—Dr. J. W. Velie, Secretary of the 

 Chicago Academy of Sciences, is now on 

 a tour through that collector's paradise, 

 the Western coast of Florida. 



—Hundreds of English sparrows are 

 being dragged from their nests or roosts 

 beneath the cornices of the high buildings 

 in Columbus, Ind; by large flocks of screech 

 owls, that carry them away and devour 

 them. 



