OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



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Address communications of all kinds, to 



T. VERNON WILSON, Austin, III. 



Entered in the rostofficeat Austin, 111., as second class matter 



jftlled by Liberty's Torch. 



The Department of Agriculture makes 

 it obligatory upon lighthouse keepers to 

 render periodical reports, upon blanks 

 prepared for the purpose, of all members 

 of the feathered tribe who meet their 

 death by flying against the lights. 



About a month ago, one stormy night, 

 nearly 1,400 birds of various species were 

 picked up on the balcony of the Statue of 

 Liberty Torch and near the base of the 

 pedestal. Before this no particular ac- 

 count had been taken of these victims to 

 curiosity, the officials of the island dis- 

 posing of them in any way they saw fit, 

 many, it is said, being sold to milliners 

 and fancy stores in the city. But upon 

 this occasion Colonel Tassin, who is in 

 military command of the island, having 

 made inquiry about the birds, and being 

 unable to find any trace of them, deter- 

 mined to apply to the authorities in Wash- 

 ington with the view of having the light- 

 house regulations on this head applied to 

 the Liberty light. He was successful, 

 and for the past month the matter has 

 been very carefully looked after. To a 

 Sun reporter Colonel Tassin said : 



" I had heretofore received many letters 

 from all sorts of people offering to buy 

 the birds which were killed in this way. 

 But I believed they were public property, 

 and that I had no right to dispose of 

 them. I thereupon instituted the Gov- 

 ernment's system of records, which are 

 now followed with military regularity. 

 Every morning I go to the guard-house 

 and overlook the birds collected by the 

 men. I classify them as well as I can, 

 and gather all the information called for 

 by the monthly report. This includes 

 the name of the bird, date, hour of strik- 

 ing, number striking, number killed, di- 

 rection and force of wind, character of 

 weather, and general remarks. When I 

 have collected about two hundred speci- 

 mens I send them to the Washington 

 National Museum, the Smithsonian In- 

 stitute and other scientific institutions, 

 where I know they are wanted. I have 

 received several letters from the Wash- 



ington authorities and others warmly 

 thanking me for my action in the matter. 

 The information has proved of much 

 value, they tell me, in many instances, 

 and it is only to be regretted that light- 

 house keepers generally do not carry out 

 with more care the provisions of this Gov- 

 ernmental regulation. 



"As to the number and species of birds 

 which are killed by the statue my Octo- 

 ber record shows a very large total; larger, 

 doubtless, than any other light in Amer- 

 ica. The commonest bird killed is a spe- 

 cies of wrens of which I do not know the 

 name. There are few large or very rare 

 birds, and the English sparrow, so com- 

 mon in our cities, is altogether too sharp 

 to be caught in this way. He is too well 

 accustomed to the electric glare of city 

 life. On October 1 the record shows 

 there were fifty rails, eleven wrens, two 

 cat birds and one whippoorwill; on the 

 2d, two wrens; the 3d, eight wrens, and so 

 on, the average being about twenty birds 

 per night, although the character of the 

 weather, the direction of the wind, etchas 

 a great deal to do with the matter. On 

 clear nights there are none or very few, 

 but on dark nights the harvest is large. 

 On Oat. 12th 175 wrens were gathered in, 

 although it was not a particularly dark or 

 windy night. The birds I send to Wash- 

 ington are prepared for shipment by Mr. 

 Wm. Deutcher in New York. — N. Y. Sun. 



2fie (Razor-bills at Home. 



Winding up the basin toward the north- 

 east, Captain Emery, myself, and some 

 sailors, all well armed, proceeded one day 

 along the high and precipitous shores to 

 a distance of about four miles, and at last 

 reached the desired spot. We landed on a 

 small island. Our men were provided 

 with long poles, having hooks at their ex- 

 tremities. These sticks were introduced 

 into the deep and narrow fissures, from 

 which we carefully drew the birds and 

 eggs. One place in particular, was full of 

 birds; it was an horizontal fissure, about 

 two feet in height and thirty or forty yards 

 in depth. We crawled slowly into it, and 

 as thebirds affrighted flew hurriefdly past 

 us by hundreds, many of their eggs were 

 smashed. The further we advanced, the 

 more dismal did the cries of the birds 

 sound in our ears. Many of them, des- 

 pairing of effecting their escape, crept in- 

 to the surrounding recesses. Having 

 collected as many of them and their eggs 

 as we could, we returned, and glad were 

 we once more to breath the fresh air. — 

 Birds of America. 



