130 
not yet reported, she expects that member- 
ship to be increased by several hundred. 
Tr. Ernest Harold Baynes, the active 
organizer of the American Bison Society, 
and a well-known writer on natural his- 
tory subjects, has been employed by the 
Massachusetts Audubon Society to give 
a series of lectures in that state. He writes 
that one result of his work during the first 
two weeks was the securing of over one 
bo 
thousand new members of all classes for 
the state society. 
Field Agent William lL. Finley, now 
working in Arizona, writes under date of 
May 10: “One of the most interesting 
Audubon field meetings I ever attended 
was on April 30, when Mrs. Finley and 
I were invited to go afield with some of the 
members of the Arizona Audubon Society. 
The objective points were Silver Lake and 
the Indian School about four miles south 
of Tucson. Several of the teachers at the 
school are enthusiastic bird-lovers, and 
their influence among the one hundred and 
forty Indian boys and girls is wholesome. 
“The commonest bird of the desert here 
is Palmer’s Thrasher, a big, brown fellow, 
who sings like a Mocker and nests almost 
entirely in the cholla cactus. The Cactus 
Wren is his companion, thriving in the 
heat of the desert and the thorns of the 
cactus. 
“We drove down to the Santa Cruz river, 
where we began our observations. The 
first bird seen was a Vermilion Flycatcher. 
Arizona Hooded and Bullock Orioles were 
flitting in and out among the cottonwoods. 
One of the party found a Pyrrhuloxia, 
a bird that has no common name that I 
know of. In looks, he is much like a Car- 
dinal, with his high crest, short, thick bill, 
and breast patch of rose-red. He is the 
finest whistler I have ever heard. 
“In the same bushes where we watched 
Bird - 
Lore 
the Pyrrhuloxia, one of the ladies found 
the nest of a Crissal Thrasher, with its 
three plain deep blue eggs. A little later, 
another of the party discovered a Phaino- 
pepla building in a mesquite,—another 
bird that is easily identified by his high 
crest and shiny black coat. In flight, the 
white patch under the wing feathers flashes 
as in the Mockingbird. 
“During the afternoon, we also saw 
Mockingbirds, Cafion Lark 
Sparrows, Verdins, Linnets, Inca and 
Mourning Doves, Arkansas Kingbirds, 
Red-wing Blackbirds and others. 
“Two nests of the Verdin were found. 
One might search a long way to find a finer 
piece of bird architecture than the Verdin’s 
home. He builds a round hall of thorny 
twigs and mesquite leaves, with a doorway 
in the side. 
“On the way home, we saw many Doves, 
often in flocks, coming in from the desert 
at sundown to visit the water holes. It is 
a sight worth seeing, yet in reality a sad 
one, when one knows the facts; for at these 
water holes the Mexican hunter often 
waits and kills these birds by the score. 
It it too bad that no law gives them pro- 
tection in the midst of the breeding-season. 
Here is work for the Audubon Society.— 
at, (Ge IP. 
Towhees, 
Caged Birds Imported 
From January 1 to June 1 there were 
imported to the United States through 
New York City 98,835 wild birds to be 
kept in cages. They came largely from 
the ports of Hamburg and Bremen. An 
examination of the importations yields a 
list of about one hundred species. By far 
the greatest number were Canaries, there 
being in all 73,458. Of these 5,661 came 
in a single shipment. Next in number 
were Java Sparrows, of which 3,428 were 
received. These figures do not include 
those birds which died en route.—T. G. P. 
