Notes from Field and Study 



97 



a Mockingbird. It was first seen on the 

 morning of October 20, 192 1, and stayed near 

 our house all day. Although it was not par- 

 ticularly tame, it came close to windows, 

 through which it v/as often watched for long 

 periods of time, with binoculars, at less than 

 twenty feet. Thus, though none of those 

 who saw it had had personal experience with 

 the Mocker before, it was possible to make 

 an absolutely positiv^e identification. 



Many other people saw it and were able 

 to confirm the identification. Seemingly it 

 had been attracted to our ground by the 

 pears which had fallen from a tree in the 

 garden, for it apparently ate little else. 



It was back again on the 2 2d, and 23d and 

 then was not seen again till November 12, 

 when the temperature was below freezing, 

 but the bird seemed in high spirits. It made 

 its last appearance on November 20. 



Unfortunately, during the entire period it 

 was here it was quiet and did not sing. — 

 M. G. Gould, Bowmanville, Out. 



A Striking Example of a Bird's Power of 

 Accommodation to its Surround- 

 ings and Consequent Modi- 

 fication of Habits 



One hundred years ago the Wood Thrush 

 was considered a shy woodland bird. Fifty 

 years ago Dr. J. A. Allen referred to several 

 instances "where the Wood Thrush did not 

 show itself to be such a recluse as many 

 describe it." Twenty- five years ago the 

 species had become a common denizen of our 

 parks and suburban gardens, often making 

 its home within a few yards of occupied 

 houses. At that time a pair had its nest for 

 several years in an European maple {Acer 

 platanoides) at the entrance to the arboretum 

 in Shaw's Garden, St. Louis, Mo., where 

 scores of people passed under it every day. 

 But now, in the summer of 1921, a pair 

 built its nest in the interior of the new con- 

 servatory in Shaw's Garden and reared three 

 young ones undisturbed by the thousands 

 who ^^sited the conservatory and passed 

 within a few feet under the nest. This is 

 fixed twelve feet from the ground in the triple 

 fork of a Polynesian candleberry tree {Aleu- 

 ites triloba) , in the section of the conservatory 

 called "Economic House," which harbors 



an interesting collection of exotic plants of 

 economic value, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, 

 guava, mango, pepper, and others yielding 

 food, drugs, fiber, perfume, spice, or valuable 

 wood. A bearing coffee tree, is one of the 

 neighbors of the tree that holds the nest; 

 others are a loquat or Japanese plum tree 

 {Eriobotrya japonica) and the golden apple 

 of Jamaica {Spondias lutea). Access at all 

 times was obtained by the birds through 

 ventilators kept open in summer. — O. 



WiDMANN. 



A One-legged Cardinal 



Last summer a Cardinal and his mate built 

 a nest just outside one of our dining-room 

 windows. The mother laid five eggs but only 

 four hatched. One afternoon while I was 

 watching them, the father flew up with his 

 mouth full of food. The female promptly 

 opened her mouth, and I was surprised to see 

 him give her part of the food. He gave the 

 remainder to the young. 



I watched them very closely after this 

 occurrence and finally discovered that the 

 mother had but one leg. I have never before 

 heard of the male having to care for his mate 

 and the young, too. 



After I learned of the mother's plight, I 

 put out crumbs so that the male would not 

 have to search so far for food, and he promptly 

 acknowledged my kindness by using the 

 crumbs. 



In placing the crumbs, I unintentionally 

 moved a small branch that the birds has been 

 using to alight upon when entering their nest. 

 This seemed to utterly confuse them, for 

 when they returned it seemed as if they would 

 never be able to find their nest. The branch 

 was replaced and the birds then foimd their 

 home without any trouble. I have heard 

 that the mo\'ing of a nesting-box, on the 

 branch on which a nest was built, was con- 

 fusing to the bird tenants, but did not know 

 that the mere mo^^ng of a little branch would 

 so affect them. 



The birds finally took flight, and I have 

 seen them several times since. About three 

 days after the flight of the j'oung, the Cardi- 

 nals started another nest, but only two young 

 ones flew from the second nest. — M. H. 

 Herbel, Ciiroiielle, Ala. 



