240 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



birds remove to other quarters, the inmates of that home will ever after 

 be stupid and dull in matters of books and learning. I suppose this 

 belief has arisen on account of the bird so often selecting a school-room 

 for a nesting site. I find at Ku-cheng, one hundred miles inland from 

 Foo-chow, that it is possible to secure the eggs of this swallow, tho' I 

 have never been able to secure a nest. It is believed that if the nest is 

 taken away the birds will gather in the home and scold the inmates, 

 thus invoking the disfavor of the gods, and then leave the home never 

 to enter it again. We find it possible to secure sets of this specie there- 

 fore, only through such people as have thrown aside their superstitious 

 beliefs, or from those who are rather skeptical toward the general faith 

 in the many gods. 



The greatest care is taken in order to induce swallows to nest in the 

 homes, and even in the shops on the narrow streets. Little platforms 

 of wood are placed in such places as are liable to attract attention of 

 one of these little home seekers. When life begins to be manifest in 

 the little home another placform is placed in such a position as to catch 

 the filth which might otherwise fall upon the inmates of the house. 



The eggs of this specie number from four to six, tho' more generally 

 five, and are of a pure white color, less pointed than those of the com- 

 mon Barn Swallow of the homeland. This difference of coloration and 

 and form of the egg is the only marked difference I have been able to 

 detect between the two species. 



Harry R. Caldwell, Ku-cheng, China. 



A MISSOURI POLYGLOT. 



On a morning in early May, of the year 1902, I was sitting out on 

 the-stile before sunrise, quaffing, in long deep draughts, the cool, fresh 

 morning air. It is a fine tonic and much more delicious than the 

 "pleasant to take" spring tonics sold in bottles. 



And as I sat there I was conscious of many odd and peculiar notes 

 that issued from the thickets bordering a stream running through the 

 fields half a mile away. That they were notes of some bird I had not 

 the slightest doubt, but what bird I didn't know. I never remembered 

 hearing them before but there was nothing strange in that fact, as I 

 had only just begun to take enough interest in birds to go out of my 

 way to identify one. And I went to breakfast wondering what this 

 particular bird was. Days passed. I heard those same notes all day 

 every day after that. 



Once I went in search of the bird but failed. He led me into the 

 densest thickets along the stream, always calling, calling, always keep- 



