Americarv Ornithology. 



A Ma-gaLzine Devoted Wholly to Birds. 



Published monthly by Chas. K. Reed, 75 Thomas St., Worcester, Mass, 

 EDITED BY CHESTER. A. REED, B. S. 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE in United States, Canada and Mexico, One 

 Dollar yearly in advance. Single copies, ten cents. Vols. 1 and II. 

 ^i.oo, each. We can supply back numbers at ten cents per copy. 

 FOREIGN Subscription, ^1.25. 



COPYRIGHT, 1903 BY CHAS. K. REED 



VOL. Ill AUGUST, 1903. NO. 8 



We are all glad to see sympathy extended to all dumb animals, either 

 beasts or birds, but it is always best to be sure that you are right be- 

 fore you proffer your assistance. A lady brought two young King- 

 fishers to me. She did not know what they were but had found them 

 "beside the road while out driving and as she expressed it, — "there were 

 no trees or woods, or place for a nest, nothing but a sand bank on one 

 side of the road and a pond on the other. These two dear little birds 

 were right down beside the road; they seemed hungry and there was no 

 mother bird to feed them so I took pity on them and took them home. 

 I have tried to make them eat, but they will not touch anything I give 

 them." So much for not knowing. The poor little kingfishers died 

 within two hours after she brought them in. They had left their nest 

 in the sand bank and were exercising their wings while waiting for 

 their parents to return with food from the above mentioned pond, when 

 they were found by the kind but mistaken Samaritan. 



Another case. — A man this time essayed to be the foster parent. He 

 worked in a shop from the windows of which he could see on the 

 gravelled roof of an adjoining building. A Nighthawk had laid two 

 eggs and hatched them on this roof although he did not know it before 

 the young were two days old. He discovered them at this stage as 

 they were sitting in the sun. He watched them frequently that morn- 

 ing and finally saw a large bird sitting on the edge of the next building. 



He watched it until late in the afternoon and as it neither brooded 

 nor fed the little ones he decided that it must have deserted them, so 

 when he got through work he got the young ones and took them home 

 intending to feed them and bring them up until they could fly. He 

 meant well but the next morning they were beyond the need of further 

 care. 



