68 Bird -Lore 



of the country, but a doctor from St. Louis came out and killed one, so that is 

 how I know it was a Cormorant. He had it mounted. It is a big black bird 

 with a hooked bill for catching fish and a short, stiff tail to aid it in flying. 



I see Hummingbirds here often. Some of the birds I see are Cardinals, 

 Red-headed Woodpeckers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Crows, Bluebirds, Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeaks, Barn Swallows, Owls, English and Chipping Sparrows, 

 Cowbirds, House Wrens, Quails, Bobolinks, Thrashers, Orchard Orioles, 

 Flickers, Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Vireos, Red- 

 starts and Pewees. 



I wish that our teachers would join an Audubon Society. How fine that 

 would be! Since we have no school on account of the influenza I have been 

 studying birds. 



I am in the eighth grade and go to the Point School. I enjoy studying 

 and watching birds more than studying my school lessons. — Alice Crecelius 

 (age 12 years), Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. 



[The Cormorant listed was probably either the Double-crested, or, possibly, a Mex- 

 ican Cormorant which goes as far north as Kansas and southern Illinois. Brewer's 

 Blackbird is a casual visitor in states bordering the Mississippi River. The looth meri- 

 dian marks about the limit eastward of the range of the Arkansas Kingbird. "Canary" 

 may mean Goldfinch or Summer Warbler, usually, one says "Wild Canary" for these 

 species; "Hell-diver" is a common name for the Pied-billed and some of the other 

 Grebes; "Water- or Mud-hen" refers usually to the Coot. In studying birds it is a 

 wise thing to learn the accepted as well as the common name of a species. — A. H. W.] 



HOME OBSERVATIONS 

 I 



This summer and spring I found a great number of birds' nests and saw the 

 birds. We have an old stable which Sparrows and Swallows like to build nests 

 in. Last summer a Sparrow built a nest in it and laid four eggs. Every egg 

 hatched and all the young birds flew away. This year, a Sparrow built a nest 

 right next to its last year's nest, but there was one egg left in it which did not 

 hatch. All the others did and the birds were flying around for a long time. 

 This year there were two nests near our house. One of them was destroyed by 

 the cat as soon as the birds were a few days old. The other one was safe and 

 I tried to see that the cat did not get it. I have seen many others but these are 

 the ones I took most care of. — Rosa Kjryss. 



[It is a fine way to study the birds nesting about one's home, and to help protect 

 them.— A. H. W.] 



II 



Your magazine is always read with interest in our school, and the children 

 are working with enthusiasm for the protection of bird-life since our Junior 

 Audubon Class was formed. As I have not seen many letters from the Cana- 

 dian West in Bird-Lore, I thought perhaps the following details might be of 



