38 



JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



them out, as soon as possible. We 

 regret this delay and hope the future 

 orders may be more promptly attended 

 to. 



— o — 



The last of June, just as your editor 

 had his goods packed, about to move 

 and get settled again, we were visited 

 by fire, nearly everything being de- 

 stroyed either by fire or water. Nearly 

 all of our books and papers as well as 

 our birds and other natural history 

 specimens were destroyed. These col- 

 lections represented a life-work and 

 many of the rarer specimens will prob- 

 ably never be duplicated. 

 — o — 



Meadowlarks seem to be on the in- 

 crease, we have observed them in sev- 

 eral localities new to us, as well as in 

 the old ones where we have observed 

 them in the past few years. Several 

 pairs were seen about Farmington, 

 along the Sandy river valley. One 

 pair at Phillips, in the same valley, 

 and those before mentioned at Range- 

 ley. Then further up the Kennebec 

 river valley, several pairs at Anson 

 and up as far as Bingham. They 

 seem to be quite common about Skow- 

 hegan, Madison and the smaller towns 

 surrounding the above. 

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In May as we were driving from Au- 

 gusta to Whitefield, when we were 

 just out past the National Home for 

 Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Togus, 

 we were greeted with a call that was 

 familiar to us, having heard it in 

 Deering, in the outskirts of Portland. 

 It proved to be a pair of towhee or 

 chewink. With our glass we watched 

 them for some time. No opportunity 

 was afforded to look for them later, 

 but we presume they may have nested 

 in the vicinity. 



Our summer meeting was a success 

 for the botanists, and greatly enjoyed 



by the few of our members who were 

 able to be in attendance. We were 

 given a very pleasant reception on 

 Monday evening, at .the Public Library 

 by the citizens of Skowhegan. Natur- 

 ally more attention was given to plant 

 life than to the birds, as there was a 

 good representation of the botanists. 

 We were favored with goou weather 

 and all seemed to enjoy the daily ex- 

 cursions. 



— o — 

 LAWN PROTECTORS. 



In my paper The Economic Value of 

 Birds, which was read at our summer 

 meeting at Skowhegan, 1 mentioned 

 the robins protecting the lawns, as I 

 had observed them in quantities on 

 the college campus at Waterville and 

 elsewhere. I have made other obser- 

 vations that have interested me very 

 much. In every city and town I visit 

 on my territory. I always notice the 

 robins busily searching the lawns for 

 the grubs and cut-worms, also the 

 quantities of earth-worms that infest 

 the lawns and terraces everywhere. 

 It would seem that the robins are 

 more numerous this season than usual. 

 Many people have remarked on the 

 larger numbers, they have observed 

 this season. Robins must be more 

 numerous or the people are getting to 

 observe the birds more carefully. 

 They also observe that they are larger 

 and more plump this season than 

 usual. 



I have been very much interested 

 in a colony of robins that I have ob- 

 served on the extensive grounds which 

 surround the Rangeley Lake House at 

 Rangeley. Every other Tuesday I 

 have arrived on the afternoon train, 

 too late to observe the bird life, but I 

 usually arise early, about as early as 

 the birds are astir, and seated on the 

 veranda I have watched the birds 

 busily ridding the grounds of insect 



