142 



THE OOLOGIST 



feet in height and during tlie morn- 

 ing hours are covered with clouds, 

 which lift towards noon. We rushed 

 along through miles oif these varied 

 hills, enchanated by the change of 

 scenery, and almost before we knew 

 it, we had reached Honda, found the 

 very clean little "Hotel American," 

 with ggood food, a billiard table and 

 bar. 



To be continued. 



MINNESOTA NOTES 



Elmer Langevln of Crookston, Min- 

 nesota, writes that there are an un- 

 usual number of ducks nesting in his 

 vicinity this year, but notes the scar- 

 city of teal among nesting birds. 



He also writes "I had the pleasure 

 of finding a Sandhill Crane's nest and 

 two young about a week ago. They 

 are out of the nest but from all ap- 

 pearances they sleep in the nest each 

 evening. It is no easy matter to ap- 

 proach them as the old ones show 

 fight." 



He also notes the first blue goose 

 that is ever seen in that territory of 

 but a few days ago and winds up with 

 the statement that the Prairie Chicken 

 were gradually being terminated. 



SLAUGHTER OF BIRDS A GRIEV- 

 OUS MISTAKE 

 Col. Shields, Noted Authority on Bird 

 Life, Delivers Lecture at Scran- 

 ton Casino. 

 PART I 

 That he slaughter of birds is a 

 grievous error and that the people ot 

 this country are paying dearly for the 

 sport of the gunners wah the keynote 

 of the lecture delivered recently at 

 the Casino in Scranton, Pa., by 

 Colonel J. O. Shields, organizer and 

 president of the League of American 

 Sportsmen and publisher of Shield's 

 Magazine. The lecture was given un- 

 der the auspices of the Bird Club and 



was largely attended. It was illus- 

 trated by lantern slides showing ani- 

 mals and birds in their natural state. 

 Colonel Shields made a spirited at- 

 tack on hunters of the south, whom 

 he charged with killing robins by the 

 thousands, upon foreigners, whom he 

 stated killed everything in sight, upon 

 some hunters of the north and upon 

 the small boy and his flobert rifle. He 

 was introduced by Mrs. Frank Coftin, 

 president of the club. His lecture, in 

 part, follows: 



Scientists have determined by care- 

 ful computation, study and investiga- 

 tion "that the farmers and fruit grow- 

 ers of this country are losing more 

 than $1,000,000,000 a year by reason 

 of the reckless and senseless destruc- 

 tion of birds during the past 30 years. 



The cotton growers of the south 

 are suffering a loss of $1,000,000,000 

 a year by reason of the ravage of the 

 boll weevil, an insect that bores into 

 the cotton stalk and kills it. Why? 

 Because the quails, the prairie chick- 

 ens, the meadowlarks, and other 

 birds which were formerly there in 

 millions have been swept away by 

 thoughtless, reckless men and boys. 

 Scientific men announce that there is 

 no way on earth by which these in- 

 sects can be destroyed except by the 

 people to stop the killing of birds, ab 

 solutely and at all times, and let them 

 come back and take care of the in- 

 sects. 



The grain growers are losing over 

 $100,000,000 a year on account of the 

 cinch bug. They are losing another 

 $200,000,000 a year on account of the 

 work of the hessian fiy. Both of 

 these are very small insects, almost 

 microscopic in size. It takes 24,000 

 cinch bugs to weigh an ounce, and 

 nearly 50,000 hessian flies to weigh 

 an ounce. A quail killed in a wheat 

 fleld in Ohio, and examined by an ex- 

 pert, had in its craw the remains of 



