tttBJ OOLOGISf 



191 



boy is not so bad as lie is painted and 

 a little talk with them in the right 

 way, and they are as keen against 

 bird killing. As far as I have seen 

 personally, conditions are worse in 

 New England; There I have seen 

 whole sections and large sections, en- 

 tirely bare of leaves. I have not killed 

 a bird in many years, and not at any 

 time, except that many years agn 

 covering a full year. I shot and care- 

 fully examined the interior in each 

 case of 1100 English Sparrows for 

 Prof. Baird then head of the Smith- 

 sonian at Washington, D. C. I learned 

 a lot as to their claims for a quiet life. 

 I know from dear experience what a 

 real game hog is. Many of them will 

 tear down the posting signs then if 

 called to account, swear they saw no 

 signs and ask you to show them. To 

 stop all bird shooting, for some years 

 would be ideal, but can it be done? 

 Can we really stop the hogs? I visit- 

 ed the spot last spring some ten miles 

 from here that used to be alive with 

 birds. I could not find even a spar- 

 row. F. M. Carryl. 

 19 Burnett St., Maplewood, N. J. 



Anna Hummingbird. 



While the Anna Hummingbirds have 

 been carefully studied by many orni- 

 thologists, even a casual observer is 

 sure to see something new and inter- 

 esting in the daily life of this wonder- 

 ful and elusive pygmy of the bird 

 world. 



It might seem that the blossoms of 

 true lavender and white-leaf sage con- 

 tain nectar in quantities too small for 

 very large insects, yet the humming- 

 birds work these plants most indus- 

 triously. When working on the climb- 

 ing pentstemon (penstemon cordi- 

 folius) they would poise like nectar 

 loving moths, wasps or flies and work 

 with the energy of bees but with more 

 grace and proportionally less bluster. 



On the large abutilon megapotami- 

 cum, a tropicay plant with deep dang- 

 ling bellflowers suspended by thread- 

 like stems, the hummingbird would 

 poise in under the flower and hang by 

 her feet like an acrobat. 



In one instance a hummingbird 

 wanted to work in a flower of tochro- 

 ma tubularsa but found that a bumble 

 bee was working in the bottom of the 

 flower. With characteristic tact and 

 valor the bumblebee was driven out 

 of the flower and then to make the 

 route really complete the humingbird 

 chased the bumble bee entirely out of 

 the garden. As the bumble bee was 

 rather heavy in his flight the hum- 

 mingbird would cut all around him 

 and occasionally hurry up matters 

 with a stroke of her bill. 



R. A. Sell. 



Berkeley, Calif. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 A. C. Price 



During the last week in August the 

 Editor enjoyed a visit from A. E. 

 Price of Grant Park, Illinois, one of 

 the best known oologists in the United 

 States Mr. Price brought his wife 

 and two very promising young sons 

 with him, driving from Grant Park 

 over in a day and returning from the 

 next day. We had the pleasure of 

 displaying to him the contents of 

 many of our cabinets and enjoying a 

 visit such as comes only to those in- 

 terested in a mutual hobby. It is to be 

 hoped that this interchange of person- 

 al visits between oologists will grow. 

 We all see too little of one another. 

 The latch string at the Editor's home 

 is always out to ornithologists and we 

 only wish that more of them would 

 drift our way. 



In the Army 



The bird men seem to be doing 

 their full share in army enlistments. 



