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THE OOLOGIST 



ory of His Life and Time," by Francis 

 Hobart Herick, 2 volumes illustrated. 

 D. Appleton & Company, New York 

 & London, 1917." This is a most sig- 

 nificant compilation of Audubonia. It 

 takes up the life of Audubon, and like- 

 wise of his earlier ancestors, and fol- 

 lows his career through its entirety, 

 giving the reader an insight into the 

 life and doings of America's best 

 known naturalists. It is illustrated 

 by a wealth of photographic reproduc- 1 

 tions of many of Audubon's drawings, 

 a large number which are colored plat- 

 ed; others are hitherto unpublished 

 drawings made by Audubon in his life- 

 time. Included in it is a vast number 

 of letters, documents, accounts, con- 

 tracts and other matter relating to the 

 personal life of this great bird man. 

 All in all it is the most exhaustive and 

 thorough publication of the subject of 

 this title which has come under our 

 observation. 



The Editor. 



Killing the Swans 



It is a well known fact that the 

 Trumpeter Swan, the most magnifi- 

 cent water bird native to the North 

 American Continent, is on the verge 

 of extinction; also that the Whistling 

 Swan is rapidly approaching the same 

 condition. Why anyone should want 

 to destroy these splendid specimens is 

 beyond the comprehension of an or- 

 dinary person. Yet in the face of both 

 the Federal and State laws, the mur- 

 der of Swans goes merrily on, and so 

 far as we know, no effort is made 

 either by the state or national govern- 

 ment to enforce the laws against this 

 or to give any of the much needed pro- 

 tection to these fast disappearing 

 birds, which are destined shortly to 

 follow the Labrador duck and Caroline 

 paroquet out of existence. 



Only a few days ago a beautiful 

 specimen of one of the varieties of wild 



Swan was killed by a fool hunter only 

 a few miles north of Lacon, Illinois. 



A short time following that, another 

 one was killed near Peoria by a hunt- 

 er there who had the affrontery to 

 celebrate the event by giving a dinner 

 to some of his friends at which this 

 rare bird was served. 



Informaaion comes to the Oologist 

 that Swans are being killed in consid- 

 erable numbers on the lake near Mon- 

 ida, Montana. The only consolation 

 to this state of affairs is; first, the 

 fact that we are paying a lot of high 

 priced game wardens to sit around 

 with their feet on mahogany tables 

 and smoke choice cigars at the ex- 

 pense of the people. This probably is 

 pleasant for them. And second, the 

 fact that these birds are so nearly ex- 

 tinct that it will be but a short time 

 that they will vanish entirely from the 

 face of the earth and then we may en- 

 joy the pleasure of sitting about the 

 grate fire, and regretting that we did 

 not in time take the obviously neces- 

 sary steps to prevent this sad con- 

 dition of affairs. We can then wail 

 over the fate of the swans to our 

 heart's content as we are want to do 

 over the disappearance of other 

 species formerly inhabiting this conti- 

 nent. The whole condition is sicken- 

 ing and the lack of interest, energy 

 and effectiveness of our game depart- 

 ments is astonishing. 



The Editor. 



A Belated Cuckoo Brood 

 On the morning of September 10th, 

 1917, I was walking along a small 

 stream shaded by birches and willows ; 

 open space occurred at several places 

 and it was at one of these I found my 

 nest. Vines and stalks of touch-me- 

 nots covered the ground, near the 

 center of a clearing stood a stunted 

 willow, completely covered by vines. 

 As we approached we could see the 



