. . . ¥§B . . . 



GSilLlEGTOR^' M0I|llill; 



Devoted to Oology, Ornithology and Entomology. 



Vol. I. 



NEWBURGH, N. Y„ OCTOBER, 1893. 



No. 3. 



Our Feathered Friends. 



A. F. OSTBANDEB. 



Birds are the spoiled children of 

 nature — favorites of creation. Their 

 plumage often assumes the most re. 

 splendent colors. They have the 

 happy privilege of moving in space — 

 fluttering through the air, hunting 

 insects which flit from flower to flow- 

 er; or soaring high aloft, to swoop 

 upon the victim marked for their 

 prey; again cleaving the atmosphere 

 and performing journeys of vast ex- 

 tent with remarkable rapidity. We 

 cannot fail to admire these beautiful 

 winged beings, which charm at once 

 by the elegance of their form, the 

 melody of their song and the graceful 

 impetuosity of movement. 



Of all the animals that surround us 

 in the ample field of nature, none are 

 more remarkable and worthy of note 

 than our feathered friends of the air. 



They diversify the landscape with 

 the most lovely motion and beautiful 

 association ; they come and go with 

 the change of the seasons, and as 

 their actions are directed by an un- 

 controllable instinct of provident 

 nature, they may be considered as 

 concurrent with the beauties of the 

 surrounding scenes. 



With what graceful sensations we 

 hail these faithful messengers on their 

 return after forsaking us for some 

 more favored clime. Their sweet 

 notes, heard from the leafy groves 

 and shadowy forests, inspire delight 

 or recollections of the pleasing past 

 in every breast. How musical and 

 happy are these roving fairies of the 

 air, to whom earth, air and waters are 

 almost alike habitable. Their lives 

 are spent in boundless action, and 

 nature has formed for them a wonder- 

 ful display of perpetual life and vigor 

 in an element almost their own. 



Is it any wonder then that so many 

 find the study of birds so interesting 

 and instructing that they devote all 

 their spare moments to it ? 



♦-♦-♦ 



Leaf and Flower Impressions. 

 Oil a piece of white paper on one 

 side ; hold the oiled side over and in 

 the smoke of a lamp or pine-knot till 

 quite black ; place the leaf on the 

 black surface— smooth side up, as the 

 veins and fibres of the leaf show 

 plainer on the under part. Now 

 press on all parts of the leaf with the 

 fingers ; then take up the leaf and put 

 the black oiled sides on the page of a 

 book made for leaf impressions — with 

 an extra piece of paper on the top to 



