468 
wantonness, for young, innocent songbirds, 
will be snatched up and punished. Ignorant 
foreigners, too, with no better business 
than shooting innocent birds, that are of 
no earthly use ior food, should be taught 
better. 
Thanks to the tenderness that best be- 
comes the gentler sex, thousands of wom- 
en have already discarded the feathers of 
song birds in their hats, but it is still said 
that 170,000,000 bird skins are annually 
sold to ornament female hats, and that: of 
this number 40,000,000 come to the United 
States. Thoughtful women are beginning 
to see that hats can be made fashionable 
as well as beautiful without the use of 
the plumage of wild birds. There are al- 
ways available the feathers of ostriches and 
other domesticated birds. Some of the 
humanitarian “hat reform’ societies are 
holding autumnal exhibitions, designed to 
show that a pretty hat is possible without 
resort to waste and cruelty. 
A birdless and songless New England! 
How dismal it will seem. Over 30 species 
of birds, once plentiful among us, are al- 
ready extinct. Shall we complete the ruin 
and sacrifice, or by timely efforts save to 
the soil and to nature harmony a priceless 
boon?—Boston Globe. 

PARTRIDGES IN ARIZONA. 
Gambel’s partridge, Callipepla gambeli, 
Massena partridge, 
scaled partridge, Callipepla squamata, and 
masked bob white, Colinus ridgwayi, are 
common residents of Southwestern Ariz- 
ona. The 3 first named can, in fact, each 
in its particular habitat, be found from the 
Colorado to the Rio Grande, but the 
United States residence of the masked 
bob white is almost wholly confined to the 
new county of Santa Cruz, this territory. 
All of these birds have at birth the wild- 
ness inherent in the species, and with the 
exception of the Massena are not easily 
tamed. Have known the Gambels to breed 
in captivity, but they were always wild. 
_ If anything, the scaled are even more so. 
I cannot speak of the masked bob white 
for I never had personal knowledge of 
one in captivity. I am, however, con- 
vinced that the Massena is susceptible of 
complete domestication. My attention 
has been called to mountain ranches where 
these birds became as tame as domestic 
fowl. My. own observations in this direc- 
tion have been somewhat limited, but suf- 
ficient to convince me that the bird is 
capable of domestication. A year ago a 
pair was sent to me from San Ygnacio, 
Sonora. Unfortunately the male escaped 
en route, but the female arrived in good 
condition and is a healthy bird to-day. 
At the request of a young neighbor, Mrs. 
Paul Heermans, who fancied it for a pet, 
Cyrtony montezume,. 
RECREATION. 
I gave it to her, and it soon became “one 
of the family.” Because of its aptitude 
in picking up insects she named it “Bugs,” 
and as Bugs it answers every call. Never 
was a household pet more thoroughly at 
home, or apparently more attached to its 
mistress. Each morning it waits for ad- 
mission to her bed room, and when ad- 
mitted flies in and nestles down beside 
her. It knows the leading point of a spring 
door and watches its chances for a hurried 
in or out as the door swings either way. 
If it finds one door closed, it straightway 
tries another, and keeps up a little peeking 
cry till the door is opened. Many things 
are told of its intelligence. At Critten- 
den, on the Sonoita, a little bunch was re- 
ported “at home,” but I heard later that 
the chickens had gradually killed them 
off. The Massena, the male especially, is 
a beautiful bird, is larger and more plump 
than its congeners and, unless all signs 
fail, it can be made more useful to man 
than it now is. Later I hope to secure a 
number of them for practical experimenta- 
tion.. Will then report results. 
Herbert Brown, Yuma, Ariz. 

ARBOR AND BIRD DAY IN ST. PAUL. 
Arbor and bird day was generally observed in the 
public schools of St. Paul. 
The senior class of the central high school had an 
extensive celebration. ‘ 
Principal Bryant spoke of the spirit intended to be 
inculcated by arbor day, and in referring to the in- 
auguration of bird day in connection with arbor day, 
ald : 
‘‘ The birds have much to do, when we come to think 
about it, with our great forests. The forests are their 
homes and they are friends of the trees as we are. No 
forest or grove is complete without the song of birds 
and without nests here and there among the branches. 
To save the trees is to save them, but when the trees 
are gone the birds have no homes.” 
The poncn address was by Prof. D. Lange, the 
naturalist of the high school. His subject was * Bird 
and Game Protection.”’ 
Last year, he said, a complete bird census of the 
country, taken under the direction of Prof. Hornaday, 
of the New York Zoological Society, showed an aver- 
age decrease of about 40 per cent. in bird life. In 
Florida the decrease was 75 per cent. ‘ 
‘« The destruction of the creatures,’’ he said, ‘‘ which 
nature intended to be the living, singing flowers of the 
woods and groves, is due to several causes, the prin- 
cipal of which are these: | : 
‘Too much and hoggish hunting of game birds 
especially in the spring; indiscriminate shooting of 
everything on wings. Boys who have not been taught 
better or whose judgment is not yet superior to their 
killing instinct, are the principal offenders, but as 
so many full-grown fools and even gray-headed fools 
set them the example, we can hardly blame _the boys. 
Egg and bird collecting by men and boys is another 
cause; also the fashion of wearing birds on hats. 
Another cause is the increase of the English sparrow.” 
He spoke of the unnecessary collections which were 
made by many boys at the instance of teachers. This 
was a mistake on the part of the teacher. The ubiqui- 
tous gunner in and around St. Paul, who shot at 
everything from a bird to a frog, was responsible 
alone, he said, for the fact that aquatic birds shunned 
so widely the adjacent lakes and streams. 
‘“‘ The St. Paul Audubon Society will work together 
with the police and the state game warden,” he said, 
“to teach bird protection to those fellows who shoot 
every livin anes everywhere and at all seasons.”— 
St, Paul Dispatch. 


