4$S 



RECREATION 



ioo, and the young members were photographed in a 



§roup after the club was formed. The Woodland- 

 treet club is as large, and it is expected the clubs to 

 be formed in the other schools will have no difficulty 

 in getting even more members.— Worcester, Mass-, 

 Spy. 



This is an important step and shows the 

 interest in bird protection that is growing 

 up everywhere. 



In order to stimulate the study of birds 

 among these children, Recreation has of- 

 fered a prize worth $25 for the best article 

 on bird protection and another of equal 

 value for the best drawing of an incident in 

 bird life by a member of either of these 

 clubs. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



In Natural History Notes I find the red 

 squirrel blamed, I think, with more than 

 he deserves. I have seen him rob birds' 

 nests and eat the young. I have seen birds 

 do the same. Is the one ravener worse than 

 the other? 



As to the peculiar mutilation charged, I 

 do not believe it. In my opinion the injury 

 was committed by a parasite. I have found 

 a large worm on the knee of a chipmunk. 

 It was an inch long and ^ inch thick. I 

 have it preserved in alcohol. 



If such a parasite could live in a chip- 

 munk why not in a squirrel ? 



I've always thought the peccary an ob- 

 stinate little pig, but that British Columbia 

 porker beats the band. 



L. W. Eldredge, Groton, N. Y. 



At a meeting of the Board of Health last night, 

 Commissioner Doyle urged that the Board take some 

 action toward the killing of sparrows in this city, sim- 

 ilar to the crusade already begun in Boston. The 

 sparrows, he declared, were driving away song birds. 

 Ihe matter will be seriously considered at the next 

 meeting of the Board.— Syracuse, N. Y. Journal. 



Dr. Doyle, in my opinion, knows ex- 

 actly wha: he is talking about. What do 

 you think of it? 



Douglas M. Ross, Syracuse, N. Y. 



Yes, the Doctor's head is level. The 

 sparrow is a condemned and unmitigated 

 nuisance, and should be killed at sight. A 

 good way to get him in towns and cities 

 where shooting is not allowed, is to feed 

 him wheat, oats or bread crumbs soaked 

 in whisky. Then when he gets drunk you 

 can pick him up and ring his pesky neck. 



A year ago I saw a white bird about an 

 eighth of a mile away on a fence. It did 

 not seem large enough for, nor act like a 

 dove. In a few minutes it flew away. 

 Some 3 weeks later I saw a robin and a 

 white bird of the same size over in the 

 field about 250 yards away. Getting a 

 small telescope, I took observations of 

 them. The bird was pure white, except 

 the breast, which was nearly as brown as 

 that of its companion, and exactly the same 



markings. The eyes and face were also 

 the same as a robin's. They hopped 

 around together for about 30 minutes, and 

 then flew away together. I have never 

 seen it since, but it has been seen by my 

 neighbors. 



N. E. J., Sharon Center, O. 



The sportsmen here have organized a bi^ 

 side hunt to kill oft' the blue jays. What do 

 you think of it ? J. C. M., Otay. Cal. 



ANSWER. 



Without further information, I hesitate 

 to express an opinion as to the proposed 

 war on jays. It is possible that excep- 

 tional conditions exist there, which have 

 made the jays unusually destructive to 

 the eggs and young of valuable birds. 

 Santa Clara is the home of the Cooper 

 Ornithological Club, one of the leading 

 members of which Mr. Chester Barlow is 

 an ardent and active bird protectionist. I 

 feel certain he and his colleagues will see 

 that the interests of the jays are properly 

 looked after, and that no war of extermina- 

 tion will be waged against the birds un- 

 less it be really necessary to reduce their 

 numbers. — Editor. 



Some 30 years ago, when crows wc*e 

 bothering in the neighborhood, my father 

 took half a bushel of shelled corn and 

 sowed near the corn field when the corn 

 began to come up. I believe the crows 

 liked the corn and have always thought 

 that Yz bushel of corn was a lot cheaper 

 than rigging up 2 or 3 old scarecrows and 

 spending a day or 2 watching them with a 

 gun, to say nothing of the bad temper 

 and profanity. Perhaps some scheme 

 along the same line would settle the rob- 

 in-and-cherry business. N. E. J., 



Sharon Center, O. 



A flock of about 150 wild pigeons passed 

 over this place April 10th last. They came 

 from the Southwest, and went Northeast. 

 They were flying low, just above the tree 

 tops when first seen, but soon raised high- 

 er and flew very fast. I saw them and 

 know they were the real passenger pigeon. 

 W. H. Scudder, Litchfield, O. 



This is an exceedingly interesting bit of 

 information. Did any other reader of 

 Recreation see these birds? — Ed. 



In answer to J. E. K., Boulder, Col.: 

 The duck you imagine to be a cross be- 

 tween a pintail and a mallard, is the gad- 

 well, Anas Strefran, a member of the Chan- 

 delasmus. Wilton Lockwood, 



Orleans, Mass. 



A letter from Necedah, Wis., states that 

 many ruffed grouse, prairie chickens and 

 quails were frozen in that vicinity during 

 the February blizzard. 



