HUMMING BIRD NEST 
with a little care can observe the same 
thing. The bullhead or pout, and I have 
no doubt its larger cousin, the catfish, 
watches over its young. Pike, perch 
and pickerel will eat their own fry as 
readily as that of other fish, but the 
bullhead guards its fry till they leave 
school. On several occasions I observed 
in shallow water schools as large as my 
hat, and formed of tiny bullheads. On 
the approach of danger, such as a 
marauding perch, an old bullhead 
would rush from a near-by cover and 
stir up the mud under the school till 
all were lost to view. At another time 
on the approach of a perch an old bull- 
head darted toward the perch and after 
driving him off retired to cover. I was 
on the brook early one morning, for 
that is the time to fish in fresh water, 
when I saw the weeds in motion a little 
way out from the bank. 1 crept close 
and saw in a small clear space a school 
of young bullheads each about as large 
as a whirligig, and near-by in the edge 
of the weeds a large bullhead. I 
watched for a time, then dropped my 
hook in near the school. Instantly the 
old one came for it, picked it up, carried 
it away for several feet, dropped it and 
returned to cover. I dropped the hook 
in again, on the opposite side of the 
school, and immediately another old 
bullhead came out from the weeds and 
picked up the hook but in carrying it 
off it caught in his lip and I swung him 
out on to the bank. Then I dropped in 
again and swung out a second big one. 
1 dropped in yet another time and a 
big one carried the hook off and 
dropped it. I knew therefore that there 
were at least three bullheads watching 
that one school and giving close atten- 
tion to duty. It was a surprising and 
interesting thing to learn first-hand that 
some fish mother their young. There 
are many other interesting things to be 
learned from our brooks, things that 
appeal to youth more than when learned 
from books. 
The so-called “fur seals” are not true 
seals at all, but fur-coated sea lions. 
They have pointed external ears, and 
they can turn their hind feet forward 
to walk on land. The true seals, on 
the other hand, have no external ears, 
and their hind legs are for swimming 
only. 
a 
Humming Bird Nest on Electric Light. 
Hartford, Connecticut. 
To the Editor : 
1 have mailed to you the humming 
bird’s nest which you saw here a year 
ago, and of which you wished a photo- 
graph. Our attempts have not met 
with conspicuous success, so we have 
decided to present it to you for your 
museum, and perhaps your own pho- 
tographer will be able to make a good 
picture of it. 
The light hung on a bungalow porch 
in Miramar, near Santa Barbara, Cali- 
fornia, and was turned on each evening 
from inside the bungalow without dis- 
turbing the birds. It was only when 
some one climbed up or became too 
friendly that they left the nest. After 
the nest had been deserted, it was cut 
down at the request of my father, who 
sent it to me. 
I hope it will be of interest to some 
of your visitors. 
Alice L. Welch er. 
Chlorophyl canopy over my head, 
Lying out here in my hammock bed; 
While through each rift in the leafy crown, 
A star of Heaven is looking down. 
— Emma Peirce. 
