Sept., 1904 I 
THE CONDOR 
133 
lost her fears for the camera. Plate 
after plate was snapped but her move- 
ments were always very rapid and 
weather conditions are not always of 
the best in Oregon. 
As I sat in the bushes by the nest 
with the camera by my side I had 
almost as good a chance to study^ the 
marking of her dress as if I had held 
her in my hand. She would alight on 
a twig three feet away and I often 
saw her orange crown when she ruf- 
fled up her feathers in inquiry or 
alarm. It seems strange that such 
a delicate tinge of orange should be 
hidden just as if it would fade away 
in the sunshine. Maybe in time 
when this fidgety little fellow has 
reached a higher stage in the evolu- 
tion of his existence he will flit about 
the trees in a real cap of gold. 
Portland, Oregon. 
NEST OF LUTESCENT WARBLER 
Bird Surgeons 
I!Y W. OTTO EMERSON 
I T was only a stray bone of a peculiar shape among the drift along the Monterey 
beach that attracted my eye — a bone differing from hundreds of others that 
may be found in a locality where dead birds are cast ashore by the waves. 
On a closer examination it was seen to be the humerus of a bird as large as a gull 
or a cormorant, and it had been broken at some stage of its life. 
I at once recalled the many mythical tales of birds being able to care for their 
broken legs or wings by binding or wrapping them with hairs, feathers, and other 
handy materials. A citizen of Cleveland writes, for one of the Cincinnati papers, 
an account of his finding two young swallows in his barn. One of them had a leg 
thoroughly bandaged with horse hairs, presumably accomplished by a parent. He 
carefully removed the hairs, one by one, and found that the nestling’s leg was 
broken. On visiting the nest next day what was his surprise to find the young 
swallow’s leg bandaged as before. The bird surgeon was not again interfered 
with, and in about two weeks he found that the horse hairs were being removed, 
a few each day; and finally when all were off, the union of the bones was 
evidently perfect. 
Another case is cited from “Youths’ Chronicle.” A French naturalist writes 
that on a number of occasions he has shot woodcock which were found to be con- 
valescing from previously received wounds. This naturalist goes on to state that 
