The J\'atn ralis. 
world and all its inhabitants are dec-lar- 
ed to i)e created, there is nothing in 
the Bible to tell us in what manner the 
creation was accomplished; and we are 
left free to find out for ourselves the 
method employed. 
ISh)vv that we hav(‘ thus brieli^v con¬ 
sidered this phase of the question, and 
have seen that the discussion of the 
theory, and its scientific bearings, need 
not involve the authenticity of the Bi¬ 
ble, we can go on and investigate the 
question to its fullest extent. 
To he continued. 
From Texas. 
On November 24th I shot a Yellow- 
billed Woodpecker, which had a cedar 
berry in its gizzard. It must have 
been very hungry for it had nothing 
else. I did not know that woodpeckers 
would eat cedar berries. 
Last June, while out collecting, I 
found a Mockingbird’s nest,which con¬ 
tained three young, and one egg found 
among the outer twigs, which proves 
that the}' laid the eggs before the nest 
was completed. On the same day I 
tound a curious set of the same species. 
There were four egg, three of which 
were of a green color, spotted thickly 
with reddish-biown spots, about the 
size of a No. 4 shot, all over the eo'ii'. 
The remaining egg was of the usual 
bluish-green color, spotted, more thick¬ 
ly toward the larger end, with reddish 
brown and lilac. This set is now in 
my collection. 
Sometime in 1885 1 found a set of 
eggs of the Lark Finch, four in num¬ 
ber, which were white tinged with red¬ 
dish brown and spotted with dark red¬ 
dish brown and a few lines and dots of 
black. Another one that I have has 
T,s' Com pa n ion . (u 
only a few small black spots and no 
lines. The usual color is white, with 
spots, blotches and zigzag lines. They 
greatly I’esemble the eggs of the Balti¬ 
more Oi-iole, although more spherical. 
The negro l)oys around here kill any 
kind of birds, es[)ecially Robins and 
(kalarbirds, to eat. They are general¬ 
ly armed with catapults and do good 
execution. 1 have known them to kill 
birds like Chickadees and Warblers 
and eat them. I think the killing of 
song and insectivorous birds for food 
or sport ought to be stopped; and also 
the robbing of nests to '"show off” the 
eggs. Chas. D. Olduight, 
Waco, Texas. 
Destruction of Song Birds. 
I think as does iMr. AVestgate, that 
the main cause of the destruction of 
birds can be laid on the shoulders of 
the hunter who kills them to adorn (V) 
the hats of ladies. Unlike the taxider¬ 
mist, they kill evei-y specimen they can 
get within range of their pesky guns. 
Snakes may be added to the list of de¬ 
stroyers, as they like bii'd meat ven' 
much, and can eat as many little birds 
as the taxidermist mounts. As to the 
taxidermist, I believe he is not doing- 
wrong when he kills birds to mount, as 
this is about the only way one can 
study the color, shape, size, etc. of our 
birds. The oological collector,! think, 
has but very little to do with destnyv- 
ing our song birds, as most all birds, 
when i-obbed of a set of eggs, will im¬ 
mediately set about building another 
nest, and I know of several instances 
where the bird has laid from two to six 
sets- in the same nest; but of course 
there are a gi-eat many l)irds wliich will 
not lay a second set of eggs the same 
season, and in such cases the oological 
collector may be added to the list ot 
bird destroyers. J. AY. Jacobs, 
AYuynesburg, Fa. 
