BY THE WAYSIDE 
i o 
selves over Cuba, Mexico, and northern 
■ 
South America, and summer as far north 
as Alaska. 
Aigrettes. 
Fashion is again demanding that we 
wear aigrettes, and from all bird lovers a 
cry is going out to spare the beautiful 
mother birds which are killed just when 
the young are hatched, for that is the 
time when their beautiful feathery head 
dress is in its prime. These feathers are 
pulled out, the dead bodies thrown 
aside, and the fledgelings are left to rend 
the air with their calls for mothers and 
food until death claims them also. Is 
it any wonder that this bird is fast be¬ 
coming extinct. There is no way of 
reaching these cruel hunters as long as 
the millinery manufacturers pay large 
sums for these feathers. This was proved 
some time ago when one of. the game 
wardens in Florida was murdered while 
trving to run down some of these bird 
destroyers. Are we going to let that sac¬ 
rifice be made for naught and go on cre¬ 
ating a demand for these contraband 
goods? There is a law against them in 
most states, but who has the courage to 
accuse the fair law-breakers who claim 
ignorance to the fact that their finery 
is forbidden. 
Fall Nest Building. 
We are apt to think that birds build 
only in spring or summer, because that 
is their “natural” season and becaus 
their ancestors did so. But have you 
never thought that the heat or the mild¬ 
ness of the weather mav have a direct 
influence, and may actually invite them 
to build? Here is a little incident which 
I saw last year, and which seems to point 
in that direction. 
The 24th of September was springlike 
in temperature; a fine rain was falling, 
and I was afield, watching a host of small 
migrants, chiefly myrtle warblers and 
sparrows, but especially interested in the 
movements of soipe young goldfinches 
that were learning to feed on thistles. 
About a cavity in an old apple tree were 
four bluebirds hovering and warbling. 
Looking more closely I noticed that ea( h 
pair seemed trying to get possession of 
the hollow, as I have seen them fighting 
for a nesting place in spring. But to my 
astonishment one male had a straw in 
his bill. He went into the hollow, tar¬ 
ried for awhile, and returned without 
the straw. Then the female went in and 
stayed for several minutes. The birds 
were so much interested that I went to 
within a few yards of them before they 
left. In the hollow was the foundation 
of a m st. 
A bird, called the pine siskin, which I 
caught onedav,and which roamed about 
the house, found an old vireo’s nest and 
at once took possession, pulling and pick¬ 
ing curiously at the loose fibres as if to 
arrange them to a siskin’s taste. I have 
also seen a pair of waxwings gather nest¬ 
ing material when it seemed too late in 
the season even for them. Perhaps fur¬ 
ther study of the birds in the fine autumn 
weather will show that they are often led 
to build useless nests. It would be in¬ 
teresting to know how farthev mav some- 
times carry those untimely efforts.— St. 
Nicholas. 
There is a little book called “Dickev 
J 
Downey,” by Virginia Sharp Patterson, 
which is interesting and teaches the 
children to love and protect the birds 
and above all not to wear feathers. 
