by the wayside 
55 
ssterii North America, revised edition . 
ul we would particularly recommend 
3 morocco bound edition for field use. 
still will go into the coat pocket, and 
i isupies but small space in the camper’s 
ck. It covers about the same ground 
! Reed, but while less richly illustrated, 
contains much more printed informa¬ 
nt also useful keys for determining 
•ds, etc. 
If the student cares not so much for 
other field hook, as* for a longer refer- 
ye work, then Cones Key to North 
Herican Birds fifth edition, (Dana, Es- 
& Co.) may perhaps be recommended. 
I f R i s i n two large volumes, somewhat * 
pensive, and rather technical. 
There are several other works on birds, 
a rather general nature such as Fin¬ 
n’s American Birds (Scribner), and 
' Cambridge Natural History volume 
Birds (Macmillan & Co.) which are 
I xl. On the other hand tliere are some 
xl books on special groups, foremost 
long which is Chapmans’ The Warblers 
North America. Another is Mershon’s 
| )k on The Passenger Pigeon. 
Vnd if you have proceeded so far, you 
II need guidance no longer. What you 
‘1 now feel in need of most is a long 
pket hook. At least that has been our 
perience. 
serrations on Some Rare Minnesota 
Birds. 
Turing the past year \ have had the 
j)d fortune to study several species of 
! ds which some years are entirely ah- 
«/ «y 
[iit in my locality. Early in the spring 
1 low-bellied Sapsuckers were very 
merous. They were mostly males, 
ae females and a few widen appeared 
be immature birds. When I first be- 
i to notice these birds I consulted all 
m\ bird books as to their food habits and 
they were pronounced as* beneficial. My 
observations were to the contrary how¬ 
ever, as their food consisted for the most 
part ol the sap of trees. Holes were 
drilled by the birds around the trees 
near the ground sometimes completely 
encircling them and often several birds 
would be clinging to one tree drinking 
its life blood as it trickled down its sides. 
1 he trees attacked were maples, boxeld- 
ers and mountain ash. The trees for 
the most part were not injured to any 
great extent although several mountain 
ash were killed as a result of its ravages. 
As the season advanced the birds disap¬ 
peared and I have seen none since. 
The scarlet tanager is another and 
more desirable bird which was more 
abundant than usual. I had seen it only 
during migrations and occasionally heard 
its song, altho I did not recognize it at 
the time. But this year I had the good 
fortune of making a closer acquaintance. 
The first bird, a male, was seen on May 
15. From then on until nesting time I 
heard its song many times and found 
that the tanager was no poor ventrilo¬ 
quist. These birds seem to prefer open 
greves near water. While passing thru 
a grove of scrub oak on June 1, three 
tanagers were heard singing at once. The 
song once heard will never be forgotten. 
On June 9, with slight hope of success I 
started out in search of a tanagers nest 
for I thot the birds must be nesting or 
they would have moved on by this time. 
J entered a pasture which was covered 
with scrub oak and which had little 
under brush. 1 had not gone far when I 
saw a male tanager in a small oak. He 
had evidently seen me first and was eye¬ 
ing me with some suspicion. The fe¬ 
male was soon discovered ~.n the same 
tree with the male. Hoping they might 
