having apparently just started. Four days later I discovered that one of
the Cowbird's eggs was infertile; so I removed it from the nest,
disappointed that I should not, after all, enjoy the somewhat unique
experience of observing two young Cowbirds growing up in the same nest.
It was some time during the night of July 13-14 that the first of the
remaining two eggs hatched--the Cowbird's of course. The Warbler's
hatched between twelve and twelve-thirty o'clock on the 14th. The
nicety with which matters had been so arranged that the young Cowbird
would have just a convenient start in life over its unfortunate rival
commanded at least my admiration if not my sympathy. Cowbirds must
indeed be sharp nest-finders to be able to discover at short notice not
only the nests of certain suitable kinds of birds, but even nests
containing eggs at a certain stage of incubation!
[Illustration: A NEST OF THE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER]
"After the hatching of the eggs, I spent considerable time at the
nest-side, and observed with interest the many pretty little incidents
of a bird's domestic life--the constant and tender brooding of the newly
hatched young by both Warblers in turn; the never-ceasing search among
the neighboring trees and bushes for small caterpillars; the delivery of
the food by the male to the brooding female, who, in turn, would raise
herself and pass it to the young; the careful cleansing of the nest; and
many other intimate details of the birds' loving and happy lives. When I
drew aside the leaves that sheltered the nest and allowed the sun to
shine upon it for purposes of photography, the mother, realizing with
that wonderful instinct common to all birds which nest in the shade, the
fatal effect on her babies of the sun's direct rays, would take her
stand on the edge of the nest and with outstretched wings would form of
her own body a living shield for the comfort and protection of her
young. Although herself in evident distress from the heat, and with
parted mandibles continually gasping for air, she would remain in this
position as long as the sun shone upon her, only stepping aside
occasionally when a well-known signal announced that her husband had
arrived with a meal for the little ones. It was a beautiful picture of
parental devotion.
"As the young birds began to grow, the Cowbird not only maintained, but
rapidly increased its lead over its small nest-mate. At every visit of
the parent bird with food, its capacious gullet could be seen violently
waving aloft and almost completely hiding the feeble little mouth of the
Warbler, whose owner was pathetically doing its best in a dumb appeal
for food. The Cowbird's appetite seemed never to be satiated and, unlike
most nestlings, which relapse after a meal and give their brethren the
next chance, he seemed ready for every fresh opportunity; and, by reason
of his superior display, he usually succeeded in obtaining the coveted
morsel. However, the young Warbler did manage to get an occasional
portion, and I had strong hopes that he might reach maturity. For I
realized that a Chestnut-sided Warbler's usual laying is about five
eggs, and that therefore some four eggs must have been made to give
place to the two Cowbird's. Hence the young Cowbird in the nest might
reasonably be granted the room and food of four young Warblers. More
than this I hoped he was not getting.
"On July 18, at 3.30 P. M., when the birds were about four days old, I
took them from the nest to compare their sizes. I replaced them in the
nest, but that was the last I saw of the poor little Warbler. When I
returned at 5 P. M., the Cowbird was in sole and triumphant possession
of the nest. Just what became of the Chestnut-sided Warbler will never
be known, but my theory is that, weakened by lack of sufficient food,
the little fellow at last became too feeble to raise himself at all, and
was crushed to death by the Cowbird's gross body. The parent birds,
returning and finding the little corpse in the bottom of the nest, were
no doubt impelled by their instinctive sense of cleanliness to carry it
to a distance; for the most careful search over a large area beneath the
nest failed to reveal any sign of the missing bird, thus proving that it
had not fallen from the nest nor been forced out by the Cowbird.
"The Cowbird now had things all his own way and, there being no one to
dispute his right to all the food, he grew with amazing rapidity. The
dainty little cup of a nest, never built to accommodate such a monster,
was soon completely forced out of shape. His body then protruded beyond
the lower rim of the nest, and the ground underneath became littered
with droppings, quite baffling the cleanly, sanitary instincts of the
Warblers.
"The Cowbird, now almost twice as large as his devoted foster-parents,
rises with hideous chitterings of delight to receive an ever-acceptable
meal. I visited the nest at 7.30 A. M., on July 26. As I walked home to
breakfast, I resolved that in the interests of justice I ought to put an
end to that Cowbird, as a murderer and a menace to the welfare of
birddom. But when I returned to the spot, about 9 A. M., he had escaped
me; the nest was empty, my bird flown. No doubt, if I had searched and
listened, I should have heard him shouting for food not far away; but my
spirit of vengeance was only half-hearted at best, and so I left him, a
criminal abroad, to be the parent, I suppose, of others as bad."
=The Audubon Societies=
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
Edited by T. GILBERT PEARSON, Secretary
Address all correspondence, and send all remittances for dues and
contributions, to the National Association of Audubon Societies, 1974
Broadway, New York City.
WILLIAM DUTCHER, _President_
FREDERIC A. LUCAS, _Acting President_
THEODORE S. PALMER, _First Vice President_
T. GILBERT PEARSON, _Secretary_
JONATHAN DWIGHT, JR., _Treasurer_
SAMUEL T. CARTER, JR., _Attorney_
Any person, club, school or company in sympathy with the objects of this
Association may become a member of it, and all are welcome.
Classes of Membership in the National Association of Audubon Societies
for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals:
=$5 annually pays for a Sustaining Membership=
=$100 paid at one time constitutes a Life Membership=
=$1,000 constitutes a person a Patron=
=$5,000 constitutes a person a Founder=
=$25,000 constitutes a person a Benefactor=
FORM OF BEQUEST:--I do hereby give and bequeath to The National
Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and
Animals (Incorporated), of the City of New York.
=A CASE IN POINT=
In the last issue of BIRD-LORE were reproduced some photographs of a
ruined White Ibis rookery, which Dr. Herbert R. Mills stated had been
destroyed by "sportsmen" who had wantonly shot the birds. Such raids on
the bird-life of Florida have been made frequently by northern visitors
to the state. A striking example of this habit has just come to public
notice.
In the February issue of _Scribner's Magazine_, a writer, after
referring to the pleasures he enjoyed while catching tarpon at
Bocagrande, says:
"Birds were always flying around the boat; Gulls, Man-o'-wars, Pelicans,
and when we weren't fishing we were potting at them with a Winchester
.22. The Big Chief was a wizard with a rifle, and even skimming Swallows
were none too swift or too small for his Deadeye Dick precision of aim.
After cutting down a sailing Man-o'-war, two hundred yards above the
water, and surely three hundred yards away, he formed a Man-o'-war's
Club; any body who killed one flying was entitled to membership."
All these birds are protected by the laws of Florida and at least one of
them by the United States Migratory Bird Law. There is no open season
for any of them. The man who wrote this is not a poor, illiterate
inhabitant of the southern swamps, who killed the birds to sell their
feathers for a few dollars with which to help feed his family; but is a
successful writer of novels and stories, many of which you and I have
bought and read with pleasure. Incidentally, by our purchase of his
work, we have aided in swelling his royalties, thus enabling him to go
to Bocagrande, and doubtless elsewhere, where he might amuse himself
from time to time in the very delectable sport of shooting harmless
non-game birds. This man is John Fox, Jr.
As a result of the work of this Association, the Pelican colonies in
Charlotte Harbor near Bocagrande have been made Federal
bird-reservations. While attempting to protect one of them, Columbus G.
McLeod, one of our wardens, had his head chopped open and his body sunk
in the harbor by persons who did not approve of his zeal. These
birds--the wards of the Government, the birds that the Audubon Society's
members have been giving money to protect, and the birds for which one
good man has given up his life--these birds afford targets for Mr. John
Fox Jr., and his friends; and _Scribner's Magazine_, doubtless greatly
pleased at the privilege of being allowed to publish an article from the
pen of a gentleman so distinguished, kind and altruistic, has taken
these boasting sentences and printed them, regardless of the fact that
the magazine will go into thousands of homes to be read by young men who
may later go tarpon-fishing in the limpid waters about Bocagrande, and
who might be inspired to follow the example of the noble deeds of this
celebrated novelist.
We are glad to reproduce here an open letter written to him by Doctor
William F. Blackman, President of the Florida State Audubon Society:
"_Dear Sir_: As a tarpon fisherman, holding the record in a recent year
for the largest fish taken in the state, I was much interested in your
article in the February Issue of _Scribner's Magazine_, on 'Tarpon
Fishing at Bocagrande.' But when you told your readers that you and your
companions beguiled your leisure, on this occasion, by 'potting with a
Winchester .22' at the Gulls, Man-o'-wars, Pelicans, and skimming
Swallows which surrounded your boat, you surprised and pained and
disgusted me beyond words.
"You doubtless knew that all these birds are protected by the laws of
Florida, and some of them by the Federal laws also; your action was
deliberately criminal; it was also unspeakably puerile, wanton, cruel,
and vulgar.
"The citizens of Florida welcome tourists from other states; we are
happy to share our excellent fishing and shooting with them within legal
and decent limits, which, I am glad to say, the great majority of those
who sojourn among us carefully and cheerfully observe; but we do not
propose to allow our plumage and insectivorous birds to be slaughtered
to provide fun for thoughtless and reckless gunners whether residents or
visitors.
"You are too foxy to say whether you yourself succeeded in killing any
of these birds, but I hereby give you notice that if you ever again set
foot on our soil, and I am apprised of the fact, I shall see that you
have an opportunity to tell your story in the courts. If proof can be
had of your personal guilt, you will be punished to the full limit of
the law, in both the state and federal jurisdictions, for a misdemeanor
so unsportmanlike and inexcusable."
* * * * *
[Illustration: A FEEDING-SHELF FOR BIRDS ERECTED BY JUDGE HARRY L.
CRESWELL, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN]
* * * * *
=PHOTOGRAPHING WATER-FOWL=
To watch at close range the wildfowl accumulated on the Ward-McIlhenny
reservation in the marshes of Louisiana is the privilege of a lifetime.
Mr. Herbert K. Job not only had this privilege for about six weeks
during last December and the early weeks of January, but he procured a
remarkable series of photographs of water-birds that make that region
their winter home. From the moving pictures that he made the Association
now has a thousand-foot reel, showing Pintails, Teals, and other Ducks,
as well as Boat-tailed Grackles and Coots.
To ornithologists, the most interesting pictures he obtained were those
of the Blue Geese. The chief summer home of these birds is supposed to
be on the islands north of the American continent, and most, if not all
of them, pass the winter in the marshes of Louisiana. I know of no case
heretofore where they have been photographed in large numbers at close
range.
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE WINDOW OF A CABIN ON THE
WARD-McILHENNY RESERVATION]
The accompanying illustrations were all made by Mr. Job on this
expedition, and will give some idea of the results of his skill and
patience in the use of a moving-picture camera.
[Illustration: WHEN ALARMED, THE DUCKS WERE THE FIRST TO TAKE
FLIGHT]
[Illustration: AN INTERESTING COMPANY OF COOTS]
[Illustration: PINTAILS, TEALS, AND COOTS, PHOTOGRAPHED FROM
CABIN WINDOW]
[Illustration: PINTAILS, TEALS, AND BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES,
PHOTOGRAPHED FROM CABIN WINDOW]
[Illustration: BLUE GEESE AND A FEW GREATER SNOW-GEESE "GRAVELING"
AT VERMILION BAY, LOUISIANA. MR. JOB WAITED FIVE DAYS IN A
BLIND TO GET THESE PICTURES OF GEESE]
[Illustration: BLUE GEESE AND SNOW-GEESE ALIGHTING. VERMILION BAY,
LOUISIANA, JANUARY 3, 1916]
[Illustration: THE MARSH ON FIRE]
=BIRDS AND THE COLD SPELL=
On the morning of February 5, 1916, there was received at the office of
the National Association the following telegram:
"The State Game Warden, Topeka, Kansas, reports his state covered with
three to nine inches of sleet and ice. Birds starving by wholesale.
State organizing campaign for food. Can you assist? Immediate action
necessary. E. W. NELSON, Acting Chief, Biological Survey."
We immediately telegraphed to the State Game Warden of Kansas offering
$200 for the purchase of grain. Shortly afterward the following telegram
was received from Honorable Carlos Avery, State Game Commissioner of
Minnesota:
"Conditions critical for Quail on account of unprecedented depth of snow
and extreme cold. Funds insufficient to care for them adequately. Can
you include Minnesota for appropriation for this purpose?"
This second call for help, together with word received from other
directions, indicated that the snow and ice-cap had extended generally
over a number of the northern states of the Middle West. We at once
wired to the officials of some of the organizations in several of these
states, and also sent telegrams to thirty-five members of the
Association, telling them of the situation and asking for contributions
to be used in the purchase and distribution of food for the birds. Many
of the members immediately responded, and in a remarkably short time we
had collected and telegraphed to the Cleveland Bird-Lovers' Association
$200, to the President of the South Dakota State College $200, and to
the Minnesota Game Commission $600.
We also telegraphed the Postmaster General in Washington asking that
rural mail-carriers in Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska be authorized to
distribute grain to be supplied them for the purpose. The Third
Assistant Postmaster General at once gave the instructions requested.
Mrs. Elizabeth C. T. Miller, President of the Cleveland Bird-Lovers'
Association, sent notices to all on her large membership list, called
upon the people generally through the press, and set other movements in
operation looking to the good of the birds.
The South Dakota State College is the largest educational institution in
the State, enrolling over eleven hundred members. President E. C.
Perisho, who is a lover of wild birds and, incidentally, one of the most
influential and public-spirited educators of the West, called a mass
meeting of his students and laid the situation before them. The
following is from one of his letters, and will give some idea of what
resulted.
"We are doing everything possible at this end to save the birds of South
Dakota. I thought perhaps you would be interested to know that our
organization for this purpose is as follows:
"1. The State College has written to four hundred or five hundred boys
and girls, members of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of the state, asking
them to scatter grain and make some protection to save the Field
Sparrows, Quails, and Prairie Chickens especially.
"2. The entire extension force of the College, including all the
short-course demonstrators, district men, etc., have been written to and
are cooeperating with us.
"3. All the county agents of the state are interesting the school
children of their counties, and a number of farmers and the rural mail
carriers.
"4. The commercial clubs in all the large towns of the state, and the
smaller ones where grain is most needed, have been written to, asking
for their immediate cooeperation.
"5. All the state institutions, five besides our own, have been asked to
help in this matter.
"6. A number of high schools and township schools, etc., have been asked
to help.
"7. Between one and two hundred farmers, well distributed over the state
have had personal letters.
"Money in small amounts has been promised to county agents, commercial
clubs, etc. I met a number of the young men of our college today and
talked to them about the situation, and asked for their cooeperation in
writing to their homes, etc. Those most interested in the work went out,
after the meeting, and had a picture taken. I will send you this
photograph as soon as it is developed."
[Illustration: SAVING THE QUAIL IN MINNESOTA
1. Locating nesting-places of Quails under brush and broken treetops. 2.
Placing grain under brush just occupied by a bunch of Quails. 3. Fifteen
Quails were found here on February 13; food was left for them. 4. Some
Quails become weak from lack of food, are easily caught, and sit
contentedly in one's warm hand. 5. Several Quails near the foot of a
tree, and one (at the right) running.]
In Minnesota, the "Save the Quail Association" was immediately formed by
the sportsmen of St. Paul and vicinity. Mr. Carlos Avery put the State
Game Wardens to work, and the matter was given wide publicity. An
immense work was done throughout the state in the way of feeding birds.
Mr. Avery has sent in a large number of photographs, showing the men
actually at work for the relief of the birds. The method of feeding the
Quails, to locate the covies, scrape the snow away, and put out food.
The heavy snow and extreme cold prevailed over a large area of the
northern United States, and more work was probably done to feed the
birds this winter than ever before under similar conditions. Many of the
State Game Commissions have funds for this purpose, and have been very
active.
Quails and Pheasants are known to have suffered much in Oregon and
Washington. A quaint little incident is reported of pheasants in
Washington, sent us by a correspondent in British Columbia. He relates
that the Pheasants during the time of deep snow not only came familiarly
about barnyards, but were fond of perching on the backs of the hogs in
order, apparently, to warm their chilled feet.
There have been some losses in New England, and even from New Jersey
reports reached the office of the toll of bird-life that the heavy snow
had taken.
[Illustration: STUDENTS OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE, AFTER
LISTENING TO AN ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT E. C. PERISHO, ON THE NEED
OF FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER. NOTE THE DEPTH OF THE SNOW.]
=FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY=
When George Bird Grinnell coined the term "Audubon Society," and started
the Audubon Movement, in 1886, one of the first to respond to the call
and to go actively into the work was Miss Florence Merriam, who, with
Miss Fanny Hardy--now Mrs. Eckstorm, author of several bird-books--in
March, 1886, organized the Smith College Audubon Society. Soon afterward
Miss Merriam assumed the duties of a local Audubon secretaryship, in
northern New York, and also secured local secretaries in several
neighboring towns.
In 1897, when the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia was
organized, she was one of its chartered members. For many years, as Mrs.
Florence Merriam Bailey, she has been an active member of its executive
committee, and, among other duties, has had charge of the annual spring
bird-class, one of the most important features of that Society. That her
interest in the work is deep, and sympathetic to an unusual degree may
be shown by a quotation from a letter that she wrote to the California
Audubon Society on the occasion of its organization:
"Wherever you go, study the birds and tell your friends of them. Point
out to them the chaste beauty of your exquisitely tinted waterfowl; let
them see the glowing splendor of your Tanagers, the flashing jewels of
your Hummingbirds. Take them to the fields, that they may listen in
rapture to the rare voice of your Meadowlark; take them to the deep
canyons filled with the flute-like notes of the Canyon Wren; and to the
fir forests on the mountainsides, where their souls will be stirred by
the uplifted song of the Thrush.
"By knowing the birds personally, you will bring to your Audubon work
the enkindling spark of enthusiastic friendship. In all phases of your
work, for yourselves, your friends, your birds, and your children, you
have my hearty interest and good wishes. For fifteen years I have been
waiting for you to take up the cause of the California birds, and for
many years I have been working with the children of the West on my
heart. Knowing this, you may well believe that I wish your beautiful
work an earnest God-speed."
Mrs. Bailey's natural girlhood's interest in wild birds was greatly
quickened by dwelling in a home in which scholarship and a love of
scientific accuracy were taught daily; and she had the added advantage
of living in a region of northern New York well supplied with bird-life.
In a recent letter she wrote: "Having been brought up on Coues's 'Key,'
and trained by my brother, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, on leaving College in
1886 I began doing careful field-work." Since that day, no woman has
studied the wild birds of America so systematically, so thoroughly, and
so carefully as she. The amount of field-work she has done is perfectly
astonishing, and probably few women have spent so many days in the
wilds, or so many nights under canvas, as has Mrs. Florence Merriam
Bailey. Her work, partly conducted in company with her brother, Dr.
Merriam, and her husband, Mr. Vernon Bailey, has been carried on not
only in eastern and southern states and in the Bermudas, but also in
Arizona, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.
As a teacher of others, she has given bird-talks and conducted
field-classes in bird-study in various parts of the country, and for
thirty years her name has been before the public as a writer of popular
and scientific articles. The titles of no less than seventy
communications published in _The Auk_, _Bird-Lore_, _The Condor_,
_Forest and Stream_, _The Outlook_, _Popular Science_, _The American
Agriculturist_, and elsewhere, have come to my attention. Her first
book, "Birds Through An Opera Glass," was published in 1889. This was
followed by "My Summer in a Mormon Village," 1895; "A-Birding on a
Bronco," 1896; and "Birds of Village and Field," 1898.
[Illustration: FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY]
Her largest and most valuable contribution to the literature of
ornithology is her "Handbook of Birds of the Western United States,"
first published in 1902. From the day of its appearance, this was hailed
as the most practical and useful book on our western birds that had ever
been published, and for many years to come it will be regarded as the
standard work on the subject. No serious student of bird-life in the
western United States would think of being without this valuable book on
his study-table.
=NEW MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS=
Enrolled from January 1 to March 1, 1916.
_Life Members._