Notes From Field and Study 67 and trimmed with a little knot of white lace and two white quills. A truly wonder- ful nest! For what purpose were the badges and lace and feathers so carefully arranged if not for mere decoration? Surely those two Robins must have possessed thought and taste to build such a home as this! And yet there are many good people who declare that birds do not think at all — that they act and live merely by instinct ! — Kath- arine S. Parsons, Secretary, Albany, N . Y. [While the builders of the nest here fig- ured assuredly employed unusual material, we cannot but fear that our correspondent has attributed to these Robins her own stan- dard of beauty. — Ed.] Bird Notes from a Florida Porch It was the writer's good fortune to spend the greater part of the month of March, 1904, at a cottage in Gulf Hammock, Levy county, Florida. When not off collecting natural history specimens or fishing, the greater part of my time was spent on the front porch, watching the numerous species of birds that came near the house. No shooting was allowed in the immediate vi- cinity, of the house, which may partly ac- count for the tameness of many of the birds observed. At least one-half of the species of birds mentioned in the accompanying list were noticed within twenty feet or less of the house, and all were observed from the front porch. The Mocking-bird and the Blue Jay were a study by themselves, the former always singing until one of the latter would approach too near, and then it was a case of scolding and fighting, ac- companied by a fluttering of wings, the Blue Jay generally retiring, leaving the Mocking-bird in peace. Twenty-odd years ago the Carolina Paroquet was quite com- mon in this neighborhood, and the same can be said of the Ivory-billed Wood-, pecker, but none of the former have been seen for twenty-odd years, while the latter is growing scarcer with each passing year. The following list of birds is appended with the hope that those who are confined to a porch will see that at times there is plenty of bird-life to be seen without going miles away from the house — if one will only keep his eyes open. Following is a list of the birds observed during my four weeks' stay in this interesting part of Florida: Quail, Mourning Dove, Ground Dove, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Flicker, Humming-bird, Phcebe, Blue Jay, Common Crow, Meadowlark, American Goldfinch, Grasshopper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Cardinal, Towhee, Purple Mar- tin, Parula Warbler, Palm Warbler, Mock- ing-bird, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin. Of the twenty-six species of birds here enumerated, all were more or less common excepting the Humming-bird, Carolina Wren and the Red-shouldered Hawk. Two or three species of Warblers, as well as a species of Flycatcher, were seen, but from my position on the porch I could not identify them with a certainty. — Philip Laurent*, Philadelphia, Pa.
- For a list of birds seen by the writer during two
short trips made to Gulf Hammock in the years 1886-87, see Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. 12, pp. 157-159. Shoot the Evictor In your May-June, 1905, issue of Bird- Lore, Lieutenant Bennett writes an interest- ing article. Among other things he gives his experience and failure in trying to drive the pugnacious, abominable English Sparrow from his Wren- boxes. He desires to hear fur- ther from your correspondent in January and February number of 1905 as to his success in using a gun. I take it, however, that a word of experience from any one on this point will be acceptable as " in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Last spring I put up, in two trees near our house, two nest-boxes made from hollow sticks, say six inches in di- ameter. The Wren-box had an open door a scant inch in diameter; the other box, for Bluebirds, perhaps one and three-quarters inches . Neither of them had " To Let" cards on, yet prospective tenants began to arrive almost as soon as the boxes were hung in po- sition. The Wren-house door being too small to admit Sparrows, the Wrens had a pretty good time for a day or two, until they decided to take the house and began to move
