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I lO Bird -Lore Swallow's Nest on Board Boat Wliilc at Lake George, New York, in the summer of 1900, a curiously placed nest was brought to my notice. I had often heard of birds building in strange places about buildings; but I had never heard of them nesting on a steamer that traversed daily so large a body of water as Lake George. Upon inquiring, I found out that, since the Horicon had been in commission that season, large numbers of Swallows had been seen hovering about the boat, especially toward evening after her arrival at Cald- well. A few days afterward some boys, while in bathing off the railroad wharf, discovered a nest beneath one of the guard- rails of the Horicon. Upon examination, they found it to be made of mud and to contain three young birds, which had recently broken from their shells. Every da}", for some time, on the arrival of the boat at her pier, the old birds were seen bringing food to their young, which con- tinued their trips of eighty miles daily, until they were able to fly. Captain Harris, of the Horicon, in- formed me that this nesting on board his boat was not an unusual nor new occur- rence. He said that usually every year, before the boat was in use, great numbers of Swallows gathered on and about his steamer, and that he had known, previ- ously, of other nests similarly placet!. I was unable to gather a full description of the birds, but was told that they were the kind so commonly seen about farm build- ings. It may be supposed, although it was not authoritatively stated, that the parent birds must have followed the steamer throughout the day. When sit- ting, one bird of course had to be upon the nest, and at the same time the other, without doubt, followed the boat. After hatching the youngsters had to be fed at short intervals through the day, thus prov- ing that the old birds, with their brood, completed a course of eighty miles tlaily, either upon the wing or nest. — Burton N. Gates, fVorcesier, Mass. [Should any of our readers learn of the return of these birds, we trust they will report to us.] The Barred Owl in Bronx Park For nearly two years there has lived in the Hemlock Grove a Barred Owl, or rather a pair of them, and though neither of them were often seen, yet at morning and early evening their weird hoots were familiar and delightful to us all. Early in February, an old dead hemlock was cut down, and the Owl's nest was discovered to be in it, much to our regret, for it might have been spared. During the next snow- storm an Owl was reported to have been seen perching low down in an old tree, and after the next storm it was found on the ground too feeble to Hy. It was brought into the museum, and found to be very thin and sick, for while trying to feed it with finely chopped raw meat, it was dis- covered that it had two large ulcers in its throat, which prevented its swallowing, and that it was slowly starving to death. It diet! after ineffectual attempts at curing it by swabbing its throat with kerosene, and it seems likely that it had caught "//z^ roup" from some chicken, stolen from our neigh- bors' poultry yards. The symptoms were pronounced to be the same, extreme lassi- tude and indifference, sitting with its head down, running at the mouth, an inability to swallow. Its mate has been seen since near the place where their nest used to be. — Elizabeth G. Britton, AVxu York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park. On the seventh of December, at the home of Mrs. Edward Robins in Philadelphia, the Spencer L. Baird Ornithological Club was organized, its object being the study and advancement of ornithology. The following officers were elected: Presi- dent. Miss E. W. Fisher; Secretary and Treasurer, Miss M. P. Nicholson. Regular meetings of the club are held twice a month from November to April, consisting of a busi- ness and a scientific session, each member being responsible for two papers annually. During the winter the club has had the pleasure of listening to addresses from Dr. Charles C. Abbott and Mr. Witmer Stone, and hopes to hear papers in the future from otiier prominent ornithologists. — Mary Parker Nicholson, Secretary.