Dec. 23.—Bird-photography is one of the most irritating hobbies in the world. I have read much literature on the subject and can quote the following from one of its most successful exponents. "Birds...differ considerably in their temperaments, in the same manner as mankind, und whereas one bird may be brazen another may be extremely timid." Exactly! And that author, in common with all others tells you thet you must build a "hide" to cope with the temperamental birds. This is all very well, but there are difficulties to be thought of: I don't want "hides" all over the garden, Imagine my ife having a tea-party one afternoon and {pointing to a sort of collapsible tent in the middle of the lawn) saying, "that is my husband's hide." It doesn't sound well, whichever way you take it. With such thoughts in view I have for weeks been luring a family of Mynahs to feed every morning on a flight of stone steps where their movements, jumping up and down in search of food, show off their plumage to perfection; the great white patch in the middle of the wings and the narrow white border at the end of the tail. {had everything beautifully fixed up and had even trained them not to be by" by leaving the apparatus out at iceding-time for days on end; the release-wire was led across a path and all ready to be touched off. The great moment came. The whole family were feeding surrounded by sparrows, bulbuls, doves and odd birds...I crept along to touch off the release-wire...it wobbled slightly and with a concerted "whirl" of wings the whole of the birds were gone, led by those wretched Mynahs! Of course, when I look at those queer birds with their long noses and ill-kept Old-Bill moustache, I do not blame them for being camera-shy. A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind, IN PARENTHE, The Shaver "How long have you been shaving "Four years now."
"Yeah?" 3 "Yes sir—and cut myself both times!"
More Howlers "A Lampoon is a Chinese lantern." "A Soviet is a Russian table napkin." "Orion was an Irish astronomer."
"Gurkhas are Indian pickles."
Spokeless Bert: "I saw Willie) flung over the handle-bars of his bike yesterday.
"Did it knock him speechless?"
"No, but it knocked his bike spokeless."
Plebian i Wuen a lady returned from the Aegean, Her friends asked her, "What did they aegean?"
She scarce moved her lips As she sighed, "Fish and chips—My Dear, what a plaebean aegean!" la Po iters for Punters I Hear that Northwest University has raised its entrance requirements this fall."
"Yes, all entrants must be able to punt 75 yards instead of 50, as heretofore."
Shallow A koch young man, for a bet, Dived in off the pier parapet, But the tide, sad to say, Had gone far, far away, And the dredger's not scooped him up yet!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.