Manuscript for a Pacific Monthly article (March 1906) in which William Finley describes his observations of a family of yellowthroats. He discusses the thrill of the hunt when it comes to capturing images of birds.
The handwritten manuscript features a rough draft of "Bird lives" as well as other manuscripts that most likely were broken up into different manuscripts later.
Document that contains two manuscripts. The first is on the subject of housing for birds, including bird box homes. The second is primarily focused on swallows.
Manuscript that recollects when Governor Clarence D. Martin called out Portland's mayor at the time, Mayor Carson, on the pollution being dumped into the Willamette River. The document goes on to point out how this is a violation of state law. Portland was not the only area affected.
A group of people, two who were residents of Gold Beach, went in search of deer. The group included Edgar Averill, John Yeon, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, along with the author. While the group did not find any deer in that outing, they did find a carnivorous plant and took a specimen home. The author goes on to describes how the plant gets nourishment and how it received its scientific name.
Manuscript describing the sound that tree crickets produce in the night, comparing it to a symphony. There is a brief physical description as well as the fact that only male tree crickets produce sound.
Manuscript describing the problem of pollutants being dumped into the Willamette River and later traveling to the Columbia River where pollution is killing the fish. The author asserts that individual sportsmen and anglers have to follow the pollution laws but companies are not being held to the same standard. The author also states that citizens of Portland were initially on board to install sewage systems but support vanished once it was realized that the funding would come from property owners and not the government.
Manuscript on the spotting of a large group of swallows near a roadside. The author goes on to discuss how the birds are joined by other flocks to travel in large groups in order to hide their true numbers from predators.
Manuscript relating a conversation with H. S. Rowe, who along with Mr. Harrison, owned a large number of acres of land on Sauvie's Island, which happened to be excellent for duck hunting. Mr. Rowe went hunting in the year of 1907 with his son and netted the allotted amount of birds. Further comments about the plentiful number of birds for sport are included in the document. Later in 1913, a protection for migratory birds passed and closed down the hunting season. The author commented that despite the season being closed for 22 years, the number of ducks have not returned to previous numbers.