New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-06-24
Lure of the Air Service.

'N' 49, as lht idlItSl hiilu vi
shock. He had told me within {
month of his having what In his twin
Killing way Of speaking he called the
psychological bug that kept him fly
Ing after he had served through rhe
war and his duty TO his country seem
ingly was done.
Major Connolly, although not an old
man, nevertheless Is said to have been
the oldest volunteer aviator trained
for combat service during the war
lie was not sen abroad, but was held
IN this country to train the men who
we're to fight In the clouds. He met
with accidents and on one occasion
was badly injured, but. rs he said
to me within the month, nothing
could kin the bug"
Shortly before his death talked
for an hour and a half with Major
Connolly about the lure of flying. lie
Sald Il came out of the service and
thought that | would give over flying.
was flying again, subsequent to my
discharge, before ! had had time To
'"' NJ III WI. i am EblllE "
continue to fly. | love it and so does
everybody else who has come within
the range of its appeal"
White House Owls Identified.
President Harding. without knowing
II, succeeded in Identifying the species
of OWLS which just now are making
the White House grounds their daily
resting place and their nightly hunt
my ground.
These White House owls have at.
tracted n good deal of attention. They
are not uncommon owls, and they
have shown AN uncommon wisdom only
N that they have picked u place for
their residence where they are Ger.
ain to be protected. The interest in
them largely, of course, Is due To the
fact that they are White House owls
and that President Harding has con,
stituted himself their guardian.
When first heard of these most re.
cent White House owls | made up my
mind | would lind out what species
they We're. All kinds of stories had
been told about them. They were
loracious, great horned owls, barr
owls, barred owls, longeared owls,
and n or two other kinds of owls
in turn, | was given permission to
90 into the White House grounds tc
see for myself. 1t was Il lowering
duh day, and ! hoped that becaus,
of the semi-darkness the owls woulG
be awning, They were not, and !
could not find them.
Mr.. Harding Describes Them.
The President met the newspaper
correspondents for the usual Tuesday
conference. lie talked to them about
the cabinet meeting, about disarma.
ment, about big business, and about
II lot of other things of high moment
! was timOrous about bringing in such
IA seemingly u~niinportant thing as ar
owl, but | finally plucked up my or
astrological courage and said: "Mr
President, you have shown an inter
est In some owls of your dooryurd. !
understand that you have seen then
tiints, hiiu IL sbu vail ulSNtl |
two questions, ! will tell you whal
species Of owl you have for n neigh
Dor"
go ahead" said the President.
"HIow big are they?" / asked.
He held his hands about nine inches
apart and said, 80 big"
! asked, Did they have eur tufts?"
Yes" he said.
"Your n%eighbors are screech owls
Is only one other species Of that
size that occurs here, and 1t lacks the
ear tufts"
Then President Harding told me
that he was disturbed because of q
misunderstanding which there seemed
to be concerning some remarks which
he had made to the school children
who came to the White House TO see
The owls, and whom he led to their
.ree retreat. lie said. The papers
made it appear that when | asked the
if they knew about birds that
tie other birds / meant the owls.
lid not mean the owls at all. for
inow these small owls are beneficial
fear the people might think | was
Erecting the children's attention &c
he seeming necessity of the destruc.
ion of birds of this kind. The de.
,tructive bird | had in mind was the
row which comes into the White
louise grounds and kills fiedgllne
,irds and robs song birds nests"
Fish Crow There, Also.
II IS possible that President Har.
ling does not know it, but the crow
which to the White House
rounds, and which is a permanent
of the city of Washington. is
the common crow Of America. the
corn thief" but the fish crow, scien.
known as Crovus ossifragus.
This fish crow nests in the White
louise grounds and | have discovered Z
nest this year i'm a tree on the much Z
Sixteenth street. which leads {
irectly north from the main entrance [
0 the White House. 1t is a notorious )
est robber. and when Theodore J
Roosevelt was President of the United c
he had his troubles trying to |
eep the fish crow from destroying the S
ests of all the song birds which mes. a
in the trees of the White House Il
lunS I