THE NAUTILUS. 71 



has gone into the White Mountains with Frank Cole, a trapper 

 and guide, to study the effect of altitude upon some snails he 

 is taking with him. 



"It is well known that snails travel plowly at low altitudes. 

 What their running time is in the more invigorating climate of 

 the mountains will be one of Farniss' problems." 



BIRDS TRANSPORTING FOOD SUPPLIES. - - Mr. Charles T. 

 Rarnsden's interesting note 011 "The Bobolink as a conveyor 

 of mollusca" suggests to me the desirability of drawing at- 

 tention to two other instances of similar phenomena. Pro- 

 fessor G. E. Beyer of Tulane University, who has been a 

 close student of Louisiana birds for many years, has col- 

 lected numerous Upland Plover (Bartramia longicauda) soon 

 after their arrival upon the Gulf Coast, which bore beneath 

 their wings from 20 to 40 small snails of the genus Physa. 

 In reply to a query about this point Professor Beyer in a 

 letter of August 7, 1911 says : The peculiar habit which this 

 bird has in concealing the snails among the under wing 

 feathers has been known to me for many years. When first 

 discovered I pointed out this singular fact to several of my 

 hunter friends. The occurrence, however, w-as so regular 

 and was confirmed so often in after years, that I expected 

 the habit to be generally known. I used to count the num- 

 ber of snails regularly; at one time I found as many as 

 forty-one, oftener between twenty and thirty, never less than 

 ten or twelve. The stomachs of the birds always contain a 

 number of crushed shells of the snails. Furthermore, the 

 finding of these snails is only possible if the birds are ob- 

 tained shortly after their arrival from the South, the earliest 

 date of which I always placed about March 22. I was at the 

 time unable to determine whether the species of snail was the 

 same or different from ours, for the genus contains several 

 species. At the time the Papabotte's arrive here, Physa is 

 not common with us and does not become plentiful until 

 May and June. I am sorry to say that I became as it were 

 side-tracked in after years as I had intended to continue this 



