THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS 



165 



Professor J. C. Branner of the De- 

 partment of Geology of Leland Stan- 

 ford Junior University writes as fol- 

 lows : 



"Nearly all streams have a little salt 

 in them that they have dissolved from 

 the land, but there is not enough of it 

 to be noticeable when we taste the 

 water. If we boil down or evaporate a 

 couple of barrelfuls of this fresh water 

 to a teaspoonful we should find it salty. 

 If water flows into a lake so fast that 

 the lake keeps overflowing, the water 

 remains fresh just like the streams that 

 feed it. But if the water flowing into 

 any basin evaporates as fast as it flows 

 in, then the salt is left behind and the 

 water left in the basin gets to be more 

 and more salty. A lake made by 

 evaporated water does not overflow its 

 basin in the ordinary sense, because 

 the water escapes or flows into the 

 air instead of flowing out as a stream. 



"This all applies to the ocean as 

 well as to a lake. Lake Ontario emp- 

 ties its water through an outlet into 

 the ocean, and as the fresh water keeps 

 coming in, it remains fresh. The ocean 

 empties its water into the air to make 

 rain and snow, and the salt keeps con- 

 centrating in what is left behind." 



Giving Freedom to Young Rabbits. 



Willie Blatney of the Golf Club- 

 house recently brought to ArcAdiA 

 seven little cottontail rabbits in a nest 

 made by the mother from fur torn 

 from her own breast and mingled with 

 a few dry grasses. The little creatures 

 were, indeed, a delight. It made one 

 wish to possess them all and to see 

 them grow up, but they were not 

 quite old enough to feed themselves. 

 Mother's milk would be necessary for 

 about a week longer. To his inquiry 

 as to what he should do with them, 

 the reply was, "Take them back and 

 put them where you found them. Ar- 

 range the nest as carefully as possible, 

 and put the little ones in it." That 

 we understand was done, no doubt to 

 the satisfaction of cottontail mother. 



Was This Bird Crazy? 



f'.V F. R. GORTON, MICHIGAN STATE NOR- 

 MAL COLLEGE. 



Early in the spring our attention 

 was attracted to the peculiar work of a 

 robin bent on building a nest on the 

 iron fire escape behind our labora- 



THE BIRD SEEMED UNABLE TO DISTINGUISH- 

 BETWEEN STEPS. 



tories. It was first noticed that the' 

 bird seemed unable to distinguish be- 

 tween the steps on account of their" 

 similarity, and was placing nest ma- 

 terial first on one and then another un- 

 til four or five nests had been started. 

 As the photograph shows, two of these 

 nests were completed, and the same 

 difficulty encountered when it came to 

 laying "the eggs. The robin did not 

 appear to notice the trouble until the 

 first three eggs had been placed as 

 shown. She then gave up the task as 

 too difficult a problem for a bird mind 

 to master, and left the place to make a 

 home elsewhere. 



I think it is true that many more 

 country boys would remain in the 

 country if they could read early the 

 book of nature. — J. H. Skinner, Dean, 

 School of Agriculture, Purdue Univer- 

 sity, Lafayette, Indiana. 



Am pleased to say the last edition 

 of The Guide to Nature seems to be 

 by far the best edition you have ever 

 gotten out and if you can keep up to 

 this high standard I am sure that The. 

 Guide to Nature will meet with great 

 success. — F. A. Bartlett, President The 

 Frost & Bartlett Company, Stamford. 



