230 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



and sometimes in great numbers, for 

 instances have been seen where beetles 

 in enormous numbers visit a body of 

 water at the same time, so that the 

 hairworms have an opportunity of 

 emerging in great numbers at once. 

 — H. W. C. 



The Split Rock. 



Wilton, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor: 



I send with this the picture of "Split 

 Rock" which is situated in Wilton a 

 mile or more north of Cannon Station. 



THE SPLIT ROCK. 



A lady has observed this rock for fifty or fifty-five 



years. 



A lady who has known the rock from 



her childhood tells me that fifty or 

 fifty-five years ago the split was only 

 about six inches wide. When this pic- 

 ture was taken last October I esti- 

 mated, by stretching out my arms, that 

 four feet from the ground the two 

 sides were about four feet apart. The 

 tree that grows between the sides is 

 six or seven inches in diameter near 

 the ground. 



The rock is granitic, but the par- 

 ticles are so coarse that the water must 

 penetrate between them. Great blocks 

 that have broken off lie around the 

 base. 



Yours very truly, 



Anna E. Carpenter. 



Bettie Eustis. 



BY ARTHUR MUNSON, EUSTIS, FLORIDA. 



The writer has so much comfort and 

 pleasure in his pretty pet bird, Bettie 

 Eustis, and her four charming young 

 birds that he wishes briefly to state 

 his case to the nature loving readers 

 of this good outdoor journal. 



Bettie locally called a "blue peet" 

 but judging from what Dr. Bigelow 

 writes to me she is a gallinule, one of 

 the fisher birds that abound on the 

 lakes in Lake County and other parts 

 of Florida. 



It is Bettie's colors and charming' 

 ways that are worth noting. On her 

 back and neck she has lovely blending" 

 of purple, blue and green that in sun- 

 light is magnificent. On the top of her 

 trim little head is a nearly oval patch 

 of sky blue ; around her bill, which is 

 rather short for a wading bird, is a 

 band of scarlet more than a half-inch 

 wide. Her bill and legs are greenish 

 yellow. The tail is short and pointing 

 up, with a frequent flipping or jerking" 

 motion. 



The young are jet black when 

 hatched, and are as "cute" as any baby 

 fowls you ever saw and loved. 



The adults are about the size of 

 quails, but slimmer. The whole family 

 is on' the deck of my studio house 

 boat, and even in the cabin (where 

 they have located the rice bag), at all 

 hours of the day, and will eat from my 

 hand. 



Bettie is so maternal in her actions, 

 and so constantly careful of her young" 

 that she one day drove away an old 

 crane four times her size when he was 

 wading near the boat and in what she 

 thinks is her own domain. 



She hatched six biddies, but lost 

 two that were doubtless caught by 

 one of the alligators that infest Lake 

 Eustis. 



As I write this, 

 on my goods-box 

 cut lemon, while 

 deck eating boiled 



one of the birds is 

 table picking at a 

 another is on the 

 sweet potato. To 



wheat or corn they prefer rice, cheese, 

 hominy and any scraps of meat that 

 the steward may hand out. 



Bettie's call and notes are pleasing, 

 and remind one of those of the com- 

 mon hen; she has a little song with 

 which she often favors me. The chicks 

 have a pleasant chirp, especially when 

 I speak to them. They cut up great 



