250 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



bird skins carefully labeled and classi- 

 fied, in many cases a single species with 

 its geographical races being represent- 

 ed by thousands of specimens. Orni- 

 thologists now concede that practic- 

 ally nothing more can be learned about 

 the plumage of our birds. The poets 

 have always taught that the eye is bet- 

 ter than the gun ; science is now will- 

 ing to say that the field glass is better 

 than either. 



Familiarity never bred contempt for 

 wild life. On the contrary I have met 

 bronzed, hardened old shooters who 

 had outlived the lure of the gun. The 

 old fire was there, the eyes would still 

 kindle at the mention of partridge or of 

 fox; they could level my rifle or shot- 

 gun at a mark in a way that showed 

 their trigger fingers had not yet lost 

 their cunning, but it was easy to see 

 that they had learned to love the gun 

 "not less, but Nature more." 



The eye is better than the gun ; the 

 wild wood better than the cage. It is 

 better to "put salt on a bird's tail" than, 

 in the language of taxidermy, "arsen- 

 ic and alum in equal quantities." 

 "Teach the child to love the wood 

 flower and leave it on its stem" — for 

 further study. E. J. S. 



An Identification. 



Evans Mills, New York. 

 Dear Mr. Sawyer: 



I enclose a bird's wing that to me is 

 new. The bird was shot a few days 

 ago while I was duck hunting in the 

 marsh. It was standing and stretch- 

 ing one wing when I first saw it. I 

 shall be glad if you will tell me its 

 name. 



Yours very truly, 



Henry Dumas. 



The wing is from a Virginia rail, 

 a marsh bird about the size and gen- 

 eral form of a Wilson snipe or jack 

 snipe. It is not uncommon in suit- 

 able localities. E. J. S. 



A Letter from Mr. W. B. Mershon. 



The author of the book, "The Wild 

 Pigeon," writes the following interest- 

 ing letter about the birds he knew so 

 well. E. J. S. 



Some time ago you sent me the 

 October number of The Guide to 

 Nature. The pictures are mighty 



good. You have a first-rate picture of 

 the pigeons in flight ; the long arrow- 

 shape impression that they give, I 

 don't think has ever been copied or 

 observed by any other artist and it 

 gives the true idea of how these birds 

 looked. Your flight formations are 

 good but I do not recall that while 

 they were in flight they ever stopped 

 in transit in the trees. In a thick 

 woods there might be a few of them 

 that would light in an old, tall, dead 

 tree. 



Yours truly, 



W. B. Mershon. 



A Pet Owl. 



No, this is not, and never was, a 

 bird in the hand — fortunately for the 

 "hand !" I am fond of my pet 



THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 



owl, and wish him well, but I fear that 

 all the pleasure of shaking hands with 

 him would be his. I was hunting 

 gremse when I first saw him flying 

 through the swampy woods. One shot 

 injured a wing, and he was soon at 

 bay. He is a great horned owl, the 

 largest and most powerful of our resi- 

 dent species. In nature his food in- 

 cludes grouse, rabbits, hares and 

 skunks, as well as smaller birds and 

 mammals. As a captive, he has a men- 

 acing way of ruffling his feathers, till 

 he looks twice his actual size. 



