264 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



(pRRESP(OT)ENCE 



x 



AND 



Information 



jx 



Cutting a Crow's Tongue to Make It 

 Talk. 



New York Zoological Park, 



New York City. 

 To the Editor: — 



I am moved to use strong language 

 in regard to the question about cutting 

 a crow's tongue to make it talk. That 

 is one of the cruelest and most foolish 

 ideas that has ever been propogated. If 

 a crow can articulate, it can do better 

 with the tongue in a normal condition 

 than with the muscles at the base cut. 

 It is a relic of medieval superstition 

 and you should do all in your power 

 to stamp it as absolutely unnecessary 

 and terribly cruel. 



Yours very truly, 



C. William Beebe. 



Protective Coloring in the Mud. 



Sacramento, California. 

 To the Editor: 



Here is an item that may be 

 of interest. I have been collect- 

 ing specimens of the Hemiptera of 

 this vicinity, among them some of 

 the toad-shaped bugs or Galgulidac. 

 I obtained five specimens from the 

 borrow pit of one of our dredgers 

 in the tnle marshes west of this city. 

 The mud here is a gray black and the 

 little bugs of the same color were al- 

 most invisible while at rest. Some 

 time afterward I found a single speci- 

 men on an irrigation ditch-bank in 

 the foothills. Here the soil was red- 

 dish as is common in our Northern 

 California orange groves, and this 

 specimen was almost the color of the 

 dark red soil. I feel quite certain they 

 are all of the same species. Is this not 

 an interesting example of variation 

 along the lines of protective coloring? 



Sincerely, 



C. M. Goethe. 



Strangled by Swallowing a Bunch of 

 Cord. 



Sterling, 111. 

 To The Editor: 



Last Sunday morning my attention 

 was called to the body of a robin hang- 

 ing from a string from a nest made on 

 the angle of one of the water tables 

 of the tower of the Baptist church. 

 The position of the nest was fully 

 twenty-five feet up, which made it 

 very difficult to reach. The grewsome 

 sight to leave there, was too much for 

 the tender feelings of the young peo- 

 ple. Accordingly, having equipped my- 

 self with a long pole with an iron hook 

 lashed at its point, I ascended to the 

 top of the building and, bending over 

 the wall and reaching down as far as 

 I could I succeeded in catching the 

 string from which the robin was sus- 

 pended and, giving a gentle pull, dis- 

 engaged it from the nest, the body of 

 the unfortunate bird falling to the 

 ground. The nest was so firmly fas- 

 tened to the ledge that I did not suc- 

 ceed in detaching it. I noticed it con- 

 tained two greenish blue eggs. Upon 

 examining the bird afterwards to see 

 how it had been entangled by the string, 

 I was surprised to find that its head 

 was free, as also its wings, but the 

 string was found in its throat. Pulling 

 the string with some force I drew 

 from its throat a bunch of the cord, 

 batted together as large as the end of 

 my little finger. The condition of the 

 bird indicated that the tragedy had 

 taken place several days before. The 

 wind produced an eddy in the recess 

 where the bird was hanging, causing 

 the body to whirl around and around. 

 The male bird was seen standing upon 

 the ledge looking down upon the form 

 of its dead mate, reminding one of the 

 vigil of Rizpah. 



George P. Perry. 



