THE MUSEUM. 



153 



I think they also eat the bits of coal 

 in order to aid digestion, My family 

 and I have frequently stood within 

 twenty feet of them, while they fed as 

 unconcernedly as if no one were near. 

 When through feeding they fly back 

 to their nest, but in a short time the 

 male returns and lighting in a heavy 

 woodbine that hangs on the front of 

 the house, fully repays me for the coal 

 he and his spouse have taken, by sing- 

 ing his best for half an hour. By ten 

 o'clock he takes his leave, to return at 

 exactly four o'clock the next morning. 

 Then he gives another half hour's solo 

 which is not always so welcome as the 

 evening one. A sound like "chuck" 

 is always thrown in between every 

 "Whip-poor-will," but it cannot be 

 heard at a greater distance than a few 

 yards. 



I should have sent this article soon- 

 er, but, disliking to give a time-worn 

 fact (as I feared it might be) to sci- 

 ence, have waited until now before 

 giving an answer to the question, 

 "How do Goat-suckers carry their 

 young and eggs.-*" Several years ago 

 I flushed a Whip-poor-will that rose 

 with a baby bird clutched firmly bc- 

 tivcen licr thighs. Careful examina- 

 tion of the ground disclosed three- 

 quarters of an egg shell which, being 

 moist, showed that it had been re- 

 cently hatched. This does not neces- 

 sarily disprove the gape theory, as she 

 may have had another young one or 

 Ggg in her mouth to preserve the equi- 

 librium, but I doubt it as this was a 

 second set. Returning a week later 

 I again flushed the old bird from her 

 young one at a short distance from 

 the first place. He was then well 

 grown, so thinking that affairs might 

 take an interesting turn, I sat down 



and watched at a short distance. 

 The mother bird did all in her power 

 to induce the little one to move away. 

 She went up to it and then withdrew 

 a few inches, then shoved it away 

 from me with her breast, in exactly 

 the same way I have seen the English 

 Sparrow do. But it was useless, for 

 the youngster, having arrived at the 

 well-known age of knowing more than 

 his parents, thought I was perfectly 

 harmless and so would not budge. 

 For once he was right. 



How to Interest People in The 

 Microscope 



It may be that some of our readers 

 have been discouraged in attempts to 

 interest their friends in what is won- 

 derfully beautiful to themselves, and I 

 presume not a few have felt a wave of 

 disgust pass through their souls as the 

 friend, earnestly trying to seem appre- 

 ciative, and feeling a necessity to liken 

 the vision to some known object, has 

 remarked its close similarity to a meet- 

 ing-house, a bit of lace, a strainer, a 

 pine tree, or a dog's tail. It is a fact 

 to be borne in mind, amid these and 

 kindred trials, that the eye must be 

 trained before it sees correctly, and 

 this is particulary true in the present 

 case. The skillful microscopist is in 

 danger of forgetting his own difficulties 

 with his eyelashes the first time he 

 looked through the tube upon the brilli- 

 ant background and saw something 

 glistening in the light. We do not or- 

 dinarly hold what we are looking at 

 against the light, and this is one reason 

 why a new observer is so dazed when 

 he looks into the microscope. With 

 all due regard to the good judgment 



