Xov. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



ay 



Brief Notes. 



A lady recently broup:lit ns several sniiiH birds— 

 among them the Maryhnid yellowthroat. Ilhick- 

 throated Blue warbler.Oven liirdand Kint,'let. They 

 were picked up ul the Statue of Liberty in New York 

 harbor. To use her words "there were about three 

 bushels found that morning." During the migration 

 large numbers are attracted by the light, and killed 

 by flying blindly again-st the structure. A gentleman 

 recently while in Xew Yoik had occasion to cull on 

 several of the large ** Feather Dealers" and atone 

 place was shown a quantity of mixed skins. The 

 dealer informed him that they were from the Statue 

 of Liberty and that he had thirty-six cents per dozen. 

 Now comes the question who is the Chinaman that 

 put them up. Certainly so far as our experience 

 goes nothing but pauper labor could be induced to 

 work at that price : 



Oh Liberty so dear in name, 

 Why should a statue to thy fame 

 Kill olf our birds by scores? 

 Better by far, Majestic Dame, 

 Send it liaek from whence it came, 

 Thau slaughter more. 



Now hold your tongue, you silly ni:in. 

 Wnile I answer, •■ as wonum can," 

 In killing oil" your biids by scores 

 'Tis only keeping in lashinu's van. 

 True copy of nature that 1 am ; 

 Say no more. 



lu preserving a specimen of the Leallu-r back 

 Turtle last fall, we witnessed a peculiar c:ise of 

 pois<iuing. A slight cut on the fir>t Joint of the mid- 

 dle linger, on the second diy aiisumecl a purple hue, 

 and considerable local inflamation iippeared. The 

 finger became swollen; and purjile spots appeared. 

 They would last for an hour or so and disappear to 

 appear in other parts of the same tinger, the 

 phenomtnia passed down the linger and into the 

 other three, and finally disappeared altogether; no 

 gathering occurretl. The trouble seemc-d to be on 

 the surface and the treatment resorte<l to was the; use 

 of ioiliue. In twenty years experience in Taxi- 

 dermy it was the first case of what appeared to be a 

 poisoning that we have noticed. Our attention was 

 recalled to it by a neighboring taxidermist informing 

 us that he had just recovered from a similar case. 



The law in Massachusetts requires that a full record 

 shall be kept of every sale of poison, imposing a 

 heavy penalty for failure to do so. Taxidermists and 

 collectors absolutely require to use arsenic in some 

 form. In its place, it is safe and proper, but society 

 will jump on to the person who uses it careUtsshj or 

 criminully . 



A gentleman relatol a rcciuit experience of a 

 frieiul hi the Muiiu; woods. While some ways from 

 camp his bin! dog suildetdy aeleil in a surprising 

 manner, it brisileil up, backed and skulked with tail 

 between its legs, it got as closely in as it was able, 

 almost upsetting its owner. Then with a sudden 

 impulse clearet! a six foot stump and disappeared in 

 the direction of camp. VVIiile the sportsman was 

 wondering at the action, up popped a bear within 

 a few feet, an extra large one, a glance was suffi- 

 cient, and another one of God's nimble creatun^s went 

 wild. The same six foot stump was cleared and there 



was a streak in the direction of camp. The story 

 goes that the man reached camp while the dog went 

 beyond— was lost, fell into the hands of strangers and 

 was sold by them. Several days after while return- 

 ing home the sportsman saw his dog. Whistling to 

 him, was recognized, and the dog was recovered in a 

 half starved condition. This reminds us that a well- 

 known writer for the (>. & O. while collecting in an 

 adjoining county, on several occasions came 

 suddenly upon bears. From his account we believe 

 that he only tired once, and that was at a very large 

 one after it Inui disappeared over a hill. If we are 

 mistaken, we shall be pleased lo have an account of 

 the affair. 



Weare forced to conclude that tJroppingKulomology 

 from the O. & O. was not a financial succt^ss. Several 

 subscribers who were iuteresl<*d in that department 

 were lost, and very little effort was noticed on the 

 part of those who favored the change, to retill the 

 ranks. 



Some time since we received from the author, Mr. 

 Wm. T. Hornaday, Chii'f Taxiderinist, National 

 MiSEtM [SMITHSONIAN IxstitutionI Pamphlet No, 

 ■22. In it is an appeal for specimens of animals in the 

 flesh, during cold weather. TiiE National MrsKCM 

 should stand first in the hearts nt the Aiiiericiui 

 Naturalist, and any elTort that can br m.idc lo 

 further the plans of its management >honhI l>e 

 esteemed a duty to American Institution^^. 



During our wanderings we stepped into the oflice 

 of Mr. L. S. Foster, publisher of TiiK At^K. Mr. F. is 

 not a professional Taxidermist but the i)romineuce 

 of his private collection of birds at his place of busi- 

 ness, niaile us feel quite at home. From what we 

 saw, together with thegcniality of theh()st. makes us 

 surmise that " Foster's" is a drop|)ing in place forthe 

 scientific boys, when down town. 



A fine specimen of the I'iue Martin was shot by 

 Mr. E. A. Stephens while in Michigan. It is about 

 two-thirds the size of our Fisher. (Jenttral color 

 brown, while on the breast is a beautiful golden 

 hue. They are tree climbers and said to be good 

 t)rnithological eoUectors. While they may be j>leuty 

 ill the west, it is the first one that has been brought 

 to us since: we established in Iloston. 



Mr. Wm. Ilichardsou has just returned from a 

 collecting trip through Mexico. He went in iheiu- 

 tei'cst of the Bkitish MrsKi'.M, at tlie close of his trip, 

 which was very successful, he was taken down with 

 '■The fever" and prostrated I<u- s<-veral weeks, loos- 

 ing forty pounds in weight, and still showslhe etfect. 

 On a former trip to South America he visited the 

 Gold regions, a very dangerous locality, and nearly 

 lost his life from the effects of it "supposed"' snake 

 bite. He is a young man scarcely out of his teens 

 but has backbone and grit that does credit to New 

 Kngland blood. We have several specimens of the 

 Fea de Lance serpent taken by him at Martinique in 

 18S)i. They are ugly hioking creatures. Tin: number 

 of couvertsthey madetothe I'roliiljitioii party caused 

 us t() remove them to onr attic sttn-erooms. 



Careful observers arc becoming more and more 

 alarmed each year at the decrease iu<)ur shore birds 

 The ruthless manner in which tlu'y are slaughtered 

 "forthe table" bids fair for extermination. A visit 

 to the game stalls during the open season would In- 

 an eye opener to our legislators. Feups l>y the 



