182 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-No. 1-2 



with the phraseology and remarked, "Tou 

 never bhvck the inside of a boot do you ? " Tliis 

 was a puzzler and it was adnutted to be a mis- 

 take. After scratching his head the bootblack 

 asked the student if he. could not suggest a 

 change. With a little deliberation it was made, 

 " The Outside of Boots Blacked Inside," and 

 with mutual congratulations they parted. 



Owing to the confusion it caused we were 

 obliged to remove the snakes from our win- 

 dow on Franklin street. The sounds that were 

 wafted in from the passing throng was nothing 

 but snaix, snaikes, schnakes, and pschnaiijues. 



I had been hunting along the LI ino River in 

 Texas all the morning for wild turkeys without 

 success, and tiually threw myself down under 

 an oak to rest and imbibe a little as a precau- 

 tion against a possible future snake bite. Very 

 shortly I saw a big rattler, and a large lump 

 about half way down 1 suspected was a snuill 

 jack-rabbitt. The rabbit kicked now and then, 

 as though not enjoying the process of deglu- 

 tition, but the snake slept on, writes a New 

 York Sun correspondent. 



A slight rustling at my left caused me to 

 turn, and I saw the crested head .and f winkling 

 eyes of a Chapparal Cock peeping around a 

 cactus leaf. Rattlers and Chapparal Cocks are 

 enemies, as every plainsman knows. A vision 

 of the infant Ch.apparalCocks which had fouml 

 a living tomb in this same snake doubtless 

 tiitted before the bird's eyes. After making 

 sure that his foe sleiit, the bird picked up a 

 dry cactus spine with bis bill. <lanced out mi 

 his long legs, and laid it down by the rattler. 

 Then he went back for another, and yet 

 another, until he had built a regular wall of 

 sharp spines around the dormant sn.ake. When 

 he had completed the work to bis satisfaction 

 he went back to the cactus shrub and waited. 



l?y and by a last despairing kick of the rab- 

 bit caused the snake to r.aise its head. It came 

 in violent contact with one of the spines. It 

 gave the spine one just for luck, and got 

 pricked by another. This made the snake 

 furious, and it sent out right and left, wrig- 

 gling and twisting and putting the whole 

 weight of itself and the jack-ralibit into its 

 etTorts. 



The Chapparal Cock got so excited that he 

 came boldly out and danced around in high 

 glee. 15ut he made no sound. The snnke 

 tiually got so irritated that it threw itself .at 

 full length on the spines, rolled around in 

 agouy, and then turned its deadly fangs on 

 itself and died. That was evidently the haj)- 

 piest moment of the bird's life. lie danced 

 and cackled an<l lauabed. It was such a con- 

 tagious laugh that I had to join in, when the 

 bird vanished, and I was left alone with the 

 dead snake. — Boston Herahl. 



A Vf.hy B.\d Bird. — Some time ago a cap- 

 tain, who had been on a long voyage, ln-ought 

 home a parrot. The i)arrot who had been with 

 him, had learned some of the sayings of the 

 sailors, says the Ram's Horn. One evening the 

 cintain invited a friend to supper, and began 

 talkinsr about where he had been, to which the 

 parrot replied : 



"That's a lie!" 



The captain was rather cross at this, so he 

 covered the cage over. He still kept on with 

 the conveisation, and the parrot again re- 

 reuuvrked: 



"What a lie!" 



This so enraged the captain that he seized a 

 jug of water and threw it over the parrot, and 

 the bird screamed: 



"All hands on deck; another thunder 

 storm!" 



St. Paui,, Minn., Nov. I'.l. — Three children 

 of .\ndre\v Gulick were devoured by wolves 

 yesterday ten miles north of .St. Paul. A drove 

 of 12.T wolves were seen together in that 

 vicinity Monday. The Gulick children wan- 

 dered from home into the woods at noon and 

 were attacked and devouied by the beasts. 

 Twenty-iive men with hounds started (Jut after 

 the wolves and surrounded them in a swamp 

 and killed eleven of them. 



: They have lately added a fine Royal Tiger to 

 [ the collection at Roger Williams Park, Provi- 

 I deuce, R. I. It has attracted a great deal of 

 ' attention. They bid fair to lead Boston in 

 the establishment of zoological gardens. How- 

 ever, we have our tish .and game commissions 

 which make quite .a show and are reallv quite 

 Hoy.al. 



The sickness and death of a baby seal at 



Central Park in New York city has attracted 



cunsideralile attention of the Press. In the 



Xcir Yiii-k World after giving a delail of the 



autopsy it slates, "It was turned ovei- to a 



' taxidermist who yesterday had it looking as 



j natural as life." Could any seal have a more 



1 appropriate incninment'? 



The Anchor line steamship Ethiopia was 

 ,S(MJ miles east of .Sandy Honk last Satuida.y 

 uioming, Nov. 14th. It was a beaulilul 

 November day. The sun glistened upon the 

 'smooth and unruffled sea. The forty cabin 

 ])assengeis who bad been stoim-tossed pris- 

 oners during the preceding eight days of the 

 voyage weie ])ronienading the decks. 

 ] At 10.4.") A. M. Captain Wilson and Second 

 Officer Fife were on the bridge keeping a close 

 watch ahead. Suddenly a sjioutiiig numster 

 came t> the surfai-e of the almost jilacid ocean. 

 It w.is directly in the path of the ship and only 

 a few feet ahead. The ship was rushing 

 towards the monster at the rate of sixteen 

 miles an hour. 



"It's a wlialel" sliouted the second officer. 



There was no time to check the vessel's 

 speed. .'VImost before the astonished officers 

 realizeil it the ship's sharp iron (irow clashed 

 into the snorting. ]>ntiiug linbai'k. 



The bbiw was a scpiare. incisive one. The 

 ship seemed to sail right through the whale, 

 which disappeared almost immediately, leav- 

 ing a trail of crimson as far as the eye could 

 see. A moment after bitting the wliale the 

 monster was sighted astern, floating lifelessly. 

 \ gaping hole was in its sides, ami the body 

 drifted away snrrountled by a bloody circle. 



When the ship canu' in cullishm with the 

 whale the shock sent a thrill through her as 

 though she bad run i)ell-nu'll niiou a rocky 



