126 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-N0. 8 



as he runs about in the bright sunshine, 

 after a spell of underground work, and tell 

 me whether you think those eyes of his, 

 small though they are, do not serve him 

 in good stead. And that beautiful coat 

 never shows any dirt upon it, no matter 

 how clayey the soil may be among which 

 he works. — Pall Mall 7J?(d<ret. 



Dear Mr. Delsarte ! 



Since you've taught us that art 

 Must replace Mother Nature's injunctions 



And teach us anew 



What we really should do 

 Witli our various J•)h^•sical functions. 



We beg you will add 



To the lessons we've had 

 About walking and breathing and posing. 



Other hints that will make 



All our doings partake 

 Of a grace more perfection disclosing. 



We'd be taught, if you please, 

 How to gracefully sneeze. 



How to snore in symmetrical manner, 

 How to get out of bed, 

 How to drop when we tread 



On the cuticle of a banana. 



How to smell, how to wink, 



How to chew, how to drink, 

 How sublimely to shake an ash-sifter; 



How to step on a tack. 



How to get in a hack, 

 How to toy with a heated sto\e^lifter. 



How to hiccough with ease, 

 How to groan, how to wheeze. 



How to spank a night-howling relation ; 

 In short how to mend 

 The mistakes that our friend 



Dame Nature mixed in our creation. 



OoLOGiCAL Note. — From a scientific 

 point of view, my collection of oological 

 specimens for 1S93 has been the most 

 valuable of those yet taken in any single 

 season, including as it does fine full sets of 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk, Winter Wren, Yel- 

 low-bellied Fly-catcher, Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, Canadian Warbler, two species of 

 Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, and others 



to the number of over thirty species. 

 Some valuable books have also been 

 added to my library, and many notes, 

 which . will yet interest the student of 

 Canadian ornithology, have been dotted 

 down. W. L. Kclls. 



Listowel, Ontario, Can. 



One of the interesting objects met with 

 on our coast is the Horse Foot Crab, Liii- 

 eulus poliiphcmiis. It is found from 

 Maine to Florida. The breeding season 

 in New England is during May to August. 

 The eggs are deposited in the sand. They 

 are very small and said to resemble seed 

 pearls. The young crab swims from the 

 start, and its tail appears after the first 

 moult. Many of them become entangled 

 in the floating seaweed and as the tide 

 goes out are left high and dry, when the 

 sun dries them up and bleaches them at 

 short notice. The delicate shell, which is 

 all that is left, is wafted by the wind up on 

 the beach, where they are secured in large 

 numbers by specimen hunters. They vary 

 in size from one half inch to four inches 

 diameter. It is seldom that large ones are 

 found in a perfect condition. When the 

 old crabs get stranded they decay rapidly 

 and drop to pieces. At Monomoy Island 

 we have seen the bay shore lined with the 

 old fellows, who would measure ten to 

 fifteen inches in diameter. 



The small ones are very interesting to 

 those who do not live on the coast. They 

 can be had at ten cents each postpaid. 

 We have seen some painted to resemble a 

 face, and are quite grotesque. 



The sling was one of the earliest inven- 

 tions in the way of a weapon, and was 

 itself an improvement on the stone thrown 

 by hand, which was the rudest and most 

 primitive method of fighting. — Harper's 

 ToiiJtg People. 



F. C. Kirkwood, 115 Concord Street, 

 Baltimore, Md., is working on "The Birds 



