366 



THE OOLOGIST. 



length of Kaniksu and established our- 

 selves on the shore of Priest Lake. 



We we-e quietly sitting on the gran- 

 ite rocks, looking at the sparkling bits 

 of mica in the shallow water, when 

 what should come sailing round a point 

 near by but old lady imber'> She was 

 not alone but had her youngest son fol- 

 lowing in her wake. She at once rec 

 ognized that tents, dogs and men were 

 strange objects and turned in the direc 

 tion of the open lake. A little excite- 

 ment on our part caused Mrs. Loon to 

 sink in the water until the little Urina- 

 tor had seated himself on her back, 

 when she swam directly from us at a 

 rapid rate. She was beyond shot gun 

 range and several repeaters brought in- 

 to rapid action failed to separate her 

 from her young one, although in her 

 haste he was thrown from her back and 

 compelled to swim for himself. 



A certain point on Kaniksujlake can 

 boast of three vei-y distinct echoes. 

 After these principal echoes, confused 

 sounds would rattle around among the 

 mountains and fiuallj^ die out in the 

 distance. One of ouf party had a weak- 

 ness for making hideous noises, danc- 

 ing scalp-dances and the like. When 

 Kaleigh chose to enjoy himself of an 

 evening, a certain Loon across the lake 

 kept up his part of the concert, presum- 

 ably as delighted with the echoes and 

 reverberations, as we. This bird took 

 great pleasure in adding to his whoop 

 an indescribable "yip" that none of us 

 could imitate. 



Urinator dreads flying and detests 

 walking. It is not easy for him to rise 

 from the Avater, and he strikes it very 

 roughly. In every case where I saw 

 one fly to the water near others, they 

 plunged and came up at various dis- 

 tances from the visitor. Only once 

 did I see one attempt to walk. He cut 

 such a sorry figure that he became 

 ashamed and waddled to the water. 

 We frequently experimented with rifle 

 and shotgun, but the Loon invariably 



escaped. Once or twice he left a few 

 feathers for us as a keepsake. View- 

 ing him with a strong spy glass afforded 

 us much pleasure. 



It was the Loon's inquis'.tiveness that 

 appeared most interesting to me. In 

 the Eastern States I had never seen it 

 manifested. Perhaps fear has over- 

 come all inquisitive propensities that 

 the eastern individuals may have had. 



Methods in the Art of Taxidermy. 



The public has been impatiently 

 awaiting the appearance of the new 

 work on taxidermy, and after several 

 years of promises, the conclusion was 

 arrived at, that Mr. Davie's Taxidermy 

 (prospective) would never see the pub- 

 lisher's hands. So long a period has 

 elapsed since the first mention of the 

 proposed woi'k, that it is not to be won- 

 dered at that impatient naturalists, tax- 

 idermists and collectors of skins should 

 begin to feel uncertain as to the out- 

 come. 



But the author of this wonderful 

 work, feeling that the publication was 

 to be the ett\)rt of his life, postponed its 

 completion from time to time in order 

 to add new notes and illustrations and 

 make it complete in every detail. At 

 last Mr. Davie's Taxidermy has appear- 

 ed, and the writer of this review can 

 best run up the merits of the work by 

 saying that it is perfect in every re- 

 spect. There is no chance to criticise; 

 no opportunity to pick flaws, either in 

 the concise text, covering the art, or 

 the admii'able illustrations presented in 

 the modern form of engraving. There 

 is absolutely nothing omitted in the 

 text. P^very possible point is covered, 

 while hundreds of hints are given, un- 

 known to the generality of so-called 

 bird-stuffers; and no one interested in 

 NatuJ-e can read a page without profit. 

 As boy and man, I have been devoted 

 to the preparation of objects of natural 



