176 



THE MUSEUM. 



outsider; still, in later years the writer 

 will find many items of interest, as 

 well as topics for pleasing recollection. 

 In looking over my diary the follow- 

 ing item met my eye and I copy it 

 here as I am desirous of information 

 on the subject, as I have never yet 

 met anyone who could assist me or 

 give a reasonable explanation. 



"Friday June 2; 



V.v 



There 



was the queerest phenomenon last 

 night that I ever beheld. At 9:15 p. 

 m. as we were sitting on the piazza at 

 home we noticed something up in the 

 heavens. A broad belt of light (there 

 is no use of saying how broad, as is 

 the same with the moon when we 

 see it, perhaps as large as a dime or 

 a big green cheese.) It stretched 

 across the heavens, touching the hor- 

 izon as far as we could see for the 

 houses and trees, and running west. 

 Now west by west and in a straight 

 line. It seemed to be moving, and 

 surely so in one spot. It was com- 

 posed of something like smoke of a 

 very light color, although it obscurred 

 the stars as it was a very clear night. 

 Sometimes it looked quite near, but of 

 course could not tell how far off it was. 

 Could distinctly see black spots in the 

 western end of it, and these spots ap- 

 parently moved along with the rest of 

 It. 



We watched it from first to last and 

 finally saw the last disappear a little 

 north of west after having been in 

 view about half an hour 



Today a man living three miles 

 north of us said he saw the same thing 

 in the same relative position, and a 

 farmer living si.\ miles southwest of 

 our place observed the same condition 

 as I judge it must have been a long 

 distance awav. " 



Can anyone tell what this peculiar 

 light was.' Undoubtedly the condition 

 was described in the papers at that 

 time, but I did not read the papers 

 regularly then. However the pheno- 

 menon left a peculiar impression upon 

 me, and I am an.xious to learn of it. 

 Morris Gibbs, 

 Kalamazoo, Mich. 



On January 9th of the present year 

 a farmer living south of town shot a 

 large Bald Eagle. After some club- 

 bing he killed it. The measurement 

 from tip to tip of wings was si.x feet, 

 nine inches. This makes the second- 

 one of this species killed in this vicin- 

 ity within the last two years. 



Chas. S. Hodgson. 



Albion, Ills. 



A curious gift has been made to the 

 Natural History Museum at Soletta. 

 This gift consists ot a bird's nest con- 

 structed entirely of steel. There are 

 a great many watchmakers at Soletta, 

 and in the vicinity of the workshops 

 there are always the remains of the 

 springs of watches which have been 

 cast aside. Last summer (says the 

 Dai/r Ncn's) a watchmaker discovered 

 this curious bird's nest, which had 

 been built in a tree in his courtyard 

 by a pair of water- wagtails. It meas- 

 ures 10 centimetres in circumference, 

 and is made solely of watch-springs. 

 When the birds had fledged their 

 brood the watchmakers secured their 

 unique nest as an interesting proof of 

 the intelligence of birds in adapting 

 anything which comes within their 

 reach. 



