lanJom loteiSi on llatural |i0tort). 



Vol. II. PROVIDENCE, APRIL 1, 1885. 



Entered at the Providence Post-Offiee as Second-Class Matter. 



No. 4. 



]|anbom f oias on "fnttiral f istorij, 



A Monthly Devoted to the Distribution of Use- 

 ful, Knowledge Concernino the Various De- 

 partments OF Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 Botany. 50 Cents a Year. 

 Address all communications to 



SOUTHWICK & JENCKS, 

 258 Westminster St., Providence, K. I., U.S.A. 



The statements in an article on cr3'olite 

 in a previous issue and our editorial having 

 been called in question, we have made 

 various experiments desiring to correct any 

 false impressions. We found that before 

 the blow-pipe on charcoal, cryolite in small 

 quantities fused to a liquid ; in the pincers, 

 with a well-directed R. F., it reduced and 

 changed form ; in gas-flame we were able 

 to turn ends and thin edges to a white 

 enamel, and in candle flame, by carefully 

 introducing a fragment into the hottest 

 part a limited fusion was produced. 



It does not, like stibnite (noted as No. 

 1), melt and drop. The term "easily 

 fusible " seems to admit of much greater 

 latitude of meaning than we had imagined. 



/ A Collecting Trip to Cape Cod. 



Chatham is the southeastern point of 

 Cape Cod. To the eastward, at a distance 

 of one-half to three-quarters of a mile, is 

 the sand-bar, and between are the flats over 

 which a sail-boat can float at high water, 

 while at low tide so much is bare that there 

 is not enough water in the channels to get a 

 row-boat across. 



We reached Chatham about noon of May 

 21, 1883, and lost no time in putting on our 

 hunting-clothes, as the tide was ebbing, 

 and we wished to spend the afternoon on 

 the bar. As we were being pulled across 

 a fog was beginning to settle, which was 

 soon very thick, and three birds, one apiece, 

 were. all we obtained. 



Our row back to town was an eventful 

 one, which we shall not soon forget, for, 

 mistaking the roar of the ocean at the inlet 

 for the rush of the incoming tide across the 



flats, we came ver}' near being swamped, 

 and not till our boat was parti}' fllled with 

 water from the rolling billows, did we pull 

 into still water, to await the clearing up of 

 the fog, or morning, we knew not which. 

 Being strangers, we left the rowing to our 

 boatman, a bo}' of sixteen, who thought he 

 knew where he was going, and did not want 

 to admit that he did not. Suflice to say, 

 when we pulled awa}' from the threatening 

 danger, we found a sail-boat moored, which, 

 being recognized by the boatman, our cor- 

 rect course was laid, and w'e were soon do- 

 ing justice to our host's well-spread table. 



The day following was also foggy, and' 

 poor was our success, a few Wilson's Terns, 

 Piping Plover, and Turnstones being all, 

 until, approaching a small sand bar on our 

 return, a group of birds loomed up looking 

 much larger than reality, but a shot laid 

 out one Black-bellied Plover and one Red- 

 breasted Sandpiper, both fine specimens. 



Before daylight of Wednesday, the '23d, 

 we were on our way to the bar. The two 

 preceding da3-s, besides being foggy, had 

 been windy and considerable rain had fallen, 

 but with our gossamer coats and hip boots 

 we were well protected. The present day 

 was, however, free from fog, and for the 

 first time we could look about us. 



Most plentiful of all were the Terns 

 which were to be seen flying in every direc- 

 tion, while on certain sand-bars the}' were 

 resting in large numbers. When a school 

 of small fish is discovered the Tern pauses 

 in its flight, and hovering over them, turns 

 its head with bill directl}' downward, and an 

 instant later descends the same as a King- 

 fisher. Others follow, and soon the whole 

 flock are diving, rising to the proper height, 

 and diving again. Occasionall}- a Tern ap- 

 proached within gunshot, and if shot others 

 would pitch over it, and several could be 

 secured. We had in this way cut down 

 several Arctic Terns and a few Bonaparte's 

 Gulls, two or three wounded of which were 

 drifting away from us, and I had run to* 

 where our boat was beached in order to row- 

 out and secure them. 



