laniom llotea on llaturol |i0tori) 



Vol. 1. 



PROVIDENCE, MAY 1, 1884. 



Entered at the Providence Post-Offiee as Second-Class 



No. V. 



llaubom fobs m f alural f tstorj^. 



A Monthly Devoted to the Distribution op Use- 

 ful Knowledge Concerning the Various De- 

 partments OF Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 Botany. 50 Cents a Year. 



Address all communications to 



SOUTHWICK & JENCKS, 

 258 Westminster St., Providence, K. 1., U. S. A. 



Subscriptions hereafter will begin with 

 the current number, or the March number, 

 as desired. 



Ten cents each will be paid for Nos. 1 

 and 2 returned to us in good condition, 

 which those desiring may have at the same 

 price. 



The Toes of Birds. 



This subject has just been forcibl^^ brought 

 to mind b^- having a Red-shouldered Hawk 

 grasp m3' hand with his talons. He did not. 

 however, succeed in hurting me, as I would 

 not permit him to bend his leg, but kept 

 it extended while I asked a man standing 

 near to bend his heel joint backwards, which 

 instantl}' released me. The heel joint is , 

 that at the top of the tarsus, and is frequent- | 

 ly called tlie knee by those not well versed. 



Many birds have not the power to open 

 and shut their toes, unless the legs are in 

 certain positions. This may be modified 

 somewhat by saying they have not the ad- ! 

 vantage of the use of their full strength. For i 

 example: a hawk pounces upon his prey | 

 with legs extended and toes open, but he 

 has not the power in his toes to close them 

 tightly. Why ? Because the toes of most of 

 our hawks and owls are worked b}- leverage, 

 the tendons passing over the heel. The hawk 

 knows this, and no sooner does he strike his 

 feet upon his prey then he bends his legs, 

 thereby drawing his victim close to his body 

 and burying his talons deep in its flesh. 

 Without the reverse motion he is equally 

 unable to release it. 



The opening and shutting of a dead hawk's ! 

 leg has doubtless been tried by every taxi- | 



dermist, and probably not a few have had 

 m}' own experience of being obliged to kill 

 an owl to make it loose its hold of his fin- 

 gers. 



The osprey is notably a wise exception, 

 for in the pursuit of his slippery pre}- he 

 doubtless needs the free use of his toes. 



Most, if not all. of our small land birds 

 have this leverage, and it is this which en- 

 ables them to sleep with no fear of letting 

 go their hold. 



Rhode Island Iron. 



In our last issue we printed an article 

 upon the peculiar features of the Por])hy- 

 rytic Iron ore of Rhode Island, situated in 

 Cumberland near the Manville station. The 

 statement that this ore could not be profita- 

 bly worked seems to require modification. 

 An article printed in the Providence Jour- 

 nal states: "Experts have recentl}' been 

 at work, whose report says of the various 

 deposits of magnetic iron ore in this part of 

 the United States, that at Cumberland Hill 

 is the most extensive and valuable. About 

 1,000,000 tons above water level, while, as 

 the deposit shows an indefinite extension 

 in depth, the quantity of this ore may be 

 said to be practically inexhaustible." Prof. 

 R. H. Thurston, of the Stevens Institute, 

 Hoboken, writes: "That portion of the 

 mountain lying above the natural drainage, 

 and which may be obtained by ' open work- 

 ing ' or quarrying, and without expense for 

 hoisting or pumping, would alone supply a 

 smelting furnace of the largest capacity for 

 a century. The quantity below the ground 

 is incalculable." 



Mr. J. B. Moorehead, of Philadelphia, 

 states that it is one of the purest ores 

 known, containing 85 or 40 per cent, of net 

 iron, and is richer at the foot than the apex 

 of the hill. 



To quote Professor Thurston again, 

 " The Cumberland ore is free from noxious 

 elements, and though somewhat refractor}', 

 it will furnish a very strong iron, or a most 

 excellent steel." With the development of 

 the Sieman's Direct Process, a new and im- 

 mediate use for this ore has arisen. 



