/ 



lanbom |lote0 on Malural liBtori), 



Vol. III. 



PROVIDENCE, AUGUST 1, 1886. 



No. 8- 



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



!|^anbom !f ofes on !f atural f tstor)|» 



A AfoNTHLY Devoted to the Disthibution of Use- 

 ful Knowledge Concekning the Various De- 

 partments of Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 Botany. 50 Cents a Year. 

 Address all commui ications to 



JAME.S M. SOUTHWICK, 

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



What's in a Name ? 



Tlie following from the Pawtnxet Valley Gleaner, 

 will serve to show how much " Patsy " knew about 

 the " Night Hawk." 



Tom-cat will not Yowl To-Night; or, The 

 Night-Hawk's Last Adventure. 



Maple Valley's sun was setting, 



O'er the hill tops far away, 

 Flooding all the land with beauty, 



At the close of one bright day; 

 And the last rays kissed tlie feathers 



Of a bird so free and high, 

 Sailing o'er the fields and woodlands, 



With his wild, discordant cry. 



As he sailed so slow and stately, 



In the air so cool and free. 

 Far below he saw the chickens 

 Roosting on an apple tree. 

 " Oh," he said, " I want my supper," 



As he winged his airy flight; 

 " But I cannot catch a chicken 

 If the tom-cat yowls to-night." 



" I," he said, " am called the night-hawk. 



And a lofty name I bear; 

 But it makes me awful hungry. 



Sailing in this keen, cool air. 

 I am longing for my supper. 



But I shall not get a bite 

 If the chickens are kept wakeful 



By the tom-cat's yowls to-night. 



" Oq the ground I see you prowling. 



Looking for a mouse or rat. 

 And I'd gladly make a supper 



Off you. Maple Valley cat. 

 If I only had the courage, 



But I fear your scratch and bite. 

 If I dared to, I would fix you 



So you would not yowl to-night. 



• " Ah! at last I see you're sleeping 



Underneath the apple tree 

 Where the tender chicks are roosting. 



But my victim you shall be; 

 Nevermore you'll squall at evening. 



And the chickens put to tlight. 

 For I'm going to devour you. 



And you will not yowl to-night." 



Down he flew upon the green-sward. 



Where the cat a bed had found, 

 Wlien the sly cat ponnrf^d upon liim 



And bore him down to the ground. 

 Ah " the niglit-hawk cried, " you've tricked 

 me. 



Now I'm in a pretty plight! 

 I had thought to dine upon you, 



So you would not yowl to-night! " 



With bright hues the east was glowing, 



And the moon hung in the west. 

 When the tom-cat ceased his labors, . 



And stretched on the grass to rest. 

 He had found the bony night-hawk 



Tough to tear and hard to bite; 

 And oft in his sleep he murmured: 



" Tom-cat will not yowl to-night." 



Patsy. 



Another Enemy in the Poultry Yard. 



For several seasons, I have been using 

 in my poultry yards kept for domestic 

 use, the Pl3'mouth Rock, and found it in 

 everj' wa}' a most satisfactory variety. But 

 it is not m}' present object to " write up" 

 any fowl of the earth or air except one which 

 the reader must presently admit can not be 

 painted in color of too black intensity. The 

 spring laying season had opened and the at- 

 tendant of the poultry had been very much 

 elated by the richness of his egg harvest, 

 when I found him one da^- quite dejected by 

 the loss of his finest pullet. He saicl that she 

 had been struck by a hawk some da3's before, 

 and had just died from the effects of the 

 wound. The next day he reported another 

 case of the same kind, and the experience 

 was repeated daily until it became both mo- 

 notonous and inconvenient. Six of the best 

 hens had been wounded and most of them 

 were dead. The hawk theory was exploded 

 but none more satisfactory had been sug- 

 gested. We would have suspected hogs 

 which frequented the woods adjoining the 

 poultry yard, but the wounds were always in- 

 flicted upon onl}' one part of the body of the 

 hen and no corresponding impression of 

 another set of teeth could he found. The de- 

 struction of the fowls still continued and its 

 cause still baffled our etlbrts at comprehen- 

 sion, until one day a boy working on the farm 

 happened to pass the fowls ranging in the 



