227 



The left upper incisor grew in a circle, and when it came to the roof of the 

 mouth became deflected until it found the suture of the palatal surface of the 

 superior maxillary and passed through this up into the nasal passage and contin- 

 uing its growth in thi circle turned downward through this bone again into the 

 mouth, completing over a circle and a quarter. The pleasant sensations he must 

 have experienced while this growth was taking place must have been entertaining 

 at least. The right upper incisor was forced to the right and missed the superior 

 maxillary, and performed the same circular growth between the lip and gum. 

 Each of the upper incisors are about 31 inches long. The right one shows by the 

 abrasions on it where it came in contact on its side with the lower incisor in the 

 earlier stages of its abnormal career, but the contact was not sufficient to arrest 

 its growth. 



The animal was weak and almost starved when killed, and I think no animal 

 could live long on the small amount of food that could be procured after these 

 teeth reached one-half their present length. Thus I reason that the growth of 

 the incisor teeth of rodents must be very rapid, and I would place the time that 

 elapsed after the accident happened this unfortunate creature, by which his teeth 

 were so dislocated as not to oppose each other, and the time that he was killed 

 eould not have been more than a few months, under a year at the farthest. This 

 rapid growth seems to be reasonable, too, when I consider the growth necessary to 

 counteract the tremendous wear to which the incisors of a rodent are subjected. 

 If this were not so, many a little fellow would find himself frequently in the 

 condition of the fabled rat that gnawed the file. 



The Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in Indiana. By A. W. Butler. 



The Bobolink was one of the fanciful birds of my boyhood. The accounts of 

 it which came to me, both by tongue and pen, interested me greatly. I longed to 

 see the bird and hear him sing. At first I concluded it was to be found abund- 

 antly — a characteristic feature of the landscape — each spring. Year after year I 

 watched for it, but it did not come. I consulted others who enjoyed the company 

 of birds, and learned they had not seen it. The natural conclusion was I must 

 see it in some other locality; but finally, before my purpose was carried out, it 

 came to me. I saw my first Bobolink in the spring of 1881. On May 5, when 

 walking by a timothy meadow within the town of Brookville, Ind., I saw a half 

 dozed males, dressed in their distinctive colors, arise, one after another, from the 



