Il8 BoLLES, Young Sa f suckers in Captivity. fApril 



On October 1 1 I recorded the fact that Three seemed dull and 

 allowed me to catch her without opposition. On the 1 3th she 

 was evidently feeling far from well and stayed on the floor, but 

 Two and One were unusually cheerful. On the 13th Three 

 showed alarming symptoms. As early as 7 A. m. she had a con- 

 vulsion, throwing herself upon her back and struggling violently. 

 Reviving, she drank some syrup and seemed better, but the 

 spasms recurred at frequent intervals during the day. She kept 

 her head moving up and down a great deal of the time. When 

 a spasm was imminent she turnefl her head far around to the left 

 and, with her neck thus twisted, spun around towards the left 

 seven or eight times, then fell upon the floor and beat her head 

 upon it. After most of these spasms slie drank from her cup, and 

 during the day she ate four flies which I gave her. The last at- 

 tack was at 5.30 p. M., and not long after she was found dead. I 

 placed her body in the hands of several graduate students in biol- 

 ogy at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and received from 

 one of them, Dr. Thomas G. Lee, the following statement : "We 

 found the intestines quite empty. In the stomach, which was 

 deeply bile-stained, was a ball composed of cotton fibres and con- 

 taining fragments of insects. The liver was very large, deeply 

 bile-stained, and very soft. The other organs were apparently 

 normal." The body was plump, and large deposits of fat cov- 

 ered the abdomen. 



On Sunday, October 18, Number One, who had been dull for 

 a day or two, showed symptoms similar to those of Number 

 Three. He had several convulsions and was weak after them. 

 I gave him lemon juice. For several days I had been trying to 

 change the diet of the surviving birds, but they refused every- 

 thing except their syrup and a fly or two which they seemed to 

 xare for but little. Among the things oflered them were a sweet 

 apple, a pear, a peach, grapes, and earthworms. I diluted their 

 syrup more than usual, and put lemon juice with it. Number 

 One's condition was such on the evening of the iSth that I had no 

 hope of finding him alive on the next morning. He survived, 

 however, although in a most pitiful condition ; his eyes winked 

 frequently, he seemed to see little, and that little in such a way 

 as to confuse distances ; his breathing was unnatural and he trem- 

 bled constantly. Monday passed, and while One grew no better, 

 Two became seriously ill. On Tuesday morning both birds 



