Mar. 1890. J 



AN^D OOLOGIST. 



45 



Um's :iii(1 between tliose whose habits are In 

 other manners radically difi'erent. The divers 

 and gi'ebes, which do not tiock, can not be 

 tri'ated in the same manner as the ducks and 

 <;eese, or tlie gnlls, pntiins, beecli birds, etc. 



The herons and raptores may be classed as 

 solitary liirds, while most of the j^allinaceous 

 birds and tlie doves are social in their ways. 



The smaller birds can be divided into two 

 classes as social and solitary, and. save in 

 some particnlar cases, be treated in this way 

 w hen being considered as rare or plenty. 



It may be contested that all the l)ii(ls men- 

 tioned, pievions to the last <;roni). are nearly 

 ;di large or in other ways especially conspicu- 

 ons, while tlie smaller birds are very apt to be 

 more easily oveilookcd, baton the other hand, 

 if not so easily seen, it is necessary to base 

 any statements as to their plentifulness upon 

 a larger numerical scale on account of the 

 conditions governing their existence, which 

 are far more fa\'orable, as alluded to in regard 

 to their resources of food. etc.. and as there is 

 a greater means of sn]ii)lying their wants it is 

 but fair to piesume that there is more life to 

 sustain, for in this case the demand would 

 surely keep pace with the supply. On these 

 grounds, other things being eijual, a larger 

 number of individuals would be reciuired to 

 warrant a species beivig called common than 

 with the birds previously discussed.* 



The lifth term of '•accidental" needs no 

 comment,, as it certainly expresses its full 

 meaning, and is universally understood. 



Harry Gordon White. 



Gloucestei-. .);ill. -JS, IS'.HI. 



Wanderings, No. 6. 



An Mitiile in a recent number of Nature, 

 by Mr. C'has. Hallock, on ISIr. Andrew Downs, 

 of Halifax, Nova Scotia, tlie founder of the 

 first American Zoo., and now in the S('th year 

 of his age, carries me back to tlie autumn of 

 1S89, when the wanderings of a vagrant nat- 

 uralist editor, looking for rest, recreation and 

 something interesting for his readers, rolled 

 me upon tiie shores of Nova Scotia. 



I landed in the city of Halifax, from the 

 steamship of the same name, on Sunday even- 

 ing, Sei)tember b'jth, and as I was expected by 

 some of my corrcs]i(HHh'iits, Mr. Downs and 

 his fellow-taxidermist, Mr. Egan, were to have 



* The guUs, (lucks and jjeese may pixsilily be excep- 

 tions to this rule. 



greeted me as I landed. But the form and 

 feature of each of us were unknown to the 

 other, except through the medium of the pho- 

 togra2)h, and as 1 had, as the vessel neared the 

 wharf, caught a glance of a familiar face, ajid 

 with the longing of a stranger in a strange 

 land had liastened to that one as a harbor of 

 refuge, and was piloted through the ortleal t)f 

 the custom house and to a hotel, I mi.ssed 

 meeting them on that occasion. 



On the next morning, however, I sallied 

 forth in quest of some congenial spirit, and 

 not linding the one with whom I felt best 

 acipiainted, my afterwards firm friend Mr. 

 Harry Austen, I natu.-ally turned my steps 

 toward a taxidermist's establishment, and 

 brought ui) at that of Maj. Thos. Egan, well 

 known to many of my readers as a member of 

 the Canadian IJitie Team, on its recent English 

 tour. 



Yankee cheek, and a feeling of rauKtraderie 

 between fellow-spirits, soon made us ac- 

 quainted, and we were busily engaged in 

 examining the many beautiful reproductions 

 of our feathered friends, which had emerged 

 from Mr. Egan's hands, when a cheery voice 

 from the outside was heard saying, "That's 

 him, 1 know, I hear him," and my hand was 

 soon grasping that of Mr. Downs, and my eyes 

 looking upon his smiling face, framed with its 

 snow-white hair and beard; a face I sliall not 

 soon forget, even without the aid of his like- 

 ness, in the shape of a photo taken with his 

 faithful Scotch deerhound by his side and his 

 Skye-terrier in his laj), both beautiful examples 

 of these beautiful races of the canine family, 

 a memento doubly valuable as a gift from 

 himself, and bearing his autograph, and which 

 now looks down upcui me from its frame upon 

 the wall of my room as I write these lines. 



His first remark was, " Where did you go to 

 last night, and why did you not come to my 

 house?" and in spite of my protestations that 

 I would be more out of the way at my lu)lel, 

 and that I did not want to put anyone to any 

 I trouble, he insisted upon my coming to liis 

 house and making it my home during my stay. 

 What coidd one do, in the face of such iiearty 

 hospitality, and backed by the assertion "That 

 1 would be no trouble, that he would be only 

 t)o glad to have me, and that he wanted to 

 have me where he could talk to me," but to 

 accept? And I soon found myself, bag and 

 baggage, installed in a comfortable room at his 

 home, which I made mine during my two 

 weeks' stay, and talkinLr about the birds which 

 were grouped in cases about his den, a never- 



