128 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 8 



A woman started to run out to where the seeming 

 demented stranger stood like the famous Colossus of 

 Rhodes vitalized. 



She had scarcely gotten two feet when she gave a 

 series of falsetto shrielis, and her male companions in 

 the doorway had just time to grab her when she 

 fainted. 



It was then that they first spied the snake lying 

 wriggling in the j)uddle, which he of the good lungs 

 and leaky shoes had tried to avoid. 



Their cries of astonishment soon brought a crowd to 

 the scene, and in five minutes the stores for a block 

 were vacated l)y their occupants, who crowded about 

 the reptile on the ground. 



All sorts of conjectures as to bis appearanc^e were 

 made, and one man stubbornly asserted that he saw 

 him come down in the rain, and caused a feeling of 

 general alarm by intimating that if they would look 

 about them doubtless many more would be f<nind. 



All this time, regardless of his spectators, tlie snake 

 lay wiggling in the water, and showed such non- 

 combative intentions that the crowd grew emboldened. 



An ambitious young man hurried nearly a block 

 away and returned immediately, groaning under a 

 heavy plank which he lield over tlie reptile, awaiting 

 the word to dro]) it. 



The missile was about to fall when a stern voice 

 shout'iig to him to desist, caused him to pause. 



A mail forced his way through the crowd, seized the 

 planlv, and tlirew it to one side, and, stooping down, 

 picked up the snake, wliicli lie dropped carelessly into 

 his coat pocket, looking daggers all tlie while at the 

 would-be executioner. 



The crowd followed him, and, seeing him enter No. 

 409, read with interest the legend over the door, which 

 recited that a dealer in animals lived tliere. 



Later on tlie dealer said the snake unnoticed had 

 gotten out of his cage, and attracted by the dam]) 

 outside liad stolen down stairs. He was of the black- 

 snake type, and perfectly harmless. 



The sole remaining feature of interest was the gen- 

 eral amusement created when the young man who had 

 fetched the scantling attempted to walk away unnot- 

 iced, leaving his lumber to obstruct the sidewalk, when 

 the ])olice overhauled him and compelled him to lug it 

 back to where he found it.— [Boston filobe. 



It is (juite positive that birds will be worn in in- 

 creasetl (luantity tliis fall. What a lasting etlect the 

 late crusade lia<l. 



We have just received a few eggs of the Man-o'-war 

 Bird, taken off the coast of British Honduras. Eggs of 

 this l)ird have been scarce in the past. The collector 

 writes that in all his observation he lias seen no indi- 

 cation of more than one egg in a nest. 



Oliver Davie writes that he will mail cojdes ot five 

 plates of the new work on Taxidermy to each sub- 

 scriber. Those will) have subscribed through us will 

 receive them from Iiim direct. Mr. Davie has up to 

 date received a'-out one half the subscriptions neces- 

 sary to warrant its iiHl)li<!ation, and we earnestly urge 

 those who are interested to send in their names at 

 once. We shall sliortly receive copies of the plates 

 and will send them to any who desire to subscribe. 

 We require a deposit of one dollar on subscriptions 

 sent to us as we guarantee every subscription we for- 

 ward to liiin, and surely any of our subscribers can see 

 that the course we luirsue is but fair. In case the work 

 is not published, we will refund the deposit; but there 

 is little chance of suchatermination. Again weask you 



to help Mr. Davie in this undertaking, and you have 

 our word that you will be repaid. 



Remedy for Insect Bites.— A sure remedy for the 

 bites of insects is something for which there is the 

 greatest demand, and it would prove an inestimable 

 boon to man. Among the most recent suggestions we 

 find the following : Powdered ipecacuanha, one half an 

 ounce; alcohol and sulphuric ether, each one half an 

 ounce. It is said tliat wlien a person sponges this mix- 

 ture on to the skin, he can bid defiance to niosquitos 

 and other insects so troulilesome in warm weather. 



In Vol. XII, Part 1, Transactions of Kansas Academy 

 of Science, Col. N. S. Goss adds to the list of Kansas 

 Birds the Frosted Poor-will (A. O. I^ 418a) and the 

 Little Brown Crane (A. O. IT. 205). 



An adult ^ Red-throated Diver in full spring plum- 

 age was shot at Cohasset Narrows by Yinal Edwards, 

 collector for this station, on July 2. The bird was not 

 a cripple in any way, as is (iften tlic case with Sea Fowl 

 wliich remain tlirough th<' summer. On the following 

 day an adult Black-backed Gull was seen. Hairy Gor- 

 don White, Woods Holl, Mass. 



Correspondence. 



Eillfor of O. <fc O.; 



Am down liere collecting maninials for the 

 I". S. Dept. of Agriculture. Haven't done 

 great things yet, but have got n. few curiosities. 

 C'aught one skunk, a beautiful spetunien of the 

 Little iStriped species (SinlDfidle.), but let me 

 assure you his smell was solid color all 

 the way tlirough, no stripes on that. Have 

 also got a numlter of (jueer bats with long tails 

 projecting beyond the flying membrane, and 

 broad ears, the bases meeting over the forehead. 



Of course I have had no time to collect birds, 

 but I cannot help noticing those I come across. 

 Bach man's Sparrows are tolerably common in 

 old fields. Of Kentucky Warblers I saw more 

 in one day than I had ever taken at Raleigh, 

 lied-headed Woodpeckers and Blue Jays are 

 common, Loggerhead Shrikes by no means 

 scarce. I found a nest of Bine Grosbeaks, 

 August 2d, with the eggs (two) just hatching, 

 and another, August 0th, with a big, young 

 one and two addled eggs; have also come 

 across several fresh nests of the Cardinal, one 

 with three eggs in it. 



Have had the pleasure of seeing a dead 

 rattlesnake sixty-one inches long by the foot 

 rule, and thick — well, words can't express his 

 thickness, and being a truthful man I won't 

 say, as I didn't measure his girth. 



(\ S. Brimley. 



P. S. Mr. Hoxie says a Pole-cat's "effects " 

 don't stay with one down in Florida. Well, 

 the said 1'. C's "eifects" are "effective" 

 enough here. C. S. B. 



Greensboro, Ala., Aug. (!. IS'.iO. 



