350 Animal Life 
“THERE is in Java,” said a traveller, “a species 
of large ape, one peculiarity of 
which is that it nearly always has 
a searred tail. The explanation is 
that these apes fish for crabs, using their tails for 
fishing-lines. They are so passionately fond of 
crab-meat that they are willing to endure a good 
deal of pain to catch the crabs, which they cannot 
capture in any other way. ‘To see the monkey 
fishing is a comical sight. He thrusts his tail 
(which is long and powerful) into one of the sea- 
water pools where the crabs lurk, and remains 
perfectly still, wearing an anxious look. In a few 
moments you see him clench his teeth, the tears 
come into his eyes, and it seems to be all he can 
do to refrain from uttering an agonised howl. 
When the crab has taken a firm grip, the monkey 
makes a mighty sweep with his tail, and the crab 
is jerked out and brought down with a bang that 
smashes its shell like an egg. Then the fisher 
has his reward. He picks out the meat daintily 
and devours it, pausing now and again to utter a 
groan and to lick his injured tail, which is often 
badly lacerated.” 
Very Painful 
Angling. 
We 
Some interesting observations concerning the 
surgical treatment of wounds by 
birds have been made by a Swiss 
naturalist. The most interesting 
example was that of a snipe, both of whose legs 
he had unfortunately broken by a misdirected 
The Snipe as 
a Surgeon. 
shot. He only recovered it on the following 
day, when he found that the poor bird had 
contrived to apply dressings of down from other 
parts of its body, fastened by congealed blood, 
and a sort of splint of interwoven feathers to 
both limbs. 
We 
Iv a case recorded by another naturalist, a snipe 
which was observed to fly away 
with a broken leg was subsequently 
found to have forced the fragments 
into a parallel position, the upper fragment reach- 
ing to the leg-joint ; and they were secured there 
by means of a strong band of feathers and moss 
intermingled. 
Another 
Case. 
Wa" 
A couLigz, having been annoyed by a neighbour's 
dog who was in the habit of digging 
Peeves up his buried treasures, hit upon 
: the following method of frustrating 
the thief. One day, after dinner, his master saw 
him digging a hole unusually deep, and in it he 
put a large and highly desirable bone. Then he 
covered it well with earth, disappeared for a few 
minutes, and came back with a smaller one. This 
he carefully laid on the earth which concealed the 
big one, and then covered it up. Next morning 
the thief arrived, dug up the worthless bone, and 
ran off with it; later in the day ‘“ Don” came down 
leisurely, and reaped his reward as he sat com- 
fortably crunching the large juicy bone. 
THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 
Tuts Gull, whose portrait is reproduced in our frontispiece, is one of our most prolific 
British birds, and one of the best known; but it is not by any means the most 
popular—at all events with a good many people. This, perhaps, is to be accounted 
for by its omnivorous habits; it does not confine its search for food to the ocean, 
but visits cornfields and moorlands too with a view to extracting grain and game. 
The lesser black-backed gull, in addition to the superlatives already enumerated, can 
also lay claim to be one of the longest-lived of British birds, the years of its life 
averaging probably a hundred, more or less. Nor can the bird be very popular among 
its own people if the following incident, witnessed by Mr. Oliver Pike, is of frequent 
occurrence :—“ While photographing a group of these gulls,’ he writes in “ Hillside, 
Rock and Dale,’ “I saw one approach a nest belonging to a neighbour gull and peck 
a great hole in the side of one of the eggs and swallow the contents. All three eggs 
were quickly devoured, and then the thief walked away, looking quite satisfied and 
chuckling in a contented kind of way.” 
Oe 
