208 



THE OOLOG1ST. 



speculation he was enraptured by the 

 plumage of a Lark or gazing like a de- 

 spairing lover on the lineaments of an 

 owl. He describes the appearance of 

 his apartments as being crowded with 

 live crows, hawks and owls, opossums, 

 snakes, etc., so that on the whole it has 

 the appearance of Noah's ark; but the 

 patriarch had a wife in one corner and 

 in that particular his ark was deficient. 

 A boy knowing his turn of mind, had 

 brought him a whole basketful of 

 •crows. Bullfrogs he expected would 

 constitute his next load if he did not 

 issue orders to the contrary. 



In conclusion I cannot refrain from 

 •quoting Wilson's own words when he 

 •describes iu such touching language 

 the actions of a mouse thai he was at- 

 tempting to draw. In these few lines 

 is to be found much of Wilson's nature 

 viz : his noble human nature and kind- 

 ness to dumb animals; and how clearly 

 it is shown I leave it to the reader to 

 judge. 



"One of my boys caught a mouse 

 in school, a few days ago, and directly 

 marched up to me with his prisoner. 

 I set about drawing it that same even- 

 ing and all the while the pantings of its 

 little heart showed it to be in most in- 

 tense agonies of fear. I had intended 

 to kill it, in order to fix it in the claws 

 of a stuffed owl, but happening to spill 

 a few drops of water near where it was 

 tied, it lapped it up with such eager- 

 ness, and looked in my face with such 

 an eye of supplicating terror, as per- 

 fectly overcame me. I immediately 

 untied it, and returned it to life and 

 liberty. The agonies of a prisoner at 

 the stake, while the fire and instru- 

 ments of torment are preparing, could 

 not be more severe than the sufferings 

 of that poor mouse; and insignificant 

 as the object was, I felt at that moment 

 the sweet sensations that mercy leaves 

 on the mind when she triumphs over 

 cruelty." 



The Chimney Swift. 



From pre-historic times to the pres- 

 ent those things which have in any 

 way mystified man, have been account- 

 ed for by some superstious fancy. The 

 ancients had exceedingly fertile imag- 

 inations, and if they were unable to 

 account for a strange event scientifical- 

 ly, mythical superstition would come 

 to the rescue. The steady advance of 

 science, however, has undermined 

 and exploded the majority of these 

 purile fancies. But a few still remain 

 with us and I have no doubt, some will 

 remain for our scientific posterity to 

 dispose of. 



I do not know when or by whom the 

 idea that certain birds hibernate in 

 muddy tracts, was originated, but tne 

 ninteenth century Was considerably ad 

 vanced before certain people were 

 made to understand, that instead of 

 burrowing in mud or in other places 

 equally absurd, the birds in question, 

 were enjoying the balmy air and gentle 

 breezes of the sub-tropics. It is said 

 that considerable testimony is on record 

 where witnesses of good repute, have 

 come forward and stated that they had 

 seen birds in the act of plunging into 

 their murky winter quarters. The ma- 

 jority of this evidence is quite ancient, 

 but as late as 1877, the Duke of Argyle, 

 in Nature, quoted Sir John McNeil, 

 who said; "I have stated, and 1 now 

 repeat, that I have seen swallows in 

 large numbers hibernating." I re- 

 member of seeing a clipping, from an 

 old paper, in the Young Oologist, which 

 gravely spoke of the "submersion of 

 swallows." 



Perhaps the Chimney Swift was one 

 of the last birds to become emancipated 

 from this ancient fallacy, and to have 

 its true habits revealeu by the dawn of 

 modern enlightment. Its peculiar cus- 

 tom of living in caves, hollow trees and 

 later in chimneys, and its seminoctur- 

 nal habits, no doubt, retarded some- 



