46. 



"N. K." System of Arrangement 



A naturalist, traveling in the in- 

 terior of Pennsylvania, stopped at a 

 very neat, clean tavern, and was 

 agreeably surprised to find the 

 chimney-pieces, cupboards, etc., 

 crowded with specimens of minerals 

 and fossils, each of them bearing a 

 label with N. K. on it. Puzzled by 

 these letters, he sought for informa- 

 tion of a smart-looking woman, who 

 was the landlady. She informed him 

 that her nephew, who was gone to 

 Kentucky, was the owner of these 

 specimens, and that he had pasted 

 some long names upon them, he had 

 learnt from the doctors in Philadel- 

 phia; but they were so hard to pro- 

 nounce when her neighbors asked 

 her questions about them, that she 

 had taken them off, and put N. K. 

 upon every one of them. The natu- 

 ralist assenting to all this, asked her 

 the meaning of N. K. "So you don't 

 know what the meaning of N. K. 

 is?" said she. "Upon my word, 

 I have not the least idea," he repli- 

 ed. "Well," said she, "I thought 

 the Philadelphians knowed every- 

 thing; however, if you don't know 

 I'll tell you. N. K. means 'Nayterul 

 Kurossity.' " — Young Oologist. 



There is a bird roost at Lake Gent- 

 ry, in Brevard County, Fla., cover- 

 ing a tract of eighty acres, in which, 

 it is estimated, over 7,000,000 birds 

 gather every season. It has been a 

 resting place for birds from time 

 immemorial. 



In the heart of Wyoming Terri- 

 tory is a mountain of solid hematite 

 iron with 600 feet of it above the 

 ground, more than a mile wide, and 

 over two miles in length; a bed of 

 lignite coal big enough to warm the 

 world for centuries; eight lakes of 

 solid soda, one of them 600 acres in 

 extent and not less than thirty feet 

 in depth, and a petroleum basin 

 which contains more oil than Penn- 

 sylvania and West Virginia com- 

 bined, from which in places the oil 

 is oozing in natural wells at the rate 

 of two barrels a day. 



The oldest and at the same time 

 the thickest tree in the world, so far 

 as known, is a chestnut near the foot 

 of Mount Etna. It is hollow, and 

 large enough to admit two carriages 

 driving abreast. The circumference 

 of the main trunk is 212 feet. 



CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43. 



feathered race — enjoys its life in the 

 winter months, when the frost is 

 keen and the storm winds are blow- 

 ing:, as well as when its native wilds 

 are clothed in the emerald garb of 

 summer. 



*Since the above was written, I 

 have taken a nest of this species 

 containing eight eggs. 



to be continued. 



Listowell, Ontario. 



For The Ornithologist. 



The Bamboo. 



The bamboo is* a native of the 

 hottest regions of Asia. It is like- 

 wise to be found in America, but 

 not in that abundance with which 



