also show a marked sympathy for each 

 other's misfortunes, it is very dangerous 

 to wound one in the water lest the whole 

 herd join in a common defense. 



An adult male Walrus measures about 

 twelve feet from the end of his nose to 

 that of his very short tail, or fourteen feet 

 to the end of his hind flippers, and 

 weighs something over a ton. His girth is 

 as great as his length, in fact, it has been 



often observed that his great circumfer- 

 ence and too-loose skin seem rather a 

 source of annoyance than otherwise too 

 him, especially when he tries to land on 

 a sandy beach. Even with the wash of 

 the breakers he is rarely able to get be- 

 yond the water line, except as the tide 

 goes down and leaves him, dry perhaps, 

 but yet at the mercy of men and polar 

 bears. Dane Coolidge. 



TOUCHING INCIDENTS ABOUT PIGEONS. 



The homing pigeon has proved that 

 locality is a faculty fully developed in the 

 bird's little brain, but I heard, the other 

 day, an instance of memory in the spe- 

 cies that was most touching. A lady liv- 

 ing in the top story of a Boston sky- 

 scraper had been in the habit of feeding 

 the pigeons and sparrows who flew to the 

 little balcony before her window, and had 

 succeeded in taming some of her pen- 

 sioners, one or two pigeons even eating 

 out of her hand. One day, while passing 

 along Park street, this lady was surprised 

 to see a pigeon flutter away from some 

 companions strutting in the middle of 

 the road, and come upon the sidewalk, 

 where it almost tripped her up in its ef- 

 forts to attract her attention. It fluttered 

 around her, evincing every sign of pleas- 

 ure and recognition, and when she called 

 it by name the little creature fairly flew 

 at her! Now, in the midst of all that 

 passing throng the pigeon knew its bene- 

 factor, who, with tears in her eyes, says 

 its recognition gave her more joy than 

 if the queen had saluted her. Under the 

 circumstances, it was to her great regret 

 that she had no crumbs to give him then 

 and there. But who ever dreamed of be- 

 ing accosted in the street by a pigeon? 



Our attention has been called by a 

 traveling friend to an incident which oc- 

 curred recently in the family of G. F. 

 Marsh, a member of the Pacific Coast 

 Pigeon Society. It certainly proved to 

 him, and to all his friends in that region, 

 in a most impressive manner the valuable 



services which may sometimes be ren- 

 dered by the carrier pigeon, and proba- 

 bly explains some of his enthusiasm in 

 that direction. His little baby boy was 

 taken suddenly sick with most alarming 

 symptoms of diphtheria. 



The mother, watching by the bedside 

 of the little one, dispatched a message 

 tied on a carrier pigeon to her husband 

 at his store on Market street, San Fran- 

 cisco. In the message she wrote the na- 

 ture of the child's alarming illness, and 

 made an urgent appeal for medicine to 

 save its life. The bird was started from 

 the home of the family near the Cliff 

 House, five miles from Mr. Marsh's 

 store. 



The bird flew swiftly to the store, 

 where Mr. Marsh received it. He read 

 the message, called a doctor, explained 

 the child's symptoms as his wife had de- 

 tailed them in her message, and received 

 the proper medicine. Then tying the lit- 

 tle vial containing the precious restora- 

 tive to the tail of the pigeon, he let it go. 



The pigeon sped away swiftly through 

 the air straight for the Cliff. It made the 

 distance, five miles, in ten minutes, a dis- 

 tance which would have required the doc- 

 tor three-quarters of an hour to cover. 



In twenty minutes from the time the 

 mother's message was sent to her hus- 

 band the baby was taking the medicine. 



Naturally enough Mr. Marsh is partial 

 to pigeons, for he considers that he owes 

 his baby's life to one. 



George Bancroft Griffith. 



89 



