ever, that the mating season ends quick- 

 ly and at the mouth of the Yukon River 

 he saw their eggs on the twenty-seventh 

 of May. Regarding their nesting habits, 

 Mr. Nelson says : "These Geese choose 

 for a nesting site the grassy border of a 

 small lakelet, a knoll grown over with 

 moss and grass, or even a flat, sparingly 

 covered with grass. Along the Yukon 

 Dall found them breeding gregariously, 

 depositing their eggs in a hollow 

 scooped out in the sand. At the Yukon 

 mouth and Saint Michaels they were 

 found breeding in scattered pairs over 

 the flat country. Every one of the nests 

 examined by me in these places had a 

 slight lining of grass or moss, gathered 

 by the parent, and upon this the first 

 egg was laid ; as the complement of eggs 

 is approached the female always plucks 

 down and feathers from her breast until 

 the eggs rest in a soft warm bed, when 

 incubation commences." Regarding the 

 care of the young Mr. Nelson says : 



"The young are pretty little objects, and 

 are guarded with the greatest care by 

 the parents, the male and female joining 

 in conducting their young from place to 

 place and in defending them from dan- 

 ggj.^ ^ ^ ^ Very frequently during 

 my visits to the haunts of these birds the 

 parents were seen leading their young 

 away through the grass, all crouching 

 and trying to make themselves as incon- 

 spicuous as possible." He also states 

 that all through the month of September 

 both the old and young gather in larger 

 flocks, and "as the sharp frosts toward 

 the end of September warn them of ap- 

 proaching winter, commence moving 

 south. The marshes resound with their 

 cries, and after some days of chattering, 

 flying back and forth, and a general 

 bustle, they suddenly start off in consid- 

 erable flocks." Very soon thereafter we 

 begin to hear their cries, and see them 

 in the United States. 



THE PRICKLY-ARMOURED CLASS. 



Man has been very inventive and 

 skilled in contriving coats-of-mail, iron- 

 clads, plated armours and other para- 

 phernalia of defense against his ene- 

 mies; but Nature, itself, has kindly fur- 

 nished to many of the lower animals 

 the coat-of-mail and spiked armours 

 necessary for their protection. 



The armadillo, the lobster, the tor- 

 toise, and many sorts of beetles and 

 other animal creatures have jointed ar- 

 mour plates almost exactly on the same 

 plan as those of the mediaeval knights. 



The hedgehog (the porcupine) the 

 globe-fish, the prickly crab, the spiny 

 caterpillar, the prickly horned-lizard, 

 and others wear spiked defenses which 

 are ready at a moment's notice. 



Most of these varities of the animal 

 kingdom have spines subject to mus- 

 cular action, so that, though lying close 

 to tlicir bodies naturally, they may, at 

 will, be raised for defense instantly; but 

 in the vegeta])le kingdom, where there 

 are like defenses also, there are no nuis- 



cular movements, so the spikes, thorns, 

 etcetera, are fixed, and on the defensive 

 always. The nettle, the spiny cactuses 

 (the vegetable hedgehog), the coUetia, 

 the gorse, the thistle, the Spanish 

 bayonette and many other spiked plants 

 all must be approached with guarded 

 stratagem. There is no catching them 

 asleep. 



Among the animals, the hedgehog is 

 one of the most characteristic of the 

 spiny sort. He is a squat, ugly little 

 creature. He is cunningly inquisitive, 

 and appears quite comic, but he is 

 really very sedate, takes himself seri- 

 ously and is royally independent. He 

 has no tail worth mentioning. Accord- 

 ing to an old darky's version, "Natur 

 done mah'ked him by cutting him tail 

 right smoove, smack oft'." He is of a 

 dirty white color which merges, more 

 or less, into a dirty black. He has a 

 small head and sharp nose of the ant- 

 eater sort. His eyes are little,, beady, 

 black ones. He allows no familiar 



iri(5 



