ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



103? 



As the chase closes in until the leading 

 hound nearly grasps the twinkling legs of the 

 rabbit. Jack makes an abrupt turn and is off 

 at right angles, with an astonishing burst 

 of speed. 



The leaders of the pack sail by. straight on 

 for perhaps fifty yards before they can check 

 their speed or really grasp the fact that they 

 are now leaving, and not pursuing, the crafty 

 rabbit. Not so the trailers. The instant that 

 they see the rabbit make the abrupt turn at 

 right angles to the line which they have been 

 following, they swerve to the side without 

 checking their speed, and before bunny can 

 realize that he and his enemies now are both 

 running toward the same point, a long, lean, 

 gray nose has tossed him high in the air and 

 the chase halts until another rabbit is found. 



Locked Antlers. — In the Heads and Horns 

 Collections of the Zoological Park, there are 

 three sets of locked antlers — moose, caribou 

 and mule deer. Without authentic narrative 

 of any of the three, a little imagination can 

 conjure tales of the fearful struggles that 

 trapped them with their own weapons. 



For the information of any of the readers 

 of the Bulletin who may not know the mean- 

 ing of the term, locked antlers, we may ex- 

 plain that they are the result of a head-on 

 charge of two male deer, by which the prongs 

 of the antlers becomes so firmly interlaced 

 that it is impossible for the animals to pull 

 them apart. 



Under these conditions the result is in- 

 evitably the death of both, and death in the 

 most terrifying form, — days of starvation 

 and thirst, unless some predatory animal 

 makes an end of their suffering. Imagine 

 the furious charge of these two bull moose; 

 the terrific blows of the heavy antlers, that 

 tore and gouged their flesh; the hours of heart 

 breaking struggle until a chance blow firmly 

 locked their heads in an unyielding grip. 



One weakening faster than his adversary 

 sinks to his knees; then crumples helplessly 

 on the ground, never to rise again. The 

 other stands with feet outspread, his beating 

 heart pumping the blood through his sur- 

 charged lungs until his trembling limbs refuse 

 longer to bear the strain and he, too, is soon 

 stretched upon the ground. 



The story of the moose antlers, is related 

 by an Indian hunter who told of finding the 

 two animals at the end of their combat. One 

 was down and the other weakening fast. In 

 hope of saving one, he shot the moose already 

 down and made every effort to separate the 



LOCKED CARIBOU ANTLERS 



antlers. Finding that this was impossible, 

 he was obliged to shoot the other to relieve 

 him from his misery. 



We have since tried to separate the antlers, 

 and even though the locking is not intricate, 

 they seem fastened beyond the point of part- 

 ing, and they have resisted every effort. 



It is unusual to find moose antlers fastened 

 together, for the character of their growth 

 affords little chance of such an accident. The 

 caribou, and mule deer antlers could very 

 easily have become locked, because of the 

 numerous projections, and the sharp curving 

 of the beams. 



Golden Eagles Hunting. — The worst enemies 

 of the ducks of the Wichita Reserve, are the 

 golden eagles. They pursue the water-fowl 

 wintering on the range, persistently. 



The eagles frustrated so many of our 

 attempts to get pictures, that Mr. Rush and 

 I were obliged to lay aside the camera and 

 watch their manoeuvers. We were afforded 

 a good opportunity of studying the preliminary 

 tactics in the blind from which we made the 

 photographs that appeared in Bulletin No. 

 .57. 



On this particular morning, six golden 

 eagles were perched in the trees on the creek 

 bank — two adult birds and four in immature 

 plumage. After the light of day increased in 



