FOREST AND STREAM. 



161 



WAS IT INSTINCT? 



Pkbc, Oxford Co., Maino, April a, 1877. 

 Editor Forest and StAka*. 



I have rend with great Interest tho various articloa in your v&liiaDle 

 paper upon the subject of "Instinct in the Lower Animals," and having 

 hod considerable erp' rienco in fish culture, more particularly with the 

 celebrated Hangelj trout, I naturally have witnessed many remark- 

 able Instances of the use of instinct so-called. One of tneso I will re- 

 late. In the autumn nf 1870 I procured about two hundred trout, and 

 confined them in the basement of my house in four tanks, side by side, 

 each being of the same dimensions, viz.: eleven feetin Ungth, twelve 

 inches in width, and fourteen inches in height. They were so ar- 

 ranged as to have the water pass from one tank to the other, and tbuB 

 keep up a constant current and circulation of water, as well ns to allow 

 of the trout passing freely from one to the other. I kept these trout con. 

 fined in this manner for about two years, for the purpose of studying 

 their habits and for experimenting in their culture, etc.. These trout 

 wonld often leap over the partition board* dividing the tanks, and thus 

 pass from ODe to the other, instead of passing through the connecting 

 spout which had been constructed for that purpose. This thoy seem, d 

 to do through mere sportiveness, as I would often notice the samo 

 trout thus pass through all of the tanks in a few momenta of time, 

 always stopping In the outside tank .when he might just as readily have 

 i the side of it, as it rose no further above the water than 

 did the boards separating tho tanks. Had they leaped over this board 

 they w, uld hove fallen npon the urouud and died. Now, did instinct 

 teach them to stop there? Some win answer, "certainly," bo 1 will 

 only reply, that it was a very remarkable evidence or exhibition of it. 

 But if it was instinct in that case, what was it in this? During the 

 winter the waste-pipe which conveyed the water from the tanks froze 

 np one very cold night in my absence from the house, and upon my 

 return, about nine o'clock p. m., my wife informed that there were strange 

 noises down stairs among the tront. I immediately procured a light 

 end went down, and behold ! the cellar bottom was covered with about 

 a foot of water, which had flown back from the waste-pipe, and strange 

 to toll, about half of the tront were out of the tanks and Bwimming 

 contentedly around tho cellar. To get there and out of tho tanks they 

 had to leap ovor the board forming tho outside of the tank, and which 

 thty had never done before. I immediately raised the walls of the 

 outside tank about six inches, so as to prevent a recurrence of the 

 thing, and they remained quiet for about a month, when the waste-pipe 

 frote again, Uooding the cellar, and the trout all leaped out over that 

 board, six inches in height, aud I found them as before, swimming 

 around tho cellar. I put them back into the tanks, aud as the « ater did 

 not freeze again, they never leaped over that board again. Sow, was 

 it Instinct that told them when thero was water upon tho outside of 

 the tanks? Yours, truly, G. O. Hatfoku. 



PEREGRINE FALCON 

 (Fnko Peregrimis). 



Philadelphia, March 13, 18 77. 

 Editor Fobbbt and Stiieam. 



Thisfolcon is not only found in tho United States, butalso to Europe. 

 In some parts of the country it is known as the "great-footed," or 

 "duck hawk," It is noted as a powerful and acrimonious bird, soaring 

 witb ease aud graco beneath tho measureless sky for hours at a time. 

 Its food consists of ducks and pigeons,- it descends almost as swift aa an 

 arrow from tho clouds, in n perpendicular line, and striking its victim 

 with its powerful wing, catches it in its talons, mounts into the air, aud 

 seeks some sequestered spot, to feed ou its prey unmolested. When full 

 growu, it measures from sixteen to twenty inches long, and its plum- 

 age Is very plain iu color; its head aud neck are of adark lead color; 

 beakoue and a half inches long, black and hooked like that of tho 

 eagle; eye full and black; throat and breast of a creamy-white, dotted 

 with spots of dark brown; its tail oonaislitig of twelve leathers, barred 

 •with bluish-grey and black, and its wingB measure from lip to tip 

 thirty-six to thlrty-eight inches: underneath the wlugs th» feathers are 

 barred with light-brown. Under each eye is a triangular stripe of dark- 

 lead color, talons black aud ono aud a half inches loug. Tho peregrine 

 falcon loves to build its , est upon some craggy cliff or gigantic tree. 

 The nest is mostly composed of twigs, lined inside with coarse grass 

 and feathers. 



Ou the 13th of September, 1863, 1 shot a line epecitnou (male) at the 

 comer of Fifth and Slrard Avenue, Philadelphia. For nearly three 

 ■weeks this bird of prey had made its home in St. Peter's steeple, and 

 lived ou pet pigeons. Every day ho would como rrom his tridieg -place 

 aud soar into tbo air, aud start his victims into flight; after they had 

 made two or three circles he would make a dart at the frightened 

 birds, and never missed his prey; bo would tbon sock his hiding place 

 In the cupola and dine ou his feathered booty. • On the above named 

 day, I borrowed a gun from Mr. Eeod.foui gunsmith on Sirard Avenue). 

 and shot the ravonous bird, and mouuted him in fine stylo, and sold 

 him to a gentleman lu our city for ten dollars. Geo. Bouowra. 



Taxidermist. 



NOT ALL AN OYSTER. 



Pottsvillb, Penn., April 9. 

 Editor Fobest and Streak. 



A friend residing iu ■Washington relates a singular circumstance re- 

 garding what might be termed a shell. dsh, and I Bend it for publica- 

 tion, as it may be interesting to the readers of your valuable paper; 

 "While some men were at work down the Potomac, dredging for oysters, 

 one of them canio across what ho regarded as mi unusually large, line 

 oyster, which he concluded to open. As the shell, which was about ail 

 or seven inches long, «-3s being openod, he pressed one of hie fingers 

 into the partially opened shell, when, to his surprise, something inside 

 took a firm hold of his finger, and when he forcibly abstracted it he ex- 

 perienced considerable pain and fouud it somewhat lacerated. His sus- 

 picion and surprise were by this time excited, and bo at once opened 

 tho sholl and was astonished to fiod that it contained a curious animal 

 several inches long, completely filling the, cavity of the shell. The ani- 

 m»l very much resembled what is commonly called a 'wat. r-dog,' except 

 that it haa no feet. The head wis similar to that nr a oat-nab, with large 

 mouth fuU of fine teeth. Just back of its head were two large lobes, 

 which gave it the appearance of a small bull-dog. The man who had 

 hia finger bitten suffered considerably, aud it was much iuflamnd." 



This animal, whatever it mayprove to be, must have made Its access 

 to the shell when small, destroying the oyster it found as tho natural 

 tenant, growing up to its present aize within tho calcareous prison 

 usurped by itself. St-'nRcatBBn. 



Dr. Elliott Coues •will be attached to tho American Natu- 

 ralist hereafter as editor of the -Department of Vertebrates, an 

 acquisition to that journal of great value. 



Animals" Hecipio atCkntral Pare: Mxnaqxbie xob TVxee Endisg 

 Afiui. H.— Three quail (Orlyx itlyghdania). presented by Master Janiei 

 P. Kflin, Few York lily; two ringdoves Iturtur rttoriw), present nd by 



Mrs. F. B. Daulels, Brooklyn; ono snowy owl (iVycr,.< nivca), presented 

 by Mr. Chas. S. Galbraith, West HoDokeu; two fox-squirrels [Sciuriw 

 mtpinu:), presented by Mr. J H, Flagler, Kjiegport, I . 



iCamtluidromnicirtu*'., bom In the .. lunajerle, TV, A. C"NKU.!t. 



.Director 



^oodhnd, <garm and (§arden. 



GRAFTING TO TEST NEW VARIETIES. 



EVERY fruit, grower should experiment constantly in tho 

 wnv of grafting, and thus prove for himself the value 

 of different varieties of fruits. In his visits among his 

 neighbors, whenever a good fruit is brought to his notice, he 

 should at once procure a few solvers, and wrap them up in 

 moistened paper until he roaches home, when they should 

 be consigned to a box in his cellar; this box should contain 

 damp moss or sawdust, and should be placed in a cool, 

 moist corner, away from the furnace. Some kinds of fruits, 

 such as apples and pears, graft more readily than others. 

 Peaches, plums, or cherries can bo reproduced more satis- 

 factorily by means of budding. The uninitiated in these 

 matters should therefore turn their attention more particu- 

 larly to the first, and after they have gained proficiency it 

 will be time enough to try the latter. In testing new varie- 

 ties, it is much more sensible to own a single limb on an old 

 established tree than to purchase a young plant and wait for 

 several years to ascertain perhaps, after all one's trouble, 

 that it is not at all suited to the locality. Of course several 

 grafts may be inserted on the largest limbs, and a large num- 

 ber of kinds may be grown on one tree if so desired. Oc- 

 casionally the stronger growing kinds will smother the 

 weaker, if care be not, taken to keep the former within 

 bounds; and yet there are instances where as many as 

 twenty or oven thirty distinct varieties of apples are grow- 

 ing on ono tree, all in bearing condition, and the owners 

 sweep away the premiums for the best and largest displays 

 at every show when they exhibit. Old pear trees, whose use- 

 fulness has passed away, may be made to produce bountiful 

 crops of delicious fruit once more by grafting over their 

 tops with good kinds; indeed there are plenty of such in- 

 stances existing to prove how very valuable grafting is 

 where good healthy stocks already exist. J. H. 



Poor Bbed Stock. — The attention of our readers is called 

 to an advertisement in another column of an extensive sale 

 of pure bred Alderney stock to be held on May 22d, near 

 Dorking, Surrey, England. American breeders can procure 

 catalogues by sending to Messrs. White & Sons, Dorking. 



Dbotjght in Caltpqbkia. — Our Los Angeles correspondent, 

 El. Gazodor, writes, March 24: 



The drouth is affecting the sheep and cattle interest fear- 

 fully in this county, and many thousand fine sheep will be 

 slaughtered for their pelts. Our rainfall has been less than 

 for twenty years; and in spite of quite a large area of irrig- 

 able lands, the year will be a hard one for many. 



Select Succulent Plakts fob Amateuks. — These are 

 generally known as showy flowering plants, standing our 

 hot, dry summers well, so that but few notes will be. required. 

 They can all be propagated from the leaves, forming little 

 hulblets at the base that soon make plants if not kept too 

 damp and shady. Any of them can also be raised from seed, 

 which should bo sown in a moderate heat as soon as ripe. 



Fkheveriasfor edging — Secunda, Secunda glauea, Pumila, 

 Atropurpurea. 



Echeverias for centers — Metallica, Metallica glauea, Pachy- 

 phytoides, Schidigera, Scaphylla. 



Eaheuerias far pot culture — Bracteosurn,, Pulverulenta, lto- 

 seum, Parinosa, Fulgens, Lingua, Retusa, Scheeri 



Pdehyphyton Bracteosurn also makes a good material for out- 

 lines in geometrical bedding, and is easily increased. 

 Kle.'tnia is a Cape of Good Hope genus that includes a few 

 good species useful for planting out, or for pot culture. K. 

 rejiens is often used in the ribbon border, but is also very use- 

 ful as a bracket plant for the conservatory; its blue leafage is 

 very distinct and peculiar, and renders it valuable for bed- 

 ding purposes. K. tomentosa is a white, wooly looking plant, 

 easily grown and distinct. The old "Candle plant" A'. 

 articukda is well-known for its quaintness, the other species 

 are lax-growing plants of no great beauty. 



Before passing this group of plants, mention must be made 

 of the beautiful little trailing Anacampserns. They havo flow- 

 ers resembling those of the Porlulaca, growing only two or 

 three inches high, and forming a dense mass; the rose- 

 colored flowers grow in scapes, six to eight inches high, and 

 open in the sun. The best species ..ire ,.-1. _;i: r ,t.-.-o-ii.'.,m, Jr,n-,i- 

 noides, Rtibens, and Variant. 3. 0. 



Valve of Eucomis Punctata as a IIabdy Window Plant. 

 — I have a bulb, whose two feet flower-spike opened its blooms 

 in tho beginning of October, nearly six. mouths ago, and these 

 are almOBt.as fresh as when first expanded. The plant is 

 Eucomis punctata. It has stood the cold of the past winter in 

 the window of a room in which there has been no (ire. I grow 

 many of them in pots, the persistency of the flower- making 

 them very useful, and I should think almost indispensable to 

 window garden rs Although quite hardy, this plant is more 

 suited for pot culture. My treatment is as follows:— Shake 

 out, divide when necessary, and re-pot iu April, using sandy, 

 rotten turf and decayed manure. Stand the pots during the 

 summer in a hot sunny sitntaion giving plenty of water; thus 

 treated, iu the early autumn every bulb shows a spike of 

 flowers, when they are removed to the green-house or sunny 

 window. The seed-vessel swells in tho centre of the frag mnt 

 flower withont the petals shrivelling or dropping, which 

 serves ns a calyx to the pod.— J. M. 



The Japan Judas TnEE. — General ignorance of the char- 

 acter of plants long known to professionals may fairly entitle 

 them to bo treated as new. Many of the most beautiful and 

 rare belong to this category, Whence then this want of 

 knowledge? The answer must imply several causer; acting 

 variously. The most common, perhaps, are defective appre- 

 ciation among nurserymen of the profit to be derived by 

 growing these plants, and the resultant general scarcity. 

 Other causes, however, work iu. alter methods hard to define, 

 such as difficulty ef propagation, curious defects Hot nec- 

 essarily fatal, aud improper management by those first test- 

 ing. Al any rate, from whatever causes, many similar plants 

 Cimtinuo unreasonably long in comparative obscurity. An 

 example of this may be found in the Japan Judas Tree (Cor- 



el's japonica). Occasionally seen iu catalogues in Europe, it 

 seldom appe rs in even the finestornamental grounds of this 

 country, And yet its qualities are of rare and great excel- 

 lence. 



Burly in the spring we see its smooth, erect branches 

 wreathing- themselves completely with clinging spiral folds 

 of rosy pink flowers. These to a great extent expand and 

 develop before the leaves appear, presenting a striking effect 

 amid the surrounding conditions of spring. ' The beaut; of the 

 leaves fitly accompanies that of the flowers, and in its own 

 way affords equal attraction. Curious and foreign looking in 

 habit, these leaves remind one of nothing else. They are 

 heart-shaped, shining, and leathery, Jaud have a layer-like 

 arrangement that suggests compactness, nur l rounded bush- 

 like forms. The dark green color is retained throughout the 

 summer, to be relieved in the latter portiou Ihert of by a 

 scattered bloom of bead-like flowers, the rosy tints of which 

 are so difficult to describe. The bark is a light drab, aud 

 furnishes another of the fine contrasts peculiar to the species. 



Indeed, the whole bush, wheu well developed, has a de- 

 cided air of richness aud rarity, fully borne out by its other 

 habits. The fleshy nature of the roots, increasing" so ranch 

 the difficulty of propagation, is likewise suggestive of the 

 above qualities. Apparently obstructive to its general culture, 

 this rlifficultv speedily vanishes before proper adjustment of 

 well matured grafts (or scions) to established stocks of Amer- 

 ica Judas tree ( Cercis canadensis). Seedlings are open : 

 objection of variableness in coloring, while the collection of 

 the seed is very uncertain from the unpioductive nature of 

 the plant. Well rooted, the Japan Judas tree prows quite 

 vigorously, and readily overcomes a certain sensitiveness 

 to cold while young that only exists during uncommon sea- 

 sons. 



It really seems that choice articles must be always subject 

 to many dangers that the cruder aud less valuable avoid; for- 

 tunately the reward is well worib the risk. The proper posi- 

 tion on the lawn for this plant is singly about tho house, on 

 prominent points of shrubbery, or in "open spaces near fre- 

 quented paths. It is worthy 'of conspicuous positions, and 

 will rarely by ov.rgrouth obscure a favorite view. Plants 

 like this, peculiarly marked for finer quiity, seem always 

 limited in numbers by difficulty of propagation. Yet all the 

 more should we seek their possession, actuated by the same 

 motive that attempts to drnw about us special friends and 

 choice spirits. Samuel Pabsons. 

 ■«■»» 



The Finest Whips ra Cbeation.— Sir Rose Lambert savs 

 that he had "coached much in Ireland and Wales before the 

 era of railroads, and considered himself qualified to judge of 

 that method of locomotion, but he never saw men handle 

 their ribbons like these California drivers. Their teams, 

 nearly always consisting of six horses, are," he adds, "as 

 well turned out with regard to size, pace and condition as 

 any four-in-hand one sees in the Park during the London 

 season. The roads were simply frightful, and often so 

 rough and steep that many fellows would "funk" out hunt- 

 ing. I am fond of driving, and nothing gives me greater 

 pleasure than to see good driving. These men I consider 

 the finest whips in creation, and it is worth coming all the 

 way to California to learn what coaching really is. Plenty 

 of the members of the Four-in-hand Club look very work- 

 manlike in their tight-fitting trousers, white box-coats, and 

 curly-brimmed hats. Their teams are perfectly matched, 

 and a long purse or a long credit procures them pace, size, 

 blood and bone. They carry their legs straight, their reins 

 are properly arranged in the orthodox fashion, and if the two 

 grooms they generally take behind, elaborately attired in 

 buckskin and tops, are moderately active, they can get round 

 a tolerably sharp corner or succeed in doing Hyde Park 

 much to their own satisfaction. But as to driving, in the 

 real sense of the word— well, ignorance is bliss, though in 

 their case it would not be folly to be wise. Our old coach- 

 men could drive. Between Cork and Dublin and Limerick 

 and Galway, and before those days between London and 

 York, there were many real coachmen. French, German, 

 and Continental coachmen generally are nearly all tailors. 

 Like most Englishmen, I always fancied that driving was our 

 specialty, but after going a thousand miles over California 

 roads and with California drivers, I confess that I cannot bo 

 much as touch them." — Sun Francisco Chronicle. 



To Keep Lice ftiom Sn-rrNO Hens.— Sprinkle sulphur— a 

 handful to a hen— twice a week on the hen, when on her 

 nest. Take tho sulphur in your hand, commence at the 

 hen's tail, let your little finger just touch the feathers on her 

 back and she will raise them; move your hand toward her 

 head, letting the sulphur scatter among her feathers. This 

 will keep off the coop lice, the bane of the poultry house. 

 Don't put on the sulphur within three, days of the hen'a 

 hatching, and it won't hurt the chicks, sure, if vuur hen sits 

 well and hatches well. 



fennel. 



BENCH SHOW NOTES. 



THE entries and attendance from Great Britain at the 

 New York Bench Show promiso to be very large. 

 Mr. Lincoln has received, among many others, ale 

 Hugh Dalziel, Esq., of TheCountry, and Hon, Hi aen attu ■.'■ of the 

 Dandie Duniont 'Club, saying that he will be here with a 

 number of dogs. In the hist issue of 77c Cmtnlry v 



dvertisement from Mr. S. W. Smith, one of the largest 

 breeders of fox terriers in England, iu which he states that 

 having been requested by several gentlemen to t 

 dogs to the International Dog Show, New York, hewil 1* 

 still more if desired. Mr. Lincoln is receiving letters from 

 portions of England where it would scarcely be believed 

 that news of this show could have penetrated, requesting 

 particulars and entry blanks. There is no doubt, whatever, 

 that could the Committee have secured the Hippodrome for 



fortnight later, as was desired, there would hai 

 representation of several hundred dogs i 

 water. 



The railroad arrangements promise to be very complete, 

 Letters hove been received already from the manag 

 following lines, stating that dogs from nil 

 roads would be carried to nnfl from New York for I 



Show: Erie Railway, Canada Southe by, 



New Haven and Ha rl ford Raihva.; ■'. fa] 



Pennsylvania Railway, New Jersey Cento 



