FOREST AND STREAM 



,265 



that skunk bite resulted in rabies was pronounced. U 

 ieace to Pobbst and Skbtbam it 

 i : 'resting and valuable. B. 



Putnam, March 18, 1879. 

 EtorroTi Fqeest and Stkeam 



1 thought perhaps this affair that happened 9ome thirty 

 years agomight amuse some of the readers of your paper. 

 Around my native place on Cape Cod, ssunks used to be very 



Sty great-aunt Achsah was a powerful worn. 

 could row cross-handed, dig clams, hold plow, set fence, in 

 fact do the work of an able-bodied man. After Uncle Samuel 

 died site kept a breechy cow that half the time was in her 

 neighbors' gardens, but they Bartered in silence rather than 

 get' into a row with Auut " ilxey,"' as we called her. Under 

 the addition of her house one could crawl on their hands and 

 knees ; an old heu hatched out a large brood of chickens, and 

 one night Aunt "Exey " heard the old hen squawk. Light- 

 ! lantern, she took a Stick and crawled under to see 

 what was getting her chickens. She saw n big skunk with a 

 chicken inits mouth. She crawled up and struck it as hard 

 as She could, and the skunk attacked her. She screamed for 

 help, meanwhile the skunk continued to fight and deli 

 until the neighbors came, and we dragged her out as best we. 

 could. I wits there and helped, and 1 assure you the perfume, 

 was pungent. My aunt could scarcely staud, and was nearly 

 blinded.' \\ r e got some soap and water and washed her head 

 and arms, and I was obliged to take the shears and cut off all 

 her hair; her hands and face were bitten aDd bloody. She 

 told me she buried her clothing, but it was a week or so before 

 the perfume was all gone, and she said she should never tackle 

 a skunk again. She lived some ten years after that, but 

 would always get mad when any one referred to that skunk 

 fight. I should think this ought to settle the skunk question. 



s W. 



Berlin B eights, O., March 34, 1879. 

 Editor Fokbbt and Stream ; 



I read in Fokbst asd BlBEAM of the fatality of skunk bite 

 m the West or Southwest. To-day a young man came to 

 my office who was bitten on the gist iust. by one ; was digging 

 him out ana put in his hand to feel the direction of the hole 

 when the skunk caught him by the finger within a half inch of 

 the end The wound in the ball of the finger had healed, 

 showing only a mark in the cuticle, but the wound where the 

 other tooth entered by the side of the nail was still discharg- 

 ing a peculiar gummy discharge. I read him the article in 

 your issue of March 13 regarding skunk bite, and advised 

 amputation at once or cauterization, both of which he refused 

 to have done. There was lividity extending about one and 

 one-half inches up the finger, but without swelling or sar*ness 

 or any unnatural feeling, which seemed rather strange. I 

 will keep this case in mind and report the facts regarding it 

 in a month or sooner should there be anything worth report- 

 ing. This is the first and only case I have ever heard of in 

 this vicinity. Tosio. 



East Tkmpleton, Mass., March 31, 1879. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



I nave been considerably interested in the discussion of the 

 " skunk question," and, thinking that I may have some evi- 

 dence in regard to the matter under discussion which may 

 have an important bearing on the case, I take the libeity to 

 offer the following incident, as related by my father, who 

 i he time the incident happened a resident of the town 

 of Pomfrct, Conn s There was, about thirty years ago, a 

 negro family by the name of Malborne, or Malbone, living in 

 the village of Ahbington, in the town of Pomfret. One night 

 the father was awakened by the screams of his infant child, 

 who was sleeping in a low cradle in the room with its parents. 

 He immediately procured a light, and discovered a skunk 

 fastened to the child's hand, which had been hanging ovsr 

 the side of the cradle, the animal having made its entrance 

 through the open " cat-hole " in the door. The father killed 

 the skunk, and nothing more was thought of the matter until 

 about two weeks alter the bite occurred. The child was 

 taken sick, and died of what the attending physician pro- 

 nounced to he hydrophobia. 



Coincident, with the above is the fact, received by me from 

 the same source, that a Deacon Osgood (I tbink this is the 

 name), living near by, lost two hogs, both dying the same 

 day and about the time of the death of the negro child, bemg 

 attended with symptoms which were pronounced those of hy- 

 drophobia. Whether they were bitten by the same skunk 

 which bit the child is not known. This may meet the eye of 

 some one who can tell more about this case than 1 can, my 

 father having recognized among your correspondents from 

 that section the names of persons who were living within a 

 few miles of the place where the above incidents occurred at 

 that time, and were well known to him. 



Cuas. E. Ingalls. 



Blaoesbdrg, Va., March 8, 1870. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I have been interested in the statements of your correspond- 

 ents about the fatal results of the bite of the skunk, and 1 

 think the idea that the bite of this animal, when itself in 

 health, can produce the disease commonly known as hydro- 

 phobia, is not well founded. 1 know from experience the 

 great '■ istinguishing between some casei 



arophobia and some cases of tetanus, and I have no confidence 

 in a differential diagnosis made by an inexperienced physician, 

 ii has also appeared to me strange that, although I have lived 

 in a locality where these animals abound, and from having 

 been for yeais devoted much to the old Virginia sport of 

 og, " have encountered great numbers of them, 1 

 yet never- knew or heard of a person being bitten by one; but 

 have known dogs to be bitten and scratched by them hun- 

 dreds of times, and never saw any bad result of any sort from 

 ounds. I have twice known the eye of a dog to be put 

 i Having the odorous secretion thrown into it. What I 

 think is a very remarkable fact is, that dogs which have just 

 killed a skunk, and have their head9, faces, necks, and their 

 very noses saturated with this overpowering odor, can yet 

 work out a comparatively cold trail of a raccoon and tree it, 

 which 1 have seen them do more than once, i have seen it 

 d as a remarkable fact, that setters or pointers retrieving 

 J should be able to point another of the same sort with 

 mouth. This 1 have seen often, but it 

 q be far less surprising than the fact first stated. 



M. G. E. 



5KUSK. —I have camped out very often 

 where skunks ate very numerous, especially iu northwestern 

 Texas. As others who' may do so may get bitten by this peat, 



i lie best treatment, viz. : At once ligate tightly 



above and below the wound ; if the lips have no abrasions, 



suck the wound at once, first greasing the lips, if it can be 



y ; continue the sucking for some time until blood 



inject ammonia, which should always be 



ntly. not the least important, place a red-hot iron 



lie wound as can be borne, and for ten minutes. 



Mbdiods. 



. — -♦*— . 



A Pleasant Artiolk.— Wc notice in Lippincott's Maga- 

 zine for May a delightful article on " Beach Birds," which 

 we are sure will be read with pleasure by all lovers of natural 

 history. It is from the pen of Mr. Nathan Clifford Brown, 

 of Portland, Me., who is well known in scientific circles as 

 one of the most euergetic and hard-working ornithologists of 

 the Nuttall Club. We recommend his essay to all bird lovers. 



Male Eels,— We are indebted to Prof. A. S. Packard, Jr., 



for advance sheets of the forthcoming May Naturalist, de- 

 tailing the discovery of male eels, We shall publish the 

 paper next week. 



_ — ♦. — . 



Beavers and their Dams.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Your contributors, who have had opportunities of observing 

 the ways of the beaver, would confer a great favor on many 

 of your readers if they would describe minutely the habits of 

 that wonderful animal ; particularly in the building of his 

 dams and lodges, what sized sticks are used, bow laid, etc. I 

 believe very little is generally known concerning these mat- 

 ters, notwithstanding so much has been written. But few 

 persons comparatively have seen even the remains of a beaver 

 dam, as in all the older parts of the country every vestige of 

 them has long ago disappeared, and only the " beaver mea- 

 dows " are left. I saw an old one in the Adirondacks several 

 years ago, which was still a respectable embankment, thickly 

 overgrown with bushes, except where cut through by the small 

 water-course; but I had no time to examine its structure. 

 Cur guide said that when his father first knew the place there 

 were several lodges standing, but they had been destroyed by 

 the cattle. He said they were built of sticks, two or three 

 inches in diameter, laid up like a log house, and gradually 

 drawn in to form a cone-shaped top. In Essex in this State, 

 about twenty years ago, I saw a portion of the remains of one 

 laid bare in draining a cranberry swamp. The sticks of which 

 it was built were from two to three inches thick, and eight 

 to twelve inches long, and appeared to have beou laid in tiers 

 i each other at right angles, diasonally as to the direc- 

 tion of 'the dam, thus, XXXX They were soft with decay, 

 but showed the marks of the chisel-like teeth as plainly as if 

 cut yesterday. E. C. Hale, a late contributor, and others, can 

 give us much interesting information on this subject, and I 

 hope will do so. Awahsoosb. 



Ferrisbwgh, Vt., March 8. 



Morgan's "American Beaver," published in Philadelphia 

 by J. B. Lippincott & Co., gives very full information on the 

 points referred to by our correspondent, and contains maps 

 and diagrams of many of their dams and other structures. 



Moms WiOKBiP Spareowb— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Three weeks ago there were two pairs of bluebirds about 

 the yard, and they took possession of houses; but the spar- 

 rows dispossessed" them, drove them away, by calling on their 

 friends to the number of twenty. They fought hard, and 

 the bluebirds gave it up and disappeared. A pair of spar- 

 rows took one "house. The door is very small, and the male 

 can't get in; but it seems to make no difference, and they 

 seem determined to keep house in that box. I don't 

 know which would be the more useful, but I think it too bad 

 that we must lose the songs of the bluebirds for the noisy 

 chatter of the sparrows. I have a little plan which I respect- 

 fully submit to all who admire the song birds and wish for 

 the sparrows extermination. If those who rob birds' nests, 

 and call it the study of oology, would confine their study en- 

 tirely to sparrows' nests for a year or two, I think there 

 would be a notable increase in the number of song birds, and 

 no doubt there would be a decrease in the number of spar- 

 rows. Why would not the sparrows' eggs do as well as any 

 others, anyhow? P. Q-. 



MUbwrn, 2f. J., Aprils, 1879. 



The Loogeehead SnKiEE in Maine.— In your issue of 

 April 3 I spoko of a nest and eggs of the great northern 

 shrike, found at Bangor, Me., by Mr. E. T. Bowler, hut more 

 particularly called attention to the remarkable statement of 

 the gentleman that the loggerhead shrike was, in summer, the 

 more common of the two, and nested in that vicinity. In the 

 April number of the Nuttall Club Bulletin a writer also men- 

 tions the occurrence and breeding of the latter bird about 

 Bangor, and mentions that no authentic instance is known of 

 Lam&W boreaUs nesting near that city. Since the appearance 

 of the Bulletin I have received a letter from Mr. Bowler, 

 who thinks he may have been wrong iu his identification of 

 the nest in question, and that it was probably that of Lanitm 

 hulovicianus. That this is the shrike alone summering in 

 Central Maine is a very unexpected and remarkable fact. 



H. A. PrjRDlE. 



incubation commenced at once. On the 16th inst. snow fell 

 to the depth of six inches, and for several days after the birds 

 were partially hidden by the snow which had lodged around 

 their nest:-. 'On the night of the 17th a self registering ther- 

 mometer hanging in the aviary marked 14 deg. Far., and on 

 the 25th I found one of the nests deserted, but, in each of the 

 others was a flue, well developed squab. On the 28th the de- 

 serted nest was again occupied by its original tenants, who 

 are now engaged in making a second, and I hope more favor- 

 able, attempt at reproduction. Frank J. Thompson. 

 Zoological Garden, Cincinnati. 



Earlt Nesting of Eagles.- On the 16th of January last I 

 saw the female of a pair of bald eagles building, or rather re- 

 pairing, a nest that was occupied last year by a pair of ospreys. 

 Was not that very early 1 They seemed to have completed 

 it on the 30th. 0. J. Sale. 



Essex Co., Va. 



. — -#, — . 



Killed i:y Telegraph.— Byr ,n Station, Minn., March 

 28.— Editor Forest and Stream : A dead swan was found by 

 the railroad section men lying under the telegraph wires about 

 a mile from this station this morning. It had flown against the 

 wires and broken its neck. It was a fine specimen of Cygnus 

 americanus, weighing 14 J , lbs. Have never read of so large a 

 bird being killed by the telegraph wires, although prairie 

 chickens, quails and other small birds are often found on the 

 railroad tracks, killed by the wires. It was rainy and very- 

 foggy this morning, which probably accounts for the swan's 

 flying so low. 



H. W. Avert. 



Acclimatization of Hyjbnas. — During the past fall the 

 quarters iu-doors assigned to our spotted hyrp-nas (ITymna, cro- 

 cuta) becoming too crowded, I determined to move some of 

 them outside. Taking two old traveling dens, I had them 

 placed on trestles alongside one of the walks, transferred the 

 hyumaa and gave them plenty of bedding during the very cold 

 weather, particularly when the thermometer marked 14 deg. 

 below zero, and to-day they seem to be in finer condition than 

 those which were kept in doors. Their coats have become 

 J heavy that several menagerie parties have in- 

 quired if they were not a new variety, and remarked that it 

 was a new idea to keep hytenas as one would dogs. 



F. J. Thompson. 



Zooteyiial Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Incubation Under Difficulties. — About the first of 

 March, noticing that the passenger pigeons (Ftlopistes migra- 

 toria) were, mating, I procured some small sticks, wove them 

 into small,slight platforms and placed them on some large limbs 

 in the aviary, which has no roof, being simply covered with 

 wire netting. I then took a small quantity of twigs, broke them 

 into short "lengths and scattered them on the floor. The 

 pigeons immediately commenced building, and on the third 

 day three nests were completed, a single egg laid in each, and 



MORE SOUTHERN WOOD NOTES. 



BABTOW, Ga., Fell. 16, 1879. 

 Editor Fobest and Stream ; 



There Is nothing more delightful to ma than to wateh the peculiari- 

 ties and hahits of certain feathered gentlemen and ladles, whom to 

 know well la a never-ending fund of delight and entertainment. 



There 18 a certain old woodpeoker whose age I should estimate to be 

 at least one hundred years, judging from the Knowing look of his eye 

 and general vetcran-llke afr which he assumes whenever we meet. 

 ThlB knowing old bird baa been much Harassed by the pot-metal shot- 

 guna of ambitious nigger boys, and he has developed decided mathe- 

 matical talent ; for he knows their range (the gnna', not the boys') to an 

 exact certainty. 



The first time that I ever saw him lie was sitting on au old pine 

 sunup, by the side of the road that led to the quail ground. He stood, 

 like a grenadier on guard, until I approached within some forty yardB, 

 when, giving a low chuckle of derision, he flew into the very Up top of 

 a tall dead pine, from which secure elevation— secure as to pot-metal 

 guns— he scolded me to bis heart's content. 



Finding, on Intimate acquaintance, that I waa quite friendly to birds 

 of hie kind, he would alt on his stump, not without casting suspicious 

 glances at my breech-loader, giving me as I passed by friendly glances 

 out of big bright, black eyea and any number of bows from hts crimson 

 head. 



The general verdict among the blacks Is that he is a "witch" bird. 

 That is, that no mortal gun can kill him. Long may he be the " witch." 

 bird of that part of Georgia ! 



In a low thicket of ptnes, near which I wander almost every day, 

 there la a large colony of blnejays, whose whole duty seems to be to 

 make as much noise as possible ; while one solemn old fellow blows the 

 trumpet In the intervale of the screaming. The birds all flew away 

 when I llrBt walked by the thicket, but, finding that. 1 did not molest 

 them, they returned and we were soon on the very best terms. One 

 morning, as I approached this noisy colony, I was surprised to see 

 them rise high above the pines and then dart back, then rise, with loud 

 cries and screams, very different from their daily notes. I thought 

 that a large cat, which I had seen wandering In a neighboring flejd a 

 few days before, might be seeking a dinner here, so entered the thicket 

 In order to drive It away. Looking around, cai efully, I soon f onnd the 

 cause of the disturbance to be, not the cat, but a huge owl ; the terror 

 of all the neighboring hen roosts, and as " rlevlng" a rascal as Itob Roy 

 McGregor himself. Slipping back quietly I returned home and again 

 entered the thicket well prepared for his owlshlp. While parting the 

 branches, that I might get a fair shot, I saw one of the owl's legs shoot 

 out like lightning; there was a scream from an unfortunate jay, and a 

 chorus from his more fortunate companion?. Not wishing to ate any 

 more harm done on my bine favorites I gave the owl a charge of No. S, 

 at point blank distance, which effectually closed his sanguinary career. 

 On examining the ground under the pine I found the remains of three 

 jays, which had ventured too near the owl and paid for rashness with 

 thel'r lives. Regardless or my presence the brave little jayB llew upon 

 their prostrate enemy and pecked him and even followed rae for some 

 distance as I bore off the dead robber, pecking at him and heaping In- 

 sults upon Iris carcass, thus keeping up the practice of ancient war- 

 riors, as told us in the pageB of the grand old bardB Homer and Virgil. 

 Nearly allied to the jays, but with more brain, are the crow and jack- 

 daw. Allied, I mean in habits. The same sly, dark ways to accom- 

 plish their endB, the same thievish, rascally propensities. Yet, while 

 always shooting the crow, when 1 have a chance, I must confess to a 

 sneaking fondness for this sable, Intellectual bird. A fondness bused 

 entirely upon his Intellect. 



Strange aa It may seem to those who are not familiar with crows, 

 this bird Is well acquainted with form, and can dlsUnguish accurately 

 between a walking stick and a gun. You may shoulder your cane, you 

 may eveu point it at hhu, and he does not stir from his contemplative 

 attitude on the top of the dead pine ; but have a gun in your hand and 

 a snddeu "change cornea o'er the spirit of his dream." With a low, In- 

 sulting laugh, he hies in a straight line from you. No circling around 

 for him, for he knows that you can Bhoot on the wing, and he has been 

 well instructed In the lawB of projectlUs. Iu fact, I once knew an old 

 farmer in Kentucky, who swore solemnly that he believed that crows 

 on hlB farm could rell whether ho was armed with a rifle or with a 

 shot-gun. Be that &b it may, I know that in a country where the rifle 

 Is not used you can get within easy rifle shot of them, until chey are 

 educated,— say seventy-live yards. When, however, you have killed a 

 few, the sable schoolmasters Immediately open a Belrool to explain the 

 difference between a shot-gun and a rifle to the rising generation of 

 young crows. And well do rhey proflr by their instructions, for In vain 

 do you seek to come la range of a crow thereafter with aDy kind 

 of a gun. Experience Is their school, and we whites could profit by 

 their example, Crows are Incapable of Hie moet primary mathemat- 

 ical reasoning. They know distance and form, but they cannot count. 

 All through the South they are among the farmer's most Inveterate en- 

 emies. Nothing can be more laughable than to see one of these solemn 

 birds walking up ami down a row of newiy planted corn. He turns out 

 his toeB with lire air of a petit maitrc in the line gentleman age of Eng- 

 land, and, too, with something of his lorSly disregard of the rights of 

 ■rhe farmer sees nothing comic in the crow, but seeks all 

 meanB for his extermination. The favorite method is to '-bait" a 

 place in the cornfleld, near thickets or some other conveniens blind, 

 for a few days, and then the farmer pours out the oonten's of h!s shot. 

 gun upon their devoted heads. When the blind is in the middle of the 



