606 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jasuabt 27, 1881. 



seen. The nest is not a nest m the ordiDavy sen.se of the 

 term, but. a spot of earlh scooped out in tlie 

 foiin of sfiiiper, tlie edio heinji formed simply 

 frr ■' r ' ' i' ■ ■ r' 1 ;1h' liird iu scrapinji; up ttie 

 ill us forming a trench whicli 

 ;- ping out the water in case of 



a i!i„. ---L-i --, Ti. ■_ :i ' ■ ■ nta much to he dreaded, we 

 are intormed, and in tlie case uf hailstorms, which ai'enot in- 

 frequent, hirds are sometimes killed on iho nest. The female 

 is now silting, hut ahnut four or live o'clock the male will 

 come and relievo her taid will occupy the nc.'Jt nil nifrbt and 

 iinlil eight or niiic in tlic morning. Af ll,e cnlnr of llic 

 chiclven's hack cvincfs iLe deign of a Ijciiilirent Fruvidenci! 

 in securing the hclplces little thing.s from oiifccrvjilian, so this 

 pvovisi n bjf which the nuile takes so large a share of the 

 hatchina; sliows erpinlly the wise designs of its Greater in 

 protecting it from dangers. Its hlaclt culor renders it least 

 likely to he observed and it is braver aud stronger in the 

 fight ; for we are informed that it has many enemies, such as 

 the wolf, the tiger and the wildcat. The latter is a most vii- 

 lainous plimderer, and comes upon tlic bird at night in the 

 most sneaiiing ways posiilile, he and I he -wolf ever seeking to 

 draw the bird oH ils nest, with the object of sprinjiLni; among 

 the eggs. The farnipr and his uci;jli born are well aware ot 

 this and they provide seasonable dishes of nisat aud si ry chu iue, 

 deposited nt intervals about the ricat, willi tlie result that 

 every two or tlirce mornings tlve bloated carcass o* a wildcat 

 or wolf is found in the vicinity of the camps. Other birds 

 in pairs are to be found in other camps and in » large camp 

 or field are more than fifty yomig buds, herded, if such a 

 term can be properly used, by a Hottentot boy. Here they 

 are running about, each busied to the utmost in snatcliing up 

 grass and iusect food about the veldt. They are of all sizes, 

 some appearing to be fully grown, othcr.s to lie scarcely laruer 

 than turkeys. Un some of the small ones the bristles on their 

 backs arc fewer and on the larger oues they have nearly or 

 altogether disappeared and given place to feathers, more or 

 less do\vny, and turning gray or iilack, according to sex. 

 Color in this respect, we arc told. I- iuil} .siimwii at a year or 

 two, when the cock is quite bkirl; ;iiiii s.cins to be about as 

 large as he ever gets, yet complme flevelupment, as shown in 

 the rise of thepaiiiiiL'-'iiislincf, does not tike place till three 

 or four years. In ilit meantime iwo or Ihj-ee clippings of 

 feathers have been tnken from them, the first at the age of a 

 year. The farmer in forms ns t hat if wo wait till morning we 

 ■will see the young birds waltz, and as we feel sure that an 

 ostrich dance wilTpussess as mnch interest as the dances of 

 beings gifted with rea-sou, we will wait to see what it is like. 



flO BB OONTINTTKD.] 



A PET AUMADILLO. 



A SHORT time since the six banded armadillo {DaDi/piu 

 ■ ses-cinetus') in the society's collection became unwell, 

 and in order lo nurse it properly I took it into my office. 

 Where, as it gradually improved, it became a most interesting 

 pet indeed! On its convalescence I had become so accus- 

 tomed to having it for my sole companion during tlie long 

 ■winter evenings that 1 was loih to transfer it to its old quar- 

 ters. 



"Pissry" generally passed the day asleep in a shallow 

 wiHHif-hlt.ix in one corner of the room, but just before dark 

 he would lii'ijin lo stirabout so as to get thoroughly awake 

 when the keeper appeared with his supper. After eating 

 he wouhl search the Uoor for any Hies which dining the day 

 had been killed and thrown mirier the chi.irs and tables. 

 AVhen he became satisfied that he had secured .'ill of them 

 he would tumble over all the boots aud shoes iu his search 

 for a stray roach. Frequenily he would atait one and drive 

 it outside into the bright light when I would have a fine ex- 

 l,ii,iii,,ii ,,t Mv wonderful power of scent. The roi eh would 

 ! !^ sill of toe door before Piggy's nose would 

 liillowing every twist and turn of his prey, 

 ..^: :, - .ivv urross the room before it was captured. 



0(!L'-isii.ii.!ii\ II v.'ould be a cricket instead of a roach, aud 

 then Pift'V would ucnerally come oS seLOiid best, as there 

 would h.fV>"iiiiitn5 in ilie scent whenever he would gel so nr-nr 



],;.-•• ,,,...,.:,- ir to jump. The wastp-paper basket 



i.ij, and its contents scattered in every 

 ,] uhile investig.'iting it an unfortunate 



(.-^ , , , , iit, and in its hm-ry to escape sprang 



agamst tlie wall falling back on the floor. " Piggy was e(imri 

 to the occasion, and by a sudden rush seemed his quarry be- 

 fore it could recover and attempt a second spring. 



One of his favorite foraging places was nnderueath the 

 safe, audi was. amused several evenings at his awkward at 

 tempts to climb up between it and the wall. Finally he suc- 

 ceeded iu asceuding a short distance when I heard a faint 

 squeak and caught 8 glimpse of a mouse dieting into the 

 closet. Piggy came down " all of a lump," but managed to 

 bring along iu his powerful claws a nest containing three or 

 foiu-" young mice which he immediately devoured with great 

 enjoyment. Often in his rounds at night the watchman 

 ■wotfid kill a rat and bring it iu as a special treat. As soon as 

 it was thrown on the floor it ■would be attacked just at the 

 flank, where an entrance would be affected by dint of clawing 

 and chewing, to the viscera, which would be torn out and 

 eaten, hut no further notice would be taken of the carcass. 



At first he was qinte shy, and resented any attempt at pet- 

 ting, but ho gradually became so tame that he would allow 

 me to lift him up into my lap, where he would remain quite 

 contented so long as I would gently scratch him about the 

 ears and softly draw my finK-r nails across the smooth .skin 

 between the bauds. The firsi time he heard a guitar played 

 in an adjoining room lie was within a few feet of the door for- 

 aging lor Hies, wiien he came to a s-udden stop, and in- 

 st^anily "d'Avn clmigod," in which position he remained un- 

 til the' music ceased' when he slowly got up, stealthily ap- 

 proached the door, and snuffled along its lower edge as if he 

 ■were trying lo scent out the cause of such unusual sounds. 

 He invar ably acted in a like manner on similar occasions, 

 but the periods of rest phortened until they seldom exceeded 

 five minutes iu duir,li..ii, as if lie rL-a.soned that he could de- 

 vote no louL'er limi-i m tl.o, cultivatimi ..f his esthetic tastes 

 at the exiiense of his iipj -et ite. 1 have frequently endeavored 

 to frichien him by making loud and unusual noises, but 

 never^Bucceeded but once, aud that was unintentionally. 

 The office becoming too warm I turned off the si eam from 

 the coil, aud beins busily engaged in writing neglected t^ 

 open the valve iiuain until the metal had become qmto cold. 

 The flow rif I lie' SI mini was followed by a sharp, crackling 

 sound T'l '•'' .'.. -'o I'i^'.f \i,it\vp_. a convulsive .snort, and 

 J),,,];,:',, .I.Tueath the safe. As the 



n,iji,a\r j forth making a low, tremu- 



lousr.oiii ' I .rcing the air through his nos- 



trils, and at the same time giving them a quick, vibratory 

 motion. 



I am s:-;:-. ' : i 



have ma i' 

 gy," p. .,; 



crCKlurts ,_Lia,aair. 

 their eiaamt?." ft 

 ■ome I if tliG spe 



le so correct as Mr. Packard shoiild 

 J sweeping assertion. In his "Zoolo- 

 \W rolling into a bull these singular 



lice line thoniughly protected from 

 ve that it is we'll authenticated that 

 liile of rolling themselves 



balls; but certainly not all of them, niy little pet, for in- 

 stance, us his structure iib.siilutely forbids any such feid. 

 The most that he can do is lo luck his head down between 

 his front legs, and the moment he does so the iiiilirication of 

 the plates is so slight, he e.vpo.ses a series of parallel bands of 

 .lolt, veli:elv skin lo the attacks of imv predatory mammal or 

 bird. Willi the ]iaiigolin it is different,; as I know to my cost. 

 One evening, while in the interior ol ilava, as 1 was sitting 

 in front of the hotel, in pijamas and slockingless feet thrust 

 into slippers, enjoying a |io»l-prandi;d cheroot and trying lo 

 keep cool, my attention was allractcd by the statuesque 

 figure of a Malay, simply clad iu the national sai-ong and 

 enormous umbrella hat, just in front of me. In the twilight 

 I saw a spherical body lying at his feet, which I picked up 

 for the purpose nf closer' inspection. It proved to be a 

 pnngolin ( Mnuis pi nijidiui.yta) I think, but I did not finish 

 my cxaniiiiation. In mrniug it over, it slipped from my 

 grasp, and iu utiempiiiig to catch it I received from one o"f 

 its seaks a nasty, wire-edged wound, just across the middle 

 joint of my foretinger, producing a sharp, burning sensation, 

 very similar to one experienced 3'ears before in my boyish 

 attempts to nianulacture a "cornstalk fiddle." I immedi- 

 aicly glanced up to see the effect on my native friend, but 

 not a ripple of mirth or a ((tnver of pity crossed his swarthy 

 features He tpiiekly stooped down, picked up the animal, 

 and noiselessly strode away in the rapidly-inercasing dark- 

 ness, while 1 sprang back on the piazza,' venting uialcd e- 

 tions on my stupidity aud the characteristic inipertiu'hability 

 of the entire Malay race. Fhask J. Thompson. 



ZiHiloffiatl Gwrden, Cincinnati. 



DOMESTICATION OF QUAIL. 



RooKL-UTD, Me., Jan. 8. 

 EcUt-m' Vrrrest and, Stream : 



I have read with interest the articles in the FotiEST and 

 Si'iiKAjii atiout breeding quiiil iu confinement. I tried the ex- 

 periment on a small scale last summer and had a good deal of 

 pleasure in watching the birds, although I was not success- 

 ful, but I gained some experience which wUI be of use to me, 

 and perhaps to others, in future attempts in the same line. I 

 propose to try it agam this sununer if 1 can get some quail. 

 Last spring 1 procured twelve pairs of fine, healthy birds 

 from a dealer iu New York. I think they were from the 

 West. I once sent to Connecticut for some Southern quail, 

 and out elf three dozen, one-halt rn their arrival were dead 

 and the other half were so feeble that they all died. The first 

 point is to have healthy birds. 



I lurned out most of the birds. Four pairs went lo the 

 Hon. jAIoses Webster, on the Island of Vinal Haven aud I am 

 infiirmed they bred and I hope will get through the winter 

 wilfi a httle help. 



But to return to the breeding of quail in confinement. I 

 had made a pin the year before for some migratory quail, 

 wliich I released, being convinced tliat they would not breed. 

 The pen was large — about thirty feet long, four wide and 

 sloping from two feet »t the back, which was against a tight 

 hoiird fence, to fifteen uiclits high in front ; sides all solid, 

 top of lalhs, -^viili iiiii- II, \i; in one end for them to retreat 

 to in ease of frig'.: ; : . a, es for observation, and never a 

 day pa.ssed that I '..'- <. [ i :.:1 more or less time in watching 

 them. 1 was ai lengih lewaiaedby seeing tliem commence 

 their uest-hiiildiug. And here I will say that I never saw 

 either of Die two hens lift, a straw toward building the nest ; the 

 cock made them all— and there were four or five of them — by 

 sitting back to the nest and seizing bits of roots, straws, etc., 

 and passing them hack, first one side, then the other. I also 

 noticed that one of the hens, though always peaceable at oth- 

 er limes, would allow- of no love-makuig with her mate ; so I 

 made up my mind to put each pair in a separate pen if I tried 

 it again. They built and destroyed a number of nests, but 

 one day 1 was "much pleased to find an egg in the nest and 

 this NMis followed up, at intervals of one or two days, by 

 others, until se\'en were laid. 



Now conies the sad part of it. On going to feed them one 

 moining all had disaiipeared — three quail and seven or eight 

 eggs. 1 found where something hail dug under the pen and 

 taken Ihem all. I thought at the time it was rats, but it might 

 liave been skunks, for iu the fidl, though I live iu the centre 

 uf a place of tight thousand people, we are overrun with 

 skunks ; and 1 lost a bennlifnl golden pheasant by them, and 

 have caught and shot a mnnber. 



Well, t felt very badly aljout it, but do not consider it a 

 failure. I had no' one's exfierience to help me and I learned 

 two things— to UKds:e the pen vermin-proof and keep thepairs 

 separate. Now I am watching tlie columns of the Forest 

 AST) .Stream to leai-n where I can gel some niorequail, and if 

 any of your readers who live in the quail country will send 

 me a dozen or two I will be greatly obliged to them and will 

 remit at once. Jajies Waiaux. 



E. M. Bird has recently bought a ■white muskrat skin. 



HABITS OP SNAKES. 



ZOOT.OGICAI, CJ.VUDEN, PnU.ADELrniA, JoU. 13. 



Editoi' Foreit ond .sv/ vvo;i . 



Some of the remarkable facts .always elicited by a dis- 

 cu.s.=iion on Iheliabits of aniuuils have been brought to light 

 by (he cnrresp ndence in your " Natural History" columns, 

 on the question of snakes and .sharks swallowing their yoimg 

 for pur|ioses of protection. Now, it is always ditllcult to prove 

 a negative, particulnrly in the face of averments from eye- 

 -witnesses as lo what "they believe themselves to have seen, 

 but all analogy, and anatomy itself as well, presents the 

 atrongcsl kind "of presumptive evidence on the negative side 

 of llii'a question. 



Almost all of the snakes commonly found in this region 

 are either viviparous or ovoviviparoiw, the most common of 

 all and those most likely to be oliserved, as our gniier and 

 water snakes— of the genera -E''f/;"'/i'''Mind Tr"pi\h/,ot!i,-<—he- 

 longing to the former class and producing their young alive 

 and fully formed. In these cases if the female is roughly 

 disturbed within a short time previous to parturition, a 

 premature birth will ordinarily take place, and the average 

 iudividua i m a!s belongdng to this order with feel- 



ings of . -iori that when a dozen or more little 



squirmii,^ lorth, he or she, during the search 



for the ueai cBi. suci^ ui sioue, is not apt to pause long enough 

 to observe very aecurately from ■which extremity of the 



mother the eruption takes place. It is stated further by 

 experienced collectors and observers of animal habits under 

 nature, that "ivhen young snakes are once hatched or born the 

 mother leaves them to fheh- own devices and pays no further 

 attention to them. 



The anatomical relations of the generative organs iu the 

 female ophidian are such that in laying a specimen open, a 

 chauce cut would reaiUly lead a careless or inexperienced 

 dissector to lielieve that the Ovarium had an outlet toward the 

 anterior end of the alimentary canal, and without following 

 the exceedingly contracted oviduct leading in the oppo-" 

 site direction, the reptilian uterus would, "in his eves, be 

 transformed into "a cavity evidently formed" to serve as a 

 place of refuge for the young in time of ifinger. I'he only 

 organ into whichthe young snakes could go, when swallowed, 

 would be the stouiacli, aud the solvent jiower of the diges- 

 tive juices of the serpent is so ip-eilt that it can hardly lie 

 e: I i: ]. li I aible that they could be exposed to its action, 

 e' I at time, without receiving serious daniagc- 



la a I a iiiug applies in the case of sharks aud other 

 vivqiarous hsh. But when we have witnesses who have 

 seen both snakes and sharks ui the act of swallowing their 

 young, we can only suppose it to have been an abnormal act 

 of cannibalism on the part of the observed, or a faulty act of 

 perception on the part of the observer. People will occasion- 

 ally see wonderful ihings, and perhaps a jiarallel case may 

 have some value in this eomieetion. in many animals which 

 have a double vagina, the penis of the male is bifid at llie ex- 

 tremity, and froui this fact ii Ikis been and is still believed 

 by many of the uiuiliieated (and the writer was recently 

 questioned as to the fact by one of the ordinarily educated), 

 that when the season of love arrives in the .ipussiuu, tlie 

 na.sal apertures, iu iho female, are the parts specially devoted 

 to the exercise of the function then indisponsitile, and iu sup- 

 port of this unique idea, observers have not been wanting, 

 who with their own eyes have seen the male and female 

 opo.ssum in coiiu in the astonishing mauner above indicated. 



In all nature, we must be permitted to believe, no homo- 

 logue can he found to an organ specially devoted to the re- 

 ception of offspring Tor prospective purposes after they have 

 once been produced. The nearest approacli to this would 

 appear to be among the piouched marsupials, where the young 

 for a short period before they are finally excluded from llK^ 

 pouch, by the mother, occasionally come out and return again 

 on the appearance of danger. But iu the peculiar reproduc- 

 tive process of these animals, the greater part of development 

 takes place in this receptacle : it is there thai the young re- 

 ceive their nourishment and their retmn to it is only the re- 

 sumption of their natural position with relation lu the' mother, 

 which must be maintained so long a.s development is incom- 

 plete, and bears no sort of analogy with the operation sup- 

 posed to take place among snakes, and which will reqture 

 much positive and authenticated leslimony iu its favor before 

 taking place among the class of ascertaineil facts in natural 

 history. AETHiui Ekwin Bjiows. 



Ha,bit8 of S^AT^s—Brodhlyn, Jan. } 2— Editor Fured 

 and Stream : As to the mooted question of snakes swallow- 

 ing their young, I am prepared to say most po 

 one species - the common garter snake — u 

 so when surprised by an enemy. Severa 

 hunting in the Catskill Mountains, I caia 

 garter snake, but without being obs. a 

 was evidently out for an airing, for a a 

 nearly a dozen little reptiles, "slowly ei 

 rocks. Advancing nearer to get a better v 

 ished to see the old snake, immediately on seeing mo, open 

 her mouth to its fullest extent, into and down which the 

 young ones scrambled like mice into a hole. When the last 

 one had disaitpeared, Mrs Garter made her way lo a place 

 of safety, as I had not the heart to MU her. 



Allow me also to add that the comnion brovniish water 

 snake of the Aliddle Slates, to my o^\ii knowledge, catclios 

 and eats (ish. I once saw a large water snake, nearly four 

 feet long, crawl out of a sinall lake in the Catskills with an 

 eight-inch trout iu it mouth. On gaining the bank it pro- 

 ceeded to swallow the fish, but upon my approach it dropped 

 its prey and jumped into tiie hike . Picking up the fish, whicli 





lively that 

 tainly does 

 aao, while 



1 



nake 



1 agled 



■ii-oiig the 



was aston- 



was nearly dead and showing the 

 upon its sides, I put it into a basn: 

 eventually recovered. Sliorth- aftt 

 the lake, watching it until it swan 

 comes the strange part of my story. 

 I again afiproached the lake^ wliat 

 see a snat 

 place from 



lark.s 



of 



ittC 



the snaki^'s fangs 

 leielipon It 



I put II liack again into 

 out of sight. Hut now 

 Several hours after, as 

 ii8 my astonishment to 

 .lokiug exactly like the first 'one, lying in the 

 hence I had startled the other, and Just" prepar- 



large trout also. This lime I was too quick 

 fur his siiakesliip, and with a iew blows from a stick dis- 

 patched him. On picking up the fish, what was my aston- 

 ishment to find that it was the identical trout that I had but 

 a shoit time before rescued and restored lo the water, as I 

 knew by its size, shape and tlie old wounds on its sides, but 

 it was quite dead, lliave known this species of reptile to 

 catch aud eat small chubs ; and I once caught a large one on 

 a line set for eels and baited with a small dead fish. I am 

 glad you ai-e inviting attention to this and kindred subjects 

 iu natural history, as there is a great deal of ignorance (lis- 

 played by well-read pei.ij lie upon the halnts and nature of 

 many of our commonest unimals, birds and fishes. Why. 

 hundreds of inteUigeut city people don't know lliat cows 

 have no upper teeth; and when you tell them of iJie ox 

 chewing his cud they laugh in derision ; But then tliey do 

 not aU read the Eokest akb Stream. Top Lever. 



Detroit, Mich., .Tan. 17. 

 WmtB on a visit in the country I rmv- «,.r,.^^ .. ^tuped 

 snake, about three feet in length, wlii a joch 



crawled in a decayed log, which I tore a- Lhout 



fifteen yonng -snakes which the old one i in -tn- 



other occasion a few friends and myself came across a snake 

 abonl two feet in length and very large rouud. which on 

 being killed and cut open containeii u live frog. BoB. 



PiNB GrOsbeaics i.N jMAssAcnnsETTS— iJo*to7t, Jan. 17. — 

 I went out in the \vo(ids lust Saturday to Dedham, Mass., on 

 a gunning trip with my friend H. J., and on our way home, 

 tiirough .Tauiaiea Plains, H- J. came acrcss a flock" of pine 

 grosbeaks, and was lucky enough lo get two speciOieus at 

 one shot. Is it not something imuaual to find them in this 

 vicinity? Fbed. Lewis. 



They are not common, hut occur almost every cold winter 

 in Massachusetts and Connecticut. 



ABIUVAtH AI THE ZoOLOGICAI. (SaBDES, ClSOINN.tTI, trP TO 



Jan. 1 , 1881. — One ptmia, J'eliis concolor ; one prong-hom antelope, 

 Aubilo capra americana ; two grizzly bears, Vrsus TiorribUU ; 

 two lions, Felis leo ; one coot, JTuliea awerimna ; one black ■wolf, 



