114 



THE GAME BREEDER 



and stood more than four feet in height. 



"I was making a patrol over the Bul- 

 garian lines early one morning when I 

 saw the two eagles," said Captain Mor- 

 tureux, telling his story. "They flew 

 straight toward me and although my ma- 

 chine was faster than they were they 

 kept hovering near me, since I had to 

 swing back and forth along a certain 

 length of the front. 



"One of the birds darted toward me 

 just as I was turning. The roar of the 

 motor and the flashing propeller blades 

 didn't scare him a bit. I was afraid he 

 might get his talons in one of my wings 

 and tear the canvas so I cruised across 

 to a position over our lines. 



"The birds followed right after me, 

 so I decided to attack one of them, just 

 to see what he would do. I 'banked' to 

 slow down and waited until the eagles 

 were directly above and in front of me. 



"Then I pointed the nose of the ma- 

 chine up and started to climb right to- 

 ward them at tremendous speed. I pull- 

 ed the trigger, and the machine gun be- 

 gan to chatter. Twenty-five rounds got 

 both of them. They fell screaming and 

 flapping to earth. 



"Later, back in the city, I had a Greek 

 taxidermist mount them. We captured a 

 German aviator down there some time 

 ago who told us that an eagle had raided 

 one of their mess camps one day and 

 carried off a side of beef. The Balkan 

 eagles are very voracious." 



Captain Mortureux intends to present 

 one of the eagles to a Paris museum and 

 will keep the other as a trophy. 



Daring Owls. 



Editor Game Breeder : 



Perhaps you can give us a little in- 

 formation that will keep us out of jail. 

 The cemetery has been infested with 

 owls this winter, and several people pass- 

 ing through the cemetery at night, and 

 in the early morning, have been followed 

 and annoyed by them. Is there any law 

 preventing us from shooting these birds, 

 and if we shoot them can we have them 

 stuffed ? A stuffed owl might look good 

 in the office — quite in keeping with the 

 sobriety of the surroundings. Is there 



any law to interfere with our decorating 

 the office in this way ? 



Thanking you in advance for steering 

 us aright in this situation, we are, 

 Robert L. Mott, Supt., 

 Maple Grove Cemetery. 



Long Island, N. Y. 



[Write to the State Game Department, Al- 

 bany, N. Y., for information as to' when 

 Cemetery Owls are in season. — Editor.] 



One Day Old Wild Ducks. 



We heard of several sales last week 

 of one-day-old wild ducks. The prices 

 were forty and fifty cents per duck. 

 Very few ducks were to be had at the 

 lower price and these quickly were sold. 

 We hope purchasers in various parts of 

 the country will report the result of the 

 shipments, stating the distance traveled, 

 the percentage of live arrivals and the 

 percentage raised to maturity. 



Some breeders do not seem to- desire 

 publicity and the annoyance (which some 

 complain of) following the publication 

 of their names. We will publish initials 

 when requested to do so. It is more 

 interesting to have the full facts : the 

 names and locations of both shipper and 

 purchaser. The Game Conservation So- 

 ciety will publish the facts about the ar- 

 rival of game and eggs at the Long Isl- 

 and Game Breeders Association and the 

 percentages referred to and it will also 

 give the source of supply in cases where 

 the shippers authorize this. The Society 

 receives no game illegally obtained but 

 where it discovers a rare and unexplored 

 mine of prairie chickens and other grouse 

 and quail, etc., it is evident that the mine 

 might be overworked if every one tried 

 to secure game at the same time. 



Wild Bird Intelligence. 



A striking example of wild-bird intel- 

 ligence has been observed on the Panama 

 Canal in connection with the underwater 

 blasting that is carried on there. 



A barge has been especially equipped 

 for drilling blast holes below the water 

 and depositing charges in them. When 

 a blast is ready the craft moves off to a 

 safe distance, and before setting off the 

 dynamite the barge whistle is blown sev- 



