NATURAL HISTORY. 



6< 



THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON. 



(Cohtniba fasciata). 



The boys here have been having lots of 

 fun with wild pigeons, but do not kill many, 

 for they are difficult to approach. I am 

 positive in regard to the birds being wild 

 pigeons, for I have killed a good many 

 during the years I have handled a scatter 

 gun, my first ones being killed on the 

 Salinas river, Monterey County, Cal. 



One day I saw a flock go over here that 

 I think 1 am safe in saying contained 1,000 

 birds. They come from the mountains (the 

 Sierra Nevadas) nearly every spring, stay 

 until about the 15th of April, and then go 

 back. 



Have taken 2 pictures of the birds, and if 

 negatives develop properly will send you 

 one. De Witt Salisbury, Chico, Cal. 



The interesting notes printed above refer 

 to a bird almost unknown East of the Mis- 

 sissippi, save to naturalists. The species 

 referred to is not the spike-tailed " passen- 

 ger pigeon," once so common throughout 

 the Mississippi valley, but the " band-tailed 

 pigeon," having a blunt tail with a black 

 band across the middle of it. It is one of 

 the largest of American wild pigeons, and 

 its home is the Pacific coast region West 

 of the Rocky mountains, from the State of 

 Washington to Arizona, Mexico and Gua- 

 temala. Editor. 



robes "(untanncd) to the Hudson Bay Fur 

 Company, at Winnipeg, at $20 each. Good 

 tanned robes were then purchasable in 

 Minneapolis, Montreal and New York, at 

 prices ranging from $20 to $35, according 

 to si/e and quality. EDITOR. 



HOW MANY? 



How many buffalo are left in the United 

 States, and what is a genuine buffalo robe 

 worth? H. J. A., St. Mary's, Kan. 



I assume your inquiry relates to wild 

 buffaloes. There are now but 3 small bands 

 of wild buffaloes alive on the whole North 

 American Continent. In Yellowstone Park 

 there are barely 30 head (some say not 

 so many). There are 15 or 20 head in Lost 

 Park, Colorado, and perhaps 150 head 

 in the British Possessions, Southwest of 

 Great Slave lake. Within 2 years more, the 

 heads and hides of all those now alive, in 

 Yellowstone Park, will be in the hands of 

 the human hyaenas who hang around the 

 Park, and who in 6 years have reduced the 

 Park herd from 300 head to 30, or less. 



Buffalo robes have not half the value that 

 most people suppose. In 1888 25 good 

 robes were thrust into my hands (without 

 my consent) to be sold. New York fur 

 dealers would not touch them at any price, 

 because the buffalo robe was no longer " in 

 the market," or in demand; and the deal- 

 ers did not care to create a demand when 

 there were only 25 robes with which to 

 supply it. Finally I succeeded in selling the 



RABBITS CAN SWIM. 



I have heard a number of sportsmen say 

 they never knew of a rabbit taking to water 

 and swimming; but I have known of an 

 instance. One day in summer, a few years 

 ago, while Charley Dodge and A. M. Tufts, 

 of Lynn, Mass., were fishing on Spring 

 Pond, near Lynn, they saw a creature 

 swimming. At first they thought it a musk- 

 rat; but somehow it seemed to act dif- 

 ferently. 



By way of experiment, Dodge clapped 

 his hands loudly, when up went Bunny's 

 big ears — and gave him away! At once the 

 boys pulled after him, and he began to 

 swim for dear life. 



The rabbit reached the shore ahead of his 

 pursuers, who naturally thought he would 

 vanish instantly, and be seen no more. 

 But such was not the case. When my 

 friends reached the shore, they found Bun- 

 ny lying there soaking wet, quite exhausted, 

 and unable to run away. They picked him 

 up, looked him all over, dried out his fur, 

 and finally put him down, when away he 

 went. 



Now that rafrbit took to the water of his 

 own accord, and at the place where he went 

 in, the pond was over 200 yards wide. This 

 is the only case of the kind I know of, but 

 it proves that rabbits can swim. 



H. M. G., Morrisonville, Vt. 



J. R. Bennett and E. E. Darrow, while 

 cutting wood on a farm 2 miles Southwest 

 of town, made an interesting discovery. In 

 the heart of a pine tree, 4 feet in diameter, 

 and embedded in the solid wood, they found 

 the nest and the shriveled remains of 2 birds 

 which, from their appearance, had been 

 yellowhammers; but unlike the toad that is 

 found, at stated intervals, imbedded in the 

 solid rock, the birds were dead. Although 

 the tree had grown over solidly, there were 

 traces of a hole having been there when it 

 was small. 



Estimating the time by the growth over 

 the hole, the birds must have taken their 

 last peep out about the time the Astor party 

 went by, on their way to Astoria, and hav- 

 ing missed the train, had to walk. The re- 

 mains of the flickers look a good deal like a 

 mummy, and there is a sad expression lin- 

 gering about their eyes that suggests long 

 years of waiting. 



Garfield (Wash.) " Enterprise." 



