NATURAL HISTORY. 



5°3 



bull;" which is all right, and no offence 

 whatever. The bull can stand it if Mr. 

 Sheard can. 



Nevertheless, is it not strange that during 

 all these 10 years our " eminent natural- 

 ists " and equally " eminent taxidermists " 

 could have been dancing a continuous war- 

 dance on the reputation of that old bull, 

 and no wprd of it should have reached 

 me until now? Yet, if Mr. Sheard tells the 

 truth,. that is exactly the case; and it is 

 very sad. 



I have lived along in the belief that after 

 having studied that particular animal, and 

 sketched his outline as he stood wounded 

 and at bay; after having killed him, and 

 made 2 elaborate series of measurements of 

 his dead body (one before skinning and 

 the other after), and that having mounted 

 him, at my leisure, according to those 

 measurements, even the most jealous of my 

 rivals would allow me to know something 

 about him. If there are any naturalists or 

 taxidermists, eminent or otherwise, who 

 really believe they know more about the 

 form and size of that animal than I did 

 when I mounted him, I can only accept 

 this as proof that the fools are not all dead, 

 even yet. 



The statement that this animal " has ex- 

 cited as much hostile criticism as any speci- 

 men in the National Museum " deserves to 

 be classed in the same category as Mr. 

 Sheard's declaration regarding that " ex- 

 tremely long hair." 



If things are as my Western friend says 

 they are, it is a great pity the truth has not 

 been published in time to stop the repro- 

 duction of the numerous portraits of that 

 bull that have appeared in scientific books 

 and periodicals, since 1887. Evidently 

 some good men have been deceived. J. 

 Carter Beard, Ernest Seton Thompson and 

 Miss Palmer have used him as a model. So 

 have other artists. Sir William Flower, 

 Director of the British Museum of Natural 

 History, and Dr. Lydecker published his 

 portrait in their " Mammalia, Living and 

 Extinct" (page 363). This same portrait 

 has been published in " Nature; " and Dr. 

 Shufeldt reproduced it, with strong expres- 

 sions of approval and admiration, in 

 " Scientific Taxidermy" (page 422). 



Mr. Sheard asks me to " make it an ob- 

 ject " for him to show a picture of a finer 

 head than that of the mud-covered bull in 

 the National Museum. Money bets, on 

 natural history questions are, so far as I 

 know, never decided, and are merely a 

 form of bluff of which the public has grown 

 weary. If the exponent of sheared buffalo 

 heads does not find the honor of owning 

 a finer head than any in the United States 

 National Museum a sufficient " object " to 

 repay him for mailing a photograph to 

 Recreation, he will have to go objectless, 

 so far as I am concerned. 



William T. Hornaday. 



WINTER BIRDS IN A BIG CITY. 

 Ioiin BOYD. 



In this city of Toronto, with over 200,000 

 people, we have not the advantages of 

 studying nature as we would wish; yet 

 there occur many opportunities of learn- 

 ing the ways of our feathered friends, and 

 not the least of these chances come in win- 

 ter. 



The period between December Jst and 

 March 15th is generally looked upon as the 

 ornithological holiday; but we, in Canada, 

 regard it as the season when we find the 

 rarest of our birds. I say our birds, for at 

 that time those we come across are Cana- 

 dian in the truest sense of the word, being 

 born and raised to maturity within the con- 

 fines of the Dominion, and few of them 

 ever venture so far South as Ontario. 



The winter of 1896-1897 was not produc- 

 tive of many surprises to the collector or 

 student of ornithology; yet it furnished 

 many interesting studies of the birds that 

 live here, or that pay us a visit, from their 

 far off Northern homes. I will jot down, 

 from my field note book, some items about 

 birds that came under my observation. 



Snow Buntings (Plcctrophenax nivalis), 

 were fairly numerous on Toronto Island, 

 as well as North and West of the city- 

 There seemed to be in each flock an un- 

 usual number of specimens which were 

 abnormally large and in the most splendid 

 plumage. 



Horned Lark (Otocoris alpestris). The 

 familiar shore larks are everywhere. There 

 were hundreds in every field and by the 

 roadside, on the frozen bay and in the 

 streets. Their pleasant voices do much to 

 enliven a walk when the temperature is 

 hovering around the zero mark. 



Redpoll (Acanthis linaria) are the ever 

 active little fellows we look for among the 

 dried and frozen weeds, picking out their 

 scanty fare; but just as often do we find 

 them on the higher trees calling to each 

 other in a way that much resembles the 

 notes of American goldfinch. 



Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vesper- 

 tina). A specimen is reported to have 

 been taken from near Weston, about 5 

 miles from Toronto, but I am not able to 

 vouch for the accuracy of the report. The 

 bird is rare in this locality, and very erratic 

 in its visits. 



Bohemian wax wing {Ampelis garrulus) 

 are not so numerous as last winter, but a 

 number have been seen throughout the 

 city. 



Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola cmiclcator) like 

 the former, has not been plentiful: still in 

 the Northern and Western suburbs they 

 have been seen. They are a robust, soci- 

 able gregarious family. 



Northern Shrike (Laniits borcalis). I se- 

 cured one of these in the act of devouring 

 a shore lark. They are not numerous, dur- 



