5°4 



RECREA TION. 



ing the winter, and it is well for the smaller 

 birds that such is the case, for enough per- 

 ish through this butcher's rapaciousness. 

 If they would confine their attacks and 

 slaughter to thinning out the number of 

 Passer domesticus, we would be inclined to 

 protect lanius from the small boy with a 

 gun. 



Black capped chickadee (Parns atricapil- 

 lus) is a hardy little fellow who is equally 

 at home in the city orchard as in the deep 

 woods. He is a general favorite, and his 

 work for the fruit grower is of incalculable 

 value. 



Hairy woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) is 

 often found inside the city limits; and while 

 not plentiful they are not by any means 

 rare to the student of winter ornithology. 



American goldfinch {Spinus tristis) may 

 be considered a resident here; for although 

 the greater number migrate, we find some 

 of them frequenting the sheltered groves 

 and hollows, around the outskirts, where 

 they appear to brave the cold, with but little 

 if any hardship. 



This is not a varied list of midwinter resi- 

 dents, but, considering the crowded city, 

 and the densely settled country adjoining 

 it, we think we are favored in having even 

 these to cheer us when the woods are still 

 and everything is under a mantle of snow 

 and ice. 



We are looking forward to the time when 

 the lengthening days and the warmer sun 

 will start the migrations North, that we 

 may watch our feathered friends winging 

 their way through storms and fogs, with an 

 irresistible desire to reach the place where 

 a year previous they were perhaps hatched 

 and reared. 



It is a question hardly explainable, as to 

 why these birds should leave a land of abun- 

 dant fare, in the South, to move to a place, 

 which they, in a few short months, must 

 again quit; thus exposing themselves twice 

 to a fatiguing journey of thousands of 

 miles. They have done it from the creation 

 of the world, and no doubt the change be- 

 comes a matter of necessity. 



We admire the courage that prompts 

 such an undertaking, and would respect it 

 still more if we only knew why the change 

 was necessary; but as to this we are in the 

 dark. All the reasons advanced, so far, are 

 pure conjecture, and it remains for the new 

 school of scientists to clear up what is at 

 present in doubt on the subject of migra- 

 tions. 



" A good many will think Colonel 

 Young's report premature. But black bear 

 are by no means numerous in the park. 

 One may wander all over it, for a fortnight, 

 and not see a bear. In the immediate vicin- 

 ity of the hotels, and permanent camps, 

 these half-tame wild beasts make frequent 

 appearances, and their playful antics and 

 gambols are the delight of tourists. If a 

 vote were taken of those most interested 

 it would certainly be in favor of increasing, 

 rather than diminishing, the number of 

 bears. Unless their cubs are injured they 

 will run from anybody who faces them, and 

 women, and even children, have been 

 known to capture a cub and carry it away 

 from its mother, without serious resistance. 

 An old trapper told me he had never known 

 a bear in the park to injure a human being 

 unless first wounded by him. A black bear 

 will run from any kind of dog, and is just 

 about as harmless as a cow. The bear in 

 the Yellowstone rival the geysers and the 

 canyons, as entertainment for the tourist, 

 and I would as soon think of filling up 

 Morning Glory Spring as allowing these 

 good-natured and playful creatures to be 

 carried away." 



IN DEFENCE OF THE BLACK BEAR. 



Dr. W. A. Croffut, of Washington, has 

 entered a protest, with the Interior Depart- 

 ment, against the suggestion of Superin- 

 tendent Young that the black bear in the 

 park be diminished in number by being 

 captured and given to museums. Dr. Crof- 

 fut says: 



A BIG MOOSE-HEAD. 



I killed a moose in New Brunswick that 

 is said to be the largest ever killed in that 

 province. It is certainly the largest I have 

 any record of; but I should be pleased to 

 hear from any of your readers who may 

 know of one comparing with it. Here are 

 some of the dimensions: He weighed 

 1,500 pounds and as he lay dead he meas- 

 ured 11 feet long. That is the only meas- 

 urement I made then, but since the head 

 was mounted it shows the following: a girth 

 of neck, at shield, of 5 feet; length from 

 shield to end of nose 4 feet; neck girth, in 

 smallest place, 4 feet. The bell is 14 inches 

 long, and is a split or double bell. Girth of 

 head 4 feet 5 inches; width between the 

 eyes 10 inches: circumference of horn, 

 close to head, ii^4 inches, and 0^4 inches 2 

 inches from the head; spread of antlers 4 

 feet 6 inches. They have 39 points, 19 on 

 one side and 20 on the other. 



I am sorry I have not the width of the 

 web, but it is very wide. Neither can I 

 give length of antler. The head is symmet- 

 rical, and the antlers very large, extending 

 back over the neck with a long, graceful 

 sweep. 



The head was confiscated by the New 

 Brunswick government and hangs in the 

 crown land department, at Fredericton. 

 where it can be seen and these measure- 

 ments verified. 



Can anyone beat it? I have tried in vain 

 to get the head. 



Harry M. Church, New Bedford, Mass. 



