NATURAL HISTORY. 



151 



operations. Leave the place a minute, or 

 even turn your back, and you will find them 

 at your camp luggage, seeking what they 

 may devour. Scare them off and they re- 

 sume their former station, with a scornful 

 " Ca-ca-ca." 



As the days pass on, they become more 

 familiar, until I have had them light on the 

 table, snatch the handiest piece from my 

 plate, and fly away. It is then you are apt 

 to say " cuss words," pick up the handiest 

 shooting iron and let drive. 



They hoard whatever is not eaten at the 

 time, hiding it between layers of bark, and 

 in other convenient places. 



There is nothing seemingly that they will 

 not steal or eat — soap, raw meat, candles, 

 salt pork; even a pair of my old trousers 

 that had become greasey, they pecked 

 holes in. They are industrious but thiev- 

 ish, and in the latter connection exhibit the 

 jay nature continually; even extending the 

 crime to robbing nests of other birds of 

 their eggs and young. When the snow 

 covers the ground the gray jay must suffer 

 extreme want. 



The nesting commences very early, and 

 the young are hatched before many other 

 birds begin their mating. The nest is large, 

 a roughly made exterior, but lined with fine 

 mosses, and sometimes feathers. 



John Boyd, Toronto, Can. 



HOW MUCH DOES THE LARGEST MOOSE 

 WEIGH ? 



Can you tell me the weight of the largest 

 moose of which there is an authentic 

 record. Also the spread of the largest 

 antlers; and state where the moose was 

 killed. 



I asked this question of another sports- 

 men's paper but as yet have never seen it 

 answered. 



F. R. Whitcher, Amesbury, Mass. 



It is difficult to give any reliable data as 

 to the actual weight of moose. As a rule 

 they are killed in the wilderness, at long 

 distances from towns or settlements, and 

 where it is practically impossible to get 

 them out, whole. Few hunters ever carry 

 with them large scales, with which to 

 Weigh such game, even by cutting it up. 

 I have but one record as to the actual gross 

 weight of a bull moose. This was killed 

 by Mr. M. L. Miller, of Bangor, Me., in 

 the fall of '93, and the story of the killing 

 and getting the moose out of the woods, 

 was published in March, '95, Recreation. 

 Mr. Miller states, in his article, the moose 

 actually weighed 1,123 pounds. 



In the March, '97, number of Recrea- 

 tion, a moose head, then owned by Mr. W. 

 W. Hart, taxidermist of this city, was de- 

 scribed, the spread of horns being 5 feet 

 10% inches. 



Without a doubt the horns of the moose 

 found in the vicinity of Cook's Inlet, 

 Alaska, grow larger than those found else- 

 where on this continent. 



If any reader of Recreation knows of a 

 large moose having been actually weighed, 

 and the weight verified and recorded in 

 the presence of witnesses, I should like to 

 have a report from him. It is useless to 

 use up space in telling of big moose, the 

 weight of which was " estimated " to be 

 so and so. This is not competent testi- 

 mony. We want only facts, not guesses. 



A BIG MOOSE HEAD. 



I send you herewith photograph and di- 

 mensions of a moose I killed in Alaska, in 

 September last.* 



From edge of upper lip down 

 over the back, to toe of hind 

 foot 16 ft. 4 in. 



Height at withers 7 ft. 8 in. 



Girth, from brisket over with- 

 ers . . 8 ft. 9 in. 



Girth around neck, at shoul- 

 ders 6 ft. 7 in. 



Tip to tip of ears 23 Z A in. 



Width of ears 7 in. 



Around muzzle 28 in. 



antlers. 



Length of each beam, inside 

 measurement 48 in. 



Around burr 141^ in. 



Around beams, at smallest 

 place 10 in. 



Width of palmations 15 in. 



Extreme spread 69 in. 



Number of points 32 



The above are exact measurements. All 

 points considered I believe this to be a 

 record head. 



I killed a grizzly bear, the same day, that 

 measured 10 feet 7 inches, stretched. The 

 head was 22 inches long and 46 inches in 

 circumference; foot 8 x 12 inches; claws 4 

 inches long. I brought both specimens 

 home and am having them mounted, at 

 Colorado Springs, where they can be seen 

 and measured. Who can beat them? 



Dall De Weese, Canyon City, Col. 



NOTES. 



Like Mr. Pleas, I noticed in the June 

 number of Recreation the mistake of Mr. 

 Gaines, regarding the color of the egg of 

 the brow T n thrush. Mr. Gaines has con- 

 fused the wood thrush (Turdus mustelinus) 

 with the brown thrush (Harporhynchus 

 rufus). From the description he gave I 

 think the egg he found was that of the 

 wood thrush, a bird which is bright tawny 

 above, shading into olive on rump and tail, 



* See cut on front cover. 



