314 



RECREA TION. 



beech-nut "year. In former years, a good 

 crop of beech-nuts was a sure forerunner of 

 pigeons, in the spring following. 



A. H. Wood. 



WOLF AND DOG. 



VV. MITCHELL, D. S. 



For several years a female wolf, lame in 

 one forefoot, was known to haunt a certain 

 locality in Southwestern Alberta, a short 

 distance North of the international boun- 

 dary line, and isolated by several miles from 

 her own species. Her destructive propen- 

 sities, as the mangled remains of an occa- 

 sional call amply testified, made her un- 

 popular and many were the expedients re- 

 sorted to, by ranchers and others, to rid 

 themselves of her. 



Finally, however, the fact became known 

 that friendly relations existed between her 

 and an English setter dog, owned by a 

 rancher near by, and that she was wont to 

 visit his master's premises, during the early 

 hours of the night, with considerable regu- 

 larity. 



Acting on this knowledge, on a recent 

 occasion this dog in question was picketed 

 out, within easy range of a neighboring calf 

 corral — his owner meanwhile, gun in hand, 

 secreting himself therein. As the stillness 

 of night began to pervade the scene, the 

 wolf was heard beckoning the dog, in a 

 friendly way, to join her. She cautiously 

 approached, and when within convenient 

 range a bullet brought her career to a close. 



The ensuing day, for the benefit of Rec- 

 reation readers, who reside in parts from 

 which these animals have long since been 

 exterminated, the following measurements 

 were taken: Length, unskinned, from tip to 

 tip, 5 feet 6 inches; chest, 27 inches; weight, 

 65 pounds. It will thus be seen that 

 throughout she was an undersized specimen, 

 and the fact that she had been a lifelong 

 cripple, owing to the absence of all save 

 one toe on the right forefoot, may have had 

 something to do with this condition. 



Within the last 2 years animals have oc- 

 casionally been captured in this vicinity be- 

 traying unmistakable evidence of wolf and 

 dog origin — but pursuing the habits of the 

 former — and their maternity has been as- 

 cribed to this animal. 



WOLVES IN COLORADO. 



Jamestown, Col. 

 Editor Recreation: In relation to trfe 

 wolf question would say that according to 

 such information as I have at hand, the 

 animal is very nearly extinct in Colorado, 

 excepting along the Eastern boundary, and 

 even there they are scarce. During a 30 

 days' outing, through Middle Park, 2 years 

 ago, I saw 2, and in this immediate vicinity 



but 2 have been seen during the past 5 

 years. 



_The coyote is quite abundant throughout 

 Colorado, and in some parts very destruc- 

 tive to young lambs, calves and poultry. 

 Even young colts sometimes fall a prey to 

 this little animal when very hungry. For 

 the past 20 years there has been one contin- 

 uous war against the wolf and coyote, most- 

 ly by stockmen. 



O. E. Du Bois. 



NESTING OF THE GRAY-HEADED JUNCO. 



In the spring of '95, near Manhattan, 

 Larimer county. Col., at an altitude of about 

 8,000 feet, I found the gray-headed junco 

 very abundant. On May 18, as I was fol- 

 lowing a deer trail up the side of a mountain 

 I saw one fly from under a piece of building 

 paper that had blown from the roof of a 

 miner's cabin, near by. 



The paper had lodged against a small 

 shrub, forming a canopy about 3 inches 

 high, and under this, with the top flush to 

 the ground, was the nest made of coarse 

 grass and weeds, lined with fine grasses and 

 deer hairs. The nest contained one egg. 

 After noting the location I left the nest and 

 its precious contents until the 24th, when it 

 contained 4 eggs, which I took. They are 

 now in my collection. In color they are 

 greenish-white. Three are faintly dotted 

 with reddish-brown over the whole surface; 

 but chiefly at the larger end. The fourth 

 one has the dots restricted to the large end, 

 in the form of a wreath. 



William L. Burnett, Fort Collins, Col. 



ANOTHER BIG MOOSE HEAD. 



The Chicago Inter Ocean, of a recent 

 date, gives a cut and description of another 

 mammoth moose head, which a fur dealer 

 of that city has lately received from Cop- 

 per river, Alaska. It is reported the horns 

 spread 73% inches, which I believe is 1 

 inch more than the largest head heretofore 

 reported. 



The reporter writes a typical dime novel 

 story of the killing of this moose, and 

 gives some extravagant guesses as to what 

 the size and age of the animal must have 

 been. He estimates him to have been at 

 least 150 years old, 10 feet high at the 

 shoulder and that he carried his horns at 

 least 12 feet from the ground. Newspaper 

 talk is always cheap, but whatever the facts 

 may have been as to the size and age of this 

 particular animal, it is interesting to con- 

 template this giant race of moose. It is 

 also sad to realize that the rush of miners 

 and hunters into the Copper river country, 

 which will take place next spring, will 

 probably result in the destruction of the 

 last of these mammoth animals, before the 

 end of the year. This prediction is based 



