NATURAL HISTORY. 



3*3 



AS TO GREY SQUIRRELS. 

 I note your article on grey squirrels in 

 August Recreation in answer to F. E. 

 Williams, of Spring Valley, Minn. A per- 

 son is guided largely by his own experi- 

 ence and both of you are right. The in- 

 stincts of grey squirrels are the same, but 

 their habits vary with the conditions by 

 which they are surrounded. I have had 

 some experience with wild grey squirrels, 

 having bought several tons of compears for 

 them within the past year. At first I al- 

 lowed them free access to the crib, which 

 is close to large timber, but I found them 

 so extravagant and wasteful I had to 

 check them. On any day I could see them 

 carrying away whole ears of corn. There 

 are bushels of cobs in the woods and I 

 have frequently found ears of corn in the 

 brush near. 



I stopped this practice to a great ex- 

 tent by placing sheet tin over the holes on 

 the side of the crib so a squirrel can only 

 enter by bending his body. As they can 

 not bend the corn ears, I frequently find 

 ears partly out of the hole, but jammed 

 against the tin. The squirrels are smart 

 enough to take out half ears now. 



The reasons for this habit seem to be, 

 with my squirrels, caution and conveni- 

 ence, not the instinct of supplying future 

 needs. By carrying the whole ear to a 

 place of safety they can eat the grain at 

 their leisure. If they wish to feed their 

 young, it is easier to carry the ear than 

 the loose grain to the nest. These squir- 

 rels do not seem to hide a single grain of 

 corn. They eat what they want and throw 

 the rest away. They feel certain there will 

 be corn in the crib. They will eat cracked 

 nuts at once, but they will invariably bury 

 whole nuts, no matter how hungry they 

 may be. I have tested them by throwing 

 out one nut at a time. They seem never 

 to tire of digging, but they do not bury 2 

 nuts in the same place,. 



A grey squirrel will eat only 6 to 10 

 cracked hickory nuts on a cold morning, 

 but their appetite for corn seems unlimited. 

 They eat only the rich, oily germ, throwing 

 away 90 per cent of the grain. For this 

 reason, a quart of shelled corn will not 

 last a squirrel 2 days. There are several 

 quarts of germless shelled corn lying on 

 the ground under mv crib. Chickens know 

 that the best of the kernel is gone and 

 refuse to eat the remainder. 



Fredk. A. Canfield, Dover, N. J. 



and sisters and some friends, decidedly 

 changed its song during the past 20 years 

 or more. The character of its song, I 

 mean, the tone, timbre, or quality, remains 

 the same, undoubtedly distinguishing this 

 bird among others; but the scale, or melody, 

 has undergone a decided change, I have 

 not, for many years, heard the song I was 

 familiar with and could imitate perfectly, 

 and that I remember as well as I do my 

 A, B, C or the bugle call. This may sound 

 odd, but I am sure of what I say. If 

 you know of anything that can account 

 for this change in the song of a bird, I am 

 curious to learn what it is. This was 

 again brought to my notice by the advent 

 of the orioles here last spring, and they 

 have added still another change of note 

 at the termination of the melody; one I 

 never heard before. I suppose everyone 

 has remarked that the song sparrow has 

 several different ways of e'nding its song, 

 and sometimes, of beginning it ; but the 

 oriole has changed his song entirely from 

 that which I knew 30 years ago. Can it 

 be due to a mixing of breed? 



S. W. F., Portsmouth, N. H. 



ANSWER. 



Such a change in the song of the oriole, 

 in 30 years time, is quite possible, but un- 

 usual. There is great individuality in songs 

 of the same species, often greater, com- 

 paratively, within a circumscribed area than 

 when individuals from a larger extent of 

 country are compared. It is an example 

 of evolution, but might be either progres- 

 sive or retrogressive in character. — Editor. 



HAS THE ORIOLE CHANGED ITS SONG? 

 Have you ever known or heard of any 

 bird that has changed some of the notes 

 in its song? The golden robin, or Balti- 

 more oriole, as it is often called, has, to 

 my ears, and to the ears of all my brothers 



CANNIBAL RABBITS. 



Last winter, during the time of our big 

 snow, a cat caught a rabbit close to my 

 barn. I heard the rabbit squalling and 

 drove the cat away before she had killed 

 her victim, but bunny died that night. In 

 the evening it snowed again, covering all 

 old tracks. The new snow, the next morn- 

 ing, gave a clear account of what had 

 occurred during the night. I found the 

 partially eaten carcass of the rabbit lying 

 20 feet from where it had died. Its flesh 

 hung in long, fine shreds or strings — just 

 such work as I imagine a rabbit would do 

 with its long, sharo teeth ; and not a track 

 of anything except rabbits was to be found. 

 Neither cat, owl nor any other beast or 

 bird had set foot in the snow near that 

 place. 



I tracked 4 rabbits from there and 

 jumped them all within 50 yards. I am 

 as certain that carcass was eaten by rab- 

 bits as if I had seen them eating it. 

 At the time this occurred the ground had 

 been covered with snow 2 weeks or more. 

 I was compelled to believe what, before. I 



