222 RECREATION. 3 
about 50 lit South of town. They were 
quite tame and I got within 65 yards of 
them. 
F. M. Hartsook, Jr., Montfort, Wis. 

Yours of the 13th received. You were 
rightly informed. I saw in all 5 flocks of 
pigeons, ranging in size from 50 to 300. 
They were going directly West at this 
place, and to me were quite a curiosity as 
we have had no pigeons here for many 
years. 
F. B. Callis, Montfort, Wis. 

I saw recently several flocks of pigeons, 
numbering 50 to 100 each, near Island 
Grove. 
L. E. Schreiber, Milwaukee, Wis. 

GIRLS FORSWEAR BIRDS ON HATS. 
Promises made by several hundred girls attending 
the public schools of New Brunswick, N. J., to refrain 
from wearing song birds on their hats have caused 
consternation among the milliners of that city, but if 
adhered to it will afford the residents of New Bruns- 
wick an opportunity of hearing a grand opera singer 
at a nominal cost. 
Mrs. Mary R. Jordan, the musical instructor in the 
ublic schools of New Brunswick, recently received a 
etter from Mme. Lilli Lehmann, the grand opera sing- 
er, in which she promises to sing in that city in 
November if the girls attending the schools would for- 
swear the wearing of birds in their hats. 
The girls readily agreed to dispense with the birds 
even at the risk of being considered out of fashion, an 
Mme. Lehmann has been advised by Mrs. Jordan that 
the compact will be faithfully kept. Some of the girls, 
who belong to the best social circles of New Brunswick, 
are doing their best to interest their friends in the 
crusade, and the milliners are ata loss for means to 
counteract the moyement.—N. Y. Herald. 

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
Governor Brady, of Alaska, writes as 
follows to Ho... Meriden S. Hill, Blaine, 
Wash.: 
A number of men are now engaged in 
the raising of blue, black and silver foxes 
on islands along the Alaskan coast, 
these islands being leased by the Treas- 
ury Department. The men find that the 
blue foxes are the easier to raise and are 
doing fairly well. This business is some- 
thing like planting vines and trees; one 
must wait some years before deriving any 
benefit. No other animals have been 
tried that I know of. Naturally the men 
who are engaged in this business do not 
care to furnish much information. The 
industry has been started in Prince Will- 
iam sound, on some of the islands, by 
some Scandinavians. 

There is a deer near this city that was 
caught by main strength in October, ’97. 
It is a buck weighing about 160 pounds. 
When captured there were 3 points on 
each antler. In December the horns were 
shed. When they came again in the spring 
of ’98 there were but 2 points on each 
antler. These antlers were again thrown 
oft last December. What was the cause of 
the decrease in the number of points? 
Have always supposed that deer after the 
age of 2 years had one more point each 
yeat-<- Is thissa) tact? 
A. 'T. Percival, Rutland; VE, 
No; the deer does not acquire a new 
point for each year he lives.—EDbDITOR. 

I recently saw what was to me a strange 
bird, wearing this dress: 
Body above, including head, bright 
black. One or 2 white wing coverts. Two 
white feathers in the tail, which were un- 
derneath. Breast and belly white, with a 
bright red patch like a chest protector, on 
his neck, larger than a quarter of a dollar. 
Who of my old army of bird defenders will 
tell me his name? 
C. C. Haskins, Chicago: 
Was it the size of a humming bird, a 
sparrow, a robin, an eagle or a house? If 
No. 3 the bird is rose-breasted grosbeak. 

While attending the University of Michi- 
gan I was shown a deer’s heart on which~ 
was a scar nearly 2 inches long, where an 
old wound had healed, and from the end 
of the scar a bullet had been removed. 
None of the heart cavities had been pene: 
trated. 
While hunting chickens with Dr, 
Meyers, at Beloit, Wis., I saw the Doctor’s 
Gordon pup trail at least 200 yards and 
then point a common mud turtle whose 
shell was about 6 inches across. 
Dr. F. D. Fanning, Butler, Ind. 

A flock of wild geese, 14 in number, 
recently passed over here, and scattered 
through it were 29 wild ducks. They kept 
their places perfectly in both lines of the 
V shaped formation until lost to sight. A 
single goose led the flock followed by 2 
ducks. I have seen many hundred flocks 
of wild fowl, but never before one like that. 
Chas. F. Morris, Batavia, Ill. 
Are you sure the smaller birds were not 
brant? EDITOR. 
————— < 
Are you a fly fisherman? If so, why not 
send me 2 subscriptions to RECREATION 
and get a dozen high grade assorted trout 
flies, listed at $1? Or 3 subscriptions and 
get a dozen high grade assorted bass flies; 
listed at $2? 

Do you ever camp out? If so, why sleep 
on the cold, hard ground? Why not take 
with you a pneumatic rubber mattress? 
You can get one for 25 subscriptions to 
RECREATION. 



