306 
and blue color. I said: “‘Red squirrel,” at 
first; but on closer investigation I found 
two black grubs, whichI send -you herewith. 
They were inside the testicles and had 
eaten or absorbed those organs almost en- 
tirely, in fact had taken their place with 
this difference, one end was exposed. If 
these grubs or gad flies work on chip- 
munks, why not on the fox and red 
squirrels; but I never heard of a male red 
squirrel being shot and that would lead me 
to think he still had a tooth in the game. I 
once had occasion to remove a grub of this 
kind from a cat’s nostril, but tabbie, unlike 
chip, had grown very poor. 
What conclusion would you draw from 
the above instance? Can you give us a 
clue to the insect that laid the eggs? 
H. B., Chicago; Tl: 

MORE WOOD RAT LORE. 
I have a small cabin near Colorado 
Springs, Colo., where mountain rats fre- 
quently become troublesome by making 
nests and carrying off valuable articles. 
I was asked for a live mountain rat by a 
distinguished anatomist in New York; so 
I baited a large rat trap and left it in the 
cabin.. I was detained and did not return 
to the cabin for 7 days. Then I found a 
black squirrel in the trap, alive and sav- 
age. There were some scratches on his 
face but he was practically unharmed. On 
the floor of the cage were the scattered 
remains of 2 large mountain rats. I found 
7 feet, 2 heads, etc., but all the flesh had 
been eaten. The  squirrel’s excreta 
showed hair in it.. The rat bones show- 
ed marks of small incisor teeth. I let the 
squirrel go for I believed he had won his 
liberty. What happened in the cage I 
do not know; I merely judge from cir- 
cumstantial evidence. The rats could 
scarcely have eaten each other. It is pos- 
sible they fought until one or both died 
and the squirrel may have eaten their 
bodies; or he may have killed them both. 
It was too short a time for them to have 
- died of starvation before the advent of the 
squirrel, 7 days, and I believe he killed 
and ate both of them. 
sues Gardiner, M. D., Colorado Springs, 
olo. 

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
Mr. Rufus Kendrick, of this place, a 
member of the L. A. S., is doing a grand 
work in suppressing the English sparrow. 
He has offered a bounty on their eggs or 
heads and has had over 2,400 eggs and 
heads brought in. It is proposed to form a 
society for the suppression of the sparrow. 
Mr. Kendrick has secured, as he calls it. 
“about 18 indictments” against the English 
sparrow, any one of which would be. suf- 
ficient to send a human being to prison if 
RECREATION. 
he was convicted of it. We know they 
kill song and insectivorous birds, dump 
their eggs and nests on the ground and 
kill and destroy the young. It is high time 
the whole country should arise and stamp 
out the sparrow pest. 
Arthur S. Aborn, Deputy Game Warden, 
Wakefield, Mass. 

When you asked, some time ago, for 
information in regard to red squirrels, | 
wrote an article which appeared in Octo- 
ber, ’98, RECREATION. To this Alfred Smith 
takes exception in the February number. 
He says that I said the tree from which 
the squirrel jumped ‘“‘stood”’ 50 feet from 
the water. I said nothing of the kind, 
neither did RECREATION print it so. What ~ 
I meant was that the squirrel was 50 feet 
above the water when he jumped. As a 
matter of fact, the tree stood close to the 
river bank. 
Paul Scheuring, West De Pere, Wis. 

To settle a controversy please tell me, 
through RECREATION, what is astrakhan 
fur, and where is it obtained? 
C. M. Allen, Wheeler, Wis. 
True astrakhan fur is the pelts of young 
lambs bred in the province of Astrakhan, 
Russia. The finest quality is from the un- 
born lamb. It is very expensive, and many 
imitations are on the market. 
EDITOR. 

While prospecting on the North shore of 
Lake Superior in 1895-96 I saw several 
small flocks of wild pigeons. There were 
20 to 30 in each flock and they were so 
tame I could have knocked them off the 
trees with a fishing rod. I saw a stray one 
here last week. 
James B. Jarvis, Rossland, B. C. 

I noticed the first robin of the season 
February 23d. It looked lonesome; as 
there was no bare ground, and it hopped 
disconsolately about on the ice and snow. 
It is not remarkable to see a robin so early 
in this latitude. 
W. C. Baker, Searsmont, Me. 
Join the L. A. S. The membership fee is 
only $1. Sixty cents of this goes back into 
your own state to be expended there in the 
work of game protection. 

I will esteem it a personal favor if you 
willsend me the names and addresses of 
all the sportsmen you know, who are not 
yet readers of RECREATION. 


