NATURAL HISTORY. 



53 



fence. Then the hawk rose in the air and 

 early days told me he once left an elk 

 carcass out all night without its being 

 touched by coyotes. He could not carry 

 the elk to camp the same night, so he 

 killed it, skinned it, cut off the head, 

 propped the carcass up on its legs and left 

 it. The next morning he went back, ex- 

 pecting to find it eaten, but there it stood, 

 with a ring of coyote tracks about it. 

 After the head was cut off the neck had 

 turned back toward the tail, making the 

 strangest looking animal anyone ever saw. 

 It was something new to the coyotes, and 

 they wouldn't tackle it. 



A. K. Boyler, Saline, Kan. 



Frank L. Parkhurst claims the blue jay 

 is an enemy of our smaller birds. While 

 this bird may occasionally rob a nest, I do 

 not believe his chief food at any time is 

 eggs or young birds. In this section of 

 Ohio jays are numerous, and I have never 

 seen one rob a bird's nest. He shows a 

 marked preference for acorns and beech 

 nuts. From repeated observations and ex- 

 aminations of stomach contents I am con- 

 vinced these nuts constitute the bulk of his 

 food during the late summer and autumn; 

 while at other times grain, berries and in- 

 sects are largely eaten. No decrease of na- 

 tive birds can be attributed to the depreda- 

 tions of the jay and he should be pro- 

 tected. 



I should like to learn the opinion of 

 readers of Recreation regarding the food 

 of hawks. Recreation and the L. A. S. 

 are doing much good and deserve encour- 

 agement from every true sportsman and 

 lover of nature. We are making it in- 

 teresting for game hogs and will continue 

 to do so. 



Nat S. Green, Camp Dennison, O. 



One morning last spring while out 

 wheeling I heard a noise up in a tree and 

 got off to see what it was. While I was 

 looking into the tree a red squirrel ran 

 down it, closely followed by a robin. When 

 he was perhaps 2 feet from the ground he 

 jumped and started for another tree. The 

 robin kept right on him all the time, try- 

 ing to peck him. Whenever it succeeded, 

 the squirrel tumbled, then jumped up and 

 ran on again. They soon reached the other 

 tree and disappeared in the foliage. 



^suppose the squirrel had stolen the 

 robin's eggs or young and the bird was 

 punishing him. Does any reader of 

 Recreation know if squirrels eat birds' 

 eggs and young? 



H. A. S., Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 



I have a report from 5 reliable per- 

 sons in Talbot county, Maryland, that they 

 found and killed, last spring, a black 



snake having a perfectly formed head on 

 each end. The tail head was perfect ex- 

 cept for the absence of a tongue and 

 throat. The reptile could open and shut 

 the mouth of this head and appeared to 

 see perfectly from the natural-looking 

 eyes. At the Smithsonian Institution, in 

 Washington, we were told they have 

 known frequent instances of two-headed 

 snakes, but never a case where the second 

 head appeared on the tail end. Are we 

 alone in our snake story? 



J. E. Tylor, Baltimore, Md. 



Two seasons ago I was hunting in 

 lower Florida and undertook to save the 

 head of a buck for the purpose of mount- 

 ing. On cleaning the head after skinning, 

 that the skull might be saved, I was much 

 surprised to find the interior of the throat, 

 just below the base of the tongue, almost 

 stopped up with large worms, or "wolves," 

 similar to those often found under the 

 skin of a rabbit's neck. These worms 

 were large, and each one appeared to be 

 embedded in a sac by itself. Is this a 

 common occurrence? I would be pleased 

 to hear from some of our deer hunters on 

 the subject. J. E. Tylor, Baltimore, Md. 



I see in Recreation some inquiries as 

 to how ruffed grouse produce that drum- 

 ming sound. I once happened to see one 

 in the act. I was concealed behind a 

 clump of trees, trying to get a shot at a 

 grouse with my rifle. In a short time a 

 grouse came in full view. I fired at him, 

 but did not hit him. The only effect was 

 to cause him to jump about 6 inches. 

 Then he marched about 12 yards to a big, 

 flat rock, perched on the top of it, and, 

 stretching up his neck and body to their 

 full height, commenced to beat his sides 

 with his partly outstretched wings. The 

 mystery was revealed. 



William C. Bell, Washington, N. J. 



For a number of years I have felt sure 

 it is not uncommon for quails in this lo- 

 cality to raise 2 broods in one season. On 

 the 4th of September. 1899, at Lake Carey, 

 on the farm of Mr. Knippenburg, 13 eggs 

 were hatched. Six days later, on the same 

 farm, in burning over a piece of land, a 

 nest of 7 eggs was destroved bv fire. 



H. M. Beck, Wilkesbarre, Pa. 



An article in Recreation on the shed- 

 ding of deer horns says "the horns come 

 off next the skull like the stem of a pump- 

 kin." It is different on this coast. On 

 deer there is left a burr, or knob, about 

 one inch loner. On elk the burr is 2 

 inches long. Both deer and elk drop their 

 horns in March. 



L. L. Bales, Juneau, Alaska. 



