NATURAL HISTORY. 



385 



tie-men were finally silenced, if not con- 

 vinced, by one party to the controversy 

 and feeding them to the deer there. The 

 taking of some lily pads up to Central Park 

 and the avidity with which this pabulum 

 was chewed and swallowed left no room 

 for further argument. 



I hope this questioii of the grouse 

 drinking can be settled no less decisively. 

 It may be that it will recpiire a jury to 

 decide after the evidence is all in ; but it 

 will be worth all the trouble it involves to 

 learn whether this noble and beautiful bird 

 satisfies his thirst by pecking distilled dew- 

 drops from plants and grasses or whether 

 he sips his nectar from forest rills and 

 moss lined springs, lifting his head there- 

 after in thankfulness to the Giver of all 

 good things. 



DO COONS CHATTER? 



In September Recreation I read, under 

 the head of "Coon Chatter," what is said 

 about coons making a noise. I will state 

 a few facts about the so-called coon noise. 

 I have spent a great deal of time in the 

 hills of New Hampshire and Maine, and 

 all sportsmen know there are plenty of 

 coons in both these States. All one has to 

 do is to start out with a good coon dog and 

 a lantern and he is sure to return in a few 

 hours with a coon. But unless you have 

 the good dog you might just as well stay 

 at home for Mr. Coon will lead you such a 

 chase you will never want to go coon hunt- 

 ing again. 



I have satisfied myself and a number of 

 others, that the supposed coon call is noth- 

 ing more than the chatter of the common 

 red screech owl. This I have proven to 

 be the case many times when the farmers 

 who lived in the locality where I was hunt- 

 ing declared it was sure enough a coon. 

 I have taken these men into the woods, 

 and as near as possible to the spot from 

 whence the sound came. Then I have be- 

 gun to whistle, making as nearly as pos- 

 sible the same sound as that which they 

 said was made by a coon. After 5 or 10 

 minutes I have been answered. The noise 

 has seemed to be as far away as it was be- 

 fore we went into the woods. It would 

 first sound say on the North side of us, 

 then on the South. The farmers then 

 thought there were 2 coons. I have said 

 to them, "Now, if you want to see the coon, 

 look up and you will soon see him." 



It was usually quite dark in the woods, 

 but, on looking up through the trees, we 

 would soon see a small bird flying 

 over. I would keep on whistling at short 

 intervals. Presently one of the men would 

 say: 



"There is some kind of a bird flying back 

 and forth over us." 



I would now have them mark the di- 

 rection in which he flew, and see when he 



answered my call if it did not come from 

 that direction. After some little time 

 they would agree with me that whatever 

 the bird was, it was him that was making 

 the noise instead of a coon. 



A friend of mine, Dr. McDaniels, who 

 now lives at Keeser Falls, Maine, owned 

 one of the best coon dogs I ever hunted 

 over. He never failed to start a coon if 

 there was one in the country. Many 

 times I have taken this dog and started out 

 to hunt a coon by the noise, which the 

 farmers assured me was made by a coon ; 

 but in every case I failed to find or start 

 one in the locality whence the noise came. 

 In a number of cases, however, I have 

 started the owl. Young coons, when fight- 

 ing for their lives with a dog, will make a 

 noise which sounds very much like the 

 screech of a monkey. They will also make 

 noises similar to a dog's growl, when fight- 

 ing or at play. 



It takes a good dog to kill a large male 

 coon, and a good gun to bring one of them 

 out of the top of a 75-foot pine tree. 



I could write you a great deal more 

 about coons and their habits, as well as 

 about other animals and birds ; but I am 

 afraid I am now trespassing on space 

 which is more valuable for some one else. 

 I hope to hear from others about coon 

 noises. F. W. Allard, 



Atlanta, Ga. 



Please give us all the information pos- 

 sible about wild animals and birds. I 

 would much rather have such than stories 

 of killinsr them. — Editor. 



AQUARIUM HINTS. 

 I have been much interested in the arti- 

 cles in Recreation on aquariums. I have 

 a small aquarium with gold and silver fish, 

 newts, snails, plants, etc. Have had much 

 trouble in keeping the newts and snails 

 alive. I feed the fish the prepared food 

 which comes for that purpose. The newts 

 do not eat it, and as yet I have found noth- 

 ing that will keep them alive more than a 

 month or 2. I should appreciate any sug- 

 gestions in regard to this subject; also on 

 salt water aquariums. Are there 2 kinds of 

 tadpoles? I have had some that grew to a 

 large size, but never became frogs. Can 

 water bugs and water spiders be kept in 

 aquariums through the winter? 



A. H. P., South Dartmouth, Mass. 



ANSWER. 



The probability is that the newts and 

 snails died from lack of proper food. 

 Snails feed almost entirely on vegetable 

 matter, especially greenish algae, which 

 form a scum on the sides of aquaria and 

 on foreign bodies in the water. Occasion- 

 ally they will eat small particles of meat, 

 but apparently do not thrive on it. The 

 newts should have a resting place, on which 



