3S6 



RECREATION. 



they can climb out of the water. There 

 should be no difficulty in keeping them 

 alive on worms, small insects and tadpoles 

 or finely chopped meat held in front of 

 them on a broom straw. There are several 

 kinds of tadpoles found in Massachusetts, 

 some of which undergo their metamor- 

 phosis during the first year of their lives, 

 while some pass through the winter in the 

 tadpole stage. The latter grow to a large 

 size and eventually produce the bullfrog 

 and the large green frog. Some kinds of 

 water bugs can be kept in aquaria all win- 

 ter. — Editor. 



A MUD, WASP'S VOYAGE. 



Your interesting magazine visits our of- 

 fice and I read with especial pleasure the 

 articles in the natural history department. 



Few persons seem to know that all car- 

 nivorous animals are born with their ears 

 as well as their eyes, closed. The ears 

 open to sound when the eyes open. Pup- 

 pies see and hear on about the 14th day af- 

 ter birth. So do the young of cats, wolves, 

 lions, tigers and that class of beasts. 



One evening just at sunset I was fish- 

 ing in a lake in Louisiana. The lake is 

 about 400 yards wide, and the water was 

 smooth as a mirror. While I was sitting 

 on the bank something came from the op- 

 posite shore in a straight line to where I 

 sat, the ripples spreading out in its wake. 

 At first I supposed it was a snake, but as 

 it came near I saw it was a small steel 

 blue mud wasp sitting complacently on 

 the back of an exceedingly large gray water 

 spider. The wasp's wings sent the craft 

 swiftly over the water. The long hind 

 legs of the spider, dragging straight out 

 behind, acted as a rudder. The little sailor 

 landed about 10 feet from me, and I left 

 him tugging at his prey to get it out of 

 the water. I don't think he succeeded, as 

 the spider was 4 or 5 times his size and 

 was apparently dead. 



Edwin T. Guice, Terrell, Tex. 



DO EELS MIGRATE? 



I have always been interested in the eel 

 problem, and have reason to doubt 

 the claim of the writer of the article in 

 June Recreation that eels go to salt water 

 to breed. I am surprised to find that so 

 high an authority as the Century cyclope- 

 dia makes the same statement. 



Facts with which I am familiar seem to 

 upset that theory. In August eels congre- 

 gate in bunches, or rolls, as we call them 

 here, and come to the surface in a writhing 

 mass, with their heads toward the center. 

 They can be approached with a boat and 

 caught in a dip net by the score, but their 

 flesh is inferior for food at that season. 

 In the winter eels go in the mud here and 



may be taken with what we call a blind 

 spear, made with one barbed tine in the 

 center and 2 leaders. 



We are 3 degrees of latitude from Havre- 

 de-Grace, which is the only approach to 

 salt water from this section. In the out- 

 let of the lakes there is an impassable dam, 

 yet we have always had plenty of eels. In 

 Keuka lake there are also eels in abun- 

 dance, though there is a State dam in the 

 outlet that would check their return. 



I am no scientist, but I am a student of 

 nature, and to me the idea of e*ls multiply- 

 ing in salt water seems absurd. 



E. M. Wixson, Wayne, N. Y. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 

 In stocking with quails, I have never 

 lost any by desertion. The birds are se- 

 cured from as nearly as possible the same 

 latitude they are to be set out in. Charles 

 Payne supplies them very well and ships 

 direct to the nearest point available to 

 where they are to be liberated. At dusk, 

 or a little later, take peach baskets or small 

 boxes, break out from each, part of a stave 

 for a doorway, put in 4 or 5 hens, and an 

 equal number of males, cover bottom and 

 doorway with a piece of bagging, and take 

 the baskets out to where you are going to 

 liberate the birds. Set the baskets up like 

 coops and sprinkle buckwheat or other 

 feed in front of each and up to the open- 

 ing. When the birds have quieted down re- 

 move the bagging as quietly as possible 

 and go away. Let basket remain undis- 

 turbed 2 more nights, a total of 3. Then in 

 the forenoon remove it, leaving a small 

 pile of brush in its stead. The birds are 

 sure to stay around and feed as if the place 

 was their home. 



L. A. S. 4022, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Can any one tell me how a trillium can 

 be yellow and yet not be wilted? 



J. D. Armstrong, Ottawa, Ont. 



ANSWER. 



Yellow trillium is not common, but is 

 occasionally met with. The normal color 

 is purple, but this interesting species is vari- 

 able, ranging through brownish purple, 

 nearly black, to white, greenish and pink. 

 This coloration is possibly of the same 

 nature as the variation of roses, azales, etc. 

 The purple indicates an advance in the 

 evolution of coloration, and when a given 

 stage has been obtained it often becomes 

 easy to trace the steps that led up to this 

 point. So in this case we find forms that 

 by reversion show primitive yellow, white, 

 green, etc. No one has yet separated these 

 various forms, so we may hope that they 

 may continue together as Trillium erec- 

 tum. — Editor. 



