NATURAL HISTORY. 



59 



This is what was done: One man held the 

 horse by the bits, a second man tried to 

 hold the mouth open, while the owner had 

 one hand in the mouth trying to pull the 

 tongue out so he could put the medicine on 

 the back of the tongue. I was surprised at 

 their ignorance and took a hand in the mat- 

 ter myself. I took the horse by the nose 

 and inserted my thumb just behind his nip- 

 pers. He opened his mouth readily and I 

 had no difficulty in putting the medicine on 

 the tongue. This is a simple method of ad- 

 ministering small doses. In giving larger 

 doses use a hard rubber or metal syringe, 

 inject the medicine well back on the tongue 

 and you will not lose a drop. 



Now a word about dogs. Constipation 

 is a common ailment of all house dogs. 

 Overfeeding and a lack of sufficient exer- 

 cise is the usual cause of this complaint. 

 Buckthorn, or fluid extract of cascara, is the 

 remedy asked for at the drug store and used 

 with more or less inconvenience and waste 

 in administering. There is no better rem- 

 edy than buckthorn, for this complaint, 

 but there are others equally as good 

 and infinitely easier to give. If your dog is 

 troubled with constipation take 3 com- 

 pound cathartic pills, which can be bought 

 at any drug store, gently open the dog's 

 mouth and throw them well back on his 

 tongue; he will gulp them down like a 

 piece of meat. If powders are to be ad- 

 ministered, wrap them in tissue paper and 

 he will take them with equal readiness. 



It occasionally happens that a dog be- 

 comes so constipated that the excrement 

 becomes hardened in the bowel. This 

 symptom is readily discernible; he will run 

 from " pillar to post " in a peculiar manner 

 which cannot fail to attract attention. A 

 simple remedy and almost sure relief is to 

 take a half ounce rubber or metal syringe, 

 fill it with common sweet oil, insert the 

 syringe about one half inch in the rectum 

 and inject the oil. This treatment tends to 

 lubricate the bowel, soften the hard lump 

 and will usually relieve the animal. These 

 are simple and. safe suggestions and if fol- 

 lowed when necessary, may save much an- 

 noyance and possibly some dollars. 



W. H. Camp, Canaan, Ct. 



PINON JAYS. 



Fort Collins, Col. 

 Editor Recreation: Pinon jays, in large 

 numbers, made their appearance in this vi- 

 cinity in the fall of '94, and remained until 

 the following spring. They make their 

 home in the mountains; in the winter 

 among the lower foothills, and in summer 

 at an elevation of 9,000 feet. A scarcity of 

 their winter food, pine seeds, is, I suppose, 

 the cause of their appearance on the plains. 

 October 28th, a banker brought me one 

 to identify. He had shot it the day before 

 from a large flock, while duck hunting. 



As he had carried it all day in a game bag, 

 with a lot of ducks, I was not sure as to 

 its identity. All my spare time, after that, 

 found me with gun loaded with fine shot, 

 trying to get a perfect specimen. But not 

 until November 18th, was I successful. A 

 lucky shot and the prize was in my hand. It 

 proved to be a fine male. Its stomach con- 

 tained wheat and alfalfa seed. When they 

 first arrived they were a little shy of the 

 city, but at the approach of spring it was 

 not an unusual sight to see flocks of 50 to 

 100 feeding in the streets, in early morning. 

 Like the jay, it is a restless bird. While 

 feeding, the rearmost one will fly over the 

 flock from time to time, and alight in front 

 of the main body. Its gait is crow like, a 

 walk or run, entirely different from the 

 leaping of the true jays. It is said to nest 

 in pinon trees. The nests are bulky and 

 contain 4 to 5 eggs. I hope in the near 

 future to make its acquaintance on its 

 breeding ground. If I do I will probably 

 tell the readers of Recreation more about 

 this interesting 'bird. 



W. L. Burnett. 



THE BLUE JAY A PEST. 



In March Recreation I find a plea for 

 the protection of the blue jay. 



Blue jays in this neck o' woods, are a 

 nuisance, and I cannot imagine a place, out- 

 side of a large city, where they could be 

 considered other than a nuisance. 



I have seen these " feathered coxcombs " 

 carry eggs from pigeons' nests and break 

 eggs in hens' nests. 



In gardens I have seen them pull up 

 young pea vines, pick off the seed pea and 

 proceed in this way until they had made a 

 meal or been frightened away. 



They will pull up onions for no discover- 

 able reason whatever. 



My observations, outside of Oregon, 

 have been limited, but in this State they are 

 certainly a pest. 



To be a poultry-man or gardener here 

 is an expensive way to realize what a dozen 

 of these marauders can do. While as a rule 

 our people recognize the game laws, it 

 would be hard to get them reconciled to a 

 law protecting blue jays. 



I do not wish to be called a kicker at the 

 course Recreation pursues. I think it the 

 most interesting sporting publication I ever 

 read and would be glad to receive it 4 times 

 as often. 



There are a few game hogs here, but they 

 diminish as the circulation of Recreation 

 increases. We have pigeons, pheasants and 

 grouse galore, while later the geese and 

 ducks flock to our bays in countless num- 

 bers. Deer, elk, bears, panthers, wild-cats, 

 coons, minks and numerous other huntable 

 beasts are to be found, in sufficient quanti- 

 ties to suit the most enthusiastic sportsman. 

 M. C. Trowbridge, Tillamook, Ore. 



