NA TURAL 1I1STOR Y 



3C5 



his wicked looking body out of water to 

 the height of 15 feet or more, and came 

 down on the whale's back with a smash. 

 The sound of the blow echoed along the 

 shore, and the whale uttered a groan which 

 was pitiful to hear and strangely human. 

 The blow was repeated as often as the 

 whale appeared at the surface. This he 

 did so frequently that I felt sure it was 

 something more than a desire to blow 

 which brought him to the top, when he 

 knew what a pounding awaited him. Some- 

 times he would not be out of sight more 

 than a minute; while at other times he 

 would be gone so long I thought I 

 should see him no more. The thrasher did 

 not seem to fall on the whale's back, as 

 described by Mr. Gavin. The motion was 

 like that of a man's arm when held up- 

 right and brought down with lightning 

 rapidity. I could see the force of the blow 

 increasing as it neared the whale's back. 

 This whale was killed, and came ashore 

 the next day, 4 miles below where it was 

 first seen. Besides a badly bruised head 

 and back, the whale had many wounds, 

 resembling sword thrusts, in its belly. It 

 is my belief, and that of others who saw 

 the fight, that in this case the thrasher was 

 assisted by a swordfish; the latter driving 

 the whale to the surface, and the thrasher 

 banging him from above. 



G. F. Hogan. 



borea, nivalis. Nest and eggs unknown. 

 Nests very far North. 



These 2 birds are wholly different, al- 

 though the young are somewhat alike, both 

 being more or less grayish buff. 



BLUE AND SNOW GEESE. 



I send 2 prints of birds called here snow 

 geese. What is their proper name? Old 

 shooters claim the birds represented are one 

 species, the white headed ones being young 

 birds, and the entirely white ones, adults. 



Thousands of these geese pass up the 

 Mississippi valley in the spring, about 5 per 

 cent, being white ones. Their habits and 

 voice are the same, and they flock together. 

 They seek shallow water, and pull up young 

 grass and rushes ; but their chief food is 

 corn, for which they make regular morning 

 and evening flights to the fields, sometimes 

 going 20 miles. Have known them to stay 

 here until June 1st before going North to 

 their nesting grounds. Only once in 12 

 years have I seen any come this way on the 

 Southern migration. The flight lasted 2 

 days. They did not stop, but went over 

 high in air, making a continual squawking. 

 I spent several seasons in Minnesota and 

 North Dakota, and never saw a white 

 headed goose there, but white geese were 

 plentiful. 



What becomes of the white headed geese 

 when they leave here for the North? 



Will Humphreys, Sheffield, 111. 



ANSWER. 



One bird is the blue goose, Chen caeru- 

 lescens, and nests very far North. Nest and 

 egars unknown. 



The other is the snow goose, Chen hyper- 



SMALL DEER HORNS. 



About 10 years ago, while scouting in 

 the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming, I 

 came across what appeared to be the 

 bleached skeleton of a white tail deer; but 

 was so struck by its diminutive size that I 

 kicked the head off and brought it into 

 camp. I later mounted the horns and have 

 since kept them as a curiosity. 



When I found it I supposed it was 

 but a dwarf, and only valuable as a freak. 

 I afterward showed the horns to a number 

 of Sioux, Crow and Cheyenne Indians, who 

 all said, their fathers had told them there 

 was in their time a race of dwarf deer in- 

 habiting the Big Horn mountains; but that 

 none of the present generation had ever 

 seen any of them. I heard the same story, 

 also, from a number of white men who had 

 spent most of their lives in that section. 



The horns show 5 points, are 2 inches 

 apart at the base, 4^ between tips and 6 

 inches in height. The greatest distance 

 between any 2 corresponding points is 8 

 inches. 



There was, unfortunately, no way of sav- 

 ing the skeleton, which was perfect and 

 apparently about the size of a half grown 

 sheep; but it is possible some of your many 

 readers may be able to decide whether this 

 animal was one of the race or only a freak. 

 John H. Gardner, 

 1st Lieut. 9th U. S. Cavalry, 

 Fort Washakie, Wyo. 



AN EAGLE ATTACKS A BUCK. 



Last September, while my partner and I 

 were hunting in the Williams River moun- 

 tains, we discovered on the summit of a 

 ridge a large mule buck, running away, 

 about 250 yards distant, apparently having 

 winded us. Soon an exceedingly large 

 gray eagle made a dive at the buck, who 

 dodged, shook his head and increased his 

 speed. The eagle made several plunges, 

 coming close to, but not taking hold of the 

 deer. In a moment the buck was in the 

 protection of a quaking asp grove, and a 

 small 2 point buck came in sight, going in 

 the same direction as the larger one. The 

 eagle immediately turned his attention to 

 this one. This was the more exciting event 

 of the 2. The small buck made strenuous 

 efforts to get away, increasing his speed and 

 dodging repeatedly, as I have often seen 

 a jack rabbit do when closely pursued by a 

 large hawk. At last the eagle settled di- 

 rectly on the buck's withers. There he re- 

 mained with wings spread for a number of 

 seconds, until the buck gained the grove 

 that had sheltered the larger deer. 



