56 



RECREATION. 



From beak to end of tail the bird measures 

 4 feet, one inch, and for the wing expanse 

 10 feet. This is rather larger than the 

 measurements usually given in reference 

 books. A condor killed in Riobamba, Prov- 

 ince of Chimborazo, Ecuador, in the sum- 

 mer of 1901, measured 14 feet from tip to 

 tip. For a bird supposed to spend most of 

 its time sitting around on inaccessible and 

 lofty crags, or in giving the American 

 eagle points on high flying, it shows httle 

 fear, rather indifference, in the presence 

 of man, allowing its neck and head to be 

 stroked and its wings to be handled. A bite 

 from its beak, with which it cracks small 

 bones, would be no joke, so this familiarity 

 is not without a spice of risk. In its wild 

 state its food is probably the same as that 

 of other sorts of carrion birds, as it lacks 

 the hunting traits of the hawk and eagle 

 kind, and a look at its feet, which resemble 

 nothing so much as those of the domestic 

 turkey, is proof that it could never seize 

 and carry away a living animal. The alti- 

 tude above the sea where this bird was 

 captured is about 5,000 feet, and others have 

 been seen and shot in the same vicinity, 

 but the condor doubtless ranges much 

 higher, if we are to believe Malte-Brun 

 (Book 86), who says of this huge bird of 

 the Andes that his "broad pinions bear him 

 up in the atmosphere to the height of more 

 than 20,000 feet above the level of the sea." 

 Dr. S. A. Davis, 

 Chief Surgeon, G. & Q. Ry. Co., 

 Alausi, Ecuador, S. A. 



HABITS OF THE SQUlKREL. 

 There are few squirrels in this locality 

 and those are of the fox species only. Once 

 I was hog enough to kill every one I could 

 find, but of late years I have been as big 

 a crank the other way, giving them all the 

 protection possible. In the timber oppo- 

 site my house a few of the pets make their 

 homes. Being undisturbed, they have be- 

 come quite tame and are daily visitors to 

 the yard, skipping about the trees or gath- 

 ering nuts scattered on the ground for 

 them. After they have eaten their fill they 

 busy themselves in burying the remainder. 

 They dig little holes in the ground or snow 

 with their fore feet, and after pushing the 

 nut down, root the dirt back with their 

 noses and pat it down with their fore paws, 

 so that a keen eye is required to locate the 

 caches. In drinking at the horse tank, 

 they dip their noses in the water and lap 

 it up just as a dog does. They also eat 

 salt and often we see them gnawing at an 

 old salt barrel head. If no nuts are scat- 

 tered for them they unearth those buried 

 on former days. They are selfish and some- 

 times have lively frghis over a nut. 1 



favor a law to prohibit killing squirrels. 

 I endorse the L. A. S. and enjoy the man- 

 ner in which you roast the porkers. Is 

 there a law in Indiana prohibiting the use 

 of ferrets? Several are kept here. Game 

 is not abundant. 



James P. Ewing, Tracy, Ind. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



I think it is rats and porcupines that 

 gnaw the elk and deer horns after they are 

 shed, and that most of this is done the 

 first winter the horns lie out. I have sel- 

 dom seen antlers gnawed, but have seen 

 many skulls with horns attached that were 

 badly eaten. You can find hundreds of shed 

 horns in this country that have not been 

 touched, and as horns are not shed till 

 March or later it seems clear that the var- 

 mints eat them the first winter they are 

 dropped. But few elk have been killed 

 here for the teeth. A few have been killed 

 for bear bait, but we have not had any 

 game wardens here till last year, and they 

 were not allowed any salary. We all know 

 how poorly men work without pay. 



Go after Marlin and his shooting irons 

 till he makes them right. They will not 

 always feed as they should. 



Felix Alston, Irma, Wyo. 



R. B. Stowers says he never saw a squir- 

 rel drink. I have never seen them drink 

 water, but have seen their tracks to open 

 water in winter. I have more than once 

 seen them sitting on spiles, helping them- 

 selves to the sap as it ran down into the 

 bucket. If a squirrel can not get a tree 

 already tapped, he does the job himself. 

 I have watched them do it. Selecting a 

 small tree or the limb of a large one, the 

 squirrel gnaws through the bark and a 

 little way into the wood, near the top of 

 the tree or limb, and lets the sap run down. 

 Then, starting at the bottom, he climbs 

 slowly up, licking the sap off as he goes, or 

 sits below the notch and catches the sap 

 as it runs down. Do not kill the squirrels. 

 C. F. Coleman, Winnipeg, Canada. 



I have read with much interest the arti- 

 cles in Recreation about coons. I have 

 hunted coons 4 years, and not until last 

 fall have I heard a coon call. I caught 

 one in a trap and he made a noise some- 

 thing like the call of a screech owl. I 

 had a tame coon, but he never uttered any 

 kind of a call. I have some good coon 

 hounds and should like to correspond with 

 other coon hunters who are readers of 

 Recreation. 



Ben Wieth.orn,_ Watson, Iowa. 



