142 



RECREATION. 



gnawed, and a few steps away the" rabbits 

 were lying dead, poisoned. 



The wolves did not in a single instance 

 forget themselves. They always preferred 

 to hunt, and thus obtain a warm meal, 

 free from any dangerous charges. As long 

 as the baits were visible the wolves walked 

 respectfully by ; but when the snow cov- 

 ered the baits, the beasts planted a mark 

 on top of them. 



A. N. Wikander, Usk, Wash. 



I notice in Recreation the measurement 

 of elk horns belong to W. C. Darling, of 

 Henderson Harbor, N. Y. I have a set 

 with the following measurements : Spread, 

 53 inches ; length of left horn, SZV\ inches ; 

 first prong, 22 inches; second prong, '17^ 

 inches; third prong, i6^4 inches; fourth 

 prong, 23^ inches ; fifth prong, 7^ inches. 

 Right horn, 53 inches ; first prong, 21 ; 

 second, 19; third, 15%; fourth, 22^4; fifth, 

 13; around nut, iij^ inches; above nut, g%. 

 inches. 



While mine are no longer, they are ex- 

 ceedingly heavy, with extra long prongs 

 throughout, very even and beautifully 

 shaped. I brought these horns out from 

 Taylor's fork of the West Gallatin river, 

 in 1895. 



P. H. Tomlinson, Salesville, Mont. 



I have a deer's horn which grew in the 

 crotch of an oak tree. The bottom of the 

 stick is 7^ inches in diameter, the top of 

 large branch 6 inches, and the small branch 

 2*/2- The horn has 4 points. The wood 

 grew around the horn between the second 

 and third points and covered all but the 

 tip of the second point. The points hang 

 downward, while the base <of horn is 6 

 inches higher than the outer end. Some 

 rodents had gnawed the tips of 3 prongs. 

 I should like to know, through Recreation, 

 how the horn came in the crotch, and what 

 animals gnawed the horn. It was 8 feet 

 from the ground when cut. 



L. M. Badger, Ouaquaga, N. Y. 



Will Recreation readers please answer? 

 — Editor. 



Recently I was strolling along the banks 

 of a stream when I saw what appeared to 

 be a bunch of dead leaves suspended from 

 a branch. Closer inspection revealed the 

 skeleton and feathers of a Western robin, 

 Merula migratoria propinqua. The bird 

 had evidently been carrying a piece of 

 thread to its nest when it stopped to rest 

 on the limb of a thornapple bush. This 

 thread became caught around the feet of 

 the luckless bird and afterward around a 

 thorn on one of the branches. The bird was 

 thus made a prisoner and left to beat out 

 its weary life. I have heard of birds being 



caught around the neck with thread, horse- 

 hair, etc., but never of one being executed 

 with the noose about ifrs feet. 



L. H. McMorran, Spokane, Wash. 



I have been a reader of your magazine 

 for some time, and have been much in- 

 terested in the several departments. Re- 

 cently I heard a story that might come 

 under the head of natural history. A gen- 

 tleman said that during the oil excitement 

 on the Little Kanawha river in West Vir- 

 ginia, some 35 years ago, he caught a cat- 

 fish weighing 67 pounds, that had 2 squir- 

 rels in its stomach. He also said that near 

 the same place he once shot a duck in mid- 

 stream, which disappeared before he could 

 reach it. Some of the natives informed him 

 that it had probably been captured by a 

 catfish, and cited cases where fish had been 

 caught with ducks in their stomach. 



Reader, Newport, Ohio. 



I should like to know where our com- 

 mon wart toad is at this time of the year. 

 Do they deposit their eggs in the water now 

 and is the croaking of the alleged frogs in 

 the spring made partly by the toads? That 

 is my impression, but I do not know wheth- 

 er it is correct. 



W. S. Hickox, Middletown Springs, Vt. 



ANSWER. 



The common toad gives a little whistle, 

 and does not croak as frogs do. Toads are 

 now in the water, laying eggs, the same as 

 frogs ; but their eggs are daid in strings, 

 while frogs' eggs are laid in bunches. — 

 Editor. 



What is the best method of preserving 

 birds and butterflies? 



William D. Crooks, Jr., 

 Burlingame, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



Skin them, poison the skins with arsenic 

 and alum, and either stuff with cotton and 

 keep as unmounted skins, or have them 

 mounted by taxidermists. 



To preserve butterflies, mount each one 

 on an insect pin, spread the wings on a 

 drying board until dry, then place in an 

 exhibition box, which should be as nearly 

 as possible air tight and insect proof. 



W. T. H. 



John Sickels, living here in Chicago, has 

 a pet gray squirrel. He says in the sum- 

 mer, when butterflies are plentiful, it will 

 eat them with a relish. It is fond of small 

 birds. The squirrel will pick all the feath- 

 ers off a bird and eat the flesh ravenously. 

 I have seen many gray squirrels, but never 

 sew one that would eat flesh. What do 

 you think about a squirrel eating meat? 

 H. C. Beahler, Chicago, 111. 



