388 



RECREATION. 



tion they can be glued to a rough board, 

 with ordinary liquid glue, in which a little 

 plaster of paris has been mixed, to make it 

 of the consistency of paste. — W. T. H. 



SNAKE MYTHS. 



A European by birth and a recent comer 

 to this country, I am naturally unfamiliar 

 with the snakes of South Carolina, where I 

 now live. My good neighbors tell me, and 

 apparently believe, most marvelous stories 

 about them. The black snake is said to 

 chase anyone who disturbs it, and, as it 

 can outrun a man, is thus highly danger- 

 ous. It is true that all I have found could 

 outrun me, but I have so far been the 

 chaser. The coachwhip snake, it is assert- 

 ed, will wrap its body around a man's leg 

 and inflict severe punishment with its tail. 

 Everything considered, the coachwhip is 

 more dread than any other snake here. I 

 have encountered a few and. stirred them 

 up. All the fight I could get out of them 

 was apparently to come off at some dis- 

 tant point, to which they would invariably 

 head. Then there is the horn snake, which 

 can thrust its horny tail through a tree and 

 kill a man on the other side. The hoop 

 snake, I am told, takes its tail in its mouth 

 when in a hurry, and rolls swiftly on its 

 way. 



All this information has been imparted 

 to me by honest and upright people, whose 

 veracity I am loath to question. Is there 

 any foundation for these stories? 



I know the black snake and coachwhip 

 kill and devour mice, snails, bugs and the 

 like. I must also admit that they eat birds 

 when they can get them, especially fledg- 

 lings ; but is there any valid reason for the 

 almost universal practice of killing all 

 snakes wherever found? 



F. J. G., New Brookland, S. C. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



One rainy afternoon my attention was 

 attracted by the strange actions of a pet 

 canary whose cage hung inside an open 

 window. On investigation I found, cling- 

 ing to the window screen a small mouse 

 colored bird, about the size of an English 

 sparrow. It had a small curled beak and 

 its wings lapped across its tail. Please tell 

 me the name and habits of this bird. 



M. H. E., New Cumberland, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



The bird referred to was, in all proba- 

 bility, a house wren, one of the most soci- 

 able and interesting birds that frequent the 

 dwellings of men. They are exceedingly 

 pert and lively, and if they can be induced 

 to nest about a house, their cheerful twit- 

 ter is a most pleasing sound. — W. T. H. 



In a small swamp near here I have no- 

 ticed a jet black bird with crimson at the 

 butt of each wing. It is as large as a robin, 

 but its beak is short, like a sparrow's. It 

 seems to feed among the cattails. ' Later I 

 saw its mate, which has no red, and is 

 brown in color. What is the name of this 

 bird and what are its habits ? 



A. Johnson, Gloversville, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



This bird is the redwinged blackbird, 

 Agetaius phoeniceus. It inhabits marsh and 

 cattail swamps and nests over water in 

 reeds or cattails. It ranges Westward and 

 Northward to Great Slave lake and winters 

 in the South. — Editor. 



I have the head of a hermaphrodite mule 

 deer, killed February 22, last, which has 

 what I think are permanent horns, as other 

 deer shed in January. The horns are much 

 more slender than those of the regular mule 

 deer. Can you inform me if those horns 

 are permanent and if such heads are com- 

 mon? 



W. A. Meachen, Marysville, B. C. 



ANSWER. 



No deer retains its horns permanently, 

 but they sometimes vary as much as 3 

 months in the time of shedding them. Such 

 freaks of nature as that described are not 

 common. — Editor. 



Recently I found an orchard oriole 

 drowned in a basin of water which was sit- 

 ting on the ground. There had been a 

 heavy wind and rain storm the night pre- 

 vious, and the bird had evidently been 

 blown from the perch into the basin. 



H. H. Birkeland, Roland, la. 



Have you any friends who are interested 

 in hunting, fishing, natural history, game 

 protection or amateur photography? If so 

 why not send each of them a year's sub- 

 scription to Recreation for a Christmas 

 present. The stories in Recreation are the 

 actual experiences and observations of men 

 who live out of doors, who shoot, fish, pho- 

 tograph and study nature ; and they depict 

 outdoor life as it is. 



In no other way could you give a friend 

 so much value for the money as by making 

 him a present of Recreation. 



Landlady — "Mr. Slopay, have you any 

 idea of the size of your bill?'' 



Mr. Slopay (despairingly) — "Have I? 

 Why, I've dreamed 3 nights in succession 

 that I was a pelican." — Judge. 



Conductor : I want to punch your ticket. 

 Farmer Ragweed : Punch the boy ; he's 

 swallowed the ticket. — Boston Post. 



