144 RECREATION. 
destroy the birds to save so little. Nor 
is this necessary, for by a little care 
both may be preserved. Where much 
fruit is grown, it is no great loss to 
give up one tree to the birds; and in 
some cases the crop can be protected by 
scarecrows. Where wild fruit is not 
abundant, a few fruit-bearing shrubs 
and vines judiciously planted will serve 
for ornament and provide food for the 
birds. The Russian mulberry is a vig- 
orous grower and a profuse bearer, 
ripening at the same time as the cherry, 
and, so far as observation has gone, 
most birds seem to prefer its fruit to 
any other. It is believed that a num- 
ber of these trees planted around the 
garden or orchard would fully protect 
the more valuable fruits. 
Many persons have written about the 
delicate discrimination of birds for 
choice fruit, asserting that only the fin- 
est and costliest varieties are selected. 
This is contrary to all careful scientific 
observation. Birds, unlike human _ be- 
ings, seem to prefer fruit like the mul- 
berry, that is sweetly insipid, or that 
has some astringent or bitter quality 
like the chokeberry or holly. The so- 
called black alder (Jlex verticillata), 
which is a species of holly, has bright 
scarlet berries, as bitter as quinine, 
that ripen late in October, and remain 
on the bushes through November; and 
though frost grapes, the fruit of the 
Virginia creeper, and several species of 
dogwood are abundant at the same 
time, the birds eat the berries of the 
holly to a considerable extent, as shown 
by the seeds found in the stomachs. It 
1s, moreover, a remarkable fact that the 
wild fruits on which the birds feed 
largely are those which man neither 
gathers for his own use nor adopts for 
cultivation. 

MIKE AND BEELZEBUB. 
G. E. KASTENGREN. 
Mike was only a monkey, it is true, but 
as full of concentrated deviltry, race preju- 
dice, and loyalty to his many masters as are 
usually allotted to a dozen of -his human 
relatives. He was a member of the 14th 
U. S. Infantry and particularly of Company 
F, in whose corner of the cuartel he was 
compelled to make his headquarters. A 
light, 8-foot chain made fast to the corner 
fence post allowed him to skip into an old 
sentry box, but while in there he had to 
hang on to sundry nails and pegs, for he 
could not reach the floor. 
As to his race prejudice, he would no 
more dream of making friends with a Fil- 
ipino than of taking a bath in boiling oil. 
As long as he was securely fastened, they 
would tease him until, in sheer disgust, he 
would slip into his sentry box. A few 
yanks on the chain would bring him out on 
his fence post, where he would swear fear- 
ful oaths in simian volapuk. On one such 
occasion | happened along the fence, and 
when Mike spotted me he yelled in his own 
lingo that he was in sore trouble. No one 
could have failed to understand that ap- 
peal, for he was gesticulating like a wild 
Frenchman. I hurried up, and gave Mike 
a chance to take revenge into his own 
hands, by letting him loose. In about 5 sec- 
onds Mike had all the Filipinos in the vicin- 
ity shut up in their shacks; and then he 
tried the impossible task of doing sentry 
duty at every door at the same time. He 
almost succeeded, for I could only see 
a brown streak in the air. After a while 
he came back thoroughly exhausted, but he 
had gained the respect of the Filipinos. 
Mike had many relatives in the cuartel, 
but they all belonged to a smaller species, 
while Mike was the size of a terrier. One 
of these little ones, Baby by name, had se- 
lected Mike as his protector, a task the lat- 
ter accepted with much dignity. While he 
was engaged in picking over his ward he 
would allow no one to interfere, but if I 
let him understand that I had peanuts in 
my pocket he would drag Baby along and 
search me for edibles. He would never 
treat Baby until his own paunch and cheek 
pouches were filled to bursting. 
Beelzebub belonged to the small species, 
but for deviltry he could hold his own 
against an African elephant. He escaped 
soon after his adoption by a misguided 
American soldier, who made a chain fast 
to the monkey but failed to make it fast to 
anything else. At the approach of anyone 
Beelzebub would skin up the water spout in 
no time and dance a can can on the hot 
corrugated iron; the rattling chain mean- 
while preventing enjoyment of the siesta. 
Even at night he would suddenly remember 
that there was a better place to roost at the 
other end of the cuarte?, and he would im- 
partially distribute his rattling chain sere- 
nade to the whole regiment. Regulations 
and taps were nothing to him, and he 
seemed to enjoy being the cause of many 
a muttered midnight curse. 
Beelzebub was the cause of the downfall 
of the whole Cuartel de Malate monkey col- 
ony. One day he invited the tribe to join 
him in a predatory expedition to the com- 
manding officer’s room. A pile of official 
papers on the desk was awaiting signa- 
ture to become effective, including the pa- 
pers of 2 court martials. Beelzebub led the 
raid through the open windows. On the 
desk were red and black ink in bright cut 
glass ink wells. With these 2 colors the 
monkeys painted a gorgeous tropical sun- 
set on the court martial papers, and quietly 
departed. Their tracks were clearly out- 
