380 
Now, I like to reason out these things, 
and I find few of our wild creatures given 
to idle talk. Accordingly, I watched, each 
morning. When a jay mocks a hawk, he 
wishes to scare smaller birds from their 
nests. He likes eggs. It is not wit, nor hu- 
mor. What made my rice bird talk lark 
language? 
Thus far I have not answered the ques- 
tion, but the same lark comes each morn- 
ing with the same rice bird, and they an- 
swer each other regularly. Frequently the 
rice bird blunders and ends with an awk- 
ward squeak. 
One of my guesses is that both of these 
birds have lost their mates and have been 
driven together. I will not go so far as to 
say they will mate, but evidences are in fa- 
vor of such a theory. 
Over in the East we see the distant Ever- 
glades. Many stories are told me about 
these mysterious regions. Gangs of out- 
laws are reported hiding in there : wild ani- 
mals are numerous and Indians can be met, 
too. How true some of these stories may 
be, I can not say. We know that the Sem- 
inoles hunt through the swamps, we can 
be confident as to game and fish; but the 
outlaw tales are unproved, to me. 
Sportsmen would find our place a good 
one for hunting or fishing. 
Thos. H. Williamson, Flamingo, Fla. 

PROTECT THESE WANDERERS. 
March 3d was warm and we had a heavy 
thunder storm. It grew calm rapidly and 
the next morning was only 4 degrees above 
zero. As I was going down Main street I 
saw a duck on the sidewalk and when I 
drew near I found it to be a redhead. I was 
within 6 feet before it flew and then it only 
went 50 feet. I again tried to catch it, 
when it flew 100 yards where it was caught 
by a boy, who is now keeping it. The duck 
acted dazed and was almost starved to 
death. Can‘you explain how it came here? 
We have had no warm weather. The ice 
on the river is 3 feet thick and all the 
small streams are frozen. It has been the 
hardest winter in the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant. 
Lyman Brooks, Charlestown, N. H. 
This duck, like thousands of others, had, 
of course, been flying North to its summer 
breeding grounds and was probably in com- 
pany with a large flock. It was doubtless 
a young bird and being’ weaker than its 
companions it gradually became exhausted 
and had to drop out of the flock. It had 
probably wandered about the fields or the 
village some hours before you found it, 
without being able to get food and was 
consequently exhausted. It was, however, 
little worse off than the average duck 
which alights in ponds and rivers from 
RECREATION. 
which the ice has lately moved, while the 
flocks are on their way to their breeding 
grounds in the North, yet many American 
shooters disgrace themselves by killing 
these poor birds while in this half starved 
condition. In all the States which have 
laws prohibiting spring shooting there are 
men, claiming to be sportsmen, who are 
clamoring for the repeal of these laws and 
who state that such laws deprive them of 
an inalienable right’ which they should be 
allowed to exercise.—EDpITor. 

PROTECTING RUFFED GROUSE, 
The time has come when the ruffed 
grouse should be protected entirely for a 
period of years, in those parts of the coun- 
try where they have become exceedingly 
scarce. In this section, and as far as I can 
learn in every other well populated section 
throughout New England, at least, their 
numbers afford only the faintest semblance 
of sport. Increase of hunters, modern arms 
and cutting off the forests have combined 
to thin them down nearly to the point of 
extermination. Shall we let the work go 
on until this noble bird is forever lost to 
us? Who would not enjoy seeing the 
grouse as plentiful as in former years? If 
that were so, could we not get more pleas- 
ure in hunting them with the camera, or 
even watching them and listening to their 
spirited tattoo echoing among the hills 
than can be derived from continued de- 
struction ? 
Let us hear what brother sportsmen think 
of this scheme of protection. - 
John L. Woodbury, Cornish, Me. 
A PET WOODCHUCK.,. 
In May last a woodchuck was caught 
by a hunter and brought to this city, when 
apparently only about 4 weeks old. He 
soon grew too large to keep in captivity, so 
we let him have his freedom, but he would 
not leave the locality. He took refuge un- 
der the barn, and made his appearance 
every day for his bread and molasses. Last 
October he failed to appear, and thinking 
it was too early for him to hibernate, we 
gave him up for lost. The 5th of March 
he put in his appearance again. He is very 
tame with people he is accustomed to be- 
ing fed by. If they walk to the lawn and 
return without his daily rations he will 
follow them to the house and even pull at 
their clothes. 
I am a lover of nature, and spent my 
younger days almost continually in the 
woods. 

George Mallett, Defiance, Ohio. 

WAS THE CROW GUILTY? 
December 6th, J. C. O’Brien, of this 
place, was driving in a sleigh not far from 
this village, when he noticed in the road- 
