NATURAL HISTORY. 



57 



ground carefully. Dig holes for t* ■ chain 

 and toggle and a shallow one for the trap, 

 putting the sod and earth you remove on 

 a blanket. Cover chain and trap with 

 earth, and carry surplus dirt to a distance. 

 Before covering the tran put moss or wool 

 beneath the pan so dirt can not get under 

 to hinder the working. Then cover with 

 % inch of earth. Smooth the dirt with a 

 brush or a rabbit skin. Then, if you have 

 done your work well, you will find it hard 

 to tell just where the trap is buried. Bait 

 for wolves with scraps of fresh meat on 

 which rabbit hair has been sprinkled. For 

 foxes use scraps of fried beef rolled in 

 honey; or use nice, fish, poultry orrabbits. 

 If you have been clever you will miss your 

 trap the second or third morning, but you 

 can easily follow it by the drag or grab 

 hook trail. 



If Mr. Carey has no luck with this meth- 

 od I shall be glad to give him others. Have 

 often wished Recreation would devote 

 more space to trapping lore. 



Old Trapper, Gardner, Mass. 



be prohibited. Several States have laws 

 prohibiting the buying, selling or having in 

 possession for sale of any song or insec- 

 tivorous bird or part thereof, and all other 

 States should pass such laws in the near 

 future. — Editor. 



COLLECTORS SHOULD BE RESTRAINED. 



I fully appreciate the efforts you are 

 making for the preservation of our 

 game, fish, and song birds. Enclosed is 

 an advertisement from The Oologist,^ an 

 ornithological magazine, showing plainly 

 where our song birds are going. Can 

 nothing be done with such fellows as How- 

 ard? Have they a special license to col- 

 lect birds' eggs to sell? 



C. Bloom, Kalamazoo, ^ Mich. 



The ad. follows : 



I am collecting this season in Southern Ari- 

 zona in the Huachuca mountains. I am securing 

 many rare and desirable sets, including red-faced, 

 Virginia, Audubon's, black-throated gray, Lucy's, 

 olive, Grace's, and Sonora yellow warblers; 

 Coues', vermillion, sulphur-bellied, olivaceous and 

 buff -breasted fly-catchers; Stephen's whip-poor- 

 will; rivoli, broadtailed, cactus and black-chinned 

 hummers; Arizona and long-crested jays; Scott's 

 oriole; hepatic and Cooper's tanager; rock and 

 canon wrens; canon towhee, painted redstart, 

 Arizona junco, pigmy nuthatch, chestnut backed 

 bluebird, white-necked ravens and many other 

 varieties too numerous to mention here. Nests 

 with all sets not larger than jays. 



O. W. Howard, Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. 



No doubt some of these collectors who 

 advertise birds' eggs and skins for sale 

 have special licenses from their respective 

 State authorities for making such collec- 

 tions, but even so, privileges thus con- 

 ferred are usually abused. No man should 

 ever be allowed to collect such specimens 

 for sale. Schools, colleges and museums 

 that really need eggs and skins for study 

 and for educational purposes can afford to 

 send out their own collectors, and this 

 commercial traffic in such specimens should 



COLORATION OF GOLD FISH. 



I have a friend who has kept gold fish 

 several years. She has been fortunate in 

 rearing them and they seem perfectly 

 healthy. Among the number have been sev- 

 eral with black markings, and an especially 

 handsome one of a beautiful copper color 

 with considerable black on back, sides and 

 head ; but after a few months the black 

 disappeared and the fish became the ordi- 

 nary gold color. They appear as healthy 

 as the others. Please tell me the cause of 

 the peculiar coloration and of its disap- 

 pearance. M. D. Blanchard, 



Los Angeles, Cal. 



The coloration of domestic gold fish is 

 a purely artificial one, which has been ac- 

 quired through many generations of culti- 

 vation. The original color of the species 

 was a greenish or coppery olive with ten- 

 dencies toward golden and blackish. It is 

 no uncommon thing in a brood of gold fish 

 to find all sorts of colors from the original 

 to the ordinary red. These colors, however, 

 like those of other domestic animals, are 

 more or less unstable, the tendency being to 

 revert either to the original color or to take 

 on blotches of black or white. These 

 blotches later frequently turn to some other 

 color, often red or greenish. The phenom- 

 enon is a purely natural one and does not 

 in any way indicate a diseased condition of 

 the fish. If it is desired to perpetuate the 

 black or bronze colors, the individuals 

 showing those characteristics should be 

 used as breeders. Even if the colors disap- 

 pear in the individuals selected, they are 

 likely to reappear and remain more per- 

 manently in their descendants. — Editor. 



REFERRED TO MY READERS. 



Twelve years ago or about the time Ok- 

 lahoma was opened up, hawks appeared 

 here about the middle of September, com- 

 ing from the South and going North. 

 They remained only a day or 2. For 6 

 years following they were not seen. Since 

 then they come every fall, always going 

 North. Persons living 30 to 50 miles West 

 of here say the birds pass over there as 

 well. I think I can distinguish 4 varieties 

 — red-breasted, band tail, small slate col- 

 ored and black. I should like to know 

 where they go, and why. 



Elmer Dukelow, Hutchinson, Kan. 



