186 



RECREATION. 



chattering softly. I called the man out 

 to listen and convinced him that what he 

 had always thought coon chatter was only 

 owl chatter. A. D. Milford, Ont. 



A CUMMUTED SENTENCE. 



I recently delivered to Curator Beebe at 

 the Zoological Park, a live American barn 

 owl. A gentleman brought the bird to me 

 with the request that I kill it for him as he 

 wanted to have it mounted. Said I, "I 

 would no more kill it than I would my 

 favorite dog." I happened to have a 

 mounted owl that my brother shot long 

 years ago. Placing it near the live bird, 

 I said, "Mackeown, which would you 

 rather see, this live bird transformed into 

 a dusty, disfigured mummy like that, or 

 see him on exhibition at the New York 

 Zoo as perfect as nature made him?" 

 "Give him too the Zoo," replied my friend, 

 "and when I want to see him I will go 

 there." But if an owl had been brought 

 to me 2 years ago, before I joined the L. 

 A. S., it wouldn't have lived 10 minutes. 

 This owl was captured by an engineer of 

 the Erie railroad in the cab of his engine, 

 early one morning. The engine had been 

 standing on a siding and the owl had taken 

 refuge in it. Credit the bird to Fred W. 

 Mackeown, Rutherford, N. J. 



C. D. Brown, Rutherford, N. J. 



THESE GROUSE DRANK. 

 Five years ago last October I went to 

 West lake to shoot ducks. Before light 

 I had my decoys in place. It was a clear, 

 mild morning and while waiting for the 

 ducks to move, I lay back in the blind 

 and listened to the song birds in the woods 

 behind me. Just as the Eastern sky was 

 growing red I heard the whirr of a grouse. 

 The bird passed almost over me and lit 

 on a branch of a dead tree lying in the 

 water 80 or 100 yards from me. Presently 

 it was joined by a second grouse. For a 

 few minutes they remained perched 5 or 

 6 feet above the water. Then, hopping 

 from branch to branch they reached the 

 level of the lake and drank. At least 

 they went through all the motions. 

 They dipped their bills in the water and 

 lifted their heads just as a barnyard 

 fowl would when drinking. Then they 

 returned to the upper branches and looked 

 about. I think they saw my decoys for 

 they straightened up and sat as motion- 

 less as sticks. Finally one flew, sweeping 

 around just outside the decoys. As it 

 passed I fired and killed it. 



A. D. Milford, Ont. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 

 Mr. Henry A. Morgan's account of a 

 friendly grouse in the Natural History de- 

 partment of Recreation^ reminds me of a 



somewhat similar incident which T wit- 

 nessed a few years ago. One day when our 

 family were eating dinner we were all much 

 astonished at an object which came through 

 the large dining-room window with a tre- 

 mendous crash and dropped on the floor 

 near the table. We soon found the object 

 to be a full-grown grouse, stone dead, with 

 a piece of the window glass sticking in its 

 back. 



It had probably been pursued by a hawk, 

 and in its haste to escape such a fate it 

 came to its death in an entirely different 

 manner. 



the next dav, while working about 500 

 yards from the house, my brother noticed 

 a hawk in pursuit of a grouse, which flew 

 to the same window and lit on the sill, 

 remained there a few moments and then 

 flew away. 



Francis Little, Lakeside, Wash. 



My neighbor, E. A. Frost, has a ruffed 

 grouse whose mode of life is so different 

 from that usually followed by Bonasa 

 ttmbellus that it may be worth writ- 

 ing of. It was first noticed in the 

 woods near the village by a boy who saw 

 it crawl under a low bush. He caught it 

 and was surprised that it made no re- 

 sistance and seemed well content to be 

 handled. It was put into a shed with the 

 fowls for a few days and it ate with them 

 as if fully accustomed to their ways. 

 Escaping one day from the shed it stayed 

 near until discovered, when it was again 

 easily caught and brought to the village for 

 Mr. Frost, who is well known as a fancier. 

 It was provided with good quarters for the 

 winter in a roomy cage in the rear part of 

 Mr. Frost's place of business, where it 

 seems satisfied with its good fortune in 

 not having to rustle for its own feed. 

 The bird shows a great liking for sweet 

 apples, in connection with its usual grain. 

 F. S. Morgan, Milton, Vt. 



A strange thing happened recently almost 

 in the center of our village, and close to a 

 church, where people were assembling for 

 service. A ruffed grouse came sailing along 

 and hit a wire netting fence. It struck with 

 such force that the head was severed from 

 the body. A. Andrews, Fournier, Ont. 



Wife — I see the doctor has stopped 

 calling at Smith's, across the way. 



Husband — That's strange. I don't see 

 any crape on the door. — N. Y. Herald. 



Teacher : What distinguished foreigner 

 aided the Americans in the revolution? 

 Small Boy : God. — Exchange. 



