NATURAL HISTORY. 



3°5 



firmer and better condition than the usual 

 preparation of equal parts of 95 per cent, 

 alcohol and water. 



Formaldehyde, in the strength usually 

 used, (40 per cent.), may be had for about 

 65 cents per pound. A more concentrated 

 form, called formaline, comes a trifle higher. 

 A small bottle of it may easily be carried 

 and diluted when needed. Do not stand 

 over it while mixing, as the fumes of the 

 formic acid affect the eyes. 



Albert B. Farnham, Taxidermist. 



DO COTTONTAILS BURROW? 



In January Recreation is a statement 

 to the effect that cottontails do not live in 

 holes in the ground, but that they take 

 refuge in them from pursuers on rare oc- 

 casions. 



This is far from what I have observed 

 during the 15 years that I have known 

 them. The cottontail is found in fair num- 

 bers along the Humboldt river. The soil 

 being soft the river has, in the past, often 

 changed its course, by washing through 

 from one bend to another, leaving blind 

 sloughs. These became the stamping 

 ground of the beaver, the muskrat, etc., 

 who burrowed into the banks. In the 

 course of time these sloughs partially filled 

 up, so that they contained water only dur- 

 ing May, June, July and August, and were 

 then abandoned by these animals. During 

 the other months these burrows are occu- 

 pied by the cottontail. The banks being 

 covered by a heavy growth of willows and 

 brush, these places form ideal homes for 

 bunnie. 



He is often found on cold mornings, 

 when he suns himself at the mouth of his 

 burrow, or in some convenient place near 

 by. I have tracked them often, but have 

 never found where they have traveled any 

 great distance. Year after year they can 

 be found in the same places. 



Until last year I had often wondered 

 what became of them when the river bot- 

 tom becomes flooded. One day while boat- 

 ing, I noticed a commotion in the water, 

 in the brush, near the bank. My curiosity 

 being aroused I landed with 2 dogs. After 

 a turn or 2 they stopped before a tangled 

 mass of briars and willows. I examined 

 it closely and found, thereon, high and dry, 

 a cottontail, which I am sorry to say I 

 killed. Continuing my search in the vicin- 

 ity, I found 3 more. This exploded the 

 theory I had formed, viz., that before each 

 rise of water, they moved to the foothills. 



The cottontail is also found in the moun- 

 tains, and although I have hunted him 

 there, successfully, I have not been able to 

 study his habits as I have nearer home. 



The beaver and otter have almost disap- 

 peared from this part of the country. There 

 are still some muskrats. 



Louis A. Lemaire, Battle Mountain, Nev. 



Will you please tell me about the habits 

 of flying squirrels, their food and how to 

 keep them? I should like to know how 

 often they breed and when. 



R. D. Benson, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



Flying squirrels do not make very at- 

 tractive pets. Because of their nocturnal 

 habits, they are so quiet in the daytime 

 there is little to be seen of them save round 

 balls of soft fur. At night, however, when 

 people are asleep, they are very lively. 



A flying squirrel should not be confined 

 in a small box so long as large ones are 

 obtainable. If the box is 3 feet high, it 

 will easily contain a section of a hollow 

 tree trunk of small diameter, which the little 

 creature can climb, and possibly rest with- 

 in. Every captive squirrel is entitled to 

 rough limbs on which it can climb and gnaw 

 to its heart's content. A flying squirrel 

 must have a dark hole or a box in which 

 it can curl up during the day, out of the 

 light. The best food for this species is 

 shelled corn, but it eats only the heart of 

 each grain. To this should be added bits 

 of raw sweet potato, carrots or apples, and 

 occasionally a soft-shelled nut, like an al- 

 mond. It is best not to overfeed a captive 

 animal; for more cage animals are killed 

 by too much food than by the want of it. 



BALD HORNETS. 

 I wonder if anyone else ever tried to do- 

 mesticate the bald hornet, so common in 

 the forests of the Mississippi valley. See- 

 ing a goodly number of them catching flies 

 about the house, last fall, I secured their 

 nest, which I found swinging on a small 

 maple. I cut off the limb on which it hung, 

 and corking up the entrance to the nest, 

 took it to the house and hung it on the wall 

 over my bed. Then I put on my bee-hood, 

 opened the doorway of the nest, took my 

 seat in a chair nearby and awaited events. 

 The hornets flew out full of fight; 2 or 3 

 biffed the hood but finding me unharmed 

 they soon quieted down. It was several 

 days before they took kindly to me, though 

 I was careful not to molest them. Inside of 

 10 days they took no notice of me beyond 

 showing they could distinguish me from 

 any other person. If a stranger entered the 

 room they would dart at him with the ac- 

 curacy of a rifle bullet. They answered a 

 better purpose to keep the room clear of 

 intruders than a watchdog. When the 

 frosts of October came they perished, but 

 the nest still hangs in my room. I want 

 to watch closely in the spring and see if any 

 of the occupants revive, or young hatch out. 

 I may learn a point or 2 regarding them. 

 Daniel Arrowsmith, Ellsworth, 111. 



WENT TO BED HUNGRY. 



Mr. Brown's article and Mr. Thompson's 

 lecture in May Recreation evince thor- 



