NATURAL HISTORY. 



401 



I mail you herewith the lower jaw bone 

 of a coon, which I caught in January 

 last. You will see a pellet of shot im- 

 bedded in the bone, which must have been 

 put there long before coon was captured. 

 It may have been put there when he was 

 kitten. In fact I may have put it there 

 myself, for he was caught in my favorite 

 territory for coon hunting. Still, owing to 

 the migratory habit of coons there is little 

 likelihood of this. 



Arthur L. Seelbach. Cleveland. O. 



A bill has been introduced in the Con- 

 necticut Legislature providing for a fine 

 of S7 for wearing birds on hats. 



Judges are empowered, under the bill, to 

 cause offending hats to be destroyed in their 

 presence. The measure is supported by the 

 Audubon Society. 



And I hope it may pass. It would be 

 tough on the girls, but after all it serves 

 them right. — Editor. 



The band-tailed pigeon does not occur 

 East of the Rocky mountains, and the 

 Bahama " wild pigeons " obviously could 

 not be the Western species. The pigeons 

 and doves which have been recorded from 

 the Bahamas are the following: White- 

 headed pigeon, white-winged dove, zenaida 

 dove, ground dove and Key West quail 

 dove. 



Frank M. Chapman. Xew York City. 



I have shot the red and gray squirrels 

 and have found more mutilated reds than 

 any other kind. The worst I have known 

 the red to do is to steal corn. Mr. D. C. 

 Clark says he has seen a red kill a chicken 

 just for the pleasure of seeing the blood. 

 I have hunted the red in Vermont for 7 

 years and never heard any fault found with 

 him. W. J. Kent. Worcester, Mass. 



In March Recreation a reader asks for 

 information as to the habits of mountain 

 sheep. If he were here I could show him 

 a band of 10 or 12 that have camped all win- 

 ter in sight of town. One habit I have 

 noted is that of climbing on top of the 

 highest ledge they can find and looking 

 down at us. 



William Conerty, Basalt. Col. 



George Whiting had a rat trap set in a 

 marsh near Fox lake and a female red head 

 duck was caught by one foot. When Mr. 

 Whiting went to look at the trap he found 

 the drake beside it. refusing to leave its im- 

 prisoned mate. lie caught the drake and 

 keeps both birds captive at his home. 



C. M. Clarke. Stoughton. Wis. 



On January 26th. with the temperature 

 below zero, a neighbor shot a large horned 

 owl, on a squirrel's nest in a small sapling. 



Being curious to know what the owl was 

 doing there, he climbed up and found 2 

 large, round eggs. Did not know owls ever 

 incubated in mid-winter. 



A. Lindemann, Cascade, la. 



I saw the other day a pure, albino, white 

 chipmunk which had been captured by a 

 boy last fall. For a number of years, a 

 man near us had a snow-white deer. One 

 day it jumped the fence and some dogs 

 chased it into a railway culvert. It had one 

 leg broken and had to be killed. 



R. C. W. Lett, Ottawa, Ont. 



Last spring I saw a pair of robins try- 

 ing to build a nest in my yard, but the 

 English sparrows tore it down as fast as 

 the robins put it up. At last the sparrows 

 left and the robins finished their nest un- 

 molested. 



George B. Bacon, Cambridge, Mass. 



The reports of wild pigeons appearing 

 in this vicinity are untrue. None have 

 been killed here for several years. The 

 last one I saw was in 1891. It was a young 

 bird, so must have been reared that sea- 

 son. S. L. Crosby, Bangor, Me. 



Two years ago in driving through a 

 large forest park near Dresden, Germany, 

 I saw several wild pigeons sitting in the 

 trees. 



Cyrus Thompson. Belleville, 111. 



Last fall 3 wild pigeons were seen about 

 6 miles West of Edinburg, 111. One was 

 killed by ^Ir. Arthur Pierce and identified 

 beyond doubt. 



A. T. R., Momence, 111. 



What is the best method of extracting 

 rattlesnake oil, and what are its medical 

 properties. 



F. J. R., Muir, Mont. 



A 2 pound can of Laflin & Rand's cele- 

 brated smokeless powder, listed at $2, for 2 

 subscriptions to Recreation. You can 

 get these 2 subscriptions in half an hour 

 without interfering with your regular busi- 

 ness. 



Are you a fly fisherman? If so. why not 

 send me 2 subscriptions to Recreation 

 and get a dozen high grade assorted trout 

 flies, listed at $1? Or t, subscriptions and 

 get a dozen high grade assorted bass flies, 

 listed at $2? 



Do you ever camp out? If so. why sleep 

 on the cold, hard ground? Why not take 

 with you a pneumatic rubber matt 

 You can get one for 25 subscriptions to 

 Recreation. 



