NATURAL HISTORY. 



MS 



PURPLE GRACKLE KILLS SPARROWS. 



Referring to Mr. Berkeland's article in 

 March Recreation will say that one day 

 last summer I saw a purple grackle pounce 

 on a young chipping sparrow that had just 

 left the nest and fly off with it in his bill, 

 with the female sparrow in close pursuit. 

 Once the grackle lost his prey but soon 

 found it again and carried it to a fence, 

 where he pounded it about until he killed 

 it. Then after picking most of the feathers 

 off from it he carried it up to a nest full 

 of young blackbirds in an elm near by, the 

 female sparrow trying her best to prevent 

 it. 



Another incident of this kind came to 

 my notice a few years ago. I found an old 

 grackle's nest that had been repaired by 

 some kind of a sparrow. The nest con- 

 tained 4 eggs. The female was not sitting 

 and wishing to know what kind of a spar- 

 row was the owner I went a few days after 

 to find out. I saw a purple grackle on the 

 side of the nest, eating the eggs. I think 

 the nest belonged to a song sparrow. How- 

 ever, as the purple grackle depends largely 

 on insects for a living, he is not wholly 

 bad. 



W. J. Clayton, Lincoln, Me. 



SAYS MUSKRATS EAT FLESH. 



In your April issue I note a letter from 

 C. W. Morgareide, of Wolf, Wyo., ridi- 

 culing a writer in your December number 

 on hunting muskrats, and evidently for 

 some implication or statement that musk- 

 rats eat meat. Mr. Morgareidge says it 

 makes him wonder 'how long people will 

 continue to write of something they know 

 nothing about." He adds, "No one ever 

 saw a muskrat eat flesh of any kind," and 

 declares that the muskrat is no more car- 

 nivorous than a rabbit ! 



What may be the special dietetic habit 

 of the Wyoming muskrat I do not happen 

 to know, but if he is not carnivorous and 

 pronouncedly so when he has the right kind 

 of a chance it will be news to muskrat 

 trappers in other parts of the country, and 

 Mr. Morgareidge will render some service 

 to naturalists by establishing it. Mr. 

 Morgareidge will do well to reflect on the 

 unwisdom of general statements based on 

 limited data and should take to himself his 

 own reflection on people who "write about 

 things of which they have no knowledge." 

 C. H. Armes, West Newton, Mass. 



MATERNAL INSTINCT OF RABBITS. 

 Please tell me why rabbits neglect to 

 take care of their young. I have some 

 Belgian rabbits and have lost now about 

 3 batches of young, in all about 20. The 

 old one fails to take care of them from 

 the first. 



F. Doltz, Jersey City Heights, N. J. 



ANSWER. 



Your rabbit is probably an exception, 

 which occurs occasionally in all animals. 

 Usually the mother is exceedingly careful 

 of her offspring and gives them the best 

 attention. If you have the male and fe- 

 male together it would be best to separate 

 them, as the buck will often destroy the 

 young. If you could catch the old one 

 and see that the young ones got their 

 nourishment a few times it might be all 

 right after that. The cause may be that 

 the mother is disturbed too much by visi- 

 tors. Make the surroundings as natural as 

 you can and they will probably do all 

 right. It is certainly a rare case when the 

 mother will not take care of the young. — 

 Editor. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



I thoroughly approve of your crusade 

 against the English sparrow, and trust you 

 may make it a fight to the death. He is, 

 as you say, an unmitigated pest and should 

 be killed at sight. 



Last spring a robin built its nest in a 

 tree near my home and deposited several 

 beautiful mottled eggs. One morning I 

 went out to see how the domestic affairs 

 of the robins were progressing, and found 

 that a pair of these pestiferous sparrows 

 had jumped the claim; had destroyed the 

 eggi, thrown out the shells, lined the nest 

 with trash, and the maternal robin was out 

 of sight. This is only one of the many 

 criminal acts of these banditti, and I trust 

 every reader of Recreation may improve 

 every opportunity for destroying them and 

 their nests. 



Sparrow Hawk, Roland, la. 



"Old Subscriber," of Kent, Conn., asks 

 how to tan a rattlesnake skin. I have al- 

 ways had good luck with the following : 

 Stretch and tack the skin on a board, then 

 rub it with a solution of alum and water. 

 While wet rub on a little fine salt. Keep 

 in a cool, dry place. Have had belts made 

 from skins cured with the above and they 

 have worn well. 



W. S. Mead, Woodstock, N. Y. 



In reply to Leavenworth's query about 

 what becomes of the squirrels at cer- 

 tain times I have always noticed that years 

 when the nut crop was a failure the squir- 

 rels would leave and go where there was 

 sufficient food to sustain them through the 

 winter. In pieces of woods, where they 

 were plentiful early in the season, not one 

 could be found late in the fall. 



D. L. Ingalls, Albany, N. Y. 



Have you sent in your contribution to the 

 Lacey watch fund? If not, you should do 

 so at once. 10 cent ante, 25 cent limit. 

 Stamps are good. 



