NATURAL HISTORY. 



383 



warblers and vireos, are more cautious in 

 their migratory movements. They make 

 their appearance only when the season is so 

 well advanced that there is scarcely any 

 danger of being obliged to return. 



On nearing the village of Owego, my at- 

 tention was drawn by a number of crows to 

 a pair of red shouldered hawks circling far 

 above a clump of heavy timber. Crows 

 never miss an opportunity to make a nawk's 

 life miserable, although the latter seldom 

 attacks them. Crows have a distinct note 

 of alarm, which they always give on seeing 

 a hawk or an owl. To a naturalist it is 

 never mistaken. They call out the words, 

 clear and distinct, "hawk! hawk! hawk!" 

 Soon answering calls are heard and other 

 crows join in the chase. They fly above 

 the hawk and swoop down at him one 

 at a time, until you would think they 

 were surely going to strike, but when 

 within a few feet of him they grace- 

 fully spread their wings and quickly as- 

 cend. Frequently the hawk deems it ad- 

 visable to take shelter in a tree, where he is 

 better able to protect himself. I do not 

 remember ever seeing a crow actually strike 

 a hawk. 



The red shouldered hawk is a particularly 

 noisy species, and during migration in- 

 variably travels in pairs or families. Unlike 

 many birds, they do not mate every spring, 

 but choose their companions for a lifetime. 

 I made the acquaintance of a pair of these 

 birds that nested 10 successive years in a 

 small forest bordering a swamp, their fa- 

 vorite locality, on the premises of ex-Sec- 

 retary Benjamin F. Tracy. To my knowl- 

 edge they occupied the same nest several 

 seasons, then built a new one near. Con- 

 siderable timber has been cut since they 

 first began to nest there, and from time to 

 time several of the old birds and their 

 young have been shot ; but the remaining 

 parent has secured another mate, and they 

 return every spring to their dear old home- 

 stead in or near the mammoth oak where 

 the first nest was built, there to raise their 

 family. 



Owing to the noisy habits of the red 

 shouldered hawk these birds are easily dis- 

 covered, and as they are not so shy as other 

 species of hawks, they are wantonly de- 

 stroyed by hunters and farmers, who sup- 

 pose them to be injurious to poultry yards. 

 If they knew that in reality the hawks' food 

 consists principally of mice and insects, 

 they would be as anxious to protect as they 

 now are to destroy them. 



gopher, he should level one of the fresh 

 mounds of earth, and after finding the bur- 

 row through which the dirt was thrown 

 out, open it with a trowel or a case knife. 

 After a few minutes' work he will break 

 into the main passage, running right and 

 left. Remove the loose earth and set a 

 No. O Blake-Lamb steel trap, placing it in 

 such a position that when sprung the jaws 

 will be parallel with the burrow. To do this 

 it may be necessary to enlarge the runway, 

 in order to permit the free working of the 

 trap. Be sure that the trap is set in the 

 main runway, and not in the short spur 

 through which the dirt was removed. Do 

 not attempt to bait, or to conceal the trap 

 in any way, and it is of vital importance 

 that the hole should be left open. 



On visiting his trap in the morning a 

 novice will often find it buried in earth and 

 a fresh mound of dirt in the place of the 

 one he had leveled; but after a little experi- 

 ence in gopher trapping this will not occur 

 so often. 



Pocket gophers tunnel about a foot under 

 the surface of the ground, disposing of the 

 earth by digging to the top occasionally and 

 pushing it out, as Mr. Olds describes. They 

 work during the evening, at night and 

 early in the morning; also on cloudy days. 

 They dislike light, and as soon as possible 

 will block any holes that cattle or horses 

 make by stepping into their runways. I 

 have frequently set a trap at each end of 

 the row of mounds, and within 20 minutes 

 have caught the gopher. 



While one of the old style steel traps 

 with the clumsy spring will do, I advise the 

 use of a No. O Blake-Lamb trap, as sug- 

 gested. There is as much difference be- 

 tween one of them and the old style trap 

 as there is between a black powder gun and 

 a modern Savage rifle. 



J. A. Loring, Owego, N. Y. 



HOW TO TRAP POCKET GOPHERS. 

 From Mr. F. A. Olds's description in 

 February Recreation of the work done in 

 his garden by a depredator, I believe he is 

 correct in identifying the animal as a pocket 

 gopher. If Mr. Olds wishes to catch the 



NOT SNAKE BUT LARVA. 

 I have read with interest Mrs. Marriott's 

 article in February Recreation regarding 

 what she at first supposed to be a small 

 snake which was causing a commotion 

 among her chickens. I readily recognize 

 it, from her description, to be the larva 

 of our tiger swallowtail butterfly, Papilio 

 turnus. During the most of its caterpillar 

 life its color is green, but when through 

 feeding and about to change into the chry- 

 salis state, it changes to a reddish brown 

 color and wanders from its food plant in 

 search of a sheltered place to suspend itself 

 for the winter. ■ When disturbed it has 

 the power of raising its anterior end and 

 swelling same to such an extent that it 

 strongly resembles the head of a small 

 snake. The 2 eyelike spots help out 

 this simulation, especially when it sways 



