3«4 



RECREATION. 



its head from side to side and shoots out 

 its 2 bright, orange 'colored fangs, which 

 are nothing more nor less than scent horns 

 given it by nature for its protection. If 

 Mrs. Marriott had placed her head a little 

 closer when its horns were projecting she 

 would undoubtedly have noticed a strong, 

 pungent odor, unless that had previously 

 been exhausted on her chickens ; the odor 

 being especially disagreeable to birds and 

 insects that prey on caterpillars. 



Your Natural History department is a 

 splendid feature of a most interesting 

 magazine and can not help but serve as a 

 stimulus to all readers who are in any 

 way interested in the subject. 



Oliver B. Coe, Jr., Newton Centre, Mass. 



the persecutions of the numerous sports- 

 men around here. 



Henry B. Floyd, Washington, D. C. 



SHOT WITH A FEATHER. 



Something like half a century ago, when 

 a lad residing near Owego, N. Y., I made 

 a shot which was so strange that I am 

 prompted to tell of it. 



A young companion, the son of a Dr. 

 Barney, was shooting catbirds for robbing 

 a cherry tree in his front yard. I begged 

 for a shot and he handed me the gun. I 

 was about 8 feet from the tree when a cat- 

 bird alighted on a limb extending away 

 from the tree on the farther side. I fired 

 quickly. 



On picking up the bird a wing feather 

 was found with the quill sticking half 

 through its head, and so tightly that the 

 bird could be held by it. We showed it to 

 the Doctor, who expressed great astonish- 

 ment and asked his son if he had loaded 

 the gun with feathers. 



Further examination revealed the fact 

 that 2 birds had flown into the tree, one of 

 them alighting in a clump of leaves about 

 2 feet from the muzzle of the gun. His 

 body was blown to atoms and the head and 

 tail hung down on either side of the limb 

 he was resting on when shot. It was one 

 of his feathers that was blown through his 

 mate's head; but whether it went into a 

 shot hole or made its own hole we could 

 not determine. 



I may add that the value of catbirds to 

 the farmer was not appreciated at that time. 



H. A. Dobson, M.D., Washington, D. C. 



The other day I was in the marsh near 

 here, and much to my amazement and joy 

 I saw a large flock of black mallards. Last 

 spring they staid about the marsh until 

 late in March, numbering at that time 

 about 45. Now they have returned and 

 their numbers reach near 300. I identified 

 the flock by 2 of its members, each having 

 a white head. As the ice is well formed 

 on the Branch and is too thin to hold any- 

 body, yet too thick for a boat to get 

 through, these ducks will have a rest from 



I had been absent from home several 

 months, and when 1 returned, our dog, a 

 small black cur, would not recognize me. 

 He walked around me in a circle, growling 

 and snarling. After acting in this way a 

 while, he ventured near enough to smell 

 of my shoes, which were the same I wore 

 when leaving home. Instantly he sprang 

 upon my lap and licked my face, wag- 

 ging his tale joyfully. 



William Gies, Pasadena, Cal. 



A friend in the country, writing me Oc- 

 tober 15, said he knew of a quail with a 

 brood of young, then only 2 weeks old, 

 also another flock about half grown. Can 

 you tell me the cause of this late hatching, 

 or is it a common occurrence? 



Recreation is surely a hummer and your 

 roasting of game hogs can not be beaten. 

 We have a few hogs in this part of the 

 country. 



W. H. Groth, St. Paris, O. 



A LAY OF ANCIENT ROME. 

 Oh, the Roman was a rogue, 



He erat, was, you bettum ; 

 He ran his automobilis 



And smoked his cigarettum; 

 He wore a diamond studibus 



And elegant cravattum, 

 A maxima cum laude shirt, 



And such a stylish hattum. 



He loved the luscious hic-hsec-hock, 



And bet on games and equi ; 

 At times he won ; at others, though, 



He got it on the nequi ; 

 He winked (quo usque tandem?) 



At puellas on the Forum, 

 And sometimes even made 



Those goo-goo oculorum. 



He frequently was seen 



At combats gladiatorial, 

 And ate enough to feed 



Ten boarders at Memorial ; 

 He often went on sprees, 



And said, on starting homus, 

 "Hie labor — opus est, 



Oh, here's my hie — hie — domus !" 



Although he lived in Rome — 



Of all the arts the middle — 

 He was (excuse the phrase) 



A horrid individ'l. 

 Ah, what a different thing 



Was the homo (dative, hominy) 

 Of far-away B. C. 



From us of Anno Domini ! 



— Shanghai Times, 





