NATURAL HISTORY. 



465 



can be chewed. Give it stale bread, bits of 

 meat and table scraps generally, and it will 

 pick out what it most prefers. Raccoons 

 are fond of water, and often take their 

 food and soak it in water before eating it. — 

 W. T. H. 



A YELLOWLEG. 



One day last spring I was sitting in an 

 old skiff on Wing lake, waiting for a flock 

 of wary butterball ducks to get within shot 

 gun range, when I was startled by a clear- 

 ly whistled "pleidel." Glancing up I no- 

 ticed a light grayish colored bird, with 

 wide spreading, pointed wings, circling 

 around as if he were about to light, which 

 he soon did. He did not notice me, hid in 

 the rushes, but began to hunt eagerly for 

 food, running along the beach until he 

 came quite close to me. He looked to me 

 a little larger than the killdeer. His bill 

 was fully an inch long, black and straight. 

 His body was light, spotted with black, and 

 his tail was slightly rounded at the end. 

 The legs were the queerest part of the 

 bird, being long in proportion to his size, 

 and bright yellow in color. 



I would be obliged if you could tell me 

 the name of the bird. 



Archie Brooks, Detroit, Mich. 



ANSwiER.' 



Mr. C. William Beebe, Curator of Birds 

 in the New York Zoological Park, identi- 

 fies the bird described as a yellowleg, To- 

 tanus havipes. — Editor. 



DOMESTICATING BOB WHITES. 

 Three years ago I secured 6 Bob White 

 quails and kept them in a yard covered 

 with fine mesh wire, with a sort of shed at 

 one end. They became tame and in the 

 spring would whistle the mating call and 

 appear perfectly contented. On looking 

 in the house one day I found about 15 

 eggs and supposed the birds were about to 

 begin setting. On going to feed them the 

 next day I was surprised to find all the 

 birds dead. They had shown no sign of 

 sickness, and must have been in some way 

 poisoned. This year I resolved to try again 

 and secured a dozen good birds. I keep 

 them in 2 pens, 3 pairs in each. They were 

 wild when I got them, but in 6 weeks be- 

 came so tame that I could let them enter 

 the yard, which is about 12 x 25 feet, with 

 a house 4x5 feet. They come out early 

 in the_ morning to feed, and can be heard 

 whistling when the weather is warm and 

 clear. I have not made any nests for them 

 yet, but if they lay I am going to try letting 

 them raise their own young and shall also 

 set some of the eggs under bantams. I will 

 let you know how I succeed. 



R. S. Van Buren, Norwalk, Conn. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



I notice your claim that gray squirrels 

 do not steal corn, but I do not know 

 whether you included the red or fox squir- 

 rel, as here known. If so, can say that the 

 red squirrels can, and often do, carry whole 

 ears of corn. On my experimental farm, 

 within this city's limits, some 10 to 16 

 years ago, were many red squirrels. A few 

 were native on the property, but I added 

 many more, and allowed none to be de- 

 stroyed. They became very tame, and 

 some would even enter the dwelling houses 

 and office on the place and take therefrom 

 any food they found. In my corn field, 

 where many varieties of corn were being 

 crossed, I have often been astonished to 

 see one of these audacious squirrels climb 

 the stalk, strip the ear, and finally carry it 

 off. Some would take only the smaller 

 ears, while others would succeed in carry- 

 ing off the largest ears. This field con- 

 tained but a few acres and was surrounded 

 by grazing land and groves of oaks and 

 walnuts. 



D. H. Talbot, Sioux City, la. 



One evening, in passing a house with a 

 large, oldfashioned chimney, I stopped to 

 watch the swallows darting in and out. 

 Noticing an object on the point of the 

 lightning rod, I went closer to see what 

 it was. A swallow, evidently coming in 

 late, had impaled himself on the sharp 

 point of the rod. His position was very 

 natural, head pointing downward toward 

 the mouth of the chimney and wings and 

 tail extended as in flight. I was sorry I 

 could not get close enough to photograph 

 it. Another time I was watching a night 

 hawk flying leisurely along. As he ap- 

 proached a high flag pole with the rem- 

 nant of an American flag on it, he paused, 

 and circled a few times. Then, dropping 

 down to the level of the flapping silk, he 

 put up a lively scrap. He fought the flag 

 fully five minutes ; then, evidently con- 

 cluding that he was no match for Old 

 Glory, he flew away. 



W. L. B., Oxford, O. 



For 40 years I have studied the habits 

 of hawks, owls and crows, and would soon- 

 er trust the report of my own eyes than 

 the generalities of all the scientists in 

 Washington. Hawks feed mainly on grouse, 

 swallows, bluebirds, robins, ground birds 

 and mice, and on chickens when they can 

 get them. The pigeon hawk lives almost 

 wholly on birds, and insectivorous birds at 

 that. His savage, hooked, bill was designed 

 to tear flesh, and he knows it. Owls depend 

 mainly on rabbits, grouse, squirrels and 

 mice. The big horned owl is death to poul- 

 try roosting out of doors, but his main de- 

 pendence is bunny. The crow probably 



