NATURAL HISTORY. 



5i 



PROBABLY A WIDGEON. 

 In October last I was shooting ducks 

 over decoys A bunch of ducks came down 

 with the wind and at the crack of my gun 

 one of them fell. I was surprised 

 at its size and color. The back of the 

 bird was nearly all white, as were the 

 wings, while the neck and bill were of a 

 fawn color. The body was similar in color 

 to that of the blue wing teal. The bird 

 weighed 4 pounds. What is the name of 

 this bird? 



A Reader, Windsor, Ont. 



The bird may have been an American 

 widgeon, Mareca Americana,- but it is im- 

 possible to say definitely without seeing it. 

 The only way to be certain of getting a 

 correct identification of any bird is to cut 

 off one wing, the head, tail and feet and 

 send them in. Or better still, skin the 

 bird carefully, dust the inside of the skin 

 with powdered alum, then insert enough 

 cotton to keep the different parts of the 

 skin from touching and let it dry. For 

 fuller instructions as to saving skins read 

 Hornaday's "Taxidermy and Zoological 

 Collecting," published by Scribner's Sons, 

 New York City. — Editor. 



DEFENSE OF THE ROBIN. 



Robin redbreast has found an able defender 

 from the attacks of the State Horticultural So- 

 ciety in Prof. E. W. D. Scott, who occupies the 

 chair of ornithology at Princeton University. 



Prof. Scott completely answers Charles Black, 

 of Hightstown, and W. H. Reid, of Frenchtown, 

 who presented the main argument for an 

 amendment of the State law such as would per- 

 mit the extermination of this beautiful and mu- 

 sical species of the bird creation, on the ground 

 that it destroys immense quantities of fruit each 

 summer. 



Robins, Prof. Scott says, consume 60 per cent, 

 of insectivorous food and about 40 per cent, of 

 vegetable food, mostly wild. When cherries and 

 strawberries are ripe, robins undoubtedly do help 

 themselves to these dainties, but Prof. Scott says 

 that for each cherry and each strawberry, the 

 robins destroy 3 to 10 times as much in bulk of 

 insects. 



If all the robins in the State were destroyed, 

 Prof. Scott says, cherry, apple, peach and pear 

 trees and strawberry vines would be overrun with 

 insects which the birds now eat and the resultant 

 damage to the growers would be incalculable. What 

 the fruit growers need, he says, is more insectiv- 

 orous birds, not less. 



All this sounds more logical than the plea of 

 the fruit growers, as voiced by their delegates 

 at Trenton. It is in consonance with nature. 

 Surely it_ can not be possible that these beautiful 

 birds which have been welcomed by farmers and 

 fruit growers for centuries, can have been, or are 

 now a nuisance. — Hoboken, N. J., Observer. 



I am with a party of engineers locating 

 a new railroad from Corpus Christi, the 

 famous tarpon fishing resort, to the Rio 

 Grande and 60 miles along the American 

 shore. This country is purely Mexican in 

 its customs and people. Deer, turkeys, pan- 

 thers, Mexican lions, wolves, ducks and 



geese are abundant. The game law is ig- 

 nored, for the reason that but few peo- 

 ple here speak English. This well watered 

 and lovely corner of Texas is one of the 

 last stands of. American game, and steps 

 ought to be taken now to protect it, be- 

 fore the great rush of game hogs which 

 will surely follow the completion of the 

 road. Then a few hours' ride will take 

 one from an up to date American city into 

 the wilds of an isolated Mexican ranch 

 country, Yours truly. 



Fred Percival. 



A large Holboell's grebe was killed on 

 St. Francis river, Poinsett county, latitude 

 35, February 15, 1904. It is a male, 

 length 20^2 inches, spread 30^ inches, 

 weight 2 pounds 1 ounce, not fat. 



An unusual number of golden eyes, gener- 

 ally rare visitors, have been seen here this 

 season, among them the only female of 

 that species I have ever seen. 



Robert H. Mitchell, Marked Tree, Ark. 



Please tell me the correct name of the 

 bird called "meadow hen" in the Long Isl- 

 and game law. 



Roy Latham, Orient Point, N. Y. 



The bird . referred to as the meadow 

 hen is the clapper rail, Rallus longirostris 

 crepitans. — Editor. 



There is not much game in this country, 

 but about 100 miles South of here there 

 are a number of mountain sheep. The In- 

 dians kill them by hiding at the water holes 

 and shooting them when they come for 

 water. 



W. H. Paddock, DeLamar, Nev. 



At last, after years of search, Diogenes 

 gave it up. 



"No," he said, "there is no such thing as 

 an honest man. Every mother's son of 'em 

 will beat the street car company out of a 

 ride if he can 1" 



Signaling to the conductor to stop the 

 car, he got off at 75th street, put out his 

 lantern and went back to his tub. — Chicago 

 Tribune. 



"Here's an advertiser," said the Western 

 editor's assistant, "who offers us one of his 

 'Patent Sadirons for Shirt Bosoms' in ex- 

 change for advertising space." 



"Accept it, of course," replied the editor. 

 "Some day we may acquire a shirt in the 

 same way." — Philadelphia Ledger. 



The Al Vista camera came to-day. To 

 say I am pleased with it would be putting 

 it too mildly. I thank you for your prompt- 

 ness and courtesy. 



Walter S. Abraham, Wall, Pa. 



