1895.] Zoology. 379 
do not know whether to consider the facts novel or not. Probably 
you may be able to inform me in regard to the subject. 
In connection with my work on dissemination, I was led to feed a 
captured mocking-bird on various fleshy fruits. I found that they 
apparently digest their material with what would seem to me great 
rapidity. As illustrations, I fed the bird with some 15 seeds of Yucca 
aloifolia, noting the time when they were swallowed. One of these 
seeds, and there could be no mistake, was evacuated in slightly over 15 
minutes after the first seed was swallowed, and the majority of the 
seeds were evacuated by the end of half an hour. At another time 
‘some 15 seeds were given to the bird and the majority were evacuated 
in half an hour and all in an hour. The bird was given access to an 
entire Yucca fruit and ate and evacuated 51 seeds in about 4 hours. 
I tested the bird also with poke berries (Phytolacca decandra) and 
found that all excrement became stained in a very few minutes, while 
the seeds usually began to be evacuated in considerable numbers in 
half an hour and the majority had passed in three-quarters of an hour. 
The same held true with the seeds of Durantia plumeri and Melia 
azederach. 
The question then is whether the evacuation of seeds in from 15 
minutes to half an hour, making the entire passage of the alimentary 
canal in that time, would be considered at all uncommon. It may be 
that such fruits have a purgative effect on the bird and hasten matters 
somewhat. I would be greatly obliged for your opinion on this sub- 
ject. I merely mention the thing incidentally in my paper, but my 
observations were carefully made. 
H. J. WEBBER. 
The Effects of Cold.—L’Eleveur reports that the wild boars, 
which are very numerous in the forests of Luxembourg, driven by 
cold and hunger, roam through the streets of the villages. Also that 
the wolves have come down from the Vosges Mountains to the plains 
in vast numbers. If these animals are experiencing such suffering 
through cold, it is not surprising to hear that the game birds in the 
preserves of Marly and of Rambouillet are perishing from the same 
cause. Each day the guards find great numbers of pheasants and par- 
tridges frozen to death. In this connection is mentioned a singular 
fact observed by an English farmer. He owned four peacocks which 
were in the habit of coming at his call. He noticed that for two days 
one was missing. The third day he saw two of the peacocks vigor- 
ously scratching away the snow to the depth of a meter. On going to 
