492 The American Naturalist. [May, 
13. Richardsonius was proved to be a subgenus of Leuciscus. Its 
species were found to vary directly with the locality. (Art. ll, Bull. 
U. S. Fish Commission for 1894.) 
Queer Misfortunes of Birds.—I have noticed in a N. Y. paper, 
an account of a strange misfortune that happened to an English spar- 
row at the building of the Edison laboratory, Orange, N. J. The bird 
became entangled in a twine used in the construction of its nest, and 
met its death by hanging. This has reminded me of a similar incident 
that occurred to a bird last summer, near this place, Bowling Green, 
Ky. It was a common, or crow blackbird, and was seen hanging by 
the neck, from the limb of a tall tree overhanging the road. Whether 
in flying with a long grass or string it became entangled with it, or in 
what way it got caught in the noose and met its death is a matter of 
conjecture. A queer incident of a woodpecker has come under my 
notice. The bird, a hairy woodpecker, was seen on a tree trunk and 
though a stone was thrown towards it to see it fly, it remained in the 
same position. On going nearer it was found that the bill had been 
driven into the tree with such force that the bird could not extricate 
it, and had hung there, meeting a miserable death. 
I have heard from a friend of an interesting life history of a mock- 
ing bird. It was quite a young bird when purchased from a negro 
bird-catcher, and it was soon discovered to have sore feet. These were 
swollen twice the natural size, and though efforts were made to relieve 
this, it was only after it had lost several of its toes,—two front toes on 
one foot and one on the other,—that the feet were finally healed. 
After this it moulted, losing about all its feathers at onetime. Its eyes 
then became inflamed, and the eye-ball like a drop of water, finally 
closed and the bird became totally blind. In getting its food it would 
stand at one side of the cage and follow the wires till it reached the 
food, it would then follow the side of the cage till it reached the water. 
It soon learned, however, to guage distances and would fly to the perch 
without fail. It was a pitiable object, but strange to say, this poor 
maimed bird, lame and blind, developed into one of the finest of 
singers ! 
A caged mocking bird here, in moulting, has the new wing-feathers, 
the primaries at least, reversed ; the upper surface turned in or partially 
so. The owner of the bird has been advised to pull out these feathers, 
that they would then grow in straight. This would seen rather a severe 
measure. It would be interesting to know whether this is an accident 
only to caged birds, or if it ever occurs to birds in a state of Nature — 
SADIE F. Price. 
