June 22, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



407 



depth of water to accommodate all, from the little short- 

 legged chip to the long-legged catbird. A. tank which we 

 have found to answer the purpose admirably may be made 

 in the following manner: Take a good, stout, water-tight 

 box, with a central platform, to which four boards with 

 strips nailed at interval?] of two inches, should lead down. 

 Two or three pailsfull of water will cover the platform, say 

 to the depth of two inches, and the water will gradually shoal 

 up the steps on the boards leading from it. Place it partly in the 

 -hade; 1 always like to have it where the sun reaches some 

 portion of it, so that when a little fellow is washing there is 

 a continual shower of bright, diamond drops flying in the 

 air. Now, the student placing himself at a convenient win- 

 dow with a good strong opera glass can bring the birds right 

 up, close enough to see the delight w r hich sparkles in their 

 bright eyes as they bathe. It should be near the house to 

 afford you an opportunity to observe without being observed. 

 If you object to the bulldozing of the English sparrows, a 

 Flobert or parlor rifle with shot (dust shot) cartridges by 

 your side will effectually put a quietus on said sparrows, 

 and as the report is so slight the other and more desirable 

 guests will not be disturbed. 1 have frequently turned them 

 over in the very presence of catbirds, who seemed very 

 much astonished at the sudden cessation of their noisy chat- 

 ter, and who after a curious examination of the dead body 

 would continue their washing unconcerned. The same 

 means may be used sparingly to secure rare specimens for 

 collection -and study. 



The above experiment will amply repay its trifling cost in 

 the increased number of sweet songs that "will ring out from 

 the trees around your dwellings, and the sight of the many 

 bright forms disport, ng themselves therein during all the 

 summer. You may store it away for the winter, but have it 

 ready by early spring of the next year, as the birds will be on 

 hand. * Diok. 



New York, June 9. 



SOME OOLOGICAL NOTIONS. 



MR. ERNEST INGERSOLL's little book on "Birds'- 

 Nesting" lies on my desk before me, and I have just 

 enjoyed the delightful pleasure of reading it. A wholesale 

 ransacking of my exceedingly humble Field Books divulges 

 a few notes having a slight bearing on Mr. Tngersoll's grace- 

 fully written book, which I hope will not be considered out 

 of place in these columns. 



Nests of the Ghrysomiirw trisUs (goldfinch, yellow-bird, 

 thistle-bird) have been found in Middle New York with 

 eggs in them as early as the 11th of May. A cousin of mine 

 furnishes this item from her note-book: "May 28, 1868. 

 This morning at daylight we had a snowfall of two inches. 

 Shortly afterward 1 went into the pines for a stroll, and on 

 my return, found a yellow-bird sitting on three eggs, in the 

 back part of the orchard in a large apple-tree. The instance 

 was so exceptional, that I could not convince my father re- 

 specting the kind of a nest I had found until he visited it 

 himself." Nests of the same birds containing fledglings 

 have been found here in September, and on one occasion as 

 late as the l!)th, 



Have been convinced by my own observations and the as- 

 sertions of friends that many species of male birds assist the 

 female, bird in nest-building! This has been closely watched 

 so often that I am positive it is correct. 



This spring I found the egg of a Mololhrus pecoru (cow 

 blackbird) in the nest of an AgMo&as pTtcetiiceus (redwing 

 swamp blackbird). I am not aware whether this is a ' 'sin- 

 gular circumstance" or not, but I never saw anything of the 

 kind before, nor do I remember reading of such an occur- 

 rence in any work on ornithology. 



Have, noted that eggs of certain birds vary thus : The 

 first One laid is often fully one-fifth larger than the last, and 

 those between them vary, growing proportionately smaller 

 as they increase in number. This is by actual measurement 

 very carefully taken. Of course this is not always the case, 

 but* I venture to affirm that it is quite as often so as other- 

 wise. Eggs of the same species from the North are almost 

 invariablylarger than those from the South. Perhaps the 

 late Dr. Brewer's theory in this respect is sufficiently abso- 

 lute that we might safely accept it as a law. 



Two years ago there was shown me in lower Vermont the 

 nest of an lit0nla bait (more (Baltimore oriole, English or 

 golden robin, hangnest) that was not even semi-pendulous. 

 It was built early in the season, and the bottom of it was 

 securely "planted" in the three-forked crotch of a young 

 elm ; the top was narrowed as usual, and was held up and in 

 place by three well-constructed "guys," running from a 

 point exactly over the nest to the three forks before men- 

 tioned. The guj's, tjue weaving of the nest around the forks 

 at the bottom and the twining and twisting of the extreme 

 ends of the guys further up on the forks, were the most 

 cutely planned and dexterously-executed specimen of bird- 

 nrcbiteeturc, of this peculiar species, that I ever have ex- 

 amined. Lew Vanderpoel. 



NrvERVU.nr., X. XV, June 17. 



Gkain-feeding Habtts of Field Cricket. — One morn- 

 ing after a rainy night, as 1 was passing along the highway, 

 [ noticed one of our common field crickets working at a 

 kernel of corn that had dropped from some farmer's wagon 

 while on the way to market. The rain had softened the 

 grain; and after watching the insect some time. I found it 

 was eating the germ of the softened kernel: I watched 

 patiently until the cricket seemed to have satisfied its hunger, 

 and found the germ had all been eaten away. Early in the 

 fall 1 found them in cornfields eating the crowns of' kernels 



ars that had blown to the ground, something I had 



always before attributed to mice.— F. M. Webster in June 

 Naturalist. 



RECENT ARRIVALS AT THE PHILADELPHIA ZOOLOG- 

 ICAL GABDEN.— One chuva spider monkey, Affiles ntar- 



ainatux; one brown howler, Mycetea fuscus; one black sulri. 

 Pithecin satanoB : two pig-tailed macaques, Uacacm nem- 



estrinus, both mates; two lions, Falis leo, male and female; 

 Inn African civets, I'teerra ctvetta; two common genets. Oenrtta 

 isult/arix; fourteen prairie dogs, Cyitotnyx iadoviciaii ax: one ostrich. 

 StrutMo caiv.lu*. male; two Swainson's lorikeet-. .' •.,■■'.,■,...- 



-h.tlimirlin; and one Egyptian ichneumon. Herpestex ichneumon. 



alt received by purchase. One ocelot, Felis paraaiisj one nmsang 

 paradoiiu-e. ParadoxuruD rn.viO.nga; one raccoon, Brocyon iotor; 

 one opossum and five young, EMelphys virgin in na: two gray squir- 

 rels, Sciurus. ,• ., .,.,'.-.■•. i -■ ' honied owls. But.,. : .-.,,;:.■., . 

 two black vultures, Cathartts at rat us: one turkey vulture, Cathartts 

 mi ra; one clapper rail, tiallux tvnatru.it fix; one bald eagle. Halite- 

 tits leiicoccjihatun; one screech owl, Scop;: asio; one Canada goose, 

 Bernicht canadgiuts) one white heron, Ardea ei/retta; Ave alligators. 

 Alligator miaswsippiensis; two horned lizards, Phrynosoma eornu- 

 tittit. and three garter snakes, Eutmnia xirtalix, all received bv pre- 

 sentation. Two baetrian camels, Camelus bactrianux; one fallow 

 deer, Census damn, male ; one elk, Census canadensis, female; 

 one Virginia deer, Corpus virainianux: four woodchucks, Arctomys 

 mnnaj-, and one turtle dove, Turtur risarius, all born In the garden. 



%jm\t J?## nt\& 



BITS OF FLORIDA EXPERIENCE. 



THERE were three of us— Capt. W., an old Buffalo 

 sailor; W., the editor of our county paper; and the un- 

 dersigned. We had sailed up the sluggish and tortuous 

 St. Johns, past Lemon Bluff, with its tumble-down build- 

 ings, shallow Mullet Like, Lake Harney, on whose beauti- 

 ful sandy beach we camped beneath wide-branching oaks on 

 beds of moss, the dense bamak rising like a. wall on the left, 

 and the unbroken surface of the beautiful lake stretching 

 afar on the right. 



And the shoring of the Editor was the only sound we 

 heard. 



We had sailed through Puzzle Lake, the Captain alone 

 knowing the one of many devious channels that would lead 

 us into the river again, so much alike are these openings and 

 banks of rushes, and so bewildering to the stranger. We 

 had jibed, poled and rowed around the bends and behind 

 the banks of reeds where the breeze had fainted dead away, 

 leaving us mourners, had shot at occasional ducks and got 

 none, peppered a sleepy 'gator now and then, had run up 

 the E-con-loc-hatch-ie and camped, where I caught more 

 bass in a half hour than we could eat in a week, and which 

 1 gave to the steamer next morning. At last we had tied 

 our boat in the edge of Salt Lake, in water four inches deep 

 and mud far deeper, had waded ashore and boarded a dilapi- 

 dated old car drawn by two huge mules over a joint-racking 

 wooden tramway six or thereabout miles to Titusville, and 

 put up at the Titus House, kept by Coi. Titus, he of the 

 glittering, coal-black eye, withered hands and eventful his- 

 tory. Rheumatism had tied him to his chair, but his loaded 

 gun was within call, and those who had angered him wanted 

 to remember it. 



W. had come over to attend the first session of court at 

 the new county seat of Brevard county, to pick up an item. 

 I had accompanied him to see the country and Indian River, 

 and Capt. W. had kindly tendered the use of his boat, which 

 we were very glad to accept, for she was staunch and he 

 was a capital sailor and companion and knew the Upper St. 

 Johns. 



Court had suddenly adjourned before we arrived. We 

 had time on our hands. We had not seen Indian River. 

 We would go. But how? Just as we were asking our- 

 selves where we should find a boat, there came in a former 

 whilom resident of our village, a watchmaker, who now re- 

 sided at Daytona, upon the Halifax, and who had come 

 down plying his trade along shore, stopping for a week now 

 at Titusville. His boat was new, safe, nineteen feet long, 

 five feet beam, and we were welcome to it for a week. 

 Could anything be more opportune? But he had a compan- 

 ion who had come down with him, an elderly gent who, as 

 a part and parcel of the boat, bunked in it, and would be ex- 

 pected to go along. H-m— ! Well, all right, We went 

 down about dark to inspect our ship, and found our fourth, 

 whom I shall call O., abed on his little cot under the canvas, 

 occupying one side the centerboard. Wo said to ourselves, 

 as we walked away, "Of course he won't take that cot with 

 four in the boat — of course not. Oh, no I" How our calcu- 

 lations are upset sometimes. We laid in our stores that 

 night. Next morning we got them aboard, made the ac- 

 quaintance of O., whom we found to be about fifty -five 

 years old, without, as it proved, one idea of sport in his 

 noddle. And he must take that cot — couldn't, be comfort- 

 able without it. We looked at him, at each other, at the 

 one side of the ship left vacant, and sighed. One could 

 double up like a jack-knife astern the cot, and the other two 

 could dovetail legs on the other side. 



We had a beam wind. We cast loose, and as we got 

 under way, called a council of navy and agreed that Capt. 

 W. should command, all his orders* being implicitely obeyed. 

 O. rather reluctantly acquiescing as with a proviso, he hav- 

 ing sailed in the vessel several days and knowing all there 

 was to be known. W. and I emphasized the compact and 

 trusted that O. would not make an ass of himself. We 

 sailed and we sailed. The weather was perfect. A moder- 

 ate breeze made the wavelets dance and sparkle. Alar to 

 right and left low shore lines rose dim and hazy, while away 

 in the distance ahead were wooded points made out, the 

 effect was of a mirage, forests with nothing under them. 

 We smoked and dozed the day away, rnceting*an occasional 

 boat, and toward evening ran into land where a house stood 

 on a bluff. Wc made a fire, cooked a pot of coffee and 

 suppered, after which we called on the resident, whom we 

 found a guava jelly maker. We inspected his store of jelly, 

 consisting of several hundred dozen glasses and jars, and 

 after laying in a supply to keep off scurvy, took 

 our departure. The breeze being favorable, wc kept 

 the water all night enjoying immensely the glorious moon- 

 light and phosphorescent light wonderfully distinct. Morn- 

 ing found us near the State'A.gricultural College, that bold, 

 shameful swindle perpetrated by some shameless Solons at 

 Tallahassee. The uncompleted' building, painfully plain, 

 with its gable to the river, stands in the midst of a howling 

 wilderness on a waste of poverty-stricken laud, where the 

 possibilities of palmetto and pine, Spanish bayonet, cactus 

 and coquina can be thoroughly tested. 



We went ashore on the opposite side of the riverin a cove, 

 washed and wiped our weary eyes and breakfasted. Deer 

 tracks dotted the land, a few ducks sat on a bar out in the 

 river, and toadfish played round the boat, Now the wind 

 shifted to the southeast, and it was tack, tack across and back 

 all the weary day. Occasional points of sand and shell ran 

 out into the river from the eastern shore, and what a dreary 

 waste of bleached palmetto and scrub that was between the 

 river and ocean. Deer, snakes and buzzards monopolized 

 the earth and air. During, the afternoon, while beating, we 

 ran in just above a shell bar that ran out some two hundred 

 feet. Our boat had one serious fault, she would not come 

 round nicely, but would stick her nose into the wind and 

 hang there, drifting. It was exasperating. Her rudder was 

 not long enough or her sail large enough, or her shape right, 

 or something else, so we had generally to push her around, 

 with such a wind as we had. Well, we ran in just above 

 the bar, and Capt. W. put her about with an extra shove on 

 the tiller. But it wouldn't do. she nosed the wind and was 

 satisfied. The captain glanced rearward and shouted to O., 

 who was half asleep forward: 



"Jump up there, O,, quick, and push her nose off with 

 that pole." 



He got up like cold molasses, took the pole and began to 

 push along the gunwale like a canal boatman, and the cap- 

 tain yelled: 



"Not that way. push her nose off!" And stolidly O. 



kept trying to push her ahead, and we drifting on that bar. 

 Again the captain yelled : 



"Blank you, I say, push her bow around!" 



While the flapping sail and swinging boom made con- 

 fusion worse confounded. With pig-headed obstinacy, 

 without a word, O. pushed on the pole as before. In a rage 

 the captain shouted to me: 



"S., jump up there, for Heaven's sake, and push her 

 around.'' 



I jumped and attempted to obey the order, but thn old 

 pusher refused to give pole or place. I gave one glance 

 astern, pulled off my shoes and stockings and jumped over- 

 board in waist-deep water, put the painter over my shoulder, 

 and began to tow. Overboard astern went W. and the cap- 

 tain and we pushed her into shallow water and safety, at 

 the cost of lacerated feet for days, caused by sharp shells. 



Just above was another point. Under the lee of that we 

 pulled the boat and anahored her for the night, the captain 

 wrathy and the pusher glum, the latter presently muttering 

 something about ungentlemanly treatment, whereat the 

 captain let himself out in plain English for a few fleeting 

 moments, the while we wrung out and spread out our soaked 

 trouserloons. We reminded the old gent of the agreement 

 and the danger, and be, seeing himself hopelessly in the 

 minority, succumbed, presently apologized, whereupon the 

 captain did the graceful and we swuner into good humor 

 again. While we were taking a smoke W. had gone ashore 

 and presently called out, "Why, here are deer tracks, plenty 

 of 'em." I got into some overalls the captain lent me in a 

 jiffy, took some buck shells and my Parker and went ashore. 

 W. had disappeared with his gun. I followed up the beach, 

 which curved to the right, and was here only a few yards 

 wide, bounded by a bluff on the left about five feet high. 

 After going a few hundred yards 1 saw far ahead two 

 objects near the water, indistinct, and yet when I watched 

 I was sure they moved. I laid down my straw hat and 

 begun my stalk. The wind was off shore, and by taking 

 advantage of the contour of the bluff, an occasional bush, or 

 piece of drift wood, I got within two or three hundred 

 yards. Then, as cover grew scarcer, I laid prone and began 

 my approach. It was very slow work, but every stretch 

 took me nearer, while the deer strolled unconsciously back 

 and forth. When I was within a hundred yards one of the 

 deer walked up the bluff, in a trail, and disappeared. The 

 remaining one, a spike buck, gamboled up and down the 

 beach, seemingly playing like a calf. Before I got within 

 gunshot he disappeared in the same manner as the first. I 

 crouched close to the bluff and made my way to the spot 

 where he disappeared, crawled up the bluff carefully and 

 peeped over. Nothing to be seen but palmettos and bushes. 

 I gathered my feet under me, squatting and looked — noth- 

 ing. Slowly I rose with finger on trigger. Inch by inch I 

 straightened until I stood erect. No deer in sight. Where 

 could they be? As I asked myself this question a doe raised 

 her head from the bushes where she stood feeding, quarter- 

 ing from me, about thirty yards away. I put one load into 

 the butt of her ear and down she went, while from under my 

 feet almost the buck rose with a tremendous leap and 

 straightened himself for the scrub, but he got the other 

 broadside and down he went. I went to him, bled him, 

 and (hen went to look at my doe. My doe wasn't there. 

 There were the broken and displaced bushes where she had 

 struggled, but that was all. If ever I was nonplussed it was 

 then. I was satisfied she was near somewhere and that a 

 dog would find her at once, but there wasn't any clog. I 

 had seen her go down and had not seen her go off. The 

 buck jumped in her direction, and when I shot him the 

 smoke might have concealed her while she made the jump 

 or two which took her to cover, or where she fell. But I 

 had no time to lose, for it was almost dark. I determined 

 that next morning we would find her, but next morning 

 brought a wind and we, having all the venison we wanted, 

 could not afford to stop. I dragged the buck to the beach, 

 opened him, and leaving him to cool went to the boat, from 

 which (W. having returned) he and the captain went and 

 brought in the game. What a pretty sight it was, after I 

 had built a rousing fire, to see them coming with the deer 

 slung between them, lit up by the dancing flames. And 

 what a supper we. had — broiled venison with guava jelly! 

 And what appetites ! The pusher, after his severe exertions, 

 was good for his share as well as the rest. After supper, 

 pipes, and the fragrant weed, with jest and story, until the 

 fire burned low, when to bed and to sleep to the lapping of 

 the waves. g. 



Ivy Poisoning. — To persons who are easily poisoned by 

 the ivy we recommend the following, from 'an old friend 

 whom we have shot and fished with in former years, and 

 who could hardly go into the woods without being poisoned 

 and suffering for days or weeks with skin eruptions in con- 

 sequence; On this subject he now writes from Southern 

 Illinois as follows: "I have found a simple and effective 

 remedy for poison vines, etc. It will cure it as quick and 

 certain as one can get poisoned, but the sooner it is applied 

 the better. It is nothing more nor less than citric aesdC I 

 apply it by wetting a piece in my mouth and nibbing I he 

 parts affected. Have never been obliged to apply it but 

 once, and have used it on as many as fifteen or twenty dif- 

 ferent persons, perhaps twice as many. I discovered it 

 myself; and you know how sensitive I always was to the 

 poison. It is als© splendid for a hacking cough, and I think 

 beneficial in a malarial country where one is breathing vege- 

 table poisons continually. — W. M. Locke.'' 



Score fob Mk. Reid.— A Virginia paper is in the field 

 with this: "Mr. Peter Reid, of Fauquier county, says that 

 a lew days ago, as he was talking to a friend, he noticed a 

 little snake, about a foot long, and before killing it he turned 

 it over with I he muzzle of his gun. To his surprise the snake 

 ran up the gun-barrel, and he could not get it, to come out, so 

 he let it remain. As he was going home he saw a hawk fly- 

 ing overhead and raised his gun and fired at it. The hawk 

 was not hurt, but seeing the snake in the air started toward 

 it and caught it on the fly. Mr. Peter Reid is a brother of a 

 magistrate and a* church member." 



Clinton Sportsmen's Club. — Clinton, Mass., June 16, 

 — The Clinton Sportsmen's Club organized Wednesday 

 evening, June 14, and chose the following officers: President, 

 G. W. Gosh; Vice-President, Charles Prazer; Treasurer, W. 

 P Bowers; Secretary, Geo. L. Avery; Directors— G. W. 

 Truel, J. D. Hayer, P. E. Carr. The club starts with 

 twenty members. — G. L. A, 



Woodcock Shooting on Long Island opens August 10. 

 They cannot legally be shot there in July, as many people 

 suppose. 



