WILLIAM KEITH BROOKS — CONKLIN 



"Our mother died after a very brief illness, in June, 1862. 

 My father's mother and sister kept house for him until he 

 married again. His second wife was a widow with a young 

 daughter, who became a member of the family and introduced 

 a new element of interest into our home life. 



"The nearby lake, river, and canal were, of course, very 

 attractive to young boys. There was a good" bathing beach on 

 the lake shore within walking distance of our house, and we 

 used to go there to bathe during the summer. The river and 

 canal abounded in fresh-water mollusks which were interesting. 

 A part of the river, near where it emptied into the lake, had 

 been cut off by a change of the channel, and was known as the 

 "old river bed." Wild fowl were found there, especially in 

 the spring and fall, and my brother once shot a blue heron 

 there. On one of our trips to the "old river bed" my brother's 

 dog chased some chickens. The owner, an old German, was 

 very angry, or pretended to be, and brought out a shotgun and 

 threatened to shoot the dog. We were thoroughly alarmed, 

 but my brother stooped down without a moment's hesitation 

 and put his arm around his dog and shielded him with his 

 body. He was willing to run the risk of being shot rather 

 than have his pet and companion exposed to danger. 



"My brother became interested in aquaria, and had an aqua- 

 rium in the house and a pond in the yard, stocked with tad- 

 poles, water snails, and small fish. In this pond lived a frog 

 which had learned to come and take flies from his hand. He 

 always had animal pets, which he treated with great kindness ; 

 almost always a dog was his companion on his tramps, and he 

 also had pet rabbits, cats, and squirrels. He was very skillful 

 in training animals. 



[To his students in after years Professor Brooks occasionally 

 spoke of these early observations and experiments upon ani- 

 mals. In particular he recalled the great flocks of carrier 

 pigeons which at times darkened the sky, and which flew so 

 low after their long southward flight across Lake Erie that 

 they could be struck with poles and clubs as they rose over the 

 bluffs on which Cleveland stands.] 



"In imitation, probably, of Professor Newberry's collection, 

 he established a sort of museum in the upper story of the barn 



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