May 31, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



369 



aged individuals were seen. One or two of these birds 

 pecrned to try every day to catch some of the geese which 

 [fed at the head of the Lower Lake, but without success 

 So far as I could observe. 



Falco mexicanus—P 'rairio Falcon. — A common species 

 seen on the plains and on the Upper St. Mary's Lake. 



Falco peregdnus anatum — Duck Hawk.— Seen but 

 once on a bluff overlooking Red Eagle Creek in a blind- 

 ing snowstorm. The bird was feeding on a female shov- 

 eller duck which it had beheaded, and. did not fly until I 

 was within G or 8 ft. of it. 



Pandion haliadus carol-mends — Fish Hawk. — Seen 

 several times in September, 1885, on Lower St. Mary's 

 Lake. 



Ado accipiirinus — Short-eared Owl. — Seen several 

 times on the heads of Milk River. 



Ceryle aleyon — Kingfisher. — Taken on Cut Bank Creek 

 near "John's" in September, 1885. 



Dryobates villosus harrisii — Harris's Woodpecker. — 

 Occurs in the mountains. How commonly I cannot 

 say. Specimens were seen on Swift Current* in Novem- 

 ber. 1887. 



Dryobates pvbeseens gairdmrii (?)— Gairdncr's Wood- 

 pecker. — I am not positive that it was this form that I 

 saw at the foot of Lower Lake in November, 1887, but it 

 was a downy woodpecker. 

 Picoides americanus dorsalis — Alpine Three-toed Wood- 

 ecker.— A specimen taken on Swift Current in Novem- 

 er, 1887, where the species was abundant, is referred to 

 this form. 



Pica pica hudmnica,— American Magpie.— Sufficiently 

 common throughout this region. 



Cyanocitia sidled niacrolopha — S teller's Crested Jay. 

 — Common in the pine forests of the region up fco the 

 rocks. 



Pedsoreus canadensis capitalis — Rocky Mountain Jay. 

 — Abundant throughout the timber. Every mountain 

 man is familiar with this bird, and has been amazed by 

 its remarkable familiarity. A writer in Forest a no 

 Stkeam recently said of it: 



"They are incomparably impudent, and their daring 

 compels your admiration. If they happened to care for 

 it they would have no hesitation in trying to steal the 

 nose off your face. Perhaps they could succeed in doing 

 it, who knows? At all events they would make a bold 

 effort for it. To use an expressive Western phrase 'thev 

 would steal the cross off a mule'— if they took a fancy 

 to it. A gray jay has no hesitation in alighting within 

 three feet of your face and winking at you in a rakish 

 rollicking way as much as to say, 'Don't you wish you 

 could catch me ?' He will stand on the legs of a deer 

 which is hanging in a tree while you are skinning it, and 

 will dart down to the ground after every little bit of meat 

 or fat that drops from your knife. Sometimes two or three 

 will stand about your feet, almost like hens about a per- 

 son who is feeding them. You can entice them almost up 

 to your hand by judiciously tossing bits of meat to them, 

 making each one fall a little nearer you than the last. 



"And yet they understand very well how to take care 

 of themselves, do the gray jays*. Talk about catching 

 a weasel asleep, why a weasel is a fool to a gray jay! 

 They watch you suspiciously with their keen black eyes, 

 always on the alert, ever ready to take flight to avoid a 

 snare. Treat them as generously as you please, they will 

 not trust you. They have borrowed their motto from 

 the Mantuan bard, and each one of them lives up to it most 

 religiously, and thinks, if he does not say, Timeo Danaos, 

 et dona ferentes. Still they plunge down on to your 

 meat or close to your fire with an audacious flirt, which 

 makes you feel that the camp really belongs to them and 

 that you are only an intruder, and ought, if you have any 

 modesty about you at all, to withdraw and take yourself 

 off into the timber. Then there is a flirt of wings and 

 tail, a sort of experimental trial of the limbs to see that 

 they are in good working order in case they should be 

 suddenly called on to use them. The next thing is to raise 

 themselves to full height as if standing on tiptoe to get a 

 good look on all sides. A couple of hops bring them to 

 the coveted morsel. If it is not too large they carry it 

 off bodily to a neighboring branch, and then holding it 

 nuder one foot, hammer and tear it until it is so divided 

 that it can be swallowed; but if it is a large piece of meat, 

 they tear off bits and strips until they have a good beakful, 

 and then fly to a safe distance to eat it, returning almost 

 immediately for more. They sometimes cling and hang to 

 a piece of meat like titmice, upside down. Usually only 

 one will be present at a time, aud the moment he leaves his 

 position, another takes his place. If two should happen 

 to alight together, the younger almost immediately re- 

 tires, for the other holds himself very straight indeed, 

 slightly erects the feathers of his head and utters a low 

 flute-like whistle, which seems to be a note of warning, 

 and is almost always respected. They are not gatisfied 

 wdth taking what they want to eat, not at all. After 

 they have satisfied their appetites, they continue to come 

 and plunder, carrying off then- booty and laying up in 

 secret storehouses that they have far above the earth, 

 where it will be safe from the depredations of any but 

 feathered thieves." 



The great voracity exhibited by the gray jay has prob- 

 ably been noticed by many a traveler in the mountains, 

 but I am not aware that it is known that they lay up 

 secret stores of food, as is indicated in the paragraph just 

 quoted During a November day, when I remained alone 

 in the camp, I watched a family of these buds who were 

 feeding on the meat of a sheep which I had killed the 

 day before. Their visits were so continuous that it 

 was evident they were not eating all that they took 

 away. They would peck at the meat until throat and 

 bill seemed full of meat and then would fly off into 

 the forest. By following them I soon learned where they 

 were storing their stolen goods. The branches of the tall 

 firs and spruces were festooned near their extremities 

 with tufts of white "moss," which hung down in bunches 

 varying in size from that of an egg to as large as a man's 

 fist. The jays would alight near one of these, and after 

 cautiously looking about, as if to make sure that no one 

 was watching, would hop out to the end of the branch, 

 and seeming to work a hole in the bunch of "moss," 

 would deposit the meat there, at once returning to the 

 camp-fire for another load. I saw no bird visit the same 

 bunch twice. 



It may be questioned whether this food was hidden 

 with the distinct idea that it might prove useful at a 

 future time. It is perhaps quite as probable that the act 

 was merely the exercise of the acquisitive tendency which 

 is characteristic of many crows and jays. 



Cormts corax principalis — Raven.— Seen and heard on 

 more than one occasion on Lower St. Mary's Lake. 



Picieorvus columbianns— Clarke's Nutcracker.— Not 

 very abundant, but seen on the high mountains about Red 

 Eagle Lake and in the valley of Cut Bank Creek in the 

 mountains. 



Sturnella magna negleeta— Western Meadowlark.— 

 Abundant in the prairie country. 



Seoleeophagus cyanoeephalus— Brewer's Blackbird.— A 

 single young bird was seen in the bitter cold weather of 

 late October, 1887. It was wading in the water in a 

 sheltered place on the lake shore picking insects out of 

 the water. 



Pinicola cnucleator canadensis— American Pine Gros- 

 beak.— Quite abundant in the mountains about Red Eagle 

 and Cut Bank, and no doubt elsewhere. Several very 

 highly plumaged males were observed, and many of the 

 birds were singing sweetly even during the snowstorms. 

 This is the first record for Montana, I bebeve. 



Loxia eurvirostra minor (?) — American Crossbill. — 

 Crossbills, believed to belong to this form, were rather 

 abundant in the mountains, and then shrill whistle was 

 often heard. 



Leucosticte tephrocotis— Gray-crowned Finch.— Ex- 

 tremely abundant high up on the mountains, where thev 

 dwell among the bare rocks and snowdrifts. Only seen 

 in the valleys during the worst storms. 1 have some 

 reason to believe that two forms exist here. 



Fleet ropli ena.r nivalis — Snowflake. — Abundant about 

 the middle of November on Milk River Ridge, in the val- 

 ley of Milk River aud generally over the prairie. 



Ml iinehophan.es m ccownii— McCown's Longspur. — 

 Abundant as a migrant on the prairie in September, 

 1885. 



Zonotriehia leueophrys — White-crowned Sparrow. — 

 Seen frequently in the underbrush along the shores of the 

 Lower Lake during the month of October. 



Spizdla monticola ochracea— Western Tree Sparrow.— 

 Quite abundant during the coldest weather of October, 

 1887, in the same situations as the last species. 



Junco — . — At least one species of junco was common 

 on the mountains, but I am unable to positively iden- 

 tify it. 



Passedna aincena, — Lazuli Finch. — I was surprised on 

 the 18th October to see a male of this species in the brush 

 on the lake shore. 



Anvpelis garrulus— Bohemian Waxwing. — This species 

 was extremely abundant about the St. Mary's Lakes, and 

 scarcely a day passed without one or more flocks being 

 seen. They appeared to prefer the mountain side to the 

 valley, though flocks were seen a number of times among 

 the firs and spruces of the Inlet flat. 



Coues, in "Birds of the Colorado Valley" (p. 463), says: 

 "The impertinence of the English term 'chatterer,' as ap- 

 plied to birds of this genus, has been frequently criticised 

 by writers, the species being notably silent, or only sibil- 

 ant," and further on suggests that "we may readily sup- 

 pose that the enormous multitudes which sometimes 

 appear make a great deal of noise, about the quality of 

 which people were not very particular when they came 

 to call the birds •chatterers'." 



I first saw these birds at the head of the Lower Lake 

 when a flock of perhaps twenty-five flew over me, and it 

 seemed that each individual was uttering a rather loud 

 sibilant whistle, the general effect being that of a con- 

 tinuous loud twittering, the volume of souud being large 

 for the number of birds that produced it. Afterward I 

 frequently heard this sound from flocks on the wing, and 

 it gave me an entirely new notion of the vocal powers of 

 the birds. 



The waxwings are restless, uneasy birds, flying in close 

 flocks of from twenty to one hundred individuals. On 

 alighting they scatter out a little, but two or three are 

 almost always close together. Sometimes they move 

 sideways on a branch, after the manner of a parrot, to 

 approach each other more closely; and I saw two, which 

 after nestling up close to each other in very affectionate 

 fashion, touched bills as if kissing. They do not seem to 

 remain long at rest, and just after they have fairly settled 

 themselves, a sudden impulse will seize them and they 

 will whirl away for a short distance, and perhaps in a 

 few moments return to the same or a neighboring tree. 



When seen by me in October they were migrating; but 

 there is no doubt that they breed in this region, for Dr. 

 Coues took a bud just from the nest in 1874 near Chief 

 Mountain Lake, about twenty miles to the northward of 

 the St. Mary's. 



Lanius ludoviciauus exeubitorides — White-rumped 

 Shrike. — Seen on several occasions on the Upper Lake 

 and in the valley of the St. Mary's River. 



Anthm pensilvanicus— Titlark. — Seen frequently on 

 Flat Top, Goat Mountain, Red Eagle Mountain, and in 

 the valley of Cut Bank Creek. 



Ginclus mexicanus — American Dipper. — Abundant on 

 mountain streams throughout this region where it is resi- 

 dent. Youug birds were heard singing their low, sweet 

 song in November. 



I quote from an observer in a recent number of For- 

 est and Stream: "Early in the morning a friendly 

 little water ouzel came feeding along the shore, and after 

 he had finished his breakfast, perched himself on a drift 

 stick which ran out into the water, and sat there for 

 hours practicing the thrush-like song with which next 

 spring he was to charm his mate and lighten her labors 

 all through the long summer days. He was a young 

 bird, but his song, though low, was sweetly musical. 

 And he tried it over and over again, stopping whenever 

 he made a mistake and beginning anew, with a patience 

 and a perseverance that was most admirable. He 

 seemed a very humble bit of life as he stood there clad 

 in Quaker gray, and hardly to be distinguished from the 

 stones of the beach about him; but no one could help 

 admiring the little fellow, or being delighted by his 

 liquid notes, which the surrounding siience made only 

 more sweet." 



Sitta canadensis— Red-breasted Nuthatch. — Seen once 

 on Lower Lake, 



Parus gambeli — Mountain Chickadee. — Common in the 

 mountains about the lakes and on Swift Current. 



Regulus satrapa — Golden-Crowned Kinglet.— One in- 

 dividual seen on the south side of Red Eagle Mountain. 

 It was feeding among the branches of a spruce tree and 

 constantly uttered its chickadee-like song. 



Merula itiigratoria — Robin. — Seen on one or two occa- 

 sions among the timber on the mountains in loose flocks. 



Sialia a ret tea — Mountain Bluebird. — Abundant on the 

 plains and in the valleys in September, 1885, 



SNAKE BITE AND ITS ANTIDOTE-HI. 



Experiments With Crotalus Venom and Reputed 

 Antidotes, with Notes on the Saliva of 

 Heloderma ("Gila Monster"). 



BY H. C. YARROW, M.D. 

 Curator Department Reptiles, U. S. National Museum. 



WERE it not for the fact that many persons still be- 

 lieve in the antidotal efficacy of ammonia in snake 

 bite poisoning it would not have been thought worth 

 while to experiment with this agent any further, and a 

 number of observers from the time of Fontana to the 

 present day have proved not only its absolute uselessness, 

 but have also shown that under certain conditions of ad- 

 ministration it is dangerous to life. Weir Mitchell says 

 that in one case he thinks he actually destroyed a dog 

 with the means which was meant to save him, and our 

 experiments, it is thought, will shovv'a similar condition 

 of affairs. To Dr. Halford has been attributed the 

 method of cure of venom poisoning by ammonia, but this 

 is an error, as has already been shown in this paper, and 

 if further proof is wanting it may be found in the Medi- 

 cal Times and Gazette, London, 1873, ii., p. 210, which 

 gives the translation of a letter written by Felix Fontana 

 to Mr. Gibelin dated Florence, July 1. 1782, in which he 

 states he experimented upon lambs and rabbits, using 

 from twenty to forty drops of ammonia injected into jugu- 

 lar vein, none recovered. He also states that twelve ex- 

 periments may not be sufficient to show the absolute in- 

 ability of ammonia as an antidote, but they show it is not 

 a specific. In his work on poisons, p. 3, he says in refer- 

 ence to its use externally or internally, "It is then a 

 fact proved that ammonia is entirely useless whether ap- 

 plied simply to the bitten part or whether taken in- 

 ternally, and there is even reason to suspect that it was 

 hurtful." 



Inasmuch as Dr. Half ord revived an interest in the am- 

 monia plan of treatment it seems only fair to give a re- 

 sume of his plan of treatment which well be found in 

 his pamphlet entitled, "New Treatment of Snake Bite," 

 by G. B. Halford, Melbourne, 1869, p. 16, in which he re- 

 commends the bite to be cut out, and when symptoms of 

 drowsiness or sickness come, inject ammonia ten drops to 

 twenty of water into vein (adult dose) with hypodermic 

 syringe pointed toward heart (does not mention care to 

 be taken to avoid air entering vein). Gives a number of 

 examples. Speaks of injecting ammonia into right and 

 left ventricles of heart, carotids and jugulars, the dog 

 being under chloroform. Half dram liquor ammonia B. 

 P. sp. grav. 0.959 every fifteen minutes or so for several 

 hours. Dogs not injured but were finally killed as chest 

 had been opened. 



He again discusses the subject in the Medical Times 

 and Gazette. London, ii., p.p., 90, 170, 224, 323, 461, 575, 

 712, and gives a number of apparently well authenticated 

 cases. 



Average length of time it takes to kill dogs with cobra 

 bite according to Halford is 3b. 23m.; Haplocephalus 

 ciirtus 2h. 15m.; fowls by cobra 18m. Some die in 

 much shorter time. 



Fayrer found that the injection of ammonia into the 

 veins of healthy dogs was folio wed by grave consequences 

 such as convulsions and marked muscular prostration, 

 and no immunity was produced when the animals were 

 bitten by cobras. He thought the ammonia treatment 

 hastened death, and Healey (G. D.) and Rees (W. C.) re- 

 port a case of snake bite in the Australian Medical Jour- 

 nal, 1874, XIX., p. 49, in which ammonia was injected 

 into the veins and brandy given internally, which re- 

 sulted in death. 



In our own experiments, believing that the venom, or 

 at least a part of it, remained in the vicinity of the wound 

 and was gradually absorbed, instead of injecting ammo- 

 nia into a vein it was thrown into the tissues contiguous 

 to the part where the venom was injected, with the fol- 

 lowing result: 



Nov. 4, 1887—12:53 P. M.— Injected a strong, healthy 

 pigeon in the right side of the breast with 3 min- 

 ims of glycerine venom, followed at once with 25 

 minims of ammonia solution. 

 12:55 P. M. — Bird died, having had tetanic spasms 

 almost immediately after the last injection. The 

 post mortem examination showed the heart to be 

 empty, and much fluidity of the extravasated blood 

 in vicinity of wound was noticed. 

 Inasmuch as it had been shown by previous experiments 

 that a lethal dose of 3 minims of glycerine venom requires 

 a much longer time to produce death in pigeons, the sup- 

 position naturally arose that perha£>s the ammonia itself 

 w r as the cause of death, and the following experiment 

 was tried a few days after: 



Nov. 5—13:11 P. M.— Injected 25 minims of ammonia 

 solution in breast of healthy pigeon. 

 12:13! P. M. — The pigeon fell over backward from its 

 perch, gave a convulsive struggle, and died in half 

 a minute. 



Five minims of glycerine venom were thrown into the 

 leg of a rabbit, followed by 30 minims of ammonia solu- 

 tion, and the rabbit perished in five minutes. 



The question may well be asked, if Halford's solution 

 of ammonia has such a startling effect when injected into 

 the tissues, what would be the result of throwing it 

 directly into the veins? The evidence being so conclusive 

 regarding the inefficacy of ammonia as an antidote, no 

 further sacrifices of animals were made. 



Among the many remedies that have been recommended 

 in snake bite the different species of Euphorbia hold a 

 prominent place, in fact in the Western States and Terri- 

 tories it is believed a specific not only for man but beast, 

 as has been stated to the writer by his friend Capt. Chas. 

 Bendire, U. S. A., and that this belief was held by our 

 trans-Atlantic brethren is shown by the following state- 

 ment of Dr. Hurant Jour, de Ghem. Med. Pharm. et 

 Toxicol., Par., 1839, 2 s., v. 272: 



Whilo botanizing in the country a favorite dog was 

 bitten by a viper; fortunately close at hand he found the 

 Euphorbia cypadssias, and having expressed some of the 

 juice he pressed it into the wound and applied the bruised 

 leaves. The dog recovered. 



Dr. B. J. D. Irwin, U. S. A., A. J. M. S., Phila,, 1861, 

 n. s., p. 89, speaks of using Euphorbia prostrata— called 

 Gollindrinera by Mexicans. Gave four fluid ounces of a 

 watery solution of E. p., and applied bruised plant to 

 wound — repeated dose in one hour. Animals recovered. 

 Other Euphorbias said to be useful : Capitata, correli- 

 ata, pciiusivis, and villosa. 



