Mat 19, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



367 



indigo and tea and coffee are exceptions, they take nitro- 

 gen from the air like animals. But almost every plant 

 that grows is eaten by some creature, either in its green 

 state, or when dry, or while it is going to decay. In this 

 latter stage it is eaten by worms and other ' creatures, 

 some of them so small that they are not visible without 

 the aid of a microscope. 



But everything is eaten, and although in the process of 

 digestion something goes back to the air again, a large 

 portion goes to enrich the soil with plant food, rendering 

 it more fertile. A cow eating a ton of grass or hay, as- 

 sisted by what it takes from the air, will make as much 

 manure as will supply plant food to two or three tons of 

 fresh grass. 



And so it is that when the farmer finds his crops gel- 

 ting poorer and poorer every year, and leaves the land 

 fallow, the worms and other creatures in the soil eat all 

 the plant roots and dead leaves, and create plant food 

 which provides for a crop of weeds: insects come to eat 

 the weeds, and birds to eat the insects, and in a few years 

 the. fertility of the soil is restored in whole or in part. 

 The worms and minute creature in the soil convert the 

 plants into what is called the vegetable mould, and the 

 birds preying on worms and insects supply what is neces- 

 sary to render the soil fertile for grain crops. The black 

 soil is really not vegetable mould, because it has all 

 passed through the worms and soil microbes, as the 

 minute creatures are called, but until lately no one knew 

 that. 



This then is the secret of the earth's fertility. Every 

 creature that lives returns more to the soil than it takes 

 from it; it gives it all back with something added which 

 it takes from the air — finally it gives its own body. Con- 

 sequently, in a state of nature, the soil always tends to 

 grow richer from year to year, from generation to gener- 

 ation. 



If a new continent were suddenly to rise from the 

 ocean, man, oxen and horses could not live on it, because 

 there would be no soil to grow grass or grain on. But 

 some plants, and even some trees, want very little from 

 the soil, they take almost everything from the air. The 

 pine tree, you know, will grow in the cracks of rocky 

 mountains. Such plants and trees would soon find all the 

 food they want. By the time a vegetation of this sort 

 had covered the surface, it would provide food for count- 

 less insects, which in their turn would become food f or 

 birds. In time the insects would cover the surface with 

 black mould, and the birds, enriching it with their drop- 

 pings, would render it fit to grow grass and grain, and 

 thus prepare it for man and beast. 



The old doctrine of transmigration of souls was a myth, 

 and the modem view that all the noblest animals have 

 descended from the lowliest cannot be proved; but the 

 doctrine of transformation of bodies is a living reality — 

 the self-same substances which plants take from the air 

 enter into the living substance of animals, and are 

 changed from living tissue to dead tissue, from animal 

 tissue to vegetable tissue, and back again through a never 

 ending series. 



Perhaps the most wonderful fact in this connection is 

 that one of the substances, called carbon, exists in the air 

 in a quantity not sufficient to cover the whole dry land of 

 the earth with mature forest at one time. The plants and 

 animals of one generation must die to set free the carbon 

 needed for the next generation, so that the carbon, which 

 constitutes more than a fourth of the bodies of living 

 plants and animals, is the very self -same carbon which 

 entered into the substance of the plants and animals of 

 the pre-adamite ages, and of every generation that has 

 lived since. 



Nature is very lavish of all the other substances derived 

 from the air. The rains and rivers of this country wash 

 away about four inches of its surface every century, and 

 thus a great part of the plant food, which plants and ani- 

 mates take from the air, is carried to the ocean, necessi- 

 tating the constant and universal activity of life and 

 death to replace it by fresh drafts from the air; but nature 

 is very economical of her carbon — animals give it back to 

 the air with every breath, and plants as constantly take 

 it in by their leaves. 



But there is one substance necessary to men and ani- 

 mals, that is the phosphorus which enters into the forma- 

 tion of then bones and brain, which does not exist in the 

 air, nor originally in the rocks. For this necessary sub- 

 stance we are indebted to the fish, which abstracted it 

 from the waters of the ocean, used it to form their own 

 bones, rendered it insoluble in water and left it at the 

 bottom at the ocean, so that when the continents were 

 up-heaved, the ocean mud was full of it; plants take it 

 from the soil and men and animals get the necessary 

 supply in their food, and thus it is that man, the highest 

 branch of the tree of life, has inherited the substance 

 of his body, not only from all the past generations of life 

 on earth, but he has also inherited some of his substance 

 from the fishes which lived and died in the ocean which 

 once flowed over this continent and from the great creat- 

 ures which lived ou the dry land — the giant saurians of a 

 bygone age. These giant reptiles, some of them 50 or 60ft. 

 long, which swam in the water, paddled in the mud and 

 roamed over the dry land and some of which flew 

 through the air, left us their bones as an inheritance, so 

 that we are their heirs. 



The roots of the tree of life stretch downward and 

 backward and derive their support from the earliest 

 creatures that first put on the mystery of life in air and 

 sea, when as yet no part of the earth's crust had raised 

 itself above the ocean's level. 



Every creature that lives is an earth builder; living it 

 adds daily to the earth's crust; dying it builds its body 

 into it. Every drop of water in ocean, lake or river is 

 full of living creatures, invisible to the naked eye, but 

 dying by millions every minute, they fall to the bottom 

 until their remains cover it with a bed of mud of vast 

 thickness. Nothing lies in vain; creatures individually 

 most insignificant, play most important parts as earth 

 builders, and man could no more have existed without 

 the lowly creatures which lived on the earth before him, 

 than the topmost branches of a tree could exist if there 

 were no trunk and roots. 



AncLthus not only in the past, but in this present, the 

 creatures most important to man are the microscopic 

 dwellers in the soil. The farmer may dress his land with 

 stable manure, but unless these minute creatures were 

 present to pass it through then - own system, and create a 

 mould of uniform quality, his returns would be but 

 small. 



Some experiments on the value of those minute crea- 



tures in converting leaf mould into plant food were re- 

 cently undertaken by M. Laurent, and published in the 

 London Lancet, as follows: 



"Seeds of buckwheat were sown in four different kinds 

 of mould. In the first flower-pot natural mould was em- 

 ployed; in the second the same earth sterilized and then 

 inoculated with bacteria of the soil; in the third simply 

 sterilized mould; and in the fourth sterilized mould with 

 the addition of chemical manure. Precautions were 

 taken to prevent contamination of the four receptacles 

 (Journal de Pharmaeie et de Chimie, No. 7). The pro- 

 duction of wheat in each of the pots respectively was in 

 the proportion of 94. 96. 23, 66. In all the experiments 

 the third series was inferior to the others. The value of 

 microbes in soil rich in organic detritus seems thereby to 

 be proved. 



Who would have supposed that such insignificant crea- 

 tures could render man such important services? 



C. F. Amery. 



GROUSE IN CAPTIVITY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



You will remember that some weeks ago your corre- 

 spondent, ''Lawyer," of Wilkesbarre, Pa., spoke of some 

 live ruffed grouse which he saw at a county fair. On my 

 application he was so good as to procure them for me, 

 and they came into my hands on the 24th of last month. 

 There were two birds, both hens, and the previous day I 

 had been fortunate enough to receive a male grouse sent 

 me by a gentleman living in Iowa. 



One of these hens has already made a nest which to-day 

 has two eggs in it. The peculiar liquid note of a nesting 

 grouse is naturally a pleasing sound, but it was particu- 

 larly delightful to me when I heard it again for the first 

 time this year. I can compare it to nothing in the world 

 but running water. My grouse hens began it last year 

 when they first commenced making then nests, and kept 

 it up at intervals during the period of incubation, as far 

 as it progressed. This singular habit of the female grouse 

 at nesting tune was a revelation to me, but I suppose the 

 fact is well known to hunters and woodsmen. 



It is singular how jealous the male bird is. To-day I 

 was compelled to shut him out of the part of the coop 

 where the hen was on her nest because he persisted in 

 standing over it and driving her off. If the eggs ever 

 turn out chicks I shall take special pains to see that he is 

 not on hand to "assist," since I am strongly inclined to 

 believe that he would make short work of them. Judg- 

 ing from my experience last year and this, it is not diffi- 

 cult to understand why the hen gives the cock a wide 

 berth after the chicks are hatched and till they are big 

 enough to take care of themselves. J. B. Battelle. 



Toledo, O., May 11. 



THE COMING OF THE BIRDS. 



ELMIRA, N. Y., May 8. — Despite the backwardness of 

 spring, the migrants appeared in this vicinity at 

 about their usual time. I observed the first flock of 

 horned larks (0. alpestHk) Feb. 28; after this date they 

 appeared in quite large numbers; several flocks could be 

 seen hi a short walk. On March 1 1 saw the first slate- 

 colored juncos; they seemed to be accompanied by the 

 tree sparrow (Spizella monticola); in fact, I observed sev- 

 eral flocks, which were composed of both species, and 

 they seemed to be on the best of terms with each other. 

 The first flock of purple grackles came March 7; in this 

 flock were three rusty blackbirds (S. carolmus); the same 

 day came that melodious harbinger of spring, the song 

 sparrow. 



The first bluebird did not come until March 9, and three 

 robins were seen the same day. On the morning of the 

 12th the great blue heron (Ardea herodias) came, four be- 

 ing seen in an afternoon's jaunt. The redwing black- 

 bird was seen March 18, and the fox-colored sparrow 

 arrived March 28. The first mourning dove was seen 

 March 24, and on the morning of the 25th I heard a 

 meadow lark. Later in the day I saw several more. 



The first pair of brown creepers (C. americana) were 

 observed the 26th, and on the following day the golden- 

 crowned kinglet appeared, followed in a couple of days 

 by Begulus calendula. 



On the morning of April 9 the flutelike notes of the 

 wood thrush were heard for the first time. A hermit 

 thrush was also seen. While speaking of this bird I also 

 wish to add it to the list of birds which occasionally 

 remain with us all winter. On the morning of Jan. 1, 

 1887, while rabbit hunting, I saw a hermit thrush in a 

 deep, sheltered ravine. I got within a few feet of the 

 bird and positively identified it as a hermit thrush. If 

 any of your readers have observed anything similar, I 

 would be pleased to hear from them on the subject. 



The first phoebe came April 10, and was followed on the 

 13th by the wood pewee (C virens). A kingfisher was 

 seen on the same day. The morning of April 14 brought 

 several flickers (Colaptes a vratus). The oven bird was 

 also seen, as was also the great northern diver ( Urinator 

 imber). April 12 the white-throated sparrows (Z. albicol- 

 lis) were seen. With them were a few white-crowned 

 sparrows (Z, leucophrys). On the afternoon of April 13 

 I saw the fust osprey (P. lialiaetus carolinensis) soaring 

 around the river. A few spotted sandpipers were also 

 seen. The green heron came April 30. 



The first warbler to arrive was the myrtle warble (D. 

 coronata); a few came May 1; three towhees were seen 

 the same day. 



The chimney swift appeared on May 2 and the next 

 day another warbler appeared in quite large numbers, 

 namely, the sweet-voiced yellow warbler (D. cestiva), 

 whose dulcet note is heard as I now write. The beauti- 

 ful little birds seem very abundant this year. 



The least flycatcher (E. minimus) was also seen for the 

 first time. 



My old friends, the house wrens (T. aedon), came the 

 morning of May 4 and every morning since my ears are 

 saluted by these diminutive songsters. On the evening 

 of May 5, while on a fishing excursion, I saw a solitary 

 kingbird (T. tyrannus) and later in the evening I heard 

 the plaintive call of the whippoorwill in the deep woods. 



May 6, as I glanced out the window from my work, my 

 eyes were greeted with two of our handsomest birds, the 

 Baltimore oriole, they were a beautiful pair of males and 

 they were searching diligently for worms in an apple 

 tree, every few minutes one of them would warble sweetly. 

 At this writing, the 8th, they are quite plenty, While 



out for a walk yesterday I saw that prince of the 

 meadows, bobolink, who has come to pass another season 

 with us. Several catbirds were also heard for the first 

 time. 



Although these observations do not embrace all of our 

 migrants that have arrived, they are such as I have had 

 a chance to note in the limited time I have had to devote 

 to my favorite pastime, the study of our feathered friends. 



Edward Swiet. 



DOMESTICATING WOODDUCKS. 



BERLIN HEIGHTS, O. , April 8.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Last season I raised six young woodclucks. 

 When they had arrived at an age that I f eared they might 

 fly away, I caught all but one and cut the primaries off 

 one wing. One, being more fully fledged than the rest, 

 escaped, and though she kept about the premises and was 

 often seen, did not return to the park in which the rest 

 were kept for a week or more, then she returned and 

 made her home with the rest of them as before. In 

 November she migrated, and I saw nothing of her again 

 until about April 1 this year, when she returned bringing 

 with her a mate, came into the park, which is adjacent 

 to a much traveled road, and seemed as tame as when she 

 left. The drake, however, was shy, and when people, 

 were passing would fly and alight in the tops of trees in a 

 yard near by. In. tire course of a few days he became, 

 more tame, and now pays little heed unless people gaudily 

 dressed come too near. Two days after the pair brought 

 with them another duck, and soon after another drake, 

 all of which now come to the park to feed on wheat, 

 which I have kept constantly where they can get it. The 

 ducks are undoubtedly incubating now, and only come at 

 night to feed and bathe in the pond; but the drakes spend 

 most of the time in the park with mine of the same 

 species. I have instructed all the gunners in this vicinity 

 of the facts as I have written, and as the season is off for 

 shooting ducks I think they will breed and bring their 

 young here, as they seem strongly attached to the prem- 

 ises. Some time, if you wish, I will write you my obser- 

 vations regarding wild geese, which might be very inter- 

 esting to some of your readers. 



M. M. Benschotek, M.D. 



Evening Grosbeak Near Buffalo.— An entirely un- 

 looked for stranger to our own neighborhood in the shape 

 of the fairly preserved remains of the head, neck and 

 breast of a bird were handed to me by a boy of collect- 

 ing proclivities, and proved on first sight to be a male 

 finely plumaged specimen of the evening grosbeak. 

 There had been two of these buds shot, and there was 

 fortunately enough of one preserved to identify this well 

 marked species. The locality where its capture was made 

 is Brant, a little town on the slope bordering the Cata- 

 raugus Creek, which yielded also several years ago a 

 four-footed stranger to oiu neighborhood in the shape of 

 a marten, which fell fortunately into the hands of Mr. 

 Otto Besser, an accomplished Buffalo taxidermist, who 

 recognized at first sight the value attached to this ani- 

 mal. The date of the capture of the grosbeaks was 

 April 15. A full and interesting account of the occur- 

 rence of the fox sparrow was communicated to me 

 by Mr. Davison, of Lockport, with the prima facie evi- 

 dence of a shot specimen, which was duly preserved in 

 memory of the first fox sparrow I have thus far seen 

 during spring in our immediate neighborhood, and is thus 

 certainly entitled to take its place among the transient 

 wanderers from the South. It would be interesting to 

 know, however, how far south the migration of this 

 species extends during winter, as I am not aware of any 

 definite information in this respect. — Chas. Linden (Buf- 

 falo. May 9). 



Congress and the National Park. — In the Forty- 

 ninth Congress, Mr. Samuel J. Randall, chairman of the 

 Appropriations Committee, refused to insert in the Ap- 

 propriation Bill the usual item providing for the payment 

 of the salaries of the Yellowstone Park Commission for 

 the ensuing year, and for the salaries and traveling 

 expenses of the Mississippi River Commission, both past 

 due, and for the future. In these matters Mr. Randall 

 deliberately took upon himself to obstruct the operations 

 of a law of Congress, and in the case of the Park Com- 

 mission to absolutely annul the law. In both cases Con- 

 gress placed funds at the disposal of these commissions, 

 and instructed them how to apply the money. Mr. Ran- 

 dall stepped in and (virtually) said: "You shall not obey 

 those instructions. I will not furnish you the means 

 wherewith to do it." In this way he destroyed the Park 

 Commission, compelling them to resign, thereby taking 

 the case of the Park out of the Interior Department, thus 

 defeating the wishes of the Government. In the case of 

 the river commission he evidently designed to accom- 

 plish the same result, to wit, destroy the commission and 

 defeat the will of Congress, by first refusing to pay them 

 what they had already earned, their back salaries, which 

 were fixed by Congress, and for which the Government 

 is both legally and morally bound; and secondly, refus- 

 ing to provide them with the means of carrying out the 

 instructions of Congress. The Avalanche must regard 

 this conduct of Mr. Randall as revolutionary to an extra- 

 ordinary degree, and what is needed now is a counter- 

 revolution which shall revolve this autocrat of the House 

 of Representatives out of the chairmanship of the Appro- 

 priations Committee. — Memphis (Tenn,) Avalanche, May 

 12. 



SABLE ISLAND AGAIN. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



I trust you will not refuse me the right of a few words in reply 

 to your comments upon my letter published in your issue of the 

 12th inst. 



First, in regard io the paragraphs adapted (not quoted, and 

 therefore not requiring quotation marks.) from Dr. Gilpin, 1 can 

 only repeat my previous explanation and my regret that in the 

 course of the two compressions my article underwent, one before 

 and one after the proofs passed through my hands, he should have 

 been deprived of the credit due him. 



Second, as to your mysterious reference to an article in Harper's 

 Magazine, I am glad to be able to say that although aware of its 

 existence, having in fact read it with much interest some years 

 ago, but not since, I had absolutely nothing to do with it in the 

 preparation of my article, and I challenge you to adduce passages 

 from my article having anything more in common with passages 

 in the Harper article than would be occasioned by their being 

 based upon the same authority, to wit, Dr. J. Bernard Gilpin. 



Ottawa, Canada, May 14, ' J, Macdonald Oxley, 



