April 25, 1889.] 



FOHEST AND STREAM. 



275 



their organization has become modified in a very differ- 

 ent, although equally effective, way. 



Points of interest in the structure of our moles are seen 

 in t he power they have to protrude their eyes when it 

 becomes necessary to use them outside their tunnels; in 

 the falciform bone (radial sesamoid) of the hand to aug- 

 ment its strength and general effectiveness as a laterally 

 applied shovel or digging instrument ; in the delicate, tac- 

 tile appendages forming the star (Fig. 1) which ornaments 

 the end of the snout in Condylura, and many other 

 features. 



All the star-nosed moles that I have ever seen or 

 captured were in some marshy tract of land, and 

 their burrows were deeper than those of the common 

 moles, although the galleries are quite similarly dis- 

 posed. This animal can be quite easily kept in confine- 

 ment by giving it a large box, containing plenty of moss, 

 moist earth and some fine dry grass, and feeding it with 

 plenty of raw meat and earth worms. It is an exceed- 

 ingly interesting little creature to watch and study. 



Talpa and Scalojxs differ markedly in their dentition, 

 the former having a formula i I or %, c \,pm i, m §, and 

 the latter i f , e pm $, m {k 



Viewing the Insectivora as a whole then, the following 

 are some of the more important features, structural and 

 otherwise, which may be said to characterize them: 



In habitat they are nearly cosmopolitan, South Amer- 

 ica and Australia being the only two continents wherein 

 they are not represented in the fauna: in habit they 

 may be cursorial, fossorial, natatorial, arboreal or volant 

 (Galeopithicus): most all are insectivorous, but Galeo- 

 pithicus is also phytophagous, the Talpida' may almost 

 be said to he carnivorous, and Potamogole. an African 

 insectivore, also eats fish. 



As a rule they are small placental mammals with a 

 diphydont, heterodont dentition, and with a plantigrade 

 or semi-plantigrade locomotion, their feet usually pos- 

 sessing clawed toes, and are as a rule pentadactyle. 

 With the exception of Potamogale, collar bones (clavicles) 

 are always present, while the remainder of the skeleton 

 is widely modified in the several families to meet their 

 peculiar' modes of life. The coat in the vast majority 

 of species is of a soft fur, though in the exception this 

 may give way to a spiny armor as in the hedgehogs. 

 In color the hair varies from black, all through the vari- 

 ous shades of brown and dun, to the extraordinary 

 metallic tints in the African golden moles. With respect 

 to then- dentition we always find more than two incisors 

 in the lower jaw, while the well-rooted molars have 

 tuberculated crowns and are well encased in an enamel 

 coating. Typically the dental formula is i §, c \, pm J, 

 m f ; total 44 teeth. 



In the central nervous system it is to be noted that the 

 smooth, unconvoluted cerebral hemispheres do not pro- 

 ject posteriorly over the cerebellum. Many species 

 possess special glands which secrete fluids of various con- 

 sistencies, but always odoriferous, and situated in various 

 localities having reference to the superficial topography 

 of the body. In the females, both the position and num- 

 ber of the mammary teats may vary greatly in the differ- 

 ent families, while a vast array of important and highly 

 interesting variations in the other structures of the 

 economy are far too numerous for the space we have al- 

 lotted here to attempt even to allude to them. 



From eocene to recent, the several geological strata 

 have yielded many forms of insectivorous animals, sev- 

 eral of which are undoubtedly the stock from which ex- 

 isting families and species have been derived, and we 

 may reasonably expect to meet with much more such 

 material, and it will probably throw considerable light 

 upon the question of the affinities of the Insectivora in 

 time. 



Bibliographt of the ijfSECTivoRA.— The following are im- 

 portant works of reference id studying this order: Peters, "Heist- 

 naeh Mossambique," Saugeth, 1852; Id., "Ueber die Classification 

 der Insectivora," Monatsb. Akad. Wisseusch., Berlin, 1865, aud 

 other papers. Parker, W. K,, "Structure and Development of the 

 Shoulder-Girdle and the Sternum," Ray Society, 18SS. Huxley. 

 T. W., "The Characters of the Pelvis in the Mammalia," Proc. 

 Roy. Soc, Vol. XXVIII., 1879; also his "Elements of Comparative 

 Anatomy," and "Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals," and many 

 special monographs and memoirs touching upon the order. 

 Leche, W., "Zur Anatomie der Beckenregiou bti Insectivoren, 

 etc.," K. Sehwedische Acad. d. Wissensehaiten, Bd. XX., 1882. 

 Mivart, "Ou the Osteology of the Insectivora," Jour. Anat. «?jd 

 Pliys., 1867, 1868, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1871. Gill, "Synopsis of Insecti- 

 vorous Mammals," and his "Arrangement of the Families and 

 Subfamilies of Mammals." Cope's series of paleontological and 

 olher papers referring to the Insectivora, published in Amer, Nat. 

 and elsewhere, giving a masterly classification of the order 

 in time. Dobson, ''Monograph of the Insectivora, Systematic and 

 Anatomical," London, 1882, and his articlesin the9tb Ed. EucyeJo. 

 Brit, as the order Insectivora in art. "Mammalia," and arts. 

 "Mole" and "Shrew," and many other contributions from the 

 same author. W. H. Flower, "Osteology of the Mammalia," aud 

 other works and memoirs. Sir Richard Owen, "Anat. and 

 Phys. of Verts," aud many special memoirs. Camerauo, 

 L., "Ricerc-he intorno alle specie Italiane del Genere Talpa." 

 Linn. Mem. della ReaJe Accad. delle Scienze di Torino, 

 Ser. 11, Tom. XXXVII., 1885. Gervais, P., "Hist. Nat. des Mam- 

 miferes," Vol.1., p. 256-259, Paris, 1854. Blasius, "Fauna Deut. 

 Saugeth." p. 109-116, 1857. Fatio, "Faune des Vertebres de la 

 Suisse," Vol. I. Mamm., p. 111-116. Fitzinger, "Die NatUrliche 

 Familie der Maulwlirfe (Talpae) und ihre Art-en, naeh critiscben 

 Untersuchungen." Sitzungsb, "Akad. Wiss. Wien, LIX. v., 1869. 

 p. 393-407. Merriam, C. H., "A new Genus and Species of the 

 Soreeidse." (A. bendireii.Merr.) Trans. Linn. Soc. !N. Y., Vol II., 

 1884; also "Mammals of the Adirondack Region." Coues, E., 

 "Precursors Notes on American Insectivorous Mammals," Bull 

 U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv., Vol. III., No. 3, 1877, pp. 631-653, and 

 several other important works by the same author. Ciaccio, "De- 

 scri zione Anatomica dell' occhio della Talpa Europea," Mem. Acc. 

 Istituto di Bologna, Ser. HI., Vol. V.,1885. Bronn, "Klassen und 

 Ordnungen des Thierreichs," VI., Mammalia, 1884, tav. ix., fig. 1, 

 "!, 3 (giving figures of the skull of the European mole, T. mropcea). 



(An account of Trevelyan's Golden Mole); also "Notes on Some 

 Japanese Mammalia." P. Z. S., June 1, 1880 (important notes on 



N. gibhsiU with colored figure, 77. talprndes. etc.), and many other 

 well-known contributions to the order by the same author. 



Sowerby's Whale.— The little whale referred to in 

 Forest and Stream April 11, was made the subject of a 

 paper read by Mr. F. W. True before the Biological Society 

 of Washington at its last meeting. It was found to be a 

 male. The genus to which it belongs has one species in 

 the North Atlantic, four in the South Pacific, and one in 

 the North Pacific. This is the second specimen known 

 from our coast; the Museum of Comparative Zoology has 

 one and the one recently obtained is in the National 

 Museum. The stomach of Sower by 's whale has about 

 ten compartments, adapted to the assimilation of cuttle 

 fish and other cephalopods. _ The intestines contained 

 numerous parasites representing five species. Other rare, 

 cetaceans obtained from the Life Saving Service are the 

 pigmy whale and a Ziphius. 



Central Park Menaoerte.— The annual report of the 

 menagerie recently made by Dr. Conklin to the Depart- 

 ment of Public Works, shows that during 1888 1,018 ani- 

 mals were exhibited, of which 384 were mammals, 560 

 birds and 74 reptiles. These represented 348 species, 173 

 genera and 75 families. The additions to the collection 

 during the year were 258 in number, as follows: Mam- 

 mals 99, birds 111, reptiles 48. The more notable are the 

 hippopotamus, now eight years old, a leather-back turtle 

 and an American crocodile (Nicaragua), two Argentine 

 tortoises (Venezuela), a pair of Sardinian mouffons, a 

 pair of Japanese deer and an elephant, presented by 

 Adam Forepaugh. The most serious Joss of the year was 

 the death of the chimpanzee "Mr. Crowley." A table of 

 weights of this interesting animal shows that at the time 

 of his arrival at the Park, June 25, 1884, he weighed 

 151bs., while in June, 1888, his weight was 1 lOlbs. His 

 death, which occurred in August, 1888, was due to chronic 

 tubercular phthisis. During the year there were born in 

 the garden lions, tigers, puma, agoute, zebu, bison, Cape 

 buffalo, goats, deer, black swans, geese and peafowl. 

 The number of visitors to the menagerie is very large, 

 sometimes on Sundays reaching 100,000 persons. The 

 report closes with a classified list of the animals exhibited 

 during the year. 



Effect of Rain on Earthworms.— At the meeting of 

 the Biological Society of Washington, April 20, Prof. 

 Joseph F. James called attention to the extraordinary 

 abundance of earthworms after rains, and the excessive 

 mortality among them, owing to crushing, drowning aud 

 exposure. In walking a distance of 425 feet he counted 

 380 worms, fully three-fourths of which were dead. At 

 another time, in going 200 feet, he saw 340 worms, about 

 12 of which were alive. Darwin estimated the number 

 of earthworms to the acre in England to be 53,767. It is 

 supposed that rain forces out the worms by filling tip 

 their burrows. The asphalt pavements seem to be the 

 great centers of mortality. 



A New Vole. — At the meeting of the Biological Society 

 of Washington, April 20, Dr. C. Hart Merriam made 

 some remarks on a new vole from the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence. This remarkable little animal belongs to a genus 

 discovered in British Columbia by Dr. Geo. Dawson. It 

 is intermediate between the true mice and the so-called 

 meadow mice. The form differs from the meadow mice 

 externally in having a sixth tubercle well developed on 

 the hind foot and in its longer and stiffer whiskers. The 

 important difference, however, is found in the shape of 

 the hindermost molar tooth. 



New Hampshire Bird Arrivals.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Since my last letter the following birds have 

 been seen: On April 5, a winter wren; 6th, a fox sparrow; 

 7th, white-bellied swallow, wood thrush, black and white 

 creeper, and herring gull; 8th, a bobolink; 9th, a purple 

 finch; 10th, a flicker; 12th. red-eyed vireo and blue heron; 

 13th, bay-winged buntings. The herring gull was seen 

 after a hard southerly gale, which may have blown him 

 inland.— P. C. (St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., April 15). 



SHOOTING NEAR ST, LOUIS. 



ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 20.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The sportsmen of this locality have no reason to 

 complain of the sport had on snipe during the past week. 

 It has not been of a nature to set them wild by any 

 means; still taking all things into consideration, birds 

 have been fairly plentiful, and a number of very good 

 bags are reported. The prairies are becoming very dry, 

 and wet places are few and far between, but when one 

 of these wet places is found, the nimrod is generally re- 

 warded with a good rise of birds, and the number that 

 he bags is of course measured by his skill in handling a 

 shotgun. 



During the past week the Cuivre Shooting Club's pre- 

 serve took the lead in the number of snipe bagged by its 

 members. Mr. H. Clay Pierce made the banner bag of 

 the season last Monday. In one day he counted up sixty- 

 six, which beat all previous records this season for this 

 locality. At the same grounds, one day later, Mr. Ike 

 Morton, after a hard day's tramp, bagged forty-three. 

 The birds were in magnificent condition, because they 

 had not been disturbed for several days. Blue wing- 

 ducks were quite plentiful, and the gentleman spent the 

 morning and evening hours in bagging a few of them. 

 These grounds were visited later in the week by several 

 other members of the club, but they, as a rule, only suc- 

 ceeded in finding few birds. 



Next in point of birds bagged comes the Dameron Club, 

 which is located several miles above the Cuivre Club, but 

 in the same stretch of prairie. Here the ground is also 

 dry and the birds are bunched. A party of five, com- 

 posed of M. C. Billmeyer, E. Mohrstadt, W. Hettel, W. 

 Clark and M. Mayhew, spent one day up at the Dameron 

 preserve in the early part of the week, and on their re- 

 turn to the city produced 126 snipe and 42 bluewing 

 ducks. They report having: seen quite a good many 

 mallards in the distance flying over the timber. They 

 bagged none because they never went into the timber to 

 hunt them. 



Some fair snipe shooting has also been enjoyed by the 

 Dardenne Club people. The Grand Pass (111.) Shooting 

 Club have so far not had any snipe shooting at all. Its 

 grounds are only about eighty- three miles north of here, 

 and why no snipe have made their appearance up there 

 is a puzzler to the club members. The marshes in the 

 club's preserve are said to be in prime condition for birds, 

 better, in fact, than any other in this vicinity. Almost 

 the same state of affairs took place last season. When 

 there were plenty of birds twenty and thirty miles south 

 of the Grand Pass Club's grounds there were none to speak 

 of on its marshes. This kept up until about the first 

 week in May. Then the birds began coming on its 

 grounds, and for the following two weeks the club's 

 members were favored with the grandest kind of 

 shooting. Perhaps this season may turn out in 

 the same manner, at least all the members are 

 hoping that it may. If it does they will be perfectly 

 satisfied. So it may be said they are patiently waiting 

 the turn of the tide. There are no more famous snipe 



marshes in this country than those controlled by the 

 Grand Pass Club, and itwould be a very unusual thing 

 to have a season go by without its members having had 

 some splendid sport on the longbills. 



King's Lake reports birds exceedingly scarce, and the 

 same may be said of the Kidd Lake grounds. The mem- 

 bers of the above two clubs having resolved to abstain 

 from any further effort to bag any snipe. 



TJnser Fritz. 



NOTES ON THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, April 5.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: The Government 

 Scout Ed. Wilson and Corp. Wm. L. Boyce have returned 

 from a snowshoe scouting trip on the east side of the 

 Yellowstone Canon and Alum Creek country. From 

 the hotel at the Grand Canon they made their way to the 

 Nez Perce ford at the Mud Geysers, where they waded 

 the Yellowstone on a riffle. They found no ice in the 

 river anywhere, and only from three to four feet of snow, 

 except in drifts. The Alum Creek country was full of 

 game. Elk in great numbers were seen on "the east side 

 of the river, the sage brush hills there being free from 

 snow. Ducks, geese and swans were very plentiful in 

 the rivers and on the bars. 



From the Nez Perce ford they traveled east through 

 timber, meadows and warm spring basins, visiting the 

 Pelican Creek basins, Broad Creek and Mirror Plateau. 

 They then worked their way northwest along the plateau 

 and Amethyst Mountain to Specimen Ridge, down that 

 to Baronette's Bridge and Yanceys. They were out from 

 the hotel seven nights, camping by" fires which were kept 

 up all night. They saw thousands of elk, and followed 

 many buffalo trails made through the snow where they 

 have wandered around during the winter. Some of 

 their bedding places were like cattle corrals. Owing to 

 the nature of the country they were unable to count the 

 buffalo in this section, as they spend much of the day- 

 time in timber. 



At Junction Butte they saw a large baud of antelope, 

 a bunch of mountain sheep, and hundreds of elk in the 

 East Fork Valley. From all indications most of the buf- 

 falo are on the same range where they spent the summer, 

 there not being enough snow to drive them out of the 

 country. That is, they have wintered on the east side of 

 the Yellowstone Canon and in the Alum Creek and Nez, 

 Perce Creek basins, also in the vicinity of the Upper and 

 Lower Geyser basins. Mr. Wilson and Corp. Boyce were 

 out from the Mammoth Hot Springs nineteen days, every 

 day of which was spent in sight of game. They found 

 the deepest snow in the heavy fir timber between Broad 

 Creek and Yellowstone Lake. There it was 5ft. deep. 

 As a rule it would be but 1 to 2ft. on the south sides of 

 hills and 3 to 5ft. on the north slopes. There is so little 

 snow in the Park that game of all kinds have been able 

 to travel about with very little difficulty. 



Work on the roads of the Park commenced this year in 

 March. The first crew of twenty-eight men were put to 

 work on the road between the Mammoth Hot Springs and 

 Gardiner: this has been put in thorough repair. A new 

 piece, shortening the distance, and giving a gradual 

 grade from the first to the second terrace, is almost com- 

 pleted. On the first instant another crew of men were 

 put to work on the Golden Gate road, clearing it of rocks, 

 repairing broken places and washes made by the melting- 

 snow. On the third there was a team of four mules and 

 a wagon driven almost to the Gardiner Bridge, there 

 being so little snow through the Swan Lake Basin. As 

 soon as possible a crew of men and teams will be put to 

 work to finish the road there, build a new bridge across 

 the Gardiner, and clear the roads of timber. Another 

 crew will be at work on a new road down the Gibbon 

 Canon. This will follow down the river past the falls, 

 avoiding the hill there and at Canon Creek. There will 

 be a new road most of the way from the Gibbon Falls to 

 the Lower Basin. It is intended that most of this work, 

 and some new road at the Grand Canon, will be finished 

 before the first of July, at which date the $25,000 appro- 

 priated late last fall will cease to be available. Part of 

 this money will be expended on a portable sawmill and a 

 building at the Mammoth Hot Springs for offices, stor- 

 age and other- purposes. * 



On July 1, 140 men and 35 teams, divided into four 

 crews, will be put to work on the new road from the 

 Upper Basin to the outlet of the Yellowstone Lake via 

 Shoshone Lake, and men and teams will extend the road 

 along the Grand Canon to Inspiration Point. Most of the 

 $50,000 appropriated for this season's work will be ex- 

 pended upon new roads; about $10,000 will be saved to 

 commence work on in the spring of 1890. The road from 

 the Upper Basin to Shoshone Lake will open up some 

 very interesting country, the Shoshone Geyser Basin 

 being next in interest to the Lower Basin. The road will 

 follow the Lake from the Geyser Basin to some distance 

 past the outlet, where it crosses the Lewis Fork of Snake 

 River. This will be one of the most enjoyable rides on 

 the whole trip. No one will be able to tell when they 

 cross the Continental Divide between Shoshone and Yel- 

 lowstone lakes; the highest point on the road will be a 

 little over 400ft. above the lakes, and that in rather a 

 level country. The difference in altitude in the two 

 lakes is but one foot, Yellowstone Lake being 7,741ft. 

 and Shoshone Lake 7,74Uft. The road will strike the 

 Yellowstone Lake at the west arm, near the Warm Spring 

 camp and Lake Shore Geysers; from there the road will 

 follow the shore most of the way to the outlet. Mr. La- 

 martine, the overseer appointed by Major Charles J. 

 Allen, the engineer in charge of improvements in the 

 Park, has had several years' experience in building roads 

 in the Park under the engineers who have been detailed 

 for this work. 



Since the administration of Col. P. W. Norris as super- 

 intendent of the Park no part of the annual appropria- 

 tions has been spent on improving the trail or bridle paths 

 to the various objects of interest not reached by wagon 

 roads. Those built by Col. Norris have been neglected 

 until they are badly blockaded by fallen timber. What 

 work was done on them was done by parties riding- 

 through, and only removing a tree where it was impossi- 

 ble to ride around it. There ought to be a good bridle 

 path made to the summit of Mt. Washburn, and all the 

 trails cleared of fallen tim ber. This would cost but a 

 few hundred d ollars. H. 



Names axd Portraits of Birds, by Gurdon Trumbull. A 

 book particularly interesting to gunners, for by its use they can 

 identify without question all the American game birds which 

 they may kill. Cloth, 220 pages, price $2.50. For sale by Forest 

 and Stream. 



