May 1, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



287 



THE FLORIDA GARTERSNAKE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Has it ever yet been authoritatively decided whether 

 the beautiful little gartersnake of Florid t is or is not 

 venomous? I hear very contradictory opinions on the 

 subject, one friend telling me it is quite harmless, another 

 stating that a learned Smithsonian professor has pro- 

 nounced it to be the most venomons of all Florida reptiles 

 — excepting, I presume, the land agency sharks and their 

 touts, whom my own experience goes to prove about the 

 most noxious of all living creatures. 



I have been experimenting a little— in propria persona 

 — with a gartersnake that I have tamed and keep as a 

 pet. In color it is scarlet, with bands of lemon yellow 

 bordered with black. The head being quite unlike that 

 of a venomous snake, chances appeared fairly safe, so I 

 persuaded it to bite me several times on the thumb before 

 it was so tame as at present. Consequently I think the 

 result may be taken as settling the question, if not pre- 

 viously settled. 



About eight or ten diminutive punctures were made, 

 from one of which the snake had no little difficulty in 

 withdrawing a long sharp lower jaw tooth, too long to 

 allow of the mouth closing without its being folded back, 

 as it evidently is, after the manner of a poison fang. 



Within five minutes the entire surface of the thumb 

 around the punctures was suffused with red, and re- 

 mained so for some time, the last trace of inflammation 

 not disappearing for about six or seven hours. No incon- 

 venience, however, was caused by the bite. 



After this experiment I am inclined to believe the 

 gartersnake to be a link between the venomous and non- 

 venomous serpents; its non-venomous-shaped head being 

 armed with poison fangs of just sufficient strength to 

 assist in the capture of its comparatively minute prey, 

 while practically quite innocuous against human beings. 

 , As I do not wish to destroy my pet, I could only ex- 

 amine the presumed poison fang while entangled in my 

 own flesh: probably the dissecting of a dead specimen 

 may afford more definitely conclusive proofs. Of the 

 slightly poisonous effect of its bite there can be no question , 

 whether a venom sac exists or not. 



Though I have gone in for the casual study of natural 

 history while cruising in all four quarters of the globe, I 

 do not pretend to be learned in American ophiology, but 

 submit this little experience just for what it may be 

 worth. F. S. Dugmore. 



St. Petersburg, Fla. 



[So far as can be judged from Captain Dugmore's 

 description of his pet it would seem to be a coral snake. 

 This belongs to the genus Elaps, and is supposed to be 

 very venomous. It is to be hoped that Captain Dugmore 

 will add to the interest of his experiment by having the 

 snake identified by some competent herpetologist.] 



INTELLIGENT CATS. 



Editor Forest and Stream'. 



\ have two cats, one a tiger, the other a pure black, 

 which I consider to be as high in the intellectual scale as 

 any other domestic animal. The tiger cat, named Topsy, 

 is fourteen years old; the black, named Jack, is five. 

 Topsy in the morning eats breakfast with each member 

 of the family, and always waits until the last member is 

 down-stairs before going to her basket for her morning 

 sleep. On one or two occasions she has come up-stairs 

 after me when I have slept late. She also shows a great 

 preference for the male portion of the family. The mo- 

 ment one of us comes in the house she will jump up and 

 keep up an incessant crying — we call it talking — till she 

 is picked up and petted. She knows as well as we do 

 that when btdtime comes she will be put in the woodshed, 

 and often hides herself in the most out-of-the-way places; 

 a hureau drawer, when she can find one open, is her 

 favorite place. One of her exploits, which came near 

 resulting disastrously to her, was to hide in a trunk one 

 cold night last winter. One of the family was going 

 away and had left a trunk partially packed standing open 

 in the hall. About seven o'clock in the evening Topsy 

 deliberately got up and went up-stairs. We thought she 

 was going to lie on one of the beds as she frequently does, 

 but the search at bedtime failed to reveal her where- 

 abouts. Later, however, one of the family went into the 

 hall, heard a scratching in the trunk, opened it, and there 

 was Topsy nearly smothered to death. It seems that 

 when mother came up-stairs in the dark she stopped and 

 put in the tray and shut down the lid without seeing the 

 cat. 



Topsy is also the most inquisitive cat I ever saw. If a 

 package comes in the house she will prick up her ears, 

 and as soon as it is laid down will get up and look it all 

 over. Jack is ?iot as bright as Topsy, but still is a very 

 cunning cat. To show whether they are as stupid as 

 1> H. P. IT." would make the Forest and Stream readers 

 believe, I will say he is very fond of sleeping in a large 

 easy chair, but is not allowed to do t>o. If he is fast 

 asleep and any one says: "Mrs. S., Jack is in the chair," 

 he will jump down as quick as a flash and run under the 

 stove. He catches a great many birds, all of them spar- 

 rows, which we try to encourage. During the summer 

 there is hardly a day passes without his catching a bird, 

 and never fails to bring it to the house and be told what a 

 smart cat he is. I have never seen him have anything 

 hut sparrows, probably because they have driven all the 

 other hird8 away. One case more I will cite to show 

 that cats are not the fools that '*H. P. TJ." would have us 

 believe. 



Some two or three months ago we got a St. Bernard 

 puppy. The cats were very indignant and for a number 

 of days would not stay where the dog was. Being quite 

 different from "Ginger and Chalk" they were not airaid 

 of the dog, but would scratch him every time he came 

 near them. In something like a week Jack would play 

 with him, and many the romps they would have. At 

 dinner after we were through eating we would allow 

 Don to come into the dining room, and would say to 

 Jack, "Slap him, Jack," and hold up a piece of meat as 

 a reward, and Jack would go up and give him a little pat 

 on the nose. Don learned very quickly that if he sat up 

 he would not be hit, and Jack would not try to hit him 

 anywhere but in the face, as he knew he couldn't feel it. 

 Toppy would never touch him except when he came near 



ber basket, and not then unless she could get near his 

 face. 



I could fill up the next issue of Forest and Stream 

 entirely with stories of these two cats, but I have told 

 enough to convince any one who is unpiejudiced against 

 cats that they are a smart, intelligent animal, and also a 

 stubborn one. 



It is hardly to be expected that a tramp cat or one that 

 has been abused and banged around will show any great 

 amount of intellect, but any cat with kind treatment and 

 proper training will show good results the same way a 

 dog or horse would. D. T. D. 



BlXGHAMTON, N. Y. 



ACCIDENTS TO HOME BUILDERS. 



A PAIR of robins — as has been their custom for several 

 past years— recently commenced biulding their 

 summer home in an elm tree on the sidewalk in front of 

 my house, and the work went bravely on, with song and 

 rapid flutter of wings. Suddenly the songs ceased and 

 work on the nest stopped. But it was not left alone, for 

 a band of miserable sparrows attacked it, and, if possible, 

 were more active in its destruction than the robins had 

 been in its construction. 



A few days later the robins began another nest in a tall 

 maple tree near by, and the work was pushed rapidly. 

 But a few days since it was evident that something was 

 wrong again. There was a great outcry on the part of 

 the robins and an unmusical chatter by pugnacious spar- 

 rows. The latter were again victorious, and at once pro- 

 ceeded to demolish the nearly finished n^st, which work 

 they soon completed, strings, grass, feathers, etc., being 

 scattered promiscuously about. 



This was not all, nor the worst, for the male robin was 

 seen hanging by a cord fastened to its neck and one wing, 

 dead, and not ten feet from the place where the nest had 

 been. The sight attracted the attention of passers by, but 

 it was so high that none cared to ascend the tree to get 

 the bird. 



Being anxious to know the facts as to the reason of the 

 bird's death, I spliced my stiff trolling rod — with a knife 

 fastened to the tip— to a long pike pole, and with the help 

 of a ladder and the assistance of a neighbor I succeeded 

 in reaching and cutting the string above the bird. 



An examination showed that a string — com«aon wrap- 

 ping twine— was passed through the wing quills, around 

 the neck, and knotted so tightly that considerable 

 patience was required to remove it, so that death must 

 have been soon effected. 



The male being dead and the nest destroyed, the female 

 has departed, so that we are no longer favored with their 

 sweet morning and evening songs. 



The question now is, "Who killed cock robin?" Was 

 it suicide from repeated defeats, or was he accidentally 

 caught in the string ? Or was it premeditated murder on 

 the part of piratical sparrows? J. H. D. 



Poughkeepsie, April 25. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



The day after I read Mr. E. A. Leopold's article, "A 

 Captive -Released," I took my gun and went out for a 

 stroll. I had hardly reached the fields before a large 

 flock of crow blackbirds (Quiscalus purpureus) attracted 

 my attention, and thinking I might secure a few speci- 

 mens I loitered that way. The flock was perched in the 

 top of a maple tree in the middle of a large field. On 

 drawing near they all flew away save what seemed to be 

 two that were perched close together. My curiosity 

 was aroused, and after watching and seeing no move- 

 ment on the part of the birds, the account printed in 

 Forest and Stream flashed through my mind, and pro- 

 curing a ladder I ascended the tree. On reaching the 

 branch I found a female crow blackbird suspended by the 

 leg from a small branch. It had taken a piece of string, 

 probably for a nest, although the flocks had not broken 

 up yet, and in some way had tied it around the toes of 

 one foot in such a manner as to form a slip-noose. The 

 other end was tangled and wound round the branch, thus 

 making the poor bird a prisoner. The feathers of the 

 wings and tail were badly mussed, showing that it had 

 fought hard for its liberty. I cut the branch off, and 

 mounted the bird in that position, leaving it still hanging 

 from the branch. The leg was entirely torn from th? 

 socket and was hanging by the flesh and cords alone.. 

 The bird could not have been dead more than twelve' 

 hours, as the feathers had not yet started nor the eyes 

 much sunken. I have since heard of two more instances 

 of this Kind. One where a barn swallow (Hirundo ery- 

 throgastra) was hung by the neck by a horsehair, and a 

 sparrow (Passer domesticus) met his death in a similar 

 manner. J, A. L. 



Owego, Tioga County, N. Y. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Referring to Mr, E. A. Leopold's communication, in 

 your issue of the 17 tb, describing the accidental hanging 

 of a robin, would say that while walking with a friend in 

 his orchard, in Wisconsin, some years ago, we found a 

 waxwing hanging from the branch of an apple tree, dead. 

 It had been engaged in building its nest, the materials 

 used being dry grass, wool, cotton, lint, etc. It had 

 picked up a cotton string abuut three feet long, had 

 woven both ends of it into the nest and around the twigs 

 on which the nest rested. The slack had in some way 

 got wrapped twice around the bird's neck, and in its 

 struggles it had choked itself to death. It had apparently 

 been dead two or three days before we found it. 



Chicago, ill., April 21. G. O. Shields. 



The Voices of Spring.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Though Montreal is still inacessible from the sea, Quebec- 

 has been luxuriating in an open port and free navigation 

 for a month and more. An ocean steamer was tele- 

 graphed yesterday and will stop with us until the Lake 

 St. Peter ice, grounded at Cap> Range, takes its depar- 

 ture. In fact, ships and ocean steamers might have as- 

 cended the St. Lawrence and landed cargoes at Quebec 

 wharves any time since Jan. 1 last. Our sporting friends, 

 the wild white geese and Canada geese, did not delay a 

 single day their annual spring migration from their win- 

 ter quarters at the Bahamas, in Florida and Virginia. I 

 heard their loud, joyous hong, hong, several weeks back. 

 The Canada geese were flying in a northeast dirt ction, 

 intent on reaching before dark their cherished feeding 

 ground on the St. Joachim Swamp, thirty miles lower 

 down than Quebec, on the north shore of the St. Law- 



rence. Their white confreres made less noise and flew 

 much lower as they passed. When too much molestfd 

 by gunners hid in mud holes, with live decoys, on the 

 swamp, the flecks retire to Kamamasha, on the south 

 side of our majestic flood, ninety miles lower than Que- 

 bec, stopping for luncheon at Crane Island, or at Guose 

 Island, seven miles lower than Crane Island. The St. 

 Joachim Swamp is the best sporting ground for the ou- 

 tardes (Canada g^ese), and Seal Rocks excels as the head- 

 quarters for ducks from August to November. The 

 breeding haunts of the Canada geese are the remote lakes 

 north of Quebec and the heads of the salmon streams on 

 the north shore of the St. Lawrence toward Labrador. 

 Robins, song and chipping sparrows and Wilson's snow- 

 bird chirped their arrival about April 14, round Quebec. 

 As usual, on St. George's Day, a pair of loyal swallows 

 took possession, for matrimonial purposes, of the "high 

 church" erected for them on my grounds, and twittering 

 told me "spring is come." — J. M. Le Moine, F.R.S.C. 

 (Spencer Grange, Quebec, April 23). 



He Does Eat Worms— Troy, N. Y., April 21.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: The assertion of "G. C. J." in his letter 

 to the Forest and Stream of April 10, to the effect that 

 woodcock do not eat worms, is a matter of profound sur- 

 prise to me. While many acknowledge an existing doubt 

 as to how the whistling is made, I believe that few who 

 are at all familiar with the habits of the bird will accept 

 this new proposition as to the woodcock's diet. However 

 this may be, if your correspondent has enough faith in 

 his idea to renew his father's offer of $50 for a woodcock 

 in which a worm could be found, I desire to claim the 

 forfeit. On Election Day in 1885, Albert Sampson and 

 George Barringer of this city and myself flushed two 

 woodcock in an overgrown cow pasture, a few miles 

 from the corporation limits. This was about 9 o'clock in 

 the morning. I winged one of these birds when he rose, 

 and on picking him up I noticed a common angleworm 

 wriggling in the bird's bill. Removing this worm I pried 

 open the bill, and saw the tail of another angleworm 

 sticking out of the gullet. I succeeded in dislodging the 

 greater portion of this worm also. I think that this 

 should be considered as positive evidence of the fact that 

 PhiloheJa minor is a worm eater.— Seymour Van Sant- 

 voord. 



Do Not Kill It.— Thompsontown, Pa., April 20.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream; Last season when the June 

 flood in the Juniata River receded, it left a large amount 

 of drift banked across the mouth of a small creek flowing 

 into it, thus forming quite a deep, broad pool. In this 

 water, generally toward the close of the day, on several 

 occasions and by different parties, has recently been seen 

 a large otter, the size of its body, as described by one wit- 

 ness, being "as large as your mastiff." The single otter 

 only has been seen, and it is likely that it ascended the 

 swollen waters alone; otherwise it would have been pos- 

 sible for him to have bred in his present quarters. He is 

 very shy, and thus far has happily escaped harm. The 

 occurrence of otters in this river is rare, and I know of 

 one other being seen of late years. If some one who is 

 familiar with the habits of the otter would favor the 

 Forest and Stream with an article on its habits, time of 

 feeding, etc., it would probably enlighten a number of 

 fellow sportsmen, who, like the writer, have had no 

 chance of observing them and are still in the dark as to 

 their modes of life. — Choniata. 



The Woodcock's Song. — Ironton, O., April 24.— 

 Editor Forest and totream: I have known for a long 

 while that the woodcock had a note much like the jack 

 snipe. I accidentally found it out in about 1883 or 1884. 

 While passing along the road hard by excellent cover for 

 woodcock I heard the peculiar note* as I thought, of a 

 snipe. Watching carefully I saw the bird between my- 

 self and a bright e vening sky, and at once recognized 'it 

 as a woodcock, but while still watching, it completed a 

 circle and dropped within 5yds. of me. I have heard the 

 same note quite often since, and several times have 

 watched the bird with a good glass. Now, last month, 

 while in a blind watching a pond for the evening duck 

 shooting, I beaxd the same note, and while trying to 

 locate the sound a woodcock alighted within 6ft. of me, 

 and to my surprise gave notes not unlike what I have 

 often heard a canary bird make — a low musical and 

 quite pleasing sound. I watched him until too dark to 

 see any more. It was more than satisfaction to me to 

 find out that my choice bird for table use had a fine song, 

 even if it was short. — D. 



Notes on Bird Migration.— Michigan City, Ind., 

 April 20. — Editor Forest and Stream: March 4 one robin 

 was seen. Robins in rare cases stay here all winter. 

 March 9 saw a flock of geese and a flock of ducks, all 

 going north. March 16, song sparrows, robins and blue- 

 birds seen in small numbers. March 18, ten red winged 

 blackbirds and six seagulls. March 20, meadow larks 

 seen. March 24, one dove and killdeer, i - obins, seagulls, 

 ducks and meadow larks seen in large numbers. March 

 23 saw a woodcock and a Wilson snipe. March 27, more 

 snipe and another woodcock. April 7, snipe were com- 

 mon in the marshes. April 14, two martins were seen; 

 another I heard this morninsr, April 20. — F. L. 



Newton, N. J. , A^ ril 14. — I have seen the following b'rds 

 myself. Ciow blackbird and bluebird Feb. 22, crows 

 flying north Feb. 25, song sparrow Feb. 28, chipmunk 

 and red wing blackbird March 12, robin March 18, doves, 

 groundhog and meadow lark March 14, killdeer March 20, 

 geese March 25, bluejays and rock pewees April 1, 

 higholders April 7, tip-up snipe April 14, butterflies Auril 

 14.-C. P. M. 



European Birds in Central Park. — Mr. Eugene 

 Schieffelin, of New York city, recently set at liberty in 

 Central Park 80 European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) 

 and 70 chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs). 



European Widgeon.— Mr. W. D. Carpenter, of this 

 city, recently killed on the south side of Long Island a 

 fine specimen of the Europeon widgeon. He is having 

 the bird mounted. 



Forest and Stream, Bos 2,832, N. Y. city, has descriptive illus- 

 trated circulars of W. B. Leffin<well's book, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

 ing," which will he mailed free on request. The book is pro- 

 nounced hy "Nanit." "Gloan," "Dick Swiveller," "Sybillene" and 

 other competent authorities to be the best treatise on the subject 

 extant. 



