July m, 1891. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



8 



TAXIDERMY AND COLLECTING. 



MR. W, T. HORN A. DAY has written, and Messrs. 

 Chas. Scribner's Sons have published, <a work, 

 '•Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting," which is destined 

 to do a great deal of good, and which cannot fail to be 

 warmly welcomed by all naturalists. All over the world 

 a rapid destruction of wild animals is taking place, and 

 already a number of most interesting species have been 

 practically exterminated, so that to-day the collector sent 

 out to obtain specimens for a great museum will look in 

 vain for a bison, a California sea elephant, arhytina, a 

 great auk, or a Labrador duck. Other species are rapidly 

 diminishing in number, and the opportunities to secure 

 them are each year becoming fewer. This being the case, 

 it is important that all the specimens collected should be 

 prepared and preserved in the best manner possible, that 

 the animals should be studied in life, and full notes and 

 measurements, together with puotogxapbs and sketches, 

 made of them if possible. If all this is done, the taxider- 

 mist who ultimately performs the artistic work of mount- 

 ing the specimens, has an opportunity given him of doing 

 justice to his work and to himself , and the museum is 

 likely to have life-like representations of the animals 

 added to its list of specimens. And when a species is al- 

 most extinct and the opportunity for seeing more exam- 

 ples of it has passed away, this means a good deal. 



There is something fairly ridiculous — if it were not pain- 

 ful—in the absurd mounted specimens of birds and mam- 

 mals even now to be seen in the exhibition cases of our 

 best museums. In old times if there was brought to 

 a museum a skin 

 which had on it the 

 complete head and 

 the hoofs, this was 

 enough. It was 

 mounted, tbat is, 

 was set up on its 

 legs, stuffed with 

 hay or straw, put 

 on a stand, and was 

 then regarded as an 

 adequate represen- 

 tation of the animal 

 in life. As a matter 

 of fact, it looked 

 often like a stuffed 

 sack standing on 

 four pegs, tightly 

 covered with a hide 

 of the animal in 

 question. It is only 

 within a few years 

 that persons in 

 charge of museums 

 have come to realize 

 that taxidermy is 

 an art, that their 

 specimens should be 

 modeled from life, 

 that, to give the 

 pubUc a true notion 

 of the animal on ex- 

 hibition, something 

 more is required 

 than its shapeless, 

 dried skin stuck 

 up on a board. For 

 a number of years 



Mr. Hornaday has been regarded as the most skillful taxi- 

 dermist in this country. He has had very wide experience 

 and has occupied positions which could be held only by 

 one who stood in the first rank of his profession. But 

 quite apart from any manual skill is the artistic tempera- 

 ment and the passionate love for nature which has led 

 Mr. Hornaday to study the minutest characters of his sub- 

 jects and has made him the producer of some of the most 

 superb groups of mammals that have ever been put up. 



In the admirably complete work which he has given 

 us, Mr. Hornaday has covered the whole field of ordinary 

 zoological collecting, though, of com-se, only brief men- 

 tion is given to the subject of the collection of marine in- 

 vertebrates. The book is divided into six parts, which 

 treat (1) of Collecting and Preserving, (2) of Taxidermy, 

 (3) of Making Casts, (4) of Osteology, (5) of the Collection 

 and Preservation of Insects and (6) of General Informa- 

 tion, Under these divisions is given a vast amoimt of in- 

 formation, which is so clearly expressed that a careful 

 reader, though wholly unacquainted with the subject, 

 may by following out the instructions given, easily be- 

 come, with a little practice, a skillful taxidermist. 'Vi'^hile 

 it is impossible to give here any adequate notion of any 

 one of the sections of this book, it may be said that Part I, 

 contains chapters on the outfit of the collector, how to 

 select and study fresh specimens, treatment of the skins 

 of small mammals, collecting large mammals, birds, 

 large and small; reptiles, fishes, marine invertebrates, 

 and birds' nests and eggs. The book contains 362 pages, 

 and the profuse and beautiful illustrations, which num- 

 ber 23 full page plates and 104 text cuts, simplify and 

 render more clear the already very plain descriptions 

 of the text. 



While the value of this book will, of course, be greatest 

 to the zoological collector as such, the man who makes 

 it his business and his profession to collect specimens for 

 museums, yet it will have a far wider field than that. 

 Every sportsman who hunts big game likes to bring back 

 from his excursions the trophies of his c--hase, but through 

 ignorance it often happens that skins are taken otf and 

 heads cleaned in such a clumsy, unskillful fashion, that 

 they either spoil before reaching the hands of the taxi- 

 dermist, or else are in such bad shape when he receives 

 them that no life-like mounting is possible. Each 

 big-game hunter then ought to make Mr. Ifornaday's 

 book a part of his camp outfit. Its clear directions 

 will save him many hours of time and trouble, and 

 much worry. 



The young ornithologist, and even the casual duck 

 hunter, who now and then wishes to save some unusually 

 fine specimen that he has killed, will find this book a 

 very useful one. It is by all odds the best work which 

 we have ever seen on the subject, and deserves a wide 

 piroulation, 



SOME MICHIGAN BIRD NOTES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your Florida correspondent, "Didymus," is correct in 

 supposing that the Northern crop of hummingbirds is 

 short. We have noted their scarcity, and while at pres- 

 ent our front piazza is brilliant with the gorgeous blos- 

 soms of cactus and honeysuckles of different varieties- 

 flowers much loved by these little gems of the air— we 

 scarce see a half dozen in a day, \N hile formerly they 

 would have been in sight every few minute-^. 



My observation of the birds has been conducted this 

 season for the most jjart at very long range. In the early 

 spring om' lake was visited by a number of large black 

 ducks, species not identified, but not common here, and 

 much resembling tliose often seen on C!anadian waters. 



March 18.— Crows appeared. ApriJ 31.— fvingfislier. 



April 1.— Robin appeared (re- April 30.— House wren hoard, 



ported Marcli 2i). not spcn. 



Api il l^'l•0K5 jiecped. May 10.— Bi-owii thrasher i-u-'eti. 



April r,).— Chow hl-ackbirds seer. May 13.— lUimmingbiid seen. 



April 19.— Ice disappeared from May 14— Catbird heard. 



View. May 30.— Whippoorwlll heard. 



April 31.— Barn swallow seen. May 2i,— Pewit seen. 



The house wrens, which have built nests in our build- 

 ings for many years, have not done so this season, and 

 we have feared that they had been killed. Two days 

 ago one sat on the roof-tree and sang— the second time 

 only that we have heard their song. 



The catbirds, Avldch have only visited us within a very 

 few years, are not as numerous as last year. Then, one 

 built in a syringa bush withiji three feet of the coffee 

 mill. This year a little finch added an upper story to 

 the old nest and there hatched its brood. 



The house sparrows have in past years nested in our 

 vines, and hiive been ejected by the English sparrows. 



GkiiLP Olf OOYOTKa. ilOUNTED BV TUJS AUTHOIi. 



From Hornaday's "Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting.". 



but this season they have managed to hold their own, 

 with perhaps a little help from my firearms. 



The season has been cold and backward, the most so of 

 any spring since my residence in this county. Late frosts 

 are unusual along the Intermediate Lakes, but this year 

 we have had many. Rains have been scarce, and crops 

 are poor ; btit I should say that the game, what little 

 there is left, has probably had a good chance. 



Trout and bass fishing are poor, and will so continue 

 until the fish have better protection, 



I have been surprised to hear that coons are said to 

 catch rabbits. It may be true that they do so, though I 

 never saw anything which w^ould confirm the statement. 



In this connection I may say that I was not long ago 

 told by a farmer that the woodchucks, which had been 

 very troublesome, were growing scarce, and that they 

 were often killed by the badgers. To this fact he attrib- 

 uted their scarcity. 



P. S. — Vm going fishing in a few days, and if I have 

 any luck will try and let you know. Old "Kingfisher" 

 and I are going to try the bass again. Kelpie, 



Central Lakb, Mich., July 12. 



MY MARTINS. 



IT was a small thing, in the economy of nature, but it 

 almost broke my heart, and the hearts of the parents 

 also. Three years ago I erected a tenement house in my 

 back yard, for the use of a family by the name of Purple 

 Martin. I saw them house hunting in the town, and 

 there being no suitable residence to be found, I im- 

 mediately erected one, as soon as it could be constructed. 

 I got it up late in the spring, but it was at once thankfully 

 occupied by a belated pan, who had been unable to 

 secure suitable apartments sooner. Every season since 

 that time my tenants come in March and leave in the 

 latter part of July, or first week in August. They pay 

 their rent ten thousand times over every day by their 

 happy gurgling notes, and engaging, companionable 

 ways. I have come to expect their arrival every spring, 

 with the liveliest anticipations of delight, and to look for 

 their departure with regret. 



The house was occupied this season by five families, 

 each of which had a large and promising brood of young. 

 The season, up to the 35 th of June had been a very cool 

 and pleasant one, with no hot days, an unusual thing for 

 Californian climate. On that date it began to get warm, 

 then hot, hotter, hottest, until it was hot as Hades; in 

 fact, the very hottest ever experienced since records have 

 been kept in the State. On Tuesday, the last day of June, 

 the mercury indicated 105° in the coolest shade to be 

 found. The young martins were about two-thirds fledged 

 and had begun to poke their heads out of doors, when the 

 hot wave struck ns. The beat on this memorable Tues- 



day proved too much for them, and rather than to remain 

 in their nests and bake, they essayed to fly, and tumbled 

 ignominiously to the ground. I was absent during the 

 hottest part of the day, but on my retm-n in the evening 

 I was immediately aware that there was trouble among 

 my tenants by their distressful clamorings. I went into 

 the yard and found twelve young birds scattered among 

 the grass, and the remains of three more that the cat had 

 made away with. I first chivied the latter off the 

 premises, a^nd amid the pleadings of the parents, collected 

 the helpless youngsters. What was to ho done with 

 them? I tried to put them back by jilacing thorn upon 

 the end of a long pole, and raising- tlicm to tJie house. 

 The little wretches were paralysed by terror, and would 

 only yell and kick and i)eck fiercely with tlieir great soft 

 beaks, and then tumble helplessly to the ground as soon 

 as relpased. I then took a long ladder and ti'ied to put 

 them back, but I suppose I put them in the wrong apart- 

 ments, for they all came tumbling out again before I got 

 to the ground. I then took a bird cage, removed the 

 bottom, turned it upside down, and put the little fools in 

 that. This I suspended to_ a high branch of a walnut tree, 

 and soon had the satisfaction of seeing the jDarents feed- 

 ing their demoralized young. I felt as proud as I ever 

 did over my first success in surgery. But alas! in the 

 morning I found they had all clambered uj) the wires of 

 the cage, faUen out and died. And I know that those 

 poor bereaved parents blame me for the whole business. 

 Hinc. nice lacrymrv! Aeefar. 

 AuBUHN, Oal. 



BIRDS OF MANITOBA. 



IN the Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum Mr. 

 Ernest E, Thompson gives us a paper of very great 

 interest on the Birds of Manitoba, 



When we con- 

 sider its great ex- 

 tent and the fact 

 that it kdjoins our 

 borders it seems 

 rather singular that 

 so little ornithologi- 

 cal work should 

 have been done in 

 the Province, but it 

 is true up to the 

 publication of Mr. 

 Thompson's list of 

 the birds of western 

 Manitoba in the 

 Auk in 1888, not 

 much was known 

 of the avifauna of 

 this section. 



The Province of 

 Manitoba includes 

 within its borders a 

 great variety of 

 country. There are 

 great lakes, bare, 

 level i>rairies, tracts 

 of forest and marsh , 

 hills rising to the 

 dignity of moun- 

 tains—at least in 

 name — reaching an 

 altitude of 3,500ft. 

 above the sea level 

 and 500 or more 

 above the surround- 

 ing plain. In this 

 varied region Mr, 

 Thompson observed 

 bird life during a three years' residence, and has given 

 us the results in this paper. His own observations are 

 supplemented by those of other observers, to whom credit 

 is given by name throughout the paper. 



In a short introduction , the author gives a description 

 of the Province, naming its boundaries and describing in 

 some detail its physical characters, which are still fur- 

 ther explained in the accompanying map. Then we 

 have the annotated list of birds, which numbers 273 

 species and subspecies; a chronological list of the princi- 

 pal books and articles consulted, a list of the manuscripts 

 used in completing the foregoing notes, and an index to 

 the birds of Manitoba. 



Mr. Thompson's field notes, which have been tran- 

 scribed apparently with little change from his daily jour- 

 nal, are ro our mind the most important, as they certainly 

 are the most delightful, of this paper. These notes are 

 unusually full with regard to many species, and in some 

 cases, notably with some of the grouse, an almost com 

 plete life history of the bml is given. The notes on game 

 birds are especially full, which gives this paper an inter- 

 est to sportsmen far greater than such lists usually pos- 

 sess. Among the points Vi^hich especially touch on birds 

 interesting to gunners is the following statement with 

 regard to pinnated grouse which we give in substance. 

 In 1873 Dr. Coues wrote of this bird: "I have no reason 

 to believe that it occurs at all in northwestern Minnesota 

 or North Dakota. * * * I have met with no indication 

 of its occurrence north of the United States boundary." 

 In 1883, when Mr, Thompson first visited Manitoba, the 

 species was almost unknown in the country, the only 

 known specimens having been taken near Winnipeg in 

 1881. In 1883 Mr, Hine informed the author that it had 

 begun to be common at Pembina, In 1884 it was not only 

 common at Winnipeg, but had also made its appearance 

 at Portage la Prairie on the Assinaboine, where it is now 

 resident, tolerably common and increasing every year. In 

 December, 1886, one was seen at Car berry. The bird ap- 

 pears to be working north and west and is evidently fol- 

 lowing the plow. 



Mr. Thompson's paper is full of interesting information 

 about the birds of which he writes, and contains many 

 notes of habits in species as yet unobserved. The account 

 of the western meadow lark and the record in musical 

 notation of some of its songs will be new to many 

 persons. It is greatly to be desired that more at- 

 tention might be given to the writing out of birds' 

 songs, a subject which as yet has received but little 

 attention. 



Mr. Thompson's paper is not without certain minor 

 faults of execution, but it is not quite certain that these 

 are to be charged altogether to him, for he has not seen 

 his manuscript since it was passed over to the editor, nor 

 has he read ms proofs. 



