158 



NATUKAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



fore his visit: "The trees were 

 full of nests, some of which still 

 contained eggs, and hundreds of 

 broken eggs strewed the ground 

 everywhere. I found a huge pile 

 of dead, half-decayed birds lying 

 on the ground, which apparently 

 had been killed only a day or two 

 before. All of them had the plumes 

 taken with a patch of the skin 

 from the back, and some had the 

 wings cut off; otherwise they were 

 uninjured. I counted over two 

 hundred birds treated in this way. 

 1 do not know of a more horrible 

 and brutal exhibition of wanton 

 destruction than that which 1 wit- 

 nessed here. "* This is only one 

 tragedy out of hundreds enacted in 

 the wilds of Florida and other por- 

 tions of the Gulf coast during the 

 last decade, till the beautiful plume- 

 bearing Egrets have been reduced 

 to a few scattered pairs, driven for 

 the most part to well-nigh inacces- 

 sible resorts. 



For what purpose and at whose 

 behest is all this cruel slaughter of 

 the innocents? Fashion demands 

 it in behalf of "the gentler sex," 

 that they may bedeck themselves 

 with the barbarious adornments 

 of the savage! 



It is for "tender hearted wom- 

 an" that this sacrifice is made. — 

 J. A. Allen in Our Animal Friends. 



Dr. Merriam's "Meph." 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam gives the 

 following interesting account of a 

 pet Mephites mephitica in 'his valu- 

 able work, "The Mammals of the 

 Adirondack Region:" 



Two summers ago I was the 

 happy master of the cleverest 

 young Skunk that I have thus far 

 chanced to meet. For a name he 

 received the title of his genus, and 

 we called him "Meph." for short. 

 By way of precaution I removed 

 his scent sacs, and he made a rap- 

 id and complete recovery, after a 

 few days of temporary indisposi- 

 tion. While driving about the 

 country, in the performance of 

 professional duties, he usually 

 slept in my pocket. After supper 

 I commonly took a walk, and he 

 always followed, close at my heels. 

 If I chanced to walk too fast for 

 him, he would scold and stamp 

 with his fore-feet, and if I persist- 

 ed in keeping too far ahead, would 

 turn about, disgusted, and make 

 off in an opposite direction; but if 

 I stopped and called him he would 

 hurry along at a sort of ambling 

 pace, and soon overtake me. 



* W. E. D. Scott, in The Aul\ vol. iv.. p. 214. 



He was particularly fond of la- 

 dies, and I think it was the dress 

 that attracted him; but be this as 

 it may he would invariably leave 

 me to follow any lady that chanced 

 to come near. We used to walk 

 through the woods to a large 

 meadow which abounded in grass- 

 hoppers. Here "Meph." would 

 fairly revel in his favorite food, 

 and it was rich sport to watch his 

 manoeuvres. When a grasshopper 

 jumped he jumped, and I have 

 seen him with as many as three in 

 his mouth, and two under his fore- 

 paws, at one time! He would eat 

 so many that his over-distended 

 little belly actually dragged upon 

 the ground, and when so full that 

 he could hold no more, would still 

 catch and slay them. When so 

 small that he could scarcely toddle 

 about he never hesitated to tackle 

 the large and powerful beetle 

 known as the "horned bug," and 

 got many smart nips for his audac- 

 ity. But he was a courageous lit- 

 tle fellow and it was not long be- 

 fore he learned to handle them 

 with impunity, and it was very 

 amusing to see him kill one. Ere 

 many weeks he ventured to attack 

 a mouse, and the verocity display- 

 ed in its destruction was truly as- 

 tonishing. He devoured the en- 

 tire body of his victim, and growl- 

 ed and stamped his feet if anyone 

 came near before the repast was 

 over. 



His nest was in a box near the 

 foot of the stairs, and before he 

 grew strong enough to climb out 

 by himself he would, whenever he 

 heard me coming, stand on his 

 hind legs with his paws resting on 

 the edge of the box, and beg to be 

 carried up-stairs. If I passed by 

 without appearing to notice him 

 he invariable became much enrag- 

 ed and chippered and scolded 

 away at a great rate, stamping, 

 meanwhile, most vehemently. He 

 always liked to be carried up to 

 my office, and as soon as strong 

 enough, would climb up of his own 

 accord. He was very sprightly 

 and frolicsome, and used to hop 

 about the floor and run from 

 room to room in search of some- 

 thing to play with, and frequently 

 amused himself by attempting to 

 demolish my slippers. I have of- 

 ten given him a bit of old sponge, 

 with a string attached, in order to 

 keep him out of mischief. Dur- 

 ing the evening he occasionally 

 assumed a cunning mood, and 

 would steal softly up to my chair, 

 and standing erect would claw at 

 my pants once or twice, and then 

 scamper off as fast as his little legs 



could carry him, evidently anxious 

 to have me give chase. If I refus- 

 ed to follow, he was soon back, 

 ready to try a new scheme to at- 

 tract my attention. 



Albino Eggs. 



In my limited experience with 

 birds, I have found several sets of al- 

 bino eggs belonging to theBluebird 

 and from notes of collectors I find 

 that they are rather a common oc- 

 currence. Several questions have 

 been raised in my mind concern- 

 ing them. I relate my own ex- 

 perience in this line, hoping that 

 it will prompt others to give the re- 

 sults of their observations and 

 conclusions on this point. 



I have often wondered whether 

 the same birds might lay sets of 

 naturally colored eggs and at 

 other times sets of albinos. From 

 a recent article in the Natural 

 Science News and from other 

 notes I inferred that the results of 

 other collectors did not justify 

 such a belief. Besides, the birds 

 laying albino eggs are of a differ- 

 ent shade of color from the or- 

 dinary types. 



The results of my own exper- 

 ience do not agree with these ob- 

 servers. My first set of albino 

 eggs was found in an old stump, 

 opening from the top downwards, 

 but the nest being disturbed the 

 birds left and I failed to locate 

 their nest again that season. 

 The next season a pair of Blue- 

 birds took up their abode in a box 

 near the house. The first set of 

 eggs were albinos. The nest was 

 not disturbed and the eggs were 

 all hatched by the mother bird. 

 In observing the parent birds and 

 the younger I could detect no de- 

 parture from the normal color. 



After the first brood had left the 

 nest and gone to seek their for- 

 tunes in the bird world, the nest 

 soon contained a new set of eggs 

 of the ordinary color, which I have 

 reason to believe were deposited 

 by the same pair that had laid the 

 albinos. 



This is the only evidence on 

 which I ma}' base my claim. 

 Probably it is insufficient. The 

 second pair might have been other 

 than the first. But of one thing I 

 am sure. An albino set was suc- 

 ceeded by a set of natural coler. 

 I should like to hear from others 

 on this point. 



Guv J. Koons, 

 Isabel, Ills. 



