204 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Majich 13, 1897. 
historical objects still existing in tangible form; notably 
the ancient English church and the historical Bi-addock 
house, both of which are in good preservation. lit was in. 
this house that the unfortunate general called around' him 
several of the Colonial Governors and' also a few of the pronn-- 
inentprovincials,. among them Geo. Wasbitigton, although 
then, only about twenty-two years of age, but who held a. 
colonial commission as colbnel, to consult with him in refer- 
ence to measures necessary to prosecute the projected cam- 
paign against the encroachments of the French on English 
colonial territory at Fort Du Quesne, Pittsburg, to which 
plkce Washingtbn accompanied him as aid-de-camp. 
Although the troops were completely routed and Brad- 
dock was killed, yet the still and coolness displayed, by 
Col. Washington in saving the remnant of the army gained: 
for hi to a milita,ry reputation which subsequently placed' 
him in command of the army that gained us our inde- 
pendence. Incidents and historical events crowd memory, 
but admonished by time and space I forbear. 
Then my course led to the margin of Hunting Creek, 
which r crossed a short distance above its junction with 
the Potomac, to which it is tributary, and also forms the 
southern boundary of Alexandria. It is over a mile in 
width at its mouth, and as it does not diminish nor con- 
tract perceptibly for two miles above, it occupies an exten- 
sive area, the entire bed of which produced a great abim- 
dance of the diflferent aquatic grasses and other vegetable 
prodhctions suitable for the various species of waterfowl 
which annually migrate hither. It always appeared to me 
that it was an especially favorite resort with them. I 
know it was the case with myself Possibly mutual feel- 
ings produced reciprocal tastes. At any rate, we frequent!}'- 
met there, although I had but poor facilities to entertain 
them— nothing but a single-barrel with a flintlock. 
l)ouble-barrels were not very plentiful, and percussion 
locks were a curiosity, and I do not think the inventor of 
the modern breechloader was born, Nevertheless I gen- 
erally secured some of them. Of course, not by my skill 
as a wing shot — you know a sportsman scorns to boast, ex- 
cept perhaps when they go to Canada and catch sortie 
weighty salmon — but simply for the reason that I dis- 
charged my gun, if she did not snap, which was always 
expected, in the direction of the greatest number; 
consequently all could not escape. It was not the acquisi- 
tion of the game, so easily obtained, which fascinated me 
with this magnificent feeding resort for all the various 
species of waterfowl known as divers; all of which were 
here, robed in their diverse and magnificent plumage, and 
apparently unrestrained in their natural habits and move- 
ments, which I greatly enjoyed, and which was the at- 
traction to me. I have frequently, from a secluded posi- 
tion, watched them with delight for hours within close 
range, but felt no desire to disturb them in their interest- 
ing and graceful evolutions. 
Adjacent to this famous feeding resort of the divinpj 
fowl, in fact, only separated from it by an embankment 
thrown up around the shores of the creek and river, there 
is an extensive tract of swamp and jungle, covering per- 
haps 500 acres, equally as attractive and prolific in food 
suitable for the various classes of non-divers, and also 
numerous species of birds and animals belonging to the 
progressive or evolutionary class of amphibians, a detailed 
description of which I will postpone for the next stage of 
my tour. At this point in past years I have frequently left 
with regret 
""Where oft I have lingered and crazed with delisrht 
On my feathered compaDions, in repose or in flierht " 
James Noeeis. 
Habford Cotjnty, Md. 
THE INTERCOMMUNICATION OF 
IDEAS AMONG THE LOWER 
ANIMALS. 
I HAVE been interested lately in the question of the inter- 
COtDmunication of ideas among the lowpr animalg because of 
fome questions in biopbilis^m which have been asked me, 
and bpcause of what I have noticed from Mr. Thompson, 
F. E. W. and others in the Natural History department of 
FOKEST AND StEEAM. 
That ideas pass from the mind of one animal to that of 
another there is no one, I take it. who even passingly sees 
animals (to say nothing of observing them) who will doubt 
when his attention is called to the matter, as most people's 
must be to anything relating to the orders of beings under 
man. But intercommunication is something more than 
communication. I communicate an idea to a person when 
I smile at him, frown at him, or make some passing remark, 
intercommunication between that person and me begins 
when he returns an idea to me upon receiving mine. In the 
intercommunication of ideas reaf on is involved — the arrival 
at a conclusion, the adoption of means to an end. The 
common use of the word conversation conveys the notion of 
intercommunication of ideas. 
In his "Introduction to Comparative Pyschology " 0. Lloyd 
Morgan gives this story, "communicated to me," he savs, 
"by my friend, Mr. Eobert Hall Warren, of Bristol :" "My 
grandfather, a merchant of this city, had two dogs, one a 
small one and another larger, who, h«ing fierce, rejoiced in 
the appropriate name of Boxer. On one of his business 
journeys into Cornwall he took the smaller dog with him, 
and for some reason left it in an inn in Devonshire, promis- 
ing to call for it on bis return from Cornwall. When he did 
so the landlord apologized for the absence of the dog, and 
said that some time after my grandfather left the little dog 
fought with the landlord's dog and came off much the 
worse for the fight. He then disappeared and some time 
afterward returned with another apd larger dog, who set 
upon his enemy and, 1 think, killed him. Then the two 
dogs walked off and were no more seen. From the descrip- 
tion given my grandfather had no doubt that the larger dog 
was Boxer, and on returning home found that the little dog 
had come back, and that both dogs had gone away, and 
after a time had returned home, where he found them." 
Were it not for his "canon of interpretation," as he calls 
the measure to which he submits all facts (if they do not con- 
form with which, the worse for the facts), Mr. Morgan 
would freely admit that between the little dog and his big 
friend Boxer tJiere was intercommunication of ideas. I^This 
seems to me much more reasonable than that the little fellow 
only indicated to the big fellow that he wanted him to fol- 
low over weary miles, and that the big fellow did so blindly. 
Boxer went because he saw at the end of the way what he 
so dearly loved — a fight. 
To show that dogs have the power to intercommunicate 
ideas — the power of conversation — allow me to tell a story 
which eame to me from a Mr. Woodruff, of this State. 
There were two dogs at a summer hotel in the Oatskill Moun- 
tains. They were once noticed to chase a woodchuck 
into a hole. To this hole there were two openings 
— one on each side of a stone fence, The dogs 
saw the two openings, and each of them took one 
and began digging. Because the day was hot and the 
work hard, because they saw that the stony character of the 
ground would not allow the sufficient enlarging of his open- 
ing to let the larger dog in, or for some other reason, the 
dogs simultaneously quit digging and met in consultation on 
the vrall. When their plan was completed, the smaller dog, 
who bad sutficiently enlarged the opening at which he had 
been working for the admission of his body, entered, while 
the lar.ger dog took his station at the other opening. What 
took place in the hole I do not know. All that I know (on 
the very best evidence) is that the woodchuck soon appeared 
at the larger dog's opening, was nabbed, dispatched, and the 
two dogs had a great feast. 
As to how these dogs carried on their conversation I can- 
rot say, but that they did so there can be no doubt. They 
formulated a plan. Tbeir knowledge of the plan was mu- 
tual. Their snouts were together as they talked on the wall. 
Their interchange of Ideas may have been telepathic, if there 
he such a thing as telepathy, of which I am not sure. 
CjJARLEs JosiAD Adams, 
EossviLLE, Staten Island. 
Montana. Wild liife. 
Ktpp, Mont. — Editor Forest and Stream: While hunt- 
ing in the vicinity of St. Mary's Lakes last fall my friend 
Wm, Jackson found thirteen goats, all in a pile, which had 
been killed by a snow slide. They had been pretty badly 
mangled and crushed, but from the thirteen he secured seven 
perfect horns, of which he has made a ver\f handsome gun 
rack. 
Speaking of wolves, Mr. Joseph Kipp gave me a brief out- 
line the other day of seme he once saw which gives me an 
idea of what wolves were in this country before strychnine 
was introduced. 
"In the fall of 1864," he said, "the American Fur Co., at 
Fort Bpntnn. sent me with a stock of trade goods to winter 
with the Piegans, who were camped on the Marias River. 
Early in February a man was sent out to assist me, and I lost 
no time in going on a hunt with the Indians, for I had been 
cooped up in a lodge all winter and wanted a change. 
"One day we ran a large herd of buffalo, which we found 
a mile or two north of where Cutbank Stream joins the 
Marias. I had a splendid horse, but as soon as I killed a 
cow I stopped, for that was all the meat I wanted, and more 
too, I had reached the herd some time before the Indians 
did, and when they saw me disniount one of them asked me 
to exchange horses with him, as he wanted to make a big 
killing. I let him have it, and tying his horse to the horns 
of the buffalo I proceeded to skin it. In less than five 
minutes the wolves began tn gather about me. It was the run- 
ning season, and each hitch was surrounded by a number of 
dogs playing and fawning about her, and quarreling with 
each other just like a lot of dogs, The wolves kept about 50 to 
60yds. from me, but one coyote came up quite close, and 
a couple of kit foxes ventured up within 8 or 10ft. I felt a 
little uneasy to be surrounded by such a big pack, and consid- 
ered for some time whether to fire at them or not. I had only 
four balls left a'- d rather wanted to keep them. Finally, 
however, I did shoot at a big white dog, and not only killed 
him. but another one beyond The balance of them, however, 
didn't pay any attention Well, I only took the depouille and 
bossrib^ of the cow, and tieing them on behind my saddle. I 
rode off about 50yds. The wolves immediately ran up to 
the carcass, and such a snapping and clicking of teeth you 
never heard. In a very few minutes the cow was eaten up, 
and the bare bones dragged and scattered about. The 
wolves, as soon as the carcass began to he fairly well pecked, 
commenced - striking out toward the northeast, and finally 
all of them went off in that direction, leaving only the kit 
foxes to keep me company. I cut off several bits of meat 
from the ribs tied to my saddle, and they would pounce on 
them almost before they struck the ground. 
"In the old times wolves were much more numerous than 
royotes, and to-day the conditions are directly the reverse. 
If wolves were so much sharper and difficult to catch than 
coyotes, as some people say, how does it happen that they 
are very scarce in the whole West, while coyotps seem to be 
more numerous than they were in the old tinafs?" 
J. W. ScinJLTZ. 
Early Birds, Early Spring. 
South PoETSMOTJTH, R. T., Feb. 36.— In this section it is 
no uncommon thing to see robins during the winter, as some 
few specimens stay with us throughout the year in the cedar 
swamps of Tiverton. I have many times seen single speci- 
mens in December, January and February, but they are never 
seen in any numbers except when they make their appear- 
ance during their spring migration, and when they do appear 
the farmers think that spring has surely come. In this we 
are rarely mistaken, for we seldom have much severe weather 
once the robins come in any numbers. One season, however, 
they got here ahead of time— the ereat March bhzzard in 
New England — and large numbers of robins and blackbirds 
perished from cold and starvation, no doubt. Robins have 
appeared the earliest this year 1 have ever known them to 
during a period of thirty-five years' observation. Feb. 17 the 
first blackbirds were seen, and again on the 23d. Feb. 23 
robins were heard, but not seen. Feb. 25 over a dozen were 
seen, and one was heard singing the same as during their 
mating time. Large flocks of blackbirds were also seen. We 
trust the little fellows are not mistaken in thinking it time 
for spring; but it is about two weeks ahead of their earliest 
appearance before as noted by me. Wm. M, Hughes. 
Hardy English Sparrows. 
In St. Paul, Minn., English sparrows commenced building 
nests on Feb. 14. Hundreds of these hardy birds have 
weathered the rigors of temperature ranging from zero to 
minusSO". One is seldom found frrzen A good many hug the 
lee sides of chimney stacks and steam-heated buildings, and 
so keep warm. They are a sturdy and vigorous lot, pro- 
ducing from three to flye broods in a year. 
Protective Instinct in the Kildeer, 
Last June, while traveling through the southeastern por- 
tion of Nevada, I was surprised to notice the avifauna that 
frequented every watering place. The chaparral was fairly 
alive with hooded quail, and road-ninners that properly be- 
long to a more southern climate were as common as rabbits. 
Just after crossing the line into Utah we struck a marshy 
level, kept constantly moist by the running snows of the 
Pine Valley Mountains. This flat was covered with kildeer, 
most of which were newly hatched. The shrieks of the 
parents and the baby cries of the goslings filled the air. I 
had no trouble at all in picking up a couple of the fledgelings 
and exhibiting them to the party. Their mother, instead of 
flying away with the rest of her brood, hovered about the 
carriage, darting in our faces in her anxiety to rescue her 
chicks. As soon as I put the little ones upon the ground, 
the mother came within 1ft. of my hand, and then dragged 
herself away exactly in the manner of the female partridge 
when endeavoring to decoy the hunter from her young. She 
trailed a wing, was lame of a leg, and seemed absolutely 
forgetful of her maternal duties. As I had never heard of 
this trick of the kildeer, 1 started to pursue her, and she led 
me a merry dance for a quarter of a mile. She took just the 
direction in which we wei e going, and it was not until the 
wagon rounded a bluff', hiding the flat from our view, that 
witti the characteristic scaipe she returned to her charge. I 
hastened back as rapidly as I could. The bird's flights were 
short, and she remained for a few minutes on duty as a sen- 
tinel. Then with a low single note, almost like a cluck, she 
called her brood about her, and in another moment the 
swamp was as noisy as it had been before our arrival. 
Is this trait common to the kildeer, or to any other of the 
snipe and plover? Shoshone. 
A Doe with Horns. 
ToPEKA, Kan., March 3. — In a recent issue of the Foeest 
AND Stream I see an article on does with horns, and that 
letter calls out this note : 
In the summer of 1887, in company with four gentlemen 
from Boulden, Colorado, I made a trip to Steamboat Springs, 
and while camped there had the good fortune to kill a doe 
with horns. We had made a trip about ten miles up the 
river after meat, and on the second day killed a small buck, 
and were returning to camp after a pack horse, when my 
companion, Mr. Geo. A. Andrews, and I noticed five deer 
across the canon. They were so far off they did not seem 
afraid, and we watched tbem some little time and noted 
that one was much larger than the balance. Thinking to 
see them run I, fired at the largest, and by some chance 
killed it dead. 
The horns of this deer were in the velvet, and more re- 
sembled the horns of an elk than a deer, being very heavy 
two point horns. Though 1 did not succeed in saving them 
with the velvet on, I did make a fairly presentable pair of 
horns of them, and now have them in my office. 
This was the largest deer killed on the trip, and the largest 
I ever saw. It was all three men could do to hang it up. 
This was a barren doe and had never had young. It was so 
fat that great chun lis of tallow came off with the hide on 
the rump, and was of more than passing interest to the 
settlers; in every respect being a perfect doe except the 
horns. H. W. Seery. 
A Muskrat Pet. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Yesterday I received a letter from my young friend, Mr. 
James Savage, in which he says; "A wt?ek ago, with my 
friends Mr. and Mrs. H. B., who are great out-of-door peo- 
ple, I was on a tramp to Stony Point. As we were crossing 
the field .we saw a setter dog after some animal, and when 
we got closer we saw it was a muskrat. The rat was suc- 
cessfully standing off the dog; it sat on its haunches like a 
bear, facing the dog, and rushed at it every time the setter 
came near. We watched it for some time at close range 
and longed for our cameras. After awhile I went nearer 
and the rat came at me with a rush; I lifted it several times, 
hanging on to the toe of my shoe with its teeth It was too 
good a specimen to kill, so when its attention was on the 
dog I put my foot on it and caught it by the tail; I,had 
never handled one alive before, and I was ready to let go if 
it should turn on me. It was unable to do so and I soon 
had my captive caged in a watering can. I feed him apples, 
bread and vegetables, and think I can soon tame him; he 
feeds out of my hand now, but I don't dare handle him yet; 
will get some photos of him later." 
If I receive a good photograph of Mr. Savage's "new pet, I 
will forward it to Forest and Stream. Have written Mr. 
S. that I shall expect an invitation to the feast when he gets 
his musquash in prime condition for the table. 
J. L. Davison. 
African Birds. 
The Field Columbian Museum has issued a Catalogue of 
a Collection of Birds Obtained by the Expedition into 
Somaliland, by D. G. Elliot, F. R. S. E., which is No. 2 
of the first volume of the museum's ornithological series of 
publications. 
The list covers 125 species— a large number, when we 
consider that ornithological collecting formed no part of 
the expedition's plan. This was to collect large mammals, 
and all the party's preparations looked to this end. Mr. 
Elliot remarks that there was no difficulty in collecting, 
for birds were both numerous and tame, and had the ex- 
pedition been properly equipped for this work very large 
collections might have been made. The list is one of in- 
terest to all who are familiar with African forms of bird 
life, and the notes — in some cases quite full — which are 
given about the different species tend to popularize it, 
Several new species and subspecies are described. 
The liinnEean Society of New York, 
A KEGUUAR meeting of the society will he held in the 
American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday evening, 
March 23, at 8 o'clock, and a paper will be read by Mr. 
Eugene Smith on the Fishes of the Fresh and Brackish 
Waters of the Vicinity of New York City, illustrated with 
specimens, in the lecture hall of the American Museum of 
Natural History, Seventy-seventh street and Eighth avenue 
]C<ong Island Bird Occurrences. 
East Hampton, N, Y., Feb. 17.— So far I have had 
mounted this winter one guillemot, two small auks, one 
large snow owl, The owl stands 23in, high and is a very 
fine apecimen, E. B. MxrCHM:oBBa 
