FOREST AND STREAM. 
watching, and the animal did not realiw Aat it wis a 
human being, he would jump and there might be some 
raiment torn and nether garments soiled. But it would 
he "boss and boss" -which suffered the most from fright. 
He is easily killed, and I think there is no animal that 
lives in our forest that is as easily disabled as the panther. 
His flesh is as soft as mush, and I verily believe that one 
could, with a .22cal. target rifle, shoot the largest of the 
kind through, from "eend to eend." He is a sneak, and 
the greatest coward that preys upon our game, and the 
smallest poodle can frighten him so that he will climb the 
highest pine. If Juvenal and the editor will put in an ap- 
pearance about Dec. i next at some station on the Pitts- 
burg & Gulf road, I will agree to lead them to a point 
where a night in the woods will convince them that the 
panther's scream that our fathers tell about has gone 
entirely out of fashion. Cut the tomcat's caterwaul in 
half and listen to the latter part of it and you will have 
the scream the "ancients" tell about. 
"Get close to the bird and the scream is not heard." 
J. W. Farrell, 
Late Capt. Co. F, 22d Kan., U.S.V 
Weir City, Kan. 
The Bird Fauna of *'Thc Lake/V 
At Lincoln, Neb, 
A FEW miles west of Lincoln is a small lake about 
three-quarters of a mile long and half a mile wide. Alto- 
gether it covers probably 200 acres. The banks slope 
gradually to the water and in most places are scantily 
covered with short grass and sedges. The water on the 
average is between 2 and 3 feet in depth. This lake is 
called either "The Lake," or. in polite society is known 
as Burlington Beach. 
The Lake is semi-artificial and semi-natural — semi- 
natural in the fact that there always was a natural sink 
or hollow, in which there was more mud than water, and 
artificial in that a dyke was necessary to keep the water 
in. This dyke is only a few feet high and about a quar- 
ter of a mile long. At the upper end a short channel con- 
nects with the creek and allows the M'ater from the creek 
to flow into and fill up the lake. The water is very salty 
and does not support much plant nor animal life. 
During the spring and fall migrations of the water 
fowl The Lake is one of the most attractive spots in this 
section of the State for the birds. At these seasons there 
is not a time but when one may see one or more flocks 
lol ducks or geese. Formerly a number of the birds bred 
in the immediate vicinity, but now there are very few 
that do. Some of the sandpipers stay till the middle of 
July and August, but do not nest. Some even stay till 
the first of the fail migrants arrive from the north. 
There is so little concealment for the hunter that the 
birds find it comparatively easy to keep out of range. 
Most of the shooting is done from boats or from blinds. 
The best record for the season just closed was made by 
two local gunners, who in six afternoons from a boat 
killed 157 ducks of various kinds. The most for any one 
afternoon was forty-four. On days when there are few 
hunters about there are sometimes as many as 4,000 or 
5.000 birds on the water in one flock. 
The following is a list of the birds collected by myself 
and other ornithologists in the immediate vicinity of The 
Lake : 
3. Horned grebe — uncommon. » .. 
4. American eared grebe — frequent, 
6. Pied billed grebe — common. 
7. Loon — infrequent. ^ _ 
36. Pomarine jaeger — very rare. ;* _f ' 
51a. Herring gull — rare. 
54. Ring-billed gull — uncommon. 
58. Laughing gull — uncommon. 
59. Franklin's gull — common. 
60. Bonaparte's gull — uncommon. 
64. Caspian tern — ^\'ery rare, , ' 
69. Forster's tern — rare. 
70. Common tern — rare. 
,74. Least tern — infrequent. / 
76. Black tern — common. : ' 
r2o. Double-crested cormorant — rare. 
i2oa. Florida cormorant — rare. ; 
125. American white pelican — uncommoft- ' , 
129. American merganser — rare. 
130. Red-breasted merganser — rare, / 
131. Hooded merganser — frequent. 
132. Mallard — common. 
133. Black duck — uncommon. 
135. Godwoll — common. .1 ' " 
137. Bald pate — common. ^ ^ 
139. Green-wing teal — very commote 1^ ; 
140. Blue-wing teal — ^very common. . ■ 
141. Cinnamon teal — very rare. y * 
142. Spoonbill — very common. '1 
143. Pintail — common. * 
144. Wood duck — frequent, / 
146. Redhead duck — frequent. 
147. Canvasback duck — frequent. 
149. Lesser bluebill — frequent. 
150. Ring-neck duck— -very rare. _ ' ' 
X51. Golden-eye wheedler — rare. ! i , 
152. Barrow's golden eye — ^\'ery rare. 
153. Buffle head — common, 
163. American scoter — ^\'^ery rare, 
165. White- winged scoter — ^very rare. '■" 
166. Surf scoter — very rare. 
167. Ruddy duck — common. 
169. Lesser snow goose — frequent. 
169a. Greater snow goose — frequent. ^ ^ 
169. I. Blue goose — rare. 
171a. American Avhite-fronted goose — rare. 
172. Canada goose — frequent. 
172a. Hutchins' goose — frequent. 
t8o. Whistling swan- — rare. 
t8i. Trumpeter swan — rare ' ' 
igo. Bittern — common. 
igi. Least bittern — rare. 
194. Great blue heron — frequent. 
197. Snowy heroti, verj' rare. 
200. Little blue heron— very ra-re, 
201. Green heron — common. 
202. Black-crowned night heron — comuK*^, , , ' j 
204. Whooping crane — rare. 
206. Sandhill crane — rare. 
212. Virginia rail — uncommon. 
221. Coot — very common. 
223. Northern phalarope — uncommon, 
224. Wilson's phalarope — ^common. 
225. American avocit — infrequent. 
230. Wilson's snipe — infrequent. , 
231. Dowitcher — infrequent. 
232. Long-billed dowitcher — infrequent. 
233. Stilt sandpiper — uncommon. 
234. Knat — very rare. 
239. Jacksnipe — uncommon. 
240. Bonaparte's sandpiper — common. 
241. Baird's sandpiper — very common. 
242. Least sandpiper — very common. 
243a, Red-back sandpiper — rare. 
246. Semi-palmated sandpiper — very common, 
248. Sanderling — rare. 
249. Marbled godwit — infrequent. 
251. Hudsonian gotiwit — infrequent. 
254. Greater yellowlegs — frequent. 
255. Lesser yellowlegs — common. 
256. Solitary sandpiper — uncommon. 
258a. Western willet — uncommon. 
261. Bartramian sandpiper— frequent. 
262. Buff-breasted sandpiper— frequent, 
263. Spotted sandpiper — uncommon. 
270. Black-billed plover — ^uncommon. 
272. Golden plover — uncommon. 
273. Killdeer, common. 
274. Semi-palmated plover — ^frequent. 
277a. Belted piping plover — rare. 
283. Turnstone — very rare. 
J. S, HWNTERv 
Li.NCOLN, Neb. 
Mastodon Tooth on Staten Island. 
Last summer, while certain improvements were being 
made in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp, S. I., a 
swamp which occupied a morainal basin was drained. 
After the water had flowed off the muck of the bog was 
dug out, and while this was being done there were brought 
to the surface a number of vegetable and animal remains, 
which show that this morainal basin long ago contained a 
considerable pond. 
As the excavation went forward, the decaying vegetation 
of the upper layers of the .soil was taken out, and be- 
low this was found 5 or 6 feet of fine mud, which con- 
tained the trunk and branches of trees. Still below this 
was a black, sandy silt, stratified, which contained cones 
and twigs of the white spruce, a tree which at present is 
not found further south than northern New England and 
the Adirondacks. Below these cones, and about 23 feet 
from the surface of the bog, was found the molar tooth of 
the mastodon. 
In connection with the spruce cones already referred 
to was found a considerable amount of charred wood, 
presumably indicating the presence of man. 
Prof. Arthur Hollick, who announced this discovery 
to the section of biology to the New York Academy of 
Sciences, concludes that the deposits now disturbed were 
laid down in still water in a continuous and unbroken 
.series of layers, and inasmuch as it was in the morainal 
basin, the laying down of these deposits must, of course, 
have taken place after the moraine was formed. "The 
probabilities are," he says, "that a pond was formed in 
the morainal depression immediately after the recession 
of the ice sheet, and that this pond was a receptacle for 
silt, dust and decaying vegetation ever since : the accumu- 
lations finally filling it up and converting it into a swamp 
with a little pool of casual water in the middle." 
A Loose AUigfator in an Animal Store. 
An alligator, 8 feet 8 inches in length, caused conster- 
nation among patrons and employees in a wholesale ani- 
mal and bird store on Market street last evening. The 
animal attacked one of the employees at a time when 
several women customers were in the store. Although 
the cage is strong, the alligator succeeded in forcing 
the iron fastenings. The employees rushed toward the 
door, shouting to the customers to follow them. The 
women became panic-stricken, and several of them had 
to be carried or dragged from the store. No sooner had 
the alligator made its appearance than a howl went up 
from the monkey cages. The alligator started toward 
a cage in which were two large baboons, and, despite its 
iron bracing, the reptile's mighty jaws demolished it in 
short order. One of the baboons attempted to get away, 
but it leaped directly into the jaws of the alligator, and 
the next instant its life had been crushed out. The other 
baboon made no effort to escape, and before the at- 
^ tendants could prevent the reptile had killed it also. 
The uproar made by the other terrified animals dis- 
concerted the alligator for the moment, and the at- 
tendants, who had by this time been reinforced in num- 
bers, started in to capture the saurian. A noose was 
thrown over the animal's head and securely fastened. A 
similar noose was fastened about its tail, and it Avas 
securely lodged in another cage. While this was being 
done the reptile's tail struck one of the .employees and 
knocked him against a plate glass case, shattering it and 
cutting him on the hands and face. — Philadelphia Ledger 
Dec. 6. 
An Illinois Gray Wolf. 
Springfield, III., Dec. 10. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The capture of a gray wolf in the vicinity of this city is 
auite a rarity, and excites considerable interest. Satur- 
day, Dec. 2, while a number of hunters were ranging 
the woods east of Chatham, about nine miles from 
here, an undersized gray wolf, evidently a young one. 
was discovered. When cornered he fought fiercely, and 
yuceeded in killing a hound belonging to one of the 
hunters, before being captured. The animal was brought 
•£0 this city, none the worse for his fight, and is now on 
exhibition in the window of a cigar store. T, M. S. 
The FoEEST AJ)D STJiXAH is put to pfcss e«ch Week on Tifesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication abouTd reach us at the 
latest br Mond»r ud u muck earlier as practieablc 
Musetsm of Science and Art. 
On Wednesday, Dec. 20, the Free Museum of Science 
and Art of the University of Pennsylvania was formally 
opened, and the president and Board of Managers of the 
Department of Archaeology and Paleontology transferred 
it to the provost and trustees of , the university. On the 
same day the Dr. WiWiam Pepper Testimonial Committee, 
through the Lion. Geo. F. Edmonds, presented to the 
provost and trustees of the university the completed 
statue of the late Dr. Wm. Pepper, which was executed 
by Karl Bitter and recently erected on the museum 
grounds. 
"That reminds me." 
Pat O'Brien's Rabbit. 
A FEW years ago a farm in my neighborhood, on which 
there was some good shooting, changed owners, and 
naturally I felt like cultivating him in such a way as to 
still keep my former shooting privileges. He moved on 
the place in the fall, and a few days afterward I drove 
along the road and found him husking corn, so I stopped, 
and introducing myself, asked whether he would sell me 
some corn. He proved to be a genuine Irishman, one of 
those good-natured, cheerful fellows who at all times 
overflow with good nature and ready humor. His face 
was a map of Ireland, and his brogue was Irish too, and a 
rare rich brogue it was. After fifteen minutes' talk with 
him, about various agricultural matters, but none about 
the shooting, which was really what I stopped to talk 
about, I started on, but after driving a little ways stopped 
and said: "By the way, Mr. O'Brien, I sometimes go 
quail shooting. If I should happen to be over this way 
some day would you have any objection to my shooting on 
your lands?" 
"None at all, sor. None at all," said he. "Oi want to 
be a naybur and to have nayburs. Come as often as ye 
loike an' shoot all ye can foind. Oim not goin' to have 
any of thim dudes an' town fellies huntin' an me, but Oi 
don't care for a naybur huntin' all he playses, an' good 
luck to thim whin they come." 
"Thank you," said I„"and do you like rabbits?" 
"Sure an' we do. But we've no way av gittin' the 
craythers." 
"T'll see that you have some when the snow comes." 
"Thank you sor. Oim thinkin' we can ate all that you'll 
be able to bring us, said he, with a merry twinkle in his 
eye that said, "It's shtarvin' we'll be entoirely, if we 
daypinded on you for mate." 
When the snow came I one day wandered across the 
fields to Pat's, picking up half a dozen rabbits on the 
way. 
"Be the sowl av St. Patrick, but thot's a foine lot of 
aitin'," said Pat. We have had but wan rabbit the sayson 
so far, an' it was moighty nigh we came to not havin' 
thot." 
"Tell me about it," I said, for I knew Pat had a story to 
tell. 
"Well," said Pat, "it was the mornin' but wan afther 
the fallin' av the snow, an' Kelsey Ryan, him. thot lives in 
the village, he was coomin' along the road, and matin' a 
rabbit track comin' across the road, he follied it, and 
located it, sittin' undher a bit of grass out in the falde, a 
short distance frum me house. Kelsey bavin' no gun with 
'im, barrin' a broom he was carryin', an' Oi do'no what he 
should be carryin' it for, he called to me to bring the gun 
and shoot the rabbit, an' me havin' no gun, an' spyin' wan 
av the nabor byes crossin' the meadow with a gun, Oi 
called to him to cooni over, an' whin he got there, Kelsey 
said: 'Let me thry wan shot at him wid the broom, an 
if Oi don't get him, thin ye can shoot him all ye loike.' 
So Kelsey thried him wance wid the broom, but the 
spalpeen takin' the brush ind av th' broom, it was no 
' good, seein' th' rabbit was sittin' down dape into the snow, 
as anny sinsible rabbit would. Thin, whin the rabbit ran 
away, the naybor bye wid the gun foired at it twict, an' 
both av the toimes he fired he didn't hit it. Aftherwards 
the rabbit ran undher my house, and was annybody's 
rabbit, for nobody cud get 'im. Well, in aboitt two hours 
there coom a shtrange cat an' got undher the house, an' as 
Ellen was sittin' forninst the cook stove, nursin' the baby 
asleep, roight oop through the floor undher where Ellen 
was sittin', there coom a sound of squallin' an' a bumpin' 
an' a poundin' against the floor till Ellen dhropped the 
baby, an' retrated out into the yard, an' she says, 'Howly 
blazes, Pat, an' phwat is it Oi dunnow.' 'Begobs, an' it's 
thot dirthy baste Of a cat aitin' the rabbit aloive,' sez I. 
An' perhaps ye won't belave me, sor, but the rabbit come 
out from undher the house wid the cat houldin' to it wid 
the fate av him, an' he was aitin' the rabbit wid his tathe 
as they wint. Do you moind thot big black dog of moine ? 
The wan Dinnis Rafferty, me father-in-law, presinted to 
me a year agone nixt Easter. Will, the dog was round the 
corner of the house, beyant where they wor comin', an' 
the dog scatthered the cat wan way an' the rabbit an- 
other way, an' thin pickin* up the rabbit, he was makin' off 
wid it, till wan of me byes was afther takin' it, but the dog 
was not for lettin' 'im have it at all, at all, till Terrence 
took 'im by Avan ear an' Michael by another, an' Peter got 
hould av wan fore fut, an' Dinnis another, an' Jimmy got 
him by a hind fut, an' Matt by another hind fut, an' little 
Pat, seein' help was naded an' no other place to take 
hould, Pat took 'im by the tail, an' wid Lawrie hould of 
the rabbit, there was such pullin an' haulin' as wad have 
did your heart gude to see." 
Here the story was interrupted by Matthew, who was 
reading while his father talked. "Daddy," said Matt, 
"what is a phenomenon?" 
"A fanomenon is it?" said Pat, scratching his head. 
"A faynomenon, Matt? Do you moind the big sycamore 
three shtandin' down in the meddy?' 
"I do," said Matt. 
"Well, said Pat, that three is not a faynomenon. D'ye 
moind the ould cow thot's been on the place for tin years 
agone?" 
"Yes," said Matt, "but wot's that got to do with it? I 
want to know what a phenoraenoa is." 
"Aisy now, aisy," said Pat. "That cow is not « fay- 
