864 
FOREST AND STREAM.^^ 
[Nov. 9, tgoi. 
Natural History Notes. 
Between two bluffs, one on the Arizona and the otlier 
on the California side of the Colorado River, electric 
v/ires have recently been stretched. These wires are 
probably 75 feet above the surface of the water and 510 
feet long between the supporting poles. They are of 
copper, and are naked their entire .length. Under the 
overhanging bhiff, on the Arizona side, a colony of mud 
swallows {I-', lumfrons) are yearly located. During the 
past season they were unusually numerous, and through- 
out the nestnig months they wotrid occupy several 
hundred feet of the wires without a break. Particularly 
was this true during the early hours of morning. The 
weather hereabouts during the summer months is in- 
clined to be a little warm. It has no fixed figure to go 
by, but generally jogs along anywhere from 105 to 116 
degrees in the shade, and probably 20 to 30 degrees 
higher in the sun. One afternoon during the latter part 
of July I exposed a thennomenter to the sun. Unfor- 
tunately it registered but 135 degrees, and when that 
figure was reached it w^as taken under cover, as it was 
feared the bulb would be broken if further exposed. 
Now, I do not make this statement for the purpose of in- 
ducing immigration in this direction, nor of setting forth 
its many advantages as a summer resort, as other places 
as good can probably be found nearer home; but 
to call attention to the great degree of heat the feet 
and bodies of swallows are capable of sustaining without 
apparent injury; for, notwhhstanding the great heat, 
they gathered at intervals along the wire in bunches of 
two, three or twenty, and having apparently rested a 
sufficient time they would suddenly drop, skim over the 
surface of the water, many of them touching 
it in their flight, and again gather on Jie 
naked wires. There was not a h^lf ho'i 
of the day in which more or less of them 
could not be so seen. Just why it did not 
fry their little bodies as they sat is some- 
thing I do not comprehend. It is baroly 
possible that the evaporation from the sur- 
face of the water, say 75 feet below, was 
sufficient to maintain a low temperature in 
the wires; but of that I do not know. It is 
however, the only explanation to the matter 
I can offer. With the exception of a fev 
small colonies, these birds have scattereu 
over the valley for the season. In iSyg they 
opened the nesting season about April 14. 
On March 23, 1900, the spring migration 
had about reached its maximum. During 
the spring of igoi they did not make their 
appearance till about the first of April. By 
the 7th I thought them all here, but two 
days later I saw hundreds of them skim- 
ming over a field of barley. This was about ^ 
10 A. M. The owner of the place told me 
that he was pleased to see them, a.s they 
were feeding on insects that were injurious 
to his grain. He said they had just come in, 
as he had been through the field about an 
hour before and they were not there at the 
time. 
Because of the long, hot summer in this 
section of the country, there is a super- 
abundance of insect hfe. To one unfamiliar 
with the facts the quantity is difficult of con- 
ception. At night they swarm about the arc 
lights in incomprehensible numbers, appar- 
ently rising to and falling from them in 
clouds that dim the light. Thousands of 
them fall to the ground, where they form the food of a 
small army of toads. These toads come from the wet 
bottom at the conjunction of the Colorado and Gila 
rivers, and grow to an immense size. Among the pecu- 
liarities of insect life is a small, black beetle (kindly 
identified by Dr. Howard, of Washington as Blapstinus 
longulus), which produces enormously. They make 
their appearance above ground during the night. They 
will overspread everything in their vicinity, and in favor- 
able locations they will cover the ground three and four 
inches deep. They can be gathered by the double hand- 
fuls, as one would gather grain from a bin. Unless dis- 
turbed, they move about only during the night. They 
"swarm" not less than three times a year, generally in 
June and July, when they form one of the staple foods of 
the toads above alluded to. The toad crop is of yearly 
growth, and each recurrent spring sees a new crop of 
diminutive hoppers. One can almost see them grow, and 
by the end of the season, which largely closes toward the 
latter part of August, even the smallest has attained 
aldermanic proportions. Their excretions, which I have 
frequently seen i]^ inches long by Ya of an inch in di- 
ameter, was a mass of various-sized beetles, but more 
commonly made up of the black beetle referred to and 
a smaller brown beetle. Much of this mass was of live, 
undigested material, which, upon freeing itself from the 
husks and wings of its less fortunate companions, went 
its own way as before. This was a common, everyday 
observation; the toads simply ate more by 50 per cent, 
than they could assimilate. Frequently they could be 
seen sitting apparently motionless by a "swarm" of a 
gallon or two of beetles, with corpulent bodies and a very 
self-satisfied appearance; the result was that they could 
not digest half of what they ate. 
Two Agassiz tortoises {Zerobaies agassisi), male and 
female, have been kept at the Territorial Penitentiary for 
the past eight or ten years. The male is among the 
largest of it,s kind. They are without fear, and take 
pleasure in allowing their heads and necks to be 
scratched. In the way of food, they are commonly fed 
on meat and vegetables, and frequently on the leaves of 
the mulberry tree, of which they appear to be very fond. 
At least three-fifths of their time is passed under the old 
floor of a carpenter's .shop, and so far as I know, without 
food of any kind. Throughout the winter months they 
are never seen, hibernation commencing about Nov. i and 
ending early in March. The male usually leads the way by 
a few days. Thus in 1899 the male came out and was fed 
March 5 and again on the 7th; the female came out on 
the 8th. Neither was again seen till the iSth, when both 
were out. On the 31st they again came out and mated. 
March 7, 1900, the female appeared. She ate sparingly 
and went back to her quarters under the floor. On the 
day following the male appeared, and two days later both 
were out and mated. Feb. t6. 190T, the male came from 
under ground; but as soon as fed and watered went back, 
but again came out on the 20th and mated with the 
female. Her first appearance had been made on the 
• i8th. On July 20 three young ones came from under the 
floor. They were about by 2 inches across the shell, 
and were mighty interesting little fellows. They were the 
first known to have been hatched here. When courting 
the female is passive, but the male is very aggressive. 
It walking by her side his head and neck will be stretched 
in front of her, almost at right angles with his body. His 
eyes at such times have a snaky, vicious expression. If 
she refuses to stop or submit to his inclinations he will 
bite the edge of her shell and bump her into submission 
by striking her with the point of his lower shell. He v.'ill 
sometimes strike her so hard as to lift her partially from 
the ground. The only noise he makes is a sort of coarse 
grunt. Oct. 3 they again mated, and occasionally are still 
to be seen about the yard. 
.\ positive annoyance is to be met with in swarms of 
crickets. They are in evidence much of the year, but in 
August and September they are equal to one of the 
plagues. The young ones make their first appearance 
late in July. At that time they are gray in color; when 
half grown they are brown, and when fully matured are 
black. At night, because of them, nothing but a ].ro- 
tected light can be used. They are flyers, jumpers and 
creepers. There is apparently no place they cannot get. 
Throughout the day they are mostly hidden, but the 
shades of evening mean a materialization of their coming. 
YOUNG MOUNT-AIN GOAT.. 
In the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens. 
Stragglers are always late in getting home of a morn- 
ing, and they manifest an absolute fear in their haste to 
cross an unprotected area. For the past month between 
twenty-five and thirty Arkansas fl3f-catchers (T. verti- 
calis) have occupied points of advantage, covering an 
area of not more than 100 feet square. They sit panting 
in the sun, with their mouths open and a pair of eyes 
that can see a cricket where apparently nothing else can. 
Not being molested, they have become quite bold; and if 
a cricket be throwm in their direction it is almost in- 
" variably caught before it reaches the ground. Often two 
or three will dart for it at the same time. H. B. 
Yuma, Ariz , Oct. 1. 
Philadelphia's Mountain Goat. 
The Zoological Society of Philadelphia, Oct. 23. — 
Editor Forest and Stream: I send you a photograph 
taken by Mr. R. D. Carson, of the Zoological Society of 
Philadelphia, of a young mountain goat which has lately 
been added to our collection. The mother was killed 
near Field. British Columbia, on May 29 last, by Chris- 
tian Hasler. a Swiss guide, who is employed during the 
summer at that point. The kid was then about two weeks 
old. and with great care has been raised by Hasler on the 
bottle. It was secured for the Zoological Society through 
the kind interest of Mr. George Vany and his sons, and 
was brought to the Gardens by Hasler himself on Oct. i. 
It now feeds well on milk, hay and carrots, and is 
thoroughly ta«e, and appears to be healthy. The height 
at shoulder is 2 feet, and the horns are iK long on the 
anterior face. The Aveight is 55 pounds. 
No definite conclusion can yet be reached as to the 
possibilities of domesticating this alpine species in our 
climate, but it was sufficiently evident that a few damp 
days of comparative w^armth, which occurred shortly 
after its arrival, had a depressing effect. Alive or dead, 
however, the specimen is of great interest, for one of the 
many gaps in exact zoological knowledge will be filled 
by its complete dissection. At present we know little or 
nothing of the soft anatomy of this curious and aberrant 
antelope. Arthur Erwin Brown. 
The Linnaean Society of New York. 
A REGULAR meeting of the Society will be held at the 
American Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh 
street iand Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evening, Nov. 26, 
at 8 o'clock. C. William Beebe will lecture on "Notes 
on Birds in the New York Zoological Park." 
Walter W. Granger, Secretary. 
Animals Living Without Water, 
The repetition in "Great and Small Game in India," 
etc., of the statement that the black buck inhabiting a 
spit of sand near the Chilka Lake do not drink has given 
rise to letters in the columns of the Asian in which it is 
sought to impugn the accuracy of the statement in ques- 
tion, and also to discredit the fact that any wild animals 
can exist for long periods without liquid nourishment. 
One writer says: "Mr. Lydecker makes the astonishing 
assertion that the black buck can exist perfectly well 
without taking liquid food is demonstrated by the ex- 
istence of a herd on a narrow spit of land between the 
Chilka Salt Lake in Orissa and the sea, where, for a dis- 
tance of thirty miles, the only fresh water obtainable is 
derived from wells. Is there no one acquainted with the 
locality in question who can give us some further in- 
formation with regard to this herd? Personally, I have 
no doubt whatever that it will be found that there are 
tioughs or irrigation channels where the animals can ob- 
tain water." 
The statement in question was originally m^de by Mr. 
W. T. Blandford in the "Fauna of British India Mam- 
malia." It is not indeed mentioned whether this state- 
ment is made on the evidence of personal observation; 
but Mr. Blandford is not in the habit of making asser- 
tions without sufficient evidence to support them, and 
liis statement certainly cannot be traversed by the sug- 
gestion made in the letter just quoted. 
As regards the capacity of the black buck to exist 
without water for long periods, the above appears to be 
the only or chief published testimony; but there is ample 
evidence in favor of the existence of the same power of 
abstinence from drink in other wild animals. 
Writing, for instance, of the giraffes in the 
great Kalahari Desert, Mr. H, A. Bryden 
("Nature and Sport in South Africa") makes 
the following observation: "For three- 
fourths of the year giraffes can exist without 
water; and as I can personally testify they 
are nowadays usually only to be encountered 
in an absolutely waterless desert, the nearest 
portion of it from twenty to forty miles 
away from any river or fountain." 
Again, when treating of the same animal 
in the same locality in "Great and Small 
Game of Africa," Mr. Bryden writes as fol- 
lows: "Its most favorite country at the 
present day, south of Zambesi, is undoubt- 
edly in the vast, waterless, giraffe-acacia 
forests of the North Kalahari. Flere. far 
from permanent water, in country where 
even native hunters can scarcely penetrate, 
large troops of giraffes still roam. In this, 
the most waterless portion of South Africa, 
giraffes have the faculty of being able to 
exist for long periods — six or seven months 
at a time — without drinking. This faculty 
they share with the eland, the gemsbok, 
har'tebeest, dinker and steinbok, all of which 
are to be found ranging these dry and re- 
mote solitudes during the months of the 
African winter, when not a drop of surface 
water is to be found over hundreds of miles 
of country." 
Similar testimony in favor of the absti- 
nence from water of the giraffe is offered in 
the same volume by Mr. A. H. Neumann, 
whose experiences were obtained in East 
Africa. He writes as follows: "These crea- 
tures (giraffes) of course feed exclusively 
upon the leaves, tender shoots, and some- 
times the seedpods of trees and shrubs. Although they 
undoubtedly do drink sometimes, they are certainly able 
to go for considerable periods without water, and are 
found in the driest country, long distances away from any 
possible drinking place." , 
Equally conclusive testimony is afforded by Count J. 
Potocki ("Sport in Somaliland") with regard to the 
thirst-enduring habits of the great game of . the Somali 
country. For instance, he writes as follows: "In spite 
of this lack of. water, there is a large amount of game in 
the Hand. Immense herds of antelopes find their per- 
manent pasture in this desert, where there are more lions 
than in any other part of Somaliland. It is a phenom- 
enal peculiarity of the local fauna to be able to exist so 
long without water, especially (as we had occasion to 
remark more than once later on) since the antelopes on 
the Hand seem in perfect condition, and as fat as if fed 
in the richest pastures." . _ 
On a later page of the same work Count Potocki dis- 
cusses this subject more fully in the following paragraph: 
"To return once more to a subject which I have touched 
upon several times in the course of this journal, and 
which has become an enigma to me, I may add a few 
words regarding the existence of the animals of this 
region in the absence of water. Nowhere did I convince 
myself more completely than in Dumbereli that all the 
animals of this country can exist for months absolutely 
without water. Numerous species of antelopes and vari- 
ous kinds of beasts of prey go entirely without drink 
from November till March; and yet in spite of this the 
former are fat, though the grass is dry and parched like 
ashes, so that it cannot be nutritive food for them. 
"How it happens that the organization of these animals, 
which, moreover, differs in no wise from that of their 
congeners living in neighboring regions, can endure so 
long without water, I am unable to explain, and I regret 
that no naturalist (not excepting Brehm) has turned his 
attention to this wonderful peculiarity of the fauna of the 
high plains of Somaliland." 
Many other passages from different writers might be 
cited, but the foregoing prove up to the hilt the fact that 
in many parts of Africa a large number of large herbivor- 
ous animals subsist for long periods at a time entirely 
without drinking. And what is true for the animals of 
Africa may equally hold good for some of those of India, 
such as the black buck and the chinkara. 
But it is not only wild animals that can do without 
water. As every flock master knows, sheep will live 
without drinking for long periods, even in dry districts 
where little or no dew falls at night; and guinea pigs 
can be kept without water even when *key are given only 
a very small allowance of green foo<i 
