t^onfisT Anjd stream. 
66 
unty, in form bearing out the idea that the bony en- 
argement to which the fang is attached is permanent, 
he fang proper only being removed. 
The pet squirrel has grown so fat and dropsical that 
le has lost all of his agility. He is no longer able to 
limb up the window facing to get on top of the cabinet 
vhere his nest is located, but must be helped up. Instead 
if gamboling oyer me as formerly, he stretches himself 
Jilt in lazy fashion on my arm or knee to be scratched, 
vhich he enjoys very much, and bites at my fingers to 
nake me resume the scratching when 1 quit. 
He will not bite through a nut, even a thin-shelled 
lecan, because he is accustomed to having them broken 
or him. This I have observed is usual with pet squir- 
,els. When a whole nut is given him, after gnawing a lit- 
le he hides it with elaborate motions of covering it up 
/ith dirt, after hammering it down with his nose. This 
[jorning a round pebble was given him which he treated 
1 the same manner, hiding it in a crack with the usual 
eremonies. 
j Mr. Charles Cristadoro, in his commendatory remarks 
ibout the contributors to the Christmas number of For- 
IST AND Stream, does me the honor to mention me 
:i a kindly spirit, for which I desire to make acknowl- 
dgment, as well for the solicitude he expressed con- 
enn'ng my supposed danger in associating with the rat- 
!esnakes in some degree of intimacy. The danger in- 
olved in getting into proximity to venomous snakes is 
reatly exaggerated in the minds of most people. The 
ery reason given by Mr. Cristadoro for his prejudice 
gainst rattlers, that he "all but stepped into the coils of 
six-foot Crotalus horridus," should have created an im- 
ression favorable to the snake, since doubtless it could 
3ve struck him if so inclined. But very many similar 
pportunities have been neglected by rattlesnakes ; in fact, 
nly a small percentage of such experiences have resulted 
I: "snake bites," and those were when the snake had 
)me special provocation, or was in a state of nervous 
tcitement and alarm. The other incident of the rattles 
lat were not cut off, mentioned by Mr. Cristadoro, I 
'"Heve I remember the recital of at the time of the oc- 
n rence. Either Mr. C. or some other writer in Forest 
,.N'u Stream whose identity I fail to recall, related such 
<i incident several years ago. He was riding along a 
!tad, and seeing a dead (?) rattler extended on the 
ound with its head concealed in the bushes on the 
«iadside, the writer's first impulse was to dismount and 
,it off the rattles. But reflecting that he would soon 
ime back that way, he deferred the operation until he 
turned. On again arriving at the place it appeared that 
e snake had crawled away, and his being dead was only 
semblance. 
In this case the writer probably made a narrow escape, 
, the rattles are the most sensitive part of a rattler's 
latomy, about which he shows much jealousy, and m- 
rference with this appendage is quickly resented. More- 
/er, he can double back upon himself with great sud- 
nness and celerity. One might advance his hand with- 
a few inches of a rattler's nose, in front, the snake 
ing fully extended, without danger of a sudden strike, 
r the obvious reason that the snake must draw his body 
rward before he can reach out any further; but it is 
tite different when it comes to fooling with any part 
his corporosity behind the head — especially the rattles. 
It is probable that Mr. Cristadoro was the writer of 
e narrative referred to, whose facile pen always leaves 
1 interesting trail behind it. 
I am glad to welcome again friend Ransacker to his 
ace in Forest and Stream, after a long interval of 
lence on his part. His latest story, about the coon 
mt, would excite the risibles of a hypochondriac. 
The continuance of the name of Mrs. Llewella Pierce 
lurchill among your contributors, after the pubHcation 
her very entertaining and instructive book, affords pa r- 
:ular gratification to the writer. I have read her 
lightful book, "Samoa 'Uma," and it is now g9ing the 
jUnds among the younger members of my family. 
My friend, Mr. Jos. W. Shurter, again throws open the 
or for a resumption of our little controversy about the 
rue principle of sport," or "the principle of true 
Dft." I must, however, decline his invitation, as the 
iders of Forest and Stream have doubtless long since 
ide up their verdict on the merits of the case, and would 
Dbably vote a further disputation on it as "stale, flat and 
profitable." I will therefore, out of charity for your 
tders, yield to Mr. Shurter that sort of triumph that is 
jposed to be so dear to the feminine heart, of "having 
: last word." If, however, Mr. Shurter still insists on 
itinuing the controversy, I suggest that he meet me in 
nt debate on the stump. In that case, I propose that we 
et on the Fourth of July next on the top of Shasta 
nmtain, where we shall have Ransacker for referee 
i his coon dogs for audience ; or vary the arrangement 
j make Ransacker the audience with the coon dogs as 
erees, taking care to have some easy climbing trees 
reach. Coahoma. 
A Call for Ctow Stories* 
^untain City, Ind., Jan. i6. — Editor Forest and 
•earn: Mr. Meacham's note about the cunning of the 
^otes in catching young pigs reminds me that the 
)W isn't so slow when it comes to tricks in catching 
ne. An old turkey hen one day led her young brood 
a the pasture where the grass was short. A crow 
jhted within a few feet of them and was at once 
ised by the old hen, the crow going off as though 
ppled, and allowing the turkey to keep within less 
n two feet of him. When the chase was some fifty 
ds away from the young ones, the crow flew quickly 
:k to the young ones, picked up one and was off to 
woods with it. I don't know much about coyotes, 
if the crow can't give him cards and spades and 
t him, the coyote will do. As this is a closed sea- 
I on game, suppose you invite the folks to send in 
it coyotte and crow stories they may have personal 
wledge of, just to see which is the cutest. If Satan 
any imps incarnate on this earth, the crow is one 
hem, and in all probability the coyote is as well. 
O, H, Hampton, 
Htns and Other Birds. 
New York, Jan. 14.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was much interested in Mr. Chapman's remarks on 
Joseph Addison, of the Spectator, in reference to 
the hen. _ It is very difficult to draw the line 
between instmct and reason in animals. But with 
me hen— well, she does not seem to have much of either. 
Por of all the fools in the animal kingdom the hen takes 
the ribbon. Geese, it is said, saved Roine; but who ever 
heard of a hen saving anything or anybody? "As mad as 
a wet hen" is an old, old saying, and as completely 
apropos as any of these old saws. Did you ever throw 
(I mean in your boyish days) or see thrown a pail of 
water over a hen ? Great Scott I how she can scold. With 
vociferous vituperation in hen's billingsgate she can dis- 
count the most obstreperous Xantippe. 
The query has often been raised in my mind as to how 
birds carry their young. During the last season I watched 
for some time from my window an English sparrow in 
her endeavor to get a young one down from a limb near 
her house to the ground. One of the youngsters had 
reached terra firma in safety, but the other little one 
seemed to be a pusillanimous coward, and in vain did the 
mother coax or threaten the youngster to make the trial. 
It was afraid to launch out. After a long and it seemed 
a very serious talk the hen dropped to a limb a little 
lower down and from there called back, then flew back 
to beside the Ihtle coward, and finally, almost pushed off 
by the mother, it dropped to the lower limb, and shortly 
after having gained courage reached the ground. Now, 
I suppose it was instinct that taught the mother bird 
that the pinions were sufficiently developed to make the 
descent in safety. 
1 was once a July woodcock shooter. I am not now. 
About the middle of July, some years ago, I brought 
down one of these splendid birds (splendid in October), 
and when I came to pick it up, I found a little downy 
thing clasped tightly to its breast between its feet. The 
chick could not have been more than a few days old — 
one of a late brood. But that settled July shooting for 
me. 
I rernember once when a boy we had a woodduck that 
nested in a tree in a swamp through which was a running 
brook. The hole in the tree was some forty of fifty feet 
from the water. From a tacit understanding these birds 
were never molested by us. The only clear place where 
we could view the nesting place was across the creek 
some ten or twenty rods (we used to measure by rods 
in those days), and many days we boys watched to see the 
ducklings come out and see how they would reach the 
water. 
One day our patience ^vas rewarded to a certain extent. 
While the mate sat on a limb beside the nesting, the duck 
suddenly appeared from the hole and launched toward 
us, striking the water but a few feet from where we 
crouched, and from here sailing on the water as if always 
used to it, a wee downy thing. This was repeated until 
the whole brood was sailing around, but we could not 
make out for sure how she carried them there. I thought 
on her back. Some of the boys were positive that she 
carried them in her bill one at a time. 
Jacobstaff. 
Animals and Electric Wires. 
As electric lines increase in extent, says the Elec- 
trical Review, the numbers of mishaps caused by ani- 
mals and birds become more and more prominent. 
The builders of the telephone and telegraph wires in 
Mexico first congratulated themselves that the absence 
of sleet would allow them to economize on the con- 
struction, but the ring-tailed monkeys and parrots soon 
availed themselves oi the opportunity to congregate 
on these lines at nigjit; and a heavier construction be- 
came necessary. IiVlike manner, when lines were first 
built through forests the absence of municipal super- 
vision did not allow the full range of anticipated 
economies, for the bears, mistaking the humming of 
the wires for concealed hives of bees, were active in 
their search for the hidden sweets, gnashing the poles 
until those of moderate size were severely weakened. 
And now come the birds to add to the trouble, for the 
power circuit at Anaheim, in Southern California, was 
short-circuited by an owl, causing trouble at the power 
station, and the wires falling upon telegraph wires 
caused difficulties on those lines. 
If the eagles which alighted on wires of opposite 
polarity in the Fresno power circuits had remained 
i'n peace and harmony it would have been better for 
both birds and plant, but the first blow of a fight caused 
the simultaneous defeat of both eagles, and the arc 
short-circuiting the wires made the inevitable trouble 
at the central station. A heron recently alighted on 
the power circuit of the Trenton Falls line, a few 
miles north of Utica, N. Y., and stepping across from 
one wire to the other, made a burnt offering of him- 
self and trouble again at the central station. Along 
the Atlantic coast in eastern New Jersey the fishhawks 
establish their nests on the telegraph and telephone 
poles, and defend their homes with such pugnacity that 
the linemen are obliged to carry sheath knives in their 
belts for defence. 
There are numerous instances of rats causing crosses 
at switches in electric lighting lines, and some of the 
fires in the underwriters' bulletins have been ascribed 
to this cause. It is but a short step from rats to cats, 
and a cat at Lockport, retreating up the pole of a 
power line to escape from a dog — from the danger 
she knew to the perils she wot not of — at the cross- 
arm made a cross from one circuit to the other in such 
a manner that the arc melted the wire for a long dis- 
tance, and also caused some difficulty at the power 
house nt Niagara Falls. The use of the expression 
"bugs" for specific trouble is not entirely of ethical 
significance, because the insects are an omnipresent 
difficulty for outside lines. The larvae of small insects, 
secreting formic acid, have opened circuits by corrod- 
ing away the fuses. Hornets congregate on the poles, 
and indicate their umbrage at the disturbance, when 
the lineman opens the door, in a most vigorous man- 
ner. 
N. Zoological Society. 
The Board of Managers of the New York Zoological 
society held its annual meeting January 20. Prof. Henry 
^airfield Osborn, First Vice-President, occupied the chair. 
Officers and members of the Executive Committee for the 
ensuing year were elected as follows : President, Levi P. 
Morton; First Vice-President, Henry F. Osborn; Second 
Vice-President, John L. Cadwalader; Secretary, Madison 
brant; Treasurer, Percy R. Pyne; Executive Committee, 
Charles T. Barney, Chairman; Henry F. Osborn, John 
b Barnes, Philip Schuyler, Madison Grant, Samuel 
Ihorne and William White Niles. The Board of Man- 
agers 'consists of Levi P. Morton, Audrew Canipgie 
Morris K. Jesup, John L. Cadwalader, Philip Schuyler' 
John S. Barnes, Madison Grant, Wilhairi White Niles 
^Tl'.rn'n'""'?*^' ^^"""^y ^- Taylor, Hugh J. Chisholm 
and William D. Sloane. 
The Aquarium Committee was re-elected as follows: 
Prof. Charles L. Bristol, of New York University; Prof. 
Bashford Dean, of Columbia University; Dr. Alfred G. 
Mayer, of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; 
William E. Damon and R. M. Shurtleff. This committee 
advises on all scientific matters with the Director of the 
Aquarium, Charles H. Townsend, formerly of the United 
States Fish Commission. 
One of the important results of the year has been the 
completion of the Hon house, which, as it is the most 
modern of all structures for large carnivorous animals 
and has been built with the determination to make it the 
most convenient and best for the animals, the society 
and the public, is naturally a remarkable building. 
It is situated on the southeast corner of Baird Court, 
and so overlooks the lower Bird Valley, and— especially 
from that point of view — is a very imposing structure. It 
is built of buff brick and stone, and is highly ornamented 
with sculptured stone and terracotta representing large 
cats, so that it is really a beautiful building. Its main 
hall is 192 feet long and 28 feet wide and contains a 
number of cages along its eastern side, while without the 
eastern wall is a series of exterior cages of large size. 
The cages within the building are 21 feet deep while those 
without vary from 24 feet to more than 42 feet in depth. 
The total length of the building is 240 feet and its width 
no feet. In general architectural style it resembles the 
other building in the park. 
There are 12 of the interior cages, six of them 18 by 
22 feet and six 12 by 22 feet. The larger ones are for 
the use of the best lions and tigers and for families of 
young, while the smaller ones are to hold leopards, jaguars, 
pumas, and smaller cats. The floors of the cages, which 
are three feet above the floor the visitor stands on, are 
of strips of maple set on edge. In each cage there are 
two sleeping dens, which can be cut off at any time from 
the outer cage. Above the sleeping dens in each cage is 
a gallery for the inmates, reached by stumps of trees, cut 
so that the animals rin ascend them. Tlie floor of the 
balcony is five feet high. 
An important cnaiiii,e in the ordinary method of con- 
fining dangerous animals is seen in this house. The or- 
dinary lion cage is fronted by heavy iron bars, but here 
a woven wire netting takes the place of bars and of 
course gives a much- more pleasing effect. The mesh of 
the netting is three inches square, but the wires are so 
strong that there is no possible danger of the animals 
breaking out, since each horizontal wire has a tensile 
strength of 4,500 pounds. 
Through this wire screen these dangerous animals can 
be seen just as plainly as the buffalo or the deer in the 
outdoor paddocks can be seen through their wire fences, 
and the improvement is very great. 
The wires, all the iron work, and the tiling at the back 
of the cages are a dull green color, which sets off the 
animal and makes it clearly visible. 
The outer cages for the use of the animals in summer 
will be fitted up between now and the time when the lions 
and tigers can be turned into them with rock work, tree 
trunks and other accessories, making a playground for 
these great cats far more attractive than is had by any 
other assemblage of captive felines in the world. 
Within the lion house is the studio, a large and well- 
lighted room at the north end of the building, large 
enough for twenty artists to work in. Here has been 
built a cage 16x20 feet deep, and to this cage may be 
transferred by means of the transfer cage and over the 
railway running out of sight beneath the building, any 
animal that the artists may wish to paint. 
A Tragedy in the L on House, 
From the (New York) Zoological Society Bulletin. 
Those who are responsible for the care and manage- 
ment of wild animals in captivity are constantly reminded 
that it is impossible to know what deed of violence an 
animal is liable to perform until it is actually done. Often 
the cunning of a caged animal is past finding out, until 
the event occurs. Then we are all post-mortem philoso- 
phers. As a particularly striking and painful instance, 
take the case of "Lopez," the jaguar. 
From the day of his arrival at the park, last May, 
"Lopez" has never been one of the snarling kind. On the 
contrary, he constantly manifested what was considered 
a playful disposition. Most large felines of savage dis- 
position show^it by snarling and charging against their 
bars. "Lopez," on the contrary, seemed anxious to play 
with anyone who came near his cage, and had a trick of 
rolling on his back, with his paws in the air, quite after 
the manner of a good-natured house cat. 
In' Hamburg, a female jaguar, very nearly full grown, 
was purchased as a cage-mate for him. "Lopez" was the 
first animal placed in the first finished cage of tlie new 
Lion House, weeks before the workmen had completed 
the other cages. Inasmuch as the female had been six 
weeks in her traveling cage, and sadly cramped for room, 
it was decided to place her in the Lion House without de- 
lay. In order to ascertain the temper of "Lopez" toward 
her, her cage was raised to the level of his, and the two 
were placed with their bars in^ close proximity. "Lopez" 
was greatly interested by the stranger, and attempted to 
play with her through the bars. She observed him with- 
out any manifestation of fear, and seemed to be interested 
by the prospect of a larger cage and a companion in 
captivity. 
