Jan. 31, 1903.1 
FOReS'f AND STREAM. 
had these animals come into my tent when I have 
been on a fishing outing, and irrepressible and expert 
tliieves they always proved to be. 
Biscuit was a favorrite article of plunder to theiU, 
and the size of the piece they could carry oflE aston- 
ished nie. Cooked lish was also readily taken, and if 
t;;ilt pork or bacon was left whfere they cotild get it 
llie^' invariably confiscated it. 
That they will destroy young birds I kaVe proved 
more than once. My father bad, at one time, a pair 
of breeding canaries hanging in a room from a window 
casing, and near their cage was another in which a 
red squirrel was kept as a pet. It had become so thor- 
oughly domesticated and tame that during half the 
time its cage door was left open and the squirrel "had 
the run of the room." In the canaries' nest were four 
young birds about three weeks old. _ Callow little 
things they were, of course, and their size was small. 
One night a canary chick disappeared and not a trace 
of it could be found, and on the next night there was 
another little one taken, and that, too, utterly disap- 
peared. That the squirrel should be the guilty depre- 
dator was never for a moment imagined, and the blame 
was laid to mice and rats. But on the morning of the 
next day the squirrel was found in the canaries' cage, 
he having succeeded in lifting the door from the out- 
side and entering. Both of the parent birds were dead, 
their heads having been bitten into and their brains 
eaten. 
Here was proof positive that the chickaree was the 
aogressor: He had found no difficulty in entering the 
cage, but the door on the inner side shut down on a 
metal flange, which prevented the rapacious^ little ani- 
mal from escaping. 
Edward A. S.vmuels. 
[to be continued.] 
Wild Pigeons* 
r-.d'dor Forest and Stream: 
Hough's notes of the wild pigeon m the cur- 
rent number interested me so much that 1 read and re- 
read then) again. 
This explanation, or opinion, rather, of the cause ot 
their disappearance, seems to me to be hardly the true 
•one though. We know why the buffalo have disap- 
Ijeared; we have killed them ofif. But in the pigeons' 
case that can hardly be so, for before they finally dis- 
appeared it was not unusual to see flocks of them that 
would number at least a quarter of a million. I have 
>een a single flock that had at least that many m it, 
and this one v/as only one of half a dozen that passed 
over ortr part of the country in a single season. 
A year or two before our buiifalo finally disappearca 
I happened to be in the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, 
Texas. This was the principal hotel there then, and 
there were oresent at the time a number of tourists 
from the North and several cattlemen. The conver- 
sation drifted around to the buffalo, and why they 
were getting to be so scarce,. I and the Texans agreed 
as to what was the cause of it: the white skin-hunters 
•who were killing them ofif in season and out of season 
.without any regard to age or sex. 
A gentleman here, one of those tourists, whom i 
rafterwards learned was a college professor m the 
North, after he had listened to me condemning the 
Thunters, said to me, "Let me tell you something. Your 
"ibuffalo would disappear about as fast as they are now 
.doing if you never fired a shot at them; they have run 
ith,eir course, and are now about to disappear, just as 
;those prehistoric animals whose bones we find from 
itime to time have disappeared." 
1 laiew but little about those animals in comparison 
;to what he did, but we all knew that the surface of 
.our globe has changed greatly since these animals were 
-on it; that might account for their disappearance; but 
lit was not .changing now, and the buffalo had the same 
ifood and a large part of the same range now that they 
aiad alwajfs Shad. I could not indorse his opinion in 
-.regard to the buffalo, but if he was correct in that, 
imight not the same cause explain the disappearance of 
rfhe pigeon? 
When I was a boy the wild pigeon was so common 
tin our part of the country, western Pennsylvania, as 
not to attract any more attention than a flock of ducks 
or geese would when they flew across the country. 
The last large flock of them that I ever saw was in 
1854. There were more or less of them there the two 
following years, but I was not there then. I had gone 
west to fight Indians, just as our boys do yet, or try to 
do. The police generally stop them in this side of the 
Indian's counti-y now, but after I had got to the West 
I formed a^truce with the Indians, and we both went 
to hunting buffalo. When I returned two years after 
this the pigeons were all gone. These pigeons, when 
on the march, would fly in a solid column, sometimes 
only a narrow one, then again I have seen one all of 
a quarter of a mile wide and just high enough to clear 
the tree tops. Then if they were passing across a wide 
open space they would drop down nearer the ground, 
but still w^ould keep up their column intact. 
When hunting them I always tried to get into an 
open spot, as far as possible from high timber; then 
getting under them, fire into them as they passed over 
my head. If there was no gun there but mine, my 
firing at them did not seem to disturb them much; they 
wonld sometimes fly a little higher after passing my 
gun, ljut those behind would not rise, and they would 
not rise ahead of me high enough to be out of gun 
•shot. 
I used a single muzzleloader with shot, if I had it; 
if not, then small slugs did as well or better; I found 
that with them I could get more birds than I could 
using shot. I did the shooting while two small boys, 
Avho were too young yet to use a gun, retrieved them 
lor me. 
One of these boys would often get nearly as many 
birds with a long pole that he had just for that pur- 
pose. Then he would work away behind me, where 
the birds would be flying low enough for him to 
reach them. The most of his would only be stunned 
•when they fell, but the other boy was there to finish 
them. The birds that we got were never wasted, no 
matter how many we had; if we did not use them 
all, others did. I have heard of their being fed to 
hogs, no fanner in our part of the country would 
do it. They were not in the habit of feeding any- 
thing to hogs that would bring money, a:nd these 
birds would if they were hauled from S to 20 miles 
to thfe nearest large tOwn, and they would be taken 
there if fenough of them could be got together to 
warrant it; in factj the last^ considerable number df 
them that I ever saw were in a farnier's wagort; he 
had hauled theni up from Lawrence County to Alle- 
gheny City, hfe must have had half a ton of them. I 
have seen these pigeon roosts after the birds had 
left them; the treeS then would look as if they had 
been struck by a hurricane, limbs being broken off 
in every direction where the birds had overloaded 
them. 
I never shot them on the roost; they were not 
protected there, but I could get as many of them 
as I wanted in the day time. 
Now, if there v/ere any of them here to shoot I 
could not shoot them within a mile of the roost, the 
penalty for doing it is $50. Cabia Blanco. 
Is 'Trotective Coloring'' a Myth? 
" 'Protective coloring' is one of the doctrines of 
the modern naturalist, and there can be no denying 
that eggs, furs and feathers, not to mention forms, in 
some of the lower creatures, often harmonize with, or 
imitate their surroundings wonderfully, but is this 
harmonization protective? Eggs laid in holes in' trees 
and burrows in the earth are nearly invariably white, 
though in one case they are black, or nearly so; but 
eggs laid in full view of the sky are also often white, 
as those of many water fowl, sea birds, etc. Now, 
eggs _hid away require protection as much as those 
laid on open ground, but stoats, weasels, squirrels, 
rats, snakes, etc., know as well as you and I that hol- 
low trees, burrows and so on are the nesting places 
of hundreds of birds, and habitually enter such holes 
in search of their eggs. Where does the protective 
doctrine come in here? Again, variegated and colored 
eggs are usually laid in more or less bulky nests. Do 
you think a weasel or snake cannot see such nests in 
bushes and trees as well as you? Or that he is not 
quite as well aware as you what such nests are likely 
to contain? Yet, again, the eggs of eagles and some 
other birds of prey are beautifully mottled, and others 
which build in precisel}' similar spots, precisely similar 
nests, lay pure white eggs; as some vultures. Does not 
the vulture require as much protection from nature 
as the eagle? And with regard to the coloriiig of 
birds' plumage and the skins of animals, is it not 
ridicuolus to talk of such animals as tigers, jaguars 
and pumas requiring protection? In this case I shall 
probably be told that the protective coloring is to en- 
able them to approach their prey; but that will not 
do. For I know that such beasts of prey never ap- 
proach their victims except under cover of jungle, 
etc., and that the first intimation the latter receives of 
the vicinity of their destroyer is the fatal roar and rush 
with which he breaks cover. Besides, birds especially, 
which agree in habits and haunts, must necessarily re- 
quire the same amount and kind of protection, at 
least, so it seems to me; but they certainly do not get 
it. Two or three species of bell bird are dull colored 
songsters, easily hid, but at least one species is pure 
white, one of the most conspicuous colors in nature. 
And I could cite hundreds of parallel cases. The con- 
clusion to which I come is that the doctrine of pro- 
tective coloring is based on erroneous grounds. Na- 
ture's idea is to create a pleasing and curious variety 
to gratify the eye of man, nothing more; and in that 
opinion I am confirmed by the knowledge I have that 
neither coloration nor mimicry (the resemblance which 
certain animals, and particularly certain insects, have 
to other animals or inert objects), serves the purpose 
which naturalists have supposed it was intended to 
serve. For all these creatures which ai'e "protected" 
by color or mimicry, furnish a full quota of the prey 
of ravenous animals. Then, again, birds of the ostrich 
kind all lay their eggs on the bare ground, and mostly 
in very exposed positions where it is impossible for 
them to escape the eye of any chance passerby; yet 
some ostriches lay pure white eggs and others dark 
rifle-green ones. Why? No reason but a purely specu- 
lative one can be given. It may be urged that the 
African ostrich hides her eggs in the sand. I only 
know that she does not always do so. At all events, 
American and Australian ostriches do not hide their 
eggs, but rather seem to wilfully expose them." 
So writes Mr. Paul Fountain (a noted British trav- 
eler) in his new and most interesting work entitled 
"The Great Mountains and Forests of South Amer- 
ica." I thought it well worth w-hile to make an extract 
of his words and send them to Forest and Stream. 
What have your many naturalist readers to say about 
them? My own opinion (offered with all modesty 
and without any claim to expert knowledge) is, that 
Mr. Fountain is probably wrong. No doubt he has 
made out a very strong case, but it seems to me he 
has not gone deep enough or far enough. 
Now, it need hardly be said, there is the very best of 
reasons for protective coloring, which is implied by the 
phrase itself. Granting this, we may ask. How does the 
process develop? In the first place, then, it is a well- 
known fact that all birds and animals have an incli- 
nation or fondness for a certain environment (partly 
for material and partly for spiritual reasons). Fre- 
quenting this habitually they, through the operations 
of sympathy, superadded to the desire for safety, would 
come to assume the tones of the environment ; so, likewise, 
their eggs : not all the tones, of course, but selected ones. 
(This process, it should be remembered, is by no means 
ended.) We see the bear and ptarmigan of the polar 
regions are white like the snow, Avhile their congeners 
of the Rocky Mountains are brown, like the rocks. 
This may be stated to be the general rule, but like 
nearly all general rules there are many exceptions to it. 
And yet there may not be so many after all. For, sup- 
pose, we see a black or a white bird amid a mass of 
greenery; perhaps if we used our eyes we should dis- 
cover something matching their color not very far off 
and which would be instantly fled to should a hawk 
appear. But that there are exceptions there appears 
to be no doubt. How, then, are we to account for 
these exceptions? Well, perhaps, through an uncer- 
tain disposition and lack of sympathy. Nature cer- 
tainly works from within, and when there is a strong 
sympathy or desire she responds in unison I am 
reminded herer of Mr. Fountain's conclusion that "Na- 
ture s idea IS to create a pleasing and curious variety 
to gratify the eye of man." This doctrine might have 
gained credence— nay, did gain it. and miiversaUy al- 
most—in ante-Darwin days, but m these— well, I am 
afraid Jt might excite a smile in certain quarters at 
least. The eye of man, indeed! Nature doesn't care 
a fig for the eye of man. Man, to be sure, in his sub- 
lime egotism, has dubbed himself the lord of nature 
but he really has no more control over nature than 
the cat in his kitchen. He can kill and destroy it is 
true, but can he create a single thing barring his own 
species? But he has the sense of beauty! some one 
objects. He has, and it is well for him if he cultivates 
It, but let him not imagine for a moment that when 
the birds bedeck themselves with gay feathers and 
certain plants with gay flowers that they do so to 
p ease him They do so to please themselves, if you 
please, and nobody else. When there were no men 
here in America but howling, benighted savages, the 
birds and flowers were as bright and lovely as they are 
to-day. And Mr. Fountain himself has noted that in 
the most desolate regions of Brazil he observed the 
most beautiful orchids and hummingbirds he ever saw 
Yet all nature is one, in a sense, though workinr^ 
in diverse ways to some mysterious end Oh the 
mystery o it all, and the futility of trying to expound 
a certain doctnne on even one single phase of it such 
as the coloration of birds and animals. But of one 
thing we may be sure and that is, that aU is governed 
according to law. No hair or feather changes its hue 
except lu obedience to some compelhng principle. 
Properly, there is no such thing as chance in nature. 
o Francis Moonan. 
Mkhfg'an M«Ie Deei-, 
Mention was made some weeks ago in Forest and 
SfRtAM of the report that black tail jumping deer were 
occasionally k.lled in Michigan, and the report, while not 
'-^mrcmA by specimens, is interesting. 
We know that in northwestern Minnesota there is a 
;3r''/l deer of the northern plains, which, 
uider the name Cariacus nacroHs var. virgultus, was 
descriM m Forest and Stream of May 27, 1800, by Mr 
Chas Haliock. Just what relation this dark form of mule 
deer has to the typical mule deer of the plains is not known. 
AS Ur. C, Hart Merriam points out to us, the type of the 
plains mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus Rafmesqne) came 
from the Sioux River of South Dakota, but specimens 
trom this region have not been compared with those from 
the fprests of northern Minnesota, and it is therefore un- 
certain whether the very dark Minnesota form is the 
same as the typical mule deer from Sioux River If it is 
not the same, Mr. Hallock's subspecies would be a good 
one. 
_ It is a long way from northwestern Minnesota to Mich- 
igan, and It will certainly be very interesting if it should 
be tound that the form of mule deer occurs in Michigan. 
Nothing definite can be known on a point of this kind 
until specimens are had from the region in question 
Hibernation of Snakes. 
xMoegantown, W. VA.~Bditor Forest and Stream- 
A discovery has been made here, which, while it 
may not be new to naturalists, was a very o-reat 
surprise to me, as it no doubt would be to oth- 
ers. On the sixth day of this month, while James 
Kinsley and D. W. Breakiron were quarrying stone near 
here, they came upon six snakes in their winter quarters, 
all coiled up together, and they proved to be two copper- 
heads about thirty inches in length, two blackheads about 
live feet long and two house snakes about thirty-six 
inches long. 
_ They were very much alive when found, as they were 
m out oi reach of frost, but soon became numbed with 
the cold when brought out. 
, They were taken by a son of Mr. Kinsley and put away 
in a hayinow, and will be brought out in the spring and 
their actions studied. 
It may be known that different species of snakes hiber- 
nate together, but to me it is entirely new. 
Emerson Carney. 
Those Mississippi Squirrels, 
St. Augustine, Fla., Jan. 24.-Editor Forest and 
fh7fZ'r^^'-T^K''f '"PP°^t of his friend, 
the late Col. Bobo, but he doesn't throw a flood of light on 
the matter m dispute. Col. Bobo was a great bear hunter 
and knevv the animal from nose to tail, and I don't. There- 
fore, if Co . Bobo had stated that he had seen bears in 
count ess thousands swimming the Mississippi and had 
rowed among them in a boat, picking them up by the 
tail and throwing them in a basket, I wouldn't have dared 
to doubt It ; but when it comes to squirrels I'm at home 
and will stand by my guns. If those amphibious little 
animals had been ki led before being thrown in the bags 
and baskets I would never have expressed a doubt but 
they were not, or such an important item would not have 
been overlooked by Col. Bobo. I infer that Mr. Houoh 
ha.s never seen such a migration. Yet he says, "Indeed 
It did occur and as described." Now, hearsay evidence is 
not accepted m a court of law, and I call for proof. " 
DiDYMUS. 
This Deer Goes to Chwrch, 
Florodor.^ a handsome fawn owned by the cliildren 
A f'T' '^''^L^^^ '■'^'^^^"t °f Norfolk, Conn., 
followed Mr. Bridgman and his tamily to church the othe; 
night. The deer succeeded in getting into the vestibule 
and was about to pass up a side aisle when the sexton 
ejected it from the building. The fa^^m wai e,l S fd" 
homf^ht trlS^y.^^"^^^ ^hen xeturne'd 
