FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. is, i0c*4. 
Animals of Ancient Sculptors. 
The scupltures and frescoes of ancient Assyria, Baby- 
lonia, and Egypt abound in representations of men, and 
of domestic and wild animals. These were undoubtedly 
reproduced from specimens more or less familiar to the 
sculptors or painters, and were not flights of the artist's 
imagination. Nevertheless, very little attention has been 
paid to these figures by naturalists, and they have been 
called by names that were most inappropriate. 
In a recent number of Nature, Mr. R. Lydekker has 
figured numbers of animals represented in these ancient 
monuments, showing that in many cases the animals are 
so "well represented that there is no difficulty whatever in 
identifying them. Thus a figure reproduced from the 
Ptahhetep Chapel shown in the work entitled, "The 
Mastaba of Ptahhetep," at Saggareh, is clearly a Nubian 
ibex (Capra nubiana). It is true, the cross ridges on the 
front surfaces of the horns are not indicated, but the 
great circular horn sweep is unmistakable, while the 
beard on the chin makes the identification certain. 
Another ungulate figure is that of the aoul or 
Fig. i.— Nubian ibex, from the Ptahhetep 
Chapel. 
Soemmerring's gazelle (Gasella soemmerringi). The dif- 
ference between the short and sturdy legs of the goat 
and the long and slender ones of the gazelle are clearly 
brought out, the horns are as they should be, and so is 
Fig. 2.— Soemmerring's gazelle, from 
the Ptahhetep Chapel. 
the tail. Another specimen less certainly identified is 
perhaps the lesser kudo. 
Very characteristic of the North African desert is the 
oryx {Oryx leucoryx), here pictured, whose long back- 
FiG. 5. — White oryx, from the Ptahhetep 
Chapel. 
ward sweeping horns and long and thickly haired tail are 
absolutely unmistakable. This oryx is still common in 
upper Nubia, as is another species— Oryx beisa— which 
ranges in Somaliland, east Abyssinia and northeastern 
Africa generally. ; 
In some of these Egyptian frescoes which show the 
Bull Hoot. 
coming of people bearing tributes from the land of Cush, 
the carnivora are represented by undoubted lions and 
leopards, the figures being shown in Gpss's "Ancient 
Egypt" and in this same volume is found a portrait of a 
giraffe with a dogface baboon clinging to its throat. 
Nor are the smaller animals entirely neglected in the 
representations on the Ptahhetep Chapel. Here are found, 
among other things, the figure of what is probably the 
little great eared fox of Africa, known as fenriec (Canis 
famehcus). Ihe little beard seen under the chin (Fig. 
D)^ probably represents the well developed bristles or 
whiskers which are found in that species. 
The animal A is thought to be the Egyptian mon- 
goose, the snake killer, which was so greatly venerated 
by the inhabitants of the Nile Delta. The little animal 
marked B is a jerboa or jumping rat, while the two ani- 
mals at C are hedgehogs. Of these last, Dr. Lydekker 
says : 
"A remarkable instance of fidelity to nature occurs in 
the two portraits of a hedgehog shown at C, from the 
Ptahhetep hunting scene, one of these representing the 
animal standing in the open, and the second showing it 
coming out of a hole with a locust in its mouth. The 
well developed ears clearly show that the species depicted 
is the long-eared hedgehog (Erinaceus auritus), which 
differs from its European cousin by the large size of 
the ears." 
In Vaux's "Nineveh and Persepolis" are found many 
figures of wild animals, and among them is one shown in 
the bull hunt which Dr. Lydekker very reasonably con- 
siders a gnu, and very likely the white-tailed gnu, speci- 
mens of which may now be seen in the collections of the 
New York Zoological Society at Bronx Park. The ani- 
mal differs from, the bulls ordinarily shown in Egyptian 
frescoes, and suggests in horns and tail the white-tailed 
gnu (Connochaetes gnu). 
A further study of these old sculptures may give hints 
to the naturalists of the ancient range of some of these 
species which have long been extinct in the territory 
where their figures- are still found. 
Breeding Wildfowl. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A sportsman friend down in St. Joe writes me that they 
have a mallard farmer down there who is destined to 
make a stir in the Western decoy business. "That Anas 
boschas can be reared in captivity," he says, "and at a neat 
profit at that," has been conclusively established by Peter 
Follman, a resident of that city. Follman has at present 
on his place more than 150 of these beautiful game birds 
so much prized by our wildfowlers. 
"Mr. Follman is a stationary engineer employed at one 
of the St. Joseph packing houses. He works twelve hours 
a day and yet finds time to look after the needs of his 
feathered family. So quietly has he conducted his- duck 
industry that it has passed beyond the experimental stage 
with little notice except from sportsmen. The building 
in which he has hatched and reared his ducklings is one 
admirably adapted to the purpose. It is an old, well 
lighted storeroom, formerly used by the packing house 
in which Follman works. In one corner is a large vat 
or tank, which makes an ideal swimming pool. Around 
it pebbles and gravel have been spread, and cattails and 
reeds have been planted. 
"In another part of the building the hatchery is located. 
It consists of a space on the floor about six feet square 
inclosed with- cleats made with lath. In this place the 
food, which is mostly fragments from packing house em- 
ployes' dinners, is deposited once a day by Mr. Follman. 
On these occasions one may hear an unusual number of 
quacks, and the flutter of many wings, and, were he not 
watching, might readily suppose that the birds were 
eagerly flocking to the feast prepared for them, after the 
fashion of chickens or domestic ducks. But such is not 
the case. On the contrary, his daily visit seems to be a 
signal for them to hunt cover, which they do with sur- 
prising alacrity. 
"By the time he has gotten fairly into the room, there 
is not a duckling in sight, nor can one be heard anywhere. 
Shortly after he has left, however, they emerge from 
their hiding places and fairly tumble over one another in 
. their greed to get at the good things left for them. This 
wildness of their nature has been a perplexing problem to 
Mr. Follman, and a determination to overcome it was for 
a time his only incentive in rearing them. 
"The ducks are all mallards, and the first were obtained 
from eggs found at Mud Lake, near St. Joseph. Follman 
had these eggs hatched by a hen, and took particular 
pains to domesticate the orphans. They would not take 
kindly to his overtures of friendship, however, and he 
decided that perhaps the next generation would be more 
inclined to do so. 
"In this lot, however, he was as much disappointed as 
in the first, and finally he gave up all hope of domesticat- 
ing 'the little devils' as he called them, and told a friend 
that he guessed he would turn them loose. But the friend 
had a commercial head, and was somewhat of _ a sports- 
man besides; so he told Follman just to wait and he 
would show him something worth while. 
"Accordingly he took several of the ducks to a near-by 
lake and had them anchored as decoys, and came home 
with a full game-bag where other sportsmen got nothing. 
There was a general inquiry as to where he had obtained 
his decoys, and he revealed the secret. Then there was 
a stampede for Follman's place, but the friend had been 
there ahead of them, and had given Follman an idea of 
about what a pair of decoys should sell for. His whole 
stock would have been sold out in a single day, had he 
not remembered that he had better keep a few ducks 
with which to raise more. Thus it was that he discovered 
the commercial .value of the little feathered creatures, 
and now he has no thoughts of wasting his time trying to 
domesticate them. 
"This last season Follman has had a big demand for 
his ducks as decoys, and a yet larger and more lucrative 
demand from that class of sportsmen who go hunting 
and fail to bag anything, and yet don't dare go home 
without something to make a showing. So steady and 
strong has been the latter demand that Mr. Follman has 
been forced to raise his prices on all his ducks, as he has 
frequently been offered from $5 to $10 for the birds in 
case 'nothing is said about it.' " 
When asked whether or not he would continue the 
duck business on a larger scale, Mr. Follman replied that 
he would. 
"I can, with a little more work, double or treble my 
present output," he said, "and I have not yet found it 
necessary to advertise my business in order to find 
buyers. I think that this next year I will try raising 
teal as well as mallards, for I find there is a large demand 
for them, especially for decoy purposes." 
Sandy Griswold. 
Omaha, Neb. 
Rest, Robins and Rain. 
Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 2.— After years of wandering I 
came back the other day to the old home in Middle Ten- 
nessee, and I find with gratification that the robins have 
usurped the ancient nesting and feeding places of the 
blackbirds. This is just around our house, situated quite 
in town, but surrounded by five acres of trees, garden, 
and meadow. A great and venerable chestnut stands in 
the blue-grass lawn, and the feathery tassels have but 
lately dropped to give place to the delicate pin-cushions 
through which great white black and red woodpeckers 
dart continually. This imposing center is flanked by a 
noble company of mountain ash, spruce, and pine, and in 
consequence of this forest growth I can sit any day on 
our front veranda and see a half dozen or more varieties 
of wood birds, including orchard orioles, vireos, warblers, 
cuckoos, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, and flickers; 
besides, there are the suburban catbirds, cardinals, robins, 
blackbirds, jays, and mockingbirds. 
It is a fine thing to sit thus for hours on these rainy 
days with a book, half nodding, half reading, and with a 
look now and then at the comedies of bird life all around. 
A pair of robins have a nest in some umbrageous box 
elders near where I now write, and they are engaged in 
a continual warfare with the jays and blackbirds who in- 
vade their territory. In periods of truce the male mounts 
to a topmost twig or on a favorite perch on the carriage- 
house and gives out his rollicking triumph. He has no 
great repertoire, but I am very much pleased at being 
wakened every morning at five o'clock by his cheery notes, 
and to_ see him running on the grass in his comical way, 
capturing an occasional worm, is worth coming many 
miles. 
Yesterday afternoon after the rain Bre'r Rabbit also ap- 
peared on the lawn, jerking his ears in the most knowing 
fashion, and heading toward the pea patch. 
Between showers yesterday my nephew and I went out 
after doves, this being the first day of the open season for 
this game. The bunching had hardly begun, but we found 
enough to give my companion some fine targets, which he 
brought to bag in good form. He is one of the best shots 
in the State, and his long reaches after these curving 
rockets sustained admirably this reputation. From the 
size of the covey of young quail we flushed on the way 
home, there is evidence of a fine lot of hunting here, be- 
ginning November 1. The same reports come from my 
peach orchard, Mabellon, in northern Alabama, where I 
have lately had the pleasure of gathering bushels of 
luscious Elbertas with my own hands. , E. M. 
The Ruffed Grouse in Captivity. 
Worcester, Mass., Aug. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have this day witnessed a sight which has caused me 
more surprise and interest than anything connected with 
our grandest game bird ever did before. I have seen four 
birds, two cocks and two hens, which were hatched in 
captivity ten weeks ago yesterday, just as healthy, just as 
happy, and just as contented as domestic fowl. These 
birds do not seem to possess any fear of man. I stood 
close beside the wire netting and watched one wallowing 
in the dirt, and though I was within three feet of him, he 
betrayed not the slightest fear. And to further illustrate: 
their confidence in their worst known enemy, the gentle- 
man who raised them opened the door of their house, and! 
stooping down with some blueberries in his hand softly- 
whistled, and behold, the birds came and fed from his 
hand. They betrayed not the slightest timidity. At which 
I marveled much. As I understood it, the eggs were 
hatched under a motherly bantam hen, and twelve eggs 
were selected, six each from two separate nests. A very 
cold storm was responsible for the death of two or three, 
and cats for one or two others, but he has four beautiful, 
vigorous birds left, and they give every promise of matur- 
ing. The gentleman who has accomplished all this is 
Dr. Hodge, of the Clarke's University faculty, and he is 
the most enthusiastic, sanguine individual regarding the 
feat it was ever my good fortune to meet. In the fall he 
will transfer them to more commodious quarters, and I 
shall be glad to apprise you of their condition then. They 
are nearly or quite two-thirds grown. J. W. B. 
The Herald, of Aug. 4, published the following, 
which will be read with a feeling of sadness by all 
sportsmen: 
"Percy C. Ohl, twenty-five years ago one of Plain- 
field's wealthiest men, has been taken to the New Jersey- 
State Hospital for the Insane, at Morris Plains, de- 
mented and poverty stricken. For some time he hadi 
had a hallucination that his friends were plotting against 
the life of President Roosevelt, and he had written to. 
the chief executive, offering to divulge the plot uponi 
the receipt of $20 and a pair of shoes. These letters, 
were returned to the authorities here and resulted in 
his commitment, after Drs. Lufborrow and Zeglio ex- 
amined him. Mr. Ohl at one time owned an interest 
in the Clyde line steamers and disposed of his stock 
for $150,000. He lived in luxury and took great in- 
terest in promoting gentlemen's sports, including breed- 
ing fine dogs." 
