ttURfU. 
VO it. XXVIII. No. 1 
WHOLE No. 1*34 
NEW YORK, .AND ROCHESTER, N. Y, SEPT. 20, 1873 
( PRICE SIX TENTH 
1 l'j.50 PER YEAII. 
I Entered acoorcUng to Act of Congress, in tlio year 1378, by D. 1' 
MoORi:, in tho ollice of the Tiibrarian of Congress. n*. Washington.J 
markable for the extraordinary length of its 
legs. These seem rather awkward and incon¬ 
venient, when on dry' land ; hut its move¬ 
ments are not ungraceful when seen wading 
in the shallow water of a lagoon, and busily 
collecting the insects on which it feeds. 
There is a black-winged species of this bird, 
which nas been found in Britain, but this is 
extremely rare. 
tho water in a, crock ; and the bird, having 
an eye to the business in hand, did not see 
me (1 was about fifteen foot oil'); it presently 
dived into the water and returned to its perch 
with a fish in its bill, about tho above stated 
length. The bird then began to beat the 
head of the fish against the limb on which it, 
was standing. After a few heats it would 
stop to see if the fish was dead ; this was 
done three limes, when the head of the fish 
was bleeding. It was dead, and was then 
swallowed. The kingfisher may swallow the 
AMERICAN DARTER AND STILT PLOVER 
\Yr herewith illustatcthe American Darter 
(Plutm anhinya) the very long-necked birds 
seen in the picture in two different attitudes. 
It abounds on the wooded banks of the 
river Esscquibo, in Guiana, but is found also 
in India, Africa and other parts of the world. 
Sitting on the bough of a tree overhanging 
the river, and hiding itself where it can 
amidst the foliage, it waits tho opportunity 
of prey to drop headforemost into the 
stream, diving to a great depth, and seizes 
tho fish with its long, sharp mandibles—all 
this being done in silence, and with little dis¬ 
turbance of the water. 
The smaller bird, shown in the foreground 
of our engraving, is the American Stilt Plo¬ 
ver (Hirn'intopiis nigricollis), which is re¬ 
KINGFISHERS AND FISH 
D. D. S., San Francisco, Cal., writes to the 
Scientific American :—“Mr. Darwin in his 
last book states that the kingfisher always 
kills the fish be fore swallowing it. Dr. Cuas, 
A. Abbott of Trenton, N. J., states that the 
fish is swallowed without killing, and often 
while the bird is on the wing. So far us my 
observation goes, when a fish is large, or 
about two and a half inches long, it is killed 
before being swallowed. I onee saw a king¬ 
fisher light on a limb close to the surface of 
CANNING GOPHERS 
A c orrespondent of the Pacific Rural 
Press, fells how ho canned gophers that were 
destroying his garden truck, tho first of June, 
as follows :—T did it vcrysncccssfiilly by cut¬ 
ting a smooth ditch arqdnd the tract, of the 
width and depth of /iie blade of a spade, 
and at intervals of fifty yards or more, sunk 
A'<VvHA, i ' 
V 
