FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 14, 1909, 
9. R 9 
Cuckoo Days. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
For a week there had been occasional cuckoo 
called in the thickening woods. It was early 
June and pairing time; the promised rain was 
at hand and the cuckoos were all about the 
place and wildly jubilant. A cuckoo called in 
the orchard and one answered over along the 
creek. The answerer drew near and I soon 
located the bird in the butternut by the creek 
wall. Whatever the naturalists may say, when 
I hear a cuckoo in the orchard I am sure it is 
not the tent caterpillar or the canker worm that 
he is looking for, but a mate. 
Thinking that my little girl would like to see 
the bird in the butternut, I called to her and 
the wife came to the door. 
“Had you forgotten,” she asked, “that I found 
a dead cuckoo under the study window two years 
ago?” As she spoke she came out along the 
walk. ‘Why,” she exclaimed, “here’s one under 
the window now!” 
Stooping to pick it up she drew back sud¬ 
denly as the bird revived and fluttered along 
over the flower bed. I picked it up without 
much difficulty. A bird in the hand is worth 
two in the butternut. Its wings were whole, 
yet it seemed crippled and helpless. 
While we stood marveling at the coincidence 
and admiring the red-circled eyes and glossy 
plumage of the injured bird, a cuckoo darted 
by and alighted on the well sweep. An inquisi¬ 
tive bluebird or robin would have perched on 
the point of the sweep; the cuckoo alighted a 
little below the tip and on the further side and 
watched the proceedings for a time with mani¬ 
fest anxiety. It was the bird I had first seen 
in the butternut. He lingered there till a call 
came from the swamp, when he disappeared in 
that direction. 
Presently the bird in my hand struggled. I 
released him and he flew to a pear tree a few 
yards away When I followed and shook the 
tree he moved easily to the elm at the edge of 
the dooryard. There he remained, silent and 
motionless, for more than two hours. 
“Our cuckoo,” says the late Maurice Thomp¬ 
son, speaking of the yellow-billed bird—and our 
black-billed cuckoo is only a smaller edition— 
“though not notably combative, will fight with 
great fury in defense of its young, and the 
males engage in fierce, silent struggles for 
supremacy during the early part of the mating 
season.” Our crippled cuckoo had no doubt 
mistaken his reflection in the window for a 
rival and had been stunned by striking the glass. 
While we waited under the elm a cuckoo 
called among the willows and butternuts by the 
creek; another came and gurgled softly in a 
cherry tree close at hand. We saw his throat 
ruffled and swollen with ventriloquial sound. A 
gentle southeast wind blew up the valley; rain 
fell at intervals. There are always a few such 
days in June; I call them cuckoo days. 
Will W. Christman. 
Useful Birds. 
Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 7. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: The other day I climbed up to 
my wren house to ascertain how large the young 
ones were. There were four young in the cot¬ 
ton-lined nest. Every one had hatched out. 
The mother, who is always in the neighborhood 
of the box, flew down close and commenced a 
tirade that was evidently meant to warn me to 
get away as fast as I could. This outburst was 
a string of chipping notes helped out by a snap¬ 
ping of her bill. Hopping from limb to limb 
she came as close as my feet and there stopped 
and regarded me with what I took to be friendly 
suspicion. 
One day I placed several small earth worms 
on the platform of the ladder with the idea that 
they would come down for them. But they evi¬ 
dently had their own choice in the selection of 
an appropriate diet. 
There are a number of birds that have nested 
with us this year. No potato bugs in our little 
patch. A pair of grosbeaks have set their minds 
on cleaning them all away. It is wonderful how 
manj' bugs this variety of birds will kill. 
Robert Page Lincoln. 
Western Range of the Wild Turkey. 
New York City, July 20. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Among your readers there may be 
a few who can help me to determine the north¬ 
ern range of the wild turkey west of the Mis¬ 
souri River in early days. 
It is well understood that the turkey was 
fairly abundant on many streams flowing into 
the Missouri or its tributaries south of the 
Platte River. Except in one case I have no 
direct evidence as to just how far up those 
streams the turkey ranged. It is to be pre¬ 
sumed that on all the longer streams the turkey’s 
range went to the mountains; in fact, Indians 
in whom I have entire confidence, have told me 
of killing turkeys on the tributaries of the South 
Platte in the mountains west of where Denver 
now stands. Does anyone know whether tur¬ 
keys were ever found in the mountains about 
the head of the North Platte? Capt. W. L. 
Carpenter found turkeys on the Niobrara River 
and Dr. Coues tells us that he has evidence of 
their occurring on the White River. Were they 
found on the Cheyenne River? Does anyone 
know whether they ever got into the Black Hills? 
Alexander Henry, the younger, states that in 
1806 the Cheyenne Indians, coming up from the 
South, brought with them turkey tails for which 
the Mandans and the Minitari eagerly traded, 
from which we may infer that there were no 
turkeys on tributaries of the Missouri as far 
north as the then location of those tribes about 
Knife River. 
I suspect that, in the mountains, turkeys sel¬ 
dom or never crossed the divide between the 
north and south forks of the Platte River, and 
that they never got as far west as the Black Hills. 
Can any reader of Forest and Stream help 
me out in this matter? G. B. G. 
Alligator Habits. 
In a recent article in the County Gentleman, 
John D. Leckie, referring to the habits of South 
American alligators, says: 
“Although I have lived in many alligator-in¬ 
fested districts, I cannot remember, in my own 
experience, any case of an alligator vo’untarily 
attacking a human being. I have bathed fre¬ 
quently in rivers where they abound, where the 
natives have no fear of them. Humboldt men¬ 
tions the case of an Indian girl who was car¬ 
ried off by an alligator, but who had sufficient 
presence of mind to thrust her fingers into the 
animal’s eyes, when the pain caused him to n 
lease his hold. I believe also the same writi 
mentions another case where an alligator seize 
and carried off a man in the immediate neigl 
borhood of Angostura (Ciudad Bolivar), on tb 
Orinoco. The writer certainly does not que 
tion the veracity of the famous traveler, but tl 
cases referred to must have been exceptional, 
have lived in the part of South America (Ven 
zuela) which Humboldt visited, but have nevi 
heard of a case of an alligator attacking ma 
They certainly attack smaller animals. It is sa 
that when the South American fox ( Aguan 
wishes to cross a stream infested with alligato 
he approaches and commences to howl and yel 
thus attracting all the alligators in the vicinit 
When they have all collected in one spot 1 
runs at full speed half a mile or so up streai 
and there crosses in perfect safety. The san 
maneuver has been attributed to other anima 
such as the jaguar, and the statement is pro 
ably correct, for the Indians, who relate ti 
fact, are generally keen and accurate observe 
of nature.” 
Gift to National Zoological Park. 
W. W. Macmillan, an American, residi 
on the Juju farm, near Nairobi, British E; 
Africa, has just presented the National Zoolos 
cal Park at Washington with an interesting a-< 
unusual collection of living African anima 
some of which will be new to the collectk 
The gift is made through the Smithsoni 
African expedition, under the direction of Th( 
dore Roosevelt, and has been announced in 
letter received at the Smithsonian Instituti 
from Col. Edgar A. Mearns, of the expeditii 
According to this the collection consists > 
fourteen animals, eleven large mammals a 
three large birds, most of them well accustotr 
to captivity. There are a male and a fem 
lion two years old, a male and two female lie 
a year and a half old, a female leopard, t 
cheetahs, a warthog, one Thompson’s gazelle s 
one Grant’s gazelle, a large eagle, a vulture a 
a large hawk. Except for the lions and 
leopards none of these species is now rep 
sented in the collections at the National Park. 
A. B. Baker, assistant superintendent of 
National Zoological Park, has sailed from N 
York to take charge of the collection. He 
pects to secure for the park from Henry Taf* 
ton, near Nairobi, some zebras, a waterbuck ; 
two Coke’s hartebeests. 
Biltmore Forest School. 
Dr. Schenck’s plans for the future of ’ 
Biltmore Forest School are matured and hei 
forth it will be on a firmer basis than ever. 
Following the European trip, the spring 
summer months will be spent in the neighb 
hood of Pisgah Forest and later on the fl¬ 
ings of the Little River Lumber Company 1 
Townsend, Tenn. In the fall the school 
be with the C. A. Goodyear Lumber Comp! 
in Wisconsin or in Michigan. This arrat 
ment will not only give the students a w 
knowledge of lumbering, but will give their’ 
opportunity to meet lumbermen. 
The field work of July consisted of stump 
estimating, tanbark operations, acid wood op 1 
tions, railroad construction, studies of sec ( 
growth, timber identification and zoological • 
cursions. 
