Almost equally common, and in fact better 
known from the small boy’s habit of carving his 
initials on the shells, is the wood turtle that is 
found sometimes in dry woods and fields, and 
the sportsman often sees it, for frequently his 
dogs point it, as if it were a hiding quail. 
The food of this turtle is chiefly vegetable, 
and A. H. A. Allard, of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry, in Washington, reports that it greed¬ 
ily eats the leaves of the mullein and seems 
especially fond of the common sorrel. It 
eagerly eats wild strawberries, reaching up and 
pulling down the plants above it to get at the 
fruit. Besides this vegetable diet, examinations 
of its stomach by the Pennsylvania Department 
of Agriculture show that it eats insects and 
mollusks. It is possible, however, that these 
things may be accidentally taken into the mouth 
[with the leaves and berries on which it com¬ 
monly feeds. 
• Very little that is definite is known about the 
(habits of our turtles and their economic worth 
with relation to agriculture. They deserve more 
'study than has been given them, for much that 
lis interesting may be learned by such study. 
Tree Pesls. 
Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 17. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: The much dreaded tree worms 
that wrought so much damage to Minnesota 
foliage fifteen years ago are putting in an ap¬ 
pearance again with the indication that if their 
nests are not destroyed this fall, next summer 
will see millions of the unsightly webs all over 
the State. Old-time residents call them green 
tree worms and take them for the same that 
sixteen years ago appeared in small numbers to 
propagate undisturbed and the following sum¬ 
mer to overrun the State. A professor at the 
university of Minnesota says that his memory 
is that the former pest was the tent worm, while 
those appearing so generally this fall are the fall 
:ent worm. Whatever the little worm is called, 
te says that if they are not destroyed imme- 
iiately they will work havoc with Minnesota 
:oliage next year. There are two methods of 
:xtermination. One is to spray with paris green 
he foliage adjacent to the web nests. The 
Caterpillars live on this foliage and the poison 
vill kill them. 
The nests are conspicuous from a few feet to 
lown to inches in diameter. The caterpillars make 
hem as a refuge against their enemies, espe- 
ially wasps and birds. Frequently the nests are 
pread around the portion of the foliage intended 
0 be devoured. It requires about a month for 
■ caterpillar to come to maturity. Then they 
eave their nests and pupate in hiding places 
uring the winter, the small gray white moths 
ppearing in the early spring. Neither the cater- 
illar nor the moth is particularly migratory and 
aey seldom go far from their home, although 
: is said that even if one place is entirely rid 
f the nests it can still be infested from ad- 
oming grounds if the moths appear in any un- 
sual number. 
If these caterpillars are allowed to become 
umerous they will undoubtedly defoliate all the 
'ees and likewise kill them, for they are known 
> work havoc on whole acres. Those who have 
^served the pest this fall say they prefer the 
)ft-wooded trees and that the oaks are almost 
1mune - Robert Page Lincoln. 
Hermit Thrush out of Place. 
New York City, Oct. 18.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: For about two weeks there has been 
seen in the back yard of a city house on the 
east side near Fourteenth street a little hermit 
thrush. 
To one accustomed to see this bird in its 
natural haunts the sight seems strange, for the 
bird’s quarters are contracted and all about it 
rise tall buildings which might almost appear to 
be a barrier to cut off its escape. When in the 
yard referred to, the bird spends its time chiefly 
on the ground or among the leaves and branches 
of some palms and other plants, searching for 
food. This it seems to find, and it is active and 
FIVE-MONTHS-OLD GOSHAWKS. 
From a photograph by T. H. Jackson. 
in good condition. Of course, it has a wide 
range, since the walls and fences separating the 
yards of the different buildings are not high; 
yet I cannot but wonder when cold weather 
comes if the little wanderer will be able to get 
out of its great pen and find its way across this 
big city and the wide water which surrounds it, 
to the open fields of New Jersey. 
It is difficult to understand how it came to 
drop down into so unfavorable a resting place, 
for most of the yards are paved with flags or 
asphalt or cement. But here it is, living a lonely 
life within the sound of the clanging bells of 
street cars, the shrill tooting of fire engines, the 
tramp of foot steps and the murmur of con¬ 
versation rising from the crowds that morning 
and evening pour 1 Wes 1 ! dfrfl east on the way to 
and from their' daily tbiii It 'must sleep under 
the glare of electric' lights,' and altogether its 
situation is different "enough from that in which 
'one should 1'6'ok tb see a 'hermit thrush. 
What will be' its ultimate fate? Will that 
Power that watches the spar'row’s fall' guide it 
safely on its way to Southern climes, or, con¬ 
fused and bewildered by an unaccustomed en¬ 
vironment, will it perish unnoticed and unmissed 
as do so many human inhabitants of this great 
city? E. P. G. 
Nature Calls Park Ducks. 
The services of a trapper of wildfowl are 
likely to be required very soon in Central Park 
if it is desired to prevent many of the young 
wild ducks and geese hatched there during the 
summer from heading southward when the fall 
migration begins. The old wildfowl which dwell 
the year around on several of the Central Park 
lakes are confined there by the simple expedient 
of clipping one wing of each bird. 
According to the Times the keepers say that 
all of the young wildfowl are likely to follow 
the migrating flocks southward when the ducks 
and geese, which have summered in the North 
and Northwest, begin to swing southward over 
the park. The only way to keep the youngsters 
here, say the keepers, is to catch them and clip 
one of their wings. 
But' the job of catching them is not an easy 
one. Wildfowl are wary, -even at night. The 
mother fowl sees to it that no one gets near the 
offspring. Even at feeding time the geese and 
ducks, which have flocks of young ones, keep 
their families away from the shore until the 
keepers leave. 
The keepers say that about the only way to 
capture the wildfowl of this season’s hatch is 
to trap them with nets such as are used by trap¬ 
pers in the. North. The park keepers have none 
of these net traps. The question of detaining 
the young wildfowl will be passed upon in the 
near future. The migration season will begin 
very soon. 
Recent Publications. 
Getting Acquainted with the Trees, by J. 
Horace McFarland. Decorated cloth, 241 
pages, illustrated from photographs by the 
author, $1.50 net. New York, the Macmillan 
Company. 
Originally these papers appeared in the Out¬ 
look, but, presented in book form, are of added 
value to nature lovers. The illustrations are 
very numerous, and as they were made from 
especially good negatives, they are of great 
value in the work of identification and com¬ 
parison. To further this work the text is in 
popular form, dealing more with common than 
with scientific terms. The full page pictures of 
tree and shrub types are happily chosen, while 
the text pages are adorned with small pictures of 
leaves and flowers and the title pages and intro¬ 
ductions are printed in tints. It is a book every 
tree lover should have. 
Adrift on a"n Ice-Pan, by Wilfred T. Grenfell. 
Cloth, illustrated from photographs, 69 
pages, 75 cents net. Boston and New York, 
Houghton Mifflin Company. 
This little book relates the trying experiences 
of Dr. Grenfell who, during one of his volun¬ 
tary sledge journeys over the ice in Northern 
Newfoundland to attend a sick boy, was caught 
in a storm, the ice broke up and - he was blown 
off shore, passing a day and a night on a small 
ice floe with his dogs. That he lived to tell the 
story, and thaf'he was -found at all' by" friends 
are regarded by Newfoundlanders as almost 
miraculous. 
y 
