July 16, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
91 
section of one of the staves has been removed, 
leaving a hole large enough for the bird to 
enter. A little sawdust strewed in the bottom 
of this cage will help the eggs and the young 
brood. Access to such a nest may be made by 
a stout pole running from the bottom of the 
pond or the surface of the water up past the 
entrance into the keg. When the birds are ready 
to breed they will travel about, investigating the 
neighborhood and are likely to find these nest¬ 
ing sites and take possession of one or more 
of them. 
After your birds have begun to lay—unless 
they are very tame, as they ought to be—you 
will do well to disturb their nests as little as 
possible. Leave them to nature and do not run 
the risk of frightening the birds and causing 
on the ground. He thinks nothing of thesd finds 
until accidentally some one tells him of the 
awards for discovery of undisturbed nestings. 
He goes back to the place again, but finds only 
the deserted nests. I have asked him to wire 
the nests on stiff cardboard, with every twig 
and straw just as it is, dirt, droppings and all 
and express to me. I have told him that I do 
not care to keep the nests, but would be willing 
to pay all expenses involved to get a look at 
them, and if any museum cares to pay anything 
for them I will consult him and let him have 
all that is offered for them. I have not received 
the nests yet, but they may come any day. 
A similar case is now pending in Ontario, but 
the finder claims that the birds have deserted 
and that there are two eggs in the nest. If the 
Births at the Zoological Park. 
Two or three weeks ago a big-game hunter, 
wandering through the Zoological Park in the 
Bronx, detected on a rock on the hillside west 
of the inclosure where the Rocky Mountain 
goats are confined, another goat in a pen by her¬ 
self. As he walked by to get a closer view, he 
saw that it was a female, and presently it became 
evident that lying close to her was a tiny little kid. 
The birth of a second white goat in the Zoo¬ 
logical Society’s collections is a most encourag¬ 
ing indication of the well being of these animals 
at sea level on the Atlantic coast, and the con¬ 
dition of the whole herd is gratifying. The goats 
are now five years old and presumably are fully 
matured. Dr. Hornaday has said of them that 
4 
WILDFOWL ON A LONG ISLAND FARM. 
One of Henry Cook’s ponds, showing how ducks clear vegetation from the margin of a pond. 
them to desert the nest. If you do that, the 
breeding powers of this particular pair are prob¬ 
ably lost to you for a season. Orange, 
[to be continued.] 
Passenger Pigeon Report. 
Clark University, Worcester, Mass., July 8.— 
Editor Forest and Stream: It has been impossi¬ 
ble to send in weekly reports on the passenger 
pigeon work, not for the reason that there has 
been nothing to report, but because so much cor¬ 
respondence has been open all the while, and I 
have constantly been expecting more definite in¬ 
formation about some finding with almost every 
mail. At present date there are eight reports 
pending investigation. Four of them,-however, 
are from California and west of the Rocky 
Mountains and probably all relate to some other 
species of pigeon. The rest are from Ontario, 
and those who report claim to know all about 
the difference between mourning doves and 
pigeons. 
To show how the investigation has gone I may 
cite the following case: A man in seeking work 
in lumber camps of Northern Pennsylvania 
stumbles upon the nesting place of one colony 
and sees two nests in the same tree. Some 
weeks later he passes the place and finds a squab 
birds have deserted, he will send me nest and 
eggs; if not, I shall have someone in the Uni¬ 
versity of Toronto investigate. Another man is 
feeding a flock of the pigeons, but has not suc¬ 
ceeded in locating any nests as yet. If these 
turn out to be pigeons I shall visit Ontario with 
my .camera in the near future. 
C. F. Hodge. 
Police and Work Dogs. 
The breed of dogs used in Berlin, and in Ger¬ 
many generally, for police purposes is, accord¬ 
ing to Consul-General Frederic W. Cauldwell, 
of Berlin, the so-called “German shepherd dog.” 
The characteristics and qualities that make this 
breed especially valuable for this purpose are 
(1) their intelligence and teachableness, (2) 
their “good nose” and deliberateness in follow¬ 
ing a scent and (3) their agility and strength, 
coupled with gentleness and an absence of all 
savage traits. For these reasons they are here 
considered superior to the bloodhounds or the 
Airedale, another German police dog. These 
dogs are carefully bred and reared, and there 
is an association of the breeders of German 
shepherd dogs with headquarters in Munich. 
They are the same as the Ghent police dogs, 
frequently referred to in these columns. 
“they are apparently thoroughly acclimated and 
healthy.” 
The tiny new kid was born June 8 and seems 
a strong and hearty little beast. The one born 
a year or two ago is big and strong and prac¬ 
tically full grown. The two losses which have 
taken place from this herd have been of females 
—the mother of the kid born a year or two ago 
and a young female that was received on deposit 
in May, 1909. The fact that two kids have now 
been born to this herd makes it seem very de¬ 
sirable to secure, if possible, two or three addi¬ 
tional females. 
When the same big-game hunter passed the 
buffalo pen, he had the pleasure of counting five 
big sturdy buffalo calves—one or two of them 
already beginning to turn dark. Besides these 
there have been born this spring in the Zoo¬ 
logical Society’s Park six European red deer, 
one Barasingha deer, one Sika deer, one equine 
deer, one axis, two mule deer, three elk, one 
Altai wapiti, two fallow deer, two Himalayan 
tahr, four ring-tailed lemurs, two peccaries and 
one Bactrian camel. 
The birds have also bred well. There are 300 
young mallard ducks swimming in the ponds, 
seventeen Canada geese, five Cereopsis geese 
and seven white call ducks. Five Formosan 
pheasants have been hatched. 
