R 92 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 29, 1910. 
The Homing Sense of Some Terns. 
In 1907 Dr. John B. Watson, of Johns Hop¬ 
kins University, made some interesting experi¬ 
ments on the homing instinct of the noddy and 
sootj' terns, at the Tortugas colony near the 
Marine Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie 
Institution. He took from their home birds of 
these species and liberated them at a distance 
in order to learn whether, and how soon, they 
would return to their breeding grounds. The 
report of the work done in 1907 is to be found 
in publication 103 of the Carnegie Institution. 
A similar set of experiments were conducted 
in the year 1910, and of these Dr. Watson spoke 
at the annual meeting of the National Associa¬ 
tion of Audubon Societies this week. Efforts 
were made to free the birds at Galveston, New 
York, Mobile and other points less distant, but 
the weather conditions were almost uniformly 
unfavorable for the experiments. Moreover, it 
was not until this year that it was learned that 
the birds to be set free ought to be shipped in 
individual cages, so that they can receive indi¬ 
vidual attention. A large cage divided into com¬ 
partments would save many birds. Dr. Watson 
found, in a number of cases, that many birds 
died either from starvation or were trampled 
to death. The birds seem to have an instinctive 
tendency to perch, and when a dozen or fifteen 
are put in a single cage, they seem to be con¬ 
stantly trying to climb up and perch on each 
other, with the result that many are seriously 
injured. 
On May 18 a shipment of twelve noddy terns, 
twelve sooties and four man-of-war birds were 
sent to Key West on their way to Galveston. 
The connection with the Galveston boat was not 
made, and the birds were set free in Key West 
Harbor sixty-five and a quarter miles east of 
Bird Key. The weather was stormy. All the 
noddies returned, but the time varied from seven¬ 
teen and one-half hours to two days fifteen hours. 
Of the sooties ten returned, three in about seven¬ 
teen and one-half hours, while some were eight, 
nine or eleven dfiys in returning. This shows a 
long memory for the nest locality and nest mate. 
Birds released in New York Harbor did not re¬ 
turn. They were in poor condition through lack 
of food. Two of a lot set free on the way, 365 
miles from Bird Key, returned, one at the end 
of four days, another after five weeks. 
Of three noddies and four sooties released in 
the open waters of the gulf, about 460 miles dis¬ 
tant from Bird Key, two noddies returned at the 
end of three days, having flown against heavy 
winds. None of the sooties returned. Of the 
birds released at Mobile none came back. 
In Dr. Watson’s earlier report he stated that 
terns are never seen in the water unless they 
fall in by accident. . This year he made tests as 
to the ability of the birds to rest on the water 
and to leave it again. He confined the birds in 
a large wire cage placed in water. Noddies and 
sooties swam easily on the water, after having 
tried to get out of the cage, but the former were 
much more at home there, folding the wings 
tightly against the body and holding breast and 
tail feathers high above the water. The sooties, 
on the other hand, were not at all at home. They 
kept their heads and tails barely out of the 
water and often kept their wings stretched out. 
The next morning one sooty was dead and the 
other was barely alive. It recovered, however, 
after being exposed to the sun. In similar ex¬ 
periments tried later, small wooden floats were 
put in the cage. On these both noddies and 
sooties rested, making little effort to get out of 
the cage, and both species were in perfect con¬ 
dition after a night so spent. This seems to 
establish the fact that while the noddy tern can 
spend the night on the water and be little the 
worse for it, the sooty tern will perish unless it 
finds floating driftwood or something on which 
it may rest. 
More Pigeon Reports. 
Perth Amboy, N. J., Oct. 20 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Andrew Allgair, of Sayreville, N. 
J., about six miles southwest of this city, told 
me recently that on Sept. 19, while on the South 
River marshes not far from the village, he 
started three wild pigeons, which got up very 
close to him and his companion. Having in 
former years shot and netted wild pigeons in 
Hunterdon and Somerset counties in New Jer¬ 
sey, he well knows the birds by sight and says 
that he could not possibly have mistaken doves 
for pigeons, the former being quite common, 
though not occurring in large flocks. The 
pigeons which he claims to have seen were the 
first to be observed in this locality, as far as I 
can learn in many years. 
J. Lawrence Kearny. 
The First Story of a Sheep Hunt. 
New York, Oct. 12. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I picked up on an old bookstand in 
this city the other day a volume of the European 
Magazine and London Review for the year 1803. 
Looking through the time-stained pages, filled 
with extremely interesting matter, illustrating the 
social life and political spirit of the day— 
Napoleon Bonaparte was a live topic for Lon¬ 
doners just then—I came upon an extract from 
the New York Daily Advertiser. This, I think, 
must be one of the earliest descriptions of the 
mountain sheep and sheep hunting. We must 
put ourselves back a hundred years to realize the 
interest that the account must have had for the 
reader of that day. Lewis and Clark had not 
then returned from their trip across the conti¬ 
nent, and no description of the mountain sheep 
had yet been written except the old one by the 
Spanish historians, arid what that description 
meant no one knew. I append the account. 
__ C. B. R. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE MY-ATTIC, OR 
MOUNTAIN-RAM. 
[From the New York Daily Advertiser.] 
In the fall of 1800 I was on an excurfion on 
horfeback through the plains that are fituated 
between the Safcatchevan and Miffouri rivers, 
along the rocky mountains accompanied by Mr. 
Thompfon, a Gentleman in the North Weft 
Company’s employ, five Canadians, and an In¬ 
dian guide. Returning back to the North, we 
followed the courfe of the Bow River, into the 
heart of the mountains, with a view of exam ii'- 
ing them, and on the 30th of November, at noon, 
we halted at the foot of the firft ridge to graze 
our horfes, and afeertain our latitude. At a 
little diftance a-head appeared a herd of fmall 
animals, which we took to be a fpecies of the 
Deer, in that country very numerous. 
While Mr. Thompfon was taking his meridian 
altitude, I went forward with the Indian to have 
a fhot, and, on a nearer approach, was very much 
furprized to find, inftead of Deer, a herd of 
about twenty animals that were utterly unknown 
to me. Pleafed with this difeovery, I advanced 
very cautioufly, keeping myfelf concealed from 
their view, to the diftance of about fixty yards. 
Here I halted, and was examining them with all 
the curiofity natural for a man to feel on fee¬ 
ing any unufual appearance; when the Indian, 
impatient at my delay, and fearful of difeovery, 
fired his gun, and killed a female on the fpot. 
The herd, alarmed by the report of the gun, took 
tc flight, and made for the rocks. Angry at the 
Indian’s impatience, I purfued them with eager- 
nefs—he followed, and in the courfe of the 
afternoon we killed four more, two of which 
were young ones. I had the fatisfaction to fhoot 
a large male, whofe motions appeared to guide 
the flight of the reft; his fuperior fize and 
enormous horns made him the particular object 
of my purfuit, and I have preferved his fkin, 
with a view of prefenting it to the Royal So¬ 
ciety of London. 
During the winter, I had frequent opportuni¬ 
ties of hunting this tribe, which has enabled me 
to make a few obfervations on it, that may be 
of advantage to Naturalifts, in afeertaining the 
genus or fpecies of the animal. The dimenfions 
of the above male, taken on the fpot where he 
was killed, namely, longitude 115.30. Weft, and 
latitude 50. North, are as follows; viz. length 
from the nofe to the root of the tail, 5 feet; 
length of the tail, 4 inches; circumference round 
the body, 4p2-feet; he ftands 3% feet high; 
length of the horn, 3Y2 feet; and girth at the 
head, ip[ feet. The horn is of the circular kind, 
proceeding in a triangle from the head like that 
of the ram; in fhort, this animal appears to be 
a compound of the deer and the fheep, having 
the body and hair of the former, with the head 
and horns of the latter. 
