Chapter II: Part 2

The poultry yard is safe from the depredations of these quiet birds, which, though sluggish and heavy in flight, can move with great rapidity and soar high in the air if they so desire. Even the small birds in the woods seem to consider them to be harmless, for they give them but little attention. When this bird does attack small birds it is either, as a rule, when they are very young or injured in some manner.

Its nest is usually made of sticks and twigs and lined with soft fibrous strips of bark, leaves and feathers that fall from the breasts of the setting birds. The nests are placed in either evergreen or deciduous trees, and seldom more than thirty or forty feet from the ground. They are frequently much lower and occasionally in the tops of very tall trees. They have been known to use the deserted nests of other birds, especially that of the crow, which is nearly as large as their own structure.

Dr. Fisher says that one of its notes quite closely resembles that of the wood pewee. Another writer says that “their call note is a peevish ‘chee-e-e-e,’ prolonged at pleasure and uttered in a high key. However, to fully appreciate their shrill note of complaint it must be heard.”

THE BIRD’S COMPLAINT.

Great Nature, lend an ear while we,
The feathered fowls of air,
From mead and furrow, bush and tree,
From pool and mountain, shore and sea,
With one accord pour forth to thee
Our earnest cry and prayer.

From lime and net, from gin and snare,
And from those vile decoys
That slay their thousands unaware,
We pray thee save us, and declare
Thy wrath against what man soe’er
Such evil means employs.

Chasten, correct and scourge the boys
Who count it nobly done
To turn to grief our marriage joys,
To take our precious eggs for toys,
And bear away with mocking noise
The spoil so foully won.

But most from men that use the gun,
That engine of ill scope,
For refuge unto thee we run;
They march to slay us in the sun,
And through the dark, which others shun,
Their murderous way they grope.

Lastly, we pray thee, on the Pope
Prevail to let us be;
We would not hang him in a rope,
And have as good a right, we hope,
Unstrangled under heaven’s high cope,
To live our lives as he.
—Henry Johnstone.

CALIFORNIA POPPIES.

A flower of the South and the Sun,
Sown upon limitless plains;
Fed by the death of the summer grasses,
Watered by winter rains.

When the wild spring streams are running,
She raises her head and cries,
“Blow off my emerald cap, good wind,
And the yellow hair out of my eyes!”
And a fair fine lady she stands,
And nods to the dancing sea,
O the rose you have trained is a lovely slave,
But the wild gold poppy is free!
—Camilla K. von K.

Spring in California—soft, warm, full and bounteous. Birds twittering and building nests everywhere.

In February the poppies bloom in splendor, and no season of the year is so beautiful, so radiant with glory as the poppy time. Coming after a spell of rainy weather, when the mists have lifted from the face of nature, they usher in the long summer.

In California the interest centering in the poppy is universal, and it is the most beautiful of California’s flora. It is the favorite flower, being the State flower, suggestive in color, divine in inspiration and poetry, besides the precious gold and orange to be found in this land.

The naturalist Adalbert von Chamisso arrived at San Francisco in 1816 on the ship Rurick. Seeing the poppy for the first time, he christened it Eschscholtzia (esh-sholts-i-a), after Herr Eschscholtz, his friend and companion of the ocean journey. The Spanish people call it El oro de copo (the cup of gold).

This poppy grows in portions of Oregon, Arizona and Mexico, but in California it has a beauty such as you can find nowhere else.

They grow about one foot high. The cups of gold rest on slender, graceful stems; the foliage delicate and olive green in color. This royal poppy is rich in coloring, cool and refreshing in the midst of tropical heat. It is one of the most characteristic and beautiful features of California’s scenery. Associated with it are sunny skies, beauty, sea breezes and waving palms.

Under the sun of a bright day the scene is like an Italian landscape—a blue sky without a cloud. The eye wanders here and there to the gold spread far and wide, and the question rises, Was there ever such flowers as these? Myriads of rich, gorgeous, brilliant poppies nod, lean, dance and swing their dainty cups of gold in the breeze. A mass of tossing gold, sheets of gold fire running up the valley, hill slopes and mountains. The pasture, mesa and uplands are all aglow. Poppies everywhere, found along the sea-shore in great patches, by the roadside, hid in the fence corners, in the green grass, at the edge of the woods, in the deserts and waste places. They appear like unfurled banners of a victor army, like waving billows in the breeze, like a golden sea, rippling against a blue horizon.

They are the flowers, around which the tourists linger, and they go into raptures over them. Gathered by armfuls, they are carried to hotels and pressed in books, then taken East, as souvenirs of this sunny land.

On “Poppy Day” the desks in the schools, the tables and mantels in the hotels are decorated with bouquets of the golden blossoms.

Children worship them in their delight and greet one another with “The poppies are in bloom!” then scamper off by dozens to the mesas, where they deck their hair with poppy garlands and race to and fro like butterflies, wading knee-deep in poppy dust of gold.

Above their happy voices the songs of the meadow larks can be heard, clear, mellow and thrillingly sweet.

A golden spell lingers around the scene, an influence that penetrates the soul.

Clara Hill.

QUARTZ.

The crypto-crystalline (obscurely crystalline) varieties of Quartz are many. The following may be named as the most important: Chalcedony, carnelian, sard, chrysoprase, prase, plasma, bloodstone, agate, onyx, sardonyx, jasper, basanite, flint and hornstone. The distinctions between the different varieties are loose and are differently stated by different authorities. Some class agate, onyx, sardonyx, plasma and carnelian together as varieties of chalcedony, while others consider chalcedony a simple variety. The chalcedonic varieties of quartz agree in having a fibrous structure and in being somewhat softer (hardness 6½) and somewhat lighter (specific gravity 2.6) than crystallized quartz. They also break with more difficulty than quartz, being very tough. The varieties differ among themselves, chiefly in color.

Common chalcedony has a waxy luster and is usually translucent rather than transparent. The transparent forms are known as “oriental,” the translucent as “occidental” chalcedony. Common chalcedony has little color, shades of gray and blue being the most common, although other tints occur. It usually presents rounded surfaces which have grape-like, kidney-like or stalactitic forms. It occurs coating other rocks or minerals or lines cavities or fills veins and clefts. It is never, so far as we know, deposited in any other way than by percolating waters. At Tampa Bay, Florida, the waters containing chalcedony have penetrated corals and preserved them, often giving forms showing the shape of the coral outside and a cavity within. Throughout the “Bad Lands” of the West, clefts in the hills are often filled with sheets of chalcedony varying in thickness from that of thin paper to nearly an inch. These chalcedony veins ramify in all directions and often extend for many rods without interruption.

When the chalcedony is penetrated by branching forms of manganese or iron oxide the forms known as “mocha stones” and “moss agates” are produced. These are not due to vegetation any more than the similar forms of frost on our window panes. They are purely mineral in their origin. Moss agates are found in numerous localities in the States of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana. In the opinion of Mr. George F. Kunz “no stone that is used in jewelry in the United States is cheaper, more beautiful or more plentiful than the moss agate.” The best occur as rolled pebbles in the beds of streams. The name, “Mocha stone,” sometimes applied to moss agates is either due to the fact that those first used came from Mocha in Arabia, or it is a corruption of the word moss agate. The finest moss agates now known come from India. A white variety of chalcedony containing minute blood red spots is known as St. Stephen’s stone. Chalcedony was formerly used much more and more highly prized than at the present time. It was especially employed for seals and rings, but also for plates, cups and vases. These were often engraved in the most elaborate manner, the hardness and toughness of the stone making it well adapted for this purpose. The sentiment of the stone is: “A disperser of melancholy.” The name chalcedony is from Chalcedon, a city in Asia Minor, where the original chalcedony was found. This mineral was probably not like our modern chalcedony, however, being more probably a green quartz. This chalcedony is mentioned as one of the foundation stones of the Holy City in the Book of Revelations.

Left column:
Bloodstone, polished (India.)
Tiger Eye, polished (South Africa.)
Center:
Chrysoprase, polished (Arizona.)
Agate and Carnelian, polished (Lake Superior.)
Right column:
Jasper (Germany.)
Ribbon Jasper, polished (Siberia.)

Carnelian is a red variety of chalcedony, sard a brown variety. All gradations between these shades of course occur, those of the reddish cast being the most common. The most highly prized color for carnelian is a deep blood red, appearing darker red in reflected light. The lighter red and yellowish shades are less desirable, stones of these shades being known as “female carnelians,” while those of the darker shades are known as “male” carnelians. The colors are due to oxides of iron and can sometimes be changed by heating. Thus the yellowish and brownish carnelians being colored by iron hydroxide can be changed by heating to red, the water being driven off and iron oxide left. The heating may be done in the sun or by some other slow means. Even olive green stones are changed in India to red by this process. The color may also be introduced artificially by allowing the stones to lie in a mixture of metallic iron and nitric acid, or of iron sulphate for a while. In this way the iron salt needed for the coloring matter can be absorbed by the stone and this is changed afterwards to oxide by heating. The best carnelians come from India, but good stones are also obtained in Siberia, Brazil and Queensland. Carnelians are cut usually in oval and shield-like shapes and were much employed by the ancients for intaglios. They believed them to have the power of preventing misfortune and they were much worn as charms.

Sard of typical brown color is much rarer than carnelian and possesses a high value. In other respects it is like carnelian. The sardius mentioned in the Bible as forming one of the stones of the High Priest’s breastplate was undoubtedly a carnelian. The name was derived from Sardius, a city of Lydia whence fine carnelians are obtained. The name carnelian is according to some authorities derived from the Latin word caro, carnis, flesh, and refers to the color of the stone, or according to others it is from the Italian word carniola which has the same meaning.

Chrysoprase and Prase are terms applied to an apple green to bright green chalcedony or compact, jasper-like form of quartz. Some authorities, however, call the green chalcedony plasma and restrict the term chrysoprase to the green compact quartz. The terms cannot be accurately distinguished. Most chrysoprase now in use comes from localities in the province of Silesia in Germany, where it occurs in thin layers and veins in serpentine. The green color here is due to nickel oxide which is present in the stone to the amount sometimes of one per cent. The first discovery of the stone is said to have been made by a Prussian officer in 1740. The stone was especially fancied by Frederick the Great so that he had two tables made of it and used it frequently in mosaics. The color fades with light and heat, but it is said can be restored by burying the stone in moist earth for a time. Beautiful chrysoprase comes from India and there are a few localities in our own country where it is found, it being usually associated with nickeliferous deposits. The name chrysoprase comes from two Greek words meaning golden leek and refers to the color of the stone.

Plasma, as already stated, is a name applied to green chalcedony, or by some to green jasper. The name comes from the Greek for image and shows that the stone was largely used for seals and other engraved work. Most of that known at the present time comes from India and China.

Bloodstone is a variety of plasma containing spots of red jasper looking like drops of blood. Another name for bloodstone by which it was chiefly known by the ancients is heliotrope. This name is derived from two Greek words meaning “sun turning” and refers to the belief that the stone when immersed in water changes the image of the sun to blood red. The stone was often used by the ancients for carvings representing the head of Christ, and one fine specimen of such work may be seen in the Field Columbian Museum. The ancients had a tradition that the stone originated at the crucifixion of Christ from drops of blood drawn by the spear thrust in his side falling on a dark green jasper. The stone takes a beautiful polish. To be of the best quality it should have a rich dark green color and the red spots should be small and uniformly distributed. The supply is obtained almost wholly from India, especially from the Kathiawar Peninsula west of Cambay, whence agate, carnelian and chalcedony are also obtained. Fine examples have also come from Australia and a few from Brazil. In present usage bloodstone is the “birth stone” of the month of March.

“Who on this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave
And wear a bloodstone to their grave.”

Agate was described in the June number of this magazine.

Onyx and sardonyx are varieties of agate in which the layers are in even planes of uniform thickness. This structure enables the stone to be used for engraving cameos. As is well known, these are so made that the base is of one color and the figure of another. This art of making cameos reached a high degree of perfection among the Romans and many superb examples of it have come down to us. The word onyx means a nail (finger nail) and refers to some fancied resemblance, perhaps in luster, to the human nail. Sardonyx is a particular variety of onyx in which one of the layers has the brown color of sard. Other kinds of onyx are those known as chalcedonyx and carnelionyx in reference to the color of the intervening layers. So-called Mexican onyx is composed of quite a different mineral from the onyx here considered, it being made up of calcite rather than quartz. Mexican onyx can be scratched easily with a knife while quartz onyx cannot. Mexican onyx has, however, the banded structure of quartz onyx and it is in allusion to this undoubtedly that the name has been applied. A sardonyx upon which Queen Elizabeth’s portrait was cut constituted the stone of the famous ring which she gave the Earl of Essex as a pledge of her friendship. It will be remembered that when the Earl was sentenced to death he sent this ring to his cousin, Lady Scroop, to deliver to Elizabeth. The messenger by mistake gave it to Lady Scroop’s sister, the Countess Nottingham, who being an enemy of the Earl’s did not deliver it to the Queen and the Earl was executed. On her deathbed the Countess confessed her crime to the Queen, who was so infuriated that she shook her, saying “God may forgive you, but I cannot.” The onyx is the emblem of conjugal felicity and by some is made the “birth stone” of the month of July. It is one of the stones prescribed for the ephod of the Jewish High Priest.

The sardonyx was supposed by the ancients to be a different stone from the onyx. To it was ascribed the property of conferring eloquence upon its wearer. It is mentioned in Revelations as one of the stones forming the foundations of the Holy City. Onyx and sardonyx which come from the Orient are esteemed of much higher value in trade at the present time than those prepared in Germany. There seems to be no good reason for this, however, as the latter can be so skillfully made that it is impossible to distinguish them from the Oriental stones.

Jasper is a name which includes in general nearly all varieties of impure opaque colored crypto-crystalline quartz. In color it may be red, yellow, green, brown, bluish and black. To many of the pebbles found on almost any sea or lake shore or in the beds of streams the name jasper may properly be applied. If it occurs banded, that is, in stripes of different colors, it is known as ribbon jasper. The different colors of jasper are due to the different impurities it contains. These may be clay, iron oxides or organic matter and at times reach a quantity as high as twenty per cent. The color often varies irregularly in a single stone, giving different effects and sometimes imitating paintings. Jasper which can be used in the arts is very widely distributed. Good red jasper is obtained in Breisgau and near Marburg in Germany. Much of the brown jasper comes from Egypt. What is known as “Sioux Falls jasper” from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is chiefly of a brown color. This stone was highly prized by the Indians for its color and is the “jasper” referred to by Longfellow in Hiawatha:

“At the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Making arrow-heads of jasper
Arrow-heads of chalcedony.”

The yellow jasper used for mosaics comes chiefly from Sicily, but as good could be obtained in many places in our own country. The green jasper of the present time is obtained chiefly in the Urals and is to a considerable extent worked there into ornamental pieces. The Chinese prize green jasper highly, the seal of the Emperor being made from it. Some jasper of a bluish shade is found in Nature, but that of a deep blue tinge is always artificially colored by Prussian blue. It is then sometimes known as “false lapis,” that is, false lapis lazuli. Ribbon jasper is found in Saxony, but chiefly comes from the Urals. The qualities which make jasper of use in the arts are its color, opacity and capacity for taking a polish. At the present time it is not much used except for mosaic work and for small boxes, vases and dishes. The ancients, however, prized it highly and used it extensively. It is one of the stones prescribed in the Book of Exodus to be worn in the ephod of the High Priest and also forms one of the gates of the Holy City as described by St. John in Revelations. It is probable that the jasper referred to in these instances was of a dark green color, as this was the tint most prized in early times. Green jasper was also called emerald in some instances. The banded varieties were much used for cameos, specimens of which are still extant. By taking advantage of the colors of the different layers, colored objects were made, such as one which shows the head of a warrior in red, his helmet green and breastplate yellow.

Basanite is also known as Lydian stone or touchstone on account of its use for trying the purity of metals. Its value for this purpose depends on its hardness, peculiar grain and black color. Different alloys of gold give different colors on the stone which one soon learns to recognize, and jewelers become very skillful in judging of the fineness of gold by this test. Also if an object is plated, by giving it a few strokes on the stone the different color of the gold and base will be revealed. It is simply a black variety of crypto-crystalline quartz, differing from jasper in being tougher and of finer grain and from hornstone in not being splintery.

Flint is likewise an opaque quartz of dull color. It differs from jasper in breaking with a deeply conchoidal fracture and a sharp cutting edge. It is also often slightly transparent and has a somewhat glassy luster. These properties have led to its extensive use by the Indians and by nearly all primitive peoples for the manufacture of weapons and implements. Hornstone is more brittle than flint and has a splintery rather than a conchoidal fracture. A number of other subvarieties of crypto-crystalline quartz occur, but they are not important.

Oliver Cummings Farrington.

MIDWINTER.

The air is like a beryl, clean and clear,
Intensified by gleaming points of blue.
Sharp-outlined, distant sounds come ringing near
And crisply pierce the brittle silence through.

The sturdy trees that yester-eve were gray
In dim and foggy veils, and half effaced
By winter rain that compassed them, to-day
Arise like knights in crystal armor laced.

The stiff, brown-fibered weeds beside the walk
Have pinned, with each dull spike, a shivered star.
An icy chime is rung from every stalk
To wandering step that clashes them ajar.

The wood is bright as when the summer lost
Her sun-gems in the deep, soft shadow-seas—
Only the light is dagger-edged with frost,
And breaks in spangles on the ice-mailed trees.
—Hattie Whitney in The Ladies’ World.

A CATASTROPHE IN HIGH LIFE.

Tertius, as his name signifies, was the third Maltese cat to occupy a very warm place in the hearts of a certain pet-loving family that lived on a quiet, tree-shaded street in a beautiful Eastern city.

His predecessors were both noted for their wonderful sagacity and great achievements, so he felt that he must improve all his opportunities if he was to keep up to their high standard. Just how they had obtained their reputation he did not know, and perhaps it was this ignorance that caused him to make his fatal mistake.

The beautiful house in which he lived had a large veranda on one side, over which ran a grapevine, and in this grapevine a pair of robins, most unwisely, decided to build their nest.

“It is a very beautiful spot,” said Mrs. Robin.

“Yes, and that arrangement in the center there will be splendid to lay the foundation on,” replied Mr. Robin.

“It is so picturesque,” returned Mrs. R., in a rapture of delight.

“And there will be such a nice shade for you, my dear, when the leaves are out,” added the thoughtful husband.

“It is a much finer situation than Mr. and Mrs. English Sparrow have for their nest in the eaves up above. Don’t you think so, Rob?”

“Indeed I do, wifey; but we must to work, for the morning is advancing. Now, you stay here, while I fly off and get the material.”

In a very few days as pretty a little nest was in the spot selected as you would want to see. Mr. Robin had brought all the material, while his helpful little wife had constructed the nest.

All this time their movements had been watched by the large, admiring, but greedy eyes of the ambitious Tertius, and one morning the chance he had so patiently waited for came. Mr. Robin started out, thinking in his kind little heart that he would get “little wifey” a particularly large and tasty worm for her breakfast, and he was so intent in scratching in the newly turned garden for it that he did not see the slyly, softly creeping Tertius. One bound, and poor little Rob was caught. He screamed, he scolded, but all to no purpose. Now was Tertius proud. He would carry his prize to his mistress, and she would surely say that his skill and prowess was far beyond that of either of his illustrious ancestors. So, thinking, with arched back and curling tail, he hastily gained the house and at once carried his prize to his mistress’ room. But alas for his well-laid plans! Alas for the praise he had looked for! Instead, to his intense surprise and anger, he was greeted with a cry of pain and alarm. The mistress who should have praised rated him well, the hand that should have stroked his smooth coat wrenched his prize from him. In his anger he tried to scratch her in return, but she had been too quick for him, and Robin was saved. Tenderly he was laid in a bed of cotton and placed on an upper veranda, once more in the sweet, balmy air. Cautiously he lifted his head, and as no shining green eyes or sharp paw were to be seen, ventured to hop to the edge of the basket in which his kind preserver had placed him. One more look around and he stretched out his wings and soared away.

“Oh, my dear Rob! I heard your cry. Where have you been? Do tell me all about it!” exclaimed Mrs. Robin on Mr. Robin’s return, and he, in a most graphic manner, granted her request; but, as we already know all about it, we won’t stay to listen.

As to Tertius, he has decided that to win his way to fame he must confine himself in the future to a war on mice.

M. Leila Dawson.

THE DOMESTIC CAT.

In the old, old writings of the sacred Sanskrit language, that ancient language of the Hindoos, nearly two thousand years ago reference was made to the Domestic Cat. And so we know that Cats existed long ago and are a very ancient animal. But by means of pictures we are able trace their origin to still earlier times, for the Egyptian monuments abound in pictured Cats, and, stranger yet, in Egypt are found mummies of both the domestic and common jungle Cat. How very important it must have been considered! Think of burying the body of every forlorn, luckless Cat, and then realize the pains taken, not only to give it a burial, but to preserve it for ages to come; and this the Egyptians did, for doubtless it was to them the most sacred of all sacred animals.

Herodotus says that when one of their houses was on fire they first thought of saving the Cat, and afterward considered the matter of putting out the fire; also when a Cat died they cut off their own hair as a sign of mourning. When a person unintentionally caused the death of one of these animals he forfeited his life. We can readily imagine that small boys did not find amusement in chasing and plaguing stray Cats at that period of the world’s existence.

While we really do not absolutely know where the ancestors of our modern Cat were found, it is the general opinion that the Egyptian Cat was the first to be domesticated and that it gradually spread northward and eastward and westward, although the spotted Cats of India may have had a different origin.

In the tenth century the Cat had reached Wales, as laws were recorded fixing the price of Domestic Cats, and also penalties were fixed for their ill treatment and killing. After a kitten caught its first mouse its value was doubled, and a mother Cat was expected to have perfect eyes, ears and claws, to know how to catch mice and how to bring up her kittens properly.

The Domestic Cat is so common an animal that we do not realize how very interesting the study of it may become. First of all, we must remember that our pet kittens belong to that important division of animals known as “The Cat Tribe,” and which includes such ferocious and feared beasts as the lion, the tiger, the wildcat, the leopard, the panther and many others less common and less generally known.

All of these animals are most symmetrical and graceful; all have the round head set on a stout neck, the limbs of moderate length, the long tail and the soft fur which correspond in general color to its native surroundings. Because they are beasts of prey the teeth are adapted to life-destroying action; the tongue is thick and muscular, with fine, horny thorns which point toward the throat. With these the animal can most beautifully smooth and dress its hair, as well as strip the meat from off the bone when making a meal. The claws, ordinarily drawn up and out of sight, make an effective weapon when the angry animal stretches its paws. On account of its cushioned feet its step is silent and stealthy. All Cats can jump many times their own length, and most species are great climbers. The sense of hearing is most acute, and they see well at short range. The sense of touch is extremely well developed, and the most sensitive organ is the whiskers. A Cat with the whiskers cut off is indeed in a most uncomfortable position; it is at a loss to know what to do. The sense of smell is not very acute.

Our Domestic Cat shares all these qualities with the other members of the Cat tribe, but it has many valuable qualities of its own.

It is much more intelligent than people are willing to concede. It is often compared with the dog, but they are so entirely different that it is an unfair comparison. The dog becomes very dependent upon man, while the Cat has kept a certain amount of individuality and independence through all its generations of domestic life. When a Cat is very much petted it develops an affection for its master, but otherwise it becomes more attached to the house and locality in which it lives, preferring to return to its old home and live among strangers rather than to follow its owner to a new home.

How remarkable is the fact that no one can cause a Cat to alight except upon its feet, no matter how short or long may be the distance from which it jumps or is thrown! A Cat can also swim, though in the main it abhors the water. Occasionally its great appetite for fish will overcome its dislike of getting wet, and it will jump into a pond and do its own fishing.

Mr. Scheitlin understandingly describes the Cat in the following language: “The Cat is an animal of a high order of intelligence. Its bodily structure alone indicates this. It is a pretty, diminutive lion, a tiger on a small scale. It shows the most complete symmetry of form, no one part of it too large or too small. That its every detail is rounded and beautiful is even shown by an examination of the skull, which is more symmetrical than that of any other animal. Its movements are undulating and graceful to the extent that it seems to have no bones. We value our Cats too slightly because we detest their thievish propensities, fear their claws and love their enemy, the dog, and we are not able to show equal friendship and admiration for those two opposite natures.

“Let us examine the Cat’s qualities. We are impressed by its agility, yet its mind is as flexible as its body. Its cleanliness of habit is as much a matter of mental bias as physical choice, for it is constantly licking and cleaning itself. Every hair of its fur must be in perfect order; it never forgets as much as the tip of its tail. It has a discriminating sensibility as to both color and sound, for it knows man by his dress and by his voice. It possesses an excellent understanding of locality and practices it, for it prowls through an entire neighborhood, through basements and garrets and over roofs and haysheds without bewilderment. It is an ideally local animal, and if the family moves it either declines to accompany them, or, if carried to a new residence, returns at the first opportunity to the old homestead; and it is remarkable how unerringly it will find its way back, even when carried away in a sack for a distance of several miles.”

Large families are the custom with Cats, for usually five or six kittens are born at one time. As these cunning little objects are totally blind for nine days after birth, the devoted mother Cat must work industriously to properly care for them and especially to preserve them from danger. They must be hidden away from harm, as the father Cat would be perfectly willing to devour them, and would attack them as readily as he would a rat or a mouse. The mother Cat lifts her helpless little ones very tenderly by compressing the skin of their necks between her lips and gently carries them to a place of safety.

While attending to the duties of motherhood the Cat is in a sympathetic frame of mind and will sometimes care for the young of other animals as well as for her own. Mr. Brehm tells us that, when a boy he brought a little squirrel, yet blind, to one of his Cats, which accepted the strange child among her own and tenderly cared for it, and after her own kittens had been given away she regarded it with increased affection. They became inseparable companions and understood each other perfectly, though each talked in its own language.

Cats frequently form friendships for other animals, and even dogs and Cats become friendly, in spite of the impression to the contrary.

While living in a large city where yards were small and infrequent, I was the happy owner of a beautiful tree, which stood near the rear of the house. There were many pet Cats in the neighborhood, and all delighted to visit my tree. Undoubtedly some were attracted by the English sparrows which were almost omnipresent among the upper branches, but all enjoyed clawing, stretching and scratching up the friendly trunk. One day a strange kitten appeared, and although smallest and youngest of all the Cats, by its superior intelligence it soon became king among them and ruled them all, causing many a commotion in the previously tranquil group. This young Cat gained entrance to my next door neighbor’s house and made itself at home with an “I am come to stay” air. In fact, it refused to be evicted, and by its determined persistence became a member of the household.

The other family pet was an old pug dog—Jack—cross and uninteresting, but tolerated because he gave some amusement to an invalid daughter of the family. Jack, jealous and annoyed, received the newcomer in the most hostile manner, and the kitten seemed to take special delight in tormenting the dog in every possible way. In fact, the lack of harmony between the pets became so annoying that it was decided to sacrifice the kitten, and it was taken to a remote place. For a number of weeks quiet prevailed in the rear yards of the neighborhood, but in time, to everyone’s surprise, the Cat reappeared and refused to be turned away. Its courage and daring won recognition, and again it was received into the family circle. I wondered what Jack would do now that the kitten was restored to favor. About this time business called me from the city, and some time elapsed before my return. On reaching home again, one night I heard the dog crying and whining till nearly morning. I could not imagine the cause, but to my astonishment learned the next day that the dog and Cat had become such firm friends that the dog was perfectly inconsolable when the Cat was absent, and as his kingship had chosen to wander outside that particular night, the dog had mourned for hours. In fact, after causing the family a sleepless night, his master was obliged to rise and punish him before he would cease his cries. Such devotion put to flight all my previous theories of the inborn antagonism between Cats and dogs.

The different varieties of Domestic Cats are distinguished from one another by the difference of color, length of hair or, more rarely, length of tail.

The Cats of India are spotted, those of the Isle of Man are practically tail-less, but the European Cats are commonly “tabby,” black, white, sandy, tortoise shell, dun, gray or the so-called blue.

The most beautiful of all are the highly prized Persian or Angora Cats, with their long, silky hair and bushy tails.

John Ainslie.

“CUBBY.”

Just a little fluffy ball of fur,
Fawn and brown, and smooth and soft as silk;
Just two cunning little paws of tan,
Velvet-gloved, to dabble in the milk.
Little paws to pat my tired face,
Spring and play, and help me to forget.
Little, merry, restless, tireless feet—
Just a little playful, happy pet.

Just a little yielding, graceful form,
Cuddled softly down beside my cheek;
Just two little tender, fawn-like eyes,
Looking all the love they cannot speak;
Just a little song of sweet content,
Murmured soft and low beside my ear;
Just a little kitten I have loved—
Not forgotten, and to memory dear.
—Mary Morrison.

SOAPWORT OR BOUNCING BET.
(_Saponaria officinalis._)

The plant commonly called Soapwort or Bouncing Bet also bears other popular names, many of which are purely local. Some of these are Hedge Pink, Bruisewort, Sheepweed, Old Maid’s Pink and Fuller’s Herb. It bears the name Soapwort because of a substance called saponin which is a constituent of its roots and causes a foaming that appears like soap suds when the powdered root is shaken with water.

Soapwort belongs to a large group of plants called the Caryophyllaceæ, or pink family. In this family there are about fifteen hundred species. These are widely distributed, but are most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, extending to the Arctic regions and to the tops of very high mountains. The popular and beautiful carnations and some of the most common plants that grow abundantly in waste places also belong to the pink family. The Soapwort comes to us from Europe, where in some localities it is a common wild flower. In this country when it was first introduced it was simply a pretty cultivated garden plant. However, it lives from year to year and spreads by means of underground stems. It was not very long before it had escaped from yards to roadsides, where frequently large patches may be seen. The flowers are large and quite showy. The color of the petals is usually pinkish white. Blossoming in July, August and September, the Soapwort often beautifies waste places which other plants seem to shun. It is perhaps more generally loved than any other of our old-fashioned garden flowers. It grows luxuriantly without cultivation and seems to quite hold its own even among rank growths of weeds and grass. It is hard to tell what is the significance of the name Bouncing Bet, perhaps the most popular of all the names by which this plant is known.

Alice Lounsberry says: “It was always a mystery to Dickens that a doornail should have been considered so much more dead than any other inanimate object, and it seems also strange that this plant should have suggested the idea of bouncing more than other plants. Dear Bettie does not bounce, nor could she if she would. She sits most firmly on her stem, and her characteristics seem to be home-loving and simple. We are sure to find her peeping through the garden fence.”

TURTLE-HEAD OR SNAKE-HEAD.
(_Chelone glabra._)

The Turtle-head or Snake-head is one of three species that are natives of eastern North America. This plant is well supplied with common names, as it is also called Shell-flower, Cod-head, Bitter-herb and Balmony. The generic name of this flower of the swamps and moist banks of streams is from the Greek word which means tortoise, the name having been given to the plant because of the fancied resemblance between the flowers and the head of a turtle or snake. One may be able, by stretching his imagination, to see this resemblance in the flowers of our illustration.

The custom of giving names to plants that are suggestive of their real or fancied resemblance to various objects of nature, or are indicative of their beneficial or injurious qualities, is as old as history itself. In this way a large number of plants have become associated with good or evil spirits, Christian or pagan saints or martyrs, animate nature or some of the phenomena of nature. To the Indian the likeness of the flower of the Turtle-head to the head of a reptile not only gave it its name, but at the same time invested the plant with certain sacred associations by reason of the fact that not only among the Indians of North America, but among the uncivilized peoples in all parts of the world the tortoise has been considered sacred and highly symbolical.

Though commonly found in low altitudes, it is found in moist places in the Adirondacks, even at a height of three thousand feet.

This plant is not rare, and with its upright stem and its rather large and clustered white or slightly rose-colored flowers it is a dignified and beautiful feature of any floral community.

THE POCKET BIRD.

About the middle of May a gaily colored bird from his winter home in neo-tropical regions visits the United States. His body is bright scarlet, his slightly forked tail and his wings intense black and his bill sea green. The ornithologist names him the scarlet tanager—tanager being a Brazilian word applied to this class of birds. But he is also sometimes called the “pocket bird,” because his jetty wings when closed upon his red sides are fancifully thought to resemble pockets. He is also known as the black-winged redbird. It takes three years for his gaudy plumage to become perfect. His mate is clad in green, so that she is easily concealed when on her nest amid the leaves of the swamp oak or some other favorite nesting tree. The nest is shallow and loosely woven, so that the eggs may be seen from beneath. But it is strong enough to hold the young birds securely until fledged. The eggs, three to five in number, are greenish-blue, spotted with brown and purple. The young birds are a clownish looking set in parti-colored robes of scarlet yellow and olive green. The song of the tanager somewhat resembles that of the robin in modulation; but the quality of the song is so soft and wavering that there are observers who call him a lazy bird, too lazy to sing. But others declare that it is worth while to take a long tramp in order to listen to his beautiful notes. Mr. Abbott calls him a “gayly colored blunder” without peculiarity of voice or manner. His song has been translated “Pshaw—wait—wait—wait for me.” His call note is “Chirp-chirr.”

There are some three hundred and eighty species of tanagers, and they are peculiar to America. They are perching birds and have usually conical bills, triangular at the base, with cutting edges near the tip of the upper mandible: this distinguishes them from the finches, to which they are closely allied. It is said that this genus is remarkable in having no gizzard.

The tanagers feed chiefly on ripe fruits and insects.

The organist tanager of San Domingo is purplish black, with forehead, rump and underparts yellow, and a cap of blue. Its tones are said to be extremely rich and full. But if our scarlet tanager is not so fine a musician as his cousin, if he has no such organ-like tones, yet we could ill spare the blaze of his scarlet coat and the sight of his black pockets, as he sits on the hedge very early in the morning—the rising sun emphasizing his brilliancy. Then he is an early riser I am sure, as I have seen him before four o’clock in the morning. But he has always been silent at that time as if not wide awake yet. In manners he is a most unobtrusive bird. He is rightly entitled to some of the plunder of the fruit trees. For there is no doubt that we owe all kinds of fruit to the agency of birds as seed distributors. Besides, the tanager is very destructive to larvae that injure fruit.

Belle Paxson Drury.

THE BIRDS IN THEIR WINTER HOME. II.
(In the Fields.)

A half day’s tramp through the pastures and fields of a Mississippi “second bottom” any sunshiny day from the first of December till the first of March will reveal some of the reasons why this is a veritable birds’ paradise in winter. Fields once in cultivation, but now abandoned to sedge and Bermuda grass, cultivated fields, where giant cockle burrs wrestle with morning glory vines for the possession of the soil, tracts of palmlike palmeto and marshy jungles of willows, pampass grass and briars afford attractive feeding grounds by day and safe roosting places by night to myriads of winter visitants. In such places are found abundant supplies of the insects, berries and seeds which this humid, semi-tropical climate produces in great profusion. Good shelter and plenty to eat settle the problem of living for the present for our little feathered friends.

Walk out on these broad savannas about the first of February before a tint of white or pale green has appeared on the chicasaw plum (Prunus chicasa) and take note of the abundance and vigor of bird life before spring has begun to make serious inroads upon it. In the drier parts of these lowlands, especially where stubby plum bushes and haws abound, our old friend the field sparrow meets us with the same innocent, confiding air that we remember as characteristic of him in the region of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. He is one of the birds that we can talk about in the indicative mood without “ifs” or apologies; the good that he does in disposing of surplus insect life is not offset by tolls levied on our ripest and juiciest fruit; he never goes over to the enemy to plunder those who trust him. Even the robin, whose praises are in everybody’s mouth, becomes a pirate when our cherries and mulberries ripen, and we wish he would stay away from our premises till the berry season is over.

The pale red or horn-colored beak of this bird will help us to distinguish him from another, often mistaken for him—the chippy, or chipping sparrow, a bird of the same general appearance and size. Even with the naked eye you can detect differences enough to distinguish the two species. Both are small birds with chestnut or rufous crown caps; the chippy has a patch of black on his forehead and bill of the same color; his brother of the fields wears no black, and his bill, as before stated, is a pale red or horn color. In Central Mississippi, as in parts of Northern Ohio, field sparrows are very numerous, but chippies quite rare.

In the grass or crouched down close to the brown earth and gray weed stems we see another of our friends. With a “chip” he jumps up out of the grass and is away before you can see what particular shade of gray or brown is most conspicuous. However, he doesn’t fly far, but suddenly drops into some inviting tuft, spreading out his tail like a fan as he does so, as if on purpose to show you its margin of white. This is the only one of our common sparrows that shows the white feather—the vesper sparrow, or bay-winged bunting. The field sparrow, as one authority says, had better be called the tree sparrow, because of his marked fondness for bushes and shrubs, but both of the former’s names fit; he is rightly called the vesper sparrow from his delightful custom of singing his choicest hymns to the dying sun, and bay-winged bunting from the conspicuous patch of bay or rufous on the lesser wing coverts.

Sometimes in company with the vespers we see the slate-colored junco, or snow bird; at other times a gorgeous, distinguished looking sparrow, named from his partiality to these broad, low fields, the savanna sparrow. He is the dandy of this winter resort. His plaid coat and striped shirt eclipse the somber colors of all his cousins. The epaulettes of gold on his shoulders indicate his high rank; but for all that he is no dude, for he works as hard as anybody to find his own breakfast and enjoys it all the more that he eats his crickets in the sweat of his brow. A simple “chip” is the only remark he makes to us or to his companions as he runs along the cotton rows in quest of food. Ornithologists, however, tell us that up in Canada in his summer home he sings a weak, grasshopper-like song in marked contrast to the musical efforts of his neutral tinted cousin, the vesper.

The fields of broom sedge are the favorite haunts of one of the birds whose cheerful music and winning ways help to make June in the North “the high tide of the year, when all of life that has ebbed away comes rippling back into each inlet and creek and bay.” I never see the meadow lark or hear his cheery whistle that I do not smell the blossoming clover and hear the ringing “spink, spank, spink” of the bobolink or catch the subtle suggestion of strawberries that comes floating to my nostrils on the warm June breeze. In a thirty minutes’ walk through the sedge I have flushed as many as two or three hundred of these birds. They are called “field larks” by the negroes, who regard them as legitimate game. The lark’s whistle—it can hardly be called a song—contains a bit of good advice habitually disregarded by the negroes. They interpret it as “laziness will kill you.”

The colored people have an ornithology all their own, in which their own observations are strangely mingled with superstition. They tell us of two kinds of mockingbirds, “de real” and “de French” varieties. The real mockingbird deserves an article all to himself. His winning ways, playful disposition and ability as a singer give him a place second to none among our American birds. I am pleased to see the spirit of Americanism growing in our literature, that conventional allusions to the skylark and the nightingale, birds few of us have ever seen or heard, are becoming rarer and rarer, while those to the robin, the mockingbird and the wood thrush are becoming more frequent. The mockingbird, like other singers, does his best during the courting and nesting seasons, but does not confine his concerts to that joyous time. On warm days in winter he loves to perch in the cedars and give his listeners a sample of what he can do, an earnest of the floods of melody that spring will bring. Balmy air, green of cedar and water oak and bird music disarrange our mental almanac. Even the nodding narcissus contributes to the illusion that it is not February, but May.

The “French mockingbird” is no mockingbird at all, but the logger-headed shrike, or butcher bird. Like some people, he tries to occupy a front seat, even if his music wins for him one of the lowest seats of the choir. A beanpole in the garden, the topmost wire of the fence and the top of a solitary shrub or tree are alike acceptable to him, for it’s all one to him if he gets to see all that is going on in his little world. No doubt he does do mischief during the nesting season, when eggs or tender nestlings are easier to find or more acceptable to his fastidious palate than the mice and insects which compose his winter diet. Just now he is a most pleasing bit of decided color, black, white and blue-gray, very refreshing to the eye, amid the browns and grays of last year’s vegetation.