The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1880-06-24
the MUTE caEATUaEs.
Fscas sad Flcsioas Conserving Antnals,
Birds aad insects.

U6 ~ O1060 Vo06Os
Fseas and FIesions Coacesaiag Astnals,
Birds aad insects.
A DanielsonvilIe. Ct, cat is nursing
two gray squirrels.
A dog, which nightly Constituted It.
self guardian Of the Confederate mOli-
un,ent In Augusta. Ga. has been shot
because he prevented the attendant
from, extinruishing the lights ut its
base In the morning.
ShOwinen state that the older an ele-
plant gets the more trouble he causes-
His vici0usnexs increases with age.
Some elephants live tn he . hundred
years old, hut they are usually killed
when elout in their fiftietl year, for
after that age II Is dangerous for man
to go near them.
A Georgia paper gives this dleserip-
ton Of y hunlnling birds nest recent
" brought to it's Office: at was set
upon the limb Of tree the size OF .
mans thumb, and cs,atesi outside with
the moss Of an oak, Nd Ms perfectly to
represent y knot. II was about the
size of q large hickory NUT, an inch
high, and constructed of COTTON and
hair. II contained two little white
eggs about the size Of common snap
lRan."
A white crane was recently caught
at Hickory Grove, Iowa, aud ON its
bill there was young turtle firmly
fastened. The bird was huge speci-
men, measuring seven feet from tip to
tip, but il was almost starved to death.
While stalking around on the prairie
it had stuck its bill completely through
q small turtle, but could not get the
turtle off again, and In this condition
had remained for days. When discov-
cred ii was fed, but II died within two
days.
In the outskirts of New Orleans
lives an old man whose only compan-
ions are spiders Of every shape and
hue. He has never attempted an nc
curate census, but he believes there
are 800 or ftO of them, and the ceilings
of his two rooms are completely hid
den by the webs which they have spun.
For the most part these strange pets
make their own living, but OCCASION
ally the old man throws handful Of
BILE webs, and delights to see the spi-
ders glide along the gossamer and
seize their struggling victims.
A singular and beautiful incident
happened in Jacksonville, Fla. not
long ago. The little daughter Of q
resident of that city was In the habit
IF daily feeding q nightingale, which
would come to the house every MORN
ing to receive its food. Not long ago
the girl sickened and died, and ~ she
lay in her coffin the nightingale flew
in through an open window into the
room, sang one of its most beautiful
melodies and departed. AnhOur later
it was found dead in the front yard,
having evidently persisted from grief
at the loss Of its young friend.
The story If q mouse being hung by
. spider ut Fort Wayne. recently, is
putdOpe by q similar performance wit:
pessed some years ago In Albion, N!
Y. A young garter snake ak or seven
inches long. was discovered under an
old counter partially suspended by =
spiders web. In . few h0urs it was
noticed that the snake was being grad
ually lifted from the floor. Whenever
he struggled the spider could be seen
darting about from line to line, evil
IDENTIFY drawing up the slack. The OPP
Grafton continued till the reptile was
dangling in the air.
Last summer lad at Charleston, N.
H., found y young robin with q broken
wing, and cared for ii until the wing
was restored SO the bird could fly
then, rs q precautiOn against providing
cats, he took the bird 10 an orchard
half "a mile away, where he left 1t.
This spring his fathers family were
surprised To see tile Same robin enter
the kitchen and make itself at home,
hopping about and prying into every
corner. After few days the bird
made ITS nest on projection from the
spsh of one Of the windows. a person
inside can look into the nest. and the
bird shows tn signs Of fear.
A boy ia Augusta, Maine. recently
found "a :ics-t with twelve young r,its.
There lac placed in u haskell and pre-
scented them 10 the family cat, who Is
the mother Of two small kittens.
Pussy bounced upon the rats aud de-
youi I'd ten of them. Then, taking the
two remaining rats ia her mouth, she
carried them to the basket aud ten
DERBY placed them beside her own
Young, and there they remain, living
ing IN harmony and drawing susie
nance fr,,I. their natural enemy. The
cat evinces as mud, salicituie for the
safety Of each new prOtegr a- abs does
for her own offspring.
The New York Meas got the follow
ing from q small boy: 1.-The cat which
We had afnre We gal Nose was yeller,
and didn't have no ears, and eay tail,
too, COS they were cut Oft to make it gu
way from where /; lived, for it was so
ugly, 10 il came to our house. One
day my mother sed wudent my father
drown 1t, COS she knew where she cud
get gicer looking one. So my father
he put il in q bag. and brick In the
bag, too, and thtew il in q pond, and
went to his Office, my father did. Hut
the cat busted the bag string. and when
my father cum home IL was lying un-
der the sofa, but cum out to look ut
him. so thay looked ut one another
for long vile, ami bime by my father
sed to my mother, "Weli you are
nifty poor hand to go shOppin for cats.
Thisn Is sight uglier than the other"
The Los Angeles Commercial de-
scribes how Mr.. Richardson, of San
destroys gOphers. He has q
favorite snake, which he takes by the
tail and carries to the mouth Of
fresh gopher hole. When the snakes
head reaches the hole, Richardson
let's go the tail, and his snakeship
ylides in and swallows the gopher.
When hungry the snake appears above
ground, waiting for the kind-hearted
ranchero to waltz him around by the
nil to another dinner Of gopher meat.
snakey Is said to enjoy the business
and although he takes
,ophers BY wholesale he likes to be
retniled himselfevery day. The meth
ri IL y little slow. and, in localities
where gOphers are very numerous, u
nay take more than one season to ex-
terminate them I; but il j. neat. Though
rot uncertain in its results Every
lGriculturist should get . gopher snake.
A short time ago. writes contribu-
or from Whitby, friend 0f mine saw
wO sparrOws-male aud female
which evidently Ind some dispute to
'ettle. "a they twittercd about each
,ther for some time, then commenced
n downright carnestness tO fight.
Being unn0lested In this dcmOrslixing
Eame they continued in close Combat
or several minutes, neither giving in,
md to all appearances they had made
Up their minds ~ dght until There
1as nothing left but their ITALIA" Ny
r-s..,l h.,,;,.s~ M ~ ell s,vSps.