St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-11-13
Additions at the Museum.

Two new groups Illustrating the hom
life of some of our more retiring bird
have been placed on the main floor nea
the New England birds. They were pre-
pared by w. E. Balch OF Lunenburg
whose work is unsurpassed by any II
the larger museums of this country.
One case shows a black-throated green
warbler, clinging to a small baIsam fiji
stub, while his mate is perched on the
edge of the nest which is built on the
lower branches near the ground, 1t is
usually said that this warbler places its
nest from fifteen to fifty feet above the
ground but Mr.. Balch states that in this
region he has never seen the nest more
than ten feet from the ground. Amongst
the dead leaves covering the ground
about the balsam stub, yellow violets
and bunch berries are springing up, and
two or three young plants OF maple and
hobbe-bush give hint Of the usual
habitat of this bird in mixed forests of
evergreen and deciduous trees.
The other group shows a nest of the
black billed cuckoo Just as it was found
in a roadside blackberry thicket. The
soft tints OF the birds harmonic beauti.
fully with the foliage and blossoms OF
the blackberries. This nest is especially
well built for cuckoo; it was undOubt.
edly used by two pairs for it contains
seven eggs, while the usual number is
two to FIVE. This group was obtained
two years ago during the season in
which the caterpiIlars did so much dam |
age to the maple trees, when cuckOos |
were unusually abundant. The cuckoo |
is rather shy bird and hence is ottener
known by its note than by its appear
anCe.
The flowers and foliage for these
groups were made of the Mintorn art
fabric after many plaster models had
been taken from living specimens This
process is a great improvement over old
methods, and Mr., Balch has been par
ticularly successful IN producing life like
and artistic effects.
A model of a Filipino cooking appara-
tus was recently received from Mrs G.
A. Goodale, who, with Colonel Goodale,
visited the museum a few weeks ago
The stove" is large caldron of pottery
in which a fire OF Goals or sticks is made.
Above this is placed a covered pot, or
often a pile OF pots, so that a boiled din
ner Of several dishes may be prepared.
These stoves are carried out OF doors ,
where the women sit down to do their
cooking.
An interesting collection Of ancient ;
Egyptian stone implements has been {
by H. W. Seton Kari we'll
known African explorer and big game
hunter. They are made from a yellow ;
ish gray ebert or flint and were obtained
in or near the mines from which the
stone was quarried. These mines were
discovered bv Mr.. Seton Karr about
five years ago in the plateaux of the
Nile Valley, and 1t is said that nowhere
Else have implements been found in con- s
nection with the quarries.
A large part OF the specimens represent
cutting instruments of various types,
having sharp Clipped edges. Some are ,
knives with a cresCent-shaped edge, mar +
rowed at one end for insertion into a
handle or to be wrapped with cord or |
fibre. Others are sharp-pointed at both ,
ends and may have been used as daggers
IN Staying cattle for food or sacrifice.
Narrower, numerically pointed speci-
mems were probably intended for jayeIin
heads. Some of these implements ore
only rough-hewn and many are broken
in two and were found lying Just as they
were dropped after the uulucky stroke OF
the workman which shattered them.
There c arOp r11rrr1 bar of tr,pCy
Hint fakes together with the cores from
" hich they were struck off. Some of {
them are sharp-pointed for punching. I
It is believed that such fakes were ex-
-enslvely used in smoothing and inscrib ;
ing the surfaces of limestone rocks
A few long three.cornered blocks are
left in so rough a condition that their
purpose can hardly be imagined; posi-
bly, they might have been intended for
clod-breakers, or Tor use in making other
implements.
Most Of these specimens are hlackened
and polished, at least on one side. by
long exposure. They are described, to-
gether with other types Of implements
from the same source but not represented
in our collection, in the Bulletin of the
Liverpool Museums, Jan. 1900. 1t is
probable that they do not belong to the
palaeolthic age, but it is very likely that
they were made as early as the XIlth |
dynasty or about $500 years ago. Tomb |
inscriptions of that date represent the
manufacture of knives similar to those
OF this collection.
Mr.. Seton Karr became interested in
the Fairbanks Museum through meeting
H. L. Clapp and E. A Silsby.