Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-22

the objects of the small boys desires
when he can steal the time to go fishing.
Deprived of the privilege Of fishing. the
small boy of the District can go to the
museum and see bottled all the friends he
SO ardently angles for There he will find
the lamprey eel. which he has so many
times sought for a suitable bait, and
which he can easily catch in Rock creek
and the small boys friends. the yellow
and white perch; the sunfish, the ''tobac-
co box will also be found. To some OF
the boys it may be an interesting sight to
see the sturgeon bottled up, as this fish is
not as common as it was at one time.
This once selling for from 10 to 20 cents
for a large fish, now brings % cents a
pound in the market.
The gar pike, one of the oldest fish i'm
existence, is native of the Potomac, and.
although not as common as at one time. Is
still found. Then there is the German
carp, a fish which in all probability has
caused more trouble for mothers than any
other possibly could. For this fish, which
is found in the Potomac. and which
weights from twenty to forty pounds. has
been the cause of more than one youthful
angler being pulled off the bank and into
the none too warm water And so the
small boy and the grown man, too. for
that matter will be able to see the vari-
Gus fish that are found In the District,
and if the days fishing trip has been un-
productive the fisherman can go to the
museum, study the fish there. and then
wend his way home to tell feeling stories
of the size of his catch.
There are large numbers of birds that
will be able to find admission to the Dis
trict exhibit by right of belonging here.
In the woods around the District are to
be found thrushes, woodpeckers. black
and white creepers, chickadees. humming-
Among the birds which frequent orchards
and gardens are bluebirds, robins car
dinalS kingbirds. catbirds. orioles. blue
Jays, crows, bobwhites and others. Birds
seen often on the roadsides and fences
include. sparrOWS, gOidfncheS, catbirdS and
robins There is still another division
that can be made-those birds which
show white in flying. under which heal
ing come meadow larkS, cuckoos and blue
lays This portion of the exhibit per-
haps more than any other, will be of in
terest TO Washington lovers of birds. 1t
will be possible to recognize the various
songsters that are frequently heard sing
ing even in the city streets. and to find
ont their correct names A better knowl-
edge of the plumage of the various birds
will be obtaina BILE, and in that way a
more intimate knowledge of the birds
which are alive will be secured.
Almost every one is familiar with the
more common of the mammals that are
native to the District Red gray and
flying squirrels, chipmunks, meadow mice
cotton-tail rabbit and numberless small
rodents are all familiar. In this class,
however, will come several species more
or less rare. The jumping mouse is sell
dom found. and then only in the cold
hogs near Hyattsvlle. The bog lemming,
too somewhat similar to the meadow
mouse is found in cold boys. while the
harvest mouse is SO rare that the only
specimen in the possession of the museum
is one secured at Fort Myer.
The District of Columbia is very rich
in field insects. In this class are found
the large moths. green beetles. which
catch other insects for food; leaf hop
pers, and a host of others. Butterflies
are found here in considerable numbers
also
1t is estimated that the total number
of insect species exceeds the total
number of all other species put together.
The Washington Biologists Field Club
has an island in the Potomac river. on
which 1t has obtained more than
thirteen thousand varieties of beetles.
When the exhibit is first opened it