THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1966, 29 October 1891, Page 44

THE NATURALIST.

flogr Angler au3 JPis^i ( Eater. "J. M..V .writing to Lana&nd Water from I Stonehaven, says:— "A short time since a very interesting case of • dog angling' came under my L notice,- A neighbourj|ng miller owns a fine specimen of therrough-haired Scotch terrier, named Bob. Besides attending to hie legitimate bssiness of rat -hunting, and chasing the ,-more, harmless a water-vole, Bpb is, very fond of .along' the ,grassj,..waterconr«e of th^' mill-lade^ where he alspinferests^himself 'in. piscatorial Tpur- , suits. , Oni recent occasion, when the water was turned off at the pond-Sluice, J and the watercourse was running low, lobserved,Bob watching from a coign of vantage the efforts of the troutlets to flnd^safe means of retreat frota the rapidly subsiding waters^ Suddenly the dog plunged in, and after an exciting chase and much flpunderirig uijthewater^ hejumped out on to the bank with a nice trout, , weighing about three-quarters of a pound, in j his mouth. Helaid it on the grass, where it I jumped about in. most lively fashion, apparently uninjured by the teeth of his captor. As there appeared some chance of the. fish regaining his native element, I w,as about to cross the lade to Bob's assistance, when he gave me a scornful look^as if to say, ' Oatch I one for yourself,* 'and 'without ceremony j caught bis'prey by the'nose and'gulped it 1 down. Having thus satisfactorily concluded the business he gave his shaggy coat a rousing shake and marched off complacently to join his master, the miller." Fioukdity of the Elephant. — Darwin says the .elephant is reckoned to be the slowest breeder of all known animals, and he hag taken some pains to estimate its probably minimum rate of natural increase; It will be under the mark to assume that it preeds when 30 years old, and goes on breeding till 90 years old, bringing forth three pairs of young in this interval ; if this be so, at the end of the fifth century there would be alive 15,000,000 elephants descended from the first pair. How High Can an Eaolk Fly?— The Imperial eagle, the largest of the species known, flies to a height of from 10,000 ft to 15,000 ft. It is a native of South America and its habitat is amongst thelofty mountains of that country. Its power of flying to:hieh altitudes is only exceeded by 'the condor of the Andes, which is said to have attained the height of six miles, or within one mile of the greatest height ever 'attained by a balloon. The eagle sails in the air at heights ranging from three to five miles, and, when wen to bom upwards by an iObgeryerion thQ

earth's surface, disappears from light in about three minutes. (From the Field.) A Retrieving Oat.— Some three years since I obtained a male blue coloured Persian bitten, which was placed in the Btables and lived in the gardens. As the sparrows be* came very destructive to the crops, the servants kept them off with a small pellet gun. When it is heard, the cat arrives and follows the shooter about, running an soon as a bird falls, and brings it to hand, and when it is given back eats it. This animal never troubles the youngest chickens that are reared by incubator and run from birth in the grounds, although . strange cats frequently carry them off. I have never heard of a cat retrieving to hand before, and this now large animal follows the gun over three acres of garden for an hour or longer, retrieving every time.—" Action." Fox Terriers Born With Short Tails.— The touowing is, I believe, a rare instance of a sport " being not only perpetuated,' but intensified by transmission. I have a fox terrier dog, who, instead of a tail* has only a stump about half an inch lone. His father and mother both had tails, and so had all nig brothers and sisters. My dog has recently become a father, the mother being a fox terrier, with, nothing unusual about her tail. The litter consists of three pups— a dog, who has a stump exactly like his father's, and two bitches, both of whom are entirely tailless. The litter can be seen at Clarence-mews, Regent's Park.— L. B. Page. {Box terriers born with tails already docked are not at all infrequent. We bred a couple 20 years ago. Faculty of Amusement in Birds. — While sitting outside our house here, basking in the rays of the sun, and enjoying the exquisite scenery which surrounds us, my attention was called to a very pretty white feather, about Sin long, floating in the air, impelled by the light breefce which was blowing at the time. Just as the feather was about to fall, aswallow> which was flying about some little distance offj caught sight of it and swooped down for it. Just missing it, the feather alighted on the grass. Quickly returning, the swallow once more swooped down, and this time sailed away feather in beak. After flying, up some little distance s the swallow dropped its prize, which guttered off, only to be recaught before it had time to reach the ground by the 3Wallow, who again soared upwards with it, repeating the performance a second time in the most graceful fashion. The third time, something else evidently distracted its attention, and the feather reached the ground untouched. It is interesting to note that birds evidently enjoy the faculty of amusement as well as quadrupeds. Several people were eye-witnesses of this scene as well as— B. Wentwobth Vebnon (Melhus, Overhalden, Norway). [The late Colonel Russell, of Stubbers, near Romford, used to amuse himself by going up to a loft window, and scattering a handful of small feathers in a light wind for the pleasure of seeing the house martins swooping at them. — Ed.]