med head, so
that I can readily recognize her at a distance of fifteen, twenty, or
even thirty feet. Last year she reared her first brood of young, which I
was fortunate enough to see with her on several occasions. Her den is on
my lawn; and in the autumn of last year she conducted her brood to it,
where they hibernated until spring. If I remember correctly, on the 29th
of March she came out of her den accompanied by a dozen of her progeny,
all but four (two pairs) of which I killed.[106] Snakes subserve a very
useful purpose in the economy of nature, but it is well to keep them in
limits, for, when very numerous, they become dangerous to young birds,
especially after they have passed the second year.

[105] Silas Rosenfield, Esq., Owensboro, Kentucky.

[106] The above was written in the summer of 1897. This interesting
specimen was killed by a day-laborer who had been temporarily employed
to assist the gardener. An autopsy revealed a bony tumor of the right
orbital arch, which, from a little distance, looked like a horn.--W.

With the exception of the anthropoid apes all mammals possess the homing
sense in a higher or lower degree; this is true also of birds.
Experiments with the nesting robin show conclusively that this bird can
find its way back to its nest when carried fifty miles from its home and
then set free among wholly unknown surroundings. The well-known exploits
of the carrier-pigeon are so familiar that they scarcely need comment.
On May 3, 1898, two carrier-pigeons, en route for Louisville, rested for
a time at Owensboro, Kentucky; these birds had been set free at New
Orleans, Louisiana. The duck and the goose sometimes have this sense
very highly developed. I once knew a goose to travel back home after
having been carried in a covered basket for the distance of eighteen
miles. A drake and duck have been known to return to their home after
being carried a distance of nine miles by railway. Instances of
home-returning by dogs, cats, horses, etc., are of such common
occurrence that I hardly need call attention to them; the following
instance is so unique, however, that I will present it:--

In the fall of 1861, a gentleman of Vincennes, Indiana, visited his
father at Lebanon, Kentucky; when this gentleman started to return
home, his father gave him a yoke of young steers, which he drove, _via_
Louisville, Kentucky, to Vincennes.

Shortly after his arrival at this last-mentioned town, the steers