traight ahead you do not notice
anything unusual, but as soon as he turns or wants to alight you see his
tail change from the horizontal to the vertical--into a rudder. Hence he
is called keel-tailed.

The Grackle is as omnivorous as the Crow or Blue Jay, without their
sense of humor, and whenever opportunity offers will attack and eat
smaller birds, especially the defenseless young. His own meet with the
like fate, a fox squirrel having been seen to emerge from a hole in a
large dead tree with a young Blackbird in its mouth. The Squirrel was
attacked by a number of Blackbirds, who were greatly excited, but it
paid no attention to their demonstrations and scampered off into the
wood with his prey. Of their quarrels with Robins and other birds much
might be written. Those who wish to investigate their remarkable habits
will do well to read the acute and elaborate observations of Mr. Lyndes
Jones, in a recent Bulletin of Oberlin College. He has studied for
several seasons the remarkable Bronze Grackle roost on the college
campus at that place, where thousands of these birds congregate from
year to year, and, though more or less offensive to some of the
inhabitants, add considerably to the attractiveness of the university
town.

THE RING-NECKED PHEASANT.

We are fortunate in being able to present our readers with a genuine
specimen of the Ring-Necked species of this remarkable family of birds,
as the Ring-Neck has been crossed with the Mongolian to such an extent,
especially in many parts of the United States, that they are practically
the same bird now. They are gradually taking the place of Prairie
Chickens, which are becoming extinct. The hen will hatch but once each
year, and then in the late spring. She will hatch a covey of from
eighteen to twenty-two young birds from each setting. The bird likes a
more open country than the quail, and nests only in the open fields,
although it will spend much time roaming through timberland. Their
disposition is much like that of the quail, and at the first sign of
danger they will rush into hiding. They are handy and swift flyers and
runners. In the western states they will take the place of the Prairie
Chicken, and in Ohio will succeed the Quail and common Pheasant.

While they are hardy birds, it is said that the raising of
Mongolian-English Ring-Necked Pheasants is no easy task. The hens do not
make regular nests, but lay their eggs on the ground of the coops, where