Evening Star Newspaper, June 6, 1891, Page 9

“THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. D.C. SATURDAY, JUNE 6. 1891—SIX'TTEEN - PAGES. 9 A STRANGE CEMETERY The Wonderful Graveyard of Guana- huato and Its Granary of Bones. THOUSANDS OF SKELETONS. ‘The Dead are Kept so Much a Year—The Municipal Coffin and the Burial Court—Five Acres of Human Dust—A Visit to the Great Vaults. Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. Gvaxanvaro, May 30, 1891. HE STRANGEST burying ground of the world is here at Guana- buato. I have visited the most curious grave- yards on record, but I have never seen any- thing that compares with what I saw today. I have stood in the lonely garden of the | Wat Sah Kate in Bang- Kok in Siam, where dead humans were thrown ae for burial. I have seen the vultures by the hundred swoop down upon the naked dead babies of the Parsees as they were laid upon the Towers of Silence at | Bombay, and I have wandered among the tombs of the thousand generations of China- men which fill the sides of the White Cloud | mountains near the big city of Canton. I have admired the sculptured marbles repre- senting living wives bending over their dend husbands in the wonderful Campo Santo in Genoa, have seen the dead piled naked on top of one another in the cemetery at Naples and have wandered among the bone receptacles of the catacombsat Rome. Ihave seen the mumm: tombs of Egypt, the burning ghats of the Ganges. the cremations and quick-lime burials of the Japanese, but the sights of this Mexican cemetery are stranger than all. Ido not find them down in any of the books on Mexico, and I would hardly have believed that they existed had I notseen them with mine own eves. Imagine, if you can, the bones of 100,000 human beings torn to pieces and piled one on the top of another like so much corn in agranary. Putall ages and sexes together. ‘Tear them limb from limb and mix the mass of skulls, legs, arms and ribs together, and the parts of the different skeletons lose themselves inthe vast pile of this vaulted granary of bones. PIGEON HOLES FOR BODIES. This gives but a faint idea of what I saw to- day. The cemetery of this city of Guanahuato is situated on the top of a high hill overlooking the town. I rode upto it on a little donkey and was admitted to it by an Indian. who had a hat fully afoot high on his swarthy head, a revolver a foot long tied to his leather belt and pair of buckskin pantaloons which fitted his Jean legs like a glove. This town is a mile ard & half above the sea. The air here is as dry as are the bones of these skeletons the year ronnd, and nature wears a perpetual smile of bine skies, bright flowers and bracing air. The cemetery gives a view of hundreds of low mountain peaks, every one of which covers incalculable riches of silver and gold, and the precious metals undoubtedly lie under the ¥ery bones of these tens of thousands of the dead. Tentered by its wide gate and found myself surrounded by great walls in a cofirt which contained perhaps tive acres of ground. ‘The walls of this court were about eight feet thick. and as I examined them I found that they were, in fact, made up of pigeon holes about three feet square and six feet deep, some of which were open and oth of which were closed with marble slabs, on which were printed the names and virtues of the dead who were shelved away within. There were thousands of these pigeon holes, and my guide showed me a card giving the rates. From it I see that these holes | are rented out to the bodies of the dead, and the guide tells me that the most of them are taken for about five years, after whieh the bones of the deceased are taken out, the pigeon hole is cleaned and it is ready fcr | the next occupant. It costs $25 for the use of | one of these pigeon holes for five years, and this seems to be the shortest term ‘for which they are leased. A man who wants one per- petually can have it by paying $100, and if he | cares to crowd his whole family into the same hole he can have it for the lump sum of $500. ORAVETARD SANDWICHES, The ordinary dead are, however, buried in the ground. The city of Guanabuato is rich, but its great wealth is in the hands of a few. The majority are too poor to buy a vault for any number of years and the masses are buried. The rates are also on the rental basis. It costs a dead man #1 to lie two years in these burial groundsand after that his bones are taken up and another body fills the hole. The five acres hich make up the court of the cemetery are literally composed of bone dust. Each removal has left some pieces of his skeleton be- d the ground is made up of the dust of E ¥. The hole made is about two Jeet wide, seven feet long and from six to eight feet deep. The first corpse that comes gets the bottom berth. He is taken out of his rented coffin and laid with his head on a bunch of leaves and over him is put perhaps six inches of dirt. The grave is then ready for the next arrival, who is buried im like manner. and so the bodies are sand- | Wiched one on fp of the other until the grave is filled. Guanabuato is a very unhealthy city and the death rate is very large. During the past month there were four burials a day in this cemetery. and I saw six deep graves al- ready dug when I visited it. Three of these Were only balf filled and the others had nothing whateve= in them. faded into a bleached dust color by hundred: of years, cover the whole of the lower rt of his face. His clothes have long since rotted off of him and his bare chest, slightly sunken, looks like the parchment of an old drum. { tap it with my neil to test his lungs, and it gives forth a jollow, drum-like sound of remonstrance. His shriveled arms are crossed and his withered brown are straight. As my cye travels geen Gee, “Bosal tia pert oar on boot still clings to one of his feet, and that the other. like all the rest of his clothing, bas rotted off long, long ago. ext stands & mummy _ of a woman, whose white teeth are as well pre- served in death as in life. She has a we: of long black hair reaching to her waist and even indeath she shows some signs of grace and beauty. ‘THE MUNICIPAL COFFIN. There are no hearses in this mountain city, and the town has fixed rates for the rent of its coffins. These coffins are so big that another coffin can be put inside, and they are carried on the shoulders of the bearers up the steep hill. As soon as they enter the cemetery the coffins are placed on a ledge or stone table, and are opened for the purpose, it is said, of seeing that not more than one corpse is buried in one coffin, and that the cemetery gets its full fees for every corpse. The rondway up to the cemetery has many coftin shops, but the caskets, though expensive, are very rudely made, and many of those for babies are painted light blue or grained in oak. Isaw at Zacatecas a boy carrying one of these biue coffins on his head, but whether he was on his way to the cemetery or to the house of mourning I could not tell. MEXICAN FUNERALS. The general customs of mourning in Mexico ‘| are somewhat different from ours. Mourning is much more general and black is put on for intimate friends and for distant relatives. It is, however, worn a shorter time, but the occa- sions for mourning dresses are so frequent that every lady has her mourning suit in her ward- Tobe. Ii, for instance, « young lady dies, her friends wear black for her for thirty days, and if it is the young ‘smother “who is dead, the friends will pnt on binck for half that time. Ladies do not attend funerals in Mexico, but they pay visits of condolence soon after the death and such visits are made in mourning clothes. Cards and letters of regret are always sent to the family at the time of a death by such friends who cannot call, and the announce- ments of funerals are of the most touching and extravagant nature. Funerals are celebrated as a rule almost immediately after death, and in Mexico city as soon us pos- sible after the twenty-four hours which the law prescribes that the dead should be kept before interment. The coffin is procured immediately, the cards are sent out and the ceremonies take STREET CARS AS HEARSES. Mexico city is perhaps the only place in the world where the street cars are the hearses. There are no other kind nsed and the car lines make a good thing out of their funeral busi- | ness. ‘There are 150 deaths a day in Mexico city and you see these cars.draped in black and driven by drivers in mourning, spinning along the road toward the cemetery every hour or so during the week. The funeral in its center sides, but has a the top, and its decorations are more or less elaborate according to the charge for the service. Behind it comes a second car containing the mourners, and the cars go very fast, as they have to go on the same tracks as the other cars, and here the dead have to run to out of the way of ‘the living. This car service costs all the way from $8 to $120 per funeral, and some of the higher-priced cars are covered ith silk, and in the case of the dead being in- fants or "young people are often trimmed in white satin. MEXICO AS A HEALTHFUL CAPITAL. ‘The death rate of Mexico city is very high. It is said that it averages about thirty-seven in the thousand, and the only wonder is that it is not higher. Were it not for tho perpetually bright sun and the high altitude the city would be « morgue—a vast charnel house—a Golgotha —a place of the skulls. Think of a city which has had a population of hundreds of thou- sands for many generations built upon and over a swamp, with no drainage whatever, and let this city go on with its accumulated mass of filth increasing year by year and sink- ing down into the soil, and you have some idea of sanitary Mexico city. A constant miasma rises here at night and the water is only three feet under the city. Ix it any wonder that there is no place in the world where typhus and typhoid fever is so prevalent ashere, and it not surprising that the Mexican capital is for many people a favorable health resort? The climate is so equable, the thin, dry air and the hot sun suck up the juices of decomposition, and such people as are careful and sleep above the ground floor are in little danger. CATACOMBS AXD MUMMIES. Leaving the court I was next conducted down into the great store house for the bones of the dead after their leases have expired and they have been ousted by their landlords from their tenements above. roing down inding stair so narrov that my sides grazed the walls as I passed I entered a long vaulted passage walled with stones and paved with cement. | This was well lighted by open- ings from above and it was dry and free from smells. It rans clear around and under the edge of this five acres of cemetery, and is in fact m walled tunnel about twelve fect high, six feet wide and more than one th risand feet long. For ages this tunne! has been the receptacle of the bones of the dead of this city, and it is now almost filled. Only about two hundred feet of it remain vacant. and the entrance to it is in the middle of this. I stood at this point, and looking either way I could see the great iles of skulls and other pieces of skeletons jambled together in all sorts of shapes and mixed up into one heterogeneous mass of bones rising in a slanting way from the floor of | the tunnel n angle of forty-five degrees to | the roof. Everytuing was jumbled together in the great democracy of death. SOME DEAD aztecs. ‘The mummies stood against the wall, guard- ing, as it were, the remains of the thousands of | broken skeletons beyond them. There were at least one hundred of these mummies, each of which was more horrible than anything you Will see in the museum of Boulak near Cairo in Egypt, or any of the horrid examples of South American and Alaskan mummies which you will find in our National Museum in Washiogton. mummies have been made not by A FAIR MOURNER OF MEXICO. Outside of the city there is no danger what- ever and if it had been built on high ground it would be the finest health resort of the world. As it is, foreigners have to be very carefni of their health here and the foreign cemeteries contain many occupants. The American cem- etery cortains about 1.200 and it is so full that the colony is about to purchase « new one. Still I have met. several Americans who told me that their lives have been saved by their coming to Mexico, and this country is said to be the best resort in the world for consumptives. The great death rate comes from the lower classes, who sleep right on the sewer-like ground x PRES mais ‘The Slave of the Ace. ‘From the New York Times, There is « young fellow, well known around uptown sporting resorts, who has a very funny habit. He is one of those young fellows who would be “a dead sport” if it were not for the financial limitations that surround him. He always carries a pack of cards in his pocket. All good gamblers are possessed of a supersti- tion, and this would-be gambler has sed himself of one, as it costs nothing. stition is that if he would have fortune smile on him he must follow the dictates of the ace of hearts. What the fickle ace would have him de he learns by what he calls the “I-will-and-I- won't” scheme. Whenever he is prompted to do anything, whether it be to takes drink, smokes cigar or go to bed, he settles the juestion by the ace of hearts.’ Running across Sits queer specimen at « pablio bar the oth hight an acquaintance asked him to take }. CARPENTER. spices and by linen bands. but by tue dry at- They retain the features and the expressions of the dead, shriveled. it is true. and with thousands of wrinkles. Here against the Mull is propped the mummy of a bearded = roy perfect and the whiskers, driuk. Out came the pack of cards. | He gave -them a shuffle. Then counting them off, face up, in two packs. As he put a card on one pack he said, “{ will.” As he put one on the other pack he said, “I won't.” He sighed deeply when the ace of hearts came up on the “I won't” pack in answer to the invitation to drink. He was equal to the gmergency, how. ever, for, turning to the acquaintance, he said “Sorry I must decline that invitation. Ask me again and I may have better luck.” “Oh, come off," said the ecquaintance, im- patiently. “Have a drink?” xrce more the cards were shufled and the “I will, won't” process gone through wi Fickle’ fortune smiled on her faithful son. “Thanks,” he answered. “A little whisky, A Comrtare Pocket CrctorEpta of Boston (1l- ustrated) ie imued by the United States Hotel Com- ‘of that city, is the most perfect Sf the kind we Rive everseen Every ome order it of them by enclosing ldc. in stampa. iis super- | WASHINGTON’S BIRDS. Feathered Beauties One Can See in the Parks and Field, THE WOODLAND CHORUS. The Ornithology of the District—Birds Noted for Song and Others Famed for Beauty Which One Can See in Walks About the Capital. ‘Written for The Evening Star. TDUENG THE SPRING OF THE YEAR the woods and fields and parks about Washington are alive with birds of many species and of varied plumage. The birds usually return to us from the south during this period and they tarry to nest, feed, gossip and sing on their way northward. Toward the end of May and first of June the great majority of them are here, the swallows, the handsome orioles, the robins, the wood thrushes, the redbirds, the sparrows, the blackbirds, the meadow larks, the bluebird: the linnets and finches, the catbirds, the fly- catchers, the buntings, the verios or greenlets, the humming birds, the nuthatches, the reed- birds, the warblers and the wrens being con- spicuous and active. In the fall the birds pay us another brief Visit on their return south, but on this occa- sion they do not exercise their vocal powers to any gredt extent. THE BIRDS AND THE FLOWERS. Any close observer of the habits of birds and wild flowers must be impressed with the many instances of mutual social attachment and companionship which their movements exhibit. That certain flowers and birds appear simultaneously in our fields is a fact worthy of note. “The violet blossom assures us that robin redbreast is not far off. while the first daisy that smiles above ground receives a warm warbler greeting. The early spring, before the trees take on their dense foliage, is the best time to watch the birds. Wecan then see many sight that is hidden from us later in the season. The art and mysteries of nest building are revealed to us if we take pains to be reasonably discreet in our movements. While the workers are too busy to be easily disturbed, they are ever on the lookout, and quickly pass the word of alarm along on the discovery of an intruder. ‘They are merry in their labor, and the melodies of the vocalists among them are mingled with the Piping and chatter of the less gifted. lost_birds nest in May or June, and it is then, during love season, that their plumage is handsomest and their music _swee' Some species cease singing after their offspring is out of the nest. This is notably the case with the great-crested flycatcher, one of the best sing- ers of its genus. Audubon says that this bird (the male) during love season and as long as he is paving his address to his mate or proving to her that he is happy in her society, is heard for hours both at early dawn and sometimes after sunset, but as soon as the young are out the whole family are mute. ‘omparatively few of the birds make their winter home here. The hermit thrush, some of the buntings, the kinglet, the sparrows, the yellow-rumped warbler, the cardinal grosbeak, the titmice, the winter wren and an occasional Tobin, nearly comprise our list of local winter rds. IN THE PUBLIC PARKS. Birds prefer, for feeding and recreation, the Breen lawns fringed with trees. On this ac- count the public parks about the city are pop- ular resorts for them. Great numbers and varieties of birds visit these attractive places | during spring, summer and autumn. No bet- | ter place can be found for studying the habits, | &c., of the birds than the Smithsonian Park. | If one is at a loss to identify a particular spe- cie he has only to step into the old building ver in the south end of the park, where he Il be sure to find his bird properly labeled. The Smithsonian building contains the largest and choicest collection of stutied birds in the United States. The green ewards of Agricultural Park at- tract numbers of robbins, thrushes and black- birds. Birds cannot be satisfactorily studied fro the books. A natural experience with them necessary to @ correct understanding of their | habits, characteristics, &c. The female bird of’ every species is usually smaller than the male, her color tints being | also less pronounced.’ Of course there are many exceptions to this rule. It would be impossible within the limits of a newspaper article to specially describe each species of bird that visits the District of Columbia annually. I will, therefore, content myself with a few brief observations concern- ing some of the best known and most interest- ing of them. THE BLACKBIRDS. The rollicking blackbirds appear in force by the 1st of March and are fond of the city parks, in the trees of which they nest and breed. They wear glossy, showy coats and strut about Pompously with an air that says: “We are | handsome and graceful and we want you to | know | , There is no music in the hoarse squeak of the | blackbird, but he is amiable and minds his | own business. He seems to be chummy with his cousin, gentle robin. THE cowsmp. The cowbird, or cowbunting, is a remarkable bird, not for vocal abilities, for it has no voice for music, but because of its peculiar habits. In form it is closely allied to the crow black- bird, but unlike that bird, it makes no nest of its own, but deposits its eggs in other birds’ nests, one at a time, as opportunity offers. The nests usually selected are those of the blue- bird, yellow bird, flycatchers and thrushes. Another peculiarity of this bird is found in the fact that it does not pair. It is in this re- spectasort of free lover or bigamist, each male paying his devotions to numerous females during love season. The cowbird appears here early in the spring and remains ail summer, many of the species wintering with us . THE ORIOLES. The beautiful, sweet-voiced orioles add greatly to the charms of our parks, gardens and fields in springtime. They are, perhaps, the most beautiful of our summer visitors. ‘Their movements, as they run among the branches of the trees, are peculiar, often cling. ing by the feet as they reach for insects. They are fond of hilly, watered ground. The nest is suspended from the branches of trees. THE REEDEIRD, (the bobolink of the north and the ricebird of the south), appears here early in spring, the | male gayly clad in full dress and in full song. | This bird, it is said, excels the English skylark | in the vivacity of his song. It does not stay | long and while with us resorts to the grass | fields outaide of the city, where it feeds finey | migrate in flocks by night, when their call is distinctly heard. ‘They disappear in May and appear again in September on their return to ¢ south. They nest north of us. THE BLUEBIRD, with his bright azure top plumage and grayish white lower parts, is familiar to every n who frequents the suburbs. He stands alone and cannot be confounded with any other bird, He arrives in March and is often seen in the rks, gardens and yards and sometimes nests Frthe Saves and crevices of houses. “No bird shows greater devotion to his mate and young than the bluebird, ind he is alwaysready to battle | for their protection. This trait has given him the reputation of being pugnacious and quar- relsome. and on account of his warlike attitude toward his neighbors he is called the “soldier of the bird world.” The song of the bluebird is a soft, agreeable warble. THE CATETRD. To those who are not privileged to hear the natural notes of that prince of feathered art- ists, the mocking bird, the medley of his imi- tator and first cousin, the saucy cat, is most | grateful. Indeed Audubon asserts that | times his notes are as mellow and por either the — mocki bird or thrasher. To me he is one the most interesting of birds, although it | most be admitted that his’ manners are | Father saucy and prying. | He is graceful in his movements, and is a great flirt and mimic. His voice resembles the mocking bird's and the robin's, a feeble imitation though it be. Bur- roughs calls the cat the tof the woods, and Iam forced to add that of no mean order as well. My observation of his habits has led me to suspect that he is also much given to gossip. He arrives here earl; in March in large numbers and remains summer and autumn. The color of his plumage is blackish-gray above and bit below. Ho is emalisr and more sleuder thas the wood: ‘THE CHAT. ¥ According to Audubon and other ornitholo- iste, the interesting chat has no congcner. From my observations of his habits, however, I have aiways believed him to be nearly related to the catbird, whom he also closely resem- bles in general external appearance and man- ners. Both have the same call, the cat mew, but it is more pronounced in the chat. He is easily distinguished from the cat, though, by his bright yellow throat and breast. The chat rarely enters the forest, being usu- ally found in shrubby thickets, where it neste, and in the parks and gardens. He is a vigor ous songster, singing all hours in the day well as at night when the moon shines bright! The chat, though sly and apparently shy, social at times, even intrusive. If seated in the vicinity of a tree or shrub one is almost sure to have him for a companion, and it must be acknowledged that his notes, though loud and somewhat unrefined, are not’ ungrateful to the ear. Though we may regard him asa Paul Pry and a scold, yet we are loth to leave him for all that. Teai't help thinking that he is a roguish carricaturist. When least expected his vigorous notes greet one from a concealed position in an adjacent tree or bush, but his eyes are intently fastened on you. ‘He fre- quently changes his position, viewing his sub- Ject from different directions, and I imagi that the occasional deep quaver in, his noteeis expressive of satisfaction with his work—a chuckle over some master stroke of his pereil. A CHAT'S PRACTICAL JoxE. One warm June afternoon some years ag>, while sauntering along the bottom Jand of the Potomac in the vicinity of Custis spring, my attention was attracted by an unusual bird call coming from an adjacent thicket. In those days I was a novice in bird lore and imagined that the cry was either one of distress coming from a wounded bird or from a helpless young fledgling deserted by its parents. Tattcere. paired to the coppice, which was composed of solid mass of buttonwood, wild rose and bushes, inextricably intertwined. I peere vain for a sight of the object of my solicita- tion, although the call was kept up at inter- vals’ A shaking of the bushes yielded. no better results. Being determined to see my mysterious tormentor, I moved a few paces away and reclining on the ground awnited de- velopments. Ihadn’t long to wait, however, for presently a bird darted from the thicket and alighted in a bush near by, from whence I was taunted with a characteristic medley. It was Mr. Chat and he seemed to enjoy my dis- comfiture immensely. He is easily distinguished by his sharp, feline mew and by the manner in which he elevates his tail and opens his wings in lighting. The chat visits us toward the end of March in large numbers snd remains during the summer. ‘THE FINCHRS. The finch family is exceedingly numerous. It consists of eighteen genera or sub-families, embracing some sixty distinct species. The buntings, snowbirds, linnets, crossbills, gros- beaks, redbirds or tanagers, canaries and sparrows belong to this fami They are with us from early June until fall and many of them winter here. _ Some species are excellent songsters, notably the song spar- rows, the goldfinch and the purple finch and grosbeaks. Pugnacity and petulancy are char- acteristics of this family. “Their plumage is varied, many wearing brilliantly colored coats. _The_bay-winged bunting is one of our winter birds, and sings sweetly from the roadside fences. The nest is sunk in the ground in the grass, It iv fond of nestling and wallowing in the sand, und is of a quarrelsome disposition. ‘The field sparrow (ulso called field bunting) is a constant resident of the District of Colum- bia, Its song, though not artistic, is agrecuble nd is uttered with a trill not un- jot inaptly called “the nd its plaintive evening 0 earned for it the name of “vox, ymn has per bird.” Its habit of running in front of you and skulking as you advance over the field, together with its two white lateral tail feathers, easily identifies this interesting bird. ‘The song sparrow is one of my particular favorites. “The sprightly little feliow leads the spring van. He is the herald of spring and his cheery, vigorous notes make our heathery fields, gardens and hedges musical. He maki his appearance about the first week of Feb- Tuary und immediately begins to tune for the grand chorus. ‘The song sparrows remain dur- ing the whole season, many of them wintering With us. Although its coat is plain the notes Of this bird are sweeter than those of any other bird of ite species. It sings earlier in the spring and later in the fall than any other bird, and its song is performed at all hours of the day. It often sings from the topmost branch of a tree. Its sweetest notes are uttered during love time. A FEATHERED VENTRILOQUIST. This bird is known to possess ventriloquial powers. It has been noticed that when alarmed by an approaching object he stops singing and after a moment's silence gives forth a faint note, which sounds as though he was a great distance away. ‘The quality of the song spar- Tow’s song is greatly influenced by the bright ness of the day and he is entirely silent durin, 4 fierce wind.” It nests both on the ground an in the trees and is remarkably prolific, » pair raising as many as twelve during a season. ‘The notes of the wood or bush sparrow are among the first that greet theear in early spring and are usually uttered from bushy roadsides or heathery fields. Its song, which is the sweet est and clearest, sounds like feo, feo, feo, few, few, few, fee, fee, fee. Iam of the belief, from years of careful ob- servation, that of all the migratory birds, this dear little fellow is our first visitor in spring— his arrival antedating the song sparrow's by several days. In the early season he is usually alone or with his mate. ‘These birds are rarely seen in flocks or groups. ‘The snowbird is about the size and shape of the sparrow, with slate-colored back und two white tail feathers, the Jatter being con- spicuous as he flits from bush to bush before Your approach. The roadside trees and hedges and barnyards are his resorts during the winter months, retiring into holes in haystacks in cold weather, These birds move about in smal! flocks of twenty or more, and are always ready to repel the advances of feathered intruders. THE INDIGO BUNTING. The indigo bunting sings its clear, pretty notes while perched on a fence, hopping on the ground, on the wing or from the highest top branch of ® wayside tree, as fancy moves it. He is a graceful, handsome and lively bird. Perlrps the most peculiar thing about him is his plumage, which changes with It re- quires three years for the male to attain his full richness of dress. During the first year he is mottled light-blue. The blue increases with the ageof the bird. In the third year the plumage is the brightest azure, and glossy changing to verdigris-green in certain lights, ‘The general color of the female does not change materially, being light yellowish-brown. It arrives here about the Ist of May. BIRDS OF BEAUTY. The goldfinch is not only a charming singer, but it is physically a beautiful bird. It re- mains with us during the entire summer, and is a universal favorite. It seldom lights on the ground, except to procure water. ‘The song of the goldie is sung in concert from the tree top, several flocks joining in the chorus. The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia red- bird, is noted for its vivacity and strength and variety of song. Its rich color, high cockade and black stripe down the face make this bird conspicuous. It visite us toward the Ist of April and frequents both field and forest, often being’ seen in the city rks and gardens. It is # beautiful, graceful rd and one of our best songsters. 7 ‘The scarlet tanager, or black-winged red- bird, enters the District about the first week of April. This most brilliantly attired of all birds 18 of a retiring, solitary disposition. Its notes are pensive, but not very musical, resembling chip-churr. ings with most vigor during the summer dog days. sue THE RED-EYED FLY CATCHER is one of the commonest and cheeriest of our wood birds. He isan all-summer visitor and ‘an incessant warbler. He arrives about the 1st of April and his haunts are the woods and for- ests. His song is loud, lively and energetic. This bird neste in May and is one of tho adopted nurses of the cowbird. THE RFD-EYED GREENLET isan incessant singer. His song is among the first bird notes of spring, and is continued un- til late in the fall. He climbs to the highest branches of the tallest trees of the forest, orchards and on, from whence his sweet carols are ever heard, even upon dark, cloudy bee when most a are brett rincipal notes reset pewee, pire tomeey piwit. re A ‘THE HUMMING Breve. The diminutive ruby-throated humming birds, with green and gold coats, grayish-white bellies, purple necks and long slender bills, are familiar to all. ‘They appear in numbers early in the vernal season and feed on the insects which infest the lowers, a ing the while the liquid honey from the reed oe eee aes t numl m. ey are 61 and never light on the Like some other little folk, they are q ‘but while they are very courageous in their tilts ong themealvoe and with other birds, ten bumble bee ‘Their chatter is quite pleasing to the ear. THE JAYBIRD. Physically the jaybird has few equals among the feathered tribes. Its graceful form, mag- nificent carriage and beautiful tints of ‘plum- age delight the beholder, but there is very little in its character to admire. On the con- trary there is much to detest. It robs other birds’ nests and sucks the eggs, often devour- ing the birds themselves. It’ is cunning, sly and cowardly, and is often beaten by birds of feebler physique. It has the habit of scaring other birds by imitating the cry of the sparrow hawk. THE WRENS. The ruby-crowned kinglet (or wren) is here all through the month of April and is recog- nized by the rich vermillion spot on the head. As it pasees from bush to bush or hops from | twig to twig itemits @ feeble chirp at every motion. The house wren is the most prolific and abundant of its family, and it is pleasantly familiar. It is seen in the orchard, in the garden and about the houses, and is always ightly and active. Although diminutive in it makes war on other birds, notably on the ‘bluebirds, of whose vocal powers it seems jealous. It hasan aversion for cats, and is in the habit of scolding them. In its sort flights during love season it sings coustantly. The winter wren is a charming little singer and one of the most interesting of birds. Its song is most melodious and powerful for a bird of ite size. Its chirp resembles tshick, tehick. ‘THE NUTHATCH is distinguished from all other birds by its habit of moving downward on trees in its search for food. THE YELLOW BIRD. The yellow-crowned wood warbler (or sum- mer yellow bird) 1s one of the commone It appears in large numbers about the middle of April, and remains all through the summer and into the winter. It is comparatively tame. Ite haunts are the fields, gardens and nurseries. In winter its simple tweet is familar music. THE THRUSHES, The thrush family consists of even species— the robin, varied thrush, wood thrush, tawny thrush, hermit thrush, dwarf thrush and brown thrush. The last named is sometimes called brown mocking bird and also thrasher. All of these except the varied thrush are seen here, some of them in great abundance. ‘The thrushes stand first among woodland vocalists, and they are also very handsome, graceful birds. “They first appear here About the end of March, ‘The brown thrush (or thrasher, or mocking bird), a bird of pronounced characteristics, is uite common in the spring and summer and is Iso often seen here during the winter months. It is a cultivated artist and its song is full of the sweetest melody. Of a fair morning it mounts the topmost twig of a detached tree, from which it pours forth its loud and richly varied song. It is generally silent after the breeding season. During the period of incuba- tion the male is heard from the top of a neigh- boring tree, singing for hours ata time. It becomes very domestic under restraint. In the cage it sings well and moves somewhat after the style of the mocking bir ‘The thrasher is classed by some naturalists with the subfamily of the mocking bird and catbird. In springtime he mingles on the green swards of the parks with the robins and black birds and wood thrushes. i ‘The wood thrush, on account of his early morning and evening songs, 1s called the “har- binger of day,” aswell as the “vesper thrush.” It makes its appearance here in the early spring and remains until July, It is often seen in the clearing and in the skirts of woods, and some- times in the public parks with the robins, but the darkest und densest forests, by the side of streamlets, appear to please it best. It nests in the dogwood tree. ‘The song of this bird, although composed of | few notes, is powerful, distinct, clear and | pmellow. Several of the ' species seem to ehal- | lenge each other from different parts of the forest, particularly toward evening. has chuckling and clucking notes peculiar to itself, which are uttered with much force. ‘The wood thrush is regarded by py first of feathered songsters. He is plain in ap- parel, a little larger than the bluebird and considerably smaller than tie robin. ‘Ihe general color is ruius brown above, pure white low, with numerous blackish spots on the breast and sides. ‘The hermit thrush is never abundant in the District, but he spends the winter with us. It Will be found in sheltered woodlands, about warm springs, during any time between the fall and spring migrations. It occasionally lisps @ faint echo of its vernal song whi! us. It is recognized at once by its single plaintive note, heard from the boughs of low trees. The charming robin of sweet, melodious voice is too well known and too universally ed- mired to require either eulogy or description. We is seen in our parks and ficlds very early in the spring, and as summer nears the species becomes numerous. Many are seen in the woods during the winter. The joyous song of as the this orange-breusted favorite is early echoed | through our fields and parks. He is one of the very first of the songsters to tune for the grand chorus, He is asocial bird and seeks the abode of man. Robin frequents the parks and thoroughfares and when vocally inclined secks the tops of the highest trees. Writers who have a great deal to say about the “evening hymn” of the robin are generally silent regarding his morning vocal habits. ‘Ihis doubtless misleads many into believing that his vocal efforts are confined to the hours of the waning day. neous. On the contrary he is famous as a morning singer, and nothing in bird music is more pleasant to my ears than the rich, vigor- ousand melodious notes of the robin's early morning song. He breakfasts early on our green lawns, and if the morning is at all bright or cheerful he forthwith takes his elevated po- sition ona tree and warbles the swectest of strains. GEORGE Simmons. Paddy's Snake. From Judge. At also | with | Nothing could be more erro@ THE OYSTER’S FUTURE Prospects for a Mollusk Much Be- loved by Epicures, HISTORY OF THE BIVALVE. A Creature of Marvelous Reproductive Ca- pacity, Though Kept Back by Circumstances Over Which It Has No Control—The Fish Commission Comes to Ite Aid. YSTERS AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET WERE long before the dawn of civilization. In fact, the lowest savages in the earliest times of which anything is known, back in the patwolithic age, found these mollusks much to their taste and devoured them in large quantities. They af- forded a food readily obtained on the seacoast, with no more labor than was involved in wad- ing for them at low tide, fetching them ashore and opening the shells. The earliest explorers who reached America found the Indians well acquainted with oysters. In fact, those of the aboriginees who dwelt along the seashore depended largely for food supply upon the bivalves, At intervals they held great oyster and clam festivals, of which the modern New England clam bake is merely a perpetuation, cooking the shell fish to- gether with maize by means of stones previously heated with fire. The expert Yankee clam-baker has not materially al- tered the method, though be has amplified the feast prepared by it with the addition of white and sweet potatoes, chickens, fish and other del mestibles. "All along the coast jof New England, particularly that of Maine, have been found numerous mounds of shells, mostly those of the oyster, which until recently Were ‘supposed to be the remains of old sea beaches. One of these vast heaps running for | a long distance up both banks of the Dama | cotta river from near the mouth contains 8,000,000 cubic feet of this material. A while ago it was discovered that the Patagonians at the end of the western continent and the Eskimo at the other end lived literally in the midst of shell heaps of grent dimensions, their dwellings being established upon and sur- rounded by the remnants of former repasts dating back to the dinners of remote ancestors. pon it dawned upon the scientific mind that the shell mounds along the seashore of the United States were not ancient beaches at but the refuse of aboriginal kitchens. got so far as this idea they into the heaps and found them to be actual houses of material for prehistoric re- search—books, from another point of view, in which might be read the annals of the savages for centuries before Columbus, who ate these very clams and oysters. From the flint tools and oth excavated evidence it was learned that they must have been of a very degraded pe indeed. It does not require’ much in- ‘ligence to apprecinte the oyster and any one might make the discovery that the bivalve was 000 to eat by simply watcbing the birds go for | them at low ‘tide. Sometimes the latter suffer for the gratification of their appetite by getting caught in the bite of a bearded veteran and be- ing held until miserably drowned. ‘The method of utilizing the oyster adopted by the noble red man, so culled because he isn’t red at all, was to send the women aud boys out to wade for the tidbit, while he sat upon the shore and gorged himself until unable to go another | without bursting. It is proved by the jrecord of the shell Danks that in prehistoric times he opened the shells by roast- | ing them usually. Remains of fires are found ail through the mounds. If he preferred them raw he struck the mollusk w sharp blow near | the middle, just over the big muscle that holds | the valves together, thus paralyzing the ani- mal and making it relax its grip upon the meat | within. Stone knives and hatchets served ad- | nirabl ¢ tinal process. Such was the | earliest American oyster fishing, probably made | use of for purposes of barter with the inland natives, who received the shelifish in exchange tor other goods. THE INDUSTRY SERIOUSLY THREATENED. Reckless over fishing of the natural oyster beds in this country have given rise to searcity where once there was plenty, and at present the very existence of the industry is seriously threatened. The fish commission has been ap- | pealed to for help im the emergency and inves- |tisations are being conducted in the | Chesapeake, to be extended later all along the Atlantic coast, with a view to find- jing out just. what methods bad best | be resorted ‘to for resupplying the waters with this indispensible mollusk. Artificial cul- ture is to be resorted to in some shape and oys- ters are to be restored to these shores just as the shad have been and by similar means, Luckily,the fact has already been demonstrated that the propagation of the bivalves en scien- j tile principles is readily practicable, it onl remainy to determins precisely what ‘method can be most advantageously taken tp. Most people would be disposed to imagine that artificial oyster culture was a new idea, but such is very far from being the case. As early as a few years before the birth of Christ it was carried ou successfully in Europe, at Lake Fusaro, and it is recorded that a Roman who lived a century or two earlier, was entor. However, in order that the first les concerned may be understood, it is that explanation should be made of the manner in which this curious animal prop- agates kind. OYSTER PROPAGATION, The oyster is an animal organized very much asis a human being, though in a simpler man- ner. It hasa brain, a heart, a liver, astomach, intestines, gills which serve as lungs, a mouth and a ven! iso it possesses a reproductive sac. Formerly it was imagined that the creature had no sac, but now it is known that an oyster is either imale or female. and that the latter produces eggs, while the former supplies only repreductive ‘germs. A female oyster may be said to ‘lay’ on an average 16,000,000 of eggs at each spawning, while the male distributes in the water so many billions of tadpole-shaped spermatozoa that no one as yet has even attempted to count them under the microscope. the pear-shaped eggs and the microscopic tad- poles are simply let loose in the water, and it is only where male and female germs come to- gether that young oysters are formed. ‘Thus it ix seen that only ‘one out of ever so many thousand possible oysters gets so far as a begining, and when it is said that by artificial methods 98 per cent of the eggs can be successfully fertilized afeeble notion is given of the possibilities of the sort of farming referred to in this article. Upon opening oysters during the breeding season, say July, very many of them will be found 'to have their reproductive sacs dis- tended with eggs or milt. The expert can tell one from the other by their ance, and by mixing the two ina vessel skillfully he is able tosecure the impregnation of practically all the ova. It is easiest to chop up the male and female sacs together with their contentsin a bowl of water. Thus myriads of embryo oys- ters are formed, all to grow up for market if proper conditions are supplied. PRIMITIVE METHODS EMPLOYED. In practice, however, it is much easier to supply these conditions and to accomplish the purpose in view by permitting natural methods to take their — woe a jicious: awed 4 by artifice in ape of encouragement an: protection. So far as they went the primitive plans adopted forthe same ends were admir- able. The people who practiced oyster culture in Lake — oO pore} cogs tree —— with weights attac! em upon oyster beds #o that the wooden bundles floated ata small eae Sceenten OL them the new-born mol 801 a place, #o that the fagots became ‘covered with growing young ones, and being pulled up after couple of years or more were found to have formed great clumps of marketable oysters. A method practically the same is worked to day on the Paguanock river, near Groton, Conn., where birch bushes are stuck into the Hi to yield an average of five bushels per bush of fe to seed oysters for planting elsewhere, with not a few of ACTIVITY OF YOUNG BIVALVES. It must be comprehended that the new-born oyster resembles not in the least the bivalve of "2 te ite to the itis immer, surface of the water and traveling about actively fully appreciated by the people of this world | mollusks in far-distant antiquity found that by attaching themselves to rocks and adopting @ sedentary mode of existence they could get a better living, where marine round them and the small feed upon such vegetation be more plentifully at hand for them to dine upon. Accordingly, this inherited example, the infant s 4 brief period of joyous unrest. settles down—in case he bas not been gobbled up, which is most probable—upon something solid, and makes up his mind to spend the remainder of bis days in quiet respectabi He invariably chooses nis left side to lie upon, like many persons who cannot repose comfort- ably otherwise, and proceeds to grow. ASTONISHINGLY RAPID GROWTH. This last he does with astonishing rapidity. Though microscopic at birth, at six weeks of age he is.as big as aqgjlver half dime, and by the time he gets to bea year old be measures from an inch to an inch’ and « ba'f in length. | Under favorable circumstances he may live to creatures that | be from twenty-five to thirty years oll. How an oyster makes his shell has always been re- garded as a first-class mystery, but it onghtn't to be such any longer. “From ‘season to season thin layers of mother-of-pearl, each one a little larger than the last, so that there isa gradual growth outward from the hinge all arocnd the opening. Thus at the hinge is found thé thickest part, while the edges, formed by the progressive extension of oyster shucker wil! tell you that the dark part which be cuts away from the abel is the heart severe it. ‘The fact is that this is not the heart at all, but only the strong muscle which holds the valves so clowely together. When you eat ita good oyster isas much alive as you are. You have the advantage of it, on Bob Burdette's principle. When asked why moked cigars the eminent humorist re- * “Because I am the biggest, and the cigar can't help itself.” THE SHELL OF AX oYsTER. The shell of an oyster is hinged like a check |book. Atthe hinge inside is an elastic pad which keeps the valves apart save when the creature employs the powerful muscle above mentioned to close them. Within the shell is lined with « fleshy “mantle,” tringed with sen- sory, tentacles. When these tantacles ure touched intelligence that something threatens is telegraphed by the nervous system to the brain of the mollusk and from the brain to the big muscle, which shuts the shell instan- taneously. It is the same process precisely as that by which a human being withdraws his person upon feeling alarm. We were all oys- ters once, if the evolutionist ix to be believed. If every egg produced were fertilized—in short, if the conditions accomplished on a small scale could be followed out in nature—a single Pair of the bivalves would produce in five geuer- ations —60.000,000,000,000, ), 000,000,000. 000 of the mollusks, or enough to compose a man eight times as big as the world. As things go, however, there is only about one chance ,in two million that an individual oyster will reach maturity. The oyster preserves its species not by protecting the individual offspring, which isleftto take care of itself entirely, but by the production of great num- bers. Auimals which’ produce the most numer- ous offspring do not necessarily occupy the earth. Man, the most numerous of all large mammals, produces ordinarily but one at a birth. ‘Things seem to be arranged that way in nature with wonderful intelligence. Each fe- male cod voids hundreds of thousands of eggs, but their only prospect of becoming repro- ductive is in the chance that they wili en- counter the milt of the male while floating upon the surface of the waves. At the opposite end of the fish proposition is the giant skate called the “devil tich.” which bears but « # gle offspring at a birth, the female carrying it in her belly until it is several feet long and well able to take care of itself. SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL CULTURE. The secret of successful oyster culture, such asis intended to be practiced in the Chesa- peake and generally along the Atlantic coast, lies first in providing suitable surfaces for the fertilized spawn—known technically as “spat” — to attach itself to, and secondly in the protec- tion of the young oysters from the numerous enemies which threaten their youthful exist- ence. In the East river, near New York, and elsewhere along the coast, the practice of throwing overboard quantities of oyster shells to collect the spat has been found greatly successful. Abroad, in France and elsewhere, much profit has been made from the device of placing convex pieces of earthenware, like water pipes cut in two lengthwise, on the bot- tom in oyster-producing shallows.” Upon these the young oysters collect in vast quantities, to be subsequently scraped off and deposited in beds for “seed.” The business of producing such seed, usually on oyster shells, for pur- poses of propagation and marketed at so much per bushel is au important industry at present in Long Island sound. ‘TRANSPLANTING THE MOLLUSKS. Since the sixteenth century oyster breeders on the coast of France have been in the habit of transplanting the mollusks they propagate in this fashion to shallow ponds open by tide flooding to the sea, where they fatten and uc- quirea greenish hue and peculiar flavor much prized in Paris. The transplanting is done when they are about one year old, and three or four years of deposit in the ponds are required, during which they have frequently to be cleaned and transferred from one reservoir to another. In these ponds the oysters spawn excellently, but the young do not grow. The breeders can give colorand flavor, but they can- not provide this mollusk with a foot for loco- motion. In other words they cannot transform the oyster into a mussel, however hard they may try. Attempts at oyster farming most carefully planned have not always been at- tended with success. Experiments made in this line on a large scale in England resulted in an estimate that each marketable specimen pro- duced cost the producers from $250 to $2,500. OTHER INHABITANTS OF OYSTER BEDS. An oyster bed is by no means occupied and inhabited by oysters alone. Such a spot, in fact, is richer in general animal life than any other part of the sea bottom. When a dredge, frvshly brought up, is emptied, it isfound to filled with all sorts’ of other creatures besidi mollusks, which have gathered in the locality because it is productive of food in plentiful quantities. There are nimble “pocket crabs,” slow “horn crabs,” abandoned snail ' shells occupied by “hermit crabs, spiral-shelled snails, star fish, sea urchins the size of small apples, greenish and bristling, sea worms of various Hues, black mussles and white cockles. Even the shells of the oysters themselves are covered with barnacles, over- grown with yellowish sponges, bedecked with tassels that are each of m communities of thousands of bryozoa, and *‘sea-hands” re- sembling in size and shape old gloves, them- selves assemblages of polyps. Between the very layers of the older oyster shells are dis- peatln f nish worms with bristles and ten- tacles. @ single oyster thus fetched up will be found by the scientific searcher as many as 200 different species of animals. VEGETABLE FOOD. All human food is vegetable in its origin. If there were no plants every animal would starve immediately. This is true of the land creatures; it is likewise the case with those of the sea. ‘The predatory and carnivorous blue- fish preys upon smaller fishes, the latter upon fishes still smaller and some of them upon mi- nute crustacea; these last devour still smaller | ESE its iiftes "3 s' ante would sur- | he deposits” upon the inside of his shell | the layers, are kept sharp as knife blades. An | and that the animal dies when his instrument | The plants developing in the water Iden with this nutritive material a: b e ee with food, instead of takine nourishment by Toots or stems. They muliipiy enormously, so that they would soon choke up the entire bay were it not that they n by countless minut | creature expecially | and estuaries and gath inhabitants fo food agent sofar d: i for bri | Bind som alth which away from t wand meadows. MODERY PROPAGATING METH Naturally som: modern improved oyster, Unfortunate far arrived at any Subject. It is believed | newly devised will a sired and reduc ons on this proctemoe tion has y ne of the moxt ure filled with nicating wich canal. As through wi Mit no startich or other foe~ ized in the inciosure is carried ule over baskets filled which the ronng By amply removing a: | the “seed” thas obsar Jing. Suche vation of on luced by e single such tended to, 0: the « out with oyster many marketable ove | United states. How miu. of the plan #hen< | tion all should be this ge pensive so: Save us from the friend who sends p ous friends of his to us, with letters duction. 9? of i Save us from the friend inclothes, who never fail effusive cordiatity. f. taste to greet us with Save house it plans to us from the friend who is buildings he country aud wants to show the Save us from the athletic friend who exlubite his strength on every occasion. Save us from the old family friend who knew our grandfather when he first started in busi- ness and tells us all about itevery time we meet him. From the Boston Herald. If you ever observe it the electric light is re