BOOKS ON BIG GAME 333 



man who wrote over the signature of Frank Forrester. 

 He did much for the shotgun men; but, unfortunately, 

 he was a true cockney, who cared little for really wild 

 sports, and he was afflicted with that dreadful pedantry 

 which pays more heed to ceremonial and terminology 

 than to the thing itself. He was sincerely distressed be- 

 cause the male of the ordinary American deer was called 

 a buck instead of a stag; and it seemed to him to be a 

 matter of moment whether one spoke of a " gang " or a 

 " herd " of elk. 



There are plenty of excellent books nowadays, how- 

 ever. The best book upon the old plains country was 

 Colonel Richard Irving Dodge's " Hunting-Grounds of 

 the Great West," which dealt with the chase of most 

 kinds of plains game proper. Judge Caton, in his " Ante- 

 lope and Deer of America," gave a full account of not 

 only the habits and appearance, but the methods of chase 

 and life histories of the prongbuck, and of all the dif- 

 ferent kinds of deer found in the United States. Dr. 

 Allen, in his memoir on the bisons of America, and 

 Hornaday, in his book upon their extermination, have 

 rendered similar service for the vast herds of shaggy- 

 maned wild cattle which have vanished with such mel- 

 ancholy rapidity during the lifetime of the present 

 generation. Mr. Van Dyke's " Still-Hunter " is a note- 

 worthy book, which, for the first time, approaches the 

 still-hunter and his favorite game, the deer, from what 

 may be called the standpoint of the scientific sportsman. 

 It is one of the few hunting-books which should really 

 be studied by the beginner because of what he can learn 



