130 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



Wild Geese Frozen to the Ice ; Frozen 

 Ducks. 



W. B. H. of Milwaukee, Wis., writes 

 that last winter a young man of Milwaukee 

 secured several Wild Geese which had be- 

 come frozen to the ice while sitting around 

 an air-hole, on a small lake about 100 miles 

 from the city, and that a hunter informed 

 him that he had in three cases found Wild 

 Geese frozen to the ice on lakes in northern 

 AVisconsin. 



Mr. H. also enclosed the following clip" 

 ])ing taken from the Osh/cosh Times : 



Register of Deeds Spiegelberg brought 

 the news this morning of a very singular 

 occurrence in the up-river country. He 

 states" that in the ifland formed at the con- 

 fluence of Lake Poygau, the Wolf river 

 and the Boom Company's canal, the sud- 

 den change in the weather on the 23d inst. 

 [Nov.] overtook a thousand or more Mal- 

 lard Ducks, which had found a resting 

 place, and the cold having numbed them 

 they were unable to fly, and hunters and 

 farmers had an easy time in catching them 

 The highest number caught by one family I 

 was 213, A good many of the ducks were ] 

 picked and brought into the market, while j 

 lots of them were packed foi- winter use. ; 

 Mr. Spiegelberg says that the ducks were 

 very fat, but that when discovered they 

 had nothing in their crops, being unable to i 

 move on account of the cold. Mr. Spiegel- '' 

 berg, who has lived in the vicinity a long | 

 time, has no remembrance of a similar oc- j 

 currence. ] 



How to Handle a Gun. 



The following advice to young sportsmen 

 appears in the St. Nicholas. We trust our 

 readers will peruse carefully and always 

 bear it in mind when out for a day's sport: 



Always bear in mind that it is the muz- 

 zle of a gun that is dangerous; therefore, 

 never allow the muzzle to point toward 

 yourself or any other person. 



Never put your hand over the muzzle of 

 a gun nor allow another person to handle 

 your gun while it is loaded. 



Use a breech-loading with reboiniding 



hammers. A muzzle-loading gun is both 

 inconvenient and dangerous to load. 



Hammerless guns are beautiful and con- 

 venient weapons, but they are not fit for 

 boys to use, especially boys who are just 

 beginning to shoot. 



If you are hunting in company with 

 others, be careful and courteous, always re- 

 fraining from shooting at birds that are 

 flushed nearer to your companion than to 

 you, and do not allow your gun under any 

 circumstances to point at or in the direc- 

 tion of any human being. 



Open your gun at the breech and take 

 out both shells before climbing the fence, 

 getting into a wagon, going into a house, 

 or handing the gun to a person not used to 

 firearms. 



Never drag a gun toward you muzzle 

 foremost. 



Treat an unloaded gun with the same 

 care that you would use in handlin a^ 

 loaded one. 



"I did not know it was loaded" has 

 caused many terrible accidents. 



It is best to thoroughly clean and dry a 

 gun after it has been used all day, and 

 when not in use it should be kept in a 

 woolen or leather case. 



Never shoot at worthless or harmless 

 birds "just to try your hand." Most small 

 birds are pretty, some of them sing sweet- 

 ly, and nearly all of them are useful as 

 insect destroyers. It is brutal to kiU them 

 for other than scientific or artistic pur- 

 poses. 



When out hunting observe everything so 

 as to remember the minutest details of vis- 

 ible nature. 



Boys, when hunting together, should be 

 verjr cautious in thick covert, as there one 

 may be quite near another and not see him. 



Webster's Unabridged Illustrated. 

 — Viewed as a whole, we are confident that 

 no other living language has a dictionary 

 which so fully and faithfully sets forth its 

 present condition as this last edition of 

 Webster does that of our written and 

 spoken English tongue. — Harper's Maga- 



