AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



87 



are similar to those of the male; the variegatives of the 

 scapulars and upper coverts being only of a much more 

 rusty tinge, dull orange in the middle on the shaft, all the 

 larger feathers having moreover a white streak along the 

 shaft, ending in a pure white spot, wanting in the male. 



"The outer edge of the primaries is more broadly 

 whitish, and the tertials are dingy white at the point, 

 being also crossed with dull orange; the tail feathers, 

 especially the middle ones, are more thickly sprinkled 

 with rusty orange, taking the appearance of bands on the 

 middle feathers, then orange coloured, tip being moreover 

 not so pure, and also sprinkled." 



Those specimens from the Rocky Mountains somewhat 

 differ from those of the north, being larger in size, having 

 the tail black to the end, and the toes not so strongly pecti- 

 nated, and the tail-coverts are pure white at tip. 



A WOLF HUNT. 



Many of the inhabitants of the Wyalusing Valley re- 

 member Isaac H. Metcalf, who moved from that neigh- 

 bourhood to Tioga county, a few years ago. Isaac is a 

 tall, active, hardy fellow, and as good a hunter as is to be 

 found within an hundred miles of Brookfield township. 

 It is not probable that any foreign foe will ever invade 

 Brookfield; but if Isaac should get a sight of such a fel- 

 low's head within two hundred yards of him, I would 

 not give six-pence for his chance of escaping a rifle bullet. 

 But although two legged foes are not likely to invade 

 Brookfield, four legged ones, in the shape of wolves and 

 foxes, are, unfortunately for sheep and poultry, too fre- 

 quently to be traced by their ravages. One of the for- 

 mer — who found, to his cost, that he had mistaken his 

 man — took the liberty of invading Isaac's sheep-fold, 

 one morning just after he had foddered his flock, and on 

 Isaac's return a few minutes afterwards, he found him, 

 without the ceremony of " by your leave, sir," regaling 

 on some of his fattest mutton. Indignant at the affron- 

 tery of the transaction, Isaac ran into the house for his 

 rifle; but the wolf, in the midst of his gluttony, kept an 

 eye for his safety, and on the hunter's return, he could 

 only fire a shot at the flying marauder, which grazing the 

 animal's belly, passed through his forefoot, as it was raised 

 in his gallop, and deranged, in some degree, the regulari- 

 ty of his race. 



Isaac, who, though self-taught, appears to have acted on 

 the principle of Napoleon, never to suffer a flying enemy 

 to have any rest, ran back to the house, seized a loaf of 

 bread, with a laudible precaution, which the celebrated 

 Captain Dugald Dalgetty would have approved, and, with 



his dog, started in pursuit. The dog liked the sport, and, 

 the wolf's speed being somewhat impaired by the accident 

 which had happened to his foot, in an hour or too over- 

 took him, and had a slight scuffle with him ; but consi- 

 dering that " the better part of valour is discretion," he 

 merely endeavoured to delay the enemy till the arrival of 

 his master. The wolf, however, appeared to be well aware 

 of the dog's intention, or, in the hunter's phrase, was 

 " up to trap," and before Isaac could get within long shot 

 of him, would take to his heels. In this way, with re- 

 peated skirmishes, the first day passed; and at night man 

 and dog laid down on some brush made into a bed by the 

 hunter. They found the loaf of bread a very useful arti- 

 cle in the campaign. At day light they " took the track" 

 again, and two other days and nights passed like the first, 

 the dog frequently overtaking the wolf, occupying his at- 

 tention and skirmishing with him till the near arrival of 

 his master, of which the wolf contrived to take sufficient 

 notice, and always to be off before the hunter could get 

 within rifle shot. Each morning it was ascertained, that 

 at bed time, the wolf had been too tired to hunt for food, 

 and remained where he had laid down till roused by the 

 dog in the morning. In the afternoon of the fourth daj' 

 he was fairly worn out and exhausted, and the hunter com- 

 ing up, the dog seized the wolf, and as they rolled over each 

 other, the hunter clapped his rifle to the wolf's neck, dis- 

 charged the load through it, and broke the bone to pieces. 

 Isaac had not asked himself where he was during the 

 four days' chase. He had seen nobody, and he passed 

 through no clearing or improvement, but as a true hunter 

 is not to be lost by all the turnings and twistings of such 

 a devious route as he had been led, going, at one time,* 

 right " a-head," as Col. Crockett says, or " bock again," 

 as Sawney said, and as some of our politicians do, or wish 

 they could do; but he " guessed" he was somewhere 

 south-west from his house; and so, after he had taken the 

 enemy's scalp, with as much of the skill of an artiste 

 as any of the Black Feet or Dog-Ribbed Indians could 

 have shown, he " laid his course," as he said, to the north- 

 east, and found that when he was "in at the death," he 

 was in Potter county, about twelve miles from his house; 

 but supposes that he must have travelled, during the chase, 

 nearly an hundred and fifty miles. 



DOMESTIC PIGEONS, THEIR VARIETIES AND 

 MANAGEMENT. 



The Pigeon is monoganous, that is, the male attaches 

 and confines himself to one female, and the attachment is 



