536 



HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATION 



AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



bution throughout the timbered portions of the 

 eastern United States. It is because of the im- 

 portant part played bj' the White-Tailed Deer 

 in our colonial development that today we give 

 its portrait the place of honor on our title page. 



We are heartily glad that this is the most per- 

 sistent species of all North American big game. 

 It does not glory in the exhibition of its fine 

 proportions at the risk of its life. On the con- 

 trary, it seeks the densest woods and brush cover 

 that it can find, noiselessly steals through it 

 with head and neck carried low and pointing 

 straight forward, and leaves the honest and 

 sportsmanlike still hunter only a trail of heart- 

 breaking dimness. Thanks to wise laws and 

 their rigid enforcement, the state of Maine to- 

 day contains perhaps 100.000 White-Tailed 

 Deer ; and the hunting of the male "increase" 

 furnishes legitimate sport for 3000 men, and an 

 annual revenue to the state of more than 

 $1,000,000. 



In our beloved Adirondack wilderness, this 

 deer still exists; but it has been shot far too 

 much. There are localities that now should be 



alive with deer, but in which none are to be 

 found, save at very long intervals. During the 

 past ten years, protection has had the curious 

 effect of bringing a wave of deer migration from 

 the north down through Connecticut to the 

 Sound, and down the Hudson valley actually 

 to the northern boundary of New York City. 

 We possess a wild female that was caught in 

 Yonkers ! 



The first wild-animal products of our coast 

 that came into the hands of Hudson were furs, 

 offered in trade by the Indians of the coast. 

 The historian says that "many brought us Bevers 

 skinnes, and Otters skinnes, which we bought 

 for Beades, Knives and Hatchets." 



In the days of the colonists, the first traffic 

 with the Indians was for their corn and furs. 

 Beyond all doubt, the first products of the Hud- 

 son valley that crossed the Atlantic were In- 

 dian-caught skins of Beaver, Otter, Marten, 

 Mink and Muskrat. In early times, the 

 Fisher was also among those present, but never 

 in great abundance, and it soon ceased to be a 



