THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NAT1 RALIST. 



rllorfs ami expenditure, to add the Mi 

 quail lo our Canadian mourn and forests. I 

 |javc a dozen of tlie Colonel's Sicilian quail, 

 at present in my a\ iary, the breeding i 

 being over when I pot them, and am waiting 

 for A pril In lei them loose, in order In test < !i il 

 Rhodes' theory ahout this migratory species' 

 return lo where il was hatched. The caper- 

 cailzie, without being as delicate a bird to eat, 

 as our milled grouse, from its size, would be a 

 \i'i-y welcome addition to our fauna. In Can- 

 ada, he would find a climate, haunts, food and 

 protection, similar to which he meets with in 

 the pine forests of the north — in Norway — it is 

 worth while trying, il he can lie naturalized 

 here. I hope yet lo learn that some public- 

 ipirited sportsman will undertake the introduc- 

 tion of this noble bird- -the capercailzie — and 

 succeed here, as has happened in Scotland. 

 I remain, dear Sir, 



Yours mosl obediently, 



.1. M. LeMoinb, 

 President Lit. & His. Society. 



BAY OF QUINTE NOTES. 



Owing to the unprecedented dryness of the 

 weather in September the shooting season in 

 this district opened ' under very unfavorable 

 uispices. The Woodcock was driven out of 

 his usual haunts, and compelled to take refuge 

 J the inaccessible recesses of our marshes, and 

 though some ot our sportsmen tried the well- 

 nown covers, they met with but poor success, 

 the best bag I have heard of consisting of no 

 more than six birds. Some sport has been 

 had within and close to the city limits among 

 the Golden Plover, but no heavy bags have 

 been made. Very few Partridge have been 

 shoi as yet, the foliage is too dense for the 

 shooter ; after the leaves have fallen we hope 

 to have some sport, as the breeding season was 

 favorable. 



The Fall ducks are beginning to arrive; 

 the frosty nights of the 5th and 1 1 th October 

 lave started them on their Southward journey, 

 md they have begun to appear on our market, 

 to the great satisfaction of the gourmands. 

 I lav-bay, an offshoot of the Hay of Quinte, 

 about midway between Belleville and Kings- 

 Ion, used to be a celebrated resort lor duck- 

 shooters, but ot late years the birds have been 

 almost entirely driven away by incessant and 

 indiscriminate cannonading. It is now, how- 

 ■ver. under the protection of an association o\' 

 leighhoring sportsmen, who only allow shooi- 

 ng on three days in the week, and who, I am 



informed, charge one dollar a-da 



privili m which no t man 



would object lo ;iav for a fail' day'- sport. 



The fishing in tin- Bay, though inter 

 thai of la-i year, ha- yet afforded - 

 " takes " to the devotee* "i the rod and line. 

 Among others, Mr, Win. Orwin has bad 

 -pun among the Black Bass. < >n ot 

 he and his son killed 95lbs. of Baa* in an 

 afternoon. <>n another the) t>>ok 7."> ti-b, 

 weighing considerably over LOO lbs., and on 

 the Nib October they took, al Nigger Island, 

 half way between this and Trenton, 103 lbs. 

 of Black Bass. Hi- usual bail is a grass- 

 hopper, but as the insect is rarely to be bad 

 now, bis latter fishing has been done with an 

 artificial fly, tied to resemble that tempting 

 bail .Mr. Orwin reported some heavy flocks 

 ol duck coming in while he was fishing. 



A well-known veteran angler, Mr. Alpheus 

 I Hilmage, paid a \ isil to Squire's « Ireek, in the 

 Township of h'awdoii, 25 mile- from Belle- 

 viHe, on the 12th September, and in eighl 

 hours, took 7(1 Speckled Trout, our ol which 

 weighed close upon 2^1 bs., and anothei turned 

 the scale at I Jibs. These fish wen- mostly 

 killed with the worm, but, fishing by moon- 

 light, the troul refused the worm hail, which 

 was freely taken by the Chub, which also 

 inhabit the creek. By way ot experiment Mr. 

 Dulmage cut up a Chub and baited his hook 

 with pieces of its flesh, and with this bait 

 caught several nice trout. 



The bush-tires which devastated a largi 

 tion of the middle district of Eastings County 

 during the hot, dry weather of summer, made 

 sad havoc among the game and wild animals 

 within their sway. The lumberers report the 

 finding of many remains of Deer, Partri 

 and other animals in the burnt woods. In the 

 Townshipof Grimsthorpe, a fire swept through 

 six miles of forest in twenty-lour hours. One 

 of Messrs. Rathbun's foremen, following the 

 track of the conflagration to look for such 

 timber trees as' were spared, found a Porcupine 

 with all its legs burnt off and still living, and, 

 a little further on, another with its bead and 

 shoulders singed bare, and its eyes put out by 

 the flames ; he put them out o\' pain with his 

 hatchet. 



The tires oi' this year, having run through 

 many ot the thick swamps which, in ordinary 

 seasons, are incombustible on account of their 

 moist condition, have driven many Hears. 

 Wolves, Ac, out of their strongholds, and they 

 have, consequently made their appearance in 



