FOREST AND STREAM. 



115 ! 



. -Babcoek, Yeamaas, Prince and Lucien Hicks, of South 

 Coventry, caugnt Ofty-one, which were variable la size, weighing about 

 seventy pounds. 



■".' ,— Babcoek, Veamans ami Prince took flfty pounds iu 

 weight, the heaviest weighing three oml one half pounds. 



1 — 'i 'eamana went out leea lhan on hour anrt took seven and 

 three-fourth pounds. In e»cn case considerable numbers of other kinds 

 of ilsb were caught, I ut. no pickerel 

 S&MnBsr 3.— Babcoek and 1'niiue naught twelve of Rood size. 

 September 4.— Yeamana and E.-E. Maran, of Hartford, took sixteen, 

 twelve of which weighed twenty-five pounds. Other parties have 

 ashed here with good success, but we have not the record. 

 Columbia, Conn., Sept. 5, 1S7S. liKSEKVOm. 



§mn$ §ng and §ttn. 



GAME IN SEASON FOR SEPTEMBER. 



Moose, Aleesmalehu 

 Caribou, Ttu, iwlv,s r 



BE - 



Reed or rice 



Willi turkey, Mekwjris gaUopam. 

 rinnittcd grouneor prairie chick- 

 en, rupiii.mto, ouaido. 



' T ■' ' ' ',',■■„,.■., 



wmbtuus, 



Quail or partridge, OHyx virffinia- 



Black.bellied plover, ox-eye, Squ<i- 

 ngi/er. tarda helvetUO. 



camoh'nuis. King plover, jGgfatIHa stmipalvut- 

 ryinitmui. fits. 



md gray. Stilt, or lnug-shanka, Himantopim 



y. nigriwllvi. 



•iclwnyx •'!<<•-■ "Woodcock, Pl>ih,i„>ia minor. 



Red-breasted anlpe, or dowitclier. 



.1!.. ,'..:7;u ,,, ,,/,„;. ,,,, ,',.;, ,,._■ 



Red-Dieted sandpiper, or ox-bird, 

 Trtnga amerinana. 



Brest marbled godwit, or marlin, 

 Linivmfedoa. 



Willet, Tot-anus semipalmatus. 



Tattler. 'lUamn, v.-lnrwleuetu. 



Yellow-shanks, Tolanun flavipw. 



"Bay birds" generally, including various species of plover, saud 



piper, snipe, curlew, oyster-catcher, surf birds, phalarones. 



etc., coming under the group Limamlmm Shore Birds. 



Game in Market— Retatl Prices, Poulthy and Game— Pin- 

 nated grouse (prairie chickens), SI. 00 per pair ; partridge (ruffed 

 gronae), SI. 50 por pair ; leal, 50 cents per pair : WilBon snipe, $3 

 per doz. ; plover, $4,50 per do?..; bay birds, large, $3 per doz, ; do- 

 small, 50 cents per doz.; rails, 15 cents per doz.; reed birds, 40 to 

 75 cents per doz. ; Phildolphia squabs, .-5(2 per doz. 



Poultry— Philadelphia, and Bucks County dry picked chickens, 

 18 to 22 cents per pound ; do. fowls, 16 to 18 cents ; do. turkeys, 

 18 to 20 cents ; do. dnoks, 18 cents; do. geese, 18 oents ; State 

 and Western chickens, 16 cents ; do. turkeys, 16 oenta ; do. 

 fowls, 15 cents ; do. ducks, 15 cents. 



Canada— Montreal, Sept. 3 — The shooting season has fairly 

 commenced here, yesterday everybody that owned or could 

 borrow a gun was out. Some fair bags of woodcock were 

 made, but other kinds of game are scarce. Stanstead. 



Maine — Princeton, Sept. 2. — Deer are very plenty. 



W. P. P. 



Massachusetts— Nantucket, Sept. 9. — Plover quite plenty; 

 no doubt the thick fogs have caused them to stop. Saturday 

 1 saw a great many birds. Black ducks are pleuty on Dry 

 Shoal. Jack Ctjblbw. 



OpsHBOTiotrr — Noroton, Sept. 1. — There are. a great many 

 quail here this fall. Yesterday I flushed two flocks in a po- 

 tato lot not 200 yards from my house. 



Sooee Two fob Seth.— "Moose," a Germantown sports- 

 man, has been on an Adirondack expedition, and while in 

 mad pursuit of his pr* y managed to shoot a bull (not a moose), 

 for which he compromised with the farmer by the payment 

 of $150. All of which is truthfully related in the Germantown 

 Tetef/raph, with this bit about the veteran New York fish- 

 culturist : 



We saw many curious things while in these glorious moun- 

 tains—for glorious they truly are. No wonder Seth Green is 

 about building a town there, to be called Troutvillc. Seth is 

 also a good shot. We met him there three weeks ago, and 

 saw him from one side of a stream shoot two deer on the 

 other side at one shot. Of course they were standing side by 

 Bide, or be could not have dune it. At the very time, too, he 

 had hold of a supposed ten pound trout, which, on dropping 

 his pole on drawing a bead on the deer, floated off with it, 

 and that was the last seen of that polo. Seth was a good 

 deal disappointed at losing his pole, line and ten-pound trout, 

 but he is a man of a very patient and forgiving nature, made 

 use of no improper language, and was thankf ui for the two 

 deer at one. shot, as that feat had never been performed in the 

 Adirondacks before. 



Pennsylvania- Mercer, Sept. 3.— The Solid Comfort Club 

 just came home from their camp on Sugar Lake yesterday. 

 The woodcock shooting has been good here, and the prospect 

 is good for all kinds of small game this fall. M. B. McK. 



Delaware— Port Penn.— Delaware Bay, Sept. 5. — Rail 

 and reed bird shooting now good ; birds abundant along the 

 Bay, and will be all this month. This is a good point. Take 

 the steamboat, Thomas Clyde, any morning from Phila- 

 delphia, fare about fifty cents. Stop at the Pier House on the 

 beach, kept by air. Lloyd. $1.50 per day, or $8 per week. 

 Game close at hand. H. W. Mebeill. 



Bail and Reed Bibds— Pier Mouse, PortPenn., Sept. 8. — 

 Following the directions of the "Sportsman's Gazetteer," I 

 came here a week since to get some wing shooting of bay 

 birds. As you state, the rail and reed bird shooting is most 

 excellent here. I doubt if a better point can be selected 

 along the whole Bay. The birds are always here during Sept. 

 and the rail till about Oct. 15, when both kinds disappear with 

 coming frosts. The sporting is near the hotel, and very con- 

 venient. I send you a sample of a day's sport, from which 

 you will see we have plenty of delicacies for the table. Rail 

 shot Sept. 5: S. Lord, 37; J. W. Gibbs, 33: P. Wain, 38 ; 

 G. Tete, 36 ; W. H. Luff, 35. C. Tete and sou, 78 white 

 perch, and 40 crabs. The above was on one tide and occupied 

 about four hours only. As for reed or rice birds, they we 

 being killed daily and everywhere along the shore. Every 

 morning and eveuing as they fly across the lawn in front of 

 our hotel a general fusilade is opened on them, and enough 

 sooured to supply all our wants. The Sportsman's Hotel, 

 kept by T. Lord, is plain and comfortable. He is a sports- 

 man, and keeps two good dogs for bis guests to use. at pleasure, 

 also boats, etc. The steamboat, Thomas Clyde, from Phila- 

 delphia, touches here at 11 A. m. daily, fare 50 cents, and on 

 returning, at 4 i». m. Only railroad to Delaware City four miles 

 above this place. Hotel fare |t.50 per day, or $8 per week ; 

 boat pushers $3. Next month the snipe shooting will be 

 good, with ducks, etc. Maj, H. W. Mbebill. 



Voijni;, America Ci.rjB.— The Young America Sporting 

 Club, of West Phi la., was organized Aug. 7, 1878. with the 

 following officers : Harry C. Cochran, Captain, 4330 Ludlow 

 St.; Ben 8. Marshall, Treasurer, 321 N. 41st si,.; W. J. B. 

 Bluudin, Secretary, ;!!)5l Story st, 



Tbdhhssbe— Nashville, Sept. 4.— Mr. Clark Pritchett, Sec- 

 retary of.lhe Tennessee Sportsman's Club, has had some good 

 dove shooting the last two weeks. Taking it very leisurely, 

 and hunting only iu the cool of the afternoon, he bagged from 

 five to eighteen birds each day. Our game laws allow shoot- 

 ing to begin on the 15th of this month, but the fields and 

 covers will be full of hunters to-morrow, so that by the time 

 the law abiding sportsman begins his shooting season the 

 birds will have become very wild. There are such quantities, 

 however, that there will be enough for all. J. D. H. 



A Day Among TitB Chickens.— A Texas correspondent 

 writes us from Houston, Aug. 26, of the amenities of the 

 sportsman in that viciuity. We commend the paragraph to 

 the consideration of those who may be skeptical as to the 

 abundance and variety of Texan game : 



" 1 had intended ere this to give you a sketch of a day 

 among the prairie chicken, which are very abundant here, 

 and are now in fine condition for shooting, but the weather 

 has been so bad that it Las been impossible for U3 to get out. 

 The rainfall has been unusually largo for this season of the 

 year. The ground is covered with water; the sun so oppres- 

 sively hot that our dogs are unable to work more than a f we 

 minutes at a time, frequently returning to the wagon, or 

 else seeking the shade of some bush or tree, from which they 

 refuse to move. Add to this the swarms of green-headed 

 flies, which cover our horses, rendering them almost frantic, 

 the millions of mosquitoes, which almost obstruct our sight, 

 and then draw on your imagination for the pleasure likely to 

 be derived from " A Day Among the Chickens " at this time. 



J. W. D. 



How to Load Dittmab Powder, — Editor Forest atid 

 Jtrmm : For the benefit of any who have failed to get uni- 

 form results in the use of Dittmar powder, allow me to give 

 the following directions for loading ; if carefully observed no 

 complaints will ever be found with its performance : Dip the 

 measure heaping full, tap it a few times until it settles even ; 

 empty into the shell, striking that a few times so it settles 

 even in the shell This is important. Use one Delaware 

 fibre and one Eley's pink edge, or two pink edge, which fit 

 tight in the shell, requiring a little pressure to drive them 

 down, striking the rammer once or twice with the hand ; then 

 pnt in shot and one black edge wad and crimp the shell well. 

 Shells loaded in tins way will equal the execution of those 

 loaded with best black powder, without the noise, dirt and 

 smoke which is so objectionable. Mr. Haines, agent for Dr. 

 Carver, informed me that out of the thousands used by the 

 Doctor, and loaded in this way, never had one failed in any re- 

 spect, HCS. 



Deooys.— Mr. H. A. Stevens, of Wecdsport, Cayuga Co., 

 N Y., has sent us samples of various decoys of his manufac- 

 ture, which are excellent. The Stevens decoys are made of 

 cedar, are unusually natural, and, the heads being moveable, 

 can be [jacked iu very small compass. But one grade of de- 

 coysare made. The list includes canvas-backs, mallard, black, 

 red, scaup, golden-eye ducks, with tealp, etc. As Mr. Stevens 

 haB generally as many orders as he can fill, it would be well 

 for duckers to get their supplies early. 



Rabbits.— In some parts of New York and New Jersey 

 orchard men, this year, fight rabbits all day and dream rabbits 

 all night, mowers cut them to pieces in the hay fields, cats 

 bring them into the house by the wholesale, the small boy 

 pursues them with ferrets, and between them all an unfortu- 

 nate vagabond is the tramp who cannot strike a good square 

 rabbit stew for his noonday repast. 



—The Montgomery Shooting Club have contributed to the 

 amount of $150 to the yellow fever sufferers in Memphis and 

 New Orleans. 



For Forest andj Stream and Rod and Oun. 

 LEAVES FROM A DIARY OF WESTERN 

 TRAVEL. 



(Concluded.) 



Rawlins, Wyoming Terr. 



Aug. Sth.~ After breakfast Jack and Prank with the rifle, 

 and I with the shot-gun, went out hunting. I bagged four 

 fine mountain grouse, and in the afternoon Frank killed 

 three ana Jack one. These birds, which some call blue 

 grouse, are here iu great numbers, and are of fine flavor. 

 Two of them weighed two pounds and fourteen ounces 

 each. 



Uh— Started from camp 7.30 a. m. to get to Battle Lake. 

 But it was no go ! After eight horns horrible tramp through 

 thick bushes, fallen timber, over rocks, in a hard rain-storm, 

 we all felt tired, and concluded to give it up for that day aud 

 go to camp. Before we got down to the creek Tip killed a 

 deer, and we shot at an elk pretty far off without doing him 

 any harm. Our camp outfit was, although it was covered, 

 pretty damp, and the first thing when we stopped was to 

 make a big tire and get warm and dry. The rest was to cook 

 dinner, which wc were anxiously waiting for, as our appetite 

 was grand. My friend, Prank, ate half as much iu meat as 

 the weight of his body, not to speak of the flapjacks. In half 

 an hour we were quite different men, and smoked another 

 pipe of peace. This camp, 8,700 feet high, in the narrow val- 

 ley of the main branch of Battle Creek waB surrounded on both 

 sides by high wooded mountains. We did not feel very com- 

 fortable here, but still had to stay another day in order to send 

 the guides oul to look for the lake. We passed an unpleasant 

 night, as all our camp outfit, as quilts, blankets, etc., was 

 damp. The next morning, on the 10th Aug., Jack and Tip 

 Btarted to hunt for Battle Lake, while Frank and 1 went out 

 fishing. The trout were not very hungry, aud did take the 

 fly weil, because there was so much food washed down the 

 mountain for them by the freshet, still 1 caught enough for 

 our table. At noon the guides came back, bringing us good 

 news. They found the lake about two miles off. We could 

 have gone there the same day, but we thought belter to wait 

 till our bedding was dry again. To speak of the trout I 

 caught here, I never saw Salma forUinalis like them before. 



llth.— Early in the morning we Btarted for the lake, where 

 we arrived alter a half-hour's riding over rooky hills and 

 thickly fallen timber. What a wonderful panorama we had 

 after we hud ascended the last hill. I ant not able to describe 

 it. A line, but rather small, sheet of water before us, about 

 000 or 000 yards long, and 300 yards wide ; was surrounded 

 on one side by a steep, bare rock, 1,000 feet high; on the 

 other sides by high wooded hills. The water of the lake was 



as smooth as a mirror, and we saw hundreds, even thousands, 

 of small trout playing or rising to the surface for insects. 

 Toward lite high rock the water seems to be very deep, but 

 on other parts pretty shallow. Frank aud myself being ahead, 

 we had not to wait very long For our train, and then we 

 rode slowly along the lake to the place where, several years 

 ago, Prospector (gold digger) had built a log-house. This we 

 used for camp, being large and dry. That it did not take 

 very long for me to get ready for the trout you will imagine. 

 The poor fish were so hungry that they came to us on shore 

 where we were standing, waiting for our artificial flies, 

 and even bare hooks. I fished all wound the lake, and 

 caught several hundred, but put them back again, as I left it 

 to Prank to furnish our table. He only fished a while, and 

 caught his baskot nearly full. Never in all my fishing have I 

 found a pond or lake so well stocked with trout as this Battle 

 Lake, but wo did not catch a larger fish than one pound six 

 ounces. I think there was too little food for the great num- 

 ber of fish. 



On the second day, Aug. 12, I cleaned fifteen fish, and 

 found worms iu five of them. Of course I threw them away, 

 and we did not eat any more fish out of the. lake. Frank took 

 the aneroid aud climbed up the high rock near the lake, where 

 he found that hu had ascended 1,000 feet; the top was 10,150 

 feet. The same day, all of us, Tip with Prank and Jack 

 with me, started for a hunt. Prank was so lucky as to kill a 

 doc elk and spikebuck elk, and could have shot many more; 

 we could have killed some, too, but, having enough of meat, 

 did not like to slaughter them. We found elk by the hun- 

 dreds, but no large bucks, and could get close up to them. 

 We ascended mountain after mountain, very heavily wooded 

 on the lower parts of them, while on the tops only bare rocks 

 and snow, and at last we got up the principal peak of this 

 range, where my aneroid showed 10,850 feet. Here we were 

 on the great divide between the Pacific and Atlantic, and on 

 the line between Wyoming and Colorado. The view from 

 here was grand. "We saw nearly all the high peaks of the 

 northern part of Colorado, as well north of us the Elk moun- 

 tains and some other high ranges. The wind was blowing 

 very fresh, so we did not stay long, and rode down again to 

 our camp. I tried the trout once more to hook bigger fish, 

 but without result. The little fellows took anything we threw 

 in, aud would have taken " a red-hot stove," as my friend, 

 F. Endicott, likes to say. 



Although the elevation we were traveling on now was from 

 9,000 to 11,000 feet, the vegetation was luxuriant, while we 

 found on the lower plateaus, 6,000 to 8,000 feet, scarcely a shrub. 

 Wo saw here timber of enormous size — pine and poplar — not 

 so very high, but of great diameter and of dense growth. 

 There was high and good grass everywhere, and a great variety 

 of flowers; a splendid country for botanists to make studies 

 and collections. 



13ifA. — We left this lovely little spot, and, going westward, 

 we followed this dividing range of mountains through forests, 

 crossing brooks and canyons, till after a ride of about twenty- 

 four hours, we came to an old camp of ours on the Savory, 

 where we stopped on the 5th and 6th. Having had a very 

 early breakfast, we felt awful hungry at 4 o'clock, when we 

 came in camp, and we proved that a pound of juicy elksteak 

 each was not too much. My pipe was lighted then, and I 

 took my rod and brought a nice mess of trout home. 



lith. — Our stomachs having been well filled with elk tongue, 

 breaded elk steaks, trout, flapjacks and coffee, we packed up. 

 On the road we fired at great distances at buck-antelopes, but 

 did not do them any harm. At 2:30 p. m., after about fifteen 

 miles ride, wo got iu camp, took dinner aud then went shoot- 

 ing. Frank and Tip killed a black-tailed buck each. Frank's 

 buck was a young one and furnished us very tender meat. I 

 was not lucky enough to get a shot at or even to sec a deer, 

 but started in a thicket a grizzly, who, grunting, ran away 

 without letting me have a sight of him, which was, perhaps, 

 all the better for me. 



15th— Breakfast 0:30. Bill of fare, kidneys and heart of 

 deer stewed ; brain of deer fried ; deer liver saute ; breaded 

 elk-steaks, flapjacks, coffee. Having gone through this we 

 went for the game again. Tip and I saw several black-tailed 

 bucks, but could not get a shot at them, out going home I 

 killed by mistake a young antelope, which I thought to be a 

 buck. The same evening Jack killed one. 



\tith — At 8 we broke up and made a quick and long ride 

 of about twenty miles to Beckman's hay ranch, this place 

 being only fifteen miles from Rawlins. Frank and I, after an 

 hour's rest, concluded to rule the same day to town. We left 

 Beckman's at 4:30 and made these fifteen miles in two hours. 

 We put our horses into the stable, got our letters, and then 

 went to Fred Wolfe's saloon, who refreshed us with delicious, 

 cool Cheyenne lager. After that we directed our step3 to 

 the hotel, took supper and slept the sleep of the just. 



ntA — At noon Jack and Tip came in with the train. 



On next Tuesday, 20lh, we start for the second trip north 

 to the Sweetwater and Bighorn Mountains. Very likely 

 we will not have much fishing on this trip. They all say 

 that every stream that runs into North Platte has no 

 trout, while all the streams that run west contain trout 

 iu great number. My opinion is that the water of these 

 streams, containing great quantities of lime and alkali (car- 

 bonate of soda), are not natural for trout ; so I found some 

 streams running into Green River, as one branch of Savory 

 and others, had no trout or any other kind of fish, caused by 

 containing too much lime. Anyhow, I will take my rods with 

 me and try every stream. If parties should like to come out 

 here they can be supplied with all the outfit at Mr. James 

 France's store, with horses by Mr. T. Rankins or W. Gordon. 

 For guides I should advise or direct them to Fred Wolf, who 

 gave us very valuable information, and knows all the guides 

 around lure. It is not necessary at all to engage guides before- 

 hand. Had wc known this before, we would have saved 

 several hundred dollars. 



Fred Wolf, as mentioned above, keeps a house of entertain- 

 ment, where you can be made comfortable. So much for this 

 time. We will soon have some notes on our next trip. 



Sohmand. 

 . .«■ . 



Light Guns and Lioiit Cuabges— Editor Forest and 

 Siren m : My experience iu loading guns tends to confirm the 

 belief of your correspondent " Canvas-Back," whose, letter 

 appears iu Fobest and Stbeau of Aug. 22, that lighter 

 charges than are commonly used are sufficient. At the annual 

 spring shoot of the Monroe County Club this spring the men 

 were handicapped, and as 1 hart never shot for a prize before 

 nor had much practice at the trap, I was put at twenty yards, 

 the farthest distance being twenty-four yards. Most of the 

 participants in the match used 10-gauge guns, mine was 12- 

 gauge, weight, 6:} pounds. 1 charged it with two drachms and 

 a half of common powder aud one ounce of No. 10 shot. Four 

 or five us killed our first ten birds "straight," but In ahooting- 

 off at five birds ail but one of the 10-gauge gun, twenty-four 



