FOREST AND STREAM- 



163 



weighing twenty-six pounds from one. Here again comes 

 in the 00 story of lack of protection, and hence, the result 

 that ninny of these streams onee teemed with species of fish 



now unknown here. The oldest residents on the tributaries 

 of the Uounecticut tell yon of the cartloads of shad taken 

 years ago, but with restocking and the increasing interest 

 "in, and popularity of, came and fish laws, they still have a 

 hope of a shad breakfast of their own catch before they 

 die. 



At the foot of the Mountain of the same name lies Mon- 

 adnock Lake, with its pebbly bottom and beautiful trout 

 and surrounding; shady groves, and ten miles west of 

 Kccne, Spoflford Lake, with its transparent water, and its 

 pike that turn the scales at twenty pounds. What can we 

 conceive more grand? These two, were they found in the 

 Adirondaeks or tin- fastnesses of Maine, 'might well be 

 made the great havens of tourists Willi a good dog— not 

 found here— the game season can be made an interesting 

 feature. Ruffed grouse are abundant, also ducks, plovers, 

 foxes, minks, rabbits, raccoons and grey squirrels. Uncle 

 B., of Westmoreland, with his three-dollar musket and n 

 hatchet, has for years boasted his coon skin robes and 

 squirrel coals aud caps, sold annually his dozens of mink 

 ••kiiis, .liiiI grows fat on squirrel pies. His traps, which 

 appear in the ravines as if by magic, are made with a flat 

 rock and a split stick, a la figure four. Besides all this, 

 much more might be said of the rural views, charming 

 drives and hospitable people that help to make a country 

 enjoyable to those not wishing to "angle or camp out." 



M. 



For Forest and Stream. 

 SNIPE AND SNIPE SHOOTING— No. 3. 



THE arrival of the Wilson's snipe with us in the Spring 

 is very uncertain, and depends entirely upon the 

 state of the season. If, after a cold and blustering Win- 

 ter, March suc'denly opens warm and genial, which is sel- 

 dom the ease, and 'the frost is drawn from the ground by 

 the sun's rays, we may expect the bird soon to be on our 

 meadows; but not often does he reach us before the mid- 

 dle of the month, and then in small numbers, uneasy in 

 its habits, and scarcely lying to the dog. By the last of 

 March, or the 1st of April, the great flight of birds arrives 

 from the Southern States, and, like the woodcock, the 

 prevalence of a warm rain appears to be chosen for the 

 migration. The average appearance of the snipe from 

 Delaware eastward may, in favorable seasons, be set down 

 as about April 1st, but frequently, when the Spring is late, 

 and Winter has lingered into April, we find it passing hur- 

 riedly northward, scarcely visiting our meadows, and di- 

 recting its flight to its breeding grounds. We have always 

 thought the snipe, after tarrying with us until May, are 

 mated, and leave us in pairs ready to begin nesting. In 

 fact, w-e have on several ocasions killed and found in them 

 fully formed eggs as ealy as the 20th of April, and for this 

 reason oppose the shooting of snipe during their Spring 

 passage northward. 



On their return from the North with their young, they 

 pay us a visit before moving South, reaching us in Septem- 

 ber and October, the first cool weather having prompted 

 them to seek winter quarters, making Ibeir autumnal mi- 

 grations southward in stages iu advance of hard freezing, 

 stopping and resting on the route. 



On our meadows of the Eastern and Middle States, where 

 snipe are comparatively rare, a good dog, thoroughly un- 

 derstanding his business in this particular, is invaluable; 

 but in some portions of the Southern and Western country 

 the bird is so numerous that a setter or pointer is of very 

 little use, unless he be kept at heel and used as a retriever. 

 But we confess our own shooting is to us more enjoyable 

 when fewer are bagged, aud the working of a well bred 

 and trained setter is added to the pleasure. 



The snipe lies best to the dog on warm, sunny days, 

 when gentle winds are blowing, and if feeding 'in high 

 tussock meadows will not take flight until almost trodden 

 upon. But during blustery weather, especially if the wind 

 is from the northeast, they are very loath to allow even the 

 most steady dog to conic' within thirty or forty yards of 

 them. This is moffl noticeable iu the Spring, when the 

 birds have first arrived, and are in whisps or bunches, than 

 in Autumn, when they appear to have made up their minds 

 to stay for awhile previous to moving southward. 



The snipe is noticeably the most difficult game we have 

 to kill, although we. have seen only medium quail shots 

 that were really brilliant in their shootiug on the meadows; 

 but we also noticed that? such persons resided adjacent to 

 good snipe grounds., and devoted much more time to it 

 than to any other sport. 



Beating "for snipe with the wind in one's back has been 

 always advised by experts, as the bird invariably rises 

 against wiud, and flies at an angle towards you, either to 

 the right or left, thus presenting a more easy shot than 

 wdien going straightaway in a zig zag course. "Sometimes, 

 however, on account of' the many ditch drains that inter- 

 rupt us iu our tramps over the meadows, we cannot find it 

 as convenient by far to take the wind at our backs, and 

 are compelled to breast it; but we. should bear in mind 

 that far better chances are given to kill if the advice is 

 carried out, and always endeavor to follow it. 



Snipe not unlrequeiilly take to swampy thickets of black 

 alder, and what are known as "willow gardens," with 

 springy bottoms, in the Spring for shelter and food, when, 

 after their arrival from the South, the country is visited 

 with a snow squall aud a touch of the past Winter. We 

 have on two occasions found them in such localities lying 

 like stones, aud making capital shooting, and fully as ex- 

 pert in twisting their way through the sprouts and alders 

 as their larger cousin, the woodcock. 



The snipe remains with us frequently as late as the latter 

 part of November, and on occasion, while quail shooting 

 in the Slate of Delaware, we shot them on the 13th of 

 December, but the weather during that month and the one 

 previous had been remarkably open ami mild, aud we 

 doubt not the bird could have been met with on the same 

 ground a week after. We made two memoranda that sea- 

 son, and they appear on reference— "Shot five Wilson 

 snipe on 13th December." "Shot one well conditioned 

 woodcock on the 31st of December." 



\\'e noticed in the report of the proceedings of the Na- 

 tional Sportsmen's Convention, held at Niagara ou the 9th 

 of September, that it was urged that the Spring shooting 

 of woodcock, snipe, and "bay birds," during their sojourn 

 in the Middle aud Eastern States, previous to their moving 

 farther North, for the purpose of breeding, should be 

 abolished. Nothing could more benefit the sportsman, 



Recollect, every pair of birds thus killed in the Spring 

 makes just three or lour less in the Autumn. 



Jn spite of being considered as given lo chronic growl- 

 ing, we shall continue to urge, as" we have always done, 

 the, cessation of the murderous and unsportsmanlike kill- 

 ing of our game birds of passage on their journeys toward 

 their nesting grouud, albeit they may not be at the time 

 paired, knowing well the time 'has arrived when the fast 

 disappearance of all game demands it, and we call on till 

 sportsmen to put aside that little selfishness we all are en- 

 dowed with, and have such laws passed as will benefit the 

 Sporting fraternity of every State. 



Within our own recollection, snipe ten years ago were far 

 more numerous at Pine Brook, N. J., and other meadows 

 of that neighborhood, and certainly in far greater quanities 

 on the feeding grounds bordering the Delaware and Schuvl- 

 kill rivers near Philadelphia. Then we could be tolerably 

 certain about making a bag; now we more frequently see 

 none than to get shots at any, The steady destruction of 

 the source of supply in the Spring has. brought this about; 

 nothing else. The meadows have not changed, and food is 

 just as abundant. 



A fellow sportsman, who had always been able to find 

 game enough iu the neighborhood of his city home until 

 wdthin a few years, made the remark to me that lie found 

 it did not pay" to keep a setter or pointer, for birds were 

 too scarce even to train upon, and that be inteuded devot- 

 ing bis attention to the little "Bassetl" for slow chasing of 

 the rabbit, feeling this was all that remained. Homo. 



y A MINKERY. 



AMONG the novel features of the Albany County Fair 

 is the minkery exhibited by Mr. H. Resseque, of 

 Verona, Oneida county, New York. Seven years ago he 

 came in possession of a wild tniuk, and through her progeny 

 his stock, at some periods during this time, has numbered 

 ninety individuals, besides, many specimens disposed of 

 throughout the different Stales of" the Union. 



Mr. Rcsseque's home yards contain twelve stalls, each 

 twelve feet square; the soil is stale, and around the outside 

 of the yard a trench is dug fifteen inches deep, and a plank 

 fifteen'iuches wide is laid on the bottom, close to an upright 

 plank nailed upon the fence-post as a base. The dirt is then 

 filled in, and the fence is composed or upright rough 

 boards six feclin height, with a cab projecting over the yard, 

 iu order to prevent the rnink from climbing outside. Iu 

 each stall is placed a dry-goods box, which is inhabited by 

 a female. This box has two openings opposite each other 

 for ingress and egress, with a door on the top to allow in- 

 spection and cleanliness. 



Minks are not burrowing animals when in a state of na- 

 ture, but freely avail themselves of the burrows of the 

 muskrat or some other vermin. They cannot climb a 

 smooth surface, hut when there is enough roughuess for 

 nail-hold, ascend easily. In the minkery the male and fe- 

 male are not allowed to run together, excepting during the 

 mouth of March, which is considered the running season 

 for wild minks. If allowed together for a longer period 

 the male annoys the female by teasing her. The female 

 remains in heat about four days, and all of the females in 

 his yard are ready for the male within a period of ten days' 

 time. One male "will serve six females. The female carry 

 their youiig six weeks, and in kittening they do not vary 

 twelve hours from this time. They average from three to 

 ten kittens at a litter, which, when born, are blind, and re- 

 main so for five weeks. They are quite destitute of hair, 

 and are as white as a piece of paper, and devoid of animal 

 shape. Mr. Resseque informs me that t hey resemble the 

 shape of a finger, and are about the size of his little finger. 

 By the time their eyes are open they are covered with a 

 coat of beautiful glossy hair. The young females develop 

 sooner than the males; the former obtain their growth in 

 ten months, while the males do not until eighteen months 

 of age. The females are capable of bearing young when 

 one year old . 



In his yards they are fed exclusively on sound fresh 

 meat. They do not relish tainted flesh. He feads them 

 once each day iu the summer, but in cold weather the food 

 is thrown to them in quantities, aud allowed to freeze, so 

 that they can help themselves at pleasure. During the 

 month of February a short allowance of food is then given 

 them, to get them in condition for breeding. When run- 

 ning wild, food at this season is scarce with them. Mr. 

 Kcsscquc. in managing them, attempts as near as possible 

 to imitate nature, and he says that this comparative fasting 

 makes them much more livery and playful. 



In a litter of mink kittens one sex or the other is apt to 

 predominate, that is, they do not usually come half males 

 and half females, but are either all males or all females. 

 A grown male mink will weigh about two pounds; the fe- 

 male is heavier than she seems to be, and will weigh from 

 one aud a half to one aud three-quarter pounds. 



They are readily tamed when taken in hand when their 

 eyes are beginning to opeu; they should then not be al- 

 lowed the society of their mother or the rest of the Jitter. 

 By constant petting aud handling they become like domes- 

 tic kittens, and exhibit all of the playful antics of the feline 

 tribe. They can then be handled without fear of being 

 bitten by them, but they are represented as being exceed- 

 ingly mischievous; their exceedingly sharp scent will en- 

 able them to find food which was not intended tor them to 

 eat. Their fondness for water and bathing will prompt 

 them lo go into an open tea-kettle, or any open vessel 

 filled with water, and while wet will roll and dry them- 

 selves in a clothes-basket of freshly ironed clothes, or on a 

 lady's dress. Iu this way they sue troublesome pets. 



Mr. Resseque, at several fairs, has been in the habit of 

 exhibiting two female tame miuks to the bystanders throng- 

 ing his cage, which he hands to the promfscuous crowd to 

 be caressed and petted. They would allow themselves to be 

 handed from person to person, but it was a noticeable fact 

 that, their eyes were constantly on their keeper, and when 

 they came within reach would extend their pawstohim like 

 u child wishing to return. 



Tame minks make excellent ratters, and hunt with vigor, 

 and speedily exterminate these troublesome pests. The rats 

 will immediately flee from them when first they scent them, 

 and they are so bewildered in flight that they never give 

 battle, but yield at once, and so swift does the mink cut the 

 main arteries of the rut's neck, an observer would scarcely 

 think the deed was done. 



During the running season the males light desperately, 

 and if several are allowed together one always assumes the 

 mastery. About the first of November the young males 

 should be separated from the females. Minks only have 



tine litter a year, and never breed at unseasonable tunes. 



When lame and wild minks are confined together the 

 •anie ones always prove victorious, being much stronger 

 than the wild ones. Too much confinement will make their 

 fiirlnok dead and rusty. They require a dark place to 

 roam and exercise. If fish is given I hem during Septem- 

 ber and October their fur is milch improved; soft water for 

 bathing purposes also improves it much. 



Mr. Resseque tells an amusing story of a stray eat that 

 invaded his minkery, no doubt in quest of game, but the 

 minks proved too much. At last the cat gained the outside 

 of the inclosure, the yard was strewn wdthlocks of cat-hair, 

 and for a hundred feet or more, iu the track of her exit were 

 fouud tufts of cat-hair; but notwithstanding this, a strange 

 person can go in file minkery with impunity, and observe. 

 theSU shy creatures playing like kittens around him. 



Mr. Kesseqne rinds 'ready sale for all the minks he can 

 spare at $30 per pair. His prices are, for a female, $20; 

 for an impregnated female, $25; for a male, $10. He in- 

 forms tile he cannot now supply the demand. — Poultry Ex- 

 ohanffe. 



Tiirc Northwestern Boundary Survey.— The party 

 engaged in making a surveys of our northwestern boundary 

 arrived at Bismarck, Dakota, October 1st, from Fort Ben- 

 ton, all in good health and spirits. The following account 

 of the region through which they passed is given by a cor- 

 respondent of flu: New York World,: — 



"With the exception of a small tract of bad lands along 

 the Milk River and two of its tributaries, the country 

 passed over by the survey is highly spoken of. It i3 so 

 level that the brakes of the wagon were not once required, 

 and so well watered that not a dry camp was made during 

 the entire season. In the Sweet Grass region the rich 

 bunch grass stands eighteen inches in height, and here buf- 

 falo were so thick that they were shot from the wagons, 

 and in some instances with pistols. The train was several 

 times broken by them, and forced to halt while they 

 passed. The buffalo seem to gather in immense numbers 

 and winter here. On every pond their skeletons may be 

 found. In one case a ravine was discovered in which* the 

 skeletons lay live deep iu some places. The buffalo appear 

 to have tried to cross the ravine when it was tilled with 

 snow, and perished in the attempt. The brooks, cool 

 mountain streams, afforded rich sport and many a delicate 

 morsel. They were filled with trout, and from them one 

 could take ten pounds an hour. The country swarmed 

 With black tailed deer; the celebrated mountain'sheep were 

 found in abundance, and, though a hard animal to bring 

 down, several were secured. A line 350 miles in length 

 was surveyed, commencing at a point on the forty-ninth 

 parallel, nearly north of Fort Buford, continuing westward 

 to the Rocky Mountains, closing on the work abandoned 

 in 1800. The distance from the Sweet Grass Hills to the 

 Rocky Mountains is 120 miles. The country lying along 

 the edge of the mountains, and eastward to the Hills, 

 Major Twining pronounces the fiuest he ever saw, and sus- 

 ceptible lo cultivation, though probably too cold for corn. 

 This region, 1,500 miles northwest of Bismarck, and from 

 there northward throughout the Saskatcliawan region, may 

 yet become the granary of North America, for cereals of 

 idl kinds will certainly "thrive and mature even hundreds 

 of miles north of the forty-ninth parallel. This, probably T , 

 because of the modifying influence of the Pacific on the 

 climate. This influence is perceptible even here, and our 

 Winters are uniformly milder than the Winters of St. 

 Paul, nearly 000 miles southeast of us." 



A Spoutino Party IK INDIA. — The Pioneer says: "Our 

 Russian visitor, Prince Czetwertynski and party, consisting 

 of Count Battyhany, Baron Orezy, Lieut. Howard, R.H.A., 

 and Lieut. Gerard," Central India Horse, started from the 

 neighborhood of lndore on the 14th of April, and up to the 

 30th of May— when the usually early rains put an end to all 

 sport — bagged seventeen tigers, four panthers, and six 

 hears, besides sambhur, cheetah, &c. ; five more tigers.fired 

 at, escaped, wounded or Otherwise, as might be expected 

 when a large number of sportsmen were novices to shikar. 

 When the rain unfortunately terminated proceedings no 

 less than five tigers were marked down, but all decamped. 

 The party had - to halt several days before commencing 

 their return, owing to the flooded state of the rivers." 



Tmc Removal op Glass Stoppers. — One 



of the little 



things that now and then provoke good-lempe 



red people is 



the persistency with which irlass stoppers in b 



ottles remain 



inserted when it is desired to take them out. 



The Canada 



Medical Rwm-d tells how to get then, out. 



as follows : — 



"In most cases when a stopper is fixed, wit 



lOUt mi mter- 



veution of an adhesive substance, it is by tun 



ing it as one 



would drive a screw. The direction is aim. 



st mvanably 



from left to right, and thus a thread is for: 



aed which is 



easier to follow backward than to break. Th 



trouble with 



which, the removal of stoppers is usually ; 



ttended must 



form my apology for introducing a guggMtlt 



n of so little 



apparent importance." 





—The Paris Tintnmarre gives the following advice to 

 those who carry loaded guns in the cars: "Make it a 

 point to move the muzzle round in a circle, occasionally 

 put the gun iu between your legs aud lean your bead on 

 the muzzle, or poke it into your neighbor's stomach. Try 

 the locks several times, ami be assured that both triggers 

 work evenly. If any body sav to vou, "For Heavens sake! 

 now be careful with that gun "of yours!" All you have to 

 reply is, "why bless your soul! what's the use of fidgetting 

 sol- There is only one barrel loaded!" 



■♦♦»- 



—Nothing but a fish diet for eighteen years could enable 

 a mau lo compose this verse, by^ which the Cape Coddera 

 remember their islands: — 



"Maiishon, Nonnmcsset, 

 Oncutouka and Weepeckut, 

 Xiwtwwena, pvsquiucse, 

 Cuttyhunk, aud Penikese." 



—What bird is that which is absolutely necessary that 

 we should have at our dinner, and yet need neither be 

 cooked nor served up? A swallow. 



♦♦*- 



—What did Noah's bees do while afloat? They kept the 

 arc-hives. _^ 



—A Pueblo lady was bitten by a tarantula recently 

 Though delirious for a time, brandy cured her. 



