FOREST AND STREAM 



179 



the turnips, and as fai the rest nf ((lie envoy, the sports- 

 man is scarcely in ft mood to follow them into the open 

 stubble field, where they have too good an upportuuUy lo 



see him, find loo obvious an intention to avoid him." it 

 suiis better the whim of the moment to cross tbe road into 

 the neighboring plantation. The trees— chiefly Scotch 

 raid larches— stand in groups, nnd the Fun shining in upon 



i lies throws tin.- thickets into dark shadow byuon 

 brKSt, The undulating cHaracter of the ground, too, nm- 



he light and shade, and more definitely impresses 



i he 'n ■iiend effect. How calm, how beautiful, tow aoul- 

 subduing is Nature in such a place*— the stillness all undis- 

 turbed by any sound save the very musical chirping of 

 SOuJe homely birds. A slender little creature, brown on the 

 "i white beneath, runs quickly over some dry and 

 withered leaves not far off, and look's itself not unlike a 

 dry and withered leaf tossed onward by the wind. Bui 

 mil a breath is Stirring', and the sportsman very well 

 knows that this small creature is 11 weasel, which has 

 doubtless harried many a nest, and destroyed many an an- 



bird on the adjacent moor. The' weasel 'i= there- 



lore unhesitatingly shot at the moment when il comes into 

 'ti-i iocl relief on the light grey surface of a sunken granite- 

 rock. Nevertheless, the weasel's first cousin, tl rifel 

 sometimes pressed into the sportsman's sendee, as 1 may 

 take occasion to show the readers of Fouk-t tNl 



i it ore time. The larches make a favorite shelter 

 for that shy bird, the woodcock, and, indeed, one's dog is 

 almost certain to put up an awkward fellow, that will dart 

 for a inr rceiit across the pale emerald of the tasselled foli- 

 age, or into the sunlight in I he open, there to be precipi- 

 tately knocked over. Taking a cut. across the moor, one 

 finds the grouse in large packs, few and far between, and 

 somen hat wild— though that is not to be wondered at. Two 

 brace are almost as hard to get in October as two dozen in 

 August, but by dint of walking, and with the help of a 

 good steady dog, one can get, them in an hour's time, and 

 possibly a snipe, also, as a diversion. The sportsman does 

 not care to confine his peregrinations lo the hill and moor, 

 hawever. so in a free, adventurous, and somewhat fickle 

 mood he wears down towards the woodland, bagging on 

 Hie way another hare, and ignoring a multitude of those 

 vermin, the rabbits, that honeycomb the.soil with their ex- 

 eavalions, and break the hearts of the farmers. Before 

 eleven o'clock Ihc dew has disappeared in vapor, and the 

 air becomes warm, and so clear that there seems no limit 

 to the vision, save ihe limit imposed by the earth's depres- 

 sion at the horizon. Remembering that in a few short weeks 

 gloomy Winter will possess all the landscape now- so fair 

 to look upon, the sportsman yields to his inclination, and, 

 gladly relieving himself of the weight of his game bag, 

 sits down to enjoy awhile the scene that slopes away from 

 the acclivity which he has chosen as his coign of vantage. 

 1 do not suppose there ever was a spoilsman who could 

 not, in the intervals of his recreation, spare time lo muse 

 over the features of a landscape. To do so becomes a 

 habit with every intelligent man wdio is wont to betake 

 himself frequently to Nature's solitudes. The emotions of 

 such an habitual admirer of Nature are not so demonstra- 

 tive as are those of the occasional incursionisl from the 

 city, who has exclamations of wonder, superlatives of 

 delight, and a vocabulary of compliments to niter obtru- 

 I . "iieerning every mountain, stream, or tree that his 

 eye may fall upon. These loud and ostentatious expres- 

 sions of quasi-admiration too often seem to tumble out of 

 the mouth somehow for the sake of effect, and seldom 

 have the ring of true metal; but, iudeec, the effect which 



■ i .Nature has on any man's mind is perhaps to be 

 judged of bettor by his silence than by his articulate 

 speech, by monosyllables rather than by eloquent phrases. 

 ■ 1 esi end a hill after half an hour's musing on the 

 landscape beneath, is like coming down from cloudland or 

 dreamland; but at such a moment even the gambols of his 

 dog help to recall a man to the business before him. Com- 

 ing suddenly to the edge of a small pond in the hollow, a 

 mallard leaves the rushes with a mighty splashing, which 

 somewhat shakes the nerves of the sportsman, not yet 

 awake from his dreaming. As a conseepience, it lake"-, a 

 second barrel to make sure of the bird, but the occasion is 

 sufficient to recall Nimrod to his work, and the pheasant 

 that comes within range immediately afterwards is bagged 

 without extra charge of gunpowder. At this season it is 

 not unusual to come upon the grouse in pairs, but the 

 sportsman, as a rule, leaves such amatory couples alone. 

 On some shootings, however, he may fall in with the lordly 

 blackcock, which makes a very fine addition to the bag, 

 and whose flesh, of a wild, gamey flavor, is regarded by 

 ynuniii Is asidw/u! /touche fit for the palate of an Apicins. 

 Outside of legitimate game, there are some birds which the 

 sportsman seldom cares to pass by, The kestrel he sacri- 

 fices without compunction, as that bird is a prowler that 

 preys not only in the barnyard, but also in the game 

 preserves, among the young grouse and partridge broods. 

 The heron, a bird most difficult to stalk, sometimes sails 

 within range, and as h- has some feathers in his wings 

 which are rather prized, he often falls a victim, like many 

 a human biped, to the possession of an external charm. 

 But though random shooting among the feathered tribe is 

 discouraged, and properly so, in the British Isles, never- 

 theless several species of birds, which it seems unreason- 

 able and inhumane to exterminate, are likely ere long to 

 become altogether extinct. When the sportsman leaves the 

 heather and I he gorse, and emerges from the woodland, 

 aud draws near the hay, stubble, and turnip fields that lie 

 around some farm-steading, he may keep his eye open for 

 partridges, or maybe a hare or two, that have ventured 

 down from the higher ground. Crossing a pasturage, the 

 setter stops before a clump of broom and rokin bushes. 

 The yellow broom makes a very bright bit of color in the 

 Summer landscape, but at this season its blossoms are all 

 shed, and, save for the interest his dog manifests in it, the 

 sportsman would pass il by unheeded. A covey of part- 

 ridges gets up oil very strong wings, and disappears over a 

 hedge row, all with the exception of— well, that depends 

 on whether the sportsman be a good or a bad marksman, 

 it he lias taken advantage of all the chances he has had at 

 game in the course of a long forenoon, and particularly if 

 hu be unattended by-a gillie, the sportsman ought to be 

 getting sensible soon alter midday of the weight, of his 

 bag, and to be not indisposed on the Whole to turn his face 

 homeward.. But when he does so, rest assured it will be 

 willi a calm and thorough satisfaction, such as no twelfth 

 of August experience ever can or is worthy to afford. 



— Il has been discovered mat ihe joiuted fishing-rod was 

 invented because one can't hide a long cane pole under his 



cuiu Sundays. 



Fa,- FOrert ana 

 ON THE BTG PIECE. 



EVKKY one or your readers in this vicinity is, I am 

 sure, acquainted with the locality known by the 

 above title. The paradise of snipe-shooters, ii is the spot, 

 lo which all sportsmen wend their way to worship at the 

 shriues of tlu- miL' , is i:, ,w" For six weeks 



in Ihe Spring, and for the same length of time in the Fall, 

 the meadows are covered with shooters, and oftentimes a 

 hunter lo a bird. In the Fall flight, it frequently happens 

 that large numbers stop to feed on the soft and muddy flats 

 and remain a day or two. Abundance of food soon renders 

 ihem fat aud luscious, and although the birds first stop 

 only to rest, they find so good cover and so fine feed, they 

 hesitate about continuing: their flight and remain for Weeks. 

 Not easy of access to pothunters, the, shooting is as tine 

 now as it was forty years ago. aud the fortunate hunter 

 who happens to reach the meadows while the flight is at its 

 height, finds most famous sport. It is no uncommon thing: 

 to secure a bag of from thirty to fifty hirds. Lying mid- 

 way between" Patersou and" Newark" it is Btlll secluded 

 ground, for both the Big audLittle Pieces area dozen miles 

 away from any depot house, and only those who possess 

 or can command a horse and wagon or excellent pedestrian 



acoom lation, ever reach these meadows This 868803 



the remarkably heavy rains flooded both Pieces, and the 

 waters have not yet entirely ran off . This has not made 

 mucbMiitoronce to sportsmen, from the fact that the Fall 

 having been an exceedingly mild one, the birds have* not 

 come on in any force/ 'A few s' Higglers, the advance 

 guard of the "grand army," are the only birds to be found 

 as yet. 



Last Thursday Fred Underbill and myself, with Nel 

 Ferris, a veteran sport and an excellent, shot, started for 

 Pine Brook The heavy frost aud freeziug cold of the 

 night before, together with the young moon, we were in 

 hopes would bring the birds along, and we anticipated 

 glorious sport. We reached Steve Coulter's, the good- 

 natured and obliging landlord of the Pine Brook Hotel, in 

 time for a late supper. We found there the veteran sporl, 

 Scott Rodman. The lands were still wet, but the. water 

 had run off greatly, leaving the ground soft and in exceed- 

 ingly good -condition for" the boring of the long bills. 

 "Early to bed and early to rise" is a good maxim, and one 

 which" we always try' to follow. We had everything ar- 

 ranged speedily for the morrow and retired to our rooms. 

 Sleep we wanted, sleep we needed, but sleep we did not 

 get. A jovial party of sports tenanted the lounging room 

 of the hotel, and the chink of dominoes mingling with the 

 chink of something else, kept us awake until long after 

 midnight. 



Daybreak found us all astir, and Coulter had a hot and 

 excellent breakfast ready for us at sharp six. That finished, 

 we got in the waiting" wagon aud started for the Little 

 Piece. Stopping in front of Arnold's and hitching one 

 horse, we stepped over the fence and struck the snipe 

 ground. Rodman had Mr. Pentz's Belle and his two 

 young pups. Nel Ferris had a grand-daughter of Old Dash 

 pamed Lize, and Steve Coulter had his dog Scotty, an own 

 son of Dash. Wo round the ground very wet, in fact 

 covered with abort four inches of water on the level, with 

 a slank hole here and there with at least two feet on it. 

 However, we had come for snipe, and a little water — some- 

 thing, I acknowledge, we were all afraid of — was not to 

 stop us on this occasion. Rodman turned off to the right, 

 and with Underbill and Nel hunted along and parallel to 

 the road. Steve Coulter and myself struck boldly out for 

 the whole length of the Little Piece. Belle and Lize did 

 well, considering they hardly knew what a snipe was, but 

 Scotty was a sniper. " Blood" will tell, whether in horse or 

 dog. To see him ranging over these meadows at race-horse 

 speed, splashing along through water knee deep and throw- 

 ing up a shower of splashing drops as he fairly churned his 

 way through the flood, he left a trail behind him, like a 

 yacht breasting a heavy sea, with a ten knot breeze behind 

 her. Obedient to wave of 1 and, and as docile as a kitten, 

 he ranged over acres of ground in a trice and found nothing 

 until we struck the second slank. Here he struck the 

 scent, when at least a hundred yards from the bird, and 

 crawled slowly up until he suddenly stopped with a jerk. 

 There he stood a picture for a camera. Coulter waded 

 through while I stood debating on the near side of the 

 slank.' Gelling to within a few feet of the dog, the splash- 

 ing Coulter made as he waded along started Mr. Snipe, and 

 with a s-k-a-a-a-k-k, like a blast on a trombone, he got up 

 wild and broke for safer quarters. Although not in fair 

 shooting distance, Steve pulled his gun up and pressed first 

 one trigger then the other. Naught was the response, save 

 the bursting of a couple of caps, and faster and faster went 

 Wilsonii. "From the speed at which he started t think he 

 must be going yet. With a savage imprecation on all 

 muzzle loaders he proceeded to prime the lubes and adjust 

 fresh caps. Poor Scotty was all this time at a charge in 

 water half covering him". I felt sorry for the dog, but still 

 more so, when but a few moments after, in piekiugmy way 

 most gingerly through and across a slank, 1 made a miss- 

 step and went down with a gasp half way up to my thighs. 

 The water was ice-cold, and as it poured into my boots it 

 sent chill after chill up and along my spine. I felt, then, 

 as if 1 was a lightning rod, with Ihc searching subtle 

 electric fluid playing the length of my ticking back as drop 

 after drop flowed in till it poured oiil, again over the rub- 

 ber lops. Here was n mess; only the commencement of 

 the day, and wet, through. No "use crying over spilled 

 milk, so walking lo a two feet high stump, I scaled myself 

 thereon aud taking off those water jugs of feet coveriugs, 

 emptied them out, squeezed out my socks and then ploughed 

 my feet back again in the wet boots. Friends of the 

 Stream, fancy my feelings. Delicately brought up and 

 nurtured, one to whom a wet foot was as disagreeable 

 as to a cat, and then to have it for a whole day ; nice, 

 wasn't it y 



"Well ! you would be a sniper; how do you like it as far 

 as you've got?" sang out Underbill. 



That added fuel to the fire. As Coulter talked with his 

 gun. so did I to myself, only more so. Not another bird did 

 we find ou the Little Piece, and after hunting it thoroughly 

 we started for the Big, A mile's ride brought us to the 

 Sand Patch road, and riding for a few moments longer 

 brought us on the Big Ple^e. Driviug well out ou the 

 meadow we hitched one horse to the low-lying limb of a 

 twenty-four inch through black oak, and adjusting cart- 

 ridges started to hunt the ground. The Big Piece deserves 

 especial mention. Running Northeast and Southwest it 

 stretches out a broad level patch of meadow land for miles 



■ mil Thousands of acres in extent, nothing relieves 

 its vast, expansive flatness save here and there a gigantic 

 moss-covered black oak. On its edges a few scattered 

 bunches of short silver-leaved willow's relieve somewhat 

 the flat monotony of the view. The oaks are covered with 

 I 'vn their massive trunks to about three feet above 

 the ground. To Ibis height the bark is clean and shows 

 ii blackened line the" mark of the frequent floods. 

 Standing, on the neighboring hills and looking over this 

 meadow where it, is water-covered, il resembles" an inland 

 sea. As far as the eye can reach nothing can be seeu but 

 water. To add to the strangeness of the scene, the Hood- 

 girdled trees stand out in bold relief, as light-houses on a 

 dangerous coast In seasons of heavy rains the Big Piece- 

 is n lake for weeks on a stretch. Strange to say malarial 

 fevers appear to lie unknown. The smell of the damp soil, 

 when Ihe Hoods bave abated and the ground once more ap- 

 peal , i anything bat pleasant to tbe unaccuBtomed 



This dav'however, we found the ground in superb order. 



Wel enOUl e: ■■■ boring to the migrating birds, it 



was yd drj enough to furnish them with good cover. Rod- 

 man turned to the righ.1 with Belie and the pups; myself 

 came next, then Nel with Lize, then Coulter with Scotty, 

 and between Coulter and the woods, Fred Underbill. We 

 hoped by moving in line to keep the birds from going be- 

 fv.eii ii.-, and making for the lower end of I he Big Piece, 

 miles away, when we would have lost them indeed. Step- 

 ping one ahead of the other, en echelon in fact, we swept up 

 the meadow. We were first on the ground and the dogs 

 were working beautifully. Suddenly Scotty caught the 

 smell of the tainted footsteps- and drew up quickly, sharply 

 followed by Lize. They had scarce struck a steady point, 

 when s-k-n-a-u p repeated strongly si ruck upon our ears 

 and the birds upon our sights. They were high-fivers, in- 

 deed. No zigzagging flight for these fellows." Five in the 

 air in a second, and not one moving to the right or the left. 

 Screaming saucily in their flight, "like high-flyer pigeons, 

 they soared aloft like so many rockets. 



Mark I Mark ! we all shouted in chorus, for not a gun 

 was fired, and there we all stood, with mouths agape, 



ii ohi i the swift flight of these wary beggars. While 

 we were yet star or snipe-gazing, up from under our very 

 noses got' a, couple. If they had only kept their mouths 

 shut, not one of us would have noticed them, so intent 

 were we on the first lot, but that resonant bill presentation, 

 worse than h situ actor's on a benefit night, startled us all, 

 and brought, us suddenly from the skies to earth. Up went 

 Mel's gun, and with the report down dropped the bird he 

 had covered. The other dodging along struck Underbill, 

 who, cool as a "cucumber on ice," raised his muzzle loader 

 and instead of a savage report, we heard, as with Coulter on 

 the Little Piece, the snap, snap of two bursting caps. 

 Underbill's face was a study. Talk about, sudden conver- 

 sions. Not a Methodist camp meeting ever gained a con- 

 vert quicker than the change wrought in Fred's opinions 

 regarding muzzle imu* breech loaders. More priming a la 

 Coulter was done, and once again we measure Ihe Big 

 Piece. Wc found birds in plenty, bul all wild as hawks, 

 nnd but one lying to the dogs, and he laid like a stone, and 

 paid with hi"s life for bis temerity. At the report of 

 Coulter's gun up rose from one of the many ditches that 

 mark the Big Piece, a Hock of black ducks. Just out. of 

 gun shot, it was galling in the extreme to see them get up 

 and away, and not one of us on hand to bid them goorl- 

 bye. Twenty-live we counted, and they loomed up against 

 the light blue of the sky, as a flock of dark-winged yachts 

 skimming the lower blue. 



Once more we move along. We found the water pond 

 three to four inches deep everywhere. The, tufts of course 

 meadow grass growing in bunches, showed just, above the 

 water, and here on these miniature hummocks sat the snipe- 

 warming themselves in the sun. Wild aud wary, the birds 

 gave us" bul, little chance for large bags. When they got 

 up they were off indeed, and seemed to be flying for the 

 South without a thought of stopping till they got there. 

 This sort of shooting soon becomes monotonous, decidedly 

 so. Some twenty or thirty birds got, up, and we had but a 

 half dozen poor shots in all. Some of these did not, like 

 old Rip's drink, count, and our show for a good day looked 

 bad. Hearing the report of guns away to the Southwest, 

 far down on the Big Piece, we turned and retraced our 

 steps, spreading out as"berore. Scarce turned when a bird 

 got up in front of Kelse aud was missed clean. Marking 

 him down to a notch, we moved toward his hiding place. 

 Sieve Coulter's dog acted well, and although going with a 

 rush, stopped short enough to twist bis head off, so quick 

 wa- his sj,', ed and so sudden his stop. He stood like one 

 of the marking stakes on the meadow, and fully as stiff as 

 any of them: "Nel being the nearest, walked in, put up 

 the bird, and although a good long shot, cut him down 

 nicely, making up for bis bad shot previously. Sud- 

 denly, away to our left, Rodman's voice rang out shrill and 

 clear. 



Mark ! Mark ! 



Three birds going like a whirlwind, soared aloft and 

 winged their flight adown the piece. A puff of smoke is 

 seen aud a slight report is borne down to us, but is baldly 

 beard ere we see two birds come swiftly toward us and 

 pitch with a jerk into, or rather at, the foot of a bunch of 

 two feet high willows. Coulter's dog again found these 

 and was backed nicely by Lize. Uiidcihill, Coulter and 

 myself walked rapidly in and up got the birds with a 

 s-k-n-a a-u-k like a wild duck. Coulter dropped his bird, 

 killed clean. 1 missed the second bird just as nicely. Un- 

 derbill, away to the left, missed with the first barrel as the 

 bird came toward him, hut, as Mr. Snipe turned at the re- 

 port, aud threw up his wings as lie changed bis flight, cut 

 him down with his second barrel most scientifically. We 

 then hunted fur au hour more and found but one bird, 

 u high '.vent Lo bag. This was anything but good work, so 

 we gave up snipe shooting for the day ami broke for the 

 wagon tired and wet. Evidently the Fall flight has not yet 

 come on, or it has come and gone. [ am iucliued to think 

 that a sharp rain, followed by a stiff, cold Northwester, 

 will bring ihem on in a heap. The moon will be soon at 

 the full, and I fancy woodcock as well as snipe will come 

 with this moon, if "at all. 11 they do you may soon bear 

 again from _ Gopher. 



demonstrating to a crowd 

 hydrophobia, was the first 

 a small yellow dog came 



—A New York man wh 

 that there was no such th 

 to climb up a barber's poh 

 rushing dowu the street. 



— Tbe news from the Arctic whaling fleet is not en- 

 couraging this season. The weather had been mild. Up 

 to Amjusl 10 only five whales had been seen by the eutir# 

 fleet. 



