J 84 



FOREST AND STKEAM. 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



'■FtEI.n A^nAojHTICSrORTS. PPACTICAiNATtTRAUIlSTOUY, 

 Fl.-H CeT,TnVE, THE PROTECTION or CtAIHK.PiIBSKHYATION OF FoilKPT?, 

 AJJT> THE IS0CI.CATUra I.N MEN AXT) WoMEN OP A HEALTHY INTnill^T 



ls Out -door Recreation akd 5tut>y : 



PUBLISHED 11 Y 



Rarest an A £trtatn publishing {gomp.nin, 



17 CHATHAM STREET, (CITY HALL SQT'ABE) NEW YORK, 

 [Post OFFIOB Box 8832.] 

 155 SOUTH TniRt) STREET, PH 1 LAHEI.PHIA. 



COBB'S BUILDING, DEAULIOIIX sT,, CHICAGO. 



TiTiim, Five Dollara a Year, Strictly In Advance. 



A discount of twenty percent, for live copies anil upwards. Any person 

 sending ns two subscriptions and Ten Dollars will receive a 'copy of 

 Hallock's " Fisiiino Tourist,' - postage free. 



Advertising nines. 

 In regular advertising columns, nonpareil type, !2 lines to Hie Inch, 8£ 



cents per line. Advertisements on outside page, in cents per line. Reading 

 notices, 50 cents per Hue. Advertisements in fluiihli-rolumn -.'." per rent. 

 •stra. Where advertisement!, are inserted over 1 month, a tlh-coimt of 

 10 per cent, will be made; over three months, 20 per cent; over bus 

 months, 30 per cent. 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1S74. 

 To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, whether relating to business 01 literary 

 correspondence, must be addressed to Tin. FORKS! atd Stream Pru- 

 lishtnb Company. Personal or private letters of course excepted. 



All communications intended for publication must be accompanied with 

 i eal name, as a guaranty of good faith. Names willnot.be published if 

 objection be made. No anonymous contributions will be regarded. 



Articles relating loany topic within the scope of this paper are solicited. 



We cannot promise lo return rejected manuscripts. 



Secretaries of Clubs and Associations are nrgod to favor us with brief 

 notes of their movements and transactions, ns it Is the aim of this paper 

 to become a medium of useful and reliable information between gentle- 

 men sportsmen from one end of the country to the other ; and they will 

 find onr columns a desirable medium for advertising announcements, 



The Publishers of Forest akd Stream aim to merit and secure the 

 patronage and countenance of that portion of the community whose re- 

 riin'il mteiKgenoB enables them to properly appreciate and enjoy all that 

 is beautiful in Nature. It will pander to no depraved tastes, nor pervert 

 the legitimate sports of laud and water to those base uses which always 

 tend to make them unpopular with the virtuous and good. No advertise 

 inent or business notice of au Immoral character will be received on any 

 terms ; and nothing will be admitted to any department of the paper that 

 may not be read with propriety in the home circle. 



We cannot be, responsible for the dereliction of the mail service, if 

 money remitted lo ns is lost. 



Advertisements should be sent in by Saturday of each week, ir possible. 

 CHARLES I1ALLOCK, Managing Editor. 



WILLIAM C. HAIIRI8, Business Manager. 



CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE CUR- 

 BENT WEEK. 



Fridav. Ocloher 30th— Trotting at Prospect Park, N. Y. 



Satcbdat, October 31st— Trotting at Lexington, Ky.— Racing at Je- 

 rome Park, N. Y — Kega'ta of Harvard University— Competition at 

 Crcedmoor for the Turf, Field and Farm badge . 



Monday, November 2d— Wrestling for the championship of California 

 at Sacramento— Trotting at Lexington, Ky.— Fair at Los Angeles, Col, 



Tuesday, November 3d— Trotting at Deerfoot Park, L. I. 



Trtrsday, November 5th— Trotting at White Plains, N. Y. 



THE FUTURE HUNTING FIELD. 



THE disease among the grouse in the United Kingdom 

 has caused a perfect panic among the lovers of the 

 dog and gun, and the moaning for departed pleasure is, as 

 a consequence, long and loud, for they have now to rely 

 upon the red-legged French partridges, or the almost do- 

 mesticated pheasant, for their fowling. The slaying of 

 the former among the turnips is very easy work, hut Hie 

 hagging of the pheasant requires no skill whatsoever, for 

 with the modern style of battue?, so common in England, 

 one might as well try his gun on the chickens and hens of 

 the barnyard as on the pheasant. If the disease anions 

 the grouse continues for any length of time, that proud 

 and sturdy bird will be among the species of the past in 

 Scotland, and that being the case, the sportsmen of flrcai 

 Britain must hie away to Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Al- 

 bania, or Corfu to get anything like good shooling, and 

 even these regions are comparatively barren in the best 

 species of game birds, so that large bags must be the ex- 

 ception and not the rule. European sportsmen who would, 

 then, enjoy the pleasures to be gained with the gun and 

 dog. must seek the shores of the United States, for in this 

 broad country they have a wide rauge of birds to select 

 from, besides the large numbers of game quadrupeds. 



It would, apparently, be much cheaper for those gentle- 

 men who have to rent shooting moors at prices ranging 

 from five hundred to two thousand pounds sterling pet- 

 annum, to come to this country for a hunting tour, for, 

 besides the saving in expense, which ought to be some 

 consideration, they will behold grandeur of scenery unap- 

 proachable in Europe, and partake of such shooting as no 

 other country on earth can offer. It is not necessary to 

 enumerate the various species which offer them pleasure to 

 prove this latter assertion. They can also enjoy a style of 

 sport which they can never behold at home, one which 

 combines both ease and pleasure, that is, if they prefer 



large bags and the epicurean ease of a carriage to long 

 tramps and severe fatigue. On the prairies of the "West 

 one can ride over the shooting ground in his dog cart or 

 pony phteton, and ^hoot his coveys as they rise hefore his 

 dogs, or, if he prefers exercise, he has the option of ram- 

 bling nvcr meadows -which in luxuriance of grass and pic- 

 tiirc-sqiieiKss of scenery equal the best English park, while 

 they excel the best moors in the abundance of game. For 

 these reasons America will, ere lone;, become the Mecca of 

 of nil the leading European sportsmen. 



-•-.«- 



NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS. 



FEW studies are more interesting thiiii tliat ol oaturaj 

 history when once its attractiveness is made known, 

 for we are led by it to an analysis of the great varieties of 

 life, ami are made cognizant of the bounteous resources of 



Nature itt filling each animal fur its special sphere, and 

 imparting to it such hues as most become it, so that every 

 slcp in this study reveals tons new and varied beauties, 

 and teaches- us most important lessons in the economy of 

 creation, The more attention we pay to this subject, the 

 more do we appreciate the great work of Nalnie, ad- 

 mire her versatility and power, find enjoy this planet of 

 ours, which is generally accredited Willi being only a re- 

 gion on Which we are placed to suffer hardships, pains, and 

 sorrows. 



If the highest purpose of life is to know the arcana of 

 Nature, then those who devote their leisure time to the 

 study of the natural sciences reach the most exalted posi- 

 tion, as Nature is to them an open book, from which they 

 can extract lessous of knowledge, that charm while they 

 instinct. The lovers of these studies find boaultes where 

 OUli i ' naught .but a dreary blank, for every shrub and 

 tree, hill and vide, copse and plain, reveals to them phases 

 of creation which are concealed to others, because they do 

 not bring to their aid that key of knowledge which un- 

 locks the portals that conceal the treasures which Nature 

 contains. The more we know this world the greater our 

 appreciation trf its mechanism and variety of life and 

 color, and, therefore, the more happily do we pass through 

 it, as we receive delightful pleasures from sources which 

 I o others yield nothing higher than arousing a dull curi- 

 osity. Such being the case, those who would enjoy the 

 varied beauties and pleasures of life should pay some at- 

 tention to natural history, as it repays in manifold forms 

 all the time devoted to its study. Let the student in this 

 school of knowledge enter the fields, and lie will hud ob- 

 rest everywhere, so that a walk for heallh or 

 ill prove doubly useful to him. 

 ns have a finer appreciation of the beauties of 

 , flower or landscape, than the intelligent, cul- 

 tsraan; hence, we should suppose that our 



jccis Of inb 



uld de- 



they do 

 ! to I he 

 reader- 



natural 



tha 

 to making collections of the animals indigenous 

 regiuu in which they are shot, and by this means 

 big their own halls or rooms more attractive, besid 

 ing themselves thoroughly acquainted wiih the 

 history of their section of the country. 



The time and expense required lo prepare the specimens 

 in a proper manner are trifling, compared with the pleasure 

 they afterward impart, for few objects give so cultured 

 and animated an expression to a room as a good case of 

 birds, or a few wild quadrupeds postured in the most natural 

 manner. Being especially adapted to the rooms of our 

 sportsmen, we can scarcely give these places an air of re- 

 ality without supposing them to contain such a collection, 

 something to show that the animals have an abstract in- 

 terest beside their edible qualities. A few of the best clubs 

 in this State have made some fine collections, and as the 

 members shot the animals they are attractive in more ways 

 than one. 



If all Ihe clubs throughout the country would follow this 

 example, they would afford themselves a new pleasure, 

 and increase their knowledge of natural history; and this 

 is a species of knowledge that every one pretending a love 

 for the chase should possess, if he would hunt with dis- 

 crimination; for no person can be a good sporlsman unless 

 lie knows the habits of animals and the pecularitics which 

 characterize each species. We should be pleased to hear 

 of the clubs that have made such collections, and the ani- 

 mals represented therein. 



SCARCITY OF THE WOODCOCK. 



OUR reports from nearly all portions of the country 

 specify that the woodcock is exceedingly scarce, and 

 that places where it was very abundant a few years ago 

 know it no more. Many reasons arc advanced for Ibis de- 

 crease, such as the severity of frosts and snows, Ihe bad 

 effects of a rainy Spring, and the barrenness of Ihe eggs 

 owing to atmospheric causes; but to neither of these, nor 

 to all of them, should we attribute the unusual scarcity, 

 though they may have exercised a secondary influence. 

 in primary reason is the want of protection afforded the 

 bird, and the hungry, savage greediness of a certain class 

 of pseudo sportsmen, who destroy it in every way possible, 

 and in nearly all seasons. These pot hunlers commence 

 the work of destruction the very moment the protecting 

 statutes expire, and coutinue it until they have killed all 

 the birds in their vicinity, or driven them to seek protec- 

 tion in isolated and distant localities. By this dastardly 

 species of hunting, the greedy savages have punished 

 themselvBs; UUl We should not rare how much punishment 

 v, . re meted out to Ihem if the innocent did not Suffer 

 equally with Hie guilly. To Ihe tine spoilsman, game is 

 tans of alluring him to seek heallh aud recrea- 



tion, and for this reason he only destroys a limited quan- 

 tity, enough to give zest to his walking exercise; but the 

 pot hunter looks upon it only as a providential means of 

 furnishing him a feast, or increasing his coffers by its sale. 

 The only way to check the total destruction of the wood- 

 cock is to extend the statute for its protection, so that it 

 may have an equal chance of life with other species of 

 game. The present law, which allows Summer shooting, 

 is radically at fault, as it permits the foes of this bird to 

 kill the chickens ere they have attained strength enough to 

 My with such rapidity as to give, I hem any chance of es- 

 caping with their life. The only remedy that presents it- 

 self to us at present, is to have 1 lie sporting clubs in each 

 Stale petition the legislatures to change the game laws, 

 so that -woodcock cannot be killed before the 1st of Sep- 

 tember at least. It would he still better if they could lie 

 so amended as to impose a severe penalty upon all who 

 kill any woodcock for the. next two years. This would 

 give the birds an opportunity of increasing numerically, 

 and would give us an opportunity of again iinjoying this 

 interesting species of fowling. Something must be done, 

 and that quickly, or wo shall soon know this bird only as 

 an extinct species. 



For the purpose of testing to what extent woodcock has 

 decreased, we should he pleased to receive reports from our 

 correspondents throughout the country, and we would es- 

 pecially ask of them to be specific in contrasting the pres- 

 ent abundance with that of former times, and the ratio of 

 young birds in the total number killed. Any information 

 as to the. localities in which the chickens were found would 

 also prove interesting, as our idea is that they were found 

 near springs, in the earlier portion of the season. 



By securing this informalion, we may be enabled to 

 prove that prompt action is required to preserve the bird, 

 and 1 hereby enlist Ihe co-operation of the sporting clubs 

 in ihe crusade against the pothunters and others who are 

 so actively engaged in this work of destruction. 



REVIVAL OF AN ANCIENT SPORT. 



THE revival of falconry in Ireland would seem to 

 prove that sports move in circles like other matters 

 peculiar to this planet. This pastime, which formed one 

 of the most engrossing sports in the catalogue of our an- 

 cestors, has been discarded in Europe for many years; in 

 fact, we do not know of any country, except Persia, where 

 it still attracts the. attention it merits. We have read some- 

 wdiere that the Shah has the only large cage of hunting 

 hawks in the world, and that these birds are models of 

 docility and training. His Oriental majesty, it seems, has 

 a sharp rival now in the person of the Hon. G. Lascelles, 

 of Wexford, Ireland, who is said to possess falcons that 

 approach in thoroughness of education those which ex- 

 isted when the royal sport was patronized by the crowned 

 heads of Europe, and "hood and tinkling hells" were the 

 principal themes in the sporting conversation of mighty 

 Nimrods, and even effeminate courtiers. The cage of Mr. 

 Lascelles is flown principally at magpies, those being the 

 only large birds frequenting the interior of the country 

 that are not protected by game laws. 



If falconry can be made interesting in the Green Isle, 

 where game birds are comparatively scarce, it ought to be 

 made both interesting and profitable in this country, where 

 we have so many birds at which the hawks can be flown. 

 It is well adapted to those, wdiose frames will not permit 

 them to engage in the sturdier sports of the field, and on 

 this account it should prove attractive to ladies, who could 

 then ride to a meet in their carriages, or if desirous of 

 more vigorous exercise, take a gallop on horseback after 

 the quarry. 



If would be difficult to originate any field sport more in- 

 teresting to the softer sex than this, as it affords them rec- 

 reation in such modes as best suit the temper of their mind 

 and the vigor of their frame. It may, on this account, be 

 revived in this country by those who have the means and 

 leisure to inaugurate it. The expense of a cage is com- 

 paratively trivial, when coulrasted with other pleasures, 

 and it certainly yields a most, piquant pleasure, so that it 

 fulfills duties now occupied by other and more expensive 

 forms of (be Muses. We have in this country hawks well 

 adapted for the purpose of falconry, and many species of 

 birds at which they can be flown, so that if the sport were 

 introduced here it would never lag from want of material 

 or even enthusiasm. 



—In the Far West it is intimated that the grasshopper 

 pest is a retributive visitation for the reckless slaughter of 

 the buffalo, which in their constant migrations across the 

 plains, kept the country thoroughly scoured by trampling 

 out the eggs aud incipient young, consuming the grass, 

 &c. It is more probable, however, that the reclamation 

 and cultivation of the waste prairie, has fostered the grass- 

 hoppers, providing them with food and cover; wdiereas in 

 former years the practice of annual burning over vast tracts 

 must have been direct and efficacious in destroying them. 

 ■».«■ 



Miisculak CmusTiAKS.— Rev. E. C. Gordon, in an essay 

 read hefore the Savannah, Ga. , Christian Association, said :— 



"Christianity applauds all that is genuine on the play- 

 ground, in Ihe" gymnasium, the boat race, aud the hunting 

 field. It believes in bright eyes aud a merry laugh. It 

 approves of ihe arms that can' strike straight out from the 



; li lerj of legs that can do their twenty miles a day with- 



on) fatigue, as well as of hearts that know no fear, and 

 tips thai -peak no guile. "Muscular cbristianily repudiates 

 as a travesty on nature, and an insult to nature's God, Ihose 

 miserable Weaklings of our drawing rooms, born of a sys- 

 tem that puts at defiance every law of heallh, and disre- 

 gards every principle of beauty." 



