February 10, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



29 



correspondent writes : "It is not the gun that destroys and 

 exterminates our game, but, among many other things, are 

 the hawks, minks and foxes. 



" A few years ago two or three nf our young men took to 

 buying all kinds of furs— mink, fox, skunk, etc., and many a 

 farmer's boy marie enough money for his winter use. The 

 next season the result was plainly visible. In places where 

 these animals had been abundant and quail Scarce we (the 

 two fur buyers and myself) sln.it thirty-four quail in one 

 afternoon. This was a good bag for us, and we wondered 

 how it was that we found so many birds on that forsaken 

 spot. By questioning and conjecturing .we came to the con- 

 clusion that the nest-destroying animals were nearly all 

 caught, and so it proved to be, for right around where 

 these boys captured their furs do wego to hunt quail, and there 

 is the only place that, wc find them." 



Some months ago we spoke of the commendable example 

 of the Luzerne County, Pa-, Sportsmen's Chlh, which offers 

 bounties on hawks, etc., and we are glad to note that other 

 societies are adopting the same plan. "The Forest and Stream 

 Association, of Wilmington, O., have raised a fund to be 

 used in giving premiums for the destruction of hawks and 

 has published its appeal to that effect in the local papers. 

 Of the destruction of the quail by hawks in Ohio during the 

 close season there, a Wilmington" correspondent says : "In- 

 closed find a remonstrance against any change in our present 

 game law, which is being signed by ail of our farmers and 

 citizens, with scarcely an exception. Our present law is a 

 good one and we do not want it changed. They will legis- 

 ate the quail out of existence if they keep on. They had 

 much better offer a reward for the destruction of hawks if 

 they waut quail to increase. During the past two "close 

 seasons" in this State the hawks were driven in from our 

 sister States, where shooting was permitted, in great num- 

 bers, and proved very destructive to our quail. I think both 

 close seasons were a'ctually disadvantageous and quail did 

 not perceptibly increase during those seasons." 



The premiumsare f 1C to the. person killing the greatest num- 

 ber of hawks, $5 to the next, $3 to the third. In addition to 

 the above premiums, the Association will pay $1 per dozen 

 for all hawks killed in Clinton County during this time : the 

 said hawks to be of the larger varieties commonly known as 

 the squirrel, bullet and red^tailed hawks. These premiums 

 do not cover the small sparrow hawk, which should not be 

 destroyed, being of great benefit to the farmer. The head 

 and two talons of each hawk will be taken as evidence of de- 

 struction. 



Other associations are adopting the same timely and sen- 

 sible measure. The Lynchburg, Va., Society for the Pro- 

 tection of Game has offered fifty cents apiece for the scalps 

 of hawks, with a view of checking the destruction of quail 

 and other birds. 



The spo'tsmeu of Washington, Pa., have organized a side 

 hunt for hawks, etc., to extend tlvroughFebruary and March, 

 the losing party to pay for a supper. 



We should be p'eased to hear from our correspondents in 

 various sections of the couutry further reports of efforts in 

 this direction and of the good results which may have fol- 

 lowed. 



^++.^. 



THE WEATHER AND THE BIRDS. 



WE have advicea from many sections, aU showing the 

 effects of the recnet cold weather and heavy 

 snows upon the supply of game. A Coshocton, O., corres- 

 pondent, under date of January IT, says : " The very severe 

 weather we are having is killing off all the quail and ruffed 

 grouse in this psrt of "the State. I frequently hear of whole 

 bevies of quail being found frozen to death. Last Saturday 

 a boy near here took a grouse off a tree. It was too numb to 

 fly." 



A Wilmington, Ohio, letter, written January 17, says: 

 " The quail arc all right in this locality : many more left over 

 than ever before. They are also very plenty in the adjoin- 

 ing counties of Green, Fayette, Highland, Brown and War- 

 ren, and in fact in b11 the corn producing districts of South- 

 ern Ohio. You cannot freeze out fat quail, and they have 

 been unusually fat this winter. No quail have perished in 

 this county either from hunger or cold. There is now one- 

 third of our corn standing out on the stalks, some say over 

 one-half. This gives abundance of food and shelter. This 

 corn will not be gathered until March, so come what may 

 our quail are all safe." 



A Cleveland, Ohio, correspondent tells us : "Our quail sea- 

 son has been very short, 15th November to December 

 31, in Ohio, and really weeks less on account of hard wet 

 ther. More rest for the quail. The quail in Ohio have been 

 very scattering ; in some localities plenty, others very scarce. 

 I bagged in eight days twenty-one dozen overan eleven-month 

 old "Arlington " Flora, Irish puppy. That of course is not 

 all I have killed, but that is plenty thick enough for me. I 

 see in a paper that quail are frozen out in Southern Ohio 

 It is not the case here, nor in Central Ohio. I found quail as 

 good and strong as 1 ever shot. them. There is more corn 

 not husked in Ohio than I ever saw in thirty years' shooting, 

 sol thuik quail will not suffer much here this season, Aih 

 informed such is the case in Michigan. Had a very nice 

 shoot in Michigan with John Davidson in October. Shot a 

 good variety of game— grouse, quail, cock, snipe and rab- 

 bits. He has some splendid youngsters in his kennel this 

 time, flyers indeed. I shot a good many cock last season, 

 nearly 300. Largest bag, fifteen brace." 



From Jordan Station, Ky., a correspondent writes: 

 "The extreme cold weather and an army of trappers have 

 almost exterminated the quail. Reelfoot Lake, three hours' 

 drive from this point, is almost deserted by both game and 

 hunters." 



S. C. C. writes from Marietta, Ga., under date Jan. 15: 

 " The quail (partridges in Southern speech) have suffered 

 much from the cold. It was five, degrees below one night, 

 with the ground covered with snow to the depth of six to 

 ten inches for a week. Many flocks have been found frozen, 

 as well as other birds, and quail will probably be scarce next 

 fall." 



Attention has already been called in these columns to the 

 possible clanger of eating quail at this time. Concerning this 

 subject the Washington" J o>;wW/Vwi says : "It will be recol- 

 lected that at the time Buchanan was inaugurated a large 

 numher of persons were poisoned at a certain prominent 

 Washington hotel. The winter immediately preceding the 

 inauguration was an unusually hard one. The proprietor of 

 the hotel, to please his guests," had procured, as is stated, all 

 the quail in the surrounding couutry. These birds had been 

 starved to such an extent that they were compelled to feed 

 upon poisonous berries and leaves until their flesh became 

 thoroughly permeated with the poison. The birds have been 

 starved for wepks. and are now feeding upon .spelt bpirics 



and buds as to make their flesh poisonous. The deep snows 

 in the country prevent the birds from receiving their usual 

 sustenance, from seed aud the sands or small gravel which 

 assist in digesting and assimilating the same, and consequent- 

 ly they are driven to those modes of sustaining life which, 

 while "they may be useful to themselves for the time being, 

 render their flesh highly injurious to human beings as an ar- 

 ticle of food. The birds are being killed at the present time 

 by shooting and trapping, and the country people who offer 

 the same in market are entirely iunorant. of the terrible and 

 insidious poison which they are daily distributing. All 

 through the adjacent country of Maryland and Virginia wc 

 have what is known as the poison dak. This is a vine which 

 bears berries very similar to those of the. wild grape vines. 

 The touch of the "poison oak" is dreaded by all who travel 

 the woods. Its contact so swells the hands and face as to 

 render the individual unrecognizable by Ins friends in a few 

 moments. The quail at this season of the year seeks the 

 poiaOnoUB berrfCH which grow upon the vine." 



The extraordinary depletion of the game calls for active 

 efforts On the part of individual sportsmen and sportsmen's 

 clubs to replenish the supply. Many iustanees have come to 

 our knowledge where this has been undertaken. Live quail 

 are advertised in our column=, and, as we announced last 

 week, may also be bought of H. C. Ryall, Shelbyville, Ten- 

 nessee. 



"Homo" writes from Philadelphia: "In Philadelphia 

 many of our game-dealers are purchasing live quail, wherever 

 they'can get them for sale, for those wishing to restock regions 

 where the birds have been destroyed by snow. There is a 

 great demand for them here and prices aie high. I have 

 never known but one such winter in my recollection, and 

 continual information from the South, as far as lower Alaba- 

 ma aud Georgia, states that the quail there have suffered 

 severely. Quail from the far South for restocking purposes 

 are by no means the bird to procure, on account of their na- 

 tural susceptibility to cold, and an ordinary winter North 

 would certainly destroy many of the first year's hatching. 

 What we want, if possible, are quail from Maryland, Dela- 

 ware and Virginia, and certainly not further South than 

 North Carolina." 



The Maryland Association of Talbot County, at Easton, 

 Md. , correspondent writes, propose to restock their section 

 with birds imported from the South. They have issued the 

 following circular : "The Maryland Association of Talbot 

 County for the Protection of Game, and Fish desire to enlist 

 the active co-operation of ah the residents of the county in 

 t hfir efforts to avert the total destruction of birds and 

 rabbits by the severe weather now upon us. There are few 

 berries, the most having fallen, and the earth is covered 

 deeply with snow, under Which a solid crust of ice prevents 

 the possibility of the birds obtaining food, Without help 

 all must perish. We urgently press upon all farmers, and 

 most especially those who are members of the association, 

 the necessity of preventing this disaster by feeding the birds. 

 Keep a space cleared at the stack yard, near the hog and 

 cattle pens, or under shelter of the woods, and supply it 

 regularly with damaged g r ain, screenings or 'corn. The 

 birds will soon find it, and enough breeders be saved to stock 

 the county. The hawks will soon find where the birds are, 

 ihkI a few steel traps set on the stack poles or other suitable 

 places will accomplish a double object— the hawks will be 

 caught and destroyed, and the bounty of fifty cents in cash 

 for every scalp will pay for all trouble and expense." 



A New York city correspondent suggests that a few quail 

 turned loose in the spring and a few quarts of grain or seed 

 well distributed now wdl do more than any game laws. In 

 the colder climates in Europe it is customary to provide a 

 rude shelter here and there, with a close picket fence, yet so 

 birds can pass in and out, and here grain is kept all through 

 their hard season, and they have no trouhle about scarcity of 

 game. 



Prank Schley writes from Frederick, Maryland, Jan. 31 : 

 Supposing the" intense cold weather and the long continued 

 snow might have had a disastrous effect upon the partridges 

 (Bob Whites), I directed Henry Perkins who is a reliable 

 huntsman to take my two partridge dogs, Dick and Duke 

 and ascertain if there were any partridges to be found. The 

 ground to be beaten, both the dogs and the huntsman were 

 perfectly familiar with, being the laurel hill sides, foot lands, 

 briar patches, sage fields, swamps and thicks of the Linga- 

 nore hills where I had left in different locations six to eight 

 partly broken up coveys of partridges late in the season. He 

 and the dogs returned home late in the evening very much fa- 

 tigued from tramping over the snow, and lie reported that he 

 had gone over every foot of the ground as 1 had directed him, 

 and found the birds all safe in coveys where I had left them. 

 There were five to twelve birds in the coveys, and they were 

 wild, strong and hearty. 



A Sutton, Mass., correspondent, who says that the quailare 

 suffering very much there, adds, "I am feeding three-broods 

 thirty-one in all— and hope to get them safely through the 

 winter." 



The deer and other large game have suffered at the hands 

 of the "yarders," 'orusters" and butchers. It has been an 

 excellent season for filling up refrigerators. We take from 

 the Reno, Nevada, Qa&st&c a paragraph showing how they do 

 it out there : "The heavy fall of snow which came on Dec. 

 1 caught a great many deer in the hills. Two brothers 

 named Jones! who live" on Feather River, four miles from 

 Beckwith, found a fresh trail down the mountain one mor- 

 ning which had evidently been made by deer striking out for 

 Red Rock and other warm valleys over the Nevada line. 

 The Joneses stuck a flag right in the track, and during that 

 night nearly a hundred deer turned back from it. Next day 

 the Jones boys started out on the trail aud soon came up to 

 straggling deer floundering through the snow. A wounded 

 deer led one ol the boys off the main trail, but the other fol- 

 lowed up until he came to a fence, where he found a number 

 of the herd tired out and unable to go further. He shot nine 

 without moving from his position, and had to stop for want 

 of bullets, having used up all he had." 



A Washington, D. C, corresponclent'says : "Crows have 

 been found in numbers dead around the river shores and 

 country roads, having either died from cold or starvation, or 

 both. Several fine deer were killed near Chancellorsville 

 last week." 



Advices from High Point, North Carolina, say : "The se- 

 vere weather here lias hurt the quail shooting, though there 

 are some birds left." 



From Farquier County, Va., we hear: "The almost unex- 

 ampled depth of snow with us has of course destroyed many 

 partridges, but not all, for some were seen near my home 

 yesterday. Our sportsmen have bought a good many, and 

 keep tbem in coops to turn out in the fields in the spring." 



One of the "old-fashioned winters," of which we hear so 

 much, was that of 1 770- 80, A newspaper writer says of it ; 



"The winter of 1779-80 was very severe in this country. 

 The hitter cold began in the middle of November and con- 

 tinued until the close of February. The sun's rays were not 

 warm enough to melt the snow, which lay on the ground 

 almost five months, so thick that it was very hard to get from 

 place to place. All ordinary bodies of water were ice-bound. 

 Domestic fowls and wild turkeys perished by thousands, so 

 did deer and buffalo, and wolves and panthers, mainly from 

 lack of their natural food, buried under the snow. The 

 Northern and Western rivers were fettered by the frost, and 

 the Cumberland was so firmly frozen as far South as Nash- 

 ville that emigrant trains passed securely over the river. 

 The Delaware opposite Philadelphia contained ice of three 

 or four feet, and Long Island Sound and the Chesapeake 

 were frozen over. Scientific persons have declared that hot 

 aud cold waves often recur every eleven years, as in 1846, 

 1857 aud 18G8, and the weather wise predict that this will 

 prove to be one of the coldest winters known for twenty 

 years." 



From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Secretary of the Iowa State 

 Association writes, under date of January 25 •. " Snow has 

 not been very deep in this section, and I think the quail will 

 pull through. They were in abundance and very few shot 

 or killed this season. If they get through winter, will be 

 plenty next season." 



It is needless to say that a heavy fall of snow and a freez- 

 ing "spell of weather" are hailed with joy by the fellows 

 who snare and trap and huddle-shoot the coveys. An Oska- 

 loosa, Iowa, letter says : "The quail and chicken shooting 

 season just past with us has been one of the best on record. 

 We have had but very little snow until within the last two 

 weeks, but there are about eight inches of snow on the 

 ground at the present time, with a good prospect for more, 

 and I am almost ashamed to tell you, but it is the truth, our 

 quail are being killed by the hundred almost every day and 

 brought into Town under the noses of our officials, who do 

 not try to molest the offender. Everjmody says that there 

 never were so many quail, and that there will be plenty left 

 to breed from another year, but for my part 1 do not believe 

 it. If the deep snow lasts aud the potting is kept up I think 

 that there will be very few quail left by spring. Wc have a 

 sportsman's club in our city, that is, by name only, for some 

 of the. members are the very ones that are now killing quail 

 almost every day in the week. Wc are to have a grand cir- 

 cular wolf hunt in our township on the twenty-fifth of the 

 present month." 



A Highland Park, 111., letter says: "I am much afraid 

 the. snow and excessively cold weather will use up what quail 

 wc' have left. Foxes are very plenty this year ; partridges 

 scarce." 



CRUSTING DEER. 



Editor Foint and Slrmm : 



The interesting manner in which you present matters per- 

 taining to the welfare of all branches of sport, the just views 

 expressed relative to pioteclion of game of all kinds, uphold- 

 ing the righteous and condemning the unjust, are very grati- 

 fying. For several years the improvements made in Fobsst 

 and Strbam, its appearance and interna) workings have been 

 noted with especial pleasure. 



It has been remarked that " it is almost useless to attempt 

 to get right game legislation as things are now." My ideas 

 are that, through your watchfulness and exposure from time 

 to time of the attempts to force jobs through, a great 

 deal of harmful matter can be prevented from accumulating. 

 Unless you had adopted that course certainly there wouldnot 

 have grown the existing wide- spread confidence in your wil- 

 lingness to expose such matters. 



The sportsmen now feel confident that any injustice to- 

 ward the preservation of game will be attacked by you and 

 every endeavor put forth to defeat the attempts. Surely the 

 scheme for selling game the year through could not have met 

 a worse blow than you gave it. 



The very interesting "letter from Wm. P. Dodge, published 

 in this week's Forest and Stream, can but have been writ- 

 ten purely in the spirit of wishing to point out a serious de- 

 fect in the law relating to the preservation of trout. He ap^ 

 parently is a gentleman very much interested on that subject 

 and to a lesser degree, though perhaps not much, the protec- 

 tion of deer in our Adirondack region. Toward the close of 

 the communication he remarks: "Men calling themselves 

 sportsmen, and who belong to sportsmen's clubs aud are 

 membere in good standing," being in the woods in June and 

 July on a fishing excursion, and want " a little venison to eat 

 while in camp," have a " mistaken notion " that they have a 

 right to kill it for that purpose, which he follows by claiming 

 " that it works harm to the general enforcement of the law 

 to allow it, as guides aud parties living back in these locali- 

 ties claim, with good .grounds, that it is no worse for them to 

 "crust " deer for meat for winter use. than for these sports- 

 men (V) to kill them out of eeason for their use." Please al- 

 low me to call attention to a difference between " crusting " 

 for meat to use and " crusting " in the general acceptance of 

 the term. 



In the first place, the guides and residents of the Adiron- 

 dack region might "crust" every winter for the purpose of 

 using the meat for food for themselves, and stand on an equal 

 footing with sportsmen who kill for "a little venison to eat 

 while in camp." My view of that part of "crusting " is that 

 the deer would hold their own in point of numbers. 



In looking at the broader acceptance of the mrm "crust- 

 ing," quite a different feeling exists, for the idea is that the 

 person or parties seeking to kill deer by "crusting" do so 

 with the full knowledge that the deer are perfectly helpless, 

 and it is possible to kill nearly every one found in the 

 "yard " G. Fenton asks the question in his excellent letter, 

 published in your issue of tho 13th instant, "Wherein lies 

 the difference between killing deer after being driven to 

 water by hounds and that of killing them by crusting or kill- 

 ing them in the deep snows of winter cm snow shoes?" Of 

 course he means the moral differeuce, and asks a question of 

 that, kind with the inference that some absurdity exists in 

 trying to make a distinction. The case stands like this: In 

 getting the deer either in the water away from shore or find- 

 ing them "yarded" while deep or crusted snow exists, ihe 

 party seeking to kill the deer knows that he has the advan- 

 tage aud is sure of his victim, there is not much uncertainty. 

 Consequently it is like picking apples off from a tree— get 

 them all. Unhappily, it is similar after they are gotten, only 

 those can be used that do not spoil. Still there is a dissimi- 

 larity, for the apples are gathered entirely with the idea of 

 use, "while the deer .are killed principally because it is pos- 

 sible. 



To show how helpless the deer become during deep and 

 crusted snow time, I will call attention to the fact that moose, 

 are captured sometimes alive ami hound with ropes under 



