46 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



tFrniRTTABT It), 1881. 



mals, in a short, time m reached camp, to find, fortunately, 

 that the wound was merely superficial and required little at- 

 tention. 



That, night, as my chief and I reposed in front of onr tent, 

 smoking and chatting over Ihe events of the day, 1 could not 

 refrain from alluding to the knowledge of sacred things 

 shown by Antelope Jake, at which he laughed heartily and 

 increduously. I called Jake up and made him repeat, what 

 he had told, but, Hoxie, more practical than myself, said: 

 "Jake, how did you find out about all I hese things?" " White 

 man tolenie," was the answer, as he stalked "away. Kind 

 reader, I was yet but a very verdant Western pilgrim and 

 away went, another cherished illusion regarding the myths, 

 traditions and religion of the North American Indians. "l did 

 what seemed best under the circumstances-shook out my 

 pipe and stole quietly away to mv blankets. 



laitiml Jjiptow. 



TWO KINGS OF THE FEATHEREDJIAOK 



THE lSIl'OBTATION OF THE SKYLARK. 



WrNSTitn, Can., Feb. 8. 



I WISH to speak of two kingly birds. First, of the for- 

 eign quail. Yesterday, as the sun was pouring his 

 splendor on the snow, I put my horse to the cutter and 

 drove off to visit a friend in an adjoining town. The final 

 cause of my visit (as the philosophers say) was a flock of 

 European quail that arc wintering near my friend's house. 

 They were batched in the neighborhood and have been there 

 all the fall and thus far through the winter. 



You doubt it? So did I, for though I had seen them in 

 December I had supposed that they had followed the migra- 

 tory instinct and left some weeks ago for warmer climes. 

 My friend is an old shooter and knows our Bob White per- 

 fectly, and he is positive that these arc not our quail. 



Two weeks ago ho shot one out of the flock with the pur- 

 pose of sending it to your office, hut the snow drifts pre- 

 vented. He Urns describes them : they are smaller than 

 common quail, their legs are black (not )lght-e.)l"red or 

 brown) dark feathers on breast and the toes are longer, so 

 that he can tell them by their track Oil the snow. I hope to 

 secure one from this bevy and send it to you and that will 

 settle the question. And yet we should hardly be surprised 

 to find some of these birds remaining behind, for they are- 

 found at times all through the wilder in England and else- 

 where in Europe, while In India and other warm countries 

 they are permanent, residents. 



May I call the attention of the officers of game clubs to 

 another matter? These fish and game clubs are doing a 

 noble work for oil! land, but have they not, been too exclu- 

 sively governed by motives of utility in their labors? 



We are all poets in a degree and lovers of the beautiful, 

 and Mrs. Browning has said that "the true poetic heart is 

 more than all poetic fame." Sportsmen, as a class, are ap- 

 preciative of the beauties of nature, but our clubs have thus 

 far given no attention to the esthetical element within us. 



I plead for the skylark. If there it) one songster in the grand 

 choir of the fields which America caunot afford to be without 

 it is this wonderful bird. 



His power is seen in his place in literatuie. We have all 

 read of the skylark from our childhood, but our ears have 

 never heard the wild, exulting music which he makes. 



We meet him in poetry every where— in ancient and in 

 modern times ; nor alone in the works of foreign authors, 

 for our American poets have paid their tribute to his charms 

 and set him among the harmonies of their songs. 



Gentlemen of tlie rod and gun, lovers of the meadow.} and 

 the streams, why have you forgotten the skylark ? You Semi 

 the young of the fishes about the continent and to lands 

 across the sea; you have capture. I the quail of Sicily and 

 planted them in your fields; hut the king of the song birds 

 of the world is only heard in foreign lauds '. 



A few years ago'l was sauntering among ancestral mead- 

 ows (a stranger owns them now) in a land on the other side 

 of the sea, when up from my feet leaped a lark, springing 

 inlo the air and rushing upward as if he would gain the sun. 

 I threw myself on the grass, in order to keep my eye on him 

 and to lose nothing of his song. Up, up he seared till he 

 appeared Ihe merest speck in (ho blue sky, and at last, was 

 quite gone from sight, but still he rained the music down 

 and filled the air with melody. Some lines of Shelley's fine 

 poem came to my lips : 



Ci'e.i \\hlrlt clouds are 1>I tautening, 

 Thou ilnst, iluiil mill run.: 

 like an unbodied joy whose race Is Just Deglin. 



In the February /smi>w's John Burroughs, the poet of 

 the birds, tells of finding a skylark by the Hudson, lie thus 

 speaks of his discovery: "Yes, that unstinted, jubilant, 

 multitudinous song can bo none other than the kuk's. Pres- 

 ently I was fortunate enough to catch sight of the bird. He 

 had reached bis climax in the sky and was hanging with 

 quivering wings beneath a white cloud, against which his 

 form was clearly revealed. 1 hud seen and heard the lark in 

 England, else I should still have been in doubt about the 

 identity of the singer. I was soon in the meadow above 

 which I had heard him; and the first bird I flushed was the 

 lark." 



Mr. Burroughs thinks the bird escaped from a cage or was 

 a survivor of a number liberated some years ago on Long Is- 

 land, and adds, " there is no reason why the lark should not 

 thrive in this country as well as in Europe, and if a few hun- 

 dred were liberated in any of our fields in April or May I 

 have little doubt, they would soon become established. And 

 what an acquisition 'it would be! As a songster the lark is 

 deserving of all the praise that has been bestowed upon him. 

 His voice is the jocund and inspiring voice of a spring morn- 

 ing. It is like a musical clapping of hands." 



The importation of the lark has frequently been urged in 

 American journals, but the task is too large for individuals, 

 and the only hope or setting this splendid singer in the fields 

 of our continent is through the sportsmen's clubs. A small 

 contribution— say live or ten dollars— from each of our game 

 clubs, would be sufficient to secure him. for America. They 

 could be imported on favorable terms if a large number were 

 ordered, for they are captured for the table in England and 

 France during the winter months, Joseph Pullman, 



CALIFORNIA QUAIL. 



Oakland, Gal,, Jan. 25. 



Ed/lor VitrM. and fitream : 



I see by your issue of Jan. C that, one of your eorrespond- 

 ems, signing himself S. H. C, wishes to know something 

 about California quail, and as I have lived in California aU 

 my life and have hunted the quail and have observed their 

 habits to a certain extent, I think I can enlighten him on a 

 few points concerning them. 



The so-called California valley quail (Loplwrtyx califor- 

 nicus) abounds from the Columbia River to Lower California 

 in the valleys and on the mountain slopes up to about three 

 thousand feet, above which it is replaced by the mountain 

 quail LOrmi^i^iem), 



In the fall of the year they congregate in flocks of from 

 fifteen or twenty to several hundred. In the. spring they pair 

 off and lay their eggs during April and May, oftentimes 



uber of eggs varies 

 They are vsry easily 

 <ed from the eggs, and 



raising two broods iu a season. The 

 from ten to twenty and even more 

 tamed, either when taken wild or r 

 Will lay in captivity. 



These birds are found in this part of thec.ountry near thick 

 brush, which they stay in during the day, coming out in the 

 morning and evening to feed, but on the slightest alarm they 

 immediately retreat to the brush, where it is very difficult to 

 dislodge thein. They do not lie well to a dog unless thor- 

 oughly frightened. In coming suddenly on a flock they all 

 rise with a Whirr, and then if not shot at they will run quite 

 a distance after lighting. But if you shoot when they first 

 rise they scatter and lie quite close after that. I have shot 

 into a flock as they rose, and have' seen several plunge head- 

 long into the brush at the crack of the gun. They oftentimes 

 fly into trees and conceal themselves so closely in the foliage 

 that, they are discovered with great difficulty. 



During one of our dryest years, 1877 or "78, 1 don't remem- 

 ber which, a large number of quail did not pair off and breed. 

 Large flocks could be flushed in the midst of the breeding 

 season, and it seemed as if, through some wonderful fore- 

 ght, the birds kn w the season would bo dry and there 



• offspring. This fact w; 

 i Barbara as well, 

 are not found in this part 



I do not kriow much about 

 of their habits to some 



would not be food 



not only noticed here but at Sunt 



As for the mountain quail they 

 of the State, and as a consequents 

 them, so I will leave a de-.cripti 

 abler and more experienced pen than mi 



As to introducing either of these species into the Eastern 

 States, I think the attempt would be a failure. In regard to 

 the valley quail 1 am personally acquainted with a gentleman 

 living in Central New York who made the attempt. The 

 first winter it was so cold for the birds in the woodshed that 

 they had to be brought into the kitchen to be kept alive. 

 There is no doubt about it, the birds cannot stand the cold 

 weather. Mr. J. G Cooper, an authority, says on this sub- 

 ject, : "They (valley quail) are carried East fn almost every 

 steamer, but, no account of their successful naturalization in 

 our more severe. Atlantic climate has yet been published. 

 They are, however, said to be very numerous In Prance, 



where they 1 

 tected. Experiments 

 cessful." 

 ■Itisy ir-tfil't, I tt'i 



•'Sunny South," hut. 

 into the' Eastern Stales 



I a suitable climate and are well pr 

 nude in England have not been so su< 



ie Introduced with success to the 

 'or introducing them successfully 



any Stale, in fact, where they have 

 I think it would be throwing time and money 

 away to attempt it. 



As to introducing the mountain qtia.il to the Atlantic coast, 

 I have no doubt ileal thev could stand the cold, but 1 think 

 they rather shun civilization, for they live up on sleep moun- 

 tain sides in rough places. To lake these birds from their 

 mountain fastnesses and retreats and introduce them in- 

 to the cultivated fields of Long island o.- Massachusetts 

 would be like bringing the Esquimaux from their desolate 

 icefields or the Bushmen from their arid deserts and leaving 

 them in the beautiful flowery tropics, in either case the re- 

 sult is the same— they would pine, away and die. Cmco. 



See Fokest and Stiseam, Jan. and 20, 1881. 



Hammond, N. Y , Jan. 31, 



I have just returned from Ogdensburg, where, through the 

 kindness of the Hon. Oanl. Magonc, to whom they belong, 

 and to whom they were sent from their place of nativity in 

 Oregon, I had the" pleasure of examining twenty Oregon quail. 

 My first feeling was surprise, as they exceed in beauty any- 

 thing I had before been accustomed to recognize us quail. 

 The following description may help you to sea; them as I can 

 yet in my mind's eye. They are much more upright in car- 

 nage than our variety; legs much stouter, bird larger, wings 

 and back snuff browii, edges of wings pencilled with while, 

 head and back of neck grey, extending around on to breast j 

 threat a lustrous maroon ; wing supports chestnut, barred 

 with white ; a handsome tuft on the crown of head from the 

 centre of which grow two long, narrow feathers. If you 

 can, from this meager description, you will please give further 

 particulars relative to this bird, also your opinion as to the 

 probable success of attempts to propagate in confinement or 

 well placed where they could have care, food and protection, 

 and where, hi your opinion, is the best place to turn them 

 out. 



I was requested to make these inquiries by Mr. M., as he 

 Intends to turn them out in the spring. H. A. M, 



The birds, from your description, arc evidently the Mount- 

 ain quail of the Pacific coast (Oreorly.v pktiu). We do not 

 see why they might not do well if turned out in proper 

 country and looked after a little in winter. On the Pacific 

 coast they inhabit the mountain sides and elevated plateaus 

 of the ranges, and are thus more or less accustomed to cold 

 and snow. They are beautiful birds, and we regard the fledi 

 as excellent. If possible they should be turned out in a 

 country as nearly like that from which they come j that is a 

 rough, mountainous or hilly district. If they escape the 

 combined assaults of vermin and sportsmen during the first 

 summer we may hope to hear of them again. We do not. 

 know whether they would breed iu confinement or not. 



Please keep us advised as to the progress of this attempt 

 at acclimatization. 



^,»,^ 



Sevekal Seam have been seen off the Long Island coast 

 this winter, and one day last week a small gray seal was seen 

 on a cake of ice drifting toward Bedloe's Island, iu New 

 York Bay. Two boatmen" from the Battery rowed to the 

 cake and killed the seal. It measured three feet seven inches 



in length and weighed twenty-five pounds. It had a pistol- 

 shot wound in the head and is supposed to have been the 

 same seal that was shot at by two sailors several weeks ago. 



The occurrence of these animals iu this neighborhood is 

 not, however, at all uncommon, and we have seen them in 

 considerable numbers on the Connecticut coast, both in soring 

 and fall. Last spring a seal was killed in the Housaionic 

 River, not far below Derby, Conn. All the specimens re- 

 cently captured in this vicinity appear to be be the common 

 Phocatitulina. 



Minnesota Brans.— The St. Paul Pw/iar-Prtss, of Janu- 

 ary 30 contains an interesting list, of the winter birds of Min- 

 nesota, by Mr. Thos. S. Roberts, Fifty species are men- 

 tioned, divided into "permanent residents," "winter visi- 

 tants," "half hady" and "accidental." Mr. Roberts' 

 article is very pleasantly written and conveys a good deal of 

 information of a character not often found in a daily news- 

 paper. 



• Mo 



IIop.s 



February 8, I notice 

 got, is in doubt abou 

 every year. I have 1 

 thirty years in the noi 

 er known an instance 

 itlers, excepting 



Deek.— In Forest &&d S'ESEAif, 

 • correspondent, "J. C," of Ban- 

 iOSc and deer shedding their horns 

 lover fifty moose and hunted over 

 eslern par-, of Maine, and I have nev- 

 loose, deer or caribou retaining their 

 ionally a spike-horn bull moose. 

 These carry a straight prong on each side, from six to ton 

 inches long, through the. whole year. Moose always shed 

 their horns in the first thaw in the winter after January 

 comes in, and then one antler at a time. I never found two 

 together, except on the moose's head. J. G. liiori. 



H An its oe EoEEEB Gbotjse.— Had Harry Woodland in- 

 quired iu what, manner does the cuffed grouse leave her 

 young of, say, a day old, when driven off," I wouM have re- 

 plied that if notes were to be taken on the spot a mighty nim- 

 ble pen would be required to jot them down if all their 

 movements were recorded as they oeearo fl. 



In going through a htrgfi body of woods in northern Michi- 

 gan, in the summer of 1878, I stopped for a moment to nail 

 to a Companion who was some distance awav. As I called, 

 an old grouse came out from under a thimble berry buah 

 right at my feet, ran a yard or so, then (lew possibly five 

 more, dropped on the ground and fluttered and tore, about at 

 a, furious rate, creating quite a little tornado among the dry 

 leaves that covered the ground. Having attempted, when "a 

 hoy, to catch an old bird under similar circumstances, hurt as 

 this one seemed to be, without very good success. I conclud- 

 ed to watch proceedings. For an instant, after the old bird 

 left the bush the young ones fairlv swarmed about my feci, ; 

 the next, not one was to be seen, though the woods was com- 

 paratively open. As 1 made no attempt to capture the old 

 bird, she finally righted up and commenced to make off. 

 Both wings were- trailing ami she tipping, first to one side, 



then the other, making much : 

 than she probably would have 

 dropped in thick cover with 

 one had no dOi* and only a s 

 After waddlhurolf two Or 'threi 

 to follow, she came pari way I 

 at. limes rolling clear on to hei 



of 



ldr 



i i. r 'i n 



forth as though ji 

 something more of Ihe young ones than 

 ted, 1 commenced very carefully pokin 

 and soon had Ihem in my hut, a conn 

 unable to jump oat, and though hardly 

 shell were in every n.-spi !c£ Hue tonal 

 to see the manner iu which the Utile I 

 their mother's quit, quit, cur r t, cur- 

 if the hat 



effort to 



moments lal 



i fell/ They were 

 Jie than out of ihe 

 !, It was aimismn 



id r. 



ulei 



Kill 



in response to 

 aid squat. ini(| 

 m lively they 



lie leaf the in- 

 ateli proeeed- 



slant they were again at liberty. I did , 

 lags further, but doubt if the little thing) 

 selves long, as the old bird was probably at no timi more 

 than twenty yards away. This was in a section where grouse 

 were very plenty, and where they are less accustomed to the 

 report of guns than in more thickly settled districts, in many 

 of which i hey a«e fast becoming a thing of the past. 

 JVWffi Btomtijkld, Ohio. Subscu3jbe& 



PitrLEnKi.ritrA Notes.— I have been looking about among 

 the taxidermists for snowy owls during the past week, im- 

 pelled by curiosity to learn where these Arctic birds have 

 gone, as we all felt confident thoy would be numerous in our 

 vicinity. We have discovered that collectors in Baltimore 

 and Virginia have been killing fine specimens, and that this 

 winter many are show dug themselves further South than ever 

 before. 



Mr. James Sevard, the artist, has recieved an order from 

 Hamilton Disston, Esq., of Philadelphia, to paint for him a 

 duck shooting scene, and Mr. S. is only waiting for open 

 weather to begin bis work ; for he intends making a sketch 

 on the ground to he selected. Your correspondent visited 

 his studio last week and was shown a fine portrait of Mr. J. 

 li'assetl's setter dogs Dash and Frank, some very natural dead 

 game, and a capital trout-fishing scene with the well known 

 Vogcl iu a very life-like position just striking or hooking a 

 fish. 



Mr. John Kritler's son Joe, with his friend, Mr. Abbott, of 

 Philadelphia, are making preparations for a tour to the North- 

 west for the purpose of collecting rare winter birds, and their 

 stay will in all probability be prolonged until April or May, 

 Joe naturally falls into the bird department of "Uncle 

 John's" establishment and is fast becoming expert in the 

 taxidermist art. Homo. 



Pink GnosnisAKS in Maine — Bethel, Maine, Feb. 5. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream : I notice in your issue of January 

 27 your correspondent Fred. Lewis speaks of a flock of this 

 bird seen near Jamaica Plains last month. 



This winter small flocks of them are almost every day about 

 my farm and somestimes fly into my barn ; even in the cold- 

 est days, when twenty aud more degrees below, they are 

 frequently seen. 



I also saw this week two sparrows in my door-yard which 

 resembled the English sparrow, and as the cold is intense 

 aud the snow four feet deep, and there has not been an hour 

 for sixty days that it would give Under foot, it is quite unex- 

 pected to see these birds. Twenty-five miles northwest of 

 here, at the Umbagog Lake, and through the whole region of 

 lakes north of that, I have never in thirty yours past, seen a 

 pine grosbeak summer or whiter. But the lake country is 

 about ten or twelve hundred feet higher altitude than this 

 place. 



