Febbuaby24, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



67 



knowing there -was a good supply, and remembering my 

 earlier experience in shooting crows from a bait through a 

 hole in the old barn, I decided to wait and see if the number 

 would not increase 



The next day my attention was again called to the crows, 

 and thiBtime five were feeding, and one acting as guard on a 

 tree not fur away- When I returned from dinner I carried 

 over ray gun, and about four o'clock there was one crow tak- 

 ing a meal all alone. Thinking I had best commence business 

 before the others came for supper I went for Mr. Crow with 

 a charge of No. 3 which tumbled him over very quickly, 

 but he was no sooner down than up, and off as fast as 

 possible up the pond. He was surely carrying a load, for he 

 was up and then down and flew very low. He made for the 

 first fence, and when he struck it tumbled off on to the snow. 

 When I fired not another crow was to be seen, hut before he 

 reached the fence three others were following, and soon after 

 two rotsre were there. They seemed to be very tinea y, and 

 evidently they realized there was trouble in camp for nil, but 

 one kept at a proper distance ami soon departed. When I 

 last saw them the crow shot at had gained the corner of the 

 and was on a low rail with the one which had been 

 n.nst familiar near by on the top rail. Not a crow ventured 

 near the bait again that day or the following. Friday one 

 was se,en at a distance and to-day one has ventured nearer. 

 Now, if crows do not reason ami have some way of telling 

 their experience in dangers and good luck how did the five 

 know tbo sixth had found a feast and accompany him the fol- 

 lowing day or how did they so soon learn it would behest foi 

 them to avoid visiting that place again ? 



If we had been placed in similar circumstances we could 

 not have acted more wisely. I have loaded some shells with 

 No. 6 shot and powder sufficient to carry them, and expected 

 to clean out some of the crows which are very plenty here, 

 but the game seeing to be up. K. R. C. 



Albino Bail (?), — Feb. 18.— I was lately shown anMbino 

 rail bird captured by myfriend, Mr. F. Franklin, nearTama- 

 qua, Pa. Mr. Franklin, although a sportsman, was visiting 

 the mountains on business in January. Locomotion was al- 

 most impossible on account of the heavy snow and intense 

 cold, yet he could not deny himself the pleasure of a day or 

 two's tramp, resulting, I am sorry to say, iu frosted feet and 

 a severe cold that may result seriously'. The bird was taken 

 alive, and although "able to flutter" only a short distance 

 seemed otherwise, full of vitality. It died in about an hour 

 after being placed in the coat pocket, presumedly from the 

 too sudden transition from the extremes of cold to heat. It 

 is almost as large as a. king rail, and unusually heavy feath- 

 ered. Not being up in natural history, I cannot reconcile 

 the bird with its surroundings. Its very helplessness seems 

 to preclude the possibility of its being able to exist in a 

 region so adverse to its habits and no remote from its natu- 

 ral haunts. Yet there is no doubt of its identity. Will you 

 do me thefavor to explain. E. G. W. 



PhH<«l.elphM, Pa. 



We should be very glad to receive further particulars of 

 this alleged capture, and especially to know whether the 

 bird was preserved. As told, our correspondent's story is a 

 remarkable one. Will he advise us further in the matter? 



An Intelligent Chase. — An exchange tells a remarkable 

 story of the patience and intelligence of a crane. We have 

 often seen these birds in confinement, and can testify that 

 they are expert mousers, but we must confess that the state- 

 ment that the bird connected the trap and the mouse stag- 

 gers us a little. Listen to the tale s 



A large andhandsomewhoopiugstorkcanbeseen daily strut- 

 ting around the yard at the residence of Prof. Paige, iu Council 

 Bluffs, la The bird was purchased by the professor during 

 a visit to Mexico some months since, and has become quite 

 tame. Am aig other food that the stork relishes is a good fat 

 mouse Mrs. Paige has a small wire trap in the house and 

 whenever a mouse happens to wander therein he becomes a 

 sweet morsel for his storkship. The other day Mrs. Paige 

 noticed the bird standing near the barn watching intently at 

 a small hole leading beneath the building. The stork re- 

 mained in au attitude of watchfulness for nearly half an hour, 

 and Mrs. Paige, becoming curious, concluded to watch and 

 see what followed. Finally she saw a mouse creep into sight 

 from under the barn, and the same instant the intelligent 

 stork pounced down upon the mouse and "took him in," kill- 

 ing it first then eating it. After performing this intelligent 

 feat the stork resumed his vigilance at the mousehole aud af- 

 ter watching sharply for over an hour he seemed to grow 

 weary of his work or net out of patience, and marching to the 

 house entered the kitchen, and picking up the mouse-trap 

 from which he had so often been fed he returned to the barn 

 and set the trap down near the hole, evidently appreciating 

 the use of the trap and believing that it would catch a mouse 

 for him. 



A Laeue Panther. — The following account of thecapture 

 of a large panther was contributed to a new Westminster 

 (B. C.) paper by our talented correspondent, Mowitch, 

 whose interesting articles on the game and fish of that dis- 

 tant laud have so often given pleasure to the readers of the 

 Foeest and Stream. The extract is as follows : 



A verv large panther was killed near Bnruaby Lake, in the 

 vieinitv of Huh city, and brought to town on Wednesday. Perhaps 

 no quadruped ol America of this size has ao wide a range as this. 

 It is found on both aides of the continent of North America and is 

 distributed from the 56th parallel of North latitude to Pata- 

 gonia, although it is not so abundant in the tropics as in tem- 

 perate zones. The circumstance of its being an inhabitant of so 

 many countries accounts for its many names, which are Panther, 

 Painter, Puma, Cougar. California Lion, Catamount, Carajou. Its 

 technical or scientific name, aa classed by Lmnaus. the great 

 Swedish naturalist, is -Ft/is concolcr. By others it is' classed as 

 Uopardusconcotor. Its chief food in sparsely settled eou a c 

 U deer ; but when these become scarce it waxes bold, and in some 

 places is a perfect Booru-ge to the stock raiser. It is very blood- 

 thirsty and is not content with killing sufficient to satisfy its 

 hunger. In some eases fifty F heep have been killed in a night by 

 a single panther. It is by no means abundant on the mainland of 

 B. C." Tin .me iu question n;'.s .", ' i adult malt. osusk.vjt ly Mvsr 

 the average size, which will appear from the following measure- 

 ments : Total length from tip of nose to tail, 80in. ; length of tail 

 from insertion to tip, SOin. ; girth of body, back of fore-shoulder, 

 32in. ; height at t'oro shoulder, 83in. ; weight 132 ponnds. Ani- 

 mal iu poor condition, not at all fat. This splendid feline speci- 

 men has been seemed by the managers of the Mechanics' Institute, 

 and Mr. John Fannin, with his aceu-tomed magnanimity and 

 liberality, has undertaken tbo duties of taxidermist for that institi^ 

 tion. 



Ox the Study of Nat'okax- History.— A collection of 

 John Ruskin's letters, extending over the period between 

 1840 and 1880, has been published in a. volume entitled " Ar- 

 rows of the. Chacc " These letters cover a wide variety of 

 subjects, having originally been printed in the daily papers. 

 On' page 204 of the American edition (published by John 

 Wiley & Sons, Astor Place, New York) we find the follow- 

 ing terse letter on the study of natural history : 



it would be pleasing alike to my personal vanity and to 

 the instinct of making myself serviceable, which I will fear- 

 lessly say is as strong in"me as vanity, if I could think that 

 any letter of mine could be helpful to you in the recommend- 

 ation of the study of natural history as one of the best ele- 

 ments of early as of late education. 1 believe there is no 

 child so dull or so indolent but it may be roused to whole- 

 some exertion by putting some practical and personal work 

 on natural history within its range of daily occupation; and 

 arous d, few pleasures are so innocent and none so con- 

 stant. I have often been unable, through sickn ss or anxie- 

 ty, to follow my own art work, but 1 have never found nalu- 

 •al history fail' me, either as a delight or a medicine. But 

 for children it must be curtly and wisely taught. We must 

 bhoM them things, not tell them names. A deal chest of 

 drawers is worth many books to them, and a well-guided 

 country walk worth a hundred lectures." 



Offioehs of the American Microscopical Society.— At 

 the annual election of the American Microscopical Society of 

 the City of New York, held Februaiy ',), the following 

 named board of officers was elected for the year 188L : Presi- 

 dent. JohnB. Rich, M. D., 13 East 22d street, N. "XV; Vice- 

 President, John Frcv, Bellevue Hospital, N. Y.j Secretary, 

 O. G. Mason, BeUevue Hospital, N. Y.; Treasurer, T. 

 d'Oremieulx, 7 Winthrop Place, N.Y.; Curator, George Wale, 

 Paterson, N. J. Communications and packages for the 

 society should be plainly addressed to the American Micro- 

 scopical Society of the City of New York, care of the Secre- 

 tary. The time of the meetings, eight o'clock p. it., the 

 second and fourth Wednesday of the month, at No. 12 East 

 22d street, New York City. 



Extoutation of an Ottei:— Westtield, Mass., Feb. 4.— 

 Messrs. Pember & Douglass recently shipped a fine female 

 otter to Charles Reicbe, of New York, and it is now on the 

 way to Germany, where it is to be used for breeding pur- 

 poses. The otter was caught last winter with seven or eight 

 others, and has since beeu kept iu Mr.Pember's place of busi- 

 ness, with a pair of playful coons, a twelve-pound silver eel, 

 aud an aquarium of fine trout, which have attracted nu- 

 merous visitors. The number of live fish the otter will eat in 

 one day is astonishing, aud wc fishermen owe thauks to the 

 above gentleman for'ihinning out the stock iu this locality. 

 is the weight of the largest silver eel caught? 



G. A. S 



The largest eel wc ever saw weighed only twelve pounds. 

 The one you speak of is a giant. 



Pine Grosbeaks in New England — Boston, Feb. S.— 

 Since my letter to you of the January / 7th of pine grosbeaks 

 being shot in Massachusetts, my friend J. says they have 

 been very r common in the woods of Brookline ; in fact being 

 almost the only birds to be seeu. Last Saturday I went out 

 to where they had generally been seeu and I could not find 

 one ; but after hunting through the woods nearly all day 

 long, I came across one all by himself, which I secured for 

 my collection. The weather has become milder and I sup- 

 pose they have gone back North. Feed Lewis. 



-The robins and 

 W. A. 0. 



with hunger, cold and fatigue they have fallen down to die. 

 From conversations with persons who have been lost, as 

 well as from an unpleasant personal experience of my own, I 

 «m of the opinion that almost invariably when one realizes 

 that be is lost and in danger he loses control of bis mental 

 faculties and becomes actually insane. 



I have recently heard of a young man, of at least average 

 intelligence, who lost his way when within two miles of 

 home. He wandered round in a circle for four days; when 

 found he seemed to be suffering most from cold, and one of 

 the two men who found him said : " We will build a firo the 

 first thing." 



"Yes, do," said the sufferer ; "I've got some matches," 

 and he took them from his pocket. When asked why he had 

 not built a fire he declared he had never thought of it, though 

 his feet were badly frozen. 



He also told how many deer and how much other game he 

 had seen and, though carrying a loaded rifle all the time, he 

 had uot thought, to shcot anything for food, though ho had 

 killed his dog with his hunting-hatchet and eaten the liver. 



This man's actions were no more at variance with intelli- 

 gence than your actions might have been, my friend, under 

 similar circumstances. 



The main danger when lost is in losing one's self-coutrol ; 

 the right thing to do is to prevent that mental demoraliza- 

 tion, which is, as I have said, actual insanity. 



My method is this : If I find that I am "out of my reck- 

 oning," don't know where I am and begin to feel a bit ner- 

 vous, instead of rushing about and so becoming more and 

 more bewildrcd, I lie down flat upon my back aud close my 

 eyes, or only look upward, and endeavor to fix my thoughts 

 upon something beside my situation. For instance, I com- 

 mence to quote poetry, Scripture, something T have com- 

 mitted to memory and which always interests and pleases me 

 to repeat ; or I imagine au interested audieuce and talk away 

 like a candidate for'Aldcrmau. 



At the end of fifteen or twenty minutes I can get up with 

 a perfectly '-' level " head, examine trees to see on which 

 side the moss grows, or on which side the branches are long- 

 est and mo-t plentiful, decide upon a course and go directly 

 where I wish to go. This plan has helped me out so nicely 

 that. I give it to my brother sportsmen, asking them to re- 

 member it and give it a trial if they ever get seriously uncer- 

 tain of their whereabouts. 



One never should start oil for a tramp in the woods with- 

 out matches in a waterproof safe and, if lost, it is an excel- 

 lent idea I ■ kindle a fire, then if you travel in a circle you 

 will know it. And always, if night is coming on and you 

 cannot decide with reasonable certainty upon your course, 

 build a fire and stay by it until morning, or some one comes 

 in search of you. 



Lost or found, shooting or ! fishing, a sportsman's motto 

 should be " Keep cool." J. Frank Looks. 



Swung Notes— Flatbush, L. I., Feb, 18.- 

 blackbirds have been with us for a week. 



§mt\e gag md §un. 



The Fikst Edition of the Forest and Stream's pam- 

 phlet on the "Dittmar Sporting Powder" having been ex- 

 hausted, a second is now ready. Copies will be mailed free 

 upon application. The articles contained in the pamphlet 

 were published in this journal as follows i 



Sept. 23, 1880— Tee " Dittmar Sporting Powder." 



Sept. 30, 1880 -Evading Detonation. 



Oct, 7, 1880— The Detonation of " Dittmar Sporting Pow- 

 der." 



Dec. 9, 1 860— The Dittmars' Abracadabra. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN LOST. 



I HAVE both read and heard of individuals, hunters and 

 trappers, who in fair weather or foul, by day or by 

 night, could find their way with unerring directness through 

 the trackless wilderness to any desired point, and who were 

 never known to get bewildered and lose their bearings. I 

 have heard men declare that it was simply absurd to sup- 

 pose that the-e was the least danger of their ever getting lost; 

 that the woods were full of "guide boards" giving such 

 plain and explicit directions that "a wayfaring man, though 

 a fool," need not go aal ray. 



Unfortunately, I have never come iu personal contact with 

 such highly-gifted mortals, though a great many localities 

 have heard the crack of my rifle, and no inconsiderable por- 

 tion of mv life has beeu spent "farfrom the madding crowd." 

 Frankly, I do not believe the man lives who is not liable to 

 become uncertain about the right course to pursue, bewil- 

 dered, demoralized and lost, when in Ihe woods or on the 

 prairie, and that, too, when on even comparatively familiar 

 ground. 



Once when in the Adirondack with a friend our guide, 

 one of the very best, got lost between Long Pond and the 

 lower end of the "Sixteen-Mile Level," and he had been over 

 the ground, he said, at least a hundred times. 



A year ago last fall I camped with two noted hunters. It 

 was their tenth annual hunt over the same range of country. 



At 3 o'clock one afternoon we separated, fey to follow 

 one direction to camp and I another. I got in before sunset : 

 they were out nearly all night wandering about, and when 

 they finally reached the bouse of a settler found that they 

 had traveled six miles directly away from camp. 



Within the past two years I have seen quite a large num- 

 ber of persons cripples "for life from sufferings endured when 

 lost; have heard of many others who, utterly bewildered, 

 have wandered round aud round in a circle until exhausted 



QUAIL SHOOTING IN TENNESSEE. 



THE close season has begun in most places, and as this is 

 an "off time" in shooting matters, perhaps the readers 

 of Forest and Stream may wish to know something of the 

 manner in which we shoot Ortyz foirgiru'anui in this section. 

 In this part of the State quail shooting is done almost exclu- 

 sively upon the uplands ; for although the birds are plentiful 

 in the bottoms, the rough nature of the fields, cut up by 

 sloughs, encumbered along their edges with weeds, cane aud 

 dense undergrowth of all kinds, raiders shooting impracti- 

 cable. The majority of the upland farms, thauks to reckless 

 methods of cultivation, arc worn out, and the rising grounds, 

 hillsides and higher levels are abandoned to the broom sedge 

 and blackberry briars, which are sure crops at all seasons. In 

 most of the fields there are low places, basins or "hollows," 

 in which the evil from the hills has been caught, rendering 

 them moderately fertile. Here are planted cotton, corn, 

 oats, sorghum, etc., and here also are the feeding grounds of 

 the quail. It 1b lost labor to beat over the sedge, for in the 

 shooting B'ason, unless disturbed by some vagrant cur or 

 marauding hawk, the birds are always, when "at home," to 

 he round feeding somewhere in the small portions of the field 

 under cultivation. 



All sportsmen and the great majority of their four-footed 

 companions also know this ; and as a consequence, if they 

 fail to find iu these places usually try another field, losing no 

 valuable time in quartering the sedge-encumbered hill sides. 

 Contiguous to and bordering on almost all these patches of 

 cultivated ground are thickets more or less dense grown up in 

 locust, scrub oak, briars, coarse grass, sedge, weeds, etc., and 

 into these, in most cases, the covey pitches, and where it is 

 d-fficult to follow them. 



The dog most in favor here for this sport is the native 

 pointer. Owing to the prevalence of burrs, which, wherever 

 they can find a foothold", grow and flourish with a persever- 

 cnee wort' y of a better cause, a long-haired dog is at a great 

 disadvantage. What, one needs here is a hardy, close rang- 

 ing, industrious dog of medium size, one that will face briars 

 and endure fatigue, and show himself a painstaking and close 

 rather than a rapid aud wide ranger. A good nose is an im- 

 erative want. In the thick sedge, where the birds lie so 

 close that the sportsman may almost tread upon without 

 flushing them, and where, when pointed, oue has literally to 

 kick them up. nothing but a careful dog and one endowed 

 with scenting powers of the first eliss can insure sport. A 

 field trial winner, despite his high speed and perfect style, 

 would be at ns great a disadvantage here us the best of our 

 quail dogs if put down on a Minnesota or Kansas prairie to 

 hunt for grouse. We require here not so much what is 

 known as a good covey dog, but rather what is denominated 

 a singla bird dog. We endeavor to obtain a dog that will 

 hunt carefully through the tangled thicket and bush-encutn. 

 bered wood, where the startled birds have taken refuge, will 

 point staunchly and truly indicate the position of the bird. 

 As the largest part of my shooting has been done iu covers, 

 I have learned a few items about this style of shooting which 

 may, I trust, prove of interest to othere beside myself. 



It is a matter of the utmost consequence to determine, as 

 nearly as possible, the exact spot, on which the bird is lying. 

 When this is known aud your point of approach determined 

 upon, the line of flight to be be taken by the Hushed bird can 

 be closely approximated, aud cover shooting may be brought 

 withn the bounds of reasonable expectation, instead of lying 

 without the pale of even moderate conjecture. The method 

 I adopt is the following : when my dog finds the bird I ap- 

 proach cautiously and, ""after satisfying myself as to the posi- 

 tion of the bird and his probable course of flight, I fix my 

 eye upon some opening along that lino and flush the bird 

 myself or make my dog flush it. If the bird crossess this 

 opening it is apt to come to grief, otherwise it will stand a 

 show to afford me a chance of a shot on another day. li, 



