June 16, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



387 



altitudes is to crawl on the wet ground through tangled weeds 

 and shrubs until 1 reached a hiding place on the border of its 

 feeding range, and there patiently and silently watch for its 

 coming. This 1 have done over and over again for days to- 

 gether before getting sight Of the bird." 



We have ourselves seen the woodcock stand in a listening 

 . attitude with his bill touching the ground, but we have al- 

 ways believed that the sensitive bill was held to the earth in 

 order that the bird might perceive, whether by the sense of 

 touch or hearing we are. in doubt, the movements of the 

 worms that might be moving just, below the surface. It may 

 be that love is the motive which actuates the woodcock in 

 performing this curious action, but we are inclined to think 

 that it is something much more prosaic — namely, hunger. 



Bikds ash Ants. — Perth Amboy, N. J . May 21. — I no- 

 ticed yesterday quite a number of black anls, with long 

 wings, emerging from the cracks in the floor of my south 

 porch. Procuring some hot water 1 destroyed several hun- 

 dred in a few moments, but soon fonnd that it was a waste 

 of time as well as of water, for the insects continued to pour out 

 in such prodigious quantities as to defy all attempts to reduce 

 them. And so the living stream kept on, until the air was 

 full of them too, for as fast as the sun's rays warmed them 

 they would take to flight and drift away on the gentle breeze. 

 And here came in the fun. My house is surrounded by shade 

 and fruit trees, in which I have encouraged birds to build, 

 and many are the English sparrows whose quarrelsome inter- 

 ference with my wrens and bluebirds has cost them their 

 lives, for my little Stevens.' pocket rifle, 22, is ever ready for 

 instant use. So these foreign pests have learned to give me 

 a wide berth, and the early morning is enlivened with the 

 notes of robins, bluebirds; wrens and orioles (Baltimore and 

 orchard), kingbirds, yellowhammers, peewee flycatchers, 

 willow-wrens and cat-birds, while barn and chimney have 

 their occupants, and even the voice of the meadow-lark and 

 quail may bo heard occasionally from adjoining fields. 



Well, as may be imagined, it did not take the birds long to 

 spy the winged ants, and such a frolic as they had ! In less 

 than five minutes nearly every bird on the place was ehasiug 

 them, and it was indeed a pretty sight to see them darting 

 and wheeling in the air, every second lessening the numbers 

 of their prey. Oh, they had a royal feast I I could see the 

 sparkle of their eyes and hear the snapping of their bills, so 

 closely and fearlessly did they ciicle round my head. And 

 as I watched them I called to mind the words of the Psalmist 

 — "So they did eat and were well filled ; for He gave them 

 their own desire."— J. L. Kkakny. 



We will serve that 'possum hot. 



#»/?e B h b m ^ S m * 



OUR DETROIT LETTER. 



AFTER my long and pleasant sojourn in the roaring me- 

 tropolis whence Fokkst asb Stkkam is distributed all 

 over the migb ty nation I find mysel f once more in a position to 

 acquaint your readers with those current happenings in which 

 they naturally take the liveliest interest I dave any most of 

 them recollect my history of a fortnight's deer slaying (last 

 November) in the North Woods of Michigan by Gillman, 

 Rogers, Long et al under the guidance of those trained fron- 

 tiersmen, Joseph Kurtz (Black Joe) and Albert Beaufor, who 

 is better known to sportsmen as "Buck," the pioneers of 

 Turtle Lake, since christened Roger's Lake in compliment to 

 Detroit's enthusiastic and sportsmanlike police superintend- 

 ent. This gentleman likes nothing better than an occasional 

 camping respite from the exasperating demands of thief- 

 catching, and it is a pleasant honor that his name and fame 

 should be immortally associated with one of the most en- 

 chanting regions in our Western wilds. I dropped in at a 

 favorite place of resort for Detroit sportsmen to-night, and 

 stumbled upon those identical frontiersmen of Roger's Lake. 

 They told me they had come down to civilization to learn by 

 observation how the world wagged, and to gather food for 

 mental chewing against the time when they .will return to 

 their guns and traps, aud deer and bear,' and fragrant hem- 

 lock boughs. The summer flies drove them out, but they 

 look like a pair of cast iron men with then- splendid muscular 

 development, lack of superfluous flesh, and clear healthy 

 skins that look as if their owner's could not so much aB im- 

 agine the significance of a day's sickness. When I look at 

 such men I long for the free life of the woodsman, I covet 

 his powers of digestion, I admire his panther-like activity, 

 and glory in his true manliness. His untrammelled life is 

 the thing that, makes the man. Let us all take to the back- 

 woods and be just such men. What should we care about 

 tare and tret, fuss and fret, and all the other enfeebling con- 

 ditions that make up the sum of average life in the busy 

 mart 1 I am rebellious under them, and it would require but 

 little urging for me to cut loose and live the remainder of my 

 life out in buckskin leggings and a woolen shirt. Hurrah 

 for the woods I 



Joe brought down with him a handsome and playful cub, 

 the history of whose capture forms an interesting narrative 

 as illustrating the way its captor and men like him live. He 

 told me the story in Ms own modest way, and so I give it to 

 Fohest and Stream as nearly in his own language as I can 

 recall it. "One night about six weeks ago," he said, "I 

 struck a deserted lumber camp in the woods near Roger's 

 Lake. I kinder thought there was bear around, and so I 

 made up my mind to watch. I knocked a bit of the chinkin' 

 oi it from between a couple of logs of the cabin, locked the 

 door, and took a peepin' position. I sat there nigh onto four 

 hours without a sign of showin' up, but bime-by a big she 

 bear showed up smellin' round for the. scraps left by the 

 lumbermen. I had a Winchester express rifle with explosive 

 bullets and I let drive. The first hit her fair, but before she 

 would give up I had to send three other bullets after the first, 

 and I tell you she was pretty much torn to pieces. I dragj i 

 the carcass into the cabin, and lay down near it, with my 

 clothes on, to sleep. It must have been about two houre 

 after that when I felt something soft-like crawlin' over me, 

 and when I waB square woke up I see it was a cub. The 

 little cuss had missed his mother, and as I had forgot all 

 about fastening the door he had nosed it open and come right 

 in without stoppin' to knock. I just quietly tied him up and 

 got an eye out for the other one. I knew he couldn't be very 

 far off, and sure enough he came waddling along in a little 

 while, and I took him in, too.i This one you see here I 

 I thought I'd fetch down to the boys, and I've turned him 

 over to Mr. Gillman to do what he likes with him. The old 

 bear weighed about 400 pounds." 



The high character of the Michigan Sportsmen's Associa- 

 tion and its exceptionally good work have been very influen- 



tial factors in procuring important game legislation during 

 the session of the Legislature which ended to-day. The 

 game bill passed in pretty good shape, under it the woodcock 

 season opens August 1, duck, September 1, and quail Novem- 

 ber 1. 



The only criticism of the law I have heard is in relation to 

 deer, some hunters having expressed a modest regret that the 

 killing season was not hold off at least a fortnight later. How- 

 ever, it is now pretty nearly perfect, and the State Sports- 

 men's Association is entitled to congratulations. 



Fishing at the Flats is booming now, and some lively 

 stories are flopping around. The best work is got in on 

 bass, muscalonge and pike. Amateur. 



THE OLD GOOSE-BLIND. 



FOB many a year on the edge of the bay 

 The old goose-blind had stood, 

 Where the marksman had wn tched like a bird of prey 



To slaughter the Innocent hrood. 

 And now the sides had heeu freshly lined 



With salt water hashes and houghs ot pine ; t 



And the fowler within the stand reclined, 

 Eyeing the wash ot the ocean's hrlno. 



A crystal stream by the structure's side 



Trickled out to the ocean's brink ; 

 And here the fowl, at ebbing tide, 



Would come to sand and drink. 

 To gabble and tell of each other's sins, 



Aud how on far Spitsbergen's shore 

 Miss Goosey had had eight pair of twins 



When she never expected but lour. 



Around her axis old Terra may roll, 



nut only those allly creatures 

 Can enjoy the gossip and news of the Pole 



In all Its novel features. 

 And much they resemble I he tender sex, 



Who clatter together In noisy groups 

 OI dresses and jewelry, fraUltes and checks, 



Engagements, births, perfumes and soups. 



And now you may see by 1 he sportsman's eye 



That the tide Is fast receding, 

 As with anxious gaze he watches the sky 



With a face that Is almost pleading. 

 The hidden rocks are beginning to bare ; 



The breakers cease their dreary moan ; 

 The winter gull tdl.v fans the air ; 



The fowler is there on the shore alone. 



All is peace ; not a sound or cry 



Is heard at the lonely scene, 

 When suddenly In the seaward sky 



A moving speck is seen. 

 Like the cindor of a burning reed, 



That, parting from the parent stem, 

 CUT through the cloudy air doth speed, 



The tiny atom appears to sktm. 

 It seems to approach the mainland shore. 



See, the fowler prepares his piece, 

 For what, was naught but a speck before 



Is a flock of flying geese, 

 on past tlie Inlet's lonely light, 



And following the deep channel's bed, 

 In single nie, with waving night, 



Toward urn blind at last they head. 



Great Nature I dost thou not control 



The flight oi birds aquatic? 

 Is there a loadstone at the Pole 



To guide tin- lr course erratic ? 

 Doth Aglb's mountain stand there still. 



Whose dense attraction draws them nigh? 

 Has each a magnet in Its bill, 



That northward they seem bound to fly ? 



Obi Goose, thou vile, ill-omened bird, 



Whose shrill, unearthly howl 

 WbUom the sleeping Romans heard, 



Thou dark, historic fowl ; 

 Though bitter gall to GaiU thy cry, 



Avenging Prance now cries thee, bah 

 Thy screech preludes her famous pie, 



Delicious pale dofoie yras. 



But now each silver-feathered breast 



Sinks down upon the tide ; 

 While the bolder ganders leave the rest 



Beguiled to the streamlet's side. 

 " Honk 1 who 1" they call their charge In trust ; 

 " The bar is free ; come one and all I 

 No excise law you need distrust-" 



They go to sup at the gander's calk 



The fowler exultant with gleaming eye 

 Takes his sure, unerring aim. 



Ye gads ! what a roar salutes the sky ; 

 What a belching mass of flame ! 



The blind disappears like tie: one-horse shay ; 

 The geese in fright neat the smoky air ; 



The water reels back from the shores of the bay- 

 But naught can be seen oi the marksman there. 



From the house old Joe is heard to bawl, 



*' iioys, get out the cart and boat, 



I loaded that gun ; he has killed them all. 



You'll have a smart lot to tote." 

 They found do blind or fowler there, 



. But under the shade ot the cypress trees 

 They discoverc d a gory lock of hair 



And a pleoe of one of Ills shattered knees. 



And now old Joe wanders round the shore 



With a wild and vacant state, 

 And he looks where the blind had stood before, 



And ho peers above in the air. 

 He mutters aloud, in a weird, sad way, 

 " To think that a quart ot double B's 

 Should have sprinkled the poor lad over the bay 



And aU we could find was one ot tils knees." 



A Special meeting of the Long Island Sportsmen's Asso- 

 ciation will be held Friday evening in the Royal Arcanum 

 Rooms, Music Hall, Flatbush avenue and Fulton street, for 

 the purpose of distributing the association badges and com- 

 pleting the arrangements for the convention. 



Holablrd Shooting Suits. Upthegrove & McLellan, Valparaiso, Ind. 



THE NEW YORK GAME LAW. 



CONTINUED 1TE0M PAGE 370. 



Sec. 11. Section twenty-three of said act, as amended by 

 section one of chapter 531 of the laws of 1830, is hereby 

 further amended so as to read as follows: 



Sec. 23 No person shall kill or catch, or attempt to kill or 

 catch, or have in posse-sion after the same has been killed or 

 caught, any fish, except minnows, in the waters of Lake On- 

 tario on the American side thereof, for the distance of three 

 miles lrom the mouth Of Niagara River, or in Onondaga, 

 Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga or Cross lakes, or in any of their 

 outlets or tributaries, or in the American waters of the Ni- 

 agara River above Niagara Falls, or in the Mohawk River 

 or any of its tributaries in the counties of Oneida and Her- 

 kimer, in any way or manner, or by any device whatever, 

 except with that of hook and line [and any person catching or 

 killing any fish except minnows in any of the above-named 

 waters shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for 

 each and every offense]. No person shall kill or catch, or 

 attempt to kill or catch, any fish except minnows, bullheads, 

 eels, suckers and catfish, in any other of the fresh waters, or 



.my of the canals of this State, or in the American waters 

 of the St. Lawrence River, in any way or manner, or by any 

 device whatever, except lha; of angling by hook or line, 

 save only in the following waters, namely: The Hudson 

 River below the dam at Troy, Black Lake in the county of 

 St. Lawrence, St. Regis River, Grass River and Racket 

 River below the line of the Ogdensburgand Lake Chatuplain 

 Railroad, and in Lake Ontario, except Great Sodus Bay, 

 Port. Bay, East Bay in the county of Wayne, Henderson 

 Harbor or Henderson Bay in the county of Jefferson; and 

 also except in Lake Champlain, during the month of Octo- 

 ber and the first fifteen days in November; and also except 

 in the waters of the Wallkill River within the county of 

 Ulsler, wherein it shall be lawful for any person or persons 

 of one and the same family or household to possess and fish 

 for suckers and eels in the waters of said river during the 

 months of March and April and October and November, 

 with a single fyke, the meshes of which shall not be less 

 than one inch ; and also except all that part of the waters of 

 Lake Ontario, together with its bays or inlets lying and being 

 in the county of Jefferson, and in that part of Oswego 

 County lying between its Jefferson County line and the 

 westerly line' of the town of Mexico, and within one-half 

 mile of the outlet or mouth of Salmon River, saving and 

 excepting the shoals adjacent to Henderson Bay on the lake 

 side from the main shore to and including Smoke Island, ex- 

 cept during the months of November and December, which 

 waters are hereby released from the operation of the provis- 

 ions of sections twenty-three and twenty-six of the act 

 hereby amended. No person shall [knowingly] sell or pur- 

 chase, or have in [his or her] possession, any fish killed, 

 caught or laken from any such waters contrary to the pro- 

 visions of this section. Any person violating any of the 

 provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and in addition thereto shall be liable to a penalty 

 of twenty-five dollars for each and every such offense, and 

 for each fish so caught, killed or held in possession. And 

 all nets, seines, traps, weir or other devices forbidden by this 

 section are hereby declared contraband, and any person find- 

 ing the same in anyplace where they are forbidden is hereby 

 authorized to destroy such contraband articles, and no action 

 for damages shall lie against him for such destruction. 



Sec. 13. Section twenty -five of said act is hereby amended 

 so as to read as follows : 



Sec. 25. No person, association, company or corporation 

 shall throw or deposit, or permit to be thrown and deposited, 

 any dye-stuff, coal-tar, refuse from gas houses [saw dust] 

 lime, or other deleterious substance, or cause the same to run 

 or flow into or upon any of the rivers, lakes, ponds, streams 

 [or any of the bays or inlets adjoining the Atlantic ocean], 

 within the limits "of this State. Any person who shall violate 

 this section, or any member of such company, association or 

 corporation, who shall authorize and direct any such viola- 

 tion, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and. in addition 

 thereto, shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars for each 

 offence. But this section shall not apply to streams of flow- 

 ing or tide-water which constitute the motive power of the 

 machinery of manufacturing establishments, where is ab- 

 solutely necessary for the manufacturing purposes carried on 

 in such establishments to run the refuse matter and material 

 thereof into such stream. 



Sec. 13. Section thirty-one of said act is hereby amended 

 so as to read as follows : 



Sec. 31. A State bounty of thirty dollars for a grown wolf, 

 fifteen dollars for a pup wolf [and] twenty dollars for a 

 panther, and fifty cents for any hawk except a night-hawk, 

 shall be paid to any person or persons who shall kill any of 

 said animals or birds within the boundaries of this State. 

 The person or persons obtaining said bounty shall prove the 

 death of the animal or bird so killed by him or them, by 

 producing satisfactory affidavits, and the fkull and skin of 

 Baid animal, or the head and claws of said bird before the 

 supervisor and one of the justices of the peace of the town 

 within the boundaries of which the said animal or bird was 

 killed. Whereupon said supervisor and justice of the peace, 

 in the presence of each other, shall burn aud destroy the said 

 skull and brand the said skin of said animal, so that it may 

 be thereafter identified, and shall burn and destroy the said 

 head and claws of said bird, and issue to the person or per- 

 sons claiming and entitled to the same, an order on the 

 treasurer of the county to which said town belongs, statiug 

 (be kind of animal or bird killed, the date of killing the 

 same, and the amount of the bounty to be paid in virtue of 

 the within section of this act, and the county treasurers of 

 this State are hereby authorized and directed to pay all 

 orders issued as aforesaid ; and all orders issued in the man- 

 ner aforesaid and paid by the treasurer of any county in this 

 State shall be a charge of said county against the State, the 

 amount of which charge on delivery of proper vouchers, the 

 comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to allow in the 

 settlement of taxes due from said county to the State. 



Sec. 14. Section thirty-three of said act is hereby amended 

 so as to read as follows : 



Sec. 33. All penalties imposed by this act may be re- 

 covered, with costs of suit, by any person in his own name, 

 or by any society in its name, upon suchsociety giving secur- 

 ity for costs, before any justice of the peace in the county 

 where the offence was committed, or in an adjoining county, 

 when the amount does not exceed the jurisdiction of such 

 justice, or when such suit shall he brought in the city of New 

 York, before any justice of the district court, or of the 

 marine court of said city ; and such penalties may be re- 

 covered in the like manner in any court of record in the 

 State ; hut on recovery by the plaintiff in such case for a less 



