[June 39, 1881, 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



437 



them. On the contrary, the penalties should he regulated so 



as to compare reasonably with those provided for offenses 

 of a similar grade, and the admin'stration of the laws should 

 be as simplo and effectual as will comport with the dignity 

 of the State. Azonzo B. Coknjmj.. 



The Woodcock Season does not open in aoy part of the 

 State before August 1. 



»__.»„. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLOSE GAME SEASONS. 



rpHE Massachusetts Pish and Game Protective Association 

 JL have compiled and published for broadcast distribution 

 over that State a d'gest of the fish and game laws. The 

 society did not get the law it wanted and "should have tad; 

 but its members express their determination to see that 

 the statute which the marketmen put through is en- 

 forced. We hope it may tie. The close seasons pro- 

 vided are as follows: Trout, land-locked salmon, late 

 trout, October 1 to April 1 ; black bass, December 1 to 

 Jul}' 1 ; salmon, Aug. 1 to May 1 ; smelts, March 15 to June 

 1 ; ruffed grouse, Jan. 1 to Sept. t j woodcock, Jan. 1 to 

 Aug. 1; quail, Jan. 1 to Oct. 15. Possession and sale of 

 above birds positively forbidden at all other seasons, regard- 

 less of where killed or taken, except quail, which may be 

 had aud sold from Jan. 1 to May 1, if not killed in the State. 

 Biack duck, woodcock and teal, April 1 to Sept. 1. Prairie 

 ohickens cannot be killed at any time, except birds placed 

 by owners upon their grounds; possession and sale forbid- 

 den except during January, February, March and April; 

 marsh, beach and shore birds, April 1 lo July 15 (except 

 black-breasted and chicken plover, red-breasted sandpiper, 

 winter yellow-leg and Wilson's snipe, which are not pro- 

 tected) ; Carolina dove, herring gull, tern, sea swallow, 

 mackerel gull. May 1 to Sept. 1. Insectivorous birds -Pen- 

 alty for killing or disturbing nests or eggs, £10; penalty for 

 snaring game birds, hare or rabbit, or for setting snares or 

 traps tor such, or for use of ferrets, or for using battery, 

 swivel or pivot guns, or torch or other artificial light in wild 

 fowl shoptipg, $20. (Owners of land or others authorized 

 by them may snare ruffed grouse, hare or rabbit during (.pen 

 seasons only.) Deer, Dec. 1 to Not. 1 (owner or keeper of 

 dog found chasing deer or hunting deer at any other season 

 punishable by fine of $80); gray squirrel, hare, rabbit, March 

 1 to S< pt. 1. 



Possession <Jf game during close season prima facia evi- 

 dence to convict. 



Notice of any violation of the above laws, with evidence of 

 same, is requested to be sent to either the President, John 

 Pottler, Jr., or Secretary, E. 8. Tohey, Jr., or to any mem- 

 ber of the Executive Committee of the Association. 



IN A TURKEY BLIND. 



GRiKiTEViLLE, S. ft, June 22. 



IN all probability quail will be abundant at the opening of 

 the season. As 1 write the merry whistle of "Bob 

 Vv bite" comes tome through the open office window. Oa the 

 opening day lean, m five minutes' walk from this building, 

 find three and possibly four or five coveys of birds. It cer- 

 tainly is one of the joys and great pleasures of life to take 

 a tramp through these pine forests, aud, occasionally striking 

 an old field, find these birds, and, over one or a brace of well- 

 broken- dogs, make a fair bag. 



To go it over and over again wilh pen or gun is an old 

 story which is always new. We all know how it is done. 

 We read from the pens of others, week after week, of quaii 

 shooting, woodcock, snipe and duck shooting. The story 

 never giows stale, the charm is there, and in imagination we 

 participate and snuff the delightful odor of the woods — some 

 one has called it "ozone," that's a good name, it fits exactly. 



I wish some of our Northern brethren could come here, 

 and "hold on" to November and December quail, also go it 

 blind on turkey, andposstbly kill that 300 pound buck — that 

 mythical buck I Bucks must be averaging heavier than 

 twenty-five years ago. They appear mighty small in the 

 woods under 'full headway, but grow to astonishing propor- 

 tions and weights when laid low. Mr. Van Dyke makes 

 some extremely sensible remarks on the subject. His book 

 wi 1 puncture the popular gas-bag on many things pertaining 

 to the field. 



Speaking of turkeys, I am reminded of a magnificent, time 

 1 had in not shooting them a couple of years ago. Old man 

 McLean was alive then, and knew all the walks, runs and 

 haunts, feeding places and feeding times (so he said) of all 

 the droves of turkeys for forty miles square. 



One night in December the old man knocked at my door. 

 Said he, "Mr. Swiveller I've got 'em a-coming. AllO. K. 

 Been baiting the place regularly for two weeks ; an awful big 

 gang of them, and they've been feeding round them covers and 

 and round them fences right 'long, and I've got a b— en— -ti- 

 ful blind built. It's so snug and close you could just have a 

 regular circus in there, and I he 'turks' a lookin' right, at it, 

 and it ud draw 'em right up." 



"All right, old man, when shall we no?" I said, for by this 

 time I was worked up to the highest state of excitement, be- 

 sides I had been expecting this cad and was prepared. 



"Well, let's go to-morrow morning. You'll have to git up 

 by three o'clock and git right into the saddle. I'll come and 

 wake you. You know it is a good distance to ride." 



I made all the necessary preparations, and scon after re- 

 tired. I promised my dear mother she should have at least 

 one fine gobbler to grace the table at C'hiistmas. 



"Mare Dick, yerlioss is waitin', and Mars ol man McLean 

 is a worryin' hisself wuss'n a mule aferd you won't git out in 

 time." 



I looked up and there stood Joe, lamp in hand, most anxi- 

 ous that I should move. 



I get up and am now wide awake. "Gimme these duds, 

 boy,'' and in a few minutes more 1 am stealing out in the 

 night air. Once in the saddle, and my 8 lb. 13-bore Scott on 

 the bow, the old man aud I take our way to the blind, some 

 eight miles distant. Right through the thick pine forest we 

 marched by file, the old man in the van. 



Arriving at the blind, I found it an admirably constructed 

 affair— no bright butts sticking out showing where the axe 

 had recently been. It was part aud parcel of a wiudlall, and 

 in daylight. 'could scarcely be detected as a turkey blind. 



McLean found the corn gone he had scattered the day pre- 

 vious SO, bating afresh, we crept into the blind, and in silence 

 waited. The great pines looming up all around were 

 sighing in the little breeze blowing, and In began 

 to act as a lullaby to me. I was growing sleepy, so it 

 was arranged lhat I should take a nap, being greatly fatigued 

 from loss of steep some days previous. The old man was lo 



wake me— gently to whisper in my ear; so, blindly trusting 

 that old man, I at last fell asleep. 1 don't know the hour — 

 it must have been 4:30— aud so I slept, on, hugging my gun. 

 I turned over to take a fresh position, aud iu the act was 

 startled to find it so very ligh, and more startled on hearing 

 the organ-like tones proceeding fr.'in the red proboscis of my 

 companion. I looked around ; the sun was two hours hi>;h ; 

 old man McLean sound asleep and a whisky pi rfume in the 

 air. I peeped out of ihe bliud. The b-dt was gone. The 

 turkeys had come on time, filling their engagement, had 

 eaten the corn and departed. 1 was disgusted. Ah, whisky, 

 how much happiness thou destroyest. 1 carefully left the 

 blind, mounted my horse, took the old man's horse, and wc 

 three proceeded sorrowfully home. I thought the old man 

 might as well walk home; he would have a chance to think 

 of the muttibility of human affairs, devices and institutions. 

 We met; but oh: Dick Swivkllek. 



A PLEA POR THE REED BIRD. 



OUR correspondent, Didytnus, who is much interested in 

 the protection of our small birds, has scut us a copy oi 

 a letter addie-sed by him some years since to the New York 

 Citizen, regarding the annual slaughter of the reed birds on 

 their southern migrations. The reed bird is a delicious morsel, 

 but there is no more skill required in his capture, and no more 

 sport in it than there is in the' capture of so many hens. 

 Didynius says : "A few years ago I spoke right, out in meet- 

 iu' on the subject of reed-bird slaughter, and I am curious to 

 know whether I am in opposition to the higher powers or 

 not. I have never seen an expression iu Fokkst axd 

 Stream on that matter. The inclosed article I sent to the 

 New Yoik Citiztn, but why I do not kturw, unless that paper 

 was "running a muck " on the same subject. It rather riles 

 me to see a coarse, bloated gourmand sit down to a table 

 (armed aud equipped with a bottle of brandy and water to 

 sharpen his appetite) and gulp down a dozen or two of these 

 lovely little songsters ! It does not seem to harmonize with 

 the "eternal fitness of things," and I heartily wish it could 

 be stopped. Of course 1 am talking now for your own pri- 

 vate ear." The communication referred to was as follows: 



"If the protection of small birds is of sufficient conse- 

 quence to warrant legislative, interference, the annual 

 slaughter of the bobolink on the marshes of the Delaware is 

 certainly the one of all others to demand it, aud now let us 

 have your aid. 



" 1 believe it is generally known that the reed-bird of the 

 Delaware is the lovely little bobolink of the tneadow — the 

 subject of Mr. Bryant's beautiful poem. In the summer the 

 male iB black aud white, and one of the most exquisite singers 

 in this coutitry. In the month of August, he doffs his gay ap- 

 parel, and assumes the sober garb of the female, when they 

 congregate and prepare for their annual flight to the South ; 

 and it is during this trip that their ranks sustain such fearfui 

 losses. 



" Their principal stopping-place is Delaware Bay, where 

 they fatten on tie wild rice, and are slaughtered by tens of 

 thousands. 



" If this infamous business could be stopped— and it could 

 be if a few earnest men would take the matter up— this tiny 

 creature, instead of returning to us annually in diminished 

 numbers, would rapidly increa.se, and effect a corresponding 

 decrease in the insect tribe. Let us look at the consistency 

 of the amended game laws of Pennsylvania : ' It shall not be 

 lawful, etc , to shoot, kill, or in any way trap or destroy any 

 biuebird, swallow, martin, ore her insectivorous bird al any 

 season of the year, under a penalty of two dollars. ' 



"Now, during the summer, the. reed-bird is exclusively in- 

 sectivorous, and is the only one, except the robin, that needs 

 the protecting hand of the law. Why mention the bluebird, 

 swallow or martin '( They are useless ror the table, and are 

 very seldom killed, while the bobolink is killed by wholesale; 

 and it is a shame and a disgrace to the city that tolera'es it. 

 Is i here a sportsman's club in Philadelphia 't If there is, 

 why do they not enforce, or at least test, the law, and see if 

 the quibble that because they are not insectivorous at the 

 time they are killed the law does not cover their case, can be 

 sustained. The Press says : ' The short and decisive way 

 to settle that point of law is to bring complaiut against some 

 one of the murderous gunners who defy it, and try him for 

 the offense. If he cannot be convicted under the present 

 statate, then pass another next winter with no loopholes.' I 

 sincerely hope that some one will take sufficient interest in 

 the matter to do this; but if Philadelphia has a sportsman's 

 club, it is their duty." 



SHOOTING THE BLUE GROUSE. 



Eugene City, Oregon, June 8. 



THE mountain or blue grouse has probably never been 

 seen or hunted by the majority of American sports- 

 men, aud a rough description of this beautiful game bird may 

 not be out of place. It is a very plump bird, nearly twice 

 the size of a ruffed grouse, and in winter and spring is of a 

 dark, blue color. Their flight is swift, and accompanied by 

 a great rustling of wings calculated to seriously effect the 

 steadiness of the novice in this kind of shooting. Their flesh 

 tastes slightly of fir in the spring, and in the fall they are of 

 the very finest flavor. Our faulty game law permits hunting 

 them until April, and the close season expires August 1. 



Although perfectly aware that they should be left untouched 

 during March, I, with a companion, started out one pleasant 

 morning in quest of these birds on a range of oak clad hills. 

 The game law allows it ; other gunners are shooting them, 

 and the sport most exciting, so who could resist this enticing 

 invitation in the shape of the hoot, hoot of the old cocks as 

 they are feeding in the early morning on the hill sides ? 



A good setter is indispensable if you are desirous of mak- 

 ing a good bag, and one that is very staunch iu pointing, for 

 the cocks, unlike the hens, will often flush wild or run far 

 ahead of the dog. He must also retrieve well, as they often 

 fall into dense bushes, and if not killed clean will slip away 

 and secrete themselves. 



The morning seems to us, as we stand on a ridge viewing 

 the green valley extending in the distance below u«, to be 

 propitious, aud several hooters are filling the air with their 

 booming voice in the oak bushes ahead. Singling one out, 

 and marking as near as possible the apparent spot from which 

 the sound issues, we walk carefully on with the dog ranging 

 slowly ahead. On Ihe edge of a small patch of fern he makes 

 a point, and an instant h'tfer a hen, with a great fluttering, 

 arises but comes to a halt, when my steadiness returns, and 

 my first grouse of the season has been bagged. Had not the 

 dog scented it, my footsteps, only a few feet distant, would 



have only made it lie the closer, and it might have lived to 

 rear, a month later, a dozen young chicks. 



But while I am thus regretting the result of my shot, two 

 more hens have flushed out of range, alarmed at the report of 

 my gun, and have settled in oak trees a few hundreu feet 

 away. You will soon find out that they are not to be caught 

 napping in peaces bare of some kind of hding place, aud 

 they buzz away from the leafless branches as I approach/ 

 One is stopped by my companion, who happens to he in the 

 line of their flight, and the other sails to dense fir timber, 

 there to remain until evening, when it may again be found 

 feeding in the open places. 



But now we have arrived at the spot where the cock should 

 be found, and the dog gradually draws on the track of the 

 wily bird which has run into the bushes on my approach, 

 and suddenly flushes, but a report follows, while the four 

 pounds of animated blue falls heavily to the ground and pro- 

 claims by the slow fluttering of his wings that the shot has 

 been clean. A brace more are picked up before we reach c 

 high rocky point where one has been hooting all the morning. 

 The ground is dry aud the dog warm, so our hunt over the 

 ridge'should have been thorough, but as I am about giving up 

 the search lie flushes behind me, ouly a few steps from where 

 I walked several times, and is away before I can shoot and 

 settles in a very tall dense, fir tree, perfectly safe from al! 

 sbot-gims and dull eyes. 



As the sun has mounted the horizon we may as well di- 

 rect our steps to the banks of a small creek, where an occa- 

 sional bird is flushed while enjoying a dust bath or driukimr. 

 By one o'clock we have a load of eight birds, weighing 24 

 pounds, a weighty bag, so, seeking our horses, we start horns, 

 recounting on the way the incidents of the bunt and trying 

 to decide that our hunt will not affect the fall supply of 

 young birds, for not le^s than forty were seen on our morn- 

 ing ramble. 



A short time s'nee I sent to San Francisco a nest of eggs of 

 these grouse, and an attempt will be made there to rear them 

 in captivity. Iu several instances I have known of their 

 being hatched under the care of a heu and small boy, but not 

 being attended to properly, they have either been killed cr 

 escaped. They are a hardy bird, and if rightly cared lor 

 would, no doubt, become tame aud could be conveyed into 

 different parts of the country. 1 have never heard of one 

 perishing from cold or hunger. Do you know of any one suc- 

 ceeding in domesticating them V Jasi-ek SiiavBaa. 



GAME IN MINNESOTA. 



Sack Ckntbe, Minn., June 24, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



There is every indication of a grand chicken harvest Iho 

 coming sea s on. Although there has hem a vast amount of 

 rain, I do not think it has materially injured the young chicks. 

 A good many ducks are seen now aud then, reversing the dis- 

 couraging prospect of a scarce crop. 



The mallard builds its nest generally up:>n high ground, so 

 it is practically safe. Some snipe are around the lowland* 

 and creek bottoms, and are in flue condition. 



Upland plovtr are not so numerous as heretofore, owing, 

 probably, to the late prairie, fire!", which destroys their neats. 



I have noticed quite a goodly number of pigeons about of 

 late, bur some of our sportsmen consider them "grub," net 

 game. 



I am inclined to think sometimes that this section of 

 country is unrivaled in the Northwest as a statue resort. 



The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad traverses' 

 this section for a distance of about three hundred miles, and 

 any station by the way "is just the place" to stop at for 

 any aud all kinds of game, so a sportsman need not confine 

 himself to any one unless he has a decided preference. 



The sportsman visiting this country need not bother about' 

 bringing ammunition, as he can find any kind in general use 

 here. " Dull. 



PUUbury, Todd County, Minn., June 21.— Prospects for 

 sport in this locality the coming autumn are excellent. 

 Young ducks are as plenty as I ever knew them to be, and 

 for the time of year unusually large. I saw a flock of 

 young mallards yesterday fudy two-' birds grown. 



I went down the river bottom this morning and saw so 

 many snipe that I wished for the presence of Messrs. Frame 

 and Jones, of your city, who made the welkin ring here last 

 fall. Pigions are far more numerous thin they have been 

 before for three years. Deersignsare abundant. While fish- 

 ing in the lake yesterday morning a magnificent eld buck, 

 came down to the shore aud stood and watched me for fif- 

 teen minutes or more. If 1 bad had my rifle along I am 

 afra ; d I should have backslidden and violated the game law, 

 for he was in the "blue" and would have been delicious 

 eating. J. F. Lqckb. 



THE CUVIER CLUB. 



A CINCINNATI, O, correspondent writes: I incloge 

 a very interesting interview which took place between 

 Col. Lew Harris, President of our Cuvier Club, and a Times- 

 Star reporter, regarding the migratory quail, and the new 

 Cuvier Club building now iu process of erection on Lang- 

 worth street, this city. The interview is as follows : 



It will be remembered that last summer the Cuvier Club, 

 of this city, turned loose a large number of Messina quail, 

 which, when the cold blasts of last winter came on, spread 

 their wings and took an air-line for theSouth. Several 

 communications have been receive! at the Times-Star ofhee 

 asking whether these birds had ever returned. A Times-Star 

 reporter took the trouble of hunting up Col. L. A. Harris, 

 who, by the way, is one of the hardest workers in the Cuvier 

 Club, and the query regarding the quail was propounded to 

 him. 



"These quail have never returned," replied the Colonel, 

 " but we have, strong hopes that they will, for some of them 

 have been seen in New York aud Maine." 



"DoeB the Club iutend to import any more?" 



"Oh yes. We hate made arrangements for the importa- 

 tion of two hundred more." 



" When will they arrive here ?" 



" Not before next spring. You see the Messiua quail are 

 an African bird that cross the Mediterranean Sea to Messina 

 in Ihe fall of the year and there they are captured. Our 

 order will be filled "in the spring and we will try our luck 

 again." 



"The Cuvier Club is doing considerable good toward the 

 preservation of game in Ohio, isn't it?" 



"A great deal. Our club here is the largest in the country, 

 and every member takes a personal interest in seeing that 

 game is protected- We are. now making arrangements for 



