FOREST AND STREAM- 
27 
HAGALOO BIRDS. 
January 3Stli, 1873. 
Editor Foukpt and Stream:— 
Perhaps the following anecdote, which was brought to mind to-day 
while talking over “ye dayse y't have passede,” may bo worth apace In 
your columns:— 
In l l 74, while my friend G. II - Crane and myself were snipe shooting 
In Sanilac County (Mich.,) we had occasion to put up our horse at one 
of the squatters in that region. On catling for the team the old woman, 
who evidently was the “Boss” of the shop, exclaimed, pointing to the 
hunch of snipe which George had, “What air ycr goln’ ter do wiLh them 
things*" “What things?” answered George. ' "Them, them yer thincs.” 
"Oh! the Helper" “Snipe? Is that what yer call them hagaloo birds?" 
George shot, through the open door with a yell, and she turned lo me. 
"WeU,impels whatyer Call them, doyerf I never heard no name for 
'em before hot hagaloo birds; Wat yer goiu’to do with the darned 
things?*' “Eat.them.” “ What! eat them? Yon fellers must be darned 
hard np for vitlles.” 
Would it not be well for our naturalists to Temember that name? 
When I go “hagaloo" shooting again, I shall try and call on “Airs, John 
Philander Warren Herris,” as she informed mo was the "heft" of her 
name. Archer. 
v CHOKE-BORES, 
“anOAN" ON 6BKEKER, 
Editor Forest and Strbaii :— 
Whenever discussion is had in the public prints, on matters of public 
interest, by those who seek only the public good, and not their private 
gain, I recoeuiae to the fullest extent, I he right of every person to par¬ 
ticipate. Bui I deny the right to any one who interferes for the sole 
and palpable pnrpose of polling himself and Ills business, and who thus 
desires to obtain gratuitous advertising for both. 
HcnccI deny the right of .Mr. Greeter to reply, in the manner he 1ms, 
and with snch evident motives, to an article of mine, which in nowise 
aspersed him, and which did not attempt to deal with the merits or de¬ 
merits of his guns. That article was written to raise the question of the 
priority of inveuture or the choke-bore, it referred inoideotly to a 
quotation from au English paper, previously published by you, as to llr. 
Dougall’e modified choke .system, and Its design was to protest against 
the fallacy of excessive ctiolco-boring. Tt was a discussion bru. dly up¬ 
on the merits of systems. There wad no “special pleading" about it, 
for uny one. or in any one’s behalf, and it received, with complimentary 
remarks, the editorial sanction of the Fobest and Stiieam, which it 
could not have received it it had been of such a uhurnclor. 
If Mr. Greener, as a practical gunsmith, had seen lit to criticise H 
without reference to himself or liisguns, such a course would have been 
proper; but when hemlerlnrds ills criiicisms with praises of himself 
imd his gniiB and Ihcir performances, 1 submit lliat It la not only impro¬ 
per, but impertinent and unwarrantable. But Mr. Greener has done 
more than that, surreptitiously, under cover of replying lo me, and by 
perverting my meaning, lie has attacked a rival by name, depreciated 
that rival's abilities, and sought to extol himself by bis /tool's defeat. 
Hu may think that Is honorable, bat yet even if 1 am "a Yankee," as Mr 
sareas ically calls me, i beg Mr. Ureener to understand that he cannot 
make me hia stalking norse for such assaults, nor Use me as a catch¬ 
penny. 
Willi these views of Mr. Greener and his behavior I can soon say all 
that 1 deem It necessary to say abnnl his statement Mr. Dilugnll was 
among the defeated at the / idd trial, and, therefore, it. is wlioliy un¬ 
necessary jo count ont, pellet hy pellet, ivMif were Ills targets as com¬ 
pared to Air. Greener's, or those of other makers at that trial. The fact 
itself is sillHolent that, so far as the trial goes, and only that far- and 
the qualification is most important,—Air. Hoogall was not a winner. 
The gnus he hud there shot miserably. But it will be difficult lo make 
the owners of Duugnll guns m America believe that the figures shown at 
the trial are true iudieia of what his guns will do. They know better; 
and the very oircu instance that some of his shots ran down as low as 
fifty-two and fifty-eight is sulficieut to show them that it was most un- 
osualatd accidental. So I dismiss Air. Bengali. Aud this much more as 
to Mr. Greeuur. Air. Greener predicates all his boastfulness upon w in¬ 
ning that trial. He asserts that U was rigidly and fairly conducted in 
every detail. He ought to see that this assertion is made good, or else 
the position lie will occupy will he humiliating and disgraceful indeed. 
Was it fairly conducted? Until Mr. Tape’s charges are successfully de. 
nfed. aud until the FieUl Editor accounts for tno loaded wads, which he 
admits were used, it will take more than more assertion to convince the 
sportsman on this side of the Atlantic that it was fairly conducted. Mr. 
Pape Is a Field trial winner himself. He charges openly, over his own 
signature, that there was dishonesty. He points out the men who 
counted the targets, and affirm* that they were discharged for false 
counting and other knavery at Wimbledon. Air. Pape tried by every 
means in IriB power to get another sight aud another count of the large! b. 
He offered m one* for them, but could not get them, lie then consulted 
legal gentlemen in hopes to get them by legal process, but, inosmnch as 
the titU to the sheets of paper,was in the Field proprietors, he fuiled. 
He then denounced the whole proceeding in tile newspapers or- both 
countries as a cheat, aud, np to this lime, I here has not been, to my 
knowledge, an authentic dental by the parties'implicated. It is true, 
that afterward the prominent competitors signed a card stating their 
belief that it was nil fair, and how could they do otherwise, but yet the 
proprietors would not give up the targets, and the question suit is , why 
was not Air. l'upe, or any one else allowed to look at the targets after 
such a demand by him, and afler they had received such a supposed vin¬ 
dication? It therefore comes down to ibis, either Air. Pape cannot be 
contradicted, or else he is a person so utterly insignificant, Bnd so en¬ 
tirely unreliable that his gr ave accusations can bo treated with silence, 
and with scorn. There are those who would like to know which is the 
true solution. I will not go any further in the matter, for if, as Air. 
Pape claims, he alone is the trtto winner, and if it should turn out that 
the pretended winner is a fraud, we need noL trouble ourselves very 
deeply as to the statistics of such a trial. 
But, Air. Editor, there is one admission inadvertently made by Air. 
Greener which rises in importance far above hia personal contests and 
jealousies. It goes to the rqot Of the principle we were disenssing when 
he thrust bimself upon us. It bears fnndementally On the question of 
this excessive choke boring, ne says a gun shooting at a pattern of SIT 
“would riddle the birds at 30 yards." Now what thinkyonwas the par¬ 
tem or his winning gun? Why, *35! Shall we infer that that wouldn't 
"riddle the birds" at SO, or even 30 yards? 
And if It is admitted that this boring was truly excessive, and was only 
made lo win the trial, the query remains, of what use to us was such a 
trial, honeally or dishonestly conducted, and how mnch should we care 
who was the winner of It? Gi.oan . 
The following remarks from to practical a man as Mr. 
John Rigby, cannot but be of interest to our readers, and 
we are glad lo find that his views on this subject coincide 
bo nearly with our own:-- 
llrBLiN, Ireland, Jan. 7th, 1870. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
As the subject of choke-boring attracts so rouoh attention just now 
will give you some facts drawn from this season's experience hero, I 
find that abont one in ten of those who have tried fall choke bores (tar¬ 
get guns) here have wholly approved them. The great majority con 
sldeu them only fit for special kinds of shooting, aud a respectable mi¬ 
nority condemn them altogether. We have had in many instances to 
modify them and increase ihe spread of the shot, retaining the strength 
of shooting, nnd always with satisfactory rcsnlts. A Judlcions applica¬ 
tion of the principle to one.or both barrels ia Ihe tone method of util¬ 
izing it. Target (rials, which! give the palm to the closest-shooting 
gons, aresure to mislead sportsmen, whs seek the gun that will give 
them the heaviest bag. As an Instance of this, we sold one of the guns 
tried at the Field trial to a fair shot, ar d after careful experimem-he has 
decided to have Ihe choke taken ontof one barrel and ihe spread of the 
other increased. He admits that he makes very long shots, bnl misses 
so many near ones and occasionally mangles hiB birds so badly, that 
(long shots being the exceplion-ln his shooting) ihe balance of advantage 
is in favor of a wide-spreading gnu; yet this very gull was not considered 
to shoot close enough to bo even placed gt the Field trial, Another in¬ 
stance is instructive. A friend of mine oMerod a gun from a maker 
who guarantees his guns to put In two hundred and ten pellets ont of H' 
oz. of No. 6. The gun tried on game was pronounced satisfactory, and 
was advanced as a proof that the full choke (did not miss or mangle. Af¬ 
ter a lime it occurred to the owner to try tt at a target, whenthe fact ap¬ 
peared that it waa not fall choke. It only recorded tfil). bnt shot evenly, 
and had a spread nearly equal to an ordinary gnn. The purchaser re- 
ferredtorae, but I told Mm to be well satisfied, as it was a belter gun 
for Ms shooting than It would have been if up lo the guarantee; and lie 
is now convinced that such Is the case. 
These remarks and expcrience8 apply to general shooting In these 
islands. Elsewhere, if wild fowl shooting bo the chief object, they do 
not apply. In any ease Ihp sportsman must exercise Ms judgment, and 
not take it for granted that the closest shooting must necessarily be the 
best suited to Ms purpose. From my short experience of American 
shooting Iwonid certainly not select a full choke-bore for either pr.-drio 
rowl or quail. Jobs Kiobt. 
Akron, Ohio, Fob. 7th, 1876. 
Editor Foiisst and Stiibam ; — 
Our trail shooters in thls-plaee are enthusiastic, over choke-boring; but 
our fielders as emphatically condemn it, as most of our shooting Is donB in 
cover, und most of the game shot is probably killed within twenty-five 
yards. There is one point relative to pattern given by shot gnns at va¬ 
rying distances that l have not seen touched upon in your columns for 
more than a year. I cannot illustrato this point better than to give you 
the results of some experiments 1 made with my two gnns—one n i 
zlu-londer, il gauge, aud theothcr a 12-gauge breeoh-londor. At thiriy 
yaids the pattern of |he breechloader was twenty-five per cent, bette 
thou the muzzle-loader: at thirty-live yards they were about equal; at- 
forty yards tbs hooL was on the other leg, and the muzzle-loader was 
ahead nearly fifty per Cent , and ot seventy yards the ratio was one to 
three. The body of the charge from the muzzle loader held nearly the 
same diameter, the number of pellets was somewhat diminished, most of 
the outside shot Ilyiug Wide, while the charge from the breech-loader at 
that dlslaficO tried to go nearly 1 over the end of the barn. I found simi¬ 
lar results iu testing another breech-loader, ld-gaugc, against my breech¬ 
loader at thirty yards. Theguns were abont equal, though the other 
gun wus using half a drachm more powder than mine, and two sizes finer 
grain of powder. AL eeveqly yards my gun was beaten clear oi 
sight. The breech-loader I-speak or gave, if anything, better results 
than my mnzzle-londer. ; 'an some one-of your many correspondents 
enlighten me as lo tile wherefore of this? Both of my gunB shoot closer 
with the left-hand barrel than the right, and I find this a great convo 
lenca when I miss a bird, or when two ure flushed, Ison. 
§illm L (l^ 
Au. South. — Wm. Sexton and John Bessunger were to 
have played on (he 8th for a purse at Philadelphia-The 
four handed game between the Dions, Gamier, and Sexton 
for a p rse ot $1,000 is reporied as coming off in March 
.. . .John Keans, for muny years forman for Phelan & Col- 
lender, is permanently located in Boston at Hie branch es¬ 
tablishment of H. W. Collender-The Thomas Bros. 
offer a gold watch and chain valued at $150 to any amateur 
player making the highest number of points ai Ufteen-ball 
pool between February ?th and March 4th. The balls are 
to be all rod but two, which are to be of a blue color. 
The. latter will represeut the points, and the English pool 
rules will govern... ^Maurice Daily is hard at work in 
Florida getting ready for the coining campaign_ On (Jit 
that Snniuell’s, of Brooklyn, is getting iip a tournament. 
The more, the merrier_vtgnaux writes he will play any 
body in Parts, France, for the clnilb-n-.ip-Gamier 
and Izar have been giving exliiwuuiis in Washington 
and Georgetown, D. O_The formal re opening of Jno. 
I). O'Connor on the 7th was well attended. Sexton, in a 
300-point three-ball game, again captured his late antago¬ 
nist. Slosson and Rndolphe wound up the entertainment 
with a fine display of fancy shots... .Riuloiphe has issued 
two challenges. One to Gyrille Dion for the four-hall 
cliampitjnsjlip of the world and the diamond cue, and the 
other to any player in America for $500 a side at the three-ball 
game. He lias deposited $250 witliH. W. Collender to bind 
the first challenge. The diamond cue, (emblematic of the 
tour-ball championship of the world, was originally won 
by John Deery, in the tepirmunent of I860, ana according 
to the rules must be held against all challenges for the term 
of two years and a half. C. Dion, llie present incumbent, 
has had iL in his possession since October 7th, 1873, the al¬ 
lotted time expiring on April 7th, this year. As he has 
been allowed to quietly test on his laurels from the time 
the cue came into his hands, through forfeit by Albert 
Gamier, this contest should ereale unusual interest .. .T. 
J. Gallagher left for Cleveland last week an rattle to Toledo 
io play Eugene Carter on the 16lh. The backers of the 
latter have wagered $300 against $300 that he can capture 
Gallagher at the three ball game_Slihfer, of “Drew” 
notoriety, aDd Gates, lately of San Francisco, have reached 
Philadelphia_Philadelphia is threalened with two or 
ihi'ce tournamenls_Sexlon will play Gamier in private 
for $500. Jno. D. O’Connor is the backer of the former,.... 
It is now a settled fact that Piot will visit this country. 
Rational gagtimes. 
The metroptlis was week before last the scene of a base¬ 
ball coup d'etat , which, was most successfully accomplished 
by the four professional flubs of the West, four of Ihe 
Eastern clubs presenting themselves as willing sacrifices lo 
their western masters. The new move of the western dub 
was made in the alleged cause of reform; but circum¬ 
stances connected with the operations of the western club 
committee and their abettors in the revolutionary action 
which has resulted in the temporary establishment of the 
“National League,” point to some less creditable incentive. 
At any rale, it is very certain that if reforming the existing 
abuses in the professional fraternity was the real object iu 
view they have gone to work to obtain it in about aa blund¬ 
ering a way as could well be imagined. The existing Na¬ 
tional Association of Professional Players is an organiza¬ 
tion which can be run in the interests of either the honest 
or the knavish class of the professional playeca of the 
country, just as either present a majority of delegates at 
the Convention. Last year thirteen Tegular professional 
dubs, of which the Mutual, Atlantic,'Red Stockings, oE 8l. 
Louis, Centennials, of Washington, Western, of Keo Kuk, 
nnd Ihe New Haven were more or less cooperative, and the 
Boston, Hartford, Chicago, St. Louis, Alhletic, and Philadel¬ 
phia regular stock company organizations, entered the cham¬ 
pionship arena. Of these a minorily of Ihe players of the 
Philadelphia, Mutual, Atlantic, nnd Chicago dubs were 
suspected of “crooked” work in their season’s career, the 
play' of the Philadelphians being of Buch a character as to 
call for ihe enactment of a cluh law requiring each official 
lo take oath that he would not couDteuanee fraudulent 
play on the dub nine before he can take office. Now, if 
reform was the sole object in view iti Ihe movement just 
made, why were the existing abuses taken hold of boldly 
and openly, and under the auspices of the National Asso¬ 
ciation? The honest dubs enrolled on its hooks were in a 
decided majority; the movement was one calculated to 
elicit the heariy approval and. coSperation of every true 
friend of the game, and there was no need whatever for 
ihe observance of the secret dosed door manner- of trans¬ 
acting ibe business which fathered Ihe birili of the Na¬ 
tional League. The Inconsistency shown in the proceed¬ 
ings is glaringly apparent in the fact that, while they throw 
out the Philadelphia dub on ihe grounds of irregularities, 
they not, only retain the Mutual club—equally open to sus¬ 
picion—but also the St. Louis cluh, -the management of 
which has actually engaged one of the most marked men 
of the Philadelphia nine, and also an expelled member of 
a Western club. There is widespread dissatisfaction ex¬ 
pressed, not at ihe alleged effort at reform, but at Ihe very, 
weak way of .accomplishing the end in view, A set <j£ 
laws were adopted by the league which before a couple of 
mouths of the season have expired will prove to he practi¬ 
cally inoperalive. Besides which a bombshell of confusion, 
discord, and ill-feeling has been thrown into the profes¬ 
sional camp which it will bo some lime before ils ill effects 
will be removed. All Ihe legitimate reform necessary 
could have been accomplished under the auspices of this 
National Association,- und unquestionably if it could have 
been obtained then and there it was then time enough to 
organize a new association. 
—The curling event of the season, the grand match 
North vs Souih, took place at Prospect Park, February 
3d, on which day some rinks were formed on the.ice at the 
lake facing the Shelton House, at Prospect Park, the play¬ 
ers participating including members of the Caledonian, 
and Thistle clubs, of Brooklyn, the Caledonian, Thistle, 
St. Andrews, Bums, New York, Mittiliailau, aud Empire, 
of New York, and the Jersey City clubs. Aa usual llie 
South play ers came off victors, ibis lime by a total score 
of 239 to 303. 
The prize flag and medal offered by Messrs. Honglaml & 
Stevens were won respectively by Mr. Robb.skipof Rink No. 
3, and Mr.-Kirkpamck, of Rink No. 6, the former winning 
the flag by scoring eleven points above all compelilois. 
D. Faules, as skip, made the highesl'scoro ou the North 
side, 31, and J. 8tevens on Ihe part of the South, 34. 
Checkers. —Messrs. McEntee and Wright, of Syracuse, 
have been playing a series of games for the championships 
of Onondago County. The following will show the re¬ 
sult:— 
McEntee.3 Wright.8 Brawn.4 
Total.9 13 18 
Mr. McEulee has heretofore beaten all contestants, but 
Mr. Wright seems to have been enough for him. 
%eiv publications. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Foot Notes; or "Walking as a Ftne Art. By Alfred 
Barron. Published by, Abe Wallingford Pritiling Co., aud for 
sale at this office. Lnr:w itimo, 330 pages. Cloth, $1.50. 
Now that the shooting and flehing soason ia over, nnd the gnn und rod 
are laid aside until the first warm breath of spring shall bring the snipe 
back to us, aud opon the trout streams ouce more, the sportsman, 
whether ho be disciple of St, Hubert, or good old Isaac, fluds time for 
contemplation and for siudy. For your true sportsman is a contempla¬ 
tive creature, and the i us tin et which, takes him to the field Is not. as 
pome would have ua believe, a simple desire to Elay, but the outcome of 
his love of Natnre—a longing for the fields aud trees, and clouds aud 
sky. In reading Mr. Barron’s book, if there is one tbiug we miss it is 
that he does not speak, in describing his rumbles, of the whirr of a buvy 
of quails; of the drumming of a grouse; or the quick jump of a hare 
from her fotm. Everything else is there tbut we who love the woods 
know so well, and much more beside; lor while we have given our eyes 
aud our thoughts to our dog, aud marvelled, perhaps only at his display 
of almost reason, out' author has gone deeper, and thought nut the 
weightier problemn of life, as ecen and felt Rom out* of doors, aud hy 
the lanes and meadow-pacha rather than the dusly highways,. These 
“Foot Neres” are charming'rending, nnd worthy of an honored shelf in 
every sportsman’s library. Not a book to be read through at n sitting, 
but to betaken up only when the tight boots arc oil and the slippers 
on; whenthe smoke from the pipe curls around us, and we have an 
hour to give to dreaming and quiot rumination. 
The American Naturalist. The Aaturali*t for February 
exceeds the anticipations justified by the January number. It leads off 
with an Article from the pen of Dr. C. C. Abboit, who is becoming 
well known to our own readers, on “Indications of tho Antiquity of the 
Indians of North America, Received from a Study of Their Relica.” 
Ur. Abbott lias long studied the archeology of this country, and no one 
is better fitted to generalize from the aoundancu of facts at his command. 
H. D, Minot gives an account of the “Samxner Birds or the White 
Mountains,” which contains many entertaining notes; Dr. 
«J\ G. Cooper contribntes another interesting paper on 
the “Garden Birds of California;" and Dr. Cones replios 
to Mr. Allen’s criticism upon his revival of ornitho¬ 
logical names conferred by Bartrain, whom, as an ornithologist, he 
champions; so that ornithology is not neglected. “Halckel’s Gastrme 
Theory,” bv Alexander Agassiz; a historical article on museums, by 
Dr. XL A. Hugen, end an UinstTated account Of the chirp of the mole 
cricket, by Mr. Scudder, who, in former volnmes of The Naturulist has 
descanted upon thq songs of other species of crickets, cicadas and grass- 
hoppera, completes the table of contents. The reviews and general set 
entifle notes and news fill the last twenty-six pages with extremely 
readable ma tter. 
T. B. Peterson & Brothers, Philadelphia,,have in press 
and will Boon Issue Mrs. Oliphont’s new novel, “An Odd Conple,” 
printed from advance sheets; also, “Married Beneath Rim," bynames 
Payn, in uniform style with “Lobc Sir MaasingbL-rd” and “The Clyffarda 
of Glyffe,” by the aame popular author, published by them. 
