JUHB 31, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



403 



After a pleasant sail af a couple of hours we dropped anchor 

 behind an out-jutting point that complete!} biiJ us from the 

 animals we wished to bag, and, havingmadeallsnugon hoard, 

 wc got the samll boat (which wc had tdwedj alongside, and 

 made preparations to Irtnd. Here arose an obstacle, which 

 we had completely overlooked, viz., a difficulty in landing. 

 There was i pn-t t\ ln-:ivy v:i running, and a Sbinglfi beach 



to disembark on. The water, however, was deep close in 



shore, so there-was no greater danger ilian that of getting a 



partial ducking-, while jumping from boat to beach. we 



had made altogether too elaborate preparations to allow this 



consideration to deter us long, and three Ximrnds were soon 



in the small boat, with two blue-jackets »t"tt 



briskly towa-rd the shore. We approached i 



to. and when ai the proper distance, the first 



commending his soul to his maker, made a u 



Much lo his own surprise be reached 



scrambling up over the loos, stones v 



The second man foolishly tried to get 



two breakers, andgol beautifultv aosked 



knees for his untoward hash:, ot courscl 



at. and I being left in the boat, called 



it. and • 

 ,'ithotil W( 



III In tw. 



with 



tor like sapience lor which I am noted, :tn'l C 



show thai yquhg man how to laud drv shod 



balancing mv f-drv-like form in the Btern sheets 



an attitude of unstudied ;rrace. and at the criti 



stepped lightly from the boat. Mv foot 



resistance, passed through th 



when it .struck the cobble sto 



the latest dude^iosition, and 



when old Neptuuc. doubtless 



fetch, kindly sen! another ro 



as high as mj armpits, w as 



me to my coal. 1 got above high water mar 



consistent with mv dignity, and bv a new syst 



age, there and then invented. 1 formed an inland 



. inwardly 

 amp for it. 

 eceeded in 

 ,inga hair, 

 i the same 



up us his 

 ell laughed 

 !6 the '.v- 

 nchuled to 



Carefullv 



I assumed 



rl moment. 



hut slight 



so of salt water, and 



es on the bottom, I assumed 



■as sauntering leisurely ashore. 



thinking I was not going to 



er to help me. Tliis coming 





of dr: 

 It lake of 

 very respectable .size. In I lie meantime the balance of the 

 party had got ashore, along with more or less water, and we 

 started over the hill for our prey. From its crest we dis- 

 covered about a hundred sea lions on a strip of head, a little 

 to our left, and i v.-r, isirtg due eaiv.wr all. in about ten min- 

 utes, gol safely ensconced behind a large Mat rock, within a 

 leu yards of the nearest lions, and they utterly unaware of 

 our presence. They were spread over quite a long beach 

 mostly sleeping, 

 m in their fancied security, 

 to ten feet long, and then, 

 w head, in a good deal of 

 ' the first discharge it was 

 Id loud and lire, until 

 n't think there were 



They 

 and were in nil sorts of positio 



For a long time wc watched th 

 great hulking fellows from seve 

 each picking out a victim, we d 

 excitement, and cut loose AH 

 touch and go with us as lasi as 

 the beasts .not into the sea, but I <l 

 many effective shot.-, after theflrsl round, as everyone was 

 pretty highly excited. This impression was made almost, 

 certainty afterward: 1 found that two of the party had 

 been firiug at an elevation of 300 yards, when their targets 

 could not possibly have been more than thirty yards distant. 

 Atnong i lie sea lious the fust discharge seemed to produce 

 nothing but astonishment, for they merely reared upon 

 their dippers and looked at us, perhaps wondering what we, 

 were making such a devil of a row about. In thesuhscquent 

 fusilade, however, this feeling soon gave way to alarm, and 

 they lumbered into the sea, one over the other, in the utmost 

 confusion. When we ceased tiring we found four dead 

 ones and two others s, i hadly wounded that they were un- 

 able lo reach the water. These we soon dispatched, and 

 then hastily went down to the next beach, whore we re- 

 peated our previous tactics and succeeded in lolling three 

 more A for this we perched ourselves on a huge rock, and 

 nsed up the balance of our ammunition in taking snap shots 

 at Ihem in the water. They seemed to be highly endowed 

 with curiosity, and would rear their large heads out of the 

 water and gaze intently at us for at least half a minute be- 

 fore going down again, thus affording a fair target for a 

 reasonably quick shot. 



On the morning after our expedition, men were sent down 

 to our shooting ground to collect the skins and blubber from 

 those we nacl killed. They found thirteen dead lions on the 

 beach. The blubber from these, dried out by a very crude 

 process, yielded an average of about sixty pounds of oil to 

 each animal, and f. from this data, judge their weight to 

 range from 700 to 1.000 pounds each. The skins have been 

 sent to Lima to be tanued, and 1 await with considerable 

 curiosity the appearance of the resulting leather. 



There is a Peruvian law against killing these animals, as 

 they are supposed to add to the wealth of the guano deposits, 

 but since the C'hib'an occupation, this law, for obvious rea- 

 son.-, has not been enforced. They destroy an almost incal- 

 culable amount of valuable food fish every year, and we feel 

 no compunctions about hunting them, as we consider they 

 do far more harm than good. 



1 have board a good deal about killing seals by hitting 

 the nose with a cudgel. That this is true is a fact 

 >r too well established to be doubted; but if anvone 

 Ons can be gathered in in" that 

 o experiment on that idea, he 

 d of bis mistake. Opportuni- 

 e. for adventurous spirits to try 

 lit they are never taken advan- 

 . inion, "that the remains of any 

 person, who gets between a herd ot large sea lions and the 

 sea, will go to their last resting place in a gunny sack. I 

 haVe tried the cudgel act on a badly wounded one, and it 

 had about as much effect as if 1 had pounded a bag of sand 



them c 



altogether 



has an idea 



way, and i- fooli 



would soon beco 



tics are not want 



this means of kil 



tage of. It is my candid 



with a toothpick 



I hear that the Orov 

 that trains will soon b 

 this be true, and quan 

 up with a few friends 

 will give you some of our experiences 

 udes. 



oad is about to be opened up and 

 ling up into the mountains. If 

 docs not prevent, I shall soon go 

 hooting expedition, If we go I 

 the highest alti- 



K( 'IIINl>. 



DEATH OF THE "BROWN STUD." 



SOUTH of Boise City, Idaho, there is a great tract of lava 

 country bounded by the Snake River, which is only tit 

 for pasturage. This vast expanse is seventy-five miles one 

 way and from twenty to thirty the other way. Wo living 

 streams or springs intervene, and in summer heat it is im- 

 possible even for stock to live in some parts of it. For ten 

 or twelve years this desert has been the home ot a number of 

 wild horse's, roving in bands of different sizes, from live or 

 Six to twenty Or thirty. Bach bund ia led bya stallion and 

 he guards them like the most watchful sentinel. Smitling 

 the danger, away he gallops to some elevation, where in a 

 moment he spies the intruder, and back he gallops to his 

 baud to lead them in an opposite direction. .Many horses 

 each year were lost, and only a short time elapses before the 

 tame are all wild alike. This year these bands have been 



broken up and mosl of them captured in a great corral 

 This corral has wings Spreading out lo catch the animals as 

 tliev were chased down bv their untiring pursuers. 



To the Daimskin brothers, of BoiseCity, belong thl Or dil 

 of doihg this. It involved great expense and took an iron 

 will, endurance and good plan- to accomplish, Among all 

 these horses Me )•■■ was one noted for hid surprising swiftness 

 and nobleness of bearing, A hundred dollars had befili 

 offered for his capture and when tile different hands, num- 

 bering altogether 130, bad b.vu run (Jowti widcaplured. it 

 was thought that by having twenty horses or more for re 

 lavs etataonod a1 points where the chase conld be plainly 

 seen, ihc noble animal would have to give up. Accordingly 

 on the 26th of May a parly started 0U1 from f| dry camp 

 twelve miles from any good water, to find and chase down 

 the "brown stud," as he was called. And no one ever sup 

 posed that his blood would redden the lariat's noose that 

 night, lie was sighted with his band near Horsey ihittc. 

 and, after a most exciting run of about seventv miles in 

 four hours an. I a half, mostly over a lava country, rough and 

 broken with fissures and naked masses, with hjgh sage brush 

 everywhere reaching to the Itnees.ln tras captured. Nine 



of l.*he best saddle horses took him by relays, one of these. 



a celebrated horse called Portland, himself of great power 



and activity. This horse alone gave the slud a breathless 

 chase of twenty miles on one circle. When Urcd, panting, 

 but bright and noble to the lust, the brown stud nfcaehed one 

 of his old watering boles, pausing as il for tome last fare- 

 well, he Staggered and dropped struggling mightily 



death. The 'terrible convulsions Of the noble hOT8« brought 



pity to the hearts of his captor* Everyone- brought water 

 in th<ir hats to the horse and tried every remedy in vain. 



He had run bis lasi race. ( 'aptured with him was a line, 

 fast, iron-gray gelding, which always ran with die stud and 

 Seemed his inseparable companion. As a „s„al thing, the 

 stallion will not allow a gelding in the band. This was an 

 exception. At uigh.1 the iron gray was brought to camp, 

 but he never rallied; toward night ilie look of death came 

 over him. and in the morning he, too, was dead. The color 

 of the stud was dark brown. He was six years old and 

 weighed 1 .Oof) pounds .James M. it v.mii.tdn. 



Boise City. Idaho, .lime j. 



tui[al %§i§torg. 



A CAPTIVE HOODED SEAL. 



KOUof Wrest and Sfo-bmn: 

 Some daya since you wrote me inquiring as to the identity 



of a seal which was captured on the 3d of .Tune, near Spring 

 Hake. New Jersey, ami forwarded to the Zoological Garden. 

 At the time of my reply , I was able to refer it only to the 

 common species of the North Atlantic {PJiwa rituUitn), 

 although 1 had some doubt of the correctness of the identi 

 fication. It was quite different externally from anv 1 had 

 ever seen; and yet might well have been 'taken for" one of 

 the dark, unspotted individuate of thai species, Anv close 

 examination was made Impossible by its vicious bites and 

 struggles when handled. It was in poor condition when re- 

 ceived, steadily refused food, anddicd on the ninth day after 

 arrival, when its incisor dentition (~"'~). the large develop- 

 ment of claws on hind feet, with Other details, proved it to 

 be a voung female hooded sea] iC/fSkiphoracristaU). AI 

 though a few specimens of this seal liave been seen on our 

 shores, even as far south as the ( 'hesapeake. v,-i ii- OCCUT 



renco is sufficiently rare to be worthy of note, and at this 

 season of the year it may be inferred thai a considerable 



pari, at least, of the vova'ue was performed on an iceberg 

 or floe. 



The short life of the animal gave little chance to observe 

 peculiarities of habit, the only ones observed being its ex- 

 tremely savage disposition, to' a degree far greater than 1 

 have ever seen in the common seal, and its habit of floating 

 in ihc water with the axis ot the body almost perpendicular 

 instead of horizontally, as with most, other seals Both, of 

 these habits 1 find to be mentioned by those who have 

 observed the animal under motion. 



It i- much to be regretted that the specimen did not live, 

 as its presence in the same pond with specimens of three 

 other North American seals, the Common seal 

 Una), the California elephant seal {MaarorMnitt 

 trie), and Gillespie's hair sc:d(Z'/-./,A^ <■,,,','/;,,•,</' /»»*') would 

 have offered a rare opportunity Eoi studying Che moral dif 



feivnces of these -.-',.■ 



It is curious to observe thai the habit ol Heating perpen- 

 dicularly, above referred to, is shared by it with the sea- 

 elephant which it resi aubes in dentition, and quite strikingly 

 in internal anatomy, the two genera forming a group quite 

 apart in Subordinate characters from the other Plwruim. 

 .Yiniiri; ESllWIW BROWN, 



Zoolooiual Garben, r'rrn.Ani..i.piu.-,. June 14, 



THE SWALLOW. 



OUK swallow is a cheerful, untiring little fellow Never 



immediate family darting across, over and hack, with 

 doubles, and twists, and swift glides, all combining to make 

 up a most erratic though graceful Sight, 



Now high in the air when (In- miiuile Insects seek the 

 upper strata, he dashes through their midst, gathering his 

 food, and rollicking in very exuberance of health, as testi 

 tied by his intermittent bursts of joyful mirth. Meeting a 

 friend in his airyflight, they career off in company, giving 

 utterance to a continued though not strikingly melodious 

 warble, as they take long stretches togotfier with outspread 

 wings, until a fresh impulse sends them back again to spread 

 dismay among rhe insect ranks 



All this is cUrrfed on amid the mosl rapid ehan as ,,f lido 

 and Shade OS flu- sun drops down the western <ky. uniil 

 twilight steals on: then one bv one. our fairies disappear and 

 we are |,-ii alone will, our thoughts] We -land in imauina 

 tion in the doorway of the old barn, and lueuioty sends a 

 flood of yellow sunshine around us. lighting up the old 

 building as in the past. The farm hands are inat dinner, 

 and, save the comfortable sound of munching, coming From 

 the stalls under the mow, all is quiet, n-pose ^Ye step ag tin 

 on the Sill and hear tin- aflgry biz/ of that same old uluobot> 

 tie fly we used so often try Iq smash, as he quietly stretched 

 his wings and reveled hi the- full glare oj the midday sun. 

 What are we here for'.' To stone the swallows' nests! Would 

 we do ii now? No sir! ihu at thai time we were Boys! The 

 hay which crammed the barn lasi autumn, has been fi d tb 

 the stock, and the great cavernous mow shows its ribs of 



poles as we look up, with here and there a wisp hanging 

 Straight down, or festooned on dusty spider webs, swaying 

 to a genii, movciiienl of ihc air. Our volleys of stones whiz 

 . d square opening overhead, and rattle all 

 around the little mud hoii.-e so cosily resting on the lowest 

 peg thai pins the raficis. As tho harmless missiles bounce 

 down among the cdlle. causing a momentary panic, we 

 hear the warning slam ol' Ihc blind dooron the kitchen sloop. 



and scamperout through the backdoor into the currant bushes, 

 as Tom charges down on the other side, in a vain effort to 

 catch us -bul enough of this, the dustwc made in those 

 brivlit days is riuingto my eyes, and I have lost track of the 

 swallows for a moment. 



I have an old saying in mind. ''When the swallows fly low. 

 look out for a thunder storm." True on the borders of 

 Ihc wood-, or on | In- lawn, where the in-. els which form 



iis food iiisiiuctivcly seek the shelter of the shrubbery 

 On the approach of ' a storm, which then subtle nature 

 warns them is not far away. Thefe the -wallows 

 follow tie in, dnrlimr round and gathering them in by scoreo. 

 but not so invariably thecascon the meadows, where they 

 will follow the grazing cattle, Hying lost ana catching tie- 



myriad insects disturbed by Ihem' in feeding, lien you 

 may see all the family congregated- swallows, swil'ls'.and 

 martins, all tumbling around as they gather their food in a 

 regular, jumble of uncontrollable tun and good Spirits, and 

 this on a bright day with no trace of storm' in the sky. A 

 pair ol swallQWB were building under our front porch at one 

 lime, hut owing to the interference of some dozen English 

 sparrows, had hard work to carry on their labor. Noliciug 

 their distress 1 champion d them, and bv careful watching 



eggs u ere laid, and 



he little i -i 



nple happy in i heir wedded 



lib . before I thorn. 



hi. il wise 



lo relax mv watchfulness. 



Thinking them safe. 



1 omitted 



'or a day or iwo anv super 



vision, and Ihc spar 



•ow.s. with 



aviudictiveness that never 



deeps, took the opp 



ortuniiy to 



oust the inmates, and kick 



out the eggs. Not 



content w 



th destroying their happy 



home, they had hist 



died one of their number in the broken 



ntiSt, and there he 



sat. H fealh 



•vv<) "dog in the manger," 



greeting wilh open 



.eak and SB 



vage chirrup, the llultering 



approaches ol the d 



stressed svt 



allOWB Wiihmv Flohert 1 



slew him where he 



sat. and hi 



s rotting carcass still held 



possession ol the des 



•rtetl nest a 



week afterward. 



During the mont 



i of Octol 



er the swallows gather in 



clouds, especially ui 



ar the salt 



narshes. and the telegraph 



wires spanning the 



Diker m« 



dowsnear Bath L. I., are 



black with their lift 



c forms, wi 



ile thousands more arc con- 



liuuallv hovering n 



;ar, trying i 



n vain for a resting place, 



so closely are they c 



Uttered tog 



■tlier. After davs of excil 



ed debate) each indi 



viilual leni 



lug his voice lo swell the 



general twitter, oil t 



ley go, and 



Only a solitary loiterer now 



and then rewards oi 



r search in 



their accustomed haunts, as 



he Hits by with a loi 

 The "Indian has a 





pit! 



happy hunting ground in store for him,"' 



and I often wondci 



il our he 



reafler will not be peopled 

 's feathered darlings! This 



with the fairy form 



s of nature 



world would indeed be dreary without, them. 





m 



L'HrnoNUEi.. 



Nicw York. 







A Cdriops Incident.— My house on the seaside fronts 

 the west, The Chesapeake Bay is about five miles distant, i„ 

 the west, and the Sound about two miles in the east, and 

 the Atlantic Ocean twelve miles oil in the same direction. 

 One of the rooms in the second story fronting the west, had 

 a pane of glass broken out, and it was not put m because 

 hawks would aligln in 111- lives in the lawn, ami if a do.. r 



was opened they would leave, bo we shot ibem through the 

 brokeu pane. In the fall of '68 we had, one night, quite a 

 storm from the southwest; The room spoken of was not 

 used much, and all the ladies of the family being absent it 

 was not entered by any one for more than a month. Some- 

 thing took me in there one day and 1 saw sitting upon the 

 iiianiel a bird. I found that i't was dead, almost '"a skelteon 

 as far as flesh was concerned, and dried up. Ii was a stormy 

 petrel. How did it get there'.' I can only suppose tliat 

 during the storm spoken of. in crossing from the bay to the 

 sea, it had accidentally down into the room, through the 

 broken pane, and not being able to find its way out had 

 starved to death. It is very seldom that one of them is seen 

 iu the bay, and 1 have seen' only one inside, and that was at 

 Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey", many years ago. The cur- 

 lew and bay snipe were .scarce here this spring.' The spring 

 shooting lells upon them and the gulls are's,, persistently 



egged thai ihev I ire not as abundant as usual.— Old 



Koov(.lohnsonlown, Va., June 9). 



The English Bpabbow. — I notice with pleasure F,. ('. 

 Bell's letter regarding this nuisance. Their constant chat- 

 tering is enough to drive any birds away that are not deaf, 

 for their song is about as melodious as a fishmonger's trum- 

 pet or the warbhng of a laying leu. Wc should crush out 

 this too prevalent bird. Around our parks people have 

 erected for their use boxes and line houses. If tin- same at- 

 tention was displayed in attending to the comfort of our na- 

 tive songsters, 1 think the public would he pleased. In- 

 creasing Tn numbers each year, wa- shall rue the day we ever 

 invited them to our shores. They were imported, at least 

 some of them, for the purpose of looking after the interest 

 ol canker worms, when the orchards in this vicinil y were 

 stripped of their foliage, hut it is evident that they did not 

 hanker for lie diet. Ihai is prepared for them. One cedar 

 bird will do more toward destroying canker worms than the 



tee that l 

 cxpi 



■■!•;'• 



I li- 



no 



upposn some Yankee should - 

 e for a •'canning factory ;" have them put "boneless 

 sparrows" or "evaporated," wc do not earc which way they 

 are served.— Flick Fi.uk (Hartford, Conn., June Hi). 



Fok the Fihst Time.— The five elephant seals, or. as they 

 are more commonly called, sea elephants (MaeWV/dilti-8 uttum- 

 tiro&tris), now on exhibition at the Philadelphia Zoological 

 Gardens, are the lirst thai have ever been shown alive. 

 These great seals are so much -ought after for the oil which 

 they yield that tiny have bee e way scarce and thelrskiufl 



tons are very rare hi museums. They are practi- 

 cally extincl on the Pacific coast of the United Stales and 



are found in numbers only in the Antarctic seas. 



(iniA i Hohked Own. —Bay Ridge, 1,. I., Juue 12. — Took 

 a fine specimen ot tin great horned owl this A. M. Is not 

 this unusual lor this time and locality?— Dick. [They stay 

 with us the year round but arc not oitcu .seen iu summer,] 



