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A "WEEKLY JOURNAL, 



DBVOTBD TO FlKLD AND AQUATIC SPOBTB, I'UACTICAL NATURAL H IST01IY, 

 JT3H CDLTUltK, TUB l'UOTEOTION OF CAME, f RK8KUVATI0N OF . : 

 AND TOTJ TKCDLCATION IN MzN AND WOMBN OF A HEALTHY INTKBKST 



IH out-Dooh Kkobbation and Stody: 



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NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAT 1, 1879. 



To Correspondents. 



All communications whatever, Intended for publication, mnst be ac- 

 companied with real name of the writer as a guaranty of good faith 

 and be addressed to the Forest and Stream Ptjblishtoo Company. 

 Names will not be published if objection be made. No anonymous com- 

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE 

 COMING WEEK. 



Friday, Kay 2.— Trotting at Washington, D. C. Banning meeting at 

 NasUYlue, Term. Base Ball: Star vs. Chicago, at Chicago; Troy vs. 

 Cincinnati, at Cincinnati; I'rovldence vs. Cleveland, at Cleveland; 

 Boston vs. BulFalo, at Buffalo ; New Bedford vs. Sprlugliekl, at Spring- 

 Held. Columbia Ritle Association meeting. 



Saturday, May 3.— Cricket: St. Georges, at Hoboken; Staten Island 

 Club, at Staten Island. Columbia College athletic games, at Molt 

 Haven. Stevens Institute athletic games, at Hoboken. Manhattan 

 Athletic Club two-hour race. Pacille Am. Rowing Association regatta, 

 at San Francisco, Cftl, Musgrovc-Crotty sculling match, at New 

 Orleans, La. Running meeting at Nashville, Teun. Base Ball : Wor- 

 cester vs. Capital City, at Albany ; New Bedford vs. Holyoke, at 

 Holyoke; Manchester vs. National, at Washington ; Albany vs. Utica, 

 at Utica; Star v«, Chicago, at Chicago ; Troy vs. Cincinnati, at Cin 

 ctnnatl ; Providence vs. Cleveland, at Cleveland ; Dartmouth vs. Man- 

 cUeeter, at Manchester. 



Monday, Hay 5.— Hanlon and Uawdon sculling match on tneTyne 

 Eng. Bsae Bull : Worcester vs. capita! City, at Albany ; New Bedford 

 vs. Holyoke, at Holyoke ; Albany vs. National, at Washington. Trot- 

 ting at Richmond, Va. 



Tuesday, May 6— Shooting Tournament at Clinton, Iowa. Massachu- 

 setts Kennel Clab bench show, at BoBton, Mass. Base Ball: Troy va 

 Chicago, at Chicago; Star vs. Cincinnati, a. Cincinnati; Boston va 

 Cleveland, hi Oleveland ; Providence vs. Buffalo, at Buffalo : New 

 Bedford vs. SpringUeld, at Sprlngileld; Worcester va. Utica, at Utica. 

 ■ Richmond, Va. 



i: ;. y 7. — Iowa shooting tournament as above. Texas 



i 'iatiou Shooting tonrnament, at Waco. Tex. Massa- 

 I Kennel Club as above. Trotting at Richmond, Va. 



Thursday, Hay s.— shooting touruameuts as above. Massachusetts 

 Kennel Ciqb as above, Hunnlng meeting at Albemarle, Va. Base 

 Ba.l : Troy »B. e'liicago, at Chicago; Star vs. Cincinnati, at Cincinnati; 

 Boston v in' i : Providence vb. Buffalo, at Buffalo; 



Manchester vs. Capital City, at Aloauy ; New Bedford vs. National, at 

 Washington; Albany vs. Springfield, at Springfield. 



A Knotty Problem. — A spy, a shooter, a climber, a 

 boatman, an eagle, unci a 'possum. The eagle bears oil the 

 'possum ; the spy spies the eagle ; the shooter shoots, and 

 the bird and 'possum fall into a tree ; the climber climbs the 

 tree and seizes the eagle, but the 'possum falls into the river, 

 whence the boatman brings it to the shore. ' ' Now who do de 

 'possum belongs to ?" This, or something like it, is the intri- 

 cate question for wrestling with which a St. Augustine, Fla., 

 colored debating society has been holding a series of pro- 

 tracted meetings. Aud it is barely possible that their giantific 

 but muddled intellects will never settle it at all, unless, haply, 

 a colored Solomon shall come to judgment and decree that 

 they shall " carve dat 'possum," 



WOODCOCK BREED TWICE. 



A CORRESPONDENT of a not very infallible contempo- 

 rary has written a brief note to that print taking excep- 

 tion to a recent statement in Forest and Stream to the effect 

 that woodcock usually breed twice in this latitude. The 

 writer of this criticism winds up with this positive and unqual- 

 fied statement: 



" Forest and Stream is all wrong." And then he adds: 

 "No one could have given this matter more close attention, 

 or had a better opportunity than I have had to observe the 

 habits of this bird, and I am confident it is entirely an error 

 in alleging that woodcocks breed twice a jear (sic)." 



Now this is very distressing, for there are few things more 

 humiliating to a journalist than to be convicted of an error 

 and to be obliged to swallow one of his own statements. 

 Mark what this critic says: "I have had good opportunities 

 to observe and have not seen it." Is it not just possible that 

 a few things have taken place in bird history that have not 

 come under the observation of this writer ? Because he, a man 

 of wide experience, has not seen it must it therefore be untrue ? 

 We think that if this critical person had been bred to the law 

 he would not have ventured on an assertion like the above in 

 the hope of convincing any one that he knew what he was 

 talking about. Are we all of us to trust only to what comes 

 under our own personal observation ? There is to-day no 

 people living so barbarous as to accept this standard. It 

 amounts not only to an abolition of all knowledge, but to a 

 breaking down of all faith in human testimony. If this orni- 

 thological authority should become President we may look 

 for an order to stop all investigation, to arrest and imprison 

 all writers ("alas, for ourselves, to what deepest dungeon 

 should we not be condemned) ; and to destroy the printing 

 presses. Until that takes place, however, we shall continue 

 (D. Y.) to issue Forest and Stream as usual. 



Is it necessary for us, at this late day, to tell old sportsmen 

 that woodcock sometimes lay their eggs in February, ftequent- 

 ly do so in March and always, except in very unusually back- 

 ward seasons, have their young hatched in April ? Wilson, 

 Audubon and other writers speak of the early date at which 

 the woodcock nest, and the fact is well, we had supposed uni- 

 versally, known to all sportsmen who are at all observing. 

 Of course there ate some men who go through life without 

 seeing anything except what is held wilbin an inch of their 

 noses, but their number is less now than it was twenty years 

 ago, and it will be still less in the near future. 



For the benefit of those who have never given any consider- 

 ation to this subject we will give an instance which came un- 

 der our observation no longer ago than last spring. That sea- 

 son, it will be remembered, was an unusually early one, and 

 woodcock reached this latitude late in February and were 

 frequently heard "hovering" at that time. One day late in 

 March we were told by a friend of a little piece of swampy 

 woods, where there were a pair of woodcock and, desiring to 

 work a young dog on them, we shortly afterward visited 

 the spot, but only succeeded in finding one bird. During the 

 first week in April we paid another visit to the swamp and 

 this time we found both old birds and four young ones, as 

 well. The latter were very small and were as yet unable to 

 fly. Within the next three weeks we several times started 

 these six birds, and were much impressed with the rapid 

 growth of the young which, before they were four weeks old, 

 could make quite long flights. 



One day late in April, the 2Glh wo believe, we started again 

 to go to this little piece of woods. It was one of those soft, 

 balmy spring days, which remind one of June, and the sun 

 shone with unusual power, so when we reached our destina- 

 tion we stopped awhile, to rest before sending the dog forward. 

 While seated just within the edge of the woods, the dog lying 

 at our feet, we were surprised to see a woodcock rise at some 

 distance from us, and, flying toward our resting-place, alight 

 within two rods of where we were. We could judge from its 

 size that it was the male bird- He had in his bill a worm, 

 and when he alighted he gave utterance to a low peeping cry, 

 quite unlike anything that one usually hears f rorn a w T oodcock. 

 Although we could hear no reply to this call, there probably 

 was one, for the bird at once walked up to two of tho young, 

 which we had not previously seen, and prepared to feed them. 

 The little ones fluttered their wings, opened their bills, and 

 reached up for the worm, acting almost exactly as a hungry 

 young pigeon would under similar circumstances. 



We sat there and watched the birds while the old one made 

 half a dozen trips for food, and were very much astonished at 

 the rapidity with which he secured the worms. He would 

 drop to the ground, and out of our sight, and almost imme- 

 diately reappear coming toward us again. 



The scene which we had witnessed was such a delightful 

 one to us that we had not the heart to disturb the little family 

 just then, and, avoiding the spot where the young were, we 

 started across the woods to visit another bit of swamp. We 

 had not gone more than fifty yards when a woodcock rose 

 from under our feet, and, by her slow and wavering flight 

 close to the ground, betrayed the fact that she had a nest near 

 at hand. A little careful search showed its position— just 

 under an old rail fence at the foot of a rotten stump. It con- 

 tained three eggs. That this nest belonged to the original 

 pair of birds inhabiting this swamp is not to be doubted, for 

 we took pains to satisfy ourselves on this point. Both broods 

 of young were seen at all ages, and only two old birds were 

 started during the progress of our investigations, which be- 

 gan, as has been said, in March, and continued until June. 

 We should not like to say how many times during the spring 



wc started these nine birds, never more, never less. We wero 

 rather proud of our woodcock, as we called them, and very 

 proud of our dogs, and occasionally we would exhibit both to 

 friends, who would appreciate both. Finally, in June, when 

 the weather became warm, we ceased to visit them, and so lost 

 sight of our long-billed friends. 



We could give many other instances confirmatory of our 

 statement that woodcock breed twice, but it is unnecessary. 

 We have heard, from many veterau sportsmen, expressions 

 of the greatest surprise that any one could be found, who has 

 done much shooting, who was ignorant of a point so well es- 

 tablished. The well-known fact that woodcock lay so early, 

 taken in connection with the frequent killing of scarcely 

 fledged birds in early seasons during the July shooting, would 

 of itself be almost enough to prove the rearing of a second 

 brood. 



A curious point about young woodcock, and one which wc 

 do not think has been noticed in the books, bears somewhat 

 on the vexed questions about quail withholding their scent, 

 the inability of a dog to scent a sitting bird, etc. When 

 woodcock are two or three weeks old they are able to fly only 

 two or three rods, and on alighting in the grass or among the 

 leaves they will sit perfectly still ; and, let a dog run over or 

 about them never so much, he is apparently quite unable to 

 smell them. We have known of more than one instance 

 where, after the bird has been seen to alight and the very 

 spot marked, the dogs have worked in vain to find it, and the 

 man has finally walked up to it and cauyJit it in Ida hat! 



Perhaps some worthy that has not seen this done will deny 

 that it is true. 



GUNPOWDERS, THEIR WEIGHTS AND 

 MEASURES. 



CORRESPONDENTS of London sporting journals have 

 repeatedly called attention to remarkable discrepancies 

 between the number of graius marked on measures made for 

 the old Schultze powder andthe number of grains which they 

 will contain of recent issues of that explosive, which, while 

 they may not wholly explain the wide differences of opinion 

 arrived at by persons apparently arguing from the same prem- 

 ises, may induce others to examine for themselves whether 

 certain facts are as they believed them to be, or whether 

 charges supposed to be moderate, have really been excessive. 

 One writer shows that 50 grains of the old powder shaken 

 down would contain about 70 grains of the new. These 

 hints will undoubtedly apply to the Dittmar powder in this 

 country, which is a kindred explosive, and account for the 

 tricks, vagaries and disappointments which several of our 

 own correspondents have complained of in Forest and 

 Stream. In dealing with this powder it is all-important to 

 know how to use it ; and it is due to the manufacturers to 

 state, as we have repeatedly done, that their instructions are 

 most explicit. Moreover, the foregoing suggestions apply 

 with much force to the different brand sand grades of Black 

 Powder. It is therefore eminently proper to quote here what 

 an intelligent contributor to the Field says on this subject, to 

 wit : — 



"There is, as far as I know, no definite rule for determin- 

 ing the capacity of measures which are made for black pow- 

 der, still less for Schultze ; and if a maker takes for his 

 standard any one sample of powder, it will not only vary con- 

 siderably from other samples, but the same measure of the 

 same powder will vary in weight according to the manner of 

 filling — two or three sharp taps being much more effective in 

 settling down 'the powder than a much larger number of 

 feeble taps. 



" I am of opinion that it is desirable to weigh a charge or 

 two on purchasing a new measure or on getting a new kind of 

 powder, so as to know what quantity you really are using ; 

 and with regard to competitive trials, the necessity of weigh- 

 ing the charges in tuch cases was never so clearly brought to 

 my mind as by carrying out the experiments which I am 

 about to describe. 



" The editor kindlyplaced at my disposal various samples of 

 powder for comparison with regard to weight, and 1 have 

 supplemented them by others in my possession. For con- 

 venience of weighing on a delicate balance, and to prevent 

 any possibility of spilling, I adopted, instead of an ordinary 

 powder measure, a small stoppered bottle, which would hold 

 3k drams of black powder, more or less. I say ' more or less ' 

 advisedly, for, notwithstanding the general impression that 3 

 drams or 3A drams is a definite quantity, I found that this 

 measure would contain, of one sample, nearly a quarter of a 

 dram more than 3£ ; and of another sample it might be filled 

 by a quarter of a dram less— a fact which I venture to think 

 will be a surprise to others, as it was to myself. Accordingly, 

 if two such samples had chanced to be put in competition at 

 the gun trial the mere measuring of the powder would have 

 afforded no fair comparison of the quantity used in the re- 

 spective charges. 



" I found, moreover, by filling the same measure several 

 times in succession, that there is great difficulty in obtaining 

 exactly the same results, even if the utmost care be used. In 

 order to obtain uniformity I adopted the following process : 

 The glass bottle which 1 used as a 3| dram measure was 

 closed by an accurately-fitting stopper, which served as a 

 gauge, for I rilled the bottle with powder till it was on a 

 level with the neck and just touched the stopper— tapping 

 the bottom of the bottle oil the table in order to settle the pow- 

 der down equally. If I found there was room for an atom or 

 two mure of powder under the stopper, I made the addition ; 

 and if I found the stopper would not go fairly in without 

 pressing down the powder, I removed a small quantity. Yet, 

 with alt these endeavors to secure exactness, I could not ob- 

 tain absolutely uniformity of result ; for successive measures 

 from tho same sample sometimes varied quite a grain in 

 weight, and that with a balance which would weigh to the 

 thousandth part of a grain. If, then, such be the result of 

 my attempts to secure uniformity, how much more likely ta 

 vary would be charges measured in a rough-and-ready fashion, 

 without any special attempt at accuracy I No doubt \t may be. 



