j ra wrewraw 



Conversation with the men who settled in Northumberland 

 Count)' then will expose many a breezy anecdote and remi- 

 niscence. The lonely limits of civilization that Bret Harie 

 has so graphically pictured might well be. rivaled by their 

 artistic development. It may some day be my pleasant, task 

 to elaborate those that are best remembered and best authen- 

 ticated. 



There are ninny pools and trolling area? specially good at 

 Kice Lake that 'I shall not now particularize, and many 

 ambushes wherein the wild-fowler may burn powder, 

 while the unknowing sportsman lacks the sight of a feather. 

 There is a'so much to be written about tbe method of our 

 campaigns and tho brisk, healthy pleasures thereof. 



WAYlfARKK. 



Nitw York Fish Commission Dinner. — The New York 

 Fish Commissioners were tendered a complimentary banquet 

 at the Brighton Beach Hotel, Coney Island, last Friday even- 

 ing. Among those present were Robert B. Roosevelt, Presi- 

 dent of the Commission ; Professor Goode, of the United 

 States Fish Commission j Eugene Blackford, J. S. T. Strana- 

 han. Judge Reynolds, Lortn Palmer, George Shepherd Page, 

 of the New York Piscicultural Association ; Fred. Mather, 

 Win. M. Fliess, C. C. Waite, of the Windsor Hotel, and 

 Amos Robbius. The table was decorated in the same in- 

 genious and lavish manner that has marked previous dinners 

 ot the Commission ; the bill of fare was fishy enough to de- 

 light the most enthusiastic of the guild, and the usually ac- 

 cepted connection between brains and fiah was most amply 

 demonstrated in the after-dinner speeches. Mr. Roosevelt 

 made a congratulatory review of the work of the Commission. 

 He said : 



When we began tbe agitation of the subject of fish culture 

 •we were met with opposition and abuse. The fishermen on 

 the river offered to eat the shad we raised, bones and all. I 

 have only to say that, they would be compelled to eat 43,000,- 

 <I00 shad, and Lord knows how many bones. Our first ef- 

 forts have developed into a pursuit which has the support of 

 the world. ISow almost every State has its fish commission, 

 and almost every State, in the Union is doiDg good work for 

 the benefit ot the country. The power of production of fish 

 in this country is unlimited. Tlte fish before me is a salmon 

 caught in Gravesend Bay. There has been another sal- 

 mon in this vicinity. Here you have substantial evidence of 

 the work of the United States Fish Commission. The Com- 

 mission has brought the California salmon here, and placed 

 him in such of our rivers as are not good for Kennebec sal- 

 mon. When our Commission commenced its work little had 

 been done in the way of fish culture. During the first year 

 there were 000 lakes in this Stale Which were exhausted, or if 

 not exhausted greatly depleted. We have raised 5,000,000 

 Shad a year ; of salmon-trout we have hatched 8,579,000. In 

 seven years 548,000 whitefish have been hatched; of trout, 

 3 670,000; of California salmon, 582; and we have even 

 raised 55,000 sturgeon. 



Professor Goode paid a high compliment to the work of the 

 New York State Fish Commission, which has accomplished 

 more than any three or four other commissions ; and Mr. 

 Page reviewed the labors of the New York Piscicultural 

 Association. Mr. Blackford followed with expressions of 

 gratulation at the increasing interest in fish culture. 



Salmon in the Sk-RKXkC.—PlaUslnirgh, N. T,, June S3. 

 — A. salmon weighing five and one-half pounds was caught 

 below ihe lower dam in the Saranac River at this place last 

 Saturday. This is of especial interest, as it is the first salmon 

 Which has been taken here in at least forty years, although 

 yery abundant at that time. R. W. N. 



journal §i&tm%< 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun 

 LARGE GAME ANIMALS OF LONG 

 ISLAND. 



THERE are abundant proofs to show that before Long 

 Island was settled by the whites, large animals roamed 

 in goodly numbers through its forest-covered hilk and dales 

 •without any great molestation by the Indians ; but now the 

 deer alone are to be found, and they only exist in the wildest 

 and most thinly settled districts. 



The following, which is an extract from the earliest history 

 of Long Island, entitled " A Brief Description of New York, 

 formerly called New Amsterdam, by Daniel Denton, of 

 Hempstead, " published 1670, in London, shows to what extent 

 game formerly abounded on this Island. After speaking of 

 its various varieties of trees, it continues; "For wild beasts, 

 there is deer, bear, wolves, foxes, raccoons, otters, mus- 

 quashes (the Indian name for niuskrats) and skunks. Wild fowl 

 there is a great store of, as turkeys, heath hens, quails part- 

 ridges, pUeuns.cranes.geese of several sorts, brants, widgeons, 

 teals and divers others." At what time, or where, the last 

 wolf was killed I could find no mention; nor do I sup- 

 pose there is any record of the same. That they were sources 

 of trouble and annoyance to the early Dutch settlers, a state of 

 things which finally brought, their speedy extermination, the 

 following extract from the "Annals of Newtown/' will show. 

 Speaking of Middletmrg, a small settlement in that town, it 

 says : " But the honest inhabitants had other ills to contend 

 Willi in the wild animals that infested their forests; the 

 wolves proved especially annoying, failing not in their night- 

 ]v prow lings to prey upon the flocks and herds." 

 ' Finally they became so destructive to the farmers and such 

 terror to the inhabitants, several of whom they attacked, that 

 in 1093 the authorities offered a bounty of twenty shillings 

 for every wolf-scalp, the Indians proving valuable agents for 

 their destruction. Various devices were originated to destroy 

 them ; such as dead falls, wolf pits, spring-guns and the like, 

 and undoubtedly so diligently and thoroughly did they hunt 

 them that they were all annihilated in a few years. 



Bears, probably being fewer in number, were extinct long 

 before wolves became So. 



In January. 18(47, there was killed in the Smith street car 

 stables at ihe commencement of the Coney Island road, Brook- 

 lyn, a young wild animal, afterward put on exhibition in a 

 store corner" of Myrtle Avenue and Fulton street, where it. 

 was pronounoed by connoisseurs to be a genuine wild cat 

 (Lynx rufus). It was purchased by Van Brunt Wyckoff, of 

 Gowanus, and presented to the Long Island Historical Society. 

 Whether this was an " old settler" or one escaped from some 

 travelling menagerie, it was difficult, to determine. There is 

 also in the Society's valuable collection another, probably an 

 old one, which was killed in the vicinity of Mastic, Suffolk 

 County, about seventy years ago. Deer are still to be found 

 in small numbers in the vicinity of Islip, Brookhaven and a 

 few other places. 



An old resident of Sag Harbor once informed me that it 

 was not an uncommon occurrence when he was a lad to see 

 them in the neighboring forests. They were very abundant 

 on the Island as late as 1840, or before the Long Island Rail- 

 road was projected, as is evidenced from the accompauing 

 extract from a " History of Long Island," by Nathaniel S. 

 Prime: "The forests of Long Island, though long since 

 cleared of wild cats, wolves and the like, with which they 

 once abounded, are still occupied by vast numbers of deer, 

 hundreds of which have been lulled yearly without destroy- 

 ing the stock. 



" But. the Long Island Railroad, which now passes through 

 the heart of their principal resort, may, by frightening these 

 timid animals from their wonted lairs, expose them to the 

 more frequent shot of the huntsman, and thus ere long the 

 harmless race may be extirpated from their native forests, 

 which must ever remain undiminished." 



Sad as this may seem to tho true sportsman and lover of 

 nature, it will certainly happen, and even has already in a 

 great measure taken place ; for the narrow boundaries of their 

 haunts and the growing population of the island augmenting 

 the already numerous army of sportsmen and pot-hunters, 

 will before many decades have passed, unless stringent laws 

 are adopted for their preservation, entirely exterminate these 

 beautiful game animals. II some wealthy sportsmen who are 

 interested in the game of their native isle, would oo-operate 

 and form an organization such as the " Blooming Grove Park 

 Association," buy some 6,000 or 8,000 acres in parts of the 

 island where land is very cheap, and stock it with game, and 

 especially Ihe deer, they might have a refuge for these per- 

 secuted animals when they "bad long became extinct outside 

 of these friendly boundaries, and thus restore the forests to 

 their native primitiveness where 



" Tlia wllil deer tirclien his neck from glades, and there, 

 TJnliunted, sought lis woods aad wilderness again." 



Harry Hunter. 



A TALE OF GOOD SPARROWS. 



Brimham, Texas, August 14, 1879. 

 Edii'oe Fokest and Stream : 



Your interesting issue of the 10th has an additional article 

 on the sparrow question, entitled, " This is Evidence." 



It is, but in my humble opinion, only ex parte, and, as I 

 have been raised where sparrows abound, I will gladly give 

 you my evidence— the truth, and the whole truth— if accept- 

 able. Sparrows are omnivorous when they are at home, and 

 accommodate their palate to the seasons as much as we bipeds. 

 If some giant race were curious to know whether we mortals 

 ever regaled ourselves with bivalves, and hit upon tho month 

 of July aB the proper time for catching and dissecting speci- 

 mens, a report like "This is Evidence" would undoubtedly 

 be the result. But if they should select winter, and a fashion- 

 able restaurant as their field of exploration, the result might 

 astonish them by the quantity and variety of styles, perhaps 

 enough to make them conclude man lived hardly on anything 

 else but oysters, pickles and crackers, and surely drank no 

 water whatever. 1 simply suggest this to indicate that time 

 and location have an important bearing on this case. 



Sparrows, according to my own observation, feed their 

 young broods principally on insects, and the quantities of 

 caterpillars, worms, flies and bugs they destroy during breed- 

 ing time is enormous. In my native country (Germany) they 

 breed during the. whole summer, and it is generally conceded 

 that they raise more than two broods at an average. As th<s 

 is also the time when insects of all kinds are most abundant 

 and destructive, their services cannot be underrated, and are 

 etpecia ly appreciated by nurserymen and vegetable garden- 

 ers, and by those who possess shade trees near their houses. 



On the other hand, sparrows undoubtedly do destroy a good 

 deal of small fruit, and are fond of grain of all descriptions 

 They cause considerable damage iu vineyards. In cities, 

 where the supply of insects ts limited anyhow, they must of 

 necessity be more granivorous, and here they congregate 

 about grain warehouses and stables in large numbers, diversi- 

 fying their lime by occasional raids into neighboring gardens 

 in quest of such dainties as fruit and berries. 



Thus I am not surprised to see the statement, " This is 

 Evidence," as the lime and location was not calculated to 

 show an average result. Fall and winter are the sparrows' 

 grain seasons, and spring and summer their insect seasons; 

 and with us it is considered that ihe balance is in favor of the 

 sparrows, as the number of caterpillars and bugs they destroy 

 in spring and summer would increase to an immense army 

 before the fall sets in if remaiuiug undiminished, and the 

 ravages resulting therefrom would probably be considerably 

 more than the damage done by the sparrows. 



As far as the destroying the eggs of insects is concerned, I 

 opine that this is more particularly the office of the titmouse 

 and the sapsucker, who are better fitted by nature for such a 

 pursuit. 



Touching their temper, I would say they are quarrelsome, 

 but mostly among themselves, and excepting owls and crows 

 they do not interfere with other birds, as the location of their 

 nests is usually such as to preclude the competition of other 

 birds, saving the house-swallow, whose nest the sparrow 

 sometimes forcibly appropriates. But even such case3 are not 

 numerous enough to give them any impirtance, or to consti- 

 tute them a set trait in the sparrow's character. Silt a. 



Editor Fokest ajjd Stream: 



In your paper some numbers back were several letters on 

 above Bubject— one giving account of examination of craws 

 of many specimens, and most of the letters claiming they 

 never eat insects where other food could be found. Now, I 

 am no friend of the noisy, dirty pests they have become in 



our city, but give my evidence in order to show that, probably 

 from local habit, they do eat insects here. We have a grass- 

 hopper quite common during tbe summer, frequenting open 

 places in fields, roads and streets, full two inches in length ; 

 of a dirty brown color, and, when at rest, unattractive look- 

 ing, but having the under wings a rich black, bordered with 

 a wide margin of bright yellow ; very conspicuous when fly- 

 insr. The. scientific name I am not posted enough to know 

 [(Edipoda Carolina— Burin.?— Ed ]. but it cannot be mistaken 

 tor any other species we have. This hopper has a habit of 

 every once in a while, rising on wing three or four feet from 

 the ground, and then remaining nearly at one place (precisely 

 like s? hawk when "hovering" on the look-out for dinner), 

 for a moment or more, making a peculiar cracking noise at 

 the same time, then alighlmg again near the place"it started 

 from, where generally there ia a female to be found, if 

 searched for. They are common in the heart of the city as 

 well as country, and I have time and again, when watching 

 this " hovering," seen a sparrow dart from a neighboring 

 tree or house, and grab the hopper, sometimes missing it at 

 first, but following it in its flight, and finally catching it. 

 We are very much troubled in our houses with the small 

 " croton bug,",nnd also the large black roach. Their increase 

 is enormous inwir climate, and it requires constant war to 

 keep them down. My kitchen opens on the baok yard, with- 

 out step. Under my hydrant there is a bucket of water al- 

 ways standing, with running water for the dogs. This 

 bucket is the central bathing and watering place for the spar- 

 rows from, judging from their numbers, a very large circle 

 around. Once a mouth, or more, I am in the habit of thor- 

 oughly blowing a full quantity of the commercial insect pow- 

 der in all cracks and crevices of kitchen, basemmts, out- 

 houses, etc., to catch the young brood of roaches and rout 

 out the new settlers. The croton bugs easily give up, but the 

 large black roach, with his heavy mail, dies hard, and though 

 iu the end surely dies, will run for an hour after being well 

 dosed before doing so. A great many of these roaches run 

 out the kitchen door into the yard, and the sparrows seeing 

 them, at once go for them. There is always one or more 

 around the bucket, and the first roach is the signal for them 

 to get together, and they clean out the last one, even going 

 into the kitchen after them. They grab one, fly to a neigh- 

 boring shed or wall, beat it to death, and either fly off with 

 it or eat it on the spot. This is a regular occurrence when- 

 ever I rout out the roaches. Now, can't w'e improve the 

 breed so that they will go into the house and clean out the 

 pests where they live. Their bravery ia the only redeeming 

 trait they now have, in my opinion. Trained as roach des- 

 troyers, the Southern States would lake them by the car-load. 

 Who wants to go into the business? " There's millions in 

 it." Russell Robinson. 



Richmond, Va., May 27, 1879. 



Editor FobEST akd Stream : 



The Elizabeth, N. J., Juurrml soya of sparrows and ants ; 



" On Elizabeth Avenue this morning there waB an interest- 

 ing meeting. A whole colony of ants bad come up through a 

 crevice in the flags, just in front of G. M. Lea's house, and 

 thickly covered a space eight or ten inches square ; some had 

 wings and others had not, and they kept coming up thicker 

 and thicker as if there were a whole army of them under the 

 flag. A family of sparro «s found them and commenced to 

 pick them up one by one, but so rapidly that in a few minutes 

 time they had cleaned away the ants, and departed thoroughly 

 satisfied, having had one good square meal at least." 



Being a resident there 1 inquired into this, and found it to 

 be true. Last week one of the long-waisted hornets was on 

 the wiodow of my dre3sing-room, and I hit it with a brush 

 and threw it out of the window on the roof of the piazza. 

 Seeing it move, I watched tosee if it would recover. A spar- 

 row took it in hand and tore off the abdomen and swallowed 

 it. The head and wings I recovered. I suppose, the abdomen 

 was full of eggs. I have had robbins, cat birds, wrens and 

 blue birds in the wisterias and clematis over my piazza, and 

 in the bushes around my house, for twelve years. 1 have not 

 seen a quarrel or unpleasantness between any of them. E. 



AND A TALE OF BAD ONES. 



The following extracts from a letter to the Boston Tran. 

 script 1 rom the pen of the genial Mrs. Partington (B. P. Shil- 

 labsr) is really too good to be lost, and we make no apology 

 for reproducing it in this connection. Boston has always 

 been the stronghold of the pro-sparrow party, but, as we 

 know, opinions are divided even there i 



The truculent character of the sparrow has long been ad- 

 mitted, and wherever ihe tragical fate of " Cock Robin " has 

 become known the one that wrought the event tuw been de- 

 precated. Yet, with all the malevolence of feeling awakened 

 by the melancholy circumstance, we cannot help according 

 to the perpetrator the merit of truthfulness, which does not 

 usually belong to deep. dyed villainy. At the coroner's inquest 

 he was present, and when the question was asked, ' Who 

 killed Cock Robin ?" there was no shrinking on his part. At 

 the first interrogatory the reply came— 

 " 'I.' said tae sparrow ; 

 1 Witti my now and arrow, 

 I killed Ojctt Robin.' " 

 As he was not arrested upon this admission, and no question 

 made as to motive, we feel disposed to give him the benefit of 

 a doubt, and deem that the homicide may have been com- 

 mitted in self-defence. Perhaps the indifference manifested 

 at the inquest arose from the fact that thosa composing it 

 weie all friends of the strawberry and cherry raisers, who hold 

 the. robin a thief and a robber, and nothing better than a cat- 

 bird. 



I havo been watching for some time this truculent peculi- 

 arity, and others which distinguish the sparrow, and herein 

 give the result of my observation. 



A martin house, with three tenements, graces my planta- 

 tion — a little miniature cottage, with a piazza in front of it — 

 painted prettily, and altogether as neat a residence for a gen- 

 kcl bird-family as could well be desired. The first season 

 of its erection the martins seemed to think so, for they took 

 early possession of it and reared interesting families there. 

 The sparrows, from a small beginning, soon became numer- 

 ous, and two years ago, after the martins had taken possession, 

 a couple of the sparrows, male and female, came down to 

 contest the occupancy of the desirable premises with them. 

 The black-coated tenants were not so easily ousted, however. 

 The grave and stately head of the martin family took his 

 stand before his door, and when the graybacks came, noisily 

 and violently disputing possession, he stood to receive them 

 as the Quaker did on shipboard when the vessel was attacked 

 by the pirates : too conscientious to fight, be took position by 

 the side, and, as the pirates tried to climb up, he rapped them. 



