FOREST AND STREAM 



425 



on the head with an iron belaying pin, saying, "The captain 

 says, friend, thee must not coS The black coat 



and while veat stood the brnnt, and, after a vigorous resist- 

 ance, the sparrows were repulsed. But when the martins were 

 gone the sparrows returned and took possession of all three of 

 the tenements, Many a tight was waged with them, however, 

 ■■I instants of their own tribe for possession of the house. 

 They were a plucky pair, and held the fort the whole of the 

 ensuing winter, with an eye, probably, to being on hand early 

 enough in the spring to meet ttie martins, the previous tenants. 



In the meantime a house made from au old salt boy had 

 been placed upon the sheltered side of a neighbor's house, and 

 another, a gay affair, elevated upon a pole near by, offering 

 first class inducements for the returning families. But these 

 were no sooner erected than the two sparrows put in a claim 

 for them, and divided their time among all the houses so well 

 that applicant sparrows were soon silenced, and the pair stood 

 ready to receive the maviius, for whose benefit the houses 

 were raised. 



Upon the coming of the martins and swallows they found 

 their former habitations occupied and defended and the new 

 houses barred against, them, as the truculent sparrows flew 

 from one to the other, and drove them away. They seemed 

 all the while to be busily engaged in building their nests in 

 each house, picking up bits of fabric and carrying it in with 

 a very honest seeming, revealing to us, who knew all about 

 them, the moat wicked hypocrisy. The other birds, too 

 could probably see through the pretence, for they lighted on 

 the clothes lines and trellises,. holding angry expostulations 

 with the sparrows, and at last, by a spirited movement, se- 

 cured one of the smaller houses, and went on their own lay. 



A neighbor, having a tree in front of his house, put upon it 

 a neat, little hirdhouse, when, in five minutes atter he had 

 taken hie ladder away the pair from off my premises had 

 possession of it, and "commenced picking up fragments and 

 carrying them in as if for building a nest. They would go 

 through these motions until they saw a sparrow or a swallow 

 flying towards one of the other houses, and then they would 

 leave to drive away the intruder, or one would leave, the 

 other remaining, according to the amount of danger. 



With all this business on hand, with lots of fighting to 

 maintain their supremacy, I fancied that the Block of sparrows 

 must diminish for that, season ; but, by and by, there were 

 signs of youug life in one department of the large house, and 

 I watched to see the brood appear. The first appearance was 

 a yound bird, all legs and eyes, minus feathers, thrown out 

 ignominiously to die, and this was succeeded by the eject- 

 ment of two more from the nest, seeming to imply that, to 

 maintain their belligerent status, they had no time to attend 

 to the rearing of a family, and so took this summary way to 

 dispose of their young. 



A tier this, with nothing to retard their operations, they 

 quarrelled with other birds through the summer, sustaining 

 their pretentions to occupancy of the several houses with 

 astonishiug energy, and the air, daily, was full of strife. 

 Some desperate battles were fought, and on one occasion, 

 where a determined cock-sparrow had hung round thinking 

 to catch the other off his guard, the latter " went for him.' 7 

 The battle began on the threshold of the house on the tree, 

 neat' my window, and from this the intruder was driven to a 

 twig, the length of my cane from ma, where they both held 

 on pecking "each other furiously and tearing off feathers 

 until, both nea 1, they fell to the sidewalk with 



their' hills locked together, when, with a great effort, the 

 tenant sparrow swung the intruder round and round three 

 times by the bill, leaving him with just strength to escape, 

 and the victor, to weak too fly, passed through an opening in 

 a neighboring fence to recover himself before rejoining his 

 male, who had quietly watched the battle from her station 

 above. ., „ . , , 



They maintained this warfare until far into the last winter, 

 and seemed to rule the entire roost of sparrowdom as they 

 came down arouud the door to gather crumbs, with their eyes 

 ever ab >ut them to detect any intention of a raid on either of 

 their homes- If they discovered any such intention they 

 would leave the choicest, crumbs and take their position on 

 guard until the others, satisfied, had left, when they would 

 comedown to a poor repast. This, at last, wrought them 

 disaster, for hunger made them bold, caution diminished, and 

 one day a cat, making a call at the h aise, turned her atten- 

 tion to the sparrows, and, pouncing upon them, made off 

 with the female. 



The bereaved biped wa3 very disconsolate, He would sit 

 by the hour at the entrance of one of his tenements, and sing 

 a little low song, or, at times, louder as if he deemed his 

 absent mate might, hear it. We looked for Valentine's Day, 

 when the tradition says, the birds choose their malts, but 

 the day wrought no change in him, and he appeared morose 

 and moody as he saw the letter carriers and hoys running 

 round below him circulating their valentines. His only relief 

 seened to bo when he could get into a row with some pre- 

 datory bird who dared to look at the coveted precinct which 

 be guarded. One day, as he sat in disconsolate widowerhood 

 at the door of his street domicile, there came a small female 

 Dird evidently, and sat down beside him. He merely 

 glanced at the new comer, and kept on with his melancholy 

 chirp while she went into the house, uninterrupted, and 

 came' out again without attracting his attention. Then 

 anuther came on the other side of him, as the widows vis.ted 

 Tony VVcller upon the demise of Mrs. W., the mourner, 

 making no violent demonstration in opposition, but keeping 

 on with his song. At last they all flew away— probably 

 goin" to lunch in an adjacent yard. The nest day a busy 

 pair of sparrows occupied the house with "intentions to 

 build' 7 plainly manifest, the tenants running in and out with 

 small articles of' furniture, such as sticks and straws as 

 actively as possible. The day after this the old warring 

 commenced, other contestants taking the field; but the 

 widower had disappeared, either merged in the new concern 

 or gone altogether. The same rivalry regarding the Other 

 houseB was renewed by the new firm, enough to show that 

 it Is according to the " nature to," of the whole sparrow 

 tribe, and the probability is that the chances of the martins 

 finding a looting wneu they come are, like most doubtful 

 things, very uncertain. B. P. B. 



Ohehea, April 1879. 



■♦■ . 



ABBIVA1.S iT TB8 Pnn.lTJEI.FHIA ZOOLUfllCAI. GajujKN FOB TDK 



Week Ending June !JB, is7ti.-lwo woodoHncSi, Arebmys monax; 

 two hog uOrea sinKtS, UcUro&Ofl ptatyrhiiuK ,' Olteeo garter Buakeu, 

 Eu'..?nia itrtUiu ) one water snake, Tropidonulw tiptSimf one red- 

 tallea buzzard, Butea tortalU : WW broad pinged buzzard. Sutt^pem- 



sylvaniciiH ; one black .nakc, Ba Wor; two Diueiaids, 



Stalin aiali*. two alligators, Alligator mimffiffbtatia; all presented. 



three burn owl,. ... ;> irctiased. Ten oposnauiH, 



DkMphyu H^iimam, ana two peeoarles, m^tylm uxjwu, fcora in 

 garden, 



jp* Ev m $ 



ROCHESTER DOG SHOW". 



Editor Fobbst and Stukam : 



Sir— I inclose you a copy of the prize list for the bench 

 show which is to be held during the New York State Sports- 

 men's Convention at Rochester, on the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th 

 of July, The show will be entirely under my charge, and as 

 the time is so short, I hope intending exhibitors will make 

 early application for prize lists and entry blanks. The show 

 will be held in one of the beautiful buildings in the Driving 

 Park, where the shoot takes place ; plenty of ventilation and 

 excellent opportunities granted for exercising the dogs will 

 be given. Entries close July 7. Mr. A. B. LamberLon, Presi- 

 dent of the N. T. Sportsmen's Association, has kindly con- 

 sented to act as judge of the sporting classes. 

 PKIZE LISr. 



First Grand International Bauch Show of Dogs, under, the pa- 

 tronage of the NdW York Stato aportamen's Convention. 



English Setters— Dogs— 1st, §10 ; 2d, $5. Bitches— 1st, $10; 

 2d, S5. Puppy— tat, $6. 



Ked, or Bed and Whita Setters— Doga— 1st, 810; 2d, 85. Bitches 

 — lat, $10, 2d, $5. Puppy— lat, $5. 



Gordon Setters— Dogs— 1st, $10 ; 2d, 35. Bitches— 1st, 810; 

 2d, $5. Puppy— 1st, 85. 



Pointers— Dogs— 1st, $10, 2d, $5. BiloUea— 1st, $10 ; 2d, $5. 

 Pappy, under 12 mos— 1st, 85. 



Water Spaniels— Doge or Bitches— 1st, $10; 2d, $5. 



Cocker SpanielB— Uogs or Bitches— 1st, $10; 2d, 85. 



Spaniels, other than Cockers or Water Spaniels— Dogs or 

 Bitehes-lst, 810; 2d, 85. 



Foxhounds— Dogs or Bitches— 1st, $10; 2d, $5. 



Beagles— Dogs or Bitches— 1st, $10; 2d, $5. 



Dachahundo— Dogs or Bitches— 1st, §10; 21, $5. 



Fox Terriers— Dogs or Bitches — 1st, 810; 2 i, 85. 



Ureyhounda— Dogs or Bitches— 1st, 810: 2d, $5. 



Shepherd or Oolliea— Dogs or Buchaa— let, $10; 2d, $5. 



Mastiffs— Dogs or Bitches— 1st, $5; 2d, medal. 



St. Bernards— Dogs or Bitches— lot, $o; 2d, medal. 



Newfoundlands— Dogs or Bitches — 1st, $5; 21, silver medal. 



Ball Dogs— Dugs or Bitches— 1st, $5; 2J, silver medal. 



Bull Terriers— Doga or Bitches— lat, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Black and Tan Terriers— Dogs or Bitches— lat, $5 ; 2d, silver 

 medal. 



Skye Terriers— Doge or Bitches— 1st, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Yorkshire Terriers— Doga or Bitches— 1st, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Hough-Haired Terriers, except Yorkshires and Sityes — Dogs or 

 Bitches — 1st, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Pugs— Dogs or Buehos— 1st, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Klug Charles, Blenheim or Japanese Spaniels— Doga or Bitches 

 —1st, $5; 2d, silver medal. 



Italian Greyhounds— Doga or Bitches— 1st, $5 ; 2d, silver 

 medal. 



Chas. .Lincoln, Supt. 

 Office, 84 Arcade-, ttoclmter, N. 7. 



ENGLISH FIELD TRIAL WINNERS OF 

 1879. 



MB, Q. Thorpe Bartram, a well-known English sportsman 

 and breeder, contributes to our English contemporary, 

 The Country, the following interesting deser ptionof the win- 

 ners at the Field Trials here in England during the present year: 



I will begin with Darrcie, he being the most successful a 

 the Spring Trials of 1879, having wou the double event — the 

 Aged Stake and the Club Cup auu Stake. I shall not be say- 

 ing too much of him when 1 stale he ran a really good setter. 

 When he competed in the Derby of 1878 I said he was l la- 

 best setter puppy of his year — that is, for natural qualities, 

 only he was not old enough to run out his trials, and before 

 he went far in the Stake he fell ail to pieces. Age has no * 

 developed all the rare qualities he theu gave evidence of. 

 He has not now such au airy goliop as he then displayed, 

 seeming somewhat chest-foundered, b it this may be only 

 temporary. He goes a fairish pace, carries his head high, 

 quite on a level with his back, and when he begins hunting, 

 much higher than this. When on pant his position is vcr> 

 fine, and he is equally good when backiug. Ho appears very 

 cautious in getting up to game, but when he comes on point 

 he has great confidence in his nose, stand ng as stiff as a rail. 

 He is as staunch as a rock, both before and behind, and 

 quarters his ground very fairly, is independent in his ranging, 

 and displays no jealousy— still, keeps a sharp look-out on the 

 dog he is working with, as seen by his backiug the Instant 

 his opponent gets on point. He is obedient to his worker, 

 and appears well broken to work to hand. He keeps on 

 hunting, and never potters about on ground scent, aud is Just 

 such a dog as any one going out to kill game would have a 

 pleasure in using • and it is a pity this cannot be said of all 

 neld trial dogs. Rut rushing about alt over a field, and get- 

 ting points just any how or where, has been too much re- 

 warded ; but we are now coming to a healthier state of affairs 

 in this particular. Darkie is not much to look at — has an old 

 appearance for his age. He is a lathy dog, that would indi- 

 cate requiring great, attention to keep together. Khyl is his 

 sire and Dally his dam. I should say he takes much of his 

 style from his dam. He is not so fast as his grandsire 

 ttangar, and does not work anything like him in style, so 1 

 should think he inherits much of his excellence through his 

 dam, as Major Piatt's Di is also out of Dolly, and she is a 

 very beau tit ul worker, and stands on point very nearly to the 

 position of Darkie ; and thus it would appear to me that to 

 Dolly we must attribute a large share of Darkie's good quali- 

 ties as a held trial seller. I do not think I know a setter that 

 carries his head up higher than does this dog; eveu when he 

 becomes worn down to a steady pace he holds up his head, 

 and this no doubt assists him very much in making out his 

 game. It" intended to run in the future at held trials, his 

 owner will do wisely not to kill too much game to him.* Ha 

 will, if taken care of, be a worthy representative, eveu in h 

 big stake. In the All-aged Stake he met " foenien worthy of 

 his steel," and I feel quite sure all were glad lo see such a 

 good dog work his way to the front. Meanness of appear- 

 ance, and want of more pace are his negative points. 



Count Wiud'em, the wiuner of the liist prize in the Better 

 Stake at UhesLer, comes next in order, lie is a flu 

 dog, withlols of hone aud substance; lie has plenty ot length, 

 is well let down at chest, has a nice straight coat, and a 

 Beautiful head ; his ears are well set and are carried nicely 

 Pack on neck, which adds so much to the quality he exhibits 



•Here we have the remarfialile advice lUit if a. dog is to beenteredat 

 future field trials it la tjeot Dot to iui too maeti game lo imn, Is not 



this a comnjeuwry on lae nseiaiaees qi flew trial* 1— Ep, 



in his head ; he has a long graceful neck, fiucly set on at 

 shoulders, good wide hips and muscular thighs, and this, 

 wilh a rich colored eye and a profusion of feather, made up 

 in appearance an A 1 setter. I know some strangely ugly 

 animals have shown us what they can do at their work in the 

 field, but still I maintain it, should be the object of breeders 

 to combine the beautiful with the useful, as is the case in 

 Count Wind'i'm in a marked degree. The way this dog ran 

 through the stake at Chester establishes his claim to be a good 

 dog in the field. He evidently was not in form at Dehden, 

 but the field had been so disturbed in which he had his final 

 trial that the defects then exhibited (false pointing) must not 

 have too much importance attached to them. Ha lias a long 

 sweeping stride, carries his head well to wind, bul, I think, 

 a little loo low ; when at work he carries it much iu the same 

 way as the pointer Garnet. He displays a rare range of nose, 

 quarters his game thoroughly well, aud is well broken ; he 

 exhibits a nice kindly temper, so valuable in any sporting: 

 dog. His position ou point is pretty but peculiar — he 

 eruuehes down, and then raises his head and tail well up. 

 tie roads out his game in a most painstaking way, but the 

 niauy French birds at Debden seem to somewhat puzzle htm 

 to make tbem out. It has of late been a rare thing DO see a 

 seller take first prize on show bench and at field trials, but 

 this has occurred before iu Ginx's Baby, but then he was, in 

 my opinion, never a patch on Count VVind'eni. This dog is 

 from first-rate blood, being by Count Dick — Phantom; tie 

 illustrates to advantage the size and subsiance that can be 

 produced by an out cross with the Laverack, and still succeed 

 iu another generation in obtaining the quality inherent in 

 them. 



Ranger, the winner of the second setter prize at Chester, 

 although eight years old, goes a great pace, and he has had 

 honors enough conferred on him long ago to have allowed 

 him to go to his final resting place a renowned dog, and it 

 would be unfair at his age to treat him as if now in Ins prime, 

 SO 1 will but repeat what I said of him three year3 ago— it 

 is equally true of him now as then : "He quarters his ground 

 in a reckless fashion (the result of his early training), aud mis 

 senseless way ot beating ground will, if a fair trial is allowed, 

 always militate against him ; he has great pace and has a good 

 nose, and of his good backing there can be no question, but 

 that he is not able to make oul when he points whether game 

 is before him or not few will gainsay. Whenever he winds 

 scent he drops like a stone, and when down remains there un- 

 til ordered on, whether game is there or not ; he lacas the 

 oapaciiy to discover his error, and ibis is what takes so much 

 from the performances ot Ranger." 



Rover, the winner of the first prize in the setter Puppy 

 Stake, at Chester, is a strong built lemon and white dog. ne 

 goes iu very fair form, only carries his tail low, aud he has a 

 teapot stern. He is very nicely broken, and a dog of fair ap- 

 pearance, but does not exhibit very much quality. He no 

 doubt won his laurels fair enough, and the secret of his success 

 was the excellent way Mr. T. Armstrong had put him through 

 nis drill. When down with Fan he showed how well he couid 

 do his work as one of a brace when he knew the dog ho was 

 dowu with. He is a dog of goud blood, and will be au excel- 

 lent dog to shoot to, but will not, I think, ever luke a leading 

 position at field trials 



To finish up the winning setters I must now mention Count- 

 ess Rose she having won the cup as the best seller puppy iu 

 Derby Stake. Her color is lemon and white, is ticked all over 

 iMiJy ; she is a fine strapping grown puppy, hits a beautiful 

 long clean cut head, wiih plenty of length oi body, straight 

 ilmus, and is full ol* bone. Sue has a nice Stem wita the sera* 

 Ul&uce of a " hunk" in it, and carries it very gaily. She has a 

 good deep chest and it well riobed up, and if she is lucky she 

 will, I think, figure in many a show bench prize list ; si, 

 iu pretty form, carrying her head well up, exhibits a capital 

 nose; indeed, she found eight brace of birds iu three trials 

 without flushing a bird. She stands on point in a very pretty 

 ityle, antl is staunch on hunting, and she never potters 

 about; still, she seems very ouedieut, aud is for natural qual- 

 ities the best setter puppy that I have seen this year, and I 

 consider they cune out in strong force. I should say, if Mr. 

 Llewellan considers the best interests of his keuuef, he will 

 not part with Countess Rose. I am not alone in my high 

 opinion of this setter's merits, as that excellent judge, Mr. 

 li Armstrong, said to me that he Considered her the. clever- 

 est puppy at finding game he ever saw at her age, she being- 

 only just 10 months. The way she spotted out her birds was 

 A pretty sight, and she went up to her point with all the 

 assurance of a second season dog, but of course it could uot bo 

 expected at her age that she was thoroughly broken ; it is my 

 opinion she could have ruu through the stake with the greatest 

 ease, but her breaker was rewarded for his courage iu running 

 such a youngster by winning the cup. This is twice iu five 

 years that dogs from this kennel have taken the highest setter 

 prize in the Field Trial Derby, and I shall be much mistaken if 

 this bitch, if she has luck in finishing her breaking, does not 

 turn out a really first-rate performer. 



Of the other setters that showed good form I may mention 

 Countess Kate. She is a very nice goer, and seemed to have 

 a good nose. She is a nice-looking bitch, and will well repay 

 lurther trouble being bestowed on her breaking. What i dis- 

 like in her— and Ibis also applies lo Silken, is lhat she seems to 

 die away in pace, rather quicker than the amount of work done 

 by her would justify. Silken is a small bitch, and appears 

 to have an excellent nose. She has a somewhat cramped and 

 snatchy stride, but perhaps as she gets more confidence she 

 will extend herself a bit more. She carries her tail badly, 

 which much detracts from her appearance, but will be, no 

 doubt, a very useful setter. 



Fbrt is a lively bitch, goes in pretty form, and has nice 

 style ; she has, I think, the makings of a very good setter. 

 That is, as far as one can judge from two short trials. I Idee 

 her style next best to Countess Rose, but between her and 

 Countess Kate there is not much difference, 



Countess Nellie has some excellent qualities, but at present 

 she is only quite a raw puppy. 



I will begin the pointer division with Viscount Downe's 

 Jill. She is a good sized pointer bitch, has not very much, 

 pace, is very steady, both before and behind. She works 

 lashing her stern in the old-fashioned style, which some 

 sportsmen think so much of, but I see no use in it. She has 

 a great, drawback in not keeping her tail steady when on 

 point, and you require to know her, or else you would think 

 she was uncertain of her game ; but. this is uot the case, as, 

 when she comes on point, she is about the mo.. 

 any of ihe dogs I have seen from this kennel. She is a safe 

 bitch to enter, but I do not consider at all a brilliant per- 

 former. She has dine exceedingly well, having two years 

 ago won the Horseheath, a twentv-one dog stake. She is 

 thoroughly broken, and, although not fast, by her systematic 

 ranging covers a good deal of ground, and makes good use of 

 all the game she crosses in her range. 



