204 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|oct. 11, i88s; 



three mallard, a widgeon and wood-duct. In onepliacel 



saw a "lmppy family." Then; were mallard, spoonbills, 

 widgeon, wood-duck and green and biue-winged teal, all 

 crowded together. Thai I not Imj l.\vo J rnnlvs wilh suit- 

 able modesty. Bert hat! a nice shot as they swung around 

 near the carriage, though he failed to gel a bird. Thisbroke 

 ais heart, and with a few suitable remarks he put the "Zulu"' 

 away under thi buggy seat. 



A little further oil 1 got an old merganser of thered- 

 breastcd family, lie mis the .Iiimho oi the flock I think. 

 Whoopee! 1 yelled as 1 held him up to view. ''Bert, see 

 what afine canTas-hack 1 have shotl" lie took it all in, 

 and told me what a line table bird they were. I gave the 

 bird to him saying, •'thai I knew his lather would relish it," 

 I afterward learned that the son's gratitude was the only 

 appreciation of my kindness expressed bv the family. 



We in led homeward with an even dozen ducks, not 

 including our "canvas-hack/' We had enough for Ben. 

 and also to supply my friend:, a i thi h UTJing-house with a 

 game dinner on the following Sunday. 



I wish every reader of the Foues't ami Stkeam, especi- 

 ally those shut up in shops and offices, could get out for an 

 airing as 1 often did, I was iii Florida and. QeorgJa last 

 winter, and for the first time fully appreciated the value of 

 good health. The hotels were lull of men broken down by 

 the close confinement in offices and shops. So I can say to 

 all my brother sportsmen, "get out with your gun as often 

 as possible." But 1 did not intend to write an article on 

 hygiene. Qonx. 



WHISTLING WiNGS. 



BY FATTl PASTNOK. 



NATUKEhass gamutoi pleasantsonnds for all her lovers. 

 The nislling of tin- coin inal ilie trees is dear to the 

 summer loiterer-, the poet loves to hearthe rnusicof cascades, 

 and the wares rippling on the beach, and the thousand tiny 

 noises of v, nod and fields; the lover is fund of wind in the 

 pines, and the sad voice of the night-bird high in air, for his 

 happiness reacts upon his thoughts, and there is a luxury to 

 him iu contemplating abstractly mournful things, and e'ven 

 the man who goes to nature merely for rest, and loves her 

 for her restfuhicss, rinds pleasure in the drowsy choirs of 

 meadow and pond. 



But above all Others, the sportsman rejoices in the sounds 

 of nature. He is familiar with them all,' and loves them all. 

 He is, if we may so cxpres-it, the true natural cosmopolitan. 

 His heart is open to all the influences and pleasures which 

 spring from communion with the great nature-spirit. His 

 out-door life introduces him to all the different phases of na- 

 ture. In certain moods, he can be a poet, and hear the tiny 

 voices which the actual poet alone is able to reproduced 

 Again, lie may lie a loitcvr. nr a lover, charmed with the 

 music of I he nestling grain, or filled with melancholy glad- 

 ness at the soughing of the pines. 



But there are certain sounds in nature which are to the 

 sportsman as a Sportsman distinctively pleasurable. Among 



of the enjoyment he derive: 

 .•Id and stream as the sound of 

 f shooting on the wing is by 

 luit, the niost romaiuie and 

 inn's accomplishments, .so ite 

 t enjoyably impressed upon 



these, none is so characteristic 

 in his rambles by woodland, ri 

 Whistling wings." As the art o 

 far the finest, the most diftu 

 picturesque of all the sportsu 

 attendant, circumstances are m 



his mind. Here is a distinct department of literature and of 

 art: devoted entirely to the attractiveness of field sports: and 

 while all the charm of the reality cannot be reproduced, yet 

 the pleasant experience is so vividly suggested as to amount 

 almost toreality. The romance or" shooting on the wing is 

 chiefly 1 he subject of these pictures of pen and pencil; and 

 what pleasure a line painting or engraving or description of 

 some familiar experience of the. sort gives to every true 

 sportsman! The representation may be beautiful in'itself, 

 and so of pleasure to others, but to the sportsman it has a 

 beauty ami a charm apart from its mere technical merits 

 It calls up the vivid and ever Orar reality, and provides him 

 with a means of endless enjoyment when Ihe actual experi- 

 ence, which gives it its charm, is no longer possible. 



I love to look at a finely-pictured sporting scene, and live 

 over my own experiences of whistling wings, and daring 

 shots and floating feathers. I have in mind now a friend's 

 noble water-coloring, which represents a grouse shooting 

 scene. The dogs seem alive as they stand in quivering re- 

 pose, with every sense concentrated on the brace of flushing 

 birds. How plainly 1 can hear, the music of those rapid 

 wings. One of the noble birds will soon be beating his death 

 throes on the leafy ground, for his fallen head and drooping 



Show that the line of smoke leaping from the sports- 

 man's gun is ntit in vain, [shall never cease to wonder 

 Whether thttl canvas-coated friend of mine seized his splen- 

 did opportunity and made a "double." If so, he is worthy 

 of the artist's skill arid worthy the admiration of every true 

 sportsman. 



II is noticeable Ihflt nearly every game bird gives warning 

 in some wav when it rises from the ground or the water. 

 Nearly.uU produce that thrilling sound, caused by the rapid 

 beating of ibewiims. which is so closely associated in the 

 spoilsman's mind with the delights of the field. The rest, 

 like the snipe and the plover, utter a quick, startled cry, or 

 a scries of cries. The plover, which is a fax-flyer, keeps up 

 its plaintive nolo at intervals until it alights again, thus 

 giving the sportsman opportunity to see and prepare for it 

 as ii comes skimming along the wide reaches of open beach. 

 Few sportsmen, 1 think, realize how much of their pleasure 

 and success in the field depends upon the sense of hearing. 

 They realize it in part sometimes when a heavy wind is 

 blowing, and the grouse, or the woodcock, or the duck gets 

 upon the wing before they hear the warning whistle of the 

 wings. 



Often in shooting grouse on a windy hillside over a spaniel 

 1 have been surprised to see a bird just disappearing around 

 some obstacle iu the distance. It had risen somewhat behind 

 me, and the wind in the trees had drowned the sound of its 

 wdugs. The use of setters and pointers in upland shooting 

 of course obviates this difficulty, but in water shootwg 

 among the reeds, and in all shooting over a spaniel, the 

 sportsman must rely very much upon his own sense of hear- 

 ing, liven when sellers and pointers are used i 

 man could ill afford to lose the delightful thrill of whistling 

 wings when file bird is flushed. It is a part of that intense 

 excitement and pleasure attending the pursuit of game birds. 



The height of the shooting seasou is now approaching, 

 and the law-abiding sportsman may enjoy to his heart's eon 

 tent flu; sports of field and flood. October and November 

 are months sacred to the lover of :snn and dog. Their very 

 atmosphere is a perceptible incitementto field Bports. Octo- 

 ber without its dun-colored sportsman crossing the golden 

 stubble, and the clear riue, of Ihe breech-loader from the 



cover, would lose its chief romance, that which distinctively 

 belongs to il m poetry and in art. Let Us then, as genuine 

 Sportsmen, employ these beautiful days in our well-loved 

 recreation, enjoying it to the utmost, with gratitude for the 

 privilege, for we know not what Ihe morrow may bring 

 lotlh. It is a glorious, an innocent, a healthful and manly 

 recreation, and in pursuing it with (lie. proper spirit we do 

 DO wrong to our fellows and no sin iu the sight of God; for 

 I bi Ii ve thai the Creator, among all His other good gifts, 

 has given ns the birds with "whistling wings." 



TRAJECTORIES OF SPORTING R1FES. 



:■'"■ • ■ ■ ; "-" (i i Stream; 



I -end you the results of such trajectory experiments as I 

 have been able to make. Through lack of time I have been 

 unable to cover all the ground that seems desirable, but the 

 experiments that 1 did make were made very carefully, and 

 the. results may he relied on. 



No attempt "was made to obtain a very tint trajectory, but 

 to compare I lie trajectories of different 'bullets of the' same 

 caliber, the gun. powder charge, etc.. being t ,he „ iimi . r,, r 

 each. 



By referring to Ihe sketch it will be seen that 1 was rather 

 unfortunate iu the selection of a firing ground, as the target 

 was twenty-four feet higher than the gun; but it was floh- 

 son's choice. This would make the trajectory two inches 

 higher (theoretically'! than for a level range, fail as it would 

 operate about equally on all bullets, it was not considered of 

 great importance. 



The breech-loading gun used was a Sharps sporting rifle. 

 8f lbs., 26in. round bawd, -iO-caliber, chambered for IJfa. 

 shell; load. 57grs. Hazard F. 0. powder, one thin wad on 

 powder and bullet inserted gin. in shell. 



The muzzle-loader was a tine imported guu, loaned by a 

 friend, and was loaded under his direction and w il.li ammu- 

 nition furnished by him. The gun weighed 9$ lbs., had 

 8utn. round barrel and was to-enliber; powder, HSffTS.: 

 bullet, conical. 868grs. 



The weather conditions were favorable. Wind, 7 o'clock, 

 3 to -I miles per hour; barometer, 29.5; thermometer, 70'. 

 Cloudy and damp. The following sketch shows the details 

 of the range; 



.1 6 r— Path described I, v bullet. 

 4-MimIeoJ -ii 



C— Point stni.-i; In- liulli-i .hi tar H 'ei '.'Clvls. from .1. 

 B— P'lint Mincl; bv bullet on screen nUvds front .1, 

 B It— Height of Imllet i.'ii iti-lyds. tram .1 ;. above so uicrhl. line inining 

 I and C. ,-i. 84ft. below CfapproiC. i. 



The following table gives the results obtained: 



.Mean I i . m 



value of variation 



B. P. of P.. 11. 



luetics. inches. 



MX. 



11.85 

 11.63 



18.05 

 12.48 



12-T6 



12,16 



l-l. nn 

 i8.6a 



i sn 

 Lin 



a. :u 

 0.80 



O.S1 

 i: 

 ".SI 



o sr 



WOgrs. 



eoegra. 



Description of Bullet. 



flat point, patched. I - 10 tin. 

 conical p't, sinoolb, not known. 



In the second column of the table the value of B D 

 given is the mean of all the shots tired, usually ten. 



The third column is the difference between "the least and 

 greatest values of B D, and may fairly lie taken to repre- 

 sent the steadiness of flight in each ease. Thus for the 

 370grs. patched bullet, the flattest trajectory was l?..88in., 

 and' the lightest was l4.19in. 

 The deductions to be drawn from these results are: 

 First— That the lightest bullet will not give the flattest 

 ajcetory or the steadiest flight, even in very still weather, 

 while it is very defective in penetration. 



Second — Steadier flight and greater accuracy may always 

 be expected from a heavy bullet than from a light' one, be- 

 cause unavoidable slight variations in the quantity, quality 

 and amount of compression of the powder have less effect 

 on the greater mass. Also a slight variation in the weight 

 of the bullet itself will be a smaller percentage iuaheavy bul- 

 let than in a light one. The heavy bullet will be deflected 

 less by the wind or by striking intervening obstacles such as 



etc 



Third— It will be seen that the breech-loader beat the muz- 

 zle-loader both lor flatness mid trajectory and steadiness of 

 flight, 



It is not claimed that the muzzle-loader was loaded to the 

 best advantage. But it was loaded by a man who hail shot 

 it for years and "wouldn't trade it for a whole raft of breech- 

 loaders" It is also certain that the best results were not 



:eh-loaclei 



i the good performance of bullet No. 



i a Hatter trajectory than some of the 

 a loss to determine. I venture the 

 s. of powder, its performance would 



obtained from the br 



Attention is called 

 (i. Why it should g 

 lighter builds I am a 

 opinion that with 70; 

 be hard to beat. 



It will be seen that further experiments are desirable, 

 especially with 180grs. and 320gr. bullets. Also that the 

 amount of penetration of each bullet in white pine or some 

 other uniform substance should be determined. 



In conclusion I will remark that I have had to go eighteen 

 miles to obtain a suitable range. It is to be hoped thai some 

 of our country friends, who can sltoot almost from their 

 door steps, will pursue this subject. I will caution them, 

 however, that great care is necessary in the location of the 

 points A, D and C, otherwise the "results obtained will be 

 of no value. James DdANE. 



Sept, 89j 1S88. 



In your issue of Sept. 18, "Muzzle vs. Breech." by Mr, E. 

 A. Leopold, I notice, lie wishes Major Merrill and myself to 

 give him the trajectory of our rifles at 200 yards. In doiu.g 

 so, 1 thought it a convenient time to test both muzzle and 

 breech on the same range, at the same time, and under the 

 :ame conditions. My first trial was made on a day very 

 favorable for fine shooting, it being nearly a dead calm, and 

 not a very bright sun. The second trial was made when the 

 wind blew gently from the 3 o'clock quarter, and ihe third 

 trial when it blew n gale from the 8 o'clock quarter 



I fried my .38-Ciiliber Winchester, using cartridges put up 

 by the Winchester Arms Company, 40e-rs, powder and 

 180ETS, lead, gel the screen al 110yds. It. made a trajectory 

 oi Min. My muzzle-loader was charged with 40grs. powder 

 from the Winchester cartridge, and lgOgrs. lead. It gave a 

 trajectory of 18m. Then I charged the muzzle-loader with 

 BOgrs. powder, when it reduced the trajectory down to Win. 

 The length of each gun is 34-inch barrels. Heft of breech- 

 loader-Jib-, Weight of muzzle-loader 9|lbs., carrying 7o 

 round ball- to the pound. Both guns tested without wip- 

 ing. On Ihe third day's trial, the breech-loader put its balls 

 close to the six-inch bullseye, when the muzzle-loader would 

 miss a target two feet square. 



This kind of work does not seem to harmonize with the 

 theories advanced by Major Merrill in April 26 number, 

 w herein he says. "These essential qualities are superlatively 

 combini I hi the old Kentucky muzzle-loading rifle of 1776.'" 



Will someone who has one of these old rifles, four feet 

 length of barrel, cut on a lead of one turn to five feet, with 

 grooves a sixteenth of an inch deep, charge the same with 

 40grs. powder and 180grs. lead, and give us a test of its 

 powers on a 200-yard range? My idea is that the trajectory 

 at 110 yards would be too great even to hit an elephant, anil 

 power so feeble that the ball would fail to penetrate B hard- 

 wood board. 



It may be claimed that 40grs. powder is not sufficient 

 for such a test. But it is just as fair for one gun as the 

 Oilier. Of course these guns cannot use a conical ball, 

 and even if they could, not one hunter in fifty would ever 

 think of using them. The idea of any hunter armed with 

 suoh a weapon trying to compete with' one furnished with 

 •' -■ '■■■■• ■■'." breech-loader, would be like some farmer 

 mutertaki&g, with a wooden mould board, to compete v. iih his 

 neighbor in a plowing match at some county fair, using 

 one of our latest pattern of steel plows. The fact is~ 

 nobody would use either of the above articles, even though 

 they wen; capable of doing fair work. But if any one 

 thinks it worth while, then give us a fair test of both 

 under similar conditions, and my word for it. some one 

 will learn some facts worth "more than a volume ol idle 

 guess work." Cap Lock. 



FREWSBi-nc, X. Y„ Oct. 8, 1883. 



THE BUCK OF THE CYPRESS SWAMP. 



VS these clear, frosty mornings and the pleasant fall-like 

 weather send the blood coursing through the veins, 



i 



bringing to the sportsman visit 

 come, my mind reverts to a scene 

 A dry" slough bed with scatt 

 cypress trees, and heavy switch ca 



bordi 



re gone or to 

 State. 

 of hoary old 



Dg the low 



banks, hiding from the view the forest outside of the slough 

 all but the tops of the grand old cow oaks on Ihe higher 

 ground. It was a lovely winter morning, (he sun just lie- 

 ginning to show through the many-colored leaves, and the 

 green cane bending beneath the' weight of a light fall of 

 snow that had fallen the night before. I pushed through the 

 cane and slid down the bank, never slopping until 1 ran 

 plump against, a cypress in the center of a little pool of 

 water; but as my legs were encased in a pair of rubber hip 

 boots, I waded out dry shod. Brushing the snow off my 

 shoulders, and examining the locks of my gun to make cer- 

 tain they were dry, 1 stood still for several minutes listening 

 to sci- if my abrupt descent had alarmed any deer, bear or 

 other four-footed game that I was in search 'of. With the 

 exception of a slight noise made by a rabbit scurrying down 

 the slough everything was quiet. The ground was new to 

 me; but this particular slough was a noted place for deer. 

 At first I hardly knew whether to hunt up or down the 

 slough, but decided nfier consulting my pocket compass lo 

 go down, as 1 had never hunted that part of the bottom, 



I made my way carefully, halting at every noi-> 

 to examine every track and note its direction. The tracks 

 were there in plciitv, of wolves, wildcats, panther, raccoon, 

 mink and deer. Climbing over fallen trees, .-looping and 

 crawling under vines and through thickets, 1 went on tor <i 

 mile, to a point where the slough widened out and was com- 

 paratively fret: from obstructions. A faint sound came lo 

 my ears 'and brought me to a hall. It died away before 1 

 could make out what it was. Advancing a few yards 

 further I stood my gun against a tree, and dipping 'some 

 water in the rim of my hat from a clear pool at my feet 

 refreshed myself with a cool drink of snowwater. 1 had 

 just shaken the water from my hat when I caught the sound 

 again, near enough this time to distinguish. It was either a 

 pack of wolves or of dogs in full cry. As there was no camp 



die 



and we ba< 



is that 



no dogs, it was 

 ■ olves: that they 

 I f i he- pursued 



High, The posi- 



slough, which al 



but mine nearer than ten : 

 altogether likely that the . 



were after deer and were coming my way 

 were an old buck he was sure to run the si 

 tion I occupied was -about the centei oi the 

 tied place was shout forty yards wide 



Standing with my back to a cypress tree. I had an almost 

 uninterrupted view for a distance of pel baps a half mile. 

 About six rods below where I stood lay a fallen tree, reach- 

 ing nearly aero-,.-, the bed of Ihe slough". The deer path that 

 I jiad been following made a detour around the roots of Ibis 



tree. The yells oi the famishing pack WOuM die awttj and 

 then break" out again with redoubled force. Something 

 crossed my line of sight in the distance, then another object 

 darted across. Had they crossed? No, they turned, inid 

 rounding a point of cane headed directly for rue. A thump- 

 ing big buck and a large doe following close behind him. 

 Just now the Cry of the "wolves almost ceased, and seemed lo 

 come no nearer." The two deer sel lied down to a. steady lope, 

 v. and then high over lome/ obstacle, occasionally 



Stopping, and looking back for their pursuers, their tongues 

 lolled oul, and tiieir "sleek sides heaving from the effects of 

 their long run. 



On they came, plunging along, until just as they rounded 

 the tree top, behind "which I stood, the buck suddenly 

 caught sight of me. Instantly planting his fore feet in the 

 ground arid fairly plowing up" the mud and snow iu his sud- 

 den attempt to check himself, he threw up his beautiful 

 head —my finger was on the trigger. A man thinks quick 

 if lie has his wits about him under si 

 was no use to send my charge of No 

 broad breast, the throat and head i 

 mark, and, holding on his black nUIZZ 

 of my right barrel Down he weur v 

 side," full length. Then, amid the e 

 whisked over "that log. high in the air 

 from my left barrel. I saw him falter, then hah, and turn 

 staggering into Die cane. The doe made a magnificent flying 

 leap over his back and I could hear her crashing through the 

 vines and cane for some distance. I could not help throw 

 ing up my hat and giving a shout, for right well did I know 



imstauces" It 



buckshot into thai 



available 



ii trigger 



the report, on his 



fee, two white flags 



stem-chasi 



