Nov. 22. 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



S23 



chickens, which be brought and placed Oil my knee. Alter 

 1 had admired them aud complimented him, he. replaced 

 them underneath the mother, without the slightest show of 

 displeasure un her pint, 'Walking a few steps further, tie 

 .stooped, picked up something from under the shadow of a 

 clump of caladiums, and a few moments after I was dumb- 

 founded by realizing that 1 held in my hands, without the 

 slightest attempt on her part to escape, a magnificent living, 

 male forked tailed jungle lowl (GaUn.« mriux). No one but 

 uu ornithological crank can imagine my feelings. T could 

 have hogged my little friend with delight, but staid, impas- 

 sive Malay deportment forbade any such Wild behavior, and 

 I bad to content myself with again thanking him. and draw- 

 ing a mental comparison, in which. 1 am afraid, the Ameri- 

 can imp did not show up in very advantageous colors, 



This is but one of the many illustrations which I have used 

 in my pheasant sermons to m.Y keeper, who has them iu 

 charge, and 1 am bappj to say that he has barkened unto my 

 Continual admonitions. To-day I saw him standing in the 

 inclosure, cooing and chirruping, and literally knee deep in 

 young pheasant*. Fua.nic .1. Thompson, 



kbkn, Cincinnati. 



WORK OF THE FISH COMMISSION. 



THE United States Fish Commission steamer Albatross, 

 after a long cruise of over a month, has just returned to 

 Washington, bringing a tine lot of deep-sea animals, the. 

 result of her dredging operations during this time. The 

 greater part of the trip was spent iu searching after the 

 mackerel, bat the results obtained in Ibis direction were of 

 no real value. 8he cruised off the coast of Massachusetts, 

 following the mackerel fleet at times, thus gathering infor- 

 mation. " On account of the strong prevailing easterly winds 

 during the first part of the trip, she was driven into Province- 

 town, and later into Gloucester Harbor. Dredgings and 

 soundings were made off Cape flatteras, in from 30 to 1,10(1 

 fathoms. Owimr to necessary repairs, it is probable that she 

 will not, make another trip before the first of January. The 

 Ei:n,!hf/ Tiisgriiut. announces that Professor Baird iias made 

 arrangements with the Life Saving Service to report the 

 stranding of marine animals He skid: ''A number of speci- 

 mens have been already received, including some of much 

 interest on account 6£ their rarity. The animals reported 

 thus far have been cetaceans and fishes, but it is probable 

 that as time passes we shall obtain specimens, not only of 

 vertebrate animals, hut of the invertebrates as well. No 

 such arrangement exists in any other country. 



•'Its importance to the advancement of the knowledge of 

 the larger marine vertebrates cannot be overrated," Continued 

 Professor Baird. "Hitherto zoologists have been forced to 

 content themselves with examination of specimens of which 

 the stranding has been reported indirectly through the news- 

 papers or otherwise. In the majority of such cases the 

 rapid progress of decomposition has made it impossible to 

 preserve more than the skeleton, aud so it has come about 

 that the external appearance of many large species is quite 

 unknown. By the present admirable arrangement, however, 

 and the extension of our railroads, a specialist can be de- 



Xtehed to almost any point on the eastern coast iu time to 

 crve in a fresh state any stranded animal which may have 

 been reported*" 



Professor Baird furnished your correspondent with the 

 following list of specimens already received, a number of 

 which, it will be observed, come from New Jersey: 



Dolphin (Tarsiop* sHbrifU'ii". Fire Island, N. Y.; pigmy 

 sperm whale (Kouia yondfi). Spring Lake. N. J.; dolphin 

 ITurgiops svbriih m,), Turkey Gut. near Cape May. N.J.; 

 bottle-nose whale [Ziphivb rarin/strix), Baruegat, JN r . J.; shark 

 (Bmdotriacia microdon), Amagansett, N. V.; "star gazer" 

 (^tovacepui #)».), Life Saving Station C. N. G. ; "lump fish" 

 (Ci/iiopkrux lunq-iun). Point Judith, It. I.; "flute mouth" 

 {Fixtulariu xerrata). Point Judith, R. I.; "angel fish" {Potna- 

 eanthiix amiatm) Barnegat, N. J. 



binl-souus iu that latitude and altitude, and I had never 

 noticed it before. 



In October I was much interested in the actions of a 

 school of trout. In one channel of Grand River, where it is 

 divided by an island, there were a great number of sawlogs 

 that had Been cut in May and June, and run down the river 

 in July and August. They were being drawn upon daily 

 for the supply of a sawmill, and many of the logs were con- 

 stantly being disturbed. When the supply became consid- 

 erably reduced it was noticed that great numbers of trout 

 had gathered under the logs, aud there they would remain. 

 I supposed at first that thev were attracted by flies, and other 

 winged insects, but at length the weather became too cold 

 for such, and yet thetrout'staid. The log pond was reduced 

 to a small area right at the mill. The noise of steam and 

 clatter of machinery was deafening, yet. as each log was 

 drawn from the water a number of trout, would shoot out, 

 circle around and dart back under the remaining logs. The 

 last of them were on the skids beside the carriage when, by 

 chance, I pulled off a piece of hanging bark aud discovered 

 between the bark and the wood myriads of minute white 

 worms from an eigUth to a fourth of an inch in length and 

 a sixth or eighth as much in diameter. Then I concluded 

 that I had discovered why the trout came there and staid, 

 aud When I left the place the trout were still waitiug in the 

 shallow water and forming ice for more sawlogs and— 

 worms. W. Bli B. 



Tin-: LtSHBiS Soctetv.— The first meeting this fall of the 

 Linnca.ii Society of New York met last Saturday (17th inst.) 

 at the rooms of the American Geographical Society, 11 West 

 Twentv-niuth street. The meeting was called to order at 

 8 P. Ml, the president, Mr. Bicknell, occupying the chair. 

 Besides the members some out of town naturalists were 

 present, among them Captain Chas. Bendire, U. S. A., and 

 Mr. J. H. Sage, of Portland, Conn. The paper announced 

 for the evening was a continuation of Dr. 0. H. Merriam's 

 work on the vertebrates of the Adirondack region, a portion 

 of which has already been published iu the "Transactions of 

 the Society." Dr. Merriam read most interesting papers on 

 Sndopi ai/imtieiix and on the gray squirrel (Seiurm airo- 

 Unenxh). An animated discussion followed, in which a 

 number of those present took part. Dr. Merriain also ex- 

 hibited the drawing of a new-born Lynx cuiadeiixi*, sent to 

 him by Mr. Montague Chambcrlaiu, aud called attention to 

 the peculiar pattern of coloration of the specimen. The 

 markings took the form of longitudinal stripes of dark 

 brown upon a pale ground, and^the speaker drew the con- 

 clusion from their patteru that the group to which the 

 lynxes belong sprang from a form of Fdid/u which had the 

 markings of the ocelot (Fdte panlalix) no trace of which now 

 exists in the adult animal. A short paper was read by Mr. 

 Edwards, describing a new species of moth, and Mr. Sage 

 exhibited an albinislie specimen of the short-eared owl 

 (Am> acripttrititix). Albinism is extremely rare, we believe, 

 iu the family S/riyidir, ami this specimen which was not pure 

 white, but rather bleached or faded to a pale fawn color, is 

 of uuusual interest. It was after 11 P. M. when the meet- 

 adjourned. 



% o mt[t §d$ m\d 



GAME RESORTS. — We are always glad to receive for pub- 

 lication such notex of desirable game re-sorts as may be of help 

 to flu- readers of Forest asd Stream. Will not our corre- 

 spondents favt 



To i 



re pre 



us with such ad 



vice/ 



mpt attention, e 

 ,,rfst and Strea 

 whose absence . 

 ble to delay. 



ommunieci 

 m Publish 

 from the u 



Co. 



portanve. are li 



OPEN SEASONS. 



The digest of open seasons, printed in our 

 been published in convenient pamphlet form, a: 

 address, postpajd.on receipt of 10 cents. 



should be ad- 

 und not to 

 alters of im- 



ssue of Aug. IB, has 

 id will be sent to any 



Lair Nestixo of Barn Owl. — Oapt. Chas. Bendire 

 called our attention last week to a clutch of four live young 

 barn owls (Ahtn> Uamiucua annrimnn*) received by Wallac 

 of William street, this city. The birds were taken in tl 

 vicinity of Bordentown, New Jersey, and were, at the time 

 of their receipt iu this city, Kov. 12, not more than three 

 weeks old. This is unusually late for the nesting of these 

 birds, which are not very common in this latitude. One of 

 the parent birds has since been received. 



DEER-LARKS-TROUT. 



Denver, Colo., Nov. 11, 1883. 

 Editor Fwest and Stream: 



Since writing you a few weeks ago and giving the weight 

 nl inn large bfaektail deer (106 and 226 pounds, dressed). 

 another was brought into Hot Sulphur Springs that weighed 

 242 pounds. It Was dressed, the head off and the legs to 

 the knees, and had been killed several days before, giving 

 time for considerable shrinkage in the dry air of that region. 

 In 1872, while with the Hayden Geological Survey in the 

 Elk Mountains, Western Colorado, the. hunter oue evening 

 killed three deer a short distance from camp; that is, he 

 reported killing three, but found and dressed only two. 

 The next morning 1 went with the men and mules sent to 

 bring in the meat. We estimated the. weight of the animals 

 at 275 pounds each. As I now remember, the heads and feet 

 had not been removed. These weights probably represent the 

 maximum growth of the animal, and when so heavy they 

 are exceedingly fat, with great masses of kidney tallow, and 

 the saddle covered with clear fat three-quarters of an inch 

 thick August is eaily for such a condition, and it is proba- 

 bly unusual, but in October and November it is very com- 

 mon. 



Some of these large bucks have remarkable horns. 

 Among a lot of heads brought in last fall were several that 

 bad from twenty up to thirty-three points upon each pair of 

 antlers and I have heard of a set killed the present fall that 

 has forty-seven points, and a Sharps rifle just reaches from 

 point to' point at the last division. This head was to bo 

 brought to the Springs and I expect to see it. 



Recent reports from the hunting groundsill Norttfcvestem 

 Colorado indicate that the harvest" is over for this year. Par- 

 ties with teams who went after loads of meat in the latter 

 half of October, have in some instances been gone from 

 three to four weeks aud have as yet only parts of loads. 



As it is the province of Forest and Stream to teach 

 natural history and supply a medium of exchange for 

 opinions and the results of observations (by which I have 

 learned much and heen greatly interested), 1 take the liberty 

 of referring to several other facts that may not, iu them- 

 selves, appear to be of much importance, in the latter half 

 of September, when sharp, white frosts were common every 

 morning in the mountain meadow valleys, I noticed lark's 

 singing the same cheerful sougs they sing iu spring. Up to 

 the end of October another bird, and, I judge, a very small 

 one and quite numerous, trilled forth its cheerful song every 

 morning from the sage-brush or willows, or among the 

 cedars on the mountain side. I was unable ever to see one 

 that I could with certainty identify with the song, but the 

 music was none the less grateful. It seemed to me lato for 



WHAT THIS WORLD WOULD BE WITHOUT THE 

 "FOREST AND STREAM." 

 [Frmn Ihr Jfelll York Sun.] 

 ttT HAD a dream which was not all a dream!" 

 -^ A great State was a desert, aud the land 

 Lay bare and lifeless under sun and storm. 

 Treeless and shelterless. Spring came, and went, 

 And came, but brought no joy: but in its stead 

 The desolation of the ravening floods 

 That leaped like wolves and wildcats from tbe hills 

 And spread destruction over fruitful farms, 

 Devouring as they went the works of man, 

 And sweepiug southward nature's kindly soil 

 To choke the watercourses, worse than waste. 



The forest trees that in the olden time — 



The people's glory and the. poet's pride 



Tempered the air and guarded well the earth, 



And under spreading boughs for ages kept 



Great reservoirs to hold the snow and rain, 



From which the moisture through the teeming year 



Flowed equably but freely— all were gone, 



Their priceless boles exchanged for petty cash. 



The cash had melted, and had left no sign; 



The logger and the lumberman were dead; 



The axe had rusted out for lack of use; 



But all the endless evil they had done 



Was manifest upon the desert waste. 



Dead springs no longer sparkled in the sun; 

 Lost and forgotten brooks no longer laughed : 

 Deserted mills mourned all their moveless wheels; 

 The snow no longer covered as with wool 

 Mountain and plain, but buried starving flocks 

 In Arctic drifts; in rivers and canals 

 The vessels rotted idly on the mud 

 Until the spring floods buried all their bones. 

 Great cities that had thriven woudrously, 

 Before the source of thrift was swept away, 

 Faded and perished, as a plant will die 

 With water banished from it roots and leaves; 

 And men sat starving in the treeless waste, 

 Beside their fruitless farms and empty marts, 

 And wondered at the ways of Providence : 



ENOUGH TO IMPRESS AST MAN.-tJniverslty Club, New York- 

 City, Nov. U.— Editor Forest and Stream: I desire to bear testimony 

 to the extraordinary qualities of the Forest «<n Stream as an adver- 

 tising medium. A few weeks ago I decided to sell out all my guns, 

 among them a Greener haminerless I had made for me to order in 

 London, for which I asked $150. 1 had inquiries from all quarters, 

 including Florida, Texas, Manitoba, Oregon. Maine and Canada, and 

 oould have sold it several times over. I was greatly impressed by 

 this discovery of the immense territory covered by your readers.— H. 



THE FIRST TURN WITH THE GROUSE. 



NESTLED snugly amid the wooded hills and limestone 

 rocks of Clifton, with the blue waters of the Kcnne- 

 beccasis rolling at my feet, and the cloud of coal smoke hang- 

 ing like a pall over the city of St. John, fifteen miles away 

 to the southwest; I reach out my bnnd to greet Fouest and 

 Stream — the second old acquaintance I have met since be- 

 ing transplanted to this part of the couutry. The Kenuebcc- 

 casis is the left tributary of the St. John, nearest its mouth, 

 and the name means "little Kennebec." It was doubtless 

 named by the real aboriginal aborigine, but the why and 

 wherefore must be left to the shadowy realms of conjecture. 

 On its banks are built many of the vessels that hail from St. 

 John, and also many of the yachts that navigate the inland 

 waters of New Brunswick. It's Gracie was represented bv 

 the Gussie, a big centerboard sloop yacht, splendidly built 

 and equipped, and said to have been once well-known in 

 New York waters, whence she was bought by Mr. Fowler. 

 It has also been the sceue of a "Mohawk disaster," a sloop, 

 tbe name of which I have forgotten, having capsized and 

 drowned four men, 



Since my advent in this place I have had two tramps in 

 the woods. On the first, accompanied by D. P. Wetmore, 

 Esq., Inspector of Schools, the most enthusiastic sportsman 

 I have met in this section, I killed a weasel, flushed a wood- 

 cock and witnessed a regular chickadee picnic; but saw no 

 grouse. We traveled through some of tbe grandest woods 1 

 ever saw, and were amply repaid for our labor by the 

 scenerv and the prodigious appetites we worked up. On 

 second thought, I am inclined to believe that the Inspector 

 had the hardest of the bargain; for, besides working to de- 

 velop the appetites, he was obliged to furnish the wherewithal 

 to appease them. After we had made a vigorous flank attack 

 on the eatables, we retired to Mr. W.'s office to do some. 

 writing. While thus engaged, it school trustee from a neigh- 

 boring district dropped in to see if the Inspector could fur- 

 nish him with a teacher. Mr. Wetmore remarked that he 

 supposed a "city teacher" was what he wanted, as his dis- 

 trict had rather affected that style for some time past.* "No, 

 sir," was the reply, "we want no more city teachers. The 

 last one we had was a very fine young lady; but she cared 

 for nothing but shooting and fishing. She was in the woods 

 with a rod or gun most of the time." I dropped my pen ex- 

 citedly, and asked, "Has that young lady gone away?" 

 ' ' Yes," she left the day before yesterday. " My hopes dropped 

 to about thirty -two degrees below zero! I hat'l drifted around 

 the world without allowing my surplus affections to twine 

 Permanently around any of the "female persuasion," as Ar- 

 temus Ward said, and now felt that I hail missed my fate by 

 about a day and a half. But when, later in the conversa- 

 tion, he said she was to be married about Christmas, a feel- 

 ing of thanksgiving crept gently over me. 



But 1 set out to tell you of my first hunt in the season of 

 '83. On the morning "of the 21th of October I arose about 

 an hour before the sun, having passed an almost sleepless 

 night. There was not a cloud in the sky, and Jack Frost 

 had frescoed, or calsomined, the landscape with a covering 

 of glittering crystals. Accustomed, during the previous 

 four weeks,"to move amid scenes of sickness and suffering, 

 compelled to stand calmly by and see those whose friendship 

 I most valued pass away into death, it is little wonder that 

 for me the landscape had few charms, and that tbe bracing 

 air chilled my blood rather than hastened its circulation. 

 Mechanically I unfastened the little gray mare and led her 

 out to the brook to give her water. Her steel clad hoof 

 struck a stone on the edge of the stream, and at the sharp 

 ring an English snipe arose almost from under my feet, and 

 flying a little way down the brook, dropped behind a small 

 bunch of alders. His appearance recalled m^nories of other 

 days, and I suppose I ought to have been grateful to him, 

 but gratitude took the shape it usually assumes in this degen- 

 erate age, and after breakfast I picked up the gun and half a 

 dozen cartridges, determined to have one round with him 

 anyway. He flushed at the very spot I marked him down, 

 and I took a snapshot as he dashed under the bridge, mis- 

 sing, as a matter of course. A boy marked him dowu about 

 a hundred yards up the stream, and I went above him and 

 worked down. 



Presently he went into the air without ever a "scaipe." 

 As he twisted between the tops of two branches of alders, 

 heelplate touched shoulder, and finger pressed trigger. When 

 the smoke cleared, there was no snipe to be seen. For fully 

 five minutes I searched, and at last found that he had 

 dropped into the brook, and drifted down about twenty feet. 

 The memory of that shot haunted me all day. There were 

 no more snipe to be hunted, so in the afternoon I determined 

 to have a grouse hunt. I sought out my brother and said: 

 "Fred, is your gun home?" "No. I lent it this morning. 

 why do you ask?'' "I thought 1 would like your company 

 on a partridge hunt this afternoon, we may not have another 

 opportunity very soon." "Too bad that' the gun is away, 

 but I will fake, the big revolver and go out with' you all the 

 same. The revolver referred to is a .32-eiilibre with an eight 

 inch barrel, and my brother can kill a red squirrel with it at 

 twenty-five feet distance twice out of every three shots. On 

 this expedition he cut feathers out of a bluejay and killed 

 two squirrels. Firing at a third chickaree, the bullet hit a 

 small fir between him and the squirrel, and a splinter from 

 the tree striking the squirrel on the head, kuocked him from 

 the limb on which he sat. He. was the most thoroughly 

 frightened animal 1 ever saw. I believe he thought he was 

 killed. 



With our little cocker, Frank, we beat over all the grouud 

 where grouse were wont to assemble, and drew blank. I 

 asked Fred if there were any beechnuts this year, and being 

 told that they were plentiful, headed for the nearest beech 

 ridge. Arriving on the edge, a flock of crows flew over, and 

 I fired at one very impudent fellow, but failed to stop him. 



