FOBEST AND STREAM. 



233 



judicious sportsman would always leave a few birds for 

 breeding purposes. A properly broken dog, and one with 

 courage sufficient to face any cover, is a very important 

 adjunct in quail shooting. And for this purpose we are 

 inclined to the opinion that setters are better than pointers, 

 particularly if the latter are very finely bred, for their thin, 

 satin-like coats afford but little protection against briars 

 and thorns, and although the dog's courage may carry him 

 through, his lacerated sides and bleeding ears and tail, will, 

 to a pitiful master at least, detract somewhat from the 

 pleasure of his sport. Notwithstanding the amount of 

 shooting done and the number of men who shoot, we do 

 not believe that the quail will ever be exterminated by the 

 gun. A few severe winters, however, or even one will 

 work immense destruction, and it behooves all good sports- 

 men and game protective societies to make provision for 

 the protection of such birds as may remain, and to restock. 

 Quail can be purchased alive during the winter and spring 

 in almost any quantity and at very low figures. North 

 Carolina will furnish the bulk of the supply. 



Of course we are writing of the Ortyx mrgmianus, the 

 bird commonly accepted in this country as a quail, although 

 called a partridge at the South. Certainly the habits of 

 the European quail, as well as its size, are so different from 

 those of our bird as to raise a doubt in the minds of those 

 who have seen and examined both as to whether they are 

 entitled to a common name. At the present time the first 

 named variety is making his autumnal migration across the 

 Mediterranean from the southern shores of Europe to the 

 North of Africa, where those who are not killed en route 

 will go into winter quarters. In the spring they start North 

 again and scatter themselves all over Europe reaching as 

 far as Norway and Sweden. Their southern limit must 

 be somewhere near the Equator, and their habitat extends 

 also over Asia, as they are captured alive in large quanti- 

 ties near Canton. The European quail is essentially mi- 

 gratory, and that our bird is so also under certain conditions 

 is generally conceded. Last spring we procured sixty birds 

 from North Carolina and turned them out on a fine farm 

 on the South Side of Long Island. It was rather late and 

 the birds all had their skulls nearly bare from contact with 

 the box during transportation, yet we never found but one 

 dead, and they appeared to pair almost immediately. They 

 were not much more than two-thirds the size of the birds 

 in a bevy which had been on the farm since the previous 

 season. During the summer and early fall we could at any 

 time find half a dozen broods, but when the "first" arrived 

 but one bevy of half-grown birds could be found. Miles 

 away, however, in the woods, we flushed birds that we 

 believe were bred on the farm. 



From observations made in this connection we are in- 

 clined to believe that not only do our quails migrate, at 

 least for certain distances, but that where a certain terri- 

 tory becomes overstocked they scatter to other localities, 

 and from the fact of so few of our North Carolina birds 

 having been seen since pairing it would not surprise us if 

 a portion of them had returned to their native State. 



We find an interesting article on the quail of Europe in 

 Zand and Water, although the writer is in error in saying 

 that the Virginia quail or partridge is not found in our 

 Northern States. Whether the migratory species could be 

 acclimated here is a question, but one well worth the expe- 

 riment. Both varieties are extremely pugnacious, the 

 small variety being used for "pit" purposes in many pa r ts 

 of the world. Quail fighting was a favorite sport of the 

 Athenians, and also of the old Romans. What myriads of 

 quails there must have been in those days ! Even now 

 when they gather for the annual migration North and 

 South immense numbers of them drop exhausted on Malta, 

 Sicily and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, where 

 their coming is looked for as a welcome harvest by the in- 

 habitants. Many sportsmen go from England for the 

 Mediterranean quail shooting, and the inhabitants trap, net 

 and decoy them in numbers. At Alexandria they are 

 sometimes so abundant in the autumn that the people have 

 a surfeit of them, and it is said that in olden times crews 

 of vessels complained to their consuls of being fed on 

 quails after the manner of Edinburgh apprentices and the 

 salmon. Quail shooting in England has, however, become 

 of late years almost a thing of the past, owing probably to 

 the relentless pursuit of them, which is kept up before 

 they reach that latitude. In 1833 they were so plentiful 

 along the banks of the Thames that people came from 

 great distances for the purpose of shooting them. Small 

 bevies are occasionally met with now, but not in quanti- 

 ties sufficient to make shooting them an object. They are 

 not as difficult to kill as our quail, although so much small- 

 er, as their flight is so much slower and they generally go 

 straightaway. We have heard of several projects for their 

 introduction into this country. They would doubtless be 

 a valuable bird and in their migrations would not only find 

 every variety of climate, but this very peculiarity would 

 prevent their extermination by either gun or cold. 



The varieties of quail found in California differ quite as 

 much in plumage from those found east of the Rocky 

 Mountains as the latter do from the little fellow of Europe. 

 In many other points they are dissimilar. For instance, 

 the California quail roosts at night in a tree. We have 

 often watched them at night flying one at a time into the 

 almost impenetrable cover of the live oak trees which are 

 scattered about almost everywhere, and have often flushed 

 them from the tree and shot them before it became too dark 

 to shoot. Col. Schofield of the U. S. A,, in his last visit 

 from Texas, mentioned to us the interesting fact that while 

 he was stationed at Fort Stockton (we believe) lie had f re- ' 

 quently met a bevy of Qalifornia and, yirginia quail alter- 



nately and but a short distance apart. That our quail 

 would do well on the Pacific slope seems beyond a doubt; 

 the absence of severe cold, the abundant grain fields and 

 cover would all be favorable, particularly in the San Joa- 

 quin and Sacramento valleys where water would also be 

 sufficient. How the quail subsists during the severe 

 droughts to which the southern counties of California are 

 subject has always appeared a mystery. Either they must 

 have camei-like provisions or powers of long abstinence, 

 or else they must travel immense distances. May the 

 bright, cheerful little fellows, whether Californian or Vir- 

 gi nian, be long spared to us. 



SCIENTIFC RESEARCH IN ENGLAND 

 AND AMERICA. 



THEY manage these things better in England. While 

 scientific research in this countrv is, with a few 

 notable exceptions, carried on wholly by private individu- 

 als, and the expenses attending it are borne by private 

 purses, the educated classes in the northern country, who 

 are far more keenly alive to the importance of the discov- 

 eries which are being made in science than we are here, 

 step nobly to the front to lend their aid. In England this 

 class, not only by means of subscriptions and donations 

 bears a large part of the entailed expense, but the individ- 

 uals of the class generously devote.time and trouble to the 

 assisting in the labors of the investigations. 



Our attention was called to this fact in looking over a 

 recent volume of the Reports of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science. This is a heavy Octavo 

 volume, consisting of over 750 closely printed pages, and 

 containing between its covers more or less new informa- 

 tion in every department of science. A large part of the 

 volume is taken up by reports of committees of learned 

 men, appointed at the last meeting, or at some previous 

 meeting, to investigate certain subjects and to report when 

 the body next assembled through some member of the 

 committee the result of their researches. The ground 

 covered by these committees is verj r extensive, and includes 

 among other subjects, Biology, Geology, Chemistry, and 

 Physics. For example, we have in the volume in hand a 

 Report on the Exploration of Kent's Cavern, another on 

 Earthquakes in Scotland, one on Tides, another on the 

 Progress of Chemistsy, and so on through more than thir- 

 ty reports, occupying 350 pages of the volume. Among 

 the names on the committees we see those of the best 

 known and most well informed English readers of scientific 

 thought — Huxley, Sir Wm. Thomson, Sir John Lubbock, 

 Jomes Thomson, Woodward, Boyd Dawkins, and a host 

 of others. 



It is evident that as the men best fitted for the labors in 

 the different departments of science are appointed on these 

 committess, the work which is assigned them will be done 

 in the best possible manner, and that by appointing such 

 bodies and indicating the direction which their investiga- 

 tions shall take, work is sure to be taken in hand which 

 might otherwise be neglected for an infinite period of 

 time. 



In this country, on the other hand, it is an unusual thing 

 to hear of any great subject being investigated by a body 

 of scientific men. The surveys of some of the older 

 States are almost the only instances that can be mentioned 

 where such a course has been pursued. The researches of 

 the U. S. Fish Commission were, it is true, conducted 

 somewhat after the English method; but he r e the subject 

 was one so vast that no zoologist could hope alone to deal 

 with it successfully. It may be said that the manner in 

 which our explorations in the west are being carried is an 

 approach to the method we advocate, and this is true; but 

 it is onty a step in the right direction. For the territory 

 to be covered is so extensive that after all, unless the la- 

 bor extends over years, each worker has far more to do 

 than he can successfully accomplish, and the work must 

 necessarily be more or les3 superficial in its character. 

 What we must hope for is that in the investigation of sub- 

 jects of magnitude this method should become the rule in 

 this country and not the exception, as it now is; and the 

 results in England show us with how much profit we may 

 follow in the path that they have indicated. 



How vast is the field in this country for just such work 

 as these English committees are undertaking, and how well 

 would the labor expended be repaid by the constant acces- 

 sions to a knowledge of America at large, which would in- 

 evitably follow in a short time the researches which might 

 be made! It is needless to attempt to give in detail the 

 subjects which might and ought to be investigated. Biol- 

 ogy in all its branches, Geology, all the Natural Sciences, 

 stand waiting to yield to the student richer treasures of 

 knowledge than they have ever yet revealed. How much 

 more intelligently and successfully could the labors in any 

 subject be carried on if undertaken by a number of trained 

 men, each competent to do some part of the work with the 

 utmost thoroughness, the entire results being finally com- 

 bined to make one exhaustive treatise? 



— We print this week the first of a series of extracts 

 from the recent address of Mr. Alfred Russell Wallace, 

 delivered before the Biological Section of the British As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science. Few English 

 biologists are more generally and favorably known than 

 Mr. Wallace, whose investigations have included the life 

 of many and widely separated lands. His publications on 

 the fauna of the Maylayan Archipelago have been as exten- 

 sively circulated on both sides of the water, and are per- 

 haps as well known as anything that he has written. He 

 was a co-worker with Darwin in promulgating the theory 

 of Natural Selection, and in setting forth the evidence on 

 which, to a great extent, that theory now rests; and among 

 . the earliest papers devoted exclusively to this subject were 

 t two read at the same time by these authors in 1858. Re- 



(ferring to the one by Mr. Wallace, Darwin says: "In this 

 paper the theory of Natural Selection is promulgated with 

 J admirable force and clearness." All through his work on 

 J the "Origin of Species" the author refers to Mr. Wallace 

 in the highestpossible terms. 



The address from which we quote was delivered at Glas- 

 gow during the past summer. It is somewhat extended, 

 but deals with a class of facts of the utmost interest to all 

 intelligent readers, while at the same time the language of 

 the speaker is so little technical that it can readily be com- 

 prehended by all. The address is full of deep thought, 

 and is very suggestive; and it is to be hoped that not a few 

 of the hints with which it abounds will be taken advan- 

 tage of by some of our American students, who, as a class, 

 pay too much attention to the physical, and too little regard 

 to the philosophical aspect of zoological science. 

 .*«*». 



Tije Tide Toward Florida is already setting strongly, 

 and had it not been for the prevalence of yellow fever on 

 the Georgia coast, the movement would doubtless be much 

 greater than it is. Within the past two weeks personal ap- 

 plications at the office of Forest and Stream for infor- 

 mation about Florida have averaged three a day; not con- 

 fined to sportsmen and tourists, but a considerable major- 

 ity from intending settlers. Several were masons and car- 

 penters. This argues well for the permanent future of 

 Florida. We have not seen as strong indications sine? the 

 war closed. Possibly, too, the number of sportsmen in- 

 tending to go to Florida for the whole, or a part of the win- 

 ter, is larger than last yea". The drift seems decidedly 

 toward the Gulf Coast. The despondent wail from disap- 

 pointed landlords last year that "Florida was played out" 

 does not therefore hold as testimony. We notice that ac- 

 tive preparations are in progress at the leading watering 

 places for the reception of visitors. 



—The November number of Scribnev's Monthly contains 

 an article on "College Expenses, " by Charles F. Thwing, 

 who has collected the statistics of 24 principals colleges as 

 to room rent, weekly board, charges for tuition and the total 

 annual expenses of students, with the amount of aid at the 

 service of indigent students. The Western students report 

 their total expense usually at $300 to $350; those at the 

 East spend close upon $500, except in Amherst, where the 

 amount is $700, and at Yale, Harvard and Columbia, where 



,000 is the reported amount. The Vassar girl reports 

 " average expenditure; city colleges report greater ex- 

 penditures than those in the country, and it is added that 

 "expenses at Oxford and Cambridge do not essentially dif- 

 fer from expenses at Harvard and Yale." 



An Ice Velocipede.— And now they have invented an 

 ice velocipede. The Messrs. Arnao, of Brooklyn, have taken 

 out a patent through the Scientific American Agency. The 

 drive- wheel, instead of being smooth-shod, as in the road 

 machine, is armed With iron points, and is arranged on a 

 shaft that is journaled on two longitudinal springs, and 

 fitted into a frame that rests on runners. The wheel can 

 be lifted from the ground at any time, and the runners are 

 enabled to pas§ oyerim^U gbstructjons on th,e |ce ? 



—Col. Albert Wagstaff, Jr., one of the Vice Presidents 

 of the New York State Sportsmen's Association, and on 

 the Committee on Game Laws, has been elected to the 

 State Senate from this city. Now that we have a working 

 member in that body there is almost a certainty that at the 

 next session of the Legislature we shall have our game 

 laws so amended and revised as to give general satisfac- 

 tion. If a conference could be held the result of which 

 would be some united action on the part of the States of 

 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania looking to a sys- 

 tem of uniform close seasons, the prospects for game pro- 

 tection would indeed be bright. 



— . •*»*• 1 



Centennial Stealing.— There may be more truth than 

 poetry, after all, in at least one allegation of the Du Som- 

 merard letter. Certain it is that Messrs. Conroy, Bissett 

 & Malleson, the well known dealers in fishing goods, have 

 been most shamefully robbed in Philadelphia. Their ex- 

 hibit in the Agriculiural Building has been "cleaned out" 

 of valuable reels, split bamboo rods, and fishing imple- 

 ments generally. We trust that not only may the Centen- 

 nial Commission be forced to pay for these goods, but that 

 the thief, probably an employee, may yet suffer for his 

 crime. 



Look Out for Him.— A correspondent writes us from 

 Portland, Maine, that one "Crowley," an agent who had 

 been taking subscriptions for "Birds of North America," 

 and subsequently took the numbers of the first volume for 

 the purpose of having them bound for the subscribers, has 

 "skipped away" with the books. As the publishers repu- 

 diate his acts, it looks as though the books were lost, and 

 we would caution such others of our readers who may bo 

 called upon to surrender their loose numbers, to exercise 

 caution in doing so. 



" — The St. Augustine (Fla.) Press says that out of 113 

 sheep crossed over to the South Beach by Mr. Bernard 

 Masters a short time ago, there can now only be found 29 

 remaining, the balance having been devoured by bears i 

 wM§b, infect that locality, " ■ ' l ; 



