mt 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ciety, and among the incorporators were Henry D. Cooke, 

 George W. Riggs, Horace Oapron, James C. McGuire and 

 other prominent citizens of . Washington. They were au- 

 thorized to establish and maintain such a garden, import 

 birds and animals from foreign countries free of duty, etc., 

 but for some reason the society never organized. At the 

 last session of Congress another bill was introduced to es- 

 tablish a Zoological Society in the district, naming other 

 gentlemen as corporators, but the failure of the society . 

 first incorporated to organize probably disgusted Congress 

 with the whole matter, and the bill was reported ad- 

 versely. 



There is nothing to mention this week in sporting mat- 

 ters, the continued cold weather, followed on New Year's 

 Day by the most severe snow storm we have had for ten 

 years, I fear has had the effect of driving the partridges 

 further south, and as a consequence they will not be as 

 abundant next season as they wete during the season just 

 closed. It has been my experience, and sportsmen who 

 have resided long in this locality will bear me out in the 

 statement, that a severe winter is always followed by a 

 scarcity of birds the ensuing fall. The ground having 

 been covered with snow and ice, and everything frozen 

 hard for several weeks, the birds have been unable to se- 

 cure necessary food, except such as they could get in thick- 

 ets and sheltered places, and many of these have migrated 

 to a more southern latitude. Last winter the weather was 

 very mild, the effect of which was that the birds remained 

 hereabouts, and the broods raised during the spring and 

 summer gave us the greatest abundance last fall. 



The German and English sparrows, which were first in- 

 troduced in this city about five years ago, have in- 

 1 creased in numbers so rapidly that not oulv the public 

 squares but the streets and avenues also are now filled 

 with them. About one hundred pairs were liberated in 

 the public parks at first, and they have produced thou- 

 sands since. These birds, it is said, subsist almost exclu- 

 sively upon the larvas of all kinds of insects, and as they 

 are not migratory they prevent the maturity of such larvae 

 and thus prevent great damage to the plants and trees. 

 Every year it has been found necessary to put up a large 

 number of new boxes for them, and they have been occu- 

 pied almost immediately. At first the birds were very 

 much disturbed by the boys, but this was soon stopped, 

 and they grew very tame. Suitable boxes for water were 

 placed in all the public squares for them, and in winter 

 when the ground is covered with snow they are supplied 

 with food. A noticeable feature in the habits of these 

 sparrows was that in no case where boxes with several 

 compartments had been plaeed in the trees would they be 

 occupied by more than one pair, so all boxes now made 



for tkem are for the accommodation of- one pair only. 

 . -*»•*» 



^porting ^oten S\ am Spread. 



* — 



FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. 



London, Jan. 1st, 1877. 

 TVTEW YEAR'S in the World's Metropolis! How differ- 

 IN ent the surroundings and the general aspect from 

 what prevails with you. I can fancy the gay scenes on 

 the Avenue, the general jolly and holiday appearance of 

 the streets, enlivened with the merry jingling of the sleigh 

 bells, the calling from house to house, and the good cheer 

 everywhere offered. Here it is a holiday, to be sure, but 

 "calling" as we understand it, is confined to the houses of 

 the American Minister and some few Ameriian residents. 

 The theatres are crowded at night, fofthenew pantomimes 

 are all pronounced successes, and for a month to come 

 young England indulges in acrobatic performances, trans- 

 forming himself into Clown or Harlequin, and perhaps 

 grandpa or uncle Tom into Pantaloon, with his prettiest 

 cousin for Columbine. Stormy, wretched weather marked 

 the close of the year, with slush, and wind, and rain, and 

 sleet, while at the north we hear of snow storms and 

 weather-bound trains. But little they care for the weath- 

 er in the country homes of Merrie England, the only part 

 of their life I envy them, where Christmas is scarcely over 

 yet and the yule log still burns and crackles in the wide* 

 chimney. 



Although racing is almost over— for during the coming 

 month there is a lull, even in cross country meetings— the 

 closing of the entries for many events occurs this week, 

 and upon the announcement of the weights all will be ex- 

 citement and speculation again. Grouse shooting is also 

 finished, the one hundred and three lawful days 

 allowed by act of Parliament having closed 

 early in December. How astonished you New York- 

 ers would be should your leading daily newspaper, corres- 

 ponding (if you have one) to the Times here, devote three 

 or four of its columns to the discussion of grouse shoot- 

 ing. Yet that is what tl e great "Thunderer" did last 

 week, and very good reading ft was, too. No such year, 

 with the exception of '72, has been known for a long time, 

 so that you have not had a monopoly of the abundance of 

 game on your side. "Driving" has been the principal 

 moJe adopted on the large moors in grouse shooting. It 

 is objectionable as tending to make only dililtante sports- 

 men, and affording no encouragement to the breeding of 

 dogs. Still, as I remarked in a former letter, large bags 

 are the order of the day, and such as made by the Duke of 

 Hamilton and friends, who, on the island of Arran, killed 

 999 brace of grouse (why could they not have thrown in 

 another?) in a day or two, cannot be made in the old-fash- 

 ioned way over dogs. But then as it is a recognized 

 thing for the birds to go to a poulterer's shop ? 



it does not matter much; there is no waste, 

 such as is most shamefully practiced in your coun- 

 try, where I have known men go to the prairies in 

 August and throw away their "chickens" by the hundred 

 because they could neither keep or transport them. And 

 the same might be said of your summer woodcock shoot- 

 ing. What an infamous outrage it is to kill these noble 

 birds in July and throw them away ! But there is some ex- 

 cuse for the average grouse shooter in selling his game. 

 He probab.y has to pay a rental of £250 per annum for his 

 shooting, and at the price he receives for his birds, say 

 half a crown each, he must kill at least 3,000 to pay expen- 

 ses. But as very few kill on rented ground anything like 

 this number, it becomes rather an extravagant amusement. 

 Here's a pill for your anti-game protectionists. The shoot- 

 ings and fishings in Scotland alone rent for the sum of 

 £300,000 annually. It is considered that, taking in the 

 northern counties of England, the total rental for grouse 

 shooting alone amounts to a quarter of a million sterling, 

 which would require two million of birds at half a crown 

 each to pay. But as it is estimated that not more than 

 300,000 birds find their way to the markets it can easily be 

 estimated how much British sportsmen pay landlords for 

 the privilege of grouse shooting. 



Weston has failed in his latest attempt to walk 505 miles 

 in six days, the amount accomplished being only 460 

 miles. The failure, however, was somewhat mitigated by 

 his really wonderful performance on the first day when he 

 walked 115 miles, and 105 without a stop. People are be- 

 coming tired of the great cornet player and costumer, and 

 if he does not soon make a bona fide, square match with 

 some one, he will have to either "skip" or walk to empty 

 benches. His remarks from the judges' stand at the close 

 of his last exhibition, when bespoke of his rival, O'Leary, 

 as "the Italian from Tipperary," disgusted every one. O' 

 Leary has also been unfortunate, haviug lost his match 

 with Howes on his first appearance in London. The defeat, 

 however, was admitted to have been caused by an attack 

 of the diarrhea, and his square style of walking is gener- 

 ally admitted. 



Higgins, the sculler, has replied to Hanlon's challenge 

 to row at Toronto, but declines for the reason that he in- 

 tends to remain at home to defend the championship of 

 England against all comers. Boyd, the Tyne man, is will- 

 ing, however, to meet Hanlon on his own terms, and will 

 go to Canada to row him; or he offers to row IScharff of 

 Pittsburg in Canada waters. He says nothing about row- 

 ing in the United States, and in fact since the Philadelphia 

 regatta English oarsmen, whether amateur or professional, 

 are rather shy of American matches or challenges. 1 do 

 not know whether the true reason has been given for Ox- 

 ford and Cambridge's declination of Cornell's challenge, 

 but I am assured on good authority that it was mainly 

 owing to the fact or their having been informed that the 

 Cornell crew would be composed of men who would not 

 come within the English interpretation of the word ama- 

 teur. 



The Kennel Club have fixed on Wednesday and Thurs- 

 day, 2d and 3d of May, for the Field Trial Derby Meeting to 

 be held at Horseheath, near Linton, Cambridge. The club 

 have decided adversely upon a petition to disqualify Mr. 

 E. J. Poer, of Limerick, whose name has been conspicu- 

 ously before the public in connection with troubles aris- 

 ing out of the late Cork Bench Show. American beef is 

 holding its own in Eoglish markets, and the recent arrival 

 of some fat cattle from Chicago has opened John Bull's 

 eyes to the fact that our western plains will produce beef. 

 Emigration is likely to follow, and that of a better class 

 than usual. Vaquero. 



The New Wimbledon Target.— We printed last week 

 from the Volunteer Service Gazette, cuts of the new Wim- 

 bledon targets. One of them was wrong and we now give 

 a correct cut of the 500 yards target. 



The following table explains fully the dimensions:— 



Name of 

 Division. 



Target at Target at 500 J ^^^uSo 

 200 Tarda, and 600 Yards , °\t r ds 





Ballseye jifo. diameter. 



Inner 



Magpie . . . 



Outer. 



: ft. 

 & ft. ". 



f Remainder 

 A of target 4 

 [ft, square. 



2 ft. diameter. 3 ft. diameter. iWoite. 



3 ft. " 4£ft. " Red - 



4 ft. ** 6 ft. square. Black & 

 (White. 



Remainder of I Remainder] i 

 target 6 ft. of target 12> [Black, 

 square* ft. by 6 ft. .1- 



9J& 



When ties are shot off at a "Carton target," the value of a Carton wi * 

 be 6 marks. 



The following is a copy of the official notice from the 

 National Rifle Association announcing the change: — 



"It will be seen by the above that the Council has acced- 

 ed the general wish of the Volunteers to have rectangular 

 instead of circular "outers," and that at the same time they 

 have taken the opportunity of assimilating to a considerable 

 extent + he match with the Regulation targets, adopting di- 

 visions that can be described in feet, and can therefore be 

 checked as to accuracy by the 6-in«h squares that are cut 

 on the face of all Government targets. 



"The many h. p. s.'s that were obtained at 200 yards 

 during the past two years rendered it imperative to reduce 

 the bullseye for that distance, while the very few made at 

 500 and 600 yards has induced them to adopt the Govern- 

 ment "bull" for that distance, which is so very little larger 

 than that used at Wimbledon. 



"It is believed that the reduction in the sizes of the "in- 

 ner" and "magpie," as compared with the corresponding- 

 divisions ("center" and inner") of the second class Wim- 

 bledon target, will reduce the number of ties at 500 and GOO 

 yards, notwithstanding the addition of two inches to the 

 diameter of the bullse>e- 



"In view to there being no confusion between the names 

 of the divisions upon a Government and upon a Wimble- 

 don target, the term "center" has been dropped for Wim- 

 bledon, and the portions into which it has been cut have 

 been called "inner" and "magpie" respectively, the former 

 being a term not used in Regulation practice, and signalled 

 by the red disc,which is also toreign to Government practice, 

 while the term "magpie" is one that has established itself 

 by usage at Wimbledon, is just as appropiiate as "bulls- 

 eye" tor a division of a target, and, moreover, is signalled 

 by the disc which bears that designation. 



The order of the signals for the making known the hits, 

 as also their respective values, remain the same as in previ- 

 ous years — viz., white 5, red 4, black and white 8, black 2; 

 so that there can be no mistake on the part of the register- 

 keepers in recording the value of the hits as shown by the 

 discs, all hough they may never have been told of the change 

 in the designation of the several divisions of the targets." 

 E. St. John -Mild way, Sec. N, II. A. 



The Ditm^r Powder for Rifles. — A correspondent 

 writes us under date of Jan. 1st regarding the use of Dit- 

 mar powder for rifles. We think, however, that the ques- 

 tion of superiority for all purposes should not be decided 

 by a test with rifles alone, and we are under the impression 

 that Curtis & Harvey's No. 6 would be almost too slow for 

 rifle shooting. That the Dittmar powder has done well at 

 the targets can be seen at once by reference to Mr, D's. 

 scores at the matches of the Massachusetts Rifle Associa- 

 tion : — 



"I notice in your journal, and more in the Bod and Gun, 

 that some sportsmen are stiii in doubt as to the superiority 

 oil the Dittmar powder over any and all other powders. 

 Three young sponsmen and myself s gave the Dittmar a 

 thorough test a few days ago, and also tested the best black 

 powder, C. & H. No. 6 at the same time. We each fired 

 rive shots with our riries, viz., one Maynard, 85 cal., one 

 new Ballard, 40 cal., one dtevens, and one Frank Wesson, 

 both 88 cal. jtiach of us fired five shots or "Dittmar" at 

 100 yards, and then we fired five shots each at same dis- 

 tance of C. & H. No. 6. The sights on the rifles the same 

 in both cases, and to our great surprise the balls fired by us 

 witn the black powder fell from 2£ to 2f inches lower than 

 when we used Dittmar. This, 1 think, gives the Dittmar 

 the superiority over all powders, at least over the best I 

 can get, which is C. & H. No. 6. Will some brother sports- 

 man tell me where I can get any better black powder than 

 C. & 11. No. 6? R. M. 13. 



. -*•«» ■ 



N. R. A. — We published last week a portion of Col. 

 Wingate's very elaborate Report of the N. R. A., on be- 

 half of the Range Committee. We now give the remain- 

 ing sections of it, or at least such portions as will be of 

 interest to our readers : — 



"The Committee were, originally, in hopes that the 

 gren.t cost of the iron-framed targets could be saved by 

 using a light wooden frame, which could be replaced at 

 small cost when damaged. They have found, however, 

 that the wooden frame of the Banford target (although 

 quite heavy) is shot away so fast as to occasion much iie- 

 lay and inconvenience. The canvas targets have not 

 proved popular among either the riflemen or markers. 

 The former complain tnat, when a ricochet bullet throws 

 the dirt from the bank against the target (as is often the 

 case, particularly with troops), the dust sticks to the paste, 

 with which the face of the target becomes more or less cover- 

 ed after a f t-w shots, giving it a very dingy appearance. The 

 main objection, however, is that, while it is almost im- 

 possible for a marker, upon an irou target, not to know 

 that it has been struck, and a telescope will disclose any 

 carelessness upon his part, shots frequently slip througti a 

 canvas target without attracting the marker's attention, 

 while, if he is careless, there is no check whatever upon 

 him, the telescope not showing the shot. The marking 

 upon the canvas targets has been found to be slower than 

 that upon the iron targets. During the practice of the 

 National Guard, the squads upon the canvas target have 

 always been behind the others. In the company matches 

 at the spring meeting of the National Ritle Association, 

 while one of the teams completed their forty-five shots on 

 an iron target in fifteen minutes, nearly an hour was re- 

 quired to do the same on the canvas targets (except, per- 

 haps, upon Jewell's), the delay arising from the time taken 

 by" the marker to locate- the shot hole. Since Mr. ban- 

 lord's target has been altered to the double system, it 

 works much more rapidly, the only delay being for the 

 marker to find the shot, *'rom the fact that the disc is ex- 

 posed but for an instant, it is complained that the location 

 and value of the shot are sometimes left in doubt. Ho 

 strong have been the objections by the riflemen to the 

 canvas targets, that, during the National Gut.rd practices 

 at Creedmoor, officers have refused to ailoAV their men to 

 use canvas targets at all, and many of the regimental teams 

 would never shoot upon them, if iron ones could be had. 

 Before the erection of the new butts, your Committee dis- 

 cussed the subject with a large number of the best rifle- 

 men at Creedmoor, and received a unanimous expression 

 from them, that the iron targets were the most satisfac- 

 tory, and should be introduced on the new butts. The 

 markers, on the range are also unanimous in their prefer- 



