FOREST AND STREAM. 



393 



dwells in great detail upon the migrations of North Amer- 

 can birds, drawing his facts chiefly from the labors of Mr. 

 J. A. Allen, of Cambridge, and tells us that the phenome- 

 non may best be studied on our shores. 



It is well known that in Tertiary times all the large ani- 

 mals which now inhabit North Africa, as well as many ex- 

 tinct forms, occurred throughout Southern and Middle 

 Europe, to which no doubt they went every summer, re- 

 turning in winter to their tropical home. But as the two 

 isthmuses— so to speak— extending like causeways from 

 Africa to Europe, grew narrower and narrower, by slowly 

 sinking beneath the waves, less and less numerous herds 

 would be able to go north of the Mediterranean in summer, 

 and finally, as the land sank out of sight, the great carni- 

 vores and ruminants would be cut off from wandering to 

 the northward, leaving behind them, however, a single col- 

 ony of apes on Gibraltar. 



These facts disclose one of the ways in which a knowl- 

 edge of zoology can help the geologist to confirm the truth 

 of his reading of the record of the rocks, or, by disagree- 

 . meat, make more manifest his errors . 



In endeavoring to account for the distribution of ani- 

 mals over the earth's surface "the proportion of land and 

 water, the outlines and distribution of continents; the 

 depth of seas and oceans; the position of islands; the height 

 of, direction and continuity of mountain chains; the position 

 and extent of deserts, lakes and forests; the direction and 

 velocity of ocean currents, as well as of prevalent winds 

 and hurricanes; and lastly the distribution of heat and 

 cold, of rain, and snow and ice, both in their extremes 

 and in their means have all to be considered, not only as 

 they are at present, but also with regard to their perma- 

 nence." 



If the dry land of the globe had from the first been con- 

 tinuous and level, the larger groups would probably have 

 spread all over the world, and divided themselves only in 

 accordance with tropical, temperate and arctic zones; 

 and if such a condition of the earth remained a long time 

 the result would be an almost perfect organic balance, and 

 great stability of average numbers and boundaries. But 

 let this evenness and continuity be broken up by the erec- 

 tion of mountain ranges, ihe introduction of arms of the 

 sea, the influx of oceans by the subsidence of land, mak- 

 ing several smaller continents out of what was before one 

 large one, alteration in the temperature.winds and rainfall 

 would ensue, and animal life be affected in ever way. 

 Slowly, to be sure, all these changes have actually taken 

 place in the physical geography of the world, and have pro- 

 duced their effect upon its inhabitants in their structure, 

 relations and distribution . In order, therefore, to under- 

 stand the present zoological geography of the world it is 

 necessary to study the distribution of its extinct races. 

 This Mr. Wallace has done, and for the first time presents 

 a connected view of the geographical distribution of mam- 

 mals in Tertiary and Post Glacial times. This part of the 

 book is of the greatest value and interest, and its evidence, 

 looked at from a purely zoological standpoint, is a wonder- 

 ful corroboration of the conclusions of geology, and throws 

 a flood of light upon every side of the natural history of 

 animals today. 



The first and most startling fact brought out by this re- 

 view of the past is the very recent and almost universal 

 change that has taken place in the character of the fauna 

 over the whole globe, since the time when enormous ani- 

 mals of every sort, and in astonishing abundance, roamed 

 over the Tertiary world. Nothing like this revolution, re- 

 sulting in the disappearance of so many forms, has ever taken 

 place before since the introduction of life upon the globe, 

 and clearly we are now in an exceptional period of the 

 world's history . "We live," says our author, "in a zoo- 

 logically impoverished world, from which all the highest, 

 and fiercest, and strangest forms have disappeared; and it 

 is, no doubt, a better world for us now they have gone . Yet 

 it is surely a marvellous fact, and one that has hardly been 

 sufficiently dwelt upon, this sudden dying out of so many 

 large mammalia, not in one place only, but over half the 

 land surface of the globe. We cannot but believe that 

 there must have been some physical cause for this great 

 change; and it must have been a cause capable of acting 

 almost simultaneously over large portions of the earth's 

 surface, and one which, as far as the Tertiary period at 

 least is concerned, was of an exceptional character. Such 

 a cause exists in the great and recent change known as the 

 Glacial Epoch." 



But space forbids further accounts of this highly inter- 

 esting and suggestive book, which every thinking man 

 ought to read, not only for the general considerations 

 which have been indicated, but for the dryer facts of the 

 distribution of animals and the vast information with 

 which the two thick volumes are replete, and which is 

 made readily accessible by a .copious index. 



GAME PROTECTION. 



Free Markets in Boston. — A correspondent as well 

 known as a joker as a good sportsman, sends us the follow- 

 ing: "Boston is always alive to reforms. For several years 

 past there has been much controversy over the subject of 

 free markets, to save the profits of the middleman by 

 cringing the producer and consumer near together. That 

 dream is now fully realized, judging from what we saw 

 at the Poultry Exhibition at Music Hall this week. The 

 nens drop their eggs, and the boys pick them up and suck 

 them before they get cold." 



—Notwithstanding the loss of 1,000,000 oranges by the 

 late freeze in Florida, the shipment for the season is es- 

 timated at one-third more than last year, 



Connecticut.— A correspondent writes from Fairfield 

 county on the subject of Game Protection and Sportsmen's 

 Clubs as follows: — 



I notice a great many statements in your paper of the 

 meetings of different Game and Fish Associations, and a 

 great deal said about making of laws in one State conform 

 to those of others. I am in favor of the protection of both 

 "fin and feather." Now, I ask, take quail; will the same 

 dates for the close oeason hold good in both Maine and 

 Georgia? In this State I think the law would be improved 

 by making the open season eleven days shorter than the 

 twenty longer that many are now working for. On the 

 24th of last October I came across a brood of young quail; 

 they were so small that they could not fly a foot; still the 

 law had been off from them four days, and I think that 

 was about the length of time they had been clear of the 

 shell. I wish to speak of woodcock shooting, and a word 

 for certain localities in favor of the summer part of it. 

 I have shot for the last ten years over the same grounds, 

 and when I came here there were some twelve different 

 persons who shot over dogs that I can now call to mind, 

 and I think eight or nine of them shot for market, or were 

 in other words pot hunters, commencing with the cock in 

 July, and keeping it up uniil January, and in those days a 

 bag of twenty-five was nothing uncommon for one gun; 

 but in the fall, by constant watching, you might get two 

 or three day's of good autumn shooting, but seldom more. 

 When they leave the corn in September they leave, or 

 seem to leave this locality for good, I had thought that it 

 must be owing to the promiscuous slaughter of them in July 

 and August; but how is it to day? According to the last 

 census, a population of twenty-five less, the breeding 

 grounds as great, and perhaps greater than these, and for 

 the past three years I have been over them in the months 

 of July and June, and would find apparently more birds 

 and only three dogs owned in the town that knew the 

 difference between a woodcock and woodchuck. No, pot 

 hunters, the birds have been left undisturbed; if not by 

 law, by mutual consent. We have no fall shooting, and 

 all have become disgusted, and say they are tired of rais- 

 ing birds for Jerseymen to shoot. Now, I say the theory is 

 that if they, the woodcock, are left undisturbed on their 

 breeding grounds, they will, after moulting, return to them, 

 until they are ready to fake their southern flight, as re- 

 gards this section is perfect bosh. You will not find one 

 in October where there are twenty in June and July, and 

 that when they commence their southern flight from points 

 north of us, more than for one day they will not wait for 

 us. Oh! if they only knew, we are poor sportsmen at the 

 best, and we only keep a few native stock dogs, 'cause 

 why: we can't afford anything better; but I am afraid the 

 poor birds know that, and they had sooner be used up with 

 the imported stock, and the modern Scott and Grenner, for 

 when we find them on their journey, we bang away until 

 our guns are dirty, and by the time we get cleaned up 

 they ara off to the land of "Pride of the Border" and his 

 ilk. On a trip 10 Litchfield county, in this State, this last 

 fall, the same cry went up. We are tired of raising birds 

 for Jerseymen to shoot. The Rhode Island Game and 

 Fish Association say, that if summer woodcock shooting 

 was not allowed, they would cross America's choicest bird 

 from their list of game for the State.. I do not like the 

 hot July and August tramps as well as the cool frosty 

 months, but I do love the juice and a bit of the meat of 

 our choicest bird, hence, as the Fire Drinkers say, a word 

 in favor of Local Option. Grumbler. 



Pennsylvania:— A correspondent writes from Potts- 

 ville, under date of January 8th, as follows: Ten of the 

 most popular sportsmen of this city have organized an 

 Association, entitled "The Sportsmen's Association," with 

 a Constitution and By-laws, duly recorded in the office for 

 recording deeds, etc., in and for the County of Schuylkill. 

 The Association has leased a territory (in this county) of 

 three thousand acres, comprising forest, field and stream, 

 which it purposes stocking with a great variety of the 

 choicest birds and fishes for propagation, the sporting 

 field commencing but a few miles from town, and extend- 

 ing in one unbroken range, of easy access, either by rail, 

 vehicle, or "shanks mare." The territory described is 

 owned by fifteen farmers, the Association paying each 

 farmer $5 per annum, with privilege to "stock" and 

 "hunt" at their discretion as before stated, and any per- 

 son or persons caught trespassing upon the property of 

 either of these farmers, with an intent of "trapping" or 

 "shooting" any of the game, shall, upon conviction, pay 

 a penalty of $5 and costs of arrest, or undergo an imprison- 

 ment of thirty days. Half the net proceeds goes to the 

 treasury of the Association, and the other half to the 

 farmer interested. I heartily concur in a movement of 

 this kind, and think it worthy the consideration of the 

 readers of your valuable journal, as a plan of this kind is 

 the only means whereby game can receive proper protec- 

 tion . One poacher on the leased ground has already come 

 to grief this season, and has been fined $20 for the pleasure 

 of killing one rabbit. Dom Pedro. 



* Harrisrurg, Jan. 15tb, 1877. 



Editor Forest and Stream: — 



Quail (Ortyxvirginianus), and which most Pennsylvanians 

 insist upon calling partridge, have been reasonably plenti- 

 ful throughout this (Dauphin) and neighboring counties 

 the past season; and when the shooting season closed, 

 December 15th, a number of fine coveys were left un- 

 molested; even in some localities where pot-hunters swarm 

 respectable remnants of large flocks were found. The 

 winter has been extremely severe upon poor "Bob White," 

 and in several exposed localities along the Susquehanna 

 river I hear of birds having been found dead in the snow- 

 drifts, having either frozen to death or died of starvation. 

 Quite a number of our farmers, who have manifested an- 

 nual interest in our favorite bird the past year or two, have 

 erected low sheds or booths at suitable parts of their es- 

 tates provided with straw, leaves, etc.,* and which are 

 supplied liberally with grain and seeds. Hundreds of 

 birds will thus be able to survive the rigid winter, and go 

 forth into the fields and meadows in order to breed when 

 the proper season arrives. A well-to-do farmer, residing in 

 the lower eno* of this qounty, near the Lancaster line, as. 



sured the writer, a day or two since, that a large covey 

 numbering some forty or fifty birds have become quite 

 domesticated since the severe weather has set in, and came 

 regularly to his barnyard, morning and evening, among 

 the cattle for a supply of grain, which they pick up 

 greedily and seemingly without fear. 

 "■ Messrs. Boker and long, two sportsmen residing in the 

 village of Hummelstown, nine miles east of the Capital, 

 have trapped a large number of birds since the severe snow 

 storms have set in, and in several instances found the 

 "mottled beauties" almost in a starving condition — mere 

 skeletons. These" gentlemen have considerable over a 

 hundred under their protection all doing finely. 



Apropos of quail, what is your opinion (and your opinion 

 is law among many sportsmen, I take it), about California 

 quail? Will they stand the climate of the middle States? 

 Last fall Messrs. J. D. Cameron, Secretary of War, Jacob 

 R Ely, Esq., a prominent agriculturalist ex-President of 

 Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, and Col. James 

 Young, who owns seven of the finest farms in the State, 

 brought home from California, whither they had gone for 

 a few moths' recreation, among other curiosities a number 

 of California quail. The pair that Secretary Cameron had 

 were kept in the stable with his fine stud "of horses, and 

 were carefully tended by the groom. The female fell a 

 prey to a thieving Maltese cat, and the male died a short 

 time afterward, it was supposed from cold. It may have 

 been, nevertheless, from grief, at the loss of its mate. The 

 bird came into the writer's possession, who had it hand- 

 somely mounted, and it now occupies a position under a 

 glass case in the drawing room by the side of a magnificent 

 drake of the wood-duck, prepared by an expert, an Eng- 

 lishman, of Philadelphia. The impression among sports- 

 men here is that the beautiful California bird is unsuited 

 to the climate. Adubon. 



[We are of the impression that our climate is too severe 

 for California quail, although if even a few could once be 

 acclimated their progeny might survive. This has been 

 done, we hear, in Delaware, and as this is the severest 

 season they have had in that section for many years, if 

 they survive it will be a good test. There is one peculiarity 

 of the California quail which might aid in their preserva- 

 tion. It is their habit to roost in trees instead of on the 

 ground, so that if they were turned out among thick cedars 

 they would not be so likely to be snowed under. If flesh 

 is any indication they are certainly a touglier bird than ours. 

 —Ed.] 



Lancaster, Pa., January 15th, 1877. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



The heavy snows and intensely cold weather which we 

 have had for some weeks past have killed off many of our 

 birds, and our sportsmen should at once do all in their 

 power to preserve such as have not already perished from 

 the above causes, or been caught by the hawks. This is 

 one of the hardest of seasons for them to live through, 

 and, unless they are cared for now, they will die of 

 hunger, as there is no food tbey can get at save around the 

 hay-stacks and barn-yards. Our numerous friends of the 

 dog and gun can do this at but very little expense, and 

 surely they would have their reward increased ten-fold 

 next October. In many parts of the country our sports- 

 men are trapping them alive to preserve through the 

 winter to turn out in the spring, stipulating beforehand 

 with the owners of the lands that a certain number shall 

 be put on their respective farms, for what farmer is there 

 who does not love to have our beautiful litfte quail on 

 his farm, even though he be no disciple of Nimrod? 



Georgia. 



[A season like the present shows the necessity for co- 

 operation and sympathy between farmers and sportsmen. 

 Not that farmers may not be sportsmen also, but we know 

 that many of them have not time to spare from their farm 

 duties to devote to dog and gun. With them, however, 

 to a great extent, rests the fate of the quails this winter, 

 and according as they may assist them with a little food 

 and shelter, or as they may totally neglect them, rests the 

 question of scarcity or abundance for next seasons shoot- 

 ing. Let all Sportsmen's Clubs enroll as many farmers 

 as possible among their number, remitting their dues even, 

 for shooting pri vileges granted the Club, and they will find 

 that they have taken the right move in the cause of game 

 protection. — Ed.] 



—Our correspondent, "Al Fresco," writes from Jackson- 

 ville, Florida, that he is confident that he can get a 

 stringent Game Law passed by the present Legislature. 

 Nothing can be more desirable than such a consummation. 

 Quail and deer are sold openly, and furnished at all public 

 houses in Florida until the 1st of May. There should be 

 no deer shooting, excepting of bucks, after March 1st, at 

 the very latest. We have aided the efforts of Dr; Ken- 

 worthy (Al Fresco) in this direction, to the best of our 

 ability. There are already two or three Game Clubs in 

 Florida, the most prominent originating at New Smyrna, 

 through the influence of our correspondent, Maj. Geo. A. 

 Aldern. 



—We understand that a Committee of the Game Protec- 

 tion Society is now engaged in framing a new game law, to 

 be submitted to the Legislature at its next session, and to 

 take effect, if passed, at the expiration of the present law, 

 which will be in September of this year. It is now the 

 universal opinion that the enactment of the present law 

 has been of immense advantage to the country in the pro- 

 tection of its game, and has been the means of saving the 

 moose from utter extermination. 



If the Legislature could be induced to continue the re- 

 strictive law for two year's longer, we think it would be a 

 wise enactment, but failing that, it will be necessary to 

 pass some law, which, while allowing reasonable license 

 in the hunting of these animals, will at the same time 

 guard against the indiscriminate slaughter, which was too 

 prevalent before the passage of the present law. There 

 should be no killing of moose allowed in February or 

 March, for it is in these months, when the snow is deep in 

 the forests, that the greatest slaughter takes place— nor 

 should hunting with dogs be allowed under any cireusn- 

 stances,— gali/cus (N. 8.) Meporter, 



