124 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Septembeb 18, 18317. 



such GAxeUeni; long-range ruea as Adee, Biiniside, Buck, 

 Todd, ^'aiTOvv, Hubbard, Lauiitzeu, Cobb, Allen, David, 

 Racaooae, Day, Fisher, Lj.mb, Morse aud^Mclnness. 



The team matches are, however, the feature of the 

 meethiij, and Jieve the eJIort put forth was the best. 



In the liiu.'iaauoiuii Mditary Match, in whUh regulars 

 are pitted iigaiiwt mUitiaaien for tue Hilton troplij', there 

 are six eulri-is. They are from the States of New 

 York, New Jersey and Penusylvauia, while the regular 

 ai-my is represented in each of its divisions of the At- 

 lantic, Paciiic and Missoiui by teams. 



The luter-State matcli for militiamen only will be 

 fought between the States of New York, New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The Inter-btate long 

 range for clubs will be fought out by sis teams, the Ihon 

 Club, New York, the Massachusetts Rifle Association, 

 the Empire Kilie Club, tlie Ajinateur Rifle Club, the Penn- 

 sylvania State Kifle Association and the Connecticut As- 

 Bocialiou being represented. In the Army and Navy 

 Journul match, which is purely military, there are eigh- 

 teen teams entered, and from among the commands ol 

 litis fcitale tifleen teams have been gathered for the State 

 match. Tlie Fust Division match, which ought to yield 

 a strong light among tiie nine regiments of the Metropo- 

 lis, iiaa tliree entries, the Seventh, Eighth and Sixty- 

 ninth regiments only coming forward. In the Second 

 Diviaiou match, for Bruoklj n regiments, the showing is 

 even worse, for the Tweiity-iijiid and Fourteenth regi- 

 ments are alone represented, 'i'he Washington Greys 

 have leained that if they run away they may live to fight 

 anotlier day, and the Cavalry State match is left between 

 the Oswego and Harlem teams. Every club thinks itself 

 capable ol good short range work, and there are accord- 

 ingly til teen entries for the short range team match, while 

 in the ufl-liand niiJitary team match sixteen eulries will 

 make up a lively contest. 



Special etfurts have been made to have a gathering ol 

 notables dtu-hig the meeting, and with such a wide area 

 of selection for the teams, the interest in the meeting is 

 very general. Col. John Bodine is the executive officer 

 for the first lime, and he is assisted in his work liy Col. 

 Story, to whom the credit of the i)reseiit fall meeting sys 

 tem of squadding and time schedules should be given. 



ALONG THE SHORE. 



SUMMER is the time for visiting the seashore. When 

 tlie country only a few mdcs from the ocean, shel- 

 tered by the woods or the intervening hills, lies baked 

 and simmering under the August sun, breezes fresh and 

 crisp as those of October blow cool from the broad At 

 lantic, and temper the intense heat till it becomes merely 

 a delicious, languorous warmth. And what wonderful 

 sights one may behold upon the wet beaches, provided he 

 ■who visits them be truly an observer, and can appreciate 

 the many curiuuid forms of Hfe that are to be found scat- 

 tered far and wide along the water's edge. 



Far away to tlie eastward stretches the inten.sely blue 

 sea, sometimes smooth and smiling, clear as the sky 

 above it, or again sparkling with white-tipped waves. 

 that flash merrily in the sunlight and invite one to push 

 off las bark from the shore and sail away toward thi- 

 blue water beyond, where sea and sky seem to meet. 

 Not less inviting is the roaring surf off the wide beach. 

 where the giant rollers come pouring in in rej;uiar sue 

 cession, each one forcing the retreat of the busy gioiips 

 of beach birds, wldch turn on its reflux and hastily fol- 

 low back the retreating waters. Behind us, to the west- 

 ward, is the bay, backed by several miles of low marshes, 

 intersected by numerous inlets, and beyond these mea- 

 dows appear the low hills of the mainland, crowned with 

 feathery pines and dotted with white farm buildings. 



We recently visited the eastern shore of Virginia, and 

 during the few days which we were enabled to spend 

 along this deUghtful coast, enjoyed to the full its Uiany 

 charms. 



AVe left New York one Wednesday on the steamship 

 Breakwater, Oapt. Gibbs, of the Old Dominion Line ; a 

 new vessel of about 1,000 tons burden, fitted up in a most 

 comfortable, not to to say luxurious style. The sail down 

 the coast in su( h a vessel — so fast, so well-managed and 

 with such pleasant officers — is most dehghtful, and we 

 are sine tliat were it generally known that .so pleasant an 

 excuisiun coiilil be mado so quickly and cheaply, the 

 Brealiwuter's passenger list would bfi a large one each 

 trip. The traveler can leave New York at 3 p.m., and 

 reaching Lewes, Del., early next morning, can spend the 

 day there until 3 o'clock, when the steamer starts again 

 for New York, which is reached before daylight ou the 

 following morning. At Lewes there is good fishing, and 

 weakftsh, spots, croakers and blaokfish are oauglil in 

 considerable numbers, Ati^ertain .si-aRrui.s the salt mea- 

 dows are alive with bay snipe, and there is said to be fau- 

 quail shooting l.iack from the shore, 



From Lev.es we took the Junction and Breakwater 

 Railroad to Franklin City, Md, From this point a small 

 steamer takes us to Chincoteague — famous for its oys- 

 ters, its crabs, its terrapin, its bay snipe and its ponies. 

 Here it is that the somewhat famous pony penning 

 takes place each year ; a performance, however, which, 

 owing to the gradually lessening size of the herd, is 



much less interesting now than it used to be. At Chin- 

 coteague we spent a short time at the excellent Atlantic 

 Hotel, kept by Messrs. S. E. iMatthews & Co., whUe the 

 preparations for our trip were being made, and then hav- 

 ing secured a small yacht, with Capt. Claval as skipper 

 and a four foot darkey .as steward, weighed anchai to 

 spend a few days along the shore. Our ostensible ol.ject 

 was to shoot bay snipe, but the event proved tliat we 

 were too early for the birds, and no very large bags were 

 made. Willets, dowitchers, great and lesser yelljw-legs 

 fell to our guns in goodly numbers, and a few curlew and 

 marlin were killed, but there was no great flight, such as 

 we had hoped for. The pleasflres of the excursion, how- 

 ever, were such that we scarcely missed the shooting. 

 With \vhat lazy delight we dozed upon the deck in the 

 warm sunlight while our lively little vessel skimmed 

 over the waves. How interesting to watch the great 

 schools of menhaden flashing at the surface of the water, 

 while at intervals the triangular fin of a shark was to be 

 seen at the edge of the mass, carrying terror to the 

 crowded fish that were nearest to him. 



During the middle of the day we sail from one point to 

 another, the morning and the evening being employed in 

 shooting. We set out our stools either along the beach, 

 just out of reach of the surf, or else on the meadows at 

 Che edge of some little pond hole. It is better to shoot 

 on rising water, as the birds, when they are dri\'eu off the 

 flats by the tide, fly hither and thither seeking some feed- 

 ing ground which is still uncovered, As a ride, large de- 

 coys are better than small ones, for the small birds are 

 attracted by, and wiU aUght to, large stools, but large 

 snipe, such as curlew, marUn and plover, will not come 

 to small ones. We have, then, a lot of curlew, willet, 

 yelper and black-breast stools, and we marshal them in 

 the most imposing fashion, so that the flock of fifty or 

 I sixty mimic bay snipe make a very good show. A hol- 

 low scraped out of the sand, if we are on the surf, or a 

 bunch of tall grass, or perhaps some boughs cut from the 

 low sand bushes, if on the meadow, form our blind, and 

 we are soon snugly concealed. Before long the soft, 

 mellow and long drawn out whistle of a black-bieast 

 plover, the ringing call of a jack curlew, or the harsh 

 scream of a willet falls upon the ear and is answered 

 from the blind ; the birds draw near, and, seeing the 

 stools, change their course and rapidly approach us. How 

 beautiful it is to watch the wary jacks or plover high in 

 air swing over the stools to leeward, calling at frequent 

 intervals to their supposed comrades below, and receiv- 

 ing deceptive answers from the blind. At last they set 

 their wings and swing down close over the stools, their 

 long legs dangling and their bodies crowding together as 

 they prepare to ahght. We rise from the blind, the fom- 

 barrels sound in quick succession, and the dead and dy- 

 ing strew the gxound, while the survivors, with hurried 

 wing-beats, rise in the air and start to fly oft". Again the 

 delusive whistle, sounds from the bhud, and if the birds 

 are willets or dowitchers they will very likely swing 

 round again and again untU tlieh ranks are sadly thinned. 

 Sometimes a little flock of oyster-catchers (Haematopus 

 palliahis) flies along the beach, uttering at intervals their 

 short, sliarp cry, and when it is repliedto from the blind 

 noticing and turning in toward the stools. They are 

 wonderfully tough birds, aud it takes a great deal of 

 shooting to bring them down. These birds are caUed. 

 along the Vhginia shore, sea crows ; for what reason it 

 would be hard to say. In their livery of white and sooty 

 brown, with their red bills and long, flesh-colored legs, 

 they are as little like crows as any bird that flies. The 

 thin compressed beak of this species is curiously adapted 

 for being introduced into partially opened bivalve shells, 

 and the shore nen relate tliat when the bird sees a clam 

 or an oyster with its shell part way open it steals up to 

 it and quickly thrusting in the knife-like mandibles "cuts 

 its heart." It probably cuts the muscles which hold to- 

 gether the two valves, so that its victim is no longer able 

 to close its shell, and is devoured at leisure. 



When there comes a lull in the tUght we are at Ubei-ty 

 to rise and stretch our legs. We light our pipes and re- 

 cline at full length on the beach in the warm sun. At a 

 little distance from us is a throng of the smaller beach 

 birds— peeps, oxeyes and the smaller plover. They run 

 busily about, some following the retreating waters and 

 snatching savory morsels from the very surf, and othea-s 

 probing the wet sand until it is honeycombed with the 

 marks of their bills. Among them are several birds very 

 pale in color, which we do not recognize at once. These. 

 ,on closer inspection, prove to be the Wilson's plover 

 JEgialiUs wilsonius), dainty little birds which are sel- 

 dom seen as far North as New York. Occasionally one 

 or two willets join the group of smaller birds and feed 

 with them. They, too, probe the sand for food, thrust- 

 ing their bills in up to the nostrils with action rauoli like 

 that of the Wilson's snipe. 



As we sit waiting for the bay birds to come in we are 

 critically inspected by all the feathered multitude that 

 gat their living along the shore. An osprey, whose fish- 

 ing we have been watching with interest for some time, 

 having caught a good-sized "spot" (Ligostomuh obliqitus). 

 passes close over us on his way home, and whistles shrilly 

 as he eyes us. The black -headed guUs (Xaews atridlla) 

 sail slowly along the beaoh, and when they pass ua take 



a circle or two about our heads in order that they may 

 have a good look at us. Of the little terns there are half 

 a dozen species to be seen. They fly restlessly about and 

 are ridiculously tame. Sea swallows, they are well called, 

 and few birds equal them either in purity and beauty of 

 plumage or grace of flight. But they are cross and peev- 

 ish little birds, and evidently think there is something sus- 

 picious about us and our stools, for as they pass backward 

 and forward over us they utter complaining grating cries 

 and sweep so close to our heads that we are tempted to 

 throw at them some of the shells with which the beaoh 

 is strewn. 



The shearwaters (Ri/nehojiS nigra:) or, as they are here 

 called, skimmers or flood gulls, are not less tame. 

 They would fly in low wide circles about us, so close 

 that they were almost within reach of our gun bar- 

 rels, constantly uttering their smooth low croaking 

 notes, and eyeing us with an appearance of the great- 

 est curiosity. Sometimes, after a long inspection from 

 above, they would alight on the sand within twenty 

 or thirty feet of our blind and stand there croaking 

 for a few moments, when, if no movement was made 

 to disturb them, they would sit down on the sand 

 aud doze until frightened away by our whistling or our 

 shots. On the ground they are grotesque objects, 

 but while flying they are beautiful birds, the black and 

 white of the plumage being very striking, and contrast- 

 ing with the bright red of the bill. They are called flood 

 gulls, from the supposed fact that on a rising water they 

 fly over one, calling loudly, but are silent at otlier times. 

 We frequently', however, during our stay, heard them 

 calling on the ebb tide. The reason for their name of 

 skimmer will be evident enough to any one who has ever 

 seen them feed. They flap slowly along over the water, 

 the mouth wide open, the lower mandible immersed, and 

 seem to feed indifferently over the open waters, the pond- 

 holes and the tidewater channels that intersect the 

 marshes. One that we watched for a long time was ob- 

 served ti5 follow a school of small fish, and his stomach, 

 when opened, was found to contain two small minnows 

 and several shrimp, besides a quantity of partially di- 

 gested matter which could not be identified. It is highly 

 probable, however, that the food of the shearwater con- 

 sists largely of small crustaceans. We often saw them 

 feeding in the late dusk, and heard their cries at mid- 

 night. 



In the surf on the outer beaches of this coast there is 

 often fine fishing for drums (Pogonias eJtromis), which 

 arc caught by a squid thrown from the beach, the fish 

 weighing from twenty to seventy pounds. In many 

 places the beaches are thronged with small sea crabs, 

 which excavate for themselves deep burrows near high 

 water mark, to wMch, on the approach of man, they be- 

 take themselves with great swiftness. They have short 

 heavy bodies about the size of an egg, are yellowish in 

 color, with short stout wliite "nippers." In many places 

 the beach is covered with their tracks, which greatly re- 

 mind one of some of the tracks on theTriassic sandstones 

 of the Connecticut Valley. The drum fish are said to feed 

 to a considerable extent on these crabs, wluoh, we are 

 told, they dig out of the aand at high water. 



There is SO much of interest to be seen about such a 

 shore, where earth, air and water swarm with different 

 forms of animal life, that it cannot all be compressed into 

 one brief note. We should like to tell of the weakfish in 

 the inlets, the softshell oralis and oysters of the shallow 

 bays, the meadow hens which throng the marshes, and 

 the delicious fruits of the mainland. Our pen floating 

 airily from one topic to another should touch, too, with 

 its light point the gigantic mosquitos of Wallop's Beach 

 and the intense heat of one quiet moonlit idght, wliich 

 prevented sleep and made Ufe for the time being a bur- 

 den. There were of course a few drawbacks to the de- 

 lights of our excursion, but on the whole it was full of 

 pleasures, and its memories will long remain with us. 



ANGLING CONTESTS. 



^ 



THE angling clubs of London are much given to com- 

 petitive angling of a sort ivhich, we hope, wUl 

 never be introduced in America, or, if so introduced, we 

 sincerely hope they will be a short lived novelty. Noih- 

 ing can be more foreign to the quiet and gentlemanly 

 spirit of the angler than these contests. Imagine, if you 

 can, the feelings of horror with which the "good old 

 Izaak," or our own Norris, would view a crowd of men 

 intent upon catching the greatest number of HsU in a 

 given time, for a plated cup or teapot ! Surely this is the 

 very opposite of the contemplative man's recreation, and 

 places it on the level of those highly intellectual games 

 played at rural fairs, an sack races, catching the oleagin- 

 ous" porker, clkubing tlie greased pole, and grinning 

 through horse coUara, or to gambling pt'destrian matches 

 and the like. 



We would.not include the very good onatoin of a prize 

 or a supper to the captor of the largest iish in the course 

 of an angling season, as we believe to be the custom of 

 some of our American clubs, among the kind of angling 

 contests under consideration, but refer particularly to 

 the practice which has, within a few years, obtained 

 among our English cousins, of going out in a party for a 



