148 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[September S8, 1880. 



Tlie Forest a^nd Stre.uvi dislikes personalities; it 

 never drops to calling names. But when the truth is to 

 be Bpoken, that responsibility may be fixed, it will never 

 fear to speak the triitli. 



If in tbe course of Oiis article we have at times failed 

 to separate tlie (juf si ion of the safety of the powder from 

 the course pursued by its manufacturers, it is because we 

 have been reluctamly comjielled to do so. From the very 

 nature of tlie case the two arc so connected that a discus- 

 son of the one could not avoid a reference to the other. 



THE CREEDMOOR MEETING. 



THE extended report which we offer of the work 

 done and the results accomplished at the recent Fall 

 Prize Meeting at Creedmoor, warrant careful scrutiny. 

 ThesH long lines of figures are not mere accidental ar- 

 rangement of digits, but represent careful, intelHgeut ap- 

 plication of the accomplishment of a result. The "Wood- 

 chuck Hunters," as they were jocularly called, who took 

 the State Prize, did not blunder into it, but reached that 

 honor hy persistent ende.ivor on their home range. At 

 that place they became accustomed to baffling winds and 

 disadvantageous condiUons. They became trained in the 

 judgment of wind and its effect on the flying bullet; they 

 gained the knack of steady holding, and then when they 

 found a liart day at Creedmoor, they were in a measure 

 at home, ol' eovirse. There may have been other teams 

 who were (ho victims of bad luck. The most skUlful 

 shot may miss, but the novice does not roll up a line 

 total. Pulma non .sine piilvere is the iiile ot the range. 

 . from which there is no escape. Every prize winner of 

 last week earned his trophy and its honor by hard work. 

 Not one of them blundered into his good fortune, and 

 those wlio failed of thek ambition have at leaiit the satis- 

 isfaction of knowing that their leaders did not win by a 

 fltike : that they have not been compelled to take a place 

 behind " dull'era." The popularity of off-hand shooting 

 is indicated by the large number of entries in the short 

 range matches, and this will probably continue to be the 

 case BO long as marksmen do not care to unite acrobatics 

 with their target practice and reach tbe buUseye only 

 throu.i;b a fine grape-vine twist of the arms and legs over 

 the green sward. The success of the regulars, while it 

 should be looked for as a matter of course, is uone tlie 

 less an agreeable surprise. Tlie army has taken a very 

 sensible view of its position in the matter of rifle prac- 

 tice. There is no doubt that when the movement for an 

 intelligent drill in target shooting, was begun by the mil- 

 itia of the States, and of New York in particular, that 

 the regulars were lamentably behind-hand. By a sort of 

 general neglect tbe Springfield riHes in the hands of the 

 troops were allowed to have a very quiet time of it, ex- 

 cept when they were aimed so wildly and with so little 

 effect against the Indian malcontents on our frontier. 

 When rifle practice had become pretty well estabhshed 

 among the yoluuteers, the deficiency of the regulai-s be- 

 came so apparent that something had to be done. Then 

 it was that the officerB of iho regular army came out 

 f i-ankly and acknowledged that their men were far in the 

 rear, aiid joining hands with the militia the result has 

 been of great advantage to both. Friction has developed 

 effort, and the keen rivalry has spurred on the soldier 

 and ciU'zeu alike to Uieir best endeavors. Pei-sonally 

 there is little clioice between the make-up of the teams, 

 but the faimre of New York State to appear in tbe Inter- 

 national team match opens up a fruitful topic of official 

 negligence, and is a strong confession bj' men competent 

 to make it, that New ^'ork State is armed officially with 

 an antiquated arm, and the name of "gas-pipe," with 

 which it has been dubbed by the men carrying it, is a 

 singularly expressive one. The re.sidt uf tbe Wimbledon 

 Cup match may rouse the cry of proiessionalistu, but as 

 there was room enough and to spare aliuve it, which the 

 non-professional might have occupied, tliere does not 

 seem to be so much room for complaint. On the whole 

 the meeting was a success, though it does seem that after 

 80 many years' experience a more clock-work move- 

 ment of the competitions should have been reached. As 

 it is, the experience gained on many points at one meet- 

 ing Bsems to have entirely evaporated ere the date of the 

 next gathering. 



THE TILESTON FUND. 



EdU'ir Fnrest and St 

 I liavo to iielinowl 

 tlonBtollif'T 

 pfovioiislVHCli 



Thorn, 63: .Taj. Vomel- 

 lor, 82; Wm. E. .lones, 

 82 Percy O. Ohl, $10, 

 tlicough P. C. OW 



INew York, Sept.mh. 



idRo ilie receipt to date ot further subscrip- 

 Dii MeiiioriatFund," as follows:— 



lL'KcM).f.8SU 00 I H. W. Livingatone . $5 00 



50 00 C. W. HutchinsfiQ, thro' 



FOHEST ANn SiaEAM.. ]0 00 

 IW.A.Cosler 5 00 



Total.... ,., $768 CO 



Ig 00 I 



Fkbd. N- Hall, Secrelary. 



The Ixtkbnational CRicKJiT JLvrcn,— We publish this 

 week the most full and coni|:.rehen..^ive report of the 

 "Qnited. States-Canada Match, at Philadelphia, that has 

 appeared in the public prints. It is from the pen of our 

 cricket editor, who witnessed every ball bowled in the 

 match, and every phase of the game has been faithfully 

 detailed. Our going to press at an early hour last week 

 prevented its appearance in last issue. 1 



fttttmtJ fistorQ, 



BEAVERS PARTIALLY DOJDESTICATED. 



THE interesting note from E. B. B., wliich we 

 published last week on beavers in Iowa, makes 

 the accompanying extract particularly interesting just 

 at present. The beavers refen-ed to were introduced into 

 the Isle of Bute, by the Marquis of that Isle in 1874, 

 and seem to have done very well. The succeeding re- 

 marks are taken from the Journal of Forestry, and are 

 from the pen of Joseph Stuart Black, keeper on the Bute 

 estate : — 



Then- food in winter consists wholly of the barks of 

 trees ; had they a choice I have no hesitation in saying 

 they would prefer the willow and poplar. These" not 

 growing in the enclosure they had just to adapt them- 

 selves to circumstances, and take a share of what trees 

 they could get, consisting of oak, plane tree, elm, thorn, 

 hazel, Scotch fir and larch. Of the bard wood, they 

 seem to prefer elm to plane tree, then oak, of which they 

 eat sparingly. Of the first, the Scotch has the prefer- 

 ence ; :\s for the larcli, they did not touch it tiU early in 

 1.S78, since which tnne the;^ have taken to it very well. 

 As for the alder :iri(l spruce hr. tliey eat almost nothing 

 of them. Along witli all these we have always giv 

 them a supply of willow. ly\ sunuuer they eat freely of 

 the common bracken, likewise grass, and young sboota 

 of every description growing in tlie place. In aulmnn 

 they grub nji ami feed upon roots, chief among whii^h is 

 theTormentil ire/f7j;;7;,( Inrutrntilhi). known to Seo'ch 

 people as " tormentil real," and tbe young tender 

 shoots of the common sinirts before they appear above 

 uround. at the same time cutting <lown a tree now and 

 again and feeding on the bark. 



As to the tree felling it is ail done at night ; the "num- 

 ber which tliey have cut down amount now to 187 trees 

 from five feet in circumference downw.ird. These 

 are all forest trees, besides many smaller bushes. Before 

 cutting down a tree, they mark it all round at the 

 height they wish to cut it. ' Tliey begin to cut ac the op- 

 posite side to which they inteml the tree should fall, in- 

 variably making it fall with tbe top to the water. Where 

 they grow near enough, they make them fall across the 

 stre'am or dam, causing many to suppose that they are 

 so placed to form a bridge, whereby they may cross from 

 one side of the water to another, tliey- do not re piire a 

 bridge, they (lau swim, and rather tlian cross over a |ivos- 

 trate tree thcv dive under it. I\fv iuipres.^ion is, tlie\' :\re 

 so placed to ijreali tlie nurent of (lie water when the 

 stream is fiooded ; also if eonveiiii-nt Uiev talce advantage 

 of building a dam where some of (he lives li" arross the 

 water, those lying across in their principal dam are 

 utilised in storing up their winter food, these stores be- 

 ing built on tbe upper .side of the trees, so that they can- 

 not be swept away with the winter floods. 



When cutring 'tbe trees they use their teetb, on tbe 

 same principle ihal a forester does an axe, .alw.iys keep- 

 ing plenty of ('lien space, so that they can •-\\i pasi tlie 

 centre of the tree on one side before beginning on the 

 other. It is in Ilie latter cud of antuian they commence 

 to cut down trees for winter food. Having cut them 

 down, they speedily strip off the brandies, cutting them 



lit tl: 

 ivk 



to lengths to si 

 away to the dam, 

 places near their boi 

 food although the da 

 covered with snow 

 tvees that they eaiiii- 

 eating the bark, 



Besides tbe work 

 scribe, they have do: 

 work, such as ruttin_ 

 Ing burrows. These bur 

 from the middle of the dn 



I ben 



r strengtli for di'aggmg them 



in different 



-e suflicient 



, or the ground 



:■ tviinUs of the 



d on at leisure, 



they sit 



se. so that tbev mav 



11 may he frozen o\ e 



What is leti of ij- 



t drag away, [hey le 



y cba 



ground, which I tried to de- 

 reat amount of underground 

 neis in their dams, and mak- 



fs they Hiake by cutting a road 



■■ " :-ar yards ■' ' '• 



doniP-shaped In 



ih. 



thi 



diy ground, where they scoop 

 i-ow from eight to tea inche 

 road, then cut a hole througl 



over with sticks and grass so as i: , i ■lunaior. 



Here they live and feed in secuniy uui rinlentiuent. 

 Some of the roads to these burrows, are from fifteen to 

 twenty yards long, and so level that the water follows 

 them in the whole length. 



As to the time they bring forth their young, from my 

 own knowledge I caiinot sav- I have seen it stated to be 

 January, and also the beginning of May. 1 can say 

 nothing against that, judging from the size of the young 

 when I fli-st saw them in the second week of June, the 

 oldest Utter being about the sbie of a full-grown rabbit, 

 and the youngest not half that size. 



From careful observation I have good reasons for be- 

 lieving that they have only one at a birth. One thing I 

 am certain of: they have two litters in the season. Bea- 

 vers are a class of animals that are very timid, their sight, 

 scent, and hearing very keen, so much so that it is with 

 gi-eat caution they can be approached near enough to see 

 what they are doing. They are under cover all day from 

 seven o'clock ill the morniug till seven in the evening. 

 When one comes out. it fiuals on the surface of the wa- 

 ter, carefully surveying tbe whole scene around, sniffing 

 the air, and 'if no danger is apprehended it dives and dis- 

 appears. In two or three minutes a number of the col- 

 ony begin to appear and disperse themselves, some to 

 swim and sport about in the dam, wbUe others go in 

 quest of food. If one of them espies danger it sU-ikcs 

 one sharp loud stroke on the water with its tail, when 

 all of them that are out, come tumbling into the dam and 

 disappear, , „ , i ■ 



I liave seen them wrestle in playfulness and fight in 

 anger, and also when the mother was feeding and the 

 young one sporting about in the dam, I have seen it go 

 and begiu to tease her, when, if she did not wish to be 

 troubled with it, she would strike and shake it, and pitch 

 it from her m the dam. They will allow of no laziness 

 in any member of the colony ; U' any such there be, 

 they are beaten and driven out to live as best they may. 

 These so di-iven out generally roam about, making a bm-- 

 row here and there, where they live for a few months, 

 and die. _ 



On the Gkoqbaphioal Distribution op Shells.— A 

 correspondent, N., who writes from North Vernon, Ind., 

 sent UB an interesting though brief account of a goose 



which was caught by a fresh water mussel ( Unio). Sim- 

 ilar instances have before been noted, both in Forest 

 AND Stke.a^m and elsewhere, and are always interesting, 

 because they show so plainly the method by which shells 

 of one kiiul or another may be transported for long dis- 

 tances over the land, and may thus be introduced to 

 waters far from their real homes and which they could 

 scarcely reach in any other manner. This point was fitrst 

 brought out by Dr. C. Darwin and afterwards elaborated 

 by Alfred Russell Wallace in his magnificent work on the 

 Cxeogiaphical Distribution of Animals. Our correspon- 

 dent's note is as follows :— 



Some weeks ago, in conijiany with others, I saw a 

 goose limping along more clum.5ily tii.an is usual, and on 

 examination found that her loot had been caught in the 

 shell of a live mussel. She was reUeved, but at the ex- 

 pense of a toe. 



METRoroLiT.4N BLACKBIRDS.— Monv years ago the crow 

 blackbirds [Quiiicnlvs crvrxicohir] roosted in tbe WHiite 

 River bottom, a few miles below our cilv. Tlieiv feeding 

 ground was north of Imlianapolis. so tli'at nioniing and 

 evening there was an immense llight of tliese iioisv fel- 

 lows, Tbev linallv begun to be familiar with tlir 'noise 

 and bustle of city Hfe, .and would nest in our shade trees. 

 Then they heeanie more bold and began niostiug in llie 

 lawns of t'alvin Fletcher and .Judge A. f..e Roach. Then- 

 next move was to rake jiossesaion of the shade trees on 

 North Pennsylvania and Meridian .streets. 



f suppose the cause of these birds deserting their for- 

 mer roosting place in the lowlands along the ri\'er, and 

 coming to the city shade trees is the tear o| owls and 

 "varmints." 



Four years ago I noticed among the bkackbirds roost- 

 ing in front of my house several cow buntings, or cow 

 pen birds iji-leoiif: jMcoriit}. The next year the latter 

 came in distinct flocks, and have remained separate each 

 year since. This year there are not less than ten thou- 

 sand occupying the soft m:ii:ile3 in front of my yard. 

 They arrive' from their feeding grounds before sunilon n, 

 and after a short rest in the trees surrounding my foun- 

 tain, they descend and drink. Souietime.s they catch I he 

 spray, flitting back and forth until satisfied ; Imt gener- 

 ally go to the ground at once and surround the I'ountain, 

 some flying onto the "rockeiy," and drink in flocks of 

 hundreds. 



Should tlie evening gun, at the arsenal, be discharged 

 wliile they are tlnis engaged, every bird is silenced, and 

 at once flies to the iTee-tops. The arsenal is over .a mile 

 and a half distant. 



These httle fellows have become quite ta,niG, so that 

 now the carriages and foot passellg^•rs do not disturb 

 thorn. They even feailcssly- drink wiiile my children are 

 playing within a few feet of them. 



In the mornuig they fly from the ttiaples into my fruit 

 trees, and there " plume " themselves ere they go tti their 

 feeding grounds among the herds of milch C0W5 vrnst 

 and north of the eity. 



During tlie night these birds keep Up a chu'ping sound. 

 Should a, baud of music pass along, they seem gi'catly 

 disturbed and lly from their roost, keeping on the wingiii 

 circles above the trees until the noise has ow»sed. 



As to other interesting characteristics of this bunting, 

 I refer your readers to Audubon and Wilson. J. F. 



Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. Uth. 



Snakks EaTINO FiSH.--A'«ir TSIoomfidd. Fa.. Aw/, mil, 

 I have noticed several couimiuiieationf., pro and con, on 

 the question of snakes eating tisli. I Ibink 1 can be able 

 to throw a little light on this iinport.iut question. 



Several SuiidayS ago. as two of Bloomrtehra most reli- 

 able, as well as handsome, young men were Iraiiing over 

 the railing of abridge tlirown across a small nin'beloNv 

 town, ihey noticed a commotion hi the wal-r. aii'l ili,-ir 

 attention was attracted to the struggles ot a, iarge 

 " sucker," at least five inches in length, thai was held m 

 the jaws of a \vater snake. The fish was too large to be 

 easily tpiieted by his siiakesbip and did not take kindly 

 to the proeeedin'ga. At every leap on the part of the fish 

 the snake would be drawn out into the run, but it would 

 manage to keep its hold and was patientlyijwaiting until 

 the strength of the fish would be exhausted, when it 

 would have made off with its prey. But at this jimcture 

 the young gentlemen interposed for the weaker contest- 

 ant, and the fish was liberated from the hungry jaws of 

 the reptile. May not the snakes have more to do with 

 the depopulation of our streams than the pot-lishermen ? 

 The smaller sti-eams are generally polluted witli water 

 snakes — tbe species to which the one I refer to belonged. 

 ^ Wayne, 



A Question About QvAiij.—Wawayanda, Sept. 5th. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — Thinking the following 

 worthy of note, I take the liberty of sending it to you. A 

 quail's" nest eonlaining thirty-si.v eggs was found on a 

 gentlenian's farm at Warwiek. N. Y.. all of which hatched 

 but one. What is the largest number ever found in one 

 nest y The old female had a narrow escape during her 

 incubation, from a scoundrel out shooting. Having 

 flushed her from the nest, he levelled his gun at her and 

 was just pressing the trigger when the fanner saw hina 

 and drove him a^vay. Tllis, I should say, was pot hunt- 

 ing extraordinary. Wallkill. 



Another Captive Cock.— ^Vvcrsi)tk Lodge, Guy- 

 mard, Orange County, Sept. lOlli.—JCditor KuitxI. and 

 Stream : — Having noticed the interest taken by you in 

 woodcock in captivity, 1 think ii may interest my brother 

 sportsmen to know that I also have bad one in my pos- 

 session for a fortnight. My keep.er went out a few weeks 

 ago, and, crossing a field where corn was being cut, saw 

 that a man had just caught a healthy and lively cock in 

 a bunch of corn. The ctiptor presented him to PhiUp, who 

 feeds him according to your vulea, and the bird is doing 

 well. Can you tell me what 1 can do in the winter with 

 Mr. Timberdoodle ? Now worms are plenty, but in winter 

 I wouldn't know what to feed him. 



A. E. GOIJEFFROT. 



Probably the best way would be to store up a lot of 

 worms for him. A barrel partially filled with earth aiid 

 placed where it would not freeze, would hold worms 

 enough to last even a woodcock through the winter. 



