510 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JiJTOAHT 37, 1881. 



June 4, 1880. Killing song birds in June, 1880. Finoa and costs 

 paid, 



August, 1880. Killing woodoook in close-time. Fines and costs 

 paid. 



September, 1880. Killing four deer in February, 1880. Penalty 

 $160. ludioted and bound over. " ^ 



September, 1880. KUliug one deer in February, 1880. Penalty 



^Aiy TnHi.'tfri H ltd bound over. 



I -'ill. Killing one caribou in close-time ; $40.00 and 



iO. Trapping mink in close-time. Fined. 



ue moose in close-time. Penalty 



eiL' 



Paid. 



HimtLiig doer mth dogs. IVial deferred. 



Tliere rue- ffjKPs ni'iw in the bands nf wardens against vari- 

 ous persons for liilUne moose, deer, caribou and a-oodcock in 

 close-tirau ; for pDrtring grouse or " pariririges," hunliog deer 

 with doRS and netting ducks. 



■Many paalnfffudci.s htivo come forward and acknowledged 

 tbeir guilt, thereby Prtviag to ibcmselves ctwis of a trial. 



Two tb'iusand six liiindred quails (Colut nix communis — Ihe 

 commoD migiatorv (juail of Europe), purchased by private 

 siibacripttotjs and iuiporied from Italy, have been lihcrated 

 throughout the State 



One thousand six hundred copies of an "Abstract of the 

 Fish and Game Laws" have beeo compiled, published and 

 distvihuled. 



Oorrespoudence, to the extent of some 1,500 communica- 

 tions v.Titteii, has forn ed one item ot our work. 



Five laiudred placards giving close times, etc., for fish iind 

 game, have been (listriUiiied Ihrougliont the State; and »C 

 expect to be able to issue in pamphlet from nest year a com- 

 plete copy of all our State laws relating to Fisheries and 

 Game, revised and codified. Hardly a year has paased with- 

 out some ehanfte in our 98hery liiws. Special laws have 

 been enacted from lime to tinie, ami some are still in fore- 

 while oliii'va ;iir not. N(w Iswh li.'tvc been enacted, and old 

 ones remain intmcLi udIc&s repealed liy the vague expression, 

 "all laws incoD.-iKtcel wiiVi ilosaci are hereby tepealed." 

 Wc have employed a skillful lawyer to make a revision and 

 codification of all our laws relating to dsh and game, and 

 prepare the same tor publication, with notes, references, etc. 

 The work will cover the period from 1820 to 1880, inclusive, 

 and will be an authentic and valuable jrablicalion for the 

 reference ot lawyers and future legislators, as well as a work 

 that is needed for the use of justice.", wardens, Ihe Commis- 

 Bioners aud others in (he performance of duties connected 

 with the Department of Fisheries and Game. 



named in the enabling act, to revise this whole sidiject of 

 game preserva ion, and to mature a succinct code to replace 

 the laws and amendments scattered over the statute book. 

 H. H. Thompson. 



Bhadpokd, Pa., Jan. 16. 



TotJB editorial otight, I think, to convince the most skep- 

 tical of the evil results which would inevitably follow the 

 passage of such a law, aud to arouse to action those sports- 

 men who are in a position to contest the passage of this bill. 



If the game dealers are so unsound in the head that they 

 canuot handle gtme ui the proper season without suffering a 

 pecuniary loss would it not be a kindness to extend to these 

 sorely templed meu the benefits of a law similar to that 

 framed for the prevention of drunkeness, and forbid alto- 

 gelber the sale of game? It would undoubtedly cause great 

 suffering among certain classes, but the game, and what ap- 

 pears just now a far more important consideration, the game 

 dealer's money, would be saved. Jesting aside, I hope every 

 legitimate means to defeat the bill will be tried, and that the 

 dealers will have common sense enough to spare the goose 

 that lays the golden egg. J. A T. 



own life to save Henry, who had himself rescued many from 

 drowning; but in the cri-is there was no assisiance within 

 CaII, and one of the mopt pnpuliir men in the county perished. 

 He had been prciprietor of ihe New port House, the most pop- 

 ularly conducted pleasure resort iu the county for twenty-five 

 years, and was known all over the Slate as an euLhu.siastic 

 sporismmi. Fie nui.st lie remeniljered by ii-mt^I of Die men 

 vl - !■■■ '-' ■' M -irled the coiiveutions of Nc'V York Slate sports- 

 I'l ' ' 'LIS during the last twenty years, for he was a 



r:iir,'-;:i ;i; i n (hint and one of the best i-liots. An estimato 

 of tlic regit! d in which he was held may be forrucil when the 

 fact is stated that his funeral was a inile long, and was at- 

 tended by delegation, from the Monroe CiuuUy aud Au- 

 dubon cluhs of this city; Genesee Club, of Irondcipioit and 

 Seneca Gun Club, of Seneca Falls. E. R. 



"THE REFRIGERATOR AMENDMENT." 



SYTtAcusB N. Y., Jan.. 10. 



YOU "invite expressions of opinion on the subject" of 

 an article in your last edition entitled "The Refrigera- 

 tor Amendment," in which you take strong grounds against 

 the proposition to legalize the sale of venison, quail, wood- 

 cock and partridge all the year round, and also call for such 

 legislation as wll prevent the exportation of game. I want 

 to speak what I know to be the sentiments of every true 

 siwrisman, wherever lie may be found All such are sadly 

 aware ot the fact that game has come to be a delicacy in this 

 State and many other "States. The wanton killing of it has 

 so decreased the supply that it can no hinger be considered a 

 luxury abundant to all, and sportsmen everywhere' look with 

 alarm' upon the persistent efforts made by pot-hunters and 

 de tiers to procure the enactment of laws w^hich might proba- 

 bly be entitled ''An Act for the Total Destruction of Game." 



Refrifferatf'is would become the best of mediums for mak- 

 ing the slaughter as well as the sale of game an occupation 

 lasting through the year. ^^ hat would there be to prevent 

 the packing of game in boxes or barrels bearing a liclitious 

 label of the contents aiid their shipment to dealers during 

 every month? It is not a very difhcult matter to forward a 

 " subject" to a medical college by railro.ad, if it lie securely 

 packed and bearing an appropriate label. How much easier 

 to furnish the New York market with game at all seasons, 

 with the refrigerators to swear that it was killed in season. 



The e.xporuiMon of game gives a great manj^ pot-hunters 



employ 



long as lliey i 

 plains, the won 

 sportsmen, wlio 

 ly while they 

 aittord y Our gi 



■ d wliat car 



fin'i 



they do for its preservation so 

 jioke a scJiuty living by robbing the 

 id the streauis ot tlieii' attractions to 

 1 liealth and recreation in killing sparing- 

 ■iijov the jileasures which s'ueh spoi'ts 

 e does not belong to pot-l.nnter.s and uii.r 

 ketmen ; it do7'8 not belong alone to sp'irlsuien, it belongs to 

 all alike, I may say, though I dislike to admit that a pot- 

 himter should have any right to it. But as the numlier of 

 sportsmen iS vastly larger thiin the number of those who 

 make shooting and Ashing an occupation, it seems clearly 

 properly that the majority should have the most potential 

 voice in legislation, and I am sure the ge eral public would 

 support the sportsman, for the consumer as well as the 

 sportsman sees that unless good game laws are rigidly en- 

 forced at once, game will very soon wholly disappear from 

 the markets. 



I am a frequent visitor to the great wilderness in the north- 

 eastern part of this Slate, and have been for many years, 

 aud has-e seen the gradual but certain decrease of d'eer aud 

 trout there. The same causes whch operate there are operat- 

 ing thi-onghout Ihe country, and with the present rate of de- 

 pletion continued but a sh. rt time longer, sportsmen may 

 lay their guns and rods aside and thank tardy or deficient 

 legislation for depriving them of the most health-giving of 

 all enjoyments. D. H. Bkucb. 



New Yoiiir, Jan 17. 



Let mk thank you for sounding the alarm against tlie pi'o- 

 posed Refrigerator amendment to the New York Game Law. 

 your intimation that such an absurd proposition is fathered 

 by a Game Association i.9 surprising. Has that society the 

 word "prolectiou" in its title? If so it is a pali)al)le mis- 

 nomer; "deslruelion" should be substituted. Every word 

 you print in condemnation of this revolution of our game laws 

 must, it seems to me, nu-rit and meet the warm approval of 

 all the fi lends ot the deer, quail, grouse and woodcock. If 

 this amendment is piislied do not fail to parade the name of 

 every le<;iflalor who rives it his voice or vote 



I notice with dismay what "Wollat " and C. Fenton write 

 you about deer hounding in our groat New York wilderness. 

 Their information verifies my predictions in your columns 

 when the o]ii;n season for hounding was enlarged. Banish 

 the Oogn entirely fioiri the Adirondacks and plenty of veni- 

 son will still be secured by all sorts of ignoble methods. 

 But if houndine is to be allowed the first two weeks of Sep- 

 temlier, as Mr. "Fen I on suggests, would probably satisfy, in 

 date and duration of openVeason, all except pot-hunters and 

 marketmeu. Put me down as more than ever in favor of a 

 eommisBion of our moat experienced practical men, to be 



ATTRACTIONS OP PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND. 



ON the first day of August L. and myself left Boston en 

 nwtefor Prince Edw -• '- ■ 



OUR ROCHESTER LETTER. 



RoofiESTEii, N. T., Jan , 1881. 



YOUR correspondents have recently contributed a num- 

 ber of interesting facts iu relation to the late and early 

 appearance of birds on their antunjnal and vernal migrations, 

 but if anything on the subject from the editorial pen has 

 graced your columns it has escaped eyes that glance through 

 the pages of Fokest and Stream as eagerly, or nearly so, 

 as they ever did through the leaves of the " forest primeval" 

 to see a ruffed grouse tumble after a snapshot. This silence 

 should be broken, aud hence it is that, assuming the privi- 

 lege of an "anxious inquirer," I would ask the fishing editor 

 to give some additional information to the world about the 

 fall migration of Wilson snipe, by detailing his observations 

 on that pair of our old familiar friends wliich in the autumn 

 of 1874 became serai-doraesticalcd on the mosses of the spring 

 creek that fed the trout aud grayling ponds of Fred Mather 

 at Houeoye Falls. 



You have probably forgotten the young man who, in Oc- 

 tober or November of that year while assisting iu the con- 

 struction of tie Rochester water works, called at your house 

 and was introduced by Beueder. But the incident was im- 

 pressed on ray memory by a varietj^ of circumstances, and is 

 likely to tie retnemlicred' while memory holds its seat, etc. 

 I think it was a wet day when the ?irtc('f.« were " knocked 

 up," and the inspector had a chance to see some of the ob- 

 jects of interest in and about that village of the plain— Hon- 

 eoye. I had a ch ince of borrowing a gun and going shoot- 

 ing, or visiting the Natural History Museum, hatcliing ponds, 

 etc., of one whom our friend B. said was a genius. 1 chose 

 the latter, and have ever since regarded it as a lucky choice. 

 To sav nothing of the privilege of forming the acquaintance 

 of the host, the place aud all about it were of peculiar inter- 

 est. The tame mink, the trout, the rare and beautiful griiy- 

 lings (at that time recently introduced in Eastern waters), 

 the" grotesque specimens of animals set up with rare skill by 

 the amateur la.Kidernust, and, not least interesting, the snipe 

 aforesaid that had become so tame that the visitor was al- 

 lowed to approach them without their showing any .sign of 

 alarm. Do you remember how late they remained that year, 

 and did they come again ? 



The eternal tinkering at the game law contmues with un- 

 abated vigor and with as little prospect of ever arriviug at 

 any conclusion that will be satisfactory. I wrote you last 

 year that the Board of Sui)i,-rvisors of this county, Monroe, 

 iiud passid a law limiting wild-fwl shooting to Thursdav , 

 Fridav and Saturday of each week in season, aud prohibiting 

 grouse and quail shooting tot dly for three years. 1 started 

 the movement, for the limitation of duck shooting, for 1 

 thought, and sliU think, it would result in better sport for all. 

 The prohibition of quail and grouse shooting was approved by 

 some and condemneiJ by others. I know iliat some conscien- 

 tious men olistrvtd I he law, tmt fellow.s of the lia.sei sort laugh- 

 ed at the law aud kdlid all I he birds they could reach. This 

 angered the fair u\inded men, and they determined that if the 

 binls are to be externdnaied the true men might as well be 

 '■ in at the deiiih " as the knaves, aud they favored the repeal 

 of the prohibition, or making the original law so strong as to 

 piYitect in fact. A draft of a law- wa.s presented to the Board 

 Ibis wei'k to amend that of last year, and as it was rejected, 

 Ihe mover in disgust offered a resolution repealing last year's 

 law. audit was adopted; .so now the county is on the .same 

 footing as other counties in the State. There is only one 

 man m the Board who knows a shot-gun from a rifle, and 

 most of the t'ranL'crs have a prejudice agamst game laws, so 

 no matter hiiw wi.-:e a proposition should be presented to 

 thi-m it would be treated coldly. 



In honest truth the prospect for sportsmct* who love shoot- 

 uig is not briiihl in this otherwise favored county. Betwetm 

 the clearing away of cover, tlio improvement of arm8,_ the in- 

 crease in the number who shoot and other causes, it looks 

 as if birds that were abundant a few years ago would, " ere 

 new-bora chins become rouj^h and razorable," be numbered 

 with the dodo and other creatures interesting only to the 

 paleontologist. The proposal to make shooters take out li- 

 censes won't do. It is uudemocratic in the first place, aud 

 we are not yet so tired ot the Repulilic that such a law would 

 go through. Furthermore, the Constitution of the United 

 States provides that the "right of the people to have and 

 bear arms shall not be infrinaed;" and 1 lluuk a license 

 woidd be a decided infringement, of that venerated instru- 

 ment None of it for me, game or no game. How woidd it 

 work if men who shoot for sport and don't want all the game 

 to die with them, were to form a voluntary association, each 

 member of which would pledge himself not to kill more than 

 a certain number of birds iu a day? It might put off the ex- 

 tiucliou of some birds a little longer. _ . , , , 



On Wedtiesday last thete was a shooting contest at tame 

 pieeons on the Driving Park in this city. The weather was 

 rather cold, but it did not seem to abate the ardor ot the vet- 

 erans who turned out in force and dm-ing the day kept the 

 traps moving briskly. Cash prizes were shot tor, but as 

 about half the men entered under assumed names it would 

 not be of much interest to give the scores.^ 



Since mv rirex-ious letter an event peculiariy sad to sports- 

 me.i occm-red here in the accidental death of a much respect- 

 ed member of the Monroe County Sportsmen's Club, Henry 

 Walzer. who, on December 22, accidentally broke through 

 the ice on IrondequoitBay within sight of his home, and was 

 drowned. He was walking alone down the bay on ice ap- 

 narentlv a foot in thickness, and broke through over a spring 

 hole ^'here was not a man in the town but woidd risk his 



I'slsliind, to devote the entire 

 month to shootitg aud fi.qliing. We left T wharf at 12 M. on 

 Saturday, and arriving at Charloltetown on the ensmng 

 Tuesday at 2:80 p. m., took the train the uext morning on 

 the P. E. I. R. R. for Tignish, the lernunus Of the rOad and 

 the most northern town on the i'^hmd, its chief industries be- 

 ing agricultural pursuits aud fisheries. 



We then took up our quarters at the house of a well-to-do 

 farmer, the proprietor of some three hundred acres and sole 

 owner of a grist, saw and woolen mill, all worked by water 

 power. 



Two miles to the ca'twart and five to the north wcs' is the 

 sea coast, with its sandy beaches indented with .small bays 

 and salt marshes stretching iu places far inland and inter- 

 sected by sally-winders, which meander through their 

 muddy courses soou to empty into the sea. 



The nature ot the country generally is undulating, and 

 where intact from the woodrnan's aie is covered with a 

 low growth of woods, stimtcd by the rigt/roiis storms and 

 severe winds of winter, which laps well into the month of 

 April. The color of the soil is red, similar to that of New 

 Jersey, but of a deeper hue, a peculiar characteristic of the 

 island, and that it is easilj' tilled may be inferred from what 

 Farmer Haywood said one day to me. " Why, you can 

 plow a leu-acre lot without meeting a single stone to turn 

 the edge of your plowshare." 



Such was the scene of (.mr halcyon days. Such the 

 ground on which we shot, the waters in which we fished. 



And now in palliation for this firy dosciptioii of wood 

 aud wold, depicted in such crude but tiuc colors, let my faiicy 

 ider aud my tale wax merrier as the fiehl is taken and our 

 lines wetted. 



"Hey I hello there! Get up, you lazy dogs. Here Fred's 

 been hitched up in the wagon this half hour, and breakfast's 

 getting cold ; aud if you don't hurry up the tide 'ill be well 

 down apiece." 



Roused by this .sonorous summons wc made ha.ste to don 

 our shooting clothes, and sitting down to a good breakfast of 

 hot coffee, eggs, fried trout and toast, whioli was duly dis- 

 patched, juLuped into the wagon. The two miles of ground 

 is shortly covered, aud we rein up at the aide of a fence 

 hard by the marsh, where yet the morning sun had failed to 

 di.ssipato the eariy mists which still hung heavily over the 

 lowlands. 



We now separate, and after choos ug suitable .situations, 

 where we build the blinds, we set out the dccoyK, an 

 iu silence the much-desired arrival of some tmnch 

 snipe of which we are in quest. Soou a small dock 

 lew is descried, and we vie with each other in nniil 

 wlio can ullm-e the birds within gunshot by the di 

 whistle. Sec! now they jioisc oveHioad, and loo 

 upon their companions peacefully feeding on the sti' 

 low; and now Ihtv partialSy clo^e llitir \vin'.is lo low 

 uncertahi (light. The gun is ii.av slowly raised, ami in.^mu- 

 taneous with the hovering molioji, which curlew are wont to 

 exhibit just before aliuhting, the triggers are pressed in 

 quick succession, and the double report invokes the echoes 

 of the silent hills adjacent to the marsh. 



Prone to the ca.ith iIhl, ..T.r"-., - ,ln-,p, 



Hard riddluil by m, •• ■ 



Giving gooi-li.rvin!,-, .. , ,11. 



WhUe startled iiviul ili. i-- i: i-i;.-:it, 

 The golden plovL-r.-; .>fric,xaa. 

 Then- clear mid tiimd uiffisnrcd call. 



As soou as the birds arc gathered 1 resume my place at the 

 blind, aud again wa t patiHilly uiilil rmoihpr shot is offered. 

 So the sport continues, and >ihoul(i boUi wind and tide prove 

 favorable, a baa; of a. dozen or mi. re of ih.- liirger species of 

 bay suipe is otten made in a morning's thoot, to say uothing 

 of the hordes of little sand-pipers and plover which could be 

 shot by the bushel if one desired to. 



THOOT FlSULVG. 



Seated in a light duckiiig-pi;i'i , :i ■-!' 'i i Ti. .,f some 



twenty minutes brings me til u.^ i i' ' ■ i' > ■ j id dark- 

 some pool, where silence reigns ^nin n - nn ii j...:rr seems 

 hushed in a profoimd quietude ; the hit licit o npplmg smtace 

 of the water is still ; the sun fast sinking in the western sky 

 throws forth rich tuits of sjiffron yellow, commmgled with 

 that reddish tinge which charactenzes a summer sunset, the 

 whole blending in sweet hm-mony with the colors ot the v,-i- 

 ried landscape. As the last strokes of the piiddle aie timshed, 

 the skiff glides noiselessly beside a log half immersed in the 

 clear water. Anon the leap of some wai'y trout, as it seized 

 a dainty morsel iu the shape of some hapless ffy or miller 

 whose tickle flight had brought it too near the surtaee, breaks 

 the universal slilluess ; or pcrh;:,!/, il^-- vini.-'-vit;- nt ,i flock 

 of dusky ducks leaving the foi\ -' li- iid. I 



grasp the rod ; one backward n, i ; , jiiother 



forward, and the winged messei g i : .: l. ■: , ' ii 1 1 - si . .i lug on 

 their course. Tlic line unfolds itselt ajid speedily the 

 stretcher and lioblier aliifht s^,filv on the tranquil surface and 

 then— ye Naiads and Fhiviales 1 what sport doth Inrk within 

 thy liuipid waters, as with a mighty rush the spotted quarry 

 cleaves through the yielding liquid. Flip 1 sw.ish I hi: brcfiks, 

 and in his downward pitnige captures the sctmiiivL- imclde 

 which lured him from the deptlis below, and now he leelfl 

 the sharpened hook and, piquet! by its exquisite pain, re- 

 doubles aU his frantic ctlorts to escape the rod. 



"But hold! my precious dear; your .slrBiagei 

 most clever and you would fain domi 

 snag ; but stay your mad career and i 

 mould thy stubborn will. Seek not tl,. 

 to sulk, but— there ! that's right; alui 



of bay 



Lid lie- 

 r their 



s [iro indeed 



M iiemloclc 



l.conurd 



.11, there 



will 



be safe' within the meshes." So the net brings him to the 



creel. 



But now the waning day and gathering gloom warn me to 



