44 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Fhbrtjary 19, 1869. 



the trail, the Indian standing by his canoe, and no deer 

 in sight. On accosting him ha' assured us that no deer 

 bad come in, and that the dogs had come out of the 

 woods a short distance above. I at once made up my 

 mind that he hart been asleep and allowed the deer to 

 get away, and subsequent information proved I was cor- 

 reot ; but to make sure, we hunted the dogs up and 

 down the beach half a mile each way to see if the deer 

 had taken water and then came back* on the same side— 

 a favorite trick of does, particularly early in the season 

 before they separate from their fawns "but one rarely 

 practised by a buck, who, if he once takes water, strikes 

 Out for the opposite shore and goes there, unless fright- 

 ened by a noise or turned by a boat. After giving the 

 dogs ample time to find tho back track to the woods, had 

 the deer taken to the same side as we were on. and not 

 Deing able to find any, I concluded our hunt for that 

 day was at an end. I was not in the best of humor with 

 myself or master Jimmy, being annoyed with him for 

 losing the deer, and at myself for trusting to his watch- 

 fulness. I called the dogs to the canoe and prepared to 

 go home. Madam Venus, however, was not satisfied 

 with this state of affairs and jumped out of the canoe 

 and made for the woods ; neither coaxing nor scolding 

 would induce her to come back. At length, when out 

 of sight and perhaps out of hearing of my voice, we 

 were cogitating whether to leave her and go home, or 

 not, knowing she was safe, as she would go to one of the 

 logging camps near by when through with her hunting, 

 when we heard her burst forth in a manner that assured 

 us she had started a deer, and was close euough proba- 

 bly to see it — so loud, frequent and angry were her utter- 

 ances. This turned the tide of affairs," and shoving the 

 oanoe ashore, we let all the dogs go, and in a few mo- 

 ments all were in full cry. 



Determining not to lose this deer if we had anything 

 like a chance to get it, and cautioning the Indian to keep 

 his eyes open this time, we went below to watch the 

 lower runway, and on arriving there, probably a half a 

 mile below the upper one, and certainly not more than 

 twenty minutes after the deer was started, on looking 

 around we Baw back of us a fine buck in the water. We 

 wheeled the canoe around, and in doing so attracted the 

 attention of the deer which turned and changing his 

 course from right angles to the shore, commenced swim- 

 ming away from us parallel to it. I saw he was likely to 

 go ashore, and as the dogs had made two runs would 

 irobably refuse to make the third if this deer got away 

 t com us" this time. Although a long way off I determined 

 to make a shot, as he was rapidly Hearing a point which 

 would, as soon as he turned it, hide him from us. Be- 

 •idjs mv breech-loading shot gun I had a Ballard sporting 

 r fie. I lifted the rifle and shot, but apparently niissed. 

 He turned at this and with a few strokes reached the 

 shore and took a course up the beach. When he came 

 to the Iudian, Jimmy fired and missed him. but turned 

 the buck back, Old Jack, who had come back to the 

 canoe where the Indian was, now took after tne deer. 

 After running a short distance down the beach, the other 

 three dogs, who by this time had come out of the woods, 

 met the deer which, however, avoided them and kept on 

 towards Tom and myself. A prettier sight I never saw, 

 before or since ; the deer a few yards ahead and the dogs 

 close together, giving all the tongue they could. As the 

 buck came opposite to me I lifted the gun to shoot, but 

 dare not do so for fear of killing some of the dogs, so 

 close were they together. At last the deer jumped a log 

 and widened the distance, when I shot him in the head, 

 killing him instantly. On cutting him up we found the 

 rifle ball had entered a little to one side of tho tail and 

 traversed the entire length of the body-parallel to the 

 verterbral column, lodging in the neck : but it did not ap- 

 pear to affect him in the least, or decrease ins rate of 

 •peed. Although I have been at the deatb of many a 

 deer, this was the m«st exciting hunt I ever took part in. 

 The same afternoon a friend of mine informed me that 

 the first deer we had run in crossed the inlet, and as a 

 strong tide was running, was carried down some distance 

 and was killed by some Indians near their camp, and he 

 had rarely seen as fat a doe as she was. MOWITCH. 



Quintal gistoro. 



BIRD NOTES FROM LONG ISLAND. 

 BY GEORGE LAWRENCE NICHOLAS. 



[Note.— Our correspondent, Mr. Nicholas, has sent us 

 a very interesting list of the birds observed by him dur- 

 ing the summer of 1S79 on and about Shinnecock Bay, 

 Long Island. The list includes notes on 101 species, and 

 contains no little valuable information. "With our corre- 

 apondent's permission we have made such selections from 

 it as appear to be of the greatest ornithological interest 

 and print them herewith.] 



SittlM siulis — Blue bird : very common. 1 have wit- 

 nessed many a, quarrel between these hints and the mar- 

 tins. The martins generally come off victorious, and the 

 blue birds are compelled to resort to holes in trees, where 

 they breed in great numbers. 



Certhia familaris— Brown creeper. Saw a single speci- 

 men on the '-'nth of July. 



Panda (i,iu'.i-v'Uiia—li]un yellow -back warbler, baw a 

 ■merle specimen ou the 14th of July, 



fduruslttdovieianus— Large-billed water thrush. Ob- 

 tained a single specimen on the 3d ()f August. 



Outvie riparia— Bank swallow. These birds are also 

 rery common, and breed in great numbers in the sand- 

 banks. 1 took several nests containing eggs on the 6th 

 of July. One of the nests contained a young bird, an 

 agE nearly ready to hatch, and two perfectly fresh eggs. 

 A number of ' the other nests contained eggs nearly 

 hatched and fresh ones. From this I infer that the swal- 

 lows at times g( t into each others nesl . 



Proline jwirpurso— Purple martin; very common; 

 breed in vast, numbers in the boxes put up for their use, 

 and also in holes in trees 



'faohucr White-bellied swallow; eom- 



a»on. This bird, like the martin, breeds in holes in 

 tr*es" They also build their nests under the eaves of 

 the barns and heu»es, and it is not uncommon to s#e the 



eaves of a barn sheltering twenty or thirty of these nests 

 and the nests of the oliff swallows. 



GoUurio ludovicianus — Logger-head shrike. Obtained 

 a, single specimen of a young bird, on the 4th of August. 



Ti/rannui cttrdlinensis — '■ King-bird \ common. While 

 at the same place in the summer of 1877 I found one of 

 these birds' nests, containing two eggs. I touk one, and 

 came down from the tree, and the bird came back, but- 

 left it again after being there about half a minute. On 

 again ascending the tree I found that the other egg was 

 gone. From this 1 think that the bird must have carried 

 the egg to a place of safety 



Falco sacer [?— Ed.]— JerCalcon j saw a single speci- 

 men in the latter part of August. 



[Since this article was in type we have received from 

 the author the following note with regard to this occur- 

 rence :— 



Your favor of the 9th rooeived, and I would say by way 

 of reply that I am quite positive as to the identity of the 

 jerfalcon (Falco sacer) which I saw. It was quite early 

 in the morning, in a pine swamp quite near the bay. I 

 first observed the bird perched on a tall dead tree ; he 

 afterward came slowly up to where I was, not flying as 

 hawks usually do, but flapping along much after the 

 manner of a" crow. He approached within about sixty 

 yards of where I stood, and my companion, who was 

 nearer to him than I, tired at him but failed to kill. I 

 afterward observed him slowly moving over the marsh, 

 and although I watched lum until out of sight I did not 

 see him sail as other hawks do, but he was continually 

 flapping his wings. He perched often, and I at one time 

 saw him catch some kind of large snipe or curlew. I 

 regret very much that I could not obtain it, and had such 

 a short time (o observe it, but from what I saw I am 

 positive that it was none other than the laleo sacer. 



In the absence of any more direct and positive evi- 

 dence, we are inclined still to doubt that the bird seen 

 was Falco sacei: It appears much more probable that it 

 may have been Falco communis, a species which is known 

 to breed in Connecticut and Massachusetts. By reference 

 to Dr. Merriain's excellent list of the birds of Connecticut 

 (Trans. Conn. Acad. vol. iv., 1877) our readers will ob- 

 serve that this species has been taken on Long Island 

 Sound in June, and an occasional specimen might well be 

 found on Long Island.— ED.] 



Ortyx virginianus — Quail ; very common ; these birds 

 are rapidly increasing in numbers ; they come almost up 

 to the doors in seeking their food. 



JEreunetes pussillus — Semi-palmated sandpiper ; com- 

 mon in August. This bird is noted here in very large 

 flocks. So abundant are they that a single discharge into 

 a flock has been known to kill as many as one hundred. 

 They are here know as the ox-eye. 



Limom fedoa — Great marbled godwit ; Baw a single 

 specimen. This bird is here known as the red marb'n, 



Totctn.ua sA mi pat 'matis — Willet; I had the good fortune 

 to obtain one of these birds, which is almost pure white, 

 having only a slight brownish tinge on the wings. The 

 bill was lighter than it usually is. The eyes were black, 

 and the feet colored as usual." 



Totanus solitariun— Solitary tattler. This bird, I have 

 reason to think, is quite rare here. I obtained but one 

 specimen, and that none of the gunners of the bay could 

 name. 



Aeliiurus bartramius — Upland plover; quite com- 

 mon, but very wild. This bird iB here known as "hu- 



MdtTorhamjihnsscolQpacewffl—'Uh'i&biril I obtained with 

 another which was said to bo the. same, but I afterward 

 found it to be a dowitGher (MaerorhaiApTvus griseus). 

 They were shot in the company of five dowitchers. The 

 one which I am still in doubt about had a very strange 

 note, being entirely- different from that of the dowiteher; 

 it was made up of several quick, sharp whistles. The 

 length of the bird, taken from the dry skin, is 11| inches, 

 the bill over 3§ inches long. I am quite sure that it is 

 not a dowiteher, as it is quite different in color, the 

 under parts being like those of Tringa canutus, and only 

 the throat and sides under tho tail being spotted. The 

 tail when spread looks decidedly tawny. Mr. Lane, with 

 whom I was staving, says that for the past three vears he 

 has seen these lards in company with the dowitehers.and 

 that they seem to he increasing in numbers. He and the 

 other gunners of the house alBo say that they have never 

 heard this bird give a note anything like that of the 

 dowiteher. 



RAVENS AND CROWS. 



THE raven dwells mostly in the mountainous and 

 rocky regions of the United States and British 

 America, extending southward into Mexico, According 

 to Prof. Baird they" inhabit the, entire continent of North 

 America, but are rare east of the Mississippi river. See 

 Pacific Railroad Report vol, ix, p. 560. 



The rawer, is a rare bird east of the Mississippi, beingsel- 



' far away from rocky precipices and mountains, 



ical excursions among the mountains of the 

 Southern 3fc I a ■■• e often seen and heard them, nor is 



their voice unpleasant to me, for it has been a frequent 

 accompaniment of things which 1 love — mountains and 

 rough scenery. The raven dwells and breeds in the 

 K.iis "regions of Texas, from the. mountains of 

 Llano County northwestward to the Rio Grande and be- 

 yond into the mountains of Mexico. Beyond Fort Davi3, 

 OU the route to Fort Quitman on the Rio Grande, in El 

 Paso County, there is a noted camping place called the 

 '• Qrow's Nest." Here there is a spring at the base of 

 some perpendicular cliffs, in an inaccessible cavity of 

 which the ravens have a nest. On a trip to El Paso in 

 1875 I saw this nest. Our parly was large, and we always 

 encamped at night. In the morning as soon as we started 

 for the (lay's journey, and were beyond shooting distance 

 from the "camp, flocks of ravens went there to get the 

 fragments of provisions we had left. In Texas the crow 

 does not dwell in the region inhabited by the raven, Iu 

 Texas north of Austin few crows are found west of the 

 Colorado River. 1 think none breed west of San Antonio, 

 but they are increasing rapidly and enlarging their 

 boundaries. An old surveyor who had surveyed and 

 leeated much laud in Western Teaas told me that thirty 



ov more years ago in thelatitude of Austin no crows were 

 found west of it beyond a few miles. 



Audubon, appealing to the known generosity of the 

 American people, says he "cannot but wish i 

 would reflect a little and become moroindulgen t 

 our poor, humble, harmless and even most servicebala 

 bird, the crow." Rut the crow is not poor, notwith- 

 standing ! lie old saying, " COW." Blest with 

 an appetite for both animal and vegetable food, nature 

 provides bountifully for his wants, and he skillfully sup- 

 plies them. Nor is he humble, for there are' no birds 

 ropre hold, arrogant and noisy than he; nor is lie harm- 

 less, but a thief and robbe B ts of other 

 birds of both eggs and young, and this is one gi eat cause 

 why insectivorous birds are decreasing and crows, in- 

 creasing in many parts of the country. Here the crows 

 destroy watermelons by Ion to an- 

 other and picking small holes into them, as 11 

 each one, only making a hole just big enough to spoil 

 the melon. A near neighbor of none who raises water- 

 melons for market told me that the crows destrOye I I | 

 least $25 worth of his melons last year, and the damage 

 would have bee,, much greater had not the field finally 

 been guarded by a man withs gun, This man said that he 

 oould aoi ihoot any of them because one crow was 

 always stationed as sentry to give notice ofhis approach: 

 Crow's are fond of pecans and acorns. The last fall they 

 took most of the pecans in this neighborhood, more than 

 usual being taken because a short crop of CI OT1 was raised 

 ! ml j ■; aered early, leaving the crows without their usual 

 supply. 



Many ye, 

 York, 'in" Tales County, 1 could not liud the Beet of one 

 of mv turkey hens, and 1 knew she had been laying for 

 several weeks. One day J" watched nntd i saw her go on 

 a nest under some plum trees about twenty rods from the 

 house. I then went to the house and tip stairs to a win- 

 dow where I could see the turkey, and as soon as I saw 

 her rise and begin to cover her nest with leaves I start ed, 

 and when almost there a crow who had been 

 also on a near tree flew down, darted bis bill into the 

 egg, raised his head and flew away triumphantly with it. 

 There were no more eggs in the nest, the crow having 

 carried them off as fast as laid. Audubon relates that 

 he has seen them do the same thing with th" 

 wild turkeys. In Western New York they use,: 

 young chickens, and so they sometimes do in Texas | 

 hence, for all these aud many more sins, I dish 

 and would give them no protection. 



Audubon mentions that a bounty was given by one 

 State— he does not give the name— for the destruction of 

 crows, and that 4(1,000 crows were there shot in one 

 year, besides a great number of young Ol 

 killed in their nests, and also other old birds were dc- 

 poisoned grain spread on the ground. My 

 watermelon neighbor fried to kill the crow s wii h poisoned 

 corn, but they would not touch it, S. B. BUCKLEY. 



Austin, Texas, Jan. Mil. 



» 



PASSERCri.rs I'BlNtErs m Nkw JbRSBV, Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., Jan. 30th.— While gunning on His southern 

 end of the Seven Mile Beach, New Jersey, December i 

 80th, 1879, I took a fence , princeps. T first 



noticed it living in a flock of shore larks anion:; the sand I 

 hills, and seeing i hat it was a sparrow different I 

 I had before met with, I fotbwed up the flock and shot 

 the strange bird while sitting on a piece of wreck. It 

 proved to bean Ipswich sparrow, and on scare 

 others I came on one or two, but was unable to secure 

 them. As I was only on the beach I ' 

 hour, I did not have much time to to 

 have no doubt but that they were common among the 

 sand bills. I believe this to be the most son trie < 

 where this sparrow has been taken, its most 

 record being Coney Island (Nuilall Bulletin, Jul 



WM. ) & BBOTT, 



♦ 



Winter NOTES FROM Icuu. — Our correspondent W , to 

 whom we have in the past been indebted for so many 

 interesting bits of Natural History news, sends us from 

 Coral ville, Iowa, a few notes referring to the mildness of 

 the present Winter in that State. She says :— 



Charles Hoover, of this place, shot a "WilSOP 

 in this vicinity' December 3d.. ..On the morning ol the 

 Oth of January our ears were greeted by the sweet notei 

 of robin ree -breast.... Several individuals report having 

 seen flocks of geese passing northward January 18th; 



Missouri Ornithology. — We notice in the January- 

 number of the Kansas City Repieu eg Science mid In- 

 dustry a pleasantly written article entitled " I 



ties of Missouri Ornithology,'' by Ermine Case, Jr. The 

 essay, though the information which it conveys is some- 

 what elementary, is written iu a popular style, and is in- 

 teresting. 



Albino Robin and Black OPOSSUM. — Jaaksonporh 

 Ark., Jan, 3th,— Two years age I killed (and 1 ihink re- 

 ported in your paper) an albino 

 specimen had the albino eyes, but the plumage, both the 



dark and the red, was evenly mixed in with white, alter- 

 nating a white and slate-colored feather on back, a white 

 and red on breast. Even the wings and tail were thus 

 variegated. In my eagerness to secure the specimen I 

 killed it at short range and could not | 

 appearance of the bird while aii . 



One of the curiosities of I his sen i ly black 



Uidelynya rirg, ■•■ ■■ kin of v.lii< h I 



saw yesterday at the store of Mr, John McDowell, of this 



plaoe. This "may bo con i ,. the first 



for Y«-ll. 



— — • ■ 



New Florida BOUTS. — A Dew steamer has been put 

 ou the Western Coast route of Florida, She is under the 

 command of Capt. Greenleai, and runs from Ced 

 to a, point below liomosassa, touching at all tinportanji 

 and tmimportant points, end irftn the good nature of tha 



lorrda steamboat, running up into all bl 

 and swamps that may ehance 10 attract the Bportsmajrj 

 traveler's eye, 



