February 26, 1880.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



71 



refuge in this underground retreat ; but their ignoble 

 capture, like that of Reynard in his hole, was certainly 

 extraordinary in this Cdiintry, where we are not ^accus- 

 tomed to run our birds to earth. 

 ^i » •*• 

 Notes.— The table of contents which will hereafter be 

 found upon the first page will materially facilitate refer- 

 ence to currrent numbers and to the files. This is an im- 

 provement which, with the introduction of date lines now 

 at the top of every page, will be appreciated .by our 

 readers. 



The pot called the kettle black, and it is not an infre- 

 quent thing to hear a self-confessed violator of game 

 law sportsmanship and decency enveigh against the pro- 

 fessional pot-hunter, 



Every aggrieved angler owes it to the craft to resist the 

 implication in the current newspaper squib that " it's the 

 amateur fisherman who hires a haul." 



Several months ago we commended the plan of a 

 Forest and STREAM scrap-book, and we have since 

 learned of several such hooks being made. Those who 

 do not preserve their files will find the scrap-book an ex- 

 cellent thing. The amount of matter worthy of preser- 

 vation in such form is greater than one would think 

 without trying the plan. One of our correspondents 

 writes of a set of books kept by himself, one devoted to 

 natural history, another to hints and instructions in 

 shooting, another to fish and fishing, etc. 



We wish to call especial attention to the advertisement 

 in another column on wild rice. Many of our inland 

 ponds might be made the resort of wild fowl by a judi- 

 cious distribution of this \ ery nufricious and thrifty 

 cereal, It has proved of vast benefit in the West. Mr. 

 Chas. Gilchrist is a sportsman of practical experience 

 in the habits and feed ot the aquatics and knows where- 

 of he speaks, The rice is very prolific after the first sow- 

 ing, and spreads very rapidly. It is also very fine in 

 flavor as a dessert. 



The paper on our first page descriptive of the route to 

 Parmachenee Lake and the Rangeley Circrit contains as 

 much information as the average guide-book — and more, 

 too, for the author wrote it to supply just the facts 

 omitted in the hand-books of travel. Prospective Maine 

 tourists may profitably adopt the suggestion to preserve 

 the pages for future reference. 



The index to Volume. Thirteen will be forthcoming 

 shortly. Its publication has been unavoidably delayed, 

 but we trust its usefulness may be in no wise impaired 

 thereby. 



As the spring is near advancing we are receiving re- 

 quests for information about fish and game resorts. The 

 directory which has been organized at this office is re- 

 ceiving the attention of our friends and has already 

 proved of material assistance. We again remind our cor- 

 respondents all over the land that they may render valu- 

 able aid in this work by sending in at an early date such 

 details of shooting and fishing resorts as they may be in- 

 fer ored of. Postal card reports are amply sufficient. See 

 the notice in another column. 



To our correspondent, "Guy Rivers," who Rome time 

 ago detailed in these columns his luckless adventures 

 during a voyage down the Mississippi, we commend the 

 newspaper accounts of the tour of Cant. Hemphill, now 

 on a honeymoon trip down the Father of Waters. The 

 happy couple have their boat all to themselves — not 

 another scad on board, The craft is decked with flags, 

 streamers and evergreens, and the popular captain 

 everywhere hailed with steam whistles and cannon. 

 Sing hey, the gallant captain that you are. 



Buskin will lecture on St. Patrick's Day before the 

 London Institution, and hie theme will be : " A Warning 

 to Snakes." He is reported to be a student of snakes. 

 What Euskin has to say about them, whether his lecture 

 be scientific or not, will be well worth listening to. 



GAME PROTECTION. 



&$" Secretaries of game clubs and others are invited to 

 send us earhj notices of changes in game laws, reports of 

 the doings of societies and. other notes of news. 



THE DEPLETED GAME OF LONG ISLAND AND ITS 

 EESTOEATION. 



Brooklyn, Feb. 15th. 



LONG ISLAND, that once famous Utopian, but now 

 alas! deteriorated paradise of the'sportsmau, has not 

 been totally exiled from the memory of a few gunners 

 still living, whose conviviality filled the halls of Jim 

 Smith's tabernacle in years gone by. ami who still seek 

 employment for the spaniel and the fowling piece among 

 her meadows, bays and woodlands ; scenery rivaled by 

 none elsewhere on the continent of North America. The 

 pinnated grouse, once abundant from Brooklyn to South 

 Hampton, takes no more its noon-day siesta within those 

 obscure coverts : the drum of the ru tied grouse is heard 

 less frequently than in former years, though this bird is 

 by no means extinct, and the noble stag, who in early days 

 broke his fast and slaked his thirst where grew the lily 

 pads in many limpid streams, have, save a few degener- 

 ated stragglers, left the slopes for holts far remote from 

 the ruthless hand of man. 



Albeit these denizens, like the red man, have fell by 

 the tyranny of the pale face. Long Island still possesses 



Mr. Editor, I give the prefatory notes upon Long 



Island to show what that locality was once, and to show 

 what it is now, and what its future is likely to be. 



H M(RY Fen wood. 



attractions for the sportsman which might b 

 were her game laws properly enforced. It w: 

 lect in this respect that suffered the extern 

 the heath hen from the brush plains, though 

 1791 laws were, framed for her preservation, 

 they mattered naught, as did the wisdom of tb 

 closed the cage after the bird had flown. Ni 

 portray faithfully the depleted vales and wo 

 beautiful Isle did I omit the mention of one i 

 melancholy as it is true, viz... the destructi 



Acknowledgments.— It will be remembered that we 

 noted some weeks ago the sad death of Mr. E. B. Staples, 

 of Sarasota, Ffa., who had been known for years to our 

 readers as Major Sarasota, and we mentioned at the same 

 time the straitened circumstances of his family. It gives 

 us pleasure to publish this acknowledgment from Mrs, 

 Staples, which is dated at Sarasota, Fla,, Feb. oth : — 



1 desire to express through your columns my grateful 

 thanks and appreciation for the sympathy and 'aid which 

 has been extended io me and mine in our hour of great 

 desolation and destitution. On the loth of November 

 your corporation twenty-five dol 

 y, from Ca.pt. Silas Stearns, appointed 

 lan Institute, a magnificent supply OJ 



in money; Dee. Oth. from Mi 

 it Wisconsin, Bve dollars ; Feb. 1st, from 

 York, five dollars, and from Dr, 

 Steels arfd Mr, Benedict, twenty- 



ed h-< 



I 

 Than 



by the Smiths. 



John U. Knapp 



Mr, W. Crosby, of Nev 

 Ferber, Mr. Brocks, M 

 five pounds of bacon and five pounds of coffee. 



altiplied 

 s the neg- 

 ination of 

 is early as 

 but a'lasl 

 I fool who 

 r would 1 

 xls of our 

 (her fact, 

 f "Great 

 Point," at Montank. Time was, and very recently at, that., 

 when if the goggles of wild geese that swarmed to this 

 point in quest of then favorite food could by any en- 

 deavor be computed and placed before those who havo 

 lever been there, the facts would bo given the widest 

 ^credibility ; and not wishing to fill the young sports- 

 nan's heart with the sorrowful regret that he had not 

 been thrown into this world twenty years earlier, I may 

 be pardoned if I omit the record of some of the bags 

 made in this vicinity, and simply add that if the eel pots 

 be destroyed and the luxuriant duck-weed allowed to 

 grow again, in a few years quite respectable shooting 

 may be had at this old haunt ; otherwise I prophesy the 

 absence of those days forever. 



But Long Island is yet a favorite hunting-ground. 

 Myriads of Wild ducks and geese throng to the placid 

 bosom of her bays and inlets, and the little quail is also 

 abundant in some of the rural districts. Though I do 

 not adniirenor countenance summer woodcock shooting, 

 I could take you, reader, w T ero I so inclined, to where you 

 could indulge to your heart's content in this unmanly 

 sport ; but Iknow you would refuse to go. I know of a 

 covert wdtose familiar picture is now before me ; a small 

 piece of swamp and thicket whose full radius does not 

 exceed two furlongs, where, on the 3d of July a year 

 ago, well known parties from this city killed woodcock 

 whose aggregate numbered into the forties ; and on the 

 day following another party, numbering four gentlemen, 

 tilled a similar quantity in a brake about a stone's throw 

 from the first mentioned locality, which had been re- 

 served for them ; and had they sway over other lands 

 adjacent the result of that clay's woodcock shooting 

 would have reached a heavy figure. All this was accom- 

 plished within a few hours in the morning. I have to 

 add that ere they found their way to the table some of 

 them were a mass of putrefaction. 



Such is a faithful representation of the past and pre- 

 sent of the once famous one hundred and twenty-five 

 miles of sand bar, and all, yes, I shall venture to say all, 

 for the lack of wise legislation. 



There are, perhaps, no gurgling streams, no meadows, 

 no glens or leafy woods, in which the errant cow-boy 

 can pillage with such safety as those upon Long Island". 

 Obscured in a Suffolk County hamlet, he sets Ins snares 

 when the sun is sinking behind the woods, and knowing 

 their whereabout, ho scarcely awaits the dawn when he. 

 has his traps emptied, account of stock taken, aud white 

 yet the villagers are dreaming has found ready sale to 

 some baggage master on the railroad. What does he 

 know about section so-and-so of the game laws ; nmeh 

 less, what does he care when ten cents may be readily 

 obtained for a " plump " or perhaps a half-starved " Bob 

 White"— poor "Bob," my heart beats with love for 

 thee ! andwhen he has promised the baggage master 

 the day previous to bring such-and-such a number the 

 next morning, and then roaming about the village " cock- 

 a-doodle-doing " as to how he ' ' ketched " ; ' leven " quails 

 and " tree " woodpile quawkers and "a duced of a big buck 

 rabbit," and changes the silver from one pocket to the 

 other for good luck on to-morrow, when, if by chance he 

 should meet farmer Jones's African— gun he has none. 

 So how can he bo made to respect a legal notice? "Who 

 is going to watch him? What will be done with the 

 small boys? 



It has 'been said to me: "What care you or I what 

 these fellows do, so that we have birds to shoot at?" I*i_ 

 thankful that ray mind was never trained to such a view 

 of the question as that, and to tell the frank truth I pay 

 far greater attention to the movements of the habitants 

 of the woods than I do to the maneuvers of my own 

 race. I want to see the lower class of animated nature 

 protected; I want: to see the few sections of law worth 

 ■. at all duly enforced ; I want competent men to 

 handle ail the game legislation ; and I don't want a. two 

 years prohibitory law, nor the shot gun taxed. It is not 

 necessary to go that far at all. 



And now, how shall we go about this thing effectively? 

 I will tell you. Let every sportsman put in an appear- 

 ance at Seneca Falls next July. Let the council Hie be 

 kindled, and let our supplications rend the winkle, Let 

 us agitate this subject to such an extent as to demand 

 attention. It is an American idea that, when a portion 

 of the community feel burdened with that portion of law 

 relative to thorn, they shall have a say in the matter. It 

 is tire duty of the State Association to think gravely upon 

 this subjeot, 



MIGEATOEY QUAIL. 



Boston, Feb. Mth. 

 Fditor Forest and Stream : — 



The quail reach Messina in their migrations about the 

 middle, of March, and the flights continue until the mid- 

 dle of April, sometimes until 1st of May. A letter is 

 from two to three weeks going from here to Messina. 

 The latest possible time for sending an order (and getting 

 it executed) would be the first part of April. The latest 

 date at which an order could be sent and be probably 

 executed would be considerably earlier. To make this 

 clear 1 quote as follows from a letter of Mr. Braun, dated 

 Jan. 17th, 1880: "A short time ago one of our Messina 

 papers brought out an article stating that the catching 

 of quail was to be prohibited entirely before next spring, 

 and consequently I abandoned all hope of further expor- 

 tations. But now 1 hear that the licenses which were 

 given out last spring for the duration of one year will re- 

 main in force for their full term, so that those catchers 

 who took their licenses late last spring can make use of 

 them for a part of the next flight. New licenses are no 

 more given out under the previous conditions. Before, 

 any one that had a license could go catching anywhere 

 in the whole Kingdom of Italy. The license was per- 

 sonal, and cost only 30 shillings. Now a new law has 

 been issued, according to which the new license is per- 

 sonal and can he used only for a marked piece of ground 

 not exceeding 25 meters (about 27 yards) in length, and 

 20 meters (about 31| yardslin breadth ; and, besides this, 

 the cost has been raised to 60 shillings for each license. 

 These determinations of course do away with all hope of 

 getting any more quail after next spring, as nobody can 

 see his way clear to pay 00 shillings for a license on which 

 he may, perhaps, be able to catch not twenty birds during 

 the whole flight. This is the work of our sportsmen, who 

 fear that the increasing demand forlivo birds will reduce 

 the stock of quail, and perhaps in time put an end to our 

 quail hunting. As the birds appear here in such im- 

 mense quantities, I doubt whether this would ever be 

 the case, but I must acknowledge that the bird-catchers 

 are very annoying indeed when one is out gunning." 



It is "plain from the above extract that it is better to 

 have all orders in by March 1st at the latest. At the same 

 tune, it is not at all improbable that orders sent hi as late 

 as the middle of March, or even, possibly, the 1st of 

 April, would be executed. Our first order will be sent 

 forward on or before March 1st. If any who desire to 

 import cannot get their plans completed by that time they 

 can order later, and all orders received before April 1st 

 will be sent along to Mr. Braun, the gentlemen ordering 

 bearing in mind that in all cases Mr. Braun reserves the 

 right to return tne money, less the small cost of the ex- 

 changes, if he cannot secure the birds without loss to him- 

 self. After April 1st I think it would be useless to for- 

 ward orders. 



The following letter from Mr. Braun may be interest- 

 ing to your readers. Horace P. Tobey. 



Messina, Jan. 26th, 1880. 

 Mr. Horace P. Tobey, Boston,, Mass., V. S. A.:— 



Dear Sir— According to your request in your last 

 favor, I will write you a few lines upon matters con- 

 nected with migratory quail, giving you in a few words 

 such facts as I have gathered from my own experience. 



I will begin by saying that the quail are not stationary 



ith us, of at least not here in the vicinity of Messina. 

 A few have, however, been found to breed in the plains 

 near Catania. During their short stays here in spring 

 and autumn the/ must be considered as travelers, and 

 their habits are not the same that they are at their home 

 —that is, at their resting place. They arrive here almost 

 tired to death by their long flight across the sea, and 

 oftentimes they are so exhausted that they fall down in 

 the streets of our city ; then they can be easily picked 

 up. Some that cannot stand the long flight are often 

 seen to drop down into the sea, where they show them- 

 selves to be clever sailors. They lie quietly on the sur- 

 face of the water and lift one wing to the wind, thus 

 spreading a minature sail, by which they are carried 

 safely to the shore. 



They migrate almost exclusively at night, very rarely 

 in the day time. They generally arrive here" in the 

 morning early, remain during the day, and continue their 

 migration the coming evening. "When it is moonlight 

 they fly high and alight upon the mountains ; while with 

 a covered sky they fly low and alight on the plains. I 

 have not been able to find out here that the quail have a 

 particular time for feeding and another for resting, as I 

 have seen them move about in all hours of the. day. This 

 is owing of course to the irregularity and disturbance 

 they meet out here. But in Germany where they nest I 

 have noticed that they have about the same habits as the 

 partridges, viz., feed in the morning early, toward noon 

 and at sunset, and he up the rest of the day. They make 

 their nests upon the ground, and are not "very particular 

 in the choice of their nesting-place. The female laysfrom 

 eight to eighteen gray-colored and duck-sprinkled eggs, 

 which are about the size of pigeons' eggs. The young, 

 like the young of the partridge, are able to run about the 

 day they are hatched. I have seen them run with a part 

 of the egg-shell still on tljeir backs. The quail generally 

 does not breed more than twice a year. 



The catching of the quail is done with nets and snares. 

 The former implement, which is mostly used on the Ital- 

 ian continent, is the same kind of net" that is ordinarily 

 used in other countries for catching birds. The catching 

 is done at night, and in order to attract the passing birds 

 the catcher uses a decoy whistle, with which he imitates 

 the monotonous " pich-ter-wick '" of the quail. The im- 

 plement mostly used here in Sicily for catching quad is 

 the snare. It is used in the following way : — 



The catcher digs in the winter small trenches, about 

 twelve centimeters (about four and seven-tenths inches) 

 broad, in the field, on each side of which he sows rye, 

 which forms in spring, when grown up, a, kind of an 

 alley, Across the trenches the catcher fastens, about fifty 

 centimeters (about nineteen inches) apart, small sticks in 

 such a manner that a quail can comfortably pass belo»- 

 them. To the middle of each stick a snare, made of ho - 

 hair, is fastened, and in the trenoh some seed (her»- 



