April 1, 1880,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



165 



come in sound of his honker and his companions they 

 rarely fail to come down. It seetns taking a mean advan- 

 tage of the bipeds. But Lane's decoys seem to under- 

 stand it so well, they enter into the spirit of the whole 

 thing so humanly, so to speak, that when a flock flies 

 over they will call out vociferously, "Come down here." 

 "Come dear ones and see us." "It is all right." And 

 when the guns crack and their fellows do come down 

 they rise up and cackle and shako themselves, and evi- 

 dently laugh out "Ha, ha I that's a good one." So well 

 does Lane study his geese that when he takes out a new 

 one and it acts badly or gives out a wrong note, he has 

 been known at once' to leave his box, go out and deliber- 

 ately cut its throat, saying that that goose is not good; 

 he would not only keep away the wild ones, but as "evil 

 communications corrupt good manners," would ruin his 

 whole school. 



The next thing, and a very important part of a success- 

 ful rig, is to have a good •■swimmer" of geese. This is 

 the man in the boat that goes off down the bay and 

 around the Hocks if there are any settled therein, and by 

 judicious and careful sailing endeavors to drive them 

 within sound of the voices of the stools, This requires at 

 times great judgment and perseverance and a perfect 

 Knowledge of the points and bars of the bay. It takes 

 hours sometimes of careful maneuvering to get a flock in 

 the right position for a big shot. If geese can be in- 

 duced to swim up to a blind, a far better shot can be had 

 than to have them fly over or settle among the decoys. 

 One of the best "swimmers," if not the very best in the 

 bay, is George Lane— as yet a boy, but with a man's 

 head on bis shoulders — a thorough water dog as all these 

 bay men are. An instinctive talent to take in at once the 

 emergencies of the occasion and a muscular activity to 

 turn that knowledge to instant account, make him 'the 

 equal among many who are good ; and but a few more 

 years of experience will help him to far outrank the best 

 of them. 



Having set our decoys, settled ourselves in our re- 

 spective boxes, foot toward the stools and guns cocked, 

 we awaited events. George had started off eastward, 

 where the geese sometimes feed when they come in at 

 night. Soon Bill (who could hold his head higher than 

 we were allowed to, his brown cap and florid round face 

 looking, as some one remarked, " so much like a bunch 

 of sand, that the birds couldn't tell the difference," 

 whispered, "Here comes a bunch, keep low," and low 

 •we were. Our honker tuned up, and was answered down 

 the bay ; the flock joined in, the he-onk came back mul- 

 tiplied largely. Soon the rush of wings fell on our ears, 

 all was still. ' ' How is it ? " ' ' There are nine in all ; but 

 only about half of them right yet. Wait until they walk 

 out clear of the stools. Don't shoot until they rise. Now 

 give it to them." And as we arose, there was an aston- 

 ished lot of geese — and how they did scrabble to get off ! 

 But those steel tubes were too much for them. Five out 

 of the nine remained kicking in the water — two of them 

 only being wing tipped. Then came a scene of excitement, 

 and' the high rubber-boots came in play, for a winged- 

 goose is not an easy bird to get, nor even to shoot, as 

 they throw their beads and almost entire bodies under 

 water, and go off at no slow pace. The undersigned was 

 not in racing condition, hut Shepherd and Mundy each 

 took after a goose, shooting as they ran through the 

 water. Mundy soon got his ; hut " Shep.," with his short 

 legs, could not go so fast, and in his excitement run in 

 over his thigh-boots and lost his bird after all — but fortu- 

 nately George came up and shot the goose from the boat. 

 It is not necessary for me to give the particulars of our 

 different shot's ; how the undersigned, ourselves, made a 

 beautiful double; how Phillip and Mundy bored the 

 same goose ; nor of the big buckshot that Phillips put 

 through the very center of that gander. 



The wind came up sharp and cold, and, as no birds 

 came with it, we eat our lunch— how good a lunch tastes 

 out there on the bay, especially if you have had luck. 

 Toward 4 o'clock a large flock, some "forty or fifty, came 

 in and settled on a bar about three-fourths of a mile 

 east. George wa3 soon around them and commenced 

 driving. His tactics were admirable, and the way he 

 managed that flock was superb. Not too near, nor too 

 far ; tack here, off there, and the flock in long line came 

 slowly swimming toward us. A half hour passed. Still 

 nearer ; another quarter hour— they were doing splen- 

 didly ; another quarter, and they would be within sight 

 and hearing of our decoys. 



" Steady"! Keep down there ! Don't show your noso 

 even 1 Geese have tremendously sharp eyes. Keep cool 1 

 Oh, what a shot we'll have ! We must get twenty this 

 time. Aim at then- heads if they are well bunched. You, 

 Mundy, take the extreme right ; you next, P hilli ps ; 

 Jaeobstaff, you look out for the center ; Shepherd and I 

 will 'tend to our end." These were tho orders of General 

 Lane. 



Another twenty minutes. "Where are they now? 

 They ought to be pretty near here. What in thunder is 

 the matter? They have stopped, and are going off east- 

 ward. Where is George ?" George was gone— had left 

 the geese, and could be dimly seen off Earn Pasture Point. 



"What has happened? How could he leave those geese 

 when in such splendid shape. It must have been some- 

 thing very serious, or George never would have acted 

 thuRly." 



" Some d d fool tipped over, I'll bet," grunted 



Lane, in great disgust. And so it proved. One of the 

 inhabitants, returning home after a tarry at the. hotel at 

 Pon Quogue, loaded to the muzzle (we mean be was, not 

 his boat), in undertaking to round the point with no reef 

 in his sail and in that wind, over ho went, his mast 

 rammed into the mud. Having crawled on top of tho 

 upturned boat, he was yelling bice a loon, and, but for 

 George's turning back, would have frozen to death, sure. 

 Well, aU praise should he given to George. A human 

 life is of far more value than many geese, but the ana- 

 themas on poor whisky were loud and deep. 



Of course, all this time, as the geese were in sight, we 

 had to lie close, and 1 tell you it was cold work— no 

 chance to stir or shake yourself ; wo shivered and 

 cjrr.wled. Having dug the mast out, and righted and 

 Dailed out the boat, an oar was given the obfuscated in- 

 dividual, and he was told to paddle ashore. And George 

 once more started for the geese, but tho sun u ras QUltf 

 twenty minutes high, It was too late to swim them. 

 Tho only chance was to put them up, and they might 

 come our way or might go to sea. Soon they arose. Oh, 

 what a flock 1 



"Which way are they going?" "Can't tell Jyet." 

 "Here they come." "We'll have a shot yet." "Give 

 tongue, old boy I" to the gander, and as he spoke out the 

 reply came back, " Here they come ; lay low." 



There they go over our heads. Ye gods 1 how big they 

 looked. All passed and lit on a bar to our left, two or 

 three gunshots off, Too late to wait for them to come in 

 to-night, There they sat, forty or more, cackling and 

 pruning their feathers. No chance ; what a shame 1 

 Blast that confounded fool that upset ! 



" But hold, here are four right in front of us. How are 

 tliev. free from the stools?" Lane asks, as ho could not 

 see from bis box. " Yes." we replied;; "right out in the 

 open." " Then it is our only chance ; give it to them," 

 and we arose and fired. Three out of the four lay over, 

 the fourth going off with a broken leg to die at sea prob- 

 ably, for he would not be able to rise again after having 

 settled in the water. 



And thus ended our day at Lane's, having [bagged 

 twelve in all. We soon wero homeward bound. ' Lane 

 says the prospect for goose shooting was never as good as 

 now, and he expects it will continue big until Mav. "So 

 mote it be." 



Among others whom we found at Lane's were Messrs. 

 Albert Peltzer and Hermann Seheibler, two very intelli- 

 gent Germans, from away in Crefeld, Rhenish Prussia. 

 Having been in the country but a few weeks on business, 

 and ere taking the Saturday's White Star steamer, they 

 had taken a run down to Lane's (the Forest and Stream 

 giving the hint). They each, we were informed, own 

 preserves at home, 'where they shoot the fierce, grunting 

 wild hoar, and have thousands of partridges, hares and 

 su r fii like ; but this killing ducks out of a box, and the 

 ducks going at the rate of seventy miles an hour, rather 

 took them. However, on Monday they had good sport, 

 and, considering the circumstances, did" well. They got 

 some 150 shots. We will not say how many birds they 

 bagged, but they were wonderfully pleased, as the cham- 

 pagne corks on their return to the gun-room will testify. 

 They proved themselves right good fellows, full of humor 

 as well as enthusiasm. We hope to meet them again. 

 In the party we had the pleasure of joining this time 

 (and we have been down there many times and always 

 found agreeable gentlemen, and have" made some lasting 

 friendships) we found in Messrs. Phillips, Mundy and 

 Shepherd three as courteous gentlemen and good shots as 

 one would want to lie besido in a shooting-box. All had 

 their stories and reminiscences, and the days and even- 

 ings were short indeed that we spent with them. May 

 we all meet at Lane's and have as good a time again (bar- 

 ring the gout), is the hearty wish of Jacobstaff. 



§[ntunil JjiirJarg. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF BIRD OF 



THE FAMILY TURDID.F FROM TB.E 



ISLAND OF DOMINICA, W. I. 



BY GEO. N. LAWRENCE. 



Margarops daminicewt*. 



Male.— The entire upper plumage is of a rich dark brown, the 

 crown is darker unci hus the edges of the feathers of a lighter shade; 

 tniland quill feathers of a darker brown than tho back; axillars 

 and under wing-covcrts white; the lores are blackish brown; the 

 leathers back o£ the eyes and the ear-coverts have narrow shaft 

 streaks of pale rufous; the feathers of the neck and upper part 

 of tho breast are of a warm dark brown, those of tho chin and 



iddlc of the throat with light rufous centers; those of the 



iver part of tho neck and the upper part of the breast have also 

 light rufous centers, but in addition each feather has a Mack tcr- 

 iriial spot ; on the lower part the breast, and on tho sides tho 

 feathers have white centers, bordered strikingly with brown ; 

 the markings of the breast feathers are equainmiform in 

 shape | those of the sides, lanceolate ; the abdomen is white, a few 

 feathers on the upper part are very narrowly margined with 

 brown ; under tail-coverts, brown, terminating with white ; outer 

 feathers of thighs, brown, the inner, whitish ; "iris, tea color;" 

 there is a naked space around the eye ; bill, yellow, with the basal 

 half of the upper mandible dusky; tarsi and toes pale yel- 

 low. Length (freshl : in.; wing, 5; tail, 3J ; tarsus, 1! ; bill, from 

 front, 15-16 ; from gap, U. 

 Type in TJ. S. National Museum, Washington. 



Mr. Ober sent five specimens of this form from Dom- 

 inica, all males, and closely resembling each other ; it is 

 probable, as in the allied species, that the females do not 

 differ in plumage materially from the males. 



Mr. Ober's collection from Dominica contained three 

 species of Margarops, which I never had seen before ; 

 these were referred to known species, two of them I 

 think correctly ; but the one which is tho subject of this 

 article I now find was erroneously considered to be M. 

 harm iuicri, Lafr; I supposed these species would be the 

 same as those recorded from the neighboring islands, 

 as they agreed well with the descriptions given of 

 them, and there were no available specimens to compare 

 with. 



As soon as I had finished the examination of the birds 

 of each island collected by Mr. Ober, they were placed in 

 a box by themselves and not disturbed again except for 

 an occasional comparison. The collection from Gua- 

 deloupe, containing specimens of the true M. herminieri, 

 Lafr., was not received until more than a year after that 

 from Dominica. These specimens I labeled M, herifiinieri, 

 Lafr. , as a matter of course, they being from tho locality 

 of the type : the difference between the birds from the 

 two islands was not observed at that time, as no conipar- 

 ison was made. 



This winter, having occasion to review the species of 

 Margarops, I got the specimens from the different islands 

 together for the first time, and at once saw that the spe- 

 cies from Dominica was quite distinct from the Gua- 



deloupe bird. It differs from 31. lurrminieri, Lafr., in 

 being less in length, of a more robust form, the bill 

 stouter and the tail shorter ; the brown coloring through- 

 out is much darker and of a ruddy cast, instead of oliva- 

 ceous ; the centers of the feathers on the throat and upper 

 part of the breast are much more rufous, and have black 

 spots at theh* ends ; the abdomen is pure while, whereas 

 in ill. herminieri the lower part of tho broast and tho 

 abdomen are covered with lanceolate-shaped markings, 

 which are very striking, each feather being white with a 

 strongly-defined brown border; only a very small space 

 on the lower part of the abdomen is white ; ]\L hormin- 

 ieri has the white ends of the under tail-coverts edged 

 narrowly with pale brown ; in tho new species they are 

 white without borders, and it has tho tarsi and toes 

 stronger and paler in color than those of JIT. lierrninieri. 



Amphioxus Lanceolatus. — In two valuable papers 

 which appeared respectively in the January and February 

 numbers of the American Naturalist, Mr. Henry J, Hire 

 has given a very full accountof his "Observations on the 

 Habit, Structure and Development of the curious Lanee- 

 let" (Amphioxus lanceolatus), a creature about whose true 

 position in the animal kingdom there has been and still 

 is so much discussion. The author of these papers 

 during the summer of 1S78, while engaged in laboratory 

 work at the Chesapeake Zoological Station, succeeded in 

 obtaining two males, a ripe female and about twenty 

 young of these species, and it is on th immaterial that the 

 present papers are based. Previous to this the young of 

 Amphioxus had not, we believe, been taken in America. 

 The young remained alive for nearly two months, and 

 thus gave the observer an opportunity of making a series 

 of most interesting observations not only over their 

 habits, but also on their growth and development. 



Mr. Rice's most interesting account of the habits of 

 both adult and young of Amphioxus is supplemented by 

 a very full and valuable essay on its anatomical struc- 

 ture, to which we can here only allude. The paper as a 

 whole is a valuable one, and throws light on a number 

 of points hitherto in doubt. 

 ♦ 



White Blue Herons.— Dedham, MarcJi lith.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream : — Last year while in Florida I caught 

 three young white cranes, just hatched, and was able to 

 raise one of them. When I left him South last fall he 

 was about eighteen inches high and finely feathered. He 

 is now turning blue. Is it the "nature of the beast " to 

 change color? Have often heard that they did, but 

 thought it a hoax. If you can give any information on 

 the subject it will greatly oblige me. 



C. W. RANTOUL, Jr. 



The bird, from what you tell us of it, is no doubt Ardea 

 ccerulea, a species which is sometimes white and some- 

 times blue. Audubon, who had good opportunities for 

 observing this species, regarded the white birds as young, 

 and the blue ones as the adults. This species is often 

 found curiously motttled in its change from the white to 

 the blue plumage. ^ 



Pileated Woodpecker.— Springfield, Mass., March 

 20th.— Editor Forest and Stream :— I notice in your last 

 number "J. J. B.", Ontario, Canada, asks about a bird 

 and I should judge it is the same kind I shot about three 

 years ago. The man that stuffed it said he had stuiTed 

 birds over forty years, and never Btuffed but one before!. 

 I am not much ot an artist, but I inclose a sketch of 

 mine : it is the exact size, for I laid my bird on the paper 

 and marked around it with a pencil, and then put in 

 the colors in water colors. I did it in about twenty min- 

 utes t but I hope it will give you an idea of what it is. 



C. M. Shicdd. 



The inclosure mentioned by our correspondent, is an 

 admirable sketch of a pileated woodpecker, (Hylotom us 

 I'ilcalus), which welpresume was the bird referred to by 

 "J. J. B." 



Reuilla.— I have submitted specimens of this curious 

 marine animal to a scientific friend in Boston, who gave 

 it the above name, and stated that it belongs to the 

 corals, family Pcnnatxdidce, and is allied to the sea-pens 

 and gorgonias. As this creature has some interestuig 

 peculiarities, which t have discovered by keeping them 

 alive in a jar of sea water, I will describe it : It is found 

 in muddy bottoms at very low tides ; it is shaped like a 

 leaf of the English violet, about two inches or more in 

 diameter, anchored in the mud by a tube live or six 

 inches long; the leaf is covered with innumerable mi- 

 nute tubercles, mid is of a reddish-brown color. This 

 leaf, for it exactly resembles one, and is called bv the 

 fishermen " the mud leaf," has a certain power ol loco- 

 motion, and withdraws itself into the mud when irritated. 

 I collected some of them, and placed them in a jar of sea 

 water. In about half an hour, when they had become 

 quiet, I was surprised to see protruding from these tu- 

 bercles, tentacles like those of the Actinia, about an inch 

 in length, and surmounted by a crown of waving while 

 plumes. The animal became distended with water, and 

 assumed a beautilul purple hue. At night, with the 

 room darkened, the creature on being touched emitted 

 brilliant flames of phosphorescent light, illuminating the 

 whole jar of. water, I kept them for two days. ivW 

 probably Owing to a waul, oi mud to burrow in , the) 

 died ODe by one. Perhaps With an aquarium, moiual'v 

 fitted up to meet their wants, they mi.um I „, Upt alive"; 

 and certainly it would be one of the moat interesting in- 

 habitants of the uquariu in — beautiful by day. and 'bnl- 

 liant by night, it is quite u,iv, 1 u i„ told, even en this 

 coast. I have never seen it described in American books, 

 though "Nioholeoa'a Manual dI ' an p my friend tells 

 me, mentions a European species, J Cnuuiida phosphorcu, 

 found in similar localities in England, which has ibis 

 phosphorescent qualitv, y t (_,< q 



Neiv Smyrna, Florida, March lith, J ' 



