244 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aran, 39, 1880. 



however ll ni.iv be, the neighborhood has proved 

 itself extremely unhealthy for all yelping dogs— so 

 rniich so that 1 shouldn't, advise one to try the experi- 

 ment at giving longuo thereabouts tor any length of 



limr. Caribonand u so are sometimes driven away 



. ,-v a short oliase trorn a hound, or evi , ; ii pa 

 sage through their " beat." Deerseemless easily fright- 

 ened away. 



As elsewhere, the chances of the -weather are those 

 chiefly involved in the question of success in hunting 

 ;u„l lishihg at the lower lakes, hut the very I. .cation 

 which gives these lakes their pectdjar beauty, renders 



th liable to a large rainfall. Lying as they do among 



the mountains of the water-shed dividing the St. Law- 

 rence waters from those flowing south, they receive 

 many it rain when, thirty miles away, the country is 

 parched. Deer seldom feed in the lake when the woods 

 are driving,, and I doubt not that .many. .book owes his 

 conf'uuie.1 , >.-., ence,asan exterminator o I hly-pads and 



the hillside, by providing the moisture he demands with 

 his browse. Like another and more frequently met with 

 species of "buck," he has a great distaste for any thing 

 like a "dry toed," that being apparently the reason why 

 ho resorts to thclakesand streams to feed. Only an 

 afternoon shower is needed to content him with what th 

 woods afford, while indry weather, as surely as nightfa) 

 comes, he makes his way straight past the running 

 brodks to the lake pr some sluggish stream, where grows 

 the favorite bunch-grass; even m toi% a mouthf ul oi 



snow goes with each one of browse. There are several 

 beaver-dams not faraway to winch the deer resort more 

 or less according to season and weather, as well as when 

 nimli hunted at the lake. 



\hoiii one of the more remote of these I found the 

 (racks everywhere and numerous last August, For a 

 time the weather bad been favorable lor floating, and 

 night after night Norton had floated up to the, leer. They 

 wire shot over an.l under, before and bahhiii, tilt the 

 month was nearly gone, and but three deer and a moose 

 had been brought in, Arriving laic in the month, I could 

 n'oi dispute the testimony oi several shot-scarred trees as 



(o the recent presence of the cause of huc.k fever, nor 

 could 1 doubt that the steaks Uncle Tom set before u 

 were genuine moos.- meat ; but whither had disappeared 

 ti ie nightly visitants which unfailing left their track 

 about the shores in former seasons. 1 was puzzled t< 



Ihero were only two < 

 The fishing took a poo 

 fr.mia Ion- and rough 

 the land of the Lug troll 

 for little but rest and 

 was annoying to have 

 toward those « ho did \ 

 after the tour or five 

 short stay end left, pro] 



Blace Was more or less I 

 1 happened one day up, 

 ■H„. tracks were then 



elsewhere, while on a/no 



three more l" 



r thf 



s watering at all 

 I though, coming 



r Sa, 



enav 



moose nppea 



Ed to he 



I salmon, I cared 

 e noble woods, it 

 e act so shabbily 

 ig. It was only 



ii rons than I have s 



inch of the stream two or 

 regularly. One or two 

 ng about the larger dam, 

 their favorite beat in an- 



but most of tl 



One afternoon, just before leaving the -woods, I wont 

 to this dam for a last night out. having at the same time 

 an eve for the very good chance of getting a deer to take 

 home My way of going for a night is to roll up a blan- 

 ket in a Utile canvas or duck hammock, weighing l„ua 



lew ounces, ■■ •■ il game-bag or tishmg-basket, 



anil, when pighl I jShai g.ipanywhoxv to a couple 

 of convenient trees, the strong dunk, besides keeping 



the blanket trom being torn while traveling, insures a 



D fortable bed in a lew seconds— no unimportant 



matter if I he ground is swampy or wet from rains. A 



I . , . i . - be., is a luxury demanding a fairly suitable 



situation as well as some time in preparation, so •espe- 

 cially where alone the use of a hammock brings inde- 

 pendence of location and economy of time. 



On this occasion I reached the little pond before sun- 

 set and. slinging the hammock between two spruces, 

 took a position on I ho east, side of the pool, in easy rifle 

 -hot of s.nne well-tracked feeding ground just across, 



with the last rays of the eun reddening the tops of the 



great trees on the birch and spruce grown hillside 



Itwas almost Bepteinher, The hum or mosquitoes was 



already gone at this elevation of two thousand feet. 

 Above the murmuring How of the stream, at the beaver 



ilani near by, came at ...!-; the croak of a frog, its 



' ,','..,,„.,,. d noise oetokening the approaching frost which 

 brings silence to iheir mjdannimei' chorus. A solitary 

 , m , M i; longptnmes gilded m the western light, sailed 

 unsuspectingly by. alighting wilh a harsh cry up the 

 stream, whence soon came a sudden "chuck' as the uu- 

 erring bill tixeil some helpless trout or frog, 



lv. as the sun touched the hill, the trout began 

 tr> rise. There was in sight, two and a half acres of Still 

 water .-billing whit 1 he reflected sunset, glow, and until 

 darkness settled down after the long twilight, not a rip- 

 ple dieduwa'. " 'll' '■ ■ I'" ' : '• - •- e-aig surface. 



There was none of the sp : ' ■■: ... - -,.. e ,i m lly- 



ll-hiie.-, t>ut as each i my insecl settled upon the water he 

 was taken withaplash scarcely audible at the few yard? 



.listaiice; if was only occasionally that a fluttering moth 

 tempted a leap, or a half-pounder betrayed his presence 

 ova ripple larger than the rest Each iish appeared to 

 ,, uUl Ul ",,,, ,,;.,.. i., eoni.ning himself within his own 

 proper limits, un^S perchance a pauicula.rly attractive 

 prize happened within reach. 



J v few minutes aiter sunset, atotun— unlooked for 

 Trigitorin tlv pari -came near, and without noticing 

 me Hew down and hopped about not a yard from my 

 feet At that moment, a stick cracked in the woo, is be- 

 hind and I knew that my deer was coming from the 

 ;,,,, -non, though there was still a good chance 



foraf . " if light. Just then that wretched 



robin discovered Die, and Hying to a branch overhead sent 



forr.li cries th '■'■'■ " ' ' Is ring. The deer looked 



, ,,,,. the cause of the outcry, and found it, as he 



Uidonilv supposed, in the hammock bwentj yards back 



;„.,,,,.,. Without coming in eight, he surveyed 



1 he strange laonslera while; then stamped am 



, UUl , v ;,„„i . ,. i, ...J :,.. ii ,u,,l bounded away. Know- 

 - , h . u .m „ ; ,!iir wiilun a ball mile must have caught 



the' alarm Hooked with ready rifle for the robin, but he . 



bad prudently disappeared during the excitement, and 



till darkness stole over the poo! I sat watching the tiout- 



nppios with no fun her interruption, 



I was dropping asleep in the deer-alarming canvas, 

 when not thirty yards away the spiteful thump of a hoof 



on the ground, told that the. buck had come back to sat- 

 isfy his curiosity. Be must have I n standing there 



quite a while before he stamped. It was too dark to 

 shoot, so I made no move till he caught the scent, de- 

 livered another series of angrv whistles, and took himself 

 off with leaps that led me hope he would break his neck 

 against a tree in the dark. 



About midnight t woke; the beaver were splashing in 

 the water, and up stream something sounded like a deer. 

 A little chilled, i built a wisp of a lire, thereby silencing 



the beaver, and toasted a bit of pork, as well as mv shins, 

 with a sociable owl for company, Later, [ had a vague 

 idea of something heavy moving about across the stream. 

 but sleepily decided it was out of reach and entered 

 dreamland again, in the morning the track of a two- 

 moose established the identity of the night 



1 had intended to hunt a mile or two up the stream in 

 the early morning, but a marauding and deer-searing old 

 heron tempted the settlement of old scores and caught a 

 bullet at eighty yards; alter which piece of bloodshed, I 

 struck for Chester's. 



So passi d my last night alone at Second Lake. 



In view of the considerable amount of game in these 

 hack places, it is remarkable how little thev haveheen dis- 

 turbed by sportsmen, and even by hunters. Tom Chester 

 on his snowsboes goes about gathering in his crop of 

 heaver and otter, but tit that lime the other game has 

 left the streams for the hillsides: as for fishing, in the 

 absence of his favorite red squired or moose-bird, he may 

 at most catch n trout or two for mink bait. It is Only 

 near and on (he lake that systematic hunting and fishing 

 have been done at all. About the heads of the streams, 

 however, the trout of course run small, save in the 

 little ponds. 



from Seejnd Lake to JY.rmaehcneo is a fair path on the 

 old supply road, built when lumbering was active on the 

 Magalloway. One can now .hive from Coh-hrook to the 

 foot of Second Lake in adav. spend thenight at Chester's, 

 and by est noon cross the ten-mile carry, and find him- 

 self at Danforth's campon Parmachenee, whence he can 

 go down the Magallouav to the Cupsuptic River and 

 iiangeley chain. Chester can find guides to "tote "bag- 

 gage. Here let me add my testimony as to Danforth's 

 pluck and energy in overcoming difficulties and opposi- 

 tion as detailed in a recent admirable article on the 

 " Rangeley Circuit." I should ;u I vise any one intending 

 cond Lake for the lir.-t lime to write concern- 

 ing i be state, of the hunting and fishing, to Thomas 

 Chester, Pittsburg, Cqos County, Jtf. ii. His statements 

 may be relied upon to th, last particular. 



The summer season has its uncertainties for the sports- 

 man. To the new coiner I would say, do not expect too 

 much. Hewhosoonlv means of enjoy merit in the wilder- 

 ness are the rifle and rod must lake the chances of being 

 disappointed or delighted. Yet, for myself, I ask no 

 higher enjoyment of a few davs or weeks vacation than 

 to have contact with Nature al the old Jake, going forth 

 day by day trom the log camp by the icy spring, and 

 listening by night to the loons and" the forest wind.' 



RilfGlFER, 



'intiiviil ^isimg. 



THE FOOD OF OUR THRUSHES. 



THE value of birds to the agriculturist, though often 

 descanted on, is not yet fully appreciated. The 

 theme is a favorite one with ornithologists, but is usually 

 treated in such a general way that its importance is 

 likely to lie tlnder-lSted by the reader. 



In a recent paper by Prof. S. A. Forbes, whose name is 

 not unfamiliar to the readers of Forest abb Stream, 



this subject is handled -oadtiiiially. and with such careful 

 attention to detail as to claim for the essay the widest 

 circulation, both among those who are interested in 

 birds and among horticulturists. It lias been made Prof. 

 Forbes' duty to investigate the food of birds, and the 

 present paper, which is a partial report to the Illinois 

 State Horticultural Society, and is published in volume 

 XIII. of its Transactions, has to do with the thrush family 

 yTuvJiiho. The question raised is, are our thrushes a 

 benefit or an injury to the farmer and gardener ? 



But before, this question is answered Prof. Forties pro- 

 ceeds to reply to another, and one which is often asked 

 about scientific work, namely ; Does^ the investiga- 

 tion which he has been carrying on pay 'i AVe cannot do 

 better than to give his reply in his own words. He 

 says :— 



The cartful estimates nf three ornithologists and ex- 

 ■" collectors give, as an average of the whole 

 bird-life of Illinois, three birds per acre "during the six 

 summer months. That is to sar, if all the birds of the 

 year, except the swimmers, were concentrated in the six 

 months, equally distributed throughout them, and 

 guauyscai redoverthe State, we would have three 

 1. It is my own opinion that 

 jod of birds consists of insects. 

 food will average, at the lowest 



birds 



at It 



and 



reasonable estimate, twenty insects ormsE i 



day tor each individual of these two-thirds, giving a total 

 tor The year of .seven thousand two hundred per acre, 

 or two hundred and fifty billions for the State— a num- 

 ber which, placed one to each square inch of surface, 

 would cover an area, of forty thousand B 



Careful estimates of the average number of insects 

 per square yard in this State give US, at the furthest, ten 

 thousand per acre for the. whole area. On ibis basis, if the 



operations of the birds were to be BUS d, \ 



| r these insect hosts would be accelerated about 

 seventy per cent., and their numbers, instead of reiuain- 

 mg year by year at the present average tig lire, would be 



increased over two-thirds each year. Anyone familial 

 with geometrical ratios will understand the inevitable re- 

 sult. Iu the second year we should find these pests 

 nearly three times as numerous as now. ami. with that 

 astounding acceleration of increase characteristic of 



g netrical progression, they would multiply until in 



about twelve years we should "have the entire Slate ear- 

 peted with insects— one "to the square inch over our 

 whole territory. 1 have so arranged thds computation as 

 lo exclude the insoluble question of the relative values of 

 birds and predaceous or parasitic insects, unless we sup- 

 pose that birds eat an undue proportion of beneficial 

 species. 



Or the question may he looked at in another way. It 

 has been computed that the average damage done by in- 

 sects in Illinois amounts to twenty million dollars an- 

 nually — a large sum, but representing, after .all, only 

 about fifty-six cents per acre. If, in consequence of Prof, 

 Forbes' investigations, the efficiency of the birdsasauheck 

 on insect life can be increased only one per cent., the 

 saving to the State would amount to sixty -six thousand 

 dollars, or an addition to the permanent wealth of the 

 State of one million five hundred thousand dollars. The 

 figures given in these computations, as Prof. Forbes him- 

 self says, are absurdly low, but he prefers to base his esti- 

 mates on figures that will command universal assent, er- 

 pecially since the importance of the subject does not re- 

 quire an exaggeration. The proverbial young robin of 

 Prof. Treadwell required sixty earth-worms daily, and a 

 mocking-bird reared by Mr. Robert Forbes ate two hun- 

 dred and forty red-legged grasshoppers each day. Any I 

 one who has watched the movements of a pair of old 

 birds with a brood of young, has, wo are sure, been asva 

 tonished by the amount of food required by the insatiable 

 nestlings. 



An interesting feature of the present paper is the tem- 

 pcrateness with which the questions with which it deals 

 are discussed. It has been much the habit to take it fori 

 granted, that all insects are noxious ; and, therefore, that 

 anything that tends to the destruction of insect life is, 

 in so far, a benefit to the agriculturist ; but we know that 

 there is a very large class of predatory aid parasitic in- 

 sects which, by preying on others of their class, pi rfornj 

 great services for the cultivator. The exact relation or 

 these beneficial to the hurtful insects are not yet clearly^ 

 known ; and this question becomes, as Prof. Forbes sug- 

 gests, a purely entoniulogical one. 



In estimating the services of our insectiverous birds, ' 

 we must credit tliem with the noxious insects fchej de- 

 stroy, and charge them with the useful ones, and also 

 with whatever fruit they may purloin from the gardener. 

 A balance can then be struck between the two sides of 

 the account, and from this a fair reference as to the 

 benefit or injury done by the birds can Indrawn, 



The species of the Turdidce examined by Prof. Forbes 

 are Turtlus migratorius, T, lau.ttelimis, T, pallasii, T, 

 swaiiuioni and var. aliciti.', T. fuseeseen, Mimas pott 

 ijlollas and .1/. carolincmsh, and HurporlLi/iiehus ru/us. 

 We have space only for the conclusions vvhioh lie draws 

 from his examination of the stomachs of each species. 

 In the robin for the six months, from April to August^ 

 inclusive, "seventy-eight per cent, of the food was in- 

 sects, and twenty-eight per cent, fruit, spiders and my- 

 riapods making up the other two per cent." The evident 

 misprint in these figures wo cannot locate ; but wherever 

 it occurs, the preponderance of insect over vegetable 

 food is not materially altered ; and when we note that I 

 of the insect food six and one-half per cent, were injuri-J 

 ous beetles, eight per cent. Ortlwpteru (grasshoppers 

 etc.), and one and one-half per cent, injurious myria- 

 pods, we cannot but acknowledge the vast benefit of tho 

 robin's service. 



The cat-bird, too, devours, as shown by the present re-, 

 port, a very large number of noxious insects, but it is ' 

 also true that during June and July he plunders the berry . 

 vines most shockingly. But in taking into account Ida 

 depredations on the garden, it must be remembered that 

 every insect which he takes would, if allowed to propa- 

 gate its kind produce a horde of young which would do 

 far more injury than a cat-bird would in a whole season. 

 The injury that the bird does stops at the end of tho 

 fruit season ; that of the insect would increase enor- 

 mously with each succeeding year. 



Of the brown thrasher, Prof. Forbes says its ordinary* 

 services do not entitle it to any special protection. Tho 

 wood thrush is decidedly useful, destroying great quanti-J 

 ties of wire worms and myriapods. It has, according to 

 the writer, about twenty-five cent, to its credit. Of tho 

 other species, which occur as migrants, the investigation 

 has perhaps scarcely gone far enough to make it safe tO" 

 draw any very definite conclusions. Prof. Forbes re- 

 gards the hermit thrush as a public enemy, because he 

 devours large quantities of useful beetles. But his speei. 

 mens were shot in May, and an investigation later in tho 

 season might have developed facts to offset those ucsf 

 alleged against this bird, 



Altogether it appears that further research is i 

 before deciding absolutely either in favor of oi 

 the thrush family, in their relations with the farmer, It, 

 is evident that they do great good ; but is this gi 

 balanced by the harm which they accomplish: fifl 

 think not ; and we shall await with the greatest 

 the further results of Prof, Forbes' studies, 



