468 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



!|\JULY 15, 18Wi. 



bits. However, after a, series of cutting and splicing and 



waxing lie pronounced it as good a job as could be 



made out of such poor material, and' apologized for 



hoi tiing.it a Foot by Baying it was better to hav« n ten 



foot roil. Chough it be an indifferent one. than eleven 

 feet of nothing at all. Tliev used to make all I heir wv, i 

 rods in lliose .lavs upon (lie Wear, and for feathery light 

 noss, for balance, and for that inexpressible 



between butt and tipth; 



wanting in, I have never sin 



Thai) as for fishing with e-< 



no one but a blunderer or a i 



thing, The hair from a son 



Countrie stallion at that) wai 



live or six length.-. dflUWing 

 three together as the cast 

 tie your own tlies. of course. 

 y-bonder, a yellow bloa ar 

 Wear trout were supposed 

 depths Southern flies with si 

 net, too, you must have, as 

 day, but, " an you love me. 



' le Of those itiihealUn 



in the Month, I hat fold up 'i 

 short handles that hook outr 



tetl yon. gentle reade 

 like" in those days 

 standard, on to wl 

 proudly clinging, to 



ately sized ma 



ie blunt North 



the river, it v. 



lufaetured rods are so often 

 e seen them equalled. 

 ?n the finest gut alter May, 

 to would dream of such "a 

 f stallion's tail (and a North 

 is angle strands fru- 

 it higher up, and twisting 



lined the line. Vou must 

 too, on single hair— a coch- 

 1 a woodcock and orange, 

 o greet from their watery 

 nits of derision. A landing 

 ■vailing is the order of the 

 said the Weardale mentor, 

 cabbage nets that they use 

 i your basket, with flimsy 

 your creel strap." Shall I 

 i Weardale landing net was 



distance it looked lilt. 

 mgler. in mid stream, i 

 36 lnspectem it was Lund 

 pole, to begin with, eight 

 boat hook at the end. The 

 ■n ring would have landed 

 fishes, himself, wdio scared 

 .fitly, or would, at a 



client hai 



isary b 

 ich foi 



and 1 nev 

 Weardale 

 and that I 

 its tribute 

 the old U- 

 apparatus 

 crowded 

 horsebacl 

 T must 

 champ: 



it heli 



client thing 

 me out of a ( 

 was i he only arti 

 hance to pay the 

 lost the chance. It v 

 •lends that tliev were U' 

 •v scorned lo iish any ri 

 es, for they spliced thei 

 3 tl 



attach ^ 

 prejudi 



ock for a ruod- 

 e the respect of 

 My bend 



and 



I 



ra dre 



p pool 

 $ in th 



back 



irself t< 

 , It 



one of 

 as si 1 1 1- 

 e it to 



L tO 



jet 



to be sure. But 

 •equipment that 

 their own coin, 

 as fortunate for my 

 t migratory anglers, 

 er but their own and 

 • cods together after 

 ddition to the net 



would have been startling additions to 

 tilway carriage, and decidedly imposing on 



it finish this sketch without allusion to the 

 , not only of the. Wear but of tli 



eat 



f that country 

 ' but a scholar, j 



; In 



ot 



nly, 



'We 



CO I lapsed, like m 



Sure of higher ec 



cation on the otl 



to one boy. Soli 



toll out over the town and notit 



incomings and outgoings of tl 



ir, an author, and a poet. 



:er of what was by courtesy called the 



of (he little town of H , upon the 



■old foundations of Edward VI., that 

 v others of its kind, between the pres- 

 ation on the one side and lower edu- 

 . When I saw it last it had dwindled 

 ly the great bell on the roof used to 

 the inhabitants of the 

 olitary being. Method- 



ically and punctually the great piscator used to seat hi 

 self at his spacious desk, and for twelve months i, 

 to have superintended the slumbers of this isolated 

 vidual. The plash of the river sounded ever in hi; 

 •' "ars, and the juvenile obstacle alone prev 



xl of birch f 

 sioners I 



his exchanging tl 

 endowed school eon 

 old defunct instituti 

 his salary was sect 

 stand it no more— tl 

 tolling— bo at last, ai 

 a good round sum to absent himself f 

 lei i our learned friend at leisure to pr 

 sport. He edited a volume of poems, 

 natural beauties of the neighborhooj 

 round, and some years before, while 1 

 in existence, be had published a book 

 its local prejud; 



r that of hickory. TJi_ 



id not then swept those 



face of the earth, and 



anyhow. Human nature could 



obstinate urchin still kept the bell 



-ling to tradition, he was ottered 



the future, which 



his favorite 



vhich 



for 1 



of tin 



tiiri 



g, which, 



gling world as an excellent addition to its litcra- 



The friend I alluded to some time back sat in his youth 

 at the feet or this Qallileo, and has told me many an 

 amusing yarn about the old gentleman, One especially. 

 I recollect ; it was when he was deep in his book on ang- 

 ling, and the pupils were having a great time of it. He 

 was especially occupied then with the plates, whichhe ex- 

 ecuted himsell. The hourstruck for the arithmetic les-on 

 andhsnioved to the blackboard, chalk in hand. The 

 boys rubbed the slates with their coat sleeves, shuffled 

 their feet, cleared their throats and went through the 

 usual programme that, among the schoolboys, is the 

 prelude to any hushed mental effort. Thev watched the 

 chalk eagerly m the pedagogic hand as it began its move- 

 ments over the blackboard, hoping the fraction sum 

 would not bo too complicated, when behold ! as the 

 bull- person =f 8ft VV ivn, jv-1 from chit position and 

 :the chalk in the air, moved 

 lgar fraction sum, but the 

 I its great length 



with' the usual lust fli 

 hack to (he desk— not 

 outline of an immense 

 over the sacred ground 



hide the c 



preceptor. Some latent c 



The stilled titterings tha7!pr£ 



attention of this great 



_„ the board and'' discover* his" misi'X^wheu 

 the sensitive risible organs, so uncontrollable ii ' 

 gave way, and the whole school shouted with 

 till the root rang again. Like all petty schoolu 

 the olden days, irascibility at being caught tripr 

 a Second nature, and physical reproof came befoi 



youth. 



Actional 



bid ; so rule; 



drn>. that were used 



as missiles and, 



e liail among the d 

 youths, It was never for 

 friend, whose form has In 

 upon the banks of the We 

 by that generation. 



aD and all 



;::atiouaf esta 



aher 



still called the " Big Fish" 

 BjjJQWOOD, 



— An English angler caught a trout which had in its 

 month an old rusty hook, this hook caught in his wrist, 

 poisoning his blood, and the man died iu "three weeks. 



#tf»ra/ Widow. 



— ♦ 



— Address all covimunica lions to " Forest and Stream 

 Publishing Company, New York." 



■ i I m 



WOODCOCK CARRYING THEIR YOUNG. 



Washington, June 12th, 



Editor Forest and Stream .•— 



I notice with interest the statements in your issue of 

 the 11th instant regarding the habits of woodcock, under 

 various exigencies, carrying their young in their claws or 

 between the thighs. The fact that woodcock have such 

 a habit is, as you say, indisputable, too many reliable ob- 

 servers, both in this country and abroad, having con- 

 tributed information on the subject for it to be doubted. 

 As regards the exact method in'which this is done there 

 appears to be a difference of opinion, or else, as is prob- 

 able, the motilis operdndi differs with circumstances; 

 and I agree with you that additional light in the matter 

 is desirable. Especially interesting would it he to know 

 if the male bird ever assists his partner in securing the 

 young from danger. So fai as I can recall he has never 

 been accredited with this act of devotion. 



Having had the pleasure this summer for the first time 

 of verifying, with my own eyes, what before I had ac- 

 cepted on the testimony of others, I give the circum- 

 stances for the benefit of your readers. While watching 

 some warblers in a small clump of pines near a little 

 patch of ground, sufficiently moist to admit of "boring," 

 I flushed four woodcock. Three of them, two males and 

 a female, may be dismissed with the remark that their 

 [light showed nothing peculiar: they went off unen- 

 cumbered so far as I could see. But as the fourth bird 

 cose i '-niale. I could plainly detect, tightly clasped be- 

 tween the thighs and close to the belly, a dark bunch of 

 something, the effect of its weight being visible in the 

 slow moving wings and the overbalanced body of the old 

 bird, which appeared almost perpendicular. Had I been 

 in any doubt as to what that something was, the old bird's 

 actions would have told the story. For, when a few feet 

 away, she settled to the ground, but apparently without' 

 lighting on her feet, and with beating wings scuttled 

 along the ground, using the old trick of the disabled bird 

 which -we all know so well. I was a willing dupe and 

 followed her for some distance, until she had repeated 

 the ruse four or five times, when feeling, doubtless, that 

 she had decoyed me far enough away from her remain- 

 ing young, she took a longer flight, and I lost sight of 

 her, I take it for granted that she had more young near 

 the spot where sho first got up. Perhaps she had time 

 to conceal all but one, as I approached bnt slowly. At 

 all events, I did not succeed in finding them, closely as I 

 searched. In this instance, then, her "companions, one of 

 them doubtless being her mate, showed no special interest 

 in the fate of the young, but left the mother to take care 

 of them as best she could. 



Several of the accounts I have read state plainly enough 

 that the young are carried in the claws. In fact, if I re- 

 member rightly, I have somewhere seen a woodcut of a 

 female woodcock transporting a young one in this man- 

 ner, the claws of either foot being so opposed to each 

 other as to answer all the purpose, of hands. It isn't 

 easy to see how this is possible elsewhere than in a wood- 

 cut, inasmuch as the grasping power of the woodcock's 

 claw must be next to nothing. However, such are the 

 statements, and in some publication or other is the wood- 

 cut, where, I can't recall, and both woodcut and state- 

 ments may be all right, too ; for most of us can recall 

 theories which were sound enough until contradicted by 

 facts ; and so it may be in the present case. 



Doubtless .1, D. B. in the London Field is correct in 

 suggesting that the female may, when in a hurry, grasp 

 the young as she happens to get hold ot them, and BO they 

 may appear between the tibia', the tarsi, or possibly 

 even between the claws, 



I should have added to my statement above, that 1 ob- 

 tained not a glimpse, of the legs and feet of my bird, and 

 presume that the tarsi and claws wore flexed' upward so 

 as to carry them quite out of sight. It will thus be seen 

 how entirely different was the method adopted in this 

 instance from that illustrated by the woodcut mentioned 

 above, where, if my memory serves me right, the legs 

 were represented as fully extended and at right angles 

 with the body. 



A woodcut such as our correspondent describes ap- 

 peared in the Scientific American. 



Moodtjs, Conn,, JunelSth, 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Last April I had a young Setter dog. and being anxious 

 to train him in the way he should go, I one dav took bini 

 to a young growth on the edge of a swamp, where I had 

 in times past often shot woodcock. I was walking lei- 

 Wroughthe saplings and underbrush when my 

 dog, who was a little in advance of me, suddenly 

 stopped, aud with one forefoot uplifted made as pretty a 

 point as f ever gaW;, I stood a m in ute, admiring the 

 beautiful attitude he was in, and then stepped carefully 

 toward him, He neither moved a muscle nor looked 

 around. It was a stanch, good point. I hit the under- 

 brush a few feet ahead of him with a stick, and, just as 

 I expected, up tlew a woodcock ; but her curious shape 

 and peculiar flight caused me to look after her in won- 

 der and astonishment. Her legs hung straight down 

 from her body, and her flight was laborious and slow, 

 but .-ho had nothing in her feet. This I noticed particu- 

 larly, as T. have heard that woodcock, when surprised, 

 will carry their young a short distance in their feet, She 

 flew a few feet above the ground, and lit about two rods 

 Ironi me. I went to where 1 had marked her down, 

 when my dog pointed aud I flushed her, but this time 

 she shot off with the whistling, zigzag flight that is a 

 characteristic of the woodcock, and was soon out of 

 sight over the tops of the saplings. I carefully exam- 

 ined the grouud where she rose, and found hidden in 

 thi leaves a poor little half-Hedged woodcock, hardly 

 able to crawl. This set forest in my mind that wood- 

 cock carry their young, though not in their feet, as some 

 wi iters have said, but pressed between their legs and 

 close to their body. I went back to the place where I 

 first got up the woodcock, and after looking the ground 

 over thoroughly I had the satisfaction ol seeing two 

 young woodcock running briskly along through the 



underbrush, A few days after T went with a. friend to 

 this place, and the same performance was reeiiaoted, 

 the old bird, as before, taking the weakest of her brood 

 to protect. On this occasion we both distinctly saw I lie 



young bird between the old bird's tegs as she dew. Now 



was it by chance that the. mother woodcock selected the 

 weakest of her offspring to protect when she. saw ene- 

 mies approaching, or did she reason, and thus leave the 

 strongest to take care of themselves? F. C. FOWLER. 



Olt.NITHOLOOICAL NOTES FROM MONROE COUNTY, N . Y. . 



1880.— April 23^.— Examined nest of great horned ow-l 

 (tl. vii'ijinianns). built in a hole' in an immense basswood 

 tree : it contained one young owl about two weeks old. 

 The old birds must have been excellent, purveyors, for on 

 the nest lay flesh, fish and fowl for the day's provision, 

 Viz., three "very large burn rats, one young crow, one 

 redwing blackbird and two large suckers. By way of 

 postscript I may add that the juvenile owl is now (July 

 2d) in my possession — a very handsome and well-behaved 

 pet, with an enormous appetite. 



April 2it.li.— Hawks evidently destroy a great many 

 snakes and lizards in the spring, before the weather is 

 hot enough to give full vigor and activity to these rep- 

 tiles. The crops of three broad wing buzzards shot to-day- 

 were crammed with the flesh of snakes ; one female red- 

 tailed hawk shot yesterday had just devoured a very 

 largo snake. All had carefully skinned their prey before 

 eating it, but had also swallowed the pieces of skins. 



May lUth.—As I was searching for marsh wrens near 

 Lake Ontario to-day a large bittern rose from the reeds. 

 I shot and secured it, when another Hew up a. few rods 

 from me, which I also shot. On going to pick up my 

 birds I found their nests containing one egg of a light 

 grayish-drab color. The nest was on a low tussock of 

 reeds, and roughly formed of dead reeds ami coarse 

 grass. On dissecting the female I found several eggB of 

 various sizes, one just ready for exclusion. 



During the past two weeks t he white crowned sparrow 

 has occurred herein extraordinary abundance : the or- 

 chards, gardens, hedges and outskirts of woods have 

 literally swarmed with them. During a ride of fifteen 

 miles to-day I must have seen many thousands. This is 

 unusual, for this species is generally much scarcer here 

 than the white-throated sparrow: ; this season the reverse 

 is the case, Themajority were males in perfect plumage. 



May 20Wt.— Heard a sparrow-like song that was new to 

 me. Shot the bird from a large batch of white-crowned 

 sparrows, and found it to be Lincoln's finch, a species I 

 bad never seen hero before, During the day I found it 

 not. uncommon among straggling bushes near the lake. 



May 21st.— Found quite a Hock of the green black cap 

 warblers (M. pusiilxs) ; they were busily engaged insect- 

 hunting in a long narrow belt of bushes skirting a large 

 marsh." Thev were very active and restless, and would 

 occasionally dart into the air after a. passing (ly, as the 

 redstart does. 1 saw this species in the same locality last 

 year, and then secured six specimens in one day. T|iis 

 time I could easily have procured, a bundled, as they 

 stayed all day. 



June 14th.— On visiting a sick friend to-day I was 

 shown a nest of the house wren | T. ccdim) in a singular 

 situation. A tin watering pot had been hung inverted 

 on the branch of a pear tree. The birds had nearly filled 

 the can with their nest and safely reared their young. As 

 it was close to the window of the invalid's room, much 

 interest had been taken in the little creatures, and many 

 weary half hours had been beguiled in watching tbei'r 

 movements. The number of times the young were fed 

 were specially noted with care. On the day of my visit 

 the parent birds Carried them food thirty times in one 

 hour and forty-two times in anolher. 



June 19th, — While watching a pair of mourning war- 

 blers feeding their young I hot iced something peci 

 one of them. I therefore secured the pair and found the 

 female bird to be of the variety called " Maegillivrayi" 

 It had distinct white eyelids aud clear gray throat, anil 

 ger bird than the male, which was a very high 

 colored specimen. The mourning warbler is common in 

 most of the low, bushy woods in Monroe and, Orleans 

 counties, but it is extremely difficult to And its nest 

 until the young are hatched. Peregrine. 



• 



Intelligence of a SFAHifiLr— Mncoin, Me., June 12th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream t-^lltr. C. VV. Porter, of this 

 town, while trout fishing a few weeks since, found a 

 wood duck's nest containing ten eggs. He carefully 

 p I. - ight of them in dry moss, brought, (hem borne, 



and placed them under a hen who in due time hatched 

 six active ducklings, they taking to water immediatly 

 after breaking shed. The gentleman is the owner of a 

 fine blooded, very intelligent spaniel bitch, and upon see- 

 ing the brood for the first lime, obeyed her first impulse 

 and attempted to destroy the lot. Being reprimanded, and 

 observing her master take - i i. -. i of them, she be- 

 came very zealous in protecting them during the day, and 

 every night goes to then - pen and hovars them with as 

 much solicitude for their comfort as ever exhibited by a 

 hen for her chickens. Tie. v fcaki to lier very content- 

 edly, apparently enjoying the warmth afforded them by 

 their strange foster mother. It is a peculiar sight, aud 

 we all look upon it as something quite marvellous, as the 

 bitch is an excellent hunter, by birth and breeding an in- 

 veterate enemy of the feathered tribe. I'. 0. D. 



More Peaceable SPABBOWB.— The following clipping 

 is taken from the Port Huron (Mich.) Times. The oc- 

 casion was no doubt an interesting I .no to the ''ground 



bird":— 



An interesting spectacle took- place on Water street 

 this morning in" the shape of a battle between a ground 

 bird and two sparrows, in which the ground bird was 

 killed withm live minutes, the sparrows driving their 

 beaks through its head, 



More Albinoes. — Faines-ville. Ohio. June 1st. — Editor 

 Forest and Streatii ;— I have seen a good deal in your 

 Natural History column about albinoes, so I Bend you a 

 description of one I saw to-day. It was a chipmunk, or 

 ground-squirrel, perfectly white with the exception of 

 the stripes on the back, which were a yellowish, dirty 

 white. The man who had him took Jum from "a 

 nest containing thirteen, of which this was the only 



idle one. While going across the fields the other night 

 I saw a " partial albino " robin, 



C, BEAIUlSl.EE, 



