984 
FOREST AND STREAM 
always camp, liavirg our own equipage, boats, tents, etc.; 
our outfit is nearly perfect, much of it having been ob¬ 
tained by reading the Forest am) Stream advertise¬ 
ments. Our government is so perfected that we can esti¬ 
mate almost to a pound what supplies are necessary for 
a given length of time. Having obtained rates of fare 
and freight, etc., and decided upon the length of the trip, 
an assessment is made and paid in at once, supplies pur¬ 
chased and snipped together with baggage to destination, 
and we follow in a day or two. Our set day is July 5th 
of each year, first train out. We have always started ou 
that date. Throe annual trips have been made to Syra¬ 
cuse, Indiana, and oue to Maxiukuckee, Indiana. This 
season, on the strength of Hallock’s trips through Michi¬ 
gan, and by special invitation of the Forester Club, of 
Cadillac, we decided to take Michigan—assessment $25 
per capita, paid—and on our day we started on very low 
rates granted us by the O. R. & I. R. R,, for Cadillac." We 
must say that the employees of all grades on that road 
are as gentlemanly, polite, and accommodating as can be 
found : their kindness and favors tended to make our 
journey pleasant and in short we can hardly say enough in 
their favor. Arriving at Cadillac we were soon in the 
hands of the Foresters, who almost put us to shame and 
under so many obligations by their attention and favors, 
that we will be unable to extricate ourselves manfully. 
They are the leading men of the city, true sportsmen 
and all heart, and a sportsmen is always welcomed by 
them. Permit me to mention the few names I now re¬ 
member : Silas Tam, President of the Foresters, Messrs. 
Moyer, Melntre, Mitchells, McDonald, Peck, Salons, 
Kennedy, etc., each and every one of them hale fellows 
well met. 
Having partaken of a sumptuous dinner at the resi¬ 
dence of President Tam, we wended our way toward 
Little Clam Lake, where we were met with a pleasant 
surprise : the Foresters had gone before, and on reach¬ 
ing the dock we found a pretty little steamer, well loaded 
and snorting ; our supplies, baggage and ice had been 
snugly Stored and boats tied astern. Well, it seemed too 
'mod to he true, but true it was, and well pleased were 
we. for we were not used to such treatment on our trips. 
We concluded we were prisoners for once, and would 
have to obey orders. In a few minutes we were steam¬ 
ing for Big "Clam Lake, which we reached long after 
dark, and pitched out tents temporarily for the night. We 
remained in this camp ten days, duringwhjch time we had 
surne very fine bass and pickerel fishing. During our 
slay many pic-nic parties viBited us, and the boys made 
us regular party calls. Wo here met and became ac- 
qainted with many of the whole-souled lumbermen, 
among whom were Jack and Gene, pilot and engineer of 
the " Mitchell Lumber Company's” steam barge for tow- 
i:, t r booms. These two big-hearted sons of toil took a 
liking to us and said : " Boys, when you get really to 
1 ave, drop your flag to half mast, and we will come in and 
t ike you ti) town for friendship sake.” We accepted. 
Ou tiie evening of our ninth day the flag was down half 
way ; nest morning at Bix a young hurricane came upon 
ns bringing Jack, Gene and the barge in, blowing our 
t'lits down and raising Cain generally. We soon had 
things aboard, and just in the nick of time, for an awful 
wet rain came down in torrents. We started, and Big 
Clum being studded all over with sand bars anil the chan¬ 
nel so crooked, it required a great deal of poling to keep 
the barge oil the bars. 
In due time Cadillac was reached, and the same recep¬ 
tion awaited us as on our first arrival. By night we 
voted to go up to Bear Lake. Treasurer purchased 
tickets. Learning from the conductor that conveyances 
could not be had at night to convey' us from Melrose sta- 
tiou to Bear Lake, Superintendent Matheany was tele¬ 
graphed for ad idee, who answered : '‘Tell the hoys to 
come on to Petoskey.” Another call on the Treasurer 
aud we stood by the train ; at Petoskey everybody' had 
tiin best place to go fishing ; one said here, another there, 
and so on. until we concluded wo were muddled and did 
not know where to go; a vote of the Club stowed us in 
bed at the " Occidental" to dream over the matter. Up 
at live A. M. next day and decide on Crooked Lake. The 
Bay View and Crooked Lake Railway', or tramway, hav¬ 
ing been completed the day before, we bought the first 
six tickets sold on this road, aud put the first baggage on 
the baggage car—so much honor for us—had a delightful 
r.de until the grade at Round Lake was reached ; here 
the engine made three attempts to get up, but failed. 
Thereupon all hands jumped off aud pushed the tiling up 
hill; all went well until a sharp curve was reached, when 
the push came into iilay again ; finally reached the lake 
in safety, loaded our goods intu a small Bcliooner, a "Rtiff 
breeze blowing just right, and we went a sailing. About 
four miles up we disembarked and pitched camp besideone. 
of nature's best gifts, a spring of water. Fished Crooked 
Lake without any marked success ; somewhat discour¬ 
aged ; but Texas Jack, Limber Jim, and Barney the 
Guide, started with an expedition to find something. 
They came back with Arabian Night’s stories about a 
lake that had millions in it, wliopperB; it was Pickerel 
Lake, and had euough in it to supply your uncles, aunts, 
cousins, etc. We in camp believed, because some flue 
samples were brought in; this encouragement put us to 
* ^ 0 ,.[ ; in building our live box, a scheme of our own. 
"We bring with us wire scre ening three feet wide, drive 
stakes in the ground in two feet of water, put the screen¬ 
ing around the stakes and press down in the sand : this 
makes our aquarium ten feet square, and it will hold a 
large number of fish. We let eighty' bass, averaging 
three pounds each, loose when we broke camp here. 
That is our honor number two. Having completed the 
aquanvim, minnows were caught, cup of wanned cof¬ 
fee drank, and we retired inside our mosquito bars, leav¬ 
ing plenty of mosquitoes and such on the outside. 
Tlfe following and every day thereafter that we fished, 
catches were immense, bass and pike in plenty, of large 
_all game, in forty feet of water. There were some 
fellows there that would break a hook and walk off with 
a line whenever they felt like it. My “ Leonard Green- 
heart ' rod was thoroughly tested, and I now feel that I 
could play’ a whale with it. We intended to remain at 
this camp six days, but the wooden railroad engine ran 
off the track, and was in the hospital two days, which 
put US back two days from a grayling fish which we de¬ 
termined to have. But we were at the mercy of these 
railroad magnates, Rose and Matheany, owner and man¬ 
agers of the B. V. & Crooked L. R. K. After a little fuss 
aud a few featliens we cooled down and placed ourselves 
under the care of Cant. John Andrews to get us off, 
which he accomplished in due form of law. By the way, 
he has placed a floating palace on the chain of lakes— 
Crooked, Mullett and Burt—which will accommodate 
twenty persons at two dollars per diem. This includes 
board, lodging, boats, minnows, etc., and the palace to 
be anchored at any point designated by the boarders. 
He will make a daily visit from the landing to the palace 
with liis tug, carrying mail and furnishing supplies. 
Starting south, we dropped off on reaching the home 
of the Foresters, found things in readiness for our 
grayling hunt. Boss McIntyre, who has an aversion to 
swearing and does not like to hear it (in this respect he 
resembles Si Tam), hitched up his team of “ pullers,” 
loaded our baggage, packed the ice, anil started with us 
for Pine River, twenty miles away. This trip was the 
climax: we went up and down hill, over stumps, logs, 
through brush mud and sand, reaching camp aboutmid- 
night; having been pretty thoroughly bounced for over 
ten hours, we went to bed to see how still we could lie 
for the next ten hours. 1 do not believe a man or a horse 
stirred or moved a hair until Old Sol had risen. Grayling 
fishing and fly fishing and casting was new to all of us 
except Me-, who is an old stager at the business; hut 
we beginners did well enough to satisfy ourselves and find 
out that you cannot coax a grayling if he don’t want to. 
This kind of fishing has now caught us, horse, foot and 
dragoon, and tho Blue Gills will take it all in again next 
year. In J uly the grayling were feeding on a small black 
beetle : this we found upon examination. 
The whole trip has filled us with newness of life ; it 
was filled with little mishaps, delightful scenery, pleas¬ 
antries, nominal accidents, experiences that were en¬ 
joyed, such as slipping on the clay and going down clear 
under that ice-coid water, the taking off of our wagon 
wheels on a bridge aud letting them down forty feet by 
ropes to soak the felloes, sawing off logs run into in the 
dark, etc., etc., all taken together would he sufficient 
to write a book, and too much to crowd into a letter. 
There are many little incidents I would like to write of 
our trip : George Moon's hear hunt, the bear and snake 
scare, etc. As I sit writing this I live the whole trip over, 
and find myself among the Foresters, and become ex¬ 
cited and see grayling before my eyes. Next year I shall 
keep a diary as I have always done, this season excepted. 
I do not want this article to be the means of any reader 
tberof going to Michigan expecting all sunshine, for they 
may be disappointed, perhaps more so than a party of 
“Buckeyes” who went this season to Burt Lake (the day 
we reached Crooked L.) with supplies for six weeks, in¬ 
tending to remain that long, and just because the first 
night they were in camp four of their number upset 
themselves into Indian River they paddled home in five 
days. The Solid Comfort Club of Pennsylvania were 
stickers : they owned Indian Point for a while. 
In closing, allow me to say that visitors to Michigan 
for pleasure will find that everybody up there will do all in 
then- power to make it pleasant for them. Our trip, six 
men four weeks, cost $190. “WILLIS D. Maier. 
Fort Wayne, Ind., 1879, 
Mniimil §istorg. 
MEXICAN BIRD NOTES. 
City op Mexico, Nov. 29 th, 1879. 
The Talley of Mexico is. as oruithologically considered, 
situated in the Central Province, for Mexico, like our 
own country, is divided into three distinct, and separate 
divisions or provinces; the Eastern, extending from the 
Gulf of Mexico to the high inland plains; the Central, in¬ 
cluding the Mexican table lands; and the Western, ex¬ 
tending from the Sierra Madre Mountain range to the 
shores of the Pacific. With us the divisions are widely 
extended, and they are in a great degree defined by the 
main and secondary axis of the continent, or by the dif¬ 
ference in moisture between the Mississippi Valley and- 
the arid plains of the interior; aud here we find the same 
great law of division carried out; but the barriers 
separating the Provinces are much more distinctly de¬ 
fined, and the divisions themselves are much less exten¬ 
sive than those of tho North. 
The Eastern Province is much the largest of the three, 
while in the Western we see the smallest. Both of these 
are purely tropical, not only in fauna, but in flora, 
though of the two the Eastern is the most productive of 
both animal aud vegetable life, for here, owing to the 
moist condition of the atmosphere, vegetation is found 
in the highest profusion, rivaling the greatest beauties of 
tropical nature, and as a natural consequence animal life 
iB more abundant. On the contrary, the Pacific slope is 
very dry, and vegetation is much retarded. This iB owing 
to the fact that the formidable mountain barriers inter¬ 
cept the warm currents of air, hearing their loads of 
moisture towards the west, and this is condensed falling 
upon the eastern slope, to add greater volume to the 
streams which deepen the color of the already dark green 
leaves, leaving the air current to continue its way, but 
not to add life and vigor to the withered leaves of the 
western plain, but seemingly to mock them with the 
taunt that their time is not yet. When the rainy season 
comes they may brighten and shine in the sunlight of 
spring, but only for a short time, anil then again their 
drooping heads are once more lowered, 
In the Central Province we find more than hi either 
of the other divisions, the birds of the United States. 
The reason for this is evident, when we observe that the 
mountain ranges which border the table-land expand 
as they reach their long arms northward, one turning 
westward toward California, and the other eastward to¬ 
ward the Central Plains of the United States. Thus the 
migratory birds, when forced southward by the frosts of 
early autumn, are retreating into the large end of a fun¬ 
nel, which contracts as they proceed southward, so that 
by the time they reach the Valley of Mexico they are 
forced into a range of not more than seventy miles in 
Aiide from the general peculiarities of the threeJProv- 
inces, each lias some special oneB of its own. More 
especially is this true in the Central Division, where a 
distance of twenty miles will produce bucIi a change of 
temperature and local circumstances that the birds will 
be found to be of an entirely different type from those 
found seven leagues away. For example: One may leave 
the City of Mexico in either of these directiiff 
Texcoco on the east,Cuernavaca on thosouth.or, 
north, and by goinga distance of from eight to ten~- 
he will find tho birds entirely different from tlic,-» 
which lie is familiar in his every day walks in the O 
bcirhood of the city. Thus to definitely establish ti. 
tribution of species in Mexico, would take a vast am 
of time, coupled with great labor. My own work 
far has been in the neighborhood of the capital, thoug - 
I soon expect to leave for the country where'I can more 
advantageously pursue my studies. In the few short 
trips I have made into the country, I have met with the 
following species which I have recognized:— 
Uarpodacus frontalis. Crimson fronted Finch. The 
most numerous of all the birds I have seen found elss- 
Where. 
Scoleeophagus cyanocephakis. Brewer's black bird. 
Very common. Equals in number Q. purpureus of the 
North. 
Eremophila alpeslris, var. chrysolcema. South-western 
lark; Seen in pairs upon the shores of Lake Texcoco. 
Quite shy. 
Catherpes Mexicanus. Mexican wren. Replaces T. 
ludovicianus of the United States. From what I can ob¬ 
serve, its habits are much the same. 
Dendroeaa Andubonii. Audubon’s warbler. This is the 
only warbler I have seen, and it is quite numerous ; like 
D. coronata it keeps company with sparrows and finches. 
Tachydneta bicolor. WhiteJbellied swallow. Every 
time I go outside of the city I see numbersof these beauti¬ 
ful birds gracefully flitting through the air. 
Pyrocephalus rubineus var Mexicanus. Vermillion fly¬ 
catcher. This beautiful little bird has been seen by me 
three times. The male I think to be the most beautiful 
of all the fly-catchers ; its beautiful crest and under parts 
rival in color tlic brilliant hues of the scarlet tanager, 
Sparrows are quite numerous, but I have not perfected 
my collection in them yet. Hawks are plenty and very 
tame. Ducks are seen at all times of the day, and I think 
they are killed in great numbers, from the frequency 
with which they are served to us at the restaurants. 
In my next I shall endeavor to give some observations 
of tho habits, etc., of our Mexican birds. A. W. Butler. 
LIST OF BIRDS TAKEN AT PEMBINA, DAKOTA. 
JULY, 1879. 
— 1. Turdus mtoratorius; robin—not very common. 
2. Harporhynchus rufus; brown thrush—not oomroon,and much 
more shy than In the East. 
«*3. Minim carollnensis; cat-bird—common. 
~~ 4 . Sialla sialts ; blue bird—only one seen. 
*»5. Sitta catdllnensis; white-bellied nuthatch—very common. 
■.C. Troglodytes ctgdoti ; house wren—common. 
7. Oistothorus stellaris; short-billed marsh wren—very common 
in the sloughs. 
•• 8. Eremophila alpestris; shore lark—common on the freshly- 
broken prairie. 
^9. Vcndroeca aestiva yellow warbler—common. 
10. Oporornis aoUis; Connecticut warbler—a male taken July 1]. 
_ H. Geothlypts trkhas; Marylahd yellow throat—common. 
w 12. Setrrphaoa'ruliCiUa; redstart—several shot July 10. 
13. Tachyeineta bicolor; white-bellied swallow—not common. 
14. Petrochelidonlunifrims; cave swallow—very numerous; sev¬ 
eral large colonies nesting in the village. 
15. .ile/uidopUryr setripennis; rough winged swollow—only one 
seen July 13. 
10. Progne purpurea; martin—one colony nested In Pembina. 
17. Atnpclls cedmrum; cedar bird—common. 
18. Vireo olivacta; red-eyed vlreo—common. 
19. First, oiled ; warbling vireo—several taken J uly Jl. 
20. CoVurla ludovicianus, var. cxeubitoroides; white-rumped- 
shrike—one pair seen, very shy and difficult to approaob. 
2L ChrysomUris trieUs; yellow bird—common. 
22. Paterculus savanna; Savanna sparrow—the most numerous 
bird, occurring tm the prairie wherever there were auy’buslies or 
brush, especially along the edge of the timber. 
— 23. Poiecelcs ymmineus ; bay-winged bunting—not very Coin 
mon, and we tookbutfew snecunens. 
24. Cotumlculw lecontei; Leconte's bunting—very common ill 
the sloughs on both sides of Red River; they were similar to 
marsh wrens in their habits, and generally kept In the tussocks of 
grass. They were quite difficult to shoot, ami still more so to And 
when shot, so that hut few specimens were taken. 
25. Coturnimlus heuslotoi; Hensiow's bunting. 
28. Spizdla pattulct; nlay-qolored sparrow—generally numerous 
in bushes and low second growth. 
27. Mclospiza melndia; song sparrow. 
28. Goniaphea Zuilwicfcnui; rose-breasted grosbeak—very com¬ 
mon In the Umber along the Pembina River. 
29. Pipilo erythrophthahnus; ohowink—met with but once. 
30. Volichonyx orizivorus; bobolink—very oommonon the prai¬ 
rie, especially where there were scattered bushes. Specimens 
shot July 18, had begun to change theiv spring plumage. They 
were then oommenelng to go in Books. 
31. Muh’ihnU) peeoris; cow bird—common. 
32. Ayelaeus phoeiticcus; rod-winged blackbird—not so common 
as uext. 
33. Xanlhocephalus ideivcephalws; yellow-headed blackbird— 
great, numbers on the sloughs in Company witli the redwings. 
31 , stunicUa maynd, var. ncoleda: meadow lark—common, and 
quite as shy as its eastern relative. 
35. Icterus haltimorc; Baltimore oriole—gouerully common In 
the woods along the Pembina. 
36. Icterus spunus; otcUardoriole—not nearly solnumerous as 
the lost. 
37. Scolecophagus cyanocephahts; Brewer's blackbird—the most 
common of the blackbirds. 
38 . Quiscalus purpureus; crow blackbird—several hooks mot 
with. 
39. Coraia amtrieaniuj; crow—common. 
40. Cuatiurus crlslatus: blue .lay—common, very shy, as much so 
as in the “East," and differing in tiiiB from Ihose since met with 
in Northern Iowa, where they were quite us tame as .the Euro¬ 
pean sparrows in our streets. 
41 . TyTannus eartillnensis: kingbird-very common in all locali¬ 
ties near the timber. 
43. Etr.pidonax (?pco.)—a young Hy-catclier taken too young to 
determine the species (probably Traillll). 
43. Antroitomus vuciferus; whippoorwill—heard on one occa¬ 
sion. 
41 . Chordettes n'njrniniiM, var?£Night hawk—a number were 
seen, but as none were shot, cannot say whether they were of 
the Eastern or Western variety. 
