Sept. 7, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



107 



"BACHELOR BOB WHITES." 



ErlHor Fimat and Strarm. ■ 



1 would like to get an explanation of an incident in natu- 

 ral history which c-ime under ray notice many years ago. 

 it any of your readers ever met a like accident, phenomenon 

 Of premeditated hatred of tic Fair Bex, I am at a loss what 

 'to call it. We named ihtm al The lime "bachelor bird.-." 



< )ur attention was hist drawn to the matter in the. fall of 

 1861. Mr. and Mrs. Boh \\ bite were kOldras a lawn sociable 

 on the beautiful Chatahooehee bottom lands in middle 

 Oeor.gia. my brother and I. with Calo and Boh, being the 

 only guests and partakers of the festivities. The afternoon 

 was fast waning, and the aocutnuiaring weight (not in the 

 bat) in the gauiesaek, from the many little attentions pressed 

 on us by our royal entertainers, we IhongSt it time to retire, 

 and making our best .vi'itum we backed out, with manv 

 promises to call agajn, To shorten our w ay home we struck 

 into (he woods and over the river hills. When about half 

 way up the lulls, with dogs at heel, on entering a belt of oak 

 timber the 1 dogs became rigid and linn as the "rocks beneath 

 the did hills we stood on.' At the word "Go" a bevy of 

 about forty or fifty, with some scattering birds, whirred* up. 

 Pour of the scattering' loiterers came to crass ami proved to 



br. male birds: From tbe appearance of the light in the 



gloaming fill appeared to be male birds, no further notice 

 being taken of it at the time. 



A few days later, when on our vs ay to make good our 

 promise to call again, we headed for the same bevy, which 

 we found in die same t.eltof timber, where for half an hour 

 Robert gave us a free entertainment, until getting wearied 

 Of his part of the sport he retired into a belt of black j. i 

 where we left him to rest his weary pinions and throbbing 

 breast, wending our way to the bottoms to continue our part 

 of the engagement in the family mansion, What birds we 

 got on the hill being male birds, as well as all the birds seen. 

 We frequently paid them a visit on our wav back aud forth, 

 but we never got a female bird from them', nor did we ever 

 find them in the open, slwaysand at all seasons in the woods; 

 aud their numbers increased annually. 



iu 1863 and IStU ammunition was hard toget, powdoraud 

 shot could be had iu Atlanta in exchange for lead, but lead 

 being as scarce a commodity as the powder and shot, the 

 only resource we bad left was to open the paper cart it dues 

 prepared for the old muzale-Ioading muskets, transfer the 

 powder to the powder horn, and heat the balls out Hat and 

 cut them into slugs to feed the gray squirrel, our friend Bob 



being placed on The retired list. In our squirrel excursions 

 we frequently waded through Sob, but left him in peace to 

 his own reflections— no dount he fell insulted at the seeming 

 neglect and the cold shoulder turned on him. 



We— that is. mv brother, the dogs and myself— frequently 

 talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that 

 these- were "bachelor birds." who. for some reason best 

 known to themselves, had heroine inveterate haters of the 

 fair sex. foresworn ft ffl ii pciet | . or had seen the abjusi - 

 piled on their numerous family, tod the uses to which they 

 were applied, aud rather thau'raise broods to fill the pot b£ 

 the pot-hunters, they preferred to live a life of seclusion and 

 retirement, in the dee]), dark woods. 



In the spriag of iHC.ti. when thai section was beginning to 

 straighten out the snarl of the big rough-audrtunible, at 

 dinner, one day, my wife thought she would like a small 

 piece of quail. .Necessity knows no law. and tfJ wi.-h for 

 a quail iu those days was to have ii. Along ill tbe after 

 noon 1 thought I would call around and see if any Ol BVj 

 old friends were still in tue woods. I had not visited 

 them iu two years. 1 found the hints largi Lj Increased in 

 numbers, and' brought a pair of them home in my baud. 

 For three years, until the fall of ISO!), at all season's, when 

 rusting for a shot, I would hie to thai piece of woods 

 and hi nsh the rust oil', aud never got a sim.de female bird, 

 nor did I ever see a female bird in the flight. If any of 

 your numerous readers have ever met with a like incident 

 we would be pleased to hear of it. Titos. ( 'n.Yi.uF.ns. 



HoiA-oKE, Mass. 



PENNSYLVANIA DEER HUNTING. 



I HAVE been hunting deer in the. counties of Outre, 

 Clearfield. Elk and Cameron for thirty years, from one 

 to three mouths each year, 1 have a dear park al ray place, 

 and. -with inv hunting 'in the woods and watching the deer 

 inthepark'i think fknoW about as much of the habiis of 

 deer as there is any use of a man knowing, The.,, air. 



named is very much broken along the -uvauis. Back to- 

 ward the summit the ground is level and a large country 

 covered with yellow pinfi limber, The country on and 

 around the summit bus a large number of smaii springs. 

 The deer in the su mm er time lie by these; in the winter sea- 

 son the go to the ravines, where the I trge tii ibet .,i I laurel 

 abounds, aud late in the season you Will And them on the 

 hills near the river. They are hunted ic-ie in several ways: 

 Still-hunting, ridge-huntlng, sick-watching and hounding, 

 I term hounding deer to start a hound after a. deer and run 

 it into the water. If that deer is not, molested in any way 

 except being chased by that hound it will be buck on the 

 ground from where it was started in twenty-four, or not 

 more, than forty-eight, hours from the timed was started 

 There is very little hounding done in our section. Still* 

 hunting will drive deer from their grounds sooner than any 

 other kind of hunting. One still-hunter will cause more 

 deer to leave their ground than the best hound dog ever put 

 after them. Y~ou gel, after a deer as a still-hunter" does, and 

 fohow him until the doer knows you are after him, and he, 

 will leave the ground, and will seek new ground If hunted 

 hard, and the worst part of this still-hunting is done when 

 the snow becomes deep, with heavy crusts, and the deer 

 cannot get away from Ihe hunter, there is where the Still- 

 hunter Shows his skill, lie steals up on the poor fleer, takes 

 arest and tires, bringing his deer to the ground, then ex 

 claims that still-hunting is the ouly way deer should be 

 hunted. That is giving a deer a nice chance for his life. 

 How, put a hound on that same ground and when he gets 

 the track he lets out a bawl, and, if near his deer, you 

 will see the game in its first stage. Then is when the hunter 

 nerves up. If he has no nerve to stay him lie is "a goner " 

 instead of the deer (1 have been there). That deer may run 

 along a line of men. aud among that number there will he 

 some with guns who attend county fairs anu break ten balls 

 thrown from a trap in succession, tJjke first premiums, and 

 with all these wonderful feats which thev have performed 

 will tire two shots at the deer aud then be mad because the 

 deer wont, give them a chance to shoot at it all day. On the 

 deer goes, unt.il the dog gets tired, fie stops and comes back, 

 The deer will stop as soon as ho rinds the dog is not close to 

 him, and he will also return to the ground where, he WHS 

 started, 



We have a special act for our county, allowing a man to 



hunt as be may see. proper, and we make it a point not to 

 allow deer to be killed only except iu season, as our judge is 

 a, hunter and wants the law enforced. I have watched deer 

 through all kinds of winter storms. They seem to know 

 ', i ii torm is near, as they will lie in some secluded 

 place; they n ill work to the steep side hills, or get down in 

 the heavy timber, or behind a. rock or log, any place to be 

 sheltered. 1 put up a sited for my deer to get under during 

 the storms, but they prefer lying alongside"! he fence. When 

 dcepsnowsfa.il, they lay Still and allow themselves to be 

 snow-:! tip, merely keeping their heads out. of the snow-. 



Now my theory on hunting, arid the only snorting way to 

 bunt is to have dogs which do not run tcio Jong, and post 

 yourmen on high ground, a.td take their shots; "thou have a 

 good party, and good camp, a good set of doss, and if a 

 man is a hunter that is the way to hunt, and 1 will guaran- 

 tee he will enjoy himself. My party shot twenty-seven deer 

 last tall, and we hunted easy and we had an elegant, time. I 

 never hunt for the market, "neither will 1 hunt with a party 

 who does. (t. R. B. ' 



Centre Comrrr, Fa. 



"NIPKINS." 

 rpHE average darkey is very superstitious, aud Tom was 

 JL no exception to the rule. Though nineteen years of 

 age. he was as ignorant almost as when he first saw the 

 light. His fear of darkness was something laughable: it 

 was almost, impossible to induce him to stir abroad after 

 dusk, so great was his terror of "Nipkin-,." as he called him. 

 On a bright moonlight, night he would sometimes venture 

 out, but tool! great --an- to give the bushes where the sha- 

 dows lurked a 'wife berth 



"Suppose old 'Ndpkins' did catch you, Tom, what would 

 he do?" 



"Ef he eotchyo?" 



"Yes!" 



"He don't never tech no white folks." 



"Well bow aboul darkeys?" 



-Ef be cotch nigger?" 



"Yes!" 



"Well, sometime he get fool nigger loafen roun', den look 

 out! Ef on de boat be tak all de'elo's offen 'cm. make 'em 

 elttm to de mas' bed, and den sometime be mak 'em dust, 

 roim' en clar de deck up till he sweat." 



"Who sweats? "Napkins' or the nigger?" 



"Nigger sweat! De ole feller set en look on. and ef vo 

 don't kep or up rite smart, he tak en chuck yo over, en mos' 

 drowned yo. Don't never kill nobody tho'; lets up jes en de 

 rite time." 



Our little sloop was moored alongside (he meadow bank, 



ed i 



t thi 



1 ; ; "" ! ' u ' "; r ''!-' ; "' '''' i l Jppei 



a 'cloud in the sky, and one of the fullest of full moons 

 sailing up the heavens, the smoke from our pipes floating in 

 a soft "blue wreath around us, so still was the nir The oc- 

 casional splashing of a. black duck as he hunted for food on 

 the shoals, and the spasmodic honk, honks of a huge gang 

 of wild gv^n out on the still water were the only interrup- 

 tions oj the quiet, which was rendered still more 'impressive 

 by the rolling of the surf on the outer beach, subdued by the 

 distance, but, lending a rich imdeitone to (he whole scene, 



•Have you your""sink-box along, Billy? I am going to 

 have a crack at the g^e^ one of these niglits when thev come 

 in on that sand bar. Tom. you go there to-morrow just be- 

 fore sundown and sink the box not over forty yards from 

 the point of that bar. You hear?" 



"Ees. sir," says Tom. 



The bar referred to ran out nearly one hundred yards into 

 the hay— a hard spit of white sand, bare at all tim'es. and a 

 favorite spot for the geese, who came in at night to preen. 

 And. as Brunt said. "If it was against the law it was also 

 against human nature to sit, on deck and see that, bar glisten 

 in the moonlight aud covered with geese without 'cutting 

 loose' at them." So it was arranged that Tom should sink 

 the box just before sunset; then after a comfortable pipe 

 Brunt would walk to it (about half a mile), stretch his manly 

 form therein, wait for the geese and ' " " 



one. 



ton. 



way. 



"lis 



fas cum from lixen it." 



Supper over, Brunt is so uneasy to start, that he knocks 

 the ashes from his half-smoked pipe, dons his hoots, and, 

 being ferried over the inlet, off he. goes for the sink box. 

 The moon comes up. and the geese come in. We sit, on 

 deck and watch them swim up to the bar, saunter slowly 

 out, flap their big wings, and with an occasional grunt of 

 satisfaction begin their toilet. "'Bout time suthin' went 

 oil', isn't it?" says Billv; "been gone a. long timenoW. Tom, 

 did you put plenty ot hay in "that box?" A woolly head 

 sticks out of the eompauionway, and the stereotyped "Eos. 

 beard. "Bummer's gone to sleep; {hat's what ails 

 An hour passes; the geese, are still visible On the 

 'Hallo! Hallo!" comes over the. water from the other 

 side-of the inlet. "Send the boat, will pou, pdq." Tom is 

 afraid of "Nipkius," so 1 paddle over. "What's the matter, 

 old man?" "Matter! Why, I tried a shcrt cut, fefl in a 

 hole and lost time; moon rose: geese al! ashore; and alter 

 trawling (illy yard- on i in- meadow, trying to sneak info 

 he box, working like a hog to do it, too. I came to the 

 dge of the meadow and there, right under mv snoot, that 



truth was, Tom had been t 

 the box, and "Nipkin--" be, 



herover the meadow 



of the I. ox. Brunt doe-: at 

 ho did a devil of a thin kin 

 fear of an outburst of rightc 

 and "Nipkius" outside,' Toi 



completely demoralized. 

 Dick. 



CotsNLtCTicin'.— Ha 



■id 



■nd 

 effect. 



that " 



birds will be in much belt 

 the mouth. The law is not 'off' until October 1. Rail 

 shooting is legal on and alter the 1.2th iust., ut it is reported 

 that gunners arc already at work along tie- II .usatonic aud 

 una birds plenty, Down Essex way must be a good place 

 for.'coon hunting. A correspondent Writes den the 'coons 

 are making havoc among the cornfields, and the farmers are 

 making d-'sperat ■ efforts to exterminate them." It may be 

 of interest to your correspondents who yarn to commence 



shooting immediately to know wlce ; ..i. it a month 



in advance of the season. — W. H. K. 



OHIO GAME NOTES. 



I AM constrained to express my extreme appreciation of 

 the fouith paper of your "Adirondack Survey Notes." 

 Your ideas of the man who violates the game laxv are just 

 mine, though T have never expressed them so tersely, nor 

 have 1 been so well pleased with anything that i have read 

 on lie subject. The whole article is first-class and worthy 

 of commendation to every person concerned. 



Our prospects for quail are very discouraging. In many 

 localities last fall aud winter there was hot a bird to be 

 found. This spring, however, they came from somewhere' 

 and after pairing, were to be seen ami heard iu goodly 

 numbers in many places, I was hopeful then that we should 

 have a fair supply this fall, but I am told by the farmers, 

 and my own observations confirm it, that thev have never 

 seen so few young birds. This must he attributed to a level 

 country aud excessive rain. 



Tn your issue of August 94, "Byrne" refers to the disap- 

 pearance of quail in July and August. This corresponds 

 with my own observations, though his theory as to the 

 Cause is different, but well worthy of eon-hkraiion. 



1 confess that I ha, vc never been able to satisf J my mind 

 with a solution of the problem, but I give you my ideas: 

 Owing to the increased care iu fanning then is now in this 

 section, but Utile cover left for email f and the timber, too. 

 Which seems to be so ereal a desideratum, has to a large if 

 tent disappeared, Add to this die increased amount of 

 Shooting to which they arc subjected, and I here is reason 



tbyi 



mitt 



' to 



d 

 take. 



care of themselves, shift bacb to ihe dense coverts of some 

 wilder locality. This habit, of birds going out into the open 

 country to breed, is one I hat I have observed for many years, 

 and is true even of the wild turkey. It may be simply in- 

 stinct, but I have learned to regard birds as possessed of far 

 more intelligence than they are accredited with, and were I in 

 need of any other theory than that of present ■necessity, to 

 account, for 'an exodus of the birds, 1 should find it in their 

 recollection of the safer re-, its whence thev caiuc. and per- 

 haps an intelligent anticipation of the danger to come in the 

 open season. 



I have also thought that many birds are poisoned through 

 the now prevalent use ol Baris green in farming. 



What 1 have said of quail will also apply lo the ruffed 

 grouse. But how ever we may account for the disappearance 

 el hods from particular localities, 11 is in vain to shut our 

 eyes to the fact that there is in general a serious reduction of 

 their numbers that can be attributed to nothing else under 

 the sun than trapping and excessive shooting. ' O. 0. J. 

 Ohio, Aug. 21), 1S8 3, 



DOCKS AND " Mjcd-Hkks. "— A correspondent of the. 

 Sacramento, Cal., Bee advocates the systematic dest ruction 

 of the "mud-hen," on the ground that this bird destroys 

 the food of the ducks. He says; "Tins letter will he. 

 entirely devoled l.o an evil that I presume few sportsmen on 

 this coast notice, but which is doing more to destroy vour 

 now good but declining duck-shooting than would lie done 

 by any amount of shooting out of. season. This evil is 

 neither more, nor less than the protection of "coot-" (com- 

 monly called mud-hens), which arc found by thousands all 

 . ver ihe Stele, end espceidly between San Francisco and 

 Sacramento, and in the bay between Oakland and San 

 Francisco, whore millions are found feeding every day in 

 the year. These buds are of a blueish black color, a trifle 

 larger than the teal duck, and have a white bill. Their foot 

 are also not solidly webbed, but have a. slight gristly web 

 OH each Side, of every toe. They are simply hogs iii their 

 way, eating constantly and incessantly, and as thev feed 

 entirely on all kinds of food that ducks do they must cat 

 away the grass, roots and seeds that keep your duel s, the 

 same as sheep would cat away pasture from cattle If left 

 alone in one field. One instance 1 remember Where these 

 aquatic hogs ate away feed from one of the best duck 

 marshes thai ever came under my notice, in 18B8, in Indiana. 

 Two miles from my home were live little lakes with thou- 

 sands ol acrespf marsh land that afforded the best duck- 

 shooting one can imagine, and for several years wc had 

 enjoyed the -pott oi excellent bags, ranging from 50 to 200 

 ducks per day lo .1 good shoi. In 1668, in the spring, I went 

 over to the lake one day aud saw what i thought, were ducks 

 by the aero. I hurried to mv old stand, but no flight, came. 

 and I Mas puzzled. I took my boat and made up my 

 mind I would scare them up, leaving a companion in 

 the blind where the ducks passed from one lake to 

 the other. 1 rowed out, to my acres of ducks (as 1 sup- 

 posed), and noticed I could easily get within shot of 

 them, so 1 began shooting into the flock, not waiting 

 to pick them up until I got through. After following and 

 shooting for some time. 1 began to gather them in, and To mv 

 surprise 1 found them entirely different from ducks. The 

 result was that I found they-were "coots," and unfit for use. 

 Since that year these, lakes have been the home, of the coot, 

 and I do not think that two good expeiienced sportsmen 

 could bag twenty ducks any day since in those lakes; and I 

 could refer lo many lakes and marshes where the same 

 destruction of duck-food has ruined the finest shooting in 

 the country. Now. then, for the remedy. That, is. simply 

 for every hunter to shoot mud-, ens as fast as thev come- 

 within range. They are fair shooting for sport, and as 

 many hunters don't care for tin- game simply lor the meat, 

 they can have as much fun shoot ing mud-hens as ducks, for 

 then the tiresome work of carrying them home does not 

 come iu. 1 have had many days' sport shooting them with 

 aJJ2 aud ;k' calibre rifle. It lakes a good shot to hit teu 

 straighr on the water with a rifle. Try it. Some will say 

 thev should not bo killed in the. bay. * This is a great mis- 

 lake, at Slacks arc equally good scavengers; and mj word 

 for it. you will see a fuck Come foreverj mud-hen and gull 

 killed, and thev will gel nearly oi .piile as tame and breed 

 there by Ihe ihoii^nd- ii you will onlykill off the birds thai 

 are eating a way their pasture. Organize club huuta, and shoot 

 nothing but mud-hens and gulls. Also, every sportsman 

 that goes on u | U inl should kill every mud-hen 'that Hies by 

 him, end every hawk possible, aud in three veais j ,m 

 marshes will be alive With ducks and other game birds, in- 

 stead Of the miserable, slinkiug hogs of coo s. I would any 

 lime let a, duck pass without a shot if there was a cool in 

 range end give him the charge in place of the duck. Try 

 it, brother sportsmen." [We incline to think that I lie write! 



,i ; h, above has not fairly tried the merits of the bird, yvhich 

 he so roundly berates as worthless for the table. We know 

 that a prejudice exists among many sportsmen egninst the. 



"mud hen" who have never eaten it. We have found them 

 a very fair bird for the table.] 



