[Dot. 28, 1883. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



24B 



lusted or cut off from BSCapo, glides Tinder cover and gives 

 tjierighl of way. I once killed a large rattlesnake which 



M i 'anion, who preceded me along a mountain path, 



had unwittingly stepped over, th« snake making no move- 

 ment whatever. Person's coming upon them suddenly are 

 not infre(iuently bitten by them, hut their habit is to' give 

 timelj warning of their presence by rattling angrily. 



The use of the rattle is a mooled'poinl j n natural history. 

 It is said to be simply nature's warning against a dangerous 

 animal, tile "snake-in tile-grass" 'en that the wise will heed, 

 "Friyidnn, /;</■• v: fH'jik hiii-: 1«M~ ajajuis in /terba." Virgil 

 say-. Certain it is that men and beasts instinctively sheer 

 off wheu this alarm is sounded. One very probable use of 

 the rattle- is to call the sexes together. 'Some naturalists 

 explain it all according to I he theory of natural selection. 

 The rattles arc added at irCegular intervals, and are fre- 

 quently lost. They c;in afford no index to a snake's age. 

 The copperhead is "a much more vicious serpent, and strikes 

 whenever its retreats arc invaded. 



The real use' of the fangs to all venomous serpents is that 

 of procuring food, not defense. Snake- of this class arc, as 

 a rule, sluggish, having none of the agility of the non-veno- 

 m .us species. Without this means of obtaining food, they 

 would be but ill adapted to the struggle for existence. These 

 fangs lie flat, wheu not in use. but. are provided with erectile 

 muscles which throw them forward when the serpent 

 becomes excited. The contraction of the poison glands, 

 which lie beneath the fangs, forces t Ho venom through the 

 canal of the latter into the wound. Let no one think that 

 by depriving it of its weapons, the deadly serpent maybe 

 cons cried into a harmless pet. Behind them lie tiny germ- 

 inal fangs which soon replace the lost ones, and the dormant 

 faculty of destruction springs into new life. 



The food of our native snakes consists of mice, frog.s, liz- 

 ards, young rabbits and young hirds, the smaller species 

 sometimes feeding on beetles and other insects. The water 

 snakes are excellent swimmers and fishers. The serpent, in 

 common with other reptiles of temperate regions, hibernates 

 in the winter. Its skin is shed at intervals, depending on 

 the condition of the animal. In easting, the old skin breaks 

 first on the head, and is peeled backward until entirely 

 thrown off. When found thus, it is, of course, inside out." 



Really we have nothing to fear from creatures as helpless 

 as the common nou-veuomous snakes. So far as danger of 

 venom is concerned, they can all be handled with impunity. 

 The writer has been bitten repeatedly by water snakes and 

 garter snakes, with less inconvenience resulting than from 

 Die scratch of a kitteu. 



The indiscriminate .•.laughter of snakes is a practice which 

 Should be discouraged, for many of the inoecuous species 

 arc useful destroyers of vermin. 



C. H. TOWNSEND. 



COTTONMOUTH and WATER MOCCASIN 



Editor Forest and 8il ■ 



In your issue of Aug. 24, in reply to a question from a 

 Georgia correspondent, you say "the water moccasin and 

 the cottonmoulli, we think, are the. same snake, as we have 

 found both names applied to (he Atirktivdon phciwrnn in 

 the South." I do not agree with you that these snakes are, 

 the same. In my boyhood days I was verv well acquainted 

 with the water moccasin in North Carolina, where he was 

 a verv common denizen of the creeks and branches. There 

 were two kinds there, both, if I recollect aright, marked 

 exactly alike, except that one was long, slim and tapering 

 to a fine point, while the other was more heavily built and 

 inclined to be stumpy at the caudal extremity. This latter 

 was a venomous rascal, and the former was harmless except 

 as to frogs and minnows. Now the cottonmouth, which 

 lueversaw in North Carolina, and don't believe exists there, 

 is a very different snake. lie is a rusty, blackish, dirty 

 looking fellow, very much of the color of swamp muck. 

 He has some markings, but these can no 1 be perceived with- 

 out close inspection. His habits also arc quite different from 

 those of his North Carolina cousins. The latter lives almost 

 entirely in running water, While the cottonmouth avoids 

 thai sort of wafer. He prefers, ami according to my obser- 

 vation, slicks exclusively to pools or ponds, and the* dirtier 

 and more stinking these are, the more arc they to his liking. 

 Though 1 hrtVfl seat) hundreds of them in* Texas, 1 have 

 never yet seen one in running waler. You will find them 

 about the little stagnant, grassy pools along the water 

 courses, but never in the water couiscs themselves, More- 

 over, the water moccasin is nearly all the time in wafer; he 

 is strictly a water snake; while the cottonmouth is rarely 

 seen in the water, but always very close to it. If yon attack 

 the water moccasin on land, he speeds to the water as quick 

 as he can; if you attack the cottonmouth in water, lie gets, 

 to the land as quick as he can. Though always about water 

 he is not really a water snake. 



The water moccasins, both the venomous and the harm- 

 less, are lively, active snakes, and seem to be imbued with 

 a good deal of intelligence The cottonmouth is a sluggish, 



sbw-ntpviug villain, and seems to be an infernal fool, to 

 boot, lie does not regard a man with any more respect 

 than he does a 1m nsl, and stands in no awe: of harm what- 

 ever. When he sees you approaching he will hardty put 

 himsel to the t rouble Of coiling up as other venomous snakes 

 do, to give vou a warm reception, but usually lifts his head 

 high up, his- body stretched out at length, 'and opens his 

 mouth at you just as wide as ever he can pop it. He will 

 stay in 1his position, with head erect and mouth popped 

 wide open, a long time, When you begin to stone him, he 

 will strike venomously at every 'stone that comes. He will 

 Stand square in his trat ks and take allthat you can give him. 

 You cannot make him yield an inch; he will die right there. 

 I do not lay this lo the credit of his natural bravery, "mt 

 rather to his thick headed, dense, impenetrable stupidity. 

 He is so great a dunce that he does not know what you are 

 doing when you are killing him, and does not seem "to care 

 a row oi pins for il either, Of all helpless, irredeemable 

 fools, I think he can "take the cake.' 1 He gets the name 

 cottonmouth from his singular habit, of popping his mouth 

 open at you. and keeping it open, whenever you approach 

 him. 1 lis month, also, when held open, is epiite white as 

 compared with the rest of his iioclv, so that some one said 

 that it looks a.-, if it had been lined" with lint cottou. He is 

 certainly a very different snake from the North Carolina 

 water moccasin'. I question if they have any relationship 

 with one another. We also have" in Texas the poisonous 

 water moCO&siu of that State, hut he is somewhat darker 

 than the North Carolinian. We also have a harmless water 

 moccasin here, but he does not at all look like his If. C. 

 cousin, if they be cousins. N. A, T. 



jsl Paso, Texas. 



"BYRNE" ON THE MUD-HEN. 



r IMllS very pretty, cleanly, nicely behaved, tame, contid- 

 1 trie-, greatly and very wrongly abused, little water 

 fowl, is not near SO bad as some would make him. The bird 

 known evervwherc Wesl as "mud-hen" is properly the coot, 

 JTbjfto amerieana. of the subfamily Q<tfflml(B r of the family 

 KnUiilo: while the rnud-hen proper is the dapper rail. 

 HaVas virpinuinaii. This entire family of birds are edible, 

 some of them the most delicious of birds, The cool or mis- 

 called mud-hen, pnvk d'eou (water-hen) of the Louisiana 

 Creoles, and generally of the extreme South, is perhaps the 

 least palatable of the whole family. The tlesh of the old 

 birds is very coarse and dark, but without any bad flavor, 

 while that of the young birds, nicely broiled, will pass muster 

 anywhere, and has done so thousands of times, when the 

 partakers of it were served with it as teal duck. These are 

 facts, and give » true test of the edibility of anything; This 

 bird, (mud-hen) if you will have it so. is so far'as 1 have ob- 

 served, entirely a vegetable feeder, feeding principally on fresh 

 water alfije, mOMes, weeds, and other aquatic plants and reeds. 

 In proof that it is quite strictly a vegetable feeder, is thef'act 

 that il is furnished with a very large and very muscular 

 gizzard, I hare opened and examined a large' number of 

 their gizzards and have never found any animal matte: in 

 them at all, except an empty snail shell "in one. Many assert 

 that tlnv feed ravenously on fish. Ido not believe tliis, and 

 give the facts as I have found them, and feel confident that 

 'those who have, as (hey supposed, seen the coot, eating fish, 

 wen; mistaken, and mistook for it the "pied-billed grebe,' 

 "dabchick," "dipper," "diedapper," "water witch," {Pohi- 

 Iffjnlnis podienpK Less.) a somewhat similar looking, smaller 

 bird, generally numerous iu the same waters with the coot. 

 It is also known by the euphonious title of "hell-diver" on the 

 Illinois River. 111.' 



This little bird is a ravenous eater of small fish, and is I 

 think as edible as most of the ducks if properly prepared. 

 What bu-ds are not if young and iu good condition? Byrne 

 wouldsay none except those that feed exclusively on carrion, 

 and 1 will not ex,- ept young, fat, tender hawks, owls, andher- 

 ons (Ardeidre). But I might be willing to except after trial the 

 Steganopodes, the pelicans', cormorants, et cetra, for these may 

 be young, but. arc never fat. With them, wind, simple air, 

 tak'es the entire place of fat in other birds. I could give a 

 good many curious and interesting facts aliout persons par- 

 taking of many different birds not generally used as food with 

 great relish, and pronouncing theni"" very good," "delicious," 

 when they supposed they were eating some bird well-known 

 as a fine game bird. Byrne. 



Crockett's Blcfj.-, Arkansas Co., Ark., Sept. 30. 



THE BREEDING OF QUAIL. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reference to quail breeding a second time I have this to 

 offer: I was shooting in Jackson county, Iowa, about two 

 weeks ago, and while draw T ing a held mytwo dogs pointed; 

 a friend and myself advanced and flushed one bird, which 

 I killed. Upon the report of the gun another rose, which 1 

 covered, and was about to sho./t, when my friend cried, 

 "Halt!" and I dropped the gun. 1 inquired the cause, and 

 be showed me, running among the rag-weeds, a full eovev 

 of young quail, so young, iuo-eed, that thev could not fly". 

 In the same field another covey was fouud'whieh were not 

 quarter grown. About a half mile from same place anothar 

 covey was flushed, which appeared to be made up of two 

 hatchings, as some were fully as large as the old ones, while 

 others were, not over half grown. These coveys were all 

 found on the same day, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 1882.' I do not 

 know whether these yoling birds were the first or second 

 hatching, but I do know that I saw them on the day men- 

 tioned and that they were bona tide "Bob Whites." Octo. 

 Johnstown, Pa. , Oct. 17. 



"J. E. S." is right, quail often rear a second brood, and 

 the pecularity in regard to it is, that after the eggs are laid, 

 the male bird sits on the nest and hatches the brood alone' 

 Your correspondent, "James Wright," has already been 

 informed through your coluruns.that I had eight eggs hatched 

 out of ten. All the birds are strong and lively, and full 

 feathered out except the heads, they arc far more gentle 

 than young chickens, and fight with each other for the 

 possession of the flies tlia t my 1 ft tie five year old girl feeds them 

 from her baud. Mr. Wright's manner of feeding is good, 

 but let him also add a peck of sweepings from the haymow 

 occasionally, for in it are nearly all Hie small seed thai, quail 

 feed on, and beside it furnishes them with the amusement 

 that they like — scratching. I also feed ants' eggs for dessert, 

 but they are imported dry ones and not so good, I don't 

 think there is the least doubt about the ability of anyone to 

 raise quail in confinement, plenty of room, air, variety of 

 food, and above all, perfect cleai liuess, being the require- 

 ments. I am unable to make out, where "Wright" hatched 

 his birds, indoors or out, as he speaks of "brush." Would 

 like to know where he- got his old birds and how ho arranged 

 (he place of the confinement. My birds still occupy mv 

 conservatory to the exclusion of my plants, and while 'l 

 hesitate what to do, I fear that some day Jack Frost will 

 decide the matter in favor of the quail. Wti.i.ts. 



WlNPIELD, N. J. 



Breeding Qiail in Coxfinkioent.— The reply a few 

 weeks since through Hie Forest and Stream to my in- 

 quiry about breeding quail iu confinement, gave me' but 

 little encouragement to try any such exnerimcut, as I had 

 in comteniplation in that direction, I had about concluded 

 to abandon any such project, when fortunately a few days 

 afterward, I accidentally overheard a conversation between 

 a gentleman from Williamsburg and one or two others, in 

 which he detailed the successful hatching of two settings of 

 quail eggs under two small bantam hens, one producing 

 eight quails, and the other six. The one with eight was 

 kept in quite a large coop where she could get upon a roost, 

 and the result was a loss of all the brood but one, which was 

 put with the hen which had six, which was kept in a smaller 

 coop without a roost. These latter were at the time of the 

 conversation six weeks old and getting along nicely. The 

 information thus obtained, with the subsequent articles in 

 tin- Forest and Stream on the sunn- subject, gave me fresh 

 courage, and I at once set about building accommodations 

 for two pair of quail, and have just completed them. And 

 all I now lack to begin my experiment is the quail. 1 should 

 very much like to get those that have been bred iu confine- 

 ment if possible, as 1 think they would be much more easily 

 domesticated. The Williamsburg gentleman, above referred 

 to, also related quite an interesting experience where the 

 quail herself was engaged in hatching. During the process 

 of Incubation, having missed the female quail forsevera! days, 



he began an investigation and found her lying dead beside 

 the nest and the male bird performing her' duties. This he 

 continued to do until the eggs Were hatched and one quail 

 produced. Having asked The gentleman whether he had 

 given Forest and Stream what ] have detailed, aud re- 

 ceiving a negative reply. I thought I would do it for him, 

 believing that it would be of interest to its readers. I would 

 like to get the address of Mr. Willis, whose article on the 

 above subject from some other paper was published in 

 Forest and Stream a few weeks ago.— R. P. W. 



House Wren a Nest Ronm-m.— Le Roy, N. Y., Sept. 

 35, 1882. — In one of your late issues a correspondent asks if 

 any one has observed the house wren robbing the nests of 

 other birds. My observations show that he is rather in- 

 clined that way. For several years the bird houses in my 

 garden were, appropriated first" by the bluebirds, who built 

 their nests and laid their eggs in peace. At about this stage 

 the wrens arrived from the South, and after some sharp bat- 

 tles, drove off the bluebirds, carried away their eggs and 

 broke up their nests, building their own in the bird houses. 

 Perhaps this proves nothing, as they undoubtedly wished 

 the houses for their own use ; but in addition they removed 

 the eggs from the nests of one or two pairs of chipping spar- 

 rows, and, if 1 am not mistaken, look one or two robins' 

 eggs. These eggs they carried off into the fields back of 

 the house and dropped, their only apparent motive being 

 the destruction of the eggs or the driving away of the other 

 birds. It was very amusing to place the cat on the tree 

 with the wrens' nest and see the wrens attack her. — F. M. C. 



Is It Something Local?— LongMsland City, N. Y., Sept. 

 22.— I would like you to explain the reason of the north- 

 ward flight of swallows during the month of August and 

 the early part of September. During the past few years I 

 have noticed that, during those months, large flocks of swal- 

 lows came from the south every evening, all flying directly- 

 northward. Some evenings there are thousands of them, 

 and they keep coming up until it is quite dark. I have 

 never seen them living southward in such numbers, and can- 

 not account for the reason of their north ward flight. — 

 Swallow. 



%mt\t §ng Ht\d 



Open Seasons.—.** table of open seasons for game, and ti*h 

 in mue of July 20. . 



IT IS OCTOBER! 



TVTHKN frosty nights succeed the sunny days, 



' * And hunters range the gleaming forests over, 

 And round the mountains hangs a purple haze, 



It is October. 

 When anglers lay their rods and baskets by, 

 Pack leaders, reels and flies with faces sober, 

 And lock them up, with many a wistful sigh, 



It la October. 

 When partridges steal softly from the woods 

 At eve, to seek their food amid the clover. 

 And in the sunny glades tbe woodcock broods, 



It is October. 

 When timid does put on their coats of blae, 

 And antlored bucks forsake the thicket cover, 

 To roam, with listening ears, the forests through, 



It is October. 

 When forests burn in crimson, gold and dun, 

 And hounds with mellow throats track woodlands over, 

 When round the lakes is heard the booming gun, 



It is Oct ..ii,er. Penobscot. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



ON the 10th and 11th of this month, many migratory 

 birds began to move southward during the murky and 

 easterly weather that occurred on those dates. The tlights 

 have been gradual aud continued ever sine-. Your eorrc 

 spondent has distinctly heard (he notes of the rail bird as it 

 passed over head during the night, and there is no doubt 

 that on the dates I have mentioned, a portion of the rail left 

 our marshes, although some may remain until we have 

 cooler weather, which will in all probability follow the 

 present foggy season. At Baruegat, N. J., and all along 

 the New Jersey coast, duck shooting has opened, and ducks 

 are reported as having appeared there in fair numbers, 

 though not in such great quantities as would be seen if the 

 weather was colder. All I he varieties are tame now and 

 stool readily, as the young among them do not yet know 

 the deceptive decoy as "well as they will in November. 

 Brant have not shown Ihemselvcs cither in Tuckerton or 

 Barnegal bays, and are nol expected till next month. From 

 all accounts", quail will be fairly plentiful in Pennsylvania 

 this fall. Running birds have been seen this month iu many 

 of our small towns. At Brighton, N. J., one covey was 

 observed on the move within the town limits last week. 

 Years ago when quail were more numerous than now, it 

 was very common to have shooting at running coveys, or at 

 running coveys that were pushed until they would lie to the 

 dogs on the borders of Philadelphia (the season opened 

 earlier then); and within at least twelve years your corre- 

 spondent has had quite good sport for an hour or two, 

 when he found it rather dillicult to steer clear of the houses 

 in shooting. Woodcock are beginning to drop iu through- 

 out our near counties from thenorth. The flight wilf he 

 gradual, aud has not been large. We need a little cool 

 weather before they will be well on the move. Our river- 

 men expect a renewed visit of the snow-geese, or white 

 brant, to our bay this fall. For the past three or four years 

 la.esc fowl have. appeared every spring and autumn in the 

 same section below Bombay jlonk. Very few have been 

 killed, and yet they are superior to the Canada goose, or 

 brant, on the table. The burned meadows on the bay shorn 

 seems to attract them, and every year their work can be 

 plainly seen where the grass has been pulled np by the roots. 

 The rail shooting this year at Port Penn (Sim Lord's) seems 

 to have come all in a bunch. During the early part of the 

 season few birds were lulled, but during the storm tide of 

 September tremendous scores were made. It takes plenty 

 of water to get on the high grouuds hi this Section, but it 

 pays to wait for it. Homo, 



Philadelphia, Oct. 21, 



