324 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. S3. 1882, 



evidently come from a region wtirai; men are not known, 

 and consequently were ignorant of human treachery and 

 human invention. It mattered little to them thai they were 

 in confinement; like the little redpoll, they would drop to- 

 gether in a clump on the bottom <>t the cage, uttering, while 

 eating, the softest, sWCCtest nole-oi ivcoir'nil ion ever' uttered 

 bj a bird. Then the leader's note would be heard, plain as 



a human voice. "Come, come. let QS go," then like tin fed 

 poll, they would all st, ut at the same instant and in the 

 same direction. Reaching the .side of the cage, they would 

 cling for a moment to the wires, and then fall back to the 

 perches, sitting lor a lew minutes silent and dejected, then 

 rettjrm'ng t<> feed and pick about, the cage. This was often 

 repeated the first day. but soon abandoned entirely. 



In a few days my birds began to warble a song of soft, 

 notes, louder and inure constant. A- spring advanced the 

 song resembled somewhat that of the purple Much, but with 

 long, sweeping notes which that bird does aol Utter. 1 Used 

 to -i; hours b\ tin- cage, for 1 never possessed pels 1 so rnucl 

 loved. They wouldenl from my hand, pick an apple seed 

 from my lips, itttersperaingthe same sWeel music. Not so loud 

 and clear as "wood thrush Xo. 2." (). dear. I cannot think of 

 that without — well, no rpatter, 1 didn't fed so bad on my 

 own account, hut neighbor Phelps, of the "Homestead," a 



man of tine musical taste and culture, found its perform- 

 ance beyond bis depth and was moved to criticism, -although 

 the poi'i t waa obscure. Perhaps "Coronation,' printed m 

 thai was, bottom up, and wrong end to. would be jftsl ai 

 dillieull. 



I5ut to return. My birds delighted to <yash, a luxury de- 

 nted them iii their native region. I filled their bathing" ves- 

 sel with -now and water, in which they would wallow till 

 eompli telv drenched, eating snow and ice while so doing. 

 Bitting by the cage one Sunday afternoon, the sun shining 

 brightly, 1 had placed in it a ball of snow; the birds weie 

 silting on the ball, spreading wings and feathers over it with 

 every token of delight. Suddenly with a seream every bird 

 showed the most intense excitement, not terror, but fight 

 all over, heads in one direction depressed, wings slightly 

 spread, topknot overhanging the beak, and the beak Wide 

 open. Turning my head there was a shrike banging to the 

 sash not a foot "away. The robber bird darted off and my 

 pets became quiet The shrike hud discovered the birds 

 from a tree opposite the window, and the birds recognized 

 iheir mortal enemy at sight, showing no inclinationto re- 

 treat. My inference was that the" shrike dared not en- 

 counter the old birds, a single nip of whose powerful beak 

 would cut off the neck of the shrike in an instant. 



Wishing another test of their sagacity, I brought to the 

 cage some Gulfed birds. They approached them fearlessly, 

 recognizing their own kind, but the instant a stuffed shrike 

 appeared, there was the same scream; the same position of 

 desperate resistance repeated. 



One of my birds consigned to friends in New York lived 

 sb years in a cage, suffering latterly from those shelly 

 excrescences mentioned by Dr. Coucs. My own lived 

 about the same number of years, and at last died of plethora 

 from over-kindness. Of Iheir southern breeding limits 1 i 1 1 1 < - 

 is known. Finding them in summer on Moosilank. midway 

 in New Hampshire, and having most positive evidence that 

 they come down from the spruce belt on the Green .Moun- 

 tains to feed on currants and cherries in the back settlements 

 of Vermont. I do not hesitate to presume that they may 

 be found much further south than represented to be the 

 case. One fact at least favors this opinion, the bird is almost 

 an annual visitor lo us, and lias already arrived this first of 

 November, the snow-bunt ing having come a few weeks 

 sooner, both preceding the cold weather as never before. 



•A many years ago" I wrote that in this section of the 

 ( onneetieut Valley, the Northern and Southern fauna over- 

 lapped each other remarkably, and that during the vear more 

 of the birds known east of the Mississippi would' tie found 

 here than in any other spot in the United Stabs. 1 had the 

 satisfaction, however, ofseettlg it wordjor word shortly after 

 published under another name. To show how things are 

 getting mixed up, 1 will only add that the grosbeak, the 

 hunting and a whippoorwill were seen and shot this firsl to 

 third of November, 1882, in Springfield. Mass. 



B. HoRSKxrtj 



The very interesting article upon the pine grosbeak in 

 F.OKEBT and STREAM of Nov. 2 reminds me that I have act n 

 these beautiful birds in myriads about miners' cabins, tip 

 about timber line on the mountains, in the latter pail of 

 winter and early spring. They come there to feed upon the 

 crumbs and scraps thrown out from the table, and are very 

 tame and sociable. If the weather is pleasant they keep up 

 a constant twittering and singing. The snow at 'such sea 

 son of the year is generally from four to eight feel deep, and 

 no earth is Visible, The colors of their plumage are exceed- 

 ingly varied, rich and beautiful. I think they breed on the 

 high mountains, at or above timber line, but ( ,f t| K ,| [ :nil 

 not certain. Manv small birds make their nests among tin: 

 furasa that covers many of the mountain slopes at 11.000 to 

 ■12.(1011 feet elevation, where there is frost oveiy night. 



W.N. B: 



Djwvbh. ObI., Nov, 16.1882. 



VARIOUS QUESTIONS DISCUSSED. 



kinVIINB" has never had his science or facts qtic*- 

 1_> tioned before and is not going lo put up with it at 

 iliS time Of life. It Certainly is a "pretty kettle of fish" that 

 alter a long and u-e!ul lite . spent in travel and research, 

 an I ihe study of things /w nuiurm in woods, rivers, seas, 

 mountains and swamps, he cannot tell one specie- of li-ii 

 from another when he has often seen, handled, and eaten of 

 both. Therefore I will reiterate that I he fish known in the 

 northern waters of the Mississippi Valley as I lit- sheep-head, 

 grimier, drum, and buffalo perch, orgriinter perch, roekfi.-h 



Si Georgia (from the so-called stone in its bead), and known 

 to Bah sharps as Hinptewnotw gnmnitou, is not the lisn 

 known in the Southwest everywhere as the gasper-gou. Of 

 this 1 am quite certain, and I have heretofore given inv rea- 

 sons for so thinking; il is, however, a closely allied species 

 of the .same family, and I eannol think I hat a different fla hi- 

 tat ami en vironment s could make so great a difference in 

 the .a me fish. 



Wc nave another case exactly in point- in the fish known 

 everywhere in northern waters as dogfish, bow I'm. mudfish, 

 [ftke lawyer, and known scientifically as Ami; ■< l lo>. Dc Kay. 

 Now this fish Is considered everywhere North as unfit for 



food, vet even so far South as ' Southern Illinois tln.va.e 

 eagerly somdil for and considered a choice table fish. 1 

 think Prof. S. A. f'orlies. of Illinois, when collecting in the 

 waters of Southern ttBnoia, considered, the fish specifically 

 tic -anc- a- that of the Illinois Kivcr. Therein South Illi- 



nois, and everywhere South so far as 1 have observsd, this 

 fish is called "gundle" and "grtndle." 



LaBt fall I dropped a squirrel from a tall cypress on an old 

 Tennessean's back in a cypress swamp, near Little Rock, 



who was fishing for "gund'l, 

 ileal h, and he inc. We had neitl 

 He was fishing in water not over 



trly frightened 1; 



if us Observed the oth. 



toot deep, and had caught 



isked him if he knew what he was 

 t> fit to eat. "Yes, sir. we call 

 a very fine fish, not so good as 

 as good as oat or buffalo^' The 



-:vn. and 1 think 



Jrst seated man I 

 Arkaiisaw sure 

 li, or dogfish, the 

 ould say' that the 



four fine "gundl 

 catching, and if they 

 them gundle. They 



trout i bass), but certainly as good a< cat 

 old gentleman was a new-comer in Ar kail 

 that when my gun cracked be was the Wl 

 ever saw. lie thought he had got im 

 enough. Now. is this Southern inudh'si 

 same as those of the upper waters? I w 

 two fish look exactly alike, as near as one can remember, 

 bill we all know that the up-river dogfish is unlit lo I at, i r. 

 rather uncookable and uneatable. And I would here re- 

 mark lhat I think J)r. E, Sterling, in your issue ol Sept. 21. 

 has got his Ichthyology mixed, for on the Illinois River we 

 found this dogfish the one impossible to cook tender, while 

 the sheepshoad, or grunter, is so soft and tttushv that it 

 needs no cooking to become tender. Is il possible, 'as I Slid 

 before, that different waters, food, etc., can make such a 

 difference in fishes? 1. for one, think not, and am confi- 

 dent that when these fishes are brought together and critic- 

 ally and scientifically examined, they will be found to be 

 specifically distinct Dr. Sterling. I'sec, sticks lo this one 

 name as if there could possibly be but the one species. 



Since writing the above l" have called on that genial 

 sportsman, warrior, lawver. judge, editor and statesman. 

 Col. Boh II. Crockett. When I entered Col. Hob's sanctum 

 I found him with a copy of rfoiSEST and Stkkam in one 

 hand, scratching his head with the olhcr, and muttering to 



himself, "Gasper-gou; what the d 1 is gasper-gou? I 



never saw or beard of such a fish in White River. That 

 Yankee must be off his base. There are no gasper-gous in 

 White—. Gootl morning. Colonel, take a chair; sit down; 

 what fish is this you and Mr. Robertson of Texas call 

 gasper-gouV I never beard anything culled that name ex- 

 cept. I believe, flic black buffalo, and that is the poorest 

 fish in our river, not fit for anyone to eat who cm get any- 

 thing else." 



"Well. Col. Rob. your early education must have been 

 fearfully ncirle. ted to live here on the banks of the White 

 River nearly all your life and not know our Bnesl fish, why 

 you don't know as much as Major J 

 1 do not." said Hob. "The best fist 

 know of I never heard called anvt 

 very fish, "said I. "the drum is the 

 or grunler. or silver buffalo, or c: 

 known everywhere along the Mi— i- 

 of the lower Mississippi — Louisiana 

 sou; and elsewhere, generally in 

 "Wen, I declare, honey. 1 would 

 the drum was the fish meant. Why 

 and richest jish wc have. Ihaveca 

 said Bob. 



All this shows what our common English names amount 

 to; and it also shows what the present, condition of oor 

 classical names amount to. 



int correction of a misprint in 

 ' and Stuk.vm of September 21, 

 me say, "shows in August and 

 d. "From analogy I -hoi, id say 

 l September and October," etc.'. 

 it, for fish caught, here in the past 



.ewis." "Well, I declare 

 in While River that 1 

 dug but drum." "The 

 gaspt r-gou. sheepshead. 

 ayfisl . irout. or perch, 



sippi cast— either bank 



, and Texas, as gasper- 

 thfl North, as drum." 

 never have thought that 

 certainly, it is the best 

 light thousands of them,'' 



Now, 

 my last article. (See 

 page 143.) The type 

 September." Il she 

 that the gasper -gou sj 



hich seems to be 00 



few days seem to be full of ripe eggs. 



llVKNK. 



Bici-lloHx Skull Imbedded in Wood.— In our issue of 

 Nov. 3, 1881, was given an illustration of a head of a moun- 

 tain ram imbedded in the trunk of a pine tree. The follow- 

 ing extract is from a book entitled, "Thel-'ur Hunters or the 

 Far West," written by Alex. Ross, in 1824: "Out of one 

 of the pines I have just mentioned, and about live feel from 

 the ground, is growing up with the tree a rani's head, with 

 the horns still attached to it; and so fixed and imbedded is 

 il in i he free that it. must have grown up with it. Almost 

 the whole of one of the horns, "and more than half of the 

 hi'iid, is buried in the tree; but most of the other horn and 

 part of the head protrudes outal least a foot. We examined 

 both, and found the tree scarcely three feel in diameter. 

 Here we put up at an early hour, "and called the plaeeRam's 

 Horn Fncampment. Our Flathead Indians related to UH a 



turned around upon hi- pursuer, who. taking shelt-r behind 

 the tree, the ram ■ aim- again.-! il with all his force, so ibat 

 he drove bis bead through it; but before' he could got it 

 extracted again the Indian killed him and took oil the body, 

 leaving the head as a momenta of the adventure. All 

 Indians reverence the celebrated tree, which they say, by 

 lie- circumstance related, conferred on them the power of 

 mastering and killing all animals. Hundreds, therefore, in 

 passing ibis way, sacrifice something as a tribute to the 

 run's laad. and one of tin- Irootiois. not to incur the (lis 

 pleasure of the god of hunters, hung a bit of tobacco on 

 the horn to make his hunting propitious." 



A Late Rhood.— Troy. N. Y., Nov. ig— Yesterday 1 



met a man frying to sell a young glial horned owl (flilhn 

 (iri/ini'iiiitf). The owl was as large as the averaev. but. his 

 wing and tail feathers were uoi f,dl.\ grown. When placed 

 on the ground he advanced by long hops, usher his wings 

 lorahf The owner caught him new the city; he could not 

 fly and made no resistance I always supposed the owls 

 were matured bv I hi.- lime. Hasa second brood ever been 

 recorded 'c-Skv'moii; Cinmngiiam. [The grcal honied 

 ou 1 is one of the firsi Birds to hatch in spring, We cantioi 

 account tor the immaturity ot the specimen above referred 

 to], 



Kaulv (nossmi.j.s. — Boston. Nov. I l-A friend, while 

 walking through a, grove near the outskirts of Brooklmo, 



some two Weeks ago (Nov -t). observed a -mall Hock of 

 birds feeding on some, pine cones. To satisfy his curiosity 

 as to what species tliej were, he fired into Iheir mi,l-i three 

 came tumbling lo 1 he ground. Gn-alivto his ,uppi ;-■■. one 

 proved lo be a white-wing and the other two eed. crowbills. 

 Is ii „ot unusual io take these birds in Massachusetts »1 ' ; " 

 early B date?— Ered Lewis. [II. is unusually early, but this 

 year the pine, grosbeak and snow bunting and crossbills have 

 all come very curly, j 



A Kbw Swikt from South America.— In the annals 

 of the X. V. Academy of Sciences. Vol. II. . No. 11. 1SS2. 

 Mr. (bo. N. Lawrence describes a new species of bird of 

 the family Cypaetidm from New Grenada Himiprocne minor 

 differs from all its near allies in its much smaller dimensions, 

 and in the character or I hi' collar which encircles the neck. 

 In tlii--pecie- the plumage above is lustrous black; the 

 upper tail coverts are smoky blackish brown; wings, black. 

 quills, with the exception of the ouier Urree, being nar- 

 rowly margined with grayish white at their ends; the chin 

 and throat arc fuliginous brown; breast, abdomen and 

 under-tail coverts are smoky brownish black; the white 

 collar about the neck is narrow and well defined behind, 

 but in front it is uot so well marked and widens out on the 

 breast, where Ihc feathers have their centers mottled with 

 black. The collar on the hind neck is one-quarter inch in 

 width, on the breast at widest part it. is three-quarters of an 

 inch in width. Bill, black: length, seven inches; wing, 

 seven; fail, two and one-eighth. 



A Rkm wtivAm.h Contest.— Conn.. Wyoming, Oct. 29, 

 1883.— Thursday, the 26th of this month, I saw a strange 

 bftttle between two kid antelopes and an eagle. The ante- 

 lope-, viien flr&l -ecu by myself and Mr. Carlin. were run- 

 ning in our direction, and above them, ahoul one hundred 

 feet, was a large golden eagle, which made a swoop down 

 at the antelopes. When (he b:rd did this one of the kids 

 stopped, turned round and reared on its hind legs and beat 

 the air with its fore feet,, and the bird of prey rose high W 

 air. only to make another dash, with the .same result. This 

 was repeated at least a dozen times, when (he eagle, seem- 

 ing to become fired, flew away and settled himself on a 

 ruck, and the antelopes trotted away to join a lajgc band on 

 a near hill side. I have several times seen an eagle catch a 

 jack rabbit, bul in twelve years on the plains never saw one 

 try an antelope before. — AY". H. Reed. 



Ukamp «$irq tgflichatmQS. 



"That reminds me." 



A HISTORY of the navy during the late war, in giving 

 an account of the operations of the ironclad fleet be- 

 fore Fort Sumter, contains the following paragraph: 

 '•While wailing to renew the attack a fire broke, out ou 

 board the Nanluckci which, however, was extinguished 

 after doing a slight damage." (I quote from memory, not 

 having read the account for a number cf years.) As the 

 writer of this was an eye witness, and as one of your cor- 

 respondents was a prominent actor in the incident above 

 quoted. I hereby give you on accounl as witnessed by my- 



We were lying off Fort Sumter, just inside the bar, 

 halel.es all fastened down and the sea washing clear over 

 the deck fore and aft. only one small hatch open to get up 

 through Mie turret, when late one afternoon I heard the ery 

 of "Fire! the yeoman's room is on fire!" Ten feet from the 

 yeoman's room was the magazine. Under the berth deck 

 were small lockers filled with eleven and fifteen-inch shells, 

 and when I got on my feet l here was a slice! of Same pour- 

 ing out of this store room, and not more than twO feet 

 separating Ihc lire from Ihc shells. The en a w&i n,o-;l. 

 made up of "raw recruits," and every sinner of them saw 

 and knew I he danger at once, and there was a rush for the 

 small bidder leading to the turret. I stalled with the rest, 

 but soon perceived lhat there was no chance for me where 

 seventy or eighty men were struggling to get through a 

 small hole two by four feet. Turning back to the (ire I saw two 

 or three old men-of-war's-men at work rigging the lire hose, 

 and my fright left me at once. Perhaps SB a boy I did noi 

 realize the full extent of the danger. The first thing that 

 drew my attention was a dark form dancing up and down 

 in i he midst of the flame trying to stamp it out and thoughts 

 of a salamander and of the "Hebrew children" flashed 

 through my mind. 



In a few minutes the hose was connected, and a luge 

 stream of water soon extinguished the Ore, when there 

 emerged from the smoke Ihc most forlorn looking Lit litl n- 

 mil it has ever been my lot to behold. A short lime before 

 our ship boasted of the finest pair of mutton chop w liisk, i - 

 in the licet, the pride of our First Lieutenanf. Bul now 

 their glory had departed; the. tire had singed one side com- 

 pletely, while the oilier had been preserved intact, ditto the 

 hair. 



Imagine, if you can, a crew of sailors ten minutes later, 

 drawn up in line, trying to keep sober faces, while listening 

 to a leel ure from this comical looking object, on the folly 

 of panics in general and lire panic in particular. 



Loni; life to "P'seco." and may bis shadow never grow 

 less; notwithstanding that he did drill us at fire quarters 

 rather savagely for the next two or three week.-, some of lis 

 believed it was for our own benefit, and not to revenge the 

 lo-- of those whiskers. For my part, 1 shall never read a 

 letter from your correspondent without recalling to mind 

 the picture herb presented. H. A. S. 



Chexsea, Massachusetts. 



1 send the following reminiscence of one of many jolly Up 

 river hunting Hips, taken in the "fall of the year" by a few 

 choice spirits. 



Scene — on board yacht Lolita, at anchor in a dense fog, 

 near Alvarado marshes, ail hands on short allowance of 

 Eastern Oysters in shell, and BudWeiser beer. On deck we 

 -, e sailing-master Charley K. and high private W. A., bust- 

 f. inspecuttg a lot of nondescript wooden decoys. There 

 is a gleam ol mischiei in tfieeyeol the gaUftbl sailing-mas- 

 ter, as the wonderful birds are overhauled. Below, in the 



cabin, the very lion. Mi. Au-tin 'I'., and Mr. Flij.di F. are 



seen, deep hi the mysteries of Pedro. Ten minutes later, 

 the "Hon." and hie comrade-come on deck to "stretch their 



legs.'' A beautiful specimen of the canvas-back mallard 

 i-- seen, feeding in unconsious security, a few furlongs off; 

 The lb.n. Austin; "By George, 1 see 'a duck!" Elijah dives 

 below. brin»s up his gun and "gives it to him." livand- 

 by. the fog and smoke liftins, the bird is seen, still in un- 

 conscious security, or else he has smell powder before, 

 (horn- of. "(rive it to him again 'Ujab, he didn't hear you." 

 'l.ijab doesn't "give il to him again," out goes below to take 

 iij) the thread of Pedro, where he dropped it. W. A. 



Si3j l''i:.'.!.Ti-c.i. California. 



We were sitting around the camp tire in the wilds ol 

 Arizona. One and anolher had coni rihuleii a song or story 

 save Jerry the guide, who had sal in silence the entire 



