Bkpibmbkr 8, 1881.]' 



FOEEST AND STREAM. 



107 



Space is wanting just now, bnt some du.v it will not he inl- 

 ine! ruclive to give the muss of facts and draw the conclusions 

 as to the evolution of the moral relations of raan toward ihe 

 terpent. Aethur Ek« in Buown. 



Zoological Garden, Philadelphia, 8,pt. 2, 1881. 



LAND AND HERMIT CRABS. 



YOUR editorial note appended to a correspondent's re- 

 marks on the "Habits of the Hermit Crab," and the 

 allusion made in it to the land crab of Bermuda, makes me 

 venture to offer a few remarks upon the subject. You say 

 that a land species of hermit crab exists in Bermuda. May 

 not some of your readers infer from this that there is a her- 

 mit crab there which is also a true land crab 1 The large 

 hermit crab i f that island, which does certainly go as far as 

 twenty or thirty feet from the water to hide itself in the 

 littlo rock caverns, which occur si commonly on the southern 

 shore does not belong to the Uecarcinidw, but is a true Pa~ 

 r/urun, generally inhabiting the shells of Tubo pica. 



Of land crabs proper ihere are two species, a d great is the 

 difficulty of procuring either of them, for, being nocturnal m 

 habit and wonderfully quick in their moveinems. I have 

 spent many hours at night, lantern in hand, roaming through 

 the cedar .-crub in sea ch of them without avail. The best 

 instrument to capture them with is an oleander stick with 

 three branches at top cut off, leaving about four inches, of 

 branch; with this you can pin them to theg'ound until your 

 companion ties up the nippers with a string, for woe betide 

 the greenhorn who, on hs first essty to capture them, lakes 

 hold with his hand, lor the largest sized specimens are fully 

 capable of iuflictiug a serious wound. .1. Matthew Joxes. 



Fern Lodge, WaUrville, Kings Co., AT. 8. 



THE BEAVER. 



A CONTRIBUTOR to a recent number of Forest akd 

 Sthkam gives the beaver credit for a trifle more intel- 

 hgiDC-3 than I have observed it to possess, although it is a 

 veiy knowing and ingenious animal. He said, in substance, 

 that it understands the direction a tree will naturally full, 

 aDd cuts down only those which will strve its purpose by 

 falling where wanted for the construe ion of a dam or house. 

 This is a mistake. A family of beavers will attack a grove 

 of cotlonwood trees on the bank of a stream, and if not in- 

 terrupted, or otherwise oiverted from their purpose, will cut 

 them all down, regardless of the direction in which they may 

 fall. But a lew days ago, while fishing in Williams Hiver, 

 Middle Park, I was attracted by " beaver work" in a clump 

 of col ton woods too far from the stream lor any of them to 

 reach it in falling. Tuere were ten or fifteen trees altogether, 

 ranging from one foot to two feet iu diameter. All were 

 girdled; some were cut half through, but yet. standing, 

 while several had fallen. One of the largest in the group 

 had fallen directly away from the stream, its top breaking 

 to pieces agaiust the foot of the mountain. Another of the 

 large ones, after falling a few feet, had lodged against another 

 tree — an inevitable result to man's intelligence. Further- 

 more, most of the branches of this tree were either dead or 

 bad been carried away by the wiod, so there was very little 

 object to cut it down for. At another Iree, standing within 

 six feet of the above, the curious miscalculation bad been 

 made of cutting one side about two feel higher than the other, 

 occasioned by the fact that a log lay agaiust it on the up-hill 

 side, from which they worked, while on the other side the 

 work was from the ground. In this instance, a dry, seasoned 

 branch, several inches in diameter, had been cut away in 

 order to make room to work. The topB and branches of all 

 the fallen trees had been cut off and taken away, but there 

 was no dam near, the stream being too large and rapid for 

 them to manage in that way , 



Going from the cottonwoods toward Ihe river, across the 

 low bottom dotted with clumps of tall willows and black al- 

 ders, the open spaces thickly covered with rank grasp, 1 soon 

 came to a beaver canal leading across the bend of the streim 

 flora one point to the other. It was open for quite a distance 

 when I fliBt s'ruek it, and straight as though laid by a liue, 

 about two feet deep, and containing four or five inches of 

 water that constantly showed the pulsations of the river cur- 

 rent. There had been recent work upon the canal in the 

 way of deepening the channel and smoothing the banks, 

 probably suggested by the tailing waler in the river. Here 

 and there were " slides" where the animals entered and left 

 the canal aud carried in their stores of wood. Elsewhere 

 the bankB were overhung by the grass. Exploring further I 

 found a large portion of this passage-way to be tunnels; that 

 as such it passed under bunches of willows and clumps of 

 alder trees.; that it had many branches turning off right and 

 left, and I tinally dropped into an " air shaiV of one of them 

 that was hidden by the rank grass. It became readily appar- 

 ent that this underground town, with its liquid streets, was 

 the home of the beaver colony, and that they were laying in 

 their winter store of " cord-wood" for food. 



While the beaver may not judge corn cily the direction a 

 tree will naturally fall, or estimate the amount of provender 

 it" top contains, he readily adapts himself to circunistauees 

 that best govern his new home. If he caunot dam anil con 

 trol the stream he seeks for a small tributary, or a spring 

 that he can command, aud thereby secure a site for his house 

 that suits biin. Failing that, he burrows in the alluvial 

 banks, nicely adjusting his rooms and his walks to the watt r 

 level, and extending Ill's underground works for huudreds of 

 feet. 



Not far from the above mentioned place f found, a few 

 years ago, a cotton wood tree three and a half feet in diameter 

 that had been cut down by beavers. Alttough 1 cannot pre- 

 sent a photograph of the patriarch who bossed the business, f 

 can exhibit tiie stump and the log to any " doubling Thomas" 

 who questions the story. 



Iv ieky mountain streams are nearly all occupied by beavers. 

 In many small creeks their dams are- So frequent as to create 

 continuous "slack" or dead water for miles. As the higher 

 altitudes are reached the timber growth becomes more and 

 more limited and dwarfed. The cotlonwood disappears 

 at about eight thousand feet. For the next two thousand feet 

 the quaking aspen becomes his favorite food, but in this 

 range there are matjy streams that have no aspens near them 

 — that are fringed only by low willows or flow throiinh 

 meadows without any shrubs at all. So long as the beaver 

 can find willows as thick as the finger and twenty inches 

 long he can build an effective dam. When these fail he must 

 resort to burrows in the banks. Thus there are two emer- 

 gencies that make him a burrower for the time being: first, 

 a stream too large and impetuous for him to dam, and second, 

 lack of material for a dam. I have seen in sluggish, meadow 

 bordered streams, at high altitudes, obstructions placed by 



beavers that appeared to be composed entirely of grass, grass 

 roots, and bits of soil, but they could not be called dams. 

 The animals lived in the banks, and there was no very ap- 

 parent use for the mock dams. Perhaps tin ir constru turn 

 was from instinct, or mere force of habit. To illustrate this 

 trait I will relate an instance. A friend who followed trap- 

 ping some years ago canubt a young bt-aver very soon alter its 

 birth, carried jt to bis cabin, and it soon became a great pet. 

 As it approached maturity it. got. to building dams, and each 

 morning he found his cibin floor divided by a durujihat reached 

 from wall lo wall, and was composed of firewood, boots, 

 articles of clothing, and all other movable articles in the 

 house that it could reach and transport. It could not have 

 known from observation what a stream of water was like or 

 what, a dam was for. 



'i he beaver will go several hundred fe-t from a stream to 

 cut down small aspen trees; will ihen divide them into con- 

 venient lengths, and tran-port every portion lo the water. He 

 will climb up a steep mountain side for such purpose. I 

 ouce noticed a pitch pine, fiteen inches through, that they 

 had cut down. It was on a mountain slope, some distance 

 from the stream, but they had not removed the branches, and 

 I supposed it was cut as an experiment to see what kind of 

 "fruit" it bore. W. N. B. 



Detmr, Col. 



SNAKES AND SQUIRRELS. 



Yiok.sbfp.o, Miss., Aug. 29. 



THERE is a good deal iu some of your late issues about 

 suakes and squirrels. I once saw a grayish-colored bird 

 snake climb straight up the trunk of a perpendicular oak 

 tree, which had not a branch for forty feet above the ground. 

 He went with as much facility, apparently, as if crawling on 

 the ground, only deviating from a straight, line a little to 

 avail himself of the sutures iu the bark of the tree. 



In the fall of 1878, being driven to the woods by the yel- 

 low fever epidemic, I spent much time in shooting squirrels 

 for convalescent patients, killing sometimes as many as s ; x 

 teen in a day, as well as numerous partridges (quail ?). On 

 one occasion, whi'e pursuing a squ riel which was barking 

 ou a bush a short distance ahead, I was creeping along a hog 

 path, when 1 came upon a chicken snake, about five feet long, 

 lying in the patb. Not wishing to walk around him in the 

 leaves, I endeavored to make him move on by kicking small 

 sticks on to him, but he di clined to move, so I stepped 

 around him. After killing the squirrel I returned in a min- 

 ute or two and found his snake-hip in the same p ace. Upon 

 being teased a while he crawled up a small sapling, not larger 

 than his own body, and when lie hid got' en as high as it 

 would sustain his' weight— about eight f. et high, lie reached 

 up to the extent of about half his length in order to get hold 

 of a buck i wig which hung over him. Failine lo get hold of 

 the y elding twig, bis head swayed downward to the hori- 

 zontal, when he would retract it and try again. Alter sev- 

 eral unsucsessful efforts he gave it up and turned up n me 

 with such a fierce attitude that 1 thought he intended to 

 spring upon me, so, not wishing to kill him,_I left him in 

 possession. 



The swamp country above here, in the Yazoo, Sunflower 

 and Steeles bayou bottom?, abounds in game for winter shoot- 

 ing, such as deer, bears, turkeys, ducks and squirrels innu- 

 merable. 'I he latter are of Ihe black variety exclusively, 

 while the l'ttle grays inhabit the contiguous hill country. 



My friend W. L. P. killed twenty-two black squirrels one 

 day last winter on Steel's bayou, though not on a squirrel 

 hunt, that day. He was hunting turtteys, but, having des- 

 paired of killing one, he turned to the squirrels, bagging 

 twenty-two. 



When camped witb the " Marooner Club" several years 

 ago, on the Sutrtt >wtr, we estimated our supply of squirrels 

 by the yard, having them strung on grape vines slietched 

 from one tree to another. We sometimes had half a dozen 

 yards of squirrels in our larder at a time, besides ducks and 

 fish in abundance. 



These squirrels were feeding on liackberries, and a notable 

 feature- w as their remarkable fatness. Some of them, upon 

 being opened, would contain perhaps a teaeupful of yellow 

 fat. When broiing them on the c-mip fire, in a patent grid- 

 iron, butter was entirely superfluous. 



I think if some of our Northern brothers of the rod and 

 gun would make an occasional trip down into these regions 

 in the winter they would find themselves amply repaid. 



Makoonek. 



Do CniFMtrSKS Swim ?— Two years ago, while enjoying a 

 delightful "float"' in company with two frier ds down the 

 beau'iful Kalamazoo, from ihe Citv of Battle Creek to the 

 villlage of Augusta, I was surprised to see in the water in 

 front of our boat a chipmunk making his way across the 

 sir. am from bank to bank as easilv, apparently, as a musk- 

 rat would make a simi'ar trip. Although quite familiar with 

 the ways of th's cunning little squitrel, 1 have never seen 

 anything of the kind before, and I was struck with the. 

 novelty of the situation. D. B. 



{New York, Aug. 29,) 



Killing tite ISkekding Quail— Springfield, Mass., Aug. 

 20.— There is not much going on hereabouts in the way of 

 sport, as birds are reported scarce. I am afraid t hat the 

 woodcock hunters are killing the young grouse, which, of 

 course, we must expect so long as summer shooting is al- 

 lowed. Our sister State of Connecticut does not allow any 

 shotting until Oct. 1, which is the prop r time ; hut here 

 sportsmen have already slaughtered many woodcock and 

 grouse, and in one instance, at least, there is strong presump- 

 tive evidence that a pair of quail were sho', the female on 

 or near her nest, and her mate, while h>s little throat was 

 pouring forth the sweet love notes and his heart was proudly 

 swelling with fond hopes of hippiness in anticipation of the 

 blessed joys in store for him when the wee bbs of downy 

 beauties should gather around him and with winsome ways 

 and low, sweet prattle sanctify the golden hours. 



I have no words to voice my indignation at the vandalism. 

 I am in despair of the future to know thai such things can 

 be, and can only prav for the hastening of the good time 

 coming when the teachings aud precepts of the Fohest and 

 Stke.ym -ball have formed a public opinion that will see to it 

 that our la-vs are obeyed and the dastardly "mtrderers of the 

 innocents" ferreted out and brought to condign punishment. 

 —Shadow 



The solid south, to a woman, are for Hop Bitters, using them i 

 their only family medicine. 



{$3ii(c j§<*$ and §>ttn. 



FOREST AND STREAM GAME TABLE, 



OPE\ SEASONS. 



The seasons, In wtiich It Is lawful to shoot game in trie several 



States and Territories, open as designated in the following table: 



L'fil . 



OCt. 20.. 



July i... 

 sept, l . . 



Conn . . 



Dakota | 



Del,*. .!.- 



D. C.«. .Aug. IS.. 

 Ga* .. Oil). 1... 

 Idaho", j Aug. 1.. 



Ill ISept. 1 .. 



Ind.. ..lout. t... 

 Iowa... Sept. 1.. 



Kan... 



Ky" ....'sept, l.. 

 La..... Aug. 1... 

 Me.6..,|Oct l... 

 Mass. .iNov.l .. 

 Mich. *■. Oct. 1... 

 Minn ..Nov. 1 .. 

 Miss. .. run. l... 

 Mo. d.. seat l.. 

 ;Oct. l 



Neb . . 

 Nev..* 



N. He. 





sept. i.. 

 in. d.J.A 1SS4 



n. Mex. sept i.. 



N. Y. ij. 'Aug. 1.. 

 N. C. * . Aug. 15. 



O I Oct 15.. 



Or July-1.. 



Pa Oct. 1... 



R.I.... 



S. C....iAug. 1.. 



Teim.* sept l.. 

 Texas A Aug. l . . 

 Utah... Amr. l . 



vr. sept. ].. 



va.*.... Sept l.. 

 Wash*.. Aug. 1.. 

 W. Va.. July is.. 

 Wis. ...'Sept. 15. 

 'Ausr. 15. 



July 10. 

 Aiig.'iY; 

 s-p'ti! 



Aug. 1 . 

 Aug. 1 . 



July 4.. 

 julyi'.'. 



Sent.*:.' 



oct'i." 



Aug'.T 

 July 4 ".'. 



July 4 ' 



sept. J. 

 S P>- is 

 sept. 15. 



Sept. is 



OCt I... 

 Oct. 1... 

 Aug. 15.. 

 Nov. 1 . . 

 AUg. 1... 



Sep', is. 

 Sept. I.". 

 !'i-.j,,ea 

 oet. l... 



AUg. 15.. 



Nov. 1... 

 Nov. l... 

 Oct. 1 .. 

 Sept. 1 . . 



Ct 1... 



ct. ir,. . 



Sept 1.. Sept i. 



CH !■- 

 en). 



Oct. 1.. 



Aug'.'it. 



sept'.'i 



A*iig'."l. 

 Aug. I 



Sept. l . Proh'ed 



wept. IJ 



net 1.. Oct. i„ 



. Sept i 



BAtlff. 15 Sept 1 

 . Sept. 1. NOV. 1. 

 ft Aug. 15 Oct. J... 



sept, 1 Sept I 



. Sept. 1- 



.Sept! 



July to 



Sept, 1 . 



Sov. 1 

 Sept. 1 . 

 Nov. I., 

 let t.. 

 Nov. l. 

 Aug. i . 



Oct. 15. 

 " . 1., 



Srpl. 1ft 

 sept. 1ft 

 Sept. 1 . 

 1S83.... 



Nov"i; 



Sept.... 

 OCt 15. 

 A-Hg. 1. 



;ov. i ., 



ept. 1 . . 



sept l.. 

 Oct. I... 

 Sept, 1 . 

 .ruie- ift, 

 Oct I.., 

 , ,ii 



S. pt„ 15, 

 Sept, 15, 

 Sept. 1 . , 

 Srpl. 15, 

 sept i.. 

 Aug. 1... 

 Aug. 1... 



Sept. 1 

 /ill?. 15.. 



Sept. 1. 



Vug''ir, 

 Aug IS 



Oct is' 



Sept. i 



Nov! '{ '. 

 July l . 

 Oct. l . . 



Oct. 1 . . 



Sepr. 1ft 



Oct. 1.. 



Aug. 1 

 Sept. 1 

 Aug. 15 



S- pt. ' 

 Aug. 1 



Sept. : 

 sept. : 



Sept. i 



Sep!. - 

 Sept.. 1 



_ ntelo-pe.— Col., Sept. 1 ; Idaho, Aug. 1 ; Neb., Oct. 1 ; Nev., Aug. 1 ; 

 N. Mex , Sept. i ; Hem, Aug. I ; Wye., Aug. 15. 



Bvfalo.— Colo., Sept. 1 ; Neb , net. 1 : K. Mex., Sept 1. 



Cariboo— Me., Oct. 1 : N. tl., sept. 1 e. 



Dones.— Ala., Aug. 1 ; Cat, July ! ; (la., Oct. 1 ; Kan., Aug, 1; Miss., 

 Sept. 18 : MO., Aug. 1 ; N C, Oct. 1 ; S. ( .. Oct. lit 



Elk.— Colo . Sept i; Plth'i, Aug 1; Minn., Nov. 1 ; Neb., Oct I ; 

 ffev., Aug. l; N. Mex., Sept.l; Or.Julyl; Utah, Aug. 1; Wyo., 

 Aug. 15. 



M',.osf.—\lf.. Oct. i ; N. II., Sept 1 e; Ore., July 1. 



If ,v,i mi jfc ..—COL, *ept 1 ; Neb , Oct.. 1 ; Nev., Aug. t ; N. Mex., 

 Sept. 1 ; Utali, Aug. 1 ; Wyo., Aug. 13. 



Plover.— D. C, Sept. 1 ; Me., Aug. 1 ; Mo., Aug. 1 ; Nev., Sept! ; N. 

 H.. Aug. 1 : Pa., July is ; K. I., Aug. l. 



Mail.— Del.. Sept. 5 ; N. .1., Sept. ; Pa., Sept. 1. 



Fi.velnVs' -Be!.', Sept. 5: Li. C. Sept. 1 ; N. ■)., Aug. 25; Pa., Sept 1. 



Snipe.— Dakota, Aug. 15 ; D. C, Sept 1 ; Nev., Sept. 1 ; N. C, Oct, lft. 



* In these States there are special county laws, a The dser law ap- 

 b Wtlrttowl not protected on me coast, 

 c In Upper geniosuts deer season miens Aug. 15. tl Calhornla quail 

 leatao'ted to IsSL f In Cues eoillti,y iKer seison opens Aug. 1; moose. 

 i. n 1 Cariboo, Sept 1. / First open a-oolrook season began July 1; 

 iv a 1 close Aug. l'. <i Quail shooting prohibited in Nov. 1, ISo2, incoilu 

 -acsut viaaugtruierv, sclieueetLidy. s.;ralt'-a aud Albany. Wlldibwt 

 ,-;e-ai: In Long Island v.-aters opens Oct. 1. Woodcock shooting la 

 „-: County prohibited during August h D,.er law relates to 

 female deer only. 



TRAJECTORY. 



POINT-BLANK. — AMERICAN, FKBNOII AND ENGLISH AUTHORITIES 

 AOKKE.— STI1AIGUT SlIOOTINO AnsttUD.— LAW OK FALLING 

 BODIES. — MIMIMIIM EKKOliS OF IIIFLK. — THE TSN-TAHO 

 TKA.TEOTOUT 1'llOVEN TO BE A O0UVK. 



BY MAJ. H. W. MlfKKlXL. 



I NOTICE in the English sporting journal, Land, and 

 Water, of April 2:3, 1881, a reprint of my artacle, "The 

 Plight of a Rifle Bab," which first appeared in Forest and 

 Stiusam, Feb. 3, 1881. 



My main object ill writing this article was to illustrate and 

 clearly define the true meaning of the terms point-blank and 

 point-blank range, as now recognized in the United Stales 

 and France. By way of illustration it embraced some prac- 

 tical resul'sof rifle shooting. To the soundness of this article 

 I have seen no valid objection raied anywhere, though it 

 has now passed under the scrutinizing ordeal of two conti- 

 nents, and, 1 believe, done much good for the cause of rifle 

 shooting. Th s belief is more than a reward for the contri- 

 bution, and I here desire to thank the several editors for 

 their favorable mention of it. 



But the end is not ye 1 , nor is this very important subject 

 exhausted. On the contrary 1 feel called upon to reply to 

 some introductory remarks made by the editor of Land and 

 Water. I am ph ased that he made them, for I hope to add 

 something which may prove of interest to the general reader. 



He says, " Authorities differ on the epiestion as to what 

 actually'constitufes 'point-blink' as applied to rifles, that 

 is, the "exact distance from the muzzle of the piece at which 

 the bullet ceases to travel in a straight line." 



Now, persons who are it >t familiar with this subject differ 

 as to what constitutes point-blank. I here refer to the 

 American and French poin's-blank, for both are identical. 

 Therefore it was that I explained this subject and gave my 

 definitions in accordance with the recognized authorities. No 

 one has controverted my premises (3) or denied the truth of 

 my definition. It cannot be, done. But I do not find that, 

 standard " authorities " ever d.ffer on this point, nor do any, 

 worthy of the name, pretend to assert that the path of the 

 millet "is not a curved line from the muzzle of the gun to the 

 end of the range. I here quote from Captain Hans Busk's 

 book, entitled 'The Rifle and How to Use It." He correct- 

 ly says, " The force of gravity commences to act up ui the 

 bullet as soon as it quits the muzzle, drawing it toward ihe 

 ■/round with greater velocity the 1 ruger it is exposed to Us 

 influence. These two distinct motions, the one increasing 

 as the other diminishes, cause the bullet to move in a curved 

 line, called the trajectory." Thus writes this intelligent 

 English oflicer, and so all authors write who understand this 

 subject. None of them (that I have ever seen) place point- 

 blank on the line of Are. If any do so they place it improp- 

 erly. Any definition which places point-blank along the 

 line of fire conflicts with the law of gravity. The fact that 

 the bullet travels in a curve throughout its course created ft 



