Ootobhb 27, [1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



247 



and thirty six thousand pigeons in one flock. As every 

 pigeon daily o nsurnes fully half a pint of food, the quantity 

 necessiry for supplying this vast multituie must be eight 

 millions seven hundred and twelve bushe Is per day. * * * * 

 Person unacquainted with these birds might naturally 

 conclude that such dreadful havock would soon put an end 

 to the species. But I have satisfied myself, by long observa- 

 tion, that nothing but the gradual diminution of our forests 

 can accomplish their decrease, aa they not unfrequently 

 quadruple their numbers yearly, and always at least double it. 



FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 



A SUBSCRIBER writes us from Belle V' rnon, Pa., ask- 

 ing ( 1) what is Ihe fastest recorded flight of a pigeon ? 

 (2) What; is the fastest flight of any bird— a i.uck especially ? 

 (8) How far in front of a pigeon, 21 \ arils rise, bird flying 

 across, would it be necessary to hold to drop the bird ? 



The rates of flight of the different species of wild birds 

 have not, so far as we know, been measured, and it is diffi- 

 cult for us to see how this could be done. Various estimates 

 have been made by different authors, but it must be remem- 

 bered that these are merely estimates, and not measurements 

 of speed. Speaking of the passenger pigeon ( BctepisUt mi- 

 grntoria), Aunubon s ays : "Their great power of flight, en 

 ables them to survey and pass over an astonishing extent of 

 country in a very short time. This is proved by facts wel 

 known in America. Thus, pigeons have been killed in the 

 neighborhood of New York with their crops full of rice 

 which they must have collected in the fields of Georgia and 

 Carolina, these districts being the nearest in which ihey 

 could possibly have procured a supply of that kind of food. 

 As their power of digestion is so great that they will decom- 

 pose food entirely in twelve hour^, they must in this case 

 have traveled between three and four hundred miles in six 

 hours, which shows their speed to be, at an averaae, about 

 one mile in a minute. A velocity such as this would enable 

 one of these birds, were it so inclined, to visit the European 

 continent in less than three days." 



Writing of the common wild swan (Cygnus americanus) 

 he says: "When traveling to a distance they proceed at a 

 great height, with a steady and well sustained flight, though 

 by no means so rapid as that of the trumpeter swan, this dif- 

 ference probably arising from the greater weight and alar 

 extent of the JaUer." A lit'le farther on he quotes Dr. Sharp 

 less, of Philadelphia, as saying of Ihe same species : "The 

 swan, when migra-ing. with a moderate wind in his favor, 

 and mounted h'gh in the air, certainly travels at the rate of 

 one hundred miles or more an hour. I have often timed the 

 flight of the goose, and found one mile a minute a common 

 rapidity, and when the two birds, in a change of feeding 

 ground, have been flying near each other, which I have often 

 seen, the swan invariably passed with nearly double the ve- 

 loci'y." 



Of the black duck he says that he believes that it flies at a 

 rate of seventy miles an hour, and of the golden eye {Olan- 

 gxda ixlanrtica) that he believes it " can easily traverse the 

 space of ninety miles in an hour." Many additional citations 

 might be made, but they would scarcely serve to determine 

 the question. 



To the last question of our correspondent we can onlv re- 

 ply in general terms. The varying circumstances of flight 

 and weather demand that a man in such cases roust use hif 

 judgment according to the conditions under which each bird 

 flies. One, two, or even three feet will sometimes not be too 

 much to allow while in other cases the bird can be killed by 

 holding at its head. We cannot do better than refer ourcor- 

 respondent to Prof. A. Mayer's exhansive discussion of this 

 subject, in an article printed in Forest and Stream, Vi 1. 

 15, p. 247, Oct. 28, 1880. 



The flight of one of our domestic birds has probably 

 been more accurately timed than that of any wild species, 

 since the records of the distances covered by homing or 

 carrier pigeons are usually kept with care. Recently twenty- 

 one pigeons were loosed by the Brooklyn Club, in Crtsson, 

 Pa , at, 9:58 a. m., and of these the first to return, owned by 

 J. Laubenberger, of South Brooklyn, reached its home at 5:29 

 p. m. The distance is 241 5-16 miles and the average speed 

 of the bird waB, therefore, at the rate of 941 yards per 

 minute, or a mile in a little less than two minutes. Another 

 bird owned by Mr. C. Pasfield reached Williani«burgh, a 

 distance of 243 miles at 5:40 o'clock, having traveled about 

 ten yards per minute slower than the first. Of course in 

 these rates while they give the average speed for this long 

 distance, no allowance is made for stoppages and they are 

 thus only general and not at all a measure of the time occu : 

 pied in traversing a single mile. 



During a race Irom Cresson, which was flown last June, 

 the best time was 330 minutes for 243 mile?, or at the aver- 

 age rate of 1,296 jards per minute. 



COPPERHEADS IN NEW ENGLAND; 



Looust Grove, N. Y. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



In a note under a letter with the above caption, by "New 

 England Boy," in Forest and Struam for October 13, 1881, 

 (pp. 208) you aek for "further information and details" con- 

 cerning the occurrence of the copperhead snake ( Ancistrodon 

 eontortrix) in New England. I supposed that it was gener- 

 ally known that this species is as common as the rattlesnake 

 in certain mountainous parts of New England, notably about 

 Mount Tom in Massachusetts. I have myself killed both 

 species on this trap ridge. Mr. Street, who keeps the house 

 on Mount Monadnuck, has for many years exhibited both 

 species alive in glass-cove red cages. He captures them when 

 they first come out in spring, at a place called, "Snake's 

 Den," on the south side of Mount Tom. During the spring 

 of 1874, I accompanied Mr. Street on his annual expedition 

 after these pets. On the 27th of May he caught nine snakes, 

 of which number five were copperheads and four rattlesnakes). 

 On the following day we caught but a single copperhead at 

 the same place, "Snake's Den." They are taken while 

 coiled upon, or among the loose rocks, basking in the sun, 

 with a pair of long-handled wooden tongs. — C. Hart Mer- 

 riam, M. D. 



Bridgeport, Conn., Oct. 17. 

 Editor Forest mid Stream : 



I write in confirmation of the communication of "New 

 England Boy" in issue of Oct. 13 in regard to " chunkheads" 

 (copperhead snake). I have often seen and killed, or brought 

 them home alive with ihe aid of a crotched stick and a piece 

 of Btring, in the locality he mentioned. My bojhood was 

 passed at the foot of West Reck, and while berrying or hunt- 

 ing we always kept a sharp lookout for " chunkheada." It 



was not very uncommon then — t.wen'y-flve years ago — for 

 some one to be bitten by them. I have kn >wn two persons 

 who were so unlucky, both boys with whom I was acquainted. 

 Whenever that happened, one of the Sperrys, of Spcrry 

 Farms, was sent for. He had a recipe, said to have been ob- 

 tained from the Indians, which was a sure cure, provided 

 the patient was not unable to swallow. I never knew of any 

 one dying from a bite. The- recipe was in my possession for 

 some time, and I can probably obtain it for you if you waut 

 it. It was also used for cattle and horses, but I think not 

 with equal success, for I have known of their dying from 

 bites. 1 think the species is being fast exterminated^ as of 

 late years I have heatd nothing of them.— New England 

 Bov No. 2. 



Northampton, Mass., Oct. 14. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



We not infrequently find copperheads on the western side 

 of Ml. Tom, near a marshy piece of ground. In the fall one 

 is almost sure to find them uneler the cornstalks. On the 

 top of the range is a basin which is usually full of water, and 

 they are reported to be fonnel there. I have looked for them 

 carefully, but never have succeeded in finding them. Can 

 Bend you a nice specimen if you would desire.— G. W. Crit- 

 tenden. 



[We should be very glad to receive a specimen.] 



New York, Oct. 13. 



Editor Forest and Stream ; 



The chunkhead (Ancistrodon contortrix) is not at all un- 

 common in many parts of Conne cticut and I believe that I 

 hive collected specimens of th>8 species in Rhode Liand. I 

 haven't my notes at hand for reference.— M. 



REPORT OF THE SOCIETE D'ACCLIMATATION. 



WE have received, through the courtesy of M. Raveret 

 Wattel, Secretary of the S ciety, this interesting 

 publication, from which we make the extrsc s aiven below : 



"The observations made by M. Le Paute, on the young 

 California salmon, placed, for the sake e>f experiment, in the 

 lakes of tbe forest of Viueennes, have demonstrated lo you 

 all the hardiness of this species and its wonderful powers of 

 supporting high temperatures. A salmon which can live 

 without injury in water at a temperature of 25 de.r es 

 (O), and which, besides, develops with great rapidity, is 

 certainly a species very desirable for us to »cqure. 



" On the Other hand, certain facts have been brought be- 

 fore you which prove that this species can live and reproduce 

 i's kind in fresh water without ever visiting ihe sea, ai d this 

 fact indicates that its successful acclima'ation would be 

 easy. 



" The very general depopulation of our water courses im 

 poses upon us the necessity of lab iring for their replenish- 

 ment with fish by employing, so far as is in our power 

 species of rapid growth. This consideration gives an espe- 

 cial importance ro the acclimatation here of the American 

 trout, (Salmo foniiliaUs), which developed much more rapidly 

 than our indigenous trout. However, we may consider this 

 species as already acquired by us, since Baron Habn, in his 

 fiishcultural establishment at Courances, has been able to 

 accomplish its reproduction. 



"The necessity of replenishing our covers, a need which 

 is becoming more and more pressing, obliged us, a few years 

 since, to consider the introduction of species of foreign 

 same better able to protect themselves than those which we 

 now possess and which are manilestly disappearing. Among 

 the partridges, the perching species have attracted particular 

 attention. Besides the fact tha' these species ar less likely 

 to be taken in the traps and snares which p achers make u<e 

 of, their habits entirely forbid their nesting in a cleared 

 country. These species need woods, thickets or hedgerows. 

 Therefore, with them we need no longer fear the lamentable 

 wholesale destruction of eggs which so often take place in 

 the case of the French partridge at the time ol the mowing 

 of the artificial meadows. It ia the duty of our society to 

 try, one after another, Ihe different foreign species until it 

 shall have supplied to our country a partridge which shall be 

 sufficiently able to resist the above-mentioned causes of dis- 

 miction. The Chinese Ouakiki partridge (Bambwicola 

 llioracka) seems completely to fill this want. 



The Ndttalt. Bulletin —The first article in the October 

 number of the Bulletin, from the pen of Mr. H. W. Hen- 

 sbaw, treats of Some of the Causes Affecting the Decrease 

 of Birds, a subject in which all sportsmen and lovers of 

 nature take a deep interest. ABide from the depredations of 

 those animals, which may be termed the natural enemies of 

 birds, Mr. Hensbaw regards meteorological disturbances as 

 the most destructive forces to which our migratory species 

 are exposed. He does not think it probable that disease, as 

 compared with other causes, plays any very considerable 

 part in the destruction of birds, although, as he says, the evi- 

 dence on this pointisalmost wholly negative, little ornothing 

 being known about the diseases of this class in the feral state. 

 Attention is drawn to the destruction of birds by telegraph 

 wires. 



Dr. Shufeldt, U. S. A., contributes to the present number 

 an interesting osteological paper Of the Oasicle of the Anti- 

 bracbium as found in some of the North American Hawks, 

 and Dr. J. C. Merrill some Oologieal Notes from Montana! 



Mr. Robert Ridg way's paper, On a Tropical American 

 Hawk to be added to the North American Fauna, will recall 

 to our reader^ his first announcement of the capture of Biitt-o 

 brackyuT us— then provisionally called B. fuligit asm— in the 

 columns of Fohbbt ajs'd Stream in April of the present year. 

 The question of the relationship of the two forms (brachyumx 

 and fuliginoeus) does not appear yet to be quite satisfactorily 

 settled. 



In a paper on rodicepx oeeidentnlis and P. CiarkH, by Mr. 

 Henshaw, we are furnished with a comparison of the two 

 forms aud a discussion of their relationship. Mr. Brewster's 

 studies of two species of Melminlhipiuiga, t< cently described 

 have brought out the extrenn ly interesting fact 'hat they are 

 hybrids, and open a wide field forconjeciure and speculation. 

 H. " leucobronchialu," Mr. Brewster concludes, is probably 

 the result of the union of the male of H. pinu* with the fe- 

 male of H. tfirysopUra and II. " laurenr^i," of the male ehry- 

 sopUra with the female pinus. Moreover, certain specimens 

 w mid seem to indicate that the hybrids interbreed with either 

 pinus or chrysoplera. 



The concluding paper in this number is an important one 

 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. It is a Preliminary List of Birds 

 ascertained to occur in the Adirondack Region, Northeastern 

 New York, and mentions 177 species. 



Recent Literature contains reviews of several old and new 

 works, and General ISotes are full and interesting. 



The Smithsonian Casts.— The International Fishery Ex- 

 hibbion at Berlin last year demonstrated the fact that in the 

 line of casts of large objecs, Mr. Palmer, Modeler of the 

 National Museum, had no superior. He is now engaged at 

 Proviucetown, Mass., in taking the largest one yet. It is 

 that of a yearling whale, about thirty feet long. It will be 

 made: of papier mache, which combines !ightno«s with 

 toughness, and supersedes plaster for large objects. The cast 

 is of only half of the whale. The other side is to remain 

 open to show the skeleton, which will be in-erted. 



Ykli.ow Legs in South America— New York, Oct. 16. 

 —Editor Eatest ami Stream: In Mr. Roosevelt's first paper, 

 speaking of " bay snipe," he says they winter " ' way down 

 South,' nobody knows exactly where or how far." 1 can en- 

 lighten him. A few years ago I spent part of the winter on 

 the southern coast of the Carribean Sea — at Santa 

 Marta and Sie>nega — and there I found our yellow- 

 leggeil friends in the greatest abundance. The country 

 between the mountains and the sea is flat, with many 

 shallow ponds, and these ponds are fairly alive with 

 wad" rs of all kinds. They seem very tame there as they are 

 not molest' d. On one. occasion I was tempted— at Sienega — 

 to shoot into a lot that were wading, about thirty yards off, 

 and my negro >oy went and gathered eighteen yellow-legs. 

 They were next to the largest variety antl in splendid condi- 

 tion, but it resulted, as I feared, in u-eless slaughter, for they 

 refused to nooie them for me. The pigeon tribe, from the 

 small- st dove (smaller than a robin) to a bird larger than our 

 domestic pigeon, are so numerous that I could have killed 

 hundreds in a day ; but I f und it was useless to shoot, them, 

 as ihe natives '.re utterly stupid, and will eat nothing in the 

 way of meat bu' b- ef and fish.— II. 



[In view of Mr. Hapgood's recent article on this subject, 

 the exact dale at which our correspondent e>bserved tnese 

 birds would be ofimerest] 



Blob Rail— North Wood-. Oct. 8.— I read in on* of the 

 la'e numbers of 'our paper" an article on 'he rail, and failed 

 to find a description of a bi'd that I killed last year on the 

 St. Lawrence River, called thee the " blue rail." Sod bird 

 was as large as a c'apper-rad or salt water marsh-hen, 

 only much heavier, plump, like a grouse, c lor sla'y blue on 

 back and wings, and blue-while underneath, legs and head 

 very like sora rail. This bird wai in reeds, and acted just 

 like all other rail. — Geo. L. Appleton. 



[We presume from your descrip ion that the bird was a 

 Florida gallinule (Galiinula gnleala) ] 



Vis Meoioatrik NaiitRjE— Sherbrooke, Canada, Oct. 10, 

 1881. — I send you with this a fool, or apoloey for a f o'. of a 

 ruffed grouse shot to-day. The individual evi'en'ly left one 

 of his limbs in a trap at some time, and thus has the Vis 

 Mtdicatr x Natures teen set fbr'h. The bird was in first- 

 rate condition. Pour of us were out and had a very pie .8- 

 ant day. I won't say how many birds were killed, for fear 

 of making our American cousinB jealous, but we had an 

 ave'atte bag. — Canada. 



[The foot has been sharply cut etff below the tarsal joint, 

 and the end of the bone is >s smooth as if it had been sawed 

 off. The wound is not an old one, but is partially healed. 



%m\\t Jg?<7# and %ntu 



*** For tahle of game senxons see Inst issue. 

 Vermont Deer Law — The Vermont law prohibits deer 

 shooting in that State at all s asons until 1885. 



RUST SPOTS IN GUN BARRELS. 



Saint Joseph, Mich., Oct. 17. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



This matter of gun freckles (or rust, as it is called,) is what 

 I have long been studying about. I am glad the matter is 

 discussed in the Forkbt and Stream. None of the explana- 

 tions are satisfactory to me, although I cannot explain the 

 cause of them. One thing is certain, some poor quality of 

 barrels in the hands of careless cleaners keep bright, while 

 good barrels (laminated steel, fine,) in the most careful hands 

 at cleaning become freckled in spi i e of every precaution. I 

 do not believe they are caused by rust as generally under- 

 stood. 



I have had experience with two guns, laminated barrels. 

 The first gun soon began to show spots a few inches from 

 the bre ecli in one barrel. I worked to clean it and took 

 every possible care and precaution to keep the gun clean and 

 prevent more. But still they came, and kept coming and 

 extended three-fourths of the length of the barrels. I be- 

 came sick of the gun and concluded to get a new gun. I 

 ordered one from Birmingham, England; specified every 

 particular ; in thirteen months it came, a perfect little gem. 

 I was perfectly delighted with it. It was used daily and 

 cleaned as soon as I entered the house, with all the care of a 

 jewel. In a short time it showed a spot or two, and soon a 

 few more. I worked to keep it clean, but still they came 

 aud went on two-thirds the length of ihe barrels, like a dose 

 of sulphate of soda. They seem to stop at a point about 

 three-fourths the length of the burrels. 



Now, what I want to say, and to say emphatically, is that 

 they were not caused by common rust. I know my gun was 

 dried, and entirely clean. It could not be made cleaner. I 

 know how to use and clean a gun as well as any living man. 

 I pride myself on my gun. The world can't make me believe 

 the spots come from the want of proper cleauing and common 

 rust. Now, what ciuses them ? Is it in the manner of 

 manufacture of the barrels? Is it the chemical action of the 

 powder, lead or percussion in the caps ? Who will explain? 

 I know what I am writing when I say common rust did not 

 cause the spots in my gun-. 



I now lack a few weeks of being seventy -one years old, 

 can clean a gun and shoot somej. Here are a few scores; 

 The past week I was out for blue and green-winged teal. I 

 made eighteen succ ssive shols at single birds and killed fif- 

 teen, On the last day of snipe-nhooting, 1st spring, I made 

 sixteen shots at snipe and killed fifteen, and that will do for 

 me without glasses. You can judge if I can clean a gun bo 

 it won'i rust. Who will explain my difhYu ty of gun 

 freckles. They annoy me dreadfully, and still my gun? 

 sho -t net]. One weigh- seve.-n Hnd a half pound", Ihe ruber 

 seven pounds and eleven ounces. 1 wish they were ligh'er 

 and inside: brighter. Lutkon. 



