303 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Novembbb 17, 1881. 



THE HOMING- INSTINCT. 



THAT ninny anima 1 B have sotue senses more aeu'-e and per- 

 fect 'bin men is web lmown, especial y thesersesof sight, 

 be ring and smell. Sumo of thpnl have still another power 

 of sense, -vvhieh I have never seen fully and clearly ex- 

 plained it al of returning home from a di-tance by a differ- 

 ent n-ute from any (hey had previously (pine. 



I was living i • the town of Torrey, "Yates county, N. Y., 

 snd had a cat which I did not, want and did not wish to kill. 

 I put her into a sack, placed her into a box beneath the 

 buggy seat, and started for Penm. Yan. the county seat, dis- 

 tant a' out six miles, going a futther and much traveled way, 

 dill'e ent from the one 1 usually went ; across a large stream, 

 the outlet of Lake Kenka. Over this Btream were three 

 bridges. 



A\hen about six mil' s from home 1 took the cat from the 

 sack ano the dark place in which she had been confined, 

 and where it was imposs hie for her to see out ; I let her 

 loose into a small -wood and, not near any house, and then 

 drove fast to io«n, about one mile distant. I returned home 

 by a different route, distant from the one I went from one to 

 two mileB. 



Next morning theeni teas borne, much to the surprise of all 

 the family. The readers of Pokus-i and Stream are well 

 aware that simil.r thii-gs hnve bi'en done by dogs, horses, 

 cats and pigs. <■ an any one tell how it is done ? 



Austin, Ttxas. S. B. Bt/oklby. 

 ■ — •♦— ■ 



PunrELOT's O.-tboi.ogical Pa rEns. — Two essays of im- 

 poTta ce li ve recently been published in the Bulletin of Dr. 

 Hajden's Survey on the os'eology of two interesting groups 

 of birds. The most valuable, as it is the most extended of 

 these, rela'es to the oste' logy of the North American Tetra- 

 auirite, wbi'e the second, a snorter paper, treats of the oste- 

 oloey of Laniitx Imi '/vii'ltom r-xeubitoroideji. The study of 

 the osteology of our grou c e certanly deserves more atten- 

 tion th-n has ever been given to it, and we are glad to see 

 the work undertaken at hist by one who is evi ently thor- 

 oughly in love with bis subject, and who is besides fur- 

 tuna' ely situated for the procuring those immature specimens 

 which are so necessary to an intelligent comprehension of the 

 bony framework of anv bird. Many — perhaps most — readers 

 wil decline to accept Dr. Shufeldt's view of some points of 

 the skeleton, s ince recent investigations have somewhat mod : - 

 fied the old fashioned faith in the archetype skeleton. Still 

 all will acknowledge the present piper to be of great value, 

 for too little has been done in this branch of North American 

 ornithology. The papc-r on the osteology of the g ouse is 

 illustrated by eight, beautiful plates, aud "that on the shrink 

 by one. We notice I hat the proofs have not been read with 

 care, and it is a pity that such exelleut papers should he 

 marred by i rrors that couUl hnve been so easily avo'ded. Dr. 

 S mfel t's investigati ms of the osteology of Speotyto cuni- 

 ml'iria bypo^en and of Sremophiln a prstris are fitly sup- 

 plemented by the two papers just received, and we may all 

 I-Kik forward with pleasure to further contributions from Ma 

 pen on this most lascinating subject. 



$mi[t Jpa# and @/m* 



*** For table of game seasons see issue of October 16. 

 A DAY WITH THE HUPPED GROUSE. 



I) UFFEP g"use are reported very scarce from nearly all 

 Vj seciionsof the country; yet we venture to say that 

 the sportsman who has carefully studied their habits, and bv 

 long experience in their pursuit obtained a knowledge of 

 "the how, the where and the when" to seek these io»al birds, 

 can obtain a fair amount of sport even in the sections of 

 country width Ihe ordinary sponsmen pronounce to be en- 

 tirely destitue of this best of all tame birds. We do not 

 wish to be understood as intimaing that even with the 

 best of success in ending, a«d with thestraightest of powder, 

 the bag will be uncomfortably heavy, but that the genuine 

 sp ottsinan, to whom "it is not all of sport lo kill," and to 

 whom the beauties of nature are a never ending source of 

 pleasuie, can abundantly enj >y himself and secure enough of 

 these most wily birds to well repay him for the time devoted 

 to their pursuit. 



It was our good fortune list Saturday, in company with 

 the Hon. E. H. Lalhrop, of Springfield, Mass., and his cele- 

 brated sett< r Dick, to enjoy a day of rare sport. Well, know- 

 ing from reports of the sponsmen that Hide were no birds in 

 thelo* lying covers, we made a breatt for the mountains, 

 surmising" that the birds that were bred in their inaccessible 

 nooks would be found somewhere iu the highways, by which 

 they make their annual migrations from th- fastnesses of the 

 hills, to the better feeding giounds of the valleys. That our 

 ideas were not entirely wrong, oursuccesi abundintly prov d, 

 for we ha'l followed the downward course of the first little 

 rivulet but a short distance when the welcome sound of 

 whirring wings greeted our ears, as an old cock grouse, a very 

 patriarch, suspicious of approaching foe, shot from the 

 tangled ihicket, a good hundred yards below us, and with 

 unseemly baste whirled down the narrow eorge, until near 

 its foot, when, with a crafty swing to the left, he disappeared 

 over a knoll. Thankful tha' our eyes had oautiht Ibat wicked 

 twist, we calmly followed on and soon bad the satisfaction of 

 W tne sing the sudden departure oi three more in the same 

 direction. Although they were a long distance out of reach, 

 we saluted them as an earnest of whal they might expect 

 rhould they age in endeavor to escape us in this unsportsman- 

 like manner, forit is one of the pet articles of our creed that 

 a game bird should lie to the dog, and we have ever found 

 the wi. riling voiee of the gun a most eloquent argument to 

 briuit He in to a sense of duty in this respect. Our compan- 

 ion carefully marked one of the trio as he i etiled in an a'der 

 thicket, fa- down I be run, and we hud one down fine in a 

 pal eh of Iu » 1, toward which we at once proceeded. 



W e have not mentioned Dick, or as he is appropriately 

 called, "The black whirlwind of the East," as up to this 

 moment there was nothing to chronicle, except that, with the 

 marvelous spc d for which he is 80 famous, he had thor- 

 oughly qu rlered ihc ground in front, ntld for a long distance 

 on each side of us, with baldly a break in his tireless btrldi 

 which, to all appearance, is a? far-searching and elastic as 

 when many years ago (for Dick is ton year* old) we first saw 

 him cut lo"se upon "the stubble among the quail. But now, 

 as the roir of Ihc swiftly beating wings siruck upon his ear. 

 he dropped upon his haunches and, will] quivering lip and 

 (•'listening eye, tinned his head in ihe direction of the sound, 



then, with catlike, gtw-lfliy {,rc 



the thicket, occasionally challenging ti3 the grateful efluvia 

 was wafted to his eager nostrils, and ever wl'h head high in 

 air " reeling" for proof of the presemce of any straggler that 

 might seek to escape by lying close ; but, soon convinced 



I hat all had taken flight, he glances toward his master to 

 learn their course ; then on again, but at subdued speed and 

 greatly circumscribed range, he carefully beats every inch of 

 ground in front, until we are near the patch of hazel, when, 

 obedient to a sign from bis master— for words aie unca'led 

 for here— he takes his place at heel, and silently ihey steal 

 around to get the wind, while we, with noiseless 'read, take 

 a commanding position upon the upper side. When all is 

 ready, a half wave of the hand sends the eager dog with a 

 flying leap across the little break, where he sirikes the bank 

 and scent at the same instant, and all doubled up as he is, 

 he staunchly remains until we, wishing to be in at the death, 

 have taken some twenty sieps toward him, when, with a roll 

 of his eye and gentle wave of his6tern, that pi ainy warns 

 us of a running bird, he takes a step or two right toward us. 

 At the same instant there was a confused tumult behind us 

 that needed no interpreter to explain that this crafty bird 

 had played us a scurvy trick. Keenly alive to ihe situation, 

 we quickly whirled around with gun at shoulder and beheld 

 him behind a sapling, the only one in sight, fleeing for bis 

 life up the mountain. We did not fed highly honored at the 

 graceful dip with which Ihe sapling acknowledged our 

 salute, but thought it rather a source of sorrow. Sure that 

 we had met with an inglorious defeat, we turned to explain 

 the cause, when a glance at old Dick turns our bitter grief to 

 serenest joy, for his speaking countenance aud rapidly 

 vibrating stern we knew of old as a sure token of successful 

 shot. With a cheery "seek dead" he was off at speed, and 

 soon laid in his master's hand the noble bird with scarcely a 

 feather out of place. 



The alder thicket was next in order, and as we neared it 

 Dick came to a point just at its edge. As we could not 

 hudge him an inch we walked in, and as the bird rose we 

 both of us gave bim a right-and-left, which so demoralized 

 him that he took a bee line for Long Island Sound, and we 

 here give notice that he is our property, aud that any vassel 

 picking him up must return him to our possession. Our next 

 move was for the old fellow, who so neatly turned the 

 corner. Dick soon found his trail in a Utile run that came 

 down the mountain almost parallel with, the one that we had 

 hunted. Clambering up the side we had barely reached a 



II tie opening, when we were greatly chagrined to hear this 

 beastly bird burst forth from the thicket a long way ahead, 

 and steer for the top of the mountain. As soon ai we caught 

 a glimpse of him we impulsively threw the gun in position, 

 and with a sense of the wrongs be had heaped upon us to 

 nerve our fincers we spitefully yanked the trigger. We were 

 half inclined to think, v.bh Mr. La'brop, that the bird flew 

 against a tree and killed himself, but we counted him all the 

 same. 



There was still one more bird that we had not four,-d, and 

 we started for a likely looking eormr that was nearly in the 

 line of flight that he had taken. When we reached the place 

 Dirk was told to go on. As an illustrious writer— we are 

 sure that he was a famous grouse hunter — has wed said, 

 "silence is golden," so we found it in this instance; for no 

 sooner were the words spoken than out. from under the fence, 

 not more than thirty yards from Mr. L., came this bird with 

 a terrible racket, steering straight for his highland home. 

 ' There was a puff of smoke, a loud report, " and, although 

 we could not see the bird, the quick vibrating tail of old 

 Dick assured us that we could complete the quotation with 

 "a fleecy cloud of feathers floating in air.' 1 Although the 

 words that were spoken did not lose us the bird, they robbed 

 us of by far the greater part of the sportsman's pleasure— the 

 elecric thrill and heartfelt, sa'isf action that Alls us when the 

 bounding furm suddenly congeals and unerringly indicates 

 the near presence of the game we seek. 



The rain which bad threatened all the morning now cime 

 down, and we started for ihe house. As we crossed a litde 

 run a brace of birds flushed below us ; and just before we 

 reached shelter, Dick pointed still another brace, winch rose 

 out of shot, making eight birds that we had found in less 

 than three hours' tramp over ground that neither of us had 

 ever hunted before. This experience was very satisfactory 

 to us, and we were more I ban ever c mvinced that a fair 

 sprinkling of these magnificent birds yet remain, and that 

 the sportsman, who truly loves the glorious excitement that 

 the pursuit of this most gallant bird affords, can yet enjoy 

 many days of sweet, sport. ; Shadow. 



Should "Octo's" friend visit "Brunswick" we would be 

 pleated "to give him of our highland cheer," and hand him 

 over I bat Y when he does his work. 



I agree with Mr. McKoon as to shooting grouse with cock- 

 ers, and if he were here he would makegood bags when those 

 of seller anil pointer men who shoot on the wing would he 

 like that of the "Indian huuter with uus'rung bow" whom 

 Longfellow immortalizes, and if they did not, as he suggests, 

 "become a convert to our faith," unless they were fond of 

 pedestrian exercise, "the hunter wuld, like the aforesaid 

 Indian, be seen on the hills no more." 



1 killed an old grayback on the 29th ult at Kingston, N. b!, 

 which weigh.-d twenty-four ounces, and had "Octo" wit- 

 nessed his evolutions when sprung he would have considered 

 "the hurtling grouse" no misnomer. L. I. P. 



AenpiELD, Mass., Nov. 2. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I have insufficient time at present to properly discuss this 

 "treeing" business ; but I just want to ask those concerned 

 if it ever occurred to them that ihcre is a vast and c 'nsiantly 

 increasing multitude of youthful aspirants to shooting fame 

 and the pleasures obtained in the held, who are looking to 

 us veterans for advice and example? And a slight weight 

 may turn the balance to make or mar their whole future. 

 Our young and honorable minded men are naturally dis- 

 posed, almost to a unit, to lake the only honorable course 

 and make shooting a matter of skill and recreation and a 

 health-giving diversion, instead of a matter of " meat " and 

 indolence and consequent flabby muscle and befogged brain. 

 However, this shooting business is such a new thing to the 

 average American that he naturally looks to the "vets" for 

 his cue. So beware-Of giving evil counsel, for the "great 

 American sportsmen " is a power not to be trifled with, as 

 from all present indications not many years wil! elapse ere 

 the "treeing" man will be left solar behind that all the 

 powers that he cannot bring him up even in sight of the 

 rearmost man of the great army of self-respecting wing- 

 shootfts. This, to me, disgusting recital of coming up be- 

 hind the king of game birds (while ihe other dog takes his 

 attention) and murdering him while sitting on alimb a fewyards 

 distant, may sell a few ' tree-ers" to the man whose belly is in- 

 finitely bieger than his soul; but sure retribution will over- 

 take the sinner against the public opinion of the belter class; 

 and the man who, a few years hence, can look his fellow- 

 men squarely in the face aud honestly declare that he never 

 aided or abetted pot-hunting in auy form will be the " com- 

 ing man," whether it be iu selling "cockers" or any other 

 business. Cockers are well enough, when honorably used: 

 but I never will believe that they were designed as aids to 

 murderers. 



I have shot grouse over pointing dogs all the way from the 

 Eastern seaboard to " beyond theMississippi ;' and the "im- 

 penetrable thickets" are all cobwebs of ihe slothful pot- 

 hunter's brain. It is the very skill and nerve required to 

 bag grouse in difficult places that afford the fascination of 

 the sport and build up the muscle and tone up the system. 

 Let us be men, and not a race of lollipops. 



The cry of great scarcity of game comes up from all the 

 land, and still the pot-hunter continit s lo shoot over "tree- 

 ers" and out of season, and while his victims are breeding 

 and drumming, and in any way lo get meat to fili his lazy 

 carcass, utterly regardless of the future. To the youthful 

 sportsman I would say: On which side do you enlist ? Por 

 here is to be no half way about it. One side surely goes 

 up and the other down, and that soon. On one side stands 

 arrayed all respectable sportsmen's journals and a vast army 

 of respected sportsmen, possessed' of health, energy and 

 muscle to fight the battles of lif ,- and last, but not least, 

 self respect. On the other side, way down, down, down, 

 drizzles along the. gang of self indulgent, meat hunting 

 stomach worshipers, sneaking along with their "tree-er*," 

 snar. s and traps, seeking to murder our noble tame and 

 bolstering their waning strength with whisky. Be then in 

 your choice. Bcfesu Gbouse. 



N. B. — Though no personalities are intended iu the above 

 article, if anyone is conscious that the coat fits him particu- 

 larly well he is welcome to the use of it. 



THE HURTLING GROUSE. 



McDonald's Coeneh, N. B., Nov. 2. 

 Editor Forest and Stream, : 



It did not occur to me when writing the article on grouse 

 shooting which appeared in your issue of the 20th ult. that I 

 minht get thrashed for airing my opinions too freely. Now 

 I do not wish "Octo" to think that I consider the shooting of 

 a flying grouse difficult because I have failed to do it, for I 

 do not pretend to be a first class shot, but ra' her because it 

 was never done by old sportsmen — good shots who have 

 hunted game all their lives, and gave me my first lessons iu 

 the handling of firearms, ana who, therefore, bear the same 

 relation to some of us young fellows that the Alma Mater 

 does lo college graduates. 



A grouse sometimes rises and skims along the ground with 

 the intention of alighting within thirty or forty feet of "the 

 place of beginning," as surveyors say, and I do not dispute 

 that he might easily be killed just as he is about to stop, but 

 when he once resolves "to get up and get" it is no easy mat- 

 ter to induce him to change his mind. Our grouse frequent 

 dense timber, and when flushed have the art of doing just 

 what the shooter docs not expect. Sometimes he will make 

 his line of flight at an angle of forty-five degrees, or nearly 

 straight in the air, till he gets above the tree-tops, when he 

 will dart forward like a telegram. At olher times his course 

 will he a parabola, the highest point of which does not reach 

 the tops of the trees, On n again it is i he arc of a circle nearly 

 on a plane with the earth. Ofien when you think you have 

 "tin drop" oo an old grayback he will depr ss iiN I :_ n 

 llightor dash to one side wi'hsuch celerity that the charge goes 

 wide of its mark. Now I still think that there are 

 who have '•artist" enough in their composition to make a 

 successful flying-shot at a "grouse under the circumstances de- 

 scribed above, especially if the, bird be "crossing their bows " 

 Por my part I would as soon try lo get a sight, through the 

 teeth of a comb, on an e'ectric current passing along ona wire 

 lying parallel to it. The great trouble is the same as that 

 experienced by Josh Billings in killing a niusquiio, 'Yon 

 are too apt to hit tuepJnro Wllfe] .iiz,' 



TWO DAYS AMONG r i'HE BLUEWINGS. 



QnjKOT, III., Nov. 5. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Tee water is very high here, in some places the old 

 "Falnerof Waters"'is fifteen miles wide, covering Ihe bottom 

 lands, doing great damage to eveiything except the duck 

 shooting, which it has made grand. 



A few days ago the subscriber, with two friends— Major N. 

 a noble-hearted fellow and thorough sportsman, wiio has 

 hunted over some of the finest grounds in the Sidles aud 

 Territories, and Frank B., culled ClieJudge lor short— si arted 

 on a two-days' trip to duck-land ; our camp c-qi e all 

 arranged at the boat house the night before, where we were 

 to meet the next morning at tUftiout of 3f30. We all re- 

 tired promptly at 10:30 r. M„ with visions of flying feathers 

 healing our already disordered imaginations-. Promptly are 

 we on hand, with dogs, gun, ammunition, and are driven to 

 our boat, which lies two miles up the Bay on account <>f the 

 high water; Ihcn, stowing everything, wo proceed to row lo 

 out ground in Missouri, ten miles away, with a strong wind 

 and current to fight, until we leave the river proper aud enter 

 the bottoni-laijd of Missouii. 



TheMajoi and I do duty at the oars, while the learned 

 Judge is seated in the stern, with his trusted breechloader, 

 ready for the first blood. Suddenly, in the early morning 

 air, we hear a great Muttering of wini;s, and Judge, imagining 

 himself in a myriad of fowl of all known varieties, lets drive. 

 There is a splash in the water, and calling to our aid the 

 Ferguson lamp, the property of the Major, we discover the 

 victim, a goose, floaiiug down stream, wilhin five feet of u^, 

 and it is gallantly retrieved by Ihe Judge We Ihen push 

 on to our desliuation, much to the disgust of the aforesaid, 

 wdio wants to stay and kill all the rest, if any there he We 

 arrive at our stands about ten o'ubek, and this being late, we 

 Eeel Under dubious, hut we Anally set our hands in, and Ihe 

 morning shooiing sum-i up— for ihe Judge, seveulein blue- 

 wings, nine mallard, six Wilsun snipe., and three king rail; 

 lo: me, twelve hluewings, eight w-oil-dur-bs, six snipe, and 

 three brant, with the Major (who is a Solitary bird, prefer- 

 ring a Temote stand) yet to bear from. Just as Use .Judge 

 and I are talking over old time*, up Domes the Major wifli 

 twenty-seven bluewings and other game m proportion. 

 There is a smile on his countenance flint is chtlolike and 

 bland, and argues bntliltlrt good to the man who (a not tond 

 of a joke, unless il be at "some other" man's expense-. He 



.on theJiidge with, "I 6;ty, Jud 

 tJratlilo'i: 



