Dbobmbkb 1, 1B81JJ 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



347 



As tie hunt continued year in and year out, the unbeliev- 

 ing and profane began to point in derision at the place with 

 the remark that a "striped pig" in the barn was the only 

 Hog in the neighborhood, and that the hunt was never off 

 the premises j a vile slander as every one testified who hunted 

 the Hog. But through evil as well as good report the Spring- 

 field band held to their first love and first resolution. The 

 Hog still lived, and, dead or alive, "we shall fetch her at 

 last;" the Doctor said si— and if he don't know, who does? 

 And, besides, there was a terrible weight of responsibility 

 resting on them ; their reputation as hunters was at stake. 

 And then the " championship of America" rested entirely on 

 their shoulders, and as men of principle, having a good hold 

 of the plow handles, looking back wasn't there. 



There was in all this time occasionally a man to be found 

 "fighting on his own hook," and slyly endeavoring to bear 

 off the honor rjjf. capturing or killing the Hog while the regu- 

 lars were beating the bush. One hunter found himself in 

 front of a twitch-up Which would have slung Hog or dog 

 " higher'n a kite" had a foot been put in it. There was also 

 exhibition 3f three, bristles and a piece which Erskine carried 

 in hiB wall'.t and often displayed to the leBS fortunate, and 

 which he said he cut from her side at less than forty yards. 

 Much of this credit, however, was due to the gun. Wasn't 

 it a-rusher? "I saw him put into that iron a handful of 

 powder, then a ping or wad, then sixteen buckshot, then 

 another plug, then sixteen more buckshot, then another plug, 

 making thirty-two fine rifle balls." Now if "unhitching" 

 that earthquake in the direction of the Hog brought only the 

 trophies mentioned, it was nothing to brag of much. If any 

 man doubts the truth of this last assertion, we give him the 

 full benefit of the doubts. We simply state what was stated 

 to us; we would add, however, that it was and is considered 

 derogatory to doubt each other's word. Isn't the man's 

 word who "saw it done," more reliable than any number of 

 men who didn't " saw" it ? In thi.s connection we must not 

 pass liahtly over an important part carried by a man in the 

 edge of Souiers in Connecticut. He was a thorough sports- 

 man, drove a good horse, kept the best hounds iu the State, 

 and if his purse had a bottom, we think he never saw it. It 

 was fitting, therefore, that Sol should be elected general-in- 

 chief, and as the "puss'" aforesaid was the only one iu the 

 company, the election virtually made him quarter-master, 

 sutler, surgeon-general and head of the sanitary commission. 



The last plan was mat tired with deliberation. They met 

 on it; they "sot" on it; they slept on it, so that when un- 

 folded to the public it was such an exhibition of generalship, 

 human skill, and human endurance combined, as is only met 

 in a century. When the plans were all matured, "the stan- 

 dard of the prophet" was raised, and a hundred stalwart men 

 raised their arms. We do not me in guns, for a three-years' 

 war had prttty conclusively shown that in hunting this Hog 

 fire-arms were an incumbrance. True, a good many shots 

 had been tired into the swamps where the Hog might or 

 might not have been, iu the early years of the hunt; but now 

 it had come to be believed that a man on a smart horse might 

 traverse the Hog country with tolerable safety. 



It was about thiB time that a member of a party from 

 Hartford, 1 think, seeing the bushes move, "let drive," and 

 had the. Hog been where his dog was, she might have been 

 hurt. As it resulted, he told at. night how his dog seized the 

 Hog and was quickly disemboweled in the contest. 



But this is a digression. The hotel on the confines of the 

 big swamp was turned into a camp and rilled with men eagt r 

 to do or die, as might be necessary. Two men were to start 

 the Hog from her lair and pursue with "expedition," stamp- 

 ing out every track as ihey went. Parallel roads cro«8-d the 

 Hog country from east to west, and in these roads sleighs 

 Were plying back and forth with fresh men. Where the 

 tracks crossed the road two fresh men were let loose and 

 wheu the pursuers came up they were taken up to be dropped 

 again or umbulanced up to camp for repairs or exchange. 

 You will see that by this method she was driven as no dogs 

 could do it, and soon found there was trouble behind. She 

 would shoot from pursuers hut to find them close at her heels. 

 She would double, twist, and repeat on her tracks but lost every 

 time, while the call for tracks was incessant. At dark, 

 lanterns, which each carried, were lighred, and gleaming 

 through the trees, with an occasional toot — for each carried 

 a horn — added terror to the fiiibt. Tuesday and Tuesday 

 night, Wednesday and Wednesday night, and Thursday, 

 passed in this way — and Thursday, j ust at night, the pur- 

 suers caught a fair view of the nog. the first, witb one or 

 two exceptions, in the three years preceding. 



That niglit she made the most desperate efforts to confuse 

 her pursu rs — and she lost every time. Friday morning 

 opened wih the nog in full view, and the pursuit grew in- 

 tense. If hid from view a moment she would fall as if shot, 

 and then bound foi ward as the pursuers came up. Friday 

 afternoon the final struggle came on and also off. Sol with 

 a fellow craft took two heavy Newfoundland dogs into a 

 sleigh, and they were driven to the woods for the death 

 struggle. The Hog went reeling across the road just in front 

 Gf the horse; tbe men, coats and hats off, sprang from the 

 sleigh ; the dogs fastened one on her hind quarter, the other 

 on her opposite foreleg. She dragged theni into the woods 

 with the seeming power of a locomotive. Tbe men came up, 

 and Sol, plunging iu between the dogs, seized one hind leg. 

 which tie look to the other side of a tree in passing; this 

 brought all up Banding; tbe assistant seized the other, hind 

 •hg on the opposite side, and the Hog was thus resting on her 

 forefeet, her hindfeet high up, and astride of a tree, iu the 

 hands of two men not likely to let, go. Then, not a yell but 

 a " holler," went through the woods for miles. The irrup- 

 tion of a volcato would not have told more surely where to 

 run ; the men in sleighs, " put their cattle to't," by highways 

 and by-ways, C* ss-ways and no-ways. In a few minutes all 

 were there. A noose was first thrown over that pair of jaws, 

 then the feet securely tied, then the Hog was hoisted into a 

 sleigh, and the cavalcade — twenty-five teams, slightly demon- 

 strative — started for Springfield. There was " music on the 

 breeze" a mile in advance of the line ; the shouts, not abating, 

 soon degenerated into sounds hoarse and unearthly, which 

 brought every household out of doors, in fear and wonder as 

 to the Uproar. Some said a powder mill was blowing up ; 

 some thought and thought — and then didn't know- 

 Arrived in Spriugtield and remembering the stockade, a 

 stall in a horse stable was boarded up and the Hog placed in 

 it, with a double guard omside — a modest insinuation that 

 you dv, ipptllg again. 



The poor Hog had now no place to hide. She squatted on 

 a little pile of straw in the middle of the stall, and, shivering 

 with fear, seemed only striving to sink from human sight! 

 The Di eteir came in, and looking through a crevice not half 

 an inch wide noticed that she shut the eye on that side the 

 i nstant that his own was fastened upon it ; he went to the 



opposite side, and she closed that in the same manner. This 

 was several times repeated, to substantiate a rare phenomenon 

 in natural history — the effect of hopeless terror. The dogs 

 did not b ar her flesh badly, in no case touching the functions 

 of life : the exhausting chase could not have done so, but to 

 these add fear, the most powerful emotion known to organic 

 life, and you have an intelligent solu'ion of the "why" she 

 thus squatted on a handful of straw, closed her eyes — and in 

 a few hours was dead, She was really scared to death. 



Thus perished the Wild Hog of Hampden. The wrath of 

 the Springfield band was assuaged. 



The skin of the Hog was set up by the writer, and the 

 stuffed effigy, grim, savage and threatening, was preserved 

 in a glass case in Springfield for many years. Afterward it 

 was taken to Boston, where it graced a private museum, 

 until the great fbe came ; and it was destroyed in the flames. 



There is a truth, broad and deep, underlying this story of 

 life, which the doctor wishes may never be separated from 

 it. Here is the progenitor of our domestic hog at, first, the 

 most untamable creature on tbe earth, just as the Creator 

 blocked it out and left us to finish up. An article Of food 

 suited to men as wild and savage as itself, they seem to have 

 followed down the course of time and progress of humanity, 

 merging at last into the creature we now possess ; just as we 

 have passed from savage to civilized life. Six thousand 

 years, more or less, was required in either case. The type is 

 not lost, but we have made substantially a new creature. 

 The rule holds good in all our domestic animals and fowls. 

 By domestication we enlarge, ennoble, beautify and increase 

 capacity of usefulness the orders of life below us. It is our 

 part of tbe work of creation, just as active and efficient to- 

 day as in the beginning, and successful just in proportion as 

 we study and follow the immutable laws which in every 

 case govern and regulate organic life. 



Iztaml W&o'U 



HOW TO PREPARE BIRD SHOTS. 



A TEXAS correspondent writes: "Can you direct me 

 how to remove and preserve the skins of birds so that 

 Ihey may be mounted by a taxidermist ?" We can certainly 

 give directions which will enable our correspondent, if he has 

 patience and perseverance, to make skins which a taxider- 

 mist can mount, but we venture to say that his first essays at 

 skin making will not be satisfactory. To unpracticed fingers 

 a bird skin is a very delicate thing to handle, but use will 

 soon give the requisite dexterity. Our method of making 

 skins is as follows : 



Fill the bird's throat with cotton, and plug nostrils and 

 any large shot holes with the same. Place the specimen on 

 its back on a table with the tail toward you. Break both 

 wings close to the body. Separa f e feathers along the median 

 line of lower breast and belly, and make an incision from 

 the posterior extremity of the sternum to a little beyond the 

 vent, taking care not to cut through the walls of the abdomen. 

 Push the skin aside and raise it on one aide until the knee joint, 

 is visible, using the handle of your knife and your fingers, 

 and avoiding cutting as much as possible. Do the same on 

 the other side. Cut off the legs at the knee, skin down care- 

 fully as near to the tail as possible, and then divide the ver- 

 lebne, taking great care not to cut through tbe skin. Stand 

 the bird on the point of its breast, and push the skin down 

 toward the shoulders, working it down evenly and using the 

 knife little or not at all. Cut off wings at break, and continue 

 to work the skin down until it has passed over the head, and 

 is thus turned inside out. Pull out the delicate ear mem- 

 brane with the finger nails and cut that behind the eye, tak- 

 ing care not to injure the eyeUd. Remove the eyes, taking 

 care not to puncture them ; and having cut off the head, ciit 

 away the tongue and all the flesh from the skull. Break 

 away tbe base of skull and remove brain. Cut away the 

 broken end of the humerus, and the flesh lying between the 

 radius and ulna, loosening with the thumb nail the quill 

 feathers from tbe latter, akin legs down t0 tibio-tarsal joint, 

 and remove the flesh. Powder the inside of the skin every- 

 where with white arsenic. Use plenty. Place a pellet of 

 cotton latge enough to fill it in each orbit, and with large 

 birds wrap a little cotton around the legs. Turn the skin 

 right side out again and draw out legs and wings into proper 

 their position. Give the skin a few shakings and the feathers 

 will fall into their proper places. Take a long wad of cotton 

 about as thick as the bird's neck and carefully introduce it 

 into the neck, making sure that it passes up into the skull 

 and does not catch the skin and push that iuto the brain 

 cavity. See that the neck is short and thick rather than 

 long and slender. Introduce another little bit of cotton into 

 the throat from below, to give that the requisite fullness. Fill 

 the body with cotton until it is about the size of the bird in life. 

 Do not get if too large. Close the opening in the belly by 

 two or three stitches, or by a pin or two. Open the eyelids 

 and pull the skin about tbe head up or down, as may be 

 necessiry to give the head and neck a natural appearance. 



Tei fix the wings in position is the most .lirfleull part of the 

 whole process. They must be placed close to the s : des of 

 the body, as the bird holds them when alive, and to get them 

 in just the right position will take considerable practice. The 

 wing must be pulled upward and backward, that is, toward 

 the head and back of the bird, and the scapular feathers be 

 brought forward over it. It should then be bent and placed 

 close to the side, the feathers of the breast covering its 

 border. If its position is right there will be no feathers 

 standing on end near it ; if wrong, the feathers will point 

 half a dozen ways. It must be made right, cr as nearly sei 

 as possible ; for as it is left so it will dry, and then, after the 

 other wing has been arranged, and any stray feathers that are 

 out of place have been lifted into their proper position, the 

 specimen should be placed on its back in a half cylinder of 

 paper, pistcboard or tin, in such a way that its back will be 

 properly rounded, and left to dry. Before leaving it, how- 

 ever, the feet should be crossed and tied together, the bill 

 prevented from opening by a pin or a thread run through one 

 nostril and the throat and tied. A label giving age, sex, lo- 

 cality, date of capture, collector's name, and any other items 

 of interest, should be tied to the feet. Some collectors place 

 the birds to dry in paper cones, others put a wide band Of 

 paper about the shoulders, and others still merely support the 

 shoulders and wings by wads of cotton. A little attention 

 paid to the skin while drying will pay for the trouble attend- 

 ing it. 



BEECHNUTS AND WOODPECKERS. 



Locust Gbove, Lewis Co., N.Y., Nov. 20, 1881. 



Editor For^t and Stream : 



In the issue of your paper, dated Nov. 17, 1881 (p. 307), 

 is a brief note, headed "Habits of Red-headed Wood- 

 peckers." Its author, "Sialia,"* writingfrom Bradford, Pa., 

 speaks with surr rise of finding the red-headed woodpecker 

 {ilelanei-pe.1 (rythrocfplmlux) engaged in picking beechnuts, 

 and says that he was told by a wood-chopper that they were 

 gathering winter's supplies. After some remarks upon the 

 habits of a Western congener yon append a note from Ned 

 BuntUne to the effect that be shot one of these birds in the 

 act of picking beechnuts from the tree. Now, I am not 

 aware that our species lays up provisions for winter's use, 

 but I have long known that it fed extensively upon nuts, and 

 published the fact some years ago. In my " Review of ihe 

 Birds of Connecticut" (p. 66) you will find the following: 

 In Northern New York (Lewis Co.) during certain seasons, 

 "they subsist almost exclusively on beechnuts, of which 

 they evidently are extremely fond, eating them apparently 

 with equal relish, whether green or fully matured. It is 

 truly a beautiful sight to watch these magnificent birds, 

 together with their equally-abundant cousins, the yellow- 

 bellied woodpeckers (JSpkyrwpictus nanus), creeping about 

 after the manner of the warblers among the small branches 

 and twigs, which bend low wi'h Iheir weight, while picking 

 6,nd husking the tender nuts, the bright crimson of the head, 

 neck and breast, the glossy blue-black back and creamy- 

 white belly, together with the scarcely less Btriking colors of 

 their yellow-bellied companions, contrasting handsomely 

 with the deep-green foliage." 



My field notes during the past ten years prove beyond 

 question that the presence or absence of the red-headed 

 woodpecker in Northern New Y irk in winter is governed 

 wholly by the beechnut crop of the preceding season, and is 

 in no way dependent upon the severity of the winter. There 

 is not a large yield of inast every year, but with us a full 

 crop " happens round" pretty uniformly every other fall, 

 at least such has been the case during the period (10 years) 

 covered by my notes. It is also a fact that mild winters are 

 apt to follow good beech-nut years. 



According to notes kept by Dr. C. L Bagg and myself, 

 the species under consideration was abundant here during the 

 winters of 1871-72, 1873-74, 1875-76, 1877-78. 1879 80, and 

 now, at the beginning of the winter of 188t-82, they are 

 still here iu numbers, and will doubtless remain throughout 

 the winter. Each of these winters followed a bountiful suo- 

 plv of nuts. During the alternate winters— 1872-73, 1S74-75, 

 1876-77, 1878-79 and 1880-81— they were either rare or did not 

 occur at, all. Hence with us a good squirrel year is synony- 

 mous with a good year for Melanerpes, and vice versa. Of 

 course by far the greater portion of the beechnut crop falls 

 to the ground and is buried beneath the. snow, where it is in- 

 accessible to the woodpeckers; yet enough nuts hang to the 

 trees to furnish abundant subsistence to those specie.s that 

 feed upon them. Besides the red-headed and yellow-bellied, 

 the hairy woodpecker (Pious viliosus) and the downy (P. 

 pubtxeenx) eat largely of mast and are most numerous during 

 beechnut years. C. Habt Meeeiam, il. D. 



Edi'tur Fi/rext and Stream: ~~ 



Since I wrote you last about the redheaded woodpecker 

 eating nuts, an old woodchopper of this county has told me 

 that he has often found the holes and nests of these birds, 

 which winter here, full of beechnuts and seeds. He says the 

 extreme cold so freezes rotten wood, grubs and all, that the 

 woodpecker, like the squirrel, would starve but for the stores 

 thev lay up. They do not bud, as the ruffed grouse will, 

 in cold wea'her, keeping in good conditl >n on birch buds, etc. 



In renard to the damage the ri d squirrel does to birds, etc., 

 your other correspondent is right. The little cusses are re- 

 gular pirates. Tln-y kill and destroy everything in their way, 

 and where they are plenty will drive griy squirrels away, 

 though ihe latter are thrice their size. The gray is no fighter. 

 The red is all for fight. Yours truly, 



Nkd. Btjntline. 



Eagle's Nest, Nov. 19, 1881. 



* Why many of your eorrespondents still perflst to publishing na- 

 tural Ul Wry notes over so ne nnrlaiiUlsu i^m Je ptit-fe is to me as in- 

 comprehendble as it. Is depl Table- Such notes arc often of scientific 

 interest,, an»l many Ol [Ham would he emoted r,y eminent, namraltst 

 panied by the author's name, wlille as It Is ihey are utterly 





THE DIVINING ROD. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



The Polytechnic Association, a branch of the American 

 Institute, meets Thursday evenings, from September to J una, 

 room 24, Cooper Union Bidding, N^w York City, at the re- 

 gular meeting, held Thursday evening, November 17, an 

 excerpt was read from a Western newspaper, to the effect 

 that so practical business men as the engineers of a large rail- 

 road were using a divining rod, presumably the ancient 

 forked twig of wi'ch haz-l, to aid in determining whereto 

 dig for water along the line of the road. 



The President thought it within the province of the asso- 

 ciation to compare notes on this mai ter. He did not know 

 of any candid efforts to determine the efficiency or the fraud 

 of that semi fabulous mode of finding running water. It 

 was nut easy to subject the matter to rigorous experiment. 

 It was alleged that only certain persons, perhaps morbidly 

 sensitive persons, could make the stick perform, and that 

 only the witch hazel, EamamelU virginica, or the Ulmus 

 ■montana, would serve. 



Dr. P. H. Vanderweyde had seen experiments made with 

 wire bent and twisted together to form a corresponding fork, 

 which had been alleged, and probably correctly, to produce 

 the same effect as witch hazel. The magical diviner failed 

 completely in attempting with his limber spring to find water 

 pipes in a house. By its aid he located them confidently in 

 the wrong place. It was a mere guess. 



Two gentlemen said they had known instances where 

 what was called a divining rod had been used, and abundant 

 underground currents found. They could not give particu- 

 lars. The general result appeared to sustain the ancient no- 

 tion. 



Professor Keith had seen experiments iu Colorado -with a 

 split stick of the n-qiiired slundLiness. Ihey were not par- 

 ticular what wood was used, or its condition as to dryness. 

 A skillful operator could make it point downward or upward 

 at will, without any apparent change of his muscles. 



Mr. Sutherland believed, with the last, speaker, I bat all the 

 magic about the alleged finding of water by the divining rod 

 lay simply iu the fact that some men, otherwise ignorant, 

 had. by intuition or by practice, acquired excellent judgment 

 in locating wells. They used the forked hazel simply as a 

 blind. 



