[Dkobmbbb 15, 1881. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



387 



AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTS.— IV. 



BEING EXTRACTS BROM AN BDlTOK'3 OOBRESPONDENOE. 



* * * I flrst saw the light in the ancient county of King 

 George, lying bet ween the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, 

 Maryland. In this country is a variety of game, nourished 

 by a good supply of food and protected by a splendid cover. 



My"! others before me were lovers of the chase, and I pre- 

 sume that from them I inherited my predilections in that 

 direction. Had I ihe lime I might tell you how my great- 

 grandfather, while struggling in the water, into which he had 

 been drawn by an immense sturgson which he had just 

 hooked, opened a knife with his teeth, cut the line, and saved 

 his life. 



I could tell how rny father killed wild ducks with a stone, 

 when he was deprived of a gun by his father, who consider- 

 ed him too fond of hunting. 



I could tell you how this same parent of mine bagged forty 

 foxes in one. season with his faithful hounds, Sportsman, 

 True Boy, Storiner and Countess. How he quizzed a green- 

 horn who undertook to point out to a disappointed hunting 

 party the exact spot where a fox was to be found. The 

 greenhorn, in fact, knew noihing about it, but the fox was 

 found there, just where lie had said it would be. 



The gun with which my father performed many notable 

 feats of 'marksmanship was an old flint-lock. It kicked so 

 hard that it one day knocked out two of his front teeth. Of 

 this untoward event I always had a lively recollection when 

 charging the old piece, aud how my heart would flutter when 

 I was about to pull the trigger! Many amiss was due to 

 the snapping of that clumsy Hint-lock; and I will remember 

 the wonder excited by my "first sight of a percussion-lock. 



Were I not admonished by these twinges of -pain (for you 

 know how I suffer irom insomnia) I should love to relate 

 for theFoKKBT and Stream some of the bright and dark days 

 of my life as a sportsman. I could tell you how a compan- 

 ion once killed an elk at Mare's Island Navy Yard, Cal., with 

 buttons torn from his vest at the moment. There used to be 

 acres of geese and ducks in that same country : and once, at 

 Mare's Island, I killed thirty-four sand-snipe at a shot. * * 



%<ituml ]§i?tor%. 



THE RABBIT NUISANCE IN NEW ZEALAND. 



THE common English rabbit (Lepus cunieulm) has for 

 the last seven or eight years incteased so alarmingly 

 in certain parts of these islands, as to make the question of 

 their future effect a serious one f"r the whole colony. Orig- 

 inally introduced by private individual, and turned out 

 here and there in small numbers, ihey now promise, unless 

 effectually suppressed within a short time, to work some- 

 thing approaching ruin to the pastoral interest in localities 

 where they have taken hold, if not over the whole country. 

 The question was taken in hand by the Legislature in 1876, 

 aud since that tini" four statutes have been passed, each 

 giving more extended powers to the officers appointed, en- 

 abling i hem to compel property owners to take steps to clear 

 their land of the pest. Until this year, however, no pro- 

 vision was made for the clearance of the vast areas of unoc- 

 cupied Crown lands and native reserves, which formed per- 

 fect hot beds for the propagation of rabbits, and rendered 

 the efforts of adjacent owners and occupiers almost futile. 

 The Rabbit Inspectors have now power to take such steps as 

 they may deem necessary in respect of such laud, and the 

 expense is to be met by an annual vote of Parliament. In 

 the case of all other lands, the Government is empowered to 

 levy an annual rate of not more than a tarthingan acre with- 

 in all districts proclaimed under the provisions of the 

 statute, which rates are recoverable in a court of law, and 

 are to be expended in payiug the officers appointed under 

 the statute, and other necessary expenses. Owners and 

 occupiers of land are compelled, under a penalty, to take 

 efficient steps to clear their property of rabbits on re- 

 ceiving notice to that effect from the Inspector of their dis- 

 trict ; and continued neglect of such notice gives the In- 

 spector a right to take whatever steps he may deem necessary 

 for the destruction of the rabbits, aud to tecover the cost 

 summarily from the defaulting owner, in addition to the 

 penalty. 



The statute, moreover, exempts from taxation all dogs cer- 

 tified to by an Inspector as kept solely for the purpose of 

 destroying rabbits ; and imposes a penalty for the destruction 

 or capture of ferrets, weasels or such other animals as may 

 be officially proclaimed to be Ihe natural enemies of the 

 rabbit. With such a trenchant measureat his heels, we may 

 fairly hepe that the hitherto overwhelming progress of this 

 enterprising little rodent will receive a salutary check. 



Various methods have from lime to time been adopted for 

 destroying rabbits wholesale. Small armies of men are still 

 employed on many sheep-runs for no other purpose than this. 

 Dogs, guns, and wheat or oats steeped in oil of rhodium, and 

 phosphorus, are the most effective means employed { the 

 latter with but little injury to sheep, though a few are occa- 

 sionally poisoned. 



Some idea of the serious aspect, which the rabbit question 

 hasassumed here may be gained from the following particu- 

 lars, which are taken from ihe evidence given before a select 

 committee of the House of Representatives appointed for the 

 purpose : 



Three sheep runs in the middle island, of 50,000, 40,000 

 and 19,400 acres respectively, have been totally abandoned. 



Ten other runs, with an aggregate area of about 400,000 

 acres, have been within the last year or two abandoned and 

 since re-let at a gross rental of £019 per annum ; whereas 

 their original real, reached close on £3,390. Some of theje 

 are re-let to rabbiters at a mere nominal rental, and not a sheep 

 is to be found on them. The effect on the sheep-growing 

 capacity of the colony may h« gathered from the statement 

 in the official returns for 1878 and 1879, which show that in 

 the latter year the colony possessed only 1 1 .405,3.89 sheep, as 

 against 13,009.838 for the previous year, being a deficit of 

 1,658,949. The departmental returns for 1880 and 1881 are 

 not yet compiled ; but it is estimated on good authority that 

 the deficiency in numbers will have now reached 3,000.000, 

 and that the loss to the 'exports of the colony may be calcu- 

 lated at £500,0. )0 pi r annum. The same official return shows 

 the number of -abb-it skins exported from the colony li ring 

 1878, J879, 1880 and ihe first qmirlcr of 1881, to be is.C'bO L'70i 

 of the value of £159,110 ; aud, us the evidence given before 

 the committee seems to fear out the conclusion that not more 

 than one rabbit is found for every ten killed, some idea may 



be formed of the swarms of the little pest with which the 

 colony is infested. 



That New Zealand should, notwithstanding this heavy 

 handicap on one of its main industries, continue to flourish 

 and progress, is a striking proof of its natural advantages and 

 resources, aud of the energy and enterprise of its population. 



Dunedin, Jf. Z., Nov. S, 1881. L. M. 



HABITS OF WOODPECKERS. 



Hoosiek Hail, Ind., Dec. 1, 1881, 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



In a communication touching upon the food, etc., etc., of 

 squirrels, which appeared in the Forest am> Streaai of 

 November 10, I stated that the woodpeckers were busily 

 laying up their winter's store of beech-nuts, to which state- 

 ment you put an interrogation point. 



That woodpeckers — the red-headed kind in particular — do 

 not depend exclusively upon insect food tori heir subsistence, 

 end that they do lay up stores of nuts in autumn for use in 

 winter's bleak days, is a fact with which I have been familiar 

 for many years, and considered it an accepted fact by all 

 observers of the habits of these birds. 



In the early summer time, when the cherries aud various 

 kinds of berries are ripe, no bird is found a more persistent 

 frequenter of the trees and vines than the red-head wood- 

 pecker. In the summer and fall, when the apples hang ripe 

 and tempting in the orchards, the woodpecker allows the tat 

 wood-woim to gnaw away beneath the tree-bark in peace 

 and safety, while perched on an apple hanging to some 

 slender bough, swinging in the mellow bteezes, he gouges 

 out mouthfuls of the juicy fruit. 



Then in autumn, when the acorns, beech nuts and chest- 

 nuts ripen, this red capped forager goes to work with a will, 

 and from rosy morn till dusky eve busily gathers and hides 

 away in holes and crevices in the trees generous stores of 

 nuts, on which he feasts during the dreary winter days. 



A few days since I examined an old beech-snag or stump 

 some forly feet long, wilh the sip-wood soft with decay unci 

 full of burrows and tunnels made by the wood-worm, which 

 had recently been prostrated to the earth, and found pints of 

 beech nuts stowed away in the holes and cracks. From one 

 hole, originally made by a wood-worm, but enlarged by the 

 woodpecker so that at the surface the hole barely admitted a 

 nut, but deeper in widened out sufficiently large to chamber 

 two or three, I extracted six plump nuts, and the circumfer- 

 ence of the tree was perforated with hundreds of just such 

 store-houses, hi some of the holes I noticed the hull of the 

 nut remaining, the bird having pecked away the seed aud 

 removed ihe sweet kernel. The treasures secreted in this old 

 tree evidently belonged to one bird, for, so far as my observ- 

 ations go, each bird selects a tree for its operations, and 

 defends it bravely against all comers. 



The cunning squirrel, who loves nuts better than the birds 

 do worms, frequently while in search of provender discovers 1 

 the hidden treasures of the woodpecker, and in attempting 

 to secure the booty he soon discovers that he has a first-class 

 fight on hand, and after the ferocious bird has rained down 

 on his unprotected pelt a shower of fiercely-delivered blows 

 with its ivory-pointed beak, the squirrel suddenly remembers 

 that he has important business elsewhere, aud departs on the 

 double quick. This very day I witnessed a fight between a 

 red-headed and a golden-winged woodpecker, caused by the 

 latter bird trying to steal some of his red-headed brother's 

 treasures, and he was compelled to abandon his pillaging 

 opera' ions, aud beat a hasty retreat, although much the larger 

 bird of the two. 



An inch auger-hole in a gate-p03t, standing near my house, 

 wasselected by an ambitious red- headed woodpecker as a likely 

 place for storing away a few nuts for future reference, and 

 after cramming the hole full of nuts the bird plugged it up 

 with a piece of bark. Wishing to test his watchfulness I re- 

 moved the bark and the nuts. On the following day the bi:d 

 discovered his loss, and alter considerable fussing and scold- 

 ing, went to work again, and refilled the hole and scaled it 

 up with a piece of tough bark. 



When the beech-nut crop fails, few, if any, red-headed 

 woodpeckers winter over in these parts, but when Ihe crop 

 is abundant, as it is this season, hundreds remain the winter 

 through and brighten aad cheer the desolateness of the for- 

 ests with their presence aud vpicp.*. U. Beekk. 



Fkebisbobo. 



I am surprised to learn that the red headed woodpecker 

 is a winter resident as far nor. h as Lewis Co., N. Y. In 

 all my winter tramps in the woods for the past thirty years I 

 have never once seen him nor any woodpecker hut, the hairy 

 and dowuy, which are common, and the pileated, which is 

 not common. One day — since the first of this month — 1 

 thought I heard the peculiar tree- toad-like note of a Ted 

 headed, and I never before heard it so late in Ihe season. 



Thompson, in his " Vermont," puts this bird down as a 

 migrant, and, as concerns this State, he certainly is not a 

 winter resident. R. E. R. 



VlCKSOTRG, Mis3. 



Information is asked for by your correspondent, "Ned 

 Buutline," as to the habits of Ihe red headed woodpecker. 

 This bird is migratory in its habits ; makes its appearance in 

 this section early in the spring, stays the summer and fall 

 months, and disappears in cold weather. Some, however, 

 spend the winter with us, but are soldom seen, as they repair 

 to the dense forest for protection from the cold. Their ap- 

 pearance in the spring needs no herald to introduce them to 

 your notice. The first intimation of their coming will be 

 signal ized by a grand hammering on the top of some dead 

 tree, and if the male bird can find a shivered piece of timber 

 to vibrate to his hammering, he is in the height of his glory. 

 This is the season for mating, and there can be witnessed a 

 pantomime of love-making not surpassed on the stage. 

 Should the male bird be successful in winning a Companion, 

 they busily engage themselves in building a house for their 

 future abode. In this they never make a mistake ; no archi- 

 tect is consulted, no plan is agreed On. no alteration is made 

 in any building they undertake, each being by nature a per- 

 fect architect. They raise two to ihree Broods of young a 

 year aud generally about, five young iu each brood. They 

 are great insect feeders, but, have a wonderful appetite for 

 fruits, nuts and corn. The first fruit that ripens is the na- 

 tive black mulberry, of which they are exceedingly fond. 

 Then they feed on raspberries, grapes, peaches and apples. 

 As soon as the Indian corn is in roasting ear, they take to 

 the fields aud feed I m that. In the fall months they eat bhek- 

 gum berries, hackberries, beechnuts and acorns. The beech- 

 nuts and acorns they gal her and store away for future con- 

 sumption. Faithfully do they apply themselves to r.he lask 

 of packing every nook, crack and hole with these fruits, and 



when driven from their homes to seek a temporary shelter in 

 a warmer land, they know by instinct that they will still be 

 in store for them on t heir return. But i he blue- j ay stays Deb ind, 

 and when the woodpecker is far off in his sunny home, steals 

 from the larder of a more provident bird. The woodpecker, 

 the provider ; the poacher, the jay. And often have 1, when 

 listening to the receding notes of a pack in full cry, or whan 

 listening to the faint strut of a distant gobbler, been vexed 

 by the incessant hammering of these little birds. But yet, 

 '■ Ned," T love them still. I love them because they are so 

 affectionate to their mates. I love them because they are so 

 kind to their young. I love them because they rid my prem- 

 ises of insect pests. I love them because their incessant noise 

 relieves the monotony of a bachelor's life. Lowndes. 



Stanley, New Jersey, Dec. 0, 1881. 

 When returning from school the other day, I noticed a 

 young redheaded woodpecker (Mebinerpen crythrwephaliis) 

 on a post, busily pecking at something. He allowed me to 

 approach quite close to him without flying. When I went 

 up to the post I found that he had been eating acorns. He 

 had excavated a small hole in the top of the post, in which 

 he placed the acorns, so they would not slip when he cracked 

 them. There was a crack in the post, in which he had put 

 unoth-r acorn. It must have been his habit to eat his food 

 there daily, for the ground was strewn with shells. 



Harrt Page. 



THE COLORING OF RUFFED GROUSE. 



New York, Deo. 9. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Iu your issue of Dec. 8, " Stanstead" gives "Eight 

 Kules for Treeing Grouse." It seems to me that if a person 

 who had hunted grouse in any part of Ihe country, except 

 Northern Vermont and Canada, should try to make a bag of 

 birds according to the eight rules, he would meet with very 

 poor success. I have hunted grouse more than anv other 

 bird, anrl, a3 a naturalist, have studied their habits very 

 iosely, but should not dare to give any set of rules, because 

 each individual bird is liable to change his mind after he 

 s arts, and only a thorough knowledge of the ground, and of 

 the habits of the grouse, will enable one to find birds success- 

 fully. 



Although " Stanstead's" rules are undoubtedly very good 

 for his locality, they would not answer for Connecticut, where 

 it is a rare thing for a grouse to alight in a tree ; nor iu parts 

 of Maine where I have hunted, and where it was the excep- 

 tion for a bird to alight on the ground. Most of my shoot- 

 ing has been in New York and Pennsylvania, in localities 

 ■here grouse were so plentiful that it was not worth while 

 following one up, nor trying to find him if he went into a 

 tree; but ''Stanstead's" rule 1st is exactly revers<d in these 

 two Stales. Hews "When this bird has been flushed on 

 level ground, should he fly swift and low out of sight, he will 

 usually swing to the left, and alight on the ground." Now, 

 according to my experience, abird tliattlies low always alights 

 in a tree at the end of his flight, but a bird that flies high 

 alights on the ground. 



Every hunter who has enjoyed a thorough experience with 

 the ruffed grouse knows how the habits of the bird vary in 

 different localities. But; now let us bring up a new subject in 

 regard to local variations, and that is the variation in color 

 of ruffed grouse from different sections of the country. 

 This is a subject that I tried to have discussed in the Forest 

 and Stream several years ago, but no one seemed disposod 

 to answer. 



In Ne i England I have found tlw prevailing color of the 

 grouse to be of an ashy gray. In Pennsylvania the color is 

 lawny, almost approaching a ied in some specimens. In 

 eastern New York both red and grav birds are found, but 

 gray is the principal color. In western New York this is 

 reversed, und a gray biid Is the. exception If we draw a 

 line on the map, then, from Boston to Pittsburgh, we shall 

 find the Tiiffed grouse at the Boston end to be of a decided 

 gray. As the line passes through New York the gray will 

 merge into the tawny type, and at the Pittsburgh end of the 

 line we shall not find any grouss that are not red. 



I have not had an opportunity to examine Urge quantities 

 of gr use front other States than those mentioned, but have 

 examined hundreds of specimens from the States in question. 

 Neither age nor sex seems to have any influence in this color 

 distinction, anymore than they have in determining the color 

 of Ihe mottled owl [Scops wrio). If correspondents wish to 

 t.ake up this matter of color in the ruffed grouse, they will 

 And that the tail of the bird displays the type better than 

 any of the other fealhers: and if they will carefully notice 

 the hirds in their respective, sections of the country, and not 

 speak from memory, we shall have contributions on the sub- 

 ject that will be valuable to the naturalist and iuteres iug to 

 ihe rest of hunting mankind. Maek West. 

 . — .». 



An E*ole's Fight wvrn Geese. — Our correspondent, 

 Jacobstaff, last Week related an experience with an eagle, 

 which we supplement herewith an extract from the Little 

 Bock, Ark., correspondence of the St. Louis Globe- Demoorat 

 of Nov. 28. ne says: "A gentleman from Stone county 

 gives the particulars of a remirkable incident which ho wit- 

 nessed while crossing White River on the ferry just above 

 tbe mouth of Sycamore Creek. When nearly half way across 

 the stream an en ainnus eagle swooped down on a ilock of 

 geese which were swimming in the river tome eighty rods 

 below ihe boat. The fowls upon observing the eagle ap- 

 proaching instinctively dived under the water just as the bird 

 struck i lie waves. Baffled in the first assault, the eagle flew 

 slowly upward, and when Ihe geese came to $ha surface 

 darted dowuwatd again, and burying its talon* in one of 

 them attempted to bear it away. The goose struggled 

 violently, while its companions Bwarn around it uttering 

 shrill cries, and the persons on the ferryboat watched the 

 strange scene with keen interest. Once the eagle lifted its 

 prey clear out of the water, ami seemed on the point of 

 conveying it to Ihe mountain cliff that rose grandiy in the 

 air on ihe Other side Of the stream, but, the struggles of the 

 i i downward. When water was again 



reached the goose made a supreme effort and plunged below 

 Ihe surface, dragging the eagle alter it, and causing the 

 latter to loosen its hold and rise upward wilh a fierce scream. 

 The eagle next attacked another goose, but with the same 

 result, being compelled to relinquish its hold when its in- 

 tended victim plunged beneath the waves. This strange 

 contest lasted fully thirty minu'es. at the end of which time 

 the eagle gave up the fight, and. rising, soared away to the 

 nlOTintftina westward, while the B -warn further 



down the stream. None of the flock were k lied, hut ihe 

 water in the vicinity was dyed with blood, and the furface 

 of the stream was covered with feathers for a considerable 

 distance." 



