[DBOBMBBB 23, 1881. 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



407 



my clearing which I never allowed to be disturbed, because 

 1 loved myself lo see and to show visiting friends, sometimes 

 as many as eighteen and twenty deer in sight from my porch 

 at once. Ttiey seemed to know they would not be harmed 

 near the house, for I never shot any within a mile, in any 

 direction, from the house. 



I had six men engaged to trap fur for me in the winter of 

 1859. And iti I he month of October alone of that year, with 

 my double-barreled rifle, made by Lewis, of Troy, I shot 

 sixty-three deer, hanging the venison up fruzen in my meat 

 house to use as we wanted, smoking and drying many hams, 

 to use on the trapping lines, several of which were over forty 

 miles long, the men carrying provisions lo last out and back 

 as they ran over their route. 



When I wanted grouse, all I had to do was to walk to a 

 birch or beech ridge and find them in flocks. A dozen or 

 more would tree at once, and by keeping up a jolly whistling, 

 I have held their attention until a half dozen Leads had been 

 decapitated with my title. I never used a shot gun while 

 in ihat region, yet scarce a day passed, when I felt like it, 

 that I did not Imve pheasant or duck on the table. 



The old guides and hunters in that section si ill talk of my 

 rifle-shooting, which, with my well-known modesty, I ac- 

 knowledge, was not bad, considering my almost daily prac- 

 tice, year in and year out. 



But this paper is long enough. Nbd Buktlinb. 

 »■ ■»■ « 



A CRITICAL EVENT. 



A JEWELED young Imp came down from the North 

 On a sleepy autumn day ; 

 His =andals shod with a silver woof, 

 His nllagree shield was sunbeam proof, 

 While high -at his back he carried a sack 

 rushes and tints ot the morning. 



He grasped a brush ot a fiery hue 



And swept it along the vales ; 



But the critical trees all quivered and said, 



With a breeze of contempt, " It Is red, brick red !" 



As he gave to his wrist a singular twist, 



Tne broad leaves much adorning. 



Nothing daunted he seized a different tint, 



W Hh an artist's eye to his work ; 



But tne trees complained that 'twas all dun gold, 



And made them yellow, sere and old ; 



So he started, alack | on a different tack. 



Their acres ot wisdom scornlog. 



pori ills sack disappeared, and his pencil turned 



To a lance of polished ice ; 



And he smote each leaf of the difficult trees 



A death Blow straight through the " shlver-de-freeze" 



Of their carping eyes, and to Paradise 



He carried their ruDes with the dawning. 



J. P. T. 



A DECEiLBEK DAT. 



AND now the bleak December day 

 Frowns grimly on the landscape gray 

 '1 he rosy clouds that tiush'd erewhile 

 The vaulted air-fields with their smile, 

 And east their soit rehected shade 

 O'er upland height and bowery glade, 

 Have faded, and a sombre vail 

 Shrouds the horizon, cold and pale. 



The woods that late I lov'd to tread 



wueo spring-time blooms were o'er them shed; 



When earliest leaves would clap their hand 



Responsive to the wind's command ; 



When, waten'd from their drowsy sleep. 



The first wood-violets would peep, 



And a laiut, tremulous tint of green. 



Would quiver o'er the vernal scene; 



And later, when the summer woods 



Were dense through all their solitudes, 



And scarce a cheimer'd ray might tall 



Athwart the forest's leafy wall— 



Those grand old woods, now brown and bare, 



Stand shivering in the bitter air, 



DespolVd of all their garlands brown, 



OE flowing robe, of royal crown, 



Dlsvob'd, uTscrown'd, all grandeur fled, 



Like kings dethroned, like monarch's dead ! 



Each knotty bole of oak and elm 



Wears cuirass bright and ley helm, 



Eusheath'd in armor, steely bright, 



Like plated mall on harness'd knight; 



And on each crystal sprig and spray, 



They, jewels of the frost display. 



The brook that late In laughter stray 'd 



With dhnpH d pool or full cascade, 



Where late the anglei's footstep trod, 



The rlower-enauiel'd, mossy sod, 



Now pallid, lifeless, mute and cold, 



Lies corpse-like in the ley told. 



The river, border'd by fair trees, 



That lean'd to catch their Images, 



Lies solid ice Horn shore to shore, 



Where fly the wild- fowl flocks no more. 



Yet merry is the winter day 

 With jingling bells and joyous sleigh; 

 with skater's laughter, and the bright 

 Gay carols of the Christmas night. 



SltcUrr Island, Dec. L 



ISAAC McLBLLAN. 



A V\ aLiiiKo Club has been organized in the Nassau Boat 

 Club, for the purpose of making pedestrian excursions into 

 the suburbs on stated days, weather permitting. The second 

 autumn walk took place on Sunday, 11th inst., from the ren- 

 dezvous at One Hundred and Thtrty-fiist street and Fourth 

 avenue, the followiug named gentli men taking part : (.'. E. 

 Goodhue (aetirg as scout in the absence of Capt. W. A. 

 Lentillon), A. P. Gould, Charles Badgley, John Jewitt, Sey- 

 mour Hall and G. W. Scott. The course led them to New 

 Rocbelle, where a hearty dinner was partaken of at the 

 Huguenot House, and ihei.ee to West Farms station, from 

 which place a liain conveyed them to this city. A bowling 

 class has also been formed, limited to twenty-five members, 

 fourteen gentlemen having thus far joined. Alleys have 

 been secured at 74 Third avenue. It is the intention of the 

 club to engage the use of a gymnasium for the winter 

 months. — H. W. Livingston. 



Batumi W¥° r U- 



THE ENEMIES OF GAME BIRDS. 



Rutland, Vt, Dec. 10, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I have been greatly entertained by reading the various 

 communications brought out in your columns in response to 

 my inquiry some weeks since, as to what had become of the 

 ruffed giouse. Your suggestion of licks seemed to me, on 

 the whole, the most rational, and I have been investigat- 

 ing it as I have had opportunity. Not having bagged a 

 bird since November 4, 1 have had no opportunity for a 

 personal examination ; but from conversation and 

 correspondence with sportsmen in various paits of the 

 country 1 am growing to believe that that is the real secret of 

 the trouble, although the authorities are not agreed. An old 

 Adirondack friend, a guide of long experience, writes me 

 that he has never seen a tick on a grouse, although he has 

 found ihem on owls, hawks and eagles. Others tell me that 

 they have often observed them on old birds, but never found 

 the young de d birds under such circumstances as to warrant 

 an indictment against the tick. One gentleman told me 

 that he shot a bird only this season that was so emaciated 

 that he made examination for the cause and found the sides 

 of the head and neck infested with burrowing insects, which 

 I suppose must have been the insects in question. Others 

 have told me that they had often observed them, but never 

 before suspected them of being destructive to either old or 

 young birds. 



The various theories that have been advanced seem to me 

 to be not well sustained. Hawks, owls, skunks', weasles 

 and squirrels were all much more abundant a year Bgo than 

 now. If they, or any of them, are the destroyers, the grouse 

 ought to be more plenty now, for their natural enemies are 

 well nigh exterminated, in this country at least. 



The theory of your Ferrisburg correspondent that they 

 were, to some extent, migratory in their habits, and have 

 gone to the back-lying towns and to the mountains, is not, I 

 tear, tenable. They are not, I think, migratory birds in any 

 sense, andsofaras their beingsbundaut in the mountain towns 

 is concerned, you will recollect that my fitst letter on this sub- 

 ject Tvas brought out by the fact that an expedition to a 

 mountain town where they were said to be in great numbers, 

 and where they are certainly not hunted to any extent, was 

 entirely barren of results. It is easy to hear of a place where 

 they are plenty, but let your correspondent verify the reports 

 and tell us about it on his return. 



A fact of great interest to us here has just transpired. A 

 large bevy of quail is known to exist in the town of Sunder- 

 land — some fifty miles south of this place. Whether the bird3 

 came naturally to that place and bred there, or whether they 

 were brought there, is not certainly known as yet. I suspect 

 the latter, however. Still, we hope that it may prove that 

 they are working their way northward, and that they may 

 become naturalized among us. 



By the way, is it difficult to keep quail in confinement 

 over winter ? 1 have a place for importing some hundred or 

 two, and liberating them in the spring ; not with any great 

 Idea that they will winter here, but in the hope that they 

 will breed here and give us a little shooting in the autumn, 

 after the woodcocks are gone. I wish some of youi corres- 

 pondents who have had experience in keeping them in con- 

 finement would give us the benefit of their experience and 

 some hints how to treat them. Verde Montb. 



Ambsburt, Mass., Dec. 1881.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Present indications this season so far point favorably for a 

 mild and open winler; snow buntings and shrikes have not 

 put in their appearance yet. Within a week 1 I have seen a 

 flock of robins numbering sixty or seveaty, and to-day I saw 

 two. Several flocks of quail have been started here this fall, 

 but very few have been shot. The disappearing of the ruf- 

 fed grouse within the last three ) ears so rapidly, without any 

 appareut cause more thst of past years, is something that 

 should interest every sportsman ; and 1 have been pleased 

 very much to see the notes bearing on it in your journal. 

 Five years ago ruffed grouse were plenty compared to what 

 they are now ; and a crack shot could bag fifty in a season's 

 shooting. This season the number can be counted on the 

 fingers. During my rambles the past three seasons I dis- 

 covered three nesls of the ruffed grouse, containing resp-.ct- 

 ively,eight, ten and eleven eggs, within five hundred yards of 

 my home ; and I had the pleasure of seeing that they all 

 hatched and left a nest of shells. Now the question to me 

 is, where did all of these young grouse disappear too ? Did 

 they die before, they matured, or were they captured by some 

 auimal or bird of prey ? In my opinion two animals most 

 destructive to the feathered trioe are the mink and the weasel. 

 Their work is so silent, their racge of territory so large, and 

 their eagerness of seatch so complete, that I believe that 

 they destroy more game around those parts than all the 

 hawks, owls and foxes put together. — Jno. O'L. 



Rangblby, M.— Editor Forest and Stream: Of the 

 grouse brought in here fully ninety per cent are old cocks. 

 If the red squirrel theory is correct, this preponderance can 

 be accounted for, as the female while nesting would be most 

 subject to attack. While hunting last spring in York 

 county, New Brunswick, the woods fairly swarmed with 

 red squirrels. Lately I have received letters from there 

 mentioning great scarcity of ruffed grouse. — Warfield. 



Thb Coloring of Ruffed Grouse— Willimantic, Ct., 

 Dec. 18.— In your issue of the 15th 1 noticed an article by 

 " Mark West" referring to the different c loring of theruffed 

 grouse in different localities. My observations are that it 

 is owing entirely to the absence or prevalence of sun-light. 

 In the spruce and hemlock forests of Maine you will find 

 this bird of a very dark grayish color when seen at a distance, 

 but on examination you will find its color to be the richest 

 blending of brown, gray aud black, shaded and tinted iu a 

 most exquisite manner, the colors being remarkably bright 

 and clear; but in the hard- wood districts, where the bird is 

 more exposed to the sun, you will find its color faded and 

 bleached. This is true particularly of Pennsylvania and 

 Virginia, where the the bird has but little close cover and 

 much more sunlight. The bird is bleached and faded in 

 color to such an extent as to destroy all the delicate shades 

 and tints above referred to. 



In Virginia, where I have shot many a one, they are so 

 nearly the color of oak leaves as to make it almost impossible 

 to see them when sitting among the leaves.— Clifpobd. 



INQUIRIES ABOUT THE SNOW GROUSE. 



New Yobs, Dec. 17, 1831. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



Permit me to thank " Homo" through the columns of your 

 valued paper for his detailed answer in this week's Forbst 

 and Stream to a note of inquiry I recently sent him relative 

 to snow geese (Anser hyperboreus) on the Delaware. 



In the early part of October I received from Wm. Lane-, 

 Good Ground, L. L, a very fine specimen of thesnowgo i=e, 

 aud immediately became interested in the species, owing to 

 the diversity of opinion regarding it. 



The older authorities generally, I think, make the snow 

 {A. hyperboreus) and the blue goose (A. mrtikscens) one 

 species, while the later authorities seem inclined to sepa- 

 rate them. I should like to enquire whether any of the 

 readers of the Forest and Stream have ever had a blue 

 goose in captivity until it changed its plumage to that of a 

 snow goose. I have one such record from a very respon- 

 sible source. I she like also to get its Atlantic coast dis- 

 tribution. We hear .... it in great numbers at Chincoteague 

 and Curritick, but on Long Island it is extremely rare. 



Any facts on either of the above punts will be appreci- 

 ated, whether received through the columns of the Forest 

 a;nd Stream, or direct. William Ddtohsr, 



Member Linnean Society of New York. 



320 Broadway, If. T. 



. «. . 



Horse Hair Snakes. — I would not bother you with this 

 note but to help disabuse the " popular mind" — certainly no 

 scientific mind ever entertained it — as to the theory that 

 horse hairs turn into snakes, as referred to by Mr. Vennor 

 in your issue of Dec. 8. He asks if any one ever saw the 

 miraculous transformation, and. of course, he will never get 

 an affirmative answer. In the fall of 1S75, S. L. WilkinsoD, 

 Esq, postmaster here, put two so-callerl hair snakes in a fruit 

 jar, and placed them in a window exposed to the sun. He 

 thought nothing of them for several days, but, on examining 

 them again, found the jar literally alive with little "sar- 

 pents" about three-quarlers of an inch long, no larger than 

 a fine human hair, and pure white in color. There whs 

 literally thousands of them present, and there were several 

 knots of them in the bottom of the jar. As hundreds saw 

 the parents and baby snakes, it would be difficult to make 

 the old story go down in this plare.— J. J. Sthanahan. 



Ctoffrin Falls, 0., Dec. 10, 1881. 



[The supposed "little sarpents" seen by Mr. Wilkinson 

 were probably broken fragments of the egg chain, and not 

 young at all. The individual eggs are very minute, and the 

 newly hatched young would scarcely be visible to the naked 

 eye. On the other hand, the chain of eggs exactly resembles 

 what our correspondent describes above/] 



How to Catoh a Tarantula.— Three years ago as I was 

 starting off on a camping trip to Mt. Diablo, CaL, I met a 

 Mr. Perkins, who was deeply interested in natural history, 

 and especially in .spiders. Knowing that tarantulas were 

 numerous in that locality, he, in a halt- joking way, asked me 

 to bring him back one. As luck would have it, the very 

 next day I saw a large larantula sunning himself on the hot 

 sand of the road. How to catch him puzzled me for some 

 time. I cut a long twig and poked him with it. He clawed 

 and bit at it furiously. This gave me an idea, and tying a 

 piece of twine to the twig and making a noose at the other 

 end, I managed to slip it over Mr. Tarantula, gave it a jerk, 

 and had him fast. The way ho doubled himself up and 

 kicked was very ludicrous ; but knowing that his bite was as 

 deadly as a rattlesnake's, I took good care to keep him at 

 arm's length. On reaching camp, I put him in a box, twine 

 and all, and a few days later delivered him to my friend alive 

 and in perfect condition. He had managed, however, to free 

 himself from the twine. He was a monster in size, and with 

 legs extended would cover a dessert|piate. 1 heard from him 

 a year ago ; he was still alive and seemingly contented in cap- 

 tivity.— Juris P. 



Boston, Dec. 11, 1881. 



THE SPARROW CURSE IN AUSTRALIA. 



IT is not so very long since the question of the usefulness 

 or injuriousness of the English sparrow was discussed at 

 length in the columns of Forest and Stream. The im- 

 portance .-f the question fully warranted the ample space that 

 was given loit, and the testimony offered on theopposing 

 side was very full, and came from men of all classes and 

 professions. Agriculturists and ornithologists alike gave 

 their views, and many of our leading scientific men presented 

 the results of their observations on the habits of the bird in 

 America. 



The evidence presented made it quite clear that on this 

 continent the sparrow, which was imparted for a certain 

 specific purpose, has not fulfilled the expectations that were 

 indulged in about him when he was fh>t broutht to these 

 shores. It had been supposed that he would be of the 

 greatest service to us, as a destroyer of insects. It was shown 

 that he lives almcst entirely on grain, seeds, buds and fruit. 

 Dissections of many individuals, made during the late 

 summer and early autumn, failed to show any considerable 

 amount of insect food in the birds' crops. Moreover, from the 

 testimony of farmers and fruit-erowers, it appears that the 

 sparrows do a great amount of damage to fruit-trees, as well 

 by feeding on the buds iu early spring as by eating the 

 ripening fruit later in the season. Ornithologists anil ob- 

 server generally, with but few exceptions, agreed in stating 

 that the sparrow is quarrelsome to the last degree, and that 

 by its pugnacity and its numbers it drives away from the 

 localities, where it abounds, our native birds which are more 

 beautiful, sweeter- voiced, more useful, and in all respects 

 more desirable than the sparrow. North America is not the 

 only foreign country into which this bird has been introduced. 



Imported into Austialia, they have so increased and nulti- 

 plied, and have proved such a curse to the farmtrs, ihat the 

 Government has been obliged to take active measures for their 

 destruction. To this end, a commission was appointed in 

 August last by His Excellency Sir William Jervois, "to in- 

 quire into and report upon the alleged injuries caused to 

 fruit-growers, gardeners, farmers and others by sparrows, 

 and to consider the desirability of taking steps for their de- 

 struction, and to report upon the best means to be employed 

 therefor." The Commission was also instructed : "With- 

 out delay to report to me (the Governor) the result of your 

 (their) investigations in the matters aforesaid." 



The progress report of tbis commission, issued in Septem- 

 ber last, shows a terrible state of affairs brought about by 

 these wretched litlle birds. An analysis of the testimony taken 

 is as follows, and shows : 



