443 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jaotaet 5, 1882. 



lion, but authorities seem to agree that the young of the 

 above species, and probably also"^. alMfrons resemble each 

 other to a greater or less extent. As all ornithologists know 

 how difficult it is to identify immature members of many 

 closely allied species without a long series of specimens for 

 comparison, any single statement' of the supposed change 

 from one of these forms into the other should be accepted 

 with much caution, particularly when it can be shown that 

 a considerable number of individuals, at least seven years 

 old, nave nut. gone through the transition. — Aexhtjb Erwin 

 Brown. 



The Sparrow Pjist.— South Norwalk, Dec. 23, 1881.— 

 Your article on the sparrow curse in Australia should be 

 read by every farmer and fruit grower in America. It can- 

 not fail to open the eyes of the most skeptical to the dest.ruct- 

 iveness of this importation from old England. As you 

 have already given much valuable space to this subject, I 

 will make my remarks as brier as possible. I have three 

 large bird houses on my place, each house containing seventy 

 or seventy-five compartments, making 825 nesting places. 

 They were formerly occupied by bluebirds and other birds. 

 The sparrows have driven all these entirely off my place. 

 Fpr six months in the year every compartment in these 

 houses is occupied by them in breeding, and the backs of 

 nearly all signs over the stores in the town are used by them 

 for that purpose, causing much annoyance to the ownerB. 

 To say that the sparrows are very prolific is simply drawing 

 it mild. "Within a few years they have iucn ased to an alarm- 

 ing extent, and if not checked will become more numerous 

 than the leaves on the trees. A general war of extermina- 

 tion should be waged on them by every one. The past two 

 years they have destroyed every grape on my arbor, picking 

 each berry on a bunch as fast as it ripened. 1 have a friend 

 whose peach buds were all destroyed by them, they 

 not leaving one on a tree. They commence nesting in the 

 houses as early as February, and I shall shoot them off 

 as fast as they go to them. In I he fall and at this season of the 

 year they collect in large flocks and offer good opportunities 

 to make "pot shots." Tour humble servant has made some 

 heavy ones by scattering cracked corn and oats near the 

 thick shrubbery, where tliey come to roost at sundown in 

 large flocks. I have an 8-bore gun, and with 2 oz. No. 10 

 shot, backed by six drachms of powder, one barrel directed 

 on them while feeding, the other just on the hop, this 

 arm will do more to exterminate them than anything else I 

 know of. They are very cunning, and after one or two pot 

 shots of this kind will not alight on the ground to feed 

 within a long distance of wbcre the shots have been made. 

 Poisoned grain and water will not work to nny great extent, 

 as Iheysoon take the hint. Shooting them, breaking up 

 their nests, and offering a bounty for their scalps aud eggs 

 will be the only way to get the upper hand of this most de- 

 structive of birds.— F. B. 



The White-headed Eagle as a Fisherman — Sioux 

 Oily, la., Dec. 1'J, 1881.— Sditor Forest and Stream: To 

 corroborate your reply to " Jack." in your paper of the 15 h, 

 with reference to the fishing propensities of the bald eagle, 

 I have to advise that during" the past fall, when on a hunting 

 and bird observing tour on Lake of the Woods, B. A., my 

 companion, Mr. George Mitchell, informed me that many 

 times he had watched the eagle of that section catch fish. 

 Oftentimes the fish would be so large -his estimate of six to 

 eight pounds — aB to be almost too heavy for the eagle to 

 carry off. In 1874 on the Muskig, a tributary to the Lake 

 of the Woods, Mr. Mitchell killed a very large eagle whose 

 head was just turning gray, and which was shot while in the 

 act of lulling a fish it had" just caught, my informant having 

 witnessed the catching. Mr. M. has, for a number of years, 

 been a resident of this lake country, and who lives at 

 Rat Portage, on the north end of the lake, and he is well 

 acquainted with the habits of the osprey and other birds of 

 that section, and having confidence in his statements, and 

 from the description given me, I am convinced that the 

 fishers this gentleman has so many times noticed are none 

 other than 'our " Bird of Washington," emblem of the 

 Nation— vfla&fflito Uucoeephalus.—'D. H. Talbot. 



gfwff* §<ig and <§/w. 



THE CARE OF LIVE QUAIL. 



Si'rtngfikld, Mass., December, 1881, 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I have lately received from gentlemen in different locaH- 

 ties many letters making inquiries about quail ; and though 

 I would be glad to answer each one in detail, it would take 

 more time than I have to spare ; and the fact that I have 

 been for over a year under treatment for my eyes, aud am 

 still under strict orders from physicians to use them " little 

 as possible, and for only necessary work," compels me to ask, 

 through courtesy cf Forkist aud Stream, the privilege of 

 answering some of the many questions, and giving such in- 

 formation as a little expeiience has taught me, and she is 

 said to be a wise teacher. 



A correspondent asks : "Will they breed in confinement ?" 

 1 have never tried the experiment, and do not think it would 

 succeed with birds taken wild. Birds hatched under chickens 

 are said to be easily tamed, and I learn upon good authority 

 that a farmer, only a few miles from here, now bus quite a 

 brood that live and feed with bis chickens and arc equally 

 tame. I am told that his mowing machine killed the old bird 

 last summer. He caught the young, took them home and 

 put them with his chickens. I shall drive out, my first op- 

 portunity, and learn the truth of it : think it will prove that 

 he took the eggs and hatched them under a domestic fowl, 

 aB the young, even when very young, are hard to catch. 

 ItfceeiM reasonable to believe that these birds will mate in 

 the season. 



" Do they become tame v. 1 er keeping a while i" No : not 

 by any method of handling i have ever practiced. On the 

 contrary, those that we liberated last April had been kept, 

 most of them, through the wilder, aud though tea and 

 watered every day. grew more wild the longer kept. Same 

 is the case so far this year. 



"Can I keep them in a barnr" Should advise not, for 

 unlets their wings are trimmed they will soon batter their 

 brains out. Better not to mutilate them in any way ; but if 

 Si i, pull out the Hying feathers from one wing. It may have 

 to he dime mmc than ODCfl m a reason, as they soon grow 

 out. If l.licy are cut they will not, grow until after the 

 moulting season : and if the birds are liberated in this eon 

 litiou l hey will BOOB be prey for the ekuuk (their worst 



enemy) as they must walk to their resting place for the night 

 and leave a trail easily followed, instead of making a flight 

 to it, as is their custom. I speak of skunks as their worst 

 enemy. These vermin are constantly ruunicg about, night 

 and day, and if they cannot take the old bird on her nest, 

 they will suck the eggs. Hawks are also very destructive in 

 winter. I have Eeen,' when fox hunting, one" or two bawks 

 in the neighborhood of a nice bevy of quail, which would 

 dwindle day by day until only a few feathers were left to tell 

 the story. The birds arc a shining mark on the snow while 

 feeding, and getting terrified, become aii easy prey for the 

 hawk. 



"How much do they cost ?" This must be guessed at, as 

 it cannot well be estimated. Shippers usually charge $2 

 per dozen. Not more than half will live, which makes the 

 cost 84. Add, perhaps, $1 transportation charges, and you 

 have something near first cost. The best success we ever had 

 was to save forty out of a shipment of fifty birds. Of the 

 last lot received forty-five were sent j sixteen were dead 

 when received, and at the end of four days only nine were 

 alive. None die after the first week; they then grow fat 

 and strong. Why this mortality at first I cannot explain 

 The cages indicate rather rough handling by transportation 

 companies. Possibly a little water put in for them to drink 

 during the four or five days' journey would help them, but 

 perhaps it is too much to ask, as the companies are only paid 

 for carrying. The fact is that the cage this last lot of birds 

 came in was the same one sent us from Messina with 200 

 birds in. They were over two months on the way, and not 

 one in the whole lot died, or was in any way disabled. It 

 looks as if the native birds were very weak or the express- 

 men very strong. 



One correspondent says he would prefer not to buy the 

 birds before March or April, even if they cost more, as he 

 has no suitable place to keep them. Last year we could not 

 get any after February, as the season was such they could 

 not be taken. One must recollect that the spring is earlier 

 in Tennessee than in Massachusetts. A few hours' work 

 will make cages to keep them in, and the barn, if no cats or 

 rats are around, is as good as any place to keep them. The 

 boxes I have used are about five feet square, and seveu 

 inches deep, with holes bored in side and ends, and covered 

 with lath, leaving spaces of about an inch, with feed trough 

 at one end extending whole length. These boxes will keep 

 fifty birds each comfortably. Give them fresh water every 

 day and feed mixed seeds, rye, oats, wheat, buckwheat, , 

 cracked corn, etc. Put in clean sand occasionally, aud hay- 

 seed ; sweepings from barn floor are excellent for them. Be 

 careful when making box that it does not exceed seven 

 inches in depth, for it is in flying up that they do themselves 

 the greatest injury, and they are liable to be panic stricken 

 any hour of the night. What causes the alarm I do not 

 know, but have frequently, on hearing the commotion, gone 

 into the room and turned on the gas, when all would quiet 

 down, but dirt and feathers would be found flying from 

 every cage, and a good many sore heads in the morning. 



A "correspondent from a hill town of Hampshire county, 

 this State, asks if they would probably eat seeds from the 

 weeds and support themselves. They probably would, un- 

 less something else was provided, but only uutil they could 

 find some locality furnishing grain stubble. They are great 

 travelers, and will go until they find feeding grounds to suit. 

 The thing for him to do is to sow broadcast on ground, not 

 nultivated, grain of different kinds. Enough will come up. 

 Do not cut it. See that it is sown near running water 

 and good birch or alder cover. 



When liberating the birds sec that they are well dis- 

 tributed. Don't put many in a place ; two pairs is better 

 than more. We have attained best results in this way, and 

 put them about a mile apart. Wm. M. Wh.t.iamr. 



Marietta, Ohio, Dec. 26, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



In your issue of Dec. 22, your correspondent "Verde 

 Monte" asks if it is difficult to keep quails in confinement. 

 I am a lover of birds and have had some experience in just 

 this thing. 



Two years ago I bought ten quails and put them in a cage 

 which I had made for them, 24 feet long, 7 feet high and 6 

 feet wide. A small part of it was tight or inclosed— the 

 front and open part shut in simply with laths 7 feet long and 

 1 inch apart. The quail were very wild and would By from 

 end to end in a full rush against, the laths ; but they soon 

 learned that it bruised and hurt them, and in a few days 

 quit it. I kept them all the winter and until midsummer, 

 when I opened the door and let, them out. 



The}' became in a measure tame or at least quiet and I en- 

 joyed very much their answer to my call of " Bob While." 

 When I came home at noon I would rap upon the window- 

 sill looking out upon their cage ; they would jump upon the 

 perches and answer me back as I softly whistled their beau- 

 lif ulnotes— and very beautiful creatures they were. 



I fed them screenings, corn, wheat, and kept a cake of 

 cracklings or residue from the lard kettle all the time in the 

 cage. I remember with what avidity they ate the seventeen- 

 year locusts we gathered for them during the summer. 



A box filled with straw or some covert place is necessary 

 for them to hide and rest in. I have had a new cage, half 

 tight and half open and a very much better one made this 

 fall, in which I have at present twelve beautiful qnailB, and 

 I expect in a few days twelve more. I have also a wire 

 cage (woven wire) about 10 feet square and Yd feet high 

 in which 1 have kept ten red birds for several months. Dur- 

 ing the fall I sent to Bhelbyville, Tenn., for live quail, and 

 the birds came all right. I hope soon to get more from the 

 Indian Territory and iilsa from Texas, aud am also expect- 

 ing four or five praiiie hens from Kansas. fl. B. S. 



A Game Christmas Tree.— Buffalo Farm, Forest County, 

 Pa., Dec. 24. — A wide spreading apple tree in front of the 

 old farm house. Suspended from the limbs are eight deer — 

 four fawns, one yearling spike, one three-prong and a four- 

 prong buck, and one large doe ; five large white hare, or rab- 

 bit, as they are called here ; numerous black and gray squir- 

 rels aud ruffed grouse; also the skin of a porcupine. This 

 fully describes our Christmas tree. I will say to the many 

 readers of your valuable paper that we cooked and eat the 

 porcupine, and found the meat nicely flavored, and 1 think 

 wholesome. I have never known of the "porky," as we 

 call it, being used as an article of food, and would like to 

 know if others have thud it. Deer are quite numerous and 

 very fat. Fawns nil very small, the cause being the very dry 

 Bummer. There have been about, sixty deer killed within a 

 radius of ten miles, by different partita, all still hunters. 1 

 have heard of no dugs as yet, and think it would not he 

 In -nl'liy for any in this section. Our party, of tn'ee, use 

 Saarn'g, Winchester aud auxiliary rifje$. — Laijubiah Owl 



UNDER THE SHADOW OF WHITE TOP. 



Under tub Greenwood True, I 

 Washington County, Va., Dec. 24. ) 



AB our open season for game is drawing rapidly to its end, 

 along with the closing year, perhaps a few notes from 

 this remote corner, overshadowed by the mighty White Top, 

 king of all the \ T irginia mountains, may not be unwelcome 

 to the Forest and Stream, 



In most localities west of the Blue Ridge quails have been 

 less numerous than usual, no doubt chiefly owing to the cruel 

 cold of last winter, as the past hatching season was excep- 

 tionally favourable. Here and there, however, iu well 

 sheltered valleys it has been possible to make a good bag. A 

 few days ago, four gentlemen of this neighborhood, all square 

 and honest shooters, bagged fifty-one quail and five hares 

 before 12 o'clock, when the weather grew so stormy as to 

 drive them from the field, and all four confessed to having 

 shot badly, and to having done great injustice to their oppor- 

 tunities. Ruffed grouse (called here pheasants) are very 

 abundant, but it is no child's play to beat the ground where 

 they "do mostly congregate." He is lucky or skillful indeed 

 who brings back half a dozen from a day's tramp. Ducks 

 are unusually scarce on the mill ponds and on the various 

 branches of the Holston River, perhaps because, so far, we 

 have had no winter. One swan " rarissima avis in hU 

 lerris," a straggler from some passing battalion, lost,nodoubt, 

 and perplexed in the extreme, has been shot on a neighbor- 

 ing mill pond, the "first seen here for many years." There 

 are a few wild pigeons, and the woods are fairly alive with 

 gray squirrels, that time-honored delight of the ancient 

 countryman with a gun taller than himself, or a mountain 

 rifle carrying a bullet of a hundred and forty to the pound, 

 wild turkeys and bears are scarce, but are to be had by the 

 persevering. Two bears were killed ten days ago on the slopes 

 of old White Top. 



The last deer hunt of the local club would have been most 

 enjoyable, even without the trophies which marked its suc- 

 cess. Those who only see the mountains in the glow of 

 summer know less than nothing of what their beanty is; and 

 on this occasion, landscape, weather, noble dogs, the presence 

 of charming and gracious ladies, all combined to make a per- 

 fect scene, long, long to be remembered. The meet was on 

 a height, crowned with grand old oaks and overlooking the 

 lovely valley of the Holston. Our leader 



" Blew an Inspiring air, that dale and thicket rurg, 



The limner's cull In 1'ium and lintel known, 



TUe oak-crowned sisters and their eiaawteaw ed queen, 



Satyra and sylvan boys were seen 



Peeping forth (roin their alleys green;" 



and away, away flew the hunt, the "notes of the mellow horn 

 by distance made more sweet " mingling with the. ringing 

 echoes of hoof and hound. Twas enough to quicken a 

 graven image into life. The trophies of the day were two 

 bucks, one to the gun of W., the other to thai of R., both 

 of them crack shots and good sportsmen ; aud if any of the 

 readers of Forest and Stream think it nothing to knock 

 over a deer from the saddle at 50 to 80 yards, while both 

 hunter and hunted are going at racing speed, and every 

 muscle is quivering with the excitement of the chase, why, 

 all I have to say is " Let them try it." But I might say of 

 such sport as good old Walton said of sometning el.,.: 

 " This is too good save for very honest men." 



Later I will send you notes of our late sojourn on one of 

 the great sora marshes of the coast, with its mixture of all 

 sorts of sport. Demhgh. 



■ i ii i 



STATE PIGEON TOURNAMENTS. 



BS GT.OAN. 



THE indorsements you have already received of your 

 views in condemnation of wholesale pigeon shooting 

 have been so numerous and strong that probably any other 

 is superfluous, but yet I would like to add my concurrence, 

 which has been unavoidably delayed. 



I never could understand how such a practice came to be 

 tolerated at the meetings of sportsmen's conventions. I 

 never could understand how any competition for gain, bring- 

 ing with it the usual concomitants of gambling for money, 

 could be considered a brauch of sportsmanship or an ad- 

 junct of fiefd sports. 



It has been a task arduous enough, in all conscience, to 

 educate the American public up to the point ttey have now 

 reached as to sportsmen and game preservation. And even 

 yet, outside of a few large cities, I fear that by the majority 

 of the people, the name sportsman is held to meau a sport- 

 ing man— i. e., a gambler, and that having gone that !ar in 

 nomenclature, they generally go a little farther, and associ- 

 ate the name with criminal practices. 



It has been the effort of your puper aud of j-our co-labor- 

 ers to remove this prejudice and ignorance, and to endeavor 

 to inculcate a knowledge of the benefits to be gained to the 

 individual from out-door life, and the good to be derived by 

 the masses by the supply of cheap and nourishing food. 



But how fataliy are these efforts counteracted by the an- 

 nual meetings of some of the clubs. There are gathered to- 

 gether ostensibly the very pick and Sower of "sportsmen, 

 presumably the best representatives of the game and fish 

 preserving sentiment, and the highest attraction offered in 

 the contest at the traps, with cither money or money's 

 worth at stake, to be contended for with all the eagerness of 

 gladiators. Heart-burnings, jealousies aud disappointments 

 are not, in some instances, the only results Of this si rife. 

 Charges of foul play have been too frequently mad e, ami, if 

 not proved, have nevertheless been believed and constantly 

 reiterated, 



This is not the way to promote high sportsmanship in tbiB 

 country. We may talk as we please of the open air, the 

 beautiful sky, the green fields and the sparkling brooks, 

 which bring bloom to the cheek and vigor to the frame, but 

 these will be of no avail if it is supposed that to be a sports- 

 man is to run a risk of a perversion of the moral tone, worse 

 may be. than physical disease. 



We should draw the line here as it drawn is in England. 

 There they have no such difficulties as we have as to game pre- 

 servation. Consequently there do not exist at all any asso- 

 ciations similar to ours, formed for such purposes. There 

 is no need of them. There are many gun clubs existing, 

 however, of high and low degree, all devoted to pr ze pigeon 

 shooting, and men of title and men known to be fine field 

 shots and keen sportsmen belong to them. 



And it is distinctly understood and accepted, that when 

 they gp to the gun clubs l,o shoot, they go there, Dot as 

 sportsmen or as garni: preservers, but solely and simply to 

 win mouey by their skill with the gun, precisely as they 

 would go to a card club to win money by their skill with 

 cards, and they are estimated accordingly . 



