RECREA TION. 



3«S 



President Jordan, of Stanford University, 

 has recently returned from Mazatlan, where he 

 has been spending some weeks, resting his eyes 

 and collecting the fishes of that region. More than 

 a dozen new species were obtained and many 

 new facts learned regarding hitherto known spe- 

 cies. Descriptions of all these new fishes will be 

 given in the " Fishes of North and Middle 

 America," by Jordan and Evermann, which will 

 be published by the National Museum within the 

 year. 



At a Cowboy Tournament held at the Uvalde 

 county (Texas) fair, in December last, Henry J. 

 Bowles, one of Recreation's contributors, 

 broke the world's record by roping and tying 

 down a wild steer in 29 seconds. The best 

 previous record was 33 seconds. 



Mr. Charles Klackmer, 7 West 28th street, 

 has published a large number of Mr. J. M. 

 Tracy's hunting scenes, which are sold at easy 

 prices. He also has in press some new hunting 

 pictures by a noted English artist that will be 

 issued soon. 



If a sample copy of Recreation has been 

 sent you it is by request of some friend of yours, 

 who likes it and who wants you to know of its 

 good qualities. Why not show your appreciation 

 of his courtesy by subscribing for the magazine ? 



The beautiful pictures on pages 339 to 

 342 of this issue of Recreation, were painted 

 by Mrs. M. J. Churchward. These, as well as 

 the delightful story they illustrate, will be enjoyed 

 by all lovers of nature. 



If you wish to write any of Recreation's 

 contributors, address your letters in care of this 

 office, and they will be promptly forwarded. 



TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT. 



What you and I had better do, after this very 

 unsatisfactory winter moping around home here, is 

 to go down, or up, to Virginia and West Virginia, 

 and have a real, bona fide outing. I think I can 

 find that old sportsman. He is not so old but 

 he has full knowledge of all the new-fangled fish- 

 ing-tackle and shooting irons that we use nowa- 

 days. He knows all about Virginia and West 

 Virginia. The hills and gorges and defiles are 

 filled with game this year more than ever before; 

 so I hear. Partridges, wild turkeys, grouse, pheas- 

 ants, wild pigeons, quails, rabbits and squirrels 

 are so plenty that they are running and flying 

 all over one another in the narrow passes. Then, 

 if we want real, live sport, we can go back 30 or 

 40 miles from the railroad track and hunt deer 

 and b'ar. 



But we must keep out of trouble with the 

 game laws. Every true sportsman does that, of 

 course, not for fear of the law, but on the 

 ground that game is entitled to a chance to in- 

 crease and multiply on the face of the earth, 

 same as — well — never mind that. What I was 

 going to say is that I have precise directions 

 about all that, in Virginia and West Virginia. 



My friend, Charles O. Scull, chief of the Pas- 

 senger Department of the Baltimore and Ohio 

 Railroad, Baltimore, Md., has just sent me a 

 neat little leaflet telling how to get there — all 

 about the close seasons for game and fish. Write 

 and tell him you want one — that you feel run 

 down, aching for a sight at something; want to 

 see how the fish bite down there. Mr. Scull will 

 see that you get one. 



But, wait ! I forgot about the fish. The 

 South Branch of the Potomac has the best black 

 bass in America, and they bite harder than Ham- 

 let's shrewd and nipping air. The Cheat, 

 Youghiogheny, Potomac and Monongahela are 

 great fishing streams. And they are all conven- 

 ient to Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations — 

 some of them right there ; guides waiting for a 

 job at $1.50 a day, and " found." Write to Mr. 

 Scull. It is time to think about it. 



In answer to Mr. Leasure's inquiry in April 

 Recreation, as to breeding pheasants in 

 domestication, Mr. James Morrison, who has 

 charge of Mr. Schiefifelin's country seat at 

 Tarrytown, N. Y., writes: 



"We breed a great many pheasants here of 

 different varieties, and raised over 200 young last 

 summer. I feed the young on Spratt's patent 

 game meal, crissel, bread crumbs and hard boiled 

 eggs, with a little crushed hemp and canary 

 seed, mixed in with the meal ; also onion tops 

 and lettuce, the whole minced up together. 

 The birds are fed twice a day, at S o'clock 

 in the morning and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

 Fresh water should be given twice a day — spring 

 water, if possible. Most of our golden pheas- 

 ants hatch and raise their own young ; the Lady 

 Amhersts are fine mothers, as also are the reeves 

 and silver. We have never had the vesicolors, 

 or ring necks, hatch their eggs. I have had a 

 golden cock set on the hen's eggs, hatch them, 

 and raise the chicks, 5 in number. Two broods 

 of one kind of pheasants should not be put 

 alongside of each other in the breeding season, 

 as the one male attracts the other's attention 

 all the time. A different variety of pheasants 

 maybe in the compartment between them. The 

 eggs will then be fertile, but not otherwise. 

 That is the reason I failed one year in breeding 

 reeves and several of the different kinds. The 

 partitions should be boarded up, so that the birds 

 cannot see one another." 



Marysvale, Wyo. 

 On a recent two days trip among the big game 

 on the winter range, for the purpose of making 

 photos, I saw not less than 1500 elk. They have 

 wintered unusually well. I saw not a single dead 

 elk on the range. The snow on nearly the entire 

 range had been pawed over by them, and great 

 trails broken down, to and from the rougher hills, 

 where they go to spend the day, working down 

 the valley at night. S. N. Leek. 



H. S. Smith, of Middletown, Ky., while out 

 hunting, sat down on a log to rest. His dog came 

 up to play with him and discharged his gun. The 

 charge of shot entered Mr. Smith's abdomen, and 

 he died in about an hour. 



