WITH EL AND BEN ON THE MUSKINGUM. 
Rubus nutkanus. The Sewellel does not hi- 
bernate at low elevations, but must do so 
on the higher mountains, as it does not 
seem to make “hay” of its fodder, as the 
Pika does. 
The eyes are exceedingly small and gen- 
erally covered with a milky film; they do 
not seem to be of any use to the animal, 
as the following incident will show. I 
had set a trap in the mouth of a hole, and 
next morning found 2 “mountain beavers” 
jammed in the hole, fighting the 
trap. I thought at first both were caught, 
and got down on my hands and knees to 
examine them, when I saw that only one 
foot was in the trap. After careful selec- 
tion, I grabbed by the nape of the neck, as 
I thought, the free animal, and dragged 
2159 
it out, but found I had the trapped one. 
The other bolted down the hole before 
I could make another grab. Another time 
I wished to liberate one which was al- 
most without hair on the anterior half of 
its body, and therefore of little value as 
a specimen. I sprung the jaws of the 
trap open, while the animal made a vigor- 
ous onslaught on my feet. When free it 
still continued to fight. Twice I kicked 
it down its hole, only to have it rush out 
and attack my feet again. The third time 
it scuttled down its hole out of sight. 
The rodents vary little in color, being 
much like a woolly muskrat of a light 
color. The young are generally a little 
darker than adults. Size about the same as 
a muskrat or a trifle larger. 

With AND BRIN 
DR. G. 
“Well, how is the dog doing? Do you 
think he will be in good shape when the 
season opens?” Such were the ques- 
tions with which I had greeted El every 
time we met, for at least 3 months before 
the quail season began. We live near the 
Muskingum river, and on both bottom 
lands and hills on either side of that placid 
stream quail flourish and multiply. The 
ripening rattle of rag weeds in the bottom 
invite them to grow fat while yet they 
live, and ample opportunities are here af- 
forded the wily Ivimrod to try his skil\ 
with dog and gun. 
El is the possessor of a beautiful Eng- 
lish setter which he has owned since it 
was 2 months old, and he values it above 
any other of his earthly possessions. Ben, 
for that is the dog’s name, has been so 
thoroughly trained he almost seems to 
possess reason. The summer days grad- 
ually grew shorter, the forest changed its 
coat of green for one of brown and gold, 
the fallen leaves were inanimate evidence 
of heavy frosts, and November was at 
hand. 
El appeared at my place early on the 
MOGMno Chosen ion Otm.aumt) his) 12 
gauge hammerless on his shoulder, and 
Ben at his heels frisking with unusual 
vigor. Ben sallied forth and began hunting 
in elegant style. It was but a short time 
before he suddenly stopped and stood as 
if petrified, looking straight ahead. We 
began our nervous march toward him, and 
the only audible sound was El’s afterward 
familiar, ‘Steady, Ben, steady.” When 
we were within 6 feet of the dog, up rose 
a flock of about 15 birds. We each got 2 
shots; I pointing mv gun at the whole 
flock and missing all. One fell to El’s 
- in that direction. 
ON THE MUSKINGUM, 
L. LYNE. 
last shot. Ben retrieved the game grace- 
fully and was rewarded with many kind 
and encouraging words. We started on 
and sent the dog around to the right and 
Ech mLOn thes lem: — Not (many mimuiutes 
elapsed before he again stopped; this 
time his nose pointing to the left at an 
angle with his body of about 70 degrees. 
A peculiar incident at this juncture proved 
the thoroughness of his training. We 
were closing in on him when out jumped 
a rabbit and made an arc of a circle around 
the dog and not more than 5 feet from 
his nose. Ben once had his hair ruffled 
by a load of birdshot by his trainer for 
running a cotton-tail, and he surely car- 
ried to this day the memory of that re- 
proof. He saw the rabbit pass, for there 
was apparent a tremor of his muscles, but 
he neither moved nor took his eyes from 
the spot at which he was looking. We 
got only a few steps closer when the birds 
flushed, and down came 2; each of us 
missing the first shot. 
The next point Ben made was in an 
old orchard, and the covey escaped with- 
out losing a feather. Thus we put in the 
forenoon, or at least until our hungry 
stomachs began to grow burdensome 
with an emptiness that was complete. We 
sat down at the root of an apple tree, and 
did justice to the lunch we had brought. 
Dried beef and crackers never tasted 
better. 
After talking over the forenoon’s 
experience the quail had nearly all flown 
toward the hills, and so we decided to go 
Many of the hills were 
crowded with a thick growth of under- 
brush and there hunting was almost im- 
possible, but we soon found a field where 
