FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



371 



Canada jays and numerous species of small- 

 er birds. 



Many theories have been advanced in re- 

 gard to the drumming of grouse. I had 

 the opportunity to study closely no less than 

 5 birds while they were performing the act. 

 Standing erect on a log or rock, by a rapid 

 motion of its wings through the air the bird 

 produces the muffled, rumbling sound called 

 drumming. 



The greater part of my stay was at sport- 

 ing camps owned and conducted by Wm. 

 Atkins, of Oxbow, a genial host and thor- 

 ough woodsman. 



J. H. Fisher, Jr., Baltimore, Md. 



HUNTING CARIBOU IN ALASKA. 



The 25th of July, 1902, a native hunting 

 friend, 2 Malamute pack dogs and I were 

 making a 100 mile portage from Clark lake 

 to the headwaters of the Kuskokwim river, 

 and were within 20 miles of our destina- 

 tion when the native asked me if I would 

 give him time to kill a few caribou. As I 

 was making a hurried trip overland to the 

 Yukon and the mosquitoes were murderous, 

 I hesitated, and asked him how many he 

 wanted to kill. 



"Stamen" (4).. 



I decided to give him 2 hours in which 

 he could kill, skin, cut up and cover that 

 number with rocks. The caribou were feed- 

 ing within V 2 mile of us, but were scattered, 

 and it was about the tamest .shooting I 

 ever saw. The dogs were uneasy, and it 

 was all I could do to hold them, even with 

 their packs on, and fight mosquitoes between 

 times. We walked boldly up within ]/\ of 

 a mile of the first caribou, a 2 year old) 

 buck. The native had a 30-30 Winchester, 

 but would not shoot until he got within 

 150 yards. When the caribou lowered his 

 head to feed, the native crawled up and 

 killed the buck, a cow and a calf. Then a 

 large buck got curious and came tacking up 

 toward us in a zigzag course. When he 

 was within 2C0 yards he went down. There 

 was bacon on his back 4 inches thick. His 

 horns were soft, yet full grown. 



There is no excitement in hunting cari- 

 bou in this section. It is just like walking 

 into a corral and shooting cattle. The 

 moose is far different. You earn all the 

 moose meat you get. I had the pleasure of 

 meeting Mr. Osgood, of Washington, D. G, 

 and Mr. Garman, 

 of Portland, Ore., 

 members of the U. 

 S. Biological Sur- 

 vey. They had se- 

 cured many fine 

 specimens both of 

 plant and animal 

 life. L. L. Bales, 

 Seattle, Wash. 



"PROMINENT" LAW BREAKERS IN 

 TROUBLE. 



State Senator T. A. Willy and Willis Babb, of 

 Appleton, Wis., are likely to be charged with vio- 

 lating the laws of North Dakota, Wisconsin and the 

 United States. They have just returned from 

 a shooting trip in North Dakota, and Game Warden 

 Valentine Raeth, of Milwaukee, becoming sus- 

 picious of 6 pieces of baggage cheked from Ellen- 

 dale, N. D., to Appleton, opened one telescope, only 

 to find it filled with plump prairie chickens. The 

 whole outfit was seized and Warden Gerhardt sent 

 with it to Appleton, where it was found to belong 

 to Senator Willy and Mr. Babb. They claimed the 

 baggage. The laws of Dakota expressly forbid 

 the transportation of game out of the State, and 

 the fine for each bird is $10. 



Wednesday morning Warden Raeth found a bar- 

 rel of fish, marked "perch," addressed .to a Chi- 

 cago dealer. On being opened, the barrel proved 

 to contain a layer or so of perch and a number of 

 wall eyed pike. Thursday a box on a train going 

 from Green Bay to Hartford was found by the 

 same warden to contain deer skins. Arrests will 

 follow these seizures. — Milwaukee, Wis., Journal. 



The fine for transporting game in Wis- 

 consin without proper marking is $25 to 

 $100 or 90 days in jail and $25 to $100 for 

 bringing game or fish into Wisconsin from 

 a State where the export of same is pro- 

 hibited. The penalty under the federal law 

 for transportating game without proper 

 marking is $200. This will doubtless be an 

 expensive hunting trip for these "promi- 

 nent" lawbreakers. — Editor. 



OF INTEREST TO TRAPPERS. 



723,773. — Animal trap. Virgil O. Harter 

 and West H. Brown, Riverside, Cal. ; said 

 Brown assignor to said Harter. Filed 

 March 24, 1902. Serial No. 99,710. (No 

 model.) 



Claim. — 1. In an animal trap, a support- 

 ing base, a tube mounted on said base, and 

 adapted to contain a firing charge, a coiled 

 spring engaging an aperture in the rear 

 end of said tube by one end, a firing pin 

 inclosed by said spring and connected by 

 its outer end to the outer end of said 

 spring, a trigger means disposed to support 

 said spring distended, and a tripping 

 mechanism adapted to release said firing 

 pin. 



2. A breech block secured on a support- 

 rear thereof, a tube removably connected 

 to said breech block, and adapted to sup- 

 port a cartridge, a coiled spring secured 

 by one end in said aperture, a firing pin 



