LETTERS FROM OUR READERS 



419 



what work that means when an entire new 

 outfit takes charge of an old publication ; but 

 it is not of this that I meant to write. I have 

 been a duck hunter since I was old ejnough 

 to carry a gun and I write to ask if the 

 peculiar duck boat known as a sneak box is 

 not a Long Island invention? 



Wishing you all success, I am, 



Abraham Allen, Dover, Del. 



The sneak box was invented by an old 

 duck hunter and boat builder of West Creek 

 Village, New Jersey, nearly or quite seventy 

 years ago. The first boat of this description 

 was built by the inventor for his own use. 

 He wished to have a boat which lay low u in 

 the water and could be propelled by oars or 

 sail in either deep or very shallow water and 

 the sneak box was evolved by him to fit these 

 requirements. — Editor. 



PHENOMENAL SHOTS. 

 Editor Recreation : 



No doubt most of your readers have either 

 made, or seen made, some very wonderful 

 shots, but I doubt whether any of them have 

 witnessed a more extraordinary one than I 

 saw in the Cypress hills, some ten years ago. 



There are a good many ranchers in the Cy- 

 press hills now. In fact, they are pretty well 

 stocked up, but ten years ago there was much 

 vacant land, and many jumping deer. I was 

 part of an outfit that was looking up ranch- 

 ing land for an English gentleman who was 

 going into the business. He was with us, and 

 had bought a double .500 express by Rigby, 

 one of the crack London makes. This rifle 

 had one fixed sight for 150 yards range, and 

 a single flap good up to 250 yards. Beyond 

 that it was not sighted, as the heavy charge 

 of powder, light bullet, and slow twist, ren- 

 dered it an inaccurate weapon at any longer 

 distance. 



One of the boys, known simply as "Jimmy," 

 was a remarkably good rifle shot at a stand- 

 ing mark, but was not accustomed to the 

 English rifle, though he had borrowed it on 

 the day in question. We had been riding 

 about leisurely all day — just the two of us — 

 and were within a couple of miles of the 

 camp, late in the afternoon, before we saw 

 anything to shoot at. Then Jimmy spied 

 a large jumping deer on a ridge across a 

 wide gully. In a second he had thrown him- 

 self out of the saddle, and was taking a 

 careful shot at the deer. I am not sure that 

 he even had the 250 yard leaf up, but as^soon 

 as he had fired, the deer sprang in the air 

 and rolled over dead. 



Allowing for all inequalities in the ground 

 the deer was 475 paces, say 400 yards, from 

 where the shot was fired, yet it had been hit 

 behind the shoulder, and about half way 

 down^ with the 340 grain, hollow-point 500 

 bullet. Where Jimmy had aimed I cannot 

 pretend to say, but I am quite certain that 



he did not see the deer when he fired be- 

 cause had he done so the shot would not 

 have gone half the distance. 

 Alex. McDonald, Medicine Hat, N. W, T. 



This opens up an interesting field and a 

 collection of wonderful shots would make 

 good reading. If any of our readers have 

 instances of this kind let us hear from them. 

 But do not draw a long bow just to see if 

 you can not tell the biggest yarn. What we 

 want is the real thing. — Editor. 



AGAIN THE WILD PIGEON. 



Editor Recreation : 



In your March number I observe a com- 

 munication from Mr. Law, of this town, re- 

 garding wild pigeons, and your comments 

 thereon. I am quite satisfied that Mr. Law 

 is mistaken in regard to having seen these 

 birds in this vicinity. I believe that the birds 

 seen by him were wild doves. These birds 

 are plentiful along the boundary dividing 

 Montana and Assiniboia, and, though not 

 numerous, are found, usually in couples, as 

 far North as the fifty-fourth parallel, pos- 

 sibly beyond. In the fall of 1880, at Battle- 

 ford, on the North Saskatchewan, I saw five 

 passenger pigeons sitting on the branches of a 

 dead tree, and was told that a number of 

 them had been seen in the neighborhood, dur- 

 ing the previous summer. But, since that 

 date, although I have shot over all parts of 

 these immense territories, I have never seen 

 one, nor although I made diligent inquiries, 

 could I discover that any had been seen. As 

 a boy in Western Ontario, I had seen these 

 birds in countless thousands, and have always 

 been interested in their disappearance. 



As bearing on this question, I had a con- 

 versation last year with Mr. Parr, of the 

 Government Telegraph Service, Ottawa. Mr. 

 Parr had spent some months of the previous 

 year in a trip of inspection along the North 

 Atlantic, and he stated that he had seen large 

 numbers of wild pigeons along the coast of 

 Labrador. Mr. Parr was positive that they 

 were the passenger pigeon, he having been 

 familiar with them in Ontario years before. 

 Yours truly, 

 J. S. Macdonald, Qu'Appelle, N. W. T. 



Doves are so often mistaken for the wild 

 pigeon that no observations on this subject 

 are of value unless the observer is known to 

 be a well-posted and scientifically careful 

 man. We hope to publish the observations 

 of some of our Labrador readers on this 

 subject in an early issue. 



There have been a few pigeons reported in 

 the United States which are probably authen- 

 tic, but it appears that this beautiful bird's 

 fate is sealed and he must soon live only as 

 a memory. — Editor. 



