ANOTHER BIG GAME BOOK. 



American wild animals have certainly 

 had their full share of attention at the hands 

 of nature students during the past 10 years, 

 and while great numbers of fairy stories 

 have been given to the world about what 

 wild animals do and say, yet there are 

 other men who study these creatures seri- 

 ously and who tell us the truth about them, 

 without any fireworks. 



The latest volume of this class comes 

 from the press of Charles Scribner's Sons, 

 is written by Dwight W. Huntington, and 

 is called Our Big Game. It is divided into 

 4 sections, the first treating of the deer 

 family; the second of the ox family, the 

 bison, the musk ox, the Rocky mountain 

 sheep, etc. ; the third of the bear family, 

 and the fourth of the cat family. 



Mr. Huntington made an extended tour 

 of the far West many years ago, when big 

 game of all kinds was abundant there. That 

 was before the day of the skin hunter, the 

 sheep herder and the tourist, and at that 

 time it was easy for any man to work his 

 way to within a few yards of a herd of 

 buffalo or antelope or elk or deer, and to 

 study them by the hour without disturbing 

 or being disturbed. Mr. Huntington im- 

 proved his opportunities, and being an artist 

 as well as a writer he brought away copi- 

 ous notes and portfolios full of sketches. 



Speaking of these earlier days Mr. Hunt- 

 ington says : 



"Only a little more than a score of years 

 ago the gun was literally 'the wolf's dinner 

 bell,' and as the hunter moved away from 

 his fallen quarry, having taken the part he 

 wanted, the wolves responded to the call 

 to dinner, and came in great numbers to 

 devour what was left and fight over the 

 bones. 



"The elk and deer were then seen peace- 

 fully grazing with the bison and the ante- 

 lope on the open plains and prairies. I 

 have ridden close to mountain lions on the 

 fields of wild sage when shooting the sage 



cock, or cock of the plains. I have come 

 on grizzly bears but a short distance from 

 our camps when shooting blue grouse or 

 deer. I have seen buffalo, in vast herds, 

 covering the plains for many miles, when it 

 was no difficult matter for a few horsemen 

 to cut one out and run him into camp be- 

 fore killing him. 



"The bison is practically extinct as a wild 

 animal, there being only a small herd in the 

 Yellowstone National Park, and the elk 

 and deer have everywhere deserted the 

 plains to live in secluded forests and moun- 

 tain fastnesses. The antelope are no longer 

 to be seen in many places where they were 

 formerly abundant, and the naturalists pre- 

 dict that they will soon be exterminated." 



Mr. Huntington in his opening chapter 

 talks at length of the hunting rifle and 

 other articles of equipment for the hunt. 

 Farther on he treats of hunting clubs and 

 game preserves, and rightly concludes that 

 the only big game to be found in this coun- 

 try a few years hence will be on lands 

 owned and carefully guarded by clubs or 

 individuals. 



The descriptions and comments on the 

 habits and characteristics of various species 

 of big game animals are full and explicit. 

 Many standard authorities are quoted and 

 some other men are quoted who are not 

 recognized anywhere as authorities on the 

 habits of wild animals. 



"Our Big Game" is illustrated with a 

 number of the best photographs of wild ani- 

 mals that have ever been made, and Mr. 

 Huntington is indeed fortunate in having 

 collected so many of these pictures. He 

 has done his work with great care, and the 

 book is full of valuable information from 

 beginning to end. Every sportsman and 

 every naturalist in the land should read it 

 carefully. 



The cuts reproduced herewith were kind- 

 ly lent by Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons. 



Let us drink to the land that we love to 

 serve 

 With our best endeavor, our work, our 

 lives ; 

 And drink to the women we serve for love, 

 To our mothers, sisters, sweethearts, and 

 wives. 



— New York Times. 



367 



