574 



RECREATION 



they are very scary at such times, and one 

 has to stillhunt them with as much care as a 

 deer. 



At the sight of man they are off the log 

 and away in the underbrush, hut if one keeps 

 perfectly quiet they return and resume their 

 old place, only to be shot. 



The partridge's favorite place to drum, and 

 the place where most frequently found, is on 

 a fallen tree (never a green one), but I have 

 known them to drum off a hillock of earth, 

 and not unfrequently, in the old burnt coun- 

 try, on a rock. To one who has studied the 

 different sounds one can always tell in ad- 

 vance if he is on the ground, rock or log. 

 This is readily detected, but would be hard 

 to explain. 



Martin Hunter. 



[To the true sportsman, the killing of part- 

 ridge while sitting on a log must appear mur- 

 derous in the extreme, but he must remember 

 that in "The Wilds" one depends very con- 

 siderably for his subsistence on game. 



We shoot for the pot and we fish for the 

 pot, in both cases without any fancy touches 

 or frills.— M. H.] 



GAME SCARCE IN CENTRAL OHIO 



Editor Recreation : 



While not a regular subscriber to your 

 valuable magazine, I have been a constant 

 reader for five years or more, and it is very 

 few numbers that I have missed during that 

 period. I have always thought that the news- 

 stand man should have a living, and each 

 month finds his stock depleted by one, the 

 number on my desk. I think the most intel- 

 ligent step toward the jealous protection of 

 such wild game as this country now has left 

 would be through placing a copy of your 

 magazine into even'" family in the country. I 

 have not failed to note the increasing respect 

 for our wild animal and bird friends by those 

 who are fortunate enough to have gone 

 through a few numbers of Recreation. It 

 has had its good effect on me. Sorry to say 

 that that savage inclination to destroy, which 

 is born in most persons, was a cause of many 

 an unnecessary kill during my boyhood days, 

 back in the beautiful hills of western Penn- 

 sylvania, which, in those days, abounded in 

 a plentiful supply of all small game. 



In those days I used the shotgun. But 

 now the shotgun no more for me. A pair of 

 fox squirrels, or a pair of grays, or a couple 

 of pairs of red squirrels, I find a satisfactory 

 kill, with the rifle. Of course, I am joshed 

 by the shotgun man for going into the woods 

 with a 22-calibre rifle, but my reply to him is 

 that what I can't get with the little 22 should 

 get away. 



In this part of Central Ohio the small 

 game is fast passing. I daresay^ that the 

 quail in this (Crawford) county will not av- 



erage one covey to each farm of 120 acres. 

 There are enough rabbits to afford most 

 hunters at least a day of excitement in the 

 brush. The grouse is rarely seen here now- 

 adays. As to squirrel, the litle red fellow 

 leads in numbers, and is quite plentiful. The 

 big, sly fox squirrel comes next, and is fairly 

 plentiful. The gray is rarely seen except in 

 a very few well-protected pieces of timber 

 near some farmhouse. We have two very 

 active deputy wardens in the township who 

 are keeping tab on the protection of our re- 

 maining small game. Our streams, Sandusky, 

 Brokensword and Whetstone rivers, contain 

 some very nice bass, and many a nice fry is 

 taken during the season, near the city. I 

 have a keen interest in rifle and revolver 

 shooting, and all those discussions by Recre- 

 ation readers are very profitable to me. I 

 shoot a .22 Stevens pistol with 10-inch barrel, 

 which I find a most effective weapon for any 

 small game. I had about decided to buy a 

 .32-20 Colt's single-action revolver for target 

 shooting. I shall wait till next issue of Rec- 

 reation. The discussion is waxing warm, 

 and I may have cause to change my mind. 

 With best wishes for your good work, 



B. F. Spicer, Bucyrus, O. 



NOT UNUSUAL 

 Editor Recreation : 



On page 180 of August Recreation a cor- 

 respondent reports a rattlesnake with eight 

 fangs, four on each side, and adds that "if 

 anyone has been able to get more fangs out 

 of one snake," he has not heard of it. Then he 

 certainly has not examined the literature of 

 the subject very attentively. Surely four on a 

 side cannot be considered remarkable or un- 

 usual. They always have some reserve fangs, 

 varying in maturity, and Dr. Mitchell reports 

 from eight to ten fangs on each side. See 

 "Researches Upon the Venom of the Rattle- 

 snake," Smithsonian Contributions to Knowl- 

 edge, 1861, page 16, and "Poisonous Snakes 

 of North America," Annual Report of U. S. 

 National Museum, 1893, page 369. 



Junius Henderson, 

 Museum of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 



The Massachusetts game commissioners 

 have sent warnings to milliners against the 

 use of plumage of any birds in decorating 

 hats. The commission declares its intention 

 of enforcing the law, which is very strict in 

 that state. 



In an Oregon circuit court, on Oct. 23, John 

 Schwatka, indicted for having a Mongolian 

 pheasant in his possession during the closed 

 season, was acquitted by a jury on the in- 

 struction of the court that a dead bird is not 

 a pheasant, but a carcass. The game war- 

 den's testimony that the defendant had the 

 bird was held for naught, as the bird was 

 dead. 



