FOREST AND STREAM. 



235 



OUR WASHINGTON LETTER. 



EUD6H BUOOT1NH AND WHERE IT MAY HE ENJOYED— 

 FARMERS BECOMING INTEEESTED TS GAME PROTECTION 

 — ETC, ETC. 



[FROM OUR 0"S?W CORRESPONDENT.] 



Washington, D. 0., Oct. 20, 1877. 



OF all the land birds the partridge in this section affords 

 by far the greatest sport. And now that the season is 

 just beginning our sportsmen are anticipating pleasant times in 

 the fields of Maryland and Virginia, where the birds are always 

 plentiful. Our gunsmiths are kept busy in repairing and 

 cleaning fowling pieces, and the dealers in ammunition and 

 gunning implements are doing a thriving business, although 

 many of our sportsmen send to other cities for their supplies, 

 and frequently send their gun3 abroad for slight repairs.' A 

 large number of them a.re induced to do this by the attract ive 

 advertisements which weekly appear in the columns of For- 

 est and Stream. We have first-class- gunsmiths in this city, 

 and there is no reason why ammunition and all necessary gun- 

 ning utensils should not be sold here as cheap as elsewhere. I 

 could mention several dealers who have good supplies, and 

 offer articles equal to those procured in other cities, but the 

 great trouble with many of our Washington .merchants is that 

 they do not spend enough money in advertising. They have 

 yet to learn that every dollar invested in parading before th3 

 public their establishments and wares is sure to bring iacreased 

 trade, and result in a more extensive business. There are some 

 exceptions, and here as well as in other cities men who have 

 liberally patronized the advertising columns of papers build 

 u;> their business, and make money, no matter if the times are 

 dull. The columns ol a journal devoted to shooting, fishing 

 and other out-door sports should be patronized by our gun- 

 dealers and others having goods used by sportsmen. The 

 Forest and Stream, with its large circulalion, not only in 

 this city but throughout the States of Maryland and Virginia, 

 is the medium through which. they should make their places 

 of business knoAvn, and then Washington will come in for a 

 good share of the trade of sportsmen. 



The close season for partridges (Ortye virginianus) in the 

 District of Columbia expires on the first of October. Rather 

 too early, as the last brood of young birds are hardly feathered 

 by that time. The bill introduced into the Senate some time 

 agofor the preservation of game in the District, proposed to fix 

 the close season from the loth day of January until the first 

 day of November. The 15th or 20th of October would be a 

 more suitable date to end the close season, and such amend- 

 ment will probably be made, should the bill ever be considered. 

 There are within the limits of the District generally a good 

 many birds at the beginning of the season, but they are soon 

 killed or driven into the neighboring counties of Maryland by 

 the constant shooting. In some of thes^ counties it is unlaw- 

 ful to shoot them before the 15th of October, and in others 

 before the 20th, while in Virginia, under the new game law 

 they cannot be killed before the first of November. Asa 

 game bird the partridge ranks next to the jack snipe (Oallin- 

 ago WUsoni). All sportsmen will agree with me that the 

 woodcock (Phihhela minor) ranks first, the jack snipe next, 

 and tire partridge third iu the list of game birds of this sec- 

 tion. To ward the litter pirt of October, by which time the 

 young birds have attained nearly their full growth, they are 

 fat and juicy, and beyond doubt a very toothsome delicacy, 

 the fie3h being white and tender. Like many other game 

 birds the partridge is known by different names in various 

 sections, that just mentioned prevafling in the Southern and 

 most of the Western States, while in the Middle and Eastern 

 States it is called quail. Probably there are more partridges 

 killed in the States of Maryland and Virginia every fall than 

 in any other two States of the Union. Many are killed legiti- 

 mately overdogs, by sportsmen from New York, Philadelphia, 

 Baltimore and other cities, but great numbers are trapped and 

 sent to the markets of these cities by pot-hunters, and unless 

 this trapping business can be broken up the birds will soon be 

 growing scarce in these States. The new game law of Vir- 

 ginia makes it unlawful to capture partridges at any time by 

 means of nets or traps of any kind until after the expiration 

 of two years from the passage of the act. As it is contem- 

 plated to further amend this law, it is hopod that the trapping 

 business will be prohibited for all time. 



There is not a more delightful field sport than that of shoot- 

 ing partridges. It can only *be enjoyed in the autumn, that 

 season 



" All in yellow clad, 

 As though he joyed in his plenteous store," 

 when the bracing atmosphere of the frosty morning sends the 

 blood of the sportsman coursing through his veins with re- 

 newed and freshened life. The favorite ground of the partridge 

 in this section is upon old wheat stubble fields, where they are 

 always found until ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and 

 again in the afternoon ; but in the middle of the day they often 

 retire to some neighboring briar patch or other favorable lo- 

 cality, where they preen and sun themselves. In very- windy 

 and rainy weather they take to the woods and thickets, where 

 they feed on insects and berries, the bird being insectivorous as 

 well as granivorous. In damp or rainy spells there is not much 

 sport in hunting these, birds as they seem to prefer running in 

 such weather rather than take flight. It is only in calm, clear 

 weather that the sportsman can enjoy the shooting to any ex- 

 tent, as the birds will then lie to a dog, and take wing when 

 forced to, instead of runniug a quarter of a mile or more as 

 they do iu wet seasons before they can be flushed. 



It has been held by several prominent ornithologists that 

 the partridge is gifted with the power of withholding ils seen t- 

 and often the best trained dogs are reprimanded for not finding 

 birds carefully marked down. I cannot say whether or not 

 the bird does possess such power, but close observation has 

 convinced me that there are times when the dog, no matter 

 how experienced he may be, cannot scent the bird. Fright- 

 ened birds especially often puzzle the most careful clog. As 

 an inatanse, I may mention that upon one occasion while 

 shooting partridges in Orange county, Va., an old bird was 

 flushed and wounded. He fell in the open field, and the place 

 was carefully marked. We had three dogs, two of them es- 

 pecially being very reliable. They wore sent for the wounded 

 bird, and although it was an open stubble field with no place 

 that we could discover for the bird to hide, the most diligent 

 search failed to reveal its whereabouts. Carefully did the 

 dogs examine the whole place within a short space of four or 

 five hundred yards where the bird was seen to fall, and finally 

 we left the spot, somewhat puzzled to know what became 

 of the bird. It so happened that we crossed the same field 

 several hours after ward, and upon reaching the place where the 

 bird had been fired at and wounded, York, a faithful old pointer 

 stiffened out.and the other dogscaught the scent almost as soon 

 as he did. Then we found the wounded bird, still alive, but 

 unable to fly. The dogs pointed it at the very place where it 

 was observed to fall three hours previously, and at that time 

 all three of them passed over this very ground a dozen times 

 or more. The bird was hidden behind a stoue, and it was 

 evident to both my companions and myself that no scent was 

 emitted from the bird when first wounded, else he would have 

 been then found. 



It ha3 been held by some writers that the partridge can be 

 domesticated, but several attempts to do so which have come 

 to my knowledge do not sustain this assertion. I have known of 

 instances where the birds during very severe winter weather 

 have been found in barn yards, and even near the kitchen 

 door of farm-houses for food, but with the advent of milder 

 weather they again sought the fields and briar patches. 



Several years ago Mr. T. Edward Clark of this city, while 

 shooting on the farm of the late James Nokes, in Prince Wil- 

 liam county, Va., flushed and killed a white partridge, which 

 he had stuffed and mounted, and it is now on exhibition in 

 the museum of the Agricultural Department. It was in a 

 covey with the ordinary bird3 and proved to be quite a hand- 

 some Albino specimen. 



Although I have written a good deal about the rare spurt 

 afforded by partridge shooting in this section, I cannot refrain 

 from mentioning some of the favorite haunts of this delight- 

 ful bird, and I hive no doubt that many of your readers have 

 visited the very piace3 ; hence a reference to them will bring 

 to mind the happy haurs they have passed in the fields around 

 Wasuington. Beyond a doubt the most desirable shooting 

 ground is in Orange County, Va., near the head waters of the 

 Pamunkey River, where the country is fertile and thousands 

 of bushels of wheat are gathered annually, leaving stubble, 

 fields in many places of a hundred acres and more in extent- 

 Here the birds are always abundant. It has been my good 

 fortune for several years past to spend a week or so in that 

 section, and we have frequently found half a dozen or more 

 coveys of birds in a single stubble-field within half a mile of 

 the residence of the gentleman with whom we were stop- 

 ping. They are not hunted here to any great extent, and 

 therefore are not so wild as in some other sections. It is 

 an easy matter there to go out after breakfast, bag from 

 thirty to fifty birds, and return to the house, by noon. After 

 diuner the sport can be again enjoyed during the afternoon, 

 and when night approaches the sportsman can rest from his 

 work, but neither himself nor his dogs feel that fatigue which 

 is so often the case where birds are less plentiful. There are 

 other favorite shooting grounds in Virginia, near Manassas 

 Junction, and again in the vicinity of Clifton, to which I 

 may refer in some future letter ; and here I can only repeat 

 what I have before had occasion to say, that the people of 

 Virginia arc courteous and generous, and a gentleman properly 

 introduced is always made welcome by the farmers and sure 

 to have good sport. 



In Maryland there is a small village, about twenty miles 

 from Washington, known as Tee Bee, in the neighborhood of 

 which the partridges are quite plentiful and the shooting ex- 

 cellent. Being some distance from a railroad the birds are 

 not driven off by constant shooting, and the pot hunter is un- 

 known in that locality. At Nottingham some distance below, 

 in the vicinity of Marlboro, and various other places, there 

 are extensive stubble-fields and plenty of birds. In Mont- 

 gomery County, lying to the north of Washington, the shoot- 

 ing is also good, so your readers will see that the Washington 

 sportsmen are favored with a magnificent country within a few 

 hours' drive of the city, where they can enjoy themselves at 

 partridge s looting during the whole season. 



The Game Protective Association, recently organized in our 

 neighboring city, Alexandria, is in a very flourishing condi- 

 tion, and I am glad to say that the farmers in that vicinity are 

 becoming interested in it. At a recent meeting several com- 

 munications were received from farmers in the neighborhood 

 of the city, offering all the aid in their power to the Associa- 

 tion in promoting its aims. It was resolved to furnish each 

 member with a descriptive card for their protection while 

 hunting in the adjacent country. It was resolved to have 

 posters printed and put up, containing a synopsis of the game- 

 laws, and the offer of a reward for the apprehension of per- 

 sons found violating the some. 



The Alexandria, Va., Gazette, of a.reccnt date, says: 



"This morning early several (locks of partridges alighted in 

 the streets of this city. Several of the birds were killed with 

 stnneH by the boys, who did not have the fear of the game 

 laws before their eyes. In one case where a boy had knocked 

 over a partridge, a hunting dog belonging to a citizen hap- 

 pened to come along and forthwith took possession of the bird 

 and carried it home to his master." 



Maj. T. B. Ferguson, the Maryland Fish Commissioner, has 

 received 200,000 California salmon eggs from the McLoud 

 River, California, as Maryland's quota of the eggs collected 

 by the United States Fish Commission. The eags were trans- 

 ported here iu a refrigerating car. They have been placed in 

 the hatching-house at Druid Hill Park. When hatche'.' they 

 will be distributed among the principal rivers of the State 

 flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. It will be remembered that 

 from seven to eight hundred thousand of the same variety 

 of fish were placed iu Maryland waters by the fish commission 

 last year. 



One of the great needs long felt by intelligent sportsmen is 

 supplied by that admirable work, " The Sportsman's Gazet- 

 teer," by Charles Hallock, and published by the Forest and 

 Stream Publishing Company. The increasing demand for 

 the book in this section is noticeable. I have heard many 

 sportsmen speak in the highest terms of it, and one evidence 

 of its popularity is that several booksellers have more than 

 once been, compelled to renew their supply. I have only to 

 say from personal observation that it is the ne plus ultra of 

 sportsman's literature. R. F. B. 



FOX HUNTING ON LONG ISLAND. 



FOR ten years and more, in the columns of the Turf 

 Field and Farm and in Forest and Stream, at the 

 clubs and whenever opportunity offered, the writer has urged 

 upon the young men of New York the getting up of a sub- 

 scription pack of hounds within easy reach of their city by 

 boat or rail, but he found it very up hill work ; for though 

 the average young Gothamites are well up in most of the ath- 

 letic sports, many of them being even capital whips, they are 

 not at all familiar with the saddle, and only a few, a very few 

 of them indeed, are capable of riding to hounds. It is there- 

 fore with great pleasure that I learn by your issue of Sept. 

 27 that some members of the Westminster Polo Club have at 

 last succeeded in organizing a hunt at East Meadow Brook, 

 on Long Island, and that a pack of hounds imported from 

 England is to be kennelled at Garden City. 



Under the management of such capii al horsemen as Mr. A. 

 Belmont Purdy, Mr. Griswold and a few others, we have a 

 guarantee of the eventual success of the enterprise ; but there 

 are one or two facts which may prevent that immediate suc- 

 cess upon which the fate of such undertakings usually depend. 

 To the casual observer, the level plains surrounding Garden 

 City offer a magnificent hunting country, but it is to be feared 

 that the only merit of such a location is its accessibility to the . 

 city; with a surface of black mould, indicating great fer- 

 tility, the soil of these plains is in fact barren, thirsty and 

 sandy, and will not, it is to be feared, carry a good scent. 

 As regards English foxhounds, I mean of course the best, 

 such as are hunted at Belvoit, in Leicestershire, and half a 

 dozen other places in England, though they are as near per- 

 fection as can be for hunting in their native land, they have 

 been proved, except in the stud, utterly useless in this country. 

 No one who is familiar with hunting in England or with the 

 writings of ''Nimrod" will deny the superb quality of the 

 famous Queen pack. When the late Commodore Richard 

 Stockton was abroad, forty or more years since, Sir Harry 

 Goodricke presented him with three magnificent hounds 

 from the Queen pack. The Commodore sent the dogs to the 

 late John S. Skinner, to be added to the Baltimore pack, 

 which, supported by the late Robert Oliver— grandfather of 

 Mr. Oliver Colt, of Long Island— Judges Hell and Upton 

 Heath, John P. Kennedy and other leading citizens, was in a 

 flourishing condition, and hunted regularly through the sea- 

 son three times a week. The writer, then quite a youth, re- 

 members perfectly well being sent with a servant to receive 

 these hounds, and being astonished at the shortness of their 

 ears, not being aware that it was customary in England to 

 disfigure foxhouuds by clipping, or rather rounding the ears 

 to prevent laceration by briars and brambles; but these 

 hounds were truly magnificent creatures— deep chested, and 

 as straight in the forelegs as a winner of the Altceet Cup. 

 They had powerful loins and prodigious bone and muscle. 

 Of course the advent of the foreign hounds created a great 

 sensation among the hunting men, and the "meet" which 

 was near North Point, was largely attended, some gentlemen 

 coming all the way from Fairfax in Virginia, and from Wash- 

 ton City to be present. 



The English dogs were in superb condition, and as old 

 Amy, the huntsman, observed, " Took de shine out of our 

 native dogs completely." Soon after sunrise, with the clew 

 yet heavy upon the ground, the h muds were thrown into a 

 thicket of second-growth pines, where a fox was soon found, 

 which, after running a ring or two, broke cover almost under 

 the noses of our horses, and struck boldly into an old field of 

 great extent. Every dog was well up and in full cry, the 

 strangers coming out of the cover at the tail end of the 

 pack ; but in two minutes or less they were in the lead, and 

 in two minutes more the natives were left entirely out of 

 sight in the rear. Such a marvelous burst of canine speed 

 had never been witnessed before in Old Maryland. But what 

 astonished everybody still more was the grand style in which 



