FOREST AND STREAM. 



397 



hardly to be worthy of more than a passing notice. A letter 

 already published from Judge Everts, where he describes the 

 migratory quail, will tie found to be of interest . [ 



Those Quail "Not All Gone to Ska.— The following 

 communication contains good news for those who are watch- 

 ing with interest the result of the nigratory quail experiment 

 Let us hope for still further reports of an equally gratifying 

 nature : 



Savannah, Ga„ Doe. 10, 18TT. 



ifr.mUnr— Let your Jfriemls, Jadge Everts, of Vermont, ana Mr. 



Hapgood, of Boston, take Heart. Their European quail have not all 



lea. They are Here in considerable minibp.rs. I Have, mi three 



Several occasions, found tlieui during my BUDOting excursions in Uiis 



i l. noticed mem was about the I5t,h of 

 bar, when 1 BQOt one before 1 observed that it was not a native bird. I 



at onceasa true " eobmux eoirwwMnis," Uelng pel 

 familiarv trd, as I Have often shot them in Egypt as well as 



sand . Africa. Twu or throe days later I saw 

 them again, and at such a distance from where I Haw thorn at first as to 

 preclude, in all probability, the idea that it was the same bevy, lam 

 well convinced that there are at least three bevies of the Im 

 pom the perils of the sea. 



1 congratulate the sportsmen of the country upon the apparently sue- 

 Bess'ul introduction of this rare game bird to America, and e -■■ 

 do I congratulate the public spirited and liberal gentlemeu w ho in- 

 augurated and so ably worked out the scheme of their importation, 



That they will return north with the spring, I have, from my inti- 

 mate knowledge of their habits, no doubt whatever. J3a let us Hav 

 peace. Very Truly yours, John a. KeADY. 



MangoRike, RlcJunond Cumily, Va., Dec. 17, 18T7. — Hav- 

 ing made a special study pi the migrations of birds, I have 

 been much interested, both as a sportsman and ornithologist, 

 in the introduction of quail (Ooiumix commMiih) into 

 America, and recognized at once "Virginian's" description 

 ilying to these birds. Although Mr. Everts is hopeful, 

 Mr. Hapgood seems rather despondent in regard to the 

 chances of their birds ever being seen again in New England, 

 The occurrence of birds alighting on vessels far at sea is a 

 common one, many land birds ilying over the water in mi- 

 grating, and 1 should consider the fact of so many quails 

 Being seen both at sea and ashore, during migration, en- 

 fencouraging rather than otherwise. Infirm belief , I predict 

 their appearance next spring at their breeding places of this 

 year, and hope to see their arrival heralded in F. and S. 



Everett Smith. 



Abe the Prairie Chickens Going to California ?— A 

 very curious fact is brought before us iu regard to a move- 

 ment of the prairie chickens. If it be true, and the authority 

 which calls the circumstances to our notice seems worthy of 

 credence, it illustrates something quite remarkable in the 

 history of our game birds. In California the absence of 

 prai rie chickens had been long known. Some years ago efforts 

 were made to introduce them, but apparently without success. 

 Now it seems that of their own accord this bird, the true 

 Cupidonm ciqrido, has made its way into Northeastern Cali- 

 fornia. Starting from the Nebraska plains, the prairie 

 chickens, whether driven by hunters or otherwise, have fol- 

 lowed the track of the railroad. We may state that the first 

 reports of the presence of this bird iu California was received 

 with doubt, but as their appearance has been noted year after 

 year more to the westward, at present it looks as if a migra- 

 tion were possible. The San Francisco Chronicle of last 

 month says that naturalists and hunters announce the exis- 

 tence of the prairie chicken in California, not to be confound- 

 ed with the sharp-tailed grouse which was already known to 

 live there. The prai rie chicken is said to be found to-daj r in 

 the Shasta Valley, in Battle Mountain and Winnemucca. We 

 await further davelopments. Still the bird is one so easily 

 recognized that we hardly ihink a mistake canhave beenmade 

 in regard to it. If thcreport be then true it shows the possi- 

 bility of these birds taking up an entirely new habitat. The 

 reason for this change of habitation may be due somewhat to 

 the aggressive warfare waged on them for years. The his- 

 tory of the bird, and of its movements are worthy of thorough 

 study. It is well known that in early times Long Island 

 abounded with the Cuj?idonia cupido. We should be very 

 glad it some of our friends on the Pacific side would send us 

 a specimen for examination. 



Jack-Snipb in Coloeado.— A parallel to the introduction 

 of pinnated grouse into California is found in the migration 

 of jack-snipe into Colorado : • 



Editor. Forest and Stream : 



in a recent communication to your columns from Colorado, 

 I noticed the statement of a very successful spoitsman that 

 he hud never found, jack-snipe in the State, aud he seemed to 

 doubt their pretence. In the last week of September, this 

 year, I was coming in over the Boulder Valley Railroad, 

 when within about thirty miles of Denver we picked up Col. 

 F. F. Griffin, superintendent of the road, who had two dozen 

 jack-snipe in his bag that he had shot that afternoon in two 

 or three Stubble fields along the track. During October he 

 three other visits to the same range, and killed respect- 

 ively thirty-nine, twenty-eight and nineteen of the same birds. 

 fjpon one of these occasions he. was accompanied by Col. 

 Potter, master of way on the K. P. road, wdio also got a good 

 number of birds, though just how many I am unable to '"say. 

 the jack-snipe has come in since the. settlement and cultiva- 

 tion of the country, and may be found in Jail the agricultural 

 valleys al certain seasons. g_ 



Denvu 'Ve. 12, 1877. 



BITE OF THE SKUNK. 



Ithaca, N. Y,, Dec. 13, 1S7T 



EDITOR !'•" i I i:EAM: 



1 lOi in tie last number of F. aud S. that the bite of the skunk (Me ■ 



■ i fatal; consequently, I must consider myself a dead 



man, but yet wandering in spirit upon this earth. Some six or eight 



ye-irs ago, I had some " twitch up " snares set in a locality where skunks 



were very abundant. One morning 1 found a skunk suspended In 



or iiicm ; the noose was slipped iruite. tightly around liun.iu.st forward of 



the hind quarters. A friend with me assured me that the animal could 



; i Hi quality while in that position, aud so ufter a 



few preliminary experiments W6 approached Mm. While stroking linn 

 ■■I' k side lie suddenly turned his head and siezeadneof my Augers, 

 two of his canine teeth making quite deep wounds, especially as I 

 latched ray hand away quickly. The wound caused, me no p.dn and 

 itefroma wounded gray squirrel which I received 

 only a short lime afterwards in Hie same linger left to much more ser- 

 ious reaults, k. t. M. 



[We are much obliged to our correspondent for the informa- 

 tion, and glad to know that he is yefi alive. We must differ 

 from him, however, hi his comprehension of the article on 

 skunk bites, for, like him, we do not believe that skunk bites 

 are at all dangerous, and we doubted the authority of Col. 

 Dodge who stated that no man ever lived after having been 

 bitten by a skunk in D'acotah, — Ep,] 



AN ILL TO WHICH SQUIRREL FLESH 

 IS HEIR. 



BuFt'ALO, St. Y., Nov. 26, 1377. 

 IJ yNTKES are still much at loggerheads inreference to the often nc- 

 i loi rj absence o'f testicles in the black squirrel, since the pugna- 

 cious red. squirrel is often aeen chasing its much larger congener from 



i i" wild hypothesis has gaiued firm ground that* the. testi- 

 cles of the former are its point of attack. There is no heed paid to the 

 analogOUB cases of jay and crow- among the feathered tribe, when pur- 

 suing the much larger and powerful hawk or owl; it is sufficient to 

 observe an obvious effect to make a hasty deduction, which lacks the 

 force of accurate and exhaustive observation. 



The neighborhood of St. Thomas, Ontario, Has been, during the last 

 month, LlieJIeouaOf all squirrel hunters from near and afar. Several 

 tarl les have succeeded iu bagging, in a few days' hunt, as many 

 as COO Heads; and it has been ascertained by special request, that fully 

 one-third of tie animals were devoid of testicles, without, However, 

 giving from their appearance any evidence of injuries received exter- 

 nally. In all of the cases i here was s niply an absence of the organs 

 noticable, but no wound or ulceration of any kind. 



By referring the problem of these cases recently examined, to Prof. 

 Grote, the l * i; tori E the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, we learn 

 from this accurate and clear-headed observer that, according to fortu- 

 nate ojwervatitffl OH I ie part of the late Mr. Fitch, of Albany, an insect, 

 not a coi . ; lii : matt mai, is the true cause of this mysterious plienome- 

 non. It appears that Mr. Filch succeeded in discovering, during his 

 frecruent examinations, a white larva of some hemipterous insect, which 

 lie placed carefully in a vessel containing loose soil, to facilitate its 

 transformation into the pupas state. This was accomplished in a few 

 days, and shortly after, a then undescribed species of bot-fly, named the 



mtrus emascula tor, made its folly-developed appearance. The sur- 

 prise could not be extreme, as the larvae of this family are in the habit of 

 burrowing under the skin of the ox and other ruminants, which are 

 thereby afflicted with the peculiar sores so well known to all Herdsmen. 

 It is supposed that the trmasculator, in Harmony with the habits of its 

 congeners, deposits its egg on the testicle of the black squirrel, as the 

 ichneumon does upon the large larvae of the Platysamia, and that after 

 the development of the egg into an immature larva the latter manages 

 to generate an J . dermis, and to live at the expense of an organ 

 which is not indispensable to the life itself of the squirrel. It seems 

 strange, However, that this deserving observer places much reliance 

 upon the reports of what He considers trustworthy persons, who assured 

 Him of Having, time and again, positively witnessed actual attacks 

 upon the black squirrel by the red* with the view alone of destroying 

 its testicles, as has been, from time time, noticed among certain breeds 

 of dogs. 



The problem calls for communications from all who Have accurately 

 observed the habits of these animals, in order to settle this much-dis- 

 cussed ami perplexing question. Chas. Linden. 



Blue Bibbs.— New Haven, Bee. 19. — I saw ten blue birds 

 flying around this morning and chirping as in the spring. Is 

 it not something unusual ? Verd Mont Abroad. 



[The incident -was an unusual one. It is, however, in keep- 

 ing with the spring weather of the past week. The birds 

 doubtless find plenty of food, for the air is full of insects. 

 Ed.] 



> *Ot— • 



Tub Nesting of the Snipe.— Our friend, Dr. T. M. Brewer, 

 the well-known authority on matters oological, sends us the 

 following note, which will be new to many of our readers.. 

 Writing from Boston, Mass., under date of Dec. 3, he says : 



"The nesting of the snipe in the southern part of New Eng- 

 land and in the Middle States is not so very rare as some sup- 

 pose. I have in my cabinet an egg taken by Mr. Aslmiead in 

 the Delaware marshes, near Philadelphia, and given me by 

 the late Mr. Cassin. I have another taken by Dr. Holden, 

 now in Stockton, CaL, hPSTew Turk, near the Pennsylvania 

 line. Mr. Betty wrote me several years hgo of its breeding 

 near Springfield, Massachusetts, and also near New Havers 

 Oonn. In both cases, early in Jtme, he found the young 

 when only a few days old. In J" Lewis' American Sports- 

 m-in.' page 184, you will see that in May, 1846, as Mr. Lewis 

 was crossing an estate in Maryland, he started one of these 

 birds from au oatfleld, and, searching, found its nest, contain- 

 ing four eggs. I might name other cases that have come to 

 my knowledge of a like nature," 



BRANT IN TEXAS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



En your Issue of Nov. 15 I notice that Mr. Greene Smith desires to as- 

 certain positively if the true brant ever leaves salt water a Hundred 

 miles. I Have killed w r hat were called brant by all who saw them near 

 Palestine In this SI ale. They were feeding near a small salt pond called 

 the Salino/and some ten miles south of Palestine, not far from Trinity 

 Paver. They were evidently on their way south, and were tired out, or 

 unfamiliar with the figure of a man, as I approached them near enough 

 to kill some with shot without much cover. 



Vast numbers of wild fowl pass over tins region during the migratory 

 season, and sometimes Beem very much exhausted, frequently settling 

 down at nightfall in the little ponds that are found in the prairies skirt- 

 ing Trinity River imgreat Hocks. There are no large bodies of water at 

 all iu this portion of the State 



Birth should favor your readers with a full description of the 

 brant he wants. If he will doso aud will send a copy to J. L. McMeana, 

 Palestine, Texas, I have no doubt but that He can get one, as he owns 

 the saline referred to, which is frequented by wild fowl to a greater ex- 

 rjlaee in that region, if I rightly i emenuber. Or Mr. J. H. 

 Jen. Ticket Agent, I. and G. K. E, E. at Palestine (who sustains 

 the reputation he brought with Mm, at least, for fair dealing), migHt 

 throw some light on it. Tours. p 



4.1M7. 



Drumming op Ruffed Gbouse.— A correspondent, W. E. 

 D., adds his testimony against the hollow log theory: 



I fully indorse the oppinion of "Awahsoose" and many 

 others that a hollow log is not at all necessary to produce the 

 much disputed sound. I have shot them in various places, 

 while and immediately after drumming, when a hollow .log 

 was not to be found. Through' Forhbt and Stream an in- 

 terest in such matters has been awakened in me, and I have 

 made some observations, although my chances are limited. 

 While duck hunting I was hiding by a large pond watching 

 some ducks, they would raise themselves up in the water to 

 an upright position, and flap their wings with a quick, 

 jerky movement, which produced a sound similar to that 

 made by the grouse, but of course not prolonged. That this 

 sound was not made on a hollow log I am sure, the wings did 

 not even strike on the water. I presume others have noticed 

 this as well as I, who am but a novice in the study of nature. 



„-\ ^^-i 



Habits of the "White Fish.— The peculiar series 

 stripes or ridges on the back of the Lake Constance white- 

 fish, noted in the Berlin, Germany, letter of Fred. Mather, 

 F. and S., Dec. 13, have also been noticed in the species 

 of this country, as will be seen from the following note: 



United States Commission, Fish and Fisheries,) 

 Washington, D. C, Deo. IS, lSTf. ]" 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



The fact, noted by Prof. Peters, and communieated by Mr. "Mather, as 

 peculiar to Lake Constance whitefish, is not unknown to the whitefisH 

 of the great lakes. In the breeding season— the month of November- 

 many are found with the tuberculated points— rather similar in ap 

 pearance and substance to those seen on the head of rho "horned dace," 

 (Semotitus corporalis), also called " common chub," and other species 

 of the cypriiudae. My recollection is that the poinds were more 

 prominent in large overgrown males than in others. 



James W. Milker. 



Queer Otstees.— A paragraph, with this caption, is 

 running through the columns of the newspapers. The story 

 runs that the timid, peaceful oyster has taken to bloodthirsty 

 ways. This does not mean that the oyster has become ag- 

 gressive and flies. at people like a tiger, but that when he is 

 cut open or dislodged from his shell he sheds blood. We 

 copy a portion of the article in question: " When the oyster 

 is cut behind the heart or between the gills with a, knife, 

 blood spurts forth freely." This is indeed horrible I Imagine 

 an oyster like a piece of rare roast beef! Well, what then? 

 We are sure that, ensanguined as oysters might be, amateurs 

 would still indulge in their 'arf dozen on the shell. Ponder- 

 ing a little over this horrible tale, peculiar to the bivalves in 

 and around Cape Henry, the eastern shore and Pocomoke 

 Sound, and grieved lest some imaginative people should 

 sicken over an oyster, we have arrived to this quite natural 

 conclusion in regard to the mystery. It came on us like an 

 inspiration, for reading the article of the bloody oysters had 

 made us hungry, and forthwith we went into an oyster cellar 

 and ordered some raw. Looking at the man opening the 

 oyster we saw around the shell that peculiar red-looking 

 weed, so well-known, called the coral weed, which grows 

 around the oyster. When you take filaments of this weed 

 and press it with an oyster knife, out comes a reddish fluid, 

 which tinges the shell. Of course it requires some stretch of 

 fancy to convert a rather brick-red water into a crimson fluid ; 

 but when in want of a topic, an imaginative reporter might 

 call it " heart's blood." Eat, then, good people, your oysters 

 in peace, and draw no dreadful portents from what is the 

 most natural of things. Benificent nature makes no queer 

 oysters, and man's greatest boon remains ever the same — 

 bland, placid, and deliciously flavored, whether raw, roasted, 



stewed or fried. 



» e- — «- 



Arrivals at the Garden op the Zoological Society for Week 

 Ending Tuesday, Dec 11, 1877.— One brown snake (Storeria occipito 

 maculala), presented; two alligators (A. mississippiensis), presented. 

 For Week Ending Tuesday, Dec. 18— Two broad-wiuged buzzards 

 (Butio penneylvanicum), presented ; one common macacque (21. ci/no- 

 mologus), presented ; one common marmoset (Bapale jacchus), pre- 

 sented. Arthur E. Brown, Gen. Sup't. 



%j$aadkttd f «$mm md %mdm. 



THIS DEPARTMENT IS EDITED BY W. J. DAVIDSON, SEO. St. Y. 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



WHAT THE EARTH-WORM DOES FOR 

 THE FARMER. 



WITH the progress of scientific investigation many of the 

 vulgar prejudices of the past are fast dying out. 

 Birds, so long regarded as the enemies of the farmer, because 

 at certain seasons they appropriate a few kernels of grain or 

 half a dozen berries, are now known to be his best friends, 

 on account of their destruction of noxious insects j and the 

 harmless toad, once so hated, is now, for the same reason, 

 everywhere protected. The earth-worm has always been dis- 

 liked by gardeners, and has been thought injurious to plants 

 ife, the. general impression being that it gnaws the smaller 

 roots, thus seriously interfering with the growth of the plant. 

 Tliis belief is thoroughly contr overted by the observation of 

 M. Hcnsen, who, after a series of observations extending over 

 a number of years, is led to believe not only that there is no 

 foundation whatever for this statement, but that the work of 

 the earthworm is a positive benefit to the agriculturist in 

 opening a way for young roots into the subsoil, and in hasten- 

 ing the transformation of recent vegetable matter into fertiliz- 

 ing material. 



It i9 well known that the adult worms in damp or wet 

 weather come to the surface of the ground at mght, and with 

 tAyteke V: ie, search th 



