FOREST AND STREAM. 



457 



or traversed by lines of stately cottonwoods and willows 

 ■which mark the courses of the creeks. In the bottoms the 

 grass is rank, sweeping to r : be armpits; but the prairie grass 

 is for the most part short and thickly mixed with weeds and 

 flaring flowers which emit a puugent aroma, Mouse-colored 

 gophers heap up their mounds of earth over every square rod, 

 while sand rats and crawfish burrow in the intervening spaces. 

 These gophers go for the farmers' corn with insatiable 

 rapacity. They have natural pockets on each of their chaps, 

 which they cram With the grain until they can't see. Then 

 they cany the grain to their burrows and go for more— and 

 seldom go far— do these gophers. In such large proportion do 

 they contribute to the sustenance of the hawks which con- 

 stantly hover about, that it is doubtful whether it be expedient 

 to destroy the hawks for the sake of saving the. grouse. As 

 the wagon jounces along, meadow larks, flickers, sparrows, 

 and ring-doves fly up from the cover, and presently settle 

 down age in. Meanwhile the hawks, of several varieties, 

 which have been idling overhead, take advantage of the 

 momentary disturbance to make successful swoops. Occasion- 

 ally we let off a cartridge at one of them. Old^dogs do not 

 like to retrieve wounded hawks. The eclat which usually 

 attaches to such an achievement is embarrassing to then- 

 native modesty. Sportsmen regard hawks as belonging to 

 that class of trifles which should be handled with gloves. 



We often read of the hazy atmosphere of the prairies, but 

 the word hose has no application. On the contrary, the air is 

 so transparent that distant objects seem close by: while in 

 heated midsummer the lower stratum is often disturbed byre- 

 fractions and wavelets of light, such as one detects on the 

 outside of a stove, which have the opposite effect of making 

 near objects appear distant, though not shadowy or indistinct. 

 Looking off on the horizon, where the green meets the blue, 

 we observe a belt of timber apparently miles away. Its lines 

 are toned and softened into the semblance of clouds, yet as 

 tangible and intensely vivid as the shapes which the sunlight 

 throws through the stained glass windows of a church, or the 

 prismatic huts of the rainbow. Gazing intently at it, we dis- 

 cover a tawny animal of immense proportions, half the height 

 of the trees, coursing along the edge of the timber. Almost 

 before we have time to conjecture or become astonished, we 

 have arrived at the spot and find that the creature was only a 

 small coyote, or prairie wolf, and the gigantic timber merely a 

 strip of gnarled and stunted black-jack. Again, surmounting 

 a knoll, we overlook a valley of apparently great extent, 

 sweeping gracefully to a parallel eminence opposite, and filled 

 with such shadowy repose and softened hues that Tom Moore's 

 Vale of Cashmere seems no longer an oriental dream. On the 

 farther elevation are objects whose outlines seem sharply de- 

 fined, but the filling of the picture is so blurred and blended 

 that we cannot determine whether it represents a large barn or 

 .a haystack of enormous size. A few minutt s' walk, however, 

 will bring us to a small bush or pile of weeds ! In the far 

 •distance is apparently a sandstone cliff, flanked by grassy 

 Bluffs of richest green. When we reach it, we find only a 

 patch of coffee-colorr-d marl cropping out of a rise in the 

 prairie. In like fashion the golden stacks of grain on the tops 

 of kuolls gleam in the sun like sulphur-capped cones of vol- 

 canoes. And so, throughout all the landscape, one continually 

 meets the like phenomena. A few rosin weeds or mullein 

 stalks a furlong off may take the semblance of a clump of 

 trees, or a horse and buggy be transformed into an army 

 wagon or load of hay. When the waves of refracted light are 

 multiplied the true mirage results, and then every object be- 

 comes distorted out of all true character. One of the most 

 comical effects is produced by a flock of cranes dancing. It 

 is "too funny for anything." Stage shadows are nowhere. 

 First, their legs get so mixed up and interlaced that each pair 

 seems to belong to the whole flock. Presently the legs begin 

 to thrust, cut and parry, like a hand-to-hand combat with 

 swords ; heads and bodies swell into balloons ; out steps one leg 

 and kicks them all into collapse ; the shapeless mass resolves 

 itself into a trio of donkeys with huge, flapping wings, and 

 these wings presently change to panniers ; one of the donkeys 

 kicks up behind, turns a somersault and swallows himself; 

 the rest follow suit, and all blend into an elephant with 

 twenty pairs of legs ; then cranes' necks begin to stretch up 

 out of the body, and keep on stretching until they get so thin 

 that they break off ; legs turn to a file of soldiers, front dress, 

 eyes right ; all simultaneously bring their hands to their hips 

 and lift themselves into the air by the waistbands ; elbows 

 grow into huge wings, and as they fly off they change back 

 into the cranes which have taken flight at our approach. 



Cranes are wary birds and difficult to approach, and since 

 they make a most palatable dish sportsmen are proud to count 

 them among their trophies. Their flesh is white, and es- 

 pecially toothsome when boiled or made into a pot-pie. "Vari- 

 ous are the subterfuges and stratagems employed to circum- 

 vent them. The best method is to drive as near as possible 

 without seeming to observe them— not directly, but with a 

 detour— and, when the wagon is prudently near, let one or 

 two of the gunners quietly drop off behind, whde the wagon 

 passes along out of distance. By carefully crawling through 

 the' grass, the gunners can sometimes approach within fair 

 gunshot. 



It was as hot asTophet when we beat up the prairies around 

 Medalia. The sky was cloudless, the thermometer marking 

 97 deg. in the shade, and the wind blowing a red-hot gale 

 from the southwest. It was more tolerable in the shade under 

 a lee than in the full sweep of the wind. The birds, how- 

 ever, were more numerous than we had found them before, 

 and we scored twenty-four brace for our united bag. Nearly 



all were driving birds, scooting down wind like rockets, and 

 affording the most sport I have ever known pinnated grouse 

 to do. Pinnated grouse lie closer to a dog, and are not as 

 swift flyers as the sharp-tails or white-breasted grouse. The 

 range of the latter is from the northern boundary of Kansv 

 to Alaska ; of the former, from southern Minnesota to Texas. 

 The first are found in the scrub chiefly, the second in grass. 

 Both species are not often bagged on the same range. To get 

 our birds we scattered wide, each marking down flocks or 

 stragglers as they flew far and near, and seldom missing a 

 count, It was terrible work for the dogs, who would have 

 suffered more but for a crystal runlet that wound through a 

 part of the territory where we hunted. For the most part, 

 however, they had to depend on the wagon butt, and the de- 

 licious and refreshing ice, whose supply did not give out. In 

 very hot weather sportsmen should apply small pieces of ice to 

 the tops of their dogs' heads. At such times pointers are 

 always thankful that they were not born setters ; they don't 

 take much stock in "fine feathers." 



One of the most interesting phenomena of the prairie is the 

 "tumble-weed." In the growing summer time it is a goodly 

 bush, with brauches numerous, thick, succulent, and spread- 

 ing ; but in the autumn, when the sun has ripened the grasses 

 as W3ll as the grain, when the earth is parched and dusty, and 

 seeds rattle in the pod, it becomes the driest and scraggiest of 

 weeds. Not a particle of moisture remains in its fibres. Its 

 once parsnip like root shrinks to a mere sinew, and the pass- 

 ing winds of September scurrying over the plain catch it by its 

 withered fronds and whisk it around t aud round until the 

 root wears itself loose in its hole, and the thread-like extremi- 

 ty clinging to the moister ground below, alone holds it in its 

 place as the anchor holds a storm-tossed ship. As gale after 

 gale passes, feebler becomes its fastening, until finally it 

 breaks loose altogether and goes tumbling over the prairie, 

 grasping the golden rods and mullein-stalks with its claw-like 

 fingers, or temporarily clinging to other weeds more firmly 

 rooted. But its career is as fated as the waif on the rapids of 

 Niagara, Another whiff of wind tears it loose again, and 

 away it goes, streaking it like mad, and rolling itself into a 

 ball, gathering other weeds as it rolls and growing rapidly and 

 enormously by constant accretions, until at length it has 

 reached ten feet in diameter ! Its specific gravity is lighter 

 than cork's, but it is tremendous for size ; and as it comes 

 bowling and bounding over the grass at locomotive speed, borne 

 toward us on a 2:40 blast, frightful in its threatening aspect, 

 tell me what unaccustomed horse can be found so staunch as 

 to keep his tracks in the ghostly demonstration ? One might 

 imagine the boulders of the glacial system let loose on a 

 frolic, or Titans and Son, of Anak rolling ten-pins adown 

 the shores of Time ! To see a vast area of prairie in this 

 commotion, with tumble weeds rolling far and near, one feels 

 as if prophecy were being fulfilled, and " the heavens and 

 earth were rolled up like a scroll." Had the tumble-weeds 

 been a little riper and the gale a trifle stronger, we would 

 have had to do our hunting under disadvantages such as I 

 have portrayed. 



I do not care to occupy space with a repetition of the oft- 

 told story of a grouse hunt. Those who have been there 

 know how it is themselves. Those who don't know but wish 

 to, can learn the lesson in the papers and books, I will only 

 say that I found two articles of rig most convenient. One 

 was a "70 shooting coat," made by George C. Henninff, of 

 Washington, D. 0., in which I comfortably carried my seven- 

 ty-six shells; (no other contrivance so satisfactory;) the 

 other a set of leather thongs fastened to a waist-belt, which, 

 fashioned into loops, carried dead birds conveniently by the 

 heads until they could be deposited in the wagon. I have 

 used this method for years. It is better than pockets or 

 game bags, which cumber and chafe. 



We spent but one day on this lay, as the next morning 

 threatened rain, which finally came in torrents in the after- 

 noon. However, we improved the w/ishining hours by shoot- 

 ing ruffed grouse on the Minnesota bottom, near a station 

 where the early train dropped us, the birds being fairly 

 numerous and affording good sport. In the eveniug we re- 

 traced the remainder of our journey back to St. Paul. 



My next letter will conclude this series. I make the an- 

 nouncement because I fear my readers will think that, like 

 Tennyson's Brook, I shall babble on forever. Hallook. 



OUR WASHINGTON LETTER. 



DUCK SHOOTING ON THE POTOMAC— SINE BOXES AND BLINDS- 

 WILD WATEB-FOWL AND THEIE FOOD— O0VE3 AND CBEEKS— 

 BIG GUNS AND FRIGHTENED BIHDS, ETC., ETC. 



[FEOM OTTE OWN COEEESPOKDENT. ] 



Washington, D. C, Jan. 5, 1878. 

 m The Potomac Eiver from this city to its mouth, a distance 

 of about one hundred and ten miles, with the numerous creeks 

 and inlets on both the Maryland and Virginia shores, has al- 

 ways been a favorite resort for water-fowl during their spring 

 and autumn migrations, but more especially at the latter sea^ 

 son, when they seem to be attracted to these waters by the 

 abundance of food found on the flats and shoals where they 

 stop for rest and to satisfy the cravings of hunger caused by 

 their protracted flights through more northern regions. For 

 some years past the numbers of these fowl have steadily de- 

 creased from several causes, one of which is the constant war- 

 fare against them, not on the part of the few who indulge in 

 aquatic shooting for pleasure, but the hundreds who shoot 

 them for profit, and supply the markets of Washington and 



neighboring cities. The big guns used by such persons, with 

 half a pound of powder and several pounds of shot for a sin- 

 gle load, not only carry death and destruction among the 

 ducks, but frighten off all within miles of them. The new 

 game law of Virginia makes it unlawful to kill any water- 

 fowl except with a gun that can be raised at arm's length and 

 fired from the shoulder without a rest. It is to be hoped that 

 the law will be rigidly enforced. Another cause of the de- 

 crease in the number of our water-fowl is the gradual destruc- 

 tion of their food, and especially the Vale&neria ameriaana, 

 or wild celery, upon which the far-famed canvas-backs, red 

 heads, bald pates and some other varieties subsist while in 

 this section of the country. A few years ago a favorite 

 feeding ground for these ducks on the James Itiver, where 

 the wild celery was abundant, was entirely destroyed by a 

 season of cold weather when the ice j ormed to an unprece- 

 dented thickness for that climate, and the stalks of the plant, 

 which grow from six to eighteen inches in length, were thus 

 enclosed in the ice. A sudden change in the temperature and 

 warm rain caused a rapid break up of the ice blockade, and 

 the celery being easily uprooted was torn from its bed by the 

 ice and washed out of the river by the freshet. The next sea- 

 ons there was hardly a stalk of this marine plant to be found 

 where it was so abundant for years previous, and conse- 

 quently the ducks deserted that section. 



I have on many occasions been deeply interested in the rem- 

 iniscences of old sportsmen, who can no longer stand the 

 hardships of aquatic shooting, but who, twenty, thirty and 

 even forty y«irs ago, enjoyed that sport on the Potomac 

 when the birds were so plentiful that they covered the surface 

 of tfte water for miles ■ but they have steadily decreased in 

 numbers year after year, until this season we have scarcely 

 any ducks on the river, and those who have made a business 

 of shooting them for market have not been well rewarded. I 

 am inclined to the belief that the exceedingly mOd winter we 

 have had up to this time have retarded the birds in their 

 southern flight, and that they will be more plentiful after we 

 shall have had a brief season of cold weather. As the tem- 

 perature has not yet been below the freezing point, the ponds 

 and creeks all over the country are open, and the birds have 

 not been forced to resort to the large rivers, as they often are 

 when smaller bodies of water where they feed are closed by 

 the ice. As to the delicious canvas- backs, very few have 

 made their appearance, but some mallard, green and blue- 

 winged teal and other species have been killed- 



FAVOEITE SHOOTING POINTS. 



The Potomac, one of the most beautiful rivers of the North 

 American continent, off the city, is about one mile in width, 

 but it gradually expands until we reach its mouth, where It 

 is twelve miles wide. From here to Aquia Creek the water is 

 fresh ; about that point it begins to get brackish, and a few 

 miles further we come to Blackiston's Island, where it is 

 quite salt. I might fill a column and weary the thousands of 

 readers of Forest and Stbeam should I attempt to name the 

 many famous shooting points on the river. There are any 

 number of persons who are fond of the sport of duck shoot- 

 ing, although the exposure from cold and wet is often very 

 disagreeable, and unless the sportsman be robustaud healthy 

 he had better keep out of the blinds. To those blessed with 

 a strong constitution, and who are able to stand severe 

 weather, the sport excels that of field shooting. <Jn the Vir- 

 ginia side of the Potomac the nearest feeding ground of the 

 ducks is in an extensive cove just beyond Gravelly Point 

 and near the Four-Mile Bun, half way between this city and 

 Alexandria. A short distance below Alexandria is Hunting 

 Creek, another favorite resort. Soon we reach Mount Ver- 

 non, with its extensive flats covered with grass. Doag Creek 

 Gunser Cove and Craney Island are the next places, and this 

 brings us to Occoquaw Bay, where the ValisneHa is plentiful 

 and canvas-backs are generally quite abundant in that locality. 

 Freestone, Cockpit and Brents Points are favorable rojee'- 

 tions for shooting the ducks as they pass from one cove to 

 another. Aquia Creek, Marlborough Point, Upper Machodoc 

 Creek, Eosiers Creek, Bluff Point, Faine's Point, Mattox 

 Creek, Curwinan Bay, Nomini Bay, Hollis Marshes, Elbow 

 Point, Lower Machodoc Itiver, Ragged Point, Jackson' 

 Creek, Yeocomico Eiver, and the numerous inlets and co 

 in that vicinity, Travis Point, Coan River, with its creeks a 

 shoals, Presley's, Hall's and Cubitt's creeks, and finally the 

 Little Wicomico River, emptying into the Potomac a few 

 miles this side of the Chesapeake Bay, are all well known as 

 desirable feeding grounds for the water fowl frequenting this 

 secti 



On the Maryland side of the Potomac, commencing at Oxen 

 Creek, between this city and Alexandria, and then in Broad 

 Creek just below that city, ducks are always found in sea- 

 son. Following down this side of the river we reach 

 Hatton's Point, Piscataway Creek, Chapman's Point 

 Pamunky^Crcek, Mattawoman Creek, Chicomuxen Creek' 

 Wade's Bay, Smith's Point, Lower Thomas Point Nan- 

 jemoy Creek, Blossom and Windmill Points, Port To- 

 bacco River, Pope's Creek, Lower Cedar Point, Piccowaxton 

 Creek, Swan Point, Neal's Creek, the Wicomico River St. 

 Catharine's Sound, Bullock's, St. Catherine's, St. Margaret's 

 and Blackiston's Islands ; and then St. Clement's Bay, Kay- 

 wood's and Higgin's Points, St. George's Creek just 'below 

 Piney Point, the St. Mary's River with its numerous creeks 

 and inlets, Calvert Bay, and finally Pomt Lookout at the 

 mouth of the river. Along the whole course of the river, in 

 the creeks and shoal waters upon either side, the ducks, geese 

 and swan, find the various marine plants and grasses,' water 

 insects, Crustacea, etc., upon which they feed and grow fat. 



