May 25, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



329 



Die N, Y State Museum of Natural History, Buffalo Society 

 of Natural Sciences, Dinnean Booroty of New York, Lyons 

 ^dentine Association of Cornell University, or Poughkeepsie 

 Society of Natural History, or any scientific college in the 

 State. 



Penalty for violation of any provision as to moose, or deer, 

 or venison, or the use of nets, seines or other devices for 

 taking fish, $50; violation of other provisions, $20. 



WET WEATHER AT COBB'S ISLAND. 



1MIE season for shooting snipe has so far proved a failure 

 at this place, For thirteen consecutive days have-the 



floodgates of heaven been let loose upon this devoted isle and 

 the rain it rainelk every day. It seems as if there has been 

 fenough water Jailing on this hundred and sixty acres the. last 

 month to furnish the whole of America ami i'rrigate the dry 

 Sahara desert, Every morning the sun would break through 

 the clouds and die deluded sportsmen would don their shoot- 

 ing-suits and with their trusty breech-loaders sally forth with 

 the idea that the sun must shine out at last and that the 

 reservoir up above must pet force be dry by this time. 

 "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." 



As Mr. Dick Swiveller pathetically observes, "Our fairest 

 hopes hloom but to decay," and every evening, regularly as 

 clockwork, a storm would burst that sent the sportsmen 

 dripping and shivering back home. 



This continued tempestuous weather has kept the robin- 

 snipe away, and where generally there are a thousand, now not 

 a dozen can be seen. The graybacks and willet are plentiful 

 and the curlew unusually abundant, 



Among the arrivals last month were the following sports- 

 men: C. B. Slingluff, James Hunter, Morris Thomas, E. B. 

 Whitman, S. T. Hayward, J. D. Mallory, H. P. Lucas, 

 James Oaffron and Hamilton Easter, Mr. Newton Dexterj 

 of Providence, R. L, and the yacht Elfin. All of these 

 gentlemen have by twos and threes left '•disgruntled" and 

 disgusted for their homes, except, indeed. Mr. Easter, who 

 intends to fight this confounded weather if it takes all the 

 summer, 



As I write this the rain if falling, not in showers nor in 

 gusts, but in a, relentless, steady, business-like pour, that 

 shows it has no intention of letting Up. The island is 

 wreathed in a dim fog and everything" looks desolate in the 

 extreme. Indoors it is decidedly blue, and I for one knock 

 under to this weather and wish I could go to some clime 

 where the earth is nourished by evening's clews and not by a 

 three weeks' steady, persistent shower-bath. 



Elkenny Cobb the younger has just returned from the 

 neighborhood of Smith Island (where he has anchored his 

 sloop) with forty dozen birds— mostly curlew and graybacks 

 — all the result of his own gun. He shoots for the market, 

 and can sit in his blind all day, rain or no rain. It is a heap 

 of difference digging for a woodehuek for sport and exca- 

 vating for him because you are out of meat. 



The island will be open for guests the first of June. It 

 has been improved in many ways, Chasseur. 



Cobb's Island, Va., May Iff. 



SHOOTING NESTING PIGEONS. 



Editor Forest and /Stream: 



I see in your issue of May 11 an article from "Nessmuk" 

 condemning the shooting of wild pigeons at nestings in Penn- 

 sylvania, 



I have lived in the northern part of the State some thirty 

 years and am well acquainted with the woods of Tioga, 

 Potter and McKean counties, and as pigeons never come 

 here at any other times in large numbers, I would like toask 

 him if they could not be taken now when we could get any? 

 I do not know of any good fall shooting for them within 

 reasonable reach of here. There have been almost none at 

 that season in this section for the last fifteen years, and even 

 before that thc.y were not plenty. Am sure there would be 

 few or none taken by the people of this section if not in 

 nesting season. Have just returned from the nestings on the 

 head waters of west branch of Pine Creek, near which I 

 camped three days and was all through them. The number 

 of birds has trebled within the last two weeks; some of these 

 last are commencing to hatch and others just building, while 

 in the first nesting the young birds are beginning to fly. 

 There was very little shooting in or near the nesting; and 

 not a single net did we find. Saw a few places, however, 

 where they had been, but was told that they were promptly 

 driven out. But of course there were hundreds of gunners 

 and netters outside the one mile limit. 



We are all more or less selfish; and I can see no good ac- 

 cruing to us by allowing these pigeons to go, not to be seen 

 in this section again for maybe four or five years, and 

 then only to nest again. The nesting is on the west branch 

 of Pine Creek about thirty miles west of Wellsborough, Pa., 

 and a little more south from Wellsville. N. Y. 



Backwoodsman. 



Bbookland, Pa. 



now Cai.ifornians PatoTECT the in Crops. — Most of our 

 readers have seen or heard of the immense flocks of geese 

 jrJrioh in winter and spring are to be found in California, 

 and have read of the great amount of damage done by them 

 to the crops 0i 3 ro ig ■ heat, The San Francisco Qall gives 

 an interesting account of one method by which the grain 

 fields are protected from the feathered "ravagcrs. It says* 

 "Various methods have deeu devised of exterminating wild 

 geese without avail, until geese hording has become a pro- 

 fession as distinct as herding or trapping. In the early 

 winter the geese appear in the grain counties in myriads, 

 traveling about in vast flocks. Their hunger is insatiable 

 and the new wheat is rapidly destroyed. Dr. H. J. Glenn, 

 whose ranch in Colusa county covers most of the arable 

 land in that county, numbering some To, 000 acres, or nearly 

 twelve square miles, expends about $10,000 a year in herd- 

 ing his geese. He recently purchased in this* city for the 

 present season between $3,000 and $3,000 worth of cartridges, 

 about 250,000 in number, of . 4-1 -calibre. He has constantly 

 in his employ, while his wheat is growing, about forty men, 

 all of them mounted and marly all armed with Henry rifles 

 and field glasses, who patrol Ids property during the day and 

 On all moonlight Bights. These men are regularly organized 

 pto a patrol guard, They discover with their 'glasses the 

 flocks of geese, H bich at a distance of from 300 to 400 yards 

 look like a white' blanket spread over (lie green wheat, and 

 they thereupon plant a bullet right in the middle of the flock. 

 This unexpected visitation sets the flock on the wing, and 

 1 herder follows them up, keeps planting bullets 

 . rise to a great height, and, disgusted, 

 ■-..; are killed, the object being to 



keep them on the wing and consequently off the wheat fields. 

 Those that are killed are carried off' and shorn of their 

 feathers, but the revenue from them amounts to little. OnDr. 

 Glenn's ranch about 8.000 cartridges are used in a day, which 

 represents about 20,000 geese daily put to flight. Oftentimes 

 a thick fog blows in, and this appears to be the favorite time 

 for the geese and they devour the; wheat with great energy. 

 The herders then, fearful of shooting each other, are almost 

 baffled, but when the fog rises the flocks are put to flight and 

 for hours thereafter the air is filled with feathers and geese 

 and Glenn's ranch resounds with the clatter of rifles and the 

 frightened erics of the persecuted fowls. To pay his men, 

 buy ammunition and maintain horses costs Dr. Glenn some 

 $10,000 per annum, but it saves his wheat, which yields 

 $100,000, as without the geese herders half would be. de- 

 stroyed. The herders become very expert in their business 

 and are generally good shots and capital horsemen." 



Illinois. — Aurora, May 13. — The spring shooting is about 

 over here. The duck shooting was not as good, I do not 

 think, this spring, as usual— too much water. Our creeks 

 and ponds have been full lo running over all the season. 

 This is one of the worst faults with a prairie country. If 

 there is too much rain the sloughs will be so full of water 

 that the ducks and geese can get away far enough from shore 

 to be out of gunshot. The snipe have been "quite plenty 

 with us this spring, but were very wild and not in very good 

 order. I think there are more prairie chickens in this section 

 than a year ago this time. I counted over fifty the other 

 morning. It is about time for them to nest; and" if we don't 

 have too much rain in the next six weeks our chances are 

 good for next August. I have seen but one quail this spring. 

 Where they are Is more than I can tell; it wasn't a hard 

 winter for* them here, but very little snow. I have been 

 around to several good thickets and can't find a bird. Last. 

 fall I knew where there were several good bevies. I think 

 the hawk has had his share of them. The plover have gone 

 north, excepting a few stragglers; they have furnished some 

 sport for about three weeks. They have been exceedingly 

 wild.— L. A. H. *__ 



Lake Tohoptalaga. — Sanford, Fla., May 6.— This week 

 I made a trip to Kissimmee City, on Lake Tohoptalaga. I 

 give it as pronounced by the Seminoles, the spelling which 

 is recognized here. The South Florida Railway was com- 

 pleted to that point in March, 1882. The railroad hotel was 

 nearly finished when it was blown flat by a Squall: I sup- 

 pose it will be rebuilt for next winter's patronage. I staid 

 at Kissimmee only a few hours and had no opportunity to 

 hunt. While there five young Seminoles came in from the 

 country to trade, dressed very r au naturel and laden with 

 deer hides and bird plumes, which latter they sold to the 

 passengers on the train. Among the Indians was one 

 splendidly formed fellow of about nineteen or twenty years, 

 dressed in a white shirt and leather belt, I believe that was 

 all. He did some pistol-shooting and a war dance. His 

 name, inscribed on the shirt, was Billee Ham. The lake is 

 lovely, and its borders look very inviting to the sportsman. 

 A neAV railroad is to be built immediately from Sanford to 

 Indian River, and will open up that section of the countiy. 

 —Trump. 



Sportsmen vs. Rowdies.— Howard Centre, Iowa.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: The gunning rowdies? whom you so 

 justly condemn, are not content with the depredations you 

 speak of, but must also get what fruit they can carry away 

 in addition to what they can eat. Where notice had been 

 publicly given requesting them not to hunt on certain 

 premises, I have known them to gather, six or eight at. a 

 time, on Sunday, and fairly make the day hideous, shooting 

 at anything or nothing. I think the only way to restrain 

 them is to make it a penal offense — something more than 

 trespass — to hunt in any settled neighborhood without 

 special permission from the owner or occupants of the land. 

 Farmers often want a share of the game for their own use, 

 and aside from this consideration it is for their interest and 

 also that of the sportsman that the game be preserved. I 

 have lived on the prairie nearly twenty-six years, and spring 

 would be lonesome without the music of the prairie chickens, 

 and I know that with decent treatment they need never be 

 exterminated.' — B. H. 



Broiled Partridge m May.— The Adirondacks, May 10. 

 — Editor Fore si a ad Stream: I inclose a slip cut from the 

 Morning Telegram of May 16, of PlattsbuTgh, Clinton county, 

 N. Y., giving the bill of" fare at Ralph's HpteL on the Cha- 

 teaugay Lakes, in the Adirondacks: "Fishing is reported ex- 

 cellent at 'Ralph's.' A party of three caught eleven salmon- 

 trout the day before yesterday. Broiled partridge was en- 

 joyed for breakfast yesterday morning at the hotel. Fishing 

 and hunting are promising in thai region." You will notice 

 "broiled partridge." It seems strange that hotel-keepers, 

 whose prosperity depends in a great measure on the sport, 

 that the game in their vicinity affords to their guests, will 

 kill the golden goose, as it were, by encouraging their guides 

 to kill the birds off their drumming logs and nests. If such 

 hotel men are so stupid that they cannot see that they are 

 injuring themselves by making a market for game out of 

 season, they ought at least to be punished for breaking the 

 law.— Grouse. 



Killing Onto Quail in May.— Ashland, Ky. — Editor 

 Fonst and Stream: In the Cincinnati Commereial of May 

 14, I found this item: "Springfield, O., May 12, 1882. 

 There is. perhaps, but little of field sports proper, in Clarke 

 county, as compared with some other regions: indeed, some 

 might think it hardly worth mentioning. Last Friday three 

 of us killed ninety quail in the afternoon; but that was alto- 

 gether exceptional, and may never happen again. I never 

 heard of its being done before. Winter before last killed 

 about all our quail, and that is about all the sport we have in 

 this county. — A. MeC. Wilson." Now if that is the way 

 game is protected in that part of the State, no wonder it is 

 growing scarce. Think of three men killing ninety quail in 

 a half day in the middle of May, and in the great State of 

 Ohio; and to cap tin- outrage, boldly writing about it to a 



freat newspaper as if it ;svere something to be proud of . 

 urely there are no sportsman's chilis in that locality, or 

 they would put the scoundrels through to the fnil extent of 

 the' law, — Mos AjtfBicirE , 



Philadelphia Notes. — The Weather has been so unpleas- 

 ant for the past week, in fact, since the 1st, of the month, 

 that there has been no trout fishing whatever indulged in 

 by our people. Capt, Clay writes from Elk count', 



has been out but once and then had but poor success in 

 streams fished for the first time this season ; thirty-five trout 

 was all he basketed. It looks as if Vennor's prophesy that 

 we should have a cool and wet spring and summer would lie 

 true. — Homo. 



Lincoln Sportsman's Club.— Lincoln, Neb., May 10, 

 1882. — At the annual meeting of the Lincoln Sportsman's 

 Club held here on the 10th inst., the following persons were 

 elected officers for the ensuing year: Bun- II. Polk, Presi- 

 dent; E. Hallett, Vice-President;' R. H. Corner, Secretary 

 and Treasurer. The following members were selected as 

 team to shoot for State Cup at the State tournament to be 

 held at Omaha, commencing on the 23d of this month: 

 Messrs. Hallett, Harley, McBride and J. E. Bauxn, with 

 Messrs. Polk, Hathaway, White antl Quick as alternates. 

 Five delegates were also appointed to represent the club in 

 the State convention, 



Philadelphia Notes. — Report comes from Townsend's 

 and Corsen's Inlet, N. J., that the bay birds came during 

 the late prolonged storm and passed right on north. I can 

 hardly credit this, but it maybe so. My informant has just 

 returned from the former place and states that it is "the say" 

 of the natives. I am inclined to believe the robin-snipe and 

 blackbreasts will yet show themselves. Let us see. Mr. 

 M. K. Warne, who gave up his rifle gallery in Philadelphia 

 to establish one in the city of Washington, D. 0., has re- 

 turned to Philadelphia and reopened his old place at the 

 corner of Eleventh and Chestnut. — Homo. 



Michigan. — Monroe. — With the first of May snipe and 

 duck shooting closed until September in our Stale. Ducks 

 have been unusually abundant, and some extraordinary bags 

 have been made in our marsh. Snipe have also been fairly 

 plenty and several good bags have been made. Quail and 

 ruffed grouse have wintered nicely owing to the past open 

 winter, and with a good breeding season we look forward to 

 some enjoyable days next November in pursuit of the brown 

 beauties with dog "and gun. — John Davidson. 



Illinois. — Jonesboro, May 3. — Quail promise to be abund- 

 ant in this vicinity the coming season. — W. W, J. 



I -was among the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence last sum 

 rner. When you visit that, river go by all means to Alexandria Bay 

 and enjoy two days' of fishing— one for pickerel with the Bpaiml. 

 t'onroy can tell you what it is, and the fisherman there (though a 

 sadly profane dog at the best) will supply you; only take with you a 

 couple of strong, thick, trolling hand lines. For the bass another day 

 will hardly suffice. Use for them a fly on the ordinary size lake 

 hook, with scarlet wings and body, fastening on a bit of a forked 

 pickerel's tongue, by passing through the hook uutil it will bang lightly 

 from the bend. Play it among the rapid currents around the p' inls 

 of the island, with thirty yards of silk line out from a twelve-foot 

 stiff rod. and you will say that your trout fishing will hardly exci 1 it . 

 You are no doubt aware that in August the boss are close to shore 

 on rocky bottom, but such advice to you is "like coal to Newcastle. "' 

 I give it as new to myself last summer.— Extract from, a lettn- of 

 Rev. Geo. W. Beihune, March 30, 1847. 



BASS FISHING ON THE ST. MARKS. 



READER, do you overfish? If you have, (hen you can 

 ) enjoy what I have to say. If you have not. then go 

 and fish on some sparkling 'stream, under the shade that 

 grand old dame Nature furnishes, '•■without moneyand with- 

 out price," and feel for once in yom- brief existence one 

 of the most exciting pleasures tha fever thrilled the human 

 frame. 



A pleasure which once tasted stills the care-born passions of 

 the heart and weaves in the intricate, tangled web of life a 

 bright and golden filling— drowns in the waters of forget Ful- 

 ness the sorrows, temptations, and disappointments of life — 

 "Smoothes the wrinkled brow of care 

 And writes a thousand graces there." 

 The gray dawn is just breaking. Its soft silvery light 

 stealing up the east quietly embraces dark-browed Night. 

 "clad in the keauty of a thousand stars," chases the dark- 

 ness from her sable brow, and another bright day is born. 

 Then we gather at the river — the silent-flowing, dark -bosomed 

 St. Marks, which winds its way through Western Florida to 

 Appalachee Bay, from out of whose waters the active mullet 

 are leaping high in the air in every direction, whilst along 

 the banks the hungry bass are plunging wildly after scamper- 

 ing minnows, which frantically dart, over the water's surface 

 in the vain endeavor to avoid their hungry enemies. Our 

 sympathies go out to them, and with glittering spoon-bait 

 well in hand, moving 'ncath the surface, looking a thing of 

 life, we go to their rescue. A few strokes from our brawny 

 boatman's stout arms, and our boat is gliding by the scene 

 where the watery war of life upon life so lately raged. How 

 wildly, excitedly the pulse's maddening play as the deceitful 

 bait sweeps the edge of the shore, fie is there, just under 

 the shade of a large bush bending over the water. I know 

 this from the swirl on the. wave as we approach. Will he 

 strike ?_ The bait is past his lurking place. Quietly reversing. 

 1 send it speeding back over his lair, when, like'the rush of 

 many waters, he plunges upon the pretty bail and dies like a 

 hero! realizing, if a fish can realize anything, the poet's 

 words — 



'"Many things in this world 



That loo'bright, pretty moth, 



Only dazzle to lead us astray." 



To our delighted eyes, what a prize! a five-pouuder; not 

 an ounce less. 

 Gently, boatman, gently. Let the dripping oars lightly 



touch the water. Under that wide-spreading oak overshad- 

 owing the water, lurk monster bass, over whom the silent. 

 waters have swept for many summers. Yesterday, while 

 fishing for gold perch. I saw two of them sweep beneath, in 

 a stv le that showed even fishes felt a conscious power. As 

 the largest of gold perch fled, affrighted, from the rnoti-o ■> ■-, 

 they exultingly .seemed to say, "See how they flee bet'.., 

 nio'narchs, of the deep;" and Ihey shook their broad tails m 

 evident merri.n 



I am impatient, boatman, to try the skill of man, and the 

 Strength Of steel with one. of these cunning old fellow-, i ,: 

 your oar strokes so gently move the waters that the boat will 

 glide over it. Without a ripple. 



Our troll is acting finely, Never was unifiei; 



