FOREST AND STREAM. 
245 
__We acknowledge the receipt from “Jacobstaff” of a 
beautiful specimen of the rail bird, mounted by Wallace, 
thick is mentioned in our Natural History department as 
having been found in this vicinity last week, killed by 
striking a telegraph wire in its flight. Herewith he gives 
some hints respecting rail shooting, which our sportsmen 
m ay find serviceable at the proper season. He says:— 
‘‘The sora, when driven up almost from under the bow 
of the boat, with legs hanging, flutters feebly over the tops 
of the reeds for sixty or eighty yards, when it drops again 
to shelter. It affords an easy shot, even to a tyro. But 
mil shooting, with proper accompaniments, is fun, and no 
mistake. With a high tide, and a good pusher or poler (the 
latter of which is decidedly a sine qua non) the sport grows 
fast and furious. With dozens of other boats, with their 
shooters, around you, the incessant cracking of the fowl- 
ino- pieces, the rising as well as the falling birds, and the 
angry excitement of your man, as in the excitement you 
miss two birds in succession, or still worse, get your shot 
j oW n before the powder, all this tends to create a heat in 
your blood that is really exhilarating. The feeling of ri¬ 
valry among the shooters is largely engendered, each try- 
iiw Ins level best to outdo the other. Maryland or Vir¬ 
ginia we understand, furnish the best fields for good bags. 
We have heard that on the Delaware Diver as many as six¬ 
teen dozen have been brought to boat by a single gunner 
on a tide. Opposite the mouth of Kinderhook Creek, on the 
Hudson, is a mile or two of flats that in the fall furnishes 
good feeding. There, with Captain Wild and his son Joe 
as pushers, we have in less than three hours bagged ninety - 
two. I believe the captain and his son have killed as high 
as 148 on a single tide, but this, I think, is rather rare for 
that region. In the fall the rail becomes very fat, feeding 
on the seeds of the water reeds, and are indeed delicious 
eating outrivalling the celebrated ortolan of France. I 
hope I shall be able to try a tide among them this season. 
Can’t you go, too?” “Jacobstaff.” # 
Waterville, Oneida County, N. Y. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Reading in your issue of May 21st, the article of a corres¬ 
pondent finding a rail on the public highway dead, and the 
same correspondent asking if other persons had seen any 
bird of the same feather during the month, induced me to 
write of a coincidence. On the 19th of this month, a neigh¬ 
bor of mine, riding from our place to Clinton, through the 
Oriskany Creek valley, found dead on the road a rail in 
full plumage, with no visible mark of injury. 
On skinning the rail no shot-holes were found, but on the 
breast the flesh was discolored, black and blue, showing, I 
think, conclusively, that the bird had received a blow from 
collision with some hard body, causing its death. 
R. S. B. 
■-- 
MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 
Portland, Me., May 12,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
There is a matter I would like to suggest to your editorial considera¬ 
tion; it is this: That you call upon your correspondents throughout the 
country to give you the dates of arrival of migratory birds at their local¬ 
ity, especially the ducks, snipe, plover, &c. It would be valuable as a 
matter of scientific knowledge, aud of great assistance to the sportsman. 
Many of the birds are more regular in the dates of their arrival (without 
regard to season or weather) than most people imagine. I will give a 
few instances in this locality: Canada geese arrive March 20, seldom 
varying three days, and the first flight of black ducks, anas obscura, 
comes with them or immediately after. The second flight of black ducks 
comes April 6, or between the 4th aud 8th. This year they struck here 
at 10 A. M. of the 6th, as I can testify from personal observation, being 
on their favorite ground from the 4th until the 7th, seeing none save 
first flight birds until the forenoon of the 6th. and then my friend and 
self bagged 30 before 4 P . M-, losing about half our birds for want of a 
good retrieve r. But the most reliable bird of all is the dowitcher, here 
called “brown duck,” the Scolopax noveboracensis, of Wilson. This 
beautiful little bird appears on the Scarborough marshes (8 miles from 
this city) on the 25th of May, almost as regularly as the day itself. Since 
1843 the widest variations have been May 20 and May 28, in both of which 
cases but few birds were seen, and I am satisfied were stragglers from 
the main flight. May 25, 1868 was the largest flight I ever saw. They 
extended from horizon to horizon, and the flight lasted over three hours 
six miles out at sea (at right angles with their course). From where I 
was the same sight presented itself. This body of birds must have been 
12 or 15 miles wide and at least 100 long. They did not “darken the air,” 
but were in bunches from a dozen to several hundred, and were visible 
in all directions. They make no stop with us in the spring (the eggs be¬ 
ing about £ inch in diameter in the females), and the male birds are back 
here on their way south as early as July 4th, but usually not until the 
15th. Females and young arrive the 1st of August. They are fat al¬ 
most to bursting in May, but in poor condition when they return. 
Mannasseh Smith. 
remarkable deer horns. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Me frequently hear how two well antlered bucks in chivalrous contest 
or the championship of some herd of does become victims of their rage; 
but I have never seen such perfect evidence of it as is given by two 
skulls with horns, that were shown at the office of the National Hotel, 
Jacksonville, Fla. The horns were fine and strong, and were borne by 
bucks of equal age and size, and beyond doubt® it was a long and deter¬ 
mined fight that so inter-locked these antlers as to forever prevent their 
separation. 
By some powerful charge, with all the force, of each animal, they had 
8 P<mng open the tines of their powerful horns, and by struggles and 
wrestling so jammed them in a complex tangle, that with their anger 
jj° ae ’ ^eir courage tamed by hunger, and their timidity awakened, they 
at been unable to escape from one another until from starvation, or 
com the attacks of animals they were helpless to flee from or defend 
against, they died, leaving their united horns to bleach in the forest un- 
ound by a negro. One sharp point had been thrust through the jaws 
uue, antagonist and striking a back tooth on the opposite side, had 
flll° I 6 * 1 Born and the molar, and the shivered end of the tine 
ln tlle Ya cant place. They were objects of unusual interest to the 
^auy sportsmen who saw them there, and have since been purchased by 
k (i^ tlemai1 f rGm New York. A pair of antlers, with head, from a buck 
cu near Savannah I saw in that city, and would gladly describe 
^ve ^ Ut eveu a Photograph will hardly convey an idea of them. They 
mab ? aicle( ^ ky a Beer of unusual size, and not only branch out from the 
ca< . U . ns ’ as common, hut the tines themselves are divided, in some 
horn ' V ^ ^ ^°Bhle points, reminding one of the three-pointed caribou 
fiovn^ are very symmetrical and more massive by far than any 
poi 8 of tlie re d deer that 1 have ever seen, having in all twenty-four (24) 
L Ldeed, but for the unmistakable head bearing them, one would 
g e Biem as belonging to an animal of sgine variety larger than the 
” eiu Beer and of different character. 
a ae excellent and accomplished sportsmen of the South would found 
ckag SeUm ° f na ^ ve animals and birds and gather in it the spoils of their 
’ B v<onld soon become one of verv great variety and interest. 
L. VV. L 
CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 
-♦- - 
Department op Public Parks, ) 
New York, May 24, 1874. f 
Animals received at Central Park Menagerie for the week ending 
May 23, 1874: 
One Rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus. Presented by Mr. H. N. Strong, 
Portland, Conn. 
One Pelican, Pelecanus fuscus. Presented by Wm, C. Ryan. 
One purple Gallinule, Gallimla martinica. Presented by Mr. W. S. 
Pearson, S. S., State of Texas. 
One Mocking Bird, Mimas polyglottus. Presented by Mr. T. U. Parker 
One small Alligator. Presented by Mr. Charles C. Overton. 
One BurchelPs Zebra, Equus burchelli. 
One Zebu and Calf, Bos indieus. 
Six Silver Pheasants; bred in the Menagerie. 
Mr. Henry Reiche, of No. 55 Chatham street, N. Y., set loose on the 
Park thirty pair of English skylarks, ten pair of chaffinches, and some 
woodthrushes. W. A. Conklin. 
Portland, Town and (Barden. 
AQUATIC, OR SUB-TROPICAL DECORA¬ 
TIONS. 
“Many for many virtues excellent, 
None hut for some, and yet all different; 
O! mickle is the power and grace that lies 
In herbs, plants, stones and their true qualities, 
For naught so vile that on the earth doth live, 
But to the earth some special gift doth give.” 
“When proud pied April, dressed in all his trim, 
lUth put a spirit of youth in everything.” 
Shakspeare. 
MONG- the most charming arrangements of our city, 
as well as suburban gardens, are what we term the 
tropical or “water gardens.” These may be made a partial 
dr a special element in garden decoration. As a specialty, 
or devoted entirely to plants that grow near or in the 
marshy, woody grounds of our river borders, or in water 
courses, are many that can be made to produce the very 
finest effects with but little care. 
Every one who loves quiet, shady nooks, and the little 
meandering streams that silently take their way through 
our woods, will notice there is a peculiarity of foliage 
belonging to these plants. There are many flowers, how¬ 
ever, which are specially adapted to a little stream of water 
gliding through a garden or a little artificial pool beside the 
rock work beneath the shade trees. Flowers for water gar¬ 
dens are of two kinds—aquatics, so-called, or water and 
marsh plants, with which to surround the border of your 
plat and place within the niches of your rock work. These 
plants are propagated by seeds, and by divisions of the 
roots. The seeds of most kinds must be planted beneath 
the water; otherwise they grow well under the same gen¬ 
eral treatment as other herbaceous plants. Among the 
plants we have usi-d as water plants with success we name 
the following, which comprise a very fine list of hardy, 
useful flowers—aquatic flowers that may he termed showy, 
blossoming in May and June; color red—Equisetum fluvi- 
alite, Hydracolite vulgaris. White—Nasturtium officinale, 
Ranunculus aquatillis, Hydrocliaris morcusrame, Phillan- 
drium spicatum, Nymphse albas. Blue—Veronica becca- 
bungge, Equisetum palustre. Red—Butronnus umbellatus. 
Purple—Utricularia vulgaris, Trapa natans, Saggitaria sag- 
gilifolia. August—red—Hydropcitis purpurea, Lobelia 
datmania, salvias. To these we add the calladiums of the 
different species, which can he obtained ready potted and 
well grown, and when placed in moist situations commence 
o-rowing at once, and the peculiar arrow-shaped leaves, 
when properly cared for, have a fine effect. Some of the 
large, hardy ferns are to be introduced about one third of 
tlieedistance of the circle of rock work. Small ferns, and 
the various sorts of polypody, sedmus, and the pitcher 
plant, found in bulbs in wet places in the water courses of 
the woods, can easily be removed, and if gently placed in 
flat baskets can be carried with safety from their old wood 
homes to their new abode in the garden. To a person not 
accustomed to look upon these little aquatic gardens the 
sight of one well cared for would afford them a pleasure 
heretofore unknown. The introduction of the Nymphse 
alba, or white pond lily, will amply compensate any one of 
our lady amateurs who attempts to transfer one from the 
pond to her garden. Early last spring we procured two 
roots and placed them in a large sized flower pot, manuring 
the roots well, and filling the pots with sand and pebbles, 
and then sinking the same some three feet within the water 
in our rockery we awaited patiently the crowning blossom. 
In due course of time we received our reward. First, far 
down into the crystal waters we saw the tiny buds peeping 
up, and soon they burst forth in all the well known fra¬ 
grance of the pond lily of the lake. All this beauty, and 
much in addition, can be had for a very little care, and the 
exercise of a little judgment in the selection of the proper 
flowers. The web mosses of various kin^ls can here be well 
used, and many pendant plants that bear easy transporta¬ 
tion will live well in their new homes. 
Daisies thrive well in moist places, and add life and 
beauty to such little spots in the sunshine or shade of any 
garden. Harmony of color is always to he observed in the 
arrangement of these gardens. To have a well-filled selec¬ 
tion of good plants is one thing, and to have all the plants 
you want is another thing; but this is not enough. They 
must be carefully arranged as to harmony of color. They 
are much influenced by their vis a vis. It is not good for 
even flowers to be alone, but we had much rather see them 
solitary and alone than in had company. You are expected 
to remember, just in this place, that certain flowers, when 
placed contiguously, appear to intensify each other’s depths, 
to add a deeper tone to their beauty. Again, certain flow¬ 
ers of great beauty in themselves alone, when placed in a 
had juxtaposition, lessen very much, or totally destroy, the 
beauty of others. Thus you will at once see the reason of 
this necessary .harmony of the garden arrangement. How 
very suggestive is the simple button hole bouquet when the 
tasty grouping of a few tiny buds produces such graceful 
and pleasurable effects. 
Riding by a densely wooded swamp in the State of New 
Jersey, we once beheld the stately cardinalis, with its blood 
red blossoms, springing up with a background of white 
azalias. The exclamations from the ladies around us were, 
“O, how beautiful!” “O, how exquisite!” It was so. Na¬ 
ture, in her careless grouping of the areen, the scarlet, and 
the white, here taught a passing lesson of the beautiful that 
at least one of that party will never forget. This is what 
I now expect, that you will devote some attention to the 
effect of contrast as applied to the grouping of your flow¬ 
ers and plants in the garden bed. ' This, I believe, you are 
quite able to do, provided you have given due attention to 
the rules and suggestions laid down in the foregoingpapers. 
I could very easily illustrate my meaning; I could tell you 
just what flowers to set, and how they would combine, 
either harmoniously or inharmoniously, but I believe you 
can do it as well as myself after two or three trials. 
Ollipod Quill. 
Curiosities of Grafting.— There are many curious 
facts about vegetable life. We can, for example, graft the 
apricot on the plum, and the peach on the apricot, and the 
almond on the peach, and thus we may produce a tree with 
plum roots and almond leaves. The wood, however, of 
the stem will consist of four distinct varieties, though 
formed from one continuous layer. Below the almond 
wood and bark we shall have perfect peach wood and bark, 
then perfect apricot wood and hark, and at the bottom per¬ 
fect plum wood and bark,. In this curious instance we see 
the intimate correspondence between the hark and the leaf, 
for if we should remove the almond branches we might 
cause the several sorts of wood to develop buds and leafy 
twigs each of its own kind. Each section of the com¬ 
pound stem has its seat of life in the cambium layer, and 
the cambium of each reproduces cells of its own species 
out of a common nutrient fluid.— Massachusetts Ploughman. 
The Baobab. —The baobab is a plant of monstrous size, 
the most colossal and the most ancient vegetable monument 
on earth; has round, woolly leaves, which consist of from 
three to seven leaflets, radiating from a common centre, 
and giving them somewhat the appearance of a grand and 
magnificent white flower. It is an enormous tree, holding 
among plants the place that the elephant holds among ani¬ 
mals—a hoary witness of the last changes which the earth 
has undergone, and deluges that have buried beneath their 
waves the productions of early ages. Several baobabs that 
have been measured were found to be from seventy to 
seventy-seven feet in circumference. From its brandies 
hang, at times, colossal nets, three yards in length, and 
resembling large oval baskets, open at the bottom, and 
looking from the distance like so many signal flags. 
It would take fifteen men, with their arms extended, to 
embrace the trunk of one of these great trees, which, in 
the countries through which the Senegal flows, are vene¬ 
rated as sacred monuments. Enormous branches are given 
off from the central stem a few feet from the ground and 
spread out horizontally, giving the tree a diameter of over 
100 feet. “Each of these branches,” says Mr. Danton, 
“would be a monster tree elsewhere, and, taken together, 
they seem to make up a forest rather than a tree.” It is 
only at the age of 800 years that the baobabs attain their 
full size, and then cease to grow. 
The fruit of this tree is oblong; the color of the shell 
passes in ripening from green to yellow and brown. The 
fruit is called “monkey bread.” It contains a spongy sub¬ 
stance, paler than chocolate, and filled with abundant juice. 
The hark is ashy gray in color, and almost an inch in 
thickness. The negroes of the Senegal grind it down to 
powder, and in this state they use it to season their food, 
and to maintain a moderately free perspiration, which en¬ 
ables them the more easily to withstand the heat. It serves 
also as an antidote for certain fevers.— Wonders of Vegeta¬ 
tion, 
Sale of Short-Horns. —There was an important sale of 
blooded cattle on the farm of Mr. Charles E. Coffin, at 
Muirldrk, twenty-five miles from Baltimore, last week. 
The herd consisted of forty-two cows and heifers, and 
twelve bulls. The progenitors of the herd included some 
of the very best bred animals in this country or Europe, 
the herd being mainly descended from the Bates, Booth, 
Princess, and Gwynne families. Twelve of the best ani¬ 
mals in the herd will go to Kentucky, seven to Virginia, 
five to Ohio, five to Pennsylvania, three to New York, and 
three of the best heifers will go to Canada West, and one to 
Connecticut.' The thirty-nine cows, heifers, and calves 
disposed of brought $20,530; the eleven hulls sold for 
$2,270, making a total of $22,800. The prices ranged from 
$100 to $1,425, the three highest being these: Portnlacca, 
a handsome, solid red heifer, coming four years old, bred 
by S. Christy, Chelmsford, Es§ex, England; a full sister to 
the famous prize heifer Potentella, and got by the famous 
Duke of Grafton. Portnlacca was imported to this country 
when a yearling at a cost of $1,500; sold to T. S. Cooper, of 
Pennsylvania, for $1,000. Muirkirk Gwynne, a heavy 
roan heifer, three years old; she was got by Baron of Ox 
ford, out of Masterpiece, and has four pure Bates crosses 
upon a Gwynne formation; sold to Mr. John Huntington, 
of Cynthiana, Ky., for $1,425. Water Nymph, a handsome 
roan heifer, with one Bates and four pure Booth crosses, 
got by Royal Briton, out of Water Lily; sold to Leslie 
Coombs, Cynthiana, Ky., for $1,200.— Philadelphia Trade 
Journal. _ ^ ^ _ 
Enormous Prices for Valuable Stock. —There was a 
sale of short-horn cattle in Chicago last Thursday which 
excited great interest, attracting buyers from all parts of 
the country, and some from England and Canada. The herd 
sold comprised eighty head of short-horn bulls and cows, 
the property of Col. Wm. S. King of Minneapolis, Minn., 
whose stock farm has long been regarded as a model of its 
kind. 
