26 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 7, 1884. 



The Ground Hog Came Out. — As a sequel to the prose 

 epic in our last issue, "The Court of Arctomys Monnx," this 

 report in the Baltimore Budof Feb. 4 is in order : Saturday 

 "was Candlemas Day, and the ground hog, in accordance 

 with time-honored tradition, came out of his winter quar- 

 ters to inspect the weather and see if he should retire again 

 .for six weeks to avoid the rigors of winter or stay out and 

 enjoy the salubrious air and gentle breezes of a moderated 

 season. There is a universal superstition throughout Chris- 

 tendom that good weather on this day indicates a long con- 

 tinuance of winter and a bad crop, and that its being foul 

 is, on the contrary, a good omen. The ground hog has been 

 credited since pagan times with Hie ability to discern by an 

 observasion on Candlemas Day the quality of the weather 

 for the balance of the winter. ' If when he comes out to 

 make his meteorological examination he sees his shadow he 

 returns to his hole for six weeks. If he does not see his 

 shadow he stays out, thus proclaiming to all men that the 

 winter is broken. Saturday he saw his shadow and hastily 

 retreated, thus demonstrating to many people the continu- 

 ance of winter weather for six more weeks, The ground 

 hog at Druid Hill Park was an object of great interest 

 Saturday. The story published in the Sun last fall of the 

 rough joke to be played on him was remembered by many 

 who went out to watch his movements on Saturday. An 

 area of ground near the zoological building in the park was 

 walled in so the ground hog could not get out by burrowing. 

 Over this was placed an elevated roof, so the weather 

 prophet could not have the benefit of sunshine and shadow 

 wjien he came out to ascertain the weather arrangements 

 for the future. The ground hog came very near falling a 

 victim to this joke. Mr. Henry Christler, keeper of 

 Druid Hill Park Zoo, Avhile discoursing on the sub- 

 ject to a representative of the Sun, said: "1 looked 

 for him to come out at sunrise, and had always heard he 

 came out on Candlemas Day at that time. I watched 

 patiently all the morning, and at 11 :30 sharp he came slowly 

 crawling out of one of his regular holes. He had not been 

 out since he went into winter quarters, Oct. 20. He looked 

 as fat and saucy as when he went in. He had an inquiring, 

 intelligent air, and in the absence of his shadow seemed un- 

 daunted by the bright sunlight which did not shine on him. 

 On Frida3 r I threwsome corn in the inclosure to tempt him 

 out, but it then had no effect. After looking round for a 

 little while he went to this corn and commenced eating. He 

 sat up while eating like a squirrel, only mote erect. A beam 

 of sunlight fell slantingly through "the inclosure, and in 

 moving about for the corn" the ground hog crossed it. He 

 saw for an instant the shadow of his tail and a part of his 

 body. This settled it, and he flew to his hole. He was out 

 altogether about fifteen minutes. I am working round his 

 premises and intend to watch his future movements closely. 

 He has six weeks to stay in the ground on account of seeing 

 his shadow, and his time will be up March 21. Until that 

 time. 1 will watch him every day from sunrise to sunset. He 

 is the only one in the Zoo. We have had several, but they 

 all escaped by burrowing. I shall not believe in the matter 

 until the six weeks are out. If he does not come out before 

 that time I shall believo in the ground hog. I have never 

 watched one before; have heard of them, but never saw one 

 until I came to the park. A great many persons were here 

 watching for him to come out, and about a dozen ladies 

 and gentlemen were on the look out when he appeared. 

 They were much pleased, but the ground hog paid no atten- 

 tion to their exclamalious. Some of the workmen at the 

 mansion say that in the mountains, wheu the ground hog 

 comes out and is satisfied about the weather, he barks." 



chased at $100 each. It is of course understood that we do 

 not wish any of the small green snakes found in Virginia 

 which are perfectly harmless and have no horn. — H. C. 

 Yarrow (Cur. Dept.'Eept. Nat. Museum). 



Birds and Electric Lights.— Cleveland, O., Jan. 15.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: i send you a list of birds picked 

 up under the electric light masts, which have come to my 

 notice. Undoubtedly many other species have fallen vic- 

 tims, but these I name I have seen and handled. With one 

 or two exceptions they were all secured between Sept. 15 and 

 Oct. 15 of last year: Wood thrush, catbird, red-bellied nut- 

 hatch, titlark, black and white creeping warbler, blue yel- 

 low-backed warbler, Nashville warbler, Tennessee warbler, 

 black-throated green warbler, black-throated blue warbler, 

 blue warbler, yellow-rump warbler; Blackburnian warbler, 

 blaekpoll warbler, bay-breasted warbler, chestnut-sided 

 warbler, black and yellow warbler, Cape May warbler, yel- 

 low redpoll warbler, golden-crowned thrush, Connecticut 

 warbler (19 specimens in three mornings), scarlet tanager, 

 red-eyed vireo, warbling vireo, blue-headed vireo, savanna 

 sparrow, Lincoln's finch, white-throated sparrow, 'white- 

 crowned sparrow, rose-breasted grosbeak, pewee flycatcher, 

 acadian flycatcher, sanderling. If you think this list would 

 be of any interest to your readers, insert it, please. — H. B. 

 Chubb. 



Ornithophilologicalities.— In the first number of the 

 Auk, Prof. A. C. Meiriam, in a paper entitled "The Coues 

 Lexicon of North American Birds," criticizes with some 

 sharpness this work. The review is written wholly from the 

 standpoint of a philologist, and is entirely devoted to criti- 

 cisms of the derivations assigned by Dr. Coues to certain 

 ornithological terms. Prof. Merriam is a purist, and the 

 very slightest variation from his standard of correctness in 

 the etymology of any term, furnishes him with a text on 

 which lie preaches at length. Being purely a philologist, he 

 does not appreeiate the value of the work which he is re- 

 viewing, but devotes his whole paper to finding fault. He 

 is hypercritical in his ow r n special department, and has not 

 a word to say about the vast good that has been and will 

 be accomplished by the "Check List." It is scarcely neces- 

 sary to say that in any matter where the pen is the "tool to 

 be employed, Dr. Coues is abundantly able to take care of 

 himself. In the same number which contains the review 

 of his work he prints a reply to the criticism under the 

 title "Ornithophilologicalities." This rejoinder fairly 

 bristles with valid and sharp points, which Prof. Mer- 

 riam will have much difficulty in answering. At the same 

 time, it is written in such good natured and happy style, 

 and is so full of humcr, that notwithstanding the appal- 

 ling character of its title, it is very amusing reading. 



"what are you shooting my decoys for?" I saw that I had 

 been fooled and felt so mad that I gave the only duck I has 

 shot to the owner of the decoys and made tracks for home, i 



Fact. ' 

 Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. 



%mtfi S ir t Sfok&pttg** 



Another Fog Rainbow. — I need scarcely say 1 was ex- 

 ceedingly interested in an article in the issue of Forest and 

 Stream of Jan. 17, written by "J. H. D.," of Poughkeepsie. 

 Now, of course I am willing to add an item from my own 

 experience, which I was scarcely willing to make very pub- 

 lic (I had, however, noticed it in our local paper) for fear 

 that 1 might be thought as imposing on the credulity of your 

 readers. It was my good fortune in my vacation last sum- 

 mer to take a canoe trip with Dr. CI., of Brooklyn, on the 

 lovely waters of the Madawasca, in Canada, taking a trip 

 down stream of about 130 miles, with excellent fishing all 

 the way. We had encamped at Cold Brook, at the foot of 

 Squattuck (or Squa-took) peak. This brook runs into 

 Squattuck Lake No. 3. It was a foggy morning in August, 

 and as the mist was lifting from the lake 1 looked in the di- 

 rection of the outlet and there saw a phenomenon I had 

 never seen or heard of before, and called the doctor and 

 guide to witness it. As the rays of the sun came through 

 the mist a mile away there could be seen at or near the 

 surface of the water all the tints of the rainbow in their 

 order — red, orange, yellow, green, blue-indigo, violet — 

 stretching a distance of about twenty rods in width, It was 

 indeed singular to see these colors* horizontally displayed, 

 especially as neither of us had ever heard of the like before. 

 I have thought it worth while to drop you a line concerning 

 it, corroborative of the assertion that such things do exist, 

 although some are very incredulous concerning it. But my 

 eyes are A No. 1, and, hke "J. H. D.'s," were not "glazed" or 

 • "befogged" by stimulants. My fog was at a distance; his was 

 near at hand, it seems. There was no arch in mine, simply 

 a band of colors like the continuous spectrum, lying horizon- 

 tal. Will some scientist rise to explain?— C. Jacobus (Mata- 

 wan, N. J.). 



One Hundred Dollars for a Huge Green Snake.— 

 United Stales National Museum, Washington, Feb. 1, 1884. 

 —Editor Forest and Stream: The inclosed slip was cut from 

 the National Republican newspaper of this city: "As a cou- 

 ple of gentlemen were riding down the Roanoke Valley, Vir- 

 ' ginia, recent) v, they saw a huge green-colored snake writh- 

 ing and twisting at the root of a beech tree. Going closer 

 they discovered it to be one of the horned species of the. hoop 

 shake. It had formed itself into a hoop by taking Us tail in 

 its mouth and rolled down the hill in pursuit of a rabbit or 

 other small game. So great had become its velocity that it 

 couldn't guide itself, and it had struck the tree with such 

 force as to drive its horn into the solid w«od to the depth of 

 an inch or more, holding it tight and fast. There are a great 

 many trees in the vicinity that have been struck in the same 

 way, and they invariably die. So deadly is the poison that 

 the leaves ou young oaks have been known to wither within 

 an hour after being struck." You will perceive there is still 

 room for good missionary work in the benighted region from 

 which the "huge green snake" comes. If any inhabitant of 

 the locality would furnish to the undersigned at the National 

 Museum a specimen of huge green snake from Western Vir- 

 ginia, possessing a veritable horn, a large amount will be 

 promptly paid for it, iu fact a dozen specimens will be pur- 



"That reminds me." 

 . 100. 



TWENTY-FIVE years ago the present winter the first 

 little band of pioneers had gathered in Colorado at and 

 near the spot now known as Denver. They were in the 

 heart of the wilderness, six hundred miles from other civil- 

 zation; cut off in the winter from all intercourse and com- 

 merce with the States and almost as completely isolated as 

 if upon an island in mid-ocean. Supplies were scarce, and 

 they had to "rustle" for grub. This was largely supplied by 

 hunting, and fortunately game was plentiful. 



Among the settlers was one Andy Slane, a rough, illiterate 

 man of about thirty years, much given to profanity. Upon 

 one occasion he and several others went to the foothills near 

 Platte Canon for a hunt. Scattering out each went his way 

 and Andy soon "jumped" a mountain lion with a couple of 

 half-grown kittens. They were within speaking distance, 

 but Andy courageously attempted a shot, when his gun 

 snapped, leaving him helpless. The old cougar appeared to 

 understand the situation and accepted the challenge. She 

 moved leisurely upon Andy's works showing her teeth, and 

 Andy's hair began to lift his hat. Meantime hewas finger- 

 ing at his gun trying to get a new cap on the nipple. But 

 "haste makes waste," and time was growing precious when 

 Andy thought a compromise might be best, and he sang 

 out: "Look here you cussed old varmint, if you'll let me 

 alone I'll let you alone." 



Just at that moment one of Andy's companions happened 

 to come over the ridge behind him — of course, out of his 

 sight but in plain view of the cougar, which stopped, as 

 Andy thought, in response to his proposition, looked steadily 

 at Andy for a moment, then at the reinforcement beyond, 

 turned around and slunk away looking back over her 

 shoulder. 



About that time Andy got his gun in order, or thought 

 he did, and his courage rose accordingly. He made a mo- 

 tion to bring his weapon to an aim but recalled it, and, 

 shaking his fist toward the retreating animal, he yelled out, 

 "So that's your game, is it, you old she cat, now that I'm 

 fixed for you ; I'd give you a dose yet if 1 hadn't promised 

 you that I wouldn't." 



The other fellow told the last part of the story, and then 

 Andy had to give the beginning. Andy has since become 

 rich on cattle, W. N. B. 



Denvee, Jan. G, 1884. 



101. 



One of the most interesting essays I ever read was Max 

 Muller's "Migration of a Fable," in which he relates how 

 different ^prc'inrr r>t the story of the Milkmaid (who, indulg- 

 ing i lul dog dream, spilled her milk) has been told 

 in all co udiualllanguages. A bit of my own experience 

 may enter. 'X ou as illustrating how in every chine we sports- 

 men play the same old tricks on ourselves. One moonlight 

 evening last year, I found myself among a number of marshes 

 and small ponds near the sea shore, on a small island in the 

 Pacific. It was about 10 o'clock. I had visited every pond in 

 the neiehbothood, and had succeeded in getting only one shot 

 sofar; 'but I did not like the idea of going home with only 

 one duck, so I went back to a pond I had visited about 

 three, hours before. The pond was surrounded by a low 

 bank, covered in some places with bushes. I crept up and 

 looked over; and to my great delight saw two ducks. They 

 kept so still that J thought they must either be asleep or 

 dead; but anyhow Iraisea my gun to my shoulder and fired. 

 "Confound you," yelled a voice the other side of the pond, 



THE CRITICS' CORNER. 



Editor Forest and Stream.- 



I have been looking over the "Flickerings" with great amusement a| 

 the mauy pleasant tales told therein. To me it seems that hi the phr: 

 of nowadays, "Shadow" must "take the cake," but while he tal 

 that, let me take him to task for his ruthless murder of tlie New Euj 

 lish, the dialect of Yankee land. Being a Yankee of the sixth gem 

 ation of Yankees born to the manners, customs and speech thereofJ 

 I can say that I never heard a native of any corner, border, or mi<J 

 die of New England call a raccoon a "keun," and am sure tl 



'Shadow" never heard such a barbarous twist of the name of tl 

 animal from any but a stage Yankee. We talk of "kyows" naow a] 

 then, perhaps tew of ten, but never of keuns. No; rather than 

 the robber of our cornfields of one o, we would rather give him moi 

 than he owes us. and roll him out two or three extra o's, calling him 

 coooon. Neither did "Shadow" ever hear a genuine Yankee talk 

 our canine friends, except in fun, as "dorgs" or "purps." To tl 

 Yankeest Yankee that ever whittled stick or chawed gum. they 

 dawgs and pawps, or may be in severe cases paw-ups. Make all tl 

 fun you please of our dialect, but give it as it is spoken, dei 



"Shadow," and may you never be less nor more infrequent in thJ 



"Oamp-Fire Flickerings," is the wish of your friend, 

 Adibonda, Dec. 28,1883. Maj, J. Verity, U. S. H. M. 

 [' 'Shadow" explains that "kewn" is better than "keun." "Kewn, 

 he insists, is good Yankee in the "parts" where he "was raised.' 

 Ed.] 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



1 am fond of a good story, and like to read one, but it always ■, 

 noys me to have the point of a story shown me. I want to be 

 alone and laugh when I get ready. For example, when I read ow 

 the "Camp-Fire Flickerings" and got my pencil ready to mark it 

 ten, I found it rather hard to discriminate and mark the best. If y 

 will look them over, you will find that in many, after the rub is give 

 and when the reader sh»uld have been allowed to laugh, he is co 

 pelled to read three or four lines descriptive of how much somebot 

 else laughed or swore, or took bis hat and left, or threw something a 

 some one. The result is. like an interrupted sneeze— the good of it 

 all gone when it comes. I beg of your correspondents when thejt 

 have told their story, then stop, let the reader laugh if he sees th 

 point, if he does not let him sit in silence. J. A. 



Jefferson, O. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your remarks on "Angling Slang" in this week's number of ya 

 paper are worthy of extension to other departments of sport, 

 sportsman should rank as a gentleman in the full meaning of t 

 word until he ceases to use the phrases that partake of vulgarifl 

 There are, however, many expressions used in the language ; 

 sportsmen that do not exactly come under the classification of sis 

 phrases, but that are very ohjectionable to those that desire con 

 and refined speech. X have sometimes thought to make a list j 

 words and phrases that sportsmen should avoid. Such a list tola 

 include the following: At the head of the list and the most to J 

 avoided of all is the phrase "speckled beauties" or "Spotted be: 

 ties" for trout. 



Then next I would place those expressions that give the name <j 

 the maker of a sportsman's weapon for the weapon itself, i or i: 

 stance: "My Parker" for my gun ; "my Leonard" for my rod ; "n 

 split bamboo" for my rod, and all that genus. 



The author of the "Bread Winners" speaks in his book of the hepj 

 throwing away his "Reina Victoria." This style of setting forth t 

 One quality of one's guns or cigars is unpardonable. 



I recommend that you make up a list of such phrases and ko«p 

 at the head of your columns as a warning, and means of instructiod 



Lindley Murray. | 



New Y ore . 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



Your "Angling Slang" in the issue before ine fills a "long felt want' 

 so far as I am concerned. I don't think I ever wrote "speckle] 

 beauties" before this moment, for I have always hated that arf 

 kindred words and especially the slang of the fraternity. I did writj 

 hi my paper "speckled trout," hesitatingly, but the Indians never s; 

 anything else. What I want to suggest is, give the hunters a stirrini 

 up, especially those fellows who "pump lead." That is abominabh 

 and for mercy's sake do Suppress it. B, D. Banta, 



Indiana. 



[Next!— Ed.] 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Why do you not have an Index Exp\tr<jatori\ts? It is a good des 

 «f an institution in its way. As you know, the Ere.iiny Post has onj 

 or at least did have it in William Cullen Bryant's time, and I makes 

 question it was a benefit to the editors, reporters and readers of ib 

 Post. There are about eighty words and expressions now in som« 

 what common use among sportsmen, which ought to he dispense 

 with. The phrase by whose "damnable iteration" I am most weafffl 

 is "true sportsman." Why not "sportsman?" What does "true 

 mean? We need simplicity in speech and writing. Expurgate tr. 

 superfluities. Senex Septimus. 



THE WOOING O'T. 



A LAWYER once, unlike most of his class 

 A modest man, fell dead in love. A lass 

 He worshiped quite, but still his secret kept 

 Till up the scale his cautious courage crept, 

 And. well assured no oue his purpose knew, 

 He started out with this sole aim iu view- 

 To wit, to woo. 



His way led through a wood, the shadows fell, 

 His waning courage shadowy grew as well, 



Until he asked himself, disheartened quite, 

 "Why am 1 here at this time of the night?" 

 An answer from a treetop loud and clear. 

 In legal language couched, fell on his ear— 



"To wit! to woo!" 



He fled in fear, although he no one saw : 



For fear, like many a lawyer, knows no law. 



The bird of wisdom perching overhead 



Slow flapped his wings, winked "warily, and said: 



"Why should this be? Such haste I never knew, 



ne sure an unwise purpose had in view — 



To wit! to woo!" 



Take weU to heart this text drawn from the wood 

 Your modest wooer never comes to good. 

 Though all the world your secret clearly knows, 

 And through unheard-of shades your pathway goes, 

 Let not your courage fail whate'er you do; 

 Your wft keep always clearest when you woo. 



— William Howard Carpenter, in the Ceh 



