104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 6, 1884. 



on hundreds of the detestable, pugnacious little Passer domes- 



tirvs. 



I know of but one reason to account for the scarcity of the 

 winter birds in this vicinity. On the 9th and 10th of last 

 September we had a very severe frost that destroyed most of 

 the vegetables and the seed-bearing weeds in the fields, on 

 which the snow-buntings, horned larks, snowbirds and tree 

 sparrows feed during the winter. I have seen snow-bunt- 

 ings but once this winter, Dec. 27, although I was in the 

 fields probably three days in a week up to Jan. 5. Since 

 then I have seen nothing, excepting one downy woodpecker, 

 and he came to the apple tree at my door to show himself. 



J. L. D. 



Lockport, N. Y.. Feb. 11, 1884. 



Monday afternoon I counted seven robins in one tree, and 

 they seemed quite contented, although the air was chilly. 

 Redwing blackbirds are around in considerable numbers. 

 I saw four this morning in front of the house. Quail have 

 wintered well so far, notwithstanding the many crusts we 

 have had this winter. I saw a flock of ten black ducks last 

 week heading north, but I guess they did not stay long. 

 Our meadows will be in first-class condition this spring for 

 the ducks, and I anticipate some fair sport. I am in hopes 

 the ducks will make their appearance soon, and I am sure 

 they will if the weather keeps as warm as it is to-day. Blue- 

 birds have been with us all winter. 16-Bore. 



Madison. X. J., Feb. 20. 



This is a very hard winter for the birds. The English 

 sparrows have almost disappeared; not a dozen now where 

 there were hundreds before. A number of birds have been 

 found dead, and all the birds seen were in poor condition, 

 except a shrike which I shot the other day; he had had an 

 easy time feeding on the sparrows. There are a few chicka- 

 dees, blue jays and pine grosbeaks, and that is about all 

 around town. A number of Acadian or saw-whet owls have 

 been killed, and I recently secured a Richardson's owl. 



W. A. M. 



Fort Covington, N. Y., Feb. 18, 



The past cold winter does not seem to have much effect 

 upon the migration of birds here. 



Feb. 16, bluebirds and robins first seen. Feb. 19, crows 

 were seen flying along the banks of Lake Erie in great num- 

 bers. A great many are killed by Cleveland sportsmen as 

 they fly over. They seem to be the main topic of conversa- 

 tion in the gun stores, probably as the first game of the sea- 

 son. Feb. 81, saw four wild geese (Bernicla canade/isU) fly- 

 ing north. Several flocks reported and a few ducks. 



Of the winter birds noted, which may be of interest to the 

 reader, are song sparrows and brown creeper (C. famiUans). 

 A pine grosbeak w T as brought in by a boy who killed it with 

 a stone. It is rare in this vicinity. A few Bohemian wax- 

 wings were here in January. I had the good fortune to take 

 a rough-legged hawk {A. lagopus sancii-jolianms) in black 

 plumage; color, uniform dark brown. Also a fine pigeon 

 hawk (F. eolwnbatriua), which is quite rare here. Tufted tit- 

 mouse (L. Ucolor) is unusually abundant this winter. 



A. Hall. 



East Rockport. 



The first robin appeared here on the 15th of this month, 

 and the bluebirds arrived on the scene the next day. This 

 is at least a month earlier than they generally come into this 

 cold part of the State. N. 



WATERvrLLE, N. Y., February. 



Evening Grosbeaks in Iow r A.— Saturday morning, Feb. 

 8, Mr. J. Painlin. of this place, discovered a flock of un- 

 usual and very handsome birds feeding on the seeds of some 

 box-alder tree's that grew near his house. His attention was 

 drawn to them by the very musical twittering and chattering 

 that they incessantly kept up, and approaching them care- 

 fully he was surprised that they manifested no signs of 

 alarm, even when he stood directly beneath the tree on which 

 they were feeding. Some of the family had seen them there 

 the day previous. The following day (Sunday) the family 

 were absent, but on Monday the birds were still there, and 

 Mr. P. determined, if possible, to secure a specimen or two, 

 but in order to do this he was obliged to drive them some 

 little distance, as the law forbids any shooting within the corpo- 

 ration limits. They flew very swiftly, and, alighting on some 

 trees at sufficient distance, he fortunately secured three (one 

 male and two females). There were but six in the flock — 

 two males and four females. Desiring to have them identi- 

 fied, and knowing my interest in such matters, he brought 

 them to me, and with the help of "Coues' Birds of the 

 Northwest" I found them to be the evening grosbeak. I 

 have never before seen these birds here, and consider my- 

 self very fortunate in being enabled to add them to my col- 

 lection. — Violet S. Williams, Coralville, la., Feb. 13. 



The Fog Rainbow.— COsumnes, Cab, Feb. 20.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Two of your correspondents have lately 

 written of the fog rainbow as a very unusual experience. I 

 myself never had seen one when I came to this State, and 

 was disposed to doubt that there was such a thing. Here in 

 the Sacramento Valley, however, in the winter or rainy 

 season, we sometimes have fog for days togather, and I have 

 quite a number of times seen the white bow, having no pris- 

 matic colors, and on two occasions a bow having all the 

 colors of the rainbow; never, however, making a complete 

 circle, as spoken of by one of your correspondents.— W. 

 L. W. 



Do Buffalo Mate WiTn Domestic Cattle?— Some ten 

 years ago a gentleman living some miles west of here, while 

 on a hunting excursion in Kansas, purchased and brought 

 here with him a buffalo calf. It has been on his premises 

 ever since and is now a large fine cow^. It has never bred. 

 No bull could be induced to mate with it. Is this character- 

 istic of these animals or have hybrids been produced?— K. 

 (Vinton, Iowa). [Hybrids have been produced between the 

 buffalo and domestic cattle. Audubon gives at length ex- 

 periments conducted long ago in Kentucky, and we believe 

 that there is now, near Winnipeg, a herd of crossbreeds.] 



Contributions to the LitebAtcke of Snakes.— We 

 have received from Mr. James Simson a pamphlet contain- 

 ing :t number of interesting letters contributed by him to 

 Land and Water at a time when the question, "Do snakes 

 swallow their young?" was being hotly debated. This ques- 

 tion has been decided in the affirmative, which was the side 

 taken by Mr. Simson. The letters are charmingly written, 

 and show careful Study of the subject. 



Ortyx Virginianus in Arizona.— Mr. J. D. Andrews 

 brought m a pair of genuine Bob White quail, to-day. The 

 bud is an extremely rare one in Arizona. The breast plum- 

 age of the male is of a darker brown than that of the eastern 

 variety, otherwise the general appearance of the bird is much 

 the same, although if anything it is smaller in size. Those 

 brought in were killed in the Barboquivari range, about 

 sixty miles southwest of Tuscon. On the Gulf ol California 

 they are found in great numbers, but the mouu tains and 

 mesas southwest of Tuscon are believed to be their north- 

 eastern limit — Tuscon Weekly Citizen. 



Snow White Opossums.— Mr. H. G. Dulog writes from 

 the Hot Springs, Ark ., concerning two white opossums— 

 perfectly white all ever— yet not albinocs, for their eyes 

 were not pink, but locked dark, even black. The negro 

 owner told our correspondent that their eves were blue, 

 "same color as yo' eyes." 



Transactions of the Linnean Society.— The second 

 volume of the Transactions is in press, and will probably 

 appear in May next. 



Zmny S ir % Sfokeyintjs. 



'•That reminds me." 

 105. 



AMONG the many good stories related in Forest and 

 Stream I think the following deserves a place. It was 

 told to me by Mr. George W. Leavitt, the well-known cocker 

 spaniel man of Boston, who vouches for its truth: 



"About eight years ago I took a trip to Maine, partly for 

 business partly for pleasure, taking with me an English 

 setter that had been recommended as a great ruffed grouse 

 dog. I was at my old home, Pembroke, and one day on 

 telling my uncle, Mr. Pomeroy, that I was going over to 

 3fackias on business, he suggested driving me over that I 

 might have an opportunity to display the good qualities of 

 my dog, and also to get some birds, so off we started with 

 dog and ( guns, and after getting into the woods where the 

 birds were plenty, I turned the dog loose and away he 

 bounded. At almost the first jump he routed a brood of 

 buds, and dashed through them like a wild calf through a 

 flock of turkeys, showing the speed of a lighting express as 

 he bounded through the underbrush, and in an instant was 

 lost to sight. We had waited five minutes, perhaps, though 

 it seemed an hour, when my uncle, with a sly twinkle in his 

 eye, said: 'Nice dog, that, when do you expect him back?' 



" 'Oh, he is a trifle wild now, but will soon settle down to 

 close work.' 



"We turned back toward the road, thinking the dog might 

 swing round that way, and when we came in sight of the 

 horse saw the famous setter lying under the wagon. There 

 was nothing for me to say, so, maintaining a discreet silence, 

 we drove on and soon met two boys, who had nine birds. 

 One of them had an antiquated gun of about twenty pounds 

 weight and ten feet in length — the regular grandfather mus- 

 ket type — but it was death to the birds, and that was all I 

 cared for, as I always have better luck gunning when the 

 boys have been out a few hours ahead of me. 



" 'How much will you take for those birds?' 



' ' 'They are worth seven cents apiece over at Calais.' 



" 'Give them the dog for a brace,' suggested Mr. Pomeroy. 



' ' T will give you fifteen cents apiece for the lot. ' 



' ' 'All right, you may have them, and there is another fellow 

 ahead of us with some more that you can buy if you want 

 to, ' said the boys. 



"We found the other boy, bought his birds, and went on 

 our way rejoicing, with seventeen nice, plump partridges. 

 We soon reached Machias, and while I was out on business 

 Mr. Pomeroy remained at the hotel. In the meantime Mr. 

 Morgan, a would-be sportsman from our town, drove up. 

 He had with him his two hundred-dollar gun, explaining that 

 he hoped to see some birds on his way over. Mr. Pomeroy, 

 bent on mischief, went up to him and said, 'Did you get any 

 birds, Mr. Morgan?' 



" 'No; I saw some, but could not get near enough to shoot 

 them.' 



" 'Well, 1 am sorry,' said my uncle, 'but if you had had 

 Leavitt's dog you could have filled your wagon with birds. 

 He beats all the dogs in America. We only had a few min- 

 utes on our way over and got seventeen tine partridges. I 

 wish I was a man of means, I would never allow Leavitt to 

 take that dog back to Boston.' 



"Mr. Morgan saw.the birds and dog, and was so delighted 

 with both that he asked Mr. Pomeroy if he thought the dog 

 coald be bought at any price. 



' ' T don't know ; perhaps, as Leavitt has several more, he 

 migh be induced to sell this one for a hundred, reserving 

 the right to breed to him, also to shoot over him when down 

 this way. If you really w T ant the dog I will try to influence 

 Leavitt to selh for I would like to keep the dog in this part 

 of the country, he is such a rare one.' 



"When I came back my uncle told me of the conversation 

 with Morgan. I tried to discourage the scheme; but Mr. 

 Pomeroy was bound Morgan should have the dog, so when 

 Mr. Morgan came to me 1 sold the dog and got the money. 

 Then came Mr. Pomeroy's turn to explain the great necessity 

 of knowing how to work the dog; he said, 'You must drive 

 slowly until the doc puts his nose in the air, and wags his 

 tail, then get out, tie your horse, and you will be sure to 

 find the birds somewhere. 



" 'When you get all ready, just say e/iarye to the dog and 

 he will make a charge for the woods, then you must follow, 

 that is one of the secrets of working him successfully, Tou 

 must keep up.' " 



" 'How shall I know that he has a bird?' asked Mr. Morgan. 



" 'Don't look at the dog but keep an eye on his tail, and 

 when it becomes stiff you may be sure he has a bird charmed 

 so thoroughly that you could "knock it over with a stick. No 

 bird can move while that dog's tail is stiff.' 



"Mr. Morgan felt sure he could work the dog, so started 

 early in order to get a few hours' shooting before dark. Not 

 long after we started for home and had driven about eight 

 miles when, to our intense surprise, we saw the poor dog ly- 

 ing dead by the roadside. We got out to examine him, and 

 found he had been shot, so buried him and went our way. 

 We soon met our boys of the morning, with a fine lot of 

 birds., which we of course bought. While I was paying for 

 them, the boys said, ' 'We ought to ask you more for these, 

 for John Morgan offered us twenty cents a piece for them a 

 little while ago, but we told him we had sold you seventeen 



in the morning and shot these for you since, and would not 

 go back on you anyhow.' 



"I began to tremble, hut Mr. Pomeroy laughed and said, 

 'What did Morgan say to you then?' 



" 'He did not say a'word, and I think he must he crazy,' 

 said one of the boys, for he jjamped out of his wagon, tied 

 his horse to a tree, grabbed his gun, and shot the dbg dead: 

 but when I told him it was mean to kill the dog and 1 

 wished that I had taken him in the morning, when Mr. 

 Pomeroy offered him to vce for a couple of birds, he roared 

 out something about State's prison, and drove off.' 



"When we got home, I tried in every way to make Mor- 

 gan take his money back, but his srit was thoroughly 

 aroused, and he refused to take a single cent. I then set 

 things up for the crowd, and we had a jolly good time. 

 Morgan at first refused to join us, but finally thought better 

 of it, concludmg no doubt that there is no loss without some 

 small gain." Mont Clare. 



Claeemont. N. 11. 



\nn\t §zg m\& 



NEW ENGLAND GAME LAWS. 



n^-HE bill to amend the Massachusetts law is now with the 

 A Committee on Agriculture. 



The question of putting the power to license taxidermists 

 in Massachusetts into the hands of the game commissioners, 

 has, by common consent, been attached to the question of 

 uniform game laws, and the committee on agriculture are 

 evidently pleased with the idea, The destruction of song 

 and insectivorous birds for their skins has become a serious 

 question in the minds of the more intelligent of the agricul- 

 tural community. It has been noticed with alarm that the 

 annual return of certain of the best of ^n ew Engla nd song birds 

 is beginning to be looked for in vain in many sec t ions of Massa- 

 chusetts, and the numerous taxidermists/with their boy fol- 

 lowers, are likely to be held responsible for the loss of these 

 charms of country life. 



At the hearing it appeared that the inhabitants of the deer 

 section on Cape Cod desire no change in the deer law from 

 that making a perpetual close time, as enacted two years ago. 

 Concerning this matter the friends of a uniform code of game 

 laws were not strenuous, and accordingly no change in re- 

 gard to the deer law in that direction will" be asked for. The 

 deer in the State arc all confined to a narrow strip on Cape 

 Cod, and any part of an open season would, it is believed, 

 at present result in their utter extermination. The dwellers 

 on the Cape desire that the close time be retained absolute 

 till such time as the deer shall have increased .sufficiently, 

 when they will come to the Legislature and ask for an open 

 season. 



Several riders are likely to be proposed along with the 

 uniform game law bill. One came up before the Committee 

 on Agriculture, it proposes that any owner of lands or a 

 park under twenty-five acres in extent, shall be protected 

 by law in Massachusetts from the encroachment of gunners 

 on such lands, provided he shall sufficiently post siich land 

 w T ith notices forbidding such trespass. The friends of fish 

 and game protection will not oppose such legislation, for 

 they believe in respecting the rights of land-holders, and 

 thai by such means the former can be more thoroughly 

 linked with the protection of game. The right would thus 

 be given him to protect the game on his own land. The old 

 proposition to give the farmers' boys the right to snare and 

 sell partridges and quail out of season was, of course, in 

 troduced, and the attempt to tack it on as a rider will be 

 made, but probably without success. M. 



Bostox, Mass., March 3. 



OUR DETROIT LETTER. 



JUST at present the recently organized Michigan Gun 

 Club and Game Protective Society could accomplish a 

 deal of good by stopping the illegal sale of quail by olealers, 

 and the serving of the same in hotels and restaurants in 

 Detroit. It is said that they are sold daily by a Woodward 

 avenue dealer, while nearly every restaurant in town will 

 serve them at a moment's notice. 



It would surprise a certain surly, fault-finding chop-house 

 keeper that I know of, very much indeed to be pulled up 

 with a round turn. Indeed, it makes me shudder to imagine 

 his apoplectic wrath were he called to account. For, being 

 an Englishmen of that unhappy class who belittle this coun- 

 try and its inhabitants, albeit they depend on both for sub- 

 sistence, he would sanely nearly explode with rage if called 

 to account for purchasing email out of season. And several 

 persons 1 know of would enjoy the scene. For our chop- 

 house keeper denounces America and things American with 

 the utmost impartiality, and only a few months since bitterly 

 berated the sportsmen* of this blasted country as a set of law- 

 less, ruthless slaughterers of game, "hand werry much 

 beneath hour Henglish gents who 'ave fine feelinks, hand 

 bin he very land carefully protect the game, hand respect 

 the laws." When lie delivered that special tirade against 

 his adopted land and people, a bystander ventured to sug- 

 gest that pheasant shooting in England, as so often de- 

 scribed, was not very pretty sport; and also called his at- 

 tention to the wanton slaughter of game by Englishmen 

 upon our Western prairies, whereupon our chop-house 

 keeper became purple and speechless with anger, 



By no means let it be inferred that I am unfriendly to our 

 English cousins, fori am not. On the contrary, sbme En- 

 glish and Irish •gentlemen with whom I have shot, fished, 

 and coursed, are among my warmest friends. And the 

 country of Thackeray, Lamb, Goldsmith, Buskin, and other 

 favorite writers is very dear tome. 



But confound alow-bred person, be he Yankee, English 

 man or Irishman, who, in a foreign country, continually 

 berates and belittles the people upon whom he depends for 

 subsistence. 



The gun club referred to above held their first regular 

 shoot upon Washington's Birthday. The weather was hor- 

 rible, snow, rain, and wind each striving for the mastery, 

 but as will be seen from the score, the attendance was large. 

 The club will, from appearances, be a success as a gun club; 

 it remains to be seen how it will develop as a game protect- 

 ive society. IJ^au, as an association, do valuable service 

 to the good earm for private individuals dread making com- 

 plaints against law-break 



A week since the ducks began dropping in the Detroit 

 Biver, but the cold snap came, and now all is ice again. 



Detroit sportsmen will be glad to learn that Mr. A. 0. S. 

 Havens has secured the tine store Xo. 72 Woodward avenue. 



