Aran. 24, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



245 



my eye feffll on this passage, "Tf a bird's nest chance to be 

 before thee in the way, iu any tree or on the ground, whether 

 they be young ones or eggs, the, dam sitting upon the young 

 or "upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the 

 young, but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go and take 

 the young unto thee.'' (Deut. xxii. 6-7.) 



[gat a long while in deep thought over it. Here was a 

 key to what hart beeu for years to me a mystery, and 

 although giving no clue to the origin or process, such was 

 my confidence in the authority of the command that I ac- 

 cepted the fact, willing to abide by it. But why was this 

 command necessary in this and in no other phaze of organic 

 life? Yes surely, why? 



The pet fever touched me at the usual age. to be supplanted 

 by love for higher objects as years formed new tastes and 

 aspirations, and culminating 'at last on that last work of 

 creation, where it Sticks to this day. (I account for the 

 anomaly only on the simple fact that it leaves nothing fur- 

 ther to be desired in that direction.) 



I took from the nest a brood of young birds with both the 

 parent birds, put them in a cage, placed in it abundance of 

 food, congratulating myself that the old birds were quiet 

 and did not worry, and of course would tame easily. >Six 

 hours afterward I looked into the cage; the mother bird lay 

 dead, while the male survived a short time. Wishing to 

 preserve the skins, I found the flesh dry and shrunken, the 

 fluids exhausted, with every appearance of starvation a week 

 rather than the work of a few hours. I tried the same ex- 

 periment several times, with the same result invariably, and 

 grew discouraged. 



After reading the above quotation the mystery was greater, 

 while the liberty of investigation was abridged. Thoroughly 

 human, I sought to evade the letter of the law and see how 

 near I could come without incurring its penalty. I found a 

 family of grosbeaks and carried the young in my pocket, the 

 old birds in a basket, I placed the old birds in the basement 

 and the young birds in the attic. When I came in at evening 

 the old bird was dead. It being warm weather the windows 

 were open, the old birds would hear the call of their young, 

 and hence the result. I must confess that seeing this my 

 heart was far from flint. One trial more and I ceased for- 

 ever. I took a pair of grosbeaks with the young, carried 

 the young to my house, and the old ones to my office. They 

 all lived. The young grew large and beautiful, the old 

 birds easily dom«ticated, and all were lovely as tame birds 

 could be. The question comes up then, what is this power, 

 this influence of the passions and emotious which will so 

 quickly exhaust the functions of life, shrink the living 

 tissue and paralyze muscular action? 



The power of mind over matter is acknowledged in general 

 terms, but the particular province and physical effects of 

 pas*ion, emotion, will and like attributes in organic life, 

 science has not reached, and could not if it would. This 

 train of thought I propose to follow, noting the physical re- 

 sults of their influence and power, in moulding forms of 

 life, changing and breaking up its organizations, with such 

 other phenomena of interest as may occur. 



To return to the question, why Was this single class of crea- 

 tures designated arnong myriads to receive special privileges 

 and exemption from calamities to which all organic life is sub- 

 jected. We shall find the answer in their peculiar nervous 

 organization and susceptibility. They could not be the 

 fairy creatures they are with less. The rapidity of motion, 

 the circulation of blood and muscular action, all show sen- 

 tient intensity not possessed by any other warm-blooded 

 creature. To offset and counterbalance this, comes in the 

 wise provision of short memory, and a cessation of nervous 

 excitement when the cause is removed. As was said before, 

 the moment the call of the young bird ceases, whether from 

 death or removal, the parent bird becomes quiet, and after 

 a short time gathers food for itself, and all is forgotten. We 

 see then, how the passions and emotions paralyze the func_- 

 tious of life, and how quickly the living tissue is affected by 

 them. We find also that desire, effort, or will, though less 

 rapid in operation, is not less wonderful in physical results. 



When I first looked at the American crossbill, creative de- 

 sign was be3 r ond my reach. The consideration followed of 

 how far circumstances might have influenced the distortion 

 of mandible, and that led mc to keep one in confinement 

 where neither desire nor opportunity could be indulged and 

 where the mandibles would, not be twisted, now right and 

 now left, nor elongated by efforts to reach a seed a little be- 

 yond his reach. At the end of one year I saw the mandibles 

 were assuming a natural position. At the end of two years 

 the bird died when the crossing was hardly perceptible. It 

 may be urged that this being the case, the mandibles of the 

 young bird should be parallel and straight. I reply, not neces- 

 sarily so, since no fact is better substantiated than that in the 

 transmission of life, both character and bodily deformity are 

 carried with it. Here is positive evidence o*f natural effort 

 to restore symmetry to a distortion brought on by the vary- 

 ing circumstances and necessities of life. What we urge is 

 that .subjects fraught with such serious consequences to the 

 best interests of life shoidd receive the attention due to them, 

 and we may rest assured that the line between what the 

 Creator has done and what, he has left us to learn and do, 

 will grow definite and plain as we proceed. The laws which 

 govern the physical universe, govern also the beating of your 

 heart and mine, and when understood, leave less and less of 

 His dealings with humanity inscrutable. 



Henry Little grew from boyhood to manhood by my side. 

 From a burn on Ms neck when quite a small child the in- 

 jured muscle contracted, and laid his head down on his right 

 shoulder. He grew up a strong, healthy, spirited young 

 man, but continually cramped by this misfortune, which 

 did not in the least impair intellect or ambition. Every 

 moment of waking life was an effort to raise his head to 

 an upright position, and this grew more intense as the ap- 

 proach to manhood made the misfortune more apparent. A 

 physician, skillful, though somewhat given to hazardous ex- 

 periments, said to him one day: "Henry, I can part that 

 contracted muscle and set your head tip right." ' 'Do it— do 

 it," said Henry. "Cut my head half off if necessary. Til 

 risk it." 



So one day he thrust in his knife, and feeling around 

 among nerves and blood vessels, severed the strap, and over 

 the head went to the opposite shoulder. Bracing it up in 

 proper position, the wound soon healed, and his head was all 

 right. But a new phenomena now appeared, the face was 

 all awry, the whole side was carried upward, the whole 

 orbit of the. eye and eyeball was carried three-quarters up 

 into the forehead, so that the distertion was really more 

 painful to look at than before. What counteraeting influ- 

 ences might have followed we are unable to record, as a few 

 months afterward he fell from the yard arm in a stormy 

 night at sea and was lost. B. Horsford. 



Spbinsfteld, Mass. 



Bird Notes. — Robins, bluebirds and larks are here in 

 force. The song of the lark is especially sweet after the ter- 

 rible winter just experienced- Long before summer the 

 meadows are vocal with his songs. The robin has not got 

 tuned up yet, but. is practicing. Several mornings 1 have 

 heard him near my bedroom window. The bluebird 

 warbled all through the month of March. It was pretty 

 tough on him, but when he got here he stayed. The Eng- 

 lish sparrow was here all winter, but with the first breath of 

 spring has gone heuce. The' 15th of March I counted forty- 

 nine wild geese, and on the 19th ult. sixty-one, sailing north- 

 ward. Some five days later I heard a flock in the dusk of 

 evening, but did not, sec it, 1 have not noted the flight of 

 our wild ducks this spring, though I am informed that a 

 great many have come in along the Hock-Hocking River. I 

 usually see a great, many this time of the year. Quail will 

 be scare here this fall. Reports from the country around say 

 that entire flocks perished during the extreme cold weather. 

 Last winter was one of the worst ever experienced in this 

 State. "Near the office of our iron works (which, by the way, 

 is way back in the woods) is a large coal slack dump which 

 has been burning for several years, and over which is dumped 

 hundreds of bushels of slack every week. Adjacent to this 

 dump is a woodland, and one morning a flock of twelve 

 quail filed out of the woods down to this tire. After a little 

 time they flew away to the stables and were fed by the 

 stable boss. Every morning I watched them, and with each 

 visit the number was less. At last ouly three were left to 

 answer roll call. All day they hovered close to the heat, but 

 when the firelight began to brighten the dark landscape, and 

 night was fairly on, they fled. In the morning the encamp- 

 ment was silent, and after a search, made this entry in the 

 note book: "Found dead upon the picket line." Grouse 

 wintered well, and are to be found in abundance. — Parson 

 O'Gath (Baird Iron Works, Gore, O., April 6). 



The Deadly Wires.— A large flock of wild geese passed 

 over here northward this morning, the first I have observed 

 this season. Last week the boys picked up in the road an 

 English snipe and a woodcock. Both were probably killed 

 by flying agaiust the telegraph wires which line the high- 

 way. From the numerous similar instances noticed, must 

 we not conclude that the total number of game birds killed 

 in this way is very large indeed? Unfortunately for this 

 kind of destruction there seems to be no help, but on the 

 contrary it must continue to inerease as the cause increases. 

 — H. W. C. (Rye, N. f ., April 8). 



The Speed at which Ducks Fly. — A few weeks ago 

 the writer was riding at the side of the Connecticut River 

 on a train which was running not less than twenty miles an 

 hour. As it passed a certain point a duck flew up and 

 headed the same way we were going. It came just in a line 

 with the edge of the window and kept there for several 

 minutes without losing an inch until it began to slow down 

 preparatory to settling into the water again. — Curtis. 



hm* §xg %t\& 



SHOOTING IN CUBA. 



A DAY AMONG THE QUAIL. 



I HAVE just risen from the perusal of my weekly file of 

 the Herald, filled with terrifying details of the disastrous 

 floods in the West, the destructive cyclones in the South, 

 and the piercing blizzards in the JSTorth of our grand republic, 

 and cannot help feeling satisfied for the nonce that I am 

 smiled upon by kindlier skies. While our fellow sportsmen 

 north of Mason and Dixon's are blowing their fingers and 

 kicking their toes against the ice-covered trees to keep up the 

 circulation of blood in them, I am kicking Bob White out 

 of the matted grass in green fields and pastures new. No 

 wonder then that the New Orleans and Cedar Key steamer 

 of this week brought us seventy -three passengers, and nearly 

 every week from forty to sixty, when, but three or four 

 years ago, from six to ten was the usual number brought in 

 by this line each trip. The fact is, increasing numbers of 

 my countrymen are discovering that this is a wonderfully 

 fine winter climate, generally with clear skies and the tem- 

 perature ranging between seventy and eighty from November 

 to April, frequently below seventy, with an occasional dive 

 down to sixty for several davs at a time during the northers 

 which are probably the spent breath of your northern 

 blizzards. 



Siuce sending you my last letter ("A Day Among the 

 Wild Guineas') I have not been out until this week, on ac- 

 count of the sickness of my dog, which I will briefly men- 

 tion en passant as a matter of interest to sportsmen. 



The dog in question is the red Irish setter bitch Fire Flv, 

 formerly owned by Mr. Crause, of Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 

 road, for which he paid, as he assured me, $1,150, and was 

 purchased by me and brought to this island about eighteen 

 months since. Soon after her arrival here I noticed she was 

 very deaf on one side, and would often scratch her head 

 furiously on the deaf side, and this continued until the dav 

 referred to in my last letter. That day she did unusually 

 heavy work, and suffered from lassitude and lack of appe- 

 tite for several days thereafter, when her head became much 

 sw T ollen with an offensive discharge from the deaf ear. Be- 

 coming alarmed at her symptoms, I laid the ear open and 

 found the inner ear completely filled up with a blood tumor 

 with broad base, which I dissected out, a suppurating mass 

 with more than thirty maggots a half inch long and full line 

 in diameter within it. 



The wound was dressed daily with water medicated with 

 chinolin tartaric, two grains to the ounce. She made a good 

 recovery, and now, four weeks after the operation, is entirely 

 well, with hearing perfectly restored. 



Yesterday, 24th of February, I took her to the country for 

 a day among the quail, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, 

 she appearing desirous of showing especial gratitude tor her 

 improved abilities. 



The morning was particularly cool and pleasant, we, in 

 the best form, were on the ground at sunrise. Light dew- 

 drops sparkled upon the grass, refracting the cheery light 

 that played upon and through them; the twitter of songbirds 

 filled the morning air with animating sounds, which wonder- 

 fully harmonized with its charming freshness, -while we en- 

 joyed the thrill of the quickened "circulation that coursed 

 through its circuit of arteries and veins, the pleasure of which 

 is heightened by our pleasing expectations of our favorite 

 sport. The dog, in full sympathy with these expectations, is 

 inclined to widen her range as she goes rollicking over the 



field, but to my great delight is now quick in hearing and 

 obedient to the whistle. 



Our first bevy we flushed wild in a field denuded of cover, 

 and they scattered badly; one quartered within reach of my 

 left barrel, and I scored my first bird, which the bitch re- 

 trieved in her usual handsome style, laying in my hand a 

 plump bird without ruffling a feather. These birds were so 

 scattered I was unable to mark them, so did not try to fol- 

 low, but at the other side of same field the dog commenced 

 roading another bevy which she worked very cautiously, and 

 finally located. They were in good cover, and so cautiously 

 had the dog crept upon them, that when flushed they rose in 

 one bunch within a yard of her nose and two yards of the 

 nose of her master, who did not molest them, only trying to 

 mark them down. All except two, however, went out of the 

 field; these two made the second and third birds contributed 

 to my bag. 



I now followed into the field where the last bevy had 

 flown, a full hour having been devoted to the last field with 

 a result of only three birds in the bag. 



Before proceeding far in the next field the dog began road- 

 ing and soon came to a point, I flushed and killed a large 

 water hen {Cn.r porzana), and a little further, on a second 

 point, I flushed a bevy of quail ,and killed the laggard, 

 marking the rest down, but little scattered, in a splendid 

 cover of short, but thick and matted grass. Here I at once 

 knew I was to have the best sport of the day. The grass 

 w T as such as the quail, when flushed, love to hide in, and in 

 which they will not run; so I called the dog to the cool Shade 

 of a neighboring tree to rest and cool off in the gentle breeze. 

 Near us we had the bevy marked down, within a space not 

 exceeding two hundred feet square, in such cover that 1 

 knew they would rise in ones and twos. 



The owner of the hacienda rode up to invite me to break- 

 fast with him and his family at 10 o'clock, and I told 

 him of the game marked down, inviting him to remain to 

 see the sport. Asking me to be careful "not to shoot iu his 

 direction, he accepted my invitation. When both 1 and the 

 bitch were quite rested, keeping her close, I commenced at 

 one side and worked that patch of field as closely as if look- 

 ing for needles in hayfields, she seeming to be as well aware 

 as myself of the vicinity of the whole bevy, and that any 

 unnecessary fuss would spoil our sport, How very like a 

 cat she did all that delicate piece of work, constantly talking 

 to me with her eyes as she successively and surely pointed 

 with her nose to their secret hiding places without ever 

 making one mistake, her knowing glance saying to me, ' 'There 

 is your bird, are you ready?" and how quietly she would 

 slip away to retrieve the dead birds and how carefully she 

 laid each in my hand and resumed her work. I think it 

 was the prettiest piece of canine work I ever witnessed, and 

 my enjoyment of it was greatly augmented by my frieud 

 remaining to witness it also. His enthusiasm for the dog 

 was boundless, and I could not help doing my part better 

 than ever before. One by one (except once when two rose 

 together) she found and pointed for me fourteen quail, and 

 never before do I remember having killed twelve quail out 

 of fourteen successive rises. This time, as if to honor the 

 fine work of my dog, twelve of these fourteen went into my 

 bag, and then we adjourned to the house for breakfast, both 

 I and the bitch having acquired a high reputation for skill 

 in the estimation of my host. Sixteen birds fat as squabs, 

 a glowing satisfaction with myself and dog, and a rousing 

 appetite, were the results of my morning's work. 



The breakfast was worthy of my preparation for it in my 

 glorious tramp over those fields, and I honored it with gusto 

 such as only a sportsman can comprehend. My host and I 

 were full of the enthusiasm brought in from the field, and 

 we killed all those birds again over the breakfast table in 

 company with his family. 



After two hours devoted to our breakfast and quiet rest, 

 the gentle breezes under the wide balcony, the thermometer 

 marking there about seventy degrees, I amused myself by a 

 few shots at the wild pigeons which were plentiful in a mil- 

 let field near the house, bagging ten of them in a half hour. 

 Until four o'clock I strolled about the place, and observing 

 the domestic animals, among which is a phenomenal friend- 

 ship, existing since several years, between a cow and a sturdy 

 old gander, which are inseparable. Wherever that cow range's 

 that gander is ever by her side, and her champion against 

 all violent aggressions, and will put to route even the most 

 ferocious cattle that attack her by striking them violent blows 

 with his sturdy wings and sharp, horny bill about their eyes, 

 sometimes leaving incised wounds in their eyelids. This you 

 may think a very improper gander, but that is the only kind 

 permitted in this anomalous country, no propaganda'being 

 allowed by the authorities of the "Sietnpre Fiel" to be even 

 talked about, and I quail before indulging in such a thought. 

 This being so, and 4 o'clock coming around, with myself 

 and Fly perfectly rested and refreshed, I followed htr to the 

 fields, this time with the head and small boys of the family 

 to show me where the game was most quickly to be found, 

 and with a desire on their part to witness a renewal of the 

 performances so celebrated at the breakfast table. 



The birds were already running. Several bevies were suc- 

 cessively found, and they furnished us fair sport, though I 

 was not able to mark down any in so favorable a cover as to 

 repeat the morning's performance: consequently 1 somewhat 

 injured my reputation for great skill by more frequent 

 misses. Notwithstanding this I had a very enjoyable tramp, 

 at sunset had flushed five bevies during the afternoon, and 

 had added thirteen quail to my morning's score. Total bag 

 for the day, 29 quail, 10 pigeons and 1 water hen— 40 birds 

 — with which I arrived home by early train yesterday, the 

 25th inst. N ote the date, and that I say "total bag," not 

 "total results," which are still more far-reaohing and im- 

 portant. 



It is big medicine, and I take it whenever I can get a day 

 off, from November to April, for all bodily ailments, not to 

 mention the alimentation which is one of its minor advan- 

 tages also agreeable to your subscriber. * 



Notwithstanding that there is no legally closed season 

 here, the birds are plentiful because the absence of snow, 

 abundance of cover and food, and comparatively few sports- 

 men do for them what only the most stringently enforced 

 game laws can accomplish in the States. Included under the 

 word "cover" are the cane fields, tangle woods and their 

 vicinities, where shooting is impracticable, so it will ever be 

 impossible to exterminate the quail by much shooting, as it 

 will always be replenished from these impenetrable preserves, 

 and the same is true in some degree of the deer. 



Nemo Ndemand. 

 Habana, Feb. 26, 1884. 



Central Lake, Mich., April 16— Crow blackbirds first 

 seen April 14. No wild geese reported as yet. The inland 

 lakes are opening fast, but there is still a good deal of ice. 

 Grand Traverse Bay not open yet.— K. 



