424 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 26, 1884. 



oars and all, thirty -five pounds, and would skim over the 

 water like a duck, especial Jy when J. W.'s strong arms were 

 the propelling power, and on this excursion, at least, it was 

 toy good fortune to lie in the stern pretending to steer the 

 craft with a hit of a paddle, but really enjoying myself 

 watching nature's panorama as one only can when just re- 

 leased from a long imprisonment at hard labor in a news- 

 paper office. 



A close inspection of the cormorants and their island ' 'pied" 

 the romance of that baronial castle very suddenly. The 

 east Wall of the island is their nesting place; there were 

 many generations of nest built on nest, probably for hun- 

 dreds of years, every jutting rock or stunted "tree that 

 afforded a foothold being utilized. Not a spear of grass, a 

 weed or a bush attempts to grow on this side, the rocks and 

 clay being kept bare by the birds scrambling among ttieir 

 nests, the only vegetable life being a scattering grove of dis- 

 couraged-looking ash trees, small in stature, yet presenting 

 the appoai anee of aged ami bent men who had once been 

 larger, but were gradually shrinking up ready to blow away, 

 as the Californiaus who never claim to die are supposed to 

 do. Candor compels me to say that the home of these birds 

 is the filthiest and worst smelling place I ever saw. Bull- 

 heads seem to be their favorite diet. These they bite off 

 just back of the gills, leaving the head to rot, and there 

 were hundreds of them strewn all over the grouud. 



An hour and a half from the time we started brought us 

 back to camp; the pony was harnessed to the wonderful 

 shay (a veritable rival to the deacon's), our boat and accou- 

 trements loaded, and in ten minutes we were off for Spirit 

 Lake, two or three miles away. This is the most famous 

 fishing place in Jowa, and we would fain try its piscatorial 

 possibilities. Coming to Little Spirit Lake first by the route 

 we took, however, fancy led us to try our luck, thinking to 

 accomplish something, J. W. being intent upon specimens 

 for a collection of shells," while I had an ambition for fish or 

 fowl, and carried gun and tackle. 



The bout was soon launched, but finding the water shal- 

 low I did not attempt fishing. The ducks wouldn't come 

 near me or let me get near them. A large blue heron waded 

 along the woody shore, almost within gunshot, but the sun- 

 shine was warm, the scenery wa,s fine, and it required an 

 effort to get over that "almost' - and come within shooting 

 distance, and where was the good of killing it anyhow, ft 

 loved life as well as I aad was no use to me dead, besides I 

 would probably fail to get it if 1 tried, so drifted on and left 

 it to its fishing. 1 watched a muskrat that probably took 

 my boat for a floating log and wanted to get acquainted, and 

 enjoyed myself hugely until a shout from J. W. warned me 

 that he had made the detour of a long arm of the lake and 

 wanted me, or more probably the boat, and I aroused myself 

 and went to him. He had his shells, and I— I had a good 

 time. Spirit Lake was reached long before noon, but so late 

 that it was useless to attempt fishing, as they do not bite so 

 well through the middle of the day. Shell hunting could go 

 on, however, and did, but I not being an adept took myself 

 to the. clean saudy beach and laid down in the sunshine to 

 watch the water fowl that came by, the waves that ran from 

 me, an occasional sailboat that scudded along perhaps miles 

 away over the clear, sparkling water, to dream of the stories 

 of this wonderful place and lazily wonder if "Minnie Wau- 

 kon" was yet watched over by the spirits so feared and re- 

 spected by the Sioux, and if - the ghost of old Inkpedotak 

 ever comes back to visit the place where he made his last 

 stand for the honor of his people, and if he did what would 

 the old chief think of Hotel Orleans, that was visible eight 

 miles away through the hazy air, looming up like some 

 tower-crowned fortress, and to sleep. 



Drops of water on my face and a sharp crash of thunder 

 started me, to see J. W. standing near, w r atching with an 

 amused expression my awakening by the shower'that had, 

 while 1 slept, come up as noiselessly as the Indians I had 

 been dreaming of. Rubber coats were donned and soon the 

 shower passed away, leaving the air purer, the leaves brighter 

 and the w T ater clearer and us ready for sport. Want of space 

 prevents me narrating the successes of that afternoon, but, 

 dear reader, I appeal to vou, if this ended the day, were we 

 not successful? "__ W. S. P. 



CUNNING AS A FOX. 



THE term "cunning as a fox" is by no means an ill- jointed 

 figure of speech. Those who know best the habits of the 

 fox are the most ready to accord to him the well-earned 

 epithet "wily reynard." Not only is he careful of his own 

 reputation and life, but he has a sort of a masonic solicitude 

 for all of his craft. Two incidents, as related by eye-wit- 

 nesses, will serve well to illustrate this. 



Near the boyhood home ot one. of the writer's old college 

 professors there was a high hill. Its rocky sides were cov- 

 ered with small trees and bushes. Here and there were fis- 

 sures and small caves, occupied in earlier days by bears and 

 other animals. The larger animals had all retired before 

 the tide of civilization to" more desolate solitudes. One old 

 fox seemed to hold undisputed sway of the wily throne. On 

 a smooth surface of the rock near the summit she would re- 

 main for hours planning her campaigns and nightly raids on 

 neighboring farmyards, while her young gamboled about 

 her. From her outlook on the hill she could plainly discern 

 the fowl in the yard of our friend, who lived under the 

 shadow of her home, but her cunning (or reason shall I call 

 it?) would not allow the thought of molesting them. She 

 seemed to well understand that she and her young could be 

 seen by the family, hence she reasoned that if fowl disap- 

 peared from the yard the theft would he charged upon her 

 and her life would be sought. 



Whatever her mental processes, she was never known to 

 molest the farmyards nearest her retreat, but would often go 

 miles from her home and there make havoc at the expense 

 of some poor farmer. Her cunning enabled her to surely 

 retain her home and prolong her days. 



Another incident will show the solicitude that foxes have 

 one for another. In Northwestern Maine there lives an old 

 man who has become an expert trapper. One of his chief 

 delights is to distance any other man in the nnmher of foxes 

 captured. While on a vacation last season I chanced one 

 day to fall in with this famous trapper, and had from his 

 lips the following: "1 became satisfied years ago that foxes 

 often helped their fellows out of trouble. Not Ion"- ago 1 

 went out as usual in late autumn and set some traps for 

 foxes. Sickness called me away from home, so that I did 

 not get an opportunity to visit my traps for more than, a 

 week. In the mean time there had been a light fall of snow. 

 When I had a leisure half day I shouldered my gun and 

 went out to see what; the sport was. My traps were all un- 

 molested except one, that was nowhere to be found. I be- 

 gan to circulate around the place where it had been, takiug 



a wider and wider sweep every time. At length, about a 

 quarter of a mile distant from where it had been placed, in 

 a dense piece of woods, I found my missing trap and a fox 

 in it, fast by the leg. The old fellow was remarkably fresh 

 and active, although he had been in the trap apparently for 

 some days. The snow about him was well trodden down, 

 and lying all around him, within his reach, were an abund- 

 ance of dead mice. If his fox friends could not release the 

 captive they were determined that he should not starve." 

 B^S. Eideout. 



Birds and the Electric Light. — Probably few persons 

 have an idea of the great numbers and varieties of birds 

 which pass and repass us in their migrations in the spring 

 and fall. The flight of these birds occurs largely at night. 

 Lighthouses and lightships have usually been selected as 

 stations for observing these migrations, On starlight nights 

 no birds are seen from these stations, but on dark, rainy or 

 foggy nights they apparently become confused in their flight 

 and dash against the lights, to which they are attracted, 

 with such velocity that large numbers are killed, or, blinded 

 and stunned, flutter to the ground. Tuesday and Wednes- 

 day nights were favorable for making these observations 

 about the electric light on the stand pipe in this city. 

 Between the hours of 1 and 2 o'clock the birds were seen in 

 swarms about the light, and more than a hundred fell to the 

 ground. A few were caught alive, but the larger part were 

 dead. Prof. Holzinger, of the Normal School, reports the 

 following species among those collected during the past two 

 nights, through the kind offices of Engineers Botham and 

 Higgins, at the water-works, viz.: Catbirds, grosbeaks ia 

 variety, scarlet tanagers, golden-crowned thrushes, water 

 thrushes, chestnut-sided warblers, magnolia warblers, 

 Carolina rails, yellow-throated vireos, black and white 

 creepers, Traill's flycatchers, green-crested flycatchers, 

 savanna sparrows, white-throated sparrows, Maryland 

 yellow-throats, black-billed cuckoos, helldivers. indigo 

 birds, and yellow-bellied woodpeckers. On Tuesday night 

 the grosbeaks predominated, and on Wednesday night the 

 rails. Catbirds were numerous on both nights. The 

 birds which breed in this locality were noticeably absent.— 

 Winona (Minn ) Republican, May 23. 



Utility of the Crow. — Few writers have allowed the 

 crow any credit as a benefactor ; and very few farmers can 

 be found who are willing to add any testimony in behalf of 

 its good character, if it really has any. Not long since, hav- 

 ing occasion to bring up the' topic of ornithology with a far- 

 mer in this section, who is a gentleman of considerable 

 observation, the immediate cause being the killing of a crow 

 upon his farm, he said, that in view of the services the crows 

 rendered him, he did not like to have them shot. Hundreds 

 and thousands of them, he said, roosted in his pine wood all 

 through the winter, and the result was an immense layer of 

 manure, which was carried down when the snow melted and 

 enriched his land more than all the fertilizers he knew of. 

 The fact that few farmers are thus benefited, nullifies a por- 

 tion of his might-be-in f erred good qualities, for these roost- 

 ing placesare few in any one part of the country, since the 

 birds collecting from far and near, pass the winter in one 

 spot, where they can get an abundance of food. This gen- 

 tlemen also states that in some mysterious manner (still more 

 to the credit of the crow) his cornfields have been unmo- 

 lested for some years past, and that too in the very face of 

 the fact that the birds are unusually numerous at all times of 

 the year. I would also say that the gentleman spoken of is 

 well acquainted wdth the birds which frequent his lands, and 

 is able to discriminate between their good and bad habits 

 without prejudice.— C. E. B., (Bridgeton, N. J.). 



Owl and Steel Trap. — On the 3th of June, H. S. 

 Spackman, of Delaware, Pike county, Pa., was out looking 

 for crows, when his dog started a large bird from the un- 

 derbrush. Mr. Spackman was wdiere he could not see the 

 bird distinctly, but, supposing it to be a hawk, fired almost 

 at random. The bird fell, and he thought he heard a pecu- 

 liar sound as it struck the ground. Judge his astonishment 

 when going to the place he found a great horned owl (Bubo 

 virginianus).. With a steel trap fast to one of its claws and 

 three links of chain attached to the trap. The trap was of 

 the ordinary kind used in catching mink and muskrats. It 

 was quite rusty, and appeared to have been in its present 

 position for some time. The writer measured the spread of 

 the wings of the owl after it had been skinned and found it 

 three feet ten inches. The bird had been caught just above 

 the first joint of the middle right claw. The joint was con- 

 siderably' worn, as though the trap had swung somewhat as 

 the bird flew and had chafed a ridge in the horny substance 

 of the foot. The owl was in good order when shot and not 

 as an owl that had to live by what it secured with one foot 

 would be expected to be. How many poor mice, etc., must 

 have been surprised by the rattling of a trap and the coming 

 of a claw upon them at one and the same time? Mr. Spack- 

 man now uses his trap for rats.— A. H. G. 



A Race eor Ltee. — It was a sultry afternoon in July. 

 No rain had fallen for weeks and the dead leaves of last 

 year's growth gave loud response to the lightest touch. 

 Seated near each other on the banks of the Weoka ('reek 

 were Dr. Raw Is and myself attempting to fish, but too 

 languid to even strike at a 'bite." Suddenly, to our right 

 and rear, we heard an animated rustling of the dry leaves, 

 and quickly looking around beheld a trout making desperate 

 leaps toward the creek, hotly pursued by a black snake. It 

 was a most exciting race, and so closely contested that it 

 was quite uncertain whether the trout would reach" water 

 and safety or the snake win a dinner of fresh meat. Finally 

 by one mighty effort, the trout leaped into the creek, and the 

 snake halting on the bank, with bead elevated, peered over, 

 the very picture of blank dismay.— Watoola. 



Fish and Snakes. — Editor Fores/ and Stream: In the 

 issue of June 19 an article entitled "Fish and Snakes" recalls 

 several incidents that have come under the -writer's observa- 

 tion during the past thirty years of fishing and sketching. 

 Thirty or forty years ago Ulster county. New York, would, 

 I think, have taken the prize for snakes in variety and num- 

 ber, especially tne Lower Esopus, for water snakes, four 

 to six feet long, thick, of a grayish dark color on back, belly 

 light and black, like a chess board. Several years ago, in 

 Wallingford, Conn., I was walking along a brook. In a still 

 portion among- the weeds I noticed quite a disturbance in the 

 water. I wafted a few moments, when I noticed a snake, in 

 a very lively manner, leave the brook with something in his 

 mouth. T crossed the. brook and followed the snake up an 

 inclined bank among the grass. After it had reached some 



It had in 

 struck 



the snake lie dropped the eel, which immediately made a bee 

 line for the water, swimming rapidly away, This snake was 

 in shape very much like the usual black snake, lithe and 

 active, color— back dark, belly checkered of light and deep 

 orange yellow, like deep orange chrome. Is the Variety 

 poisonous?— J. W. [No.] 



Painted Finch on Long Island.— Bay Ridge, L. 1., 

 June 16.— Editor Forest and Stream; While watching birds 

 at the tank this morning, 1 was surprised to see a painted 

 bunting (Ci/onoxpiza ciris) among the number. The colors 

 were well pronounced, the bird evidently having reached 

 full plumage. No firearms being at hand, the specimen was 

 unfortunately not secured. Wilson speaks of it as being 

 numerous in Louisiana, and sparingly further north. Dr. 

 Coues does not iuclude it in his New" England list, — A, L. 

 Townsend, [Tire occurrence is well worth recording, as 

 this is entirely out of the bird's usual range. At the same 

 time, the species is a common cage bird and may have 

 escaped from captivity. We have more than once freed 

 specimens and believe that there arc one or two records of 

 the bird having been taken in this vicinity.] 



4 



"That reminds me." 

 120. 



C1APTAIN ' BILL ELDRIGE was just pulling his boat 

 ) ashore after a duck hunt one day, when a glance across 

 the Ahsecom meadow showed him the long head and neck of 

 a blue heron. "That's my blue-jimmy," said the,Captain as 

 he threw himself on his stomach and began to wriggle to- 

 ward the game. Every now and then he would raise his 

 head to be sure that his prey was still there, and then 

 another rod of wallowing through the salt mud. At last he 

 comes to an "aim," and raises to his knee — only to find that 

 he had been stalking the flagstaff and pennant of a sloop in 

 Beach Thoroughfare, three miles away! Fact, A. 



12T 



Years ago, before luclfer matches and the percussion lock 

 were invented, when the old flint lock served the double 

 purpose of "fire kindler" and "meat getter," Jones owned 

 one of these ancient pieces. During his absence, Smith, his 

 neighbor, came to borrow it. Keeping it only a short time 

 he brought it back before Jones's return; and as he hung it 

 on the wooden hooks above the fire-place, told Mrs. J. to be 

 sure and tell Jones it was loaded, as it had no charge in 

 when he took it, Jones returned Jate at night after Mrs. J. 

 had retired, and went to bed. The next morning he arose 

 before his spouse w T as awake and prepared to make a tire. 

 Taking the gun down he put the tinder in the pan, pulled 

 back the hammer and pressed the trigger, when boom went 

 the gun. Mrs. J. sprang to a sitting posture in the bed at 

 the report and yelled, "That gun's loaded." Jones carefully 

 looked at the smoking piece, then at a hole made by an ounce 

 ball in the head-board of the bed about six inches above 

 where his wife's head had been, and then draw busty said, 

 "I'll be durued if it is." Pbdagqg 



122. 



Uncle Jim C. was narrating to an appreciative audience 

 some wonderful fish stories, and finally wound up by telling 

 of an immense mud turtle he had caught with hook and line, 

 the largest by far, he was very sure, that had ever been 

 caught i u this neck of woods. 



Walt W. (the old man's nephew, standing near and listen- 

 ing to all the stories) could stand it no longer. 



"Uncle Jim," cried Walt, "I'll bet anything I caught a 

 turtle the other day that will lay right over) ours." "How 

 big was it?" said the old man, "go ahead now and tell about 

 it. Show us how large he was" (giving a sly wink at the 

 boys). "ATI right," says Walt, picking up a stick and pro 

 oeeding to mark out a circle on the ground about the size of 

 a large washtub. "Pooh! pshaw!" cried Unele Jim, "you 

 don't call that a large turtle do you ? That's a mere terra- 

 pin, a nothing; why boy, my turtle was" — "Hold on. Uncle 

 Jim, hold up?" yelled Walt," (who saw that he was about to 

 be crushed) "you are in too big a hurry, wait until I make 

 the turtle, that's only his head!'' A. T. R, 



forty feet, I went up and struck it with a stick. It 

 its mouth an eel some fifteen inches long. After I had 



w 



THE WILD WEST SHOW. 



ANY of our readers may imagine that the Wild West 

 - Show, now open at the Polo Grounds. 110th street; 

 and Fifth avenue, in this city, is an ordinary circus perform- 

 ance, and that the exhibition is in popular parlance a "fraud." 

 This is in no respect true. The men connected with it are, 

 as a rule, just what they are represented to be, and the show 

 gives, as a whole, a graphic picture of life in the Far West as 

 it was a few years since, and no doubt still is in many places. 

 Curiously enough it happens that many of the scouts, cow 

 boys and* Indians are men with whom in past years, long 

 before the idea of this show was conceived, we have been 

 associated in the West. Fifteen years ago this very summer 

 we crossed the Nebraska sandhills under the guidance of 

 Major Frank North, the daring white chief of the Pawnees, 

 the hero then and since of many a hard fought battle with 

 the Sioux, Arapahoes and Cheyennes. As Ney was among 

 the Marshals, so Frank North among scouts and Western 

 men, is te brave ties braves. That same summer we first met 

 Buffalo Bill, then post guide at Fort MacPbersoo. A year 

 or two later we made a summer hunt after buffalo with the 

 Pawnees, at which time we first met old La-s/iaroo lonra'hck 

 (Good Chief) and La-tali-kah tdh-toh (White Eagle), Skeedee 

 chiefs, who are now with this troupe. Later still we 

 stopped for a month or two in different years at the old ranch 

 on the Dismal, where Buck Taylor was cowboy, riding the 

 range and any bucking horses that showed up. Many others 

 of those belonging to the troupe we have known, and the 

 genial ex-sheriff of Platte county will remember having given 

 us a "quiet place to write" some letters to Fouest and 

 Stream. 



Of the show itself, it may be said that it is in the highest 

 degree realistic. Cody is perhaps the best horseback shot 

 known. Bogardus's skill with the shotgun is familiar to all. 

 The Indiau fighting and buffalo hunting are very Hue to 

 nature, while the toping and riding is superb. The Mexi 

 can vaquero Escabel, who rides the bucking mule, is, W« 

 think, the. best rider we have ever seen, though Buck Tay- 

 lor, Jim Lawson and others, can "stay with" a bor- 

 as long as any one. 



The whole exhibition brings back to our mind so many 

 happy memories of life in the Far West that we com 

 good deal of sympathy with the New York gamin who haul 

 ompanion: "Say, Johnny, I'd like to take in dis 

 show every day, and twice a day on Sundays." 



