Jflt 24, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



607 



young chicks iu August, hatched by the parent birds them- 

 selves, and I hope to be more fortunate than my friend 

 Willis Inst August. He succeeded in saving only the "old 

 man." but I confidently count ou savins'; the mother and all 

 the family. <T. B. B. 



Toledo, Ohio. July 19, 1884. 



AN AMPHIBIOUS INSECT. 



I WAS lying for ducks oue evening in a Kansas cornfield. 

 We had been having heavy rains and a portion of the 

 field was submeitred. 1 had taken my position as close to 

 the water as the soft ground would permit. After getting 

 settled so that 1 could give heed to sights and sounds, I be- 

 came conscious of a peculiar noise, which I at first attributed 

 to the splash of rain on the dry stalks of the standing corn, 

 but as it was not raining I was soon convinced I must look 

 to other causes for the phenomenon. Iu a little while my 

 attention was attracted to an insect, whose gyrations greatly 

 excited my curiosity. There were numbers of them, and an 

 individual would rise in an irregular spiral to a height of 

 twenty or thirty feet, doing it in a strong, bold, aggressive 

 manner, and then when at that height would turn and plunge 

 downward with the speed of a bullet, some impinging on 

 the corn would produce the noise spoken of, others falling 

 clear would strike the water and disappear instantly, a little 

 swirl on the surface being the only indication of their dis- 

 appearance. As well as I could observe, the creature ap- 

 peared to be about an inch and a half in length, shaped gen- 

 erally like a beetle, with two plumes projecting from the 

 head. 



I have watched tishhawks and terns by the hour drop from 

 a height on to the water, but here was an insect equally at 

 home in the air and yet would dive under water and remain 

 I know not how long. None of the sportsmen of the locality 

 had noticed their peculiarity, and in none of the works on 

 entomology that I have seen could I identify the insect. 

 What was it? R. K. B. 



[It would be impossible to determine from your descrip- 

 tion what the insects were. Very probably they were beetles, 

 of which many species are aquatic. The families Dytiseidai. 

 Gyrinuhv, Ht/cl 'ropMKdit*, and others, spend most* of then- 

 time in the water; or, it inay have been one of the larger 

 Itemiptera, many of which live in the water.] 



How Turtles Dig theik Holes.— In an article iu For- 

 est AND Stream of July 10, entitled "A Tough Turtle," 

 written by 31. M. Benschoter. the question is asked if any of 

 your readers ever noticed the manner in which turtles dig 

 the holes in the ground in which they deposit their eggs. 

 Yes. A case of this kind came under my observation while 

 a mere lad, living iu Kentucky. I was plowing corn in a 

 field near which ran a cieek of considerable size, and on 

 going to a famous spring near its margin I saw a turtle upon 

 the bank about fifteen feet above the water. It appeared to 

 be awfully busy about something, and as I was in no haste 

 to return to my plow I stopped and watched it for a while. 

 I soon saw it was digging a hole in the hard, dry ground, 

 not having noticed me; but what surprised me most was the 

 fact that it moistened the earth with what I then thought 

 was its own urine, repeating the moistening process as often 

 as it became necessary to "soften up the earth. When I 

 thought it time for me to set back to my work I drove the 

 turtle away bv approaching closer, when it clumsily crawled 

 down the bank and rolled" into the creek. The dirt exca- 

 vated from the hole was simply mud, while the earth there- 

 abouts was dry as powder. 1 have always believed that 

 turtle expedited its labors in the manner mentioned, though 

 it may be that the water used was carried in the mouth. At 

 all events, it drew its supply of water from its own tank.— 

 Burr H. Polk (Lincoln, Neb.). 



Stranoie Antics of ax Owe.— Mr. J. Willard Schultz, 

 author of the very interesting series of letters on the Black- 

 feet Indians recently published in Fokest and Stbe\m, 

 writes me from his ranch in Northern Montana that he "saw 

 a very queer thing this spuing," and goes on to say: "It 

 was nearly sunset. An owl flew down into my garden and 

 after hooting a few times flew up and slowly rose to a height 

 of several hundred feet, his great wings flapping so slowly 

 that by actual count they about kept time with the beat of 

 my pulse. Suddenly he dropped swiftly toward the earth, 

 and as he came he beat his wings together in front of his 

 breast, making a sound like the rattle of a pair of bone clap- 

 pers. It seemed as if merely the tips of his wings touched, 

 and when he was doing it he was descending very rapidly. 

 He kept the performance up at intervals until it was so dark 

 1 could see him no longer." Judging from a rough sketch 

 inclosed by Mr. Shultz, the species seems to have been the 

 great-horned owl (Bubo cirqinianns). — 0. Haut Mekriam. 

 M. D. (Locust Grove, N. Y.i. 



N*wf* B*B ai\& 



Donations Requested.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 am making collections for all departments of the museum of 

 Chaddock College, located here at Quincy, 111. 1 am not 

 being paid a penny for my time, or for the specimens placed 

 in the collection. This much by way of preface. Among 

 the readers of Forest and Stream are very many lovers 

 of nature who are constantly gathering from woods and 

 rivers and lakes things that would be of great value in a 

 museum. I have wondered if among the generous-hearted 

 there could not be found some to help me in my work. I 

 wish I could offer them pay lor specimens, but I cannot. If 

 any of them can send fossil, or shell, or snake, or bird, or 

 fish, or skeleton, or horn, or antiquity, or other specimen, 1 

 will gladly attach their name to it as the donor on placing it 

 in the museum. — Richard G. Hobbs (Quinby, 111,, July 11). 



Quail's Flight Ac-;aixst a House.— Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 July 19. — One day in the summer of 1877, when I was living 

 iu Columbiana county, 0. , we were startled at our midday meal 

 by a sharp bang against the side of the house, as if some one 

 had thrown a brick against it. I rushed out to see what was 

 the cause of the racket, and just as I turned the corner I saw 

 a hawk turn abruptly in his flight away from the house. 

 Looking at the end of the house I saw a" full-grown quail 

 sticking up against it. The quail had flown with such force 

 in its vain endeavor to save its life that it sprung the weather 

 boards enough to allow the feathers on the bieast to pass in 

 between them and pinion it fast in death. — S. C. G. 



SUMMER WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 



THE July noonday swoons with heat, 

 Yet pleasant is the wood's retreat. 

 For there the drooping branches spread, 

 Achequer'd umbrage overhead. 



Where scarce the sun-spears, quivering bright, 

 May pierce, the foliage with their light, 

 Ah! There so shadowy sleeps the wood, 

 W T here hermit woodcock seek their food, 



(Piercing with bill the oozy edge 

 Of stream, where bends the water-sedge) 

 That well the gunner may invade, 

 The cool recesses of the shade. 



The alders there weave densest screen, 

 The willows lift their shields of green; 

 The woodbine twines its glossy crown. 

 The grapevine drops its garlands down. 



There coppice thick, and thicket dense 

 That hem the brook with thorny fence; 

 Unite their verdiu'ous shades to greet, 

 Iu woodcock haunts, the sportsman's feet. 



Turn gunner theu from harvest vale, 

 From wheat fields haunted by the quail, 

 For not yet may the guu molest 

 The bevies of the quail in nest. 



Spare thou those russet-plumag'd flocks, 

 Till ripen'd corn isheap'd in shocks. 

 And all the sumptuous golden grain 

 Is garner'd from the harvest plain. 



For then iu sharp October days, 

 The quail-flock thro' the stubble strays; 

 And pealing shot and smokiug gun 

 Will boast of ample triumphs won. 



But rather seek the plashy swale, 

 Low in the moist and boggy vale. 

 Or pass thro' bushy swamps that hide 

 With briery hedge the brooklet side. 



These shy, secluded birds, all day 

 In cool, thick-shaded haunts delay; 

 Bat when the woods at eve are dim. 

 To open feeding grounds they skim. 



They bore for lasrvaa iu the soil. 



Or marsh worms, with a greedy toil; 



Loving in spring time to arise 



In spiral circles to the skies : 



But ever 'tis a welcome mark 



In open glade or woodland dark. 



Oreenport, L. I., July 18. 



Isaac McLellax. 



The Sewage Question.— Professor— What is a sewer? 

 Student— A eourse lor liquid refuse. Professor— What kind 

 of refuse? Student— All imaginable kinds from dwellings and 

 factories. Prof essor— Good ; give an example. Student— The 

 Schuylkill River,— Phi lad 'elphia Exchange, 



OPEN SEASONS FOR GAME AND FISH. 



REVISED TO JULY 17, 1884. 



Minnesota. 



Woodcock, July 4 -Nov. 1. Pinnated and sharptail grouse. 

 Aug. 15-Oet.l. Quail, pheasant or partridge, Oct. 1-Jan 1. 

 Ducks and geese, Sept. 1-May 15. Deer and elk, Dec. 1-Dec. 

 15, (may be had in possession to Jan. 1.) 



Exportation from State or possession for purpose of exporta- 

 tion is unlawful. The Minnesota State Sportsmen's Associa- 

 tion (W. S. Timberlake, Secretary, St. Paul) offers S25 reward 

 for information leading to conviction. 



Mississippi. 



Ruffed grouse, quail and wild turkey, Oct 1-May 1. Deer, 

 Sept. 15-March 1. Meadow lark, Sept. lo-March 1. 



Deer and wild turkey law repealed in counties of Clark, 

 Simpson, Smith, Covington, Greene, Wayne, Perry, Calhoun 

 and Newton. 



A WORD FOR THE OLD GUN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



When a sportsman of the present day contemplates his 

 gun, he is glad he did not live and shoot in the "good old 

 times." When he goes shooting his feelings are very apt to 

 be reversed. In other words, we have an advantage in 

 weapons, equipment, etc., over our fathers; but the general 

 decrease of game within, say, forty years far more than bal- 

 ances the account. I, for one, would gladly go back to the 

 muzzleloading gun, if I could then find three birds where I 

 now find two. Of course this is out of the question, and, of 

 course, I do not expect to permanently abandon the breech- 

 loader until, from necessity, I lay aside all firearms. I may 

 abandon it temporarily; as, for example, if I should receive 

 an invitation (now quite unexpected) to shoot with some 

 veteran aud conservative sportsman, who "allows no breech- 

 loaders' 5 on his island. And in some other contingencies 1 

 may take for a time to the muzzleloader. 



Still, although I shall do most, if not all, of the shooting 

 that remains to me with the modern gun, I don't feel that 

 going back to the old muzzleloader would be in itself a 

 dreadful calamity. The pleasure of shooting would not be 

 for me materially diminished. To illustrate, suppose two 

 men, A and B, both being equally good shots, start out for 

 a day's quail shooting. A carries a muzzleloader which, 

 thirty years ago, was much admired, and is still in good 

 order. B uses a well-made breechloader with the modern 

 improvements, rebounding locks, pistol grip, snap fore end, 

 etc. Now what will the result be? If A is a careless man] 

 he will be more likely to shoot himself than will the equally- 

 careless B. A's hands will probably be grimed with powder 

 dirt, more or less, before the day is over. If at night each, 

 party cleans his own gun, A's work will not be quite so eas- 

 ily done as B's. If they do not shoot together B may get 

 over a little more ground than A, but the latter can go* over 

 enough to satisfy a reasonable man who is out for a day's 

 pleasure, and not on a "go as you please" walking match. 

 So B has some unquestionable advantages, but after all, luck 

 being equal, A will bring home just about as many birds as 

 he will. If bis gun is a full choke, A will probably beat 

 him, unless the parties shoot with uncommon precision, and 

 iu that ease, A's birds will be in better order— not so much 

 riddled with shot. Possibly A will lose a shot or two in the 

 course of the day from not being able to load quickly enough. 

 But tills is not very likely to happen in quail shooting. I 

 have heard of a flight of woodcock coming to a given point 

 in such quick succession that a muzzleloader would not 

 meet the emergency, hut I have never had the luck to seeany- 



thing of the kind. Leaving such extraordinary cases out of 

 consideration, A's chances^ for game will be just about as 

 good as B's. 



In duck shootiug the conditions are somewhat different. 

 There. I suppose, the breechloading chokebore has a great 

 advantage over the muzzleloading cylinder. 



There is one point worth considering in favor of the old- 

 fashioned gun, viz., the effect on the "dog. When muzzle- 

 loaders were used, it was a necessity to have the dog drop 

 to shot and remain steady at the "down charge" while the 

 gun was being loaded. Now, a pause of a moment is all 

 that is required, and I suspect the change is responsible not 

 only for a good deal of "breaking shot," but also for some 

 unsteadiness in pointing and backing. I do not speak from 

 my own experience on this point, but shoidd like to know 

 what the veteran sportsmen think of the theory. I have 

 enough faith in it so that if I ever again have a young dog 

 to handle 1 shall be tempted to shoot over him the first sea- 

 son with a muzzleloader, and to brave the scorn and pity I 

 may thus incur. 



If any man who lias an old-fashioned double barrel gun 

 that serves him well, cannot afford a good breechloader, let 

 him possess his soul in patience and stick to the old gun. 

 Especially, let him not trade it for a single barrel breech- 

 loader, unless, perhaps for duck shooting. A heavy single 

 gun is no mean weapon iu that sport. But in the field I 

 value the second shot to send after the flying bird more than 

 all the "modern improvements." 



I believe the introduction of breechloaders is not in any 

 great degree responsible for the great decrease of game 

 which has taken place within the memory of middle-aged 

 men. I think so because I have shot in company with 

 muzzleloaders that did much more than their even share of 

 destruction. The principal causes of this decrease are; First, 

 the snare; second, the tenfold multiplication of sportsmen, 

 and third, the lax enforcement of the laws. Picket, 



RELOADING AMMUNITION. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



. It being so perfectly evident to me from what has been 

 thus far written, particularly by the opponents of the re- 

 peater, that proper care is not exercised by riflemen in the 

 selection and reloading of their ammunition, and their own 

 faults being afterward laid upon the guns, perhaps it may 

 be of interest to the many if I call attention to the various 

 styles of cartridges, or* more properly speaking cartridge 

 shells, and give the method of loading followed by the army. 



To begin with shells, the maiu point of importance to the 

 rifleman is in the character of the "head," and the kind and 

 quality of the material from which the shells are made. The 

 head should always be of the solid form for long use. those 

 with folded heads having but short life and being mainly 

 intended for army use, to be thrown away after their first 

 shot, and not to be kept for reloading. Folded interior- primed 

 shells cannot be reprimed readily, and are not intended 

 for such reloading, so they can be omitted from further 

 mention. Folded exterior-primed shells can be reprimed 

 and reloaded, but they are weak and dangerous from liability 

 to rupture under the folded head when used any number of 

 times, and although cheaper at first cost than the solid heads, 

 they are the most expensive in the end, and their use should 

 never be depended upon. We thus have the "solid head" 

 form as the best for constant use, and the next point to con- 

 sider is the character of the "seat" or "cup" prepared to 

 take the primer. 



There are several different styles, going by various names, 

 and all good for the first fire, but some are better than others, 

 and as we are looking for the best, let us see which they are, 

 and the reasons. 



It may be taken as an axiom in all matter pertaining to 

 arms and ammunition that the best is that which is the 

 simplest, provided strength and durability has not been 

 sacrificed to simplicity. This rule, therefore, excludes all 

 forms of shells with movable anvils, or removable heads, as 

 they want simplicity and have no additional elements of 

 strength or safety over those that are more simple. 1 have 

 forgotten the names of these two forms of shells, but I have 

 used them and know from experience that they are only a 

 nuisance. 



Coming then to shells without movable anvils, and with 

 non detachable heads, we have first the "Lowell" shell, and 

 my objection to this is that the pocket for the primer is too 

 small and not deep enough, and I have never succeeded in 

 re-seating primers as they should be seated in this shell. The 

 face of the primer cannot be seated deep enough beneath the 

 face of the shell head, and it is, therefore, too liable to acci- 

 dental explosion. The Lowell shell is made purposely to 

 hold the primer very tightly, and a great deal of force is 

 needed to seat the primer, causing a good deal of loss from 

 primers prematurely exploding while being set. This form 

 of shell was the first form of reloading shell furnished to our 

 troops, and its use had to be abandoned for want of satis- 

 faction, and the difficulty of setting the primers. I have 

 had shot after shot accidentally fired from the face of the 

 breech block striking against the exposed primer on closing 

 the gun, and this, too, when care was exercised, from the 

 fact of the primers being exposed being known, and I have 

 had to abandon entirely the use of those shells. 



Then we have the "Berdan" shell, the form made by the 

 Bridgeport Company, and this shell strikes me as defective, 

 inasmuch as it requires a special tool with which to extract 

 the primers. The pocket has three vents to allow the pas- 

 sage of the flame from the primer to the powder, and a 

 raised conical anvil in the center of the bottom of the pocket, 

 on which the primer is exploded. Besides the difficulty of 

 removing the primers,* this "anvil," being of brass, is easily 

 battered down by repeated blows of the firing pin, causing 

 frequent missfires, as the shell becomes old, from frequent 

 reloading, and rendering it unserviceable long before the 

 "life" of the shell itself has become exhausted. I have just 

 cut open one of these shells and found it to be with folded 

 head, although I think that they are also made with solid 

 head. Of a lot that I bought for Winchester shells, there 

 being no mark on the box; as soon as I learned that they 

 were Berdan, I laid them away, and have never used or in- 

 tend to use them the second time. 



There is another form made by the Bridgeport Company 

 and stamped U. M. C. Co. on its rear face, which is much 

 preferable. This shell has a solid head, and a central 

 vent to the pocket, and is primed with a primer which con- 



* I have uever yet seen a tool that gave satisfaction in removing 

 primers from shells that had no central vent. The -'Bridgeport tool f ' 

 furnished us to extract nrimers from TJerilan «li«iu to ofr,^!^ .™,.fv. 



furnished us to extract primers from Berdan shells, is simply worth- 

 less, and the tools made by the Remington Company for their '-«teel- 

 coned" shells is but little better. The shells and anvils will become 

 damaged by the awl or chisel cutting through, or slipping off of the 

 ' primer iu spite of the care that may be exercised, 



