366 
of eating the hagdon for many years, acquired such a taste 
for the peculiar flavor of the bird, that they actually pre- 
ferred it to the domestic fowl; and when no longer able to 
engage in the bank-fisheries, would look to the younger men 
for their supplies of hags, which were brought home in the 
manner just referred to, on the Grand Bank vessels. 
THE BLAOK HAGDON, OR SOOTY SHPARWATER, (Puffinus 
Suliginosus). 
The sooty shearwater, or the “black hagdon” of the fisher- 
men, is invariably found with Pufinus major, and, doubtless, 
occurs Over very nearly the same area. Itisless plentiful on 
the fishing banks, however, and, as a rough estimate, I 
should say that it does not exceed in abundance more than 
one per cent. of the numbers of the great shearwater, Its 
habits are very similar to those which I have mentioned as 
being peculiar to the common hagdon, and with the excep- 
tion that possibly it is a little Jess noisy, the description of 
the habits of one species may be applied to the other. As 
the two species mingle freely: together, the black hagdon -is 
often captured with its less sooty companions, and is, of 
course, also used for bait by the ‘‘shack” fishermen. 
THE FULMAR (fulmarus glacialis), 
This species, known by a variety of names to the New 
England fishermen, such as ‘‘noddy,” ‘‘marbleheader,” and 
“oul bird’—called a ‘‘stinker’ on the west coasi—is found 
on the fishing banks north of Cape Cod in winter, and also 
occurs in greater or less abundance from Sable Island north- 
wardly, during the summer, months, though it is most num- 
erous in this region during cold weather, The following 
notes from my journal, which were made while near the 
northwest part of the Grand Bank, may prove of interest in 
this connection: 
Feb. 7, 1879.—On western edge of the Grand Bank, lati- 
tude 44° 25’ N., longitude 62° 58’ W., ‘I saw several noddies 
this morning, but for some-reason they would not come 
alongside of the vessel. I have seen one or more every day 
(since Jan. 30), but have had no chance to get any,” . 
Feb, §, 1879.—Same place as above. ‘‘Saw some noddies 
this morning and shot one, but did not get him.” 
March 11, 1879.—In Jatitude 45° 9’, longitude 54° 58’, I 
shot four noddies, and the following entry is made in my 
journal under date of March 12: ‘‘There haye been great 
numbers of noddies to-day. I shot two; but when the yes- 
sel swung into the trough of the sea I could not shoot any 
more.” 
“March 14.—Haye seen large numbers of noddies this 
trip, and almost every day since we lave been here some of 
the burgomaster gulls—a large white species, I shot several 
of the noddies to-day, but the gulls ure shy, and it is difficult 
to approach them near enough to obtain 2 shot,” 
I will add that the weather during the above-mentioned 
time was extremely cold. On April J3 of the same year I 
made the following note: ‘‘l have not seeu a noddy this 
trip.” We had then been at sea about one week. On April 
18, 1879, we were on Green Bank, when the following entry 
was made; “T saw a noddy to-day for the first time this 
trip. 
June 5, 1879.—EHastern part of Banquereau. ‘‘I have no- 
ticed a noddy now and then for the last three days, but have 
not seen any before for some time.” 
Under date of July 29, 1879, the following entry is made: 
“T have seen no noddieés this trip.’* 
_The p!umuge of this species varies in color; that of some 
of the birdsis of a uniform smoky gray, and of others 
white, with black wings, and some of the other feathers 
bluish. 
The fulmars are probably more abundant on the Grand 
Bank than on any other of the fishing grounds commonly re- 
sorted to by American vessels, with the exception, perhaps, 
of the halibut groundsin Davis Straits, or the Flemish Cap 
to the eastward of Grand Bank, which are not visited by 
many fishing schooners. 
The marbleheader is quite as greedyas the hagdon, and 
quite as bold when in pursnit of food; but unlike the latter, 
which is always quarrelsome and noisy, the fulmar confines 
itself to a sort of chuckling sound, somewhat resembling a 
low grunt. It will swallow a piece of cod liver witheven as 
great voracity as the hag, hut it rarely, if ever, seems to ex- 
ercise the cunning cr caution of the latter in trying to avoid 
the hook, and, as a consequence, it is more easily captured. 
It is caught in the same manner as the hag, but owing to 
its comparatively small numbers on the fishing grounds, the 
fishermen Go not depend upon it $omuch as a source of bait 
supply as upon Pujfinus major, since one would be likely to 
catch twenty, or perhaps many more, of the latter, to one 
noddy. When caught on aline and hauled into a boat it 
frequently emits quantities of oily matter from its nostrils, 
and often disgorges its food. ‘This peculiarity of the species 
which is not common to the hagdon, has been remarked by 
others. The hagdon will occasionally throw up the contents 
ofits stomach when caugnt, but not as arule, so far as | 
have been alle to observe. 
The fulmar subsists chiefly on small fishes, and, doubtless, 
articipates with the hagdon im the pursuit of the squid; but 
T have no recollection of noticing in its stomach, as I have 
in that of the hag, the presence of pieces of squid or the 
beaks of that animal. I have, however, frequently observed 
that the contents of the stomachs of many of this species 
consisted almost entirely of small fish. Like Pujfinus, it is 
yery fond of oily food, which it swallows with astonishing 
greediness. It devours large quantities of codfish liver in a 
Tayenous manner that would astound one acquainted with its 
habits, and it certainly would tax their credulity to believe 
statements that might be made bearing on this subject. 
The fulmar is essentially an Arctic bird and oceurs in 
great abundance in the far North, where it is met with by 
whalers-and halibut fishermen in summer, at which season, 
according to the accounts given by Arctic explorers, it goes 
there for the purpose of incubation. 
‘The fulmar is the constant companion of the whale- 
fisher,” says Scoresby, in his “‘Arctic Regions:” “It is highly 
amusing to observe the voracity with which they seize the 
pieces of fat that fall in their way; the size and quantity of 
the pieces they take at a meal; the curious chuckling noise 
which, in their anxicty for dispalch, they always make, and 
the. jealousy. with which they view, and the boldness with 
which they attack any of this species thet are engaged in 
devouring the finest’ morsels. The fulmar never dives but 
when incited.te it-by the-appearance of a morsel of fat under 
water.” Thésé peculiarities of the species agree exactly 
with my_own observations. Tey 
‘The fulmar has frequently a ragged appearance; the wings 
and. tail feathers being fagged out and the bird is often soiled 
#it may be offered as an explanation here that I was eollectin 
these birds for scientific purposes, and, therefore, preferred to shoo 
them instead of catching them on a, line. 
- a a 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
with grease, They haye a rank, pungent smell, which is 
exceedingly disagreeable. Notwithstanding its boldness 
when in pursuit of food, and its apparent indifference to the 
presence of man, frequently coming within a few feet of the 
side of a boat or vessel, rivaling in this respect the most 
daring feats of the hagdon, it is, nevertheless, entirel 
different from the latter so far as its pugnacily is couneuteds 
Although it may struggle to get the food which another 
bird is trying to swallow, it does not exhibit such a fierce 
disposition-as the hag, and when caught rarely attempts to 
bite. This is allthe more strange since this bird has a sharp 
and very pewerful hooked beak. Its flight is similar to that 
of Pujfinus, and its manner of alighting on the water when 
in pursuit of food is also much the same. The noddy, how- 
ever, as has been mentioned, rarely dives for food, and, so 
far as I have observed, goes but a short distance beneath 
the water, evineing, in this respect, far less activity and 
enterprise than the hagdon, : 
mee as disagreeable, repulsive odor rendering it undesirable 
as food. 
Tt may be added here that Capt. Henry O. Smith, of 
Salem, Mass., tells me that the fulmar frequently occurs in 
considerable abundance in winter in Fortune Bay, New- 
foundland, and he also says that on one occasion he killed 
one of these birds in that region, which had a half-swallowed 
herring in its beal, the fish being too large for the noddy to 
get down. 
[TO BE CONCLUDED, | 
Domesticating WiLprowL.—Cold Sprin g Harbor, L. L., 
N.Y., Novy. 29.—Huditor Forest and Stream: The following 
additions have been made to my flock: Five pairs of mal- 
lards, wild birds, purchased; two male and one female pin- 
tail duck, Dafila aeuta, presented to Mr. J. . Rooney of 
Spink county, Dakota, The mandarin ducks and wood- 
ducks are now in full plumage, but the solitary widgeon 
drake has not yet shea his summer coat.—FRED Maram. 
Ow1s1n Massacnuserrs.—I wonder if owls are as numer- 
ous in York State as this way. I went into Goodale’s re - 
cently and there saw a small army of barred owls, besides 
great horned, long and short-eared, Acadian, Richardson’s 
and the hawk owls, the two latter being very rare New 
England species, It is evidently owl year. Seals numer- 
ous in Salem Harbor, also old squaws (4. glacial’s),_X.Y.Z. 
(Salem, Mass., Dee, 1). 
A Hornep Dor.—I received a few days ago a doe’s head, 
with one horn or spike six inches long still in the velvet, 
The spike is on the right side of the head. The animal was 
killed on the east fork of the Sinnemahoning hy R. F. Mar- 
tin, Noy. 19.—S. P. OLtmsrep (Coudersport, Pa., Dec. 1), 
Game Bag and Gun. 
PENNSYLVANIA DEER AND TURKEYS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
IT have just returned from a deer hunt in Huntingdon 
county, Pennsylyania, Our party consisted of the four Parker 
brothers—Harry, Al, John and Tom—and myself. We spent 
five days in the mountains, but killed no deer. This was 
almost a foregone conclusion, as we were all tenderfeet, none 
of us ever having hunted deer before. We have, however, 
had considerable experience shooting at target, and two of us 
have made very fair records at al] distances. The fact of our 
skill at the target led some of the party to hope for too much, 
and they ave somewhat disappointed. I haye read Pormst 
AND STREAM for several years, and the result of our hunt 
was no surprise to me. 
We left Norristown Nov. 9, at 8:31 P. M., reaching Har- 
risburg at 12:10 A. M. Took train for Huntingdon at 8:20 
A. M,, reaching there at 6:25, After two hours’ wait took 
train for Marklesburg, arriving there at 9. Muarklesburg is 
eleven miles south of Huntingdon, in the woodcock valley, 
between Tussey and Terrace mountains. Leaving our trunk 
in care of the sfation agent, we started to walk to Lydia 
Dale, seven miles east, over a rough mountain road. We 
had on considerable extra clothing and carried our rifles. 
The weather was clear and rather warm, and some of the 
party were well nigh exhausted when we reached Mr, John 
Alexander's, where we proposed trying to get board and 
lodging for the week. The party filed into the front yard, 
guns at “right shoulder,” with the determination that we 
would have dinner right soon and we would go no further 
to get it. We met George, Mr. Alexander’s son, on the front 
porch. He invited us in, where we met Mrs. A. They 
could accommodate us, certainly, but did not expect us until 
Tuesday; and we would haye no butter for dinner, but we 
would get plenty to eat and butter at eyery meal hereat'ter. 
Assuring Mrs. A, that no apologies were necessary, and 
calling her attention to the fact that it was now 1 o’clock 
P.M. and we had traveled two hundred miles, and it was 
many hours since we had caten a square meal, in a very 
short space of time an abundant dinner was prepared, and 
the way we ate was a surprise to ourselves. Our appe- 
tites were prodigious, and continued so during our stay, 
The good eftect of our vigorous exercise on the mountains 
was already apparent, and was still more marked toward 
the close of the week, After dinner we took a stroll on 
Terrace Mountain, We. saw gray squirrels, rabbits, ruffed 
grouse and turkeys, Tom Parker, the youngest member of 
the party, saw a turkey at about 100 yards, and thinking 
the distance was too great for a sure shot, gave chase. The 
further he ran the further the turkey was ahead of him, and 
when he related his experience at supper time we had a 
good laugh at his expense. George Alexander, the son of 
our host, is nineteen years of age, He spends six days of 
the week hunting deer and turkeys, but turkeys are his 
fayorite same. He instructed us in regard to hunting both, 
One of his most successful modes of shooting turkeys is hy 
calling them within range of his rifle. He makes his turkey 
calls from the wing-bone of a gobbler, and says their tone is 
more natural than some of the patent calls which he has 
seen. 
Weshot a few turkeys and other small game during the 
week, but spent very little time hunting for them. We 
wanted to kill a deer, and frequently refused good shots at 
other game so as not to spoil our chances of getting a deer, 
Our plan of hunting was by driving, and as the law is 
respected in this locality, no dogs were used. Our party 
generally consisted of seven or eight, and three would act the 
part of dogs, and drive the tops of the ridges, while others 
would be stationed on the crossings. Sometimes the driver 
It is never eaten by the fisher- | 
[Dre. 4, 1884, 
who was in the center would carry a cowbell, and his style 
of ringing would notify the men on the crossings when he 
had started a deer. The men who were driving were 
instructed by the euides to fire at every deer they saw 
whether the chances of hitting were good, bad or indifferent, 
This would have a tendency to driye the deer straight out to 
the men on the crossings, ‘The best grounds for deer in this 
locality are what are called the “Barrens,” by a few of the 
most intelligent people whom we met, but nine-tenths of the 
people you meet will call them the “Barns.” Two of our 
three guides called them'the ‘‘Barns.”” A man in Huntingdon 
asked me if we were going to hunt inthe Barns. I told him 
we had no idea of shooting chickens, we were atter deer, 
He suid “‘the Barns was the best place to hunt them.” TI 
then tried to apologize. but am willing to wager my best 
turkey bone that he don’t know to this day what I was 
apologizing about, = 
Mr. John Patterson lives one mile from Mr, Alexander’s 
house and owns five thousand acres of the Barrens. He 
hunted with us on three different occasions and carried the 
cowbell. He is very obliging, a thorough gentleman, and 
something of a sportsman. He has two hundred bushels of 
apples, and some hard ciderin his cellar. We sampled both 
on different occasions. Mr, Patterson always treats visiting 
sportstnen well and will accept no pay for his services. The 
deer “‘tend” Mr, Patterson’s apple orchard every night and 
“work” on the apples. They also “tend” his wheat and 
rye fields and ‘‘work” on the grain. An cxamination of 
these fields showed fresh tracks every morning. ‘Four of us 
got up early one morning and attempted to surround the 
deer on their feeding grounds about daylight. After emerg- 
ing from the forest and advancing fifty yards in the pasture 
field, we saw free deer running near the upper end of the 
field. Four rifles were leveled at them. Some one said 
“Don’t shoot,” the rifles were lowered. George, the guide, 
siid, “I sce one standing,” and again threw his repeater to 
his face. Isaid “‘No; it isa tree.” Not a shot was fired. 
The deer jumped the fence and disappeared in the forest. 
The distance the deer were from us when we first saw them 
was about 225 yards; where they jumped over the fence was 
about 00 yards. It was not yet daylight, at least we could 
not distinctly see the sights on our rifles. One of the party 
is sorry he did not fire. I am not. ; 
These three deer are the only ones I saw, but there are 
plenty of them in the Barrens on Round Knob, on Broad 
Top, and on Terrace Mountain. The furthest of these moun- 
tains can be reached in thirty minutes from Mr, Alexander’s 
-house. There was considerable speculation among the mem- 
bers of our party as to the probability of any of us getting 
the “buck ague” under certain circumstances to such an ex- 
tent as to cause wild shooting, or prevent us from firing at 
all, On Friday afternoon, my last day in the woods, I was 
standing on a good crossing. The drivers were working 
toward me. Suddenly there was a shout, followed by three 
rifle shots in quick succession. [I heard the bullets whist- 
ling over my head. The bell was ringing furiously, and 
coming in my direction. I heard a rustling in the leaves in 
front of meas I stood with rifle cocked and mouth wide 
open, I imagined I heard my heart beating: it, certainly 
was thumping painfully. Iraised my rifle and drew a bead 
on an object about fifty yards away. Iwas fairly steady, 
and honestly believe that if a deer or a drove of deer had 
appeared at that moment, IT could have made a telling shot. 
Lhave faced the butts at Stockton, Creedmoor, and else- 
where, when valuable prizes were at stake, and many friends 
were watching my every movement and expecting me to 
show up well at the finish. Under such circumstances I 
have found the situation more trying than I can imagine 
possible in shooting deer on a runway, where your com- 
panions are out of sight or so far away that their presence 
is not noticed. 
Three of us, Aland Tom Parker and myself, started for 
home Saturday morning, Noy. 15. Missed connections at 
Harrisburg, and obliged to stay there over night. Arrived 
home Sunday morning at 11:48. John and Harry Parker 
stayed for three days’ more hunting, While 1 am writing 
this, A] Parker comes in and tells me the following: Harry 
went up Terrace Mountain alone on Saturday to look for 
turkeys. When near his blind he jumped a large buck, He 
did not get a shot, or rather preferred not to shoot, as he 
was carrying a double-barreled shotgun and charged with 
turkey shot. About the same time, Mr. Alexander, on his 
way to visita neighbor, saw a buck cross from Broad Top 
to Terrace Mountain. He returned home and told the hunt- 
ers. John, Harry and George hunted the mountain from 
end to end on the southeast side, but did not see cither of the 
bucks. Monday was successfully spent in hunting turkeys. 
Tuesday snow fell to the depth of three inches. Wednesday 
orning they started out and found the track of five deer on 
errace Mountain. They soon came upon a doe. Harry 
fired-at about 100 yards; a clean miss. Geo. Alexander then 
fired two shots from his .38-caliber Winchester, the last shot 
being a broadside, and going through the kidneys. ~The doc 
gave one leap and fell dead. This Jast shot was fired at 128 
yards. The woods was full of hunters, and rifles were erack- 
ing on every side. John Parker returned home after the 
deer was killed, arriving at Norristown at 8 P. M. the same 
day, Harry Parker is still there at last accounts. 
The section of country which we hunted contains game 
enough to satisfy a reasonable sportsman, | think. <A friend 
informs me that there is no better place to hunt deer in this 
State. Turkeys are very abundant. We found them wher- 
ever we hunted deer. The ruffed grouse are found every- 
where. Ina mile tramp through the Barrens I flushed six 
single birds. George said he could show me where I could 
flush them in flocks. | saw more grouse in my five days’ 
hunt than I saw in fifteen years before. -I saw them sitting, 
running and flying, and did not firea shot at them. Saw 
one flock of quail. Cannot say how plentiful they are, as I 
did not inquire. Rabbits are plenty, squirrels ditto, 
The rifle is the favorite arm among the resident sports- 
men, Shotguns are seldom seen. They argue that the shot- 
gun charged with buckshot will not kill deer excepting at 
very short range; that a good marksman can hit turkeys 
standing, ruuning or flying with the rifle, and it is very 
difficult to get within range of the shotgun. Ruffled grouse 
are not much hunted. What few are killed are generally 
shot with the rifle. 
The majority of rifles used are the old style muzzeloader, 
with hair trigger. Those who have bought rifles within the 
past few years have repeaters, the .38-caliber 40-grain taking 
the lead. Mr. W. DeV. Foulke, of Philadelphia, spent three” 
months there last winter. .He used several repeating rifles 
of different calibers, and the way he made doubles on grouse 
flying in different directions was a surprise to the natives. 
One day he saw two turkeys in a cornfield, within easy 
range of the fence. Instead of crawling up behind the fence, 
