March 5, 1885. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



105 



gently; if plentiful he still shows his inclination to feed. 

 Prom early morning to twilight hour the nuthatches are ever 

 on the move, and I do not rememher ever having seen one 

 quiet for thirty seconds at a time. Our most restless family 

 of birds with the exception of the warbler, and many species 

 of warblers are not nearly so lively as the white-bellied nut- 

 hatch. 



The nuthatch differs from tbe creeper in its manner of 

 covering ground in its search for food, otherwise they are 

 much alike in habits and nature of food. The creeper will 

 almost invariably begin at the base of a tree and work up- 

 ward spirally until, reaching a limb (it generally selects the 

 largest), it follows it almost to its extremity and then drops 

 to the base of a neighboring tree, or, as is frequently the 

 case, begins again on the same trunk over which it has just 

 traveled. The white-bellied nuthatch, on the contrary, is 

 quite as likely to begin on one of the limbs and work toward 

 the trunk, and I have seen them Searching on the trunk head 

 downward from the top, that is, from the fork down to the 

 base of the tree. This is a peculiarity not often observed, 

 but occasionally seen iu deep woods. The nuthatches do not 

 use the tail in the manner of tbe creeper and woodpeckers, 

 but when pressed for Want of proper support, frequently use 

 it as a supporter. In clinging to brick walls the tail is used 

 when the delicate claws are not strong enough. Iu one in- 

 stance in which 1 shot a specimen, it flew to an adjoining 

 tree, aud chuging to the bark braced itself with its tail, and 

 died in this position with its head dropped. It, required an- 

 other shot to dislodge it. 



The notes of the whitebelly are ko at, led at, ko at or no 

 at, no at, no at. This is their song if they have one, uttered 

 in a sharp decisive manner, the syllables being repeated a 

 dozen times or more, occasionally twenty times, and some- 

 times only once or twice. These notes are uttered generally 

 when the" bird pauses from its search, but are sometimes 

 heard while it is actively engaged in looking for food. The 

 call notes are tow it, tow it, tow it, in a much lower key. 

 Both the song and call notes are very agreeable, and heard, 

 as they usually are in March or October, when few birds are 

 present, are quite cheering. There arc other notes also which 

 I fail to remember at this writing, and so cannot describe. 

 The song is more often heard in March and April during mi- 

 gration, but is heard occasionally during summer and 

 autumn, and often during the winter months, when warmer 

 weather may be expected. 



The nest of this species is invariably, so far as I have 

 heard, placed in an excavation of some kind. One nest that 

 I discovered was all of sixty feet from the ground, and was 

 placed in an excavation in a dead limb of a live tree. Sev- 

 eral nests have come to my notice placed iu the gables and 

 cornices of houses. One was not over two feet from the 

 ground, placed between the clapboards and lathing of a 

 house, and was reached by the old birds through a knothole 

 two feet above the nest. The birds are like the house wren 

 in their selection of a nesting site, and the size of the interior- 

 is not regarded provided it is reached througlwi small orifice. 

 Sometimes a peck of rubbish is carried in to fill or partially 

 fill a too roomy home. The nest is composed of a large 

 variety of material, when built, in the cities where a large 

 excavation is chosen, and the body of the structure is warm 

 and compact. The fining does not differ materially from 

 rubbish chosen for other parts of the nest, and the old bird's 

 aim is evidently to secure as much warmth as possible, re- 

 gardless of appearances. The nests found in woods differ 

 from those taken nearer civilization, in that they are not 

 composed of so many varieties of rubbish. 



The eggs are usually six in number, occasionally only five, 

 sometimes seven and rarely eight, are white and finely 

 dotted with pink spots, distributed generally over almost the 

 en lire surface. The eggs are very pretty and easily distin- 

 guished from all other birds' eggs. 



The white-bellied nuthatch is well distributed in Michi- 

 gan and is reported in all lists. It is common in all localities 

 that I have visited, and may be considered as one of our 

 most generally distributed species in the State. 



Virginia. Rail Wintering on Long Island. — The very re- 

 ma rkable fact of five Virginia rails being shot on Long Island 

 during February appears to be well established by" the fol- 

 lowing notes which Mr. Robert B. Lawrence has kindly 

 placed at our disposal. At least two of the birds were sent 

 to Wallace's shop to be mounted, and are reported by the 

 assistant who did the work to have been fresh killed. The 

 birds were taken by Adam Geipel of this city, and in a reply 

 to a request for particulars by Mr. Lawrence, his son gives 

 the following details: "He [Adam Geipel] went out gunning 

 on Friday, Feb. 6, 1885, in the swamp called Traine's Mead- 

 ows, in Astoria. On that day he shot three of the birds, but 

 he did not know what they were. When he got home our 

 family doctor was there, and he asked my father what he had 

 there. He replied that he did not know what kind of birds 

 they were, and the doctor, on seeing them, said those are 

 what are called Virginian rails. On the 13th of February, 

 he [the father] went out gunning again, and shot two more 

 of the Virginian rails near the same place where he shot the 

 others, — Paul Geipel, Jr. (919 Second avenue, New 

 York)." The rails are generally regarded as quite sensitive 

 to cold, and disposed to retire southward early in the fall. 

 The occurrence of these specimens on Long island in the 

 middle of winter, and especially of such a winter as this one 

 has been, is a very interesting occurrence. It is not without 

 parallel, however, for if we mistake not, there is in the Na- 

 tional Museum a specimen of Rallus mrginianus secured at 

 Walla Walla, W. T., in January, 1879, by Capt. Ghas. Ben- 

 dire. It may be said, however, that the climate of Walla 

 Walla is much less severe than that of New York. Although 

 the specimens were not identified by any ornithologist, the 

 testimony brought forward as to the identity of the species 

 and the time of capture seems to establish the facts as given 

 beyond any reasonable doubt. 



Albino Quail — Vieksburg, Miss., Feb. 25, 1885.— A 

 darkey last week Id lied and brought to the city a white 

 quail, the ouly perceptible dark on it anywhere being a 

 small clouded place on the left side of the upper beak, the 

 rest of it being purely white. Its legs were a very pale pink 

 to the ends of the "toes," and its size and shape the same as 

 in other birds of its species. The darkey said the covey con- 

 tained four birds, the three others being also white. My 

 "brother and I will try and capture them, as they are located 

 only about a mile from the city, This one has been mounted, 

 by a local taxidermist. — Burr H, Polk. 



An Aged Redbird. —Columbus, O., Feb. 4 — A redbird, 

 kept in the family of a friend, recently died at the age of 

 fifteen years. Is this not an unusual age?— 0. N. G. 



Caribou Horns.— Colebrook, N. H.— I find the female 

 caribou of this State not carrying horns in as large a pro- 

 portion as those of the Provinces. ~ But the males' horns con- 

 tain more material here than those killed further north. I 

 have on hand six taken near Valearticr, P. Q., and compar- 

 ison with specimens taken in Aroostook, Me. , shows a like dif- 

 ference of weight; color of hair very light in the Canada spe- 

 cimens. Horns of females taken in Canada are larger than 

 any 1 have ever seen here. — Ned Norton. 



Snowshoetng.— Hackensack, Feb. 24.— The Oritani Snow 

 Shoe Club held its third anuual meeting Feb. 25, after their 

 regular tramp. The following officers were elected : Geo. M . 

 Fairchild, Jr., President; Norman R. J, Neilson, of Three 

 Rivers, Canada, Vice-President; Wakeman Holberton, Sec- 

 tary; Hon. J. U. Gregory, of Quebec, Canada, was unani- 

 mously elected an honorary member.— W. Holberton, Sec- 

 retary. 



fonft §#3 &qd 



ADIRONDACK DEER HOUNDING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A sense of duty impels me to contribute what I may to the 

 cause your paper is so ably advocating, viz. , the suppression 

 of a great wrong in the Adirondacks, in the outrageous 

 slaughter of deer, the extermination of trout, and devasta- 

 tion^ the forest. I have read with amazement the decla- 

 rations of some of your correspondents that, while they have 

 frequently visited that magnificent and picturesque region, 

 they have never seen deer killed wantonly or out of season. 

 If they were the sportsmen they claim to be, they were either 

 blind or in a somnambulic condition ; for no frequenter of the 

 Adirondacks in the close season could have failed often to 

 hear of, and taste if he pleased, ' 'lamb" or "mutton" to his 

 entire content, unless his visits were so early in the seasou 

 that skin and bones alone constituted the deer even then to 

 be often seen and too frequently slain. No honest man ac- 

 quainted with the practices in the forest will attempt to 

 deny that deer are killed as soon as there is flesh enough ou 

 their haunches to part the skin from the bones, or that the 

 slaughter is continued from that time almost until the next 

 season opens. This is when multitudes of fawns are de- 

 stroyed by the death of does— a cruel as well as great sacri- 

 fice, only second in its consequences to the barbarous and 

 very unsportsmanlike practice of running dogs. 



I am of those who would provide a heavy penalty for the 

 killing of a doe before the 15th of August, for night shoot- 

 ing or "floating," and a heavier one for the use of dogs in 

 any month of the year. More than this, I would provide a 

 penalty for the taking into or the keeping of a hound in the 

 woods, and offer a reward for the killing of any so found. 

 It is summer shooting and hound-hunting that is surely ex- 

 terminating the deer, to the regret of guides as well as true 

 sportsmen. There are few guides that cannot be prevailed 

 upon by their employers to hunt out of season: but their 

 defense is — and there is human nature in it— that all do it. 

 There are still fewer guides who will not hunt with hounds, 

 and yet there is scarcely one in fifty of them who would not 

 gladly see dogs banished from the forest. 



What is required is a stringent and impartial law, with 

 ample provision for its enforcement, to effect a much needed 

 reform which would be received even by the guides most 

 cordially. Let them understand that, it would be universally 

 enforced, that all would share and share alike in the results 

 of such legislation, and there would be no resistance. 



How enforce such a law? Let the Legislature authorize 

 the appointment of a chief game keeper, with headquarters 

 in a central locality of the forest and be aided by as many 

 assistants as might be required, each one to give bonds for a 

 faithful performance of his duty and receive the compensa- 

 tion of a faithful servant. The regulations to govern them 

 could hardly be made too rigid, or proofs of their dereliction 

 of duty two well rewarded. They should be appointed by 

 and be under the direction of a. commission of three citizens 

 of ability and high character, who should serve without com- 

 pensation. Some of the drippings from the wastefulness of 

 every Legislature would amply provide for the compensation 

 of the protectors; but the State owes it to itself to make 

 annually a liberal appropriation for such a purpose, not only 

 the deer of the forest, but also the fish and the timberlands 

 from devastation. It is possible and not difficult to effect a 

 reform in this respect which the entire people of the State 

 would hail with joy, for thej r cannot afford to have their 

 magnificent forest prostituted by the hands of vandals. 



With reasonable protection the great forest can be made to 

 teem with deer and trout, enough for all and easily obtained. 

 If it be said that money so expended would be for the bene- 

 fit only of the thousands of people who now annually spend 

 vacations in the forests, 1 answer that the amount of money 

 required is much below the amount the same number of 

 people pay as taxes for objects and purposes in which they 

 are not personally or directly interested, but which taxation 

 is for the benefit of all aud the common welfare. But all 

 the people of the State are interested in the preservation of 

 the forest, its timber, waters, game and fishes. 



It is a fact too apparent to everj>- observant frequenter of 

 the forest who has a taste for hunting and fishing, that deer 

 and trout are rapidly decreasing, and that the time is not far 

 off, unless the State stays the wanton killing of both, jvhen 

 deer will be quite as scarce as the moose is now, and when 

 lakes and streams will no longer respond to the lines which 

 the angler would drop to them. As already stated, the 

 guides would be among the strongest supporters of a practical 

 movement to preserve the deer, fish and forest, which means 

 the preservation of their occupation also. Many hours have 

 I spent with many of them in different places in discussing 

 this subject, aud iu making the above declaration 1 know 

 whereof I affirm. 



Lest it may be inferred that this communication favors 

 legislation so stringent as to prohibit even the killing of a 

 buck for camp purposes in the month of July, the opinion is 

 expressed that nobody would carry protection to such an 

 extent. But even in such cases as at all times, a camp 

 cook should be banished who does not know how to save 

 and make palatable not only the saddle, but every part of a 

 deer. It is wanton killing and waste, and unseasonable 

 marketing with the aid of hounds, that works such terrible 

 destruction. With a sufficient number of protectors prop- 

 erly discharging their respective duties, every camp would 

 be under a wholesome code of regulations, especially if the 

 protectors could have the assistance of informers working 

 for share in penalties. D. H. Bruce. *" 



Sttbacuse, N. Y., March 1, 1885, 



THE PATENT COFFEE MILL. 



[From the Forest and Stream, April 19, 1888.] 



THERE is a certain ingenious little contrivance sometimes 

 employed in grocery stores which is known to the initi- 

 ated as the patent coffee mill. The machine is fastened to a 

 partition of the wall, and into it is poured for grinding the 

 coffee just purchased by the customer. The clerk turns 

 the crank and the buyer sees, or thinks he sees, his pure Old 

 Government Java or Mocha coming out of the mill again. 

 The product which he beholds is, however, only one-half or 

 one-third pure coffee. The rest is browned beans, parched 

 peas, burnt bread crusts, or whatever else the economical 

 merchant may have put into the concealed compartment of 

 the mill, on the other side of the wall. The genius who de- 

 vised this mill is said to have reaped a rich reward as the 

 fruit of his ingenuity, and is reputed to be worth as much 

 as the Connecticut quarry owner who ships his stone to manu- 

 facturers of granulated sugar. 



Unfortunately the principle of the patent coffee mill is not 

 confined to the humble cross-roads grocery. Its workings 

 on a more magnificent scale may be studied at the respective 

 capitals of the several States, when the wise heads there 

 assembled come to the annual grinding of the game laws. 

 That which ostensibly goes into the mill as pure and honest 

 game protection is, when ground out again, only one-six- 

 teenth protection and the rest destruction. 



The mill under the big dome at Boston some years ago 

 gave out such an adulterated product; and Boston markets 

 have since then been receivers of what is equivalent to 

 stolen goods, namely, Maine game illegally killed and 

 shipped out of season. The process of grinding is now in 

 active operation at Harrisburg, where the Philadelphia 

 marketmen are attempting to opeu their stalls for the same 

 ill-gotten merchandise. At Springfield, 111., the crank has 

 of late been vigorously turned by the Chicago game dealers, 

 chief among them a professed sportsman game dealer, whom 

 we recently showed knowingly to be a receiver of contraband 

 goods in the form of Minnesota geme illegally killed and 

 shipped out of season. Neither at Albany do "the grinders 

 cease _ heeause they are few;" nor yet is "the sound of the 

 grinding low." Quite the contrary; the grinders are many, 

 and the grinding is loud. 



Among the bills, amendatory of the present statute, intro- 

 duced this year at Albany, is one known as the O'Connor 

 bill. This provides for summer shooting and (by opening 

 the game market) for winter shooting up to Feb. 1. In other 

 words, the public is given to understand that the result of the 

 passage of this bill will be game protection, whereas, in 

 truth, it will be game destruction. Mr. O'Connor, we un- 

 derstand, does not occupy a position corresponding to the 

 proprietor of the grocery store ; he simply acts the part of 

 the clerk, and turns the crank of the mill "by request." He 

 doubtless means well enough. The public, however, will 

 not consent to be duped by such a shoveling in of burnt 

 crusts from the other side of the wall as this is. 



Another piece of legislation on the patent coffee mill prin- 

 ciple bears the name of Mr. Grady. Whether he is the re- 

 sponsible party, or, like Mr. O'Connor, merely the clerk, we 

 are at present uninformed. Neither position is an enviable 

 one, for in this Grady bill, which was introduced into the 

 Senate week before last, is embodied a heterogeneous com- 

 bination of preposterous abominations. The responsibility 

 for this would be a grievous burden to be borne by one pair 

 of shoulders. The Grady bill, like the O'Connor bill, per- 

 mits summer shooting, and by extending the selling season 

 to Feb. 1, insures the destruction of game in this State and 

 at the West for two months after the legal killing season has 

 expired. 



The radical trouble with much of the attempted game leg- 

 islation of the country is that those who dabble in it are, 

 like the framers of the Grady bill, either so lamentably sel- 

 fish or so blissfully ignorant that it would be far better for 

 the public did they let the matter entirely alone. It is an 

 unfortunate fact that ninety -nine out of every one hundred 

 in the community care little or nothing about the game law, 

 aud the hundredth man is apt to be imbued with the over- 

 powering conviction that the first, last and only thing need- 

 ful 1o protect the game is to amend the law so far as it con- 

 cerns his own particular little duck pond. Sefishness all too 

 often rules the day; game protection means the bringing of 

 the game lawfully within reach of one special gun just when 

 the owner of the gun wants it there. 



The mills are grinding on; and the grinding is said, in a 

 small way, to be profitable to some one. 



A NIGHT SHOT AT EPHRAIM. 



LAST November, when on a surveying trip in North- 

 western Wyoming at the foot of the Big Horn Moun- 

 tains, I was stopping at a cattle ranch where^we slept in a 

 log house sixteen feet square. The logs for a similar house 

 had been laid up adjoining this one, "endwise, as nearly as 

 the projecting logs of the roofs would allow. We killed a 

 steer for beef, quartered it, and hung the quarters up between 

 the two houses. One morning the cook discovered that a 

 forequarter was gone. Bear tracks were discovered, and 

 were followed 300 yards, where the remains of the quarter 

 were found buried. Although we looked carefully over the 

 bare ground, there was no sign of the bear having allowed 

 the beef to touch the ground while in transit. 

 The next night we put our dog outside the house for a 

 uard and retired after the usual evening game of casino. 

 Jetween 12 and 1 o'clock I was awakened by a slight noise 

 between the houses. Of course 1 thought of the bear, arose 

 very quietly, put on a pair of old slippers, took down my 

 •rifle from its hooks, took two cartridges from the belt hang- 

 ing on one of the hooks, and gently opened the door. The 

 wooden hinges creaked a little, and as I stepped outside I 

 saw an unusually large bear backing out from between the 

 houses just ten feet from me. My gun was unloaded — for- 

 tunately — and the bear deliberately ambled off to the further 

 corner of the new house, just forty-five feet from where I 

 stood ; and as he turned to go around the corner stopped, 

 with his left side toward me, and quartering a little from 

 me, and turned his head to take a good look at me standing 

 there in the chilly night air clad in my briefest costume. 



By this time I was' ready for him, quickly bringing my 

 sights in line against the sky I dropped the gun upon him 

 and blazed away. The roar of that old Sharps, in the per- 

 fect stillness of the night, was terrific, hut the bawl that the 

 old bear gave discounted it. For an instant I was "scared 

 silly," but the next I saw the bear headed my way, and in 

 about one second I was inside the house and had the door 

 barred. Glancing out of the window, beside the door. I saw 

 the hear go on around the house. By this time the hoys 

 were all up and we cautiously went out, hut could see no 



