Mav 7, 1885.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



289 



during the period of nidiflcation. The chattering- is heard, 

 however, more or less throughout July, August, September, 

 and at the time of the arrivals of the birds from the north, 

 aud when the little fellows are contemplating- their autum- 

 nal journey, the chattering and call notes are almost constant 

 in the thickets. The bird's do not all leave us until late Sep- 

 tember and occasionally even as late as Oct. 20. 



This species, although abundant during migration, is not 

 really common (during summer) in any locality that I have 

 visited south of 44' north latitude. During the last week in 

 April the birds usually make their appearance, aud by May 

 10 are abundant; hut I he large majority pass north to breed, 

 and, notwithstanding the fact that the creeper is found 

 breeding in Texas and many other southern sections, in 

 Michigan very few remaiu to breed south of 43". This is 

 one of the birds which has become more abundant during 

 the past few years, and it is reasonable to suppose that it is 

 found at present in the Northern Peninsula, although not re- 

 corded from there by lists of twenty-iive and thirty years 

 ago". Pew nests have been recorded as Michigan captures 

 from the fact that in the localities where the birds are more 

 often found in the breeding season there are no collectors. 

 The nest is invariably placed upon the ground or near it in 

 all Michigan examples. The site selected is usually near the 

 roots of a stump or by the trunk of a fallen tree, the parent 

 birds' object in building iu such a situation undoubtedly 

 beinc to seek partial protection from the weather. The 

 lies* is frequently built in a form similar to that of the 

 golden-crowned thrush or oven bird, the cover or upper part 

 extending nearly over the eggs. In composition it is similar 

 to the nest of that species. "One nest was lined with a pro- 

 fusion of horse hair. Auother nest was composed, bottom 

 and sides, of grapevine bark and dead maple leaves, .and 

 lined with tine roots and grapevine and some hair. In choice 

 of location the birds evidently prefer a high and dry woods, 

 usually beech and maple; but low woods are also resorted to 

 quite frequently, as I have often observed the birds in such 

 .situations during the nesting season. 



The eggs are three to five in number, the set being often 

 augmented by the addition of cowbird's eggs. In color the 

 eggs are of a creamy white background, with the larger end 

 more or less covered by numerous dots, points and blotches 

 of reddish brown. The egg is dotted and speckled also over 

 its entire surface with fine markings of the same color, but 

 not nearly so densely as at the crown or larger end of the 

 egg. The average dimensions of some Michigan eggs are 

 .63x.51. The eggs are laid from May 20 to June 1. A 

 second brood may be reared, but to fhis'l cannot attest. 



The habits of this creeper warbler are very interesting, 

 and an afternoon spent in watching their vivacious, varied 

 movements is sure to be prolific of amusing incidents in bird 

 life. The note book quickly contains valuable remarks on 

 habits and movements which are read with great interest 

 later in the year, when the chilling winter winds are sighing 

 in the leafless branches, and we are longing for gentle spring 

 to appear. There are few families if any in bird life which 

 are as attractive in their ways as the warbler family. The 

 woods would indeed be deserted if these gems of the wood- 

 land w r ere absent. 



The food of the creeper is, so far as my knowledge extends, 

 entirely of an insect nature. I have not examined any birds 

 in the autumn, and doubt not but that a change of "diet is 

 indulged in to the extent of an occasional taste of fruit or a 

 few wild berries, but during the spring migrations I have 

 been unable to detect anything of this nature in the crops. 

 The food is principally of insects of the order Cokoptera, 

 and large quantities of the partially digested bodies of beetles 

 are found in the gizzards. Many representations of the order 

 Dlptera are also devoured, but it is more difficult to distin- 

 guish them, as they are so readily dismembered in capture 

 and swallowing. All classes of insects are found, however, 

 in the stomachs, and the active birds appear to eagerly feed 

 on anything of an insect nature which comes in their way. 



Pox Sparrows in Spring Migration.— Under heading 

 of "Spring Notes," in your issue of April 23, "C. L." men- 

 tions the securing of the first specimen of fox sparrow "in 

 the vicinity of Buffalo on the spring migration," while they 

 have formerly been secured during the fall migration. My 

 experience in this vicinity has been just the reverse. For 

 the past five years we have secured one specimen every 

 spring. In April, 1882, my son shot one out of a maple tree 

 in front of the house; April 21, 1884, I secured a female; on 

 April 22, 1885, I was in a small piece of woods a mile from 

 the city limits ; was talking with a woodchopper, when a 

 bird came into the woods and stopped within gunshot. 

 After looking at it through my glass, I exclaimed, ''You are 

 just what I want," and the next minute I held in my hand 

 the finest specimen of Passerella iliaca I had yet obtained, a 

 male, measuring 7^x1 1£ inches; weight, 1| ounces. The 

 only specimen obtained during the fall migration I secured 

 iu the same piece of woods, Oct. 22, 1883. It was also a 

 male, measuring Tjxll inches. I never thought they were 

 common during migration, but did not know they were so 

 rare during spring migration that they had never been 

 secured in the vicinity of Buffalo ; and if I secure another 

 specimen this spring shall certainly send it to "C. L." — J. 

 L. Davison (Lockport, N. Y., April 30). 



Welcoming Mr. Allen.— On Tuesday last Mr. J, A. 

 Allen, the distinguished ornithologist, was the guest of the 

 Linnean Society of New York. The dinner was given at 

 the Murray Hill House, and was a very enjoyable occasion. 

 Among those present were, besides the guest of the evening, 

 Mr. E. P. Bicknell, the president of the Liunean Society, 

 Drs. Merriam, Fisher, Morris, Allen, Willis, Elliott and 

 Grinned, and Messrs. L. S. Poster, J. H. Sage, G. B. Sen- 

 nett, L. A. Zerega, Woodward and Wm. Dutcher. After 

 Mr. Bicknell's address welcoming the guest of the evening, 

 speeches were made by Messrs. Allen, Sennett and Poster' 

 and by Drs. Merriam, Willis and Grinned . The advent of 

 a naturalist of Mr. Allen's fame and attainments was the 

 subject of general congratulation. The meeting broke up at 

 a late hour. 



Department of Economic Ornithology. — The Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture and Mr. C. V. Riley. U. S. Ento- 

 mologist, have appointed Dr. 0. H. Merriam, of Locust 

 Grove, N. Y., as chief of the Department of Economic Orni- 

 thology, under the Department of Agriculture. The appro- 

 priation of |5,000, while it will not permit any great amount 

 of new work to be undertaken, will at least enable Dr. Mer- 

 riam to get the material accumulated last season in shape 

 for publication. The choice of Dr. Merriam for this position 

 will be received with satisfaction by ornithologists at large. 

 We understand that Dr. Merriam has appointed Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher, of Sing Sing, N. Y., his chief assistant, and that the 

 latter has signified his intention of accepting. 



A Wholesale Tragedy— A. friend brought me this 

 morning a female woodcock and four young, dead. They 

 were picked up on the railroad track about two miles from 

 town. The old bird having been struck by the train and 

 killed, the young ones were" 1 suppose, killed by the fright 

 or starved to death, being between the rails and unable to 

 fly. They are being mounted, and with the addition of a 

 male bird this fall "will make a beautiful group.— Daly 

 (Hackettstown, N. J., May 4). 



Large Eagle.— A large eagle was killed about five miles 

 from this place, on Sunday last, by Mr. Jas. W. Hamilton. 

 The bird was carrying a lamb in its talons when shot at and 

 wounded. The second shot carried away the entire top of 

 its head. Prom its yellow feet it was judged to be a bald- 

 headed eagle, and measured 7 feet 9 inches from tip to tip. 

 Another was seen near here to-day. — Buunette (Romney, 

 W. Va., April 12). 



fxg Htfd 



THE DUCK NETTERS. 



THE following sensational "special dispatch" appeared 

 in the Morning Telegram, of May 1 : 



Southampton, May 1.— Sporting men throughout the town 

 are in a state of excitement to-day over the arrest of a num- 

 ber of well-known citizens, who are charged with the illegal 

 capture of ducks in the waters of the Shinnecock and Peconic 

 bays by the method known as "netting." The arrests are the 

 result of investigations made by the, State game detectives 

 under the direction of State Game Protector Whittaker. The 

 offenders will be held for the next Suffolk County Grand 

 Jury. During the past three months netting of ducks has 

 been carried on with impunity, hundreds of birds being taken, 

 to the injury of the gunners and destruction of the birds. 



Unfortunately the story is made out of whole cloth. There 

 were no arrests of duck netters. State Game Protector 

 Whittaker went before the Grand Jury of Suffolk county to 

 secure indictments against Ellis Squires and Fletcher Skid- 

 more, but the Grand Jury failed to find a bill against thorn. 

 Slate Game Protector Whittaker will find that this will 

 always be the case, it is almost impossible to secure the in- 

 dictment and conviction of persons by jury made up of their 

 own friends aud neighbors. For years the owners of the 

 ducking shores of Maryland attempted unsuccessfully to 

 have the big-gun night shooters of Havre do Grace punished 

 by the juries of Harford county, Maryland. Each trial of 

 the law breakers was a farce, and considered a joke by them, 

 and it was not until the Legislature of Maryland passed an 

 act wheieby the night shooter should be tried for his offense 

 against his State iff another county from the one in which 

 he resided, that the big-guns were seized and confiscated and 

 the law breakers found guilty and punished. 



WITH THE QUAIL IN FLORIDA. 



I^HE wind was blowing directly from the Gulf, tempering 

 - the cold breezes that come to us from the North, until 

 the mercury stood at 68 u in the shade, when we started out 

 for a day's sport with the quail. It was the 20th of Decem- 

 ber, and we could hardly realize that the snow and ice in 

 our Northern homes were making such pleasures impossible. 

 My companion, a keen sportsman and an excellent shot, 

 furnished dog aud buckboard, and advised that we should 

 choose a section of country which layabout a half mile from 

 town, and is known here as the Flat Woods, ft is covered 

 with a growth of saw palmetto, interspersed with au occa- 

 sional pine tree. We were soon jogging through the woods 

 regardless of roads or trails, for the fires which rage here 

 every spring keep the undergrowth iu such a condition that 

 a wagon can be driven anywhere through the woods. This 

 is a paradise for lazy sportsmen. Sitting iu our buckboard 

 watching the maneuverings of our well-trained dog, with our 

 guns in readiness, we were certainly a picture to make a 

 Northern sportsman envious. 



We had driven nearty half a mile when our dog struck a 

 scent and began to trail. I wished to get out at once, but 

 my friend told me to keep cool and wait, for the quail would 

 run some distance before they would stop for the dog. We 

 followed them at least three hundred yards before the dog 

 came to a point. Hitching our horse and hurrying forward, 

 we found the birds scattered under a fallen pine tree. We 

 flushed them and got in four shots, killing three birds, the 

 balance of them flew a few rods and scattered in fine shape; 

 and as they rose one by one we dropped fourteen out of 

 seventeen; but could not find any more, although we were 

 confident there were more. We had given up the search 

 and started away, when I happened to glance into a small 

 pine tree and discovered eight sitting on the limbs. I shot 

 one, supposing, of course, the others would fly, but they did 

 not and I killed every one. I have hunted quail in the North 

 and East, but never saw them take to the trees before; but 

 here when a flock is flushed some will invariably do so, and 

 on one occasion 1 saw a flock of about thirty take to the 

 trees and sit there motionless, while I killed twenty-four, 

 when, my ammunition giving out, I left the balance still on 

 their perches. On another occasion I flushed a small flock 

 and a few went into the trees, none of them more than ten 

 feet from the ground, when they sat within six feet of the 

 muzzle of my rifle until I picked their heads off. 



While I was "potting" the birds in the tree my friend had 

 found another covey and 1 hastened to him and we were 

 soon knocking them right and left and finished with ten 

 birds to our credit. Our next covey was found within five 

 hundred yards of the last; but the birds had been shot at 

 and when they rose flew so far we did not follow them; but 

 we got three as they rose. After a short rest we started 

 again and soon had another covey scattered, and had killed 

 nineteen birds when our ammunition gave out. We returned 

 to our buckboard with seventy empty shells and fifty-seven 

 dead birds. It did not take us very long to reload and eat 

 our lunch, for we were still anxious' for more birds, and we 

 soon had a large covey scattered, the birds buzzing away 

 in all directions. They did not lie well and rose in small 

 bunches, so that we did not get but eight. Our next bunch 

 was the largest I have ever seen and contained at least 

 seventy birds, but we had the misfortune to flush it near a 

 swamp, into which a greater part of them flew at once. We 

 flushed thirty and killed twenty-three, and then came to the 

 conclusion that wc had all the birds we could eat or give 

 away, so wc started for liome. In the evening, reviewing 

 the day, we found that we had been gone seven hours, killed 

 eighty-eight quail, all found within a radius of a mile, and I 



for one will never think of Florida without wishing another 

 chance at the quail there. 



Our quail are about one-third smaller thau those in Con 

 necticut, and owing to the fact that they are not much 

 hunted are not such rapid flyers, although if necessary, they 

 get along equally as fast, they are as plump, and as their 

 favorite food is the acorn, which grows here profusely, their 

 flesh is delicious. This country" furnishes some excellent 

 hunting and fishing, but like all other places one has to be 

 conversant with the habits of the game here. I have seen 

 men who pretended to be sportsmen leave this place iu dis- 

 gust after a stay of one or two weeks, while if they .had had 

 a guide or understood how, they could have had excellent 

 sport. 



The greatest drawback, and a very serious one, too. is the 

 scarcity of good dogs. I know of' only two or three good 

 ones in this section, but 1 suppose we should be thankful for 

 that, for if there were plenty of dogs the birds would have 

 no peace, as the law (if it is of any avail) is never enforced 

 here, quail and other game being killed in all seasons. My 

 experience has taught me that pointers are by far the best 

 for this country, as their hair is short and easily washed and 

 curried, for wash and curry you must if you wish to keep 

 the fleas and ticks from killing .your dogs. The quail breed 

 here in April and May, and if they increase as rapidly this 

 season as last, a person with a good dog and light gun next 

 fall when the North is frozen up, can find quail to his heart's 

 content here. I am neither a land agent nor am I writing 

 in the interest of Florida, but am only telling your readers 

 where they can surely find good shooting and fishing. 



F. P. S. 



Eustis, Orange County, Fla. 



THE ST. CLAIR FLATS. 



Editor Foivd and Stream: 



1 inclose to you a concurrent resolution which has just 

 been passed by the Legislature of Michigan, making special 

 request to Congress to"set aside the St. Clair Flats or territory 

 as a National Preserve for the people of the United States, 

 and also requesting the State senators and representatives in 

 Congress to give their earnest support to the same. The 

 resolution sets forth clearly the good reasons for the measure, 

 and also recounts the past Government policy with reference 

 to disposal of this class of territory — U. S. unsurvcyed, over- 

 flowed aud marsh lands bordering the public waters — 

 recounts their legitimate and desirable relation to the public, 

 protests against the old-time policy of selling the same going 

 any further, and proposes a new one more consonant with 

 public propriety and justice, making statement of good 

 cause for such change. The full text is as follows: 



Whereas, The United States unsurveyed shoal water lands 

 in Lake St. Clair, in the State of Michigan, generally known 

 as the St, Clair Flats, are and. long have been a place of 

 favorite and great resort by the people, even from abroad, for 

 boating and sailing, recreation and health, and for fishing and 

 hunting, the same being a world famous resort for game, in 

 season ; 



And whereas, it is a grateful convenience and a beneficent 

 privilege to the public to have at hand an inviting resort con- 

 ferring as does this territory especial favors, where the people 

 may go for proper and healthful pleasure and for relaxation 

 and recuperation from the wearing pursuits of business; 



And whereas, this territory has for so long been a place of 

 freo resort for all the people for the purposes aforementioned 

 that they would not know how to do without it, and situated 

 as it is adjacent to the great and growing city of Detroit — a 

 just pride of the whole country— it too would most justly, 

 deeply and forever feel its irreparable loss as a place of public 

 resori, while the sum for which it would be sold as a part of 

 the public domain would constitute but a trifling one which 

 would never be felt to be of account; 



And whereas, attempts have been made by various parties 

 to possess this territory by private acquisition for the purpose 

 of converting the same into close private preserves, thus 

 arbitrarily excluding the public forever from all lights therein 

 aud constituting the territory a permanent and most aggravat- 

 ing monopoly against the people for all time, a bill for which 

 purpose was introduced into the preceding Congress but which 

 went down under the strong and earnest protest by the 

 people against it by petition and otherwise, aided by private 

 efforts; 



And whereas, other attempts are being made for the private 

 acquisition of this territory, its possession being very desir- 

 able, and it being probable that if not formally set aside for 

 the people it will pass to private occupation' either b»y free- 

 booting right or by private acquisition ; 



Therefore, this territory being a part of the public domain 

 and believing sueh measure to be in the line of a wise and 

 beneficent public policy ; 



Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Michigan (the 

 House concurring therein) that Congress is hereby requested 

 by proper statute to set aside the St. Clatr territory as a 

 national preserve for the people of the United States, subject 

 to wise and proper regulations which it shall prescribe; and 

 also that our Senators and Representatives in Congress are 

 requested to give their eai nest support to such measure, and 

 efficiently oppose all private claims and efforts to obtain 

 possession of said territory which are not plainly warranted 

 by unmistakable legal right and justice. 



And whereas, we deprecate the policy which the general 

 Government has extensively practiced in the past of selling to 

 private parties the United States unsurveyed overflowed shoal 

 water and marsh lands which in many localities in extensive 

 tracts border the nation's public waters — as the inlets of the 

 ocean, our navigable lakes and rivers— to be converted by said 

 parties into close private shooting preserves to the perpetual 

 exclusion of the people therefrom, such exclusion greatly 

 abridging, as it does, the freedom and desirable privileges to 

 the people which should be afforded by the public waters, 

 which exclusion is already, and in the future will more and 

 more be felt to be a public aggravation and outrage of magni- 

 tude, for the people habitually, largely and very properly, 

 and will more and more in the future resort to the public 

 waters for recreation, tripping, health, fishing, sailing and 

 shooting ; 



And whereas, these lands are of much account to the people 

 for the purpose of public resort, and also as they come of or 

 belong to the public or people's domain, there is eminent 

 equity and propriety in the demand that they be preserved 

 for public rise; 



And whereas, the majority of this class of overflowed 

 favorite territory for fish and game, and for public resort in 

 the nation, has already passed to the exclusion of private 

 ownership and control; therefore, we express our earnest 

 belief that the unwise and injurious policy of selling these 

 lands to private parties should go no further; and therefore, 



Be it resolved by the Senate (the House concurring) that 

 Congress is respectfully requested to interpose against their 

 further private acquisition, and to set aside, by proper enact- 

 ment, this class of territory belonging to the public domain, 

 as a common preserve for the use of the people, subject to 

 such regulations as may be established by rightful authority; 

 and that our Senators and Representatives in Congress be 

 requested to use their best endeavors to secure such proper 

 legislation. 



The resolution passed the Senate April 17, the House on 



