Forest and Stre 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Teems, $4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. ) 

 Six Months, $2. j 



NEW YORK, JUNE 11, 1885. 



f VOL. XXIV.— No. SO. 



1 Nos. 39 & 40 Park Row, New York. 



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Nos. 39 and 40 Park Row. 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial. 



Spring in the National Park. 



Spending the Principal. 



The Yacht Racing Season. 



Who are the Skinners? 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Roughing it for Hay Fever. 



The Buck tail in Florida.— vn. 



Boyhood Reminiscences.— v. 

 Natural History. 



The Birds of Michigan. 



The Big Woodpeckers. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Before or Behind a Tree? 



Deer in the South. 



A Woodcock's Devotion. 



Some Remarkable Shots. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 



Camps of the Kingfishers. — n. 



The Worcester Pish Day. 



Torching for Smelts. 



A Remarkable Catch. 

 Fishculture. 



Protecting and Hatching the 

 Smelt. 

 The Kennel. 



The Pittsburgh Piece of Paper. 



The Mastiff Type. 



The Kennel. 



Chicago Dog Show. 



Kennel Notes. 



Kennei Management. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallery. 



Inter-Club Contests. 



The Trap. 

 Canoeing. 



Sailing and Paddling Records. 



Cruise on the Upper Mississippi. 



The Royal C. C. 



Canoeing on the Pacific. 



The Ballast Island Meet. 

 Yachting. 



The Jessie— Iris Matches. 



Yacht Building along the Jersey 

 Coast. 



Toledo Y. C, May 80. 



Larchmont Y. C. Pennant Re- 

 gatta. 



Savannah Y. C. Annual Regatta 



Genesta and Galatea. 



Atlantic Y. C. Annual Regatta. 

 June 9. 



Quaker City Y. C. Regatta. 



Jersey City Y. C. Regatta. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



upon the public the necessity of the absolute prohibition of 

 spring shooting. The subject is one which becomes annually 

 more and more important in view of the rapid diminution 

 of all our birds. To continue our present reckless course of 

 slaying many species of birds whenever and wherever they 

 can be found can have but one result— that of practically 

 exterminating them. It should be the effort of each one 

 who shoots to do what he can to preserve the supply of 

 breeding birds. They may be called the capital on which 

 the sportsmen must depend. The increase is the income of 

 this capital, and we ought to limit ourselves to this, and not 

 by short-sighted greediness make away with principal as 

 well as interest. 



SPENDING TEE PRINCIPAL. 



THIS spring, as every other, the coast has re-echoed to 

 the reports of the guns which kill the fowl and the 

 shore birds which are passing north on their way to their 

 breeding grounds. Dissection of the birds taken a,t this sea- 

 son of the year shows that they contain eggs in an advanced 

 stage of development. It is a well-ascertained fact that many 

 species are paired before they leave us. For every bird that 

 has been killed the sportsman is deprived of at least three, 

 and more often six, which would return in the autumn. The 

 supply of game is thus enormously diminished. It is gener- 

 ally conceded by intelligent men that it is desirable to pro- 

 tect our grouse and quail in the spring in order that the sup- 

 ply of breeding birds may not be destroyed, and the only 

 reason advanced for leaving fowl and shore birds without 

 protection is that they do not breed within the United 

 States. If this were true it would be no good reason. 

 "What difference does it make to the sportsman, who 

 finds plenty of birds, whether these were hatched 

 in Maine or in New Brunswick? Protective laws 

 are enacted to increase the supply of game, and there is no 

 reason why the accident of a bird's nesting to the north or 

 south of a political boundary should be taken into considera- 

 tion in framing such laws. But as a matter of fact, a large 

 proportion of those species, which are now without protec- 

 tion, do nest in the United States, and were it not for the 

 continual shooting during the spring, a far larger number 

 would do so. Time was, and not so very long ago either, 

 when great numbers of fowl and shore birds reared their 

 young along the Atlantic coast. Nowadays, however, the 

 spring shooter and the hat-bird collector has put an end to 

 that. They scour the sand beaches, the islands and the 

 marshes, and if by chance a pair of birds look about for a 

 spot in which to build a nest, one or both of them are soon 

 shot. 



There is no good reason why all birds except the few that 

 are considered really injurious should be killed after the 

 first of February. There should be in the mind of every 

 one who uses the gun a dozen good reasons why they should 

 be jealously preserved. We have not been weary in urging 



WHO ARE THE SKINNEUS ? 



WHO are the lumbermen whose operations are consum- 

 ing the forests of the St. Regis region of New York? 

 Are they natives of the North Woods, cherishing in their 

 breasts the affection for the old mountains— a sentiment 

 always possessed by those who were born within sight of 

 the blue Adirondack peaks? Are they residents of the 

 county, ever mindful of home interests? Are they residents 

 even of the State, and as such possessed of the instincts of 

 true citizenship? 



They are neither natives nor residents. They have no 

 sentiment which mi&'ht prevail to slay the axe and the steam - 

 saw. They belong outside of the St. Regis, outside of the 

 county, outside of the State. They have regard for nothing 

 but the almighty dollar. The lumbermen who are despoil- 

 ing this part of the Adiroudacks are capitalists who have 

 come there from a like work in Michigan. Of the three 

 companies— Hurd, Hoskiss '& Whipple; McFarlin & Ross, 

 aud Torrence & Ducy— late lumbermen in Michigan, now 

 lumbermen in the St. Regis region, the heads reside in 

 Bridgeport, Conn. When these concerns first appeared in 

 the St. Regis country the people there were so innocent as 

 to believe that in some way the proposed conversion of the 

 trees into timber and lumber, of saplings into hoe-handles, 

 and of branches and sprouts into firewood — that all this was 

 to be of benefit to them. Now, with their woods disappear- 

 ing, the streams drying up, and a wilderness desolation cov- 

 ering the face of the country, they are finding out their mis- 

 take. 



Who are the forest skinners? They are capitalists who 

 are taking away for a mess of pottage the birthright of the 

 people. Who is responsible for the people's loss? First, the 

 people themselves; and second, the men sent by the people 

 to Albany to take care of the people's interest. Where and 

 when will the work of destruction stop? Probably when 

 there are no more God-given forests to be hewed down and 

 transmuted into gold for stuffing capitalists' pockets. 



SPRING IN THE NATIONAL PARK 



THE reports which come to us from the Yellowstone Park 

 all speak of the great abundance of game which is 

 found there this spring. The efforts to prevent hunting 

 within the reservation, though often feeble and intermittent, 

 have not been without effect, and the game, quick to appre- 

 ciate it when there is a spot where it is not incessantly 

 harassed, has crowded into the Park for safety. A person 

 who recently made the journey from the Mammoth Hot 

 Springs to the Falls, reports the Hayden Valley as literally 

 full of game. Elk were very numerous, there were some 

 bison, and antelope. In one band thirty buffalo were 

 counted, and iu another place quite a large bunch was seen. 

 Late last month a small band of from fifteen to twenty 

 crossed the East Fork, and went up on Specimen Mountain. 

 There are, or were very recently, plenty of elk to the south 

 and east of Soda Butte. Deer are pretty plenty, and of 

 course small game is abundant. Bears are reported as 

 numerous. 



The roads from the Mammoth Hot Springs to the Geyser 

 Basins are in fairly good condition. Three gangs of Lieut. 

 Kingman's men arc out and at work on the roads along the 

 Gardiner River or bridge building in the Gibbon Canon. 



The season opens favorably. 



THE YACHT RACING SEASON. 



REGATTA week opened well this year with a rattling 

 race of the Atlantic Y. C, sailed in quick time with a 

 strong northwest breeze. The most important class at 

 present, the large single stickers, were represented by 

 Mischief and Thetis, Grade hardly being in it through delay 

 at starting, though she sailed well all day, and made up part 

 of her loss. The big new boat had her best weather, a breeze 

 in which she carried a topsail and whole lower sail, and 

 smooth water, while her competitor, Mischief, was handled 

 very tenderly, not carrying on in the blows, and having a 

 reefed mainsail most of the time. Under these circumstances 

 Thetis failed to save her time from Mischief, or to out- 

 run her, notwithstanding the advantage she had in 

 size of spinauker. At the Lightship the former looked 

 a little higher, but in the main they pointed pretty 

 evenly, and as to stability, they heeled to neariy the 

 same angle, Mischief, as noted, carrying less sail. If the 

 latter were in her old shape we could form a definite idea of 

 Thetis's powers, but the result of Mischief's alterations in 

 rig and ballast are yet unknown. From the show she made 

 on Thursday we should say she was little, if any, slower 

 than before; and as Thetis, with the advantage of weather 

 and water, has been unable to take care of her, it is hardly 

 likely that she will prove a new wonder. Had there been 

 any sea, it is not likely that her time would have been as 

 good. To-day she sails again with Bedouin, Mischief and 

 Gracie, and a better estimate may be formed of her quali- 

 ties. A new boat that promises to make her mark is the 

 Daphne, a deep centerboard sloop, with lead outside. 

 Thus far she has disposed of the invincible Fanita, and will, 

 no doubt, make a good fight with her for first in future 

 races. 



Red Pepper for Sparrows.— Housekeepers put red pep- 

 per down into rat holes to drive the rats away. A Pennsyl- 

 vania genius adopted the same remedy, the other day, to rid 

 his premises of English sparrows. A quantity of red pepper 

 was sprinkled on the vines where the sparrows were congre- 

 gated, and when the dose was thoroughly sifted through 

 their hiding places they started for the equator. This is 

 much simpler and more feasible than the steam fire engine 

 warfare, once advocated in these columns by the late Wilson 

 Flagg. The sparrows are in many localities now considered 

 vermin and shot with shotgun and rifle. An Arizona corre- 

 spondent, whose note is printed iu another column, suggests 

 that the sparrow iufliction would be mitigated if small boys 

 fitted the birds with artificial melody. But it would be much 

 more sensible if the cooks of the country should set their 

 wits to work to devise a variety of sparrow dishes. If some 

 of our correspondents, who profess to be aggrieved because 

 the sparrows have routed the songsters, are desirous of pro- 

 viding a remedy, let them experiment with the sparrow as a 

 table delicacy, and send us the results of their successful 

 ventures for the instruction and emulation of others. 



Technical Fraud. — The unfortunate occurrence at the 

 meeting of the Missouri State Sportsmen's Association, noted 

 under our trap news, is to be especially regretted since it is 

 quite evident that there was no intention of fraud, and that 

 the victim of the protest, while nominally guilty of violating 

 a rule, is really an entirely innocent party. Shot measures 

 by bulk are at best very unreliable affairs, and it is to be 

 hoped that we may have such a thing as a standard, and only 

 one standard. At present there ar'ethe old and new measures, 

 and no end of confusion, aud as we have seen in this case, 

 downright injustice results, and while everything was per- 

 fectly regular too. The National Gun Association may do 

 something toward bringing about that uniformity, without 

 which much that is written becomes useless and misleading, 

 because the same term does not convey the same meaning to 

 every mind. 



Lake George Bass.— We understand that the county judge 

 of Warren county, N Y., has expressed an unofficial opinion 

 that the words "other fish," iu the bullhead clause, hocus-po- 

 cused into the Lake George law, should be held to apply only to 

 fuh not already mentioned in the laws, and hence cannot be held 

 to apply to lake trout. We have also seen a letter on the 

 same subject written by Gen. R. U. Sherman, to Mr. A. N. 

 Cheney, of Glens Falls, in which the writer states; "Taking 

 all the laws into consideration and reconciling incongruities 

 as far as possible, I hold that the provision does not apply 

 to salmon trout, and I shall so hold to the game and fish 

 protectors should they appeal to me." From this it appears 

 that the enterprising Lake George landlords may after all 

 not reap the fruit of their trickiness. 



Massachusetts.— -The vicious game law passed by the 

 Massachusetts Senate should not be permitted to go any 

 further. The provision permitting grouse and quail to be 

 sold at any time of the year is outrageous. The Boston 

 game dealers simply want free license to gather in all the 

 birds in Massachusetts. The Fish and Game Protective 

 Association naturally protest against having any such law, 

 and in its place they have drafted a better one. 



