44 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fAm. 1^, 1885 



wisp in all directions, until tlie air was positively filled with 

 tliem. We blazed away to our laeart's content as fast as we 

 could load and fire, sent a messenger for more ammunition, 

 and after that was exhausted, had to give in, not from want 

 of birds assuredly, but from want of idesire to become whole- 

 sale slaughterers, 



Oen. Macrorha-mp]i. u», Lemli. 

 1. Eed-breasted Snipe {M. (7/;«w,s).— Common from the 

 middle to the end of September, about muddy flats of the 

 shore marshes, sometimes occurring in great abundance. 

 Qm. 3reunet6s, III. 

 1. Semipalmated Sandpiper {E. jpms^7?ms).— Abundant. 

 Gen. THnga, Linn. 



1. Least Sandpiper {T. minuUlla). — Very common. Fi-e- 

 quents the mud flats of the shore marshes, in company with 

 pectoral sandpipers and others, from middle of September to 

 beginning of October, when nearly all depart, but a few 

 stragglers remain as late as Nov. 1, if the weather be mild. 



2. Pectoral Sandpiper {T. maculnta). — Very common, 

 associating with the preceding species. 



3. White-rumped Sandpiper (Tl bonaparlei). — Common. 



4. Purple Sandpiper {T. mantima).— Common. Arrives 

 and departs with the other beach birds. 



5. American Dunlin {T. alpma).—Ahundmt on sandy 

 heaches and mudflats in Aug-ust and September. We have 

 observed them on the beach at Lawrencetown, Ha]ifa:s 

 county, as late as the middle of November, and specimens 

 shot were exceedingly fat and were in partial winter plum- 

 age. 



6. Curlew Sandpiper (T. subarquata).—Yery rare. -One 

 specimen only has occurred, which was procured in Hali- 

 fax market by Mr. Downs in the fall of 1883. i 



Gen. Oalidris, Guv. 

 1. Sanderling (C. arenaria). — Common. 



Ge7i. Limora, Briss. 

 1. Hudsonlan Godwit {L. Imdsonica). — Very rare. 

 Gen. Totanus, Beclist. 



1. Willet {T. semipalmata). — Very rare. One was shot at 

 Eastern Passage, Halifax Harbor, in May, 1876. Mr. Downs 

 has a specimen in his collection. 



2. Greater Yellow shanks {T. ■nidanoleurus<).—A.hwi([ant. 

 Generally appears in spring on our shores about the last 

 week of April, and arrives on its migration south about the 

 middle of September, keeping in large flocks about the mud- 

 flats and marshes. 



8, Lesser Yellow-shanks (7; j'?a»ipc's),— Abundant. Appears 

 on the northern and southern migrations about the same 

 time as the preceding species and frequents the same situa- 

 tions. It has been observed as far north as Port Churchill, 

 Hudson's Bay. 



4. Solitary Tattler {T. HoUtarius).—'Eoi common. 

 Gen. Tringoides, Bmaj>. 



1. Spotted Sandpiper {T. macularius}.~YeTj common. 

 Nests about the grassy slopes on the shores of inlets, lakes 

 and rivers. 



Gen. Numenim, Linn. 



1. Long-billed Curlew {N. longirostns). — This species, which 

 formerly was quite common, has now become exceedingly 

 rare. 



2. Hudsonian Curlew {N. Jmdsoriicus).— 'Not uncommon 

 during August and September. 



3. Esquimaux Curlew (JY. horealis). — Rare. 



Fam. Ajjdeid^. 

 Gen. Ardea, Linn. 



1. Great Blue Heron {A. herodias). — Common. Generally 

 appears about the last week of April, frequenting the lakes 

 and rivers in all parts of the province. Breeds. 



2. Great White Egret {A. egretta). — ^Very rare. A fine 

 specimen was shot at Tuft's Cove, Halifax Harbor, about, 

 twelve years ago in the moath of September, about the time 

 of the equinoctial gales. 



3. Little White Egi-et (^1. candidinima). — Veiy rare, occur- 

 ring at intervals of a few years in different parts of the 

 province, generally after severe southerly gales. 



4. Little Blue Heron {A. caruJea). — Very rare. — A speci- 

 men of the young in the white plumage was shot at Cole 

 Harbor, Halifax county, lately, and preserved by Mr. Egan. 



5. Green Heron {A. virescens). — Very rare. A specimen 

 was shot at Sambo Island, at the entrance to Halifax Harbor, 

 In the spring of 1883. 



Gen. Wi/diardea, Sicains. 



1. Night Heron {N. grisea). — Rare. Formerly it was ob- 

 served occasionally, but of late it appears to have nearly de- 

 serted the province. 



Gen. Botaurm, Sieph. 



1. Bittern (B. minor).— Very common. In spring it gen- 

 erally appears in the marshes and other wet localities about 

 the last week of April, and continues to frequent the same 

 places until the middle of October, when it goes south. 

 Breeds. 



MALE AND FEMALE GROUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



"Special's" reply to my note (in the issue of Aug. 7) has 

 more than repaid me for writing it. Now I am not an 

 "expert as 'Special' is" (Shakespeare), but I should like to 

 tell a very short stor3^ 



This spring, early, I had on hand two very fine adult 

 specimens of the ruffed grouse, and hoped and believed 

 they were of opposite sex. Not being at all sure, however, 

 I invited two of our leading sportsmen to inspect them. 

 After a careful look at both birds, the gentlemen "unani- 

 mously" agreed that one of the birds was a male and the 

 other a female. Both were old hunters and had been 

 familiar with the ruffed grouse from boyhood, and the mat 

 ter seemed conclusively settled. But subsequently it was 

 established beyond any possibility of dispute that both these 

 birds were hens. 



No insinuations, Mr. Editor, and no depreciating "Spe- 

 cial's" ability to discriminate between the sexes in grouse- 

 merely that it is very difficult to determine "which is 

 which," JayBebe. 



Toledo, O., Aug. 8. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



That the cock grouse sits and upon occasion takes charge 

 of the brood, there is little room to doubt. I have never 

 observed these birds, but I have often observed the quail 

 (Bob White), and I know that the cock often takes the place 

 of the hen bird, and I know of no reason why the cock 

 gi-ouse should not do the same thing. Every sportsman who ' 



has had occasion to carefully notice the habits of the quail 

 will concur with me. It is by no means a new thing. The 

 cock will sit upon the eggs and take care of the young. 

 This is particularly the case if the hen bird happens to be 

 killed or caught by a hawk. Hence the special reason why 

 the cock should never be killed out of season. If the hen is 

 destroyed, the cock will invariably take charge of and bring 

 up the brood. I have often seen 'the young birds in charge 

 of the cock only. On one occasion f saw the cock on the 

 nest. It was last summer. I had some puppies following 

 me and in the weeds they pointed. On going to the point, a 

 hen bird flushed and flew off some fifty or seventy-five 

 yards. The puppies immediately pointed within three feet 

 of the place from where the hen flushed. On opening the 

 grass I saw the cock sitting on the nest. I flushed him, and 

 found a nest containing twelve or fourteen eggs. This was 

 by no means a singular occurrence. I mentioned it to Mr. 

 H. H. Matlock, of Riceville, Tenn. (a very well-informed 

 sportsman), and he said he had several times found the cock 

 on the nest, with the hen near by, showing that these birds 

 "spell" each other in the maternal duties. Ah-Pe. 

 MADisojrviLLE, Tenr., Aug. 7. 



THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



Editoi' Forest and Stream: - 



This bird, as a rule, is solitary in its habits, and frequents 

 the depths of our forests, breeding generally on or near their 

 borders in the body of some old tree or stub, well removed 

 from the habitation of man. However, there are digressions 

 from this habit. I once saw the hole of one in the body of 

 a large oak within fifteen rods of the cabin of a hunter, who 

 had cleared and cultivated a small patch of land on the 

 banks of the Cass River, Tuscola county, Mich. 1 was in- 

 formed by the proprietor that a pair of "woodcock" had 

 nested here for three seasons, and after the brood was out, 

 the female left with the young, and was not seen again un- 

 til the following spring; but during this interval the male 

 bird remained in the vicinity, and could be heard or seen 

 almost daily. Hardly a cold winter evening but his cry was 

 heard from the forest as he approached the tree containing 

 his nest in which he passed the night. 



While stopping with the hunter in his cabin during Nov- 

 ember and part of December, of 1865, I had an opportunity 

 of noticing the ways of this singular bird. Almost every 

 evening as the sun was setting, 1 could hear his distant ctdl, 

 and placing myself within good range, I could see his ap- 

 proach as he made for the hole of the nest, which he would 

 enter without seeming to touch the tree. Then he would 

 turn, poke out his head in a scrutinizing way, take in the 

 surroundings for a moment, and retire for the night. No 

 amount of pounding on the trunk of the tree or striking the 

 entrance to his nest with a rifle ball could make him leave, 

 and it was but seldom h.e would favor us even with another 

 sight of his head. 



At the lower end of this clearing stood a large white oak 

 stub five feet in diameter and some forty feet in high, killed 

 by the girdhng axe. From within five feet of its base to the 

 very top the trunk was scored and dug out by this pair of 

 birds for the grubs it contained. Ai-ound it was a pile of 

 chips, suflicient to make two good cart loads, the result of 

 their labor. I gathered some on the surface of the pile that 

 measured from one to two and a half inches in length, by 

 one-half inch in thickness; each of these chips showed from 

 two to four marks of the stout bill that chipped them off. 

 The proprietor informed me that this tree was the daily 

 resort of these birds during the breeding season, and that one 

 or both could be seen making their trips back and forth fi'om 

 it to their nest, carrjdng the food they had hammered out for 

 their young. On digging into the chip pile I found the lower 

 portion much decayed, resembling rotten saw-dust, good 

 evidence the birds had been to work on the tree some years 

 as I had been informed, 



I once had an opportunity of observing a small pileated 

 woodpecker searching for food in a hard maple tree killed 

 by fire. The ^excavation made by him commenced within 

 thi'ee feet of the ground, was six inches wide by eight inches 

 in depth, and extended up the tree spirally eighteen feet. 

 Each blow of the bird's bill was as deliberate and slow as the 

 ticking of old Grandfather's clock. About every fourth or 

 fifth blow^ and out would come a chip, and if by chance it 

 missed the side of the excavation it would fly quite a distance 

 from the tree. When you consider the hardness of this 

 wood when dry, it seems almost incredible that so small a 

 bird with so little effort could deal such tremendous blows. 

 A section of this tree with specimen chips is now in the 

 museum of the Kirtland Society. 



In the Ohio State Zoological report a pileated woodpecker 

 is mentioned as visiting the roof of a church in the early 

 days of the city of Columbus, and was shot while hammer- 

 ing on the roof of that sacred edifice. If they had only 

 known the bird was making melody for his lady love and 

 meant no desecration, probably they would have spared his 

 life, but there were more of them, for the account goes on to 

 state, "Old citizens smile as they tell of the fun they had, 

 trying to kill with a stick these birds, which frequented the 

 trees on the grounds of the first school house." 



Three years ago this spring a pair of strange birds fre- 

 quented the orchard of a friend W'ho lives in the rather 

 thickly settled portion of the eastern part of the city. From 

 the vague description given of these wonderful birds I was 

 induced to make a visit of exploration to the neighborhood. 

 To my surprise I found a pair of pileated woodpeckers had 

 favored my friend with their company. On further investi- 

 gation we discovered in an immense old locust tree, not 

 twenty rods from the house, a nest hole well under way, 

 which, as I learned afterward, was finished by them and in 

 which they raised their young. Before leaving my friend I 

 had the pleasure of seeing the cock bird fiy to a flagstaff on 

 the gable of his house and drum out a merry racket on the 

 stick. My friend rather complained of this as a nuisance, as 

 he remarked, "Every morning before we are up, and many 

 times dujing the day he keeps up this infernal noise." But 

 when I informed him 'twas the love call of the bird with 

 which he chose to charm his mate, my friend laughing, and 

 doubting, I suppose, agreed to submit and not shoot his 

 strange visitor. 



I am informed by Capt. B. A. Stanard, of this city, that 

 a pair of pileated woodpeckers wintered about Port Wilkins, 

 Copper Harbor, Lake Superior, in the winter of 1844. How 

 much further north is this bird found at this season? 



Dk. E. Stekling. 



Clevelakd, Ohio, July 11. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



An item relative to this species appeared in the issue of 

 July 23, 1885, but had direct reference to the Hylotomus pile- 



atus or black woodpecker, log cock or pileated woodpecker, 

 and not to the CampepMlm principaUs, which "Keouk," how- 

 ever, claims is found in Pennsylvania in many counties, A 

 series of items have of late also appeared, in which it is 

 claimed that the bird is found in Iowa and other northern 

 sections. The mistake has been universally made in these 

 instances, the common black or northern pileated wood- 

 pecker being mistaken for the ipory-billed species, which is 

 an exclusively southern species, which rarely, if ever, strag- 

 gles as far north as 40"" north latitude. It is thought proper 

 to rectify this error, as very many readers of your paper are 

 inisinformed on the point. One writer states that the ivory- 

 billed woodpecker is common in Vermont. Of course, he 

 has reference to the northern black woodpecker which is 

 found almost throughout the United States, though much 

 more abundant in the North. Scoi,opax. 



Range oe the Mountain Goat. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream : Some months ago I noticed in Forest and Steeam 

 a note by Mr. S. Garman stating that he had seen a white 

 goat which was killed in the Freeze Out Mountains, near 

 the Shirly Basin. There appears to have been an error of 

 identification in regard to this specimen. I saw it, or rather 

 its head, in Mr. Garman's camp, and may say that it was a 

 female mountain sheep, Ovis montana, and not Aplocerus 

 columUanus. I have lived in the region spoken of by Mr. 

 Garman for some years, and have hunted through all the 

 neighboring mountains, but I have never seen a white goat 

 there, nor has diligent inquiry among hunters been able to 

 elicit any information in regard to this species. It is possible 

 that it may occasionally occur as a straggler, but even this is 

 to be proved. It may be suggested that in winter and spring 

 the mountain sheep is very nearly white and it is possible 

 that the color of his specimen may have misled Mr. Gar- 

 man.— W. H. Reed (Shirley Basin, Carbon county, July 31). 

 [See some notes on this subject in a paper in our shooting 

 columns.] 



Thdbeau as a Naturalist.— Forest and Stream: 

 Your correspondent "V." need not hold up Thoreau, the so- 

 called poet-naturalist, as an example. We all admire Tho- 

 reau's writings for their simplicity and pleasing descriptions, 

 but in no way does he compare to the enthusiasm of others 

 who make birds their life study, and whose untiring work 

 has advanced our knowledge to a degree which would never 

 have been attained by a hermit who did not collect speci- 

 mens, but rather wrote of birds with a sentimental taste, and 

 not with strictly scientific insight. — Scolopax. \ "^-^ " 



Recent Arrivals at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— 

 Two iadigo birds (Cyanospiza cyanea), one opo-isum (Didelphys vir- 

 giniana), two golden-winged woodpeckers (Colaptes auratii.v. one 

 screech owl (Scops asio), one orange-winged amazon {C'nrysotifi ami- 

 zonica). one blue heron (Ardea herodias), one peacock (Favo cris- 

 tata), six mallard ducks (Anas boschas). three alligators (Alligator 

 mississippiensis). one hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platy rhinos), one 

 coon snaiie (Coluber guttatus), one fallow deer (Gervus dama). 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



DAYS WITH THE QUAIL. 



A 8T0BY OF MID-WINTER SPORT EOR MID SDilMER READING. 



MY friend and sporting companion. Brother Duffrey, 

 who is a clergyman and "sliding elder," is so occu- 

 pied with his ministerial duties that he cannot always find 

 time to indulge his fondness for tlie healthful sports of the 

 field. When he does amuse himself in that way it is during 

 the intervals of his somewhat arduous labors. He is a native 

 of one of the central counties of this State, and many of his 

 near relations still reside within its borders. Much of the 

 cultivated land being devoted to gi'ain, and the climate being 

 favorable, there are usually quite a large number of birds to 

 be found in the fields; and when Bro. D. visits his kins- 

 people he makes it convenient to take along his 14-bore and 

 his setter dog Bob, with the view not only to relax his mental 

 strain by outdoor sports, but to provide his friends with an 

 acceptable addition to their stock of provisions. But as 

 stated he cannot go on these jaunts except when his official 

 duties will permit, and hence must set his lime according to 

 the superior demands of his calling. When the day comes 

 he goes then or not at all. He must run all hazards of un- 

 toward weather, and if unfortunately that is not propitious, 

 he must do "the best his circumstance allows." 



During our last visit to Chatham county it so happened 

 that Brother D. could not make it convenient to go to the 

 home of his brother Joe, who lives on Hickory Mountain, 

 ten miles west of Pittsboro. Accordingly he determined to 

 make arrangements so that he could pay the desired visit. 

 He gave Teceel, Mud and myself due notice of the day 

 which he had set for the proposed journey, and invited us to 

 join him. Mud, as usual, was undecided. He was promptly 

 told that he must "now say it, or forever hereafter hold his 

 peace." He higgled stifl, and was then informed that another 

 party was ready, and the quartet was completed without 

 him. Poor fellow! He was sadly chagiined, but he got ex- 

 actly what he deserved. But I have consoled him somewhat 

 by telling him that if he would say yes without hesitation, 

 he might go with me on my next hunt, provided he would 

 take with him for training and practice my young setter Eck 

 Galloway. He said it. "There is life in the old land yet." 



Monday night, the 9th of February, was selected as the 

 time of our departure, and at "the hour o' night's black arch 

 the keystone" Teceel, Brother Duffrey, Crickett of Saint's 

 Rest, and I, were at the railway station, duly "armed and 

 equipped, as the law directs." Teceel had his 16-bore and 

 his dog Joe, Duffrey his 14-bore and his dog Bob, Crickett 

 his 12-bore and his dog Jack, and I my 14-bore (Lucy Green 

 by name) and my pointer Argo. He is exceedingly dimuni 

 five in size, with an undue abbreviation of tail. The weather 

 was rather warm for the season, but soon after our arrival at 

 Sandford, early the following morning, the wind changed its 

 course to the northwest, and the thermometer dropped below 

 the freezing point. By a previous arrangement our old 

 friend, Mark Bynum, who lives about five mUes north of 

 Deep River, in Chatham, and fourteen miles from Sandford, 

 had a covered wagon sent for a part of the sportsmen, and 

 the vehicle was ready for us soon after breakfast. Crickett 

 and I got in and bade our genial and generous host, Page, 

 and Teceel and Brother D. farewell. These two were to 

 wait until the afternoon. What a ride we had ! "The wind 

 blew as tw ad blown its last," but the canvas coyer on the 

 road wagon sheltered us to a great extent, still, it was un- 



