366 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



IDec. 3, 1885. 



I witnessed such a scene. This was indeed making love 

 with a epii-it which I had never witnessed among our birds 

 before. The son^ was almost continuous, and with an oc- 

 casional interruption to the new song by the common chat- 

 tering notes so well known and described by Coues as a 

 "harsh crescendo," the notes were all of tlie most melodious 

 description. The energetic unconscious fellow was mean- 

 while constantly flying about above his inamorata, describ 

 ing every form of flight except that of regular sailing; first 

 dashing through space to tbe edge of the glade, which was 

 probably twenty feet across; then rising to the tops of the 

 bushes, he would half flutter, half fall toward his prospect- 

 ive mate. On a sudden he would flutter directly upward as 

 we often see the English sparrow or house wren do, and 

 reaching a height of twenty feet or more, dash about the 

 clearing in varying circles, ever tending in his flight toward 

 the object of his extravagant attention. She in the mean- 

 while .sat silent and evidetitly interested in the performance. 

 Suddenly the male dropped beside her, and alternately dash- 

 ing and wheeling about, but continually on the move and 

 always revolving about her, eave evidence of his adoration 

 by a series of hops, dignified struts, droopings of the head 

 and tail, elevation of the wings and crest, which would have 

 done credit lo both the turkey and ruffed grouse. While on 

 the gi-ound the song was kept up with the usual vigor, but 

 the interruption by the coarser, common notes was more 

 frequent and the bird .stopped in its struts in order to utter 

 the notes which apparently caused him more effort than did 

 the more beautiful song. The appearance of a third party 

 on the scene, probably also a lover, caused the first performer 

 to dash into the brush much to my disappointment. 



That the love-song is not common is evident to all, and 

 the very fact of its having remained so long unknown is 

 proof of its rarity. After my first experience I watched 

 continually for the beautiful song, but did not hear it until 

 the following year, although the woods were filled with the 

 common notes. The following spring, while sitting quietly 

 at the roots of a gigantic elm, a female of this species flut- 

 tered near, carrying material in her beak evidently intended 

 for nest construction. While watching her the male sud- 

 denly made his appearance, and the scene of the previous 

 year and with, I think, superior musical performance, was 

 enacted in my presence. However, in this instance the male 

 rarely descendtd to the ground, evidently being fully mated 

 and not consideiing it necessary to strut about after securing 

 his partner to the extent of nest construction being in pro- 

 gress. Since that time 1 have never heard the sonsr, although 

 a thousand chatters have reached my ears. 



Pale EtrFPEB GnovsK. —Edttoi- Forest and Stream: I 

 send you by to day's mail the skin of a bird resembling the 

 ruffed grouse. Will you be kind enough to identify it for 

 me. This is the second one I have shot, the first having 

 been killed about three years ago. They have so far proved 

 solitary birds, there not being any more birds of any kind 

 in that woods. 1 have shot a great many grouse, but they 

 have all, with these two exceptions, had black ruffs and the 

 spots on the back, and band across the tail, and large wing 

 feathers, black also. This bird weighed twenty-six ounces. 

 1 skinned this bird for the purpose of showing you the entire 

 plumage. If you can have the bird mounted, sometime 

 when I am over there I will call and see it. This is the first 

 one that I have undertaken to skin. This bird was shot 

 Nov. 36, 1885.— a. W. Z. (Butler. Pa., Nov. 27). [The bird 

 is remarkable for the uniform ca.st of its coloration. What 

 is usually black in B. umMlus is here chestnut or pale brown. 

 It is a curious example of pale bleached plumage, but it is 

 a true luffed grouse. We have sent the specimen to be 

 mounted. 1 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



"Forest and Stream" Trajectory Test. 



(CmUinuedfrom page 345.) 

 Marlin .45. 



The Marlin .45 at SOO yards was put on the rest Sept. 29, 

 nearly at the opening of the trials, at about half past eleven 

 in the morning. The wind was blowing from the 10 o'clock 

 quarter at seven miles an hour. The barometer indicated 

 30.120, the dry thermometer 77.4 and the wet-bulb thermom- 

 eter 67.6, making the dew point 61.4 and the humidity of 

 the atmosphere 58 per cent. The arm weighed 9 pounds 1 1 

 ounces, with a barrel weight of 3 pounds 11 ounces, barrel 

 28 inches in length, octagonal and marked on the top ".45 

 Govt .," while the shop number was 9449. It had a uniform 

 twist of rifling 20 inches to the turn, 6 grooves .003 in depth 

 and .158 inches in width each. It was loaded with U. M. C. 

 ammunition from a box purchased from the stock of the 

 Marlin Arms Company agency in this city. The box of 

 ammunition was marked ".45 cal,, 85 grains, 285 grains 



grooved bullet, specially adapted to the Marlin Eepeating 

 Rifle." Three of the cartridges were opened and examined, 

 and the powder behind the two grooved bullets found in 

 fine condition. The three charges weighed 84.3, 84.9 and 

 83.4 grains respectively, while the corresponding bullets 

 were 290.5, 289 7 and 289.4 grains. 



The arm acted very contrary in the rest, and do what 

 might, with a consumption of over 25 rounds it was only 

 possible to get one shot through all the screens and on the 

 target. The weapon was several times cleaned and par- 

 ticular attention paid for any traces of leading in the barrel, 

 but none were detected, yet the arm threw the bullets now 

 high, now low, in every and various directions, and at one 

 shot sending a deflected bullet very near our esteemed 

 carpenter's head. An attempt was made to insert a Govern- 

 ment cartridge, but the 500-graia bullet refused to go into 



the chamber or rifling, and we were forced to be content 

 with a single trajectory curve instead of the average of five 

 which was desired. This curve showed: 



Kounrl. 50 Yards. 100 Yards. 150 Yards. 



^ 7.596 in. 11.236 in. 9.019 in. 



At 100 yards the rifle was tested on Oct. 10, about 2 o'clock 

 in the afternoon, with the wind coming from the 9 o'clock 

 quarter at an 11 miles per hour rate, the barometer stood 

 30.200 inches, the dry thermometer at 62.5 and the wet- 

 bulb thermometer at 58, making a dew point of 54.9 and in 

 dicating a humidity in the atmosphere of 76 per cent. Again 

 the arm acted very obstinately and but one satisfactory round 

 was put through the screens out of the score or more fired. 

 This round showed a curve as follows : 



Round. 25Y'ards. 50 Yards. 75 Yards. 



1 1.131 in. 2.125 in. 1.612 in. 



Winchester .45. 



The arm at 300 yards was tried on Sept. 28 at 4:40 P. M., 

 with a five mile and half breeze blowing from the 6 o'clock 

 quarter. The dry thermometer indicated 65.7, the wet- 

 bulb thermometer 59 and a dew point of 51.8, and humidity, 

 58 per cent., was calculated from this. The barometer read- 

 ing wa.s 30.210 inches. The arm weighed 10 pounds 8 ounces 

 and the barrel alone 3 pounds 10 ounces. The barrel's 

 length was 30 inches, octagonal and numbered 48,005. 

 There are 6 grooves having an uniform twist of 30 inches to 

 the turn and a depth of .003 inches with a width of .143 

 inches. It was loaded with Winchester-made ammunition 

 from box marked ".45 caliber, 75 grains powder, model 

 Centennial, 1876." A bottle-neck shell If inches in length, 

 having a three-grooved naked bullet, when examined, three 

 roimds turned out the powder in fine condition. The three 



powder charges weighed 77.6, 75.7 and 76 grains, while the 

 bullets, made up of 1 part tin to 16 of lead, weighed respec- 

 tively 349.3, 349.5 and 349 6 grains. In the rest the arm be- 

 haved well and showed a record as follows : 



Bound. SOYa'-ds. 100 Yards. 150 Yards. 



1 8.071 in. 11.272 in. 8.855 in. 



2 8.6.57 in. 12.070 in. S..526in. 



3 9.333 in. 13.002 in. 10.097 in. 



4 8.587 in. 12. OSS in. 9.385 in. 



5 8.312 in. 11.517 in. 8.931 in. 



Average 8.592 in. 1 1.979 in. 9.359 in. 



At 100 yards the test was made on Oct. a, with a wind 

 coming from the 8 o'clock quarter at thirteen miles per 

 hour. It was at 12:45 when the lifle was put in the rest, the 

 barometer reading 30.150 inches, the thermometer 60 and 

 the wet-bulb thermometer 52, making a dew point of 43 and 

 the humidity in the atmosphere at 54 per cent. Similar 

 ammunition to that at 200 yards was used. The score stood : 

 Round. 25 Yards. 50 Yards, 75 Yards. 



1 2.053 in. 2.696 in. 2.317 in. 



3 2.044 in. 3.530 in. 2.175 in. 



3 1.920 in. 2.452 in. 2.107 in. 



4 1.919 in. 2.382 in. 2.089 in. 



5 2.048 in. 3.603 m. 2.108 in. 



Average 1.997 in. 2.532 in. 2.159 in, 



Bullard .45. 



This rifle, at the 200-yard range, was tested on Sept 29 at 

 about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and when placed on the 

 stand a lazy wind, going at the rate of three miles an hour, 

 was passing over the range from the 4 o'clock quarter. The 

 barometer stood at 30.250 inches, the dry thermometer at 

 73.5" , the wet bulb at 68°, making a dew point of 64.5, and 

 the atmospheric humidity at 73 per cent, of complete satu- 

 ration. The weapon had a 26 -inch, half-octagon barrel, and 

 was numbered 724. It weighed 9 pounds 14 ounces, and the 

 barrel alone is given as weighing 3 pounds 6 ounces. There 

 are five grooves, with uniform twist of one turn in 30 inches. 

 The depth of rifling is .004 and the width of groove .160. 

 The loading was from a box marked ".45-cal., 85grs. 

 powder, for the Bullard, Marlin and other rifles," coming 

 from the works of the Union Metallic Cartridge Companj'. 



Three rounds of the ammunition when opened showed the 

 powder in fine condition and the bullet having two grooves. 

 The charge was of FG powder, either Laflin & Rand's or 

 Dupont's, as both are used by the U. M. C. Co., and the 

 bullets had 1 tin to 20 lead. When weighed the charges of 

 powder ran 84.3, 84.9 and 83-4, while the corresponding 

 bullets were 290.5, 289.7 and 289.4. 



The weapon acted well in the rest and gave the following 

 record : 



Round. 50 Yards. 100 Yards, 150 Yards. 



1 7.839 in. 11.3.52 in, 8.817 in. 



2 7.893 in. 11.377 in, 8.811 in. 



8 7.739 in. 11.258 in. 8.975 in. 



4. 7.591 in. 10.822 in. 8.484 in. 



5, 7.579 in. 10.925 in. 8.551 in. 



7.726 in. 11.127 in, 8.787 in. 



At 100 yards the trial was on Oct. 5, at 8 o'clock in the 

 afternoon, with the wind coming from the 8 o'clock quarter 

 at a 11-mile per hour rate. The barometer recorded 30.220, 

 the thei-mometereO.S, the wet-bulb thermometer 53, making 

 the dew point 45.7 and indicating a humidity of 59 per centT 

 It is unnecessary to give again the detail of the charge used, 

 which was similar to that at 200 yards. The figures show 

 trajectory heights of follows: 



Bound. 25 Yards. .50 Y'ards. 75 Yards. 



1 1.745 in. 3.210 in. 1.831 iu. 



2 1.808 in. 3.358 in. 3.015 in. 



3 1.684 in. 1.975 in. 1.661 in. 



4 1.902 in. 2.379 in. 2.013 in. 



5 1.819 in. 3.241 in. 1.936 in. 



^'^^erage 1.791 in. 2.210 in. 1.891 in. 



Springfield .45 Military. 



This weapon is the regular army weapon of to-day with 

 its three grooves and the later adopted cartridge having the 

 500-grain bullet. It was one which had long been on the 

 range, brought there, we believe by Major Shorkley, and 

 presented to Gen. Wingate in replacement of one which the 

 Ma jor had shortened down an inch at a time into horse pistol 

 length, while trying some of the interesting experiments in 

 which he finds so much of instructive entertainment. It 

 was put on the rest for the 200 yards testing on the after- 

 noon of Oct. 1, about 3 o'clock, the wind at that time blow- 

 ing down the range from the 6 o'clock quarter at seven miles 

 per hour. The barometer showed 30.075 inches, the ther- 

 mometer 73.2, the wet-bulb thermometer 61, showing a dew 

 point of 50.8, and an atmosphere having 45 per cent, of 

 humidity. The weapon itself weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces, 

 with a barrel of 3 pounds 9 ounces weight. The length of 

 the round barrel is 32 inches and the rifling is uniform with 

 three grooves of 22 inches to the full turn. Depth of groove 

 .005 and width of groove .335. It was loaded with ammu- 

 nition made according to the shell inscription at Frankford 

 Arsenal, near Philadelphia, in February, 1884. The charging 

 then was the same as it has been for four years past, wi]h 

 Dupont's "musket," now called "small-arms" powder. The 

 bullet has a composition of 16 lead to 1 of tin by weight. 



The opening of three charges jLemed the powder pressed 

 hard but in good condition, and the bullet with three broad 

 grooves. The charges of powder when weighed turned tbe 

 balances at 69 6, 69.3, and 69.7 grains, while the three cor- 

 responding bullets weighed 499,2, 499.4. and 499.5 grains. 



The rifle seemed at home in the Government rest in whielv 

 it found itself, and light though the barrel was, there is no 

 signs of anything but very steady shooting. The record 

 standing: 



Round. 50 Yards. 100 Yards. 150 Yarda. 



1 8.983 in. 12.224 in. 9.417 in. 



3 9.654 in. 13 315 ki. 10.169 in. 



3 9.582 in. 13.261 in. 10 079 in. 



4 9.304 in. 12.925 in. 10.009 in.. 



5 9.509 in. 13 309 in. 10.106 in.. 



Averaere 9.406 in- 12.987 in. 9.956 in. 



At 100 yards the trial was made on Oct. 12, with the wind 

 coming from the 2 o'clock quarter at the rate of 18 miles per 

 hour. The barometer stood 30 290 inches, the thermometer 

 54 S^F. , the wet-bulb thermometer 50.5, making the dew 

 point 46. 5 and the humidity 51 percent. Again the rifle 

 was on its good behavior in the rest, though the figures will 

 bear careful scrutiny, and show that as a military arm it is 

 close enough as a .shooter to do very great execution in skill- 

 ful hands. The 100-yard .score stood : 



Round. 25 Yards. 50 Y'ards. 75 Yard«. 



1 3.390 in. 3.884 in. 2.492 na. 



3 3.391 in. 2. 915 in. 3,458 in. 



3 3.373 in. 3.9.52 in. 2.488 in. 



4 2.321 in. 3.882 in. 2.397 in. 



5 2.353 in. 2. 888 in. 3.435 in. 



Average.. . 2.325 in. 2.894 in. 2.454 in. 



Sharps .45. 



This weapon was a well rusted veteran, and bad for 

 eight years been carried by one of the Forest and 

 Stueam's staff in every part of the West. It had done capital 

 fervice at antelope, elk and mountain sheep, and it had shown 

 itself a hard and a close hitter. It carried a Government 

 cartridge of the 405-grain bullet model, and with this it was 

 tested. The weapon had a 30 inch round barrel and was 

 numbered 163,375, and was provided with, a set trigger. It 



weighed 10 pounds 3 ounces, and the barrel weighed a 

 pounds 4 ounces. It had a uniform rifling, six grooves, 

 with one turn iu 20 inches, the depth of rifling was ,003 and 

 the width about .120 inch. It was placed in the rest Oct, 

 19, about noon, with the wind coming 21 miles per hour 

 from the 7 o'clock quarter. The barometer at 30.195 inches, 

 tbe thermometer at 70.5 and the wet-bulb thermometer at 

 64.5, giving a dew point of 60.5 and indicating a humidity 



