Jax. 14, 1886,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



486 



A New Year's Day TrjUip.— Oq Friday last we took 

 our usual New Year's tramp, and as we always look into 

 birds' nests whcu they are within reach, we did so on this 

 occasion. While passing through a piece of woods we had 

 stopped to gatlier some beechnuts, with which the leaves on 

 the ground were strewed. We have not had any snow for 

 the past two weeks, and the ground is as bare and soft as in 

 April. On looking up we noticed a red-eyed vireo's nest, 

 and on examining it found that it was full of beechnuts and 

 fragments of the shells. I filled the nest with cotton, cut off 

 and trimmed the twig on wbich it was suspended, put into 

 a paper bag and packed them in my collecting bag and now 

 have them' among our colleclion of birds' nests and eggs. I 

 do not suppose that this is the first bird's nest that has been 

 found to be utilized as a storehouse, but as the nest of Vireo 

 olimeem is one of the most beautiful and best constructed of 

 birds' nests, and as it was so well filled it was very interest- 

 ing to me. And now the query, By what bird or animal 

 were the nuts stored? I found both the downy and hairy 

 woodpeckers in the same woods a few days before, but have 

 not seen the red headed woodpecker, which is known to feed 

 on beechnuts, and I hardly think that it was done by the red 

 squirrel, as the nest is in perfect condition and the limb so 

 small — not over of an inch in diameter two inches back 

 of the nest — that it seems impossible that a squirrel could sit 

 there and eat the nuts, which must have been done. I have 

 just turned the nuts out of the nest, and find there is a good 

 handful, containing 533 perfect nuts and the balance shells, 

 I find tlierc are no marks of teeth, as there probably would 

 be if it were the work of a squirrel. During our tramp we 

 also saw a frog, which we tried to capture but without suc- 

 cess. We saw quite a number of crows, a red-tailed hawk 

 (Bnteo borealis), a few rerl-bellied nuthatches (Sitta mnaden- 

 m), tree sparrows {Spkella. moniicola) and common juncos 

 — Jumo III/ em/ 1 J is I presume is the correct name now and is 

 very appropriate at present, as we have no snow. As an in- 

 dication of the weather I inclose a twig of honeysuckle in 

 bud. — J. L. Datison (Lockport, Jan. 4). 



The Mild Winter, — It is not often tlial we see shrubs 

 in blossom at this season of the year in this latitude, but 

 there is a Spire.v priirdjolui on the estate of John W. Mason 

 from which the wiitcr picked a flower, quite well developed, 

 on the 3d iust., and several twigs that appeared just ready 

 to bloom. Robins have been around in unusual numbers up 

 to the present time, and bluebirds can be heard almost any 

 day. Will some of the readers of Forest and Stream tell 

 us what the mild fall and winter has developed in their re- 

 gion?— A. H. G. (Scarborough, N. Y.) 



DoSiESTicATED WiLD DucKS, — I have some tame Amer- 

 ican mallards and hybrids between mallard and dusky ducks. 

 The dnsky drakes which I originally had died, and' unable 

 to get otbers the ducks, ordy two, mated with mallard 

 drakes, and the hybrids arc fertile iitUr se to the sixth gen- 

 eration, The birds mate for life and very seldom quarrel, 

 running together in peace and harmony. The only restraint 

 upon them is an annual clipping of the" flight featliers on one 

 wing. They, rarely try to get over a stone wall tour fe^t 

 high. — ^E. S. (Somerset, Mass.). 



Another Albino Grouse. — Minneapolis, Minn., Jan. 

 7. — In your paper of Dec. 31 I notice the note on the albino 

 ruifed grouse. I mounted one for Merrell Ryder, of St. 

 Paul, Minn., Nov. 26, that was pure white. The only 

 markings to be seen were the bars in the tail, which were 

 of a verv pale pink or pinkish gray. I also mounted an 

 albino deer (whitetail) in the winter of 1884 for A. W. Ehle, 

 of this city. This specimen was pure white as snow a7id 

 not as large as the usual size of white-tail deer. — William 

 Howling, 



Live Ruffed Q-RovsE.—Mitor Forest and Stream: No- 

 body seems to be able to catch ruiled grouse alive "on pur- 

 pose," though frequent oases are reported of tbeir accidental 

 capture. Should any such instance occur to any reader of the 

 Forest and Stream, I should be greatly obliged if he 

 would communicate with me, as I am desirous of procuring 

 a live male bird for some interesting experiments now in 

 progress.— Jay Bebb (Lock Box 110, Toledo, O.). 



AcAPULCo Deer —Mr. E. A. Samuels, president of the 

 Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, has a 

 pair of deer from Central America, which we understand he 

 wislics to dispose of to some private deer park. 



Heronry. — A Philadelphia correspondent wishes to know 

 of a heronry within 150 miles of that city. 



THAFKS TO DR. PASTEUR. 

 '■'Sick him on me, Jiinmie; I want to go to Paris 1"— if /-om 



§^n^ »nd §m* 



Address all comnrnnications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE TRAJECTORY TRIAL. 



Editor Forest and. Stream: 



Your work has been well done. The spirit of fairness 

 and impartiality which has characterized it from first to last 

 will command the respect of all, and the consciousness of 

 this fact will be your greatest reward. E. A. LEOPOiiD. 



N0RR1ST0"WN, Pa. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The last shot having been fired and the bullet sped on its 

 way to make its record of good or ill, it, together with the 

 few scores that have preceded it through the tell-tale screens, 

 have, I predict, done more for the hunting rifle than all that 

 has been written on the subject since the dawn of time. 



I would like to call the attention of the rifle manufactur- 

 ers to one of the many interesting facts that this irajcctoiy 

 test has brought out. It is this: We have heard a great 

 deal in years gone by about light bullets and their Hat tra- 

 jectories. The old riflemen have laid down the law, and it 

 nas been accepted without a protest by nearly all riflemen. 



Let us look at the figures. Starting with the first on the 

 list, we find that the .50-95 312 has a rise of 11.343 inches, 

 while the .50 95-800 Express gives 11.806 inches under the 

 same conditions. Rifle No. 2, .50 112-850 has a rise of 

 10,289 inches, while .50 113-303 Express is 10.498, higher 

 again. No. 8, .50-112-350, and .50-112-303 gives half an 

 inch in favor of the heavy ball. The EngUsh rifle gives the 

 same result. These being the only Express balls that we 

 have an opportunity to compare let us seehowthe solid balls 

 compare with each other. First comes the Government 

 .45-70-405, which gets a shade (1^ inches) under the .45-70-500 

 by being helped down the range by a twenty one mile wind. 

 The Remington .38 51-&22 is ahead of the .38-52-255, and 

 both ahead of the 88-45-118. And in the ,32-cal. we find 

 the same thing. Now, with these facts before us, is it not 

 high time that we knew moi'e upon this subject? I very 

 much regret that the Forest and Stream did not extend 

 further into this subject, as for example the Ballard rifle of 

 .40-cal. has no less than five difl'erent weights of bullets 

 adapted to it, only one was tried, and the same is true of 

 most of the other makes. I. 



Akron, Ohio. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I would have liked your "Tabidated Summary of Trajec- 

 tory Tests" better had it given the actual average weights of 

 powder and of bullets used in the firing of each gun ; and yet 

 I do not know as 1 ought to say this, for it does not seem 

 the right +hing to "look a gift horse in the mouth." 



If one thing is demonstrated more clearly than another in 

 these tests, it is that the trajectorj'' of a bullet depends upon 

 the weight and shape of the missile and the weight and qual- 

 ity of the powder, other tilings being equal. 



And it seems to be as clearly proved that the twist of the 

 rifling does not affect the flight of the bullet for any dis- 

 tance. In practice, the smaller the bore the more abrupt 

 the twist, seems to be established, on the principle of the 

 smaller and lighter the top the shorter time it will revolve, 

 and vice versa. This knocks the bottom out of the old theory 

 that special rifling is required for every change of charge in 

 the same gun. When that criticism was made of the ''new 

 gun principle," my old muzzleloader broke into a broad 

 smile to see the Forest and Stre.vm sitting down on that 

 crooked pin. 



In the tests of the .50 calibers the Winchester and the 

 Whitney-Kennedy guns, both loaded with ammunition from 

 the same box, powder 90.9 grains, bullet 8'12 37 grains, pro- 

 duced .the same trajectories precisely, allowing for the cork- 

 screw motions, and yet the twist of tlie former was one turn 

 in 60 inches and that of the latter one turn in 30 inches. 



In the .45 caliber class the same proved true as between 

 the Martin and the Bullard guns, though the former had a 

 twist of 20 inches and the latter of 80 inches. 



The uTCsistible conclusion is that had all the guns of like 

 caliber been chambered to receive the same ammunition, 

 there would have been no practical difl'erence in their tra- 

 jectories, though the amount of their twist might vary from 

 73 inches up to 16. The only principle involved is to give 

 such an amount of twist as to insure a revolution of the 

 bullet during its longest time of flight with its minimum 

 charge of powder, according to the caliber of the barrel. 



The gyratory motion of a bullet in the air, I think, is fully 

 illustrated by a revolving top on the floor. The bullet is 

 probably canted as it leaves the muzzle, which may not be 

 quite square, and the pressure of the powder gas not being 

 exactly even on the base of the bullet. In the larger bullets 

 this would be liable to show the most. Recognizing this 

 tendency, the gunmakers cut off the tips of their bullets to 

 insure accuracy, as the bullet revolves upon the edge of the 

 small circle so left while it is recovering its true position. 



Common Sense. 



WA.SHINGTON, D, C, 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Many of your readers would no doubt like to be able to 

 figure out the trajectory of theh rifles on a 5-yard range, if 

 so it can be found very nearly by subtracting half of the 

 rise at 50 yards from total ri,se at 25 yards; for instance, in 

 one of your 100-yard tables the rise at 50 yards is 3.746 and 

 at 35 yards 2.933, now if the rifles were sighted for 50 yards 

 instead of 100 its highest flight at 25 yards would be 1.059 

 inches. j. 



Cleveland, O. 



Editar Forest and Stream: 



I read with mTich pleasure the experience of the trajectory 

 test and see that the old-time muzzleloader has marched to 

 the front, both in accuracy and trajectory, but this is just 

 what I had expected, and now for a little principle on breech- 

 loading rifle chambers that 1 will now explain and hope the 

 readers will understand what I mean. I don't want your 

 readers to understand that my rifle chamber principle is 

 correct and the only way to chamber a breechloading rifle, 

 but I only give my idea and say has it ever been tried? And 

 now for what I mean. To get the truest shooting out of a 

 muzzleloader we must have a false muzzle and a bullet 

 stai'ter to set the ball in the grooves, and so we get good 

 shooting, and right here is the whole thing. Now can't we 

 use this false muzzle and starter on our breechloader? Let us 

 see, the starter we can not use, but the false muzzle we can, 

 but we must change its place and instead of putting it on 



the muzzle we wUl put it in the breech of the rifle in the 



shape of a smooth and tapered chamber three or four inches 

 in length right in front of the shell chamber. This second 

 chamber, that end toward the breech, Should be a trifle wider 

 than the end toward the grooves, this end to be the exact 

 size of the bore and be flush with the lands of the rifling, 

 the grooves being lower. With such a chamber in the breech 

 the bullet would have a smooth place to travel over of some 

 three or four inches before reaching the grooves and would 

 go over the gi-ooves without any jumping and jarring. Now 

 if this principle has never been tried before some one ought 

 to try it. J. w. 



MoLiNE, Illinois?. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I wonder what double rifles, American made, your London 

 correspondent "J. J. M." has ever seen? I think there are 

 rifles in this city that would not have suffered in the tra- 

 jectory trial. Hope your trouble and expense will be re- 

 warded. John Boydbn. 



Worcester, Mass , Jan. 2. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I like the way you are reporting the experiments, giving 

 every detail. That is what is needed, and then everyone 

 can form his own conclusions. The experiments evince 

 great care and will be very valuable. P. 



Mbe-tejs see, NontaDa. 



NICK ON THE TRIAL. 



Now that the tests are over I suppose that the report is a 

 fair object of attention on the part of all us riflemen, and 

 .surely it is extensive enough to stand a great many rounds. 

 First of all, I would aim a double-shotted round of thanks 

 at Forest and Stream for its enterprise in undertaking 

 and carrying through such an exhaustive aeries of tests, all 

 the better because they afford us comparative readings of the 

 doings of the great bulk of American arms as now offered to 

 the hunting fraternity. I cannot see how they could have 

 been much bettered, unless perhaps there was something 

 about that fixed rest which would influence the shooting of 

 the rifles. 1 have my own theories on this question, and 

 would like to hear from others who have had more experience 

 ii] test-shooting. It must have been a very severe trial of 

 some of the magazine guns to place the butt-plate against an 

 immovable base and then pull the trigger. A glance at the 

 construction will show how this must be so. In some of 

 them the force of the enormous blow dealt in recoil by the 

 discharge of the arm is carried back and transmitted through 

 the stock to the shoulder of the shooter through the very 

 thin side plate of the breech action into which the breech- 

 block pin is inserted. When there is ample chance for the 

 swing back, such as takes place in off-hand shooting, these 

 side plates get no undue strain; but with the butt fixed, the 

 tendency is to buckle these plates, and so the breech action 

 refuses to work, the carrier block jams, and a general hitch 

 results. It may be an unfair test to put a gun to, but it 

 strikes me that a weapon so constructed as to stand this test 

 is preferable to one which shows a weakness at this point. 

 I think that some of the cases where your report speaks of 

 obstreperous arms and obstinate weapons could be explained 

 on this ground. 



The grand hoop-la which I expect to see rise up after the 

 report is fully understood will come from the muzzleloader 

 fraternity, who wifl find great comfort in looking up and 

 down the column of trajectory averages, and when it is 

 seen that the figures opposite the muzzleloaders are the low- 

 est there will be a chorus or "I told you so." and they will 

 at once proceed to put another feather in that old antiquated 

 headgear which the "has beens" delight to wear. Just the 

 same, however, let the muzzle men load up their ancient 

 weapons with the trifle of powder which the breechloaders 

 find amply sufficient, and then we shall have a comparison 

 of some value. Your determination to impose no restric- 

 tion whatever was the opportunity which the muzzlers 

 wanted, and what did they bring? Great ungainly weapons, 

 in the nature of metal freight, and into these bits of arma- 

 ment they poured enormous doses of the sharpest, quickest 

 powder obtainable, and then putting atop of it a mere pellet 

 of a bullet, they fire it off and then expect practical riflemen 

 to close their eyes to all this preparatory manipulation — to 

 everything, in fact, but the record as shown on the: screens. 



Nobody for a moment supposes that, other things being 

 equal, the trifling superiority of the muzzleloader in accuracy 

 and flat fire line is anything like a compensation for the nui- 

 sance of having to put charges in at the muzzle and the 

 general botheration of this class of arm, as compared with 

 the convenient breech arm with its fixed ammunition. 



At another time I hope to have opportunity of saying 

 more, after my brother riflemen have had their say upon the 

 subject. I would particularly like to hear from "P." and 

 from the erudite and always interesting Major Merrill. At 

 present I will content myself with another hearty "thank 

 you" for what the report takes out of the domain of surmise 

 into the clearly-defined space of absolute fact. Nick. 



FOREST AND STREAM'S GRIZZLIES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



If the moral training of your bears is most desirable, I 

 think you would better box them up and send them to me. 

 I will turn them in with a tame deer, and teach the three to 

 bear and forbear. Considering the tutor and everything, 

 the educational opportunities are excellent. They might be 

 trained to agricultural pursuits, perhaps taught to dig 

 potatoes or run a power churn with the effigy of a tenderfoot 

 suspended just out of reach before them. And they would 

 be good things to have in the melon patch when off these 

 duties o' nights, or among the early fruit trees. It would be 

 comforting to the fruit grower to find scattered about his 

 grounds in the morning the remains of a dozen or forty 

 naughty boys; so comforting that if the bears objected to his 

 gathering his melons, apples and pears, he would be almost 

 willing to forego the pleasure and profit thereof. 



If they were turned loose anywhere in the Eastern States 

 they would be a perfect godsend to the editors of country 

 papers in affording items. Each might have a column 

 devoted to them, and how much better reading than the 

 reports of the latest wooden wedding or surprise party, 

 would be such items as, "A. reliable informant says that the 

 Forest and Stream grizzlies were seen on Bald Mountain 

 yesterday." (There is a Bald Mountain wherever there are 

 any mountains.) "We are pained to announce the loss of a 

 valued subscriber by the F. & S. grizzlies." (Desperate 

 fight, mangled, etc.) "Numbers of armed men have turned 

 out to do or die, and exterminate the monsters. P. S. As 



