124 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March It, 1886. 



descent; so we took a bee line for camp without getting a 

 glimpse of his bearship. Perhaps it was just as well for the 

 bear, and better for us. After supper we'were informed by 

 the camp keeper for the day that our stock of bacon was 

 nearly exhausted, and as no deer had been bagged it looked 

 as though we should soon Lave to be put on short allowance. 



I was up early the next morning and while taking a wash 

 I heard the grunt of a mountain grouse, and, being the only 

 one of the party who used a shotgun, I started immediately 

 to follow up the grouse by the sound. This requires much 

 care and patience. These birds spend very little time on the 

 ground, but will perch high up amid the thick foliage of the 

 pine, hemlock or spruce, call at intervals of four or five 

 minutes with a deep, guttural grunt that can be heard from 

 a long distance. They are very shy and will stop calling at 

 the slightest strange sight or sound, and when quiet it is im- 

 possible to locate the tree on which they rest, and even when 

 located, it requires the keenest eye to detect them. I fol- 

 lowed up the sound as carefully and rapidly as possible, 

 stopping occasionally and waiting for a repeat to be sure of 

 my course, until I had gone more than half a mile. At last 

 I had him located in a tall pine tree ; he had heard or seen 

 me and ceased calling. Now came the difficult task of get- 

 ting a sight of my game. Circling slowly around the tree 

 and looking it over from every point, gradually narrowing 

 the circle till I found myself directly under its branches, 

 when looking up almost vertically 1 saw his head and neck 

 stretched out over a limb, evidently watching; me with as 

 much interest as I evinced in lookingf or him. Knowing that 

 this was my golden opportunity, and that 1 could get but 

 the one shot, as, should he dart from the tree amid the forest 

 evergreens that surrounded us, I should see him no more, I 

 raised my gun and gave him a broadside of both barrels and 

 he came crashing down through the branches from his 200- 

 feet perch, and fairly bounced when he struck the ground. 

 Gathering my bird I 'hastened to camp, receiving a vote of 

 thanks from the party for the royal breakfast the grouse 

 made us. 



"We had decided to move our camp some six miles up the 

 mountain to an old deserted hunter's or miner's cabin which 

 one of the party had discovered in his tramp; but when 

 we began preparing for the move, two of the party 

 having become discouraged from our ill success and the 

 prospect of short rations, decided to desert us and take the 

 back track for home; so the three of us having "enlisted 

 for the war," or rather the week, turned backs on them and 

 started up the mountain for the deserted cabin which we 

 reached before noon, and leaving G. to fit up camp, I and 

 Jerry started out in different directions with an understand- 

 ing that we should return at 3 o'clock. When we returned 

 Jerry said he had seen deer sign over on the south side of a 

 mountain where they bad browsed, and he thought if I went 

 there toward sunset I would at least see a deer. As it was 

 about three miles to the ground I mounted old Bob and 

 started. Reaching the summit of the ridge, which was 

 pretty well covered with snow, I hitched the pony in the 

 best sheltered spot I could find and moved down the side of 

 the mountain, out of the snow and selecting my cover in a 

 clump of chapparal prepared myself for watching and wait- 

 ing. I watched and waited till the shadows had grown 

 very long and dense, but no deer had presented itself for my 

 observation ; so breaking cover I started for old Bob and 

 found hin turning and twisting around, shivering with cold 

 and impatience. Leading him to a fallen tree I made a spring 

 for his back, and as he started at the same time I struck 

 just back back of the pack saddle, and not having gath- 

 ered the reins properly, nor could I with my gun in one hand, 

 away went Bob through the brush and under the trees and the 

 tighter I clung my heels to his flanks, the harder he kicked 

 and ran. I could not get into the saddle nor gather the 

 lines so as to guide or stop his wild flight; and several times 

 1 came very near being brushed off his back by the low 

 branches of trees. Something had to be done with the 

 utmost dispatch, or old Bob would go into camp riderless, 

 and I knew when I got there the joke would be altogether 

 too one-sided for me to enjoy, so watching for a good snow 

 bank I dashed my gun into it, and having two hands to 

 devote to the old rascal I soon got him under subjection, got 

 into the saddle, rode back and picked my gun from the snow, 

 and when I next attempted to mount I made better calcula- 

 tions with better success. If any one could have seen my 

 first exploit I think he would have agreed with me that it 

 beat a circus clown and trick mule in realistic interest, and 

 have laughed heartily at the ludicrous figure I cut, as I have 

 scores of times since 'in thinking it over. Arriving at camp 

 I found that one of the party had killed a big jack rabbit or 

 hare, and supper being ready, they were impatiently await- 

 ing my return. Oh, what a supper that was, with appetites 

 to fit it. Search your big towns and cities all over, and you 

 can find nothing to approach either. 1 reserved the recital 

 of my adventure with old Bob till the supper was away and 

 a rousing fire blazed in the broad fire place, when behind 

 the curling 'smoke of our pipes we made the old cabin ring 

 with our laughter till the echoes came back from the sur- 

 rounding forest. 



The next day being Saturday, and the limit of our time, 

 we made an ample breakfast from the hare, and packing our 

 blankets and campstools on old Bob, reluctantly turned our 

 backs on the camp and magnificent forests in which we had 

 spent a charming week, although a dry hunt. A. 



THE SPRING FLOWER SHOW. 



A FLOWER show will be held at the Metropolitan Opera 

 House, in this city, March 24, 25, 26 and 27, to be open 

 from 11 to 11 o'clock each day. 



The show will be managed by Mr. C. F. Klunder, the 

 well-known florist, whose successful engineering of previous 

 shows all who love flowers will remember. This one will be 

 on a larger scale than any previous exhibition, and will far 

 exceed anything of the kind hitherto known in America. 



The enormous cost of the exhibiton is guaranteed by a 

 number of well-known and wealthy ladies. Some idea of 

 the magnitude of the work involved can be had when it is 

 stated that it will take 150 men four days and nights to 

 place the decorations. Among these will be a miniature 

 Arc (U Tri&mphe, formed of flowers, on the stage. Among 

 the interesting exhibits will be a number of orchids growing 

 on an old oak tree trunk as in nature. The roses will be 

 superb. 



Mr. Klunder is so well known for his excellent taste and 

 his passion for flowers, that every confidence may be felt 

 that under his charge the management and the arrangements 

 will be all that could be desired. The news of this flower 

 show will interest a great number of people both in city and 

 country, and it is said that parties are already being made up 

 to come from a distance to visit it. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETY. 



THE strength which the movement in favor of protection 

 for our birds is developing is really surprising. "We 

 had supposed that many people were interested in this sub- 

 ject, but until the establishment of the Audubon Society 

 we had no idea how many such there were, nor how deep 

 was their concern. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



By a resolution of the A. O. U. Committee for the Protec- 

 tion of Birds, I am authorized to communicate to the Atjdtj- 

 bon Society our approval of its plan and the sanction of our 

 authority in the work it undertakes. As you are so gener- 

 ously bearing the expenses of organizing the Audubon 

 Society, and are giving so much time and space in your col- 

 umns to the society's interests, 1 venture to take the liberty 

 of expressing the wishes of the committee through your 

 paper. 



The object of our committee is to present the birds' side 

 of the question. As experts, we feel warranted in giving 

 our time and knowledge freely, and in suggesting means for 

 the protection and preservation of our beautiful and useful 

 birds; but must depend largely upon philanthropists, socie- 

 ties and individuals to circulate all good suggestions and to 

 distribute the facts pertaining to the heedless destruction now 

 taking place. 



An Audubon Society in every township of our land 

 would bring about the three results aimed at, viz. : First — 

 No bird would be used as food that was not strictly a game 

 bird. Second— Nests and eggs would be kept inviolate, and 

 children would no more think of stoning birds and nests than 

 they do now of horses in the streets. Third— Birds would 

 be preferred by all women as live pets rather than as dead 

 ornaments. Such a change in public sentiment would soon 

 be followed by a correspondingly delightful and gratifying 

 change in our parks and. gardens. 



Our committee will be glad to render the Audubon Society 

 all assistance in our power. Geo. B. Sennett, 



Chairman of Com. for the Protection of Birds, Am. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., City of New York. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The suggestion of 1 'X. Y. Z." in your last issue, to "enlist 

 our sisters, aunts and cousins in the good work of refusing 

 to wear birds as ornaments" is an excellent one, and truly 

 germane to the subject. Let us try it and even extend the 

 courtesy to the nearest acquaintances whom we choose to 

 see in the "borrowed feathers," which are so suggestive of 

 cruelty and barbaric taste. 



The wearers of feathers cannot be reached or enjoined 

 directly by any legal enactment, but many will give heed to 

 kindly speech, and an earnest showing that they are to 

 blame in the matter, and be led to renounce the evil and so 

 stay the red-handed slaughter of the innocents. 



Next, or rather at the same time, we have to do with the 

 bonnet shooters and the taxidermists. Moral suasion, 1 am 

 aware, will be of little use with many of this class, and to aid 

 the cause we must see that just and stringent laws are made 

 to save" the birds, and not only insist they be made, but 

 strictly and impartially enforced. 



The "Bill for Bird Protection," printed in Forest and 

 Stream, Feb. 24, is a good one, and should be made a law 

 in every State. I would suggest that the Audubon Society 

 prepare a circular to be read and permanently posted in every 

 school house in the land, to instruct and warn every boy and 

 girl, every youth and maid, in the interests of bird preserva- 

 tion, and the nipping in the bud of cruelty of every kind. It 

 is while at school that the young idea is taught to shoot very 

 differently than the poet intended, and it is a sad sight to see 

 the boy trying to kill or frighten every living, wild or 

 domestic, thing he dares level gun or missile at. 



Whittier truly says, "We are in a way to destroy both our 

 forests and our birds," and to save the remnant and as far as 

 may be to restore both forests and birds is the bounden duty 

 of every lover of nature. Let us be determined and persist- 

 ent in the work we have chosen. It is high time and the 

 need is a crying one for all to enlist, and every age, sex and 

 class can be efficient allies to "rescue from the bird butcher's 

 dooms" the pretty victims of a cruel, foolish and (for this 

 reason) unfeminine fashion. O. W. R. 



Boston, March 3, 1886. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I assure you of my hearty sympathy with the members of 

 the Audubon Society in their efforts to prevent the waste 

 of these beautiful, happy, innocent and useful lives, on 

 which we depend for a large share of our natural enjoyment. 

 I am myself more than tolerant of the somewhat intrusive 

 intimacy of the English sparrow. No other birds outside of 

 the barnyard let me come so near them — not^ even the 

 pigeons. If I may change the lines of Cowper a little : 



They are so well acquainted with man, 



Their tameness is charming to me. 



But still more am 1 indebted to the gulls and ducks, who 

 during a large part of the year are daily visitors to the es- 

 tuary of the Charles, on which I look from my library win- 

 dows. I wish they could be protected by law, and if law 

 cannot, or will not do it, that public opinion, under the lead 

 of your society, would come between them and their mur- 

 derers. Not less, certainly, do I feel the shame of the wan- 

 ton destruction of our singing birds to feed the demands of 

 a barbaric vanity. If it would save them from destruction 

 I would say good-by to the woodcock and sigh a long fare- 

 well to the canvasback. Yours truly, O. W. Holmes. 



Key West, Fla., March 3, 1886. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am interested in the matter of the Audubon Society, 

 for I have long watched with deep grief and intense indigna- 

 tion the wanton and thoughtless destruction of birds now 

 going on in all parts of our country. My personal knowledge 

 of the matter is limited to what is taking place in Florida; 

 but, through the columns of your most admirable paper, I 

 learn that the same deplorable state of affairs exists every- 

 where. Although I am cognizant of many scenes of bird 

 slaughter in Florida, and know of the shipment of many 

 thousands of bird skins and plumes from the State, I have 

 not any reliable statistics of the trade for present reference. 



I will, however, make it my business to obtain such, and will 

 forward them to you as speedily as possible. 



One instance that came under my observation last winter 

 made my blood fairly boil. It seems that the slaughter of 

 birds for millinery purposes has stimulated those brutes, 

 whose debased passions are fed by the sight of blood and 

 suffering, to renewed efforts in the line of butchery to such 

 an extent that nothing living is safe from them. For many 

 years there had been a flourishing pelican rookery on a small 

 island at the lower end of the Indian River. About a year 

 ago two disgraces to humanity, who called themselves 

 "sportsmen from the North," visited this peaceful island one 

 night, and with clubs and knives killed or sorely wounded 

 and mutilated every bird on it ; broke all the eggs they could 

 find and destroyed the nests. They afterward boasted of 

 this exploit, and remarked that that den of fish thieves was 

 broken up at any rate, and they proposed to treat every other 

 rookery they could find iu the same way. They must have 

 killed over a thousand birds in that one night. 



1 know of one skin hunter now at work, who, under the 

 name of "naturalist," has destroyed between four and five 

 thousand birds this winter. He is operatiug on Biscayne 

 Bay, and I will try to ascertain more about him. 



Advertisements offering to purchase bird skins appear in 

 many of the Florida papers. Please enroll me as a member 

 of the Audubon Society, and count on my hearty co-opera- 

 tion with 'you in the noble work of protection to bird life that 

 you have undertaken. I never in my fife killed a bird, ex- 

 cept when forced by hunger to do so, and I hope I never 

 shall. Kirk Munroe, 



New York, March 1, 1886. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your earnest and intelligent efforts for the protection of 

 birds is awakening a widespread interest in the cause, and 

 is leading to a serious study of the best means to prevent the 

 barbarous practice of destroying birds for gain. 



You have my warmest sympathy iu your work, and I am 

 confident that you will have the co-operation of the thinking 

 part of our people. W. A. Conkltn. 



Chapter D, ISo. 818, Agassiz Association, of Newark, 

 N. J., will hold its first annual celebration at Library Hall, 

 on March 13, at 3 P. M. At a recent meeting of the Chap- 

 ter it was decided to join the Audubon Society and try 

 and advance its commendable purpose. 



Tallahassee, Fla., March 2, — The first purple martins 

 arrived from further south to-day. There were nine in the 

 flock, and one killed proved to be in excellent condition. 

 Several thousand breed in this city every summer in the 

 nooks and corners of the old buildings. — H. A. Kline. 



Albinos. — In Germany an unusual number of white 

 varieties of animals have been noticed this winter. A white 

 chamois was shot in the Totengebirge, a white fish otter was 

 caught near Luxemburg, white partridges were shot near 

 Brunswick, and a white fox was killed in Hessen. 



Becent Arrinals at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— 

 Three pumas (Felis concolor). one great noraod owl (Bubo virgini- 

 anus), two European wax wings (Ampelis gnrrulus) . one' larger mM 

 mynali {.Uracula intermedia,), one raccoon {Proctjun lotor), one opos- 

 sum (Didelphys virginiana). two Virginia quail iOrtyx virginiitiatx), 

 one turkey vulture (Cuthartes aura), one red-tailed hawk [BUteo bu- 

 reaus), two Carolina doves (Zenaiaurii carolinenais), one barn owl 

 (Stria; flammea americana). one screech owl (Scops asio), two red- 

 winged blackbirds (Agehcus pliconiceus), one alligator {Alligator 

 hi ississippifuxis): born in the garden, two Carolina doves {2kto<ndura 

 carolinenais). 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



THE full report of the Forest and Stream's trajectory test of hunt- 

 ing rifles has been issued in pamphlet form, with the illustra- 

 tions and the tabular summary, making in all 90 pages. For sale at 

 this office, or sent post-paid. Price 50 cents. 



ANTELOPE HUNTING IN DAKOTA. 



r "PHE falling snow is being rapidly driven before the fury 

 X of the lately arrived blizzard ; the mercury is dropping 

 toward the bottom of the thermometer tube, and as I sit be- 

 fore the blazing fire in my library calling to memory inci- 

 dents and scenes of many a hunting expedition, my eyes fall 

 upon the head of a noble buck antelope which looks down 

 from the opposite wall recalling the day when in far off 

 Dakota he fell before my rifle, and I thought perhaps an 

 account of that hunt might be acceptable to your readers. 



It was toward the close of a warm day in the middle of 

 last September, that four men were busily engaged pitching 

 a tent in the Bad Lands of Dakota, but a short distance 

 from the open prairie, about thirty miles north of the line of 

 the Northern Pacific Bailroad. Four horses were picketed 

 a short distance, away, and three dogs, a setter and two col- 

 lies of fine breeding, were lying near tjy, intelligently watch- 

 ing the proceedings. The party consisted of two sportsmen 

 not unknown on the Atlantic seaboard, and their guides 

 Jack and Tom McGregor, the first an old buffalo hunter 

 who had done his share in the extermination of the noble bi- 

 son, and the latter his brother, much younger in years, but a 

 skillful and experienced hunter. It was a weird yet beauti- 

 ful spot they had chosen to camp, a broad level covered with 

 the short buffalo grass, bounded on one side by a ravine or 

 coulee, through which a clear, cold stream flowed, while the 

 trees which shadowed the water rose high above the walls 

 of the ravine and gave a leafy background to the bright 

 flame and sparks that leaped upward into the air before the 

 door of the tent. The other side of the plateau rose rapidly 

 toward the ghostly buttes that buttressed the outlying 

 prairie beyond them. The party had driven about twenty 

 miles that day through the Bad Lands, and it was plain to 

 see the guns had not been idle on the way by the pile of 

 sharptail grouse placed on the ground not far from trie tent 

 and which the dogs seemed to consider as under their es- 

 pecial charge. The air was growing chilly, and as the sun 

 sank behind the buttes that stood in myriads of fantastic 

 shapes around, the moon rose and flooded their many 

 colored sides with its silver light, making the rough places 

 smooth. As darkness gathered, and the stillness born of 

 the wilderness seemed to settle upon the landscape, from out 

 the ground about fifty yards away a form seemed to rise, in- 

 distinct of shape, but slender with a round head capped by 

 two tapering upright horna as they seemed to be. The 



