March 18, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



143 



under bis care, follows him about, and is found with hra 

 when he stays (as he generally does) at the opposite end of 

 the coop from the rest. That this is one and the same hen is 

 established by the fact that when I first discovered the attrac- 

 tion 1 marked the hen by tying bits of blue woolen yarn on 

 her legs so that she can always be identified. Jay Bbbe. 

 Toledo, Ohio, March 11. 



A. Pet Skunk.— Mr. S. was left last summer to keep 

 "bachelor's ball" while his wife went North on a visit. A 

 few months after Mrs. S. left home, Mr. S. was quietly sit- 

 ting by bis kitchen fire reading, wheu he was somewhat sur- 

 prised to see a skunk come in at a small opening iu the door 

 which bad been left for the accommodation of the cat. The 

 skunk was jet black, not a white hair on him, as far as Mr. 

 S. could see. He first looked sharply at Mr. S., then com- 

 menced to explore the room. After bis tour of inspection, 

 seeming to think everything all right, he laid down by the 

 stove and was soon asleep. Mr. S. sat quietly all the time, 

 wishing to see what his visitor would do next. Sometime 

 after, the skunk, probably thinking that his visit had been 

 long enough, quietlv left the room the way he entered. This 

 programme was kept up for about twenty eveninss, not all 

 in succession, however. The coming of the animal got to be 

 so common that Mr. S. took no notice of it after looking up 

 on its entrance, but read until bedtime and then retired. 

 Sometimes he left his visitor in possession of the room. At 

 first the cat did not like the intrusion, but raised her back 

 and sputtered on the skunk's arrival. It gradually got accus- 

 tomed to the visits and paid no more attention to his skunk- 

 ship than Mr. S. did. Sometimes the cat would leave part 

 of its supper in a saucer in the corner, when the skunk 

 would finish the balance. After a time the visits ceased alto- 

 gether, and nothing has since been seen or heard of the sable 

 pet. No unpleasantness resulted from this caller. It shows 

 the harmless nature of the animal when it is not molested. 

 Almost anybody in Mr. S.'s place would have jumped up, 



threw something at the skunk, and then been sorry for 



it for several weeks afterward.— Red Wing (Glencoe, Vol. 

 Co., Fla.). 



*iH* §ag mid §mj. 



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 pampblet 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. 



GROUSE IN THE SNOW. 



rpHE Maine papers have contained numerous items of late 

 JL concerning the probable destruction of ruffed grouse 

 by the snow crusts, and the Forest and Stream has had 

 one or two communications of that nature. The partridge 

 has a habit of burrowing in the snow at night, and the 

 observers who have been writing for the papers, tell us that 

 the snow crust freezes and the bird is imprisoned, hence 

 becoming the prey of the fox, its worst enemy. "There 

 peated and severe snow crusts this winter has imprsioned 

 hundreds of them and the grouse shooting must be poor next 

 fall," they say. Well, nature has made a mistake, then. To 

 make the* natural bed of the grouse the snow and to leave it 

 liable to be frozen in at every thaw, was a fatal blunder to 

 that bud. Does nature make many such blunders? Does 

 nature leave the breast of the waterfowl to be penetrated by 

 the cold water, or has she covered that part with feathers so 

 thick and oily that "the duck's breast is ever dry." Has she 

 left the legs of the deer, which lies on the snow, bare and 

 liable to be frozen when the mercury goes down to zero, as 

 it does so many nights in the North Woods? Answer— the 

 man who ever saw a deer with frozen legs. No, The deer's 

 body and legs are covered with hair, one of the strongest 

 non-conductors of heat, so thick that not a particle of the 

 heat of the animal's circulation escapes. 



But the partridge dives under the snow and the snow does 

 freeze. Granted, but when does the snow freeze so as lo 

 form a crust? Immediately after a thaw. It rains all day 

 or for several days. Then the wind turns about into the 

 northwest, and the mercury falls, the crust forms, and the 

 partridges are caught. Well, they would be, if they were 

 under the snow ; but, in all candor, it is fair to ask, who 

 ever saw a partridge dive into the wet snow? Is it not 

 always the dry snow of a cold, frosty night, into which the 

 bird dives, to form its bed? If the snow" is dry, can a crust 

 form over it? The change of weather mentioned above takes 

 place almost invariably at night in the New England cli- 

 mate. The day has been warm or rainy, the snow is wet, 

 but the partridge goes to bed in the trees. He is just as fond 

 of the wet snow to burrow in as a hen is fond of' swimming 

 in a frog pond. He avoids the rain and wet as sedulously as 

 any one of the bird family, and hence escapes the dreadful 

 snow crust. Again, although the bird dives under the dry 

 snow, yet before he turns his attention to sleep his head 

 comes out so near the top that he can both see and hear, and 

 would be very likely to feel any sudden fall of rain and im- 

 mediately put himself in position to be crusted under rather 

 than over. 



The above position is taken after many years' careful not- 

 ing of the habits of the grouse. Without boasting I have 

 traveled many miles in the woods on snowshoes where the 

 burrow ings of the grouse were very plenty, yet never have 

 I seen the place where I supposed the bird came to his end 

 by being crusted beneath the snow. These burrowings are 

 plainly discernible, especially toward spring when the snow 

 has begun to settle, and if the grouse perished there, the 

 feathers at least would be left. 1 have found where the 

 partridge has come to his end in the winter, but not gener- 

 ally near any burrow. The owl is a deadly enemy of the 

 grouse, and woe betide him if Too Whoo gets his night eye 

 upon him. 



Now, in all candor, will the writers in the Forest and 

 Stream note carefully how many birds come under their 

 observation as actually having perished under the snow 

 crust, and give us the number? From such facts we will 

 measure the prospects of our fall shooting; but give us no 

 more of the old whine that the partridge dives under the 

 wet snow and gets crusted over. And, to wind up with, 

 will they please tell us how many hens they ever saw go in 

 wimming? Dry Snow. 



HUNTING AT ARMY POSTS. 



A FEW more replies from outlying army posts adds to 

 the favors we have received from our friends in uni- 

 form, and our readers, too, are treated to additional notes 

 from men at the front, close up to the ever-retreating game 

 line in our rapidly filling domain. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



A very extended description of this beautiful section of 

 country, with a full account of its resources for sport would 

 be very interesting. But unless one goes some distance from 

 the post, game is" scarce— as is usual near military posts 

 whose vicinity is always thoroughly and continuously hunted. 

 Ducks and geese are fairly abundant within six or eight 

 miles. Fish also between ten and twelve, are numerous aud 

 large, the sport in the Williamson River— twelve miles dis- 

 tant—being magnificent between May and November. But 

 the "post larder" does not take game of any kind into con- 

 sideration. The Springfield shotgun is excellent— of its kind 

 — and is much used for want of a better; but it is considered 

 even by those who use it as a dernier ressort. As double- 

 barreled breechloading shotguns of good make and caliber 

 are issued in some branches of the service, we see no reason 

 why each company should not be supplied with two such 

 guns. A. R/Egbert, Fust Lieutenant, 2d Infantry. 



Fort Klamath, Ore., Feb. 15. 



The gun weighs 6 pounds, the length of barrel proper is 29 

 inches, including the breech block the length of barrel is 29"i 

 inches. Take it all in all, I consider the guns satisfactory, 

 and they fulfill the purpose for which they were issued. 

 That is, to give the soldier something to kill game with that 

 is too small for shooting with the army rifle. 



As to game in the vicinity of post, within fifteen miles 

 there are two kinds of bears, black and cinnamon, two kinds 

 of quail, "whitetops" (Callipepla squamata) and fool quail 

 (Massena quail of eastern writers, Gyrtanyx massena), wild 

 turkeys, blacktail deer, panther, wildcat, and two kinds of 

 hares, the "cotton-tail" and Lepus mnericanus, var. Bairdii. 

 In the spring and fall a few ducks on the mountain streams, 

 mostly mallard, widgeon and greenwing teal, and the cinna- 

 mon teal. By going some distance you get plenty of ducks 

 and geese and antelope. The bears are very abundant, more 

 so than anywhere I know of. In a range of mountains but 

 nine miles from the post they are plentiful. They are not 

 hunted. Turkeys are plentiful also. Deer are not so com- 

 mon, as they are killed by the Apaches, but luckily these 

 Indians will not eat wild turkey, so this helps to protect 

 them. The Apaches also will not eat trout, which is another 

 blessing, as otherwise they would be exterminated. Bear 

 meat is another food the Apaches are forbidden by their 

 religion or superstition to eat. F. 



Fort Stanton, N, M., Feb. 3. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reply to your note of inquuy dated Jan. 9, you are re- 

 spectfully informed that large game is not plentiful in this 

 immediate vicinity, particularly this year on account of 

 drouth. Small game— duck, quail and rabbit— is plentiful; 

 also doves, starlings and blackbirds. Of ducks we have a 

 few canvasback, more redhead, a large proportion of green- 

 head, and any amount of the more common varieties. Of 

 quail (Ortyx californieus) we have the "black plume" and the 

 "white crest," both long winded and very swift runners; 

 when matured will not lie to a dog. The prevailing 

 drouth has destroyed all the ponds on the Texas bank of the 

 Rio Grande, but just across, in the "Land of God and 

 Liberty," the ponds, lakes and sloughs are never failing. So 

 also the ducks. 



On several different occasions, during November and 

 December last, the entire garrison was bountifully supplied 

 with ducks bagged by three guns, twice with two guns and 

 once with oue gun, the party leaving camp at 9 o'clock A.M. 

 and returning at retreat, the one-gun party left earlier and 

 returned later. Distance from fort to nearest pool seven 

 miles. The officers and several of the men own and shoot 

 their own or their neighbors' guns. 



The Springfield shotguns issued to troops cannot compete 

 alongside the hard and long shooting double guns, and are 

 not used, so far as my observation extends. 



The larders were well supplied with duck, quail and rab- 

 bit, with now and then a saddle of venison ana large channel 

 catfish. S. B. M. Young. 



Camp Rice, Texas, Feb. 28. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The only two species of grouse found in the Puget Sound 

 country are the ruffed and dusky, or blue grouse. The latter 

 are plentiful along the foothills of both the Cascade and 

 Coast range of mountains. Both the Virginia and California 

 quail have beeu introduced into this part of the Territory, 

 and owing to the mildness of the winters, are increasing 

 rapidly. On some of the islands in the sound a fair day's 

 shooting can be had on this bird alone. The Chinese or 

 Mongolian pheasant, have also been introduced here, but as 

 yet are principally confined to Protection Island, although 

 some have been seen ou the mainland. All kinds of water- 

 fowl abound in the waters of Puget Sound. Some of the 

 finest bags of ducks and geese I ever saw were made on 

 Whitby Island, a short distance from Fort Townsend. 



The country lying between the Straits of Fuca and the 

 Coast Range is, as yet, comparatively unknown. Within 

 the past two years two parties have been sent from this post 

 to reconnoiter this country. Both parties reported as hav- 

 ing seen large herds of elk near the base of the range, 

 where the timber and uuderbrush is not so dense as it is 

 nearer the Straits. When heavy snows fall on the moun- 

 tains this animal is found nearer the coast. The white and 

 black-tail deer are plentiful all through this part of the Terri- 

 tory, also a great many black bear and cougar; but owing to 

 the heavy growth of timber with thick underbrush and wind- 

 falls, the hunter finds it more of a task than a pleasure in 

 hunting the large game. B. 



Fort Townsend, W. T., Feb. SO. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Sringfield shotguns (single barrel) are used by the men 

 more or less according to the amount of small game near a 

 post. The guns were issued a few years ago (five, if I re- 

 member rightly), two to a company. They are 20-gauge. 

 From this post, parties go out from time to time to kill game 

 for the dinners of the companies on Thanksgiving, Christ- 

 mas, etc. Deer and wild turkeys are the game most sought 

 after. One of the cavalry troops sent out a few men before 

 last Thanksgiving to the Pecos River (ninety miles) for 

 game. They brought back with them for the troop dinner 

 75 ducks (mostly mallards) and 122 quail (called here 

 the whitetop quail. It is the so-called partridge or 

 blue quail of Eastern writers (Callipepla squamata), and 

 some antelope. More game was killed, but was eaten 

 on the trip. The quail and the ducks were gotten with 

 the shotguns. The charge used on this hunt for these 

 Springfield 20 gauge guns was 95 grains of fine musket 

 powder (about 3^ drams) and 1^ ounces shot. The load of 

 powder 1 consider entirely too great. Still the end seems to 

 justify the means, for meat was what they went for aud 

 meat they got. A much better charge would have been 2-£ 

 to 2f drams (70 to 77 grains) moderately coarse powder and 

 H ounces of No. 4 shot for the ducks. Fine shot does not 

 do well in these small gauges; it requires too great a charge 

 of powder to give it strength. My experience has been that 

 No. 6 is as small as ought to be used. The shells are made 

 by the government. They are copper and not brass and are 

 2i inches long. These guns whec properly loaded shoot 

 well and kill as far as the larger gauges, but they, like all 

 small gauges, shoot very close and scatter but little, so they 

 are not liked by poor shots, as there is no trusting 

 to luck and scattering to make up for bad shooting. You 

 have to hold right on the bird. I have known a 

 full grown wildcat (Lynx rvfua) to be dropped 

 dead by one of these guns at 65 yards. The stocks of the 

 guns are rather short, too short for many persons. I think 

 the barrels are much too short, and should be 32 to 34 inches 

 long. The action is the Springfield, strong, solid and safe. 



THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



All sportsmen and riflemen should certainly tender you 

 their warmest thanks for the great trouble and expense you 

 have incurred in presenting them with the valuable informa- 

 tion contained in the resulLs of the famous trajectory test. 



As you have invited criticism thereon I would make a few 

 observations. 



There are three things which influence the trajectories of 

 projectiles, viz. : The initial muzzle velocity, section and 

 weight of the projectile. The first varies witli the charge 

 and nature of the powder contained in the cartridge, the 

 second is the. caliber of the rifle, and lastly the weight of the 

 bullet. Therefore, to arrive at the correct trajectory of a 

 rifle, all these must be taken into account, otherwise the test 

 is of little value. 



As the ammunition is the important factor, I would draw 

 the sportsman's attention to the great discrepancy that exists 

 between the "actual" weight of the powder and bullet, and 

 the so called ' 'standard" of the trade cartridge. Noticing 

 some difference I took the trouble to tabulate the "cartridge 

 test" as given in your valued paper, and was much surprised 

 at the result. 



From the list of weighings I will select those of the am- 

 munition used in the two .50-cal. express rifles, the Win- 

 chester and Bullard. When the makers designed these rifles, 

 they, I presume, found after careful experiments, that the 

 best results were obtained with certain weights of powder 

 and bullet, and adopted the following as their "standard 

 charge," viz., Winchester 95 grains powder, 300 grains bul- 

 let; Bullard 115 grains powder. 300 grains bullet. Now the 

 "test" shows that we are paying for the "standard," but 

 what do we get? Winchester, 89 8, 89.3, 89.3 grains pow- 

 der instead of 95, and 305.3, 298 8, 300. 8 grains bullet instead 

 of 300. Bullard, 112 1, 111.2, 110.1 grains powder instead 

 of 115, and 303.6, 303.7, 306.8 grains bullet instead of 300. 

 The powder is reported as in good condition but "pressed 

 hard," which proves that the shells will not hold the standard 

 charge. A difference of 4 grains less of powder will give 

 at least 40 feet less initial velocity, and therefore at 200 yards 

 the bullet will strike several inches lower on the target, which 

 means higher trajectory. These rifles would certainly give 

 flatter trajectories than is recorded were the cartridge up to 

 "standard" instead of an increased weight of bullet and 

 decreased weight of powder, as shown in both cases. In 

 going through the whole list of the ammunition test, the only 

 deduction that can be drawn from it is that there is no ac- 

 curacy in the making of the "trade cartridges," which are 

 used by all sportsmen and riflemen in America. 



Cartridge. 



VIVA LOS GACHUPINOSI 



XF anything had been needed to demonstrate the utter 

 brutality, and the immense humbuggery of the modern 

 bull fight, it surely was afforded by a recent exhibition of 

 that sort near the City of Mexico, during which three bulls — 

 or they may have been diguised cows — were slaughtered 

 secundum artem, with due accompaniment of banderillas, 

 flags, and flapdoodles of various sorts, each and all eminently 

 calculated to terrify, bamboozle, disconcert and paralyze 

 tb* 3 energies of the aforesaid cows. 



The fourth, however, was a hard nut to crack, and was 

 afterward admitted to have been the fiercest bull ever let 

 loose in a Mexican arena. A. distinguished matador from 

 Spain, who was at the time starring the country, encountered 

 the beast, but he and his espada were alike set at naught; 

 and volunteers were called for from the crowd. Two men 

 essayed the contest, but the enraged beast defied them both 

 and finally remained master of the arena, a woithy successor 

 of the renowned Harpads of the cancioneros ; but alas ! the 

 shade of the Alcayde of Algara must have looked on in grim 

 disgust when, mastered at length with the treacherous lasso, 

 the poor beast was thrown to the ground in mid arena, 

 where the courageous attendants coolly cut his throat. 



Comment would seem superfluous, but it may be admissi- 

 ble to note the fact that in India, the wild boar who in 

 similar encounters has vanquished his antagonists, has some- 

 times been given bis liberty, and been allowed to trot away 

 unharmed to his haunts among the hills. Kelpie. 



Uk seasonable Game in Ontario.— Hamilton, Ont., 

 March 10. — Editor Forest and Stream: I beg to call your 

 attention to the fact that large quantities of quail and mallard 

 ducks are being offered for sale in this city at present pur- 

 porting to come from different parts of the United States, 

 ostensibly from Tennessee and Southern Missouri. As we 

 are endeavoring here to get a new bill for the better protec- 

 tion of game in the Province, in which one of the clauses 

 specifies that no game of any kind shall be sold or exposed 

 for sale during the protected season here, I think that the 

 attention of all sportsmen in your country should be called 

 to this matter. If they have no thorough system of inspect- 

 ing for the prevention of export of game in all the States, the 

 matter ought to be thoroughly ventilated through your valu- 

 able columns. We claim that if game is allowed to be sold 

 here during the protected season it is very difficult to prove 

 at all times whether the game is all imported or forms parts 

 of our own. — Th. Hooper, Secretary, Wentworth Fish and 

 Game Protective Association. 



