224 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



fApBTL 15, 1886. 



Utility of the Sparrow. — At a council meeting of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England, Miss Omerod, in 

 her report on injurious insects, maintained her indictment 

 againstthe sparrow as a mischievous bird, and repeated her 

 advice in favor of checking its enormous increase. She 

 said: "We do not find froui examiuation of their contents 

 that they feed on corn red-maggot, corn-thrips, corn-aphis, 

 or any other corn insect; nor have we any observations of 

 fields infested by these huge nocks being freer than other 

 places from insect attack. From careful observations in 

 different places, extending over a period of from one to fif- 

 teen years, we do not find any diminution of insects round 

 the farm buildings where the sparrows greatly resort, but we 

 find they have been observed, in many cases, to drive away 

 true insect-feeding birds. The State Eutomological Returns 

 from the United States confirm these views, and likewise in- 

 formation forwarded by Mr. A. Molineux, member of the 

 Committee of Agriculture of the Royal Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Societies of South Australia, relatively to the 

 English sparrow, as observed by himself at Adelaide, South 

 Australia. Sparrows can and do eat some amount of insects 

 if other food is short, but by choice I consider it to be proved 

 that they are almost wholly corn and vegetable feeders. The 

 matter being of much importance, I have collected informa- 

 tion from known observers on the subject, of which I give 

 the main points in my own forthcoming report.'' 



\ew §nblication§. 



McLELLAN'S POEMS.* 



TO the three volumes of poetry, "The Fall of the Indian," 

 "The Year,'" and "'.Mount Auburn, 1 ' published some years 

 ago, Mr. Isaac McLellan has now added a fourth, "Poems of 

 the Rod and Gun. r This is the long looked for collection in 

 book form of the poems on sporting topics, which have graced 

 the columns of the sporting press for the past quarter of a 

 century. Mr. McLellan's muse has taken all animated nature 

 for her own. The volumeuow before us is not confined to any 

 one phase of field sports, nor is it limited in range to game 

 animals and fish, nor to the American continent. The author's 

 love for nature is deep, his ear quick to catch the rhythmic 

 unison of the harmonies in the winter winds which howl about 

 the camp of the moose hunter in Canadian wilds, in the 

 tinkling splash of the distant western rivers, in the dissolution 

 of Arctic ice packs, in the inharmonious harmonies of the 

 tropic night forest. Here are : pictures of sport in Africa, 

 America, Australia, Ceylon, in the Arctic and the Antarctic, 

 the north and the south and the east and the west. He sings 

 of all birds, from the albatross to the woodduck ; all animals, 

 from the antelope to the wolf; all fishes, from the bass to the 

 yellow perch. No form of sport, by sea or land, with game 

 or fish, is foreign to his sympathetic pen. Of the nearly 200 

 poems, 104 relate to game "and shooting, 14 are classed as mis- 

 cellaneous, and the rest sing the charms of angling and the 

 varying fortunes of its devotees. The first poem in the book, 

 ' 'Nature's Invitation",orginally occupied the first column of the 

 first number of the Forest and Stream. Among the miscel- 

 laneous poems is a "Frank Forester Memorial Ode," written 

 by request for the proposed ceremonies in laying the corner- 

 stone of a monument to be erected at Greenwood Lake in 

 honor of Frank Forester. The monument never reached the 

 proportions entitling it to a poem, though it will be remem- 

 bered that the ••generally diffused" funds originally intended 

 for the memorial were* not very many years ago tangible 

 enough to draw out a great deal of vicious swasn and gro- 

 tesque bathos from some of the Forester idolaters and hierolo- 

 gists. 'This votive cenotaph," of which Mr. McLellan writes 

 was unfortunately never erected to 



bear 



The tribute of affection's tear, 



and it is probable that the poem, as preserved in this volume, 

 will be, as it is now, the only permanent record of the monu- 

 ment enterprise. Mr. McLellan's volume will meet with a 

 warm welcome by American sportsmen. It is a book which 

 should be in the library of every man who uses rod or gun. 

 The poems make a substantial volume of 271 pages, bound in 

 cloth, and embellished with an etching, "The Shot at the 

 Start," oy Mr. J. E. Sabin. From the authors preface we 

 take the following: 



"Our widely extended country, reaching from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific coast, from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf of 

 Mexico, abounds with almost every variety of wild game of 

 the choicest qualities. The ocean, the river, the lake, the 

 brook, mountain, forest, prairie and scubble field, all have 

 their peculiar tenants; fish, fowland wild animal ranging the 

 wood, swimming the waters, beating the air. Almost without 

 limit are the attractions of field and flood in our noble and far 

 spread land; and to describe their different varieties, then- 

 mode of life' and capture, the scenery where they are found, 

 has been the business of the naturalist, novelist and sports- 

 man: but the poet in a collected volume has hardly here con- 

 tributed his part to the general store of knowledge. As the 

 variety of the noble game and fish of our land and waters is 

 greater and more attractive than that of any other country, 

 with the exception perhaps of Africa, so nowhere are the 

 sports of field and flood more universally followed than with 

 us. The consideration of these facts and tbe desire to contrib- 

 ute something to the treasury of the knowledge of our wild 

 game, and to depict the pleasures to be enjoyed in then - pur- 

 suit, led the writer to prepare this work; and if it may yield 

 pleasure to any person, and more especially to brother sports- 

 men, he will feel he has his reward. To commence and com- 

 plete the work has been a labor of love, for his participa- 

 tion in field sports has not been small; and he can only 

 regret that his ability to describe does not equal his 

 power to enjoy the delightful pastimes of the gunner and the 

 angler. 



"The author, in preparing a work that might perhaps be 

 styled a book of natural history, has not confined his pen 

 strictl3 r to descriptions of birds, fish and animals that are con- 

 sidered as game, but has included many others that have no 

 claim to such title. In the. present volume he has sought to 

 reproduce, as far as possible, his collection of sporting poems 

 lost in a recent disastrous fire in New York, viz., the burning 

 of the Potter Bimding on Park Row, attended with grievous 

 loss of life and property. 



"Since this volume was commenced, several years ago, a 

 great number of sporting associations have been formed in 

 the country, consisting of gentlemen of leisure, intelligence 

 and high repute, who are interested in field sports and the pre- 

 servation of fish and game, and to gam their brotherly favor 

 would be honor indeed. So what poems we have been able 

 to save from the wreck we hope may find favor in their sight. 

 There has always been a degree of friendly brotherly feeling 

 among sportsmen, and this has encouraged us to offer this 

 work for public notice, and above all, to brother sportsmen, 

 to whom it is respectfully dedicated. K we meet with fra- 

 ternal approval at their hands, we shall feel rewarded for the 

 labor of many years in trying to produce something accepta- 

 ble to lovers of the rod and gun." 



For autobiographical notes by Mr. McLellan see Vol. XXV. 

 page 444. 



*Poems of the Rod and Gun ; or. Sports by Flood and Field. By 

 Isaac McLellan, Greenport, Long Island. Kew York: Henry Thorpe, 

 1886. 



HUNTING TRIPS OF A RANCHMAN. 



A SECOND and less expensive edition of Mr Theodore Roosevelt's 

 capital book has recently been issued by the Putnanis. On its 

 first appearance we took pleasure in calling attention to the merits 

 of this volume, which is both happy in its conception and excellent 

 in its execution. In all respects it is a delightful book, full of the 

 breezy freshness of the plains, and telling graphically and entertain- 

 ingly the story of the simple life of the cow camp. It gives, too, a 

 great deal of information about the various species of our large 

 game which are passing away at so rapid a rate, and which the 

 hunter of a few years hence will find only in the few preserves that 

 have been or may be established in the mountains. In our previous 

 notice we called attention to one or two points on which the author 

 generalized from insufficient experience, and also to two of the illus- 

 trations which were unsatisfactory. These last we afterward learned 

 were prepared during the author's absence in the West, and were 

 not seen by him until after the volume was issued from the press. 

 In the present edition all these matters have been put right, and 

 there is now nothing to be said save in praise of the book, which 

 although much less elaborate than the Medora edition, is still a hand- 

 some volume. It lacks the etchings and the rubricated title and the 

 initials, but has all the engravings, and considerable additional read- 

 ing matter. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



The Choice of Books, and other literary pieces. By Frederick 

 Harrison. New York: MacmiUan & Co. Paper, 447 pp., price. 50 

 cents. 



The Bostonians, a novel. By Henry James. New York; Macmil- 

 lan & Co. Cloth, 449 pp. , price, $3. 



A Tale of a Lonely Parish. By F. Marion Crawford. New York: 

 Macmillan & Co. Cloth, 3i:0 pp., price, §2. 



Wakulla, a story of adventure in Florida. By Kirk Munroe. Illus- 

 trated. New York: Harper & Bros. Cloth, 255 pp., price, $1. 



Epitome of Diseases of the Skis. By Louis A. Duhring, M. D. 

 Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. Cloth, 130 pp.. price, 60 cents, 



Salmon Problems. By J. W. Willis Bund. London: Samson Low, 

 Marston, Searle & Rivington. Paper board, 215 pp. 



Horse and Man: their mutual dependence and duties. Bv the 

 Rev. J. G. Wood. Philadelphia: J, B. Lippincott. Co. Cloth, 339 pp., 

 price, 82.50. 



Here and There in Our Own Country, embracing sketches of 

 travel and descriptions of places by popular writers. With 12T illus- 

 trations, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. Cloth, 214pp„ price, 

 $2.50. 



Poems of the Rod and Gun. or sports by flood and field. By 

 Isaac McLellan. New York: Henry Thorpe. Cloth, 271pp., price 



Hints on Language. Ay Arthur Bent, A.M. Boston : Lee & Shep- 

 ard. Cloth, 75 pp., price, 50 cents. 



Haphazard Personalities; chiefly of noted Americans. By 

 Charles Lanman. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Cloth, 387 pp., price, 



Young People's History of England. By George Makepeace 

 Towle. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Cloth, 388 pp., price, gl.50. 



The Year's Sport: a review of British sports and pastimes for the 

 year 1S85. Edited by Alfred E. T. Watson. London: Longmans, 

 Green & Co.; New York: Worthington Co. Cloth, 549 pp., price, 



The Message of the Bluebird; told to me to tell to others. An 

 illustrated souvenir. By Irene E. Jerome. Boston : Lee <S: Shepard. 

 Price, SI. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



THE TRAJECTORY TEST. 



' I Thus 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 tabidar summary, making in all 90 pages. For sale at 

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



RECOLLECTIONS OF A SPORTSMAN.-I1. 



IT WAS in the early autumn of 1861. Foliage was still 

 on. Farmers were cutting and shocking corn. _ The 

 buckwheat had just been cut, and much was yet in the 

 fields in little heaps ready to be hauled to the thrashing floor; 

 when I decided, as my work of this kind was well in hand, 

 to spend the afternoon with my new gun and dog. "Bob 

 White" had long since ceased to call his name, and only used 

 the call note when his family had become scattered, or at 

 evening w r hen going to roost. Dash had never been with me 

 in the field before. However, I had the most implicit con- 

 fidence in him, as I knew bis former master never kept a 

 poor dog. He had brought Dash across the water because 

 he considered him the best dog in his kennel, one of the 

 finest in England. Dash seemed to have as much confidence 

 in me. When I threw my gun on my shoulder and whistled 

 him up, his very look and action spoke most eloquently of 

 the fun we were going to have in each other's company. I 

 began to wonder if Dash would think as well of me when 

 we returned. 



"We took our course down a little brook that ran mostly 

 through a narrow wood into a large millpond. On the south 

 bank was a farm on which I knew were two coveys of quail, 

 well grown and strong birds. Along the brook were many 

 patches of cat brier and alders. In one of these Dash came 

 to a beautiful point, a picture of grace and beauty that would 

 charm the eye of an artist or stir the soul of a sportsman 

 with delight. I walked in, expecting to flush a woodcock, 

 but up jumped a rabbit right in front of the dog and went 

 off shaking his bunch of cotton at me in such a tantalizing 

 way I fired both barrels at him, apparently without effect, 

 except to increase his speed. I had scarcely emptied my 

 second barrel when I saw a woodcock disappearing through 

 the alders. Dash was still pointing, though it seemed to me 

 he had changed his position slightly. I could flush nothing 

 in front of him, so tried to call him off, but could not. I 

 was about to collar and lead him away, supposing he was 

 pointing where the woodcock had been, when up got another 

 woodcock behind the dog. I wounded it with my second 

 barrel, followed up and secured it by another shot. I con- 

 sidered it a serious defect in my dog that he should be liable 

 to point at either end. 



[This, by the way, reminds me of an incident that occurred 

 in later years, that may bear repeating. I was once return- 

 ing from a little hunt near the city, with my gun and dog, 

 carrying a small bunch of game in my hand. My outfit and 

 rig would not indicate to the average feminine mind, accus- 

 tomed to city habits, a high idea of gentility. As I was 

 crossing on a Fulton f errybnat, standing in front of the ladies' 

 cabin, I noticed two ladies watching me, evidently admiring 

 my birds. Presently they stepped up to me, and one of 

 them asked how I sold them. 1 replied that I did not usually 

 deal in birds as merchandise, but if they were very anxious 

 to buy I could not think of charging them more than cost, 

 and proceeded to figure up my railroad fares, hotel bill, am- 

 munition, etc., when my fair questioners gracefully with- 

 drew, exclaiming, "Oh, we thought your dog caught them!" 

 As it was a time of day when but few people rode uptown, 

 I succeeded in getting my dog into a, street car. I had just 

 stowed myself away "comfortably, when the same ladies got 

 into the car, we being the only passengers. They immedi- 



ately asked if my dog would bite. I assured them he would 

 not, and called their attention to the fact that he was very 

 tired, already being coiled up close in the corner under my 

 feet fast asleep. The idea that a dog ever got tired was new 

 to them, and they wanted to know why. I explained to 

 the best of my ability, and by way of illustration made old 

 Bob get up and straighten himself, I stroking bis tail, mak- 

 ing him assume the position of pointing as nearly as possible. 

 Both ladies exclaimed, "Oh, isn't it wonderful! Yes, thanks, 

 we understand;" one saying to the other, "Don't you see, my 

 dear, nature has so adjusted the creature that he points with 

 his tail."] 



I was quite uncertain for some time at which end of the 

 dog to look for the bird, but concluded to watch both ends 

 and all around whenever he pointed and be ready on all 

 sides. A first-class resolution, but not always lived up to. 

 The most careful sportsman will sometimes lose the chance 

 for a good shot by thinking his dog "is just fooling." I had 

 proceeded perhaps 300 yards, when Dash found and brought 

 me a rabbit not yet dead, but with one hind leg broken, and 

 his good-bye end well filled with shot. Before reaching the 

 millpond, a distance of about oue mile, I got seven more 

 points on woodcock, two of which I killed. I then hunted 

 some thickets around a buckwheat stubble, without finding 

 the covey I expected. Continuing to a ridge or sort of bluff 

 at the edge of the Raritan meadows, Dash, while ranging at 

 full speed, suddenly wheeled, walked cautiously to a brush 

 fence and looked into it in a most interested way, wagging 

 his tail all the time. Presently he jumped in as if to catch 

 something, when out flew a sparrow. I scolded and shamed 

 him, but he persisted in devoting his attention to that brush 

 fence. He followed it about 200 yards to a rugged ravine, 

 where he made a stiff point in tolerably open oak woods. 

 After kicking in the leaves behind the dog until I became 

 nervous, I walked some twenty feet in front of him and 

 flushed a fine covey of quail. They flew well together, 

 straight from me, so I pulled away with both barrels with- 

 out aim at any particular bird and didn't get a feather. Dash 

 behaved splendidly, though in my ignorance I blamed him 

 for coming in and lying at my feet as soon as I shot. When 

 I told him to go on, he struck out full speed in the direction 

 the birds had taken. 



He had not gone over 150 yards when he made a kind of 

 sideway double summersault and froze stiff. I know none 

 of the quail had stopped there, and noticed the ground where 

 Dash stood was springy and wet. I expected a woodcock, 

 when up jumped three English snipe, flying toward the 

 meadows at a ninety -mile per hour rate, but 1 stopped one of 

 them very neatly within fifty yards. Having marked the 

 quail to my satisfaction, I followed and found them beauti- 

 fully scattered in the head of a little hollow, in large oak 

 woods with whortleberry undergrowth not very thick; in 

 fact just the place where an expert shot would like to have 

 them. Dash made ten or twelve beautiful stands on single 

 birds, and I fired both barrels at each bird as it rose, but my 

 bag was still yawning for quail. 1 followed up a few birds 

 I had been able to mark on their second flight with the same 

 result, until I had birds and dog as wild as they could be 

 made. I then sat down, pulled out an old pipe and pro- 

 ceeded to take a smoke. 



As it was now about sundown, it was not long before the 

 quail commenced to whistle. I took Dash to where they 

 were whistling, and although he was constantly trailing, he 

 could not get a point. Becoming desperate I fastened him 

 to a sapling with an old skate strap. Leaving him howling 

 and whining, I hastened to where I considered a good stand 

 and proceeded to whistle them up. In this way I killed two 

 at one shot on the ground, and one at another. At the last 

 report of my gun I saw Dash coming toward me with part of 

 the strap, which he had gnawed, hanging to his neck, and a 

 quail in his mouth. One that I had evidently hit during my 

 reckless firing. As I was going home, passing near where 1 

 had first flushed the covey, he found another which had 

 been wing-tipped, and caught and brought it to me. 

 Although I was ashamed of my poor shooting, I f- It pretty 

 well satisfied with my bag, having 3 woodcock, 1 English 

 snipe, o quail, and 1 rabbit , the result of 38 shots fired. 

 This first hunt with my new outfit satisfied me that I had a 

 first-class dog, and probably a good gun, but did not know 

 how to use either. Bedford. 



AN UP AND DOWN SHOT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Under the head of "Erratic Bullet Flights" you have re- 

 cently published two communications from me giving inci- 

 dents in my own experience where life was endangered by 

 singular and unlooked for bullet flights. I will now give 

 another incident in my practice which, although not quite so 

 singular, was really attended with more probable danger. 

 It occurred within half a mile of the scene of my duck shoot- 

 ing adventure, published by you, Iwas hunting black and 

 gray squirrels in the adjacent forests; I had that very com- 

 mon run of luck so often experienced by the solitary squirrel 

 hunter, namely, of having the squirrels lie close to and on 

 the opposite side of a horizontal limb. Finally I tried the 

 plan of stepping directly under the squirrel and imitating its 

 bark. This caused the squirrel to stretch its neck and look 

 down over the side of the limb, exposing most of its head, 

 which in those days I rarely missed, whether firing perpen- 

 dicularly or otherwise. I had in this manner killed two or 

 three squirrels within a half hour, when another opportunity 

 offered and I stood so nearly under the squirrel that it would 

 have fallen upon me if I had not stepped aside at the instant 

 it dropped at my feet. As I was raising my flask to the 

 muzzle of my rifle there was a whiz and a sharp crack, 

 partly behind and within three feet of me upon the ground. 

 As I turned my head quickly I saw the extreme ends of a 

 dry limb about one inch in diameter and six or seven feet 

 feet long just falling upon the ground. An examination 

 revealed the fact that the bullet having expended its force 

 vertically in the air, had returned, and striking this stick 

 squarely midway between the ends had partly cut and partly 

 broken it in two, bouncing the extreme ends upward. The 

 bullet mark was plainly defined nearly through the stick. 

 This ended my vertical rifle practice. 



Milton P. Peirce. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



MecbanicsvelIiE, JS. Y., April 5.— A Rod and Gun Club 

 was organized in this village last week. The object is the 

 better protection of game and for trap shooting. You will 

 hear from us in the future concerning the club's improve- 

 ment. The members are all true woodsmen, and I think the 

 club will be a success. We are watching the deer bill with 

 interest. Ice is going fast and the fisherman is varnishing 

 his rod and inspecting his lines for the spring fishing. Boys 

 are having fine luck catching the river fish.— A. C. J. 



