Mat 27, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



349 



the West, the one which is always meant when no qualifying 

 adjective is used, although occasionally it is called speckle- 

 belly on account of the black patchy feathers on the breast. 

 Tliis bird, although frequently very plenty with us, I under- 

 stand is rarely met with in the Eastern States. No one will 

 have the least difficulty in identifying it. however, should 

 they kill one, as tbey are very much like a tame goose in 

 color, except the black on the breast. This ranges all the 

 way from a few scattering feathers to nearly a solid black 

 surface. There is also a narrow band of white feathers 

 around the base of the bill, whence the name. There are 

 more of these brant killed than both the other kinds put 

 together, as they are more certain to stop with us than the 

 others, and their habits are much more _ regular and 

 free from eccentricity in this respect, resembling the 



Canada Goose (Bernicla canadensis), which is too well- 

 known to require much notice. It is sufficient to state that 

 these birds still visit us, though in no such numbers as in 

 former years. They are not often hunted regularly, but 

 only killed whea chance opportunity offers while watching 

 for ducks. This is the only species called "wild goose" by 

 local hunters, all other varieties being known as brant here 

 in the West, where the true brant is unknown. Some years 

 ago my hunter friend of whom 1 have spoken, while shoot- 

 ing on Sangamon bottom, made a stand on apassway where 

 geese were flying low to get protection by the timber from a 

 driving blizzard, and succeeded in killing thirty-six in one 

 day with a single barrel muzzle] oader, but then circum- 

 stances singularly favored him. Now one could not go out 

 and count on getting a single goose with certainty, though 

 when everything is favorable some hunters occasionally 

 make reasonable bags yet. 



Htjtchins's Goose (Bernicla canadensis hulchinsi). — Is 

 not plenty, but some are killed. These birds are marked ex- 

 actly like the regular wild goose (Canada), of which they 

 are merely a race or variety, and not a distinct species, differ- 

 ing only in size, which is about that of the blue, snow and 

 white-fronted species, ail of which will average about six 

 and a half pounds in weight, while the Canada ranges from 

 less than ten up to fifteen or more, the average being about 

 twelve. Hutchins's goose is included by hunters with all 

 the other small species under the general appellation of 

 "brant," being further distinguished by the cognomen of 

 "goose brant." My knowledge of this variety is limited, 

 but I am half way inclined to believe that they are not even 

 a distinct race of canadensis, as they gradually intergrade in 

 size with the latter, and the dividing line can no more be 

 drawn than it can be determined just when a pig becomes 

 large enough to be called a hog. 



Of the two other varieties, the white-cheeked goose 

 (B. canade?isis leucoparia) and the larger white-checked 

 goose (B. c. occidcntalis) 1 know nothing, and think it would 

 take an expert to separate them from simple canadensis or 

 hutcldnsi. There is no more puzzling question presented to 

 naturalists than this, in regard to the common wild goose. 

 They are not able to say whether several species have be- 

 come inextricably mixed by hybridization, or whether they 

 are simply extreme variations of one and the same species. 

 The latter view is the one generally accepted, and conse- 

 quently they are approximately divided into the fouf .races 

 or varieties which I have named. There is some difference 

 in the marking between canadensis and hutcMnsi on the one 

 hand and leucoparia and occidentalis on the other which 1 

 cannot take space now to notice, but they all intergrade, and 

 the largest specimen in the Smithsonian Institution is as big 

 as a half grown swan, while the smallest will stand under- 

 neath it and is no larger than a baldpate duck, yet with an 

 unbroken series between, connecting the two. So much for 

 the geese. In my next I will pay my respects to the ducks 



Junius P. Leach. 



Rushville, Illinois. 



DEVICES AGAINST MOSQUITOES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Tour London correspondent, "J. J. M.," in the last num- 

 ber of your paper recommeuds a muslin tent for protection 

 against mosquitoes in an outing, and gives a method of mak- 

 ing it. 



This is unnecessary, particularly for this country. The 

 outer who goes for a prolonged stay by lake or stream 

 side or in the woods without an ordinary mosquito bar, as 

 it is made in the United States, is a new and green hand, or 

 fears the additional three pounds' weight in carries more 

 than he values his peace and quietness at night. The ordin- 

 ary bar with folding top, with ring for suspension, can be 

 used inside or outside of an ordinary tent. I have found it 

 necessary for solid comfort to see that it was well tucked in 

 at the head and sides of the blankets, and that it be kept well 

 away from the head and face. Uncivilized mosquitoes have 

 long bills, and they insert them through the interstices of 

 the bar if it is near biood. Since my first season's camping 

 out on Lake Superior, many years ago, I have never been 

 without a bar suspended from the tent pole. That season I 

 realized the insecurity of a bar across the tent door, for it 

 was not always practicable entirely to close all the openings 

 at the bottom of the tent on rough or rocky ground. Since 

 then I have never lost a night's sleep from mosquitoes. 



The bar is no protection, however, from sandflies or "no- 

 see-ems" and the black fly. But good judgment as to camp- 

 ing ground will in a measure be a security against the 

 former, and the latter ceases its ravages at sunset. But to 

 read or sketch with or without a bar where the black fly is 

 numerous, without smoking in the daytime is impossible. 

 I have found some preparations of ' "dope" the only resource, 

 frequently in reading, fishing or on carries. Certainly with- 

 out some of them there can be no such thing as loafing. 



If there are such things as degrees in mosquitoes 1 reached 

 the superlative once at Montreal Island, Lake Superior. We 

 reached there one night in the twilight. Outside the bar the 

 world was full of rabid ones. While they did not put the 

 fire out, in spite of a dozen smudges, the guides could not 

 cook supper, and we put up with coffee and hardtack. But 

 inside the bar we were comfortable. We left at half past one 

 the next morning, taking breakfast at Point of Mines. H. 



May 22, 1886. 



The Field Sports Club of Havana, Cuba, is a new organ- 

 ization, established for the promotion of outdoor recreation 

 and the protection and introduction of game. Protective 

 laws have been secured, and being something new naturally 

 provoiie opposition from the classes accustomed to shoot in 

 season and out of season. The Field Sports Club, however, 

 proposes to see that the laws are respected, and some pro- 

 gress in this direction has already been made. It is the pur- 

 pose of the club to introduce some new game to the island. 

 They are now seeking communication with parties who can 

 supply A merican game (other than quail) for restocking. 



Arkansas Game Grounds. — Clarendon, Ark., May 18. 

 — There are very many squirrels here. We have no game 

 law here except for ruffed grouse, quail, deer and turkey. 

 The law on them was like locking the door after the horse 

 was stolen; it came far too late. Many beautiful songsters 

 are slaughtered by indolent negroes and other thoughtless 

 persons "just for "fun." Many sweet mocking birds are 

 ruthlessly slaughtered just to see 'em "fall." The law pro- 

 tects buzzards, but not the sweetest of bird songsters. Quail 

 are plentiful here. Very few deer and turkey. Bear tracks 

 are plentiful on the "dump," an embankment thrown up a 

 mile in length in the river bottom between here and Grand 

 Prairie. But nobody hunts them here at this time of the 

 year, as they are poor as a snake. Mr. Alf. Daniels, a hun- 

 ter here, killed seven bears six miles from town up in Cache 

 River bottom. (Cache and White River meet here). Mr. 

 Bob Bobo, who lives opposite here in Mississippi, killed forty 

 black bears last winter. His post-office address is Sunflower 

 Landing, Bolivar county, Miss. Mr. Daniels kills all his 

 bear with two .44 Colts revolvers. He wants no other bear- 

 gun, as it would be unhandy getting through the thick, heavy 

 cane brakes. Mr. Bobo does his hunting with .44 repeating 

 rifle. This is a sportsman's paradise from New Port, 150 

 miles above here, clear on down to New Orleans, La., 

 especially so in the winter time, when ducks, sreese and swan 

 are plentiful from Indian Bay, forty miles below here, clear 

 on to the mouth of White River, 150 miles. Ther e is no 

 human habitation except of raftsmen, trappers and hunters. 

 You can see there must be some good shooting. Of course, 

 the prairie is thinly settled, but it is five to eight miles from 

 White River. — Cavalier. 



Targets vs. Game. — A somewhat noted rifle shot here, 

 who has a number of badges and medals as proofs of his 

 prowess at the targets, related an exploit, which he seems to 

 enjoy telling as much as his hearers delight in his narration 

 of rt. Like Alexander, he was not content with owning the 

 world of targets, his soul was possessed with a yearning to 

 distinguish himself on game. Fired with this ambition, he 

 shouldered his trusty repeater— he is an excellent gunmaker 

 himself — and started for haunts where the deer family are 

 known to abound. He had not proceeded far down an old 

 corduroy road, ere a lordly buck stepped forth from the 

 leafy wood on to the road, where he stood complacently 

 eying his would-be slayer, with feelings in which curiosity 

 was evidently predominant. The gallant hunter raised his 

 deadly rifle, pressed the fatal trigger once, twice, thrice ; in 

 fact, kept on pressing it till his magazine was empty of some 

 dozen shots. The "antlered monarch," no doubt, wondering 

 what all the racket was about, having satisfied his curiosity, 

 quietly walked across the road into the forest and was seen 

 no more. The dazed and breathless hunter stood glued to 

 the spot, with wild eyes fixed on the place where the deer 

 had been but was not, for some seconds, when his wits re- 

 turned, and shouldering his rifle took the direct road home, 

 where he recovered sufficiently by the next day to relate his 

 experience; and it will be some time before the boys forget 

 how "X." shot his first and last deer, for he declares that 

 paper game is good enough for him, and hereafter he will 

 attempt no harm to the wild wanderers of the woods. — C. 

 J. T. (Detroit). 



Abolish all Spring Shooting. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I have just received a letter from E. A. Jackson, a 

 long Island gunner, concerning the new spring snipe law. 

 He says: "The spring Jaw is just the thing. It works well. 

 Hundreds of snipe are seen daily. Yelpers are counted by 

 fifties and hundreds, also robins and plover are as gentle as 

 chickens. I hope that the law will extend from here to 

 Maine." Let us hope so, too. — J. W. Jr. 



Colebrook, N. H. — The ruffed grouse are more abundant 

 than I have ever seen them in spring here. I cannot learn 

 of the crust-hunters doing any harm on the headwaters of 

 the Connecticut River this spring, unless words count after 

 a hard day's snow-shoe tramping after deer that could dis- 

 tance them easily. Nature beats law. — Ned Norton. 



The Norway Custom. — Out in Norway, Menominee 

 county, Mich., when local bruin exploiters go for bear meat 

 the sawmill steam whistles are set to blowing, and all the 

 town turns out to make a din until the lost hunters, guided 

 by the sound, find their way back again. 



THE YELLOWSTONE PARK BILL. 



A BILL 



To amend sections twenty-four hundred and seventy-four and 

 twenty-four hundred and seventy-five of tbe Revised Statutes of 

 the United Staies, setting apart a certain tract of land lying near 

 the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. 

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, That the bound- 

 aries of the Yellowstone National Park, as now fixed by section 

 twenty-four hundred and seventy-four of the Revised Statutes, shall 

 hereafter be as follows: Beginning at a point on the forcy-fifih 

 parallel of north latitude where said parallel is intersected by the 

 western boundary of the Territory of Wyoming; thence due east to 

 its point of intersection with the meridian of one hundred and ten 

 degrees west longitude; thence due south five miles; thence due 

 east to the meridian of one hundred and nine decrees and thirty 

 minutes west longitude; thence due south along said meridian to the 

 forty-fourth paradel of north latitude; thence due west along gaid 

 parallel to its point of intersection wkn the west boundary of the 

 Territory of Wyoming; thence due north aloug said boundary- line to 

 the place of beginning; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of 

 the Interior to cause an accurate survey to be made of the boundary- 

 lines of said park as established by this act, said survey to be 

 recorded in tbe office of the surveyor general and Commissioner of 

 the General Land Office of the United States, as provided by law. 



Sec. 2- That the said park shall hereafter be under the sole and 

 exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and that allot' the laws 

 applicable to places under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the 

 United States, except so far as modified by this act, shall be in full 

 force and effect in said park. That nothing in this act shad be con- 

 strued to forbid the service of any civil or crimiual process of any 

 court having jurisdiction in the county or district in wbicn said park 

 is now located, or may hereafter be located, in ihe said Territory of 

 Wyoming. If any offense shah be committed in said Yellowstone 

 Park, which offense is not prohibited or the punishment thereof is 

 not specially provided for by any law of the United States, or by any 

 regulation of the Secretary of the Interior as provided by this act, 

 such offense shall be liable to and receive the same punishment 

 as the laws of the Territory of Wyoming in force at the time of the 

 commission of the offense may provide for a like offense in the said 

 Territory; and no subsequent repeal of any such law of the Territory 

 of Wyoming snail affect any prosecution for such offense committed 

 within said park. All fugitives from justice taking refuge in said 

 park shall be subjected to the same laws as the refugees from justice 

 found in the Territory of Wyoming. That until otherwise provided 

 by the laws of Wyoming Territory, the said park, for all the purposes 

 of this act, shall remain and constitute a part of the third judicial 

 district of said Territory; and the district court of the said judicial 

 district, when exercisiug tbe jurisdiction of a district or circuit court 

 of the United States, shaU have jurisdiction of all felonies committed 

 within said park. 



Sec. 3. That all the territory embraced within the limits of the 

 park as herein established shall be reserved and withdrawn from 

 settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States; 



and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasure-ground for 

 the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the Uni'e.d States; and 

 said territory so set apart shall be under the contrul of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, aDd subject to all the provisions of sections numbered 

 twenty-four hundred and seventy four and twenty-four hundred and 

 seventy five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, except as 

 herein other w ise provided. 



Sec. 4. That the Secretary of ihe Interior shall make and publish 

 such rules ami regulations as he may deem necessary and proper for 

 the management and care of the park especially for the preservation 

 from injury or spoliation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural 

 curiosities, or wonderful objects within said park, and for ihe pro- 

 tection of the animals and birds found in the park, to prevent their 

 capture or destruction. He shall cause all persons trespassing upon 

 the park to be removed therefrom, and shall take all measures which 

 he mav think necessary to carry out the purposes of this act; and the 

 Secretary of War is hereby directed to make such details of troops 

 as the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of tbe President, 

 may require for the purpose of prevenring trespassers or intruders 

 from entering the park with the object of destroying the animals and 

 birds therein, or for other illegal purposes, and for removing such 

 persons from the park. 



Sec. 5. That all hunting or the killing, wounding, or capturing at 

 any time, of any wild animal or bird, except dangerous animals 

 when it is necessary to prevent them from detroying human life or in- 

 flictingan injury, is prohibited within the limitsof said pi rk: nor shall 

 any fish betaken out of the waters of the park oy means of seines, nets, 

 traps, or by the use of drugs or any explr s, ve substances or compounds, 

 or in any other way than by hook and line. Any person willfully 

 violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a 

 misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined for each offense 

 not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars, or by 

 imprisonment not more than than three months, or by both such 

 fine and imprisonment. Possession within the said park of the dead 

 bodies, or any part thereof, of any wild animal or bird shall be prima 

 facie evidence that the person or persons having the same are guilty 

 or violating this act. Any person or persons, or stage, express, or 

 railroad company, receiving for transportation any of the said 

 animals, birds or fish, knowing, or having reasonable cause to bslieve, 

 that such animals, birds, or fish were killed or captured m violation 

 of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall 

 forfeit and pay for every such offense the sum of two hundred and 

 fifty dollars, to be recovered by a proceeding in tbe nature of an in- 

 foraiation before any Territorial or United States district court with- 

 in whose jurisdiction such offense was committed; or, when the 

 offense is committed within the park, before the commissioner 

 appointed under section seven of this act; an.-l it shall be the duty of 

 tbe district attorney of the United States for such Territoiy or 

 district to institute and prosecute said proceeding in tbe name of the 

 United States, the amount collected from the party offending to be 

 paid into the Treasury of the United States. 



Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Interior may lease small portions 

 of ground in the Park, not exceeding ten acres in extent tor each 

 tract, for a period not exceeding ten years, to any one person or 

 company at any one place, on which may be erected hotels and out- 

 houses and such other buildings as he may deem necessary for ihe 

 use of the public; but such lease shah not include any of the geysers 

 or other objects of curiosity or interest in said Park, or exclude, the 

 public from the free and convenient approach thereto, or include any 

 ground within one-quarter of a mile of any of the geysers, toe Yel- 

 lowstone Palls, tbe Crand Canyon of tbe Ye.lowstone Hiver. or within 

 three hundred feet of the Mammoth Hot Springs; nor shall any hotel 

 or other buildings be erected within the Park until such lease shall, 

 be executed by the Secretary of tbe Interior; and all contracts, agree- 

 ments, or exclusive privileges heretofore made or given in regard to 

 said Park, or any part thereof, inconsistent with this act, are hereby 

 declared to be invalid; nor shall tbe Secretary of the Interior, in any 

 lease which he may make and execute, grant any exclusive privileges 

 within said Park except upon the ground leased. 



Seo. 7. That the President shall appoint, by and with the advice 

 and consent of the Senate, a commissioner, learned in law, who shall 

 reside in said Park and who shall have jurisdiction to hear and act 

 upon all complaints made of any and ah violations of the law or of 

 the rules and regulations made by theSeere ary of the Interior for the 

 government of tbe Park and the protection of the game and nbj-'ecs 

 of interest therein. He shall have the power, upon sworn info, ma- 

 tion, to issue process in the name of the United States, for the arrest 

 of any person charged with the cojimission of any mis demeanor within 

 the Park, and to summarily try ..tne person so charge .1 and, if found 

 guilty, to fix the punishment as in the next section provided. The 

 said commissioner shall also have power to issue process, as herein- 

 before provided, tor the arresr of any person charged with the com- 

 mission of any felony within the Bark, and to summarily hear the 

 evidence adouced; and if he shad determine that probable cause is 

 shown for holding the person so charged for trial, he shall cause 

 such person to be safely conveyed to a secure place of confinement 

 within the jurisdiction of the district court having jurisdiction as 

 provided by the first section of this act, and shall ceruf.v the recprd 

 of his proceedings and a transcript of the tesiimony in the case to 

 said court, which court shall have jurisdiction of the case and pro- 

 ceed therein as provided in chapter eighteen, title thirteen, and chap- 

 ter three, title seventy, of the Revised Statutes of the Unite! States, 

 the punishment inflicted to be the same as prescribed in the last- 

 named chapter for like felonies. AH process i-sued by the commis- 

 sioner shall be directed to the Superintendent of the Park, who, with 

 his deputies or Park police, shall have the same power to execute 

 the same as is vested in the marshals and dep ity marshals of 

 the district courts of tbe United States for the execution of writs 

 from said courts; but nothing herein contained shall be construed as 

 preventing the arrest without process of any person taken in tb« act 

 of violating the law or any regulation for the government of tbe Perk. 

 The forms and proceedings had before said commissioner shall con- 

 form, as near as may be, 10 the forms and proceedings in criminal 

 cases before commissioners appointed by tbe courts of the United 

 States as now provided by law; and the said commissioner shall re- 

 ceive the annual salary of one thousand five hundred dollars, to be 

 paid quarterly, as in the case of judges of Territorial courts for the 

 respective Territories. 



Sec. 8. That all costs and expenses arising in cases under this act 

 and properly chargeable to the United States shah be certified by tbe 

 commissioner to the Department of Justice, and, if approved by the 

 proper officers of that department, shall be paid by tne marshal of 

 the United States for the Territory of Wyoming, as other such costs 

 in the United States courts. Tne violation of any regulation ma<'e 

 and published by the Secretary of the Interior in regard to the con- 

 trol and management of the Park, and the protection of the animals, 

 birds, fish and property therein, is hereby declared to be a misde- 

 meanor, and the party convicted shall be punished for each offense 

 by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, and be commuted 

 until such fine is paid, or by imprisonment for not more than three 

 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 



Sec 9. That the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be erected 

 in the Park a suitable buildiDg to be used as a jail, and also an office 

 for the use of the commissioner, the cost of such buildings not to ex- 

 ceed five thousand dollars, to be paid out of any money in the 

 treasury not otherwise appropriated, upon the certificate of the 

 Secretary 1 8s a voucher therefor. 



Sec. 10. That the President shall appoint, by and with the advice 

 and consent of the Senate, a superintendent of the Park, who shall be 

 paid an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, and fif- 

 teen Park police shall be appointed by the superintendent of the 

 Park, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, who 

 shall eacb be paid annually nine hundred dollars, and be uniformed 

 as prescribed by the Secretary of tbe Interior; and it shall be the 

 duty of the said supprintendent and police to reside continuously in 

 the Park, and to protect tbe animals, birds, fish and public property, 

 to preserve the peace and prevent crime; and for this purpose they 

 shall have power, upon view, to arrest all persons committing 

 any crime or misdemeanor within the Park, and shall for that 

 purpose have all the powers and duties conferred by law upon 

 the marshals and deputy marshals of the district courts of 

 the United States; Provided, That the power hereby conferred 

 shall be exercised only within the limits of said Park, and 

 iu conveying persons arrested for felony to the. court having jurisdic- 

 tion, for trial. And provided also, Tnat no growing timber in said 

 Park, nor hay, shall be cut, either for building purposes or for fire 

 wood, except by the permission, in writing, of the Superintendent of 

 said Park, specifying the place at which said timber or hay may be 

 cut. and the quantity thereof. 



Sec. 11. That tbe Secretary of War shall detad an officer from the 

 Corps of Engineers whose duty it 6hall be to survey and lay out suit- 

 able roads in said Park and select the proper location for bridges 

 therein; and tbe Secretary of War shall, upon the report of said 

 officer, make annual estimates for the cost of such improvements, 

 and communicate the same to Congress, with such other recommen- 

 dations in regard to the Park as he. may deem proper; and all sums 

 received by the Secretary of the Interior f<-om rents in the Park, or 

 aiising from fines and forfeitures for violations of the laws and regu- 

 lations made for the government of said Park and protection of ani- 

 mals, birds, fish and public property therein, shall be applied to the 

 improvements hereinbefore mentioned, and the officer or officers 

 collecting said fines and forfeitures shah pay the same to the Super- 

 intendent of the Park, to be accounted for by him to the Secretary of 

 the Interior. 



Allen's bow-facing oars can be attached to any boat in 5 minutes. 

 Try them. Little catalogue free. Fred A, Allen, Monmouth, 111.— A4v. 



