86 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AvQ. S6, 1886- 



toes. We cleared the right hand pond at one standing 

 jump, and stood there quietly, and saw bruin pick his 

 way gingerly through the other, as if ignorant of its 

 depth and averse to wetting his feet, his form shoAving 

 quite plainly against the water. Upon examination by- 

 daylight his track showed Mm to have been a "whopper." 



Lest some athlete dispute the correctness of the flguxes 

 in the above jump, I A\ash to leave on record the follow- 

 ing challenge: Give me a bear — a good, savage, wild one 

 to'stimulate me — and I will back myself for one single 

 standing jump against any unstimiilated man in the 

 world. Stake to be a vear's" subscription to Forest and 

 Stream. Match to take place here. The acceptor of the 

 cliallenge to find the bear. 



The companion mentioned above is now a grocery clerk 

 on Summer street, Lynn, Mass., and I will wager that he 

 never got over the counter with so much agility as he dis- 

 played in leaping that pond. 



Jibout seven years ago a large bear operated about five 

 miles from where I write, and one evening killed a sheep 

 in a lane 150yds. from the house of the owner. But one 

 house in the neighborhood boasted an arsenal (a handy 

 double 14 and a single 16), and the "shootists"of this ranch 

 were two boys, Tony and Fred, aged sixteen and foiirteen. 

 Tony was a large, active fellow, somewhat given to blow; 

 the younger was undersized and unassuming. Jake, a 

 son of the losing sheep owner, laid his trouble before this 

 household, and it was agreed that the tlneeboys should 

 waylay and shoot the depredator when he shoiild come 

 back to the bait next evening, as he was sure to do. 

 Tony, in his generosity, fitted Jake out with the 16, and 

 Fred had to be content with a neighbor's old converted 

 musket, having a bore like a mortar. It had been re- 

 stocked when an axe and jack-knife were the only avail- 

 able tools, and could have been worshipped without 

 violating the first commandment, inasmuch as it was not 

 in the shape of anything "in the heavens above or on the 

 earth beneath or in the waters under the earth." On 

 their way to the scene of the coming tragedy the elder 

 boys were pointing their guns at every rock and wishing 

 it were the bear; the younger, burdened by his Revolu- 

 tionary relic, walked meekly along with never a word. 

 About midnight the coimtry was aroused by a deafening 

 uproar, consisting of the amalgamated four reports of 

 guns and the snarl of a badly wounded bear. The sheep 

 owner rushed to the spot with a lantern, but discreetly 

 avoided going too near before the guns were reloaded, ere 

 which time the bear got away to the bush. He left a broad 

 trail of blood, and had. charged toward the spot where the 

 boys lay, knocking down the panel of fence next the one 

 behind wluch they were concealed. 



Tony and Jake were jubilant — ^they were the heroes of 

 the hom-, and could tell you to an inch where tliey placed 

 their bullets. The next day two 14 baUs and a 16 were 

 cut out of the cedar rail next to the "rider" of the fence, 

 too liigh to luu-t a bear, unless he were on the wing. 

 Some one asked Fred where he thought he aimed. "Don't 

 know — somewhere about his provision sack." 



Speaking of watchmg for a bear reminds me of an ex- 

 perience of my own, "dating 1870. There was a bear 

 abroad tn the land. He was a bold and bare-faced bear, 

 who would bear off sheep when barely out of sight of their 

 owners. Charley McKennelty and I were the only per- 

 sons in the vicinity who owned or tampered with fire- 

 arms. One evening upon my return from a very success- 

 ful pigeon shoot (fi'om nature's trap— the buckwheat 

 fields) I found that a neighbor's son had caught the 

 bear in the act of killing one of our sheep, and Charley 

 was awaiting my return that we might watch for him. I 

 was armed with a double 20, Charley with a single 16 

 and a bowie, and to quote John Marshall, "all of 'em darn 

 well loaded v^dth single ball." There was a stump heap 

 thii-ty feet from the carcass, and we tunnelled it out for a 

 blind. A bear usually visits a bait about dark, midnight, 

 or daybreak, but on the first evening we had no manifesta- 

 tions of the near presence of the one we were after. Yet, 

 I wiU never forget how I mistook my heart beats for foot- 

 falls, how I strained my eyes to see out into the starlit 

 night, and the bracing and stringing of nerves at the 

 slightest crackling in the brush. We took turns watching 

 the bait, a grasp of the arm signifying a desire to be 

 relieved, and a tap on the shoulder to mean "bear's here." 

 Just after dark on the second evening I got the expected 

 tap, but with it came the snap of the cap on Mac's gun as 

 she missed fii-e. A hare could not have exceeded tliat 

 bear in the speed of his getting away. 



Mac acknowledged that he had deadly aim on the bear 

 before giving me the signal, and I was chagrined to sa y 

 the least. We watched all the next night and no bear. 

 Neither of us having slept for three nights, we were 

 nearly used up, and Mac said he would watch no longer. 

 But those who know me vvill cheerfully testify to the 

 fact that a prominent feature in my character is a dogged 

 perseverance— a half brother to obstinacy. I was bound 

 to have an interview with that bear. John Keast, a lad 

 two years older than myself, fitted out with Mac's gun, 

 consented to bear me company, and I tried it again. One 

 o'clock A. M. and no bear. I felt that I must soon yield 

 to the influence of the drowsy god. So I said, "Jack, I 

 can't keep awake: sliould tlie bear come during the next 

 two hotu-s you cant miss him at 30ft., and I'll come in at 

 the finish;" at tlie end of that time wake me." When I 

 awoke the sun had been up fifteen minutes, Jack lay 

 snoring by my side, and the sheep, where was it? I rubbed 

 my eyes and looked again, but saw nothing save a few 

 "fragmentary scraps" of bones and wool. Brain had 

 eaten the sheep and crunched the bones within a biscmt's 

 throw of us. I did not give vent to any particular "feel- 

 ings"— I would have needed a throat the size of a barrel. 

 My vocabulary was painfully mea,ger, too, for my lips 

 had never been contaminated with anytliing akin to a 



"cuss word." I had a choldng sensation that has ap- 

 peared in a lesser degree a few times since, and a longing 

 to get out from there as soon as possible. 



I am not afraid of a bear, perhaps because familiarity 

 breeds contempt— a snake startles me far more. I once 

 heard of a boy who, as evidence that he was not afraid of 

 work, introduced the fact that he had "lain down and 

 slept by it:" and if this testimony be voted good, I can 

 fairly bring forward the last story to show that fear of a 

 bear has no place in my being. L. I. Flower. 



Jesiseg, N. B. 



Lincoln, Del, , Aug. 16.— The propect for quail here in 



Sussex county is good, also for rabbits and wood ducks.— 

 W.R. 



Forest mid Stream FctMes. 



TARGET TESTS. , 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The target record as published in Forest and Stream 

 of Aug. 19 is truly remarkable. The gun mentioned 

 makes patterns as' follows, using 4idrs. King's quick- 

 shot powder, and lloz. Tatham's chilled No. 8 shot. 

 Three successive targets in 30in. arch at 40yds. , coimt 

 539, 498 and 490, an average of 509. With No. 7 (Tath- 

 am's, I suppose) this phenomenal gim puts 401 in the tar- 

 get. Now as Tatham's chilled 8s, measured in Dixon's 

 standard measure, should count 500 pellets to the l^ozs. 

 struck measm-e, an average of 509 is certainly wonderful; 

 likewise the pattern of 401 made with No. 7, inasmuch as 

 Tatham's chilled 7s count 385 to the l^oz. by Dixon's. I 

 do not doubt the statement of tlie president of the Marion 

 Gun Club as to making the patterns recorded, but I am 

 quite sure that the size of the shot was mcorrectly marked. 

 If .the gentleman will take the trouble to count the num- 

 ber of pellets in the loads he used, taking the shot from 

 the same bags used when making the targets, I think he 

 will find he has been using a size or two smaller than he 

 supposed, 



1 have probably targeted as much if not more than any 

 one in New England, excepting, perhaps, men in the gun 

 trade. At least I hare shot at targets 1,500 or more car- 

 tridges loaded in every conceivable manner, and I know 

 the only correct way is to count the pellets in the charges 

 of shot used. It is not necessary to count each load, one 

 from each bag xised will answer. Not long since I made 

 some targets with a 12-gauge Scott, using shot from a bag 

 marked Tatham's trap 7s and to contain 345 pellets to the 

 ounce. Three consecutive targets gave patterns of 400, 

 415 and 434 in 30in. target at 40yds. I knew at once that 

 there was something ^vrong, and by counting lioz, from 

 this bag I foimd 615 pellets, when there should have been 

 431. I took a sample from a second bag marked the 

 same, and found over 620. I then sent to Tatham's 

 f actoiy for a sample of their trap 7s, and they were sent 

 to me by mail. Comparing them with the two bags I 

 had I found a great difference; in fact mine shoiild have 

 been marked trap 8s or 9s. Now, these bags were bought 

 of Kirkwood, of Boston, and came straight from Tatham's 

 and were not opened until I got them. Such a mistake is 

 liable to occur at any time. Therefore, I say the only 

 safe way is to count a sample when you wish to make 

 targets. 



Let the owner of the Lef ever gun send it to Mi-. Ciit- 

 tenden. I am sure it will be tried fairly, and should it 

 average 400 pellets of Tatham's 8s, according to Mr. Crit- 

 tenden's proposal, it will be returned with the |25 which 

 Mr. C. has offered, and its owner can congratulate himself 

 on the possession of the closest shooting gun in the 

 country. C M, Stark, 



DUNBAKTON, N. II., Aug. 31. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It was very kind of Mr. BroAvn to give to all shooters 

 the result of the trial of his new gun. Now, if he will 

 explain how he gets more pellets on the target than the 

 charge contains, he will confer a greater obligation on 

 one at least, and doubtless on many who read his "target 

 record." Tatham's table for soft shot gives 399 peUets No. 

 8 shot to the ounce. This makes 499 peUets in a lioz. 

 charge, which is what Mr, Brown used. His first shot 

 put 539 pellets on target. He used chilled shot, however. 

 I have not at hand a table for that kind, and perhaps they 

 are more numerous than the soft shot in equal weights. 

 Assuming the contrary, the worst target given received 

 aU but 10 of 499 pellets forming the charge. This is 

 indeed wonderful shooting, and it is not difiicult to 

 beheve that the six members of the gun club who were 

 present acknowledged that they had never seen it equalled. 

 The last shot given is 401 pellets No. 7 shot. One oimce 

 of that kind contains 291 pellets, IJoz., 364 pellets. Where 

 did the other 37 come from? Analytical. 



New York, Aug. 20. 



GAME PRESERVING IN BRITAIN. 



in. — the feathered game op the fields. 



AS I said before, partridges, quails and landrails are, 

 strictly speaking, the only feathered game of our 

 fields. Of partridges we boast two varieties, the common 

 or gray partridge (Perdix cimrea), and the red-legged, 

 French or Guernsey partridge {Perdix rubra). Besides 

 these we include, by courtesy rather than by right, the 

 Barbary partridge (P. petrosa), and the Virginian quail, 

 which is here called the Virginian partridge. The former 

 of these two latter birds has been found here in a wild 

 state once or twice, is not fostered and has never been 

 successfully introduced in numbers sufficiently large to 

 waiTant its inclusion among British game birds. The 

 Virginian partridge has been successfully introduced and 

 established here, but not by any means generally, and it 

 is still rather a fancy bird than one reserved tor sporting 

 pm'poses, . . 



Of the two partridges which are in the true spirit of 

 the term game birds, the common variety is immensely 

 superior, and in outside considerations is far ahead of its 

 gallic congener. Indigenous to the country, it finds in 

 the British isles a habitat more congenial, apparently, 

 than any other portion of Em'ope, perhaps of tlie globe. 

 It is not a bird which goes down before the leveling in- 

 fluences of a progressive agriculture; on the contrary, it 

 is to the carefully and extensively cultivated districts that 

 one must go to discover our partridge in its beau ideal of 

 a haunt. With other game bnds it is difterent, civilizing 

 influences scatter them far afield; with the partridge the 

 reverse is the case, since it is as accommodating in its 

 preferences and dislikes as we could wish; it will thrive 

 and multiply as well in the highly-cultivated as in the 

 semi-wild districts, it is as much at home in the meadows 

 as the moorland; but if we want to see the common par- 

 tridge of Britain in greatest numbers and in finest flight, 

 we must go to the best-farmed localities of the coimti-y. 



I must not attempt to describe in detail the many differ- 

 ing disti-icts wherein Perdix finds a congenial haunt. The 

 bird is altogether too ulnquitous to admit of that, but 

 wliile certifying to its more or less pronounced plentiful- 

 ness throughout the British Isles, I may point out that if 

 it be reasonably aided, that if a modicum of assistance m 

 the way of protection from vermin and poaching be lent 

 to it, the partridge will estabhsh itself ahnost anywhere. 

 Any district where there is a fan- proportion of arable 

 land, and where the ground is of somewhat broken char- 

 acter, suits it. Our fields here rarely reach fifty acres, 



probably average about ten; more or less regular hedge- 

 rows, hedges and dykes divide them from one another; 

 trees everywhere dot the landscape; occasionally a stretch 

 of woodland, an expanse of low brake or of common 

 serves to make the cultivated land more apparent. Here, 

 then, where cornfields alternate with meadows, and 

 there again with root-fields, anon to be broken in upon by 

 imcultivated land, the Enghsh partridge finds its most 

 general haunt. Such as I tiy to sketch to you is typical 

 partiidge land. Where stiff" stone walls, closely cropped 

 hedges and an almost distressing succession of meadows 

 are featm-es of the landscape, the partridge finds the 

 locality less suited to its taste and does not attain such 

 numerical strength. The coveys are fewer and further 

 between, the birds usually less robust and the broods 

 frequently small in number. StiU despite all these dis- 

 advantages they will usually maintain themselves in fan' 

 stock and afford plenty of sport if the sheltering arm of 

 the preserver and sportsman be judicially extended to 

 them. 



Upon all our rough uncultivated or semi-cultivated 

 lands we find the partridge fairly plentiful, increasing al- 

 ways as the farmer extends the scope and style of his 

 operations. In the bleak portions of Wales and Scotland, 

 on the rough outlying inhospitable islands surrounding 

 the mainland of the latter province, upon our more 

 southern moorlands and in Ireland, the partridge is every- 

 where comparatively plentiful, so that its generally ac- 

 commodating tastes' as to habitat and haunt ai-e suffi- 

 ciently obvious. The common partiidge is of decidedly in- 

 teresting habits, more so than almost any British game 

 bh-d. In early spring time pasture fields and fallows are 

 mostly frequented, and it rarely leaves these excejjt for 

 the spinnies and low brakes. Sometimes severe weather 

 wiU drive it to the shelter afforded by tliese, at other 

 times and far more frequently it resorts to them to sun 

 and dust itself. The first week m February usually wit- 

 nesses the commencement of the mating time, and if the 

 season proves reasonably favorable, paiiing will be pro- 

 gressing apace by the middle of the same month. It is 

 during this period that the pugnacious instincts of the 

 bird come to the fore. The males always outnumber the 

 females, consequently frequent set-to's for the acquisition 

 of a mate result, and as the Perdix is a determined httle 

 fellow, plucky, almost fierce, the contests are pretty 

 severe. Those cockbirds failing to acqune mates have to 

 hie them to bachelordom, and the pairing of the hen with 

 their victorious competitors in Cupid's arena is completed. 

 According to the distiict so the earliness or lateness of the 

 mating season, and sometimes when cold weather super- 

 venes in March— as it often does here— tlie raating.s will 

 be dissolved and the birds form back into their original 

 coveys to separate and re-paii- afresh at a more pro- 

 pitious moment. 



The common parti-idge is monogamous, and mstances 

 in which it has failed to be so are not recorded. The site 

 of the nest is chosen with great deliberation and some- 

 times after many weeks searching for a site suitable to 

 the exigencies of the case. In point of situation it varies 

 very much, but there will always be one or two little 

 characteristics common to all partridge nests. The nest 

 itself is a very poor affair considering all the time taken 

 up in selecting its site. It is a plain, small hollow, of 

 natural formation or scraped out by the bird, beneath 

 some more or less pronoimced sheltering. The most com- 

 mon sites for partridge nests are beneath some particu- 

 larly pronounced tufts of growth in clover, corn or gxass 

 fields. As a rule, the nest will under these circumstances 

 be found to be situated upon a slightly elevated spot cal- 

 culated to run oft' any water resulting from heavy ram. 

 It may, moreover, be at the foot of some bush, post or 

 tree, beneath a hedgerow, sometimes in a spinney or low 

 covert or broken ground neai- a field; sometimes at the 

 foot of a post or railing; just upon the borders of a moor 

 or within a plantation; if the bird be a moor partridge, 

 then beneath some tuft of heather, where you might find 

 a hare form, or under a sheltering, overhanging ledge 

 near a, river. In aU or any of these spots will the hen 

 pai-tridge place her nest and pm'sue the process of incuba- 

 tion imder the care and close attention of her consort. 

 The eggs, large-sized for the bird, rather round than oval, 

 of a deep olive yellow, vary in number from a half dozen 

 to a score, and average, according to my reckoning, about 

 fom-teen per pair of birds. Three weeks is the period 

 necessary for incubation, during which the male bird 

 keeps assiduous watch, although never assisting in the 

 hatching, while wiUmg to protect his mate with his life. 

 'Truly, dumb nature teaches a pai-adoxical lesson. The 

 partridge will risk all for his unborn progeny and the rat 

 will make a meal off his own at the earhest moment pos- 

 sible! Within a few hours of then- being liatched the 

 young commence to move out and look around for them- 

 selves. The early protection and feeding of the young- 

 sters is shared by both parent birds. They lead them 

 forth, forage for them, and give the chickens such instrac- 

 tion in the way they shoidd go as is to be expected from 

 them. At this tender age young par tridges have many 

 vermin enemies to contend with, crows and magpies and 

 stoats being of these the chief, in addition to inclemen- 

 cies of weather, which at this particular point of their 

 existence often plays sad havoc with them. Durmg the 

 first few weeks of their existence the nightly roost of 

 parent and offspring is made upon the groimd in some 

 spot similar to that where the nest was made, the hen 

 bird covering the chicks with her body, while her consort 

 sometimes assists. Later on, when the young become too 

 large the covey passes the night in a compact bunch, 

 heads pointing outward. Tliis habit of nesting closely 

 together lends considerable assistance to those poachers 

 who practice night-netting of partridges. , , „ , 



Hatcliing time with these birds varies wonderfully, and 

 any time from the middle of March— although this is a 

 most exceptionally early time— to the commencement of 

 July wiU witness their hatching out. A great deal m this 

 respect depends upon the season and the localiLy, so that 

 a iiard and fast line cannot be laid down, although it may 

 be mentioned that the stricter the system of preservation 

 the more irregular the hatching season. 



The daily life of the common partridge is decidedly in- 

 teresting, more so than most birtls. As the sun rises and 

 sends its ravs slanting across the estate, the parti'idges 

 commence "to move about and search for food. This is of 

 many kinds, and varies according to the season of the 

 year'and the locality. In spring and the larger portion of 

 summer, the tender shoots of herbage of countless descrip- 

 tion and theu: seeds. To tlie agricultm-ist it is useful, for 

 chief among its many foods are the weeds of the farm. 



