Sept. 9, 1886,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



128 



and that of his own takmg, Pelatiah had never felt more 

 completely happy. If the day had heen cold, the glow of 

 pride and happiness would have kept tlie wet clothes 

 from chilling him; in the genial sunshine of tiiis most per- 

 fect of early spring days, he scarcely felt that his boots 

 were full of water, that he was soaked and sodden to the 

 waist. He heard, but only noticed as a pleasant accom- 

 paniment to his inward song of thanksgiving, the frequent 

 roll of the partridges' muffled drums far and near in the 

 woods; hardly wondered what unseasonable game Drive 

 liad afoot where he was making the woods resound with 

 lazy echoes of his sonorous voice, Gims were booming 

 all along the shores— the thm report of rifles spitting out 

 their light charges, the bellow of miiskets belching out 

 their four fingers of powder, tow wads and "double B's," 

 and giving one's shoulder a sympathetic tmnge as he 

 thought how the shooter's must be aching — all proclaimed 

 tliat it was a sad day for the j)ickerel that had come on to 

 Little Otter's marshes to spawn. Pi'obably not one man 

 of the fifty who were htmting them there had a thought 

 of what the fish were there for, or would have cared if 

 he had. There were too many pickerel, and always would 

 be. There could he no exhaustion of the supply of them 

 nor of any other fish. Any proposition to protect fish 

 and game of any kind, to prescribe any method of taking, 

 to limit tlie season of killing, would have been thought an 

 attempt to introduce hated Old World laws and customs. 

 Hunting and fishing were the privileges of every free- 

 bom American; to use or abuse whenever, wherever and 

 however he was disi^osed. And he could not live long 

 enough to see the end of it, for why should there not 

 always be fish and game as innumerable in aU these un- 

 numbered acres of water and marsh and woods? Alas! 

 why not? 



A nearer shot, that seemed the familiao.- voice of the 

 "Ore Bed," caused Pelatiah to peer among the tree trunks 

 in its direction, and he saw the log canoe not far away 

 and one of its crew taking something from the water with 

 a sheen of scales and drip of sparkling drops. At first he 

 had a mind to hail them, learn their luck and proclaim 

 his, hut on second thought he felt that there woidd be 

 more glory in surprising them on their return to camp 

 with the actual, unimpeachable proof of his success. So 

 after watciiing tliem out of sight, he cut the brightest 

 blood-red ozier twig he could find and strung his fish 

 upon it, though with the feeling that a silver cord would 

 more befit their worth and beauty. Then he reloaded his 

 gun with a most generous charge in consideration of its 

 recent good sei'vice, and went on in search of new con- 

 quests, his hoots chuckling at every step in their lining of 

 water, as if they, too, were rejoicing in liis triumph. He 

 soon saw where a fish was ' 'playing" at some little dis- 

 tance from the shore, and working carefully toward it 

 under cover of an insular stump, he gained that coigne of 

 vantage and stood with unstable footing on its roots when 

 he saw the fish within sliort range and fired at it. The 

 recod of the heavy chai-ge pushed him a step backward, 

 his foot caught in a root, and over he toppled at full length 

 with a gasping grunt and a splash that drove an upward 

 showei- of water drops into the lower branches of the 

 trees. He hardly waited to regain his feet before he 

 scrambled to the place where he had last seen the fish. 

 And there it was, motionless, belly up a,nd bigger than 

 those he had on his string 1 He thought as he slipped the 

 osier through the gilis and viciously toothed great jaws 

 tliat he had suffered none too much for such a reward, 

 that he would rather have been put to soak in the Slang 

 for an hour than to have lost it. When he became fully 



Eossessed with the sense of his exploit, he could not with- 

 old a triumphant yell, so discordant and so unlike any 

 voice that some of the distant shooters had ever heard 

 that a report soon after became current of "a painter a- 

 hengin' raound in the Slang woods." 



His gTin was wet now and he had only wet tow to swab 

 it with, and though the powder was dry in his horn, the 

 little paper box of caps with a lot of foreign lingo printed 

 On the green cover around the prominent letters "G. D." 

 (which some took to be abbreviated profanity), was satu- 

 rated almost to pulpiness. But he must try once more, 

 and so he wiaing out a handful of tow and swabbed the 

 gun from complete wetness to moderate dampness, 

 jjoured in a handful of powder and rammed down upon it 

 a wad that needed no chewing to moisten it, emptied in 

 Ms last charge of shot, wadded that, and placed a forlorn 

 hope of a cap that he had blown the water out of on the 

 nipple, in which not a grain of powder showed. "Nothin' 

 like tiyin'," Pelatiah said hopefully, and, mooring his fish 

 in a safe puddle, he went to where a great mossy log- 

 reached far out into inviting waters. He worked his' way 

 with careful steps along it, crouching under overhanging 

 branches that he steadied htmseU: by, and looking sharply 

 on either side. A basking turtle slipped off the outer end, 

 and the sj)lash of his sudden immersion startled a fishj 

 that came witli a great arrowy wake a little out from and 

 parallel with the log. Watching the point of it, Pelatiah 

 saw in the amber shallows the great savage head and long- 

 blotched sides of one of the monster pickerel of the 

 mai-shes, slowing up just against Mm. His heart almost 

 stood still as he put Ms gun to his yet acMng shoulder. 

 Whispering to it inwardly, "You won't sarve'me sech a 

 dummed caper agin," he leaned far forward to counter- 

 balance the expected recoil and pulled tlie trigger with 

 might and maiu. The striker fell on the wet cap with a 

 dull, flat click, and too late aware of a misfire to recover 

 Mb balance, he went sprawling into the water, the gun 

 slanting breech up with the muzzle stuck a foot deep in 

 the soft bottom. The frightened fish made almost as great 

 a commotion in getting out of the dangerous precinct, at 

 the first dash nearly stranding itself on the weedy slope of 

 the shore, then sti-uggling well afloat again, making a 

 wild dash tMough a tangle of bushes that made their tops 

 shiver along Ms course, then surging into the open 

 water and departing with a wake like a boafs. Pelatiah 

 got upon his feet, and, pulling his gun out of the mud, 

 waded ashore. "The' 's one goldarned comfort 'baout it," 

 he said aloud, as he turned and sadly surveyed the yet 

 troubled waters, "the' wa'n't nobuddy seen me a-kerwol- 

 lopin' in there like a dum fool, 'n' I don't care!" 



"Waal," said a nasal voice not three rods away, "that 

 'ere was a consid'able of a splotteration-ah!" There was a 

 kmd of grunt at the end of the speaker's sentence, as if 

 his overcharge of words kicked. 



Turning Ms astonished and abashed face the young fel- 

 low saw a tall raw-boned man regarding him with a, grin, 

 whether serious or mirthful, it was hard to decide, "Tliat 

 'ere was an all-termu table big pick'ril-ah. I wish t' land o' 

 massy I'd ha' got here fust-ahl I'd ha' got him, an' I 



you'd ha' lost him-ah! But that's alius my pleggy 

 dummed luck — somebody er 'notlier a-gittin' in 'head on 

 me an' a-takm' the bread right outen my mouth-ah!" 



"Kinder seems 's 'ough we'dbotli on us lost him," Pela- 

 tiah said, piclfing up his sti-ing of fish a,nd making ready 

 to depart. The late comer strode to him and snatching 

 tlie string from his hand and holding it close to his nose 

 slowly turned the fish one way and another, as he critic- 

 ally examined them, 



"Honh! waal,'" with a half contemptuous snort, "you've 

 had sorter half way decent luck-ah. Them's middlin' 

 decent sized fish-ah — wuth carr'in' hum 'f jo\i ha' Tit had 

 no fisli t' eat tMs year-ah," Pelatiah was beginning to 

 hate him. "But-ah," returning the fish to the owner as 

 if they were worth no further notice, "you've got a" orfle 

 sozzlin' to pay for what you got an' ha'n't got-ah, an' 

 you'd orter go right straight hum an' git some dry close 

 on 'f you've got any-ah. It isdrif&e onhealtliy a-gittin' 

 wet so wi' you're close on-ah. Like's not you'll Iiavc the 

 rheumatiz-^er chills — mebby it'll set ye inter fev'n'aag' ; 

 shouldn't wonder a mito-ah. Naow, take it in summer, 

 'n' I lufi'ter onstrip an' go in mider tlie dam 't the HoUer 

 an' shaower off 'ir then take a head dive int' the pawnd- 

 ah, 'n' turn the cu-c'lation o' the blood tother way-ah— it 

 makes a feller feel so iieat-ah! But this traipsin' raound 

 in yom- wet close is tarr'ble bad. I wouldn't git wet 's you 

 be for fom- dollars 'n' seventy-five cents-ah! Where 'baouts 

 du ye live when you're t' hum, anyway?" 



"Up to Dan vis,'" Pelatiah answered. 



"Tu Dan-vis!" the man exclaimed, "you don't say so? 

 It's as much as twenty mild off -ah! Waal, 'f you've got 

 to go cleam away there 'ith yer wet close on, you'll 

 hafter hoof it taraal smart t' git hum 'fore you're sick- 

 ah 'n' ye can't lug them fish 'n' yer gun. You'll wanter 

 keep yer gun, I 'spose, though 't 'aint much to look at, but 

 I'll take yer fish 'f you don't wanter heave 'em awaj^-ahl" 



Pelatiah would as cheerfully have given hmi his heart as 

 those precious fish. "Bleeged tu ye; they're little bits o' 

 fellers, 'n I guess I c'n kerry 'em," he said rather sarcast- 

 ically, declimng the generous offer, "fur 's I'm goin', I 

 got some folks a campin' u]i yonder," nodding in the 

 direction of the "pallis," 



"0-ah!" with a tone of disappointment, "Waal, you 

 'd better go an" dry off 's soon 's ye can-ah . I did n't come 

 a liuntin'," glancing at the ancient musket he held in his 

 hand, "I come a lookin' arter some rhuts 't I want-ah. 

 My Avomern she's a fee-male doctor, messmericle. My 

 brother. Job, Junyer, he gives her the in-flew-ence 'n' puts 

 her to sleep-ah. 'N' then she can look right inter yer in- 

 sides an' read 'em just like a book-ah. Terms, half a 

 dollar for examernation-ah, one dollar for proscription-ah, 

 cash on dehvery-ah, Sleepin' Sairy, probably you 've 

 hearn tell on her-ah." 



Pelatiah was obliged to confess that he had never heard 

 of tliis siijiernaturally gifted woman, and turning away 

 went toward camp as his new acquaintance muttered 

 something about "onenlighted critters," Casting a look 

 behind, he saw him walking carefully out along a log, 

 with his gim at a ready, and wondered what kind of roots 

 he could be in search of, Pelatiali's heart was not entirely 

 regenerate, and perhaps just then nothing would have 

 gladdened it more than to have seen the disparager of his 

 luck make a "splotteration" such as he had suffered. 



Arrived at camp he made a complete change of raiment, 

 and was toastmg himself in great contentment by the re- 

 plenished fijL-e when late in the afternoon his companions 

 retiu-ned. He had thought of dressmg Ms fish, but it 

 seemed too bad to take even a scale from them before his 

 friends had seen them in then- entii-eness. How he wished 

 that he might display them on the store steps at Danvis 

 and tell the story of their capture, with judicious omis- 

 sions, to the admii-ing audience of evening loungers. His 

 jiride was somewhat brought down when he saw the dozen 

 or more big fellows that Sam and Antoiue tossed out of 

 the canoe, but still he felt that he had done well, for a 

 boy, and his friends gave him generous praise. 



Antoine dragged a slab to the water's edge, and seating 

 himself a-straddle of it, slapped a large fish upon it in 

 front of himself, wMch he forthwith set about cleaning, 

 while Sam and Pelatiah squatted close by and watched 

 the process. "You wan' scratch it, scratch it, dem peek- 

 rils great many," he instructed them out of the shower of 

 scales he set flying, "Den w'en you'll pull off all hecs 

 shell oft' of it, you wan' wash heem plenty — wash an' 

 scratch — so!" and he doused the scaled fish in the water, 

 scraping it with his knife and washing it, over and over 

 again, till the skin was quite wMte and free from a sus- 

 picion of shme. "Somebody he ant' more as half scratch 

 off peekril clean 'nough, den he cook it, an' he ant tas' 

 good of it, den he'll said, 'daam dat peekrils! he don't 

 fit for be decent!' Bah gosh! Ah sliow you, me!" Then 

 he split the fish down the back, cut off the head, took out 

 what he called the "inroads," washed it again, and cut it 

 into convenient pieces for the frying pan. When he had 

 tried the fat out of a couple of slices of salt pork and set 

 the fish to Mssing in the pan with the bubbling accom- 

 paniment of the potatato kettle, an odor so savory per- 

 vaded the atmosphere of the camp that it made the 

 moutlis of the hungry men water, and the imnutes of 

 waiting for supper seem like slow hours of starvation. 

 The fragrance of it was wafted to the nostrils of a wood 

 chopper half a mile away, and so aroused the sacred rage 

 of hunger witMn Mrn, that he was forced to shoulder his 

 axe and go home to an early supper. 



Antome set the potato kettle on the board and Lifting 

 tlie frying pan from the coals with his hat for a holder, 

 placed it beside it and announced supper. "Goo'bye, 

 M'sieu Cochon; goo'bye, M'sieu Mash Rabbit; how you 

 was pooty well, M'sieu Peekril? A'U very glad for see 

 you to-day, seh! Hoorah boys!" The bag of drv bread 

 was brought out, and then the three fell to work in a 

 silence that was broken only by grunts and sighs of sat- 

 isfaction, the sputtering out of fish bones and the clatter 

 of the few implements of onslaught. At the end of it 

 Antoine said, as he prepared a charge for his pipe: "Wal 

 seh, boy, 'f Ah always feel jis' Ah was naow, Ah ant 

 never heat no more! He ant cos' much for mail boards 

 den, don't it Sam?" 



"i expeck," Sam answered, seai-ching for a grass stalk 

 to clear Ms pipestem, "'at it's some wi' you as 't was wi' 

 Brother Foot to the prayer meetin', 'BretM-en and sisters,' 

 says he, 'as I feel naow, I wouldn't take the hull world 

 for the feelin's 'at I feel! But, brethren and sisters, I 

 don't allers feel jes' 's i feel naow!' " 



The sky had become overc"kst with cm-dly clouds except 

 a strip along the horizon, which at sunset was a broad 

 belt of orange-red fire glowing between the dark gray 



clouds, and the blue-black Ijastions of the Adirondacks 

 and the frayed fringe of somber woods; and nearer than 

 tlie shadows of tlicsc, the brimming expanse of unrufiied 

 water glowed with the same intense coloi". When the 

 trappers crept mto their nest, the niglit was dark and 

 starless; a chill breath of northerly air was sighing in the 

 hemlocks, and the great owls were hooting a dolorous 

 warning of coming storm. Listeriing to them, Sam re- 

 marked as he made his final yawn under the blankotB, 

 "Not much fun nor profit for us fellers to-morrer, so the 

 aowJs sez." 



Achlrm nil coinnmnical'uim to the, Forest and Stream Pult). Go- 



THE BIRDS OF MICHIGAN. 



BY DR. MOKE IS GIBES. 



63. Qeothlypis philadelpUki (Wils.) Baird — ^IVIourning 

 warbler. 



A bird of peculiar distribution. In certain sections very 

 abundant, while in many quai-ters it is never seen. Not 

 the least singular axe its lines or track in migration dur- 

 ing which is very rarely observed south of 4o \ wliile it is 

 exceedingly abundant in many quarters less than ten 

 miles north of that degree, and in m;iny counties it is one 

 of the most common species of tlu- family. 



It is a species which follows in the wake of civilization 

 I think, as it evidently prefers the edges of clearings and 

 evergreen tracts where once st(:)t)d heavy forests. Sager, 

 in 1839, did not embrace it in his list. "^Neither di<l Dr. 

 MUes, 1860, or even Hughes in his list about 18T(J. Boles, 

 1875, "Bmls of Southern Michigan," mentions it as tran- 

 sient. Covert, 1878, "Birds of T,ower Peninsula," says, 

 "Very scarce, two males taken." Dr. Atkins did not 

 secure one until 1881, Ingham comity. 



I first met -^vitli it in Ottawa county in IS'/'B, when 

 three specimens were secured. The following year 

 tM-ee of us shot over tliii-t>- six'cimens, all but four being- 

 males. We saw many others, but learned but little of 

 their habits and did not find a nest although we searched 

 diligently and were on the grounds at the pro]3er season. 

 The birds are very shy at all times and to secure a series 

 of skins requires great ]:)atience. One might accidentally 

 find a bu-d witMn easy range, but the chance woultl be 

 unusual, and tlie most careful sneaking or perfect qiuet, 

 waiting till the birds reappear from the bush will succeed. 

 The females are especially shy, and I do not think that I 

 have ever seen more than four or five. The males from 

 their habit of perching on limbs, nearly always of dead trees 

 and bushes, are most noticeable and are attractive from 

 the song by which i have generally been guided to them. 

 In Montcalm county, 1880, I found them very abundant, 

 and dm'ing my sojourn of four years in tliat new, partially 

 cleared section, became quite well acquainted with the 

 musical birds. I think it safe to say that with the excep- 

 tion of the prau-ie warbler, and perha])s Avithout any 

 exception, the mourning is the most abundant sxiecie of 

 the family in Montcalm county. 



I have said that I thought this species influenced by 

 civilization, and by it I meant, in this mstance, that the 

 birds followed in the wake of the forest destroyers. Par- 

 ticularly are the bu-ds abundant along tlie edges of clear- 

 ings where pine trees have stood. The pineries, as is well 

 known, are nearly, if not all, north of 4o' north latitude 

 in this State, and very few, if any. bu-ds summer south of 

 this degree. No authenticated record of capture except dm-- 

 ing migration has reached me south of this parallel. How- 

 ever, to the north, where the forests are less distTObed, 

 the moimiing warbler is not found, or at least they are so 

 scarce that tliey are not seen. Mr, Chapin does not em- 

 brace it in his manuscript list to me of the birds of 

 Emmett, Antrim and Charlevoix counties. Neither is it 

 recorded by Kneeland in his list of the birds of KeweenaAv 

 Point, 1857. I think it will eventually prove abundant in 

 all of those northern counties as soon as the mtermediate 

 portions of the State are partially cleared so that tlie 

 birds shall find then- way over favorable territory and 

 extend their range. On June 35, 1883, I found tlie'blrds 

 quite plentiful at Cadillac, 44;' 20' north latitude and 85" 

 30' west longitude, although 1 feel satisiled that fifteen 

 years ago not one bird could have been secured there, 

 when the forest of pine was unbroken. 



The mourmng warbler is a late arrival, usually, and 

 although he may appear somewhat earlier in the extreme 

 southern parts of the State, he is so rarely seen during 

 migration that we get but fe^v dates from such observa- 

 tions. Trombley, of Mom-oe county, the extreme south- 

 east coimty of the State, has only recorded tliree speci- 

 mens, which were observed in early May. My earliest 

 recorded arrival is May 11, which occurred in 1883 — an 

 early season. TMs was in Montcalm county, and the 

 same year Mr. Syke secured a line male on the" 31st of the 

 month, which is the only instance of its capture in Jvala- 

 mazoo county. It appears singular that Ins specimen was 

 shot over eighty miles south of the fii-st arrival in my 

 locality, but not" till ten days later. In 1883 the birds did 

 not arrive until May 30, although I kept a careful watch 

 for them. May 13" and 14 are other careful records of 

 arrival north of 43" north latitude. 



The mourning wai'bler evidently comes with fidl forces 

 in its spring visits, and although occasionally a single 

 bu'd is heard a few days in advance of the bulk of the 

 migrants, usually a great many are heard tin; first day or 

 so of their appearance. Never having observed the 

 species south of its nesting liaunts and during migration, 

 I can not say that the birds do not appear silent at first. 

 It may be that they remain a week with us before open- 

 ing song. But as all the mformation one can get is taken 

 while fi stoning to the song, it is impossible to say. At 

 all other times they remam concealed, and are only known 

 by then- notes. The song is not dissimilar to tliat of the 

 giitteral notes of some of the house wrens' muttering. 

 There are also a few of the chirps and scoldings similar 

 to the Maryland yellow-throat. The song may be described 

 by the notes c7!/ree-c?^e-c7t', cliree-clle-de . clrree'dle-de, cliree- 

 dh-daJi, or only chree-dle-de, cliree-dle-de, diree-dle-dah. 

 The last notes, cliree-dle-da, being much lower than the 

 others. The song is very musical, iileasing and sounds 

 (juite mysterious as it is heard issuing from the bmsli. It 

 is quite "penetrating, and can be readily heard for a quar- 

 ter of a mile on a still morning. 

 While singing, the males if possible, select a dead 



