224 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 14, 1886. 



some cases had not the species captured within the bound- 

 aries of Michigan: 





Average 



Average 



Average 

 Extent 



Average Tail., 



Greatest 



Longest 

 Wing 



Greatest 

 Extent 



Shortest 

 Specimen.... 



Shortest 

 Wing 



Least Extent. 



p 



N 



pj 



M. varia 



4.95 



2.81 



8.47 



3.09 



5.23 



3.85 



9.00 



4.36 



3 73 



8.13 



6 



H. chrysoptera 



4.89 



2.50 



7.30 



2.04 



5.33 



3.94 



7.86 



4.78 



3:41 



6.70 



8 



H. rxiflcapilla 



4.. 58 



3.&5 



7.17 



1.79 



5.00 



3.46 



7.50 



4.34 



3.18 



6.66 



13 



H. peregrina 



4.77 



3.. 58 



7.88 





5.00 



2.65 



8.00 



4.60 



2.45 



7.64 



9 



P. americana 



4., 51 



2.40 



7.14 



\'.7(\ 



4.98 



2.65 



7.4(! 



4.18 



3.10 



6.60 



8 



P. tigrina 



i 93 





7.89 





4.98 





8.00 



4.78 





7.76 



11 



D. fBstlva 



4.85 



3.44 



7.39 



i.ki 



5.00 





7.78 



4.74 



2.m 



7.13 



9 



D. CEerulescens 



5.05 



3.01 



7.58 



2.01 



5.27 



3.(30 



8.04 



4.83 



3.43 



7.20 





C01'0H3.t3f 



5.28 



2.44 



s.no 



2.20 



5., 37 



2.65 



8.63 



5.16 



2.05 



7.58 

 6.96 



22 



D. maculosa : . 



4.2! 







7.11 





4.74 





7.36 



4.68 





7 



D. cserulea 



i.m 





6.60 













*1 



D. pennsylvanica. . . 





2.49 



7.411.98 



5J.5 



3; 79 



8!oo 



i.hi 



2.17 



6!58 



8 



D. castanea 







6.14 





6.03 



3.95 



9.20 



5.30 



3.91 



9.08 



6 



D. MackburniPG.. . . 







8.22 



2.06 



5.36 



3.78 



8.80 



4.66 



3.62 



7.64 



7 



D.dominica albilora 



5.(10 



2.64 



8.00 



2.07 















*1 



D. virens.. 



4.88 



2.72 



7.. 56 



2.06 



5.03 



3 '.60 



s'oo 



iM 



2! 39 



7; 38 



13 





5.44 





7.84 





5.58 





8.22 



5.31 





7.06 





D. palmar um 



5.12 





7.71 





5.. 50 





7.92 



i.m 





7.50 



7 



D. discolor 



4.60 



2.i9 



6.77 



l'.88 



4.86 



3!34 



6.94 



4.24 



2 '.07 



6.24 



11 







3.38 



a 7S t>. as 



6.04 



3.76 



9.60 



5.77 



3.07 



9.. 50 





S. n£Bvius 



5.64 



3.86 



9.11 



3 '.08 



6.00 



2.93 



9.17 



5.37 



2.79 



9.00 



'8 



S. motacilla ... 



6.00 



3.30 



10.332.16 



6.05 



3.46 



10.. 56 



5.93 



3.13 



9.90 



10 



G. Philadelphia 



5.13 



2.43 



7.48 3.09 



5.48 



2.54 



6.70 



4.89 



3.33 



7.86 



11 



G. trichas 



5.17 



3.39 



6.9613.18 



5.38 



2.33 



7.20 



5.01 



3.26 



6.61 



3 



M. mitratus 



5.38 



3.66 



8.162.60 



5.70 



3.88 



8.80 



5.06 



3.. 53 



7.90 



14 



M. canadensis 



5.34 



2.58 



7.81 



2.38 



5.64 



3.80 



8.00 



5.03 



3.53 



7.26 



10 







3.64 



7 f(5 2 45 



5.43 



3.68 



8.32 



4.94 



3.58 



7,00 



7 













* Only one specimen of these species, and the flgi.;re cannot be 

 taken as an average. 

 Kalamazoo, Mich., Sept. 18. 



Fangs and Rattles.— During the winter of 1884-85 I 

 was following my calling as a taxidermist in a South 

 Florida town. One day a tourist brought me a large 

 male rattler, the skin of which he wished to have pre- 

 served so that on his return North it could be tanned for 

 slippers. While I was busy preparing the skin my cus- 

 tomer took up my large wire cutters and exti'acted the 

 snake's fangs. I had no occasion to use these cutters 

 again for more than a month, but it so happened that 

 Avith the iirst whe I did sever with them I slightly 

 scratched one of my fingers on the first joint, hardly 

 breaking the skin. Within an hour it was greatly in- 

 flamed and causing much f)ain. The next morning my 

 arm was swollen to the elbow, and I promptly called in 

 the services of a physician. In a week the swelling and 

 soreness had disappeared, and I congratulated myself that 

 I was cured; but two days later it again became inflamed 

 and I again went through the same experience. After 

 this I received no more trouble from it for about six 

 months, when, for the thu-d time, it laid me up for a 

 week, since then I have heard nothing from it, but am 

 never likely to forget it, for I am left with a finger 

 slightly deformed, although good for all practical uses. I 

 at once adopted for a motto: "No rattlers need apply." — 

 Black Spot. 



Autumn Bird Notes.— Forreston. 111., Oct, 10,— Our 

 northern warblers have been migTating southward now 

 for about ten days. Among those mostly seen are the 

 chestnut-sided, yellow-rumped, black-tlrroated green, 

 black-throated blue and black and white creeper, Wliite- 

 throated sparrows have been numerous along the hedges 

 for several days and among them are a few white-crowned. 

 Kinglets are very numerous and feed principally on 

 insects that infest the wild crab apple and thorn apple. 

 Brown creepers and red-bellied nuthatches were never so 

 abundant as they are this fall. Robins are still here and 

 feed mostly in large flocks. But few wild j>igeons have 

 been seen this fall. Golden- winged woodpeckers have 

 been very abundant, but there were two heavy frosts lately, 

 since which but few have been seen. Turtle doves have 

 been very scarce and none are seen where in former years 

 they were plenty. I have not noticed any blue-gxay 

 gnatcatchers this fall and but few humming birds. — H. 

 A. Kline. 



FAMILIAR.ITY OF BiBDS.— Agawam, Mass., Oct. 5.— 

 Tliere seems to be some interest in the familiarity of some 

 of the smaller birds with human beings. Fifteen years 

 ago I spent a winter with a brother cutting timber on the 

 fii-st rocky ledge west of the Connecticut River in this 

 State, and" xmder his training I learned to teach the com- 

 mon chickadee to feed out of my hands. It requires only 

 a little patience, very cold weatlier and deep snow for 

 this; when the snow disap]3eared they preferred their 

 natural food. They seemed to know the dinner hour as 

 well as ourselves, but although lighting indifferently on 

 my shoulder, open palm of hand, fingers or thrunb, I never 

 could close m}^ hand quick enough to capture one. It 

 seemed to be the same individuals of the flock that fed 

 from the hand each day. — Pine Teee. 



Swimming Rabbit. — Lynn, Mass., Oct. 3,— A few days 

 ago two men, Charlie Dodge and A, M, Tufts, were fish- 

 ing on Spring Pond, between Ljom and Peabody, when 

 they observed, an animal swimming across the pond. Mr. 

 Tufts made a noise and the swimmer pricked up his ears 

 and turned round and round in the water and started for 

 the shore. They overtook and caught in the landing net 

 what proved to be a full grown rabbit. There was noth- 

 ing to frighten it and besides it could have gone around 

 the foot of the pond and not have any fiu'ther to go than 

 to swim across. The pond is about 200yds. wide at this 

 place. It seemed to svrim as fast and easy as a dog, — X. 



A Tame Woodpecker. — Jefferson, N. H. — At the Maple 

 House in this village is a tame pileated woodpecker; he 

 is so tame that he will eat from his OAvner's hands; one of 

 his wings is clipped. His food consists of grasshoppers, 

 ants, crickets and small grubs f oimd in rotten trees. Will 

 iinj of your readers give information in regard to winter 

 food for him?— Sportsman, 



The Sea Serpent is alleged to have been seen Oct. 10 

 by P. S. Sanford and W. Stroude, of Westport, Conn., 

 and Dr. Keys, of New York, half way between Westport 

 and Southport in the Sound. The story is said to have 

 been received as "creditable," which it might well enough 

 be even if not credible. 



The Otter in New England.— Is the otter so nearly ex- 

 tinct here in New England as the author of "Sam Level's 

 Camps" seems to tlrink? As long as I lived near the Con- 

 necticut River, a trapper took one at least each winter at 

 a certain ledge of rock, and the tracks of others were seen 

 about the ponds or passing from one brook to another, 

 and I understand the fur dealers usually secure a pelt or 

 two about the South wick Ponds, this State, each season; 

 and three of us now resident here are sure we saw one in 

 a small pond near the house where I am -vvi-iting, fom- 

 years ago.— Pine Tree (Agawam. Mass.). 



PvECETvT A RKIVALS AT THE PHILADELPHIA ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN. 



— Purchased— One pileated jay (Cuanconu; piUata), one anaconda 

 [&M-/(ecte,9 mmimtg), nine slow-worms {An^iuw traffics), and thirty- 

 iive European salamanders (S, maculom). Presented— Thirteen 

 gray squirrels Sciurus earoUnensis), two muskrats (Fihf rzibcthinn><), 

 onei-accoon (Procyon Zfltor), one black bear (Uravs americanm), 

 two turtle doves {Tiirtiir 7'isorim), seven cactus conures {Cunurus 

 cactorum), one LevaiUant's amazon (Chrimtis IcvaiUcmU), one 

 Egyptian monitor (VaTmim iiiloticus), one 'Hai dwick's mastigure 

 {Urommtix harduiickii), four alligators (AUimtw rni><sMiyplemig), 

 two horned toads (Phrynosoma cormita) and one horned toad (P, 

 d(mgJassl). 



mme §Hg nnd 0ut^. 



Address aU communications to tM Forent and Stream Puh. Co. 



ON THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



SUMTER, South Carolma.— The season for field sport is 

 just now opening. The excessive rain in the spring 

 destroyed a large portion of the first hatcliing of quail; 

 but the fruitful birds have repaired the damage, and my 

 dogs run upon coveys by the roadside almost daily within 

 a mile of the town from which I vsrrite. Our last Legisla- 

 ture passed a law changing the open season to Nov. 1. As 

 the birds were late on account of the desti'uctive rains, 

 the law is wise for this year; but ordinarily by Oct. 1 they 

 are well gro\\Ti and ready for the gun. 



Sumter is only a short distance from the coast, say 60 

 miles, and between here and the salt one can find all 

 manner of game. WiU you bear with me while I give an 

 outline? Pawley's Island, situated on the open sea, ten 

 miles above Georgetovsoi, is a magnificent summer retreat 

 for those who are willing to put up with a private board- 

 ing house, A mile and a half from shore is a coral reef 

 where fish of aU sorts abound, A few days ago three of 

 us caught 126 trout and sheepshead in 55 minutes. In the 

 creeks to the rear of the island are oyster banks and shal- 

 lows which supply abundance of crabs and slrrimps. Our 

 party of Sumter tomists reveled in these delicacies every 

 day while on the island. At night, with a light in the 

 boat, we found sport in striking flounders with a spear. 

 They lie in shallow waterpartly concealed under the mud. 

 It requires a keen eye to detect them, but practice will 

 soon enable one to (iiscover their hiding place. In this 

 sport the ladies would join, and on some nights we bagged 

 fifty, many of them weighing five pounds. The siuf 

 bathing on the beach is unsurpassed by any that I know 

 of; not even does Tybee, below Savannah, nor the beach 

 on Sullivan's Island in any way compare with that on 

 Pawley's Island. 



But the finest sport to be found there is in driving for 

 deer. The Waccamaw River runs along our sea coast for 

 thirty miles, forming a neck between the river and the 

 beach which wiU. not average more than four miles in 

 width. Toward the southern end of this neck deer are 

 found in great numbers, but the ground is very low and 

 is broken into bays and marshes. Many of these places 

 have never felt a human footfall. Only a skillful hound 

 can penetrate them, and there the deer find hiding places. 

 To stalk or fire-hunt them is impossible. One cannot see 

 ten paces ahead of him. Our only means of getting at 

 the deer is to turn in the dogs, and as the deer generally 

 rim in set routes, we soon learn where to stand for them. 

 The yelp of the dogs and the whoop of the drivers is 

 very startling to one's nerves, and the crash of the deer 

 through the undergrowth gives a coup de grace to the 

 whole, so that it is fully possible for one to miss his aim. 

 A party of us the other day, thirteen in number, put in 

 the dogs at the head of a dense bog. Within ten minutes 

 I heard the crack of a gun. It was a miss. On came tlie 

 game right along the Une of standers, and as good luck 

 would have it it fell to my luck to put in the fatal shot. 

 At the next drive we had scarcely been posted by the 

 leader of the party before the dogs came yelping and 

 screaming toward us. We were standing in a fine, 

 100yds. apart, along a straight, open road. Away at the 

 other end of the line I heard a gun, then a horn. This 

 was the signal that "meat was on hand," as they put it. 

 But the dogs did not hush. On they came. Away down 

 the road I saw a venerable M. D. and the judge of our 

 County Court with ^ms at their shoulders, as if ready to 

 fire. I accused the judge afterward of having danced a 

 handsome jig. Bang! the M.D, had shot. Bang! a second 

 time, but no horn blew, "Oh, we'U get him," said the 

 Doctor, and as we rode in the direction along which the 

 deer had gone, one of my ponies, ridden by a friend, gave 

 a hmge to one side, and there lay a magnificent buck. 

 Laying Iiim across a horse we went out to the road, and 

 there met La Bruce with a second buck, so we had bagged 

 three deer ^vitllin two hours. On these trips to the neck 

 we always find abvmdance of game, and rarely ever come 

 to our stopping place without one or more deer. 



Up the Waccamaw River, along the rice fields and 

 marshes and at Big Marsh, near the mouth of Winyaw 

 Bay, ducks of all sorts congregate — shaU I say it? — in mill- 

 ions. I have seen ten acres of water so completely cov- 

 ered that one could not throw an apple among the ducks 

 without striking one. From these great gatherings they 

 rise and fly from time to time in droves of from five to 

 fifty. If one knows where to place his decoys and has 

 leamed to shoot the ducks while going from liim and not 

 while coming to hhn, his share of meat is assured. I 

 brought tu sixteen summer ducks one evening lately and 

 they were then flying very badly. The large ducks I have 

 not yet tried this season. ' In two days last hunting season 

 a friend and myself bagged 152. During November and 

 December is the time for the large ducks. 



Our sport now immediately aroimd Sumter is fishing 

 for pike and shooting squu-rels. A seat in the swamp on 

 any afternoon will soon reveal the squm-els running up 

 and do^^-n the trees. A bag of twenty is not hard to ob- 

 tain. Then the pike! The little lakes and outside creeks 

 in the swamps are now very low. In fact many of the 

 creeks have ceased to flow and the pike are hungry. They 



will rise at anything— a piece of bacon or a strip of red 

 flannel or a strip from the belly of a fish. On Monday 

 several of us (two ladies in the party) hung up sixty pike 

 in two hours' fishing. Some of tliem ai-e of good size, 

 measuring loin., the majority averaging 12in. and weigh- 

 ing lib. These fish are close akin to the fish Northern 

 folks call pickerel and which we call jack-fish. They 

 bite just like the jack, that Ls, they pull the bait down 

 and se.em to chew on it before swallowing. Tlie fislier- 

 man must learn to give them abundance of time. After 

 they chew the bait a while, they will liang on to it and 

 allow you to flirt them out of the water without ever 

 being touclied by the hook. It is .said of an old fellow in 

 the country near here that his jerlis are so severe that as 

 soon as he flu-ts a pounder out ' from ilie water, he casts 

 oft' his hat so as to be better able to hear where the fish 

 drops. I have seen Nash, a ''commercial tourist," Hft 

 them from the water and up into the trees 20ft. high. 

 But it's big sport. At times they bite as if ravenous. One 

 man will string fifty in as many minutes. Then again 

 they flirt your cork about with their tail and fool and>ex 

 you, but refuse pointedly to lake the bait. Within an 

 hour a change comes over them and then you cannot feed 

 them fast enough. 



Dr. Mood has secured a curiosity in the shape of an alli- 

 gator's head, and has it in one of om- drug stores on exhi- 

 bition. The animal was 16ft, 3in, long, by actual meas- 

 urement. The following are the measurements of the 

 skeleton head: From eye to eye, 6in. ; from tip of nose to 

 first joint of neck, 24m.; distance around mouth midway 

 between nose and eyes, 28in. ; from tip to tip when mouth 

 is open, 16in. ; distance around head over eye sockets. 

 34in. This beast was found dying in Wateree' Swamp, 20 

 miles from Sumter. 



One or two gentlemen from the North have been down 

 to spend a month in the winter shooting quail. Let others 

 come. They ^^-iil find good companionship if they seek 

 out the ijroper kind of people. Good board can be had 

 for $20 per month, and abundance of qtiaU within easy 

 walk of the town. The lands are not po,sted and persons 

 who demean themselves well are not regarded as tres- 

 passers. Now, a pot-himter miglit find it different, but of 

 course, I do not invite any such to come. 



Just a word more. Will you not provoke some of your 

 correspondents to writ e upon the subject of loading shells? 

 I shoot a 71bs. hammerless gun, and find that for quad 

 Si^drs. powder and l^oz. shot with tlu-ee pink-edge wads 

 on the powder and then yjasteboard on the shot, does the 

 best work. If I fail to kill it is because I miss the bird. 

 Will others give me the benefit of their experience? 



When the quail season opens I wiU give an account of 

 my first day's hunt. C. C. Brown. 



HALCYON DAYS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



When I was a boy Uving in a small village in southern 

 New York, long vacations between school days was the 

 rule, it being considered extravagant by most parents to 

 allow more than fom- or five montlLS schooling in the year, 

 and that in the winter when there was no farm work to 

 do. Then boys had to work and their duties began at 

 dayhght when they were called to go for the cows, and 

 ended only at darli after milking time, the intervening 

 hours being occupied in doing anythuig that a boy coidd 

 do, and often as much as men were expected to do. A 

 boy's hfe on a farm was not by any means an easy one, 

 nor was it an unhappy one, for they were brought up to 

 work and knew no better. Rainy days were generally 

 holidays, and were sj^ent in amusements best known to 

 the average country boy. 



It was my good fortune, considered in a, boy's standpoint 

 of judgment, to be possessed of parents who did not live 

 on a farm, and while I had certain chores to attend to, 

 and they were made imperative, a fair portion of the 

 vacation season was left to myself, and occurring in that 



Eart of the year, beginning in the early sprmg and lastmg 

 ite in the fall, ! had golden opportunities for indulging 

 in all the freaks and inclinations of boyish nature. I had 

 few companions, for most other boys were engaged m the 

 arduous duty of farm work, but tliere were two or three 

 about the -sTllage whose company might not have been 

 considered exactly proper by the good folks at home had 

 it been knovni of my association with them, whom I 

 could rely upon almost an y time for a lark or ramble 

 through the woods and fields. They were not bad boys 

 in the sense of the word, for they had never been far 

 enough away from the qiuet, peaceful little to\vnto learn 

 anything really bad, the objections to them being based 

 on the fact that they would rather fish and hunt or loaf 

 around than work.' "Chij)" Mason, one of tliese, about 

 my own age, stout, good-natured, and always dressed in 

 a brief siut consisting of an old chip hat, shkt and baggy 

 pants, rolled lialf way up to the knees, xipheld by one 

 home-made suspender, was my favorite. Chip was the 

 owner of a large black dog of no particular breed, but an 

 imusuaLly intelligent animal. Chip had expended a great 

 deal of patience in Snap's education, and was rewarded 

 one day by the faithful brute saving his Hfe, dragging 

 him from the millpond in which he had fallen, for Chip, 

 with all Ixis accomplishments, could not swim, and there- 

 after boy and dog were fu-m and inseparable friends. 



One uioming early in September, while I was engaged 

 in the to me particularly disagreeable task of cleaning out 

 the cellar of an old building adjoining oirr house, prepar- 

 atory to getting ready for the winter vegetables, etc., the 

 doorway was darkened and 1 was greeted wilii, "Wat 

 yer doin'?" It was Chip, and when I told IlIlil and ex- 

 plained that I had nearly an aU-day's job before me, his 

 countenance assumed a disappointed expression, and, 

 stepping inside, he walked up close to me and half whis- 

 pered, "I got er coon in an ole holler log over 'n the hol- 

 ler, an' I thought yer cud go 'long an' help me ketch 'im. 

 Snap drove 'ira in when I was comin' over from ole 

 Spoony berger's tliis momin', an' I plugged up the hole 

 with a big stone." 



Here was an opportunity for fim, indeed; but how to 

 get away was the question. I had strict ordei-s to finish 

 the job in hand that day, and former experience had 

 taught me that any disobedience of orders from my pater- 

 nal ancestor would not be overlooked. I did not know 

 how to manage it, and was about to gi\ e up the idea 

 when Chip came to my relief . "Tell yer wat ITl do. Ef 

 yer kin go wen yer git this done, I'll help yer. That 

 coon 's got ter be ketched to-day." And at it we went. 

 Chip worked harder tlian I ever knew hitn to work before, 

 and considerable extra exertion on my part enabled us to 

 get tlirough by half-past 11 o'clock. Taking particular 



