Dec. 2, 1886.1 



FOREST AND STREAM- 



sea 



A REASONiNa Lobster.— While at Bird Island, Buz- 

 zard's Bay, Massachusetts, I noticed what seeraed to point 

 at reason rather than instinct in the lobster. One had 

 his home for the time in a hole under a rock, where the 

 water was about five feet deep. ThinMng to catcli him, 

 I made a noose at the end of a fish -line and by means of a 

 stick spread it carefully around tlie hole; then let down a 

 piece of menhaden, holding it six or eight inches away in 

 front. The lobster soon reached out to take such a nice 

 morsel, when, by jerkmg the string, I had him noosed 

 around one of )iis big claws near the end; biit after I had 

 him half out of his hole the string slipped off and he went 

 back. However, I had no doubt of catebing bim the 

 next time, so spreading the noose as carefully as before, 

 and again letting down the piece of menhaden. T awaited 

 results, when, instead of boldly putting out his claws as 

 before, he first put his feelers through the noose and with 

 a waving motion felt the string all the way around, then 

 pushed one claw imdcr the string and grabbed the bait. 

 Three or four times I tried him with the same result. He 

 first carefully felt the noose all around, then rooted one 

 claw under the string and secured the bait. I fijiaUy had 

 to give up all thoughts of getting him, and came away 

 firmly believing that until this fellow dies of old age the 

 lobster will not be exterminated in oiu- waters. — Willard 

 Nye, Jr. , in Bulletin U. S. FisJi Commission. (New Bed- 

 ford, Mass., May 10, 1886.) 



A Gaime Dinner.— The bill of fare of the twenty-fii-st 

 annl^al game dinner, given by .Jolm B. Drake, of the 

 Chicago Grand Pacific Hotel," mcluded the following: 

 Blue Points. Soup — Venison, hunter style; game broth. 

 Fish — Trout, black bass. Boiled — Leg of mountain sheep, 

 ham of bear, venison tongue, buffalo tongue. Roast — 

 Lohi of bulfalo, mountain sheep, wild goose, cpiail, red- 

 head duck, jack rabbit, blacktail deer, coon, canvasback 

 duck, English hare, bluewing teal, partridge, widgeon, 

 brant, saddle of venison, pheasants, mallard duck, prairie 

 chicken, wild turkey, spotted grouse, black bear, oppos- 

 sum, leg of elk, woodduck, sandliill crane, ruffed grouse, 

 cinnamon bear. Broiled — Bluewing teal, jacksnipe, 

 blackbirds, reed birds, partridge, pheasants, quail, butter- 

 ball duck, English snipe, rice birds, redwing starling, 

 marsh birds, plover, gray squirrel, buffalo steak, rabbits, 

 venison steak. Entrees — ^Antelope steak, rabbit braise, 

 fillet of grouse, venison cutlet, ragout of bear, himter 

 style; oyster pie. Salads — Shrimp, prairie chicken, 

 celery. Ornamental dishes — Pyramid of game, en Belle- 

 viie. Boned duck, au naturel. Pyramid of wild goose 

 liver in jelly. TJie coon out at night. Boned quail, in 

 plumage. Redwing starling on tree. Partridge m nest. 

 Prairie chicken en socle. Among the guests was Long 

 John Wentworth, who had been present at the first dinner, 

 thhty-one years ago. 



APuGNACiOTTS CoON,— Malvern, Ark.— A young man 

 in this neighborhood, a few mornings since, put his little 

 brother upon his horse and seut hini to the branch near 

 the stable to water. Soon the boy came back running 

 the horse, and said that a coon came down the bank of 

 the branch while the horse was {hinking, and jumped 

 upon the log beside him and bit and scratched the horse 

 so that it nearlj^ threw him off in trymg to get out of the 

 branch and up the bank. The young man looked at the 

 horse and found the blood triclding from several rakes 

 and scratches on one of its forelegs. He and the little 

 boy went to the branch, taking a large dog with them. 

 The dog followed the track of tlie coon and soon came up 

 with it and gave battle, and after a few moments suc- 

 ceeded in killing it. But after the coon was dead the dog 

 could not get rid of it, the coon ha\ing seized him by the 

 imder lip and would not let go even after life was extinct. 

 The voung man tried to get the coon's jaws open but 

 coulcf not, so he cut the head off and the dog went to the 

 house with the coon's head hanging to its hp. After go- 

 ing to the house the young man tried again to pry the 

 jaws open, but finally was comxjelled to unjoint the head 

 before he could succeed in getting it loose. — Lew^ Willow. 



That Pet Bear.— The Cleveland Leader reports; The 

 sequel to the story of Rosa ilegchael's terrible death from 

 an attack by a bear was presented in the Common Pleas 

 Court yesterday. Suit was brought by Hemy Dornbrak, 

 her administrator, against Patrick W. Curran, the owner 

 of the bear, to recover $10,000 damages for the death of 

 the child. The petition sets forth that Curran was the 

 owner of a ferocious black bear, which he knew was 

 liable at any time to break from his confinement and in- 

 jure jjersons. Curran is said to have neglected to take 

 any precautionary measures, despite the fact that only 

 last June a man was fiercely attacked and seriously in- 

 jm-ed br the bear. On Oct. 25 Rosa Megchael, while in 

 the yard at No. 1000 Sheriff sti-eet, fell a victim to the 

 ferocity of the animal and was almost mstantly killed. 

 The affair is charged to Curran's alleged carelessness, and 

 he is asked to pay adequate damages; 



FEEDiNaTisiE OF QuAiL,— In your last issue "J. M. W."' 

 asks for theories in regard to where quail may be found 

 at certain periods of the day. I have observed that before 

 frost has come quail seek their feeding grounds at day- 

 light; but when heavy white frosts occiir they do not run 

 imtil the som has caiised them to vanish. After feeding 

 in the morning quail retire to cover, staying sheltered 

 there until the waning of the afternoon, when they again 

 feed; after this, if early yet, they may take to shelter, as 

 I have found them do," "^Now they will go to open field 

 and with heads in and tails out rest for the night. These 

 are my theories and if wrong I hope soon to be enlight- 

 ened by some more accurate observer. — Onojutta (Jtmi- 

 ata county, Pa.). 



Shore Bird Nomenclature.— Taunton, Mass., Nov. 

 37. — I have read with considerable pleasure the contribu- 

 tions to the subject of shore bird nomenclature. Every 

 year I spend several weeks on Cape Cod, and my experi- 

 ence has been gathered iu gimning and talking vrith Capo 

 Cod gunners from Monomoy Point to Provincetown and 

 from Chatham to Wood's Holl. With the addition of the 

 fact that on the south shore the greater yelloAvlegs is 

 called (probably on account of its peculiar whistle) the 

 "cu-cu, my experience coincides with J- 0. Cahoon's 

 in every way, and I was much pleased to see Bo complete 

 a. paper on the subject, — Cohannet, 



Address ail comm'UrvtcaMons to tlie Forisst a/nd SVream Piib. Co. 



AN ODD SHOT AT GROUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: i 



I notice a statement in a recent /number of your good 

 paper that raffed grouse are scared in Maine this year, I 

 returned a few weeks ago from my twelfth annual himt 

 in the Maine woods and can report that I not only never 

 found ruffed grouse lialf so abundant as this year, but 

 heard everywhere that I went similar reports from others. 

 My own hunting was done, as always, in Piscataquis 

 county, but I talked with sportmen. lumbermen and 

 farmers in many places, and all gave the same testimon^^ 

 So plentiful were the birds and so tame that \vc shot tliom 

 every day with oiu- Winchesters, and of course taking 

 nothing but head shots. With a small dog and shotgam 

 one coiild on almost any day of my hunt have bagged in 

 a short time all he could cany. When I left BrowuAille 

 the storekeepers were paying but eight cents ayiiece for 

 them, ajid they were selling in Bangor (so I was told) at 

 35 cents a pair. Every small boy who could command 

 any kind of a gun and a few cents for ammunition was 

 bringing in partridges. 



Singularly enough , for the first time in many years I 

 did not see a single "spruce" partridge, thouj^h tliis may 

 be no proof tliat they were scarcer than usual. 



While I am speaking of grouse I may as well tell of (he 

 singular way in whicli I killed one fine specimen last year 

 and of wMch I have often thought when reading your 

 ever entertaining "That reminds me" column. 



I Avas returning to camp imsiiccessful from a deer hunt 

 on the head waters of Ebeemc River, when a few feet 

 from the path I saw a noble cock partiidge standing with 

 ruff and crest erect, as lovely a sight as one could wish. 

 My weaijon was a Winchester ,45-60, the bullet of wliich. 

 if it struck the body of the bhd, would leave it a shape- 

 less and worthless mass of mingled feathers and flesh. I 

 wanted that bird and aimed at the neck and fired. The 

 bird simply settled a little in tlie leaves but made no other 

 motion whatever, and I sui)posed I had not touched it. 

 Its settling so in the leaves piqued my curiosity and I ad- 

 vanced to it without firing a second shot. To my amaze- 

 ment it did not stir, and yet its eye, turned full upon me, 

 was bright, and every moment I thought it must surely 

 take \vmg. In a moment more, however, the membrane 

 half closed over the eye, and I saw that the bird was dying. 

 I picked it up, but could find no feather ruffled and on its 

 whole body no trace of blood or of the slightest wotmd, 

 AVondering if it were not a case of actually scaring the 

 bird to death, I arrived at camp and again, assisted by the 

 cook of a lumber crew operating near, I examined the 

 bird with all possible care, but without finding any trace 

 of wound, save one tiny speck of blood which somehow 

 appeared on one of my fingers after handling the bird. It 

 was altogether too fine a specimen to waste and I pro- 

 ceeded to carefully skin it and only then discovered the 

 cause of death. On the lower part of the back where the 

 skm is stretched tight over the bone a very small red spot 

 appeared when the skin was removed, and on careful dis- 

 section a tiny fragment of lead, no larger than half the 

 head of a pui, was found, which had passed directly through 

 the spine and liad cut the spinal cord. 



Whether some intervening twig or fine knot had spht 

 ofl' this particle of lead from the bullet or not I cannot 

 say, but a more beautifid specimen for skimaing and the 

 taxidermist's art was never seen than I obtained with my 

 big Winchester, and the bird now occupies a post of honor 

 in my honse and looks as he did when I first saw him, full 

 of life and beauty in his native woods. C. H. Ames. 



Boston, Mass., November, 188(5. 



HUNTING IN THE TRANSVAAL.— 1. 



SABIE, Lydenberg Gold Fields, South Africa, July 39.— 

 I had a present to-day of a watch dog bitch and one 

 puppy; I am going to improve the breed and raise deer- 

 hounds. What we require most is the foxhoimd to follow 

 woimded game, and to improve our breed of pointers. 

 There is not a foxhound in the Transvaal. AVith good 

 dogs we are able to keep om- larder stocked. We are 

 often very hard pushed for powder, which comes very 

 high. I have been back four weeks from my huntnig 

 trip. I had a first-class hunting trip; killed 05 head in 10 

 days. Robert coidd not get away at the same time. I 

 took Beck, my old mate, and about 20 Kaffirs and pack ox. 

 We left the wagon and oxen 3 days from here and walked 

 from the wagon 5 days into the fly country, -with pack ox 

 and boys to carry beef out. We killed 5 giraffes, 3 lions, a 

 buffalo gnu (what we call blue wildebeest), koodoo-zebra, 

 hartebeest, wild boar, impallah, and a riet-bok, but were 

 unlucky in not seeing black rhinoceros or white, although 

 the spoor was plentiful. When we got to the game Ave 

 made a camp. Beck took one good boy and I one — very 

 small though — so that we shouldn't get lost. The style of 

 hunting is this: To go away at sum-ise in different direc- 

 tions and look for game. Wlien we find, if it be a troop, 

 fire and follow on as fast as we can; we get another shot, 

 tear on again, never look at the dead ones, but leg it as 

 best we can, until we feel satisfied, then come back and 

 get the dead ones. One day I had 4 boys with me and 

 killed out of a troop of 7 giraffes 8, and wounded 3 so 

 badly that, had it not been sundown, I'm sure we could 

 have' bagged 5. The 4 Kaffii-s only got 1 bullet in, and 

 that was into a wounded one I ran past and wouldn't 

 waste another shot on. When I pulled uj) shirt and 

 trousers were soaking with perspiration. It is certamly 

 very hai'd work shooting on foot, but you get into such 

 splendid condition. Although you may be knocked up at 

 night, in the morning you are as fresh as a daisy, and 

 have a rousing appetite. The Kaffirs are very poor shots; 

 except the game is within 40 yards they are bound to 

 miss, and they have no idea of a running shot. 



The lions were swarming; nearly every day the boys 

 would see two, tln-ee or foiu". I only saw one and killed 

 him. He has a good slciir and splendid mane; a very old 

 fellow and fat as a pig. He ^ot om- wind and was trot- 

 ting off, so we trotted after him, kno'n'ing that he would 

 stand, look back and give us a good shot.' They go very 

 loism-ely. He stood at about 100yds., and my httle boy 

 with my Martin fired close to my ear the very instant I 

 was pulling the trigger of the Express, and I misged Wm; 

 of course the boy also missed. However, we ran oi^ 



again and he soon gave us another chance and I brought 

 him down. You can tell at once when tliey are wounded; 

 they go no further, but stand and roar continuously, and 

 you have a good shot next time. I ran in to about TOyds. 

 and put an Express holloAv bullet into his ribs, when he 

 fell over. Then I Avent close up and put a bullet through 

 his head. 



One day two of the Kafihs following on the spoor of a, 

 ti'oop of buffalo, got tAvo dead buffalo, killed by lions; 

 they followed on to the troop and shot a big buffalo. It 

 began to belloAV and one Kafiir took another direction (lie 

 says by accident, but the fact is he was afraid of the 

 buffalo). The other boy (an old hunter) was going to give 

 it a finisliing shot, when a big lion came boundurg out, 

 and caught the buffalo by the nose and threAv him down 

 and stood on him. The boy fired at the lion but missed. 

 Lion goes away and the boy goes up and cuts off the taU, 

 and A\^as just looking about Avhere to cut next when he 

 sees the lion come on again. He fired and raissed again; 

 tlie lion runs off. The boy comes to the camp for some 

 of the other boys to assist him, but it got dark and they 

 lost the place. 



I had three young boys with me thai day, and we fol- 

 io Aved a Avounded giraffe too long and lost our whereabouts. ' 

 The boys Avere very determined to find the camp, and we 

 walked for three hours after sundoAvn. .Just by accident 

 Ave came to near the dead buffalo, and to hear the lions 

 feeding and fighting and roaring was Avell worth a long 

 walk and a sleep out. 



The boys womd go no further. They made half a dozen 

 big fires and we slept in the center. We had had no 

 Avater since the forenoon, and nothing to eat since before ' 

 sunrise. I couldn't describe the roAv the brutes were 

 making, it Avas terrible. I proposed to go nearer and sit 

 up a tree a,nd listen and perha]5s get a shot, but my boys 

 wouldn't hear of it. It does not matter for lions or 

 hyenas as long as you can make a fire, and there is always 

 plenty of Avood. The hyenas are strange animals, they 

 are in hundreds round your camp every night, howling 

 and laughing, and to a stranger very alarming; they are 

 fierce-looking and come within a few yards, but are great 

 coAvards. The wild dogs can drive them oft" a carcass and 

 the dogs are much smaller. The Rons ate our pack ox, 

 but it Avas through the carelessness of two boys,^oImade 

 them pay £8 between them; we intended killing it on 

 getting home, as it would haA-e died from the fly. Five 

 dogs we took doAvn are dead already. Beck enjoyed liim- 

 self immensely and shot well. W. S. 



[For the foregoing extracts from a private letter we are- 

 indebted to a Canadian correspondent.] 



HINTS TO TRAPPERS. 



THE folloAving instructions are furnished by Wm. 

 Macnaughton's Sons, fur commission merchants, 79 

 Spring street, New York. They will be formd useful to 

 one Avho may Avish to preserve furs. 



Cased Skins. — Ermine, fisher, foxes, lynx, martin, mink, 

 opossum, otter, skunk, must be "cased," that is, not cut 

 open. In skinning, cut at the rump, and turn the skin 

 inside out (like a glove) over the body of the animal, leav- 

 ing the pelt side out. Then, after scraping, cleaning and 

 drying, turn the skin back again while it is soft and easily 

 managed, leaving the fm- side out. Then put a thin board 

 inside the skin, cut the natural shape of it, stretching the 

 skin to its fullest extent, but not so much as to make the 

 fur thin. Too much stretching sjireads the fur over a 

 large surface and makes it thin and lacking in richness. 

 A liberal supply of good boards should be kept on hand. 

 Stand or hang in a dry, any, shady place. Keep out of 

 sun, away from fire and smoke. Remove board when fairly 

 diy. Never use bent sticks, bows or anything irregular 

 in shape or that yields. When the above are "opened" 

 they have a Southern appearance that lessens the value 

 greatly. 



^ Open Skins. — Badger, bear, beaver, cats, raccoon, 

 wolves, wolverine, must be "open," that is, cut open tip 

 the belly from rump to head. After scraping, cleaning 

 and drying, stretch a uniformly oblong shape to the 

 fullest extent of the skin, but not so much as to make the 

 fiu- thin. When thoroughly dry, trim off legs, shanks, 

 fiippers and any little pieces that spoil appearance of skih, 

 but leave on heads and noses. 



Beaver are sometimes stretched almost round, but ajj- 

 pear very much better stretched oblong. Value by the 

 skin, never by the pound. They rapidly lose lieaAdly in 

 v/eight. They bring most sold by the skin. 



Muskrats must be "cased," but Avith fur side in. Chop 

 off the tails as explained. Skin at the nose and make 

 rumps square. Round tails have less value and do not 

 sell Avell. Muskrats must not be injured by shot or spear- 

 mg. Ti-ap them. 



Skins that have dried without proper care can be treated 

 same as fresh, green skins. Otherwise they have ho 

 value. Dissolve a handftil of common salt in a pail of 

 fresh Avater and apjjly frequently with brush or rag (to 

 pelt .side only, as it spoils the appearance to wet the fur) 

 until the pelt becomes perfectly soft. Tlieii handle as ex- 

 plained. The same with "open" skins. 



Trap Furs. — Spearing tears the pelt. Shot cuts the pelt 

 and sliaA'es off the fur. Both do bad injury and lessen 

 selling price. Do not cm'e Avith alum or salt. It injures 

 them for dressing and spoils their sale. Do not dry skins 

 at a fire or in the sun or in smoke. It often burns them, 

 when they then spoil and ruin on being dressed. Dry ui 

 the open air where shady. Meaty skins often "burn." The 

 meat and fat on them "heats" and "burns" them, and they 

 then go to pieces and rot on being dressed. Skins should 

 be attended to at once, when fresh, and every particle of 

 fat and flesh removed Avhen it can be done easily and 

 Avithout tearing or injuring the pelt. Too much warmth 

 curls and spoils the top fur or hair. Never stuff f m-s of 

 any kind; dry and stretch as explained. Do not stretch 

 out the noses and make them jjointed. It gives a South- 

 ern appearance and lessens value. Do not cut off heads, 

 ears or noses, or mutilate in any way. It lessens A^alue 

 and injures sale. Remove as much of bone from iail as 

 possible, othei-Avise the taU rots. The pelt should he as ' 

 clean and smooth as a piece of paper. Skunk with the 

 AA^hite strij)e (or any portion) shared out, blackened or 

 tampered with must be collected at half price. 



Fur-bearing animals must not be killed till they have 

 at least a fair groAvth of fm-. Stop trapping as soon in 

 early spring as the fiu- begins to shed or becomes thin or 

 a httle faded. These too early or too late caught furs are 

 a disgi-ace to fur trappers and collectors and Sf wasteftil. ' 

 Avorthless slaughter. 



