26 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 13, 1895. 



drius virginicus), for which he claims a flight of 212 

 geographical miles per hour. 



Reference has already been made to the fact that dull 

 or foggy weather affects the height at which birds migrate, 

 and it is generally acknowledged that birds are especially 

 sensitive to the first indications of atmospheric changes. 

 Rain storms, especially if violent, lightning and fog are 

 all likely to interrupt migration, and during the hours 

 preceding such change in the weather birds, are likely to 

 hurry along at unusual speed and in unusual numbers. 



The chapters on the order of migration according to the 

 ages and sex, on exceptional migration phenomena, and 

 on what guides birds during their migration are of ex- 

 ceeding interest, whether one agrees or disagrees with the 

 conclusions reached by the author. It is interesting to see 

 that, notwithstanding the long years of observation and 

 thought which Mr. Gatke has given to the cause of the 

 migratory movement and to what guides birds during 

 their migration, he does not advance new theories to ac- 

 count for any of these phenomena. The second part of 

 the volume consists of a chapter entitled "Changes in the 

 Color of the Plumage of Birds without Moulting." This 

 is followed by the main body of the work, more than 400 

 pages, "in which are enumerated 398 species of birds ob- 

 served by the author in Heligoland, together with his notes 

 on each one. An index of the species mentioned gives an 

 added value to the work, which is also illustrated by two 

 portraits of the author, one of which we reproduce, and 

 by a number of striking tail pieces. 



Quite apart from its value to the ornithologist, this vol- 

 ume has a strong personal interest, for it represents fifty 

 years of absorbing labor by a single man. It can well be 

 understood how year after year his work took a stronger 

 hold on the author, until at last it became so much a part 

 of his life that he thought of little else, and we can imagine 

 something of the satisfaction that he must have experi- 

 enced when the last words were written, and the greater 

 gladness with which, later, he received a copy of the im- 

 posing volume. Such a culminated satisfaction comes to 

 but few men. 



A CAPTIVE HEN-HAWK. 



Lockpoet, N. Y., June 29. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Saturday evening as I was finishing a late supper after a 

 thirty-mile ride about the country on the ' 'silent steed," a 

 neighbor came to the door and said that he had a bird at 

 his house that he wanted me to see. I told him that I 

 would be with him in two minutes and turned him loose 

 in the flower garden. 



Arriving at his house I found that he had a live red- 

 tailed hawk {Buteo borealis). I told him that it was com- 

 monly known as the hen hawk. He said that if that was 

 what it was I could take it away if I wanted it. I found 

 that he had a string around one leg and tied to a crowbar. 

 He said the hawk was captured by getting caught in a 

 coil of wire. 



When I attempted to take the hawk, he faced about and 

 made objections to my doing so; but getting hold of the 

 string I soon had him turned upside down, and getting 

 the free leg in my hand I soon had him under control 

 and in my yard, where I placed him on the handle-bar of 

 the lawn mower and tied the string to the handle. 



Later in the evening I went out to see how the hawk 

 was getting along, when I found the house cat creeping 

 up to him. Now, this cat has a propensity for birds that 

 she finds on the lawn or garden. A few days since she 

 caught a female house wren, but did not have the satis- 

 faction of eating it, as I took it away from her after she 

 had killed it. This wren had just finished a nest in a box 

 on the grape trellis. After taking the bird from the cat I 

 soundly boxed her ears and dropped her to the ground. 

 I hardly think she would have fared as well if she had 

 tackled the hawk. But to make it more safe for the cat 

 I ran the handle of the mower through the entrance of 

 an unused dog kennel and closed the entrance. 



The next morning I withdrew the mower from the ken- 

 nel without disturbing the hawk; but Buteo was not to 

 remain undisturbed, as he was soon discovered by the 

 ever-present English sparrow, who sounded the alarm, 

 and soon the apple and cherry trees were full of birds 

 that came from all directions. There were more robins 

 than I had seen at one time this season, for I had thought 

 them not as plenty as usual this year. They were brave, 

 and looked quite ferocious with their crests erect as they 

 flew back and forth within two feet of their enemy. The 

 orioles also came in numbers, and their bright yellow and 

 black plumage seemed brighter than usual as they flitted 

 through the green foliage of the trees. 



A pair of yellow warblers (Dendroica o&stiva), that have 

 a nest full of young in a pear tree within fifty feet, also 

 joined in the excitement. This is the first instance I have 

 known of warblers nesting within the city limits, and 

 such a nest as these have I have never seen before. The 

 outside is composed entirely of cotton, and it looks like 

 a large snowball that might have been left from the six or 

 eight inches of snow that fell on May 14, when the apple 

 and pear trees were white and pink with blossoms. 



Also a pair of meek little chipping sparrows {Spizella 

 soeialis) got excited and chased each other from tree to 

 tree. Even the lonely house wren {Troglodytes O3don) — 

 which daily, since the death of his mate, has sung his 

 love song from the top of the apple tree overlooking the 

 little box on the grape trellis containing the nest, which 

 his lost love worked so faithfully to build — even he forgot 

 his sorrow during the excitement, and joined in the pro- 

 test against the advent of an unwelcome visitor. 



But a few ineffectual attempts by Buteo to increase the 

 distance between himself and the birds, which only the 

 length of the cord prevented, seemed to assure the ex- 

 cited crowd that there was no danger and most of them 

 soon dispersed. 



But a pair of robins that have their second brood in a 

 near-by apple tree did not seem inclined to give Buteo 

 much peace. The male especially seemed to take pleas- 

 ure in flying from an apple tree across to a cherry tree, 

 under which the hawk sits most of the time on the dog 

 kennel. He usually flies within two feet of the hawk, but 

 sometimes he will go near enough to strike him, when 

 the hawk will turn his head; at other times he does not 

 notice him. 



Buteo seemed to be more docile after his would-be 

 lynchers had taken their departure, and I tried to induce 

 him to partake of food, as he had eaten nothing since he 

 was captured. But although the food offered should have 

 been to his taste— head and neck of a freshly killed 

 chicken — he refused to eat it. While trying to feed him 

 I noticed that the string around his leg did not look safe 



and procured a stronger one and a piece of soft leather 

 and made two holes in it. I expected to have some 

 trouble in putting it on him, but to my surprise he let me 

 do it without moving a toe from the handle-bar of the 

 lawn mower; but he kept his sharp eyes on my hands 

 during the whole time. 



Your readprs will probably think that this is a young bird. 

 Such is not the case, it is at least more than full grown, as 

 no young Buteo borealis could have the plumageof this one; 

 its tail feathers are 9£in. long, crossed with eight bars of 

 brown, except the two middle feathers, which are red 

 with one black bar and tipped with white, but only about 

 7in. long. It is now moulting and at present has only 

 five of the old tail feathers besides the two red ones. I 

 am undecided as to its sex. A few years ago I had a 

 young bird of this species from the nest that I kept until 

 June of the following year, and its first tail feathers were 

 red and I supposed it was a male. After keeping it until 

 it was more than a year old I sent it to the American 

 Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New York. 



The bird I now have is apparently uninjured as far as 

 can be seen, but from the first I noticed a peculiarity 

 about it, and that is that it never turns its head to the left, 

 but always to the right. If it wants to see anything to 

 the left it will turn its head to the right until it is squarely 

 half way around. His eyes are, so far as can be seen, 

 perfect, yet he is entirely blind in the left eye. I generally 

 feed him from my hand, and if I hold the food to the 

 left so that he cannot see it with his right eye, I can move 

 it within half an inch of his left eye as long as I wish and 

 he will not notice it, but as soon as I move it to the right 

 he will take it instantly. The pupil of the left eye ex- 

 pands and contracts with the other. I might advance the 

 idea that hawks have one shortsight and one longsight 

 eye, as a professor of one of your colleges a few years ago 

 advanced the idea that hawks soared by imbricating the 

 wing feathers, because he happened to find them in that 

 position after he had killed one, and it had fallen some 

 distance to the ground. The probability is that the con- 

 cussion from striking the earth was enough to imbricate 

 every feather on it. I have found the wings in the same 

 condition when I have shot hawks on the wing when not 

 soaring. 



I did not start out to write the "life history" of the red- 

 tailed hawk, as that had better be left to Captain Charles 

 E. Bendire, and as these notes have extended much be- 

 yond what the caption alludes to they had better close. 



J. L. Davison. 



A Mother Cat Adopts Rabbits. 



Bloomingdale, N. J., July 5.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Am in receipt of your letter of July 2, asking 

 about a cat bringing home some young rabbits. The fol- 

 lowing are the facts: 



About six weeks ago our pet cat, Tootsie, gave birth to 

 four kittens, all of which were drowned two days later. 

 Two weeks ago, in looking over a berry patch 200yds. 

 back of the house, the Misses Donald saw our cat watch- 

 ing something very closely. On going to look what it 

 was they were surprised to find a nest of seven young 

 rabbits apparently about four days old. The cat was 

 purring and seemed well pleased with her find. They 

 took the cat away and brought her to the house. Next 

 morning, on opening the door, they were again surprised 

 to find four of the young rabbits on the porch and the 

 cat in the act of depositing a fifth in the same place. She 

 went back to the nest again and brought another, put 

 that down with the five and made another trip for the 

 seventh. She then made one more trip and examined 

 the nest carefully to make sure that she had got them all. 

 The seven little rabbits were taken into the house and 

 placed in a box, the cat going in with them. They 

 sucked her, but the cat not having enough milk for them, 

 the family gave them milk out of a teaspoon. Five of 

 them are now alive and bid fair to become full-grown rab- 

 bits, eating now without help. Of the two that are dead 

 one jumped out of the box and got caught between the leg 

 of the table and casing; it was dead when. found. The 

 other was very delicate when the cat first brought it 

 home, still it lived a week. The cat is very proud of her 

 family. She kills and brings to them birds, ground 

 squirrels, etc., evidently expecting them to eat them. 

 Needless to say, they disappoint her. 



The cat and rabbits can be seen any time by calling at 

 my residence. They have been visited by a great num- 

 ber of people already. John Donald. 



Catskill Mountain Deer. 



The deer in the State Game Park in the Catskills have 

 eaten all there was to eat in the preserve and the Commis- 

 sioners have for that reason determined to liberate them. 

 The seventy-four deer were turned out this week. The 

 law protects deer in Ulster, Greene, Delaware and Sulli- 

 van counties for five years. The Commissioners have 

 posted notices of the law and proclaiming: "This herd has 

 been obtained and cared for at great expense by the 

 State, with the intention of restocking the Catskill forests 

 with this kind of game. The co-operation of all good citi- 

 zens is respectfully solicited in the furtherance of this 

 work, and they are particularly requested to discourage 

 all attempts of lawless or thoughtless people to molest 

 these animals, and to report promptly any violation of the 

 law in this respect." 



Deer were formerly found in this region and the species 

 would be there to-day had a wise use been made of the 

 original stock. If only these animals now set free can be 

 protected, they will prove progenitors of a new race of 

 Catskill deer. 



Some Sense in This. 



Philadelphia, July 5.— In the interest of science I 

 think Mr. Hough ought to be suppressed. The way he is 

 going on about horned snakes and snakes with feet, the 

 story of the man who had a tame oyster that would fol- 

 low him up and down stairs will soon cease to be a joke. 



Frank Robinson. 



A man may guy, 



And a man may lie, 

 And a man may puff and blow ! 



But he can't get trade 



By sitting in the shade, 

 Waiting for business to grow. 



If he's wise 



He'll advertise. 



—Source unknown) out worthy of credit. 



'mt\e §}itif mid (fimu 



SMALL-BORE BULLETS. 



New Castle, Col., June 25.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Parker Gillmore once wrote that the best part of every 

 gun is behind the stock, and I believe that it is the same 

 with bullets. There is no doubt that a small bullet prop- 

 erly placed is very effective; but when a snap shot is neces- 

 sary, or when the game stands in an unfavorable position, 

 the larger bores are undoubtedly preferable. 



There are some excellent rifle shots in this part of the 

 Rocky Mountains who use .25-20 rifles for deer hunt- 

 ing, and speak very highly of their effectiveness. Others 

 do excellent work with .32 40s, but the majority prefer 

 .38-55, .40-82, .40 90, .45-70 and .45-90. 



Some men are so nervous that they almost invariably 

 flinch at the report and recoil of a large caliber rifle, and 

 I believe that such men could do better work with the 

 smaller calibers; but for any one who has sufficiently 

 steady nerves to shoot a medium or large-bore rifle with- 

 out flinching at the instant the trigger is pulled, I believe 

 that a .38 to a .45cal. are the sizes best adapted to such 

 game as deer and elk. 



I once owned a .38-55 which killed eight consecutive 

 deer where they stood when the shots were fired. They 

 were shot through the neck, heart or close proximity to 

 the heart at less than 100yds. distance, and in each case 

 dropped with the report of the rifle. 



On another occasion I fired the same gun, loaded with 

 45grs. powder and 270grs. bullet, at a deer standing with 

 his rump toward me at about 450yds. The bullet struck 

 in front of the hip and came out at the base of the neck, 

 dropping the deer inside of 20yds. 



All the sportsmen in this locality who use .38-55 rifles 

 speak very highly of them, and it is their boast that they 

 "never find a bullet in a deer." 



Although the .38-55 possesses remarkable accuracy and 

 penetration, its trajectory is high, and unless one is a 

 good judge of distance he is likely to miss through error 

 in sighting at distances over 150yds. 



Some time ago I discarded the .38-55 for a .40-90 single 

 shot and have obtained more satisfactory results at long 

 range from it than from any rifle I ever owned, including 

 a .32-40 and a .45-90. I procured a grooved bullet mould, 

 355grs., and a set of reloading tools from the Ideal Manu- 

 facturing Co., and the ammunition prepared with them 

 appears to be perfect in every particular. The grooved 

 bullet is preferable to the patched for hunting, and as the 

 wads and lubricating discs used with patched bullets are 

 not necessary with grooved ones, ample space is left in the 

 shell for the full charge of powder. This cartridge pos- 

 sesses great accuracy and penetration with low trajectory 

 at all ranges, a combination difficult to obtain, and I can 

 heartily recommend it for large game shooting, especially 

 at distances of 300yds. and over. • 



Edw. F. Ball, President New Castle Rifle Club. 



REMINISCENCES. 



As the sportsman becomes somewhat advanced in years 

 he takes great pleasure in reviewing the incidents of the 

 past, and his mind dwells lovingly on the many agreeable 

 experiences of days gone by. What sportsman does not 

 remember his first gun and the thrill of rapture that 

 attended his first successful wing shot ? He had killed a 

 bird on the wing, he knew just how he held and fondly 

 believed he had mastered the art. Alas ! But subsequent 

 frequent failures only tend to sweeten an occasional suc- 

 cess, and as he is a true sportsman discouragement is un- 

 known to him. 



The sportsman is a lover of the rod and reel as well as of 

 the gun. He recalls his early angling achievements with 

 rod (pole), minus the reel and worms for bait, and smiles 

 as he thinks of the simplicity of the equipment. But who 

 will say that the joy he felt in those days, when he 

 "yanked" a small trout out of a "likely hole," was less 

 intense than that felt by him in later years when skillfully 

 "playing" a larger trout with a 5oz. split bamboo rod, 

 click reel, enameled line, fine gut leader and flies on No. 

 10 hooks ? 



In looking back upon the past, I recall to mind my first 

 gun and the beginning of my education in the art of 

 shooting. I was about 14 years of age when my father 

 purchased for me a single-barrel muzzle loader, light and 

 a good shooter. 



My brother, four years my senior, was a tirelesa hunter, 

 a good wing shot, owned a double-barreled gun and a 

 pointer dog. Small game was quite plentiful in those 

 days in Connecticut, where we lived. Almost every pasture 

 contained a bevy of quail and "partridge" could be found 

 in fair numbers on the wooded hillsides and frequently in 

 the open fields at quite a distance from the wood., giving 

 a good chance for a shot before they reached cover. 

 Woodcock were numerous in the alder and willow thickets 

 on low ground, and jacksnipe abounded in the swamps 

 and marshy places. 



During many excursions with my brother he did all he 

 could to teach me, giving me the best positions and often 

 waiting until I misBed a bird before he fired. I missed 

 many times before I killed a bird on the wing. I well re- 

 member the first one. It was a woodcock and looked to 

 me as big as a spring chicken. My brother had stationed 

 me in a good position- and gone around on the opposite 

 side of an alder thicket, where he sent the dog in. * 'Look 

 out," he called, and over the tops of the alders the bird 

 appeared coming straight toward me. I raised my gun 

 and fired, and by good luck held so true that without a 

 flutter he dropped almost at my feet. I gave a triumphant 

 yell, and my brother asked in some surprise, "Did you 

 get him?" "Of course I did," said I proudly. After dis- 

 cussing the shot, of which I gave the most minute details, 

 we resumed the hunt and soon had another bird on the 

 wing which I neatly downed, or at least I thought so. 

 We both fired at the same instant and the bird fell. I was 

 sure that I had hit it and explained that it was a much 

 easier bird than the one I had killed before, and if I could 

 kill a hard one of course an easy one like this could not 

 get away from me. He admitted, with perhaps a shade 

 of sarcasm, that undoubtedly the bird was mine. 



We now began to feel the need of refreshments, and 

 ascending a rising piece of ground seated ourselves in the 

 shade of an apple tree near a fence which separated us 

 from a pasture, where we purposed looking for quail after 

 lunch ha4 been discussed, We were quietly engaged/ in. 



