138 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 17, 1895. 



built of limestone, are massive and unsurpassed in the ex- 

 tent and beauty of their unkroken line and stretch of con- 

 tinuous masonry for several miles. No unsightly ware- 

 houses disfigure the river front, but a broad terrace, faced 

 with gray limestone, the parapet of which is surmounted 

 with an iron railing, divides the river from the city 

 throughout its whole extent. 



Using the splendid carriage service of the city we make 

 the regular tour of the town, seeing all of the public 

 buildings and churches and convents and squares, and 

 driving through the Mountain Park by an easy, winding, 

 magnificent road, we suddenly reached the brdw of 

 Mount Royal, where before us this beautiful city lay; we 

 spent much time in admiring the splendid view and in 

 looking with a glass particularly at the bridge and river 

 and Lachine Canal, and at the domes and spires of the 

 grand and stately churches. 



We came down from the mountain by carriage; we 

 might have made both ascent and descent by cable car, 

 which must be an interesting and exciting experience, 

 but we did not do it because one of our party had a taBtu 

 of such aerial riding at Niagara Falls, and cared for no 

 more of it in this world. Had it been winter, some of us 

 might have ventured upon the great toboggan slMe on 

 the mountain, and have flashed down while we held our 

 breaths. 



We visited many of the churches, which are noted for 

 their beautiful architecture and for their interior orna- 

 mentation by frescoes, painting and statuary. St. Peter's 

 Cathedral, whose dome is said to be an exact copy of the 

 mighty dome of St. Peter's at Rome, is the largest of the 

 churches, but. by no means the most ornate or beautiful. 

 All of the Jesuit and Roman Catholic churches are open 

 at all times and strangers are welcome to visit them. 



The hotels are large and elegant. The railroad depots 

 are massive. The public buildings of the city are all ex- 

 ceedingly fine. Many of the dwellings with their beauti- 

 ful surroundings are suggestive of the luxuriousness of 

 millionaires; and altogether our experience in Montreal 

 has given us the memory of a city beautiful for situation, 

 handsome to look upon, healthful to live in, and full of 

 joyous prosperity. G. L. Danforth. 



MlDDLEBtJBGH. N. Y. 



THE OSTRICH IN AMERICA. 



Mr. E. S. Johnson, manager of the American Ostrich 

 Co., of Fall Brook Farm, San Diego County, California, 

 supplies the following data in regard to the ostrich and 

 ostrich culture in his State. The illustrations appended 

 are probably the best ever made of the young and 

 the adult specimens of the bird, and may be of in- 

 terest to readers of Forest and Stream. Mr. Johnson's 

 little circular shows that the ostrich is singular in some 

 of its habits, as well as in its appearance. It is curious 

 to note that its period of incubation is two days shorter 

 in California than in Africa — 42 days in Africa and 40 in 

 California. Verily, California beats the world! Mr. 

 Johnson's statement goes on to say, among other things: 



"In their wild state the hen at the approach of her ma- 

 turity wanders away from her own troop in search of a 

 male from some other troop, thus instinctively avoiding 

 inter-breeding. She invariably makes the selection, and 

 when made it is 'until death do us part.' The hen ma- 

 tures at about four, the cock at five years of age. After 

 mating they prepare for housekeeping by scooping a 

 nest in sand or loose soil, pushing with their breast bone 

 and kicking out behind with their toes. The nest when 

 completed is four feet in diameter and slanting to a depth 

 of ten inches in the center, saucer shaped. Madam de- 

 posits one egg every alternate day until from eight to 

 fifteen are collected. These are faithfully turned every 



cessive morning, while the 'Doctor' fretted and shifted 

 uneasily about, longing to straighten his cramped legs 

 and to get his breakfast after the weary sixteen hours of 

 warning and watching. When at last the sixteen hours 

 had lengthened into seventeen he became enraged, and 

 springing from the nest pursued his sweetheart several 

 times around the paddock, interspersing good hard kicks, 

 well laid on, with the running. Madam soon decided 

 that a nest of beautiful eggs was her heart's desire, and to 

 sit on them a glorious duty— a duty that she faithfully 

 performed thereafter until the eggs were hatched." 

 "At six months of age the chick is first plucked. The 



" COBBETT "—MALE OSTEICH. 



plumes at this age are not of much commercial value, 

 and are called spadonas. From this age on the bird is 

 plucked every ten months, the feathers attaining perfec- 

 tion at the maturity of the bird. Twenty-six plumes in 

 each wing are protected by floss feathers underneath and 

 by three rows of feathers above, overlapping each other. 

 Those in the row first above the plumes are called long 

 black or long drab, according to the sex of the bird; next 

 above, mediums, and top row, shorts. Besides the wing 

 feathers the tails are also taken. Body feathers are not 

 taken, but are picked up during the moulting season and 

 U3ed for cloak trimmings, collarettes, etc. An average 



blinding the bird, while a small opening is left in the toe 

 of the hood through which the beak projects to admit of 

 breathing. When blinded the bird becomes passive and 

 can be moved into a stall to prevent his moving forward, 

 while the operators prevent him from backing. 



"The kicking qualities of an ostrich are great, but he 

 exercises the prerogative only when in the breeding 

 season. They do not back up to one for that purpose, as 

 has been often stated, but are thoroughly progressive in 

 whatever direction they start. The kick is delivered 

 either standing or running and has a distinct up and down 

 stroke. The former is a pusher, the latter is a ripper, and 

 woe to the party that waits for it. When in the immediate 

 vicinity of an infuriated ostrich, a high board fence is 

 comforting; lacking this one should be provided for pro- 

 tection |with a 'scaffle'— a pole ten feet long with a 

 forked end. One has an electrical moment in which to 

 determine that nerve is more to be desired than an option 

 on real estate, and the desire to keep that bird's neck in 

 the fork and his feet ten feet away occupies one's mind 

 to the exclusion of other interesting problems. If success- 

 ful in resisting repeated charges in this manner, the 

 adversary will lose confidence in his powers and edge 

 away. One may then congratulate one's self with modifi- 

 cations, never forgetting to watch the bird diligently 

 while in his presence. In plucking a breeding bird, it 

 sometimes becomes necessary to pick a fight with him 

 before he can be caught. He comes to the fence, delivers 

 a kick or two, to the detriment of the fence and his toes, 

 and his persecutor deftly catches a firm hold of his neck, 

 just below the orifice of the ear, springs over the fence, 

 bearing the bird's head to the ground, thus barring him 

 from the upright position necessary in delivering a kick. 

 A hood is then quickly drawn over the head with the 

 other hand and pulled tight by a puckering string— the 

 beak sticking far enough through to admit of breathing. 

 When blinded in this manner, the most quarrelsome 

 ostrich becomes docile, and can be pushed and plucked 

 with entire safety." 



ABOUT BEARS. 



The last Maine winter was' a favorable season for bears. 

 They were able to travel about at their pleasure all the 

 first part of the winter. The snow was not deep until 

 after hibernating time and the weather was not ex- 

 tremely cold except one or two short freezes. Contrary 

 to the common idea, bears are not governed so much by 

 the cold weather or deep snows about denning up as by the 

 abundance or scarcity of berries and other food. When 

 berries are plentiful bears do not go to den even when we 

 have early deep snows. 



I once followed a bear track in a foot or more of snow, 

 I think in the year 1847, from near my camp in township 

 No. 4, Range 1, in Oxford county, Me., near Mooseluc- 

 meguntic Lake, and being young and full of hunting 

 gimp, I loaded myself down with a week's provisions and 

 gun, ax, bear trap, bait, etc., etc., and started on the trail. 

 I was a tenderfoot hunter then. I learned better later on. 

 The bear was a very large one and he led me over mount- 

 ains and through swamps and among the thickest, rough- 

 est tangle, over rocks, logs and tree tops, and to annoy me 

 more when utterly exhausted and I sat down to rest the 

 bear did the same, and when I started he would start. 

 For the next three days I did not get sight of him , although 

 I was often within gunshot of him. In the thick swamp 

 the traveling was very tiresome and discouraging, and 

 the nights cold and disagreeable camping, yet the bear 

 made him a bed of balsams every night within the hear- 

 ing of the sound of my ax while chopping night wood. 



The fourth day I got enough of it, and made my way 

 straight toward home, where I safely arrived — a wiser 

 hunter than when I started out, my ardor for following 

 bears to their dens being very much cooled off. I believe 

 it to be a fact that a bear will never den up while pur- 

 sued, but will at once go in when the pursuit iB stopped. 



OSTRICH CHICKS— ONE TO TEN DAYS OLD. 



BREEDING BIRDS. 



day in order that the germ, which is held in place by a 

 delicate spiral cord and always near the upside of the 

 egg, may not become inactive and thuB cause an imper- 

 fect embryo. The birds take regular turns at setting on 

 the nest— the hen occupying it from 8 A. M. until 4 P. M 

 while the gallant male takes the sixteen-hour watch 

 from 4 P. M. until 8 A. M. They are punctual about 



Mr. Johnson tells an amusing incident of how oneway- 

 ward spouse, who tried to shirk going on the nest 

 promptly, was brought to her senses by her lord and 

 master: s In the same year and place above mentioned 

 and about two weeks prior to the hatching of the 'Doc- 

 tor's' brood, Mrs. 'Doctor' became lax in her duties and 

 failed to relieve her lord and master at the usual hour— S 

 A. M. For several mornings she did not take her place 

 in the nest on time, delaying a little longer each suc- 



feather bird yields l£lbs. of feathers at a plucking, those 

 of the male being of a heavier quality and: of more value 

 than those of the hen. The difference is quickly seen in 

 the barbs of the plumes of the male and hen, each separ- 

 ate barb being a complete feather in itself. 



"In order to take the plumes when they are at their 

 best— this time is just before they are ripe, and before they 

 begin to look worn or frayed at their tips— the quills 

 should be cut with a pair of sharp clippers (small pruning 

 shears), about two inches from the socket. The stubs are 

 left two or three months to ripen and can then be easily 

 pulled without injury to the socket in the wing. In 

 pulling stubs, care must be taken to pull them out straight, 

 for if pulled with a twist the new growing feather will 

 come with a twist and its value much impaired. 



"In the operation of plucking, a long stocking-shaped 

 hood is drawn over the head and down the neck, thus 



Mr. Sargent, who lived near Umbagog lake, captured 

 a bear alive and denned him in a hollow log in his wood 

 pile. The next spring, in the last of March, he happened 

 to think of his bear when he was chopping up his wood 

 pile; and cut open the bear log, and found the bear frozen 

 solid. The reason was that the log was not covered with 

 snow. The den of the bear is almost always under the 

 ground, under the roots of a turned-up tree, or in the 

 openings of a hedge or some other dismal hole or cavern. 

 For one-half the year the bear is isolated from the outside 

 world, wrapped in hibernating slumber akin to death — 

 it may be in the base of a mountain, in the depths of the 

 wilderness, within the confines of a dreary cavern alone. 

 What can we imagine more desolate and forbidding? But 

 when the balmy air of spring blows its breath, the bear 

 awakes to new life. He loses but little flesh during the 

 long cold winter; and if he goes into den fat, he comes 



