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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 23, 1895. 



esque appearance. For a considerable distance we rode 

 through lovely parks, like the one I had visited in the 

 morning. As we ascended, the quaking asp were re- 

 placed by spruce, the soil covering the rocks grew scanty 

 and finally we entered a rocky basin — the source of Mid- 

 dle Elk Creek. 



Climbing up the northwest side of the basin, we struck 

 the old Ute trail over which the Indians formerly trav- 

 eled from Utah to Denver. Following this, we were soon 

 on the divide between the Grand and White rivers, two 

 miles above sea level and almost at timber line. The trees 

 were as large at the base as those at lower altitudes, but 

 tapered off suddenly at the top, so that a tree large 

 enough at the roots to reach a height of 75 to 100ft. would 

 stop at 25ft. The rocks were swept bare of soil, and their 

 weather-beaten appearance testified to the sovere storms 

 that swept over them. A few hundred yards to the north- 

 west "Old Baldy" reared his treeless head, and in the 

 cafiomiin his sides lay perpetual snow. Right below us 

 lay the Indian Lakes, also known as the Elk Lakes, and 

 from them flowed the South Fork of the "White River. 

 In the distance Marvine Mountain and the Flat Tops tow- 

 ered above the surrounding peaks— like Old Baldy, tree- 

 less and bare. 



For several minutes we paused to gaze on one of the 

 finest bits of mountain scenery I have ever beheld; then, 

 as a sudden storm of rain and hail burst around us, we 

 started for camp, returning along the top of the mesa. 

 While we were still almost at timber line a fine cock 

 grouse flew up into a stunted spruce, and Andrew added 

 him to bis string. Soon the storm passed and we entered 

 a labyrinth of small box canons, favorite resting places 

 for deer during the heat of the day. Tracks were plenti- 

 ful, but no deer. Along the rocky sides of the canons a 

 colony of woodchucks had their home, and Andrew 

 rolled a fat one over in order to get his grease, which has 

 the reputation among frontiersmen of making good gun 

 oil. 



In the top of a dead spruce I saw a large hawk, the 

 arch enemy of grouse, and dropped him at 75yds. with a 

 shot from the little Stevens. 



We were wet and tired by the time we reached camp, 

 but soon got dried out. After supper Joe and I watched 

 for elk until dark beside a little lake where tracks were 

 numerous, but nothing came. 



At daylight next morning I started out and soon caught 

 sight of a buck about 400yds. away in the open. While 

 making a careful stalk through a clump of timber, a 

 bunch of horses came along and frightened the deer. 

 Before I had gone a quarter of a mile further, a cold rain 

 set in and I returned to camp. 



After the storm had ceased we packed up our dunnage 

 and started back, knocking over some more grouse by the 

 way. 



While we were riding through a large open park, J oe 

 noticed a hawk high in the air above us acting in a very 

 peculiar manner. While we were looking we saw it drop 

 something which fell close to where we were. The some- 

 thing proved to be a weasel which the hawk had en- 

 deavored to capture, but the wiry little animal had proved 

 too tough a customer. 



At Joe's cabin we had dinner, and after adding half of 

 the deer's carcass to Brownie's pack, started out for New 

 Castle. On the way I noticed a snowshoe jack rabbit 

 hopping along into some spruce timber, but as soon as I 

 dismounted to shoot he hid behind a pile of brush and 

 rocks with only his big ears visible. I took a shot at the 

 place where his head appeared to be, but fortunately for 

 the rabbit a rock intervened and he escaped. 



When I reached home I found orders which sent me up 

 into the duck country on the Illinois River; then down 

 into a spur of the Sangre de Christo range in New Mexico; 

 and now I am longing for the time when I will again be 

 in northern Colorado, where I can once more stand on the 

 divide and look far across to the Flat Tops and Marvine 

 Mountain, for the sight of their summits brings memories 

 of many glorious days spent in the Baddle or on foot with 

 true friends, some of whom it may never be my fortune 

 to Bee again. Edw. F. Ball. 



Blossburo, New Mexico. 



SPORTSMANSHIP AGAIN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



"What is a sportsman?" "What is a true sportsman?" 



The subject is as old as I can remember. It was agitat- 

 ed in The Spirit of the Times in the old days, and Rod 

 and Gun long before Forest and Stream was published, 

 and has bobbed up every now and then in the latter until 

 every "sportsman" who reads Forest and Stream must 

 be familiar with it. 



Now, what is sport? 



"Mirth; diversion; contemptuous mirth; plaything; play; 

 diversion of the field, as fowling, hunting [or fishing; to 

 represent by any kind of play, etc." 



"Sportsman — one who pursues the sports of the field ; one 

 who hunts, fishes or fowls; one skilled in the sports of 

 the field." 



That ought to settle it so far as field sports go, but it 

 don't seem to, for they still ask, "What is a true sports- 

 man?" and then they call one kind of a hunter a "pot- 

 hunter" and another a "game hog." Some look contemp- 

 tuously upon the man who hunts with a $4 "Zulu" because 

 he cannot afford any better, and others growl at the more 

 fortunate man who is the possessor of an elaborate outfit, 

 while both may share equal pleasure and be as conscien- 

 tious in pursuit of it as it is possible for any human to be, 

 and the "Zulu" man would possess an elaborate outfit too, 

 if he could, because he has an equal love for the gun and 

 dog. 



1 wiBh the question might be settled, for I want to see 

 this great family of Forest and Stream live harmoniously 

 together as good brothers and sisters should. Aye, sisters; 

 we are adding them to the family circle every day> God 

 bless 'em I Forest and Stream is making men and 

 women better every day. 



If I were asked to define my ideal "true sportsman," I 

 would say that I think he is the man who hunts or fishes 

 for the enjoyment he derives from it, whether he be rich 

 or poor; one who anticipates and actually enjoys the 

 fatigue that follows a successful or unsuccessful day 

 afield. He is observant and enjoys the surroundings of 

 nature, and is not discontented if unsuccessful. He loves 

 his rod, or gun and dog, and is scrupulously neat and care- 

 ful with his outfit, reading from it the stories of bygone 

 days as from the pages of a well-worn book, longing for 

 others to come. He is honest, manly and lawrabidjng, 



courteous, sympathetic and charitable in feeling toward 

 his brother sportsman, always willing to give you the 

 pleasure of his companionship afield when he is not 

 "chained to business" or otherwise prevented, and one 

 whom you wish to have with you again. 



I used to have one such for a hunting chum, but, alas! 

 he crossed the dark divide years ago and I hunt mostly 

 alone now. J. H. B. 



McKkk's Rocks, Pa., Nov. 9. 



HAIR WORMS. 



No doubt many of our readers have heard what is some- 

 times alleged by those not properly informed, that a hair 

 in water will turn to a worm, at least certain kinds of hairs 

 under certain conditions. Mr. E. F. Rowe found yester- 

 day morning in a rain barrel in his yard, which had not 

 been used recently, a number of the whitish, repulsive 

 looking, wiggling worms, upon the existence of which 

 the story is based. 



Some of the worms are nearly aa large around at one 

 end as a lead pencil for the distance of about an inch. 

 Then it bluntly reduces in size to the size of a hair. This 

 small part in some is dark colored like a hair throughout 

 the several inches of its length, while in others it is dark 

 only toward the tip, the rest having a whitish color the 

 same as the body and giving evidence also of life. 



One suggestion advanced as to the explanation was that 

 some insect had laid its eggs on hairs or bristles that had 

 gotten into the water and when hatched the product re- 

 mained attached to the hair and the latter would be mis- 

 taken for a part of it. That might be in some cases, but 

 not in this, for plainly the living worm and the apparently 

 dead hair blend together, forming one existing body of 

 whatever kind that might be. 



Dr. C. Duffy informs us that he has many a time seen 

 the same kind of worm in tan ooze, and that they exist 

 in still unclean water which the sun reaches — it takes such 

 conditions to hatch them. The Doctor furthermore in- 

 forms us that he would not be at all surprised if some of 

 them could now be found in cisterns around us. 



The Doctor says the hair-like projection is simply an ex- 

 tension of the worm, a kind of tail they have, and he tells 

 us moreover that if a bottle containing some of them were 

 placed in the warm rays of the sun, it could be seen what 

 kind of an insect was the parent of the worms, as they 

 would change to it in a short time.— Norfolk News. 



For the benefit of such of our readers as have been 

 interested in "hair snakes" during boyhood, we propose 

 to give a very brief outline of some of their habits and 

 peculiarities. The development of these entozoa, though 

 very obscure and difficult to trace, has yet been made out 

 with a considerable degree of clearness; and, for the main 

 additions to our knowledge of this difficult group, science 

 is indebted to Dr. Joseph Leidy and M. A. Villot. It has 

 recently been found, too, by Messrs. Riley and Packard 

 that the hair worm is a valuable ally of the farmer, in 

 that it is a formidable enemy of the locust, which has in 

 recent years done so much damage to crops in the West. 

 One observer indeed states that in a certain section of 

 Minnesota these worms destroyed in 1875 as many hoppers 

 as any other enemy. The worm or worms are found 

 coiled up within the locust, occupying almost the whole 

 inside of the body. 



The Oordius is most easily found in late summer or early 

 autumn in still pools of water near creeks or rivers, and 

 though really quite common is easily overlooked, owing 

 to its resemblance to the fibers of dead vegetation likely 

 to be found in such situations and among which it often 

 lies. Sometimes several are found together twisted and 

 knotted into a tangled mass, and Dr. Leidy infers that 

 these knots suggested to Linnaeus the name given the 

 worm from the famous Gordian knot of antiquity. 



This worm is very tough and elastic, and is, besides, ex- 

 tremely tenacious of life, and will live and move for 

 some time after being cut to pieces. It has not jaws nor 

 vent, and no stomach nor intestinal canal, nor, so far as 

 is known, has it any system of blood vessels or nutritive 

 tubes. There are no eyes or special sense organs. The 

 eggs are laid in the water in long chains and are enor- 

 mously numerous, and they are deposited very slowly 

 during a period extending over two weeks or more. Dr. 

 Leidy estimated the number produced by a specimen of 

 the variable Oordius, 9in. in length, as 6,624,800, the eggs 

 being l-5,750th of an inch in length by 1-1, 000th in width. 

 The young are developed and hatched in about four 

 weeks, and in escaping from the egg they pierce the egg 

 membrane, or shell, by the aid of the armature of the 

 head. 



The young is now about l-450th of an inch in length, and 

 its first move is to gain a comfortable resting place in 

 which to pass this first stage of its free existence. This it 

 soon finds in the fly larva, which share its watery home, 

 and it lives encysted in them. In this stage the worm is 

 active. The second stage of the larva's life begins when 

 the fly larva, in which it has been domiciled, is swallowed 

 by a fish. The process of digestion sets free the worm, 

 which now proceeds to bore into the mucous lining of the 

 fish's stomach, where it remains inactive and motionless 

 for months. At length, in spring, it bores through its cyst 

 and escapes into the stomach of its host, whence it is car- 

 ried off with the f as sea into the water. Here it undergoes 

 great changes, and before long it increases in size, the in- 

 tegument grows harder, and when it is about 2in. in 

 length it begins to move, turns brown and is soon a per- 

 fect "hair snake." 



TheBe hair worms are found principally on locusts, 

 grasshoppers, katydids and crickets, but they are by no 

 means confined to these. Dr. Leidy has reported one 

 from a cockroach, and they have been discovered in 

 beetles, moths, bees, flies, spiders and other small animals. 

 It is difficult to comprehend how larvae.developed in water, 

 could ever attach themselves to creatures like grass- 

 hoppers, katydids, etc., which never go near the water, 

 and Dr. Packard has indulged in some ingenious specu- 

 lations relative to this point, on which, however, further 

 observations are needed. 



The account of these worms which we have thus given, 

 brief as it is, and stripped of all its technicalities, will 

 show our readers the absurdities of the old belief that 

 these worms are animated horse hairs, 



FROM CONE TO TREE. 



I will try and give my idea of the life of a spruce tree 

 growing in a mixed forest, starting from a seedling and 

 continuing until it becomes a timber tree. Some effort 

 of nature has prepared the ground for it. Some trees 

 have overturned, thereby making an opening through 

 which the light and sunshine necessary for the germina- 

 tion of the Beed is let in. The seed has either been wa- 

 ed by the wind to this spot or a red squirrel that has been 

 diligently gathering the spruce comes from a neighboring 

 tree selected this place for his mid-day meal, and is greed- 

 ily tearing the cones apart for the little seeds that lie on 

 either side of the scales; some of these seeds are scattered 

 and in the following spring germinate. It will take a 

 sharp eye to detect them then, little delicate shoots almost 

 like the moB8 that is found in the woods. After about 

 three years they begin to have vitality enough to put out 

 roots and you will notice a little cluster growing very 

 thickly together, Meanwhile numerous other seedlings 

 of different varieties begin to grow; some are short lived 

 and others with a stronger constitution shoot ahead. 



Providing one of these spruce seedlings has fallen in soil 

 favorable for its growth it grows in height rather than in 

 wood — the little seed branchlets have been overcome by 

 the shade and drop off — the top is still reaching upward, 

 but is a mere spray; it has not sufficient leaves or needles 

 to help in the evaporation neccessary for the increase of 

 wood. It simply gains in height. At last a favorable 

 season gives it a new start, more roots are put out, new 

 branches are formed and at the end of say 40 years it is a 

 healthy looking tree or sapling — about 4in. in diameter. 

 In time it reaches the desired point; it forms part of the 

 crown cover and coming in contact with the sunlight and 

 carbon begins to make trunk development. The others 

 that have grown with it are out of the race and eventually 

 drop out and die. The ground in time is covered with as 

 many trees as it will support. Thus the seedling becomes 

 a timber tree. 



Now let the lumberman step in about this time. He 

 harvests the crop of larger trees, posBibly cutting about 

 ten standard of logs to the acre. The smaller trees that 

 have not been suppressed now make a new start. The 

 hardwood trees around them serve as protection from 

 the winds, etc. , and eventually they become a new forest 

 of second cut timber. 



If it were not for the forest fires nature could reproduce 

 a forest of some kind in a short time; but fire will destroy 

 the work of ages — the soil is left almost barren and not 

 anything but timber that is really not merchantable will 

 grow in such places. 



Fire has been the most disastrous agent in destroying a 

 large part of our forests. Thousands of acres of land that 

 at one time were covered with a great wealth of timber 

 have been devastated by fire, and these lands never will 

 be in shape to reproduce the amont of timber that would 

 have been there to this day if the fire could have been 

 kept out. 



Laws should be passed making it a criminal act to allow 

 fire to get out anywhere. Examples should be made and 

 it could not take effect too soon, for unless a different 

 system of forestry is carried on and more rigid laws en- 

 forced in regard to forest fires our beautiful Adirondack 

 Forest will be a thing of the past. — Frank C. Parker in 

 Elizabethtown Post. 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. 



The Thirteenth Congress of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' tTnion convened in Washington Nov. 11, and con- 

 tinued until Thursday, the 14th. 



The evening or business session was held at the residence 

 of Dr. <?. Hart Merriam, the public meetings commencing 

 Tuesday, Nov. li, being in the Lecture Hall of the National 

 Museum. 



The active members present were: Dr. J. A. Allen, of 

 New York; Maj. C. E. Bendire, of Washington; Wm. 

 Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass. ; Frank M. Chapman, of 

 New York; Dr. Elliott Coues, of Washington; William 

 Dutcher, of New York; D G. Elliot, of Chicago; Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher, of Washington; Prof. Theo. N. Gill, of Washing- 

 ton; Leverett M. Loomis, of San Francisco; F. A. Lucas, 

 of Washington; Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, of Washington; 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of Washington; Robert Ridgway, 

 of Washington; John H. Sage, of Portland, Conn.; Hon. 

 Geo. B. Sennett, of Erie, Pa.; Dr. R. W. Shufeldt and Dr. 

 L. Stejneger, of Washington. 



The associate members present during the session were: 

 Job Barnard, W. F. Roberts, Wm. Palmer, Outram Bangs, 

 Dr. E. M. Hasbrouck, J. D. Sornborger, R. P. Currie, 

 Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, Miss. Florence A. Merriam, Mr.s 

 Nelly Hart Woodworth, Sylvester D. Judd, C. H. Town- 

 send, W. E. Clyde Todd, Dr. Louis A. Bishop, Edward 

 A. Preble, Vernon Bailey, J. van Denburgh, Prof. F. E. 

 L. Beal, Colton Maynard, Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., C. J. Pen- 

 nock, Dr. T. S. Palmer, A. M. Reed, C. W. Richmond, 

 Stephen Rozycki, H, C. Oberholser, Prof. F. H. Knowl- 

 ton, Edward Arnold, B. W. Evermann, E. J. Brown. 



William Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass., was elected 

 President; Dr. C. Hart Merriam and Mr. Robert Ridgway, 

 of Washington, Vice-Presidents; John H. Sage, of Port- 

 land, Conn., Secretary; William Dutcher, of New York, 

 Treasurer; Dr. J. A. Allen, Maj. C. E. Bendire, Frank 

 M. Chapman, Charles F. Batchelder, Dr. Elliott Coues, 

 D. G. Elliot and Dr. A. K. Fisher were elected members 

 of the Council. 



Mr. A. W. Anthony, of California, was elected an 

 active member, and Mr. W. T. Blanford, of London, 

 England, an honorary member. Mr. W. H. Hudson, of 

 London, England, and Dr. D. Webster Prentiss, of Wash- 

 ington, were elected to corresponding membership. 

 Eighty-eight associate members were elected. 



The committee on classification and nomenclature of 

 North American birds reported that the new check list 

 is practically finished and will be published in a few 

 weeks. 



The protection of birds being considered, Mr. Leverett 

 M. Loomis, of San Francisco, said that there had been 

 wholesale destruction among birds and their eggs on the 

 California coast the past year. 



Mr. Witmer Stone, of Philadelphia, stated that so far 

 as he knew only one colony of terns were left on the 

 New Jersey coast. As these birds nested back in the 

 meadows and away from the coast it was almost impos- 

 sible to protect them. In recent years the "eggers" had 

 destroyed immense numbers of the eggs of the clapper 

 rail, which nested in favorable localities along the New 

 Jersey coast. This rail had increased during, £b.e past 



