Dec. 7, 1895.] 



FOREST ^AND ,T STREAM. 



pose she had browsed long enough, and accordingly 

 Drought her down with little effort. After my rifle 

 cracked she wheeled and started away; George fearing 

 that she might possibly escape— a wounded deer — drew a 

 bead on her as she started and sent a ball into her carcass, 

 from which the doe not only slackened her pace, but 

 dropped in her tracks. It was afterward learned, how- 

 ever, that with my shot alone she could have made but a 

 few jumps. After dressing and hanging up the doe we 

 moved on again cautiously. We wanted just four deer 

 and thus far we had killed only three. 



While crossing a narrow valley and near a small stream 

 we came to a dead lynx, which lay stretched out upon the 

 ground. It had been dead for some time. The earth 

 about it was scratched and dotted with bits of fur. The 

 dead leaves were scattered about, while upon the hide of 

 the animal numerous scratches and other marks of vio- 

 lence could be seen, as if the creature had met its death 

 in mortal combat with some other beast not less powerful 

 and ferocious than itself. 



Leaving the lynx we soon came to a swamp, which we 

 decided to cross, as through the dense growth it appeared 

 to be but a short distance to high ground beyond. After 

 passing into the swamp the footprints of a moose met our 

 eyes. The trail was very distinct in placeB, and the ani- 

 mal had but recently passed. 



A moose was larger game than I had expected to be 

 called upon to face, and I began to think of affairs at 

 home that needed my attention. With George the effect 

 was somewhat different. In him the fresh moose tracks 

 seemed to arouse latent powers and to bring forth en- 

 thusiasm and all the natural instincts of the true hunter 

 that he is. He had hunted the grizzly bear and was 

 familiar with the bugle call of the stately elk in the Rock- 

 ies; but he had never seen a moose. The fresh trail of 

 this monarch of the woodland greatly impressed him, 

 and his actions plainly indicated his desire to have a tussle 

 with the brute. We followed the moose trail for some 

 hours, really hoping to get sight of him. We found 

 where the long-legged creature had browsed on twigs of 

 the tops of small trees, and where he had lashed the brush 

 with his horns. Further on he had entered 'a'pond, fed 

 on lily roots and then taken long strides through boggy 

 places. 



We followed the trail of this huge beast with increas- 

 ing care and eagerness until we were finally led into a 

 choked and tangled mass of thick-growing spruce, with 

 dead timber strewn in every direction. It was^utterly 



and' by the patter of the rain, which I not only heard but 

 distinctly felt. 



Morning finally came, but before the darkness and 

 gloom of the night had wholly disappea red signal rifle 

 shots in the distance greeted our ears. Nemic was com- 

 ing to our rescue. We answered the shots with our own 

 guns and exchanged signals occasionally . until we worked 

 our way out of the swamp and with liim in due time 

 arrived at the camp, where we dried our water-soaked 

 clothing, filled up on fried venison and drank hot coffee; 

 not wholly regretting our recent experience, in which we 

 had partaken of some of the "bitter" as well as the 

 "sweet" of the hunter's life. Nemic and. George soon 

 went out and brought in the doe which we had killed on 

 the previous morning, while I rem ained in camp by the 

 fire. The weather was bad and we all stayed at camp 

 during the remainder of the day. By evening the rain 

 had changed to a steady downpour, and the wind howled 

 unmercifully through the forest and about our cabin. In 

 its sweep across the lake the gale sent the waves splash- 

 ing against the rocky shore, and without the night was 

 dark and hideous, and' contrasted strongly with our well- 

 lighted cabin, within which was cheer, warmth and 

 plenty. After supper we cleaned and oiled our rifles, as 

 usual, and exchanged ideas freely on all branches of 

 hunting lore, until our eyes finally grew heavy and we 

 quieted down in slumber for the night. We awoke early 

 to find that the storm had abated. The lake was smooth 

 and scarcely a leaf stirred in the forest about. The sky 

 was clear, the air was warm, and there dawned, upon us 

 one of the finest autumn days that ever thrilled a human 

 soul, and it was a pleasure indeed to be in the woods. We 

 hunted perseveringly during the entire day for the fourth 

 deer, but it was too fine a day and the woods were too 

 quiet for successfully stLll-hunting the w.ary creatures; 

 and although we caught glimpses of several, we did not 

 succeed in getting a shot at any of them. As our time 

 was limited, we decided to break camp on 'the following 

 morning, thus ending our deer hunt of 1895,. F. D. H. 



Reedsbcrg*, Wis. 



Illinois Alligators. 



Jerseyville, 111.. Nov. 25.— Editor I 'orest and tftream: 

 Last Wednesday, Nov. 20, William Pa eher, who is fishing 

 at Hurricane "Island, thirty-five miles eoove Graften.or. the 

 Illinois River 7 found a 7ft. 'gator s cranded on the bank 

 of the river. si> benumbed by the colrj.thatit ws^un^ble to 



WOODCOCK, AMERICAN AND 

 EUROPEAN. 



Osceola Mill*, p a ., Nov. 25.— Editor Forest and 

 'Stream: I killed a woodcock this season which was the 

 ' largest I have -ever seen. It weighed 14i oz. Is this large 

 •for any othel- section of country? I have read the Forest 

 j&nd Stream for ten years. E. C. B. 



We believe that there never was an American woodcock 

 (CPhiltjhela minor) which weighed 14+ ounces, and the one 

 mentioned by our correspondent was unquestionably a 

 ^European immigrant. The American bird is only about 

 on*i-half the size of the foreign one, and while, in a gen- 

 eral way, the colors are the same, they are very differ- 

 -ently applied, as will be seen by an examination of the 

 ft wo cuts herewith presented, which are taken from El- 

 iliott's "North American Shore Birds," and for the use of 

 which we have to thank the publisher, Mr. Francis P. 

 Harper, of this city. 



Both European and American woodcock have a ground 

 color of rufous, reddish or rusty, and the markings are 

 black aad ash, with a little white. The American bird is 

 so frioailiar to our readers that no description of it is 

 needed, but We may quote from Mr. Elliott a description 

 of ^he adult of the bird of Europe. 



' * Anterior portion of crown and forehead, buff gray 

 with narrow central dark brown lines; remainder of 

 crown and nape, black, crossed by four narrow buff or 

 palo "rusty lines: a conspicuous dark brown line from nape 

 ! 5o eye; chin and throat w^hite. spotted with brown; neck 

 all around buff, crossed with fine dark brown lines; upper 

 Mparts reddish chestnut, vermiculated with buffy spots and 

 brown lines, and blotched on the back and scapulars with 

 black, the latter as well as the back mixed with light 

 grayish; rump, reddish brown barred narrowly with 

 black; the upper tail coverts tipped with gray or buff ; 

 tail black, margined on outer edge with chestnut and 

 tipped with grayish buff on the upper surface, and with 

 silver white on the lower; entire under parts grayish buff, 

 narrowly barred with brown; primaries dark brown, 

 transversely banded with cinnamon on the outer webs; 

 bill flesh color graduating into brown for the terminal 



AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 

 From Elliot's "American Shore Birds," 



useless to attempt to make any further headway on the 

 trail, and we decided— under existing conditions— to 

 make no further effort to get sight of the monogamous 

 shovel-horn. 



Taking a last lingering look at the enormous hoof 

 prints in the soft earth, we left the trail and began the 

 task of working our way out of the swamp. In our eager- 

 ness to get sight of the moose we had paid littler attention 

 to our course. The heavens had clouded over and the 

 position of the sun could no longer be observed. We had 

 penetrated deeply into a swamp and now gave our whole 

 attention to getting out of it. On we traveled, using the 

 compass to guide our course over logs, bogs and windfalls 

 of down timber, until it seemed as if there was no end to 

 the tangled mass in which we had become imprisoned, 

 and through which we could make but little headway. 



As time passed on we grew fatigued. The overhanging 

 cloudiness and darkness added to the gloom. Night was 

 rapidly approaching. We decided to stop where we were 

 and arrange a temporary camp for the night, as we could 

 do no better. The air was warm, and we could not suffer 

 much from cold; but our surroundings were dismal and 

 lonely. We were in a strange country. We were not 

 lost (?), for each of us carried a pocket compass. The dif- 

 ficulty had been a lack of judgment as to what particular 

 point of the compass to follow. We constructed the best 

 weather shield we could in the time afforded out of such 

 material as we could find. A rabbit was killed and a fire 

 was kindled. Laying in an ample store of wood for the 

 night, we roasted and ate our rabbit for our evening meal, 

 and tried to feel happy before our cheerful, blazing fire, 

 which shone out into the mysterious darkness about us. 

 Rain soon began to fall, and, all things considered, we put 

 in a [most enjoyable night — I say enjoyable, for the true 

 hunter enjoys the solitude and impressiveness of the for- 

 est primeval, and our location was not lacking in these 

 essentials. The mystic and melancholy scenery about us 

 was less varied than impressive, and the monotony of the 

 night was only broken by the dismal and savage howling 

 of the gaunt and hungry wolf that ocea5ionally greeted 

 our ears, and added to the utter loneliness of our sur- 

 roundings. At times, as the night wore on, "Tired 

 nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," came to our relief, 

 and I dreamed of home and comfort; but was soon awak- 

 ened by the sweet sighing of the wind through the trees 



move. Parker approached the reptile, and finding that 

 the 'gator made no objections, picked him up and took 

 possession. The animal has wince warmed up enough to 

 move around, and is at present on exhibition in this city. 



Various views as to this animal's origin are held, some 

 thinking that it came up the Misssissippi during some 

 high water and has never been able to get back to that 

 "Sunny South" that Mr. Hough writes so charmingly 

 about. Other people think it an escaped captive from some 

 museum; while there are other people who say that they 

 believe it to have sprung spontaneously from Chicago 

 River water under the influence of last summer's heat. 

 What does Mr. Hough think of this theory? 



Several years ago, while I was duck hunting with a 

 party about ten miles above Hurricane Island, Moses Col- 

 lenberger and Doug. Miller came into camp reporting that 

 they had seen two alligators in the backwater, one 10, the 

 other 12ft. long; and when asked why they had not 

 brought them to camp Collenbei ger laid all the blame 

 upon Miller, saying that he had begged to be excused 

 from any attempt at capturing them. Of course the rest 

 of the party made light of the story and laid it to mental 

 derangement, sunstroke or snakebite. But now we are 

 happy to state that their records as truthful duck hunters 

 are established. 



This last 'gator will probably keep all the small boys 

 from swimming in the Illinois— from now until next 

 spring, any way. L, S. Hansell. 



Tennessee Game. 



Gibson Wells, Tenn.— In this section of west Tennes- 

 see I believe the quail crop is fully up to the average. In 

 going over my preserve, which I have increased to some- 

 thing over 5,000 acres, I find signs in all likely places and 

 a good many coveys. In all my experience I have never, 

 as a rule, seen coveys so large as this year. The last time 

 out I found six coveys in a two and a half hours' hunt, 

 and the average would be twenty-five birds. The dry 

 weather has had a great deal to do with not finding 

 birds. A soaking rain here yesterday has fixed the 

 grounds all right for good work from our dogs, and I 

 think, as friend Titus says, sportsmen will find with 

 weather conditions favorable that the crop of '95 and '96 

 is fully up to the average.. R. B. Morgan 



EUROPEAN WOODCOCK. 

 From Elliot's "American Shore Birds.' 1 



third; legs and feet flesh color; iris hazel; length 13^ 

 inches, wing 8, culmenB^, tarsus 14 ." 



The European woodcock has a wide distribution in the 

 old world, being found in suitable localities from the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic circle to 

 the Mediterranean. In habits it is not markedly differ- 

 ent from its American cousin, but it is said to be inferior 

 to the American species in gastronomic qualities. Many 

 specimens of the bird have been taken in America, and it 

 is desirable that whenever one is taken its capture should 

 be recorded and the skin, if practicable, preserved. Can 

 our correspondent tell us if he noticed anything peculiar 

 about his capture? 



A Pennsylvania Wild Pigeon. 



Philadelphia, Nov. 30. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Thinking the following account might be of interest to 

 your readers, although I have delayed sending it until 

 now, I hope it will not prove too late. 



While ruffed grouse shooting in Monroe county, Pa., 

 near the Pike county line on Oct. 25, my brother had the 

 good fortune to kill a genuine wild pigeon, a single speci- 

 men which he saw in an oak tree, to which it had flown 

 from the ground near the roadway. This bird is the only 

 pigeon I have ever had the good fortune to see that had 

 been recently shot. It was in fine condition and plumage, 

 and has been mounted. The residents of the surround- 

 ing country who saw it said that it was the first one that 

 had been seen or heard of in the neighborhood in the past 

 ten or fifteen years. Edward Norris. 



The Iiinnaean Society of New York. 



Regular meetings of the Society will be held at the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh 

 street and Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evenings. Dec. 10 

 and 24, at 8 o'clock. Dec. 10— L. B. Bishop, "A Day in 

 North Dakota," Herbert Wheaton' Congdon, "Random 

 Notes on some Birds seen between Scotland and Iceland 

 during August, 1895." Henry Hales, "Tameness and Do- 

 mestication." Arthur H, Howell, "Impressions of some 

 of the Birds of the Northwest, with remarks on their Dis- 

 tribution." Dec. 24— Raymond L. Ditmars, "The Snakes 

 found within fifty miles of New York City." 



Walter W. Granger, Sec'y, 

 American Museum of Natural History, 



