124 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Maech 8, 1888. 



BIRDS AND SPECIMENS. 



WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 19.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: It was with mingled amusement and 

 contempt that I read the letter from "O. O. S." in your 

 issue for the 16th, entitled, "Killing Rare Birds." There 

 are men, and there are men, yet it does seem that in this 

 advanced stage of learning 'people should understand 

 what they are talking about before making their opinions 

 public. "O. O. S." laments the killing of a number of 

 specimens of the evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes 

 Vtesp&rtina), and states that "Wilson, Audubon, and 

 Coues can tell all (?) about American birds," (the question 

 mark is mine). According to this doctrine, seeing that 

 Wilson. Audubon, and Coues have studied our birds, no 

 one else ought to study them, but instead accept their 

 accouuts. What sort of science is this? It certainly 

 shows that "O. O. S." is entirely unfamiliar with his 

 subject; that he is no scientist is only too apparent. For 

 his own instruction, however, as well as for all sympa- 

 thizing sentimentalists let me say that despite Wilson, 

 Audubon, and Coues, the evening grosbeak is very little 

 known, and that for some time to come any information 

 upon the species will be thankfully received by ornithol- 

 ogists. 



In regard to another point, our friend lays great stress 

 upon Wilson and Audubon, as though he considered 

 them prime authorities. Well, they are to a certain ex- 

 tent, but he certainly must be unaware of such men as 

 Baird, Brewer, Ridgway, etc., and of their works; other- 

 wise he would know that while his favorites figured only 

 some four hundred species, modern science has increased 

 our fauna to over one thousand species, over six hundred 

 more than the number of Wilson and Audubon. If in 

 accordance with the doctrine of "O. O. S." the study of 

 birds had stopped with these naturalists (to say nothing 

 of what Dr. Coues has done), where, pray, would our 

 ornithology be to-day? 



Further,' I should like Mr. "O. O. S." to know that 

 with a species there is, as a rule, a wide variation between 

 individuals; variation too extensive to enter into the de- 

 scription of here, but regarding which a complete series 

 of specimens is needed to discover all the forms. I cannot 

 at present lay my hand upon the article to which he 

 refers, but congratulate that gentleman on having 

 secured a number of the birds in question, and would 

 further state that were I to meot with a flock of the 

 grosbeaks I should not cease to collect until I had secured 

 a sufficient number to represent the species. 



One thing further. "O. O. S." appeals to the Audubon 

 Society to check this "slaughter." Here again he is in 

 the wrong. The Audubon Society is a splendid organ- 

 ization; no true naturalist lives but heartily sympathizes 

 with it, but as to what scientists may deem wisest to do 

 it certainly has no voice, and if such a body has no right 

 to interfere with the doings of our naturalists private 

 individuals most assuredly ought not to object. 



And now in con elusion "let me say that the old adage, 

 "Be sure you are right, then go ahead," is especially 

 applicable here. "O. O. S." may gain the favor of a num- 

 ber of sentimentalists by entertaining such opinions, but 

 the voice of the would-be sensationalist is only ridiculed 

 by men of scientific attainments. I am sorry that I have 

 taken up so much room in your paper; the fight is not 

 really my own, but being an enthusiastic worker in 

 ornithology I cannot see an attempt made by a co-laborer 

 to advance our knowledge condemned by an outside 

 party and remain silent. Edwin M. Hasbbouck. 



RATTLESNAKE'S FANGS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



While dissecting the head of a rattlesnake recently, I 

 was surprised to find eight fangs, four on a side. The 

 first pair were of usual hardness, but the remaining three 

 pairs were quite fossil; so much so that I cut through 

 several with my scalpel. They were of a pinkish color 

 and filled with liquid, which may have been the alcohol 

 that the head was preserved in. The first two were filled 

 with the oily poisonous matter, and upon pressing the 

 membrane about them back toward their base, several 

 drops were forced out through the tiny opening in the 

 tips. Is this an unusual number of fangs for Crotalus? 

 They measure -pn. in a straight line from base to tip, and. 

 the snake, which was taken in the foothills of the Sierra 

 Madre Mountains, Mexico, was 3ft. oin. in length. A pair 

 of fangs in possession, taken from a 4ft. rattler in Florida, 

 measures fin. and are a little more curved than the pre- 

 ceding ones. 



I have been much interested in the articles relating to 

 reptiles, especially snakes, that have appeared from time 

 to time in the Forest and Stream, and I think no sub- 

 ject in the natural history columns is more instructive. 



John C. Cahoon. 



[The rattlesnake, like many other venomous snakes 

 which belong to the suborder Solenoglyphe, are provided 

 with incipient or embryonic fangs lying behind those in 

 use, which stand ready to move forward and take the 

 place of the later when these shall have been shed, broken 

 off or in any way worn out. When a new fang conies 

 into use it becomes firmly attached to the maxillary 

 bone.] 



DR. JOSEPH B. HOLDER. 



DR. JOSEPH B. HOLDER, Curator of Invertebrate 

 Zoology,died at his home, 57 West 125th street, on Tues- 

 day, Feb. 28. He was born at Lynn, Mass., in 1 g2 1 , was 

 educated at the Harvard Medical School and afterward 

 practiced medicine at Lynn. In the year 1859 he was sent 

 to the Dry Tortugas as naturalist and physician, and there 

 began the study of invertebrate zoology. Diiring the 

 war he served in the army as surgeon. In 1870 he came 

 to this city, and has since occupied the position of Curator 

 of Invertebrate Zoology in the American Museum of 

 Natural History. He was a member of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, the Society of American Natural- 

 ists, the American Ornithologists' Union, the Harvard 

 Club, and the Linncean Society of New York. Besides 

 having revised and adapted Wood's "Natural History of 

 the World," he was the author of "Fauna Americana" 

 and a frequent contributor to Hampers', Forest and 

 Stream, the Century, Scientific. American, and other 

 periodicals. Dr. Holder was greatly interested in bird 

 protection, and was a member of the Bird Protection 

 Committee appointed by the American Ornithologists' 

 Union. His death was due to apoplexy. 



A White Woodcock.— New York, Feb. 27.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: While hunting near Lakeville, N.Y., 

 last August, Charlie Chase and I in going through some 

 very thick crib brush, started a bird, white in color, 

 which flew and lit in a bush not 10ft. ahead of us. We 

 started toward the bird, when it flew again and lit on the 

 ground; when it raised a second time Charlie shot and 

 killed it. On picking it up it proved to be a white wood- 

 cock. After killing it we hunted over the patch, which 

 was not over twelve rods wide by twenty -five long, and 

 killed eleven more. We showed the bird* to any number 

 of hunters, one in particular, George Crutn, of Saratoga, 

 who has hunted twenty years, and he had never seen nor 

 heard of one being shot. — G. S. A. 



Were They Grouse?— Editor Forest and Stream: A 

 four-line paragraph a few weeks since speaks of some 

 one in the East importing from Virginia some quail and 

 ' ' li i'ty pheasants" for breeding purposes. Does the writer 

 mean by this ruffed grouse? If so, how in heaven's 

 name can they be trapped in Virginia when it does not 

 seem possible anywhere else?— Jay Beebe (Toledo, O., 

 Feb. 20). 



Recent Arrivals at Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— 

 Received by Purchase— Two llamas, male and female (Lama 

 peruana), one white-nosed eoati (Noma misled), one white-lipped 

 peccary (Dimt.ylea labiatus), one pair rose-bill parmkeefcs ( Platuerr- 

 ewt erimius), one pair gray-headed parrakeets iAgapornte cana), 

 one yellow-headed conure (Conurivi jendaya). Received by Pre- 

 sentation— Two raccoons (Prncuon lotor). one jack-rabbit (Lcpus 

 callotii*), one duck hawk {Falco communis). Born in Garden— One 

 red kangaroo (Macropus rufws) and one brush-tailed kangaroo 

 Petmtiah- pem'cillala). 

 t •' 



\mm §dg mid 0nq. 



A ddress all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub. Co. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton. 

 Price $2.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Rifle, Rod and 

 (Ami in California. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price $1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "Ness- 

 muk." Price St. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents. The Still-Hunter. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price $2. 



Secretaries of gun clubs and others who are interested in the 

 protection of the Yellowstone National Park are invited to co- 

 operate with this journal by securing signatures to the petit ion 

 printed elseivhere. Sec instructions on editorial page. 



THE BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB. 



THE membership of the recently organized Boone 

 and Crockett Club comprises the following named 

 gentlemen: President, Theodore Roosevelt. Secretary, 

 Archibald Rogers. 



Regular Members. — Albert Bierstadt, Heber R. Bishop, 

 Benj. F. Bristow, J. Coleman Drayton, D. G. Elliott, 

 Geo. Bird Grinnell, Arnold Hague, James H. Jones, 

 Clarence King, W. H. Merrill, Jr., Thomas Paton, John 

 Jay Pierrepont, W. Hallett Phillips, E. P. Rogers, Elliott 

 Roosevelt, John E. Roosevelt, J. W. Roosevelt, Ruther- 

 ford Stuyvesant, W. A. Wadsworth. 



Honorary Members. — Bronson Rumsey, Lawrence 

 Rumsey, W. D. Pickett. 

 The constitution is as follows: 



Article First —This club shall be known as the Boone 

 and Crockett. 

 Second— The objects of the club shall be — 



(1) To promote manly sport with the rifle. 



(2) To promote travel and exploration in the wild 

 and unknown or but partially known portions of the 

 country. 



(8) To work for the preservation of the large game of 

 this country, and, so far as possible, to further legisla- 

 tion for that purpose, and to assist in enforcing the exist- 

 ing laws. 



(4) To promote inquiry into, and to record observations 

 on the habits and natural history of the various wild 

 animals. 



(5) To bring about among the members the interchange 

 of opinions and ideas on hunting, travel and exploration 

 on the various kinds of hunting rifles, on the haunts of 

 game animals, etc. 



Third— No one shall be eligible for membership who 

 shall not have killed with the rifle in fair chase, by still- 

 hunting or otherwise, at least one individual of one of 

 the various kinds of American large game. 



Fourth — Under the head of American large game are 

 included the following animals: Bear, buffalo (bison), 

 mountain sheep, caribou, cougar, musk ox, white goat, 

 elk (wapiti), wolf (not coyote), pronghorri antelope, moose 

 and deer. 



Fifth— The term "fan- chase" shall not be held to in- 

 clude killing bear, wolf or cougar in traps, nor "fire- 

 hunting," nor "crusting" moose, elk or deer in deep 

 snow, nor killing game from a boat while it is swimming 

 in the water. 



Sixth — This club shall consist of not more than thirty 

 regular members and of such honorary members as may 

 be elected. 



Seventh — The committee on admission shall consist of 

 the President and Secretary and one a-egular member to 

 be elected by ballot. In voting for regular members 

 three black balls shall exclude. In voting for honorary 

 members six black balls shall exclude. 



Eighth— The club shall hold two fixed meetings a year, 

 one to be held the second Wednesday in January and to 

 be called the annual meeting, the sec ond meeting to take 

 place on the first Wednesday in April following the 

 annual meeting. 



Ninth — This constitution shall not be changed, save by 

 a four-fifths vote of the members present. 



Nebraska.— Salem, Richardson Co., Feb. 18.— We had 

 some pretty severe weather here this winter, but quail 

 came through all right as the snow was too damp to drift 

 when the blizzard struck us. If the birds are left alone 

 for a few seasons we will have a good start again. Prairie 

 chickens did not seem to suffer much this winter, and 

 the pot-hunters have not slaughtered many on account of 

 their being so wild. I saw the first robin on the loth of 

 this month. Bluebirds have been with us most of the 

 winter. No ducks yet as the waters are not open enough. 

 —J- F. 



THE CROZET ISLAND CASTAWAYS.] 



EARLY this year the Sun printed a, very extraordinary! 

 1 and romantic story of the means successfully em J 

 ployed by some shipwrecked sailors to inform the worldi 

 of their perilous plight on a little island almost within! 

 sight of Antarctic ice. The story came from officiall 

 sources in France, and was to the effect that the Frencfia 

 Government had been informed by the British Ambassa*) 

 dor in Paris that word had been received from the Gov* 

 ernor of West Australia that on Sept. 22 last a dea$ 

 albatross had been found on the beach at Freemantle} 

 around whose neck was fastened a small piece of metaL 

 on which had been scratched in French : 



Thirteen shipwrecked men took refuge upon the Crozet Islands., 

 Aug. 4, 1887. 



The story excited some incredulity. The Crozet Islands 

 are hundreds of miles south of Madagascar, far out of thd 

 ordinary track of ships. Whalers are about the only 

 vessels that visit this vast southern waste of waters. M 

 was indeed a wonderful series of fortunate events if cast", 

 aways on these far-off islands had found a winged mea* 

 senger, which unconsciously exerting in then tehalf big 

 far-famed powers of endurance on the wing, had carried 

 their tidings over thousands of miles of sea with few op? 

 portunities to rest on the way. and had finally dropped 

 dead, probably of exhaustion, on the shores of a civilized 

 land. 



Considering the source from which the information 

 was derived, the French Government promptly decidec 

 that there could be no doubt that this albatross, with its 

 important message, had been found at Freemantle, which 

 is one of the larger towns in southwestern Australia!! 

 The French Minister of Marine at once sent orders to the 

 commander of the naval division of the Indian Ocean to 

 despatch the transport Meurthe as soon as possible to thj 

 Crozets to search for the castaways. The strange storjl 

 was published in the Paris newspapers, and the next dajl 

 a communication came from the commercial house ol • 

 Bordes & Son of Bordeaux, saying they had reason t< ] 

 fear that the thirteen sailors on the Crozets were the crew I 

 of then three-master Tamaris, which had sailed manjl 

 months before for New Caledonia, in the Pacific. Shjl 

 was some time overdue. Her owners had expected hew 

 to take a course not far from the Crozet Islands, and hei 

 crew numbered thirteen persons. This information gavfl 

 additional interest and probability to the story. The 

 British Government decided to take part also in thl 

 search, and her Majesty's ship Thalia, which was abou] 

 to leave England for Australia, was ordered to go out oi 

 her course to call at the Crozet Islands. 



It is now possible to give the sequel of this romance o1 

 the sea. The French transport Meurthe, returning froil 

 her search early this year, reached the bay of Diegfl 

 Suarez, in north Madagascar, on Jan. 6. On that day hel 

 commander wrote a report of his voyage. He said'thaj 

 the first of the four Crozet Islands at which he touched 

 was the little island of Cochous. He found no human 

 beings there, but plenty of evidence that the island hal 

 recently been occupied. Traces of recent canip fireS; 

 and biscuit boxes and other debris, comparatively freafl 

 in appearance, were scattered around. A heap of stoned 

 had been piled up to attract attention, and in this heap 

 was a sheet of paper on which this communication has 

 been written in French with a lead pencil: 



The iron ship Tamaris, of Bordeaux, with thirteen men in the 

 crew, went ashore on the island of Cochous during a heavy fog, 

 Some time after she got clear and floated off, but three hours 

 later she filled and sank. The crew escaped in two small boats ta 

 the island, taking with them one hundred kilogrammes of biscuiti 

 The crew have lived on Cochous Island nine months, and theii 

 food being exhausted, they are about to set out for Possession 

 Island. 



Sept. 30, 1887. 



Possession Island, which is also one of the Crozet groua 

 is eighty miles from Cochous. The Meurthe at once wenl 

 to that island, but found no trace whatever of the shipi 

 wrecked men. Then she went to East Island, anothel 

 island of the group, where she found some Americas 

 whalers that had been there for some weeks. They haS 

 neither seen nor heard anything of the castaways. All 

 the other islands in those waters were visited withoul 

 result. It is firmly believed that the unfortunate men 

 were lost in the perilous passage by small boats to Pow 

 session Island, though there is a bare chance that thejE 

 were picked up by some American whaler. 



Of course the 2301bs. of biscuit with which the mes 

 reached Cochous Island w r as only a small part of tbja 

 provisions they required during their nine months 

 sojourn there. At least one other ere vv has been ship* 

 wrecked on the Crozets, and it subsisted until rescued 6n| 

 penguin flesh and eggs and fish. In this way doubtless 

 the men of the Tamaris eked out their food resource* 

 and it is not probable they would have starved had theii 

 patience held out a little longer until relief came. Thai 

 probably thought that at Possession Island the chanceH 

 would be better that some whaler would discover thernfil 

 They knew there was not one chance in many thousandS 

 that the "man-o'-war'' bird to whom they intrusted theiw 

 brief message would carry it safely and qu ickly thousandlj 

 of miles to the civilized world. They little dreamed that! 

 eight days before they set out from the desolate rocla 

 where they had lived so forlornly the bird they senjl 

 skimming over the waters had finished his wonderfuw 

 flight and had told the world of their unhappy situation,! 

 Few stories of the animal kingdom equal in pathetic! 

 interest that of this strong-winged bird, whose happa 

 fulfilment of the mission intrusted to him set two nationsl 

 at work to rescue men in sore distress. — N. Y. Sun. 



Too Much Red Tape.— Rogi, Austria, Feb. 11.— Editoim 

 Forest and Stream: Having read with pleasure thfl 

 Forest and Stream: from time to time, I think perhapS 

 a note from over the sea would be acceptable. We ai'3 

 here on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains near the 

 Hungarian lines. Wolves, hares and roe deer are the 

 varieties of game, but it is too much trouble to get a privj 

 ilege to shoot here. You must first pay a license fee to' 

 own a gun, and then another to shoot it. — J. G. B. 1 



Sheffield, HI., Feb. 25— Geese, robins and bluebird* 

 appeared the first of the week. One flock of geee« 

 stopped to sample some rye in a neighbor's field. I tooj 

 a .32 Winchester, and getting behind a hedge tried U 

 "make a sneak" on them, but they, thinking I had diffi 

 honorable intentions, quickly bid" me good day. Tja 

 swamps are filled up with water, but there is nothing t<] 

 use for blinds. The fire last fall licked up everything.-^ 

 Walters. 



