Deo. 29, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



448 



expressed as follows: Sub-kingdom, Mollusca; class. 

 Gasteropoda; order, Pulmonata; family, Helicidai; 

 genera, Helix; species, Helix albolabris. 



Of what use are snails? Charles Dickens has told us of 

 the delights of a meal of boiled periwinkles, the meat 

 being hooked from the shell by means of a bent pin. But 

 the diminutive periwinkle is not the only snail used for 

 food. In Germany, and doubtless also in other European 

 countries, snails are one of the regular items in the bills 

 of fare at the restaurants. It is probable, however, that 

 as an article of food to man, they are of little value 

 except to the epicure. Many species are doubtless 

 both palatable and nutritious, but they are not abundant- 

 enough to come into general use as an article of food. 



NOTES OF A PASTURE LOT. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have written you sometliing concerning a pasture of 

 about 300 acres which lies a little back of my residence. 

 Although this pasture has long been infested by a Jersey 

 bull of very fierce aspect, his eyes blazing with a peculiar 

 look of devil-may-care from his shaggy front, making it 

 not altogether comfortable to wander therein on foot, yet 

 it was my habit in the spring to stroll through it occa- 

 sionally, considering nature in her fresh and playful 

 moods. The bull seemed to understand and respect my 

 business, for though he often cast a sinister look at me, as 

 if meditating that I would be an excellent object to toss 

 up on his horns, yet he never offered to disturb my 

 studies. And here I will remark that while the Jersey 

 cow is the most gentle and amiable of all brutes, loving 

 to lick your hands and to be caressed by them, the bull 

 of that species is a devil, who must be guarded against 

 with much care. He has killed and injured, I dare say, 

 more men and women than all other bulls combined. A 

 marked feature of these is that there is no telling when 

 their devil may rise within them, they being liable to 

 make then onslaughts on the sudden, without any provo- 

 cation. Therefore, while I love the Jersey cow tenderly 

 for her sweetness even more than for her rich milk, I re- 

 gard her rugged consort with harsh feelings, and could 

 wish that she had a better mate. 



Till the other day I had not entered this pasture since 

 June. The scene in the meantime had been greatly 

 changed. The trees had lost, their leaves and stood naked 

 and black; the rich green of the prairie had changed to 

 dead-brown, and the myriads of flowers had ah gone. 

 But the change in respect to the fauna was even more 

 marked. Then the ah- was full of song and merriment 

 from thousands of happy throats: now the silence of the 

 tomb reigned. Of the merry singers and chatterers which 

 were then seen in troops on every hand, the mockingbird 

 alone was left, and he flitted from dark recess to dark 

 recess in the bushes, mute, and as if wishing to hide him- 

 self in his sorrow. Not so did he behave when I was in 

 the pasture before; for then he sought the most conspicu- 

 ous perches on the trees, pouring forth his melody in con- 

 tinuous streams, as if he was so full of joy that he would 

 burst if he let it not forth. Those tongs and all other 

 songs that I heard, were of love. The love was now gone, 

 and hence the pasture was silent. The other birds that 

 had assisted the mockingbird in this musical medley were 

 from the far South, and had returned thither. The few 

 that had come to take their places were silent and sober 

 fellows from the North, who come merely to eat and 

 keep warm. We have very few birds here which stay 

 all the year; only the mockingbird, the dove, a few spar- 

 rows, a few hawks, a few owls, the raven and the quail. 

 All others come and go with the seasons. 



The bareness of the trees disclosed to me a great many 

 nests which I had vainly looked for in the spring and 

 summer concealed as they were in the thick foliage. 

 Among these I found several of the same sort, which 

 amused me greatly by then wonderful architecture. 

 These were invariably in china trees which, though en- 

 tirely leafless in winter, are the most umbrageous of all 

 our trees in summer. Invariably they were built on 

 slender twigs, far out near the ends of the branches, so 

 light and pliable that no prowling animal or snake could 

 reach them. They were in shape like the cone of the 

 pine tree and not larger than these cones often grow in 

 Texas. They were always built at the fork of a twig, 

 the upper edge or rim of the nests being firmly bound to 

 the twig on three sides. The binding material was cob- 

 web or some substance so like it that I could distinguish 

 no difference. So much of this material had been used 

 in the binding that the nests could not be taken except 

 by cutting the twig above the fork. The rest of the nest 

 was formed in part of this material, but mostly of blades 

 of grass, so ingeniously woven together that no weaver 

 could weave them better. The nest was in all respects 

 precisely like that of the Baltimore oriole, which also 

 abounds here, save that the latter bird employs horse hair 

 and thread and strips of cloth for his binding and through- 

 out his nest, while this present bird employs none of 

 these; also his nest is scarcely a fourth as large as the 

 oriole's. In skill of architecture, while the oriole is very 

 remarkable, this little bird excels him very much. 



The builder of these nests perplexed me very much in 

 my spring and summer walks in the pasture; for I am 

 sure I do not mistake him. He seemed a spirit rather 

 than a bird. His fellows were numerous in the trees of 

 thickest shade, and his extremely little, piping voice was 

 constantly heard among the leaves, but he MmseK was 

 never visible above a second at a time, and this only when 

 he was flitting like lightning from leaf to leaf. I often 

 endeavored to force them from the trees, but they would 

 not go. They would sometimes dart out a foot or two 

 from the tree, only to dart back immediately at another 

 place; so that I am totally at loss to give his markings, 

 his shape, or anything that is his except Iris nest. He is 

 a will-o'-the-wisp, a very Dutchman's flea, which now is 

 there and now is not there. 



However, there is no mystery which can always be 

 hidden from him who sincerely wills to know it. We 

 shall one day know the mystery of the stars, if we sin- 

 cerely will it and are good. And having learned now 

 the habits of this little creature, I can rob his nest next 

 spring and doubtless by strategy secure a sample of him- 

 self. In the meantime, who can tell us of this little spirit 

 whose architecture is so wonderful? What school of 

 architecture did he attend, and who was his master? 

 How wise was that master who could put such excellent 

 knowedge in so small a head ! 

 I have two little boys who are full of curiosity as to 



birds and all wild animals and reptiles, as most boys are. 

 I questioned them regarding this little bird, and they re- 

 plied that he was a "little oriole," but could say nothing 

 more definite. N. A. T. 



AbtTjEne, Tox., December. 



Egg of the Great Auk.— At Mr. J. C. Stevens's auc- 

 tion rooms, this week, a large number of ornithologists 

 assembled to witness the sale of an egg of the great auk. 

 Before offering the lot Mr. Stevens remarked that in 1880 

 two eggs of this bird, both of which had been broken, 

 were sold by him, and that they fetched 100 and 102 

 guineas, respectively. Of the recorded eggs, 25 were in 

 18 museums and 41 in 19 private collections — 43 out of 

 the 6(3 being in Great Britain. The first bid of 50 guineas 

 was made by a well-known ornithologist, and this was 

 followed by 60 guineas from Mr. L. Field, to whom the 

 egg was eventually knocked down at 160 guineas ($840). 

 — London Times. 



An Albino Bluebird.— Waver ly, Va., Dec. 18.— An 

 hour or so of spare time let me out of the office Saturday, 

 and after bagging a nice bunch of quail, I shot this small 

 bird in the edge of some small pines, in company with 

 some other small birds, and I believe it to be of the family 

 of bluebirds. It is a rare specimen and i mail it to you to 

 mount and name. Quail are very plentiful along our 

 line and I notice few gunners.— J*. W. Schooley. [The 

 bird came safely to hand. It is unmistakably an albino 

 bluebird.] ' 



4 nme mxi %m{. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pub, Co. 



Antelope, and Deer of America. By J. D. Oaton. 

 Price S3. 50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the. 

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

 Gun in California. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price SI. 50. 

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

 ?»,«&." Price $1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents. The Still-Hunter. By T. S. Van Dyke. Price*?. 



DEATH OF JOHN W. NEWTON. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mine was the sad misfortune to be in company last 

 week with that trite gentleman and ardent sportsman, 

 John W. Newton, of Westhampton, Long Island, when 

 he met his instant death by the accidental discharge of 

 his gun while reloading it. 



Though not in sight when the report of the gun came 

 to my hearing, the way in which the accident occurred 

 is plainly to be seen when the nature of the ground is 

 understood and w T e remember the deplorable habit, 

 known by all who have hunted with him. of leaning the 

 piece against his body while reaching for wads, shot, 

 etc. — an entire exception to his otherwise extreme care 

 in the handling of his gun to avoid injury to himself or 

 others. 



While my spirit is too sore for impartial judgment, my 

 consciencebids me say to all those gentlemen of the old 

 school who use a muzzleloader in preference to a breech- 

 loader, take warning — cast them aside, however prized 

 by you, before another valuable life be lost by a similar 

 accident. F. F. R. 



New York, Bee. 27, 1887. 



FIFTY-FOUR GEESE. 



WALLA WALLA, Wash. Ter., Dec. 15.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: In this part of Washington 

 Territory we fare badly for game, in fact, we have no 

 shooting worth mentioning excepting doves in August 

 and geese on Eureka Flat, 20 to 30 miles from here, dur- 

 ing the whiter. Eureka Flat is a tract of land bordering 

 on the Snake River, and upon it thousands of bushels of 

 wheat are harvested every season. It is one series of 

 wheat stubbles from end to end, and here the geese con- 

 gregate. The inhabitants of the region kill quite a good 

 many by stalking, but so open is the ground and wily are 

 the geese that it is extremely difficult to get within kill- 

 ing distance. The better plan, therefore, is to dig pits, 

 taking great care to cover all traces of the hole by dex- 

 trously fringing it with stubble, weeds, sage brush, etc. 

 Then place the decoys at a convenient distance and 

 patiently await results. On one point the sportsman, or 

 Jack-in-the-box, as it were, will never be disappointed- 

 he will be chilled to the marrow, geese or no geese, but 

 that is a very small affair and not to be taken into con- 

 sideration, for the very first honk-honk-a-honk of an 

 approaching skein, will send the blood coursing through 

 his veins and entirely dispel any chilly feeling which may 

 have been stealing on. The proper thing to do then is to 

 crouch even lower, remain perfectly still, so immovable 

 in fact as to make a dead man appear affected with St. 

 Lazarus's dance in comparison, and bide the time until 

 the flapping of the wings is distinctly heard directly over- 

 head , wheel round as you rise and give them both barrels. 

 It is easy enough to hit a goose when under 40 to 50yds., 

 and if you are provided with a good shooting gun, 

 properly loaded, the bird may be killed in the ah; but my 

 word for it, it's deuced hard to wait and determine when 

 they are just in the proper position to afford the best tar- 

 get; and many a probable double has been ruthlessly con- 

 verted into a double goose-egg from over-anxiety or undue 

 tardiness, brought about in either event by a clear case of 

 being rattled. 



The fact of the matter is this, a, goose is a pretty big 

 bird but yet small enough to be an infinitesimal atom as 

 compared to the space that surrounds him. So although 

 he looms up as big as a pumpkin, to say nothing of his 

 neck and outstreched wings, yet when 60yds. away he 

 appears only 40, and although apparently not moving- 

 very fast, yet it is no uncommon thing to shoot at one, 

 miss him clear, and kill the one directly in his wake, 

 clearly missing the leader by 3ft. or more. Add to this 

 the tenacity of life possessed by wildfowl in general and 

 it can clearly be seen that there's no unpardonable dis- 

 grace in missing one now and then, while many good 

 shots fail "to connect" quite as often as they kill. 



In view, then, of the great uncertainty of things in 

 goose shooting as in other affairs of life, I deem it a very 



creditable performance that two of our gunners killed hi 

 one morning last week 30 geese in 40 shots — a feat that 

 has no parallel so far as known in this vicinity. The next 

 morning these men (whose names are W. A. Eberly and 

 John Foster, both of Walla Walla) killed 34, making a 

 grand total of 54 geese in about four hours work, from 

 daylight until 9 o'clock A. M., on 7th and 8th inst. 



It may be of interest to know that both men used their 

 10-bore full choked Parker guns loaded with 4fdrs. of 

 powder, l^oz. No. 1 and some No. 4 shot. They are both 

 fine shots afield or at the trap, Foster now holding the in- 

 dividual championship badge of the Southwest, won at 

 Seattle last summer, while Eberly has proved himself a 

 masterly shot and awkward stayer on many fields. 



So little shooting is done here that we trust it pardonable 

 to make record of this unprecedented bag. Gaucho, 



THE BIG BUCK OF HIGH ISLAND. 



THIS summer I was hunting deer on High Island, 

 when one of the largest bucks I ever saw in Louisiana 

 was leveled by Robert Poole, a very small boy eleven 

 years old. His father and I were standing not far from 

 him when two shots in rapid succession were fired. The 

 hounds had separated into two packs, one pursuing a doe 

 and two fawns by Mr. Poole, who fired without effect. 

 The other pack ran three bucks by Master Robert. It 

 was his first shot at a deer, and he was wonderfully ex- 

 cited when we rode to him. "What did you shoot at?" 

 said his father. '-Oh, papa, I shot at the" biggest buck 

 you ever saw, and then I shot a t a small one. There were 

 three of them, and I just know I killed one, because I saw 

 him stagger as I shot." 



The dogs were in full cry when we rode to him, but 

 only two dogs were then in hearing. 



"You must have killed the buck, Robert," said I, 

 "because I heard old Coallie stop a short distance after 

 he passed you, and then I heard him baying about a 

 quarter of a mile from my stand. He has caught your 

 deer no doubt, as he is not with the other hounds." 



"How far was the deer from you?" asked his father. 

 "I was standing there by the side of that post oak, and 

 the buck was on the bank of the bayou," he replied. Mr. 

 Poole stepped the ground and found it was 26 steps. 

 Some shot struck a sapling the right height for killing a 

 deer. "Where was the other deer when you shot?" he 

 asked of his little boy. He replied "he was jumping 

 down the bank when I shot the big buck." Mi-. Poole 

 said to me, "Let us examine for blood; if the deer is 

 weunded, we ought to remain until the driver comes out 

 in order to get some hounds and folio w it." 



On examination we found a large pool of blood, not 

 100yds. from where the httle fellow shot. It was frothy, 

 showing the deer was shot through the lungs, and indi- 

 cated that he could not run very far before ho would fall 

 dead. Mr. Poole wanted to follow the direction the dogs 

 took, to which I objected, as I declared I heard Coallie 

 baying the opposite of the course he desired to search. 

 He finally consented to let me lead. The two dogs were 

 still or hearing, but evidently had crossed the Lake 

 Bistereau and were running the high hills of Bienville 

 Parish. Proceeding about a quarter to where I thought 

 I heard the baying, my pony began snorting and plung- 

 ing. "The deer is not far from us," I said to Mr. Poole, 

 "for he always snorts when he smells blood." I blew my 

 horn, and immediately old Coallie ran to us. We followed 

 him about 50yds. , and there lay the biggest buck I ever 

 saw in this State, and the fattest it ever was my fortune to 

 view when butchered. The deer was running quartering 

 to the little boy as he shot, and was struck with fourteen 

 shot in the head, neck and side. Instead of shooting at 

 a second deer he shot at the same one as it jumped down 

 the bank of the bayou, and hit it with twenty shot in 

 both hams and flank. 



Taking into consideration the age and small stature of 

 the boy, together with the fact that he was shooting an 

 81b. No. 12 gun, the stock of which had been shortened to 

 12+in. to fit his arms, I consider it remarkable shooting. 

 But few old hunters would have done as well on the 

 second shot. 



I gave the little fellow a good baptizing of blood for his 

 initiation into deer slaying, and told him to tell his 

 mamma to have a big plum pudding made for him the 

 next day, and to say to his beautiful sisters to be sure 

 and sit up with him that night, as I was certain his sleep 

 would be feverish and he would see those big horns peep- 

 ing through the bushes many times in his fitful dreams, 

 ere the sun shone shone through his window the next 

 morning. G. D. A. 



Knox Potnt, La. 



A Wire Fence Accident. — In passing from one piece of 

 woods to another, while hunting partridges with a friend, 

 I came to a barb wire fence, which as usual was difficult 

 to pass. By crawling under where the wire stretched 

 across two cradle knolls, I thought I could find a passage 

 way. My gun was still cocked. Placing myself on 

 hands and knees, I first carefully, as I thought, attempted 

 to push my gun in under the fence. The trigger must 

 have touched a stone or twig, and one barrel instantly 

 discharged; the recoil forced the gun back from my hand, 

 and as it struck the ground the" hammer of the other 

 barrel came in contact with a stone, breaking the dog of 

 the lock; it was instantly discharged; the charge, pointed 

 directly toward my body, was fortunately intercepted by 

 a large stone, which was shivered and scattered in all 

 directions. My first thought was, from the stunning 

 effects of noise and flying stones and gravel, that it was 

 all over with me; and I recall it to mind now with a 

 shudder and a thankful heart that I escaped the frightful 

 death that threatened me. — MlG. 



Nebraska.— Louisville, Dec. 11.— Along the Platte 

 River this fall the geese have been more numerous than 

 for the past few seasons. Only a few, however, have 

 been bagged in this vicinity, as they chiefly stay on bars 

 in the middle of the river, and one cannot get at them 

 with a boat on account of the shallowness of the water, 

 nor wade with safety on account cf the quicksands. 

 Quail are quite numerous, but the deep snows of '85 and 

 '86 thinned them out badly. The coveys are small in 

 numbers compared to those of a few years ago. Chickens 

 are very scarce; I cannot account for it, as they had a 

 good hatching season. Rabbits are quite numerous, and 

 a good many large bags have been made. — Snap Shot. 



