Feb. 10, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



43 



places the evidence of specimens and information went 

 to show that caribou, spruce and birch partridges (Canace 

 and Bonasa), fish and fur, were plentiful a few miles 

 back. 



My next stop was at Rat Portage, on the northwestern 

 bay of the Lake of the Woods. This count ry is rated as 

 an Al fur district in the books of the H. B. Co. In the 

 immediate vicinity of the town there is no game, but 

 guides are easily obtained, and ten miles back various 

 birds, beasts and fishes are common, the following being 

 the chief game: Moose, caribou, hares (L. amerieanns), 

 spruce partridges, birch partridges, prairie chickens 

 {Pediocetes, first observed at Port Arthur), and various 

 ducks, etc. From Eat Portage several steamers start 

 weekly for various parts of this great lake, and among 

 their landing places is the Nor' west Angle, famous in 

 liistory and notable as being the most convenient point 

 for reaching ffhe Great Roseau Swamp, which here 

 touches the lake. Of this swamp I need say nothing, its 

 promises as a hunting ground have been sufficiently set 

 forth by a recant writer in this journal. 



At Winnipeg, my next halting place, I stayed a week, 

 and was shown elk, moose, caribou and jumping deer 

 (Cervus macrotis) heads by the dozen, also hares, prairie 

 chickens and ducks by the thousand. But I did no shoot- 

 ing myself, being desirous of pressing on to my old home 

 at Car berry before 1 began to burn powder. 



Carberry is on the C. P. R., 105 miles west of Winni- 

 peg; 188G was a^great year for game, and the following 

 list will give an idea of the sporting attractions of the 

 locality : 



Moose — Not uncommon in the Big Swamp. 

 Elk— Rare. 



Jumping Deer— Tolerably common; becoming mo'e so. 



Hares — Enormously abundant; too many for sport. 



Geese — Common in fall. 



Ducks of all kinds— Very abundant. 



Snipe, etc. — Abundant. 



Parti'idge — Common. 



Prairie Chicken (Pediocetes)— Exceedingly abundant. 

 Prairie Hen (Tympanuchus)— Rare, but becoming more 

 common. 



As I am preparing a more extended article on Carberry 

 hunting and have already published an account of one of 

 my own hunts in that region, I shall not enlarge on the 

 subject at present, but in conclusion must warn all pros- 

 pective tourist hunters that I never yet saw a hunting 

 ground wheie large game could be bagged without a 

 great deal of toil or where anything worth mentioning 

 could be killed from the hotel windows. 



Ernest E. Thompson. 



Tohonto, Jan. 30. 



A COURSING MEET. 



DOWN in the lowlands of Scotland, in a gorgeous smil- 

 ing farming country, that produces untold bushels of 

 potatoes to the acre and turnips of a wondrous size, that 

 m turn have to do with the evolution into beef of great 

 glossy-flanked Polled Angus and Ayrshire cattle, several 

 himdred men have arrived by train to see the great cours- 

 ing meet. There are i-uddy-faced squires in broad cordu- 

 roy shooting jackets and leather gaiters, each one enjoying 

 a pipeful of cut Cavendish or even of strong smelling 

 black pigtail. Canny old Scotchmen are cracking heavy 

 and rather indigestible jokes among themselves, and pass 

 around the big snuff-box, and every man helps himself 

 by means of the little ivory spoon, and daintily insinuates 

 into each nostril a charge that wotdd be any other man's 

 death of sneezing, providing he had not had the privilege 

 of having been born north of the Cheviot Hills. 



Men are leading about braces of lanky greyhounds, and 

 the lithe and graceful animals seem already to scent the 

 sport, and frequently give their short leash a strong tug, 

 but soon relapse into good behavior upon a word of the 

 master. The owners are of various descriptions, some are 

 hearty, broad-smiling fellows, who evidently run their 

 dogs and stake their money for the pure love of the sport. 

 Others are keen-eyed and cautious-looking men who make 

 a business of it, and do not entirely course for fun. These 

 always take some time to think before they make a bet, 

 and are apt to haggle a little before they enter their 

 wagers in their little books. 



The whole crowd walks down the road and through the 

 village, and a number stop for a few moments at the 

 Mac-Something-or-other Arms, and their are loud calls 

 for gills and mutchkins of the best. 



Then all are assembled in a broad pasture ground, and 

 the judges on horseback move hither and thither, and 

 ask the crowd to step back, for the wood just ojiposite is 

 going to be driven. Two names are called and a couple 

 of men step forward, each one leading a hound. The 

 dogs are leashed together and the sport begins. A hare 

 starts from the wood, bounds into the clearing, and is 

 away at a rattling pace. The leash is slipped and the 

 eager greyhounds are after poor puss in hot chase. One 

 of tbe dogs, a sinewy strong- boned animal, of coal black 

 hue, is very close to her heels m less than a minute, but 

 the hare takes a sudden turn just in the nick of time, and 

 her pursuer's tremendous pace carries him way beyond 

 her before he can turn. Tae other dog, however, which 

 was a few yards behind, has been able to take a sharp turn 

 too, and does the ranning now. The hare turns and 

 twists and darts about, but both dogs are after her again. 

 One of tliem manages to head her off, and she nearly falls 

 into the eager jaws of the other, but he misses his spring 

 and away she goes once more. This time she goes through 

 a wire fence, with both dogs neck and neck behind her, 

 but alas for the big black fellow, he has failed in his 

 hurry to see the treacherous wires, and as ho sails along 

 the ground he sharply strikes one of them, and falls into 

 the ditch with a oroken neok, while a minute longer 

 pussy meets her death as the other dog catches her after 

 ono more turn. 



The owner of the dog that has been killed mutters some 

 imprecation against wire fences and sorrowfully picks 

 up the body, but in the meantime another couple are 

 ready, a hare is found and killed after a short struggle. 



The coursing goes on, one pah- after another, every one 

 is exciting, the accident has been forgotton. The betting 

 grows brisker every moment, five pound notes are chang- 

 ing owners at a great rate, and all look happy except a 

 few that have been hit rather hard in the betting. 



At last the prize winners have all been picked out, and 

 the coursing is ended. We all go toward the station, 

 and not a little of the day's fun is enjoyed over again in 

 the train, G. V. S. 



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

 FLORIDA BIRD NOTES. 



HERONS, EGRETS AND SPOONBILLS. 



FLORIDA has long been noted for the abundance of 

 its herons and egrets. Quite justly, too, for they 

 abound here in great numbers. In this locality I noticed 

 the great blue, white- crowned, night heron, the black- 

 crowned, little blue, green, Louisiana and snowy herons, 

 as well as the American egret. On several occasions I 

 Saw the great white heron on the coast, but was unable 

 to get a shot. 



The great bluo heron is common everywhere on the 

 coast, along the rivers, about the lakes and ponds, in fact 

 you will meet it wherever it can find suitable food. It 

 i .reeds in the State, and about four miles east of St. Marks 

 is an extensive swamp, where I noticed several hundred 

 in February, 1886. T once caught one on an outline in 

 shallow water in St. Marks River. He had been wading 

 around looking for food, and discovering the bait at- 

 tempted to swallow it, when the gag hook became fast- 

 ened in his throat. He made things very lively in the 

 morning when I approached him and fought desperately. 

 Another time I saw one on the shore of Lake Jackson 

 that was followed by a large alligator that evidently 

 wanted heron for dinner. The heron kept just out of 

 reach and seemed to pay little attention to the 'gator, but 

 at tbe same time kept well out of the way. 



The. white-crowned night heron was seen twice. On 

 MarOh 28 I killed a fine specimen in fidl plumage at 

 Lake LaFayette, and in June I saw a pair at Lake 

 Jamonia. The black-crowned, like the preceding, was 

 very scarce, only being seen a few times. 



The blue heron winters further south and appears at 

 this place the latter part of March, or first of April. They 

 breed in colonies of 200 or more and usually select young 

 cypress trees for this pm-pose. Near the Natural bridge, 

 on the St. Marks River, are numbers of these rookeries. 

 I visited one on April 10 and found a great many nests 

 that already contained the full complement of three or 

 four eggs. One large rookery there was destroyed by 

 crows, which devoured all the eggs. You will always 

 see crows in the neighborhood of one of these rookeries, 

 and at the slightest opportunity they will devour the 

 eggs. 



The green heron was plenty early in April as a migrant, 

 but a few can be found all winter. 



The Louisiana heron does not come in any numbers 

 until the middle of May. I never saw them inland, but 

 always on the coast or breeding on some island near tbe 

 shore". About eleven miles west of the St. Marks light- 

 house, is a small island of several acres. The island is 

 but a few feet above the sea, and is covered with a rank 

 growth of rushes and low shrubs. These rushes grew to 

 a height of 6 or 8ft. and then lopped over. So thick wero 

 they that they would almost sustain the weight of a man. 

 On these, rushes, thus bent over, hundreds of gulls have 

 annually built then nests and reared their young. The 

 persecution of late years has been inhuman. Fishing 

 and hunting parties visit the island almost daily. If in- 

 cubation has begun in the eggs, they destroy or carry 

 them away, and on visiting the place several days later 

 they find plenty of fresh eggs. I was on the island in 

 June, 1885. There were probably 1,500 gulls around it, 

 but on landing and looking it over carefully I did not 

 find over 40 nests containing young or eggs. This season 

 I found it even worse. On May 16 I visited the island 

 and found no eggs at all. The Inspector of Customs at 

 St. Marks showed me a dozen eggs of the black-headed 

 gull, and stated that he had been to the island the day 

 before, but only got about 100 eggs as some one had been 

 there the previous day and got them all. He had saved 

 a dozen of those marked the nicest and eaten the balance. 

 A month later I was again on the island and found no 

 eggs or young birds of the gull, so I am sure that no gulls 

 reared their young this year on Bird Island, as it is called, 

 which for scores of years has been the breeoing place of 

 the black-headed gull. Immediately after the arrival of 

 the Louisiana heron on this island, they commenced con- 

 structing their flat nests on the low bushes or on the 

 ground underneath. About 200 breed here every year, 

 but if the persecution continues, they will be obliged to 

 abandon the island entaely. 



About two weeks after the Louisiana heron, the beauti- 

 ful little snowy heron arrives, and what space on the low 

 bushes is not already taken by the Louisiana heron is 

 quickly taken by the snowy. In a few days the shallow 

 nest is completed and the complement of three or four 

 eggs depo-sited. On the arrival of the snowy heron perse- 

 cution commences in earnest. Nearly every fisher, 

 sponger or otner craft is prepared to kill these birds 

 whenever seen, as of late years they have found out these 

 birds are valuable, for nearly all have seen or heard of 

 the advertisements in northern papers for white heron or 

 crane wings or skins. I went aboard a sloop from Apala- 

 chicola one day and noticed very nearly half a bushel of 

 eggs of these herons that were taken on the island. Sus- 

 pended from the yard arms were several skins of white 

 pelicans and cormorants, and hanging by the broad bill 

 in the cabin was a roseate spoonbill. On inquiry, I found 

 out the heron's eggs formed part of then- daily bill of fare, 

 and the skins (what there was of them) were for some 

 parties in Chicago. None of the skins were prepared so 

 as to be of any practical use. I dare say that after the 

 arrival of the snowy heron not a day passes until then* 

 departure but what some fisher, sailor, or plume hunter 

 visits the place, and as a result the birds are very wild. 

 By the middle of June the young of the American egret 

 are full grown, and with the parent bird have gone to the 

 sea coast. This island is also their roosting place at night. 

 During the day at low tide they feed on tile oyster bars 

 and mud flats, and abotit sundown they commence wing- 

 ing then- way to the island, which by dark is literally 

 covered with them. A few roseate spoonbills rooBt here 

 nearly every night. Last June I spent ten days in the 

 Apalachee Bay, and collected many fine skins. The 

 reader would naturally think that where such an abund- 

 ance was to be found it would be an easy matter to pro- 

 Cure as many as might be desired; but this is by no means 

 true. Let a boat once approach the island and every bird 

 will at once take wing and alight on oyster bars and' other 

 places out of reach. The Louisiana herons soon return 



and do not seem to care much for the stranger's presence, 

 as they are seldom shot at, but the snowy herons keep 

 well out of the way until he is gone. 



I wanted a few of these birds skins very much for my 

 cabinet, and after repeated efforts during the day, I de- 

 termined to try my luck at night. On the afternoon of 

 June 20, 1886, my companion and I left our camp at Shell 

 Point, three milps east of the island, with our minds made 

 up to stay on the island all night, if necessary, to get 

 some of those tall white fellows. Shell Point is noted for 

 its fisheries, and is located eight miles west of the St. 

 Marks lighthouse. Annually, in the fall of the year, 

 numbers of wagons come from southern Georgia for a 

 supply of fish. Just back of the shore is an immense 

 windrow, half a mile long, of broken shells that have 

 been washed out by the waves of the sea; just back of 

 this windrow is an extensive sand flat, level as a floor. 

 The tide sometimes covers this. It is favorite feeding 

 ground of the snipes. Many a time have I seen acres of 

 it covered with such birds as the sicklebill curlew, willet, 

 greater yellowlegs, red-breasted snipe, ring plover and 

 sandpipers. Here is where the pot-hunter can have a 

 picnic. I don't claim to be that kind of a hunter, but 

 my stock of ammunition being low, and the large camp 

 kettle empty, I took the shotgun one day and went back 

 of the catup, where there were thousands of birds. They 

 took wing and came wheeling by in a cloud. The 10-bore 

 Spoke twice and we gathered up thirty- two willet, red- 

 breasted snipe and ring plover. All were fat, as the 

 feeding ground was good. As we pushed our boat from 

 the beach the sight was one worth seeing. The sun was 

 going below the pine trees in the west, the sea was calm 

 as there was but little breeze blowing. All nature seemed 

 to be alive with animal life. About 100yds. from shore 

 thirteen large cormorants go sweeping by in a V-shaped 

 line. A clapper rail, with a brood of six young, scampers 

 from the grass near the water, and running over the shells, 

 is soon lost in the rushes of the salt marsh. Ring plover and 

 small sandpipers by dozens are running along" the beach. 

 Back of the camp the loud clear notes of the willet as he 

 utters his pill- will-iviller, can be distinctly heard, and others 

 can be seen feeding along the water. Flying over the 

 water or beach are a number of least terns, their silky 

 white plumage glistening in the light of the setting sun; 

 there are a few common terns and blackhead gulls flying 

 over the marsh. Further north toward the dark pines, 

 two large eagles are whirling in majestic circles. An 

 osprey has just seized a fish from a school of mullet in 

 shoal water and is bearing it away, but alas, the pirate of 

 the ah- is watching with his keen eye, and an exciting 

 race follows; the eagle gains rapidly and is soon within a 

 few yards when the osprey drops his prey and the eagle, 

 with a graceful swoop, catches it in his talons before it 

 can reach the earth. Half a dozen ospreys can be seen 

 fishing any time during the day at this point, and. their 

 movements are closely watched by the eagles. I have 

 seen the eagle capture his own fish on the inland lakes, but 

 on the coast he prefers to rob the more industrious fish 

 hawk. Half a mile from the shore are seven stately 

 white American egrets busily procuring their evening 

 meal. On an oyster bar near by are three great blue 

 herons and a wood ibis also feeding. Near the bar are a 

 number of brown pelicans flying about and every few 

 moments one will dash with terrible force in the sea, 

 sending the spray and water high into the air as he seizes 

 some unlucky fish. In some scrub bushes near the shore 

 some noisy boat-tailed grakles chattering, a pair of gray 

 king birds, whose nest I have looked for m vain, are 

 pursuing winged insects, and on the top of the tallest 

 shrub that king of songsters, the mockingbird, is making 

 the evening air ring with his clear and varied notes. Such 

 was the scene at Lonely Shell Point that sultry June 

 evening. There are places where more species can be seen 

 at one time, but where can a more interesting number he 

 found ? 



I have often been told by people living hi and about St. 

 Marks that not more than twenty years ago a boat could 

 be loaded with eggs at any of the islands in the bay, and 

 there were myriads of birds there compared with the 

 number to be seen now. Surely if this was the case the 

 work of destruction has been going on at a rapid rate. 

 But enough yet remains to make the place deeply inter- 

 esting to the naturalist and sportsman. About a mile off 

 shore is a sharpie that has been turtling for several days, 

 and a little further on a schooner with a raft of cedar logs 

 for the mills at Cedar Keys. Away out at sea is a schooner 

 that has just come around South Cape, and near the 

 lighthouse can be seen the sails of seven other vessels 

 making for the mouth of the river. They are the spongers 

 and fishers returning from the sponging grounds off 

 shore. But we can't tarry here, for it will be dark in a 

 few hours and we want to do a little hunting before dark, 

 so turning tbe prow of our boat westward and hoisting 

 the sail we are soon skimming over the water, leaving a 

 broad wake behind. After going about a mile three large 

 white pelicans are sighted about a quarter of a mile ahead, 

 and my companion remarked that one of them would 

 not look bad mounted in a collection. We lowered 

 the sail and took the oars and carefully rowed, toward 

 them. We reached within a hundred yardss when 

 they took wing. Our firearms consisted of . a 10-bore 

 breechloading shotgun and a .22cal. Remington rifle. 

 Two loud reports from the shotgun as we hurled 2|oz. of 

 turkey shot at them, and several shots from the Reming- 

 ton are heard, but all to no avail. They kept on in a 

 straight line out to sea. Half a mile further on are a 

 large number of oyster bars, and on these are some cor- 

 morants, willets and four fine sickle-billed curlews, the 

 prince of all bay-birds. These we left undisturbed and 

 we are soon plowing our way r under the lea of a long nar- 

 row island, and it is just getting dark. Coming from the 

 land are five large birds that alight on the edge of the 

 island a few hundred yards from us, and commence feed- 

 ing along the shore. By looking carefully we see that 

 they are of the most beautiful species of the South, one 

 that we have tried many times to capture — the roseate 

 spoonbill. The sail is lowered once more and a paddle 

 substituted, and wo approached carefully. They seemed 

 to pay very little attention to us so intent were they feed- 

 ing. To my dismay I discovered I had forgotten all the 

 heavy shot at the camp except the two loads 1 fired at the 

 pelicans and had nothing but No. 6's. It was too dark 

 tor a successful shot with the rifle. They let us approach 

 within 50yds. before flying. As they arose I fired two 

 shots, but to no avail, and we would have to be contented 

 by thinking how near we had come to killing a roseate 

 spoonbill. 



