84 



Forest and stream. 



[Feb. 24, 1887. 



with slight injury, the tip of one wing having been 

 bioken. He was placed with the two hens, which by 

 this time had grown quite tame, and seemed to take quite 

 philosophically to confinement, doubtless favorably in- 

 fluenced by the placid demeanor of bis two companions. 

 The latter had passed through the summer without mis- 

 hap, and having moulted in August and September, were 

 in fine condition. The Massachusetts hen was a per- 

 fect beauty, and in her deportment "every inch a lady." 

 The three birds being from such widely divergent locali- 

 ties, it was extremely 'difficult, not to say impossible, to 

 determine their sex by any comparison of the plumage 

 and marking's, but after watching them a few weeks, one 

 soon learned to notice a marked difference in their man- 

 * ner and actions. The male bird was bolder and more in- 

 dependent and tamed much more rapidly than the hens 

 had done, although this, I think, partly accounted for by 

 the reason already given. In form the male bird was of 

 a more "stocky" and heavier build than the females, and 

 that would seem to be generally the case. In other re- 

 spects there was nothing in the demeanor of the male 

 bird toward his companions (except immediately at the 

 breeding season) which served to distinguish the sex — 

 none of the little gallantries and attentions and none of 

 the domineering so marked in most of the males of the 

 Gallinacee. His disposition at feeding hours, when he 



Sromptly appropriated for his own use any little delicacies 

 e could reach first, and his indifference at all ordinary 

 times were in most striking contrast with the behavior of 

 a male Virginia quail of my own rearing in an adjoining 

 coop. Bob White in winter and summer was always per- 

 vaded with the consciousness that he was the head of the 

 family and always polite, affectionate and generous in 

 his conduct toward his wife. To see him standing over 

 some little dainty, his back arched and head bent down- 

 ward and his wings drooping to the ground, while he 

 clucked his cordial invitation to his spouse, was one of 

 the prettiest sights imaginable. 



By the middle of the December following all the grouse 

 had grown so tame (the male with the others) that they 

 came readily at call, and fed without hesitation from my 

 hand. It will be understood without saying that from 

 this time they became more than over a source of enter- 

 tainment and pleasure. I never came near the coops that 

 they did not appear promptly, no matter where they 

 might be, and though always a little shy of strangers 

 they were a source of constant and marked interest to 

 the many incredulous visitors who were naturally led to 

 revise some opinions of long standing. Meantime the 

 birds went through the winter, which was about an aver- 

 age northern Ohio season, in apparent content, and evi- 

 dently had adjusted themselves entirely to their new 

 environment. 



With the close of the month of March came indications 

 of the advent of spring, although fitful and uncertain as 

 were befitting that month in our latitude. Naturally I 

 was still a little incredulous as to the sex of my Canadian 

 captive after my experience of the previous year, and I 

 began to watch him a little more closely. My notes say 

 that about this time "the Canada bird occasionally has 

 shown a sort of pugnacious impatience when I came near 

 the coops, lowering his head and extending it on a level 

 with his back, striking the ground with his bill, and 

 scratching (or 'pawing') restlessly with his feet." Under 

 date of April 7, I find this note: "Within the past few 

 days the Canada .grouse has developed a peculiar mark- 

 ing. The superciliary membrane of the eye has become 

 a bright orange red. The color is so vivid as to be plainly 

 noticeable 30ft. away, and the change is evidently inci- 

 dent to the breeding season. This membrane showed a 

 very faint orange tinge last fall and winter, but not 

 nearly so intense. Neither of the hens show any color 

 above the eyes." During the past winter I examined a 

 large number of birds on the market and in the various 

 stores where dead game was exposed for sale, and almost 

 without exception the specimens which seemed to bear 

 other indications peculiar to the male grouse bore a Inn 

 this orange marking. After my two years experience 

 with grcuse in confinement, however, I venture to ex- 

 press the opinion that the "mental characteristics" of the 

 male will always serve to identify his sex as soon as he 

 has become sufficiently accustomed to confinement to 

 allow them to manifest themselves, aside from his pecu- 

 liar actions in the mating season, 



The first week in April had been marked by a heavy 

 snowfall, the heaviest, indeed, during the entire winter. 

 But this soon passed away, and the remainder of the 

 month seemed brighter and warmer than ordinary, and 

 my notes speak of the season as being at least two weeks 

 in advance of the average spring. On the 14th I arranged 

 the nesting coop for the grouse, putting into it a fresh 

 supply of oak leaves and some oak brush to which the 

 dead leaves still adhered. This coop was quite secluded, 

 with a warm southerly exposure, and the rich browse, 

 oak leaves and brush made just such a nesting place as 

 one might imagine the birds would select if they had a 

 whole forest to choose from. And this seems a proper 



Elace to suggest that one great secret in inducing wild 

 irds to nest in confinement is to provide suitable nesting 

 places and materials. I have known quail in confinement 

 to pass through the first few weeks of the spring without 

 showing the least disposition to nest, but as soon as the 

 desired material was furnished them, the male began 

 building the nest at once, and in a few days (four or five 

 at furthest) the first egg was deposited. The male grouee, 

 on the other hand, takes no interest whatever in domestic 

 matters of this nature, and if no eggs were laid until he 

 prepared a nest, the grouse family would soon become as 

 rare as the Dodo. 



On the morning of April 19, going out early to the 

 coops, I found the Canada grouse standing on a small 

 log, v ith ruff erected and tin-own forward, tail expanded 

 into a perf eot fan, and wings drooping to his feet. His 

 eye burned with demoniac fire, and the children, as soon 

 as they saw him, tiptoed cautiously away, and named 

 him "the devil." There was no longer any mistaking 

 the sex, and the sight fully repaid me for all mv waiting. 

 Th3 two hens seemed to regard these unusual demonstra- 

 tions with wonder and dismay, and managed to keep the 

 width of the coop between them and their transmogrified 

 companion. As for the male bird himself, he paid little 

 attention to spectators, and during the first few days 

 devoted the greater part of his time to strutting up and 

 down the coop Uke a turkey gobbler in miniature. The 

 weather for the week ending April 22 was unusually 

 warm and dry for the season, and on the date named the 

 thermometer stood at 75" in the shade at noon. 



On the afternoon of the 23d, the Massachusetts hen hav- 

 ing made a nest in the fm t'nest comer of the nesting coop, 

 laid her first egg in the oak leaves. As already noted, 

 this bird had given no signs of laying the preceding 

 spring, nor, indeed, did she" manifest any of the restless- 

 ness and uneasiness which were displayed by the Ohio 

 hen prior to her nesting at that time. The Ohio hen did 

 not lay her first egg till the 3d of May, but this was twelve 

 days sooner than the previous year. ' Both hens, however, 

 began laying in the same nest, an unfortunate arrange- 

 ment that afterward proved the indirect cause of dis- 



On the 23d of April, the first day since the 19th, the 

 male grouse remained quiet and perfectly dejected till 

 toward evening, when he began to strut again as usual. 

 Have noticed that the last day or two he besieges the Ohio 

 hen almost constantly. 



April 25. — Up to this date I have seen no evidence that 

 the grouse have mated. Both the hens stih seem very 

 coy of the male and keep as far away from him as possi- 

 ble. Tins afternoon I shut all three bird* in the back 

 coop and removed all the perches so they could not get 

 off the ground. After, it became evident that I was in- 

 terfering with things that I knew nothing about, and ac- 

 cordingly restored the coops to their previous condition. 

 At no time while they remained together were the birds 

 ever seen to mate, the hens remaining shy and distant to 

 the last. What their actual relations "were (if any; could 

 only be determined by subsequent examination of the 

 eggs. 



May 9.— The male grouse has once or twice showed a 

 disposition to attack the Massachusetts hen and once gave 

 her a severe drubbing, since when she has been very 

 much afraid of him. This pugnacious disposition became 

 so marked that on the 14th I removed the male grouse 

 and confined him in a smaller coop by himself. On the 

 same date the Ohio hen was shut in the back coop, where, 

 after a day of much uneasiness and restlessness, she made 

 a new nest and laid an egg in it on the 15th. This, as 

 before, was a rash experiment, and evidently involved no 

 little risk, but it proved successful so far as to give each 

 hen a nest of her own in separate coops. On the 22d, re- 

 turning heme from a week's absence, I found that the 

 Ohio hen had five eggs in her new nest, but that the 

 Massachusetts hen showed no disposition to sit, although 

 she had evidently stopped laying. 



May 27. — The Ohio hen stopped laying to-day; the total 

 number of eggs from the two hens aggregated twenty- 

 two, but as both were laying in the same nest it was im- 

 possible to divide the credit. Some careful tests, how- 

 ever, which were completed about this time, with marked 

 eggs, developed the very singular fact that while the 

 eggs of the Ohio hen were fertile, those of the Massachu- 

 setts hen were sterile. This would seem to account in 

 some measure for the hostility manifested by the male 

 bud for his Eastern companion. One of my correspond- 

 ents (Mr. Davison, of Lockport, N. Y.) believes that the 

 grouse is monogamous and that this would explain the 

 action of the male, but the weight of authority seems to 

 be against him. 



On the 29th of May the 'Ohio, hen began sitting with 

 nine eggs, the majority of them known to be her own 

 and the remainder in doubt. The Massachusetts hen soon 

 showed the same spasmodic disposition to aid in the in- 

 cubation as the previous year, and I was obliged to shut 

 her out as before. Thus far, in spite of numerous obstacles 

 and difficulties, all these experiments seemed to progress 

 in the main toward a favoiable result. But alas for all 

 human calculations! After sitting five or six days, the 

 hen became nervous and restless from the noise and re- 

 peated disturbance about the yard, and early on the morn- 

 ing of the eighth day came off her nest, and at the ex- 

 piration of the usual time showed no disposition to return 

 to it. The morning passed and not till nearly noon did 

 she go back to her eggs, and then only for a short time. 

 The afternoon was spent again in loitering, and although 

 she returned to the nest at night the mischief had been 

 done. The eggs were put under a common hen, but only 

 one of them ever hatched, and the resulting chick disap- 

 peared mysteriously, no one ever knew where. An ex- 

 amination of the eggs confirmed the previous tests, and 

 showed that the majority of them contained chicks in a 

 partial state of development. 



That there were numerous mistakes in the plans and 

 methods adopted in these experiments need not be stated. 

 But since everything w<as of necessity done in the dark, 

 with no precedents as guides, this was not at all surpris- 

 ing. Looking back over the ground it seems probable 

 that all these mistakes could be avoided another season, 

 and yet most unfortunately I find myself without any 

 means of renewing the attempt the coming spring. My 

 original trio of grouse died in July and August last from 

 disease that might have been prevented, if not cured. 

 What became of the three birds obtained last fall Dr. Grin- 

 nell has related in the very able article which appeared 

 in the Forest and Stream of Jan. 20. I conclude by 

 saying that I am still confident that the ruffed grouse can 

 and will yet be successfully reared in confinement, doubt- 

 less by some one who has more skill, if not more enthusi- 

 asm than I. J. B. Battelle. 

 Toledo, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1S87. 



[Note: The foregoing dates on which the first eggs 

 were laid by the different game birds named are of inter- 

 est as going to confirm the belief that under favorable 

 circumstances these birds will nest as early in captivity as 

 in a state of nature. It will also be observed that the 

 dates given in each year are earlier than those of the 

 year preceding. 1884, Virginia quail, July 16; 18S5, 

 ruffed grouse May 15, Virginia quail May 10, Arizona 

 quail May 30; 1836, raffed grouse (Mass.) April 23, ruffed 

 grouse (Ohio) Mav 3, Virginia quail May 5, Arizona quail 

 May 13. — J. B. B.] 



Shore Bird Nomenclature.— New York, Feb. 5.— I 

 know none of the local Cape Cod names for shoie birds, 

 but am pretty well up in those used at Nantucket, which 

 is almost a part of the Cape. In Nantucket the golden 

 plover (CharadriHs pluvialis) is generally called green- 

 head. The later flight, when spoken of separately, are 

 called pale-bellies. The black-breasted or shore plover 

 (Charadrius helveticus) is called the beetle-head, the Hud- 

 sonian godwit (Limosa hudsonica) is known as the humil- 

 ity or hook-billed cuilew, while the common name for the 

 turn stone (Stremilas interpres) is craddock. The small 

 Esquimaux curlew (Numenius borealis), which flies with 

 the golden plover, is called the doebird. The semi-pal- 

 mated and other small sandpipers are called peckies. — B. 



HIBERNATING SQUIRRELS. 



IN my article, published in Forest and Strfam of Jan. 

 13, I made tlie statement that squirrels are hibernat- 

 ing animals, which I notice has been taken exception to 

 by se veral correspondents of the paper. One in particular 

 adds to his own personal observations the corroborating 

 statement, "that squiriels do not hibernate in the Acar- 

 ondacks," by an eminent writer on natural history. Both 

 correspondents lay stress upon their own experience with 

 squirrels, the animals being seen almost any dav in mid- 

 winter running about in the woods and fields. This fact 

 we know to be true, for in our own Central Park, the 

 small creatures are met with on the coldest days of 

 winter: but in less numbers. They are not perfectly hi- 

 bernating animals; that is, they do not enter into a state 

 of unconsciousness on the first approach of cold weather 

 and remain so until the warm spring winds renew life 

 again. In my article 1 qualified my statement by adding 

 the clause, that "from various reasons it is certain that 

 they wake up during the winter time and supply them- 

 selves with lood." A perfectly hibernating animal does 

 not do this, as, for instance, the bats, hedgehogs and 

 reptiles. The bear is called a hibernating animal, and 

 yet any hunter will tell you that he has frequently met 

 one of these unfriendly creatures roaming about the 

 woods in the dead of winter, a warm spell of weather 

 having awakened him, and the pangs of hunger sent him 

 forth m search of food. The phenomenon or hibernation 

 is still shrouded in considerable mystery, not being so 

 well understood as one could wish; but it is evidently a 

 physiological condition, and not produced simply by 

 cold, though it is favored by it, because cold induces 

 sleep, which may afterward pass into hibernation. 1 he 

 long slumber which many reptiles, mollusks and other in- 

 ferior organisms undergo in the dry season in very hot 

 countries, is analogous to hibernation, and is certainly 

 not induced by the cold. Many instances are on record 

 where sheep have been buried in snow drifts in Scotland 

 for several weeks without sustaining any injury. During 

 this time the animals were evidently unconscious, and 

 were, in a sense, hibernating, although respiration was 

 maintained during the whole time of their imprisonment. 



The fact that squirrels are met with in the winter time 

 should not be construed as convincing evidence that the 

 creatures do not hibernate. It is evident that animals 

 feeding on insects and succulent vegetables could never 

 survive a northern winter but for the sake of hibernation 

 which suspends the need of food. The squirrels lay up a 

 store of berries and nuts for their winter use, and thus 

 probably guard against perfect hibernation, although 

 liable at any moment to pass off into such a state. Much 

 depends upon the system of the animal as well as upon 

 the temperature of the atmosphere. A strong, healthy 

 animal will resist the inclination to sleep longer than a 

 weaker one. 



My own experience and observations in this field lead 

 me to believe that squirrels do pass into a state of hiber- 

 nation during the wintertime, although I have never had 

 the opportunity of seeing one in that condition. In a 

 grove of trees close to the house where I was living for 

 two winters on Long Island, two families of squirrels bad 

 taken up their winter quarters. I watched them care- 

 fully and, while scarcely a day passed but I saw one or 

 more of the small creatures, I soon discovered that some 

 of the family were invisible for weeks at a time. In ex- 

 tremely cold weather I noticed that the animals kept 

 themselves very close in their, homes, seldom venturing 

 out except when necessity demanded it. Upon the ap- 

 proach of warm w r eather, however, every one of the 

 creatures were out, running about in the woods and leap- 

 ing in playful moods among the branches of the trees. 

 Under these circumstances, I could not say definitely, 

 from my own experience, that squirrels do hibernate 

 even for a short period, but there is room left for a strong 

 belief that they do. 



To substantiate my own conclusions I will quote the 

 words of Mr. W. F. Kirby, joint author of "Introduction 

 to Entomology," and writer of the article on hibernation 

 in the new Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is still in 

 the course of publication. "Several animals," he says, 

 "belonging to this order (Rodentia) hibernate more or 

 less completely, among which we may mention the 

 hamster, the porcupine, the dormouse, the squirrel and 

 the marmot. Several of these awake at intervals to feed 

 and therefore lay up a store of provisions before they 

 retire, although they all become very fat before winter. 

 Other species of this order hibernate less perfectly, or 

 only occasionally, like the hare, which will lie beneath 

 snow in a small cavity just large enough to receive her 

 body, for some weeks tmharmed." Geo. E. Walsh. 

 New York City. 



THE TERNS OF MATINICUS ROCK. 



Editw Forest and Stream: 



In your issue of the 10th hist. Mr. C. E. Gaboon, of Taunton, Mass., 

 expresses his regret that "an honorable and respectable man" like 

 myself should have been deeei e<i in the matter of his killing tome 

 or Medriek gulls near Matinio'us Rock. 



I thank him for the full \ alue of his estimate of me, and only 

 wish to say for Mr. Grant, who may not see hte letter, that Mr. G.'s 

 letter to me was written at my request, as I hoped the lish aud 

 game commissiouers ox Maine mignt oe able to prosecute Mr. 

 Gaboon. Finding tbere was no law under which this could bo 

 done, 1 authorized the publication of the letter to which Mr. 

 Galloon takes exception. 



In regard to Mr. G.'s statement that he "did not go to Malinicus 

 until the terns had iiuished breeding," I can say that on my visit 

 to Matinicus Rock, early in July, i was officially appealed to to 

 stop the slaughter. At that time the terns were, to my personal 

 kuowledge, breeding. 



I have perfect confidence in Mr. Grant, and am satisfied that 

 every statement he has made, as of his own knowledge, is correct. 

 If others gave him incorrect information it was not. his fault. I 

 do not wish to be hard on Mr. Caboon when I add that it remains 

 Lo be seen that such was tae case. E. A. Batcheller, 



Portland, Me., Feb. 15. Commander U. S. N. 



Words Not in the Dictionary.— The undersigned 

 will be greatly obliged to any readers of the Forest ajcd 

 Stream" who may favor him with local phrases and 

 idioms, particularly such as refer to sports of the field; 

 words that have crystallized among the hill towns of New 

 England, or that have sprung into being with new camps 

 out West and grown up with the country. There are 

 idioms and phrases perfectly intelligible in certain locali- 

 ties, but not heard nor understood ehewheie; old words 

 acquire new shades of meaning, and new words are in- 

 vented. Some of these terms are not to be found in the 

 dictionaries of the day, but the editors of the great Cen- 

 tury Dictionary, now preparing, propose to emit nothing 

 that should have a place in its pages. — O. B. K., care of 

 Forest and Stream. 



