106 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 3, 1887. 



terror-stricken animals are soon overtaken and de- 

 stroyed." 



In the town of Huntington, on Dec. 27, 1685, it was 

 ' 'ordered that the Indians have ten shillings for as many 

 -wolves as they kill within our bounds; that is, ten shillings 

 a year, if they make it evident they were so killed." It is 

 also stated that "At the first settlement of the town, 

 wolves, wildcats, wild turkies, swans and pelicans were 

 found in abundance, and wolves were so mischievous, 

 that bounties were freely given for their destruction." 



In the town of Hempstead in the year 1658, "six bush- 

 els of com was allowed by the town for the killing of a 

 wolf." 



That stocking ponds with fish was carried on to some 

 extent is evident from the following: "In 1790 my uncle, 

 Uriah Mitchell, sheriff of Queens county, and myself, 

 went to Ronkonkonia Pond in Suffolk county, a distance 

 of forty miles, in a wagon, for the purpose of transport- 

 ing alive some of the yellow perch, from thence to Suc- 

 cess Pond. We took about three dozen of those least in- 

 jured by the hook and put all but two in Success Pond in 

 good condition and in two years thereafter they had so 

 multiplied as to be caught by the hook in every part of 

 the pond." 



That w T olves also troubled the people of the town of 

 Jamaica is potent from the fact that "In 1661, Jan. 15, it 

 was ordered that a rate be made to pay for a wolf of 

 Abraham's killing, and one that John Townsend's pit 

 catched," and that the town "Agreed, Feb. 6, 1663, that 

 whoever shall kill any wolf, the head being shown to the 

 town or nailed upon a tree, shall have seven bushels of 

 Indian corn." 



In the town of Gravesend "Wolves were both plentiful 

 and mischievous at that time, appears from the fact that 

 on the Sth of August, 1650, three guilders were olfered 

 for each wolf killed in the town, and two guilders for a 

 fox." 



The town of Flatlands tiled to exterminate the wolves 

 by authorizing "The constable and two overseers to pay 

 the value of an Indian coat for each wolf killed, and 

 cause the wolf's head to be nailed over the door of the 

 constable, there to remain; as also to cut off both the ears 

 in token that the head is brought in and payed for." 



The town of New Utrecht seemed to have been the only 

 one that was troubled with a ministerial scandal, in which 

 case the sentence of the court was "a fine of two hundred 

 guilders and forty beaver skins." Wm. Dtjtcher. 



New Yokk City, February, 1887. 



THE NATIONAL MUSEUM BUFFALO. 



r~pHE Washington Evening Star says of the National 

 JL Museum buffalo: "Omthe floor of a large room in a 

 big wooden building ail joining the National Museum builds 

 ing are stretched out the furry hides of two dozen buffalo, 

 In corners of the room are boxes and bundles of bones, 

 and here and there are bleached bison skulls, picked up 

 on the plains. These are the trophies brought home by 

 Mr. William T. Hornaday, the naturalist and taxidermist 

 who went recently on an expedition for the Smithsonian 

 Institution, to secure specimens of the American buffalo 

 before the species became extinct. Millions of buffalo 

 once roamed the plains, and in the days of Daniel Boone 

 were found in West Virginia, southeastern Pennsylvania 

 and other places about the Appalachia n ra nge ; but to-da3 r 

 the buffalo has become so rare an animal that Prof. Baird 

 deemed it desirable, in the interest of science, to send - 

 out a special expedition to secure specimens. Mr. Horn- 

 aday, who has followed the chase in the interest of 

 science in African forests, in the monkey-liaunted woods 

 of Borneo and the jungles of India, was naturally chosen 

 for the work. He made Miles City, Mont., the base of his 

 operations, and with a well-equipped party of cowboys 

 went on a limiting expedition which resulted in liis 

 securing within two months over twenty-five buffalo, 

 beside specimens of antelope, deer, wolves, badgers, 

 porcupines, sage cocks and grouse. Only a few years ago 

 buffalo were so numerous that trains on the trans-conti- 

 nental railroads had often to stop while large herds 

 crossed the tracks. Now Mr. Hornaday figures that there 

 are but 200 in the country outside of the small herd of 

 about 100 that range through the Yellowstone Park and 

 are there protected by law from the hunter's rifle. Where 

 Mr. Hornaday hunted he thinks there are twenty-five or 

 thirty buffalo left, but they will all be killed next spring 

 or the following spring when the cowboys make their 

 annual "round-up." The terrible work of destruction 

 following upon the completion, of the railroads has been 

 done by hunters who killed scores for sport, men who 

 shot buffalo for their hides, and when buffalo were in large 

 herds, used to be able to take a "stand" near a herd and 

 shoot them by the hundred, and cowboys that never see a 

 buffalo without shooting. In the buffalo that were killed by 

 Mr. Hornaday in several instances bullet marks, encysted 

 bullets, or bones shattered by rifle balls, were found, 

 showing how closely and relentlessly this last remnant of 

 a great family had been pvu'sued. The plains were a few 

 years ago whitened with the bleaching bones of the 

 slaughtered animals, but even these traces of the buffalo 

 are being rapidly removed. The bones are gathered up 

 and shipped to the cities to be ground up and used as 

 fertilizers. There are about 100 buffalo left in the pan- 

 handle of Texas. The specimens brought from Montana 

 by Mr. Hornaday, some of which will be mounted for the 

 National Museum, comprise eight old bulls, eleven young 

 bulls, six old cows, five young cows, two yearlings and 

 one tliree-months-old calf. The calf which was secured 

 on Mr. Hornaday's visit to Montana last spring, and was 

 brought here alive, but soon died from a colic contracted 

 by eating damp clover. The animal has been mounted, 

 and now stands as a sentry in front of the taxidermists' 

 work room in the old armory building. Last spring Mr. 

 Hornaday shot also three or four buffalo, but they were 

 then shedding their coats, and the skins are considered 

 useless for the taxidermist's purposes. Mr. Hornaday 

 brought with him also sixteen complete buffalo skeletons, 

 besides fifty-one skulls, picked up on the prairie. A suf- 

 ficient number of these specimens to give a fan represen- 

 tation of the buffalo, from the naturalists' standpoint, 

 will be prepared for exhibition in the National Museum, 

 and the remainder will be kept, to exchange with other 

 institutions. One huge skin Mr. Hornaday points to with 

 special, pride. It is that of a huge bull that stood 5ft. Sin. 

 high. Mr. Hornaday gave chase to the bull on horse- 

 back and brought him to bay. The bull turned to charge, 

 but a shot crippled him, so that he tumbled to the ground. 

 The bull regained his feet and stood motionless. Mr. 



Hornaday leaped from his horse and made rapid sketches 

 of the fine animal as he stood. Such an opportunity of 

 sketching a buffalo in life could not be neglected. So by 

 rapid work he secured considerable material to aid him in 

 his work as a taxidermist before he gave the animal his 

 death shot." 



PRAIRIE OWLS AND SCORPIONS. 



AMONG all the birds of America there are none better 

 deserving to receive the protection of the laws than 

 the little prairie owLs of the Pacific slope. Although very 

 numerous they are harmless and Unobtrusive, They may 

 generally be seen sitting on a heap of sand thrown up by 

 the prairie dog in digging his hole. This hole is appro- 

 priated by the owl for his house, and as you drive past, 

 he never fails to salute you with a very polite bow, and 

 in the style of the real gentleman. The female may often 

 be seen with her half -grown brood sitting at the entrance 

 of the invariable prairie dog hole. Should you come too 

 near she makes her obeisance and retires with her little 

 ones as gracefully as might a fashionable lady. Because 

 of the positive good he does in the destruction of many 

 harmful insects and reptiles, and especially of the scorpion, 

 he should have protection. In southern California and 

 the warmer parts of Utah and Arizona, every summer 

 evening brings forth great numbers of scorpions. They 

 et into the houses and infest the paths and walks about 

 oor yard and gardens; and but for the appetite and in- 

 dustry of the owl they would become an intolerable 

 nuisance in those hot climates for three or four months 

 of the year. At such seasons our little owl comes quietly 

 about the house at dusk every night and picks up the 

 scorpions by scores. Usually he has some place near by, 

 as the cornice of the house or some broad beam in the 

 barn , where he deposits his load and eats what he desires. 

 He devours only the soft part of the body of the scorpion, 

 leaving the head, claws and tail of the reptile until there 

 may often be found a quart or more of such remnants at 

 the place he has chosen for his nightly banquet. One 

 owl having selected a perch under the cornice of my 

 house as the spot for devouring his nightly catch of 

 scorpions, left in a few weeks so large a quantity of rem- 

 nants as to prove he must have destroyed the reptiles by 

 the score every night, and of course the yard about the 

 house and the garden were correspondingly thinned of 

 these most unpleasant creatures. This good work, as well 

 as the grave courtly manners of our little prairie owl, 

 have made him our special friend and induce us to sj>eak 

 a good word for him. Geo. H. Wyjian. 

 St. Georoe, LTtah. 



; -The Hermit Thrush (Turdus Pallasi) near Balti- 

 more, Md., in Winter.— In a paper read before the 

 Academy of Sciences, Feb. 11, 1880, on birds to be found 

 wintering near Baltimore, Md., I made the following re- 

 marks about the hermit thrush (Turdus pallasi), which I 

 will quote verbatim: "Twice we (my brother and I) ob- 

 served thrushes during the winter season, one specimen 

 a few years ago, Feb. 6, 1876, whde the ground was 

 covered with snow for some days previously; a second 

 specimen a few weeks ago, Jan. 29, 1880, also a very cold 

 day. Unfortunately, however, neither one I could ob- 

 tain so as to identify the species, which can not be easily 

 done when the bird is at a distance from you, all our 

 tlirushes bearing more or less the same color. Neverthe- 

 less, from the fact that none of our thrushes, with the 

 exception of the hermit, winter north of the Gulf States, 

 I infer that this was the species, for it is altogether a more 

 northern bird than our other thrushes. However, I could 

 not say positively it was that thrush." What I could not 

 do at that time I am able to do now. On Jan. 8, 1887, a 

 very cold day, the thermometer about 10 below the 

 freezing point, while on one of my ornithological rambles 

 through the woods, about five miles north from this city, 

 my friend, F. Fisher, who was with me that day, shot a 

 thrash, which I at once recognized as our hermit thrush. 

 Mr. R. Ridgway, of Washington, to whom I wrote about 

 this observation, informed me that in the severe winter 

 of 1879-80 the same bird was found near Georgetown, D. 

 C. , in sheltered ravines. Our bird when shot was sitting 

 on a fence, not very far — about 10 or 20yds. — from a farm 

 house. The other two I found more in the woods. It 

 woidd be interesting to know how far north this bird can 

 be traced during winter. — Arthur Resler (Baltimore, 

 Md.). 



The Jack Snipe a Hardy Winter Bird.— Under date 

 of Feb. 1, your mountain correspondent "P.," in a private 

 letter, asks: "Do you know much of the jack-snipe? A 

 pair of them have been caught, probably by the excessive 

 snow blizzards up here, and not being able to get away 

 are spending the winter here, and thus fax they have 

 passed through a very severe winter all right, the only 

 water open for them being three or four springs of very 

 small extent. I saw them yesterday, Jan. 31, after, a — 36 ° 

 night, and yesterday with the highest temperature — 25° 

 during the day." I am unable to satisfactorily answer 

 this interesting question of natural history, and perhaps 

 some other person will do it. How these tiny, bare- 

 legged birds can live up in that very cold region, about 

 5,000 feet above sea level, is a wonder to me, and let the 

 naturalist note the fact, for "P." is a man of truth. — H. 

 W. Merrill. 



Description of a New Plumed Partridge from 

 Sonora (Callipepla elegans bensoni), — Characters: Similar 

 to C. elegans (Less.), but with throat much more heavily 

 spotted with black (this color predominating); rusty of 

 scapulars, tertials and flanks much duller; lower back, 

 rump, and upper tail coverts much grayer; tail and breast 

 more bluish gray, and under tail coverts edged with much 

 paler buffy. Hab. Sonora_(Campos). — Five specimens of 

 this interesting and handsome new partridge have 

 recently been received by the National Museum from 

 Lieut. "H. C. Benson, U. S. A., to whom I take great 

 pleasure in dedicating it, as a testimonial to his zeal in 

 ornithological investigations along our Southwestern 

 frontier.— Robert Ridgway (Smithsonian Institution, 

 Feb. 26, 1887). 



Where Do Meadow Larks Winter? — It is a httle 

 surprising that "C. H. A." should ask if meadow larks 

 winter so far north as Boston, as a stroll through the 

 borders of almost any salt marsh (and salt marshes abound 

 near Boston) would answer the question in the affirma- 

 tive.— L. 



What are these Birds?— Sheriden, O., Dec. 16, 1886. 

 — Editor Forest and Stream: In vour issue of Nov. 25 

 is a note dated Madison, Wis., Nov. 15, by C. F. Carr. on 

 eagle measurement, wherein he states that a friend of his 

 m Nebraska, had shot an eagle that measured 10ft. Sin. 

 from tip to tip and 40in. in length. I have in my posses- 

 sion an eagle's head from a bird that measured 10ft. 4in. 

 from tip to tip and was 42in. hi length and weighed over 

 231bs. I am not certain about the weight, but it was near 

 about the above. I am sorry to say that I could not get 

 the body, as the person that killed it just saved the head 

 and wings and threw the remainder away. By mere 

 chance I got possession of the head and had it mounted. 

 It was a female bird of the grav eagle species. — CHARLES 

 Whitmer. 



Golden Eagle in Rhode Island.— Providence, R. I., 

 Feb. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: I desire to put upon 

 record in your valuable paper the taking of a golden 

 eagle at Westerly a few days since. It is a magnificent 

 specimen and is (presumably) a female; weight, ISlbs. It 

 will be mounted, of course, and is the only one I have 

 known taken in Rhode Island in an experience of over 

 thirty years hard work in natural history.— Newton 

 Dexter. 



Belated Note of an Early Robin.— Bradford, Pa., 

 Jan. 31.— "Robin (a dare)" was on hand Sunday morning, 

 Jan. 30, with his whistle.— Sialia. 



kme §<ifl mid fftttf. 



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



A BEAR IN A HOLE. 



THIS bear story of so long standing seems yet to re- 

 main fresh in my mind, while other things that 

 happened long since have faded and gone from recollec- 

 tion. As nearly as I can recollect, it w-as in the winter of 

 1840 that David Moreland (who was quite a sportsman 

 and who afterward became my father-in-law, and for the 

 last twenty years has been sleeping the sleep that needs 

 no waking) came to my cabin, situated on the south bank 

 of the Big Turkey River, formerly known as Peck's 

 Ferry (now Osterdock), Clayton county, Iowa, for the 

 purpose of taking a hunt with me. When we had fin- 

 ished our hunt we concluded to hunt through the timber 

 some ten miles to his place, which is now owned by Mr. 

 Jacob Smith, three-quarters of a mile south from Coles- 

 burg, Delaware comity, Iowa. Our hunt was to be up 

 the Peck Branch, a tributary to the Turkey, putting in on 

 the south bank one mile below my cabin, and heading 

 near Mr. Moreland's place on the prairie. According to 

 arrangements, we started from the mouth of the Branch, 

 he taking the east bluff and I the west. I think we did 

 not meet until we reached his house after dark. 



On relating our hunt and discoveries (as hunters will) 

 he told me that he had seen the tracks of a bear, but the 

 snow had melted so that he could not track it. The con- 

 sequence was that I took the bear fever right away, but 

 the next morning I was able to start with rifle and toma- 

 hawk, following Mi'. M.'s tracks some four miles to where 

 he had come out into a trail leading to his house. Fol- 

 lowing this track probably three miles further, I dis- 

 covered the dim tracks of a bear in the ice from melted 

 snow, and I began trying to trail it out. After a lengthy 

 hunt, circling back and forth, I found where I thought 

 the bear had gone into a cave in the rocks, where I con- 

 cluded it had previously made its headquarters in the 

 fore part' of the whiter. I then cut poles and fastened up 

 the hole, and returned well pleased to Mr. Moreland's and 

 reported. Arrangements having been made, a jolly sled 

 load started next morning, equipped with guns," dogs, 

 among them a large bulldog, axes, ropes, stone hammers, 

 knives and everything that we thought necessary. We 

 cut our way through the timber and went to the den. 

 When we got there and unfastened the hole the first thing 

 was to break off some rock to enable me to get through. 

 The next thought was a light. Bad luck for ns. The 

 big beeswax candle had been forgotten. What next ? Go 

 back badly disappointed. "Not yet," said L "Gather 

 some dry bark and light a torch." That being done, I 

 went down into the den; the torch was handed down to 

 me burning nicely, and I started in search of the bear. 

 But as there was no circulation of air the candle would 

 not burn, and the den was soon filled so full of smoke as 

 to compel me to get back and hand out the torch and get 

 out as soon as j>ossible. After giving the smoke time to 

 clear away, I descended again with a butcher knife and 

 told them to hand me down the best dog in the lot. No 

 sooner had the dog landed than he commenced a fierce 

 barking; but he would not go any further than I pushed 

 him along ahead of me. About that time a Httle daylight 

 or candle - light would have been very acceptable, but as 

 I had neither, I pushed the dog along, at the same time 

 stabbing ahead with the knife in different directions, 

 until I struck the bear with the knife in some place, at 

 the same time springing back toward the entrance. Dog 

 and bear both landed on my feet and legs, and you can 

 safely wager that I got out as quick as practicable, and it 

 was not necessary to call the dog after me. My next 

 move was to cut a* slim pole, leaving a longfimb, and cut- 

 ting the top off above the limb. In the meantime we kept 

 the hole closed to prevent his getting put. Then with the 

 crooked pole and limb I punched around the rocks and 

 got him so enraged that when I would draw the pole back 

 he would follow it out around the rocks where we could 

 see him, and he would fight and strike the wickedest 

 kind. I then gave the pole to some one to work, and 

 fixed a slip-noose on a rope and let it down, and 

 when he would rear up to strike I'd jerk the 

 rope. Finally I got him fast by one paw, in- 

 cluding a part of his toes. We then pulled his foot 

 up gently to where we could reach Iris foot. We then 

 fastened the other end of the rope below. Then loosen- 

 ing the first knot, we unfastened the hole and began 

 trying to drag him forth. But we soon discovered that 

 all of us could not drag him out forthwith. He would 

 brace against the rocks, and it was only by steady and 

 hard, pulling that we could move him a little at a 

 time. Finally we got him out; and then for a dog and 

 bear fight, big bulldog and all. The dogs fought him 

 until they were tired out, but the bear did not seem to 



