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FOREST AND STREAM. 



TApril 7, 1887. 



THE NEW YORK GAME LAW. 



A LBANY, April 4. — During the past week a very in- 

 Jrx. teresting hearing took place before the Assembly 

 Committee on Game Laws. Game Protector Mathew 

 Kennedy, of Hudson, made a long plea in favor of Mr. 

 Hogeboorn's Hudson River shad bill, prohibiting fishing 

 on Sundays, between March 15 and June 15. The com- 

 mittee reported the bill favorably. The committee also 

 reported favorably Mr. Collins's bill (No. 1,068), prohibit- 

 ing net fishing for salmon in the waters of the State 

 between March 1 and Aug. 15, with special reference to 

 the upper Hudson. This was ordered to a third reading. 

 Mr. Biundage'sbill (No. 1,219) was also reported by the 

 committee and ordered to a third reading. It prohibits 

 fishing during certain seasons of the year in Steuben 

 countv. 



Ex-Speaker Erwin's bill (No. 454) amending the song- 

 bird act of 1886, was also considered in the Assembly 

 committee. The committee reported a bill of a similar 

 nature which was substituted for the Erwin bill. When 

 the bill came before the Assembly Mr. Erwin said in sub- 

 stance "lip in our country, in the northern part of the 

 State, we think that it is all right to go gunning for 

 crows, hawks, owls and blackbirds. This bill, substituted 

 for my original bill, amends the song-bird prohibitory 

 law of last year so that the shooting of these birds may 

 be allowed. I ask that it may be ordered to a third read- 

 ing." In accordance with this request the bill was ad- 

 vanced to a thud reading. 



The committee also reported Mr. Fort's bill amending 

 the general game act of 1879 so that Sec. 24 shall read as 

 follows: 



"Any person having in his or her possession on the 

 shores of any lake or on the banks of or upon any waters 

 inhabited by salmon, salmon trout, lake trout, black or 

 Oswego bass, or muscalonge during the close season, with- 

 out the permission of the commissioners of fisheries, any 

 snares, nets, set lines, stake poles or other devices, used 

 in unlawfully talcing such fish, shall be guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and in addition thereto shall be liable to a penal- 

 ty of .$25; but nothing herein contained shall apply to 

 that portion of the Hudson Eiver south of the dam at 

 Troy, or to Lake Ontario. 



The committee also reported Senator Fagan's bill to- 

 protect the planting of oysters in the towns of Jamaica 

 and Hempstead. When it came into the Assembly it 

 was substituted for a similar bill already in that body. 

 The final bill reported by the committee was the Hoge- 

 boom bill (No. 1,261) providing that no person shall take 

 any shad from the waters of the Hudson River by moans 

 of any seine, net or any other device whatever from sun- 

 set oh Saturday to sunrise on the following Monday be- 

 tween the loth" day of March and the 15th day of June in 

 each year, and any person violating any of the provisions 

 of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 

 and in addition thereto shall be liable' to a penalty of $50 

 for each offense. 



While the Assembly Committee has been thus active 

 during the past week the Senate Game Law Committee 

 has only reported for printing Senator Daly's bill (No. 

 565), and also to the Senate, Senator Wemple's very im- 

 portant bill (No. 269) estabhshing a fish hatchery in the 

 Adirondacks. 



The Assembly Ways and Means Committee has done a 

 much more generous thing than was expected of it. It 

 has reported favorably Mi\ Winne' s bill (No. 1,225) relat- 

 ing to Catskill State Park. Mr. Winne, and several other 

 parties from that region, presented such convincing ar- 

 guments to the committee that there was no other way 

 to do than to make a favorable report. The bill provides 

 that the Forest Commission is hereby authorized and 

 directed to set apart such quantity "of land belong- 

 ing to the State in the Catskill region, now 

 constituting a part of the Forest Preserve, for the purpose 

 of a park or parks, not to exceed three in number, of such 

 size as they may deem proper. Said Forest Commission 

 may establish all proper rules for the protection of said 

 parks and the game therein. Said commissioners are 

 authorized to purchase and turn out in such parka such 

 deer or other game as they may think proper. No game 

 shall be killed or pursued, "trapped, or in any way 

 destroyed within the limits of said parks for a period of 

 three yeajs. The sum of £500 is hereby appropriated to 

 be paid by the Comptroller, at such time and such 

 amount as the Commissioners may desire for the purposes 

 of this act , and the Commission is authorized to receive 

 private subscriptions for such ptvrposes. 



The Fish Co mm issioners have forwarded protests to the 

 Governor and members of the Senate against the passage 

 of the Finn bill repealing the lobster protective law. This 

 law prohibits the catching of lobsters of less than lOiin. 

 in length, and thus contributes something toward pre- 

 venting the extinction of this shellfish in New York 

 waters. The Senate has passed Senator Comstock's bill 

 providing for fishways in the State dam at Troy. 



This week it is expected that Mr. Langbeinwill insist 

 upon the Assembly Committee substituting his proposed 

 code for the one that has been already offered by him and 

 is now before the Committee. This, of course, antagon- 

 izes in many respects the code that has been prepared by 

 Mr. Hadley, the chairman of the Committee. It is pretty 

 safe to say that neither of these codes will be passed 

 entire. Indeed, the chances seem to be that no code at 

 all will be passed. Albany. 



Tho following bills have been introduced at Albany amending 

 the game aud fish laws: 

 1. A general bul, '•edification," by Mr. Hadley. 

 3. A general bill, "codification," oy Mr. Lansrbein— the Roose- 

 velt bill. 



3. By Mr. Brundage, relative to fish in Steuben countv. 

 ■I. By Mr. Reeves, lo make quail, grouse, hare and squi 



uirrel sea- 



men under 6in. 



i- +jj ivxi. iu ioyeai tuo iu\> "men loruius capture 



seers less than lOMstn. long. 



8. By Mr. Pierce, to make quail and rabbit season on Long 

 Island Nov. 15 to Dec. 31. 



9. By Mr. Moore, to correct certain stupid verbal blunders in the 

 song bird act of 1686. 



10. By Mr. Reeves, to appropriate $2,500 for purchase of small 

 steamer to patrol New York to enforce law against dumping gar- 

 bage injurious to oyster beds. 



11. B.v Mr. Fitch, making appropriation for Cold Spring Harbor 

 fish hatchery. 



13. By Mr. Reeves, making wild duck, goose and brant season 

 Sept. 1 to May I, 



13. By Mr. bweet, permitting net and fyke fishing for eels, suck- 

 ers and bullheads m certain parts of Cayuga Lake, 



14. By Mr. Giese, forbidding capture of black bass in Lake Erie 

 and Niagara River above the Falls between Jan. 1 and July 1. This 

 bill comes from the Audubon Club of Buffalo, 



15. By Mr. Frost, making quail season Nov. 1 to Jan. 1 and hare 

 season Nov. 1 to Jan. 1. 



16. By Mi'. Foot, forbidding possession of snares, nets, set poles, 

 etc., on waters or shores of waters inhabited by salmon, salmon 

 trout, lake trout, bass, muscalonge, in close season. 



17. By Mr. McMillan in Senate and Mr. Sbeehan in Assembly, 

 exempting from provisions of Sec. 2, Chap. 437, 1886, salmon trout 

 and landlocked, salmon caught in Lakes Michigan, Superior, Hu- 

 ron, St. Clair and adjacent waters. 



18. By Mr, Winne to transfer the game protectors to the control 

 of Forestry Commissioners. 



10. By Mr. Comstock to appropriate $1,800 for flBhway in the 

 State dam at Troy. This comes from the Fish Commission. 



20. By Mr, Fagan, amending oyster planting laws for Jamaica 

 and Hempstead. 



21. By Mr. Collins, making open season for salmon March 1 to 

 Aug. 15, and forbidding capture, save with line or rod held iu 

 hand. 



22. By Mr. Comstock. adding sol lines to list of devices forbidden 

 by chap. 242, laws of 1836. 



23. By Mr. White, forbidding killing of wild ducks between Jan. 

 1 and Sept. 1. 



21. B.v Mr. Vedder, s'milar to Mi-. Frost's (No. 15). 



25. By Mr. Reeves, to permit sailing for wildfowl in Gardiner's 

 and Pceonic bays. 



26. By Mr. Coggeshall. making season for woodcock, ruffed 

 grouse and squirrels Sept. 1 to Dee. 1; providing that in action for 

 having snared birds the shot marks must show thai' wound was 

 attended with bleeding, and makinsc "proof of ecchymosis showing 

 the marks of ne's" i>vimafaei>: evidence; also excepting English 

 sparrow, crow, blackbird, butcher bird, owls and hawks (other 

 than night hawks.) from protection; making wildfowl season Sept. 

 1 to April 1 throughout the State. 



27. By Mr. Thompson, relating to fishing in certain parts of Lake 

 Erie. 



28. By Mr. Pa.vics, naming a si-ecial commission to act with tue 

 Commissioners of Fisheries to prepare a game bill. 



29. Hy Mr. Buckley, to forbid use of nets in certain waters of 



80. By Mr. Cornwall, limiting lliean of net ro be used for minnow 

 fishing in Keuka Lake; and permitting fishing through the ice in 



31. By Mr. Hamilton, amonoing the prescribed posting of game 

 preserves, and the law relative to trespass thereon. 

 82. By Mr. Reeves, amending the law relative to game preserves 



S3. By Mr. Curtis, allowing .he catching of bass in Black Lake, 

 St. Lawrence county, at same times as in the St. Lawrence River. 



31. Bv Mr. Leete. to forbid April and May fishing in OneidaLake. 



3b. The ntv l angbt in till, wir .1; v.? mortification of that gentle- 

 man s former oill (No. -I, prescribes the following open seasons: 

 Deer, A ?.g, 15 to Nov. 1; houudiag, Sept. 1 to Oct. 5; wild duck and 

 goose, Sept, 1 to March 1; rutted grouse, pinna! ~d arouse, spruce 

 grouse, quail, robin, meadow lark, rabbit, black squirrel, era 

 squirrel, Nov. 1 to.lau. 1 texc-tpc that railed erouse season in Fores 

 Preserve opens Sep:. I); v. ood iOC . July 1 to31 ami Oct. 1 to Jan. 1; 

 bay snipe, July I to Jan. 1 (English or jack snipe at all Unit 

 Salmon, trout, landlocked salmon, ipril 1 to Sept. 1 (in Essex, S 

 hvan List;. Del -.-.ware, Frarkl I H. r'.cim.- Washington Fult 

 Hamilton. Lewis, Saratoga. Si. L«m rclicfi. Warren and Washil 

 ton counties. May 1 to Sept. 15); lake trout, salmon trout, Aprifl 

 to Oct. 1; muscalonge, Oswego bans, black bass, pike, perch, wall- 

 eyed pike, fresh water striped hnss, June 15 to Jan. 1 (in eount'es 

 bordering on Now Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in Suffolk, 

 Queens and Westchester counties. May 20 to .'.an. 1). Forbids tak- 

 ing certain song and insectivorous birds (iiotinchidinar nine-tenths 

 of the birds that ought to be protected). 



Ruffed and pinnated grouse, quail, rabbit, squirrel, may be had 

 in possession Jan. 1 to Feb. 15; fresh venison, Nov. 1 to March 1, 

 "western snipe, salmon trout or lake trout, Virginia chub [black 

 bass], pike perch or wall-eyed pike" the year jirou^d, if thev he 

 proved to ha: e been killed in open season, or "in Erie county or 

 outside of litis State." 



30. By Mr. Erwin, amending the soug bird law, 



NUMBER 9 AS A TALE VARNISHER. 



A BOUT a year ago Culver and I noticed that an old 

 i: A. fisherman and hunter used the number 8 rather too 

 frequently. He had just killed 9 geese, or had shot 9 

 black ducks at one shot, or had got a striped bass weigh- 

 ing 9 pounds, etc., etc. Our attention once having been 

 attracted to the matter, we found that the fishermen and 

 hunters who congregate at my office evenings had had 

 remarkable luck at getting 9's bf about everything, and 

 lots of fun we've had out of it. Some time ago we took a 

 walk^ up the Hackensack, and asked an old chap if a 

 certain likely-looking spot was a good one for snipe. 

 "Oh! yes:" said he, "I got 9 there one day last week," 

 Half a mile further on we asked a fisherman how many 

 weakfish he had. He said that he only had between two 

 and three then, but the day before he had caught 9 big 

 ones. Crossing a railway bridge on our way home we 

 stopped to ask a boatman if there were any ducks around, 

 and he said that right over at the mouth of that little 

 creek a fellow from New York had got 9 before break- 

 fast, a short time previously. In almost every number of 

 Forest and Stream some one relates his experience with 

 9's. A writer recently shot an eagle measuring 9 feet 

 from tip to tip. Another caught 9 big trout out of a boh 

 in the ice, using a leaf for bait. Another says that to 

 his knowledge one man has killed 9 bears in one grove of 

 trees in one season. Another says that 9 bears are the 

 greatest number ever killed before his dogs on one hunt; 

 9 grizzlies were recently seen near a ranch: 9 elk, this 

 last autumn, were seeii near another ranch where they 

 have run scarce of late years; 9 dogs were seen together 

 chasing sheep not long ago — and so on without ceasing. 



The other evening we had just been talking about the 

 qualities of the number for a varnish, and in less than 

 four minutes one of the party soberly told about standing 

 on the end of a log and getting 9 trout out from under the 

 root of an old tree. He jumped like a toad when our 

 thoughts occurred to him. Shortly afterward, Avhen the 

 ferocious nature of the snapping turtle was being dis- 

 cussed, a demure little chap, who always tells the truth, 

 said that one of them dragged off 9 wood ducks that he 

 had left by a stream while he ate his lunch. 



Remember the number and listen and you'll have lots 

 of fun, boys ! Mark West. 



Spring Shooting.— Sauk Center, Minn.— I rejoice to 

 hear the good news of the abatement of the spring 

 shooting nuisance, and I hope the day is not far distant 

 when we can get some of tue old time sport of having 

 plenty of ducks and geese to bang aw^ay at in the fall of 

 the year. Everybody ought to know that spring shoot- 

 ing drives our game away and also keeps it away. Four- 

 teen years ago a great many geese, ducks, etc., stayed 

 here and reared their young, but now it is different; they 

 go further north and we only see them for a short time 

 in the fall on their journey southward. Our shooting is 

 not one-quarter so good now as it was years gone by, and 

 I am satisfied it results from spring shooting. It used to 

 be a very frequent occurrence to run across an old goose 

 with a "whole swarm of goslings," and the writer recalls 

 several such sights on a single trip over the prairies, and 

 ouce, in particular, picking up three goslings which ran 

 across the road ahead of the team. In those days it was 

 an easy task to bag five or ten geese in a day's shoot, but 

 now it takes five or ten days to get the one goose, and 

 then sometimes "the goose" turns out to be the hunter 

 only.— Dell, 



MISSISSIPPI WOODCOCK NESTING. 



COMO, Miss., March 23.— Oa March 2.3, my setter 

 pointed a woodcock, which flushed wild and settled 

 15 or 20ft. ahead of her. The bird acted as if it were 

 wounded, and the dog gave chase, whereupon it again 

 rose and flew a little further than on its first flight. The 

 dog continued to chase, and at each rise the bird in- 

 creased the length of its flights until it was lost to the 

 dog in a creek bottom. Knowing that many birds adopt 

 this or a similar ruse to divert attention from their nests, 

 and having three weeks prior to this found woodcock- 

 nests, I did not fire at the bird, but maintained the posi- 

 tion I occupied when it rose for its first flight until my 

 dog returned, when I cast about to discover "the nest, in 

 the immediate vicinity where the do£ pointed I discov- 

 ered four young woodcocks that were well feathered and 

 apparently about one-fourth grown. The little fellows 

 lay with necks extended, as flat and rigid as if a part of 

 the earth, but with eyes wide open and evidently watch- 

 ful. I admired the spectacle for a moment, and then, 

 desiring to obtain a better view, reached down to take 

 one in my hand, when the four, in a twinkling of an eye, 

 sprang in air and flew- to a safe distance in the briers that 

 surrounded them. I think these the first birds of the 

 season, and I account for their early hatching on the 

 ground of our unusually mild winter and early spring, 

 Usually we have quite severe weather during the winter 

 months, but we have had no severe weather and scarcely 

 a freeze since the first week in January. This is the first 

 year woodcock have ever been known to nest in this 

 locality. Until the past three years it was an unusual 

 thing to see one of these birds', and even now they are 

 rare birds that a hunter seldom bags. This is quail 

 country par excellence, and it is no uncommon thing for 

 a sportsman to find twenty coveys in a day's hunt. Snipe 

 have been fairly plentiful here for a month past. These 

 also are rare birds with us. Our country is a very open 

 one and affords tine shooting. Eighty-Seven. 



THE PARK AS A GAME PRESERVE. 



"VTEW YORK, March 80. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 iy Your paper's earnest and untiring defense of the 

 Yellowstone Park has always greatly appealed to me. I 

 have twice been through the Park* and have found it a 

 singularly attractive region, for its wonderful scenery 

 and marvelous wonders, and also because it is tho very 

 b<?st retreat of those noble wild animals that once wei e 

 so abundant everywhere in the great West. 



Last summer, traveling from Cheyenne, across country 

 t0 the Yellowstone Park, I had a good opportunity to see 

 how rapidly the game is being exterminated in Wyoming 

 and the adjacent Territories. ~ Elk. deer and antelope are 

 being kilted off fast, and the buffalo is a thing of the past, 

 and yet, but four short years before, buffalo could be seen 

 for miles along the route we traveled. Now even the 

 bleached skeletons are not easy to find. 



For several days' journey at a time, though the country 

 we passed through was thinly settled , no antelope were 

 seen by any of us— there were three in the party, and 

 some one was hunting all the time. They had simply 

 been killed off. Although we traveled over eight hun- 

 dred miles, in but one spot that we passed were antelope 

 plentiful. In 1S83 I passed oyer several hundred miles of 

 this route and game was abundant almost everywhere. 



Here in the Park we have a great area of public land 

 set aside tor the people. Without the wild life that is a 

 part of it, it wdll lose half of its interest. Why not, now 

 that it is not too late, have proper means taken to protect 

 this game that it may be a delight to future generations 

 and an ornament to the Park? ■ R. H. Lawrknce. 



National Association.— Captain H. C. West, of St. 

 Louis, its secretary, has issued a circular, calling the 

 annual convention" of the National Association for the 

 Protection of Game, Birds and Fish: 



"Office of the National Association for the Protection 

 of Game, Birds and Fish, Chicago. April 2, 1887. — The 

 next and third annual convention of the National Associ- 

 ation tor the Protection of Game, Birds and Fish will be 

 held at the Palmer House, Chicago, where the meeting- 

 will be called to order at 10 A. M,, Wednesday, dune 22. 

 The secretary takes pleasure in saying that the report he 

 will be able to make will show how much good lias re- 

 sulted from the work of the Association since its first 

 convention was held in St. Louis in 1885. The attention 

 of the Legislatures of every State in the Union has been 

 s riously drawn to the necessity of preservation, and hi 

 several States laws of the utmost value have been passed 

 on the subject and are now 7 in operation. More good 

 work has been done in the last eighteen months toward 

 retaining or regaining our head of game and stock of 

 fish than has resulted from the whole of the previous 

 desultory or sporadic attempts in that direction in Amer- 

 ica. Much, however, remains to be done, one of the most 

 important points that press for immediate attention 

 being the necessity of increasing the membership. Every 

 addition to the list brings new members again in its 

 train, and the Association requires recruits both to pro- 

 mulgate its obiects more and more through the country, 

 and also to assist it toward financial prosperity. It is 

 hoped and believed that nearly every State and Territory 

 in the Union will be represented at the coming conven- 

 tion, but it is earnestly hoped that before it is in session 

 the Association will have been joined by many new mem- 

 bers. Clubs proposing to join should at once forward 

 their address and membership dues to tho undersigned.— 

 H. C. West, Sec'y, P. O. G99, St. Louis, Mo." 



Pugnacity and Productiveness.— Fredericksball, Va. 

 We have a great abundance of partridges left over from 

 last season, and even if there is no increase, the shooting: 

 will be good next fall. I have frequently heard the most, 

 experienced partridge hunter I ever knew say "that 

 when a great many old birds were left there would be 

 but little increase, due to their very pugnacious habits at 

 the breeding season. — X. 



Richibucto.— Mr. E. E. Phair, of the new hotel, "The 

 Beaches," at Richibucto, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 New Brunswick, advises us that there is to be had there 

 a variety of wildfowl, shore bird and grouse shooting with 

 some. 



Rockland, Me., March 28.— The fox and rabbit hunt- 

 ers predict a good partridge season judging from the 

 birds left over,— I. W. 



