JvLYgt, 1887.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



BIS 



THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE. (Sizes not exact). 



being the same — are seen in a single individual. Prob- 

 ably it is very seldom, indeed, that a full-grown snake 

 preserves the perfect and entire rattle from its earliest 

 development. A perfect rattle may be always known by 

 its tapering form and by the roundness and com pactness 

 of the terminal link. (Fig. 3). 



Just as the claws and nails of younger creatures are 

 smaller than those of adults, so are the first links of a 

 Crotalus rattle. This one was copied accurately from a 

 specimen in the writer's possession at the time. The dif- 

 ference between the terminal link or "button" in this 

 perfect specimen and in those of Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 will be 

 readily seen. They are indicated by the dotted lines, the 

 lobes or bulges in them, similar in Figs. 2 and 4, showing 

 that they interlocked with the previous and earlier links, 

 whereas in Fig. 3 there could be no interlocking of that 

 rounded, tapering "button." 



Fig. 4 is an exact drawing from what remains of the late 

 rattle. Since the principal portion (Figs. 5, 6) was broken 

 off the snake has had a new coat once and one new link 

 on that occasion. At the present time (May 12) it is again 

 about to cast the cuticle; an indication of a new link (n I) 

 may be distinctly traced beneath: so that probably before 

 this meets the eyes of our readers the snake will ag ain 

 possess a tolerably respectable rattle. This particular 

 Crotalus may develop its rattle more rapidly than the 

 majority of its relatives, a question which can be de- 

 cided only after very accurate observations of many in- 

 dividuals'. With better certainty we may surmise that 

 the next ready reckoner, according to links, may decide 

 him to be "five years old," and by the same suppositious 

 rate by next Christmas be declared "six or seven years 

 old." If the lives of both of us are spared the new de- 

 velopments will be carefully watched and accurately re- 

 corded by his faithful friend, Catherine C. Hopley. 



*In my work on "Snakes" I have devoted a chapter to the de- 

 velopment of the rattle according to DuinSril, one of our best 

 authorities from personal observations, and many illustrations 

 from nature are there given. 



THE BARBAROUS ENGLISH SPARROW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Two instances have lately come to my notice illustrat- 

 ing the vicious character of the imported sparrow ; and as 

 I think reports of such cases tend to harden the hearts of 

 the people against the bird, I consider it desirable that 

 they should go on the record. 



My attention was called one moming to the excited 

 actions and notes of a pair of white-breasted swallows, 

 which were rearing a brood in a box near my door. Look- 

 ing at the box I saw a male English sparrow at the 

 entrance, alternately thrusting his head inside and facing 

 around to ward off " the assaults of the swallows. Sus- 

 pecting mischief I shot the sparrow, and my suspicions 

 were confirmed. His bill, covered with blood, and down, 

 proved that he was deliberately murdering the young 

 swallows. 



The other case is similar. Dr. Adams, of this place, re- 

 ports as follows: One morning he observed English spar- 

 rows apparently occupying a box in which he knew swal- 

 lows were nesting. Investigating he found in the nest 

 the body of the mother swallow, with the fresh wounds 

 on the head from the sparrow's bill. 



Now tins is simply atrocious. I would like to have 

 some friend of tins bird — and I understand there are yet 

 a very few such — set forth a single item in his favor to 

 offset the huge pile of indictments against this filthy, 

 noisy, quarrelsome and bloodthirsty foreigner. Some- 

 thing must be done. How long are we to stand with our 

 hands behind us saying, too bad! too bad! Probably until 

 it is too late, if, indeed, it is not so already. It should be 

 "war to the knife!" F. C. Browne. 



Fkamxngham, Mass., June 25. 



A week ago I called on a farmer friend, where I 

 often go to get a good bowl of bread and milk with cream 

 not missing. My friend's wife, knowing my weakness 

 for things pertaining to birds as well as to kine, handed 

 me a box containing an English sparrow's egg. They 

 had heard a hen cackling in the orchard, and found her 

 in the top of one of the apple trees trying to get into a 

 nest nearly as large as a half -bushel measure. On getting 

 up to it, my friend found that the nest contained three 

 eggs like the one shown to me, two of which the hen had 

 broken in her efforts to add to their number. Mr. Green 

 destroyed the nest, but had he replaced the sparrow's eggs 

 with a set of hen's eggs I have no doubt that in due time 

 he would have had a brood of chickens up there in the 

 tree, for the sparro w is very persistent in incubation as 

 well as in rebuilding its nest when destroyed. My next 

 door neighbor has pulled down a nest more than half a 

 dozen times from under the roof of his piazza this season, 

 and it was rebuilt each time within twenty-four hours. 

 I am confident that the English sparrorws are breeding in 



hollow trees in woods half a mile from any building or 

 orchard. A year ago a boy brought to me a set of six of 

 th e eggs (one of which is no larger than a humming 

 bird's) that he took from a woodpecker's hole, in woods 

 two miles from the city. And within a week I have seen 

 voting English sparrows that could hardly fly, in a large 

 dense woods half a mile from any building— and there 

 were also plenty of old birds with them— and I might add 

 that I did not see any other small birds but a very few 

 song sparrows, while a year ago I saw plenty of the lat- 

 ter, and a few yellow warblers and mdigo buntings. 

 Now that there has been a law passed making it a misde- 

 meanor to feed or protect the English sparrows, they may 

 all take to the woods ; and then where shall we look for 

 the song birds ? J. L. Davison. 



Lockport, N. Y„ June 20. 



WAYS OF PRAIRIE DOGS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In your issue of June 16, your correspondent "N. A. T.," 

 of Abilene, Kansas, gives the readers of youx paper an 

 exceedingly interesting account of the ways of the prairie 

 dogs, as observed by him in that locality. I can from 

 personal observation and experience subscribe to all he 

 says of this interesting rodent, and that even in boreal 

 Montana, not more than a hundred miles west of Fort 

 Keogh. viz. at Fort Custer, I have repeatedly observed 

 the dogs outside of their burrows on a clear, sunshiny 

 winter day, even if the mercury was below zero, and I 

 have not the slightest doubt but what the same thing can 

 be seen at Keogh any winter; they certainly do not hiber- 

 nate in the strict sense of the word. 



In regard to the popular belief that the prairie dog, the 

 rattlesnake and the burrowing owl all live in harmony 

 together in the same hole, this is mere nonsense, like 

 many other myths in natural history. The latter both 

 unquestionably live to a greater or less extent on the 

 young dogs, whenever these are to be had, and it is as- 

 tonishing how quickly one of these little owls is able to 

 capture and kill rodents a great deal heavier and larger 

 than themselves. I never have seen an owl actually cap- 

 ture a prairie dog, but have time and again seen them 

 dispose of the western ground squirrel, which is about the 

 size of a half grown prairie dog, and is very common in 

 portions of Oregon and "Washington Territory. As I have 

 already published a lengthy article on this subject some 

 years ago in the Ornithologist and Oologist, I will say 

 nothing further about it here. 



The fact that the dogs and owls do not live on friendly 

 terms at all times was clearly demonstrated a few years 

 ago at the Zoological Gardens at Philadelphia. If I re- 

 member rightly, I think it was Mr. Arthur E. Brown, the 

 superintendent of said gardens, who told me that during 

 that season he had received several burrowing owls from 

 the West which he placed in the wire inclosure in which 

 quite a colony of prairie dogs were kept. In order to pre- 

 vent the owls from flying away then wings were clipped, 

 and laboring under such disadvantages they were at once 

 set upon and promptly killed by their so-called friends, 

 the prairie dogs, who undoubtedly enjoyed meeting their 

 old-time enemies in such a fix. I have not the least doubt 

 but what a partly crippled rattlesnake would fare the 

 same way, C. E. Bendire. 



Domesticating Wildfowl.— Cold Spring Harbor, N. 

 Y., July 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: I can report a 

 little better success, to date, than last year. From thir- 

 teen wood duck eggs there are now three ducks, which 

 are ten days old and are lively, following a hen and get- 

 ting their own food along the ponds. The pintail laid 

 seven eggs in a nest on the ground, broke two, and after 

 hatching the young a week ago escaped from the wire 

 netting and has not been seen since. My Chinese man- 

 darin duck laid twelve eggs. Two of these were hatched 

 under a hen and crushed in the nest. Another hen was 

 I set on seven mandarin eggs and hatched f om birds yes- 

 ' terday, one of them a perfect albino, and last night 

 crushed one. The old duck sat a week on three eggs and 

 then abandoned the nest. Therefore, I have at present 

 writing only three young wood ducks and three manda- 

 rins. — Fred Mather. 



The Step op a Bear.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 do not see just why it should be apparent to hunters, as 

 one of your correspondents suggests, that the latter meant 

 36in. for a bear's step when your printer put it 26in. My 

 experience is that large fat bears— common black bears 

 —step very short. I would set down a 36in. stepping bear 

 as too lean, poor and fond of traveling to make it worth 

 my while to follow it. Of course, with a trap it matters 

 not how long a step is. When a bear is so heavy that in 

 ordinary walking, when unmolested, it steps little more 

 than the length of its own foot, there is inducement to 

 follow it.— Cecil Clay. 



'wnt §dg md 0mp 



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



IN THE CHEROKEE STRIP.-III. 



OUR first morning at the 2 1 dawned windy and very 

 cold, the thermometer — for the camp boasted such 

 a piece of furniture — showing 12° below zero. It was too 

 cold for horseback hunting, or at least Mr. Allison and 

 all the ranch boys thought so. Ricker and I were the 

 only ones to venture out hi the morning, we resolving to 

 still-hunt down the river. 



Ricker and I had each secured one of the new model 

 "Winchesters, .45-90, for this trip, and these arms attracted 

 some attention at the camp. They were not, however, 

 liked by the bovs of the ranch, who all pronounced them 

 "too heavy." The old popular worthless .44-40 is the 

 favorite gun with the cowboys. They didn't know any- 

 thing about a rifle; and I imagine they like that old arm 

 because it is light and handy and does pretty well for a 

 saddle gun. There has been more game killed with these 

 old .44s than with all other guns put together, and they 

 are or have been the most popular gun on the plains and 

 in the mountain, so far as the native population is con- 

 cerned. Because cowboys have used them, cowboys 

 think cowboys ought to use them. I suppose I wouldn't 

 have one, with a prize package thrown in, myself. But 

 I think the .45-90 a very excellent arm; only they will 

 have to get the action a trifle smoother, though I never 

 saw but two of the new make, and got the first one 

 which came into the State of Kansas. 



The .45-90 is the rifle I shall use, until the Winchester 

 people make a .50-110 repeating rifle of this model (or one 

 with even greater powder charge), in which either express 

 or solid balls can be used, the former of not over 300 

 grains weight. This action is so arranged that a cartridge 

 of that length can be easily thrown by it, I think. I 

 would want the gun to weigh at least 9|lbs. , and to be 

 not over 24 or 26in. in the barrel, The action of the '86 

 model being so short, the result would be a gun short 

 enough in its entire length for one to stick in a saddie 

 holster, and run his horse as hard as he wants to go wf|a- 

 out fear of the horse getting the rifle between his legs and 

 giving Iris rider a fall. I would most assuredly want the 

 rifle to have a shotgun stock of exactly the same length 

 and drop of stock my shotgun has. It is much a matter 

 of fancy, this gun business; but it is my fancy that in the 

 above I would find a practical gun for practical hunting, 

 flat, accurate and so terrific a hitter that I would stop a 

 deer or any large animal every time the ball struck him. 

 If there be such a thing as shooting a heavy solid ball 

 from an express rifle, the penetration of a solid ball from 

 such an arm would be something fearful. But as far as 

 range and accuracy are concerned, there is no one who 

 can often hit a deer over 200yds., especially if it be run- 

 ning. He would be just as apt to do it with a wild-shoot- 

 ing gun as with an accurate one. There are many who 

 might hit a small target regularly at that distance, or 

 even a deer on paper, but I mean a deer with hair on it. 

 The express charge would therefore give range and accur- 

 enough for deer shooting. 



But, as I had not the .50-110, I took the .45-90, which 

 is, practically, about as good. Ricker shouldered his 

 favorite, a fine three-barrel Daly gun, which shoots a rifle 

 cartridge of .38-55. and shoots it mighty accurately, too. 

 With this, and a handful or so of buckshot, he calculated 

 to make the air warm about any deer that jumped near 

 him. I persecuted him for a pot-hunter. I believe a man 

 can get more deer with a good three- barrel gun. He can get 

 more fish with a seine, too. He can kill more squirrels 

 with a good shotgun than he can with a rifle, too. 

 Ricker and I were talking about this business when we 

 parted at the edge of the sandhills, and I had almost per- 

 suaded him to give his gun away to some object of charity; 

 but by night he had backslidden entirely, and I shall have 

 all that work to do over again. 



There are some 280,000 acres in the 21 range, and 

 most of this is on the south side of the Cimarron; yet I 

 walked for a long time through the sandhills of the north 

 side before I came to the wire fence which marked the 

 boundary of the range. I walked nearly ten miles down 

 the river, and got well over on the T5 range. I must 

 confess that the day was dull for me. The weather was 

 so cold that nothing was moving, and I saw so little sign 

 that I doubted if there were any deer in that country. 

 Indeed, I did not see a living creature all that day, ex- 

 cepting a poor innocent little woodpecker, which I 

 noticed just as I got back to camp, and which I was 

 wicked enough to shoot at and kill with my new .45-90, 

 thereby winning for it the name of the "woodpecker 

 gun" when I told ths boys at the camp what I had shot at. 



When I got in, nearly at nightfall, I learned that Jack, 

 one of the boys, had been out after we left, had jumped 

 a buck in the" edge of a swamp, and killed it running with 

 his .38 Winchester. He had also seen four other deer in 

 the black-jacks north of camp. This was more encourag- 

 ing. 



Presently Ricker came in, tired but happy. He had 

 been down about the same distance as myself, though 

 nearer to the river. He had seen no sign of deer until he 

 came to the top of a big sandhill which was scooped out 

 on the further side, and had a clump of large trees grow- 

 ing in the hollow. The tops of these trees came up nearly 

 even with the top of the hill. As he peered down through 

 the trees, a sudden whistle and a smashing in the brush 

 announced an occupant, and he saw a big doe rushing 

 down the hill for the tall grass. Did that benighted 

 heathen use the rifle part of his machine ? No. He just 

 launched about seven hundred buckshot over in that di- 

 rection, and took his chances. Hit something ? Why, of 

 course. And then that poor doe, denied a civilized death, 

 ran on down the hill, blundered, stumbled, and fell in a 

 bunch. Buckshot, sir ! Four hundred buckshot. Mur- 

 der? How can we ever know he killed the deer he shot 

 at, and not some other deer, somewhere around there? 



All hands now ate supper. The fact was developed that 

 Buck, the cook, made excellent biscuits. I broke about 

 fourteen straight myself. I wish the hotels in Kansas 

 could bake as good biscuits. We came very near losing 

 one of our best dogs on this trip before we eve* got into 

 the territory at all. He would have been drowned hi 

 crossing a river if he had not been tied to the wagon. He 

 had in an unguarded moment swallowed a hotel biscuit at a 



