.-Jan,, 81, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



The two cars, loaded with such peculiar freight, de- 

 parted for the South, but the buffalo, unlike their human 

 companions of the prairies, do not pine and die in cap- 

 tivity, but rather imagine themselves to be on the war- 

 path; at least such must have been the case on this 

 occasion, for before reaching St. Paul they fought so 

 desperately that six were killed outright, and most of 

 them more or less injured. Manitobans entertain no ill will 

 toward the purchaser of these animals, yet, when remem- 

 bering the pleasures they have so often enjoyed, and the 

 princely hospitality that Major Bedson always so court- 

 eously extends, when one drives out "just to see the 

 buffaloes," are tempted to hope that the bad luck attend- 

 ing the first consignment, may lead to negotiations for 

 the balance of the herd to remain here. 



Winnipeg, Manitoba. THOS. JOHNSON. 



PENNSYLVANIA BIRDS.* 



THE report on the birds of Pennsylvania by the State 

 Ornithologist, Dr. B. H. Warren, is extremely inter- 

 esting and valuable, and should strengthen the sentiment 

 in favor of protection for the feathered friends of the 

 farmer and the fruit grower. It is now generally con- 

 ceded among scientific men and lovers of nature that 

 most of the birds that are ruthlessly killed as enemies of 

 the agriculturist should be fostered rather than destroyed: 

 but there are still many people of intelligence who remain 

 in ignorance of the benefits conferred by birds, and Dr. 

 Warren's book will bring to them enlightenment, and en- 

 list their sympathy in behalf of correct judgment and wise 

 protection. 



The introductory pages are devoted to brief explana- 

 tions of the topography of a bird, and the descriptive 

 terms used in the accounts of the species. The descrip- 

 tions of the birds are clear and concise, limited to a few 

 lines whenever a figure is given. The distinguishing char- 

 acters are mentioned briefly, but plainly. Then follow 

 notes on the habitat in the State, the time of arrival and 

 departure, the nest and nesting habits, the size and col- 

 oration of the eggs, the feeding habits, and the food of 

 142 species, as determined by the records and the exam- 

 ination of several thousand stomachs. The writings of 

 Allen, Audubon, Baird, Coues, Gentry, Henshaw, Merri- 

 am, Nuttall, Ridgway, Samuels, Stejneger, Turner, Wil- 

 son, Wood and others are quoted when available, and to 

 these are added Dr. Warren's own extensive observations. 

 The chromo-Uthographic plates, copied for the most part 

 from the small edition of "Audubon's Birds of North 

 America," represent fifty-eight of the species common in 

 the State. Notwithstanding the fact that the litho- 

 grapher was evidently restricted in the use of colors, the 

 work is well done, and the plates will aid greatly in iden- 

 tifying the species. The indigo bunting is poorly colored, 

 but the cardinal, the purple finch, and the scarlet tana- 

 ger are better than in the original. 



The demand for the first edition of 6,000 copies has been 

 so great that a resolution was offered and will doubtless 

 pass both branches of the State Legislature providing for 

 a revised and enlarged edition of 10,000 copies of Dr. 

 Warren's report. The State and the State Ornithologist 

 are to be congratulated on the successful issue of this 

 work, and it is to be hoped that the same generous spirit 

 mav be applied to the illustration of other classes of ani- 

 mals within the Commonwealth, and particularly the 

 fishes. 



*Report on the. Birds of Pennsylvania, with Special Reference to 

 the Food Habits, Based on over Three Thousand Stomach Exami- 

 nations. By B. H. Warren, M.D., Ornithologist of the State 

 Board of Agriculture, etc., illustrated with fifty plates. Harris- 

 hurg: Edwin K. Meyers, State printer, 1888. Pp. xii+260. 



HABITS OF THE BEAVER. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



In the January number of Harper's Magazine, Mr. H. 

 P. Wells says, "Beavers work only at night." This is. 

 indeed, the lime which they usually take to perform their 

 labor in, but it is not an invariable rule. Several years 

 since I was engaged in the exploration of timber land, 

 between the heads of the Southwest Miramichi and 

 Tobique rivers, in the Province of New Brunswick. It 

 was late in the month of April, and the snow was becom- 

 ing very soft and so hollow underneath that we con- 

 cluded to reach the settlements on Tobique as speedily as 

 possible. At the time this determination was made we 

 were in low ground, through which there ran a small 

 dead-water brook, which we concluded emptied into that 

 river. 



After a little traveling we came out to a heath or barren, 

 on which there grew a few stunted spruces. The after- 

 noon was drawing on, and we concluded that we would 

 seek a spot on which to camp, where the land appeared 

 to be higher, at the foot of the barren, and where we 

 could see some hardwoods, which we could cut down for 

 the night's fuel. The snow was so soft and wet that we 

 moved noiselessly along over its surface. Just as we 

 emerged from a bunch of spruce, which stood at the foot 

 of the barren, I saw within three or four hundred feet of 

 me a beaver dam, which one of these animals was en- 

 gaged in repairing. He had a piece of alder in his 

 mouth, from which he had eaten the bark, and was 

 sticking the pealed stick down into the dam: so intent 

 was he in his work that he did not notice our presence 

 until I called out to him. The next moment he had dis- 

 appeared beneath the waters of the pond. Beavers are 

 yet to be found in many places in New Brunswick, 

 though they have been more hunted of late than for some 

 time past. Edward Jack, 



Frebericton, Canada, 



The Forest and Stream Grizzly.— Clarksdale, Miss., 

 Jan. 18. — Editor Forest and Stream: I received with 

 pleasure the admirable portrait drawn by your artist of 

 Madame Grizzly, relict of the late Mr. Grizzly of Central 

 Park, New York. I recognized at a glance the counte- 

 nance of my quondam acquaintance, upon wdiom I made 

 a pleasant call some months ago and was kindly received. 

 There is an expression of kittenish mischief in her face, 

 combined with self-possession and dignity, born, I pre- 

 sume, of conscious superiority over her fellow captives, 

 which I have never observed in any other bear. Possibly 

 the effect of civilization upon a nature noble, if savage. 

 The black bear in the foreground makes a good foil to 

 Mrs. Grizzly, the contrast being greatly in her favor. I 

 shall hang her portrait over my mantel as a pleasant 

 reminiscence of my visit to her bearship.— Coahoma. 



Biological Society of Washington.— The 135th 

 regular meeting was held Jan. 26, in the assembly hall 

 of the Cosmos Club. The following communications 

 were read: Dr, Cooper Curtice, Notes on Sheep Tick, 

 Melophagv.s ovinus. This is a true parasite, beginning 

 and ending its existence on the sheep and apparently 

 not capable of living apart from its host. The curious 

 modification of its mouth parts fits it for its present mode 

 of life. The young allowed to feed by drawing blood 

 from the human hand live about four days. Tobacco 

 solution kills the parasite in all stages of development* 

 Dr. Geo. Vasey, new species of North American Graminea* 

 of the last twelve years, announced the addition of 190 

 species to the lists since 1876, bringing the number up to 

 740. The new forms were collected principally in Mexico, 

 California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington Territory, 

 Canada, Texas and Florida. Mr. Th, Holm, in Contribu- 

 tions to the Morphology of the Genus Carex, made an- 

 other valuable addition to his series of studies of the de- 

 velopment of the sedges and related forms of plants. 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam exhibited and described a new 

 species of pika, or Little Chief rabbit, from the higher 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains in Placer Co., California. This 

 pika is distinguished by the color of its head and by well- 

 marked skull characters. It lives in rock clefts and is 

 well protected by its coloration. It comes out on the 

 snow only when the drifts are not deep. The pika-s 

 range from 30° to 60" north latitude; they are abundant 

 in Colorado. The voice resembles that of some birds and 

 its sound is hard to locate. 



Want of Foresight. — Editor Forest and Stream: It 

 might have been supposed that the mild weather of the 

 present winter would have increased the number of birds 

 residing on the borders of their "migratory limit," but it 

 has not been so at all, so far as my observations have gone. 

 Almost every other winter, during the month of Decem- 

 ber and early part of January, I have been in the habit 

 of seeing robins {Merula migratoria), winter wrens (An- 

 orthura troglodytes hyemalis), occasionally a yellowham- 

 mer {Colaptes auratus), with numbers of bluebirds (Sialia 

 s-ialis) and white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albieollis). 

 This year I have missed them in my walks, and that on 

 pleasant days. I have met but very few bluebirds so far, 

 and none of the other varieties that are named. Even the 

 song sparrows around here seem to be scarcer than usual, 

 or else thev have not happened to come in my way. But 

 I should like to hear, through Forest and Stream, what 

 others have noticed in this respect. The birds could not 

 have anticipated this mildness. We have had no severer 

 weather yet than robins, fox sparrows, whitethroats and 

 bluebirds often meet with in the month of March.— 

 A. H. G. (Scarborough, N. Y., Jan. 12). 



ante Jfog and 0utf t 



THE GAME LAWS OF MAINE. 



THE report of Messrs. Stilwell and Stanley, the efficient 

 Commissioners of Fisheries and Game of the State 

 of Maine, showing the operations for 1887 and 1888, has 

 been issued and contains much matter of interest to the 

 readers of Forest and Stream. Among the recommend- 

 ations which the worthy Commissioners make to the 

 Legislature now in session is to amend the fishery laws 

 so that the Commissioners may order the erection of 

 suitable fishways on streams other than those which "are 

 naturally frequented by salmon, shad, alewives and 

 landlocked salmon." It seems incredible that the State 

 should spend thousands of dollars to stock new waters 

 with landlocked salmon and then be powerless to protect 

 the plant by constructing fishways over dams that block 

 the passage of the fish to their spawning beds. If such 

 is the law the sooner it is corrected the better. But why 

 confine the law to any particular species of fish? Why 

 should not a fishway be constructed wherever necessary 

 without reference to the species of fish that is to use it? 

 Is the State of Maine willing to see the streams flowing 

 into the lakes of the Rangeley, Moosehead and other 

 waters dammed back in such a way as to prevent the 

 ascent of the trout? This is a matter of very great im- 

 portance, and it is to be hoped the Legislature will 

 promptly remedy the defect. 



The Commissioners recommend that "all fishing in the 

 tributaries at Rangeley, Moosehead, etc. should cease 

 from the last day of August." Good! But why not 

 make the law general and prohibit fishing in all moving 

 waters after that date? What is needed is to stop fishing 

 on all spawning beds, not only certain spots. 



The Commissioners are troubled over the use of dyna- 

 mite for the taking of fish and suggest that it "should 

 be made a capital offense.'" Possibly some may think 

 hanging just a trifle severe for such' a crime, but still 

 maybe it isn't, and possibly the "punishment fits the 

 crime" better than any other. If the Legislature ac- 

 cedes to this why not put "jigging" in the same category , 

 it's meaner, if anything, than dynamiting. 



On page 8 the Commissioners say "no manufactorv of 

 any kind whatever should be allowed to throw its waste 

 into a river any more than into our highways." This is 

 good law and it's good sense, and^every legislator ought 

 to cut that sentence out and paste it in his hat. 



The Commissioners beg the Legislature to "give us a 

 good square non-exportation law for venison, and give 

 us the means of rigidly enforcing the hounding law." 

 Let us trust that the solons at Augusta will do both these 

 good things, and yet, if they could prevent gunning for 

 the market and stdl let a sportsman carry home his bit of 

 venison or the head of his big bull nioose, how very 

 pleasant it would be all around. 



The Commissioners repeat their recommendation of 

 1886 and ask that September be added to the open season 

 for deer, caribou and moose. That proposition is emi- 

 nently wise, but it would be better yet if the law would 

 also add August and take away December. Why not ? 

 Why does the State spend money to protect its deer and 

 secure their increase ? Simply that they may be killed in 

 such a way as to return the greatest possible revenue to 

 the citizens of the State, under such regulations as will 

 not only prevent their extermination but secure their 

 reasonable increase. Is not that a fair business proposi- 

 tion? Well then, the Commissioners say, on page 5, "A 

 deer killed at the proper season, at any of our sporting 

 centers, is worth at least one hundred dollars to the 

 State, while if destroyed and sold by the poacher, its net 



return is almost valueless." The same thing may be 

 stated a little broader, as "a deer killed by a sportsman 

 is worth at least one hundred dollars to the State, while 

 if killed by the market hunter its net return is almost 

 valueless." Now, during what months will the State get 

 the largest number of profitable deer killer.-? August, 

 without peradventure. May is still chilly from the melting 

 snows. June and July are too prolific of flies and mosqui- 

 toes to make camping thoroughly enjoyable. Cold breezes 

 begin to sweep down on one in September, and by October 

 all the romance of the woods is gone. November means' 

 cold and wet 4 snow and sleet: while December is attrac- 

 tive only to the crust hunter, the snow-shoed assassin of 

 the woods. August, on the other hand, is the vacation 

 month of the year. The woods and mountains then are 

 perfection, the air is balmy, the leaves and mosses of 

 brilliant green, no flies, and mosquitoes scarce. August 

 now has two visitors to any other month's one, if we 

 except the brief feverish weeks just as the ice goes out 

 and the season closes. To-day the sportsmen attracted 

 to Maine in the present open months of October, Novem- 

 ber and December are few and far between. The moun- 

 tains of North Carolina offer superior attractions in the 

 way of climate at that season. Give us August, Septem- 

 ber and October instead and you will have a large in- 

 crease in summer travel, and the season will show no 

 more deer killed than at present. 



This may seem at first sight an illogical conclusion, but 

 wait a bit. Let us look into this matter a little deeper. 

 Around the fire in a hotel in the Rangeley region were 

 gathered one evening a dozen or more guides and sports- 

 men, when the talk turned to big game. One of the 

 visitors turning to mine host asked, "Phin, suppose a 

 party shotdd come through here in January or February 

 and you knew they were going crust-hunting, what would 

 you do?" 



Phin did not answer at once, but deliberately lighting 

 his pipe, leaned his elbows on the counter, and giving a 

 preparatory puff, drawled out, "Why! I reckon I'd try to 

 persuade "em not," 



"But suppose they were not to be persuaded," persisted 

 the questioner, "what would you do then?" 



Phin scratched his head, smiled pleasantly and an- 

 swered, "Why! I wouldn't do nothing." 



"Wouldn't dare to," sententiously interjected a guide. 



"•Egory! No! That's so," assented Phin. 



Now, what does all this mean ? Simply that there are 

 two classes of law breakers. One, the sportsman who 

 with his guide penetrates the woods for trout with a 

 Winchester on his shoulder. This man it is who fur- 

 nishes a large part of the livelihood of the guide who is 

 with him, the hotel man who receives and harbors him, 

 the stage driver who cariies him in and out, and a host 

 of others, supplying the needs of summer travel. This 

 man pays Ms money and kills his deer, and the men who 

 live off his fondness for so-called sport are not going to 

 let him be driven off with fines and penalties. Indeed, 

 in one case in this region not so very long ago a moose 

 was killed, and the matter was reported to the Commis- 

 sioners by a guide. The warden demanded the fine, and 

 though the man who did the killing had left the State, 

 the hotel proprietor and guides made up the amount 

 among themselves and paid the fine, without even per- 

 mitting the visitor to know that a fine had been levied for 

 his offense. 



The other class of law breakers kill during the heavy 

 snows of winter, from January to March, when the deer, 

 floundering through the crusted snow, cannot escape, and 

 a herd is massacred with a club. The choice part-, of the 

 meat only are saved and sent to market or supplied to 

 the lumber camps, the rest is left to rot, In January, 

 1885, over one hundred deer were slaughtered on the 

 shores of North West Pond, and the hindquarters carried 

 to Kingfield, where they were shipped to market. If 

 anything was ever done to those men it was certainly 

 after a considerable time had elapsed, for no attempt had 

 been made to punish them as late as August following. 



A trout fisherman floating one day on the wateis of 

 Kennebago, asked his guide, "Were any moose killed in 

 the open season last year?" 



"Very few," he answered, "I know of but two." 



"Weren't they hunted?" 



"Oh! nobody hunts them there, except one or two 

 down to the village. I knew where five had yarded over 

 in the big sag, but I kept it quiet, for I didn't want them 

 fellers to kill 'em." 



"Why, what difference would it make to you?' 



"Well, if they'd been killed they'd been no use to me, 

 but if livin' I might show one of 'em to some one I was a 

 guidin' the next summer." 



Another man. the proprietor of a mountain hotel, held 

 forth as follows: "What good are those deer to <us the 

 way the law is? Nobody hunts 'em in October. You'd 

 starve to death if you had to live on venison then. In 

 November you can track them in a light snow, but look 

 what you'd have to go through. You might track a 

 moose for two days over the mountains and then never 

 see him. Sportsmen won't do that, so these deer don't 

 give me a single customer. One man says to me: 'I 

 wouldn't give anything to catch trout after the first day 

 or t wo, but I'd rather kill one deer than catch all the fish 

 in your lake.' Now, suppose I would say to sportsmen: 

 'The law will permit you to kill a moose in August and 

 September and take him home with you, and moose have 

 been killed in August within a mile from this house.' 

 Why, it would bring a hundred men here, and every one 

 of 'em would spend a hundred dollars before they left 

 the State, and, may be, they'd kill two or three moose 

 and a couple of dozen deer, but what is that toward the 

 mouey they'd leave here, or compared to the number 

 killed crust-hunting? For if we could lawfully kill in 

 August and September we'd mighty soon put a stop to 

 crust-hunting and hounding, too. They've talked of doing 

 this before, but the lumber men opposed it. Said they'd 

 be more danger of fire. But isn't there less danger of 

 fire when the woods are green than when the leaves are 

 dead and dry? And won't better and more careful men 

 be in the woods when they can go there lawfully than 

 now? 



Doubtless no one will deny that this is all wrong. No 

 fair man will attempt to justify violations of the law, but 

 every wise one will recognize the evil effects of a law 

 which cannot be enforced. The killing of a deer at any 

 season of the year is not by any natural law a wrong, it 

 is only the statute that makes it so, and every one knows 

 that in an Anglo-Saxon community no laws have ever 

 been enforced unless public opinion sustains them. This 



