22 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 81, 1889. 



he §porteitiitii {Tourist. 



A FIRST HUNT IN MEXICO. 



THIS report is of a hunt of nQ special interest per*e, 

 but supposing that readers of the Forest and 

 Stream are interested in learning something of the game 

 resources and conditions of sport in all parts of the world 

 I venture to send an account of a late novel experience 

 of mine. Landing at San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to be for 

 some time my home. I made diligent inquiry as to hun- 

 ters and hunting. Strange to state, among a hundred or 

 more Americans, here either permanently or temporarily, 

 I cannot find a single hunter. Some' Germans I am 

 told go out often on Sunday, but as my "Dutch" has 

 not been brushed up since school-boy days and I do not 

 approve of Sunday as a time for hunting, I made no 

 attempt to fraternize with these gun-loving Teutons. 

 Having some days spare time T resolved to try my for- 

 tune alone. "Everybody goes to Bocas." said the friendly 

 conductor on the Mexican National. To Bocas therefore 

 I went, armed with a hundred assorted cartridges and 

 my light No. 12, the destroyer of many a duck and quail 

 in other fields. I carried a letter of introduction to the 

 treasurer and timekeeper of the railway rock quarry 

 camp, and never did solitary hunter light upon heartier 

 welcome than did I at the" hands of the Americans in 

 this camp. 



Bocas is a village which has grown up around the im- 

 mense hacienda and mescal distillery of Senor Don Juan 

 Ferrias. Don Juan, as he is familiarly called, in addition 

 to being wealthy, is friendly to Americans — not a univer- 

 sal trait here by any means— and withal intelligent and 

 •'clever'' in the Southern sense of the word. The hacienda 

 is an immense one, one of the largest in the Republic, and 

 once belonged to the ill-fated Maximilian. A finely built 

 stone dam has collected the waters of a little mountain 

 stream into a lake containing perhaps two square indes 

 of surface. This waters a fertile valley— there is but 

 little cultivation here without irrigation— runs a Homing 

 mi l l and furnishes a favorite haunt for ducks and geese- 

 Don Juan was away, but Mr. Malone, the gentlemanly 

 superintendent of the railway camp, has standing per- 

 mission for his friends to shoot over the lake, so I was 

 given the liberty of the place. Mexicans do not hunt 

 much. It is not in the blood. To be frank, the poor are 

 too poor and the rich are too indolent. The game 1 found 

 was not wild. A large number of ducks were on the 

 lake, and in spite of the bad conditions, no cover in or 

 near the water, no boats, no companion to help nie hide 

 and drive, everything in fact against me, I managed in a 

 day's shooting to knock over five, two teal, two widgeons 

 and a sprigtail, mostly it might be said by the stupidity 

 of the ducks and the fortune of long shots. 



Around the lake, invaded by it, so to speak, and com- 

 ing down to its very margin, are hills which are the very 

 essence of roughness. Thrown up by volcanic action, 

 filled and overrun with granite of various kinds and in 

 thousands of shapes, all angular and rough, and support- 

 ing as their only vegetable products six or more varieties 

 of cactus and two or three varieties of shrubs, they 

 made about the worst variety of country for creeping 

 over. Two varieties of the cactus grow to the dig- 

 nity of trees, and I tried several times to approach behind 

 them, the ducks lazily sunning themselves on shore in the 

 hazy light of a tropical winter's day, but usually failed. 

 If I walked the stones ground beneath my shoes, and if 

 I crept I filled my bands and knees with an infinite and 

 exasperating variety of pricklers. 1 had cactus thorns, 

 which have the provoking habit of leaving the stem to 

 rarnain wherever tbey stick, in my clothes, my hands, my 

 legs, and finally capped the climax of misery by plunging 

 a maguey thoru sheer through my thin shoe sole and into 

 my foot half an inch. This stopped my hunting and sent 

 me hobbling back to the railway station. 



These hills, however, furnished considerable sport. 

 Two varieties of eagle, a handsome golden or bronze one 

 and a bald one with white-tipped wings, measuring each 

 something less than 4ft. spread, several hares, cotton-tail 

 rabbits, hawks, etc., exposed themselves quite coolly to 

 my gun, while doves were fairly abundant, and I bagged 

 a brace of snipe along an irrigating ditch. So I was 

 very well satisfied, and am going again. 



Relics of Maximilian are seen in a handsome church 

 built at the entrance to a fine drive at the lake, not opened 

 since his time, and in a fine inclosed garden or park of 

 many acres, kept up by the magic of irrigating water. 

 A good instance of Mexican sang froid in reference to 

 game is seen in the following: There are in the lake cer- 

 tain large creatures, either animals or fish, nobody knows 

 what, nor how they came there. The owner of the place 

 knows of their existence and yet has never investigated the 

 mystery. There is no question of their reality. The rail- 

 way people told me about them, and I doubted. But as I 

 was about to leave the lake I saw three of them myself. 

 They never come out of the water nor entirely to the 

 top. When I saw them they were, about two feet below 

 'the surface. I was on the hillside some forty feet above, 

 I said to myself, "Why that's nothing but rocks!" But as 

 I watched they seemed to slowly move. Taking out 

 my Smith & Wesson I popped a bullet into the water 

 over one of them and they at once disappeared. They 

 made no stir in the water, simply sank out of sight. To 

 say I was astonished is to put it mildly. I hesitate to 

 risk my reputation as a correspondent with such a story, 

 but the circumstance is exceedingly curious. Schools of 

 small iish, of which there are a good many, called white- 

 fish by the Mexicans, in the lake, have been suggested as 

 a solution, but after what I saw I can hardly accept this. 

 That which makes the mystery most mysterious is that 

 this lake is situated in a dry section of country, having 

 no connection with other bodies of water. If I learii 

 anything definite later I shall certainly take pleasure in 

 reporting. Why the owner of the lake, knowing for 

 years of the existence of these creatures and understand- 

 ing as little about them as others, has not investigated 

 the matter, is the greatest wonder of all. But he is a 

 Mexican. 



if this were not already too long I could tell of many 

 things which I saw strange, picturesque, interesting. 

 Few of my readers can form any adequate conception of 

 the scene of a Mexican landscape — the dry, cactus-covered 

 hills, the goats and their herder clambering among the 

 rocks, the peons riding meek donkeys, driving black cat- 

 tle or hacking among the thorn bushes with their 

 machetes, the women in bright red skirts tripping along 



the mountain paths with baskets or bundles of herbs bal- 

 anced on their heads, and along the margin of the lake 

 and ditches washer women, half naked, plying their 

 vocation to the sound of merry chatter, barking dogs and 

 braying donkeys. Mexicans are always polite, but 1 

 found the people of this hacienda unusually so. The 

 superintendent of the mescal factory— mescal is a kind of 

 mild brandy made from the juice Of the maguey or cen- 

 tury plant — insisted on my coming in, seeing Ins opera- 

 tions, tasting his products, etc. ; and if I greeted a laborer 

 on the road it was not a curt or half-muttered adios with 

 which he replied, but, "Adios. Senor, para serrir d 



iislrd!" 



I am told that a day's ride east of here in the timbered 

 mountains are bear, deer, turkey, grouse, etc.; while over 

 on the gulf at Tampico, to which we are to have a rail- 

 way sometime, are waterfowl by the million. All this I 

 hope to prove some day. Aztec. 



San Luis Potosi, Mexic o, Dec. 8, 



SHORE BIRDS OF CENTRAL NEW YORK. 



ONONDAGA LAKE, N. Y. , to which these notes refer, 

 unless otherwise stated, lies just outside the city of 

 Syracuse, the upper end of the lake being surrounded by 

 salt blocks, manufactories and railroad tracks. It is 

 about six miles long by one mile wide, and furnishes a 

 large area of beach and mud flats. These are, of course, 

 attractive to shore birds, which seem uncommon in 

 spring; yet the species, if not individuals, are so numer- 

 ous (hiring the fall months, that central New York may 

 be said to lie well in the path pursued by these birds 

 through New York State during the autumnal migra- 

 tion. 



During the cool fall nights one may hear them in the 

 darkness overhead, the whistle of the semipalmated 

 plover being most easily recognized: apparently a very 

 large proportion of the 'birds do not descend to rest and 

 feed, but continue their .journey to the coast without 

 interruption. It must be said, however, that the writer 

 has done little collecting about the lake dxu-ing the spring. 

 Attempts in this direction seldom brought many shore 

 birds under my notice, and the warblers and other groups 

 were much more seductive in consequence. Hence, 

 species here recorded as fall migrants doubtless occur also 

 in spring, but not so frequently, I believe. The list is 

 based mainly on notes made by ine in 1886, 1887 and the 

 fall of 1888 at Onondaga Lake;" those species not observed 

 by me have been collated from the following lists, to 

 which proper reference is always made when due: 

 Annotated List of the Birds of Oneida County. N. Y., 

 and its Immediate Vicinity. By Win. L. Ralph, M.D.. 

 and Egbert Bagg. 1886. A Revised List of Birds of 

 Central New York. By Frank R. Rathbun. 1879. List 

 of Birds of Onondaga County. By Morgan K. Barnum. 

 1886. 



The buff-breasted sandpiper is here recorded for the 

 first time from central New York, not being enumerated 

 in any of the faunal lists just mentioned. The red pha- 

 larope, and possibly one or two other species, may he 

 expected as additions to this list. 



1. Phalaropus lobatns, Northern Phalarope. — Rare fall 

 migrant (see A uk, Vol. TV., p. 73, 1887). 



2. Phalaropus tricolor, Wilson's Phalarope.— " One 

 specimen secured by, and now in the collection of Mr. 

 Gilbert, at Penn Yan. N. Y." — Rathbun. "Accidental 

 visitant; rare; Oneida Lake, Oct. 6, 1883."'— Barnum. 



3. Philohelo minor, American Woodcock. — Common 

 summer resident in Onondaga county, 



4. Gallinago delieata , Wilson's Snipe,— Common spring 

 and fall migrant. 



5. Maerorliamphvs griseus, Dowitcher.— "Transient 

 visitant; common." — Barnum. 



6. Mieropalama himantopus, Stilt Sandpiper.— "One 

 taken in October 1875, Gilbert."'— Rathbun. 1 suppose 

 this individual was taken at Penn Yan, though it is not 

 certain. 



7. Tringa can at us, Knot. — Rare fall migrant. 



8. Tringa maritima, Purple Sandpiper,— "One speci- 

 men taken on Seneca Lake, in the winter, (no date) by 

 Mr. Flahive of Penn Yan, N. Y., and now in his collec- 

 tion." — Rathbun. 



9. Tringa maculata, Pectoral Sandpiper.— Common fall 

 migrant. 



10. Tringa fxscicoli 'is, White-rumped Sand piper. — Toler- 

 ably common fall migrant. 



11. Tringa bairdii, Baird's Sandpiper. — One taken by 

 me Aug. 37, 1888. (See Auk, Vol. VI., p. 68, 1889). The 

 record of a Lewis county specimen in the Auk (Vol. II., 

 p. 384, 1885) should have admitted this species into Ralph 

 and Bagg's list, but I believe it was overlooked. 



12. Tringa minutilla, Least Sandpiper. — Abundant fall 

 migrant in August, September and early October. Some- 

 times seen in spring. A small sandpiper with a confiding 

 disposition, and the graceful, dignified carriage of its 

 larger cousins. 



13. Tringa alpina pacifwa, Red-backed Sandpiper.— 

 Abundant in October, and perhaps earlier, sometimes in 

 large flocks. 



14. Erenneh-.s p twill its. Semipalmated (Sandpiper. — An 

 abundant companion of the least sandpiper in the autumn, 

 with apparently the same dates of arrival and departure. 



15. Valid vis arenaria, Sanrlerling. — To'erably common 

 in the fall, usually, but not always, feeding by itself . 



16. Limosa fedoa, Marbled Godwit. — "One taken by 

 Mi'. Fred A. Hewlett, of Syracuse. Onondaga county. 

 N. Y., the latter part of June. 187 1>, now in his"collection. 

 The same gentleman sa w another specimen at the same 

 time, but failed to secure it.'* — Rathbun. 



17. Limosa hmmastica, Hudsonian Godwit. — "Acci- 

 dental visitant; rare. Onondaga Lake, Oct. 13, 1883. 

 (Bex.)." — Barnum. 



18. Totanm melanoleueus. Greater Yellowiegs. — Com- 

 mon migrant in August. September and October. Like 

 the spotted sandpiper, it may sometimes be seen perched 

 on a fence rail. 



19. Totanus flavipes, Lesser Yellowlegs. — Common in 

 August and September, and sometimes seen in spring. 



20. Totem its solitariiw, Solitary Sandpiper. — Spring and 

 fall migrant, not usually found near the lake, but com- 

 mon in small ponds and damp pastures. 



31, Symphcmia semi pal mata, Willet.— "A regular 

 I migrant. Three secured in the fall of 1876."— Rathbun. 



22. Bariraniia longicauda, "Field Plover."— Rare fall 

 migrant on the lake, but doubtless a summer resident in 

 the county, especially the southern portion. 



23. Tryngiies snbrufleolliX Buff- breasted Sandpiper.— 

 While walking across a grassy flat near the lake shore, 

 August .24, 1888, with my friend. Mr. George Hughes, a 

 sandpiper darted from the grass a few feet in advance of 

 us and dashed by. to be soon sacrificed by a fine wing 

 shot from my companion. The bud was" an immature 

 female of this species, in fine condition and plumage. 



24. Actiiis maettla rltt , Spotted Sandpiper. — Common 

 summer resident, nesting around the lake. 



85. Name)) ins longirostri-% Long-billed Curlew. — Ralph 

 and Bagg, in then- List of Birds of Oneida County and 

 Vicinity (p. 115), report a flock of this species as seen bv 

 Mr. A. A. Howlett, at Oneida Lake, Oct. 5, 1880. 

 _ 26. Numenius li iidsonicus. Hudsonian Curlew. — "Tran- 

 sient visitant; common." — Barnum. 



27. Xinueuins borealis, Eskimo Curlew.— "Saw two 

 killed in Otisco, 1873." — Barnum. 



38.. Charad-ritw sqnatarola, Black-bellied Plover.— Rare 

 fall migrant. 



29. Vharadritw doiriiiiwus, American Golden Plover. — 

 Tolerably common migrant in fall, especially after cold 

 storms. 



30. uSHgialitis vocifera, Killdeer. — Common around the 

 lake in April and May, and August, September and 

 October. Breeds commonly in the county. 



31. Mgialitis semipalmata, Semipalmated Plover.— 

 Common in August and September: has a beautiful 

 whistling call-note, and is an expert pedestrian. 



32. JEgialitis meloda, Piping Plover. — "Rare. A bag 

 of five taken by Mr. Fred Wyer, of Auburn, N. Y., on 

 Owasco Lake, in the autumn of 1876." — Rathbun. 



33. jElgiaMMs wHsonia, Wilson's Plover. — "Rare. One 

 taken in the spring of 1868, Gilbert."— Rathbun. "One 

 shot near upper South Bay, Oneida Lake, in 1880, by Mr. 

 A. A. Howlett, of Syracuse."— Ralph and Bagg. Here 

 we have records of two erratic individuals that wandered 

 away from the seashore and some distance north of their 

 normal range in different years. 



34. Arenaria interpres, "Turnstone. — "Accidental visit- 

 ant, Onondaga Lake, May 30. 1881."— Barnum. Like 

 other species that Barnum considered accidental, the 

 turnstone is probably a regular migrant, though not at 

 all common. Morris M. Green. 



Department of Aokicitltuke, Washington, D. C. 



BUFFALO TRANSPORTATION. 

 r pHE transfer of the Bedson herd of buffalo from Mani- 

 J_ toba to Kansas has been reported in these columns. 

 These added particulars of the transportation of the herd 

 is an interesting addition to that report: 



Editor Forest and Stream: It is well known that at 

 Stony Mountain, the location of the Canadian Govern- 

 ment's Penitentiary, Major Bedson. the warden of that 

 institution, had a larger number of buffalo kept in semi- 

 captivity than are at present known to exist on the 

 American continent. 



For many reasons a keen feeling of regret was felt that 

 another of* these old landmarks should depart from the 

 midst of us. Old landmarks seems a paradoxical term, 

 when applied to a country that was scarcely known forty 

 years ago, and then only as the home of this once innu- 

 merable animal. 



Tne rapid settlement of the surrounding country made 

 it difficult to keep the herd. Their wandering tendencies 

 was, perhaps, the reason Major .Bedson concluded to dis- 

 pose of them. 



Rumors had been plentiful for some years past that 

 the herd bad been sold, and when it was announced a 

 short time ago that Mr. Jones, of Garden City, Kansas, 

 had purchased them, it was fondly hoped it* was only 

 another rumor. But when the new owner had cattle cars 

 put ready for their shipment, it began to look like a stern 

 reality . 



On the 1 5th ultimo half of the herd was driven across 

 the prairies, to be shipped to their new home: the bal- 

 ance, numbering about fifty, it is understood, will not 

 leave before March next. The buffalo themselves had 

 a strong aversion to leaving their old homestead; and 

 considerable difficulty was experienced in getting them 

 aboard the cars, two days being spent in the effort, hun- 

 dreds of citizens witnessing the exciting scenes attending 

 this dangerous job. Half a dozen expert horsemen, 

 besides a number of cattle drivers who had loaded hun- 

 dreds of wild Western cattle, found they had a more 

 difficult task before them when endeavoring to load buf- 

 falo; however, by a strategic movement, they were 

 eventually got into the pens of the cattle yards' of the 

 Canada Pacific Railway Company. How to get them to 

 walk the gangway was a still more serious matter. The 

 infuriated and maddened beasts, when they found them- 

 selves caged, commenced to have a little "circus" on their 

 own account. Some terrible combats took place between 

 them, and, when the enormous size and strength of these 

 animals is considered, one can conjecture how high one 

 of the younger ones would be thrown in the air when 

 caught on the horns of one of these mighty bulls. 



Every conceivable effort was made, but to no purpose, 

 in endeavoring to get them in the cars, prods with sharp- 

 pointed forks, lashes that would almost cut a sheep m 

 two, seemed to he appreciated as a tickle in the ribs, or a 

 gentle caress. 



Eventually, a tremendous old bull undertook to be 

 master of ceremonies, and succeeded, after every effort 

 of man had failed. There was nothing new in the man- 

 ner he did it, he only did what buffaloes have done from 

 time immemorial, when working up a stampede. He got 

 behind the herd, and began making it exceedingly lively 

 for those ahead, prodding, bellowing at thfem, and driv- 

 ing the laggards forward with vigorous digs of his horns 

 in then- haunches. They had to travel, and having no 

 other place to go, they passed over the gangway, and 

 into the cars. When the "big pusher" (as the crowd 

 dubbed him) had driven them all in, and reached the 

 door himself, he seemed to be astonished! This was the 

 most extraordinary stampede he had ever engineered. 

 Tossing his head scornfully , he wheeled about and ran 

 back into the pen; he next accomplished the feat of 

 jumping a 10ft. fence, and seeming to like it, bounded 

 from one pen to another, clearing or smashing every- 

 thing in his way, until he reached the board fence which 

 bounds the west side of the yards. This paling is 14ft. 

 high, but he jumped at it, struck near the top, went 

 through with a crash, and steered, for home, a much 

 agitated bull. 



