468 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 27, 1889. 



from vermin, placed in the breeding room will be used 

 by tbe birds to form a soft inside lining for their nests. 



Select your birds for breeding from those which are 

 strong and healthy, be sure the males are good sineers, 

 with soft, sweet and long notes: the young birds will be 

 more likely to be good songsters, as the young male birds 

 when in the nest obtain their first and most lasting im- 

 pression of melody, the parent male bird being then full 

 of vivacity and brilliancy of song. As you select your 

 birds in pahs for mating, do not turn them loose at once 

 in the breeding room, but place two cages side by side on 

 the wall, one fitted up as a breeding cage, the other a 

 plain cage. Put the female in the breeding cage and the 

 male bird in the other cage and let them remain separated; 

 in seven to ten days they will show a desire to get to- 

 gether by endeavors to get through the bars or wires of 

 the cage: then put the male bird with the female. The 

 eggs wili be generally hatched in twelve to fifteen days; 

 after the young birds are fully fledged turn the young 

 and the old birds loose in the breeding room, and the old 

 mated birds will almost always year after year there- 

 after seek each other as mates. As pair after pair are 

 selected to breed from, mate them in the manner de- 

 scribed, the object of thus mating them before letting 

 them fly in the breeding room is to prevent the males 

 from fighting each other for the mastery. 



Place a supply always of coarse sand or fine gravel On 

 the table in flat or shallow dishes, as all seed-eating birds 

 require it to enable them to digest seed food. Swinging 

 perches suspended from the ceiling (by fine wire) hang- 

 ing down to within about five feet above the floor, will 

 add to the health and sprightliness of the birds. A 

 further attractive feature is a leafless tree, the bark of 

 which is smooth, placed at each window. This is to be 

 firmly planted in a box or tub containing earth. Tubers 

 of the Madeira vine if planted thickly in the earth, will 

 in a short time send up vigorous shoots, which should be 

 trained or led to the branches of the tree by means of 

 cords. 



Keep the earth in the tub constantly moist (not wet), 

 bore a draining hole in the bottom of the tub to carry off 

 moisture. Such a bird-tree will remain in constant ver- 

 dure all the year round. The buds will greatly enjoy 

 such a tree, when the sun shines on it; after they have 

 been bathing they will fly on its branches to bask in its 

 rays to dry and arrange their plumage and practice their 

 songs. The beautiful and graceful foliage and sweet 

 smelling odor of the flowers of the vine will greatly en- 

 liven the room. The general food should be rape seed 

 with a small quantity of hemp and canary seed oc- 

 casionally added. When the old birds are feeding the 

 young in the nest, soaked stale wheat bread free from 

 soda or grease mixed with grated hard-boiled eggs, 

 ground hemp seed, and a small quantity of maw meal, and 

 now and again soaked stale wheat bread alone -or soaked 

 biscuit or crackers alone. But great care should be taken 

 that no sour bread is fed to the birds. A moderate 

 amount of green vegetable food should be fed all the year 

 round. 



A drinking fountain should be provided, in which the 

 water should always be kept fresh and clean. Such a 

 fountain can be found at the fancy poultry dealers, or a 

 good substitute may be made by abottle filled with water 

 being turned upside down in a flower-pot saucer — a flat 



disk or such a saucer makes a good bath-tub for the birds, 

 this being very necessary for the health of the birds. 

 Several pieces of cuttlefish bone should be hung up in the 

 room convenient for the birds to reach for shell material, 

 and to assist digestion of seed-eating birds. These com- 

 plete the most requisite features of the breeding room, 

 in which more young to the pairs of old birds may be 

 raised than in cages, as breeding can be continued all the 

 year round successfully. Uncle Joe. 



GAME IN THE CITY. 



NEW YORK, June 24.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Having occasion to make some offsets on a little rill 

 skirting the outer cliffs of Hamilton Grange in the 

 Twelfth Ward of New York city, much to my astonish- 

 ment we there, among the underbrush, at the rear of a 

 sauce or truck garden on St. Nicholas avenue, ran into 

 five woodcock, the two parent birds with three young 

 flight birds. They seemed to be citizens as they did not, 

 to all appearance, seem greatly disturbed by our sudden 

 break in on their city seclusion, as their flight was but a 

 short distance away. 



On the same day, Saturday, June 15, we returned by 

 way of the open cross field, on the Morris and Watts 

 homestead. We had but entered the field on the Seventh 

 avenue side, when a salute well known to our ears was 

 heard. It was "Bob White" in Ms clear, never-to-be- 

 mistaken clarion note of the cock bird that greeted us. 

 By call we lured him clear over the fields to Mr. Morris's 

 stables, and to his overseer's lodge midway of the estate. 



Canonicus. 



Spider Bites. — Your article on spider bites reminds 

 me of a conversation held many years ago with Dr. J. L. 

 S. Thompson, now dead, of Lancaster, Mass. He had 

 been bitten by a black spider while pruning fnut trees. 

 At the same time, in the town of Boylston, seven miles 

 distant, there was a similar case, of which the Doctor 

 daily received reports while treating his own wound. He 

 recovered, but the other man died. In reply to my ques- 

 tions he said: "I poulticed and kept poulticing. Most 

 people don't know how to do this; they make a poultice 

 about as big as a quarter of a dollar and let it stay. I 

 made a bag full aud shoved my hand right into it, and 

 changed it often. I thought that as long as I could keep 

 the swelling below the elbow I shouldn't despair. I did 

 eep it so and recovered." — Kelpie. 



fymt mid 



WAS IT A FRUITLESS HUNT? 



HAYING been born with the hunting instinct largely 

 developed, and with an intense love of wild life, it 

 has always seemed strange to me that there could be any 

 persons who did not love the streams and the woods. 

 With me it has always been not so much a question of 

 game or fish when I had the opportunity for an outing as 

 it was the real pleasure of being near "to nature's heart;" 

 and, in fact, there have been manv times when this com- 

 munion with nature has been eo close and enjoyable that 

 I was glad when no game came in my way in that I had 

 not shed the blood of these beautiful creatures. When I 

 do kill either fish, flesh or fowl I always want it to be 

 under the excitement of the chase, and then that it shall 

 not linger in its death. The last winter, like many in 

 past years, brought me an invitation from a party of 

 friends, who, like myself, are closely confined at seden- 

 tary work during the whole year, to join them on their 

 hunting ground for a week after deer and turkeys. It 

 did not seem much like hunting to leave this city by the 

 inland seas and take a train toward the south through 

 such an old settled section as that which lies south of 

 Pittsburgh, Pa.; but there are great sections of as wild 

 land lying within a hundred miles of that thriving city 

 as one will find anywhere, and there is a sufficient supply 

 of large game still making these mountain fastnesses 

 their home to make hunting enjoyable. 



If one must have some place where the game is so 

 plenty that he can find it every time he goes into the 

 woods he must seek it in some other section; but if he 

 will be satisfied if he gets a chance at a deer, or a turkey 

 once a day, or it may be not oftener than once in two, or 

 three days, then he will find no place within easier 

 reach than these mountains. If he is seeking health and 

 recreation as much as he is game, and is in a condition to 

 enjoy the grandeur of nature in its more rugged moods, 

 then he will be suited here. There is no other hunting 

 grounds which will so soon blow the dust of the city 

 office out of bis lungs, as hunting over these mountains 

 where nature has done her best to set the land on edge 

 so as to give as much feeding ground as possible within a 

 given horizontal space. If he gets out early in the morn- 

 ing and works at it all day long, it will not take many 

 days to take all the old, dead man out of him, and, if his 

 appetite does not come to him so as to make him ashamed 

 to look the cook in the face, then he is a hopeless case, 

 and should never undertake a hunting trip among these 

 rugged mountains. 



Our party consisted of one from Nebraska, who had 

 come all that distance to have a run over these mountains 

 where he had hunted so many years; one from Pittsburgh, 

 who had been his hunting companion for many years, 

 and this writer. You know that any one passing from 

 the eastern to the western part of Pennsylvania must 

 cross the Allegheny Mountains. If you go by train on 

 the Pennsylvania Railroad you will see some of the 

 grandest scenery; but, except from Altoona to the sum- 

 mit tunnel, the grade is so easy and the road bed so per- 

 fect that you will scarcely know that you are passing this 

 great barrier. If you will take that branch of the Balti- 

 more and Ohio road which connects Pittsburgh with 

 Cumberland, Md., you will have entirely a different 

 experience. Here nature has put on her more ragged 

 dress. After leaving Pittsburgh about two hours your 

 train begins the ascent, following the Youghiogheny 

 River. With this rapid mountain stream rushing over 

 the rocks and plunging over falls on the right, while the 

 mountains towered hundreds of feet high on either hand, 

 winding in and out, our train does not slacken its speed, 

 but runs as if it had a mission on hand and was in a hurry 

 to complete its task. This river is full of fish, and you 

 may know from the fact that it is pure mountain water 

 that bass which live in it are of the gamiest and the best. 

 One never wearies of a ride through such scenery as this. 

 It is always changing and has a decided tonic effect on 

 the traveler. It was over this route that our journey 

 took us on this trip. I had never been so far into the 

 mountains in this direction, so greatly enjoyed the trip. 



We were fairly wild with delight when we alighted 

 from the train to see that there was sufficient snow to 

 track by, and we knew T that there would be still more 

 when we had made the ten miles' journey which lay be- 

 fore us. We hired a man to drive us out, and after wait- 

 ing a long time a boy drove up with a pair of old crow- 

 baits hitched to a high spring wagon, and we started. 

 We told him he would have to drive fast to make up for 

 the time we had lost while waiting, and while he stood 

 up and thrashed the horses we held on to the seat to keep 

 from being thrown out, for the road was tremendously 

 rough. The scenery was beautiful. The road wound 

 along the side of a beautiful wide stream of the clearest 

 water, while the high hills rose on each side, We did 

 not intend to go directly to the house where we expected 

 to stay; so when we came to the foot of the mountain 

 where we intended to hunt, we left the baggage and 

 struck up the mountainside. It was stiff work for a 

 beginning, and made the sweat pour off as if we were 

 being boiled. After a while we reached the summit of 

 the ridge, but without seeing any signs of game. After 

 consultation, we started on a six miles' tramp which would 

 bring us to a town where we could stay all night. In all this 

 tramp we did not see a sign, although my companion had 

 shot many deer on this ground in former years. About 

 dark we entered the village, and were not sorry to sit 

 down to a good square meal. The next morning we were 

 up before daylight, and after a good breakfast were off, 

 perched high on another spring wagon. If any of you 

 have never ridden over these mountain roads at break- 

 neck speed, seated some seven or eight feet from the 

 ground, there is a rich experience yet in store for you. 

 On our way we picked up our baggage where we had left 

 it the day before, and then went on till we came to the 

 foot of another mountain. Sending the baggage on to 

 our stopping place by the wagon, we struck into the 

 hunting ground. 



We had not gone far until we heard the put, put, of 

 a turkey, and heard some others flying. Immediately 

 deploying into a skirmish line we began advancing. 

 We knew from the noise that it was a heavy gobbler run- 

 ning up the hill so that he could get high enough to fly 

 across the hollow. The hunter who was in advance saw 

 him and gave him a Winchester shot. Up he went, and 



when he was high enough for me to shoot over the other 

 man's head I let drive at him. Then the third man let 

 drive at him, then the first one again, then I the second 

 time, when he went out of sight. The first shot had 

 gone through him, and my last shot had hit him, but he 

 sailed off and we did not get him. We sent another man 

 whom we met to look for him, and we went on after 

 deer. We found a yesterday's track and followed it 

 about four miles, until it went across the State line into 

 Maryland, when we gave it up. Turning toward home 

 we hunted the whole mountain, but did not find any 

 more signs. When we got to the house we learned that 

 tbe law in Maryland, just across the line, forbade the 

 shooting of deer for five years, and as the deer were con- 

 stantly hunted on this side they had all taken refuge 

 over there. 



Well, we had such a supper as does not often fall to 

 the lot of hunters, and the amount of it we consumed 

 would have astonished the natives if they had not fed 

 hunters before. So we gathered around the fire and 

 listened to hunting stories and ate apples until bedtime. 



As hunting seemed useless under the circumstances, 

 and as the next day was Thanksgiving we concluded to 

 try the turkeys on the way down toward tbe station and 

 then go home. As my back had gone lame the day be- 

 fore and I felt it in my bones that there would not be any 

 use in hunting I concluded to go with the baggage and 

 let the others take the tramp. When the time came to 

 start, the team was hitched to an old sled. If it had been 

 torture to ride up in the wagon you can imagine what a 

 delightful time we had in a sled when it was on bare 

 ground half the time and on the stones nearly all the 

 other half. To help matters, when about half way we 

 found that the snow had all melted, and we had to go so 

 slow that we feared we would miss the train. One would 

 stand up and try to coax the slow farm horses to get us 

 there, while the others held on and laughed and hallooed. 

 It was a merry ride, and we "got there all the same." 

 To close the expedition we had the grand ride through 

 the mountain scenery and arrived in the city after dark, 

 well satisfied with our fruitless hunt. Hqmerus. 



CljEA r ETjAND, Ohio. 



A LUCKLESS EXPEDITION. 



NOT a great while ago my friend Crickett, of "Saints' 

 Rest" — a decided misnomer, I am sorry to say — 

 expressed himself as certain, from what he regarded as 

 reliable imf ormation, that ducks could be killed by the 

 score at a place called Cedar Island, near the mouth of 

 the Santee. He was extremely desirous that Teceel, Mud 

 and myself should go with him to that modern paradise, 

 and assured us we could get all the shooting we desired. 

 Our former visit to that section not having proved very 

 satisfactory, we were quite anxious to go to the Eldorado 

 of his fancy, and have several golden days of excellent 

 sport, supplying ourselves with all the game we wanted 

 and then distributing to such of our friends as relished 

 the flavor of the mallard and the teal. It is true, it was 

 rather late in the season, but he thought we could get 

 some ducks and as many of those fat shad which come 

 into Wingaw Bay on their way to the spawning grounds 

 as our appetites would demand. On Monday, the 25th of 

 February, we met at Wadesboro, with nearly a thousand 

 loaded shells, ready to try our guns on the swift-flying 

 game. Our trunks contained our clothing and blankets, 

 a small quantity of well-roasted Java, some granulated 

 sugar and a nice lot of potted meats and some cured 

 boiled ham. 



At 2:35 P. M.-we took the train for Lane's on the N. E. 

 Railroad, arriving there at 7 :30. At Florence we were met 

 by our friend, A. L. G., of Philadelphia, who had been 

 invited by me to be a participant in the joys of our visit. 



On Tuesday morning it was raining, with the wind 

 from the southeast — a sign not very agreeable to any liv- 

 ing thing except waterfowl. Owing to the stormy con- 

 dition of the weather our captain deemed it unadvisable 

 to go out to sea and then enter the bar off Santee, and 

 proposed to take an inland passage which would require 

 some time for its accomplishment, on account of the tor- 

 tuous course of the creeks which we would navigate. He 

 thought we would reach Cedar Island on Wednesday late 

 in the day. But alas ! after traveling for miles the reces- 

 sion of the tide caused us to ground when within a quar- 

 ter of a mile, "as a crow flies," of Wingaw Bay. The 

 following morning we were "winding our slow length 

 along" in that detestably crooked Mosquito Creek, whose 

 sinuous channel would show^ all the curved lines known 

 to mensuration, and when night came on we were not 

 more than a half mile from the point where we entered 

 it. Our friend G. became utterly disgusted with the pros- 

 pects, and when, on Thursday morning, we reached the 

 bridge on the road leading from the mainland to Santee 

 Island, he had his luggage put on shore, and in a few 

 hours he was on the steamer Planter on his way back to 

 Georgetown, a disappointed though much wiser man. 



Soon after G. left us, we started forward, and when 

 Thursday night came, we had reached a dike built by 

 the Federal Government, at which a canal starts. It 

 being a. convenient place for anchorage we hauled up. 

 Crickett and Teceel got in a boat and started off for ducks, 

 which we could see flying about some ponds near the 

 old Ford plantation. Mud and I concluded to take our 

 chances on the banks of the creek. Soon we heard the 

 booming of guns, and when the boatmen returned at 

 night they had seven ducks, all teals but one. I shot 

 twice and ought to have killed both times, but only saw- 

 that I had robbed one of them of a few feathers. Mud 

 did not shoot. 



The following morning, the tide being favorable, we 

 hoisted sail, and sped down the canal at a good pace, 

 until it joined another of those crooked curves. And 

 then it was slow, slower, slowest. At about 12 A. M. on 

 Friday, w T e entered the north branch of the Santee and 

 turned the prow r to Cedar Island. After going over a 

 mile, we grounded on the sands, where the yacht was 

 forced to remain until the incoming waters would float 

 her. Our eager sportsmen got out the small boats and 

 were rowed to the island. Crickett did his own rowing, 

 and on our passage through the creeks he worked 

 harder than a boat hand, and but for him I am not sure 

 that we would not, even now, be in that hateful lagoon. 

 On the shore we were met by Mr. Willetts, who had 

 charge of the property. He kindly showed us the ponds 

 which the ducks frequented at an earlier period of the 

 season. At them we waited for several hours. Mud 

 killed two coots, and a small duck, with a spoonbill. 

 Crickett and Teceel shot several times at long range and 



