£84 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I Nov. i, 1888- 



Reaching Four Mile Creek next day, I asked permis- 

 sion to go fishing instead of going out driving, which 

 favor was granted ine. Success did not crown my efforts 

 for I only caught four trout; grasshoppers, their favorite 

 food, were scarce, I was obliged to use half a dozen flies 

 I had brought with me. The white-miller I found to be 

 the best. 



I had a fight there with one of the boys. We were 

 lying on the ground by the tent, I face downward, when 

 I felt a spur enter my back, and turning quickly gave 

 my tantalizer a dig with my own, which I always w ore. 

 This playful amusement continued for a few minutes, 

 when Williams (6ft. Sin. in his stockings) jumped on top 

 of me and began to use Ms fists. Martin pulled him off 

 and I jumped up. You may be sure I was mad and 

 struck at Williams, who avoided the blow but returned 

 it, hitting me under the chin, so that I stumbled over the 

 tent ropes and fell. Then the boys stopped the fight, but 

 I am afraid the sun went down on my wrath that day. 



Seeing some of the boys joking with a man, I rode 

 over and found they were examining and laughing at his 

 jockey motion and "frying pan" saddle. They soon dis- 

 persed, and I spoke to the man, asking if he was an Eng- 

 lishman? He said "How did you know that?" To which I 

 answered, "Well, you look like a Johnny Bull, having 

 their ruddy complexion, ride jockey fashion, and besides 

 your accent is unmistakaole." With this introduction, 

 we rode along together, talking meanwhile. We were 

 soon good friends, for I told him of my visit to Old Eng- 

 land. When we broke camp in the afternoon he invited 

 me to stay over night with him, and I rode away, telling 

 the outfit I would meet them next day at Jack Rabbit 

 Spring, eight miles away. 



His cabin was about half a mile off the main trail. He 

 had built house and barn in a natural meadow up on the 

 bank, some 50ft. from an icy brook. I was very much 

 surprised upon entering his cabin, after caring for my 

 horse, to see one side covered with shelves of books— his- 

 tories, biographies and novels by the standard authors. 

 It amazed me to find such in a ranchman's house, ten 

 miles from the post office and forty odd mile« from the 

 D. & R. G. R. R. right across Pike's Peak to Colorado 

 Springs, the nearest station. He was a great walker, and 

 told me he often made the trip over in a day and back the 

 next, packing on his back 20 or SOlbs. of provisions. I fol- 

 lowed him to the beaver dam, in which he plunged and 

 bade me follow. This I did willingly, having had no 

 chance to take such a bath as this "for quite a time. 

 Whew! but it was cold, and how he did laugh at me. 

 Looking up the stream I noticed it found its w ay from 

 the "Snowy Peak," and saw how it was that my limbs 

 were benumbed and the blood seemed to stop circulating. 

 I crawled ashore and stood on the bank wiiile a sudden 

 glow passed through me, but sort of envied him as he 

 splashed around like the trout he scared away. With 

 such flies as I had left we caught nine trout for supper 

 just close by the house. 



His strip comprised two hundred acres, taking in the 

 hest part of the stream, in which he allows no one to fish 

 but his friends. The timid fish seem to feel the security 

 of the deep pools in his homestead and pre-emption. For 

 my entertainment he made some apple-dumplings, and 

 with hominy, fish and excellent coffee, all made in the 

 open fire-place, we had a very en joyaule meal. The hours 

 passed swiftly as we talked of the East and his adventures 

 since leaving London, where for nine years he sat upon 

 a stool as clerk, and. "he blessed the Lord every day 

 for the privilege of living in this free country," where he 

 could have a little herd of cattle and a dozen horses, be- 

 sides the fertile meadows upon which he grew some oats 

 and wheat by irrigating. Books were his companions, 

 and with his walls p sted over with colored pictures from 

 the London Graphic, and an occasional letter from home, 

 love of the Old Country still burned in his breast. At 

 midnight, a late hour for cowboys, we rolled up in our 

 blankets and were soon asleep. By nine the next morn- 

 ing we were fishing again, and soon had twenty -live 

 trout. I lost a leader and two flies on a big one, but the 

 largest I caught weighed half a pound. At one o'clock I 

 very reluctantiv said good-bye to my English friend and 

 rode away to meet the outfit. Although I have never 

 seen him since, we exchange a letter once a month, and 

 I take a lively interest in his welfare and the growth of 

 his herd. 



Riding what I thought to be eight miles, given as the 

 distance to camp, across a lonely yet rough and beautiful 

 country, and meeting no one, I judged they had moved, 

 and Avas confirmed in my opinion by tracks of shod 

 horses. I started to trace them, having many misgivings 

 as to whether I was right. So when I saw a house and 

 barn away ahead I put spurs to patient, willing Dame, 

 and was soon there, but found no one home. None dis- 

 mayed I pushed on and soon neared another cabin, about 

 which I saw some one moving. A hard run put me near 

 them, and I found to my joy they were the boys of the 

 outfit, who had lingered behind to see "the petrified 

 stump." 



Receiving from them glowing accounts of this wonder- 

 ful formation, and directions where to find camp four or 

 five miles further on, I turned back and rode to a foot- 

 hill a short way off. Dismounting I threw my brittle over 

 the horse's neck, to keep him from running aw r ay, for as 

 it is long enough to drag on the ground, in 'attempting to 

 make off the horse's front feet would get caught and a 

 fall probably result, all this being taught in the breaking 

 in. A shed was built over the stump to prevent its wear- 

 ing away. I made twenty-three long paces in going 

 around, and its height was about twice mine (5ft. 9in.), 

 having been dug down to that depth. When it was first 

 discovered only a cropping showed above ground. One 

 like it close by was sawed into four pieces and shipped to 

 the Centennial in '76, where perhaps you may have seen 

 it. So woodlike was it that touch alone would convince 

 me of its petrified state, and specimens I brought away 

 give ocular proof of its woody look. 



Supper was nearly ready when I reached camp, having 

 experienced no difficulty in finding the rest of the way. 



I gave Joe the trout I had caught, and sitting down 

 felt really at home again. I think the boys must have 

 seen me cleaning the fish in a brook near by, for when 

 Joe started to cook them our tent was the center of attrac- 

 tion. They hovered around like vultures, and when Joe 

 had gone for some wood and I by chance had my back 

 turned, they made a dash, and catching the fish out of 

 the hot frying pan ate them like cats. However, Joe was 

 no fool, and understood them better than I did, for he 

 produced three or four from a pan where they had been 



placed to meet just such an emergency. It was a good 

 joke on us and created considerable merriment, but when 

 w r e told of those hidden away they saw we wei*e not so 

 badly left after all. One of the boys had broken away in 

 the afternoon, and proceeding to a neighboring town, 

 consisting of a post office and saloon, where he had im- 

 bibed considerable liquor, besides bringing away with 

 him two bottles of whisky, he was in a happy humor, 

 and, although he could not walk straight, said he would 

 "bet two dollars he could beat the whole outfit run- 

 ning." I having with ease beaten one of the boys at the 

 ranch in a 50-yard dash, they asked me to run and let 

 them win the money. This I was very reluctant to do, 

 but was at last persuaded just for the fun. Off went my 

 boots and his trousers and boots. Sixty-five paces were 

 measped off in the best possible place, down hill over 

 prairie-dog holes. No one could have helped laughing to 

 see him move up to the scratch, falling, rolling and hal- 

 lowing like mad. Clasping hands, the starter said "Go!" 

 and, cutting our hands apart, away we went. You 

 should have seen him run and heard the yell he gave as 

 he crossed the line ahead of me by a yard." He collected 

 cash for his bets, and those who had put their money on 

 me were downhearted, although it served them right, 

 and I was glad, for they had thought to win easily. 

 Other races were ran, but none created like interest. 



G. F. Blandy. 



[to be continued.] 



SIERRA NOTES. 



THE town of Placerville, California, does not appear, 

 at first glance, a first-rate starting point for an ex- 

 pedition in search of the fish, flesh and fowl that abound 

 in the middle Sierra.* It lies in the upper foothills, and 

 is, in every sense of the word, a mining town. The south 

 fork of the American and all streams tributary to it are 

 thick with the washings of mines, and give no promise 

 of trout. The middle Sierra of Placer, Amador and El 

 Dorado counties are not iu the regular route of tourist or 

 sportsman, and hence game is more abundant than 

 in the more frequented regions of Lake county and about 

 the headwaters of the Sacramento. From Placerville 

 there are two ways into the heart of the game land — one, 

 via the old Virginia and trans-continental stage road to 

 Strawberry Park, Strawberry Valley and Lake Tahoe: 

 the other, through Georgetown and by the Upper Ameri- 

 can River to French Meadows and Soda Springs, to a 

 region of wild and glorious scenery, where we catch the 

 breath of pines and tamaracks and'feel the chill of mid- 

 summer suows. 



Good fortune rather than a previous knowledge of the 

 country induced us to locate our July camp in the French 

 Meadows, some miles above the nearest mines. The mid- 

 dle fork of the American River is here from five to ten 

 yards in width and abounds in deep pools and foaming 

 rifts, so that it is no trick to get a mess of trout varying 

 from six to fourteen inches in length. Throughout July 

 they seeai to prefer the more brilliant flies, and 1 obtained 

 much better results with the scarlet-ibis than with sober 

 hackles. While the trout appear more brilliant than the 

 Eastern S. fontinahs I do not believe them to be identical 

 with the small rainbow trout of the McLeod River region. 

 Nor are they so 1 rge as those that may be seen lower 

 down the river, lazily sunning themselves as though 

 tempting the leathered fly. 



Deer are plenty. The doe3 and fawns are here all day 

 long. The bucks come only to spend the heat of the day. 

 Night and morning find them twenty miles nearer the 

 confines of civilization, visiting their favorite licks on the 

 Georgetown and Forest Hill divides. The French Mea- 

 dows are about a mile above the sea level, and are nearly 

 a day's ride from the nearest settlement. Were it not for 

 a few Indians, who engage in the illegitimate occupation 

 of packing hides, all game would be practically undis- 

 turbed. Black and cinnamon bears are not rare', and in 

 winter a few trappers gather a rich harvest from the 

 pelts of silver-gray foxes. Snow leaves the meadows 

 early in June, though it remains on the neighboring 

 peaks and in the deep canons throughout the year. Cali- 

 fornia quail and grouse stay here until October, when 

 they migrate to the warm foothils and to the Sacramento 

 Valley. Shoshone. 

 Placerville, California. 



ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY. 



[Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. U.] 



V\7 E have received from the Commissioner of Agrieul- 

 V T ture his Report of the Ornithologist and Mammai- 

 ogist for the year 1887. The work of the Division con- 

 sisted as usual in the collection of facts, showing the 

 relation of certain birds and mammals to agriculture, 

 horticulture and forestry, and in the preparation of two 

 important bulletins, namely (1) on the English sparrow; 

 (2) on bird migration in the Mississippi Valley. There is 

 a special report by Dr. A. K. Fisher on the food of hawks 

 and owls, exhibiting a tabular statement of the stomach 

 contents of over a thousand of these birds, all confirma- 

 toiy of the earlier investigations of Dr. H. B. Warren, of 

 Pennsylvania. Of the 1,072 stomachs examined 89 were 

 empty; of the 983 containing food, 57 contained poultry, 

 20 game birds, 177 other birds, 5M8 mice, 137 mammals, 

 51 reptiles and batrachians and 255 insects. The species 

 which feed in part on poultry and birds are the sharp- 

 shinned, Cooper's, duck and pigeon hawks and the great 

 horned owl. 



The Engl sh sparrow has engaged a large portion of 

 the attention of the Department, Prof. Barroiv having 

 been occupied the whole year in preparing for publica- 

 tion the enormous mass of material in hand. Over 3,000 

 replies were received to the circulars distributed the 

 previous year, and the information contained in the cor- 

 respondence is being abstracted and arranged under its 

 proper heads. The results of the investigation are not 

 given, but as one of the heads of the forthcoming report 

 is "Methods of Restriction and Suggestions for Extermin- 

 ation." there is no room to doubt that the sparrow is re- 

 garded as an unmitigated nuisance which should be ex- 

 terminated if possible. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher was deputed to visit northern Iowa, 

 southern Minnesota and southern Michigan for the pur- 



pose of procuring inform ion in regard to the depreda- 

 tions of blackbirds and g 'tiers in the grain fields of that 

 region; and writing fro! Heron Lake, Jackson county, 

 Minn., he reports that do corn can be raised in that 

 locality on account of th. blackbirds, and that it is hard 

 work to get a crop of oat- wheat or flax without more or 

 less injury from them. >r. Fisher expresses the opinion 

 that the extermination f the blackbirds, especially the 

 yellow-headed, red-win^ I and purple a»d -usty grackles 

 would be of great benefit o the farmers, but that the un- 

 willingness of the family to allow a gunner within shoot- 

 ing distance, and their alleged abstemious habits in 

 respect of poisoned grajg render this desirable end very 



difficult of achievemej 

 Attempts have been 

 pose of frightening th 

 fields. These experi: 

 cessful, owing, ic is 

 Department was unab 1 



ide to utilize hawks for the pur- 

 >bolinks from the Southern rice 

 have been only partially sue- 

 chiefly to the fact that the 

 to secure the services of an ex- 

 perienced falconer to t^un the hawks and take charge of 

 the experiments. TbtF conclusion is that hawks would 

 be very valuable if tk)e^ could be trained to fly about the 

 field, but this is no oiart of a hawk's ordinary training. 

 The falconer never Hfrows his hawk off except to strike 

 at its quarry, and itfe only when it misses that it some- 

 times soars aloft of ijfflown motion, the falconer doing his 

 best to lure it baclffl$|8mall hawks used in hawking are 

 thrown at the birjJfK they rise, and being allowed to eat 

 the brain to encotrrj%|e them, may be kept in pursuit for 

 hours at a time, htjf z his necessitates tramping through 

 the field. The rept*t on the migration of birds in the 

 Mississippi Valley v as not ready for publication in this 

 report. 



Passing to mam ,ials, the coyotes are described as a 

 great bar to succes- ul sheep farming in Minnesota; and 

 the striped gophe j,g committing great ravages in the 

 grain fields, cutth ; off the head, just tasting the milky 

 seed, and then cuil mg another and another. The habits 

 of other members of the gopher family were carefully 

 noted, and the description makes very rntr-v ' g read- 

 ing, but economically they are of « ortance. 



••, mlSP- 



THE GOPHE nr ted on ieWi£D RATS.-U. 



* .tSHUFELDT. 



13 ASSING ne? .nily Saccomyida; I would say 



ofthetwg jt pouched mice mentioned (JPe- 



rognathus andf .dipus), that I ha ye had better op- 



portunities to i pecimens of the little yellow pocket 



mouse (Cricetoi iavus) than of any of the others. These 

 are quite numy i about Fort Wiugate, iu New Mexico, 

 and I have bef me a number of specimens taken here 

 on various oqe ons, while several others are in alcohol 

 in my collect*. 



My eldest s captured a very fine pair of these beauti- 

 ful little crc^ ,ares for me, and from them I made the 

 life-size drawing which accompanies and illu.-trat.es this 

 paper. All the burrows of this species I have seen and ex- 

 amined seem to be a single tunnel, terminating in an en- 

 larged extremity, in which they build a soft little nest of 

 the usual materials employed by allied species of rodents. 

 They are a gentle and quiet little mou.-e with very con- 

 spicuous cheek-pouches, which open externally, and when 

 setn from either the fiont or side view lend to the face of 

 the animal a very quaint appearance. Every one of the 

 alcoholic specimen^ before me contains some kind of food 

 or other m both cheek-pouches; one that I examined con- 

 tained at least four or five different varieties of plant 

 seeds and bits of leaves. I am inclined to think from my 

 observations that these little fellows lay up a store of food 

 against the "rainy days," and no doubt hibernate during 

 the colder winter months. Their tracks have never been 

 seen by me on the snow during this season, whereas it is 

 not uncommon to find such evidence to prove that True's 

 pinon mice and motomas have been about. It gets to be 

 much colder even in these low latitutes than most people 

 think, for instance, for two winters here at Fort Wingate, 

 New Mexico, I have seen the thermometer fall to 15' F., 

 which is enough to keep most mice at home, and encour- 

 age them to try and sleep such inclemency by in then- 

 burrows. 



Never having been so fortunate as to find one of these 

 mice with young, I cannot at present say as to how many 

 form a brood, nor do I know whether they fitter more 

 than once during a season. Such works as I have at 

 hand also fail to inform me upon this point; indeed I am 

 of the opinion that much yet remains to be written about 

 these little creatures. Possibly such data is given in 

 Allen and Coues's large work on the Noil h American 

 Rodentia, but I regret that that volume is not avail- 

 able to me at the present writing. 



This little yellow pocket mouse is one of the smallest of 

 the pouched rodents in existence, though I believe the 

 least pocket mouse (O. parvus) is the smafest of all. An 

 adult specimen of the first-mentioned species before me 

 has a very large head as compared with the size of its 

 body, with very small eyes, which are wide apart and 

 situated on either side, about half way between the ear 

 and nostril. The ears are rounded and sufficiently con- 

 spicuous, while a tuft of whiskers composed of white 

 hairs of varying length spring on either side from the 

 prominent upper lip. As in the case of the eyes, the ears 

 are also wide apart, and the fronto-parietal region of the 

 head broad and rounded between these two pahs of 

 organs. Measuring the animal from tip to tip I find the 

 total length to be 10 centimeters, of which the head meas- 

 ures 2.2cms., the body 2.9cms., and the tail 4.9cms. Soft 

 and mousey, the coat above is of a tawny ash c jlor, with 

 all the nether parts pure white, while a light buffy tan 

 color divides the two on the sides, and is particularly 

 conspicuous about the base of the tail. This latter ap- 

 pendage is rounded, and fairly well covered with short 

 grayish white hairs, the terminating pencil extending 2.5 

 millimeters beyond the tail proper, and these were in- 

 cluded in the total length of the animal as given above. 

 As for the feet, they are covered with white hairs, 

 sparsely so in the case of the hind pair, more generously 

 so in the fore pair, and in both cases a few straggling 

 white hairs are to be discerned on the soles. A forefoot 

 has four well-developed clawed toes in front of nearly 

 equal lengths, and a clawless rudimentary thumb Fur- 

 ther, this pair of feet are notable for their prominent pair 

 of posterior footpads and insignificant anterior pair. In 

 a hindfoot the small hallux is clawed, while the outside 

 toe reaches but to the middle point of the digit next to it. 

 Footpads here are all small, with the anterior pair best 

 marked. Upon examining the upper pair of incisors % 



