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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 3, 1889- 



THE MODERN KNIGHT. 



THE lance and shield in days of old 

 Were emblems of the warrior bold, 

 Who for his love grim death would feel; 

 But now we have an era new 

 When landing net and split-bamboo, 



With fly-book, line and reel, 

 Will better please a maiden coy, 

 And fill her gentle soul with joy, 

 And often bringher heart to creel. 



J. Charles Dayis. 



IN PAWN IN A FRONTIER TOWN. 



IN the suniiner of 1885 I spent several weeks on a hunt- 

 ing trip in the White River country of northwestern 

 Colorado. Colorow and his band of Utes were on their 

 annual hunt at that time in the neighborhood, and, as 

 there is always a prodigious destruction of game by the 

 Indians on these occasions, I had met with only moderate 

 success in my quest for deer, and had failed utterly in a 

 wish to add an elk's head to my trophies. 



Somewhat chagrined at the result of the trip I had 

 turned my steps homeward; but was spending a few days 

 on a ranch near the new settlement of Meeker, beguiled 

 "by the unsurpassed trout fishing of the place, when I 

 met with an odd adventure which gave an unexpected 

 turn to the latter part of my summer's sojourn in Colo- 

 rado. "While fishing one morning I incautiously, and 

 with some difficulty, forded the river in order to reach a 

 coveted spot. I was not so fortunate when I attempted 

 to stem the swollen stream further down on my way 

 back. Where the river broadened out somewhat, form- 

 ing a series of rapids, I ventured in. The current swept 

 over the slippery, moss-grown rocks with bewildering 

 rapidity, and I kept on my pins with difficulty. When 

 mid-stream was reached an unlucky stumble caused me to 

 lose my balance. In an instant I was caught up by the 

 flood and borne down toward the deeper waters. The 

 thought of being tossed into the vortex below was not 

 reassuring, and I clutched a big rock as I was being 

 carried along. Clinging to this I was able to get my 

 breath and steady myself. An overhanging bough as- 

 sisted me to shore, and I was congratulating myself that 

 aside from the wreck of the trout rod, I was none -the 

 worse for my involuntary bath, when it suddenly oc- 

 curred to me to look for my pocketbook, which I had 

 placed the night before in the outside pocket of my 

 shirt. Of course it was gone, gone with all my money 

 and beyond the hope of recovery. Eeturning to the 

 cabin, I put on dry clothes and began to cogitate on my 

 position. The situation was awkward to say the least. 

 Two hundred miles from a railway, among comparative 

 strangers, and with no means of communicating with 

 friends except by the slow overland mail. There was 

 apparently no prospect of money reaching me at that 

 distant point inside of three or four weeks. I determined 

 therefore to make for Glenwood Springs — the nearest 

 town of any size — and there await the arrival of assist- 

 ance in the shape of a money order or registered letter. 



Cowboys have a reputation for kind-heartedness and 

 generosity, and, as I needed provisions to carry me over 

 the journey to Glenwood, I resolved to put this to the 

 test. So next morning I asked one of my cowboy ac- 

 quaintances to accommodate me with a small loan. 

 Without a moment's hesitation he produced his wallet 

 and handed me the needful wherewithal to begin my 

 journey homeward. Next morning I said good-bye to 

 my new friends, and started over the divide to the Grand 

 River, where I arrived three days later without further 

 adventure. With well assumed assurance I rode up to 

 the best hotel in the town, called for the hostler to look 

 after my horse, and walking into the office, signed my 

 name and asked for a front room. The clerk in charge, 

 after a discriminating look at my now ragged and travel- 

 stained garments, had a brief consultation with the pro- 

 prietor. The two then entered into conversation with 

 me. My easy air aDd Eastern accent were not without 

 effect, and the order to "show the gentleman up to 22" 

 was given, and I soon found myself in a cosy room over- 

 looking the main street. On the door was tacked a 

 printed notice, which, among other items, contained the 

 following: 



: The Price of this SOOW fe $3 per Day. • 



: Reduced Rates for Those Remaining a ; 



: Week or Lonc4er. ; 



: ALL BILLS PAYABLE WEEKLY. : 



A stage coach started next morning for Aspen, where 

 there was a telgraph station, and that night before going 

 to bed I sat down and wrote out the following somewhat 

 pathetic message, addressed to one of my friends: "I am 

 at Glenwood, busted and without credit. Send $100 im- 

 mediately. " Next morning I intrusted this to a passenger 

 on the stage, with a request that he forward it directly on 

 his arrival. To cover the expense I gave him a dollar 

 bill— a portion of the cowboy loan I had reserved for that 

 purpose. I counted on getting an answer to this urgent 

 communication at the end of a week. In the meantime 

 I set out to amuse myself in such quiet and harmless 

 recreations as the bankrupt state of my finances per- 

 mitted. 



Unlike so many other towns in Colorado, Glenwood 

 did not owe its birth to the discovery of mineral deposits 

 in the neighborhood, but rather to the presence of num- 

 erous mineral springs, said to be of great medicinal 

 value. One of these is especially interesting. From the 

 floor of a cave in the wall of the cafion a boiling spring 

 gushes forth, emitting a sulphurous vapor which is effica- 

 cious in removing rheumatism and other ills. 

 _ Notwithstanding the fact that Glenwood owed its incep- 

 tion to the faith of its projectors in hot baths rather than 

 in rich " finds " in the mountains, there was no absence 

 among its citizens of that abiding confidence in the 

 future greatness of the place which animates the breast 

 of every Western pioneer. A court house nearly com- 

 pleted and two rows of one-story shops on the main street 



were the only features which suggested the future me- 

 tropolis; while scattered over the plain and perched on 

 the rocks overlooking the river was a curious collection 

 of cabins, tents and " dugouts," the homes of the small 

 army of health-seekers who had flocked here from all 

 parts of the State. A noisy activity characterized every- 

 thing — houses were going' up everywhere, contractors 

 were busy. Every stage brought additions to the ranks 

 of the invalids, merchants, speculators, saloon-keepers 

 and gamblers. Every other house was a saloon and every 

 saloon had a " lay out " for the devotees of fortune. At 

 night interesting groups gathered about the tables. There 

 you would see the well-dressed, dainty-fingered profes- 

 sional presiding at the faro bank with inimitable sang 

 froid, while bronzed cow-punchers, brawny laborers, con- 

 valescing patients and alert capitalists risked their earn- 

 ings on the turn of the cards. 



By some tacit arrangement the guests at our hotel 

 were seated at the tables according to then- supposed 

 social importance. To my disgust the autocratic head 

 waiter assigned me a place' at the fourth or lowest table. 

 Perhaps my ragged habiliments justified him in doing 

 this; but I resented it all the same and laid my plans for 

 promotion. Next day I brushed up my clothes, polished 

 my boots, and resolved that nothing in my demeanor 

 would betray me as the conscious owner of but fifty 

 cents. As a result the stable boy had some one else for a 

 neighbor at table that day, and I found myself with men 

 who wore coats at table and who abstained from the use 

 of expletives with every remark. 



My vis-a-vis at this" table was the proprietor of the 

 largest faro bank in town; he was always accompanied 

 by his "lady" — a delicate-featured girl, who seemed 

 strangely out of harmony with the surroundings. I made 

 the acquaintance of a leading real estate man, and 

 through his good offices, and by significant references to 

 my cattle interests (in a very distant part of the State), I 

 had the satisfaction of sitting at the first table and count- 

 ing the magnates and cattle kings of the country among 

 my acquaintances. In spite of this little social triumph, 

 time hung heavy on my hands, and I longed to get away 

 from the place. With all drinks and cigars costing 

 twenty-five cents each such luxuries were out of the 

 question, even had I been disposed to seek distraction in 

 that quarter. Trout fishing was a. great solace at this 

 time, and every day found me trying my luck in some 

 stream in the neighborhood. Whether successful or not, 

 the few hours' walk among the trees or along the river 

 bank was always a welcome change from the noisy town. 



One morning I was reading a newspaper in the saloon 

 of our hotel. Two games of poker were in progress at the 

 time. Suddenly the stillness was broken by the reports 

 of two pistol shots, and a few moments afterward the 

 barkeeper rushed in and said a man had just been killed 

 outside. Anxious to see the row, I started to go out, but 

 before doing so paused to note the effect of the announce- 

 ment on the gamesters: not a muscle changed as they 

 quietly continued the game, each man guarding his pile 

 of chips and the deal going round as usual. Outside a 

 group stood bending over the burly figure of a well- 

 known gambler who had just paid the last great forfeit 

 in the game of life. He lay where he had fallen in the 

 street, with a bullet tlirough his heart. They said the 

 tragedy was the outcome of a dispute over a game of 

 poker. The slayer of this poor fellow ' 'sent to his account 

 with all his imperfections on his head" was arrested, but 

 I never learned whether or not his case ever came up for 

 trial. 



By the middle of the second Aveek I had grown more 

 impatient at the non-arrival of the letter. I could not 

 sell my horse, for he was a borrowed animal and I was 

 responsible for his safe return. Already the first of 

 September had come and gone, and I still had a ride of* 

 185 miles ahead of me. It would have been foolhardy 

 to have undertaken this journey over the mountains 

 alone and without money or provisions; yet I am sure I 

 would have attempted it but for the load of debts which 

 encumbered me and kept me perforce a prisoner in the 

 hateful town. Finally, on the evening of Sept. 4, the 

 important epistle was forthcoming at the post office, and 

 next morning, after paying my bills, I rode down the 

 Grand River valley en route for headquarters. The con- 

 finement in the livery stable on a hay diet, had broken 

 the spirit of my once proud-stepping Dan, and it was 

 only by the occasional reminder of the spurs that he 

 could be persuaded to resume his usual gait. 



The rough Indian trails which I followed during these 

 last days stretched over a most diversified country. For 

 hours my horse would pick his way among the rocks of 

 dry creek bottoms, then low mesas would have to be 

 crossed, dreary stretches of desert solitude, where the 

 cactus and sage bush only partly concealed the white 

 patches of alkaline soil. But the scenery was not all of 

 sucli a depressing character, and I found myself betimes 

 on a high tableland, where the hot breath of the valley 

 gave place to the stimulating ah- of the upland. Here 

 the trail wound its way through dim shadowy groves of 

 quaking aspen, across sparkling rivulets and over the 

 soft green turf of the little parks. Again leaving all this 

 behind, I descended into the valley of the Gunnison 

 River, where the screech of a locomotive soon apprised 

 me I was nearing my journey's end. At length a well- 

 traveled wagon road led me into the town, from which 

 ten weeks before I had departed, gay and eager to taste 

 the bitter and sweet of wild Western life. 



The tendency of nature to leave something of her own 

 rude, savage impress on one who has lived with her for 

 a period, was illustrated in my own case, for I found it 

 necessary to disclose my ideutity to a number of friends, 

 who failed to recognize a visitor from the East in the 

 bronzed, bearded and generally uncouth looking in- 

 dividual who now saluted them. H. G. B. 



A Grouse in Town. — Huntington, Mass., Sept. 30. — 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Yesterday (Sunday) morn- 

 ing at 9 A. M. I was sitting by the window in my dining 

 room reading the morning paper; and I heard quit-quit- 

 quit, and I looked out of the window, and upon the 

 broad stair beside my house within 8ft. of me stood a 

 partridge. She did not leave for three minutes, prob- 

 ably she had learned of my selling my gun and that the 

 Selectmen of our town had recently offered ten dollars 

 reward for information that Avould convict any one hunt- 

 ing upon Lord's day in Huntington. My house is in a 

 village of about 800 inhabitants, not more than ten rods 

 from the railroad, the church and my store. — H. W. M. 



ALBINOS AND HYBRIDS AMONG BIRDS. 



IN the bird collection of the TJ. S. National Museum, at 

 Washington, there are numerous examples of albin- 

 ism, including white blackbirds, white bluebirds, white 

 robins, and Avhite crows. Albinos among birds are found 

 in all parts of the world, and are much more common 

 than is generally supposed. Black and dark colors, in 

 general, are the most susceptible to albinism. The white 

 robin is apparently the most common albino in this 

 country. Specimens are found entirely white, while 

 others are normally colored except that they have a 

 slight mixture of light-colored feathers, others again 

 being variously intermediate. 



Some albinos are yellow instead of white on account 

 of the presence of a yellow pigment in the plumage, 

 which the disease does not affect, though ah the darker 

 colors and markings of the normal plumage may be ob- 

 literated. An example of this style of partial albinism is 

 the ox-dinary cage canary bird in yellow plumage, the 

 normal color of the species being olive green, streaked 

 with dusky. There are, also, a great many specimens of 

 albino crows in various stages of albinism: some are 

 entirely white and others are mixed, having more or less 

 of the black remaining. In the common Bob White 

 there are cases where the brown color has faded out 

 entirely and the black markings remain, while in other 

 specimens of the same species the reverse has taken 

 place, the brown remains and the black is absent. There 

 are many other examples of albinism in the National 

 Museum. We noticed an albino redbird, a white sora, 

 albino ducks, owls, hawks, meadow larks, and in fact 

 one will find specimens in almost every group of birds. 



Then, too, there are examples of partial albinism affect- 

 ing only a portion of the bird. This is well shown in the 

 case of a Mexican house finch, with partial albinism 

 affecting only one side of the bird, the markings upon 

 the one side of the head being crimson, while those on 

 the other side are pale yellow. 



"The prettiest albino I have ever seen," says Mi-. Ridg- 

 way, "was a common flicker. It was entirely pure white 

 with the exception of the scarlet crescent on the back of 

 the head and the golden yellow coloration of the under 

 surface of the wings and"taii." 



Hybrids among birds are quite common. Among 

 geese we have a cross between the ordinary Canada 

 goose and the blue-winged goose, and another between 

 Hutchins's goose and the white- fronted goose. Among 

 ducks we have three beautiful males representing a cross 

 between the mallard and pintail; the three specimens 

 are exactly alike, each combining perfectly the peculiar- 

 ities of form and plumage of the two parent species. 

 There are also several hybrids between the dusky duck 

 and the mallard, and several between the mallard and 

 the muscovy duck. 



MOCKINGBIRDS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Connecticut Valley in this region is remarkable 

 for the variety of its birds. For fifty miles each way Ave 

 have the overlapping of the Northern and Southern 

 migrants. The great Arctic owl and the pine grosbeak, 

 with the beautiful Northern snow bunting, are here in 

 the winter, and if the season be a severe one they come 

 in large numbers. 



One of the latest and most interesting instances of this 

 extension of migration is the fact that hoav for two suc- 

 cessive years a pair or two of the real Southern mocking- 

 birds have bred across the river in West Springfield. 



There is no doubt about the identity of the birds, and a 

 few of us who were in the secret have driven across the 

 river many times during the season to see and hear these 

 beautiful and musical visitors. Of course we are not 

 treated to the full volume and richness of the Southern 

 song, for parental anxieties and duties dull the music for 

 a while, but the graceful motions and the domestic 

 musical interludes at dawn and twilight have illustrated 

 their presence. They nested near a public, much traveled 

 highway, and could be often seen about and across it, 

 but feAv people suspected the identity of the visitors. 



Springfield, Mass. E. H. Lathrop. 



NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS. 



IN reply to Joseph Ide, I would say that it is pretty con- 

 clusive that the loon cannot rise from a small body 

 of Avater. If it is found in such a place, its instinct will 

 cause it to resort to diving as a means of safety. Here 

 along the ponds of the Mississippi River lowlands there 

 are plenty of loons during the spring and autumn 

 seasons. Great numbers of them may be seen sitting on 

 trees near the banks of rivers and ponds. One time I 

 found two crested fish-ducks in the open center of a 

 large pond which Avas nearly frozen over. Not having 

 much space of water to start upon, they refused to leave 

 it. and resorted for safety to their Avell-known proficiency 

 in diving. 



Have you eA^er seriously and scientifically considered 

 the great moral of the Bible command to "Be as wise as 

 serpents and as harmless as doves?" Very few persons 

 are familiar with the nature and traits of either one. 

 The dove and the snake are well chosen types of the good 

 and the bad spirits. The serpent is low and deceitful in 

 all its habits, while the pure and innocent dove is the 

 very perfection of harmlessness. 



One of your correspendents tells of a woodcock being 

 crippled by flying against telegraph wires. Here in 

 Missouri, where wild chickens are plentiful, numbers of 

 them are killed by striking telegraph wires. Quail suf- 

 fer much in the same way. All swiftly -flying fowl are 

 subject to such accidents. 



The middle of September appears to be rather late for 

 the hatching of quail, yet that is the date when a flock 

 of ten came forth from a nest I had been Avatching. 

 These were hatched mainly by the sitting of the male 

 bird, and of the dozen eggs two failed to develop birds. 

 I believe I never noticed so many quail as there are here 

 this year. No doubt the mild and favorable winter was 

 the principal reason for the splendid flocks Avhich now 

 are so common in our fields and forests. 



On Sept. 4 a Avhite-headed eagle passed here on his 

 journey south. It is a rare occurrence to see the emblem 

 of freedom earlier than November in this latitude. Per- 



