Oct. 8, 1889. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



SOS 



haps the one I saw was a knight of labor out on a strike. 



Forest and Stream recently inquired as to the correct 

 spelling of the name of the fish known in differt parts of 

 our country as croppie. cr apple and croppy. Along the 

 Mississippi anrl its tributaries the usual name applied to 

 the fish is croppie. 



One of the sights to amuse the naturalist is to see the 

 fierce little kingbird routing a hungry hawk and getting 

 in its savaye thrusts on the bird of prey. I bad often 

 heard it said that the pugnacious nature of the kingbird 

 is such that it will even venture to take a rirte on the 

 back of a hen harrier, vet I somewhat doubted the story. 

 Recently, however, I had all my suspicion clearly dis- 

 pelled by seeing this warlike propen ity of the kingbird 

 exhibited in it charging upon a large hawk and taking a 

 position on its bHck, a 1 the time vigorously pecking the 

 greatly alarmed flesh-eating bird. Surely the kimrbitd's 

 title is well bestowed. Jasper Blines. 



Alexandria, Mo. 



Small Bcms and the Song Birds.— Yonkers, N. Y., 

 Sept. 29.— Something needs to be done to save the birds 

 from extermination at the hands of the small boy. This 

 morning I found several boys in a clump of briers and 

 saplings on Ludlow street shooting at the feeding birds 

 with rubber slingshots. One of them had killed a yellow- 

 bird, and was searching for another which a lame but 

 none the less rascally "Murphy" declared he had knocked 

 off a limb "wid a stone." A volley of foul language was 

 my reward for interfering in behalf of the birds. This 

 afternoon I took a walk to the beautiful plateau just ad- 

 joining Mt. St. Vincent, where the Leake & Watts new 

 orphan asylum is being built. The day was beautiful. 

 But the small boy again spoiled my enjoyment of it. My 

 wife espied a shaver of some 10 years with a small breech- 

 loader, and on nearing him I found he held a half-grown 

 catbird with a broken wing in his left, while trying to 

 load with bhe right hand. "I shot him easy, so that I 

 could put him in a Cage," was all the excuse he made for 

 his cruelty, but he speedily decamped on being threatened 

 with arrest; I ended the' little creature's sufferings, and 

 only wished the scamp of a boy could experience the 

 feeiing of being shot "easy."' — C. L. S. 



Two-Headed Snakes.— The recent note of a two- 

 headed snake has brought out this memorandum from a 

 Denver, S. C. correspondent: A double-headed suake 

 was found near here a few years ago by Mr. W. T. 

 Lander and placed on exhibition at the drug store of Orr 

 & Sloan, Anderson, S. O, where it was seen by a great 

 many people. It was about a foot long and had two per- 

 fectly developed heads, which seemed to act independently 

 of each other. About an inch from the heads they joined 

 in one snake without any other peculiarities It was 

 what is known as a "king snake," black, with white rings 

 around it. For aught I know it can be seen yet at the 

 drug store preserved in alcohol. — Blue Ridge. The 

 editor of the Sunbury (Pa.) News, commenting on our 

 note, reports that a two-headed snake was found in Sun- 

 bury this year. 



Blacksnakes.— Springfield, Mass.— I noticedsome time 

 since in the Forest and Stream a contention as to 

 whether there was a ring-necked blacksuake. I can say 

 there i«, for I have killed two, one in the summer of '86 

 and one in '87, both in the same locality; and I think if 

 one cared to do so they might capture one or more in the 

 same place. They are quicker in their movements than 

 the common black variety, audi think a large one would 

 be an ugly customer. When I was a boy two of my 

 brothers and myself killed a blacksnake with a white 

 spot on its throat; when it saw us it turned and came 

 directly for us. and I shall always think that but for a 

 lucky blow with a stone it would have been a serious 

 matter for one of us, as we were all small lads at the 

 time.— A. C. Sikes. 



Natural History Collections from Africa. — Mr. 

 W. H. Brown, of the U. S. National Museum, is to accom- 

 pany the party going to St. Paul de Loando this month 

 to view the eclipse of the sun, for the purpose of making 

 collections for the National Museum. Mr. Brown will 

 be provided with an outfit for securing large collections 

 of birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; and it is hoped that 

 he will be favored with weather and other conditions 

 suitable for collecting objects of natural history, espe- 

 cially as this is a large field, containing many animals 

 desired by the Museum. 



ing nnd 



PENNSYLVANIA GAME LAW. 



WILKES-BAR RE, Pa., Sept. 30, 1889 -Editor Forest and Stream: 

 P< rruit rue to call your atteution to an error in the game 

 law of Pennsylvania, as published in tbe last issue of the Forest 

 ANi Stream. At the last session of [he Legislatur e the game law 

 was anieueled, as follows: "No person shall k^ll or expose for sale, 

 or have in his or her possession afier the same has been kill rd, 

 any quail or Virginia partridge, between the fifteenth day of De- 

 cember in any > ear and the fhst day of November rest following, 

 under a penalty of $10 for each one so killed, exposed for sn]e or 

 had in possesion. Approved the 25 tu day of April, A. D., 1889." 

 Previous to this amendment the open season for quail was irum 

 Oct. 15 to Dec. 15, as published by you. Irving A. Stearns. 



THE GAME SEASON. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Chautauqua game notes are rather uninteresting this 

 fall excepting in the squirrel line. This has been one of 

 the great squirrel years, and they have been slaughtered 

 accordingly. They are here, there and everywhere, evi- 

 dently migrating, for places that have not harbored a 

 squirrel for years and have no food for them have been 

 alive with them. They have come into the village limits 

 and played around in the shade trees. They are fre- 

 quently seen on the highway fences, away from any 

 woods. Farmers kill them in their apple orchards and 

 chase them across lots. They are now and then so nu- 

 merous in the public roads as to block the wheels of 

 wagons. (This, I'll acknowledge, makes me tired, like 

 the wagon wheels: but give me credit for not making it 

 more flagrant.) Some of the rodents are very fat and 

 some quite poor, which makes a fair average. Strings of 

 a dozen and upward are common, black and gray alike. 

 Red squirrels too plenty to mention — oodles of 'em. I 

 slew a black squirrel, as black as the conventional hat 



or cellar, excepting that the tip of his tail was snow 

 white. He was an odd fellow. 



Wild geese are not plentiful yet. Plenty of the tame 

 kind, both feathered and human. They have been usu- 

 ally plucked, bui »re not fat enough to kill. The w Id 

 turkey flignt did not frtcp tins year, 'ihey um-t have 

 passed during the night. We expected that giouse would 

 show up in great shape this fall, but so far, in a numbei 

 of trips in good cover, I have not started a feather. Why 

 so. [ am at a loss to understand, for they were numerous 

 last fill, and the winter «as mild Maybe it's microbes 

 or bacteria or something that h j s carried them < ff. It is 

 an off year for bear and den 1 . There was much rain in 

 the spring about the time of tin ir usual nesting, and they 

 wi re probably drowned out. There were several wood- 

 cock shot during the summer, but the hunters who 

 poked around thrruah |he Lush* 8, plopped through the 

 mud, fouuht and cursed the nuv-qu tots, toie their clothes 

 and sweated them-elvts to death, earned every cock 

 they misled. It'o the kind of stopcock I dou't {effect. 



O. O. S. 



CnAUTAUQUA County, N. Y , Sept. 25. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Up here in old Connecticut where, though tbe buds 

 are scarce, we have more than our share of glorious crisp 

 days during the fall, we always look forward with pleas- 

 ure and longing f< r October fhst Cooped up as I have 

 been in New York city almo-t continually this past sum- 

 mer, I am counting the very moments till next Tue day, 

 when, D.V., I expect to introduce Spike, a young four- 

 legged Englishman, to a covey of partridges that have 

 been fattening these past few weeks under the shade of a 

 scrawny old grape vine not many miles from Exouizee. 

 The past winter was an open one, and Let! says the birds 

 wintered well, and then, too, the spring was favorable 

 for young birds, there being none of those deadly wet 

 cold storms, so that taking into consideration the num- 

 ber of birds that I have seen on the one or two Sunday 

 walks I have had this summer. I confidently expect 

 enough birds to satisfy me and, withal, a glorious time. 

 In my short experience I have shot bear in New Bruns- 

 wick) deer in Maine, elk, antelope, etc., in Wyoming 

 (Casper M< untain and Bate's Hole), and yet, despite those 

 heart -warming memories, I would not change for all, 

 the days I have stumped up through the scrubs on a 

 sunny sidehill, chasing a wily old partrioge, or, sinking 

 knee deep into the black soil, have startled a woodcock 

 from his shady table, spread by nature near a tmy 

 stream. What though 1 missed this one, or my dog 

 flushed that one? We both had our sport, the days were 

 only too short, and satisfied, Bang audi rustled home 

 through the scarlet leaves. To the ever-repeated ques- 

 tion, "Well, what luck to-day?" a short "three" or "five 

 and a rabbit," sufficed, but of those we misse I the de- 

 tails of "how" and "why" always lasted through dinner 

 and far into the evening. It is this kind of a day, and a 

 week or two ftdl of them, that 1 am looking forward to. 

 and I know that some of your readers, "Forest and 

 Sireah, who, looking back over the summer, with a 

 week here and "over Sunday" there, wish they were in 

 my boots and could say with me, "I begin my vacation 

 on the first of October." F'lin. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



The open season does not begin till Nov. 1 for partridges, 

 but doves may be killed in August. The outlook for 

 wing-shooting was never better. Bob White has done 

 exceedingly well, and young birds are better grown than 

 usual. It is a common remark among all classes that the 

 supply of birds is unusually large, notwithstanding a 

 great deal of wet weather during summer. This is prob- 

 ably accounted for by the early nesting, which enabled 

 the young birds to get large enough to stand the wet 

 before it began. However, Mr. M. D. Mays reports find- 

 ing two nests while pulling fodder the la^t of August. 

 Tnese birds, if alive, will be too small to kill Nov. 1; and 

 this fact of some biids being so small caused our Legisla- 

 ture to defer the time of opening the season so late. 

 The season continues till April 1, giving hunters five 

 months to hunt in. 



Some idea of the shooting done in Anderson county can 

 be derived from the amount of shot used each year. One 

 firm in city of Anderson sells six tons of shot each season, 

 and a number of other houses sell quantities of them, 

 besides those sold at Pendleton, Pelzer, Piedmont, Belton, 

 Honea Patb and Autun, which swells the amount up to 

 snug proportions. Nearly all of this shot is expended on 

 game, as the trap is very little used here. Blue Ridge. 



Denver, South Carolina. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Everything is very wet. The swamps are full and the 

 fields nearly so. Consequently the birds are in unusual 

 places. I went out with a friend on Monelay and we had 

 a good time, but found few birds, although we knew 

 there were plenty of them on the same grounds a week 

 or two ago. We put up two partridges (both old birds) 

 and got one, and five or six woodcock, and brought to 

 bag four of them. We found all of them on newgrounds. 

 Please send us some dry weather. Cohannet. 



Taunton, Mass. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



To all appearances there- is very little game in the mar- 

 kets heie, I have seen two brace of partridges but no 

 woodcock. In the early part of tbe month there was 

 very little gunning, but later I have seen and heard of a 

 few good bags. I saw to-day in the show window of 

 Green's pharmacy a bag of twenty five of the handsomest 

 gray squirrels that I have seen in five years. They were 

 the result of a two-days' gunning trip, made by H. C. 

 Farnham, a well-known sportsman here. No shore shoot- 

 ing heard of as yet. Cohannet. 

 Providence, R. 1., Sept. 25. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The shooting is not very good just now, nothing but 

 summer ducks, wood and black ducks, but they have 

 been shot at so much they do not come into the rice beds 

 until after dark, and leave at day light in the morning for 

 some of our small lakes in the wood--, sit there all day 

 and flock to the rice beds at dark. In about three weeks 

 tbe fall ducks will come in thousands and stop until the 

 lake freezes up. The shooting will be g< od then. There 

 are plenty of partridges in all the woods around the 1 ike; 

 it requires a good dog to tree them. Chas. Gilchrist, 



HAbwood, Rice Lake, Oat.. Sept. 25. 



QUAIL IN RED RIVER BOTTOM-II, 



''I 'HE next morning found ns on our horses in rapid 

 t movtment to reach the Pickett plantati n, but I was 

 stopped by a messenger with a note iioui Jlr. Tom Pick- 

 ett to bring up my compass and establish the line between 

 him and Dr. ii )hert M >ss. B tiding the messenger go on 

 to Gold Dust and get my surveying instrument °, 1 rode 

 with Mr. Pickett to the lane hetwe< n him and Dr. M< ss, 

 who fortunately was riding by at that moment, and very 

 quickly I lound that the lane was elue nrrth and south. 

 We then requested Mr. P'ckett and Dr. M"ss to accom- 

 pany us. The Doctor said be had no shells loaded. 

 I * ffered to supply him with all he shoulu need, if he 

 wrul'l get his gun and jo in us. To this he consented. 

 Mr. Pickett said he was going to his rnphew's plantation, 

 and would accompany us 10 witness the sport. 



We did not arrive on the grounds where the birds feed 

 until 11 o'clock. Dr. Moss had never seen the fielding 

 <>f pointers or setteis. This morning Ventura permitted 

 Cora to go with us. As soon as the flogs got to the 

 grounds Cora set, with Maud and Dan's Trump backing. 

 Dr. Moss wasper'ectly delighted. The b'rds were flushed, 

 he bagged one, Ventura one, but I mi-sed. The birds 

 uere retrieved, and the dogs did not go but a few steps 

 beyond the point where the birds fell before each dog 

 pointed to a separate bevy. I went to Dan's and baggeel 

 two birds as they ro*e, Moss went to Cora and bagged a 

 bird, while Ventura went to Maud's birds and bagged a 

 bird. I never saw dogs do prettier work. Not a flush was 

 made by them, the presence of C >ra seemed to ani- 

 mate Dan's and Maud, and made them hunt both wiih 

 more activity and po -d caution. In retrieving, it was 

 only the question which got to the point the bird fell, in 

 advance of the others, for it to be retrieved. 



We found a large b< vy in high grass I did not go to 

 the point, but remained on thp inside of tbe wire fei ce. 

 when the birds w ei e flushed, Dr. Me>s bagged two birds, 

 one with each birrel not twtnty yards from him. Con- 

 sidering tin* was the fir?t time he had ever shot over a 

 pointer, it was remarkable good shooting. Tbe bevy flew 

 back into the inclo ure, and as they came by me, I made 

 a double, shot, and a remarkably good one for me, as the 

 birds were at long range and a broidside shot. Mr. 

 Pickett shot a few shots with Ventura's gun, but only 

 bagged one bird. He and the Doctor left us to go back 

 to dinner. The Doctor had bagged eight birds in fll, 

 Veuturaard myself continued the hunt until late, with 

 varied success. S uuetimes he would miss and I would 

 kill, and then I would miss and he would kill. We had 

 rei uced the number of buds down to a very >mall figure, 

 not a dozen birds had escaped, and those I proposed to 

 Ventura t> ■ leave for breeding this summer. We returned 

 home with forty-one birds, each bagged the same number, 

 and one was a joint shot. 



Thi? will close my hunt for the season; I am too good a 

 sportsman to desire the entire destruction of the game, 

 and would do more to protect it than any one in this 

 whole section of country. But what avails my single 

 efforts, when the law is openly violated ov< r the entire 

 State, and no punishment ever ensues for its violation. 



Gold Dust Landing, La. TJarda. 



THE SQUIRREL EXODUS. 



RENOVO, Pa., Oct. 1— Editor Forest and Stream: The 

 unprecedented hegira of black, gray and the red or 

 pine squirrel, through the West Branch region of the 

 Susquehanna has certainly been wonderful, and the 

 old* st inhabitant fails to recall to his mind anything 

 like it. 



The black and red squirrels predominate, the gray not 

 being so numerous, altnough there are a goodly number 

 in the crowded woods. The red or pine squTiels are as 

 thick as Pharaoh's locusts. They are saucy and So im- 

 pudent that they almost inva ie ihe muzzie of the hun- 

 ter's gun. Strange, too, they seem to be on good terms 

 with the blacks and grays, this being so different from 

 what naturalists tell us about them. My own observa- 

 tion, to , about these red deniz* ns of the forests is that 

 they become helligerent whenever a gray or black squir- 

 rel shows itself. Not so with this crowd; they seem to 

 be on good terms with each other and all seem bound 

 for the same place. They are apparently going south. 

 That they have come from the north somewhere is 

 evident from the fact that there are none on the south 

 side of the river, or at least very few, and they are 

 "natives and to the manor born." 



Thousands of these squirrels have been shot bv our 

 native hunters and converted info food. While we have 

 old logies who intimate that tbey would ju-t as soon 

 make a least off a kitUn, the majority, however, are of 

 the opinion that there is no better dh-hthan squirrels and 

 potpie. The potpie itself is a favorite dish among Penn- 

 sylvania people; but when the squiirel is added to it and 

 they are cocked in one pot, th<n ihey ate food fit for the 

 gods. These squirrels are as fat as butter, from the plen- 

 itude of nuts in our woods, and tbe chestnut-!, acorns and 

 hickory nuts weie never known to be more plentiful. 



Tbe trouble is in this section of PennsyjV .nia we have 

 so many pot-hunters — destroyers of game out of season. 



There are a number of the e fellows around here who 

 kill deer every month in the year, and when the genuine 

 sportsmen goes to look for game m season it is not there. 

 The same way with our pheasants. The broods w°re 

 nuineiou* in our surrouuding woods last spring, but these 

 destroyers of game have been killing them right along 

 out of season. 



The Susemehanna is full of game fish, but the Fishery 

 Commissioners do not seem to pay any attention to this 

 part of tt.e State, and allow numerous" fish baskets to be 

 put in the river and remain there all fa'l. Both above 

 and below us here the river is lined with fish baskets and 

 wing wails for nets. We have strict laws, but no one in 

 authority seems to care about enforcing them. The Fish 

 Commissioners have unlimited power antl plenty of 

 money to enforce these laws, but they seem to be neglect- 

 ful of what is certainly their plain duty in tbe premises. 



The result of all this wanton destruction of our game 

 has become tro app-rent to the true sportsman. It will 

 have to be brought up with a round turn or cur game, 

 notably the d( er tribe, will become as scaice in Pennsyl- 

 vania as the buffalo is in its native land. 



James H . Ferguson. 



Names aitd Portraits off Birds, by (Juraon Trumbull. A 

 book particularly inte resiins to gunners, for oy its use tliey c»n 

 t'lentif v without question all the American game birds whi t h 

 taey may kill. Cloth, tfsO pages, price $2.50. Far sale by Fobjsst 

 a.i.u Stream. 



