Oct. 17, 1389.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



248 



looking up expectantly for food supplies, and rising to 

 the surface when a worm was held there, and sometimes 

 so quickly as actually to take it from the hand, whereas 

 in cooler weather they took no notice whatever of either 

 person or food. This was the case with some frogs also. 



The hibernation of reptiles in captivity is not at- 

 tended with, invariable success, nor must it be forced. 

 In zoological gardens, where the reptilium must be kept 

 at a given temperature, all take their chances alike. 

 Those from tropical countries may retire beneath a cov- 

 ering and cease to feed, while others from temperate 

 zones may continue active and hungry throughout the 

 winter. On the whole, the conditions of the spacious 

 reptfliurn are more favorable than the narrower limits 

 and fussy attentions frequently bestowed on private pets. 

 As regards my own, the hibernation has been a perplex- 

 ing business, aggravated not a little by the great and 

 sudden changes of weather, early frosts producing early 

 torpor, and midwinter mildness* causing them all to be 

 astir again. So early as September, and even sooner, a 

 few sunless days, so common in England, render them 

 disinclined to feed, and instead, therefore, of being in a. 

 thriving, well-nourished condition to enable them the 

 better to sustain the approaching winter fast, they are 

 poor and with low vitality at the outset. Yet in this 

 latter case, one has been amazed at their powers of pro- 

 longed endurance. One very tiny frog (liana iempora- 

 ria) and an undersized English newt (Molgc vulgaris) 

 were remarkable instances of this. Both, at the begin- 

 ning of summer, were in a globe with others, and both 

 soon became melancholy examples of "the weakest going 

 to the wall," while their companions proved themselves 

 "survivals of the fittest," at any rate the strongest. 

 There were eight or nine frogs of the same brood, and 

 during the first few weeks of their captivity all of the 

 same size, but soon showing conspicuous gradations, 

 some rapidly outgrowing the rest; and then, by rea- 

 Bon of their being the most active and quickest to 

 seize the food given them, leaving the others, and 

 one especially, far behind, till this tiny creature was 

 almost starved. A similar state of things existed in the 

 newt bowl, one feeble little hungry newt looking up 

 almost pathetically when the cover was removed; yet 

 only occasionally would it take such small creatures as 

 were presented to entice it. Both it and the wee frog 

 seemed easily baffled and discouraged, as if they had dis- 

 covered that resistance was useless; and though extra 

 care and vigilance were bestowed on them, their lives 

 were almost one prolonged fast. If placed in a bowl by 

 itself the little newt fared not much better, seeming to 

 have no energy to pursue its prey, and only if conveni- 

 ently close making any attempt to seize it. Nor did this 

 small Molge show any disposition to hibernate. In Sep- 

 tember it ceased entirely to feed, and so late as December 

 the tiny creature persistently kept above, generally cling- 

 ing to the side of the glass globe, a mere skeleton, pitiful 

 to behold. An occasional rise of temperature caused it 

 to move ahead a little, but otherwise thus it remained 

 during the whole of the winter, not once closing its eyes 

 or showing signs of torpidity. Its head looked preposter- 

 ously large, its vertebra? were painfully distinct, and its 

 legs" were mere threads. During some sunny days in 

 March it moved about somewhat more vigorously, looked 

 at such small creatures as could be found for it, and even 

 made an attempt to seize one now and then; but its efforts 

 were, so far as I could see, ineffectual, except on one 

 occasion, when a very small worm was swallowed. This 

 single meal, together with a show of spring weather, re- 

 vived it slightly, and toward the end of April it took to the 

 water; but its crest not having developed, and its tail being 

 almost cylindrical, its swimming capacities were evi- 

 dently feeble, so that it had much difficulty in rising to the 

 surface. Strange to tell, this little amphibian, fitted so 

 admirably for an aquatic life, was drowned at last. On 

 the morning of April 29 I saw it lying on its back at the 

 bottom of the bowl, motionless. Probably it had been 

 there for some hours, unable to rise, perhaps all night, as 

 during the previous days I had several times lifted it out 

 of the water, but, obedient to its natural instincts, it soon 

 took another dive. When, now, once more taken out 

 and brought into a warm room, a slight movement of the 

 tail showed that life was not quite extinct, but it did not 

 revive. Only after some hours its eyes became duller 

 and the tail quite still. Its tiny form, with every bone 

 distinct, was a perfect skeleton, held together by the 

 cuticle only. A study of anatomy the delicate structure 

 distinctly is, and at the same time a marvel of the vital 

 power having been so long sustained in a mere skeleton. 

 Its vertebra* are easily counted; fourteen I think there 

 are to the tail, and above thirty in this latter, but so 

 minute toward the tip as not to be accurately reckoned. 

 All the other articulations are equally recognizable. The 

 entire length of the skeleton is exactly 2fin., of which 

 the tail is nearly two-thirds. It was — as all newts are — 

 entirely gentle and inoffensive, yet it displayed a good 

 deal of spirit and activity to the very last when taken 

 out of the water, in its determination to get back again, 

 fatal as I foresaw in its feeble condition and inability to 

 rise to the surface. Just one year it had been in my 

 possession, and eight months of the time had literally 

 lived on air. 



Of the rest of the batrachian family only the one tiny 

 frog had succumbed to the first hard frost, the others, 

 frogs, newts and toads were none the worse for having 

 been buried in icy graves, literally frozen hard during a 

 part of the winter: and when on one occasion I broke 

 the surface ice under which some frogs were immersed , 

 they bad their eyes wide open, and they dashed about 

 as actively as in summer. Some of the family had got 

 away during the previous autumn and managed their 

 own hibernation out of doors, no doubt more healthfully 

 and satisfactorily than those on whom much anxious 

 care was lavished, for they reappeared in Aprfl and even 

 found their way back to their old haunts, a small con- 

 servatory where, during the previous summer, they had 

 hopped about at will, and now re-established themselves. 



Catherine C. Hopley. 



Wild Pigeon in Massachusetts.— East Templeton, 

 Mass., Oct. 13.— Editor Forest and Stream; It gives me 

 pleasure to be able to report the return of the wild pigeon 

 to Massachusetts. I saw three Sept. 23, genuine Ectopis- 

 tes migratoria, the first seen since 1879 or 1880. They 

 were feeding on blueberries and huckleberries that, 

 although badly dried, were persistently hanging to the 

 bushes. May this beautiful and purely American bird 

 soon cease to be a vara avis in Massachusetts,— C, E, I, 



THE WOODCOCK'S WHISTLE. 



STOCKHOLM, Oct I.— Editor ForeHt and Stream : The 

 O other day, when shooting partridges in the Province 

 of Delacarlia, Sweden, my good dog Nero came to a dead 

 halt in a clump of busbes by the reedy lake shore. Nero 

 was facing me, and as I walked toward him a large bird 

 flew up between us and went tumbling along through the 

 air in its drunken flight. It was an easy shot in the open, 

 and at the report the bird fell dead, riddled through and 

 through. A woodcock it was, to be sure, but not the 

 merry brown beauty of America. Its wings were longer 

 and more pointed, its color less brown and more gray, and 

 its flight as silent as that of a hawk. It was a great, big 

 fellow, however, to American eyes, and tipped the scales 

 at 12oz. 



The Forest and Stream reaches me regularly in my 

 northern home, and as I picked up this bird and looked 

 him over, as the sportsman is wont to do, I thought of 

 the controversy now going on in your columns upon the 

 whistle of the woodcock. 



I have said the flight of the European cock is silent . 

 It is not always so. An American sportsmen visiting 

 Sweden in May will surely be invited out woodcock 

 shooting. This is a very leisurely sort of sport. You 

 leave the city at six in the evening, after the day's work 

 is done, sail out a dozen miles among the islands, and 

 landing, take your stations in favorable openings in the 

 woods. Some time after nine the laggard sun goes down 

 and the woodlands ring with the sweet carols of the birds 

 of spring. 



But what is that? Qnarr! Gnarr! like the grunting 

 of a hog. It comes again and again, always twice re- 

 peated. Now it is nearer and followed by a hissing 

 whistle thus: Qnarr! Qnarr! Hvisi! Qnarr! Qnarr! Hvist! 

 Yes, it is over head. You look up, a dark bird sails 

 across the opening in the treetops. There is just time 

 for a sna|3 shot and your first European woodcock drops 

 dead at your feet. This is shooting "pa streak" on the 

 flight. It is the male bird alone that flies thus, and the 

 shooting is only permitted after the female has laid her 

 eggs, is sitting on her nest, and pater familias has become 

 rather a nuisance about the house than otherwise. 



But what has all this to do with the whistle of the 

 American bird? Not much, perhaps, and jet it may 

 throw a side light upon the question. 



The European woodcock makes this grunting, and also 

 this hissing, whistling sound with its bill. This is an 

 undisputed fact. It makes these sounds only in the 

 breeding season, to be sure, and the hissing whistle is not 

 the merry jingle of our October bird as it springs from 

 the alder swamp. Yet these two facts remain. The 

 European cock does make a hissing whistle with his bill, 

 and second, no bird in the world is so like our own wood- 

 cock as its European cousin. 



Now this does not prove but that our own "timber 

 doodle" whistles with its wings. In fact, that has always 

 been my belief. But the question is still an open one, 

 and the vocal notes of the woodcock in Swedish woods 

 show that the thrilling whistle of our own bird may be, 

 after all, not a matter of a pinion. Marstrand. 



Quail's Nesting Habits.— A writer in a recent issue 

 tells of a male quail that devoted its time to developing 

 the brood without aid from the female. The habits of 

 the quail in this respect are somewhat changeable, being 

 due to certain laws of nature which are quite beyond our 

 knowledge to explain. Bee keepers are aware that bees 

 swarm more in some seasons, and this year was one for 

 the sending forth of more than the average number of 

 swarms. The same principle is true of quail, and the 

 flocks number probably a hundred per cent, above the 

 average. Sometimes a female quail will lay a nest nearly 

 full of eggs, and then begin a second nest within a hun- 

 dred feet of the first one. In this case the cock bird will 

 take possession of the first nest and diligently and 

 patiently sit upon the eggs during the long period of in- 

 cubation, thus allowing the female quail the privilege of 

 laying and bringing forth the second brood. This is 

 usually smaller than the first one, and is about one month 

 later.— Jasper Blines (Alexandria, Mo.) 



'mm Jf#g mid %m\. 



ODD INCIDENTS. 



ONE of the druggists had been out shooting and several 

 of us dropped into the store in the evening to ask the 

 usual question of, What luck? After the narative of the 

 day's sport had been related, by-gone days were talked of 

 as is usual at such gatherings, and among other incidents 

 the following was related by the elder druggist. 



'''Late last fall four of us were out looking for the last 

 woodcock; we had two dogs and hunted in twos, agree- 

 ing to meet at a certain point in the afternoon. Each 

 party had fair luck, and when we met we had five birds 

 and the others six. Tnere was a slight rivalry between 

 the parties and we wanted to show as good a score as 

 they, so I proposed that we hunt a cover about a quarter 

 of a mile distant. To this the clothier and his friend ob- 

 jected and remarked that they were ready to go heme, 

 as they wished the score to stand as it was and feared 

 that we would tie their score, or beat it, as we were al- 

 ways considered a lucky pah-. However, after some 

 talk we started and they went along, thinking, I suppose, 

 that possibly they might get another bird or so and beat 

 us still more. When we arrived at the cover we spread 

 out and entered it; my dog made game and soon came to 

 a point in a position where I was the only one who could 

 see him; I said nothing to the others, but went up to him 

 and walked up the bird, which came almost straight 

 towards me. I waited until he passed, then turned and 

 fired first one barrel, then the other, but he kept right on, 

 and leaving the cover, crossed a small opening, going 

 down among a few scattering trees. I thought I must at 

 least have wounded him; so, calling the dog, I started 

 after him. When I got there I sent the dog in and he 

 worked over every foot of the ground, but failed to find 

 him. I called to the others to come and help me find 

 him, as they had not found any more birds. They came, 

 but we coidd not find him, dead or alive. Then they 

 began to laugh, and tell me that I had shot at a robin, 

 but I was positive, and went over the ground again with 

 the dog but without suocess, I had about concluded that 



the bird must have flushed again before the dog got 

 there, when, as we were coming out of the timber, I 

 noticed the dog in;. king game near an old rotten log just 

 at the edge. I called the others' attention to it, and we 

 went over there all ready to shoot at the first sound of 

 the whistle. But no whistle was heard, although we 

 looked carefully and walked all around the log. I sug- 

 gested that possibly the bird had been wounded and 

 crawled under the log. As it did not appear to be hollow, 

 the othpr fellows laughed, but finally one of them helped 

 me roll the log half over, which proceeding failed to reveal 

 the bird. We both let go of it at the same instant; and 

 it rolled back with a crash, splitting in two from the jar: 

 and there, to our astonishment, on one half of the split 

 log, lay my woodcock, still alive, but badly wounded. 

 On studying the problem of how the bird got there we 

 found that at that portion of the log a knot had been pulled 

 out, leaving a hole just large enough to admit Mr. Wood- 

 cock, but how he came to go into the hole is still a mys- 

 tery." 



A few evenings later I happened into the hardware 

 dealer's place of business, when he told me the following: 

 "One Sunday several years ago I was out for a walk with 

 a young dog I had just purchased: and, naturally enough, 

 my steps led to a small cover near town, where an occa- 

 sional woodcock was found. I thought possibly there 

 might be one there, and wished to try the dog on a point. 

 I did not have a gun with me, but carried a light walk- 

 ing-stick. The dog worked carefully through the cover 

 without even making game, but just as he came out on 

 the further side he froze stiff about ten feet from a cedar 

 bush. I came out about ten feet on the opposite side of 

 the bush, and,could plainly see a woodcock sitting under 

 it. The thought came to me to make a rush and hit him 

 with my walking-stick as he went up; but after less than 

 a second's deliberation, I raised the cane and threw it at 

 him, striking him fair in the head, and stunning him so 

 that I ran and picked him up before he could recover." 



The above is vouched for by several reputable men; 

 and by its oddity it reminds me of one of the strangest 

 occurrences which has happened in my hunting life. 

 The snow was about a foot and a half deep'and light. We 

 were hunting rabbits. The bag was rather light, so when 

 I spied a partridge in a hemlock tree, I promptly fired 

 at him; but the effect of my shot seemed only to hasten 

 his speed more than usual if possible. We followed, and 

 had gone some distance without seeing him again, when 

 I stepped on to an old log to get a better view. As I 

 stepped off on the other side I felt something moving 

 under one of my feet, and could hear the confused flut- 

 tering of wings. Quickly looking down I saw that I had 

 stepped on a partridge, which had, probably, striven to 

 hide under the snow. On capturing and examining the 

 bird a shot mark was found on one of his legs, which 

 was the only wound seen; and a post-mortem confirmed 

 the diagnosis. So he was, probably, the bird shot at, 

 which had flown some distance, and, striking the snow 

 at an angle, had gone under for safety, as they some- 

 times do dm-ing severe storms. 



In this narrative of novel happenings the following 

 seems worthy of a place: A young gentleman of the 

 name of Northup, who was staying at Dunbar's, at Still- 

 water, a short time ago, went to Mud Pond, about three 

 miles above Stillwater, to watch for a daylight shot. He 

 waited until daylight waned without seeing any game; 

 and as he was some distance from camp and one of the 

 plucky kind, he concluded after eating his lunch to make 

 a night of it and try his luck the next morning. So find- 

 ing as comfortable a spot as possible to lie on, he prepared 

 to sleep. Night had let her blanket of darkness tall upon 

 the land, and Morpheus was lulling him to a quiet slum- 

 ber, when suddenly he was startled from a dream of a 

 monster deer by the sharp cracking of dry sticks, as if 

 some animal were walking. He raised himself to a sit- 

 ting posture, and as he did so the thought occurred to 

 him that it was a deer coming down to drink. 



The night was dark as Erebus; he could not see his 

 hand before his face. How he was to see the deer, to say 

 nothing about shooting her, was a question. After a few 

 seconds' thought, he decided to get his rifle ready any- 

 how; it was close beside him; and as he reached for it 

 his hand brushed against the paper bag he had carried 

 his lunch in. At this moment a scheme flashed across 

 his mind and he proceeded to execute it and the deer at 

 the same time. Silently cocking his rifle he laid it across 

 his knees, with the muzzle pointing toward the sounds he 

 had heard, then he took off his hat, carefully picked up 

 the paper bag and placed it, or as much of it as he conld 

 without making any noise, in the hat. When this was 

 done he took out one of those old-fashioned, blue-headed, 

 Gates's eighteen-day matches (it takes something like 

 that amount of time for the brimstone to burn before 

 there is a flame that can be used), and holding the hat 

 with the paper toward him, he lit the match in his coat, 

 and as soon as possible lit the paper bag, which instantly 

 blazed up, when he could see a fine doe standing a few 

 yards from him. As the bag lighted he had turned it 

 toward the deer, which immediately turned her eyes full 

 upon the light. In an instant Mr. Northup had raised 

 the rifle to his shoulder with one hand, holding the hat 

 with the blazing bag in it with the other, and shot her in 

 the head, dropping her in her tracks. 



He then built a fire, by the light of which he dressed 

 his deer and hung her up, after which he awaited day- 

 light by enjoying that sleep which a contented mind 

 always brings in the woods. The next morning he re- 

 turned to camp for help to bring in his deer and told his 

 story, which was generally voted to be the " biggest lie 

 of the season," but to the guide who went with him after 

 the meat he showed such conclusive evidence of the truth 

 of his story that its veracity is not questioned; and I be- 

 lieve it, or I should not have ventured to send this nar- 

 rative to the Eorest and Stream with these other odds 

 and ends of sport. Osceola. 



Northern New York. 



Seeing A Bullet. — At the inquest in the case of the 

 Ship Harbor, N. S. , men killed by mistake for a moose, 

 one of the party with them swore: "The sun was about 

 half an hour high, and it was a beautiful clear, still 

 morning, I was looking intently ahead, and saw a black 

 speck or streak distinctly and the bullet whistled past my 

 ear within a few inches." "Did you see the bullet com- 

 ing?" "The morning was clear and I was looking very 

 intently and the bullet came so directly toward me that I 

 am firmly convinced I saw the bullet as a black streak 

 coming," 



