422 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deo. 19, 1889. 



\nUt\nl 



OUT-OF-DOOR PAPERS. 



VII. — A. BOY'S EYES. 



AFTER all, a boy is your ideal naturalist, for he pur 

 sues the logical method in scientific discovery, see- 

 ing first and theorizing afterward. 



I am happy to say that I know some boys who already 

 deserve the name of observers. For one, there is my 

 Japanese friend, who expects some day to go back to his 

 country as a scholar and physician. When he is one of 

 the best and greatest of Japan's scientific men, will he 

 still keep up his love for birds and occasionally wear an 

 opera glass strapped to his shoulder? We hope so. But 

 this young Japanese is too much of a public character 

 to be talked about without his knowledge and consent. 



The boy of whom I write has no public career planned 

 out as yet, unless to run full tilt through the streets of the 

 town may be called a "public career." He is still in 

 knickerbockers, a tight-built youngster with legs as firm 

 as a two-year-old's, aback as straight as a rush, and well- 

 set shoulders, on which his head balances as squarely as 

 a rocking stone: a lad not yet twelve, excelling in all 

 boyish sports, full of quaint thoughts and labor-saving 

 devices, cautious without being cowardly, brave without 

 rashness, honest and open-hearted always, a pleasant 

 boy to have talk with you because he is sure to have 

 something worth the saying. 



So far as I can determine, the secret of his popularity 

 with his mates and elders is his eyes. They are not par- 

 ticularly handsome nor striking; honest blue eyes, very 

 steady when sober and very merry when amused. 

 What is remarkable about them is the way they spy out 

 reasons for what they see. Now we all know that every- 

 thing has a reason under it, but most of us are too dull- 

 eyed to see the reason even if we lift the object and look 

 all around it, "hot"' and "cold," "cold" and "hot" as the 

 children say. But these blue eyes see the why in things, 

 and are continually on the alert, watching birds, toads 

 and beetles with equal interest, to see why they do this 

 or that and what they are going to do next. 



Two years ago, at the seashore, this boy amused him- 

 self by watching the great black hornets hawking at the 

 flies on the piazza. The girls were annoyed at the hornets 

 buzzing so close to their ears and every now and then 

 bumping against them, but the small boy was ready with 

 a reason. "They're scared, you see, the flies are, and 

 they light on you; but the hornets get them all the same." 

 So after that the girls harbored the flies against the 

 hornets and the boy still continued to watch. After a 

 short time he saw something more. "Their eyes are 

 poor. See that big one there? He just lit on a nail head; 

 thought 'twas a fly; he got fooled." 



He is never at a loss to find something to observe. 

 Last year a heavy shower caught him while he was fish- 

 ing. (In summer, showers, night, mosquitoes, other 

 boys— everything finds him fishing. ) From his retreat he 

 kept an eye out to see whatever there was to be seen, and 

 shortly observed the dragon flies, great and little, sett ling 

 in the tall brook grass for shelter from the rain. Before 

 the shower was fairly over he saw the cedar birds come 

 and drive the dragon flies from their covert, hunting 

 them down in all their lace-winged finery. The great 

 three-inch dragon flies, painted with black and yellow, 

 were too strong for the birds, but the little slender fellows 

 done up in fancy colors, brown, green, blue and dusky, 

 became meat for the hunters. This fall, when paddling 

 up Caucomgomoc stream, we saw cedar birds sitting out 

 on the rush beds near the middle of the stream. This 

 was just after a shower. Had they been catching dragon 

 flies? The boy was not there to tell us. Some time ago 

 I remonstrated with him for throwing stones at a king- 

 bird, but I was told that he was doing it only to please 

 the bird. True enough it did please the bird. ' From his 

 perch on a high twig the kingbird calculated the curve 

 of each stone, chattering his defiance as the missile 

 whizzed by, rising a few feet when he saw that it came 

 too near, only to settle again in the same place. As it 

 amused both bird and boy, I allowed it to continue, and 

 for several days the kingbird returned daily to enjoy the 

 sport. 



One could not be even the best of boys and not some- 

 times enjoy hectoring other creatures; but frequently the 

 most distress is caused by the most innocent intentions. 

 The boy is always bringing home "chippies" and young 

 robins, leaving the distracted parents tomourn until then- 

 offspring is returned. One poor song sparrow doubtless 

 denounced him as a murderer because he choked one of 

 her yellow-mouthed nestlings by feeding it with straw- 

 berries against her expressed wishes, although the jury 

 impaneled on the case gave in an acquittal. Once I knew 

 him to catch in his hands a full-grown yearling common 

 tern, perfectly able to fly. From" babyhood this boy's cry 

 has been for "sumsin live to play wiv." No matter what 

 the creature was— a dog, a kitten (any stray kitten was 

 treated by him like a princess in disguise), a bird, a young 

 mouse, or even a toad. The great frog transaction, too 

 long to tell here, was the most original and laughable 

 of all his schemes for getting "sumsin live to play wiv." 



As a fisherman he is unexcelled. He can angle you 

 any kind of fish out of water. A different length of line 

 a change in bait or in the time of day, and he can give 

 you cunners, flounders, tomcods or sculpins. He has the 

 "knack" of catching breams— not an easy fish, as vou 

 may know, to hook. Chubs, suckers, eels, minnows, 

 bass and perch seem unable to resist him. He can land 

 a pickerel skillfully, and the shy brook trout often sees 

 the world from his fish basket. No kind of fish is un- 

 worthy of being caught. He is as painstaking in angling 

 for minnows as for trout. He has the unwearying patience, 

 the delicate hand, the contempt for discomfort which 

 mark a true fisherman. Then he has theories of his own 

 about bait, lines, hooks and sinkers, and tome he divulges 

 at times the secrets of his art which the vulg/ts prnfmnnv 

 may discover for themselves, if at all. Dead clams he 

 tells me are poor bait; the fish do not like them. The 

 operculum of the white rock snail, properly trimmed, is 

 a dainty morsel for a cunner. A black rock snail does 

 not meet their fancy. At your request he will tell you 

 how sculpins eat little crabs, and how big crabs eat little 

 sculpins, which is a fairer arrangement than obtains 

 generally. He will catch you either crabs or starfish if 

 you want them. For the former a piece of fish lowered 

 io the right spot; for the latter a line left to lie on bot- 



tom. They will crawl some distance to get at it. "How 

 do they know it is there when they can't see?" I ask. "I 

 should 'spose they must smell the bait," he answers, mis- 

 led by the analogy. One day I met him coming up from 

 the shore with a disappointed look. ' ' What luck?" said I : 

 "good?" "Not very," he replied, "they bit too fast." 



This is a boy full of thoughts and fancies, seldom at 

 loss for an apt answer. "Walter, why are you buttering 

 your bread on both sides ?" m quired his father. "1 had 

 to," was the quick reply. "1 buttered it on the wrong 

 side first." At the age of five some misdemeanor called 

 down his mother's displeasure. He fled and managed to 

 intrench himself strongly. Recognizing the disadvan- 

 tages on the side of justice, his mother called a parley, 

 hoping for a capitulation. "Will you promise never to 

 do it again, if I let you off this time?" she asked. The 

 young rebel saw his chance. With dramatic effect he 

 sent back a spirited refusal, "I will not promise. I can- 

 not tell a he:" and the mother surrendered uncondition- 

 ally. It was not long ago that he worsted his grand- 

 mother in an argument on Abraham's obedience. "Seems 

 to me, grandma," objected he, "A.bram was awful slow 

 'bout 'obeyin', 'cause God said He'd send a lamb for sac- 

 rifice, and when Abram got there it had grown up into 

 a ram." 



"Eyes and no eyes" — did not we all read the tale in our 

 school days ? It was from "Sandford and Merton," I be- 

 lieve, how two boys took a walk, and while one saw noth- 

 ing the other was able to tell bis tutor of many remark- 

 able things which he had noticed. Both had eyes. But 

 it is not so much the eyes that see as the bram'that lies 

 behind the eyes. We never see truly until we are inter- 

 ested in what we look at, and the secret of having eyes 

 is nothing less than knowing how to use them, trying 

 like this boy to see the reasons in things, making the 

 brain do most of the work and the eyes help the brain. 



Fannie' Pearson Hardy. 



NOTES. 



GROUSE 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



Commissioner Stilwell's story of the grouse that had 

 been " tamed " by starvation recalls an experience of my 

 own some two years ago. A Toledo friend who is an en- 

 thusiastic sportsman, and who knew and sympathized 

 with my peculiar weakness, met one day an honest far- 

 mer who had brought into town a fine live ruffed grouse, 

 evidently a female. It was one of several, so he informed 

 my friend, which had become quite tame under his skill- 

 ful care. The bird was in perfect plumage, apparently 

 unruffled by captivity, and seemed to have become quite 

 accustomed to the presence of its greatest natural enemy. 

 My friend bought the bird at once, and placing it care- 

 fully in a basket in his office telegraphed me to come 

 down. I took no time in reporting, and after hearing a 

 graphic account of his purchase returned my thanks to 

 Mr. L., who insisted on presenting me with it. But not 

 till we had talked the matter over fully did I go 

 to the basket which contained the prize. The bird was 

 dead. Dead as a last year's campaign document, 

 without a scratch upon it," and without a feather ruf- 

 fled. A close examination showed that it was scarcely 

 more than skin and bone, and the presumption was strong 

 that it had died of starvation. It was evidently too weak 

 to make any show of alarm at its proximity to man, and 

 had evidently been found by the honest farmer in some 

 situation similar to that of Mr. Stilwell's bud, the story 

 about having several grouse on hand and taming them 

 having undoubtedly been manufactured for the occasion. 

 Both my friend and I have often sought for the gentle- 

 man who had such skill in handling grouse, but unfor- 

 tunately we have never encountered him again. The 

 bird was probably so near gone when brought in that, it 

 only needed the excitement incident to handling to cause 

 its death. 



Your correspondent "G. W. Z " (Forest and Stream, 

 Nov. 38) does not say whether his "faded grouse," so- 

 called, was a male or female. Very probably it was the 

 latter, and a young bird as well. At one time I should 

 have thought it an indication of immaturity, but 1 have 

 had within a few years a Massachusetts female (adult), 

 which had a liver-colored ruff and light plumage. This 

 bird was in my possessien nearly two years, and laid a 

 nest full of eggs the second spring. But what I wished 

 to say was that few persons who are familiar with the 

 ruffed grouse in only one locality realize what a wide 

 range of coloration these buds exhibit in different terri- 

 tory. During the last six years I have acquired some 

 seventeen live grouse, which represented Maine, Massa- 

 chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, 

 Iowa, Wisconsin and the Province of Ontario. The dif- 

 ference in color and markings was geat enough almost 

 to lead to the conclusion that they were of different 

 species. The birds of the more northerly latitudes, espe- 

 cially those in tlie pine regions, are of a gray or ash 

 color, while as we come further south and into the terri- 

 tory of the oak and the beach, the ashy tones are gradu- 

 ally replaced by the brown shades. More than this, birds 

 brought from the more northerly latitudes, when they 

 moult here after a year's stay, lose the ashy shades of 

 plumage and acquire browner ones. Perhaps I may be 

 pardoned for the suggestion, but the Ohio birds have 

 seemed to be the handsomest grouse in all the collection, 

 the brown shades in their plumage showing the greatest 

 variety and richness. The birds from Canada and Maine 

 are the strongest and boldest, becoming more readily ac- 

 customed to captivity, while their feathered legs would 

 seem to indicate a closer relationship to their cousins, 

 the ptarmigans. This of course is only a climatic modi- 

 fication, which becomes less marked in warmer latitude?. 

 I have never owned any grouse from the Pacific slope, 

 but specimens of the plumage show that these birds have 

 the "faded plumage" that your correspondent describes. 



Somebody sent me the other day a copy of the Webster 

 (Mass.) Times, containing the article on the capture of 

 grouse in that town, afterward republished in the Forest 

 and Stream. And speaking of this leads me to express 

 the surprise I have often felt that in all these accounts 

 no one alludes to the interesting legends of the ruffed 

 grouse, which explains why it is that these birds so com- 

 monly seek the settlements in the fall. If no one else 

 does it, I shall hope some day soon to tell the story as it 

 was told to me by an old Ind'ian guide in northern "Michi- 

 gan, Indeed I am only waiting now till I can verify by 

 a little research some of the vague pre-historial traditions 

 on which it is based. It is very curious if true. 



Jay Beebe. 



Toledo, O., Dec. 5. 



THE SWIMMING HARE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In answering "T. G.," of Savanah, Ga., about the 

 "aquatic or swimming" hare, you said you had no 

 knowledge of such a distinct variety, but that the com- 

 mon hare will occasionally take to the water when pur- 

 sued. That there is such a variety has been held by 

 several first-class authorities. It was first scientifically 

 described, I believe, before the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia and the account" published in 

 their Transactions in 1836. It may be distinguished from 

 other hares by its color, its marked habits, its short and 

 broad ears, its short tail, which is never pure white 

 underneath, by its narrow hindfeet, which have so little 

 hair on them that the nails are exposed, and by the size 

 of the eyes, which are fully one-third smaller than the 

 common variety. Its scientific name, is Lepns palustris, 

 and its common name marsh ,hare." Its" geographical 

 distribution is from the southern part of North Carolina, 

 through the South Atlantic and Gulf States to Mexico. 

 It has not been found in the West, and never on high 

 ground nor salt marshes. It is most a bun dant in Georgia, 

 Alabama and Louisiana. 



Its marked characteristic is of course its fondness for 

 water. It not only takes to the water when pursued and 

 swims streams and mill ponds with ease, but resorts 

 thither for sport, swimming and playing: about in deep 

 water with apparent pleasure. It will, when started, 

 hide in deep water among weeds with only its nose and 

 eyes exposed like a frog, and when kept in captivity, if 

 given water, will lie in it for hours at a time. J. B. B. 



[Our correspondent has our thanks for calling our at- 

 tention to the inadvertence in the answer referred to. 

 Two species of water-loving hares are found in the 

 southern United States, Lepns pat kistris andiv. aquatieus. 

 The former is about the size of the common gray rabbit 

 {Lepus sylvatiens); the latter, which appears to be some- 

 what more western in its distribution, about as large as 

 the varying hare, L. americanus. The first named, the 

 marsh hare, has been observed on the Atlantic coast as 

 far north as South Carolina, but will very likely be found 

 to range northward as far as southeastern Virginia. It 

 seems to occur along the whole southern coast, at least 

 as far as Vera Cruz, Mexico, and the opinion is expressed 

 that it may exist along the Mexican coast from Texas 

 to Yucatan. It has also been found inland, in swamps 

 and along streams as far north as southern Illinois. The 

 habitat of L. aquatieus is from Alabama west, through 

 Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. It has also 

 been taken in southeastern Mexico and Yucatan. The 

 range of this species also extends inland, and it is abundant 

 in southern Illinois, near Mount Carmel and Cairo. The 

 marsh hare is slightly smaller than the gray rabbit; it 

 has shorter ears; its eyes are one-third smaller than those 

 of L. sylvatiens. The body is proportionately heavier, 

 and the legs shorter than in that species. The feet are 

 sparsely clothed with hair. These are the most obvious 

 physical differences between the two species. The home 

 of the marsh hare is in swamps and low wet ground 

 along the coast, or on the borders of streams. It is 

 abundant near the rice swamps of Georgia and in 

 the low, muddy meadows of islands along the coast. It 

 is rarely or never found on the high, dry land far from 

 water. It is extremely slow of foot, and can be over- 

 taken, it is said, by any dog: but the situations in which 

 it is found are not often invaded by men or dogs, and it 

 is seldom disturbed. It is a capital swimmer, and when 

 alarmed readily takes to the water for safety. Very 

 often when pursued it plunges into the water, and al ter 

 swimming a short distance lies hidden among the float- 

 ing vegetation of a pond or sluggish stream, with only 

 its nose and eyes above water. It often enters the water 

 not only for safety, but for amusement as well, and 

 sometimes in localities where it is abund mt a number of 

 these animals may be seen swimming and playing in the 

 water. So rapid are their movements in their element 

 that it is stated that some escaped from a Newfoundland 

 dog which was pursuing them. The marsh hare is readily 

 tamed, and after a short captivity becomes very gentle. 

 One owmed by Mr. Bachman freely took food from the 

 hand a few days after it had been caught. It was fond 

 of lying for hours in a trough of water, and seemed un- 

 easy and restless when this was removed from his cage. 

 When the trough was replaced it plunged into it, lying as 

 deep as possible in the water. The nest of the marsh hare 

 is rather large for the animal and is usually constructed 

 of rushes, and is often more or less hidden by bending 

 rushes or other surrounding vegetation over it. The 

 mother enters by a hole in the side. The young are said 

 to number from five to seven. The larger water hare 

 (L. aquatieus) in many of its habits resembles the marsh 

 iiare, and so differs from the northern hare, with which 

 in its physical character it would naturally be compared. 

 It is a good swimmer and very much at home in the 

 water, and its feet, as in the marsh hare, are but thinly 

 clothed with fur. It is noticed that the tracks of betli 

 these water hares made in soft earth leave distinct im- 

 pressions of the individual toes and nails. The swamp 

 hare runs with great swiftness, and when pursued usu- 

 ally takes a course toward water, and throws off its pur- 

 suers by swimming.] 



A December Robin's Nest.— Meadville, Pa., Dec. 12.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: On Monday, Dec. 9, I found a 

 robin's nest with two eggs in it. It was built on one of 

 the under timbers of the N. Y. P. & O. R. R. bridge, 

 about three miles below this place. The female bird was 

 on the nest when found. Both birds were contented and 

 happy as if it were May instead of December. We usu- 

 ally have very cold weather during this season of the 

 year, but the weather has been mild. Robins began mi- 

 grating from this latitude about Sept. 1. Game of all 

 descriptions is scarce here, except rabbits, which are 

 very plentiful, hundreds being shipped to Eastern mar- 

 kets.— A. C. Kirkpatrick. [A singular case and one well 

 worthy of record.] 



"DlTRON."— Brooklyn, N. Y., Dec. 13.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: As you supposed, in ycur 'issue of Dec. 12, 

 I meant by "bitron" bittern (Ardea stellaris). It may be 

 not generally known that bitterns are fine eating. They 

 are fat, their flesh is tender, and when properly cooked 

 with bacon they are equal to chicken. The common 

 heron (Ardea einerea) also is considered quite a delicacy 

 among us: and when in the bay we hunt these birds quite 

 as eagerly as we do ducks.— B. L. L. 



