Feb. T3, 1800.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



66 



In a recent letter Mr. Lockhairt mentions the' occur- 

 rence of a flock of grosbeaks at Bolton Landing, Warren 

 county, on Jan. 24. 



Lake George is the most eastern locality in the State 

 from which records have been received. From the west- 

 ern and southern portions of the State come a consider- 

 able number. 



Mr. J. L, Davison, of Lockport, Niagara county, in- 

 forms me that a flock of seven evening' grosbeaks were 

 seen in the city Dec. 14 and 15, 1889, but none were 

 secured. 



Mr. Geo. F. Guelf , of Brockport, Monroe county, se- 

 cured a pan- Dec. 30, 1889, and reports as seen another 

 pah- in company with five grosbeaks on the following 

 day. On Jan. 29. 1890, another specimen, a female, was 

 brought to him. 



Dr. W. H. Bergtold, of Buffalo, reports that nine were 

 seen on Jan. 10, 1890, and on the following day a male 

 and two females were captured. 



Mr. Louis A. Fuertes, of Ithaca, Tompkins county, se- 

 cured a male and two females on Jan. 21, 1890, the only 

 ones seen. 



Mr. A. H. Wood, of Painted Po3t, Steuben county, 

 writes tbat he secured three evening grosbeaks, the first 

 on Jan. 23, and the other two on Feb. 1, 1890. 



Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr., writes that he received from Os- 

 wego, Oswego county, four fine specimens shot from a 

 flock of about ten birds, on Jan, 28. 



Mr. J. Alden Loring, of Osvego, Tioga county, writes 

 that a specimen was shot from a flock of about twenty, 

 which were feeding among the maple trees. On Feb. 1 

 he saw three others, males. 



The above records are all that have come to the notice 

 of the writer, but doubtless many others will soon appear 

 from various parts of the State. A. K. Fisher, 



Washington, D. C. Feb. 8. 



During this winter I have had brought to me five fine 

 grosbeaks (Pinieola enucleator), one evening grosbeak 

 (Hespefiphona vespertina) and two red crossbills (Loxia 

 curnirostra amerieana). The first pine grosbeak was shot 

 and presented to me on Nov. 25 by Mr. H. C. Ripley; it 

 was an adult male and in fine plumage, and was with a 

 flock of about five females; the birds were in a low 

 swampy piece of woods and were feeding on the cones 

 of pine trees. The bird in question measures as follows: 

 Length 9^in., extent 11 in., length of wing 4f in., length 

 of tail 3£in. 



The other four grosbeaks were killed with two more 

 (which were too badly torn to be of any use) from a flock 

 of sixteen, on Jan. 20. They were presented to me by 

 Mr. Lovles«, who says that they have been in the vicin- 

 ity all winter. They were all females and seemed to be 

 in good condition, being plump and fat. Mr. Lovless 

 also brought two crossbills, an adult male and a young 

 female. They were shot from a flock of about six. I 

 also secured two young males of this species on Jan. 3, 

 which were feeding on cones of evergreens; they were 

 with a flock of about five. 



The evening grosbeak was shot Jan. 30 and given me 

 by a Mr. Foot, who lives three miles from this place. He 

 says it was feeding in some maple trees in front of his 

 house and was with a flock of about twenty. They had 

 been around all winter. The bird now in my collection 

 is an adult male and measures as follows: Length 7-gin., 

 extent 12in., length of wing 4fin., length of tail 2fin. 



On Feb. 1 1 went in search of this flock, and after 

 hunting for some time succeeded in finding three old 

 males. When first seen they were in an apple tree, but 

 flew before I was within gunshot. Following them up I 

 next found them in a maple tree in front of a house. In 

 tried to change my position so as to get a shot, but they 

 took wing before I succeeded. 



Feb. 3 found me again on the spot, but this time I did 

 not even see the birds. I am of the opinion that Mr. 

 Foot is mistaken as to the number of the flock, as both 

 times I saw them they were accompanied by a flock of 

 sparrows, and it may be that he has mistaken them for 

 the females of this species, for he told me " that the fe- 

 males were brown and somewhat smaller." 



J. Alden Loring. 

 Owego, N. Y. 



Evening Grosbeak in Western New York.— On Dec. 

 14 and 15 a flock of seven evening grosbeaks were seen in 

 this city, and on Jan. 1 Dr. W. H. Bergtold, of Buffalo, 

 secured a pair of this species in the park at Buffalo. I 

 have also heard of other specimens being taken in west- 

 ern New York, and others as far east as Lake George. 

 On Jan. 29 I secured a fine male red-tailed hawk (Buteo 

 boreahs). I have never before seen this species earlier 

 than the last of March.— J. L. Davison (Lockport, N. Y., 

 Feb. 5). 



Buffalo Hair Fabric— It will be remembered that 

 many years ago a cloth factory was started on the old 

 Red River settlement for the purpose of utilizing the 

 fleece of the buffalo which were then so abundant. Act- 

 ing on this hint, Hon. C. J. Jones took measures recently 

 to collect a quantity of buffalo wool, to be turned over to 

 a weaver. Last spring, therefore, when the buffalo were 

 shedding their coats, he drove some of them through a 

 chute and peeled off the fleece, which was then sacked 

 like wool. Mr. Jones brought East part of the wool shed 

 from seven buffalo, about the equivalent, as he estimates, 

 of the total fleece of fi\e animals. From this he had five 

 robes made, the wool being woven into cloth as a found- 

 ation by the Beach Mfg. Co. of Hartford, Conn. These 

 artificial robes, while lighter than the real article, have 

 much the same appearance and are warm and durable; 

 and no one but an expert could tell the difference between 

 the two. Owing to the time at which the fleece was col- 

 lected, that is in the late spring, the hair is somewhat 

 pale in color, being bleached and sunburned, but in the 

 process of weaving the long hairs are evenly distributed, 

 and the heavy mas&es of yellow wool on the hump and 

 shoulders do not appear. " This pale color, however, can 

 no doubt be overcome by dyeing. At all events, Mr. 

 Jones has a warm, light and flexible robe, which it would 

 seem must be very valuable. The same company which 

 wove these robes made also a warm jacket lined with 

 buffalo wool; such as might be worn under the coat in 

 very cold weather, a most excellent article for riding or 

 driving in winter. They also wove two suits of under- 

 clothing. It thus appears that we are only beginning to 

 appreciate the value of the products of the buffalo. 



\mnt xnd 



"FOREST AND STREAM" GUN TESTS. 



THE following guns have been tested at the Forest and 

 Stream Range, and reported upon in the issues named. 

 Copies of any date will be sent on receipt of price, ten cents: 

 Colt" 12, July 25. Parker 12, hamnierless, June fi. 



Colt 10 and 12, Oct. 24. Remington h\ May 30, 



Folsom 10 and 12, Sent. 20. Remington 12, Dec. 5. 

 Francotte 12. Dec. 12. Remington 10, Dec. 26. 



Greener 12, Aug. 1. Scott 10, Sept. 5. 



Oreener 10. Sept. 12, Sept. 19. L. C. Smith 12. Oct. 10. 

 Hollis 10, Nov. 7. Winchester i0 and 12, Oct. S. 



Parker IP, hammer, June 6. 



A PUMA HUNT IN NEW MEXICO. 



A FEW days ago we had a lively trot after a mountain 

 lion or puma. The?e animals can scarcely be called 

 uncommon here, although, seldom killed. The reasons are 

 numerous, and possibly well known to any who have 

 hunted them in a rough country-, but for the benefit of 

 those who have not, I will mention a few. Firstly, they 

 leave less scent than most animals, and the track must 

 therefore be tolerably fresh; secondly, they are too sly 

 and cunning to be still-hunted with any success; for 

 among all the Indians, Mexicans and cowboys I have 

 met in this country, there are but few who have ever 

 seen one; thirdly, their power and agility often aids them 

 in eluding the hounds. For instance, last winter we fol- 

 lowed a full-grown pair at racing pace for several miles, 

 up the Canon de Chama, across the river on the ice. and 

 up the opposite tide, where from the most incredible 

 position they took a perpendicular leap of somelaft., 

 thereby gaining the top of the mesa. There was no pos- 

 sible way for either dogs or man to follow, so we had to 

 return home, t ired and disgusted. There are many other 

 artifices by which they will escape their pursuers, but I 

 have given you enough to account for the satisfaction of 

 a successful pursuit. 



About eight A. M. we started out with five dogs in 

 search of tracks, not expecting to find more than a eat. 

 The road was very rough and the snow deep, but we 

 stayed with it. At first we passed nothing but old signs 

 of deer, turkey, etc. After traveling about two miles my 

 friend E., who was in front, called me to examine a print 

 in the snow. It appeared to be that of a steer, and indeed, 

 so it was, but on the inside of it was a mountain lion 

 track. This phenomenon was by no means a new experi- 

 ence for me, and I was not the least surprised, well know- 

 ing their peculiarity of following the footsteps of other 

 and larger animals, and even of human beings. I think 

 it is done to conceal their own retreat, for they seldom 

 attack full-grown stock, unless forced to it by starvation. 

 The track seemed fresh, and accordingly Spot was turned 

 loose to see what he could make of it. I concluded he 

 was somewhat puzzled by the combination of scent, as he 

 sniffed about for some minutes before going off. When 

 he took in the situation there was a deep bay and the dog 

 was gone. The remainder of the pack were now un- 

 coupled and we were left alone, but not for long; the 

 snow being deep, we overtook them. I had an idea that 

 it would be a short run and a speedy kill, but this was a 

 mistake, although the scent was good. He did not intend 

 to be caught in a hurry. The puma does not travel fast, 

 but keeps steadily on the move, thereby covering a con- 

 siderable space during the night and early morning. At 

 this juncture the depth of snow wa3 no slight impedi- 

 ment, every now and again one or the other of us would 

 wholly or partially disappear in a drift, and the scramb- 

 ling out caused much laiighter and some delay. It is not 

 remarkable, therefore, that we were soon reduced to a 

 walk, and a slow one at that; nevertheless, we were con- 

 soled by the thought that our game was as good as killed. 

 The dogs could be heard in the distance, so we toiled 

 away until we came to a canon with very steep sides. 

 Our descent was slow and tedious, for a fall here would 

 have been attended with considerable risk to life and 

 limb. 



On reaching the foot of the hill another check awaited 

 us. The dogs were out of hearing, and the tracks had 

 to be found; this done we gained the mesa, and made up 

 for lost time by trotting about half a mile, which brought 

 us to another canon, somewhat similar to the one we had 

 so recently left. The baying of the dogs became plainer 

 as we def cended, and there was now no room for a doubt 

 that the lion had taken to a tree somewhere near the bot- 

 tom. I put my best leg foremost and succeeded in ar- 

 riving somewhat ahead of the others. When about sixty 

 or seventy yards from the dogs I pulled up to look about 

 me. The hounds were all running round in great excite- 

 ment, but no lion could I see, for he was carefully hid 

 behind a limb. However, he saw me, and jumped' out, 

 causing a brief stampede among the younger dog**. He 

 was soon gone out of sight, but so closely attended by 

 the pack that after jogging along for a quarter of a mile 

 he was again persuaded to take refuge from his tormen- 

 tors. This time he was in full view, lying full length 

 along the limb of a cedar and smiling sweetly at the in- 

 furiated hounds. When about thirty yards off I took 

 advantage of the broadside offered and fired ; E. and C, 

 who were on either side, fired about the same time, and 

 he rolled off his perch, a few convulsive struggles and all 

 was over, the three bullets having taken effect. 



He was a large male, measuring nine feet from the tip 

 of the nose to the tip of the tail. On the following day I 

 sent a burro to pack him back to camp, a duty which our 

 faithful servant was extremely loath to perform, in fact 

 it became necessary to blind and tie master Ned before 

 he would consent to the burden. A. P. F. COape. 



New Mexico. 



The First Wild Geese op the Season.— On Friday, 

 Jan. 31, a flock of twelve wild geese passed over this 

 city going north. Yesterday Mr. Norman Pomroy, of 

 Lockport, who has a flock of domesticated Branta cana- 

 densis, of which I have made mention in Forest and 

 Stream, saw a large flock flying about his place, probably 

 attracted by the answering honkings of his flock. This 

 is by far much the earliest occurrence of wild geese on 

 record in this vicinity. The weather is very mild; yes 

 terday was more of an last of April day than the first of 

 February. There is no ice in the Erie Canal nor on any 

 of the streams, and very little frost in the ground, and 

 the geese can feed in the stubble fields as well as any 

 time last fall.— J. L. Davison (Lockport, N. Y., Feb. 5). 



SOUTH CAROLINA GAME. 



BAMBERG, S. C, Jan. 31.— Quail in this section of 

 Barnwell county are very scarce, the coveys few 

 and far between; and when a sportsman is fortunate 

 enough to locate a covey in a bottom or in the woods — 

 for owing to the extreme dryness they are never found 

 in the fields hereabouts — on' flushing they take to the 

 swamp3 or to the thick briers, where they are safe. I 

 have just returned from a week's camp hunt down in 

 the southeastern port of the Santee River, on land form- 

 erly owned by Gen. Marion ("The Swamp Fox"). Deer, 

 bear and turkey signs were plenty, but the swamps were 

 dry and the river very low. We had a fine pack of 

 hounds, and succeeded in jumping five or six deer, but 

 only one, a fine doe, came to a stand, and she was killed 

 by Mr. Andrew Meyers, of Orangeburg, S. C. Small 

 game throughout that section, ducks, quail, squirrels and 

 woodcock are plenty; but camping must be resorted to, 

 and it is useless to hunt anywhere around here untill we 

 have heavy frosts and rain. 



The negro and his $3 gun and cur dog are everywhere 

 and get most all the game in the South, The negroes never 

 shootabird flying, butresortto any means to "fill the pot." 

 Asa specimen of the progress made by the average sports- 

 man of this section, my hammerless gun is probably the 

 first ever, brought into this town, and at first the natives 

 were inclined to take to a tree when shooting in my com- 

 pany and while I was in the act of shooting. As a rule, 

 the shooters here use cheap common guns. Few of them 

 are wing shots; they have fine dogs, but they are not 

 properly trained, with a few exceptions. Right here in 

 town there are a few excellent dogs and some fine shots. 

 The people are hospitable and warm-hearted and make 

 the Northerner feel that he is welcome. Few or none of 

 the plantations are posted, and the sportsman is free to 

 come and go '.'without fear of molestation." The shoot- 

 ing lasts until April 15, when I expect to return North, 

 and until that time I fully expect that neither man, dog 

 nor gun will be idle. Bluerock. 



MINNESOTA'S DEER LAW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



All true sportsmen and law-abiding citizens in Minne- 

 sota are greatly irritated over the wholesale killing and 

 shipping of deer in the northern part of the State, both 

 before and since the season closed. 



This is not done on the sly, but openly, and when re- 

 monstrated with and threatened with prosecution, the 

 offending parties claim that under the existing law they 

 can handle and ship game at any time, by simply claim- 

 ing that they had it in transit before the close of the 

 season. 



As an illustration, last week — the last week in Janu- 

 ary — at least forty saddles were brought into Detroit City 

 and openly shipped to St. Paul; the station agent receiv- 

 ing orders from the general manager in St. Paul to ship 

 all deer received An attempt was made to stop the 

 shipment, but it was found that nothing . could be done; 

 as the law now in existence was interpreted to allow 

 shipment at any time. This remarkable deliverance was 

 made by a leading law firm in Detroit City who told the 

 man "to go ahead and ship all the deer he wanted to and 

 whenever he wanted to," and said to those who com- 

 plained, "You can not prevent a man from shipping all 

 the game he wants to at any time." These saddles had 

 been procured from Indians and others since the season 

 closed. 



Is it true that the game laws of this State are thus loose 

 and inoperative ? The claim is made by the lawyers that 

 it all lies with the shipper, and if he will swear that the 

 game was in his possession before the season closed no 

 one can touch him, as the law gives him fifteen days 

 after the season closes to ship his game, and he can take 

 in addition to these fifteen days the balance of the year, 

 on slight pretext or no pretext at all, and handle and ship 

 game as he pleases. Thus any unprincipled fellow can 

 by simple perjury, for which he cares nothing, evade and 

 defy the law. 



This killing and shipping has been going on all over 

 the northern part of this State before and since the season 

 closed; but Detroit City is the only place where an at- 

 tempt has been made to stop it, with the result as given 

 above. Can anything be done? Are we helpless under 

 the existing law ? At this rate our game will soon be 

 gone. All s-portsmen view with dismay the outlook for 

 the extermination of deer and moose in a brief time. 



Detroit City, Minn., Feb. 1. P O. S. AND M. C. 



The Bisby Club. —The annual meeting of the Bisby 

 Club was held last week at Bagg's Hotel, Utica, N. Y. 

 There were present Gen. R. IT. Sherman, New Hartford; 

 Hon. Samuel J. Bryant. Waterford, Conn.; Hon. R. F. 

 Wilkinson, Pouahkeepsie; W. H. H. Wooster, Seymour, 

 Conn.; W. H. Boardman, New York; Samuel R. Camp- 

 bell, New York Mills; T. R. Proctor, Hon. H. J. Cookin- 

 ham, O. J. Childs, Utica; H. LeeBabcock, New Hartford. 

 The following were elected trustees: R. U. Sherman, H. 

 J. Cookinham, O. J. Chikls, H Lee Babcock, T. R. Proc- 

 tor and W. H. B jardman. Officers were elected as fol- 

 lows: President, Gen. R. U. Shermar ; Vice-Presidents, 

 Christopher Roby, W. W. Snow, T. R. Proctor; Secretary, 

 W. H. Boardman: Treasurer, S. F. Sherman; Legal Coun- 

 sellor, H. J. Cookinham. A resolution was unanimously 

 adopted on the subject of amendments to the game laws 

 respecting the killing of deer. The club asks that the 

 open season for killing deer should not be extended, but 

 shortpned; that the floating season should not open before 

 Aug. 15; that the time for hunting with dogs be limited 

 between Sept. 10 and Oct. 15, and that it be made unlaw- 

 ful to have venison in possession after Nov. 15. 



Enforcing the Deer Law. — Lowville, N. Y., Feb. 3. 

 — Editor Forest and Stream: Game Protector George 

 Mayer informs me that he has secured the conviction of 

 Henry Huriburt, of Griffith's Corners, for violation of the 

 deer law. Sentence is a fine of $227.13, and the offender 

 is committed to the county jail until fine is paid or he 

 has served one day for every dollar of fine. Mark Smith, 

 of Number Four, is also under arrest for having venison 

 in possession out of season. William Stevens, of Diana, 

 an ol her offender against the deer law, is under arrest and 

 will have his examination Saturday, Feb. 8. Mr. Mayer 

 is doing very effective work, and it is to be hoped that 

 convictions will follow all of his arrests.— Osoeol a. 



