March 6, 1800.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



128 



The curse of posterity is the sure reward of an infamous repu- 

 tation, but it is too light and slow in its reproach for the baseness 

 of apostacy in polities. The punishment of a Judas should he 

 immediate, corpora] and severe. 



Whom lie meant I know not, but at the time perhaps 

 there was on the minds of all something which thus 

 found expression Then these other toasts followed : 



Vice-President B. Hopkins Proscription as practie*! by the 

 present. Administration— A prelude to despotism, a practice in- 

 compatible with the free character of our Government. 



General John Floyd.— The. Federal Constitution— Tile reserved 

 tights of the States, safeguards of the Union, we will defend them 

 at every peril. 



Doctor Turner. -The heroes who have made this day the festival 

 of liberty, the first nullifiers of America. 



James Holzendolf.— Georgia- A young giant, riah in all the 

 materials that constitute greatness, but misguided at r.iesentby 

 evil counsellors. 



P. M. Nightengale— The Day— It gave birth to liberty. Let the 

 recollections of the deeds of our fa thers, which it recalls, teach 

 us to protect the risihtu they bequeathed us. 



John Dilworth LJ. D.'s father],— The Presidency of the If. 8.— 

 Most of the aspirants to that txaWd station have suliicient 

 talent, but insufficient, virtue. 



Titos. E. llpwden.— The want of sense, or want of valor, or want 

 of office, has caused the desertion of our old friends, the "Union 

 Troop Men," who have gone over to the standard of the enemy, 

 the Clarkites. We pity fools but scorn coward and knaves. 



Chas. Pratt (a guest).— The patriots who will not only talk in 

 defense of liberty, but will light for H. 



Henry Floyd.— The successor of Gen. Jackson— Nobody rather 

 than Hugh L. White, and the devil rather than Martin Van 

 Buren. 



Geo. W. Thomas (a guest). -The Camden Hunting Club— Not 

 only invincible in the chase of wild deer of our forest, but would 

 be in the chase of the enemies of our country. 



Dr. C. P. Cohen.— The hero of Camp Defiance and Ant msec— He 

 still lives a noble champion of State flight?, tbafc at sixty years 

 old with, the unpremeditated courage of a soldier would he an effi- 

 cient volunteer to defend his country from foreign or domestic, 

 usurpation. 



ft. L. Floyd (Sec 1 y).-Francc-The birthplace of Lafayette, Die 

 land of chivalry and glory; may ibe* paltry dispute existing be- 

 tween her and the United States he soon consigned to oblivion. 



Edward Aldrich (a guest ).— Martin Van Buren- He is too small 

 both in body and soul for the Presidential chair. The nest of an 

 eagle should be filled and only by an eagle. 



So felt those Southern gentlemen in those days which 

 now seem so distant in this swiftest of all centuries. 



And so my morning passed in reading those interesting 

 books telling of hunts long ago. G. K Blantw, 



NOTES ON THE WOODCOCK. 



PROGRESS, N. C., Feb. 28.— Editor Fares! and 

 Stream: In November 1 wrote you quite: a lengthy 

 article on the ways of the woodcock, and at that time 

 was not sure as to their having a note in spring or the 

 mating season. I have been down here with a party of 

 friends for two weeks; we have found woodcock very 

 plenty on our daily tramps, and as it is in the height of 

 their mating season I have taken a good deal of interest 

 to look over every place where T started one to see 

 if it had bored or was nesting. We "find them in old 

 fields and in good feeding grounds, also in small thick 

 brush on the edge of heavy timber and neat: an old field, 

 about the place they usually nest in, I don't think we 

 have started at any time through the day a male bird; I 

 cati tell them as they are all very large, and on a number 

 of occasions I have seen them sitting on the ground in 

 front of my dog. 1 think on every occasion they had 

 seen the dog; and they were lying quite Hat on the ground. 

 I have not seen any place that looked like a bore hole, 

 and in all I have ever seen here in spring or fall T never 

 have seen where one bored. 



I have taken considerable pains to watch them at sun- 

 set to learn, if possible, if they did have a song or note 

 which I was not sure of before. I am now sure they do 

 have a note; and to my surprise it is a very fine one. I 

 hardly know which of our song birds to compare it with, 

 but think it very much like the catbird's or brown 

 thrasher's. If any one ever took notice of those birds' 

 songs, about the time they end up their song they make 

 a very fine warble or water note, something like a canary, 

 but not quite as fine. 



I have watched and listened to the woodcock for a 

 number of evenings, and have been much pleased by 

 their queer actions. They begin sharp at sunset and 

 seem to keep it up until daylight. This I suppose ac- 

 counts for us never starting the cock bird through the 

 day, as it seems to be the ccck bird that does the flying 

 and singing by night. His spiral ascent is not as straight 

 up as it has been represented. He will leave the ground 

 and fly in a circle of ten or fifteen acres, making the 

 circle smaller each turn, until he reaches a height of 

 some 200ft. , all the time making a very uneven twitter 

 with both bill and wings. Then, when the descent be- 

 gin", he begins his warbling, which, I must confess, is 

 more than I ever believed of him, although I have 

 watched the birds many times, and his song is very 

 sweet. After reaching the ground, which is always on 

 a smooth place clear of grass or brush, he sits still for a 

 few seconds, then begins to cry spate or shape, I hardly 

 know how to describe it. It is very much like the snipe, 

 only much louder, and it is not strange to hear five or 

 . six at a time from the house through the evening and up 

 to midnight, in fact until daylight. Every time he makes 

 the cry spate or shape, just before it he makes a clucking 

 sound, like a man hiccoughing, or something like a cuc- 

 koo, only much lower. I watched one last evening, in 

 company with Mr. A. B. Simonds, and it lighted within 

 10ft. of me once, so I had a good chance to note its 

 actions and hear the sound produced before it made its 

 cry. Later in the evening Mr. R. C. Cornell went out 

 with me to listen to the cry it makes. 



Any one wishing to study the woodcock in the spring or 

 mating season can do so here better than any place I have 

 ever seen. And it looks now as if they would breed here 

 this season quite plentifully. I am very sorry to say that 

 some of the so-called, sportsmen from the North are here 

 uail shooting, and are killing all the woodcock they can 

 nd. When Mr. Cornell protested against it to the High 

 Point hotel keeper that gentleman made the reply that 

 he would open the next lot that were brought in and see 

 if they did have eggs in them, I am sorry to know that 

 we have sportsmen who will, kill woodcock in spring, 

 and am sorry to know that such men as the above are 

 allowed to run hotels and encourage the killing of them 

 with eggs in them. T. M. Aldricu. 



A Book About Indians.— The Forest and Stream will mail 

 free on application a descriptive circular of Mr. Grinnoll's hook, 

 "Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales,'' giving a table of contents 

 ana specimen illustrations from the volume. 



New Arizona Mammals.- Article XX. of Volume 11, 

 of the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural 

 History contains descriptions of Supposed New Species 

 and Sub-Species of Mammals from Arizona, by Edgar A. 

 Mearns, Assistant Surgeon U.S.A. The author describes 

 a new sub-species of Sciiifiis ttadsonius, one of Fiber 

 zibethicus, two of JETesperomys leucopus, one of Sigmodon 

 liispidits. He also describes the following new species: 

 Arvicola mogollonerisis, Dipodomys mcrriami, D. chap- 

 mam, Lepus alleni, L. melanotis and Cynomys arisonen- 

 sis. Dr. Mearns is an enthusiastic naturalist, and his 

 long residence in the Western mountains has given him 

 exceptional opportunities for pursuing his favorite 

 studies. 



Evening Grosbeak in Pennsylvania.— The evening 

 grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertina) has recently been 

 taken in Pennsylvania. A few days ago. when visiting 

 in Warren City, Warren county, I received an adult 

 female of this species taken Jan. 22, in a small grove 

 near Warren. Mr. H. L. Green lund, a taxidermist of 

 Warren, who presented the grosbeak to me, said it was 

 shot by a hunter, who informed him that it was sitting 

 in the 'top of a cherry tree, and that no other birds of this 

 species were seen by him. From advices I have received 

 from different persons in the northern tier of counties in 

 our State during the past six weeks, I infer that the even- 

 ing grosbeak has been seen in at least five or six differ- 

 ent sections of northern Pennsylvania this winter. — B. 

 H. Warren, M.D. (West Chester, Pa., Feb. 1).). 



Blanks for Ornithologists.— The Division of Orni- 

 thology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture has sent 

 out to ornithologists blanks to be filled up giving the 

 names of those species of birds known to breed in any 

 locality. AH observers wdio are willing to fill up such 

 blanks can obtain them on applying to the chief of the 

 Division which issues them. 



Recent Arrivals at thk Phit_.a dulcm r a ZoouhHiai, Qar> 

 DEN. — Purchased — Two St. Thomas con u res (fti.wnis x<t))lii<ihr,- 

 mm), one ground dove (Chmno'iH lia pamerinti) and one yellow- 

 shouldered antazon (Ciirusoti* nrhroptnn). Purchased- Two 

 opossums (Didrlphys virtiijiimut), one mockingbird < Turdvz no/j/- 

 (liottns), one great-horn<d owl iBvlni virgin ianus), one American 

 crow (Corvus am Tic turn*) and two all igators ( A lliijatnr wi^isxiniii- 

 ensfe), Bom— One brush-tailed kangaroo (Ptlrogalr pencillattt) 

 and one black bear (Urmts amcrieamis). 



'mm j^ng mid (§utf. 



" FOREST AND STREAM" GUN TESTS. 

 HpHB following guns have been tested at the Forest and 

 X Stream Range, and reported upon in the issues named. 

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



Go tar 12, July 25. Parker. 12, b. amine rl ess, .Tune . 



Colt 10 and 12, Oct. 24. Reminoton m, Mav ;i0. 



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



Francotte- 12, Dec. 12. Remtn a ton 10, Dec. 26. 



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



Greener 10. Sept. 12, Sept. 10. L. C. Smith 12, Oct. 10. 



Honias 10, Nov. 7. WiNCUKSTiiR 10 and 12, Oct. 3. 



Parker 10, hammer, June 6. 



FARMER AND SPORTSMAN. 



I REMEMBER having had a good many talks with old 

 ranchers in the course of my tramps over the Cali- 

 fornia hills and marshes. It is seldom that one cannot 

 persuade a farmer into a better opinion of the man who 

 carries a gun and obeys the game laws cheerfully, instead 

 of trying to evade themr. Sometimes, however, you meet 

 a man who attributes all his agricultural mishaps to the 

 close season. It is the quail, not the field mice, wood 

 rats and ground squirrels, that destroy his grain; the wild 

 pigeons, not the bluejays, spoil his apples and pears. The 

 man who owns a small vineyard suffers more than horti- 

 culturists from small birds and animals, and it is very 

 difficult to educate him into right distinctions. He often 

 finds game birds in his vineyard, hunting insects, picking 

 up grass and weed-seeds, and they are all one in his mind 

 with the fruit-eaters. 



The California quail eats a great deal of grain from 

 neglected, unthreshed fields in the foothills. Ranchers 

 often cut their wheat and barley and let the bundles lie 

 unstacked for weeks. Flocks of birds come to the feast, 

 of course, but the bulk of the loss is due to the rodents, 

 the rats, mice and squirrels. Even stacked grain suffers 

 heavily from them, while it is safe from the quail. The 

 quail is shy about going into the open fields, and at all 

 times an investigation of his crop shows that his chief 

 food is wild seeds. But the worthless ground squirrel 

 often carries half a peck of wheat to his hole, and he will 

 make trips half a mile into the field. Prompt harvesting 

 is the remedy. 



The newspapers report "destruction of crops by game," 

 almost every autumn. Investigation generally shows 

 that everything wearing fur or feathers has been included 

 in the term. The agricultural papers usually add to the 

 clamor, and "darken counsel bywords without wisdom," 

 until it is no wonder that beneficial legislation is so often 

 opposed by rural communities. I used to hear an old 

 gardener say that he wanted a "pamphlet of about twenty 

 pages written on weeds and useful plants for the public 

 school children to study." In like manner, I may add, a 

 brief pamphlet on birds and small animal^, written from 

 careful observation of their habits, ought to be published 

 for the schools of every State. 



A discussion has just arisen in California ovt r the pro- 

 posed introduction of Mongolian pheasants from Oregon. 

 Senator Sprague, of Yolo, has arranged to have a hundred 

 pairs brought down this spring, and distributed. The 

 farming interests demur, and say it will be as bad a mis- 

 take as the unfortunate English sparrow investment. 

 The Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco, join in the 

 opposition. The Rural Press, a vrry sensible agricul- 

 tural journal, leads the objectors, 'iiu the interests of the 

 grape growers." I know little about the pheasant in 

 question except that it has multiplied marvrelously in the 

 southern Oregon foothills, and pheasant shooting is now 

 a much advertised attraction to visitors to that district. 

 But I know pretty well the situation respecting this, or 

 any other proposed introduction of game— everything 

 depends upon where the game is to be turned loose. 



"Bob White" quail and wild turkeys are to be brought 

 here from Texas this year. For both these birds, as with 

 the pheasants, hundreds of localities can be f ottnd where 



no objections will ever be raised, and where they will 

 have undisturbed opportunities to increase. In the min- 

 ing and grazing districts there are immense areas of roll- 

 ing hills and high mountain ranges, partly timbered, 

 partly open, which can never be utilized for purely hor- 

 ticultural purposes. We can safely introduce all the 

 game birds of similar climatic range into such districts, 

 without raising the troublesome question which too en- 

 thusiastic men sometimes create by overstocking small 

 woodlands in thickly settled agricultural districts. In 

 these wilder regions game does not injure the value of 

 any vineyards, grain culture is not profitable, grass and 

 clover, dairying, stock raising and mining being the in- 

 dustries followed. The home gardens can always be pro- 

 tected from inroads. 



Fortunately California is so mountainous that only one 

 out of the fifty-three counties lacks "wild country" where 

 small game thrives, and new species can be introduced to 

 the entire satisfaction of the whole community. In the 

 rich, thickly settled orchard districts, it is of course dif- 

 ficult and often inadvisable to keep preserves. I always 

 advise my sportsmen friends to buy cheap, rough, partly 

 wooded land now, while it can be had at Government 

 prices, rather than to overstock small valley farms. 



Of course there will always be some birds left in even 

 thickly settled valleys. Many a young farmer in Cali- 

 fornia has discovered the trick. Here, on Alameda 

 Creek, within thirty miles from San Francisco, in the 

 open valley, where land is held in farms of from ten to a 

 hundred acres, and is considered worth $501) an acre, 

 there are some men wfro can shoot a few dozen quail on 

 their own land every autumn. 



I talked With such a farmer Ihc other day, because I 

 saw a flock of about a hundred quail scudding through a 

 willow copse by the creek, 



"Don't any one else shoot your quail?'' 



"Thoy hardly over get off the forty-acre farm. This is 

 the only place near that has any quail left. I kept the, 

 half-acre of willows and they run in the orchard, the 

 pasture lot, tbe weeds on (lie bottom and the fence 

 corners. At night they fly into the pecan trees on the 

 avenue, near the house. If a dozen birds are left over 

 the stock keeps up. 1 never miss their keep." 



"Tame? Not very. They keep out of sight a good 

 deal, and after one or two shots they develop more tricks 

 .on this farm than I ever saw on hillside hunting. That 

 whole flock will scatter, creep apart a while and then fly 

 in radiating lines, never in bunches. You pick them up, 

 oneata time, and trot all over the place. I have had 200 

 on this little farm in a good year." 



"Could anybody breed them? No, I think not. That 

 willow bend suited them years ago. If my farm was 

 exactly like all the other farms, I couldn't keep them 

 at home. But if I had no natural attractions on the 

 place I should try to plant a bit of rocky copse and give 

 them a chance." Chaeler Howard Shinn. 



ODDS AND ENDS FROM CAPE COD. 



r pHE winter ow Cape Cod has been wonderfully mild. 

 J. To-day the thermometer marks 50 \ the southerly 

 wind is without a chill, and the blackbirds — which I 

 have seen every few days all winter — are whistling in 

 the bushes which skirt the marsh. The quail and part- 

 ridges have wintered well, and the unusual season has 

 kept the robins and doves here in unusual numbers. The 

 brant are in great flocks, and the bars off Dennis are 

 almost black with them. Where are Mr. Hapgood and tbe 

 Chatham branting clubs? Our New England spring will 

 not give them such pleasant days as these. 



The ease with which brant can be tamed after capture 

 is surprising. A few years ago I had several which I had 

 wing-tipped and caught. In a day or two they lost all 

 fear and ate corn from my hand. They were kept on the 

 shore in a woven wire pen, which ran down into the 

 water. After I had had them some months a gale carried 

 away the cage, and though the birds were frequently 

 seen I could not recapture them. 



During the open season, which has just closed, there 

 were not as many quail and partridges killed as usual. 

 The best score I have heard of was made by Mr. Joseph 

 Nickerson, of Hyannis, 78 quail and 2.2 partridges. He 

 was in the field two or three days a week throughout the 

 season. The same gentleman shot a cock pheasant which 

 had strayed from Mr. Cory's preserves on Great Island. 

 It is a beautiful bird, and has been handsomely mounted 

 by Mr. Swift, of Falmouth. Black ducks and whistlers 

 are scarce compared with previous winters. The weather 

 has not been hard enough for them. Sheldrakes have 

 been here since October. 



I have a couple of beagle pups by that grand field and 

 show dog Frank Forrest. I have been training them, and 

 they are worthy of their sire. Though not yet nine 

 months old, I have shot a number of hares and rabbit? 

 ahead of them. One hare was followed for three hours 

 in a style worthy of old dogs. The pups hunted when 

 they were six months old. The increase of white hares 

 on the Cape is worthy of note. Last season, hunting 

 with an experienced dog, I shot one and started two 

 more. This year with my pups I have shot six and 

 started a number of others. Friends of mine in Barn- 

 stable and Plymouth say they are increasing and spread- 

 ing down the Cape. 



While hunting the other day T saw a course run which 

 would have delighted the votaries of coursing. I stood 

 on the shore of a pond about a hundred yards from an air 

 hole. A hare came cautiously upon the pond to drink. 

 The ic3 gave way and for some minutes he struggled in 

 the water. Finally he crawled out and sat up to look 

 about him. He caught sight of me, and away he w ? ent 

 over the ice, itmning as easily and swiftly as he would 

 on the shore. Dowm the pond he sped, and was about to 

 disappear in the bushes when a small black animal — a 

 mink, I suppose — darted out from the shore. In an in- 

 stant the hare turned and up the pond he came even 

 swifter than before. No greyhound over worked harder 

 than that mink, and the hare knew his life depended on 

 his speed. They fairly flew 0A T er the ice. Here was 

 coursing worth seeing, and such as I never heard of be- 

 fore. For a quarter of a mile the race continued, and 

 then the hare disappeared on the shore, closely followed 

 by the mink. Did he catch him? Bradlkv. 



Cape Cod, Feb. I, 



Names and Portraits of Rerds, by Gordon Train nun. a 

 book particularly interesting to gunners, for by its umr th^y ran 

 identify without question all the Aruonr^'. ^TA? hihSls whi h 

 they may kill. Cloth, $» page*, erice »2.»i. for sab hi Forks? 

 ano Stream, 



