March 20, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ILLINOIS BIRDS.* 



THE thirty-fourth General Assembly of the State of 

 Illinois authorized the publication, under the direc- 

 tion of the Natural History Survey of the State, of a 

 series of volumes on the zoology and cry ptogatnic botany. 

 Df these the one before us is the first to appear. This 

 report, authorized by the State laws of 1885, should have 

 appeared nearly three years ago, but the whole edition, 

 together with the plates, was destroyed by fire. The 

 volume as it now appears was largely reset from a set of 

 the proof sheets which had fortunately been preserved, 

 and now makes its appearance in very creditable shape. 



The work of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural 

 History, as carried on during the past twelve years, has 

 been directed mainly toward supplying the more im- 

 portant deficiencies in the knowledge of the botany and 

 zoology of the State. The mammals and birds and the 

 dowering plants of that region have been fairly well 

 Studied, and it has seemed more important to deal with 

 the lower forms of life, the reptiles, amphibians, fishes 

 and the lower plants. Especial care has been given to 

 the economic relations of the most important groups of 

 animals, as shown by Prof. Forbes's studies on the food 

 of birds and fishes. 



In issuing the series of volumes, of which this one of 

 Mr. Ridgway's is the first, it is the main final object of 

 the Sun ey to furnish the material for an accurate pic- 

 ture of the native plant and animal life of the State, but 

 still having in view the bringing into especial prominence 

 those parts of the subject which have an educational or 

 economic importance. 



The basis of any knowledge of natural history is classi- 

 fication and description, and we may presume that, as 

 with the birds, it is to this that the first volumes on each 

 «ubjpct will be devoted. 



It may be said with confidence that no writer is so 

 competent to prepare a report on the birds of Illinois as 

 <s Mr. Ridgway. A native of that State, and for years a 

 itudent of its birds in their homes, his publications %ave 

 made the locality where he worked one of the most in- 

 teresting, ornithologically, in the State. It is unneces- 

 lary to speak of his standing as an ornithologist, since 

 ivery one knows what that is. In his work Mr. Ridgway 

 has had the assistance of a number of local ornitholo- 

 gists, whose observations, covering various limited sec- 

 Itions of the State, have been close and careful. Such 

 lare the late Robert Kennicott, E. W. Nelson, Mr. H. K. 

 ■ Ooale, C. K. Worthen, the late Samuel Turner and some 

 ■others. 



I The volume now at hand includes, besides its introduc- 

 tion, the birds of Illinois to and including the order 

 Columbee. In saying this it must be explained that the 

 author has not arranged his groups in the order followed 

 by the A. O. TJ. Check List, but has adopted the more 

 familiar method which begins with passerine birds, plac- 

 ing the thrushes first. This will not seem strange, when 

 we remember that the preface is dated July 2, 1885, the 

 same year that the A. O. TJ. committee on revision of 

 nomenclature and classification presented their report. 

 The A. O. TJ. Check List was not printed until the fol- 

 lowing year. 



Especially interesting features of the present work are 

 the introduction and a vernacular synonomy. The former, 

 although it contains only about thirty-six pages, gives an 

 admirably clear notion of the physical features of the 

 State, and of the three natural areas into which it may 

 be divided. These are the lake shore district, the prairies 

 and the southern bottom lands. These are well described. 

 Following this are remarks upon the climate, with some 

 interesting comparisons of mean annual temperature and 

 rainfall for different localities. The second section of 

 the introduction, "Characteristic Features of the Avi- 

 fauna of the State." is devoted to a number of lists treat- 

 ing of the distribution of various species, to the State's 

 position with regard to faunal provinces or districts, and 

 to migrations. The concluding portion of the introduc- 

 tion is bibliographical, and gives the titles of all the pub- 

 lications actuallv consulted by the author. These run 

 from 1*03-54 to June, 1885. 



The portion of the work treating immediately of the 

 birds opens with an analysis of the higher groups, and 

 throughout the family and generic characters are very 

 fully Treated. Although the present volume is termed a 

 catalogue, it is one which contains under each heading a 

 list of popular synonyms, a more or less full technical syn- 

 onymy, a description of the species and a biography 

 usually short, though occasionally running to two or 

 three pages. These biographies, although so short, always 

 mention the more important and characteristic habits of 

 the species. The vernacular synonymy already alluded 

 to is an interesting and very useful feature of this work, 

 and it has an especial appropriateness in a volume printed, 

 as this is, especially for circulation largely among those 

 who are by no means experts in < rnithology. 



Thirty-two plates end this volume, of which twenty 

 are devoted to outline drawings of wings, tails, bills and 

 feet of various species, and the remainder to figures of 

 Illinois birds, mainly owls and hawks. These plates are 

 printed from cuts loaned the State Survey by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution by Professor Baud's direction. The 

 figures in the first twenty plates are admirable, but the 

 cuts of birds are not. A few typographical errors may 

 be noted in the book, due to the fact that the author never 

 saw a proof of the reprint. 



The volume just issued will awaken an added interest 

 in the work of the State Natural History Survey, and 

 that which is to follow from Mr. Ridgway's pen, which 

 will contain the game and water birds, will be eagerly 

 looked for by sportsmeu as well as oruothologists. 



* Natural History Surv ey of Illinois. I State Laboratory of 

 Natural History. | S. A. Forbes, Director | The | Ornithology ! of 

 Illinois. |. I Parti . Descriptive Catalogue. I Bv Kobert Ridg- 

 way. I Part II., Economic Ornithology. | By S, A. Forbes. I | 



Volume I. | | Published by Authority of the Slate Legisla- 

 ture.. | | Springfield. II].: ] H. W. Rokker, Printer andBinder. 



! 1889. Pp. 520. Plates XXXII. 



ran the wildcat into a It g e . Mr. Beaman cut an ash 

 pole, and with a long cord he had in his pocket tied a 

 sharp hook on the end of the pole, not cutting off the 

 cord, of which there was dough left to reach to end of 

 pole, which proved very for lunate, for Mr. B. ran the 

 pole in and finally hooked in to one foreleg of the growl- 

 ing and spitting cat, and she" immediately with one bite 

 took off the end of the pole, so Mr. B. took hold of the 

 cord and carefully pulled her so he could partly see her, 

 and shot several times at her with a revolver, but did not 

 kill her until he got her so far out he could use his gun, 

 which finished her. The two cats weighed 401bs , and 

 Mr. B. } who has killed many of them, says one was the 

 darkest and handsomest marked cat that he ever saw. 

 His dog started the third cat, and it came so near that 

 Mr. B. thinks he would have killed it if he had shot, but 

 hoping to get a shot at closer range he let it pass, and it 

 proved a lost opportunity, as he did not see her again.— 

 N. Elmore. 



A Curiosity of Migration.— Perth Amboy, March 10. 

 —Will the editor please note statement (as to swans car- 

 rying warblers and flycatchers on their backs) in Har- 

 per's Weekly, page 107, fourth column, and comment 

 thereon in next week's issue of Forest and Stream?— 

 Subscbjuer. [This subject is one that has been several 

 times discussed in Forest and Stream within the past 

 eight or ten years, and "Subscriber" is referred to our 

 files. See "Avian Riders," Forest and Stream, XVI,, 

 p. S03j and "The Cranesbaek," Forest and Stream, 

 XVI., p. 105, XXIV., p. 268, and XXX., p. 208. That 

 certain small birds do perform all or a part of their 

 migration by "resting on the backs of large birds appears 

 to be fairly well established. The birds which have been 

 credited with "furnishing transportation" include geese, 

 swans, cranes, storks, and even owls!] 



Evening Grosbeak in Massachusetts.— Worcester, 

 Mass. , March 14.— We had an adult male specimen of the 

 evening grosbeak taken in Bruinfield this State by C. A. 

 Jones, one of a flock of five that had been flying about 

 the apple trees near his house on Feb. 1. Not recogniz- 

 ing the bird he shot one and sent it to us for identifica- 

 tion. We have mounted the bird and placed it in our 

 collection.— E. H.Forbush (President, Worcester Natural 

 History Society). Mr. Daniel Parham reports the cap- 

 ture of an evening grosbeak at Tyngsborough, Mass., on 

 Feb. 24. 



fag m\A 



"FOREST AND STREAM " GUN TESTS. 



THE following guns have heen 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, Jul y 85. Parker 12, hammerless, June 6. 



Coi/rlO and 12, Oct. 24. Remington 16, Mav 30. 



Folsom 10 and 12, Sept. 26. Remington 12, Dec. 5, Feh. ti. 

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



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



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

 Hollis 10, Nov. 7. Whitney Safety 12, March 6. 



Lefever 12. March 13. Winchester 10 and 12, Oct. 3. 



Parker 10, h ammer, June 6. 



Wildcats in Connecticut.— Granby, Conn., March 11. 

 —A few days ago Erwin Beaman, of West Granby, 

 Conn., took his dog and gun and started for wildcats. 

 The dog soon started one from under a pile of brush, 'and 

 Boon Mr. Beaman got a shot at it and killed it. He after- 

 ward found another track, which his dog took and soon 



A RECORD OF TWENTY-SEVEN SHOTS. 



1' '.(!'•/,/.;,,/ from Last Wedhil 



IT was now the 28th of September, and I was due in 

 Washington, D. C, Oct. 1, but evidently I could not 

 reach there that day because it would take two hard 

 days' work to go from our camp to Gabriel's cabin, two 

 from there to civilization, and two more thence by rail 

 home. We had only about one day's provisions left — 

 apart f rom tea, of which we had plenty— if we depended 

 upon that stock alone, without adding game or fish to 

 it, so after breakfast I decided to start home, and we 

 began packing up. Several meat birds, as Gabriel called 

 the Canada jays, were fiyiug about us picking up scraps 

 and carrying them 'off to convenient places, and as he 

 told John, "If you don't hurt dem dey get right tame, so 

 cley'll eat out of your hand bye and bye," the latter began 

 feeding them, and sure enough in half an hour one was 

 taking scraps of meat from his hand. On our way down 

 stream we picked up the mink trap, which had caught 

 nothing, but later on I shot a mink that was running 

 along the bank; this was the tenth shot. We stopped 

 for dinner at the same place where we dined on our way 

 up from the deserted cabin pond, and the day having 

 turned cloudy with the air thick and hazy, our spirits 

 fell as we thought of the giving up of our free life in 

 camp and a return to civilization without the moose I 

 had confidently expected to kill, or the beavers, the skins 

 of which John had said he would carry home to his 

 mother and sister. We ate in silence until Gabriel re- 

 ma rlred— stirred, perhaps, by some such thought as ours 

 —"Dare might be beavers at dis little lake over here," 

 indicating vaguely by a jerk of his head, a direction back 

 of him and away from the side of the. creek where we 

 sat. 



"How far is it from here?" 



'About a mile and a half. Dere's a good portage." 

 John was on the alert now, the word beavers had 

 roused him. 



Presently Gabriel added in an encouraging sort of tone, 

 '■Maybe we see moose dere: pretty good place for moose, 

 too." 



"Burnt country?" 



"All burnt, same as dis. Well, dere's one little place 

 right close to the lake dat's green bush, we could camp 

 dere." 



It was plain we were all thinking about the same 

 thing, a trip to this pond, but what about provisions? 



"Well, Johnnie, what you goin' to do?" Gabriel said in 

 reply to a question of John's. "Dere's all we got to eat" — 

 pointing to a diminutive piece of bacon and an apparently 

 empty bread bag— "plenty tea and sugar, but you eat all 

 dat bread and bacon in one meal. What you think your 

 father going to do and me? Kill moose maybe or roast 

 beaver and shoot partridge for you?" 



John would not eat moose meat, having taken an aver- 

 sion to it from the time he first saw a moose cleaned and 

 cut up. Thin slices of crisp breakfast bacon, fried trout 

 or broiled grouse, he r-ould dispose of rapidly and in 

 quantity. Gabriel and I could eat anything down to 

 well-cooked muskrat, The result of our deliberations 



was that we decided to leave some of our things where 

 we were: to portage over to the pond our canoe, one tent, 

 the blankets and provisions; to stay over night, and the 

 next morning come back and resume our journey home. 



We reached the pond late in the afternoon , striking it 

 from the west at the head of a small bay. Before pad- 

 dling all the way to the east shore, where we were to 

 camp, we saw a beaver, and our spirits rose. We estab- 

 lished our camp in a small strip of green timber, some 

 three hundred yards long by fifty wide, which by some 

 freak of the wind or other chance had escaped the fire 

 that had devastated the country for miles around. 



After sundown we went out in the canoe to look for 

 beavers. Presently we saw one swimming, and as we 

 were to the east of it I could see to shoot as it crossed the 

 reflection of the still yellow western sky in the water. It 

 was not over thirty yards off, and as I fired I thought to 

 myself "one beaver." I missed it. None of us seemed to 

 know where the ball struck. When the gun went off 

 there was a splash of water where the beaver's head had 

 been, but I had not killed the beaver. Why ? I confess 

 I could not tell. Gabriel was astonished; John sad. 



"Oh, papa!" he exclaimed, "how could you miss that 

 beaver; I thought you were a good shot!" 



"I don't know, John; I expected to kill it. I ought to 

 kill one at such a shot. Never mind, better luck again, 

 may be." 



Before it became too dark to shoot at all I had shot at 

 three more beavers and missed them: had killed one 

 muskrat. These were the eleventh to the fifteenth shots 

 inclusive. I was surprised and annoyed, having never 

 done such work before in any four consecutive shots I 

 could remember, at anything.' John was disgusted, 

 "We might have had four beaver skins to take home to 

 mamma," was the burden of his discourse. 



I woke early in the morning and we went out in the 

 chilly fog to look for beavers again. At the lower end 

 of the pond I got a shot at one at about forty yards and— 

 missed it. What was the matter? None of us knew. I 

 was to blame apparently. We cruised quietly about until 

 the sun seemed about to break through the fog, when we 

 turned the canoe toward camp. I was stiff from sitting 

 so long in a cramped position and my hand was numb 

 with cold. We were abreast of the end of the green tim- 

 ber furthest from camp when a slight "snap" brought a 

 a low "hist" from me and the canoe to a stop. "Sounds 

 like deer comin'," whispered Gabriel, turning the bow of 

 the canoe silently until it faced the shore. There was 

 another faint crack of a twig. "Bear," I said, noiselessly 

 cocking my gun and holding it across my arm. We 

 listened intently as the barely audible snapping and rust- 

 ling drew a little nearer, until suddenly there was a bear 

 close to the edge of the water, I suppose about a three or 

 four years old animal. Just as we saw it, it rose on its 

 hindfeet and reached for some limbs in a small cherry 

 sapling. We were about seventy-five or eighty yards 

 off, and as the bear straightened up I brought the gun to 

 my shoulder, fired and — missed! The bear was gone in 

 an instant. "Dat's not my fault," Gabriel said, "you 

 shoot too quick. When we see the bear if you wait den 

 I paddle right close to him. He was too far off." "Too 

 far off! H-m! I can kill a bear there as well as closer. 

 I'm not in the habit of waiting for people to tell me when 

 to shoot." We were all disgusted and disappointed. 

 (Sixteenth and seventeenth shots.) "Only think," John 

 said, as we ate almost the last of our provisions for break- 

 fast, "we ought to have had five beaver Bkins and a bear 

 skin." 



"Dat bear look pretty black," put in Gabriel; "so cold 

 skin pretty good now, I guess." 



We sat around and pottered over our meal, which, 

 although frugal, with the last night's supper almost made 

 an end of our eatables. We hated to begin packing up 

 to go home empty-handed. Presently Gabriel rose, after 

 filling his pipe, picked up a tin pail, and after muttering 

 something about getting water to wash the dishes, started 

 for the landing, only a few steps off. As he did so I said 

 to John: "If we had a pheasant (grouse) now, or some- 

 thing you could eat, I believe I would risk staying here 

 another night and not start home until to-morrow morn- 

 ing; but what food we have will not last over to-day." 

 Just as I said this Gabriel, who had only gotten a pace or 

 two beyond the other end of the tent, said: "If you want 

 to kill a partridge, dere's one right behind de tent." In a 

 moment I had reached inside the tent and seized my 

 Winchester, and in another moment had knocked the 

 head off a fine cock grouse; (a big fat one). Shot No. 18. 



This decided me. It seemed a Providential dispensa- 

 tion that this grouse should have appeared just when it 

 did. It would make John two good meals, and like as 

 not I might get more of them before we reached Gabriel's. 

 The latter and I could get along well enough, being old 

 hands, but the boy was not quite as strong as we and had 

 to be looked after. The packing up was put off, there- 

 fore, until the next morning. Gabriel said he knew of 

 another pond not far away, so we went over there and 

 looked about until dinner time, but saw no game. 



Of what happened after dinner my note book says: 

 "In the afternoon I missed another beaver and killed a 

 mink." (The 19th and 20th shots). I had been at this 

 little pond, not over a half or three-quarters of a mile 

 long, just twenty -four hours, and in that time missed six 

 beavers and a bear, and killed a muskrat and a mink. 

 After dark we heard moose and put out in the canoe to 

 look for them. They seemed to be coming so close to the 

 pond that we paddled over to the side on which they 

 were and waited, some 30yds. off shore. From the racket 

 they made we j udged there were two bulls and a cow. Sure 

 enough, in a little while we coidd make out three blacs 

 objects marching along the beach, stepping over logs, 

 trees and brush with great care and little noise. It was 

 too dark to see to sight at all or make out anything of 

 the animals more than three moving objects a little darker 

 than the background of bank and brush. I fired at the 

 last one, and with the flash of the gun there was a mad 

 rush and a smashing of sticks .and dead timber, in the 

 midst of which I banged away at the same moose just 

 about disappearing in the dense growth of a thick clump 

 of brush into which the others had turned. (Twenty- 

 first and twenty-second shots). 



"Which one you shoot at?" whispered Gabriel. 



"The last one." 



"You ought to shoot de front one, den the others don't 

 go away." 



"Why, the front one was the cow. of course; I would, 

 not shoot a cow," 



"You think you hit him v ' 



# 



