20@ 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 3, 1890. 



ATTRACTIVE TO PHOTOGRAPHERS. 



THE beauties of Lake Chauiplain have been made well- 

 known to readers of Forest and Stream through 

 the charming sketches of Mr. R. E. Robinson, published 

 in the paper and in the two books, "Uncle Lisha's Shop" 

 and "Sam Lovel's Camps," and they are coming to be 

 known to others. In Anthony's Photographic Bulletin 

 Mr. W. E. Partridge writes with enthusiasm of this lovely 

 region, and his remarks are especially interesting to 

 canoeists. He says: 



"To those who use the canoe there are joys and pictures 

 of which other mortals can only dream. They can sail 

 up the Hudson and go through the Champlain Canal. 

 This canal is almost an unexplored region and is a per- 

 petual delight to the artist. The lake, from Whitehall to 

 Ticonderoga, and the great south bay near the former 

 town, are as unknown photographically as the heart of 

 Africa. And, moreover, they are full of pictures. White- 

 hall itself is well worthy of investigation. It is not like 

 any other town in New England. A seaport set upon 

 shelves on the mountain sides is a novelty. Forenoon 

 and afternoon, noontide and evening, all present the best 

 of lights. Even the man without a boat might find it 

 worth while to leave the train and spend a day or two 

 with this quiet, sleepy little town on the hillsides. 



"Just beyond Rutland there is another town or village 

 worth a day's visit. As the trains do not always make 

 close connections at Rutland, the stop may be made there 

 and an excursion made to Proctor, or Sutherland Falls, 

 as it was formerly called. The distance is perhaps five or 

 six miles. 



"At this point the Otter Creek plunges down over 

 a ledge of rocks upward of a hundred feet in about 

 the same horizontal distance. Among the things 

 which the tourist will wish to have are the falls 

 from above, and below, stretches of vine-covered river 

 banks, the view down the valley of Otter Creek (looking 

 north), and the marble quarries. In the niarble yards, 

 the mills, etc. , there are no end of good things to be 

 found for the hand camera. The station is in the midst 

 of them. And they are so compact that one can walk 

 from end to end of them all in ten minutes. Good things 

 are on every hand. It is almost impossible to go astray. 

 And there is an air of novelty about the whole place 

 which is very attractive and makes the pictures especiallv 

 interesting. 



"The view down the valley from the falls, including the 

 village of Pittsford, will test the amateurs ability to get 

 distant mountains, villages, broad meadows and vigorous 

 foreground all upon one plate, and with printing density. 

 For this the afternoon or evening light is the best. A 

 whole day can be well spent here and a week would not 

 exhaust the points of interest which can be reached in 

 half an hour's walk from the station. 



"The valley of Otter Creek from here northward is 

 charmingly beautiful, and if one had unlimited plates, is 

 worth exploration. North Ferrisburgh is the goal, how- 

 ever. The village is at a distance from the lake, and 

 though it contains many pretty bits, is not worth spend- 

 ing time upon if the visit is to be short. But before leav- 

 ing one excursion should be made to the base of Mount 

 Philo. Here, looking west, a panorama should be taken 

 of the lake, the Adirondacks stretching away for 100 

 miles and the fertile Champlain Valley for a foreground. 

 The drive up over the low foothills to the base of the 

 mountain gives a series of the most beautiful and grand- 

 est views to be found in our country. It is far finer from 

 the artistic standpoint than that from the hills behind 

 Burlington. 



"Using the hotel as headquarters, the next spot to be 

 reached is Thompson's Point. This is a summer camping 

 ground, where people from all parts of the country have 

 cottages and tents. The 'Point' belongs to the town of 

 Charlotte. Note the fact that the name is pronounced 

 Shalott, with the accent on the last syllable. It is a part 

 of the 'town farm,' and the ground is not sold nor even 

 leased. People obtain permission to occupy the ground 

 or build cottages from the Selectmen, and are tenants at 

 will or for so long a time as they obey the regulations. 



"The hotel keeper at North Ferrisburgh can furnish the 

 necessary transportation, and once at the 'Point,' it is 

 not difficult to make friends, with whose aid the remain- 

 der of the undertaking is easy. 



"The first view to be taken is of a gorge or clove near 

 the end of the 'Point.' Best time, morning. A view 

 looking out into the lake is very satisfactory. If the 

 water is low, go down to the beach at the bottom. It is 

 worth three plates at least. Through the woods to the 

 north shore of the 'Point' will, in eight or ten minutes, 

 bring one to a vertical bluff whose headlands will account 

 for half a dozen plates. 



"If a boat can be borrowed or hired, start from the 

 little steamboat dock and go around the 'Point' toward 

 the north. One. cannot go fifty strokes without finding 

 something which is well worth a plate. In times of low 

 water a half-submerged rock off the lower end of the 

 'Point' affords a rest for the tripod and 'standing room 

 only' for its owner. But the view toward the north is 

 worth all the trouble it takes to obtain it. The larger the 

 plate the better. Use a small stop, go in the morning, 

 and if possible get Steamboat Island and its mate clean 

 enough to print. During the past year the water has 

 been very high and the rock has been entirely covered. 

 There are several little beaches only accessible by water 

 that should be visited for the sake of unique views to be 

 had from them. Gnarled trees and rocky headlands, with 

 glimpses of the lake, are some of the characteristics. 



"One can easily make a dozen exposures, and then come 

 back the next day and make as many more. The chang- 

 ing light constantly suggests new pictures and new 

 points of view. A panorama across the lake is very 

 nice, and if made with a long-focus lens is picturesque. 



"But no matter how much one may be enamored of the 

 'Point,' he must not fail to make a trip across the lake 

 to Split Rock. 'Tis said the distance is a mile and it 

 seems but half as much. Two views of the rock — one of 

 the lighthouse and a panorama of the Vermont shore 

 with the long-focus lens. In the afternoon, when the 

 steamer is going up, she makes a pretty incident in the 

 open space beyond the rock. Take a day for the trip and 

 come home happy and tired, 



''Here is rujhnesB 4 but the field is not exhausted. The 



work is only begun. An excursion by boat to the mouth 

 of Little Otter Creek should not be omitted. The island 

 opposite the mouth on the way over* is worth a plate and 

 so are the pond-lily beds. The scenery at the mouths of 

 the three streams that enter the lake at this point is very 

 different from anything in the neighborhood of the 

 'Point.' 



"The mouth of Otter Creek is a mile further south. It 

 is, like all the other streams coming into the great bay 

 south of Thompson's Point, well worth exploration. The 

 whole of the great shore line will well repay a cruise 

 around it. 



"But the artist who has not time to explore will find 

 abundant subjects wherever he directs his instrument. 

 If, on the other hand, he has time to make studies, seek 

 the rarer combinations and go to the more distant or dif- 

 ficult places, the rewards obtained seem boundless. 



"One of the most satisfying things about a collection of 

 photographs made in this neighborhood is that they are 

 not like the pictures usually found in the landscape pho- 

 tographer's album. They have a charm of novelty as 

 well as intrinsic value which is delightful. As pictures 

 they attract the attention of the artist. 



"Of the old City of Vergennes something should be said, 

 and also of beautiful Burlington. None of them, how- 

 ever, has the same photographic charm as the lake shore. 

 Yet both of them will repay a week or more investiga- 

 tion with the camera. But both can be explored in the 

 usual way, and the good services of one's host are not 

 needed in obtaining boats and transportation. 



"I have some twenty negatives of the Champlain shores, 

 taken within a distance of a mile or two. My only regret 

 is that I have not seventy-five more taken in the same 

 charming region. I have not been able to get a negative 

 of the strange, steamer-like little islands both north and 

 south of the 'Point,' nor have I photographed the depths 

 of the beautiful bays whose park-like shores stretch 

 away for miles beyond and within the bold headlands. 



"Champlain, the artistic, is easily the grandest, most 

 picturesque, most beautiful, most satisfying and most 

 fascinating body of water on the North American Con- 

 tinent. Every amateur photographer in the land ought 

 to be among its life-long devotees." 



VOICES AND TINTS OF NATURE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Many of the readers of your paper besides myself have 

 probably at various times observed two phenomena and 

 perhaps never given the subjects but little thought after- 

 ward. First, that natural sounds are very different in 

 the colder than in the warmer months of the year, and 

 secondly, that waters have different tints during the 

 colder and warmer months. 



Tn illustration of the first, we will take a number of 

 examples. Many of us have noticed the contrast in the 

 noise of the wind in different seasons when it blows 

 around the corner of the house; in summer what a soft, 

 mellow tone it has, and in winter what a harsh, rough 

 whistle! 



Then again, let us stroll along the banks of a stream 

 in May, June or July, and we will observe that the water 

 will then make a gentle, babbling sound, while in No- 

 vember or winter it will, with no greater volume, make 

 a hoarse, gurgling noise. 



Still again, if we ramble in the woods during late spring 

 or early summer, we cannot but notice what a softness 

 and mildness the wind has when blowing through the 

 tops of the trees; on the other hand, what a roaring it 

 makes in cold weather. Perhaps the trees being with or 

 without foliage may cause some difference, but it will be 

 observed in May before the leaves are out to any extent 

 there is even then a marked difference between that time 

 and December. Often we have heard it along telegraph 

 wires during summer and winter and have noted the 

 contrast. 



Again, listen to the waterfall or mill dams. The water 

 in the warm season seems to fall in smooth, murmuring 

 tones; but in cold weather it seems harsh enough to make 

 the chills run down one's spine. Then take the ocean: 

 many of us know while strolling along the beach or sit- 

 ting on the sand during the warm season, with what a 

 mellow sound the waves plash upon the sandy beach, 

 while in winter, with no higher tide, what a roaring and 

 hissing they make ! 



Even among birds we observe a contrast in their notes, 

 being mellow in spring and summer, but harsh in cold 

 weather; it may be owing to the difference in their love, 

 feeding, call or migration notes. 



There is also a corresponding difference in the notes of 

 insects. v 



A musician once told me that to his ear the sounds of 

 winds and waters were nearly all in the key of B flat. 

 Perhaps some of the readers of Forest amd Stream 

 who have good ears for music could tell us through the 

 paper if they are so. 



Then, secondly, we will take notes of the various tints 

 that waters have during different seasons. For example, 

 let us commence by taking the brook again. As we 

 ramble along its banks in June or July we see that the 

 water has a silvery white look as it merrily dances on its 

 way, but in cold weather it has more or less of a bluish 

 tint, on some days quite a dark blue. The same is true 

 of lakes and ponds. What a soft silvery appearance they 

 have in early summer; then in November or December 

 what a dull leaden color! 



Still again, take water-falls or mill-dams, then the 

 waters seem to fall in a glistening white sheet during 

 the warm season, but in winter they have more or less 

 of the blue tint again, sometimes real dark; although at 

 Niagara Falls I never recollect of seeing any other but 

 the two colors, emerald green and white — the white 

 greatly predominating in early summer, but more of the 

 green in late fall. I have never seen the Falls later in 

 the year than November; even they, too, may have the 

 bluish tints during the winter. 



And lastly, take the ocean; we have noted particularly 

 the difference in aspect there, in summer pale green and 

 silvery; in summer a much darker shade of green or a 

 dark blue. 



But whichever way these voices and tints of nature 

 are, we all like to hear and to see them, don't we? 



A. L. L. 



A Book About Indians.— The Forest and Si beam will mail 

 free on application a descriptive circular of Mr. Grinnell's book, 

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

 and specimen illustrations from the yalume.- AOv. 



^tut[nJ jtffatorg. 



A WINTER TRIP TO MONTAUK. 



[Read before the Linnwan Society of New York, Dec. 6, 1889.] 



ITST company with one of the naturalists of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New 

 York city, the writer made a winter trip to Montauk 

 Point, Long Island, N. Y., in February, 1889. The notes 

 here given were all made between Amagansett and Mon- 

 tauk, a distance of 17 miles. The territory covered is 

 the long narrow peninsula at the extreme southeastern 

 end of Long Island. The character of the country is 

 mostly a barren waste of rolling, but very poor, pasture 

 land, interspersed with ponds of various sizes, laurel 

 thickets, brambles, beach grass, cranberry bogs, and with 

 two considerable, groves, one of pines and the other of 

 dwarfed oaks.- The time occupied by the trip was eight 

 days, Feb. 16 to 24, during which we experienced a hard 

 easterly storm, accompanied by a gale of wind, also a 

 day when the temperature was very near the zero mark. 

 These unfavorable circumstances had a marked effect on 

 the results of our observations, which were as follows: 



MAMMALS NOTED. 



1. Vulpes vulgaris pennsylvanicus— Red Fox. — Dur- 

 ing a tramp over the Montauk Hills, Feb. 20, one was 

 disturbed while feeding and was seen for a short time 

 while it ran over a bare hillside to cover. They were Te- 



Sorted by Capt. Scott, of the lighthouse, and some mem* 

 ers of the crew of the Hether Plain Life-Saving Station, 

 to be very common on the hills. 



2. Phoca vitulina — Harbor Seal. — This seal was reported 

 to be not uncommon about the Point every winter. One 

 was seen on the 19th just before we reached the Point, 

 and on the 20th one was observed asleep on a large rock 

 near the lighthouse. An attempt was made to shoot it, 

 but being a very long gunshot from the shore, which af- 

 forded no cover, the attempt was not successful. A third 

 individual came up to breathe near our boat while we 

 were out for ducks on the 21st. Capt. Scott had a fine 

 skin of one which he shot during the winter of '88 and '89. 



3. Sciurus carolinensis leucotis— Gray Squirrel. — One 

 pair were seen on the 16th playfully running about on 

 the sward at the bases of some large trees, having no 

 doubt been tempted from their winter qnarters by the 

 mildness of the day. On our return, one week later, 

 when the mercury had dropped nearly to zero, we 

 looked for them but they were not seen, being undoubt- 

 edly coiled snugly in their nests. We were informed 

 that a "black" gray squirrel had been shot in that 

 vicinity some years before. 



Some large dark-colored mice were seen in an exten- 

 sive patch of low blackberry bushes on the Montauk 

 Hills, but none were secured. Species not ascertained. 



BIRDS NOTED. 



1. (3)* Colymbus a mHtvs— Horned Grebe.— Were not 



♦The numbers in () are those of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union Check List of North American Birds. 



uncommon off the Point, a few being seen while we were 

 on the ocean on the 21st. They seemed to prefer the 

 shoaler water near the shore more than did the great 

 mass of other water fowl seen. 



2. (7) Urinator imber — Loon. — Were seen off the Point 

 in about the same numbers as the preceding, but were 

 of tener seen flying and did not seem to be confined to a 

 near proximity to the surf line. 



3. (40) Rissa tridactyla — Kittiwake. — Were seen hut 

 once during the trip; th«n a small flock flew over us 

 while we were on the narrow strip of low beach which 

 divides Fort Pond from the ocean. They were within 

 easy gun shot and were positively identified, 



4. (51a) Larus argmtatvs sviithsoniarms— American 

 Herring Gull.— A few were seen flying along the surf off 

 the Amagansett station on the 18tb. On the 19th, as we 

 went eastward, they became more plentiful, while at the 

 Point they were very common. Large numbers could be 

 seen flying, or at low tide resting on the beach. Buds in 

 full adult plumage seemed to be very much more, numer- 

 ous than the darker- colored immature individuals. When 

 a body of the adult birds were grouped on the beach they 

 looked in the distance like a mass of foam sparkling in 

 the sunlight. While at the taxidermist shop in Sag Har- 

 bor we saw a number of skins of this species, some of 

 which we thought were the European form, L. afgentatus, 



5. (130) Merganser serrator— Red-breasted Merganser. 

 —Very few of this species were seen. On the 20th a 

 small flock was seen on the ocean near Oyster Pond, 

 where they were in the habit of feeding when it was not 

 frozen over. 



6. (133) Anas obscura — Black Duck. — None were seen. 

 While looking over the lighthouse record book I found 

 the following note: "September 1, 1875. At 11:45 P.M. 

 a flock of black ducks flew against the light. Broke out 

 one storm pane. Three killed. Wind fresh northeast. 

 J. A. Miller, Keeper." This species is probably the only 

 one, with the exception of the wood duck (Aix sponsa) 

 that still breeds on Long Island. Capt. Scott saw a .small 

 flock of half-grown black ducks on one of the ponds on 

 the 24th and 25th of June, 1889. 



7. (154) Clangula hyemalis— Old Squaw.— A few were 

 seen near the surf line at intervals, all the way from 

 Amagansett to Montauk, where they were veiy abund- 

 ant. Hundreds could be seen in the offing either resting 

 in great flocks or flying from place to place in search or 

 food. Northeast from the point, commencing about a 

 mile from the beach, seemed to be the favorite feeding 

 ground of all the deep-water ducks. Thousands could be 

 seen at anytime. As they fed, the tides would carry 

 them off the feeding ground. As soon as they reached 

 what seemed to be the outside edge of the favored local- 

 ity, bodies of birds would rise up and fly back, only to 

 repeat the same action again. Associated with the* old 

 squaws were great numbers of the "coots" of the Long 

 Island gunners and baymen. With a glass, what looked 

 to the naked eye from the bluffs like a long dark line 

 resting on the water, was seen^to be a flock of several 

 thousands of ducks. Among this great body of water- 

 fowl we found when we rowed out among them on the 

 21st a few — 



8. (162) Sometteria spectabilis — King Eiders. — We saw 

 twelve that we were satisfied were of this species, three 

 of which were very nearly in adult male plumage. The 

 large size and rich brown plumage of the females and 

 young males makes them very easy to distinguish from 

 the old squaw and scoters. It is probable that there 



