268 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 24, 1890. 



FROM EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



THE past winter has been the most remarkable one as 

 to bird migrations in eastern Massachusetts that 

 has ever been recorded, and many valuable notes have 

 come under our notice. The first one worthy of men- 

 tion was the taking of a masked duck (N. dominicus) at 

 Maiden, Mass., Aug. 28, 1889. This is a bird common in 

 Central America and the West Indies, but has been noted 

 but twice previously in the United States — once in Wis- 

 consin and again on Lake Champlain. The bird was a 

 male in full plumage, and the color, a cinnamon brown, 

 covers almost the entire body. The circumstances under 

 which it was taken suggests how many rare and strange 

 birds are killed each year by gunners all over the 

 country, and if every man who killed a strange bird 

 would get it into the hands of somebody well posted in 

 ornithology there would be fifty valuable records made 

 where one is made to-day. This duck swam round in a 

 little mud hole of less than an acre in extent and sur- 

 rounded on three sides by houses, for over a week. At 

 last a little chap of nine years, who had never fired a 

 gun before, after constant pleading to be allowed to try, 

 gained his father's consent, and firing his first shot, for- 

 tunately killed the bird. As it was his first, and quite 

 handsome, the father concluded to have it set up. and so 

 the bird was preserved. But how much oftener it must 

 happen the other way, for as the father said, if he had 

 killed it himself he would have picked and eaten it. The 

 bird is now in the collection of Chas. B. Cory of this 

 city. 



The next good note was that of a turkey buzzard, taken 

 at Essex, Mass., Nov. 16, which is now among the collec- 

 tions of the East India Marine Hall, Salem. 



In October snowy owls commenced to arrive, and ap- 

 peared in greater numbers than for several years past, 

 about half a dozen coming under our notice from this 

 immediate vicinity. As usual the flight lasted but little 

 over a month, and by Christmas they had apparently 

 disappeared; a late straggler, however, was brought in 

 on Feb. 24. 



Along the coast of Maine great gray owls seem to have 

 been more abundant than ever previously recorded. 

 Only one, however, come under our notice as taken in 

 this State, and that was killed on Deer Island, Boston 

 Harbor, on Feb. 4. 



How erroneous the common notion is that the southern 

 migration in winter of extreme northern birds is caused 

 by excessive cold weather in their native haunts. Take 

 snowy owls for instance; whenever there is a noticeably 

 unusual movement of these birds it always occurs before 

 winter has really set in, and generally in October. The 

 past winter has been one of the mildest known, and yet 

 never before, as far as records show, have we had such a 

 surprising visitation of northern species. In our opinion 

 changes in temperature have an exceedingly slight effect 

 in causing these unusual movements of birds. Severe 

 storms, however, undoubtedly exert quite an influence, 

 but this principally along the coast, where birds have 

 but little shelter, and when once driven off shore find it 

 difficult to return, and either get lost in the ocean or 

 wandering aimlessly about finally fetch up on some for- 

 eign shore. 



Without doubt the food supply is the main controlling 

 force in these unusual migrations and can be held almost 

 entirely responsible for them. That the masked duck of 

 so far north was probably owing to its getting mixed up 

 with a flock of teal that were wintering in the south, 

 and forgetting, or perhaps better say being weak in, its 

 native' instinct, it wandered north with the teal when 

 they started for their summer home, and had very likely 

 been wandering all over the Northern States until it 

 finally met a captor. During January and February and 

 as late as April 1, when I saw two large flocks, red cross- 

 bills were quite common. Of course this was no unusual 

 occurrence, as hardly a winter passes that they do not 

 visit us in greater or less abundance. But the white- 

 winged crossbills were also here, and in apparently as 

 great abundance as the red, although they seemed, to 

 desert us by March 1. They are quite a rare bird in these 

 parts and it may be years before we shall see them in any 

 numbers again. A strange thing was that, crossbills 

 being so abundant, pine grosbeaks did not show up in 

 equal numbers, for their food is quite similar, as far as 

 we know, and we often have them here when hardly any 

 other northern birds visit us. A few were here early in 

 the season, but, as far as the writer's observations went, 

 they left entirely as soon as the crossbills came. The 

 lesser redpolls were here in abundance all winter, and 

 we heard of two mealy redpolls that were taken near by. 



The most notable occurrence of the season, however, 

 was the remarkable flight of evening grosbeaks which 

 took place. The first to come to our notice were the 

 three birds noted by Mr. Brewster in the Forest and 

 Stream of Feb. 27. The next were three fine males 

 taken at Ayer Junction, Mass., on Feb. 20. They were 

 killed from a flock of about seventy-five that had been 

 hanging about the center of the town for a number of 

 days. The little chap who killed these called the flock 

 down on to the ground in his yard like sparrows by 

 throwing canary seed for them to eat, and getting within 

 loft, of the flock killed the three with his spring gun, 

 shooting a few pellets of B shot. 



On Feb. 25 a correspondent, F. W. Deering, of Tops- 

 field, Mass., killed two males that were feeding alone be- 

 neath some maple trees, and he also mentioned a friend 

 of his killing two others out of a flook of eight, about two 

 weeks previously. 



On March 10 a male and female, killed at Reading, 

 Mass., that morning, were brought in; they were alone 

 and were feeding upon maple seeds. Upon our writing 

 at once to the party who sent them in to be on the watch 

 for more, we received another pair from him the next 

 day, killed at the same place and under the same circum- 

 stances. 



On March 15 a female taken at Melrose was brought in, 

 and it was the last specimen of its species that we have 

 heard of from this vicinity. Our friend Arthur Smith 

 recently mounted one that was killed in West Newton, 

 Mass., during February, and besides the above specimens 

 that were captured, we have reliable accounts from at 

 least a half dozen more that were seen by careful ob- 

 servers. Considei'ing that it is a bird which would be 

 easily overlooked, and coming as they did at a season of 

 the year when comparatively few gunners are about, it 

 is probably no exaggeration to say that eastern Mass- 

 achusetts must have been visited by thousands of indi- 

 viduals. Besides the above we have received a nice male 



and female taken by a correspondent at Heath, Ulster 

 county, N. Y., who writes that he has taken nine others 

 and seen quite a number besides. The stomachs of all 

 the birds we dissected contained maple seeds, excepting 

 of course the three that were being baited with canary 

 seed. 



We might also note two black squirrels taken at Mel- 

 rose, Mass., one on Oct. 14 last and the other just a month 

 later. They were killed by different parties in the same 

 woods, and the day the last one was killed a third was 

 seen. In is the first occurrence of the black squirrel in 

 these parts that we have heard of. 



On Dec. 10 last an Acadian owl was brought in, picked 

 up dead in the woods at Parksley, Va. Quite a Southern 

 record, but not a surprising one, however, if it had hap- 

 pened in the western and mountainous part of the State. 



We also have the note of a hawk owl taken at Sand- 

 wich, Mass., on March 25 last, and a solitary kildeer 

 plover was seen and killed at the same place on April 1. 

 And for a bird which strikes us as being a rare spring 

 migrant in these parts, we mention an American coot, 

 taken at the same place on March 29, and another of the 

 same species taken there on April 2. 



While sitting here on April 11, writing these notes, a 

 customer brought in an American coot that was killed at 

 Scituate yesterday, and right after it came a friend to 

 tell me of one killed at Crescent Beach this morning. 



Boston, Mass. M. A. FRAZAR. 



'mm mtd 



"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 "?>. Packer 12, hamruerless, June 6. 



Colt 10 and "12, Oct. 34. Remington 1«, May 30. 



Folsom 10 and 12, Sept. 2G. Remington 12, Dec. 5, Feb. 6. 

 Fhancotte 12, Dec. 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. Whitnev Sakkty 12, March 6. 



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



Parker 10, hammer, June 6. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



CHICAGO, 111., April 17.— Probably half or two-thirds 

 of the ducks killed by Chicago shooters are killed 

 in Indiana. The duck law shut down in that State with 

 a heartless snap two days ago, and left more ducks in 

 sight than has been the case here for years and years. 

 The club shooters all comment in wonder at the enor- 

 mous flight of this spring. The lakes and marshes have 

 fairly swarmed with birds. Fox Lake, of northern Illi- 

 nois, has had "thousands and thousand and thousands of 

 ducks," to quote one shooter, although as usual they 

 have been hard to work. On Fox Lake. Lake Nipper- 

 sink and Pistaqua Lake the lowest estimate places the 

 number of local birds at 40,000 to 50,000. Mr. W. N. Low, 

 just back from Cumberland Marsh, on the Kankakee in 

 Indiana, states that on the loth he saw a bank of ducks 

 rise from that marsh which surpassed anything he ever 

 saw. The cloud of birds was dense and black, and 

 seemed over a mile in length. Mr. Low thought it re- 

 sembled a flock of wild pigeons in the old days of their 

 plenty. Reports of a similar nature come from the Illi- 

 nois River, and indeed on every hand we hear news 

 which is most encouraging to the shooters of this region, 

 who had begun to wonder if the birds had not left this 

 route for good. It seems that plenty of water was all 

 that was needed. It is thought that the prevalent over- 

 flows will prove of great benefit by way of increasing 

 feed on the marshes. 



Billy Mussey is just in from Mak-saw-ba way, with a 

 small but select collection of wildfowl. Billy had a lot 

 of shells which an expert had loaded with il drams of 

 'a certain nitro powder. On four separate and distinct 

 occasions during this one hunt, these shells exploded, 

 both barrels at the same time. This demoralized Billy, 

 and likewise put a head on him. The last time the acci- 

 dent occurred both Billy and his pusher came very near 

 going out of the boat into the middle of the Kankakee 

 River. So much for loads and loading. 



At Mak-saw-ba Dr. Burchner has just returned with a 

 bag of sixty mallards and pintail?, after a four or five 

 days' hunt. Much larger bags of bluebills and other 

 small ducks could have been made on that marsh. Wm. 

 Haskell bagged twenty birds last Saturday on that 

 marsh, and H. C. Hoyt has been averaging about twelve 

 daily down there. From the latter fact it may be seen 

 that the shooting is mighty good. 



On the niinois River, down near Hennepin, Eddie 

 Steck a week ago bagged 198 ducks in three days, his 

 largest day being 96. Mr. MacFarland, on Hennepin 

 Club grounds, has been shooting about three weeks. His 

 top bag was 114 large ducks, and he has averaged about 

 forty a day. Hennepin shooting has been booming. 



On Cumberland Marsh Charlie Gammon has been 

 making bags of forty, fifty and sixty daily. That was 

 earlier; Mr. Gammon has lately been very seriously ill. 

 On the last day or so of the season Mr. W. N. Low bagged 

 thirty ducks and three geese on Cumberland, not work- 

 ing very hard. He says that it would be easy to get a 

 lot of geese down there. Mr. Geo. T. Farmer was aver- 

 aging about sixteen a day when last heard from. Mr. 

 Loveday and his son had seventy-five birds hung up on 

 Cumberland Lodge balcony. Mr. John Gray wanted 

 snipe and didn't hunt ducks, but went out and killed ten 



J'ust before he started home. Cedar Lake, near the 

 lonon road, was noted by the above gentlemen as they 

 passed to be full of bluebills. 



At Diana Club, Water Valley, on the Kankakee, Henry 

 Ehlers killed 125 ducks on the day of the Louisville 

 cyclone. The wind arose so high in the afternoon that 

 the birds could not be gathered. On the following 

 morning he picked up 88. 



At Fox Lake Al Knox bagged 42 ducks last Monday, 

 and Charlie Wilcox got 70 in three days. At Lake 

 George, in the sandhill country, Gib. Harris bagged 55 

 last Saturday, and Johnnie Stell 36; Ben Dicks bagged 

 38 in two days at Mak-saw-ba lately. 



From the above data, hurriedly picked up in a few 

 moments, it may be seen that the claims of this region as 

 a duck resort are by no means groundless this spring. 



The snipe got in this spring about three weeks ago and 

 then disappeared upon the advent pf the late diabolical 



compound of winter and raw wind. Mak-saw-ba reports 

 a few snipe, but wild. Cumberland has but very few. 

 The Little Calumet, near Lake Station, has been searched 

 in vain for the most part, and the boys of Grand Calumet 

 Heights Club sav they aren't in it. To-morrow Mr. Alex 

 T. Loyd, Mr. R. A. Turtle, Mr. Reuben Donnely and the 

 writer will run down to Water Valley or Selby, on the 

 Kankakee, for a try after snipe, but the outlook is mighty 

 poor, although it may warm up a little by that time and 

 bring the birds in. 

 Everybody is feeling pretty good out here. 



E. Hough. 



THE BOY GETS HIS GUN. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In my recent notes from a lumber camp I am made to 

 say the deer have been thinned out, and the Michigan 

 game laws have something to do with it. That is either 

 a mistake on my part or a misprint. What I intended to 

 say was this: In 1885 there were shipped from Metropol- 

 itan station over 500 deer, and in 1889 less than 50. There 

 are two reasons for this difference: First — The deer are 

 not as plentiful as in 1885. Second — More stringent game 

 laws in regard to killing and shipping have been enacted 

 since 1885. The article reads as though the Michigan 

 game laws had been instrumental in thinning out the 

 deer. On the contrary, the game laws act as a check on 

 illegal killing, in season and out of season. 



I have been quite interested in the article "Shall the 

 Boy have a Gun?" I have a boy 14 years old last January. 

 About a year ago he commenced to tease me for a gun, 

 but his mother objected so strongly that I kept putting 

 him off until he was older. I bought hi in a pony, of 

 which he has full care and control, but that did not satisfy 

 his desire for a gun. On Saturdays, when there is no 

 school, he will tramp the woods all day without his din- 

 ner, setting snares for rabbits, often in company with 

 older boys that have guns. Often he rides his pony up 

 to camp, six miles, and is crazy to take my gun and hunt. 



Last December I fixed him up with my gun and belt 

 and told him to go out and kill a deer. He went down 

 the road, about eighty rods from camp, saw two deer 

 standing in the road looking at him, not over ten rods 

 off. He fired the rifle at them, and while the deer ran 

 one way he ran into camp to tell me he had shot at a 

 deer. I went back with him, but found no deer. 



Those articles in Forest and Stream decided the mat- 

 ter, and last week I ordered a double- barrel 12 gauge 

 shotgun for him, and gave it to him on certain conditions. 

 I am to keep it at camp and give him lessons in shooting 

 and handling it from week to week on Saturdays until 

 he gets to know how to handle a gun safely. He shall 

 not go out hunting with four or five boys younger than 

 himself, that go along just for company and for the sake 

 of following a gun. I wish to teach him to go alone. 

 Finally, he shall not shoot partridges out of season, or 

 small birds, etc., just for the sake of slaughter. I never 

 kill anything that I can not make use of. 



My boy has developed a taste for hunting stories, and 

 reads the Forest and Stream with much interest. 

 Metropolitan, Mich., April 10. B. B. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I was much interested in the communication in a re- 

 cent issue of your paper from a mother on "Shall the Boy 

 have a Gun?" and felt in hearty sympathy with it. My 

 oldest boy (wiat nine and a half) now has his first gun 

 and has shown he can handle it. In view of what is said 

 by your correspondent "H. L." on this same subject in a 

 recent issue I write to ask whether your attention has 

 been called to the very admirable set of rules for boys' 

 snooting given on pages 123, 124 and 125 of "The Boy's 

 Book of Sports" ("Marvin and his Boy Hunters"). This 

 is the best boy's book I have ever seen, the instructions 

 on shooting are most admirable and deftly mingled with 

 adventures in the field and on the stream that boys, old 

 and young, are delighted and benefited by it. 



My boy's copy was given to him on Christmas Day, 

 1888. He received his gun this year, and when he first 

 went into the field I found, to my surprise and amuse- 

 ment, that he had the rules by heart, and th™ he bad 

 read and re-read his book so often that as far as lessons 

 of caution could be impressed by reading he had learned 

 his lesson. 



It has occurred to me that "H. L." and others of my 

 fellow readers of Forest and Stream may be glad to 

 learn of this book. I am certain it will always be found 

 invaluable in teaching a boy how to handle his first gun. 



There is only one rule in the lot that Harry and I can- 

 not subscribe to, and that is Mr. Marvin's doctrine against 

 hammerless guns for boys. Surely they are the safest 

 guns, and if used at all, should be used from the begin- 

 ning and not after the gunner has become accustomed to 

 hammers. H. S. D. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Spring has come. The trout are rising on the creek. 

 Robins, blackbirds, bluebirds and ground birds are sing- 

 ing, while the kingfisher is making an awful "racket" 

 down by the creek, and the pheasants are drumming 

 their merriest tune. I am a boy, and I would like to add 

 my mite on the question "Shall the Boy Have a Gun?" 

 I have not seen any boy's opinion of it. I have carried a 

 rifle for three years, and as yet have not heard of an ac- 

 cident. I have killed over twenty woodchucks and two 

 hundred red squirrels and chipmunks. I dare say that a 

 boy never has a better time than when he goe3 hunting 

 for the. first time. I have several friends who are using 

 a gun for the second year, and they are as careful as a 

 man could be when handling a gun. Woodchuck. 



Northwoop, N. Y., April 11. 



A Representative American Institution.— The New York 

 Central & Hudson River Railroad is to-day recognized by the 

 traveling public, and also quite generally by its competitors, as 

 baing in many respects the representative Trunk Line leading 

 from the Atlantic seaboard. The merit of this distinction rests 

 largely upon nnsurpassed natural advantages, supplemented by a 

 liberal and progressive policy. It is the aim of the Central's 

 management to provide for the patrons of this line the best ser- 

 vice attainable, and to this end all the resources of this great 

 company are intelligently directed. A splendid railroad, admira- 

 ble train service, and magnificent equipment, are features which 

 place the New York Central in the foremost rank among the rail- 

 roads of the United States.— A dv . 



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

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

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

 and specimen illustrations from the volume.— Adv. 



