476 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



gr*». i, i89i. 



SOME MENAGERIE BABIES. 



r pHE young of all animals are attractive- Those of 

 JL wild animals are especially so. In a recent number 

 of the London Globe, Miss Catherine C. Hopley, well 

 known to our readers, has an interesting article on some 

 of the young creatures in the London Zoo. She says: 



Between the Esquimaux puppies, the young African 

 antelopes, and the infantile bears, rival attractions at the 

 Zoological Gardens at the present time, it would be diffi- 

 cult to say which are the popular favorites. The puppies 

 entice the lovers of canine pets, the antelopes are an 

 attraction because everything African is the fashion this 

 year; but the two little American grizzlies receive the 

 chief attention because they are most in evidence. 

 They are so demonstrative, and as amusing as Mttens. 

 Speke's antelope, however, is a distinguished stranger, 

 rare, and little known; this is the first specimen that has 

 reached England alive, and claims now the prior atten- 

 tion. It is to be found in the gazelle sheds, close to the 

 hippopotamus house, and in the next shed to the very 

 pretty "harnessed" antelope, with its white stripes ar- 

 ranged exactly like harness over its back and sides. 

 This also is African. Speke's antelope was brought from 

 Lake Ngami last spring, by Mr. James A. Nicholls, who 

 presented it to the Zoological Society. It was captured 

 Dy Mr. Nicholls and his companions in the marshes on the 

 north of Lake Nganii, when it was only a few days old, 

 and was carried in a wagon 800 miles to Kimberley. It 

 was an anxious little charge, the species being extremely 

 difficult to rear; and this baby, taken from its mother, 

 was fed on milk during its long journey. It has been 

 spending tbe summer in the Duke of Marlborough's park, 

 where it enjoyed its aquatic instincts and fed on such 

 aquatic plants as it chose. It arrived at the Zoological 

 Gardens on Oct. 14, and for some days would eat nothing. 

 It is now indulged with a daily handful of reeds from 

 the Three Island Pond, but is gradually partaking of dry 

 and more nourishing food, and is growing tame enough 

 to accept a biscuit from a visitor. Coming from just 

 within the tropics it is likely to suffer from an English 

 winter, two South African antelopes, which arrived in 

 October, having already succumbed to congestion of the 

 lungs, 



Speke's antelope, TrageTapliuH spekU, was first known 

 in 1864, and was named by Dr. Sclater, F.R.S., after its 

 discoverer, and described in the "Records of the Zoologi- 

 cal Society"' after the account given by Speke in his 

 work, "The Source of the Nile." Speke had a young 

 male specimen which he was able to keep alive for some 

 days by feeding it on the tender tops of the papyrus, the 

 only thing it would eat. The animals frequent the beds 

 oE papyrus on the borders of the lake, live in the swamps 

 and are much in the water. On this account it is difficult 

 to shoot them, as they remain immersed to the nostrils. 

 The Kaffirs paddle their canoes near enough to use their 

 assegais and kill them that way; or they fire the reeds 

 and so frighten them out on to an open space. The 

 natives set great value on the coat of this antelope, the 

 hair of which is long, thick and of excellent quality, the 

 skins being used only by the sable kings and their chief 

 officers.- It is of a uniform mouse color, rather reddish 

 on the head, and with a faint dark streak down the back. 



The very peculiar hoofs of this antelope attract imme- 

 diate attention, being long and claw-like, reminding us 

 of the long toes of the wading birds. These excessively 

 elongated hoofs are adapted for traversing the reedy 

 swamps which are the habitat of this antelope. On hard 

 ground it walks with difficulty; and its shed here is strewn 

 with soft peat to make it feel more at home. It legs are 

 also very long and slender, feeble of movement in a walk 

 rather like that of a giraffe, but capable of amazing swift- 

 ness where space invites it. The exceptionally long legs, 

 long hoofs, and a coat especially adapted to a moist ele- 

 ment, proclaim this antelope so distinctly aquatic that 

 one fears it will suffer for the want of its native lake, and 

 one wishes it could enjoy a spacious lake of lukewarm 

 water, like its neighbors, the tapirs and the hippopota- 

 mus. 



In form the antelope is like the deer, and seems to be 

 a connecting link between the deer and the goats. Like 

 the latter, it has simple, annulated and hollow horns, per- 

 manent, while the former shed their horns annually. 

 Our present specimen, being a female, has no horns, but 

 in the adjoining sheds are other African antelopes whose 

 horns, though varying, indicate the type. Watchful, 

 timid and retiring, are characteristics of the deer and 

 antelope tribe, and some time elapses before they ven- 

 ture to the front of their dens and accept of food from 

 the hand. 



Quite the reverse are the bears, who, ever so wild and 

 strange, keep close to the bars and quickly learn to look 

 for and accept a morsel from the hands of visitors. In 

 the two little grizzly bears this habit has been quite 

 noticeable. In a very few days they recognized the 

 keeper, soon they discovered that not he alone was the 

 dispenser of biscuits; "and within a week they were accom- 

 plished beggars. With remarkable aptitude they have 

 learned the civilized form of requesting favors. Standing 

 erect in front of their dens, with their arms thrust through 

 the bars to the utmost, their long -finger-like claws dis- 

 played with a supplicating action— so like extending the 

 palm — the dumb show is eloquent as words, "Give, do 

 give us biscuits." Their amusing gesticulation and child- 

 like eagerness draw a continuous crowd; their appeal is 

 irresistible to those who are happily supplied with 

 provender, while those who are not are as disappointed as 

 the suppliants themselves. Ursus horrilrilis is their name ; 

 and though their parents and grown-up relatives are, no 

 doubt, very terrible animals, these young scions of the 

 tribe present, thus far, a by no means horrible aspect, but 

 invite caresses rather than horror. Their bright little 

 eyes have an appealing and almost pathetic expression, 

 with something of truthfulness, too. Only over an extra- 

 sized biscuit is their natural ferociousness aroused, when 

 a short, sharp skirmish ensues. Soon over, however, for 

 they lose no time in coming to the front again, and on 

 their hind legs resume their observations and entreaties. 

 They come from the State of Montana, and arrived on 

 Oct. 4, presented by Mr. Ewen Somerled Cameron, F.Z.S. 



Bears are admittedly among the more intelligent of 

 quadrupeds and possess abundant native cunning; but 

 these two little grizzlies seem precocious in comparison 

 with some other infant bears that have been in the gar- 

 dens only a short time. A few cages off there are three 

 very small and young Arctic brown bears from Russia. 

 One of them that arrived only two or three weeks ago 



lies crouching and moaning as if for its mother, and as 

 yet barely distinguishes the keeper until he presents it 

 with food. It looks up pitifully from under its shaggy 

 brows with a shy, sly glance, but evinces no interest 

 otherwise, though keeping close to the bars. There is 

 yet another very young Ursus arctos that behaves simi- 

 larly, though it' has been here since Sept. 24. We may 

 conclude, therefore that the little "horribles" are more 

 adaptable, as they certainly are more lively and amusing 

 than their cousin's from Russia. 



It was in about two weeks that the young lion, pre- 

 sented by Her Majesty the Queen, learned the dinner 

 hour. At first he was too busy playing with his ball or 

 his tail to take any notice of the sound of the meat truck 

 or of the keeper until the food was given to him; but 

 now he is just as conscious of the time of day as the 

 other lions, and like them, listens for the approaching 

 wheels, leaping to and fro in the same eager fashion. 



Those very audible track wheels are a signal to out- 

 siders as well as to the felines. An interesting example 

 of intelligence and of drawing inferences (which holo- 

 gists argue is a proof of reasoning in animals) is seen 

 among the canines, who are fed soon after the lions. In 

 warm weather, when the doors of the lion house are 

 open, the noise of wheeling the meat truck can be easily 

 heard at the kennels. 



With remarkable keenness the occupants quickly learn 

 to associate the sound with their own coming food, and, 

 in an instant, you see their restless pacing to and fro 

 changed into frantic leaps and bounds. The little foxes 

 are up and down, springing upon the parapet, and the 

 larger animals stretch themselves upward to look for the 

 keeper; all, in fact, are full of excitement, knowing their 

 turn has come. In winter, when the lion house doors 

 are closed, the canines still listen intently for the welcome 

 sound, their quick ears detecting if when to human ears 

 it would be unobserved. 



THE NEW YORK GAME LAWS. 



We invited Messrs. Knapp & Van Nostrand, well-known 

 game dealers of this city, to give the readers of the Book 

 of the Game Laics their opinion as to the present New 

 York law. They wrote as follows: 



All reputable dealers in game desire its preservation as 

 much as conscientious sportsmen. It is against their inter- 

 est to destroy any line of goods handled by them. Their 

 co-operation in upholding a law just in its action Is an 

 assured fact. 



From the dealer's standpoint the wild duck law is per- 

 fectly satisfactory. 



The quail, woodcock, hare and rabbit laws are as nearly 

 correct as they can be made; also the partridge or ruffed 

 grouse law, since after Jan. 1 the supply has been drawn 

 from the far north where the birds eat poisonous berries, 

 and their flesh is therefore dangerous to the consumer. 



The pinnated grouse or prairie chicken should be allowed 

 to be sold here until March 1. The birds are killed during 

 the lawful period and are shipped here frozen. The law 

 stops the sale Jan. 1 in New York. In Boston they are sold 

 all the year, and thousands of birds pass through New York 

 in transit for Europe during the close season. No birds of 

 this species are killed in New York State; and while the 

 sale is allowed elsewhere the citizens of this State are de- 

 prived of the privilege of eating this delicious article of 

 food. 



The venison law is very unjust to dealer and consumer. 

 Not one person in ten thousand can go to the mountains in 

 New York State and shoot their deer. No dealer cares to 

 handle New York State venison, for it is, as a rule, thin and 

 dark colored. The fine deer meat does not commence to ar- 

 rive from Minnesota until Dec. 1 . Themarket hunters have 

 fifteen days to kill in. They hang the deer up and freeze 

 them: and ship them at that time. The sale stops here 

 Dec. 15. After that the meat is sent out of the State, put in 

 freezers, and kept until Aug. 15 of tbe following year, when 

 the same meat is sold that under a more sensible law might 

 have been consumed when in its best condition the previous 

 season. 



The dealers would be pleased if the killing of deer in New 

 York State was prohibited entirely, and only meat allowed 

 to be sold that was proved to be lawfully killed in the West 

 from Nov. 1 to March 1. 



With the amendment of the pinnated grouse and wild deer 

 laws, as mentioned above, the laws as they now stand on the 

 statute book are as near correct as it is possible to have 

 them, but we heartily advise and hope that the two excep- 

 tions will be corrected* Kx'APP & YXS NosTBAND. 



SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION OF THE DOG. 



THIS work, "The Scientific Education of Dogs for the 

 Gun," is by a well-known English sportsman, and is a 

 very well written treatise upon the subject, containing some 

 new ideas and much that is iuteresting and instructive to 

 the new beginner as well as not a little that will be benefi- 

 cial for even old hands to study. 



The chapter devoted to kennel management is a short one, 

 but it is very nearly complete, and is alone worth many 

 times the price of the work to any one that will heed its 

 teachings. 



Considerable space is given to the training of retrievers, 

 and the instructions given are excellent; indeed, they could 

 hardly be improved upon, especially those that treat of the 

 rudiments. 



In the chapter devoted to pointers and setters, the author 

 gives very plain directions for teaching tbe dog his duties, 

 and better than this, he advocates the humane system and 

 tells how to bring out his better qualities and intelligence 

 without the use of the whip or spiked collar. We quote a 

 portion of the first chapter on pointers and setters. After 

 giving his method of teaching a puppy to point a bit of bis- 

 cuit, he says, "When quite perfect at this, go into long grass, 

 and here, at all events to start with, have a drop or two of 

 melted cheese on the biscuit to produce more scent, and if 

 you have got an intelligent pupil and are an intelligent 

 master, you will most likely have a genuine point to scent 

 the first time of asking. Don't overdo this business; remem- 

 ber it is only a means to an end, but I can assure you it is a 

 means, and a wonderful means, to make the real thing very 

 simple by and by. When you have got this dodge perfect 

 with your pup singly, take two out together, let them stand 

 side by side as you throw the biscuit, then touch one dog, it 

 is better than calling him by name, and let him draw on, 

 leaving the other one backing in a standing posture at the 

 point of departure. 



"It is a pretty thing, I can tell you, to see this trick done 

 perfectly with half a dozen or more pups out: they should 

 all drop after you have lifted the biscuit, and you should 

 then quietly walk round, at all events tbe first time or so, 

 and give them a little bit apiece. 



"Mind this, if you are unable to teach this performance to 

 any pup without using a whip or even striking with your 

 hand, don't do it at all. 



I l"But, supposing that it is accomplished, what is it that 

 you have done during the past five months, say, of a puppy 

 life, You have got him perfectly obedient; you have got 

 stamped upon his mind his rational instinct— -to point, and 

 then slowly to draw on. and to stop at the end of the draw. 



and more than that, 'to back* in a standing position, and 

 to 'drop' with the certainty of a quick reward, and over 

 and above, and far beyond, in my opinion, you have been 

 making him 'think' all the time/and have never disturbed 

 the perfect confidence that he reposes in you. Look on this 

 system and then on the insane idea of 'walking pups' and 

 then thrashing out of them the bad habits they have con- 

 tracted through your fault, and physicking out of them, if 

 you can, the thousand and one diseases they have contracted 

 by insalubrious conditions, atmospheric hardships and cur 

 contact. Why, the man who would go in for the latter 

 must be either without experience of any sort whatever or 

 else— well, 'not wise.' 



"Ah, but there is danger here of 'overbreaking,' says 

 some one. Bahl What is over-breaking? The whip, ex- 

 haustion from overwork and arbitrary, unintelligent forcing 

 at the hands of an ignorant and tyrannical taskmaster." 



Part IV. of the book tells how to train the spaniel, and is 

 by far the best work upon this subject that we have yet 

 seen. 



Tbe author is a pleasing writer, and interspersed through 

 the pages of the hook are numerous anecdotes and lots of 

 sketches of shooting that at least have the merit of being 

 well told, and are well worth perusal. He is a firm believer 

 in animal magnetism, and some of his statements as to the 

 results accomplished by the help of this agency are marvel- 

 ous. Now, we have lots of faith in the efficacy of "will, 

 power," but there is a limit to the distance that it will be 

 effective, and we draw the line at much less than a "quarter 

 of a mile away," although the author states that the mag- 

 netic influence can be relied upon to restrain a dog from 

 doing evil even at that distance. 



GAME PROTECTOR BRADLEY. 



JOHNSTOWN, N. Y., Dec. 16. — IMttor Forest and Stream: Ah 

 your paper seems to have taken up the defense of the State 

 Fish Commissioners in the changes they made in the game pro- 

 tector force this fall, and as you have always given impartial 

 hearings to both sides I deem it hut fair that you should publish 

 a few lines reviewing the record of Protector Bradley and the 

 circumstances of bis removal. The records show that, while his 

 district is probably the worst one in the State for public senti- 

 ment in sustaining the game laws, still he has successfully prose- 

 cuted and collected more fines than any other protector on the 

 list. When he found that tbe Grand Jury of Hamilton county- 

 would find no indictments for violation of the gam'' laws, by aid 

 of friends he got a law passed making Fulton county indictments 

 applicable to Hamilton county offenders, and then when he fouud 

 Fulton county juries were not to be depended upon he prosecuted 

 for penalties in Herkimer county, and has won every time. Until 

 now no officer in middle New York has the reputation of pluck 

 and shrewd ability to follow up a case that Mr. Bradlpy has. In 

 1884 I met him at Sageville, the county town of Hamilton, in the 

 heart of the wilderness, when the Grand Jury was in session, and 

 used every influence I could to help him get some indictments. 

 When the foreman of the Grand Jury told me how impossible it 

 was to talk about indicting their neighbors, when every man on 

 the Grand Jury had violated the game law probably every month 

 of the year, I was discouraged, but Mr. Bradley was not; and he 

 told me then and there that he would find a way to enforce the 

 law, and he has done so. Not that I think that all violators are 

 caught; far from it; but great improvements are made, and with 

 proper help he would soon hold them to a minimum. 



It is an old saying that "governments are hear! less," and the 

 Fish Commissioners illustrate this by their action regarding Mr. 

 Bradly at this time, when he had barely recovered from almost 

 total blindnes 3 , caused by his lying out last May on the Mohawk 

 River all one wet night trying to catch netters. While he lay at 

 the Albany hospital of course he could not watch his district, but 

 when, by aid of a surgical operation that cost him the mast of his 

 year's salary, he regained his sight, his vigilance at once brought 

 many cas*\s for his shrewd management, probably to bring to 

 judgment penalties this winter. I dislike to publicly criticise the 

 Fish Commissioners, as I know that theirs is a thankless office, 

 and it is impossible to please everybody, but I do think that under 

 the circumstances they should have let Mr. B. serve bis year out, 

 and if they had any charges agaiust him, at least have given him 

 a chance to be heard in his own behalf. Mr. Bradley's age is the 

 only valid plea against his keeping the position, but age. to such 

 men as he is, fetches little physical weakness, but by adding to 

 his experience makes him really more capable in the collecting of 

 evidence and a knowledge of what is necessary to convict. The 

 indorsement he has of every district attorney in his dist rict shows 

 their appreciation of his ability in preparing cases. 



I certainly have no personal interest in this matter beyond my 

 great desire to have the game laws enforced as well as is possible, 

 and I certainly would not urge Mr. Bradley's being the protector 

 of this district if I knew of a better man for the position. But 

 having no confidence in the men whose names have so far been 

 mentioned for the place I shall stand by the man who I know can 

 be relied on until a better man shows himself. M. S. Nosthrup. 



m m\A ^tvqr fishing. 



The full tests of the game fish laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Booh of 

 the Game La ws. 



ROD, LINE AND HOOK IN JAMAICA.-II. 



KING-FISHING, 

 [/Continued from Pom ,459.] 



ALONG the south coast of the beautiful island of 

 Jamaica, down below her deep, blue waters lie 

 valleys, banks and shoals, east, west and far away to the 

 south, and these form the hunting and breeding grounds, 

 and the happy homes of myriads of fish life. The banks, 

 of calcareous formation and densely covered with marine 

 vegetable growth, are located at from two and three to 

 thirty miles and more from the coast line of the verdant 

 plains and lofty hills that are covered along their flats 

 and to their loftiest points with a tropical vegetation, 

 dwarfs and giants. In the deep and shallow waters of 

 this beautiful sea sport countless millions of finny life, 

 from the blowing and portly Jricheus americanus to the 

 small crustacean whose frail construction scarce seems 

 capable to repel the force of wind and waves as they beat 

 over his delicate back and rocky home. In these waters 

 may be found the sea scavenger, dusky in color, prowling 

 about devouring all that comes in his way, side by side 

 with the silvery babies too numerous to individualize. 

 There are turtles of all kinds, notably those of the hawk's 

 bill with its valuable shell, and they of green fat fame. 

 Snappers may be found by the tens of thousand, and of 

 many varieties of ail sizes and colors ; doctors of polished 

 blackness with their lancets, keen of edge, hinged on to 

 either side; parrots of red, blue and green, with pretty 

 poll heads. There are anglers with their innocent faces, 

 porgies with their vent bone, a perfect quill equal to 

 goose or steel for writing purposes. The monster Jew 

 fish running up to 4001bs,, the racing barracouta, the 

 fast-swimming bonitto; the dolphin; the rainbow with 

 its prism tints; the gloomy grouper with its delicious 

 liver, large and fat; silks of the deep; jacks with then- 

 name legion; the queer triangular trunks; the hinds with 

 their vermillion spots; the calipever, the mullet, the 

 mackerel, the snit, the herring, and a thousand and one 

 others all waiting to be taken, all ready to be eaten. 

 From the sandy beach, and, in places, rock-bound coast, 

 to the deep marine caverns, and valleys, and banks off 

 shore, alL willing, waiting, longing to be caught.- 



