44 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[FEiB. 5, 1891= 



A PAIR OF PET LIONS. 



PREVIOUS to making up country trips in Soutli Africa 

 I always laid in a supply of calico drei3ses and pound 

 packages of tea to serve as presents for the wives of the 

 Boers in the outlying districts. Tea is used by them only 

 in cases of sickness, and the donation of a calico dress is 

 always met by an interchange of dairy and hen roost 

 products. In one of my trips, while in the neighborhood 

 of an old vrouw, finding that the larder needed replen- 

 ishing, I jumped on my shooting pony and cantered over 

 to her house, followed by my Kaffir henchman "Janu- 

 ary," carrying a basket containing the tea and dress. 

 The noise of my pony's hoofs on the sun-baked earth 

 caught the old lady's ears and she met me at the door 

 with the exclamation ; 



"I'm so glad you have come!" 

 "Why?" 



"Because I have a pair of young lions for you." 

 "Where are they?" 



"Knocking about the house somewhere." 



I immediately dismounted, handed the reins to Janu- 

 ary, started indoors, and finally brought up in the 

 kitchen, where I found the whelps asleep on the health. 

 On asking how they were captm-ed she informed me that 

 some two weeks previous her son had shot a lioriess, and 

 finding her in milk, hunted around until he picked up 

 the youngsters. I immediately bargained for them with 

 the understanding that they were to be given all the milk 

 they would drink, not teas'ed, and kept until my return, 

 some three months ahead. The tea and dress were then 

 produced and January had to enlist the services of 

 one of the farm Kaffirs to assist in carrying to the wagons 

 the butter and eggs which were received in exchange. 



On my return I found they had been partially weaned, 

 which was fortunate, as it would have been impossible to 

 get fresh milk for them daily. Taking them in my 

 arms I started toward my cart, which had been driven 

 up in front of the house, for the purpose of throwing 

 them on my bed; but the oxen bolted on, catching scent 

 of them, and it required a deal of patience before they 

 would allow them to be loaded. On coming up with my 

 train of wagons, loaded with antelope, gnus, etc., the 

 caxt was prudently kept some distance in the rear, for 

 fear of a stampede of the teams, and it was fully a week 

 before the oxen became thoroughly accustomed to Hon 

 odor. The whelps would pass the time while traveling 

 lolling about on my bed, which I shared with them at 

 night, but so soon as we stopped and the oxen were turned 

 loose for grazing their heads would be thrust out from 

 the front of the cart waiting t© be lifted out, so that they 

 could have their customary game of romps with the dogs ' 

 and myself. 



We had reached the more thickly settled portion of the 

 country when one day, just as we were outspanning, a 

 couple of young Boers cantered up to the wagons, one of 

 whom carried a fine chacnia seated behind him. On dis- 

 mounting the reins were handed to the baboon, who had 

 seated himself just in front of the horses, and I started 

 for. the cart in search of the "square rigger," t. e., gin 

 flask, in order to pave the way to purchasing the baboon. 

 On reaching it the heads of both whelps appeared, ex- 

 pecting to be lifted out, as was customary. On catching 

 sight of them the baboon gave a scream, the horses a 

 snort of terror, and each one took a separate path across 

 the veldt, folio wed by a pair of blaspheming Boers. I 

 saved my gin, but lost the chance of buying a fine chacma 

 and sulkily refused to join in the usual frolic. 



The trip home was made without further incident, and 

 on arriving the youngsters were allowed the run of the 

 house; but at night they would persist in sharing my bed 

 with me. A f ter having been nearly smothered by a trick 

 which they had of lying across my face, I finally com- 

 promised matters by arranging a cot alongside my brd 

 with a stout wire screen intervening. Of course the 

 arrival of the young lions was soon noised about, and I 

 did not lack company, especially on Sunday afternoons, 

 when my establishment resembled a miniature zoological 

 garden, and the female whelp seemed to select just such 

 occasions to play pranks on the bipeds of her own sex. 

 Her favorite ambush was under the table of the dining 

 room, the door of which opened on the passage way 

 through the house. So long as males passed, or females 

 escorted by males, she would remain quiet, but as sure as 

 a single female, or a party of them, attempted to pass 

 through, she would spring out and crouch just in front 

 of them, invariably causing a hasty retrograde move- 

 ment, accomx)anied by a series of screams. Once while 

 in the rear giving some directions to the Kaffirs, I was 

 startled by a piercing shriek, and turned just in time to 

 see a frightened female dart out of the back door and 

 come at racing speed toward me. In so doing she had to 

 pass directly under a tree, in which was chained a baboon. 

 So soon as she was fairly under it, the brute dropped 

 on to her shoulders, whisked off her bonnet and wrap, 

 and was up on his perch again in a jifly. She dropped 

 in a dead faint, a,nd before I could dash some water into 

 her face and bring her to her senses the bonnet and wrap 

 were torn into shreds, and on looking toward the house I 

 could see the head of the lioness lying over the doorsill, 

 seemingly enjoying the mischief she had caused. On 

 another occasion, hearing a series of suppressed screams 

 in the house, I hurried in and found a trio of young ladies 

 standing on the dining table, with their skirts pufled up 

 to about the regulation ballet length, ami tightly drawn 

 about their limbs, while the lioness was crouched on the 

 floor just in front of them, whisking her tail and a.cting 

 precisely as if she intended to spring up and occupy a 

 portion of their retreat. Picking her up I carried her 

 into my bedroom, and on my return found that the young 

 ladies had managed to get down without any assistance, 

 and were hurrying out the front door without saying 

 good-bye. 



Fearing that something serious might occur if I allowed 

 my pets their liberty any longer, I bad a large cage con- 

 structed, and for the first week or two was forced to 

 spend a greater portion of my time in it with them. The 

 male did not worry so much, but the female fretted con- 

 stantly, and the only way I had of quieting her was to 

 go in and lie dov^n, using the male for a pillow, while 

 she would stretch herself alongside of me with her head 

 resting on my chest. A short time after confining them 

 I found that they were shedding their milk teeth, a very 

 painful operation with aU cat animals. The female did 



not suffer so much, but the male's upper gums became so 

 much swollen as to almost close his eyes, and I deter- 

 mined to lance them. Placing him squarely on his back, 

 with my left hand I opened his jaws, and with a knife 

 in my right quickly slashed one gum, springing aside 

 immediately, as I expected a wipe from his front paws. 

 Much to my surprise he never made the slightest attempt 

 to injure me, but gave a grunt of relief, rolled over on 

 his side and began sucking the blood from the wound. 

 The other gum was served in a like manner with pre- 

 cisely the same actions, and the next day I had the satis- 

 faction of seeing th; swelling much reduced, and in a 

 short time it entirely disappeared. 



No doubt many of my readers will suppose that my 

 pets only served to get me into scrapes, but I have a very 

 distinct recollection of one instance in which they 

 managed to get me out of one. I was hailed one day by 

 the sheriff, who informed me that he had a summons in 

 his office for me to serve as a juryman. I tried to beg off, 

 but he was inexorable and said that he had no discretion 

 in the matter, so I told him that the first time he hap- 

 pened out in my neighborhood to drop in and serve the 

 paper. A few days afterward he rode up to my gate and 

 I called January to open it for him, while I hurried out 

 through the back door and made for the lions' cage. But 

 a short time elapsed before I h^ard him calling for me, 

 and on my answering he gradually found his way out to 

 the den, in which I was seated on the male's recumbent 

 body, while the female sat behind me with her chin rest- 

 ing on one of my shoulders. As soon as he saw me he 

 sprang back and yelled out: 



"For Heaven's sake! Come out of there!" 



"Hand that summons in here and I will do so." 



"Do you want my arm torn oflf?" 



"No; but I want you to make a legal service of that 

 paper by handing it to me." 



"I shall not take any such risk, but I will tear it up if 

 you will only come out and save me from seeing you torn 

 into pieces." 



"All right, do so, and I will try to get out alive." 



The. paper was torn up and I stepped out of the cage, 

 much to my friend's relief, whose nerves were completely 

 quieted by a resort to the "square rigger." 



A short time subsequent I met the judge in the street, 

 who wished to know if my mode of dodging jury duty 

 was the one commonly practiced in my own country. 



Frank J. Thompson. 



AN UNSEASONABLE RAIL. 



E ASTON, Md., Jan, 20— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 write to ask if it is not very unusual to find a speci- 

 men of the Virginia rail (R. virginianus) as far north as 

 this locality at this season of the year. The specimen re- 

 ferred to is J2. virgimanus, and not the common sora or 

 Carolina rail (P. carolinensis). 



It was captured in rather a singular manner. I have 

 a friend who has a terrapin pond, and being annoyed by 

 the muskrats burrowing in the banks of the pond, he set 

 a number of steel traps for them, and found the bird 

 caught by the leg in one of the traps. It is a male bird 

 in full plumage and in fine condition, which would go to 

 show that it was not from being wounded or otherwise 

 injured that it failed to migrate with its fellows. I am 

 having the bird mounted on account of finding it at this 

 season, and it is a remarkably fine specimen. 



These birds are rare with us at any time, although we 

 formerly had the common sora by thousands in its sea- 

 son. Although killing these birds in great numbers every 

 season, it has been an unusual thing to kill a JR. virgin- 

 iamis. 



While on the subject of rail, can any of our sportsmen 

 account for the sudden and great falling off in the num- 

 bers of these birds since 1883? Up to that season we had 

 them in countless numbers on our marshes, but since that 

 year they have been scarce. I should attribute it to over- 

 shooting if the diminution had not been all at once, and 

 the rail having the immense amount of cover it has ought 

 to be protected, one would think. Sinkboat. 

 ■ [It is, we believe, quite unusual to find rail of any kind 

 so far north as Maryland in winter. At the same time it 

 must be confessed that we do not know very much about 

 the habits of these birds. For example, up in Connecticut 

 it is the popular belief that the sora all go south at the 

 first hard frost in autumn, and it is unusual to find them 

 on the rail grounds after Oct. 1. Nevertheless in high 

 coarse sedge and reeds on the edge of the salt water these 

 birds are occasionally killed, being flushed by accident 

 up to Dec. 1. Here in the north we have always found 

 R. virginiamis rare as compared with the Carolina rail.J 



THE PERSISTENCE OF PESTS. 



BELLEVILLE, Ont,, Jan, 31.— A wolf which had de- 

 stroyed upward of seventy sheep was recently poi- 

 soned in the town of North Burgess. 



Two foxhounds owned by local hunters recently fell 

 victims to poison which some careless individual had set 

 out for the bushy-tailed prowlers. 



Foxes are numerous beyond precedent in this neigh- 

 borhood despite their pursuit by hunters. Seven "reds" 

 were one day recently on foot before three hounds, within 

 two miles of the city. 



Foxes are said to be very numerous in the vicinity of 

 Newburgh, some twenty miles east, and on Tuesday Mr. 

 John Jackson sighted a beautiful silver gray one. They 

 are so tame that they have been seen playing with the 

 dogs in the barnyards. 



A short time ago two students from Queen's College, 

 Kingston, who were visiting at Odessa, trapped a black 

 fox, and received from a fui-rier in Kingston ,|90 for the 

 pelt. Another was captured on the fourth concession of 

 Hungerford last week. The animal has become almost 

 extinct in this section, and the skins are said to be worth 

 from $100 to $150 each, 



A silver fox was shot in Hungerford township a couple 

 of weeks ago by Mr, M, Cronkwright and sold to Mr. Alf . 

 Dulmage for $75. The fox is a native of Labrador, and 

 only two have ever been known to be shot in. Hastings. 



In order that your readers may avoid the mistake of 

 your correspondent, who, after navigating Lake Ontario 

 and the Eiver St. Lawrence in an open boat, described the 

 shores of our beautiful bay as in a state of nature — a 

 country that has been settled nearly a hundred years and 

 has been all but denuded of its forest — let me state that 

 I the whole of the region above referred to is one of the 

 . oldest settled tracts m the Province. R. S. B, 



FLORIDA BIRD NOTES. 



BISCAYNE BAY, Fla., Jan. 25. -For the last two 

 weeks this far southern section of countrv has been 

 alive with robins. As the oldest settlers have never seen 

 these birds here before, they excite great intert>sfe and 

 curiosity. They are fat/saucy, and so tame that one may 

 approach within a few feet of them ere they take wing. 

 They seem also to be very quarrelsome, and fight so 

 fiercely among themselves that in two ca>^et^,' coming undey 

 my personal observation, the vanquished bird has died 

 within a few minutes after the battle. 



The native birds seem much disgusted by the xjresence 

 of these intruders, and the mockingbirds are devoting all 

 their energies to chasing them. 



I heard the first song sparrow about a week ago. and 

 the blue jays have been with us for the past two months. 

 Never have I seen so many crows as now fill the woods 

 and line the beaches about here. Their battles are with 

 the buzzards, and when a dozen or more of them get after 

 one buzziard the latter has a poor show. O. K. Chobke. 



Breeding of Bears.— Van Buren, Ind., Jan. SO.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: I wish information about the 

 breeding habits of the black bear, as I have a male from 

 Wisconsin, a female from Michigan, three years old next 

 spring. They have been kept together in a cage sirce 1 

 got them as cubs, weighing 16 and lilbs. respectively. 

 On 25th inst, there was a cub found in the cage dead and 

 partly consumed. I judge it was destroyed by the male, 

 and will say I have never seen anything to make me 

 think there was any prospect of any increase or I would 

 have separated them sooner. How many cubs does the 

 female bring forth a season? Are all at one time or some 

 time between? What is the usual time of the year they 

 bring forth their young? What is the period of gestation? 

 and do the males destroy the young?— M. D, [As we have 

 more than once said, but little is known about the breed- 

 ing of bears. It is certain, however, that the cubs are 

 usually born in January, that they are from one to three 

 in number, and that young bears produced in confine- 

 ment are often destroyed by the parents. While in 

 charge of the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati, Mr. 

 Frank J. Thompson succeeded in breeding black bpars, 

 and an account of this occurrence from his i)en may be 

 found in Forest and Stream XIIl., p. 605. From this 

 it appears that the young are born naked, that they are 

 blind for forty days after birth, and are carefully 

 watched by the mother for nearly three months. We 

 would suggest your separating your bears early next 

 winter and giving the female every opportunity to make 

 herself ready for the possible event.] 



Reducing the Sparrows. — Perth Amboy, N. J., Jan, 

 20.— Editor Forest and Stream: I recently scored the 

 fifteen hundredth English sparrow which has fallen to 

 my Stevens .3'^ since April, 1888. What would the 

 natural hicrease of the liirds have probably been mean- 

 while, if unmolested? — K, [The data given are not accu- 

 rate enough for us to figure on with any degree of 

 definiteness. The pparrow is supposed to rear four or 

 five broods of from four to six young each in a season. 

 We think that the natural increase of the sparrows 

 which you have destroyed might safely be placed at 

 from 15,000 to 20,0*.0 as a minimum. We commend this 

 question to om' mathematical readers,] 



Linn.5!AN Societf OF New York.— A regular meet- 

 ing of the society will be held at the rooms of the Ameri- 

 can Geographical Society, No, 11 West Twenty-ninth 

 sti-eet, Friday evening, Feb. 6, 1891, at 8 o'clock. A paper 

 will be read by Mr. F. M. Chapman, entitled "The Mam- 

 mals of the East Coast of Florida,'' and one by Mr. Lev- 

 erett M. Loomis, entitled "An Historical Sketch of South 

 Carolinian Ornithology.'" — Jonathan Dwight, Jr., Sec- 

 retary. 



i^m^ md 0uti. 



The EtTLL TEXTS of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are given in the JBooli of the 

 Game Laivs. 



ATRIP TO THE CAUGILON MOUNTAINS. 



THE last week has been the most successful from a 

 sportsman's point of view that I can call to mind 

 during the six years that I have been hunting over Texas 

 and New Mexico. We have certainly on other occasions 

 killed larger quantities of game during a shorter space of 

 time and without so much work to get it, but never did 

 we have so much condensed fun in one week. Three 

 years ago we killed six bears and a black-tailed buck in 

 two days. We had eight or ten white-tailed deer in camp 

 at one time, while hunting in Val Verdi county, Texas. 

 And the numbers of turkeys that have now and then 

 fallen in our way have been sufficient to supply a large 

 camp nearly all winter with meat. Ho wever, I have been 

 more pleased with the reminiscences of this September 

 week than any other on record. 



Our party consisted my friend E., Andres, a Puebla In- 

 dian; a Mexican cook and his son to herd the burros; an 

 old half-breed Navajo Indian-Mexican, a faithful servitor 

 of long standing, whom we will call G. ; a gentleman from 

 Philadelphia, Mr. Johnson, and his friend Mr. Pickin, and 

 myself. J. and P., who were out for pleasure, and had 

 heard of my camp, came over to consult me on the sub- 

 ject, so it was settled that they should come with us and 

 see how they liked it. Accordingly we took in two or 

 three more days with the trout on the Rio Brazos, during 

 which time several large fish were caught, weighing from 

 four and three-quarters down to half a pound, then we 

 moved to the Cebolla Plaza, near which the Mexicans in- 

 formed us several bears had been killed and more been 

 seen. Next day we started out to locate our game. We 

 had ridden quite six mUes without receiving any en- 

 couragement. At last, however, we came on the track 

 of alaige bear and cub. Shortly afterward we found 

 more sign and the carcass of one not long killed. Think- 

 ing this good enough to try we returned. 



The next day found us camped near the head of a 

 bright little trout stream, known as the Rio Caugilbn. 

 Our two friends traveled in a buckbpard, and as any one 



