348 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Mat 21, 1891. 



New Hampshire Forestey Commission.— The New 

 Hampshire Forestry Commission -wishes to obtain infor- 

 mation and suggestions relating to subjects: 1. Fires in 

 forests and woodlands. 3. New roads needed in mountain 

 regions. 3. New foot and bridle paths. 4. New places 

 or objects of interest not yet accessible, lates, mountain 

 passes, ravines, cascades, or any views of remarkable 

 beauty or attractiveness. 5. Information respecting the ef- 

 fects of denudation upon the volume of water in the streams 

 of the State, thus far observed. 6. Information and opin- 

 ions from all sources regarding the value of timber lands 

 as investments. 7. Information of all new or special 

 manufactures or uses of timber and forest products, such 

 as canes, umbrella sticks, wooden plates for decoration or 

 use, handles and small wares of every kind. 8. Opinions 

 and suggestions as to what should be done by the State 

 through legislation, by owners of timber lands, hotel pro- 

 prietors and other citizens through individual or associ- 

 ated action, and by the Forestry Commission for the care 

 and preservation of our mountain forests, water sources 

 and scenery. 9. The Commission invites the co-operation 

 of the journalists of the State, of lumbermen, owners of 

 timber lands, farmers and hotel proprietors, of oui' edu- 

 cational institutions, teachers, clergymen and public 

 spirited citizens in general, in promoting and extending 

 the discussion of these subjects, I shall be glad to an- 

 swer all inquiries so far as it is in my power to do so. All 

 information and correspondence should be addressed to 

 the Secretary of the Commission, J, B. Harrison, Frank- 

 lin Falls, N. H. 



Land ^L4.MMALS of California.— In a recent number 

 of Zoe Mr. Walter E. Bryant, of San Francisco, publishes 

 a Provisional List of the Land Mammals of California, in 

 which 109 species are represented, Among these are one 

 marsupial, an opossum, the occurrence of which in Cali- 

 fornia has not been authenticated, three species of deer, 

 the antelope and mountain sheep (Ouis), twenty-one 

 species of squirrels, one each of beaver and hapiodon, 

 sixteen of mice, three of gophers, twelve of pouched rats, 

 one each of the jumping mice and pikas, seven hares, 

 fifteen different bats, two or three shrews and moles, two 

 bears, one raccoon and ring-tailed cat, nine of the weasel 

 family, five wolves and foxes and three cats. We are 

 somewhat surprised to tind the white goat (Mazama 

 montana) omitted from this Kst, which we fancy should 

 also include another species of deer. 



A Connecticut Rattlesnake.— iJcZttor Forest and 

 Stream: Having had occasion to go up into the north- 

 eastern part of Connecticut during the early part of last 

 April, I learned while there that last fall a rattlesnake 

 was killed near a ledge of rocks about 200yds. from my 

 old home, which at the time created no little local ex- 

 citement, since a reptile of that species was never seen or 

 heard of nearer the place than in a broken section of 

 country about twelve miles distant. The specimen alluded 

 to was some 2ft. in length, yellow and brown mottled, 

 with two well developed fangs, and a button, but no 

 rattles, thus denoting it to be a young one and probably 

 bred near the place where it was killed. Now are rattlers 

 apt to go far from the place where they are bred, and if 

 so, would they probably stray off at so long a distance?— 

 A.. L. L. 



New Hare From Mexico. — At a recent meeting of the 

 California Academy of Sciences Mr. Walter E. Bryant 

 gave a preliminary description of a new hare collected 

 by him at Espirito Sante Island, in the Gulf of Califor- 

 nia, in November, 1890. The species is described as black 

 on the upper surfaces and pale purplish cinnamon below. 

 The ears are gray, black-tipped, the chin and orbital re- 

 gion gi-ayish white and the cheeks gray. It is about the 

 size of Lepus eaUfornicus. A more detailed description, 

 with measurements, cranial characteristics, etc., will 

 follow. 



A White Muskra.t. — A singular freak of nature is on 

 exhibition at Jones's gun store, Sing Sing. It is nothing 

 less than a perfectly white muskrat (Fiber zibetMcus). 

 This curious animal was caught by R. K. Fox, of Ham- 

 mond Station, N. Y. & N. E.R. The writer of this note 

 has seen a good many muskrats, first and last, in his life, 

 but never recollects of seeiflg a perfectly white one before. 

 Have the readers of Forest and Stream?— A. H. G, 



A Sparrow-Killing Crow.— Sandusky, O. — ^Mr. Chas. 

 Neilson, of this city, has a pet crow which is proving 

 himself a terror to English sparrows. His mode of at- 

 tack is to get on some eminence, a house or barn, and 

 then jump on them bodily. He has kiUed as many as 13 

 in a day, — W. H. 



"ALMOST A TRAGEDY." 



TN the heart of the swamp lies a deep, still pool, 



Hemmed in by thickets of brier and rane, 

 And nodding alders whose berries shine. 

 When nipped by the frost, like ruby wine! 

 'Tis a charming spot, and the frogs at night hold carnival 



there. 



Bnt oh! the sport when the moon sails high, flooding the pool 



with silver light. 

 Then the air fairly rings with bactrian glee 

 As they splash, croak, whistle in wild orgie, 

 TiU a big brown owl, in a neighboring tree, 

 Hears the din, leaves his perch, and on silent wing flies 



direct to the swamp. 



On reaching the scene of the carnival games, he hovers a 

 moment, 



And with big hright eyes endeavors to pierce the shadows 

 that rest 



'Mid the chill, damp coverts, whilst the frogs with zest 



Continue their sports, unaware that a pest. 



In the shape of an owl, has stolen nigh in search of a victim. 



Squatting close on the crest of a sodden stump sils a senti- 

 nel frog; 



He catches a glimpse of liovOTiiig wings. With a warning 



croak he sounds alarm! 

 And a sudden silence spreads its calm 

 O'er pool and thicket, where secure from harm, 

 The frogs have hidden! * * * Thro' the moon's bright rays 



the disgusted owl 

 Sails back to his tree, a supperless fowl, Wilmot, 



MALLARD SHOOTING AT SHOALWATER 



PORTLAND, Oregon. — The pinnated grouse or prairie 

 hen is not found west of the Cascade Range to my 

 knowledge. But in eastern Oregon and Washington they 

 are plentiful, reminding one of the old prairie chicken 

 days of Iowa and Nebraska. Eastern and westeirn Oregon 

 are no more alike than Minnesota and Florida. Eastern 

 Oregon is a bleak, level, prairie country, hot in summer 

 and cold in winter, while western Oregon is a mountain- 

 ous, heavily-timbered country with a remarkably equable 

 climate. 



However, the pheasant, the quail and the blue grouse 

 are plentiful all through western Oregon, but grouse 

 hunting in this country differs so little from the same 

 sport in other parts of the United States, and has been 

 written about so much that I will not tax your valuable 

 space to enter into particulars. For me there is more real 

 pleasure and downright enjoyment in hunting the wild 

 goose and the duck than in any other sport except fishing 

 with the fly. What sport is more fascinating than shoot- 

 ing wild waterfowl, unless it be seek^g speckled beauties 

 in the moimtain streams? 



A personal experience of ten years added to information 

 gathered from men that have lived here forty years, 

 more or less, convinces me that this country has been and 

 is second to none other on earth for waterfowl. We have 

 nearly every variety of nearly every species, from the 

 Canada goose to the teal, from the sandhill crane to the 

 sand snipe, and as I have heretofore tried to inform you 

 of the exquisite preparation natm-e has made for their 

 accommodation and the long season for hunting them, 

 with which we sportsmen are blessed, I will now confine 

 myself to personal experiences and observations in the 

 practical hunting of them. Now, one of the privileges 

 universally accorded to all hunters and anglers is to tell 

 the truth. So the writer's reputation for truth and 

 veracity must not be allowed to suffer by reason of any 

 statements herein contained, and as to matters of hear- 

 say: 



I cannot tell how the truth may be, 

 I say the tale as 'twas said to me. 



I would like to read a book made up of the experience 

 that might be gathered up by taking notes around H. T. 

 Hudson's and Capt. Rdey's gun stores, as related by such 

 old reliables as Jack Knott, "Boss"' Schenck, Joe Paquet, 

 Jim Caraher, Judge Wballey, Harry Beal, George De- 

 hardy, George Van Derbeck, Bob Jennings, and others 

 equally talented Oregon duck hunters. Compared with 

 such a book "The Arabian Nights" and '-Baron Mun- 

 chausen" would be dry and insipid reading. I have some- 

 times thought that in years to come these experiences 

 will, by slight variations and continued repetition, resolve 

 themselves into blood-curdling, hair raising traditions 

 similar to the Icelandic sagas and the mythical legends of 

 the dark ages. 



Two years ago a friend and myself went to Shoal water 

 Bay for ducks. We took our tent and camp equipage for 

 a two weeks' stay. Arriving at Astoria we took the tug 

 Gen. Canby across Baker's Bay to Ilwaco. An oyster 

 wagon hauled our luggage across the seven- mile isthmus 

 and we found ourselves at the bay, which seemed to be 

 a mass of feathered life. We had no way of getting our 

 game out, and so took it easy. There is a large, heavily- 

 timbered island out in the bay, which is peopled with 

 bear, wildcat and coon. It is bluffy on the east side, but 

 at one place a cove or recess sets back into the islands for 

 perhaps a hundred rods, inclosing with high precipitous 

 walls a perfect garden of Eden for mallards. It was full 

 of springs and salt marshes. The mallard does not dive 

 deep for food, but delights to paddle around in shallow, 

 secluded places, half swimming, half waldiug and feeding 

 upon almost any thing, animal or vegetable, that he can 

 get without much effort. 



Well, this particular spot was just the kind of place a 

 mallard would spend hia life in if left unmolested, and 

 all the mallards in the country seemed to have heard of 

 it. But there was only one avenue of ingress and egress. 

 The ducks must come out where they went in. All we 

 had to do was to station ourselves at the entrance of this 

 cul-de-sac and fire a shot. This was the signal for the 

 whole army of mallards (a thousand or more) to pass a 

 hasty and hot review. My companion had a Winchester 

 repeating shotgun which had theretofore been the sub- 

 ject of many a jest, but at this particular time and place 

 it seemed to be the only satisfactory shotgun made, for 

 rapid firing was the essence of the transaction. For about 

 fifteen seconds of each morning and evening during our 

 stay these mallards subjected themselves to this ordeal. 

 One would think that they would soon get educated. 

 They did get to expecting us, but in their greater hurry 

 te get out only bunched a little better. Then one of us 

 would generally remain an hour or so to catch stragglers. 

 Hunting at this spot was hardly sportsmanlike, as the 

 birds had no show. 



An incident occurred one evening that impressed me 

 with an idea of the loneliness of the place. I am now 

 impressed with a definite idea of the grotesque figure I 

 must have cut standing there alone on a little bog sur- 

 rounded by high tide, trying to look brave and hold my 

 ground. To tell the truth I had to "hold my ground," 

 for a step either way would land me in salt mud up to 

 my ears. My companion had left me there and gone 

 away to a distant part of the island, and human beings 

 were decidedly scarce around Shoal water. The sun was 

 sinking behind the island; I had lit my pipe and was 

 mentally congrattilating myself upon the advantages I 

 possessed over the boys at home when a grunt or some 

 slight noise caused me to look hastily over my shoulder. 

 There came an old bear, floundering along through the 

 mud, not a hundred yards away, hunting for dog salmon. 



Now, I don't beheve that I am a natural born coward, 

 but manifesting the bear was more at home than I was, 

 and although there was probably no imminent danger 

 for either of us, I insist that I felt lonely, or rather weary 

 and fatigued, for retirement was what I desired, and I 

 didn't care which retired. But time went on and so did 

 the bear. He was coming straight at me, but entirely 

 unconscious of my presence, and I had a good opportu- 

 nity of estimating his size and probable strength. 



To the best of my recollection he looked somewhat 

 larger than Barnum's late lamented Jumbo, and very 

 wild and woolly at that. As I said before, I remame'd 



unmoved (for obvious reasons), but with the bear only 

 75yd 8. away. 



I knew that sooner or later, unless the bear changed his 

 course, I must break the news of my presence to his sensi- 

 tive nature, and yet I hesitated with the bear only 50yds. 

 away. 



It is true that I was armed with the best Parker and 

 plenty of shells loaded with duckshot, but some way I 

 found myself wishing that he knew that I was only just 

 a plain duck hunter and neither looking nor loaded for 

 "bar," My location was well ventilated, and yet things 

 seemed close and oppressive. 



While I was deliberating whether the bear would re- 

 gard it as a breach of etiquette for me to inquire if his 

 wife knew he was out, or whether his youngest had cut 

 any teeth, or some other pertinent friendly inquiry, he 

 discovered me. Probably the bear felt about as silly as I 

 looked simple, and was about as anxious to cut acquaint- 

 ance as 1 was for him to go; but he was so close to me 

 that he hated to let on for fear I would know he was a 

 coward and jump him. He didn't know me. There we 

 stood "both oored to death and both afraid to go," mak- 

 ing faces at each other and testing each other's staying 

 qualities. Force of circumstances gave me the advan- 

 tage of him, for he could get away and I couldn't, and I 

 even stayed a while after he left. Notwithstanding this 

 fact Jeff accused me of cowardice for not shooting, and 

 I have had occasion since then to regret that I ever told 

 anybody about that bear. 



At low tide the ducks gather on the sandbars and mud 

 flats out of danger; but as the tide returns they resort to 

 such places as the one above mentioned. A friend of 

 mine informs me that at low tide once upon a time, he 

 buried himself in the mud of one of these flats at Shoal- 

 water, and after patiently awaiting the return of the 

 tide, which drove the ducks within easy range, potted 

 fifty-seven at one shot. 



I must tell you of a good, or rather lucky, shot that I 

 made last fall. I was shooting on Smith's Lake, near 

 Columbia Slough, about seven miles from Portland. I 

 had out a good stool of decoys, but the ducks, for some 

 reason, all pitched into the other end of the lake. At 

 last I thought I would try an experiment. My old setter 

 Mike had observed the exasperating conduct of the ducks 

 and willingly lent himself to the scheme. 1 sent him to 

 the upper end of the lake, probably half a mile away, and 

 coming in behind the ducks like a mad alligator, he 

 started them. They got up, but settled again. Mike 

 kept up his racket until finally the ducks became alarmed 

 and strnck out for my end of the lake. Just as they got 

 opposite my blind they espied the decoys and quartered 

 in nicely, affording me as fine an opportunity as heart 

 could wish, and 1 gave them both barrels. The old dog 

 got back in time for the funeral and qtuckly retrieved the 

 winged birds. I bagged seventeen ducks at that shot, 

 and it wasn't a very good day for ducks either; but how 

 was that for a wing-shot? 



vSnow geese are not very plentiful, but a neat little in- 

 cident transpired the same day in which they played a 

 conspicuous part. A flock of nine of them were feeding 

 on tlie prairie about oOOyds, from my blind, off toward 

 the slough, Billy Taylor happened along, and being full 

 of expedients, as u>ua], suggested that he would send 

 them in to me. Billy got behind them and gave them a 

 start, but instead of coming to me they went straight to 

 Bob Hutchinson, half a mile below me. Bob got a double, 

 and the other g^ese got rattled, and turning in their 

 flight came straight at me, and I made a double. That 

 day's shoot netted us about 75 trash ducks. 4 snow geese 

 and 5 "honkers." In this country all ducks are "trash" 

 txcept canvas. 



The most plea«ant little shoot of my life was on the 

 23d day of last December. At noon of Saturday the 22d, 

 glancing out of my office window, I observed that the 

 weather was inclined to be spiteful, and the general tone 

 of the sky indicated storm. The little steamer Alarm 

 would leave Portland at 2 P. M., bound down the river, 

 and I suggested to Van Derbeck that we strike out for 

 the Greene Lake. But Van is disposed to procrastinate 

 when the weather is bad. So I jumped into my boots 

 and made for the boat alone. There I met another hunt- 

 ing chum, Mr. Harbaugh, and so the time passed merrily. 

 We arrived at the lake about 4 o'clock and spent the 

 remainder of the short afternoon overhauling boats and 

 decoys. Then we went up to Mr, Knapp's house, had a 

 good supper, a good smoke, a little chat and off to bed. 

 The morning dawn found us in our respective blinds 

 with about forty decoys dancing around each of us. 

 The weather was boisterous and we saw that we had 

 struck a good "canvas day." The wings began to whistle 

 and the bold birds wanted their breakfasts. Only those 

 of your readers that have shot canvas over decoys can 

 appreciate our feelings and sensations that morning. Oh 

 how the kingly birds did sweep the lake and dash at the 

 decoys. 



Monday morning one of Knapp's men took the ducks 

 to the landing on a sled. It is true that there was no 

 snow, the ox team was not fast and the sled was not 

 particularly a thing of beauty; but in all my life I never 

 saw a s'ed load that looked so pretty as that of 101 can- 

 vasbacks. 1 will add that Van spent Monday afternoon 

 kicking himself around the office. S, H. GREENE. 



Michigan, New Lothrop. — Quail, rabbits and partridges 

 are quite plentiful, the two former especially. The winter 

 was mild and game wintered well. Within eighty rods 

 of my yards are more than a dozt n nests occupied hy the 

 gamy little birds, and the merry whistle of Bob White is 

 to be" heard from the time the rosy flush of dawn illumi- 

 nates the eastern sky till darkness compels him to retire. 

 Last season I know of six coveys left on less than a half 

 section, and these six coveys contained from twelve to 

 twenty-five birds each. The weather has been the best 

 that could be desired for hatching, and if the present dry 

 weather continues for a fortnight most of the young ones 

 will be beyond muc h harm.— Shiawa ssee. 



Michigan's Spring Flight.- HoUand, Mich., May 15. 

 We have had more snipe here this spring than for a num- 

 ber of years past. My spaniel has frequently flushed 

 from 40 to 50 in a couple of hours' tramp. One man 

 bagged 13 in a short time one morning near the last of 

 the season. Plover are plentiful too, and even now I can 

 hear the notes of the kilde«r as he passes over the city. 

 Ducks, mostly bluebills, have been with us m large num- 

 bers this spring, and several good bags have been made. 

 Chas. Bertsch got 14 out of a sudden flight after 3 o'clock 

 one rainy day. —A. G. B. 



