456 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 25, 1891. 



a boy I shot them in Connecticut until my shoulder 

 ached. There is another bird that is becoming very, very 

 scarce in these parts, and that is the Baltimore oriole; 

 and still more its congener, the orchard oriole. Both 

 species of cuckoos have been remarkably scarce this 

 year; I have not seen a single specimen, and my oldest 

 boy only one yellow-bill. 



Being out on May 19, I espied high up in a poplar tree 

 one of the finest scarlet tanagers I ever saw alive — an 

 old male. He was hammering away at something on 

 the upper side of a large limb, and I walked under hioi 

 until only the butt of his left wing was exposed, which 

 I shot at with No. 13 shot from a .33 collecting gun. 

 Down he came like a flaming meteor, breaking his thigh 

 bone of the same side in his fall. First I tliought to kill 

 him for a specimen, but he was too handsome, and I 

 carried him home to give him a trial in a big roomy cage. 

 At the present writing both bones have knit without any 

 perceptible deformity, and he promises to be one of the 

 most interesting bird nets I Imve ever kex>t. Ho thrives 

 on the yolks of hard-boiled eggs mixed with Bishop's 

 prepared food, and catches flies as they pass through his 

 cage like a good fellow. Much to my surprise, he had 

 not been in the cage a fortnight when he recovered his 

 -voice, and is now nearly in full song. He is a beauty, 

 without a green feather in his plumage. 



And so it goes, the older I grow the more fascinating 

 do such studies and pursuits become to me, and I shall 

 never weary of them. lam afraid, however, that this 

 letter has already passed the limitations of your space, 

 but you must let me enter one word or two about the 

 purple grackles and the English sparrows. 



I never fully realized until this spring howmany young 

 birds in the nest, of many species, the grackles {Q, quis- 

 cula) killed and devoured. When one of these birds 

 discovers a nest containing fledglings, he is not content 

 until, during the absence of the parent birds, he has 

 stolen and eaten every one of them. The number they 

 kill and consume all over the country must be immense. 

 They destroy and eat hundreds of English sparrows when 

 the latter are at this tender age. I have seen them do it 

 over and over again. Crows do the same thing, but by 

 no means not so often. 



This spring I have watched with especial care and in- 

 terest the manner in which the Eaglish sparrows met the 

 advent of the spring birds from the south. After taking 

 many notes the fact was forced upon me that the English 

 sparrows are not nearly so much responsible for the de- 

 crease, if decrease there be, in the abundance of many of 

 our song birds, as are the boys in any locality. I refer 

 strictly to that class of boys who constantly shoot small 

 birds with one of the many new patent air or spring guns 

 now in vogue. All in one day I noted a catbird, a brown 

 thrasher, a white-throated sparrow and a sapsucker (S. 

 varius) whip and drive off, single-handed, as many indi- 

 viduals of the English sparrow; while a young fiend, a 

 boy belonging to a good family and who should have been 

 better instructed, was bragging to his companions that 

 he had shot and killed that week, with his (wretched) 

 air gun, seventy -two kinglets (Regulus satrapa and R. 

 calendula) and no inconsiderable number of other species, 

 I took the pains afterward to prove the truth of his state- 

 ment, and found that it was substantially correct. 

 This practice has become fearfully prevalent in the sub- 

 urbs of our cities, and in my opinion will drive out the 

 native birds five times as fast as the sparrows can accom- 

 plish it. "Worse than that, for the boys actually destroy 

 them. . R, W. Shupeldt, 



Takoma, D. C, June 9. 



Recent Ahbivals at the Philadelphia Zooi.oi : tca i, g a hden. 

 —Purchased— Three phil-i-nder opossums {Dkich'!"!-- i'lin/inder), 

 one whistling swan {Cyaiius anieHmmis), rhons 

 (Python molurus), two ground rattlesuaJies ((!<•(. , > urilki- 

 rim), three coaoh-wMp snakes (Bascaiimm lldiicuiioi:iii:>, luretj 

 hlack sna!<e8 (Bascaniim constricto}') one red iiuig snake {Opinho- 

 Im doUatus caccine.us), oi\e V)laeJs hos-nosed 8niii,ko {lleUrodon 

 'platyrhinuti 7J i£rer), one indigo snake (!:iSpU.uteii erdmuiinf) and one 

 common king snnke {OiAlbolus getuhis). I^rcsenied— Two red 

 foxes (Caniisvulpes f ulvm)^Qyp old opossums { DkMphya vi ryiniana) , 

 twelve young opossums (Diadelpliys vivginiana), one bald eagle 

 {Haliaetus leucocepliahisK one spirrow hawk {Ii'alcn sparvcrius) one 

 yellow bird (Cfwysmn ' ' five screech owls {Hcops aaio), one 



pair ring doves cru- r , one long-tailed duck (jfifareida 



plactoiis), four aQie:au ...i, ... i ir mississippiejms), oue Alesican 

 pinB snake (Pituopttys sayi mexicana) and two crowned-horned 

 hzsLTds (Phrynusoma corunata). Exchanged— One three-toed box 

 tortoise (Cistudo canHiia triunguis), one red-eared terrapin (Pseu- 

 demys elegam), one Arn_v'^ rmg-necked snake {Diadaphys arnyi) 

 and one milk snake (Coluber ohsuletus confi7iis). Born— Three 

 American bison (Bison americamis). 



km^ §dg md ^nrf. 



The full texts of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are given in the BooU of the 

 Game Laws. 



ON AN ENGLISH PRESERVE. 



WINNIPEG, Man., June 18.~Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Last month, on my way from the East, 

 after leaving Fargo, which, by the way, is becoming 

 tjuite a rendezvous for sportsmen, I noticed that all 

 through northern Dakota the prospects for game for the 

 coming fall shooting were unusually good. The mild 

 winter has been favorable for the preservation of prairie 

 hens, which, all along the route to Winnipeg, showed up 

 in lots of from two to five at short intervals on both sides 

 of the track, representing four times the usual amount 

 of Jack Frost's spring leavings in this rigorous section. 



Plover were plentifully interspersed with an unusually 

 small scattering of Wilson snipe and ducks. 



In discussing the game situation with Mr. Hine, the 

 well known skillful taxidermist of this place, he said it 

 was the same all through Manitoba; that all around the 

 suburbs of the city the game could be seen mornings and 

 evenings, in bunches of four to six, dancing and cutting 

 up all sorts of comical didoes. Late rejjorts from all sec- 

 tions coincide that the hatchings of chicken are large, 

 broods averaging rather over than under ten. 



The writer was much interested in examining the 

 choice specimens of English game that Mr. Hine was 

 busy mounting, and also in the narration of the man- 

 ner in which he obtained them on several of the best 

 shooting reserves in England, principally on Lord Lons- 

 dale's estate, at Lowther Castle, Penrith, Westmoreland 

 county, extreme north of England. 



When Earl Lonsdale was here in '88 and '89, a pleas- 

 ant acquaintance was formed with ]VIr. Hine, who fur- 



nished him information regarding large and small game 

 in the Northwest, and also mounted all of his lordship's 

 specimens secured during his fourteen months' trip north, 

 including several heads of musk-ox and other rare Arctic 

 specimenst Before leaving the city the Earl extended 

 an invitation to Hine to come over to England and shoot 

 over his prcfierves. Accordingly last November he started 

 and soon after arriving at Usk, Wales, he advised Lord 

 L., who immediately wrote him to come on at once to 

 take part in a battue shoot at Lowther Caetle as his guest. 

 After shooting a few days in Wales the trij) through 

 England was made in good time for the appointed shoot 

 at the beautiful grounds of Lowther, with its park of 

 ancient oak foresting teeming with deer and pheasants 

 in the copse, and beyond a background of splendid moun- 

 tain scenery, the whole estate embracing many miles in 

 extent. 



Twelve guests, all crack shots, constituted the shooting 

 party, and they were accompanied by their valets and 

 servants. Each shooter was provided with two guns, 

 which were loaded by attendents as fast as discharged. 

 The guns used were light weight, 12 to 20 gauge, all of 

 the most expensive make. The twenty -five gamekeepers 

 and over one hundred beaters started in advance of the 

 shooters at early morning, and during the week's shoot 

 the game was secured in a radius of from two to five 

 miles from the castle, the shooters being stationed about 

 100yds, apart, surrottnding the cover to be beaten. The 

 beaters, with their sticks and shouts, flush the game, con- 

 sisting of pheasants, woodcock, partridge, hare and rab- 

 bits. The shouts and calls of the beaters, the rush of 

 game, the general fusilade of guns, the retrievers with 

 their carts seen through the smoke collecting the dead 

 and wounded game, constitutes a lively and exciting 

 scene smacking of a military engagement. 



The daily 1 o'clock lunch, with its accompanying in- 

 teresting conversation and comments on the sport, was 

 an agreeable hour's interlude. Different tents were 

 allotted to guests, game keepers and serving men, accord- 

 ing to their class. Events culminated with military pre- 

 cision, and the viands were abundantly served in first- 

 class style. During the five days' shoot some six thou- 

 sand pheasants, with perhaps a duplicate number of 

 hare, rabbits, woodcock, partridges and pigeons, were 

 slaughtered and distributed among guests and friends. 

 The pheasant's flight is slow at starting, but by the time 

 it reaches the open where the shooters are stationed, they 

 are in very swift flight, and a novice is apt to secure 

 more tail feathers than meat when first tiring at the 

 gorgeous incomers. Usually pheasants on preserves are 

 raised from eggs imported or collected and hatched by 

 domestic fowls, but these birds were naturally bred, and 

 as it was late in the season they were full grown and 

 afforded capital sport. The woodcock were shot mostly 

 in cover and ravines. They are nearly twice the size of 

 oui- American cock, being similar in their habits and 

 markings, with the exception of the bars fi-om bill to tail. 

 The cock shooting of Wales and England is first-class 

 sport, as the birds are wilder in their flights than their 

 American cousins. On being flushed the first time they 

 fly swift and far, resembling the flight of our birds when 

 flushed the third or fourth time. The partridge is a com- 

 pact, gamy little bird, similar in habits and formation to 

 om- quail, being about twice the size, or a third smaller 

 than our ruffed grouse. The hares are about the size of 

 our prairie hare or jack rabbit, being shorter in the legs 

 and weighing from 6^- to lOlbs. 



"Billy'' Hine shoots about six months in the year, and 

 has shot over most of the hunting grounds of America. 

 This preserve shooting was a novelty greatly enjoyed, and 

 ifc occurred to the writer that the readers of Forest and 

 Stream might be interested in the above description as 

 well as regarding trap shooting at English trained blue- 

 rocks, which were a surprise to friend Hine, who had no 

 idea that birds could be trained by blank shots to get 

 away so rapidly at the opening of the trap. They are 

 shot at with light guns at from 25 to SSyds. rise, and the 

 birds will carry out of bounds a large dose of shot, mak- 

 ing it more difficult to secure large scores than in this 

 country under our rules and privilege of using large-bore 

 guns, Watla:nd. 



IN THE ROCKIES. 



MY old friend Dan , with whom I have so often shared 

 the fortunes and disappointments of the hunt, hap- 

 pened to be spending a few days with me. Knowing that 

 he was always ready for the chase (and often our hunt has 

 been only a chase) I said to him, "Look here, Dan, it is 

 just 13 o'clock. When I came across from Gladstone to 

 Wolf Creek a few days ago— that day when I fired thirty- 

 five shots at those two old bucks and never touched a hair, 

 and after firing my last shot at them had to walk off and 

 go home, leaving them standing laughing at me — I saw a 

 number of tracks of single deer, right fresh, just across 

 Wolf Creek, only a few miles from here. Now I know 

 those deer are living in that locality, and will be out feed- 

 ing toward night. I believe we can get one if we try. 

 What do you say? Is it a go?" -'Well," said Dan, "I am 

 afraid it will be more of a wild goose chase than anything 

 else. However, I'll go." "All right. You go out into 

 the field and catch Charley and Dolly and saddle them, 

 while I get ua a bite to eat, and we'll be off. Hurry 

 now.'" 



So it hapjiened that at 1 :30 o'clock of a clear, crisp No- 

 vember afternoon two men arrayed in customary ranch 

 costume and mounted on horseback, might have been 

 seen striking up toward the foothills of the Rooky Moun- 

 tains, the one armed with a .44 repeating Winchester 

 rifle and the other with a ,45-70 Marlin. 



For several miles our path led us up the mountain, 

 through a low pass and down the other side to Wolf 

 Creek. Crossing the creek we rode up an old wood road, 

 through scattered timber on either sidehill. So far no 

 signs of game, save a few tracks where a jack rabbit had 

 crossed and recrossed the trail, where a nock of prairie 

 chickens had been running to and fro close to the bushes, 

 and where a coyote had wandered aimlessly about seek- 

 ing what he might devour. 



"Now, Dan, you watch yotir side of the road and I shall, 

 watch my side. It was right there, just ahead of us, I 

 saw, when I passed here a few days ago, where a bonne 

 ing big buck had come down to drink, and it was on that 

 sidehill yonder that Adams saw fifteen deer when he was 

 hauling poles day before yesterday. At the foot of that 

 wooded knoll, about a mile to our right, is where Willis 

 fired so many shots at that big band last week without 

 getting a single deer." 



Riding carefully on a little further, Dan says, ' 'I believe 

 we had better tie up here and make a detour. You go up 

 that gulch to the right and strike over into the open park. 

 Then keep to the left up along the foot of the wooded 

 knoll, pretty high up. I shall go straight up this gulch 

 and work around to my right and meet you on top of the 

 hill." 



"Tie Charley securely. We don't want to walk home." 



Look at that pheasant on the log. Couldn't you behead 

 him nicely. However, he is perfectly safe as far as we 

 are concerned, for we have made it a rule when deer 

 hunting, never to shoot at anything but deer, so we may 

 not be misled. 



I take off my coat and gloves and leave them by the 

 horses. I am all business now. The air is crisp and clear. 

 There is just snow enough to dampen the leaves and 

 twigs, so that when stepped on they do not rattle like a 

 rattlesnake. Everything is still as death. My blood 

 tingles in my veins. I am in my element. I am happy. 

 Quietly I advance to the head of the gulch and, taking off 

 my hat carefully, peep over the hill till I can look out 

 through the scattering trees of the park. Not a thing in 

 sight. The snow covers the ground as a white sheet, un- 

 ruffled. Half a mile ahead of me is a runway crossing 

 from Wolf Creek to the mountams. I shall head for that. 

 Perhaps a deer may have passed along it to the water. 

 Halloo! Sure enough, there's the runway, and I should 

 say it had been traveled. Could any of my sheep have 

 gotten away and come in here? Look at those tracks. It 

 must be sheep. A closer inspection discloses their real 

 nature. The track of a sheep is wider and shorter than 

 that of a deer. It's deer, and no mistake. The tracks 

 are going every way. They have been feeding here. 

 There is where they came in, down that sidehill. I'll go 

 and look at their trail and see how many there are. Why 

 there can't be but seven or eight. That's enough. Look 

 here, these tracks are old. They are half filled with 

 snOw and must have been made during the storm, about 

 eleven o'clock. It is now three and they have four hours' 

 start of me, I have but two hours in which to catch up 

 to them. Guess it won't pay to follow these. Yes, I will. 

 They are going just exactly to the hill where I agreed to 

 meet Dan. I shall go there and keep my appointment. 

 Here they go; they are beginning to string out a little. 

 Now they scatter; and here they began to feed again. The 

 side of the hill toward which they axe feeding is covered 

 with scattered pine trees, growing closer together toward 

 the top, with groves of fir here and there. At the top of 

 the hill is a high rocky cliff, so steep that no animal could 

 climb it. They must go round one wa^^ or the other. Not 

 a spot on that sidehill escapes my notice, I am too ohl a 

 hunter to expect always to see a picture deer. Too often 

 have I mistaken a deer for a stump or rock, and rocks 

 and stumps for deer. 



See! Here is afresh bed, and there, a few feet distant, 

 is another. Look at the fresh footprint in this one. 

 There is no snow in that track, and those leading from 

 here are very fresh. Surely now, the game cannot be 

 very distant. They went away slowly and feeding, show- 

 ing no signs of fear. How true the old saying, "Where 

 ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." Caution is re- 

 doubled while ascending the hill. Already I am halfway 

 to the top. Above me there is a low ridge of rock. If I 

 can but reach that point unobserved I may be in sight of 

 my game. 



Careful now, a broken stick, a false step, the least noise 

 and all may be lost, I peep over the rocks — no deer in 

 sight. What is that peculiar odor? The wind is blowing 

 toward me and I surely scent a deer, I know now that 

 they are not far oft". I have often had occasion to notice 

 the fact that under favorable circumstances I can wind a 

 deer, especially a large buck, several hundred yards dis- 

 tant. I cannot be mistaken in this case; and yet, from 

 where I stand a deer within shooting distance could 

 scarcely escape my notice. 



- A quick glance toward the top of the next ridge dis- 

 closes the head and horns of a large buck. For an in-, 

 stant he stands looking at me and then vanishes. See, 

 there he bounds up the hill among those trees. Shall I 

 shoot? No; it would be a chance shot and I can't afford 

 to risk it. To my surprise, on reaching the point where 

 he had,been standing, his tracks were the only ones along 

 the ridge, those of the band are far below. Look! What 

 is that object behind that treetop below me? It moves a 

 little, and I see it is the creeping figure of a man. He 

 crawls, he stops, looking fixedly ahead; now he moves! 

 only to atop again and lie flat down, still looking stead- 

 fastly toward the I'idge just in front of him. There is no 

 mistaking the man or his actions. It is Dan, and he sees 

 or has seen the deer. 



Eagerly I ttrrn my searching gaze toward the place 

 where I know the deer must be. Nut a sign of any kind 

 which would denote their presence rewards my gaze. 

 Surely they are there somewhere. See how still Dan 

 lies. He dare not move a muscle, I am confident that 

 he and the deer are looking straight at each other. Some- 

 thing is moving now along that ridge yonder among 

 those trees. Yes, there he is; a large buck. He suspects 

 no danger near, as he browses among the bushes. There 

 is another deer, and another, and a little further down 

 the hill stands a very large doe looking intently at that 

 still, peculiar looking log, or is it grass or what? Now 

 and again I see her sniff the air. But no, my darling, 

 the wind is not in your favor to-day, Your long ears 

 and delicate powers of scent avail you nothing. Your 

 curiosity and yonder log (?) will be the death of you. 



Watching my chance I slip unobserved behind a low 

 fir bush. The deer are SSOyds. distant — too far for a sure 

 shot from my little gun. Oh, how it wants to talk! Not 

 yet, my pet; we will watch that deer and Dan a little 

 longer and see how their game will end. It did not last 

 long. The deer decided to satisfy herself as to what 

 that queer-looking gray thing was. So wagging her tail 

 a few times she trots bravely forth, followed by two of 

 her friends, who had been by this time attracted by her 

 strange behavior. She stands quartering, not knowing 

 which way to go, but she would just as soon go back as 

 go any other way. I have waited on Dan till patience 

 ceases to be a virtue, so here goes. Hark! a shot! Dan 

 has at last also reached his limit of endurance. The doe 

 jumps high up the air, turns and runs back. Too late, 

 my dear? Your last race is run. Blindly rushing forward 

 she suddenly turns short off down the hill, A tumble, a 

 a roll, a slide, and her beautiful shapely limbs, which 

 have so swiftly and safely carried her over many a moun- 

 tain and through many a swollen stream will bear her up 

 no longer. 



