Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Tebms, U a Yeab. 10 Gts. a Copt. ) 



Six Months, S3. ( 



NEW YORK, OCTOBER 8, 1891. 



J yOL. XXXVII.-No. 12. 



I No. 318 Broadway, New York. 



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CONTENTS. 



Editoriai,. 



October Days. 



Snap Shots. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Four of a Iviud. 

 Natural History. 



How to Collect Birds.— II. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



Autumn. 



Notions Al.iout, Guns. 

 Preserving Tropnies. 

 Maiae Game. 



Among the Bay Bird" in Cur- 

 rituck.— i. 



Chicago and the West. 

 Sea anjj River Fishing. 



Fishing Wi'-h Trained Cormo- 

 rants, in. 



Fly-Roiis for Ladies. 



A Pearl Fishery. 



Chicago and the West. 



Channel Bass at Cape May. 



Rliode Miind Black Bass Law. 



FiSHCULTTJRE. 



New Vork Fishoul* ure. 

 The Kennel. 

 Ottawa Dog Sbow. 

 Brunswick Fur Club's Field 

 Trials. 



The Kennel. 

 Montreal Dog Show. 

 Pedigree of Lord Clover. 

 Toronto Dog Show. 

 Central Field Trials. 

 Peter an'l the Cat. 

 Notes aiid Notions. 

 Dog Chat. 

 Kenael Notes. 



Answers to Correspondents. 

 Rifle and Trap Shooting. 

 Range and Gallerv. 



Revolver Shooting in England 

 Toronto Rifle Association. 

 The Rifle on the Pacific Coast. 

 The Trap. 



The Stock Patent Decision. 



Rochester Rod and Gun Club. 



Pennsylvania State Associa- 

 tion. 



Brooklyn Traps. 



New .Jersey Trap Shooters. 

 Yachting. 



A c!orinthian Cruise.— u. 



Beverly Y. C. 



Steam Yacht R acing. 

 Canoeing. 



Change of Racing Rules. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



OCTOBER DAYS. 

 IT^IELDS as green as when the summer birds caroled 

 above them, woods more gorgeous with innumerable 

 hues and tints of ripening leaves than a blooming parterre, 

 are spread beneath the azure sky, whose deepest color is 

 reflected with intenser blue in lake and stream. In them 

 against this color, are set the scarlet and gold of every 

 tree upon their brinks, the painted hills, the clear-cut 

 mountain peaks, all downward pointing to the depths of 

 this nether sky. 



Overhead, thistledown and the silken balloon of the 

 milkweed float on their zephyr-wafted course, silver 

 motes against the blue: and above them are the black 

 cohorts of crows in their straggling retreat to softer 

 climes. Now the dark column moves steadily onward, 

 now veers in confusion from some suspected or discovered 

 danger, or pauses to assail with a harsh clangor some 

 sworn enemy of the sable brotherhood. 



Their gray-clad smaller cousins, the jays, are for the 

 most part silentlj^ industrious among the gold and bronze 

 of the beeches, flitting to and fro with flashes of blue as 

 they gather mast, but now and then finding time to scold 

 an intruder with an endless variety of discordant outcry. 



How sharp the dark shadows are cut against the sunlit 

 fields, and in their gloom how brightly shine the first 

 fallen leaves and the starry bloom of the asters. In cloudy 

 days and even when rain is falling the depths of the 

 woods are not dark, for the bright foliage seems to give 

 forth light and casts no shadows beneath the lowering sky. 



The ecarlet maples glow, the golden leaves of poplar 

 and birch shine thi-ough the misty veil, and the deep 

 purple of the ash glows as if it held a smouldering fire 

 that the first breeze might fan into a flame, and through 

 all this luminous leafage one may trace branch and twig 

 as a wick in a candle flame. Only the evergreens are 

 dark as when they bear their steadfast green in the desola- 

 tion of winter, and only they brood shadows. 



In such weather the woodland air is laden with the 

 light burden of odor, the faintly pungent aroma of the 

 ripened leaves, more subtle than the scent of pine or fir, 

 yet as apparent to the scent, as delightful and more rare, 

 for in the round of the year its days are few, while in 

 summer sunshine and winter wind, in springtime shower 

 and autumal frost, pine, spruce, balsam, hemlock and 

 cedar distil their perfume and lavish it on the breeze or 

 gale of every season. 



Out of the marshes, now changing their universal 

 green to brown and bronze and gold, floats a finer odor 

 than their common reek of ooze and sodden weeds — a 

 spicy tang of frost-ripened flags and the fainter breath 

 of the landward border of ferns: and with these al<3o is 

 mingled the subtle pungency of the woodlands, where 

 the pepperidge is burning out in a blaze of scarlet, and 

 the yellow flame of the poplars flickers in the lightest 

 breeze. 



The air is of a temper neither too hot nor too cold, and 

 in what is now rather the good gay wood than green 

 wood, there are no longer pestering insects to worry the 

 flesh and trouble the spirit. 



The flies bask in half torpid indolence, the tormenting 

 whine of the mosquito is heard no more. Of insect life 

 one hears little but the mellow drone of the bumble bee, 

 the noontide chirk of the cricket and the husky rustle of 

 the dragon fly's gauzy wing. 



Unwise are the tent dwellers who have folded their 

 canvas and departed to the shelter of more stable roof- 

 trees, for these are days that should be made the most of, 

 days that have brought the perfected ripeness of the year 

 and display it in the fullness of its glory. 



SNAP SHOTS. 

 f T is sometimes practicable to find a better use for a 

 stately tree than to chop it down for firewood, and a 

 more sensible use for an historical site than to build on 

 it a factory. There has recently been incorporated in 

 Massachusetts a society under the title of "The Trustees 

 of Public Reservations," whose, purpose is to acquire and 

 maintain for the people the beautiful and historical 

 places and tracts of land. Mr. J. B. Harrison, agent for 

 the Trustees, invites correspondence from those who may 

 inform him as to places which should be given attention 

 by the Society. The special work assumed by the Trus- 

 tees of Public Eeservations must appeal to every lover of 

 natural scenery and to every public -spirited citizen. We 

 hope to see the example of Massachusetts followed by 

 other States. New York has already secured the Niagara 

 Falls Reservation, and ought to have an Adirondack 

 Park. 



The Rhode Island Association for the Protection of Fish 

 and Game was incorporated many years ago, but after a 

 while it fell into decay and faded from public view. So 

 completely did it disappear that not even the sportsmen 

 of the State most interested in fish and game knew of its 

 existence. Last year, however, a new organization was 

 formed, and when the members applied for a charter 

 they discovered the existence of the old society. Some 

 of its members were called together, the promoters of the 

 new society joined it in a body, and with the accession 

 of members and interest the long inactive association 

 straightway became a power in the land. Systematic 

 warfare was waged on the snarers who had had full 

 swing so long as to have become defiant and boastful; 

 and special attention was paid to the market men and 

 the hotel keepers. Detectives were employed, prosecu- 

 tions instituted, snares destroyed and snarers arrested. 

 In short there has been an active campaign, and the 

 results already attained are most encouraging. Rhode 

 Island is only repeating the experience of other States 

 and thus emphasizing anew the almost universal rtde 

 that if we are to have any effective game protection in 

 this country, for the present at least it must be secured 

 by the efforts of individuals and societies. 



If there is any one ''natural right" a Florida cracker 

 clings to more tenaciously than to any other it is to kill 

 deer at any time, not excluding the breeding seasons. In 

 1877 a law was enacted protecting deer, wild turkeys, 

 quail and mocking birds from April to September. This 

 was resented by the crackers, and one of the first acts of 

 the next Legislature was to repeal the obnoxious statute. 

 Subsequent efforts on the part of intelligent sportsmen of 

 the State have been fruitless until this year; but now 

 Florida has a law, which we trust will be respected and 



retained. The open seasons prescribed are for deer the 

 months of November, December, January and February, 

 and for wild turkey and quail Nov. 1 to March 1. A pro- 

 vision evidently designed as a concession to local prefer- 

 ences is that the commissioners of any county may desig- 

 nate four other months for deer killing. This is quite 

 in keeping with the practice in most Southern States, 

 where such game laws as are in force at all are for the 

 most part county laws. It appears to be out of the ques- 

 tion for Georgia or North or South Carolina or Virginia 

 or Alabama to fix on a law applicable to the entire State. 

 The statute books are lumbered up with page after 

 page of county laws, and these are annually changing 

 to suit local convenience. As the chief excuse for 

 game protection is to protect the game in breeding 

 time, one fails to understand how the public can 

 feel much respect for regulations which are so incon- 

 sistent and in that inconsistency so unreasonable. If 

 nature demands the protection of birds in one county at 

 one period, the demand is equally urgent in an adjoining 

 county. We have already noted that under its new con- 

 stitution Kentucky will find a way out of the confusing 

 game legislation now in vogue, for all Kentucky laws 

 must in the future be of general application. 



The Illinois State Sportsmen's Association, as repre- 

 sented by its president, Mr. Abner Price, and those who 

 are working with him, deserve all praise for the prosecu- 

 tions of Chicago restaurant keepers who deal in illicit 

 game birds. The newsy letters of our alert Chicago cor- 

 respondent have kept readers of this journal fully in- 

 formed of the progress of the work. Later developments, 

 since the publication of Mr. Hough's last letter, may be 

 summed up in a few words. C. C. William Meyer, con- 

 victed of selling four prairie chickens, has paid a fine of 

 !^20 with $14 costs; Aaron & Son, game dealers who sup- 

 plied Meyer, were arrested, and with two barrels of illicit 

 prairie chickens discovered by Warden Buck were taken 

 before the justice, who let them off with a fine of |30. 

 In the two barrels were 133 birds, and a full penalty 

 would have mounted up to $3,300. It is trusted that the 

 Association will not rest with the paltry result of the 

 Aaron case, George Williams, of the Lakeside restaur- 

 ant, has paid a fine of $15 and costs, this for chickens. 

 Rector has taken another continuance of his case. One 

 after another the restaurant men are coming up to settle. 

 What the effect of the years work will be it is difficult to 

 conjecture; but there would be no question whatever 

 about it if the Illinois Association would supply funds 

 for a persistent campaign this year and next year. After 

 all has been said it remains true that the Chicago prose- 

 cutions are almost wholly tlie result of individual activ- 

 ity. The Association should not fail to support its officers 

 in a work which is less for the benefit of Chicago than 

 the State at large. So long as the South Water street 

 game dealers handle game out of season the game will 

 be sent to them from Illinois covers. 



A New England sportsman, who has been shooting all 

 his life and claims that something over 40,000 birds have 

 fallen to his gun, is fond of asserting that of all these only 

 two were killed out of season. One springtime, a relative 

 being ill and her physician suggested a game bird as 

 likely to tempt her palate, he took his gun and set out to 

 provide for the invalid a robin or a meadowlark. He was 

 crossing a little brook, when a cock woodcock got up 

 before him ; and without an instant's reflection he killed 

 it. The other instance happened one day in August when 

 he was out working a puppy. Most of the day had gone 

 by and not a shot had been fired. At length the puppy 

 made its first point, and a bird rose, which was taken to 

 be a woodcock (then in season), but being shot proved a 

 chicken grouse. 



The frequency with which hunters in the woods are 

 mistaken for game by other hunters has prompted the 

 sportsmen of Bangor to invent a deer hunter's protective 

 vestment, consisting of a flaming red coat, piebald panta . 

 loons and gilded helmets. To this equipment should be 

 added a tin tnimpet to be tooted at frequent intervals 

 like a fog horn at sea. 



New York customs officers seized a big lot of smuggled 

 snakes last week. One of the reptiles was declared to 

 measure fifteen feet in length and to bark like a dog, 

 As we have no infant snakes of that variety indigenous 

 to this favored land the duty on serpent importations 

 is clearly for revenue only. 



