Forest and Stream. 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



Tbbms, $4 A Teab. 10 Cts. a Copt, 1 

 Six Months, 83. 1 



NEW YORK, DECEMBER 8, 189L 



( VOL. XXXVII.-No. 20. 



1 No. 318 BnoADWAT, New York. 





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CONTENTS. 



BDITOBIAIi. 



An Enlarged "Forest and 

 Stream." 



Our National Parks. 



Snap Shots. 

 The Sportsman Tottrist. 



Winter Sports in North Caro- 

 lina.— ii. 



St. Vincent's Island. 

 Natural Histort. 



Song of the Hermit Thrush. 



"Fate of the Fur Seal." 



"Life Histories of North 

 American Birds." 



Seientiflc Meetings for Decem- 

 ber. 



Game Bag and Gun. 

 "The Saemaw Crowd." 

 Grouee Near New York City. 

 In Maine Woods.— it. 

 Oatario Moose. 

 Ways of the BufEed Grouse. 

 The Game Fields. 

 Ohio Notes. 



Newfoundland Caribou. 

 Rhode Island Game Interests. 

 Chirago and the West. 

 Our Game Supply. 

 Our Fickle Game Legislation. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 

 Yellowstone Park Fishes. 

 His Majesty Esox Lucius. 

 Chicago and the West. 

 Derryfleld Beef. 



Sea .4ND River Fishing. 

 Angling Notes. 

 Maine Fish and Game. 



FiSHCULTURE 



Maine Fish Hatching. 



The Kankakee Fishways. 

 The Kennel. 



National Beagle Club Trials. 



Irish Setter Club Trials. 



The Pearl of Pekin Incident. 



The "Siberian Bloodhound." 



The Central Field Trials. 



Lord Clover's Pedigree. 



Dog Chat. 



Kennel Notes. 

 RiTLE Range and Gallery. 



Revolver Championship. 



New Jersey Rifle Shooting. 

 Trap Shooting. 



Milwaukee— Chicago. 



The Inter-State League. 



The Club Cup. 



Spring Hill Targets and Tur- 

 keys. 



Brooklyn Trap. 



Thanksgiving Trap. 

 Yachting. 



Logic vs. Common Sense. 



The Canoes of the Tropics. 

 Canoeing. 



The Rpgatta Programme. 



The Publication of Amend- 

 ments. 



Answers to Correspondents. 



AN ENLARGED FOREST AND STREAM." 

 Wl ITH the issue of Jan. 21 next, which v?ill be the 

 first number of its thirty- eighth volume, the 

 Forest and Stream will be permanently enlarged from 

 twenty-eight to thirty-two pages. 



This change has been made necessary by the growth 

 of the special interests to which the paper is devoted, 

 and by the corresponding requirement of more space 

 for their adequate presentation. The enlargement is 

 to be taken as an earnest of our purpose to increase 

 the interest, usefulness and value of the Forest and 

 Stream; and by means of the better opportunities thus 

 afforded , to maintain f oi^ it the character it has so long 

 enjoyed as the representative sportsman's journal of 

 America. 



Each of the departments will be benefitted by the 

 change— Sportsman Tourist, Natural History, Game Bag 

 and Gun, Sea and River Fishing— and, in particular, our 

 news column? — the Kennel, Yacht and Canoe, Rifle and 

 Trap. The generous amount of space now given to Ken- 

 nel will be maintained, and the room devoted to Trap 

 Shooting will be so enlarged as to make the department 

 the most comprehensive and the best arranged contem- 

 porary record of that sport. 



Since this journal was established eighteen years ago, 

 the popularity of sports with the rod and the gun has 

 ^dyanced with giaijt strides; and in the developmewt of 



those manly recreations the Forest and Stream has 

 taken no iinimportant part. With their growth it has 

 kept equal pace in worth, in influence, in circulation and 

 in generous public recognition. What it h&s been it will 

 be. The record of the past contains the abundant prom- 

 ise for the future. 



In 1893 and the years that shall follow, as in 1891 

 and the years that have passed, the Forest i.ND Stream 

 will stand for all that is best and truest in field sports- 

 manship; and it will strive to merit from its growing 

 hosts of friends a continuation of that warm appre- 

 ciation and indorsement with which it is now favored. 



One word remains to be said. The paper will be. 

 enlarged to thirty-two pages, but the price will remain 

 unchanged; $4 per year, * 



OUR NATIONAL PARKS. 



CONSIDERABLE space in Secretary Noble's annual 

 report, just issued, is devoted to the subject of our 

 national parks. These are four in number, and of them 

 the Yellowstone Park is by far the largest, and, from all 

 points of view, the most important. The others, of recent 

 establishment, we owe to the wisdom and far-seeing 

 policy of the Secretary of the Interior, to whom also 

 must be given the credit for the setting apart of the 

 large forest reservation adjacent to the Yellowstone 

 Park, which practically, though not in name, adds about 

 1,500 square miles to the area of that reservation. 



The report with regard to the Yellowstone shows a very 

 favorable condition of things there. Game in the Park 

 is continually increasing. The buffalo are quiet and 

 contented; small herds are often seen, and some of these 

 are accompanied by calves. The estimates of their num- 

 bers vary from two to four hundred, the latter being, in 

 our judgment, the nearest to the truth. We have often 

 called attention to the great numbers of elk to be found 

 in this region, and now "the most conservative estimates 

 place their numbers at 25,000." Mountain sheep, deer 

 and antelope are numerous, tame and increasing. There 

 are a few moose in the Park. The overflow of all this 

 game into the adjacent territory will furnish good hunt- 

 ing to those who visit the region. 



The effort to stock waters of the Park before barren 

 with game fish appears to have been very successful. Six 

 different species of fish have been planted in as many 

 different lakes, and of these at least five appear to be 

 doing well. 



Mr. Noble calls attention again to the urgent need of 

 legislation for the Park, and alludes to the dangers 

 that threaten the National pleasure ground in the follow- 

 ing words: 



It is to be much regretted that there is an entire absence of law 

 to punish depredations there, as they affect the forests, the game, 

 and the wonderful formations. The attention of Congress has 

 often been called to the necessity of such a penal statute, and it is 

 now again recommended as necessary. The measure known as the 

 ' Vest Bill" has repeatedly passed the Senate, but in the House, 

 while always favorably reported , it has unfortunately been ac- 

 companied by an amendment foreign to the bill, granting a right 

 of way through the Park to a railroad. This was the case in the 

 last Congress, and, as on former occasions, those who had been 

 instrumental in urging the bill thought it better that it should 

 fail than pass with this provision. 



The Secretary's opinion, as hitherto expressed, has been that a 

 raUroad would be detrimental to all the purposes for which the 

 Park was set apart. It is earnestly hoped that Congress will not 

 give up to a private enterprise any part of what ithas set apartfor 

 the education and enjoyment of the whole people. If one such 

 raUroad franchise is granted, it will result in the practical aban- 

 donment of that region as a forest and game reserve. Each year 

 demonstrates the wisdom of Congress in [setting apart this mag- 

 nificent domain and the necessity of keeping it under Govern- 

 ment ownership, free from private or corporate intrusion. It 

 embraces one of the largest forest-bearing districts in the Rocky 

 Mountains, and contains the headwaters of some of our greatest 

 rivers. The importance of preserving such tracts as affecting the 

 water supply of the country has already been discussed in this 

 report. * * * 



There should certainly be no hesitation or difficulty on the part 

 of Congress in providing means by which the regulations made 

 by the Secretary of the Interior for the protection of the Park 

 may be made effectual. As it is now, the Park is placed under 

 the care of the Secretary, and he is authorized to make rules and 

 regulations for its government; but as no penalties are provided, 

 there is no way in which such regulations when made can be 

 properly enforced. No punishment can be inflicted for acts 

 which should really be denounced as crimes; such, for instance, 

 as the firing of the forests, the destruction of the game, and 

 ; spoliation of the objects of interest within the Park, All that 



now can be done is to turn the offender out of the Park, and thus 

 give him an opportunity of returning and renewing his malicious 

 acts. 



The forest reservation which was set aside by Presiden- 

 tial proclamation last March is in charge of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, and he has extended over it the same 

 rules and regulations which govern the Park, and has 

 directed the Superintendent of that reservation to protect 

 it. This was necessary because this reservation is a 

 hunting ground both for whites and Indians, and the 

 forests which cover its mountains are in constant dan- 

 ger of fire from these wandering and often careless 

 invaders. 



The Yosemite Park contains some of the most wonder- 

 ful scenery on the Continent, as does also the Sequoia 

 Park. In both of these is found also a little game. In 

 these parks the most important objects which are in dan- 

 ger of destruction are the giant trees, of which each 

 park contains some. These are now being protected, but 

 much more remains to be done, and a further knowledge 

 is needed of the exact conditions which prevail in each 

 park. 



It is gratifying to see that the Federal Government is 

 taking hold of this matter of National Parks in a way so 

 much more intelligent than could have been hoped for a 

 few years ago. For this wise action we have to thank 

 Mr. Noble, and while at present but few people compre- 

 hend the importance of what he has done, the day is not 

 far distant when he will receive from the general public 

 that measure of gratitude which his action deserves. 



SNAP SHOTS. 



THE final joint meeting of representatives of the U. S. 

 Fish Commission, the Fish Commissions of New 

 York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ontario and Quebec, 

 delegates from the Anglers' Association of the St. Law- 

 rence River, the Cheaper Food Fish Association of 

 Rochester, and other bodies interested in the protection, 

 preservation and propagation of food fish in the Great 

 Lakes, has been called for Tuesday, Dec. 8, in the City 

 Hall, at Hamilton, Canada. The call is signed by R. B. 

 Roosevelt, chairman, and A. D. Stewart, secretary, of 

 the Joint Convention. The object of the meeting is to 

 consider the report of a sub-committee, which met at 

 Rochester, Nov. 10, and to make recommendations to the 

 Governments and State Legislatures concerned looking 

 toward the harmonizing of the laws of the States and 

 Canada upon the subjects mentioned. It is admitted 

 that the States must surrender to the General Govern- 

 ment their jurisdiction over the waters of the Great 

 Lakes for the purposes above named if any advantageous 

 and binding agreement is to be reached with Canada 

 looking toward the accomplishment of a worthy end. 



The Red Star steamer Rhynland, which sailed from 

 New York for Antwerp yesterday, carried from the U. S, 

 Fish Commission 500 catfish consigned to the Belgian 

 Government. Request was made for these fish several 

 years ago, but the Government was not prepared to rear 

 them until recently. Belgium has extensive areas of 

 sluggish water suitable for the American catfish, and now 

 without fish. The shipment includes 100 spotted catfish 

 (Ictalurus punctatus) and 500 of the common horn pout 

 {Amiurus nebulosus), a few of the latter being of the 

 marbled variety. On Nov. 13 Commissioner McDonald 

 was informed by Herr Max von dem Borne of the safe 

 arrival in Berneuchen of the fellowing American fishes, 

 sent in the care of the chamberlain's son : Three hundred 

 and twenty-three sunfish, 76 catfish, 80 minnows, 2 dog- 

 fish {Amia ealva), 6 calico bass, and 1 white perch. Only 

 15 fish died on the steamer and 5 on the railway journey 

 from Antwerp to Berneuchen. This is the most success- 

 ful trans-atlantic shipment known. Our brilliantly- 

 colored sunfishes and crappies attract most favorable 

 notice in Germany, where no fishes of the family are 

 native. 



Clinton Gilbert, who died in this city last Sunday, in 

 his eighty-fifth year, belonged to the "old school" of 

 sportsmen. He was for many years a member of the 

 New York Association for the Protection of Game. In 

 1877 he succeeded Royal Phelps in the presidency of the 

 society, in which office he was succeeded by Robert B. 

 Roosevelt. 



The sportsman in the field who in badly broken English 

 attempts to control a half -broken dog is not likely to 

 make an unbroken success of it. 



