tmc. 3, 1891.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



887 



on the part of all who hunt is needed. Is even a faint 

 approach to such a thing possible ? 



THE "BOUND ROBIN" PLAN. 



The following is the best I can suggest. I cast it into 

 the discussion for what it is worth. If it could be fol- 

 lowed out successfully in a single community the exam- 

 ple might make it easier in others and in time we might 

 arouse a firm, intelligent sentiment throughout the whole 

 State which would not only take care of all lawless ten- 

 dencies on the part of residents, but would effectually 

 deal with the detestable "sport" from abroad, whether he 

 proved to be a Boston policeman, or a Pearl street mer- 

 chant or a professor in Yale College. 



"The Eound Robin Plan" is a name which I suppose 

 will, to most persons, be self-explanatory, but for the sake 

 of any one who may not know its origin I will say that 

 "The Round Robin" is a form of signature by several per- 

 sons to a document which makes it impossible to tell who 

 was the first signer and therefore shields all alike from 

 what may be dangerous or invidious prominence in the 

 matter. The names radiate from a center like the spokes 

 of a wheel. In thinking of this plan I have had in mind 

 the case of this particular community. It presupposes 

 that at least some one man could be found with sufficient 

 public spirit and willingness to sacrifice something to the 

 cause to make the initial move. 



My idea would be to have such a man, who sho^^ld be a 

 man of known interest in game matters, attempt by per- 

 suasion and discussion to induce one or two others to join 

 with him in a league to which members shotild be added 

 as fast as the right men could be secured. 



The object of the league should be to fairly consider 

 the whole fish and game question, to discuss the pros and 

 cons, its past and its future as well as the present, to get 

 data in regard to destruction of game and its successful 

 preservation, and then, and not till then, to formulate a 

 pledge. I would not care even to dictate the pledge. 1 do 

 not think I know enough to make one thoroughly wise 

 and politic. Its first essential should be that it should be 

 one which, all things considered, was likely to be kept, 

 The league should by all means include in its membei*- 

 ship the very men whom I have described as good men 

 in other respects, but yet men who had again and again 

 broken the game law. Unless these men can be led to 

 see the folly of the present course and can be induced to 

 join in some effort at regulation of the evil, the evU will 

 go on to the one sure result which we know. 



The league should be formed by men who are willing 

 to stand up among their fellows and own that they had 

 heen law-breakers in this matter and who therefore had 

 no stones to throw at any one else and no claims of 

 special virtue to make for themselves. But they should 

 be men who were willing now to make eiiort to preserve 

 for their region and community the advantages which 

 they have come to see are in danger. 



WTiat these men should agree upon would be a matter 

 of altogether secondary interest. The main point would 

 be to get an agreement which they themselves had made 

 and which they were willing to live up to. They might 

 differ from the State law as to close time, number to be 

 killed per individual or the manner of killing. I would 

 not much care. Anything to change to system, instead 

 of the go-as-you-please recklessness of to-day. This 

 league should agree to let "by-gones beby-gone8,"to start 

 anew, and to give fair warning to all that from this time 

 on it meant, by every means in its power, to restrain evil 

 doing in respect to what it had decided upon as evil doing. 

 There would be the special ones who would not join and 

 whose refusal would involve trouble. Neighborhood 

 grudges and old scores and jealousies would stand in the 

 way. All this I know; yet I believe patience and wis- 

 dom, and, when necessary, united and sustained force, 

 would bring about an improved public sentiment and a 

 better order of things. 



If it were thought best that the State law as it stands 

 should be made the means of help, then, till a better law 

 could be passed, the league could sea to it that the law 

 was enforced, and the odium that now attaches to in- 

 forming against a neighbor, be he never so mean 

 and despicable, would not be felt. The previous 

 warning and the weight of the organization would sus- 

 tain it. 



An organization is the first desideratum. Hence I have 

 called it the "Round Robin Plan," by which I intended 

 to indicate the way to secure to the aid of such a scheme 

 the very men who now help to make it a necessity. 



Boston, Mass. C. H. AMES. 



THE SONG OF THE HERMIT THRUSH. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your correspondent Julia M. Hooper in Forest and 

 Stream for Oct. tells of a new bird song. I had often 

 heard the same song and supposed it to be music of the 

 male sparrow until last spring. 



Among my wild pets there is a song sporrow, a male, 

 with an interesting history. Years ago I named him 

 "Wabbles." 



I cannot relate any part of his history without betray- 

 ing confidence, as I have sold it for publication. So will 

 simply say that last spring "Wabbles" persuaded his 

 little mate to nest in the woods near my cabin. 



Early in the spring I heard this female sing the new 

 song. There was no chance for a jnistake. I could tell the 

 birds apart, and, too, I frequently heard both songs at 

 the same time. 



In late fall and early spring the male song sparrow 

 warbles by the hoar. The song is very low but musical 

 and tender. I have listened to it with delight when the 

 thermometer has marked 3 below zero. 



Your correspondent tells of another song and credits it 

 to the brown thrasher. She makes the time the middle 

 of March, and I feel assured that she has erred either in 

 bird or time. It certainly must be an uncommon thing 

 to find a brown thrasher in Massachusetts as early as the 

 middle of March. It seems that she did not see the 

 singer; therefore, I suggest that she heard the song Of the 

 hermit thrush. The song which she has translated into 

 the words tii-lee, fu-li-lee is the same that I hear every 

 spring, the last of March or first of April. It is the song 

 of the hermit thrush in migration. It is a beautifm 

 j}6r^inT>-the wiadicg of a silver Jjgrii, but it ia only the pre^ 



lude. The true song is seldom heard away from the 

 summer home. 



To me the song of the hermit thrush is the sweetest 

 sound in nature. It is not a plaintive, pensive or tender 

 strain, but satisfies the sesnes and clings to the memory 

 like the recollection of some great joy. 



I shaU never forget a song I once heard in the woods 

 of northern Maine. I was in a bark-peeling camp at the 

 time. A rainy day had sent the crew to their homes in 

 the settlement until the next morning; and I was left 

 alone. 



The rain poured down in torrents. The wind howled 

 and roared through the treetops, flinging great sheets of 

 water on to the bark roof of the camp. My spirits were 

 depressed and gloomy. Financial troubles, the loss of a 

 cherished home, had disheartened me, and life seemed 

 hardly worth living. 



Just before night the rain suddenly ceased. The 

 sun burst through the clouds and the wind completely 

 died out. Save for the sound of dropping water, the 

 forest was silent and solemn. A glowing sunset, painting 

 all the clouds of the western sky. aroused me from my 

 miserable thoughts. Just then the song of the hermit 

 thrush floated up from a neighboring swamp. Clear and 

 pure the flute-like notes slowly echoed through the silent 

 woods. The moist and hollow atmosphere magnified the 

 slightest sound, and I could distinguish the fine trills 

 which form a part of this famous song, O, phee-re-al, 

 phee-re-al! represents the strain as near as I can give 

 it in words. 



I would that I were able to express in fitting language 

 the feelings vnth which I am inspired when I listen to the 

 song of the hermit thrush. It satisfies my sense of the 

 beautiful as no other song can. And yet I am never 

 quite satisfied. There is something I do not understand. 

 Something beyond me, a shadowy mystery. After I have 

 listened to the strain, and while its memory still lingers, 

 I find myself longing to know the whole secret of its 

 charm. However, years ago I settled the matter in my 

 mind and note-book, as the following entry will show: 

 "The song of the hermit thrush is the Spirit of Nature 

 chanting the mystery of life. When the mystery is solved 

 we shalTunderstand the song." 



Day faded into twilight, and twiUght into night, and 

 still that exalted anthem solemnly pealed through the 

 forest. It was after 10 o'clock when the strain died out 

 in a few broken notes. 



Thanks to the hermit thrush, my thoughts were turned 

 into a new and healthy channel: I fell asleep that night 

 on my fragrant bed of fir boughs, at peace with the whole 

 world. Herhut. 



Cape Ann, Nov. 27. 



LIFE HISTORIES OF BIRDS. 



ORNITHOLOGISTS and others interested in birds 

 from a more popular standpoint have for years been 

 hoping that Captain Charles A. Bendire, one of our most 

 able and experienced field naturalists, would give to the 

 world the results of his studies of American birds, 

 and for a year or two past it has been known that 

 he was engaged on such a work. Captain Bendire 

 is perhaps best known as an oologist, and it has 

 generaEy been supposed that his work would be nothing 

 more than an oology, a description of the nest and eggs 

 and of the breeding habits of the species about which he 

 might write. Such a work was greatly needed, for there 

 is now nothing satisfactory on this subject, but Captain 

 Bendire was not willing to confine his work within the 

 naiTow limits which such a title would enforce. His 

 wide and long experience, which extends from ocean to 

 ocean and from Arizona to Canada, has furnished him 

 with a knowledge of our birds equalled by few or no 

 students of bird life in this country, and the results of this 

 experience are soon to be given to the world. 



We have recently had the privilege of looking over the 

 proof sheets of the first volume of Captain Bendire's work, 

 The title of which is "Life Histories of North American 

 Birds, with Especial Reference to their Breeding Habits 

 and Eggs." This is a well-chosen title, and is broad 

 enough to allow the accomplished author the scope re- 

 quired to give a vast fund of observation from the very 

 full field notes which he has accumulated. 



The first volume, which is now practically completed, 

 contains 414 pages of quarto text and 12 colored plates of 

 eggs. In it are given the life histories of the turkeys, 

 grouse, quails, pigeons, hawks, eagles, vultures and owls, 

 a fund of interesting, new and valuable information 

 which will surprise and delight ornithologists and sports- 

 men alike, when they see the volume. This superb work 

 will be published conjointly by the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion and the United States National Museum, and in the 

 character of its execution it will be the worthy compeer 

 of anything that has been issued by them. The matter 

 which it contains will be a source of pride to its author, 

 and satisfaction to all students of North American birds. 



At the present time it would be premature to say more 

 about this work, but before very long the sportsmen of 

 America will have an opportunity of judging for them- 

 selves as to the interest of the life histories which are so 

 charmingly given in its pages. 



2'THE FATE OF THE FUR SEAL." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



There is no danger of being drawn into a personal con- 

 troversy with me, for the simple reason I never have, as 

 yet, weakened any writing of mine by indulging it. I 

 state the facts as to the physical data, which Mr, Dali at 

 first declared "a gross exaggeration." He says now, in 

 the face of my statement, that he will wait for other evi- 

 dence. Of course he will; but fur seals have been, and 

 will continue to be as long as they exist, very constant 

 subscribers to my table of measurements, and that places 

 them on the ground to-day just as securely as it placed 

 them sixteen years ago. 



That group of fur seals in the United States National 

 Museum is mounted in exact accord with my views, but 

 not as an example of a harem as it lodges on the rookery; 

 it contains a number of young males up to four years, and 

 all the individuals of the group are widely separated one 

 from the other, so as to give every point of each animal 

 free inspection hy the visitors. This is the first group of 

 fur seals ever mounted in something like their natural 

 shape, and the desire to permit a full view of every por- 

 tion of each animal's body caused me to scatter the 

 group- 



I don't doubt that Mr. Dall bought seal skins at St. 

 Michael's, Alaska, for 12^ cents apiece in 1866; that is not 

 the point. I have seen seal skins sold on St. Paul's Island 

 in 1874 for 45 cents apiece to visitors, when they were 

 worth $10 at that time in London, and sold at that quota- 

 tion. Henry W. Elliott, 

 RooKPORT Cottage, Cleveland, 0. 



Wolves in Florida,— Clifton Springs, New York.— 

 Editor Falsest and Stream: In answer to your or Mr. 

 Chapman's note about "Wolves in Florida" I would say 

 that I purchased winter before last the skin of a very 

 large black wolf , as black as any bear, killed near Fort 

 Mears, south Florida. I sent it to the National Museum, 

 Washington, and last winter a skin dealer in Jacksonville 

 had another one, very dark (but not black), killed down 

 in Lee county, south Florida.— Geo. A. Boardman. 



Buffalo Cross Breeding.— Mr. Samual B. Duryea, 

 of Brooklyn, has just received a four-year-old buffalo 

 bull, which will be the nucleus of a stock of cross-breeds. 

 Mr. Duryea promises to conduct experiments in the lines 

 laid out by Buffalo Jones. 



SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR DECEMBER. 



THE varioTis scienHftn societies of New York city will hold dur- 

 ing the month of December meetings at the dates and places 

 given below. The members of each society are invited to attend 

 the meetings of all the societies, and visitors who may not be 

 members but who are interested in the subjects announced are 

 welcomed at all the meetings of the societies. The dates of 

 meetings and papers to be read at the meetings of each society 

 will be found under the proper headings below: 



THE NEW YORK AGADEMT OP SCIENCES. 



Regular meetings will be held on Dee. 7, 14 and 21, at 8 P. M., in 

 Hamilton Hall, Columbia College. Dee. 31. — Popular lecture 

 coui'se. Lecture by Prof, H. L. Fairchild, of Eoohester University, 

 on "Mountains, their Origin and History," illustrated by lantern 

 views. 



THE TORBEY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



Meetings will be held at 8 P. M. in Hamilton Hall, Columbia 

 College. Dec. 8. — Papers on the "Flora of the Catskill Mountains," 

 Illustrated by specimens and lantern views. Dec. 30.— Lecture on 

 "Friendly Bacteria," illustrated by the lantern. 



THE NEW YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



Regular meetings will be held on Friday evenings, Dec. 4 and 

 18, at 8 P. M., at the Mott Memorial Library, 64 Madison avenue. 



THE LINN-^SAN SOCIETY OF NETV YORK. 



A meeting wi'l be held at 8 P. M. at the American Museum of 

 Natural History, Eighth avenue and Seventy-seventh street, on 

 Dec. 16. Subject: "'Remarks upon the Birds of Corpus Chriati 

 and Nueces Bays, Texas," by Messrs. Geo. B. Sennett and F. M. 

 Chapman. 



Next to the Turkey. 



New London, N. H., Nov. Editor Forest and Stream: Next 

 to the turkey. I can truthfully say that nothing gave me more 

 genuine satisfaction on Thanksgiving Day than the receipt of the 

 dear old Forest and Stream. 1 read it each week from A to Z, 

 and find between its covers a host of joy and comfort.— Byron. 



Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton, 

 Price $2,50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Rifle, Rod and 

 Q-un in Oalifomia. By T. S. Van DyTce. Price $1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 15 cents. Woodcraft. By "iVess- 

 muk.^ PiHce $1. Trajectories of Hunting Rifles. Price 

 50 cents Wild Fowl Shooting; see advertisement. 



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

 tories and British Provinces are given in the Booli of the 

 Game Laws. 



NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU. 



OF a recent trip to Newfoundland Mr. Wakeman Hol- 

 berton writes u 

 Col. Cecil Clay, his son and I returned from our long 

 but successful trip to Newfoundland , after an absence of 

 over five weeks. Our programme was carried out with- 

 out any hitch or disappointment from beginning to end; 

 notwithstanding the fact that, owing to a change in the 

 law allowing caribou to be killed after September 1, a 

 number of professional hunters bad shot for the market 

 over the ground back of Hall's Bay, we found caribou 

 sufficiently plenty for sport, and we might have kUled 

 twice as many as we did. Col. Clay killed five, his son 

 one, and I four, and I refused five easy shots. I missed 

 two shots, but they were moving at long range. The four 

 I killed dropped dead at the shot, and my new Winches- 

 ter (.40-65) turned out to be a perfect weapon. Col. Clay 

 secured several fine specimens for the National Museum, 

 The weather, as usual, was very bad, but he succeeded 

 in taking a number of photographs. We saw two wolves 

 and 145 caribou during the irip, and shot a number of 

 willow grouse which were just changing color. In re- 

 gard to the caribou, I do not understand how it is that 

 Capt. Kennedy and others whom I read about have such 

 trouble in killing them. I rather think it comes from 

 careless aiming. Last year our party killed twenty-two 

 without losing a single one wounded and without any 

 great trouble. I believe that if these sportsmen would 

 only be particular to aim at the shoulder they would find 

 that nine out of ten of these great deer would rarely go. 

 fifty yards, and a .40-65 is abundantly heavy enough. If' 

 they shoot at the whole beast regardless of any particu- 

 lar spot, they will generally hit too far back and their 

 game will go for a mile or more, even if the rifle carries 

 a 50-caliber ball. 



I reeret to say that on my return I found my great dog 

 Pete (Rory O'More stock) had been either stolen or killed. 

 He was six years old, beautiful in color, excellent in the 

 field, and a gentle and true companion for over six 

 years. We all miss him as we would a dear friend, and 

 we shall never see his equal. W. Holberton. 



The Only Thing That I Do Keep Secret is the exact 

 locality, for the ground is becoming better known each 

 year, and we find that our shooting is interfered with by 

 so many strangers. They really do not kill much game, 

 but they get round the lake and bang away at the ducks 

 and geese so that they go elsewhere. We have always 

 made it a point to do no shooting near the lake, consider- 

 ing that as neutral ground where the birds can reast in 



