468 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



tDfiO. §i, 1891. 



DREAM GOLD. 



TTTHEN bluil Prince Ilal the golden circlet gained, 

 ' " Tbe friendless splitter oi; the monarch's eye 

 Half broke old Falstall's heart; amazed and pained 



That Harry thus should pass him sternly by. 

 So this old year, while yet another reigned, 



Fair promise made of mirth and royal cheer; 

 But once enthroned, a cold demeanance feigned, 



Passing with alien face and heedless ear. 



Butj ah! what boots it that in favored laps^ 



Forgetting hiine, the horns of plenty poured? 

 Had not the year its gold'? though now perhaps 



Of all it gave remains no minted hoard. 

 The golden banners of departing fall. 



The gold of amber flagons emptied quite, 

 The gold of sunny tresses— dream gold all— 



Ah, well ! 1 would not mint it if I might. 



M. M. Cass, Jr. 



IN MAINE WOODS.— VI. 



IN CAMP, Piscataquis Co., Me., Nov. 1. 1891.— Another 

 beautiful, still autumn day greeted us. The deer- 

 doggers were early at work, One deer was put into the 

 water somewhere on the lake, but for some reason es- 

 caped the battery of rifles lying in wait. So, at least, it 

 was reported. When 1 arose all of the dogs were in the 

 woods, and several of them giving tongue at once. About 

 nine o'clock the hunt drew near, and two canoes were 

 made ready. Suddenly, down the lake, we saw the deer 

 swimming steadily out from shore. With my glass I saw 

 it to be a noble buck, with the finest antlers I have seen 

 this year. His doom was certain. The canoes were rap- 

 idly nearing the poor creature. He turned and saw them, 

 and in his terror became conf used.but finally turned again 

 for the nearest iioint of land,and swam — oi- rather sprang 

 with convulsive leaps— throwing a good part of bis body 

 out of water at each desperate x>lunge. From the shore with 

 my glass I could see his open mouth and extended tongue 

 and frightened eye. A shot rang out, but still he swam 

 on, another still failed to hit him, thoixgh the foremost 

 canoe was hardly two rods away: a third, and before the 

 report reached me the noble head sank, and the ninth 

 deer thus killed on this lake within ten days was dead. But 

 now the law-breakers are getting fearful of a visit from 

 the wardens and they make preparations to leave: and by 

 noon they are gone, leaving three deer to be fetched next 

 day by a team when they have gotten their dogs out of 

 sight. 



On this whole bad business little comment is needed. I 

 by no means base my judgment entirely on what I my- 

 self have seen. The worst of the killing, and by far the 

 worst and most outrageous, is the crust-killing in the 

 spring. By the side of that this driving the deer into the 

 water, or jacking them in August and September, is 

 honorable business. There is no doubt in my mind that 

 many more deer, moose and caribou are kille'd by crust- 

 hunting in the spring than are killed in any other time 

 of the year. The guides and hunters whom i have asked 

 about it agree with me. Any one can judge who are 

 guilty of the destruction. Since writing the letter in 

 which I reported twenty moose killed in this vicinity 

 year before last, I have learned of nineteen killed in the 

 same region last year, and in the same time and manner. 

 I say I "have learned"' of this. The information comes 

 from men who are in position to know and whose state- 

 ments I believe. The number may not be exact but that 

 many were killed is fauiy certain. 



One man who is trustworthy, and who traps, but kills 

 no big game save for his own legitimate need, which is 

 not great, told me of his good-natured, but unsuccessful, 

 effort to prevent wanton slaughter year before last. Two 

 young feUows were hunting in the spring. They killed 

 several deer and woimded many more, Avhen they dis- 

 covered a herd of fourteen caxibou. They shot two, and 

 then "just to see them run," fired .all their remaining 

 cartridges at them. How many were wounded they did 

 not know or try to find out, but several they knew were. 

 Of the mass of meat they had some was eaten; but my 

 informant told me that when he left his camj) he hauled 

 out on to the ice two heaped-up handsled loads of "as 

 good meat as ever grew," .This he did, that on the break- 

 ing up of the ice it might sink and not become offensive 

 near his camp. These two young killers did their work 

 not twenty miles from their homes. 



But here I leave the matter — and the woods also— for a 

 year at least. And as I may not again for a long time be 

 able to send you a word, permit me to mention two or 

 three things which I have had it in mind to record. 



There is in San Antonio, Texas, a collection of antlers 

 and horns worth the while of any one interested in such 

 matters to turn aside for a moment to see. When there 

 I was told of it, and found it— I could wish it were in a 

 different place— in a liquor saloon, 223 Dolorosa street. 

 The walls are completely covered with heads, antlers 

 and horns, some six hundred sets in all. The great 

 majority are of deer— mostly of Virginia deer— but many 

 of the black-tailed species. Among them are many 

 abnormal formations and freaks. One set has forty-two 

 prongs, and there are many of far more than the ordinary 

 number. 



There are three pairs of locked antlers, having been 

 found in that condition. There were heads and horns of 

 ox, ram, Rocky Mountain sheep, Rocky Mountain goat, 

 antelope, moose, caribou, cashmere goat, ibex, bison and 

 common goat, chamois, and African antelope of one or 

 two kinds. There was a domestic ram with four horns, 

 another with five, a cashmere goat with four, a steer 

 with long horns, one pointed straight back at right angles 

 to the other, a set of moose antlers with twenty j)rongs, 

 two of caribou each with twenty-seven prongs, but finest 

 of all, to my mind, the liead of a Texas steer with finely 

 polished, symmetrical horns, running out in a slight 

 spiral, and extending 7ft. lin. from tip to tip. The col- 

 lection had cost a great deal, and was naturally valued 

 highly. 



I spent two months in Missouri last summer, and to my 

 astonishment did not see nor could I hear of, in the por- 

 tions of the State where I went, a single prairie chicken. 

 Quail were frequently met with, but the chickens were 

 exterminated. In travel fm-ther west, only once, and 

 that when going through the Indian Territory, did I see a 

 prairie chicken. My jom-ney was b}^ rail, but yet it sur- 

 prised me to see from the car windows next to nothing of 

 the evidences of game, which were formerly so plentiful. 



For valedictory, I want to express my thanks to that 

 comical genius who some months ago furnished the 



funniest item for Forest and Stream which I remember 

 to have ever seen in its columns, and they have, as every- 

 body knows, contained many a "good one." I refer to the 

 man who soberly wrote to Forest amp Stream to inform 

 its readers of his discovery, on a camping expedition, that 

 the bark of the white birch was very inflammable, and 

 was therefore valuable to hunters and campers, if they 

 only knew it, for kindling. He said he had found it so, 

 and wished to share with others the benefit of his dis- 

 covery. I have looked in vain in the columns of Forest 

 ANR Stream for some recognition of this generous deed, 

 and I wish for one to express my thanks for it. The man 

 was right. AVhite birch bark will burn readily, and ia a 

 good material with.which to start a camp fire. Let me 

 add, with no claim for priority of discovery, that dry 

 wood will burn better than green. Hereafter let no old 

 trapper or hunter, or camper out in the woods of the 

 north, waste his time in trying, with benumbed fingers, 

 to start a fire with wet wood or damp jnoss, as no doubt 

 has been his custom, but let him remember the advice of 

 the aforementioned gentleman, and try birch bark. 



C. H. Ames. 



SUMMER ROBIN ROOSTS. 



fGoncliidal I'm, I) Page 



HAVING: dealt with what may be termed the statistics 

 of my subject, it remains to give some description of 

 these flights and behavior of the birds at the roost. There 

 is nothing about the start which Avould attract particular 

 attention, but a close observer will notice that, as evening 

 draws near, such robins as may have been scattered about 

 on the lawns or in the orchards near his jjosition begin to 

 show marked restlessness, ascending to the tops of the 

 taller trees, calUng a good deal— an old male perhaps sing- 

 ing. At length they take wing, one after another in qtdck 

 succession, each, as it flies, uttering a loud note, and in 

 straggling order disappear over the ti-ees. The appj-oach 

 of another flock seems to excite them and hasten their de- 

 partiu-e. aiid tliey often follow it at once, all dashing off 

 together as if struck by a panic, but I have never seen two 

 flocks unite, although single birds occasionally join a larger 

 number. Their course toward the roost is usually straight, 

 but they sometimes tarn aside to avoid a liill or follow 

 the valley of a. brook or river. As "all roads lead to Rome," 

 so the various robin paths traced across tbe sky at sunset 

 converge more or less regularly from every side to their 

 common center, the roost. At roosts where for one or 

 another reason most of the birds enter on a single side 

 only and ai'e drawn to soaiething like a focus, they form 

 during the height of the rush an apparently continuous 

 stream. But close exan\ination will show that the flight 

 is always more or less intermittent and composed of 

 single robins and loose, straggling parties of from three 

 or four to eighteen or twenty birds, each single bird or 

 flock moving quite independeiitly of all the rest. 



Some — probably Ijirds from the greatest distances — are 

 1,000ft. or more above the earth, flying slowly appar- 

 ently with whirring, often intermittent, wing-beats, 

 until almost over the roost, when perhaps after circling 

 once or twice, they half close their wings and drop like 

 meteors, or descend in graceful curves or spirals. 

 Others, at lower elevations, seem to advance more 

 rapidly and steadily, and upon nearing the roost glide 

 down on gentler inclines. While still others skim 

 close over the turf with arrowy swiftness, swerving 

 now to this side, now to that, to avoid bushes or 

 other obstacles, and turning sharply upwai-d into 

 the treetops just as they gain the woods. The average 

 height of flight is a little above the trees, but it varies at 

 difterent periods of the same evening as well as on dif- 

 ferent evenings. As a rule the birds come lower and 

 lower as the twilight deepens. They seem to fly lowest— 

 as might be expected— on cloudy and especially rainy 

 nights, but highest— as certainly would not be supposed 

 —on cloudless nights when the air is filled with dense 

 haze. On a particular hazy evening (Aug. 31, 1889; the 

 flights passing over Mr. Faxon's house were so high that 

 "many birds were just discernible." As only 450 were 

 counted against 835 of the preceding evening, Mr. Faxon 

 concludes "that one-half of them were beyond my ken." 

 The ijresence or absence of wind may have more" to do 

 with this matter than the conditions just mentioned, for 

 all the especially high flights I have witnessed have oc- 

 curred during nearly or perfectly still weather. 



The first comers reach the roost an hour or more before 

 sunset, but for the next thirty or forty minutes the 

 arrivals are few in number and at wide mtervals, 

 although they gradually increase. There is rarely any- 

 thing like a continuous or heavy flight itntil within fif- 

 teen or twenty minutes of sunset, but rather more than 

 half the total number usually pass in before the sun has 

 dipped below the horizon. 



For about fifteen minutes after sunset the rush con- 

 tinues unabated. It then begins to slacken, always 

 diminishing more rapidly than it grew, and often ending 

 with somewhat marked abruptness. Stragglers, how- 

 ever, continue to aiTive until it is too dark to see them 

 distinctly, except against the light in the western sky. 

 The earlier comers usually aUght on the topmost twigs 

 of the smaller trees and sometimes, after a brief 

 rest, fly back to the fields to feed, as if conscious that 

 they were ahead of time. If there is a brook or spring 

 near at hand many birds visit it to drink or bathe. 

 They are also fond of collecting in the upper branches of 

 dead trees to bask in the last rays of the sinking sun, 

 and a rum cherry tree loaded with ripe fruit is an irre- 

 sistible attraction. But when the rush is at its height, 

 there is rarely any loitering. Each bird, as it gains the 

 woods, plunges into them at once, and with such direct- 

 ness and decision that one feels sure it has gone straight 

 to its own Tjarticular perch. This, however, is evidently 

 not the case, for during the entire period covered by the 

 bulk of the flight, indeed for some time after the last 

 belated straggler lias stolen in, there is incessant and 

 general agitation of the fohage as if a strong wind were 

 blowing through the trees. This is caused by the move- 

 ments of innumerable birds who, in the attempt to secm-e 

 positions nearer the center of the roost, or in thicker 

 foliage, are continually darting from place to place, often 

 plunging headlong into the branches or dropping through 

 the leaves with much awkward and noisy fluttering. 

 Either because of inability to see distinctly in the dim 

 light, or with deliberate design to dispossess their fellows, 



such restless spirits often try to appropriate perches 

 already occupied, and the squabbles which ensue, 

 although quickly ended by one^or the other giving way, 

 are accompanied by outcries which rise above the general 

 din of sin-ill, varied voices. If it is eaidy in the season 

 there is also more or less singing. 



But the "most characteristic and peculiar sound to be 

 heard in a roost is that produced by the myriad wings 

 constanty striking the leaves. This closely resembles 

 the patter of hail or large rain drops on dry foliage at the 

 beginning of a shower. There is also an equally steady 

 and similar but slighter sound of falling excrement with 

 which the ground and bushes beneath the roost are so 

 thickly covered at times as to look as if sprinkled with 

 snow flakes.* As the darkness deepens the tumult gradu- 

 ally subsides. One by one the shrill voices are hushed 

 and the nervous flutterings cease, until, when the light 

 has quite gone from the west and the stars are all out in 

 the great dome overhead, a person might pause under 

 the trees and listen intently for minutes without hearing 

 anything save the occasional drowsy chirp or faint rustle 

 of some half-awakened bird— sole tokens of the feathered 

 host bivouacking in the leafy canopy above. 



Therfe is much about the flight to the roost which will 

 remind the reader of migration. The preliminary rest- 

 lessness and gathering of the scattered birds: the excite- 

 ment caused by the passage of other flocks; the wide 

 spread of the infection; and the brief time in which a 

 considerable area is practically drained of its entire robin 

 population; — all these are familiar features to one who 

 has studied the phenomena of migration. As with the 

 latter, the roosting flights are doubtless started by a few 

 experienced birds who, with a definite pmpose in view, 

 lead the way over familiar grotmd to an old haunt. 

 Others follow and the rout becomes general, although 

 many of the birds which it includes are probably at first 

 as ignorant as they are careless of wither they are going 

 and to what end. A. further resembla.nce to migration 

 may be found in the manner in which the different sets 

 of birds perform their jom-ney— not all together nor yet 

 quite independently of' one another, but in what is virtu- 

 ally a straggling army where the new recruits are always 

 more or less directly under the guidance of veteran 

 leaders. In short, so closely do these evening flights 

 resemble those of migration" that I can trace only two 

 marked distinctions: (1) They are comparatively local 

 alTairs extending at most over only a few square miles; 

 (3) they are undertaken, not because of the necessity of 

 escaping from a region where food will soon fail or the 

 climate become unbearable, but seemingly from a mere 

 impulse to assemble nightly in one place for mutual com- 

 panionship and protection. Neither of these differences 

 IS really fundamental, nor can either affect the obvious 

 signifiance of the fact, established by Mr. Faxon, that 

 the young are at first led to the roost by their parents. If 

 the guidance of old birds is necessary aloag the short and 

 simjDle paths to the roosts, can it be doubted that it is 

 even more essential on the long and difficult journey 

 southward? 



* Early in the season when the food of the robin consists ehiefl y 

 of earth worms and insects its excrement is of chalky whiteness. 

 Later, when berries are eateu i^'eely, the color becomes so oark 

 that the deposits beneath the roost are no longer noticeable. 



WOLVES IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 



FROM the northern New York Wilderness reports 

 have come that wolves have invaded the woods in 

 such numbers as to threaten serious injm-y to the deer 

 during the winter just begun. The deer are more numer- 

 ous at this time, so all guides and sportsmen say, than in 

 many years before, because of a rigid enforcement of 

 the game laws, and the growth of a healthy sentiment in 

 favor of their protection during the close season provided 

 by law. Some years ago, owing to a law in-ohibiting 

 hounding that was in force for a short time only, deer 

 increased very rapidly and became very plentiful, and 

 then, too, there came reports from the woods that wolves 

 were abroad and were destroying the deer in the deep 

 snows of winter. 



To say the least, it is a coincidence that with an abun- 

 dance of deer the wolves, long believed to be practically 

 extinct in the State, should make their appearance — by 

 report— to answer for every pool of frozen blood, deer's 

 hair, and the evidence of a tieath struggle in the snow 

 during the close season. The wolves are mid-winter 

 wolves as a general thing, for they never make their ap- 

 pearance until all the sportsmen have left the woods in 

 the fall ; this is probably only another coincidence. About 

 the year 1873 or '74 the writer had occasion to cross 

 Franklin county in the winter with a guide who had 

 spent his life in the woods and was then past three score. 

 We were crossmg a lake on the ice, or rather on the crest 

 of the snow above the ice, when an animal came out of 

 the woods on the right bank and crossed at a right angle 

 to our line of march. At its first appearance both observers 

 pronounced it a wolf and made all possible haste to in- 

 tercept it, although both were unarmed. A nearer view 

 only confirmed the first opinion, that the animal was cer- 

 tainly a wolf, but the old man could not reconcilie its ap- 

 pearance with his sta-tement that the wolves were all 

 gone — killed for the bounty and exterminated. That 

 night we reached Chazy Lake and a number of guides 

 and woodsmen were around the evening tire and this 

 wolf qiiestion was thoroughly ventilated, and the weight 

 of opmion was that excepting a possible estray, there 

 were no wolves left in the Northern Woods. On differ- 

 ent occasions since that time similar evidence has been 

 given by those best competent to give it. When the 

 most recent report of the appearance of wolves came out 

 we interviewed Wm. H, Bennett, Dr. Seward Webb's 

 chief foi-ester, on the subject. He said that he had heard 

 that there was a family of wolves in the region east of 

 Biandreth Lake and between Smith's Lake and Forked 

 Lake, but; he had no evidence that there was any truth 

 in the statement. That last summer a report came to 

 Smith's Lake that a deer had been killed by wolves just 

 east of Albany Lake, but an examination of the "kill" 

 showed that it was the work of a panther. He concluded 

 by saying that if during the winter he should hear of 

 deer being killed • by wolves on the preserve under his 

 care he should investigate the matter very closely, but 

 he should not trouble himself to look for wolf tracks, 

 but should confine himself to a search for snowshoe 

 tracks and the tracks of hound dogs, and if he found 

 those who made them he would find at the same time all 

 the wolves that were killing deer in the Adirondacks. 



A. N, Cheney. 



