FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 14, 1892, 



came into the woods, so it was voted on all bands to 

 break the camp of 1837-38, and make for iiome, which 

 was reached sate and sound in due time, j)artly by stage 

 and partly by foot, as we came. 



INDIAN DOVE NOOSE, 



GEYSEEVILLE, Cal.— On the overland train going east, 

 not long since, we had the pleasure of the companion- 

 ship of one of the most ardent sportsmen that it has been 

 our good fortune to meet for many a day. He hailed 

 from Minnesota, the land of blizzards, and was on the 

 way home from his first visit to our coast and fresh from 

 a hunting trip among the Sierras, as well as from a raid 

 upon the feathered denizens of the California tules. 

 Being a born sportsman, a lover of nature generally, he 

 was not long in discovering our weakness for the mem- 

 bers of that persuasion, and he at once became an inter- 

 esting traveling companion. Among other things, he 

 was delighted with the coast scenery — particularly with 

 Yosemite Valley — and enthusiastic in his praises of our 

 State in general. 



In relating some of the incidents of his trip, he refer- 

 red to the unique manner in which the Indians of Tulare 

 county capture turtle doves. Armed with a neat little 

 device in the shape of a horsehair slipnoose fastened to 

 the end of a rod, the catcher would secrete himself in 

 the foliage beside a spring where the little birds were in 

 the habit of going for water, and while in the act of 

 drinking, the noose was dexterously slipped over the 

 little head and the victim quickly whisked out of sight. 

 It was done so quickly that there was no chance for a 

 flutter or commotion to frighten away the other birds, 

 and the "native son" soon roped in as many as he wanted. 



I have just been reading the interesting article by 

 Edward A. Eobiuson, in a recent FOREST AND Stream, 

 "On the Pampas of Entre Rios," and I notice that his 

 scheme for capturing partridges in South America is 

 somewhat similar to the Indian method of capturing 

 doves, mentioned above. Marion. 



Freaks of Bullets. 



While shooting my .22oa]. Ballard the other day, and 

 adjusting my Lyman sights for shooting cats at ISffc. or 

 thereabouts, I shot at the end of a stick of hard wood that 

 was lying in a pile, and feeling a smart rap on my left 

 side and seeing something drop, I stooped and picked up 

 what was evidently a badly demoralized "long rifle" bul- 

 let. On examination I found my bullet had struck the 

 lower side of the stick, gone diagonally through and 

 made quite a dent in the side of another stick lying be- 

 low and obliquely to it, and then around back, evidently 

 to let me know that, if my sights were perfectly adjusted 

 for 75ft., they threw lead too low at 15, Can "Podgers" 

 tell me the wherefore of this? S. S. Noeris. 



The Ideal Handbook. 



The Ideal Manufaclnring Company of New Haven, Conn., is a 

 progressive concern lliat aims at perfection in the manitfacture 

 of reloading tcols, and is satisiitd with nothing short of its ideal. 

 SuccesP, instead of assn.igmg, seems onJy to wnet its appetite for 

 improvement, and no wonder the company has made an enviable 

 record, and intrecclied itself in the hearts of shooters from Maine 

 to Yubadam. 



"The Ideal Handbook of Useful Information to Shooters" is a 

 valuable little book published by this company, which will be 

 sent free to any reader of FoRJiST and Stkeam.— JLcZu. 



BIRDS AND BONNETS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I pity that indiscreet contributor of yours, who spells 

 his name with a big, big P. He hardly has time to pull 

 his foot out of one scrape before he puts it into another. 

 Some time ago he got to tampering with women's hair, 

 and as might have been expected, it didn't take them 

 long to go for his. He says, "Ask her to wear her hair 

 some other way that may be much more becoming; do 

 you think she will do it?" Well, no. I tried that when I 

 was younger; but this court wont do it again if she 

 knows herself, and I should think the aforesaid P. was 

 old enought to know better than to meddle with female 

 fashions. 



A young lady at my present resting place indignantly 

 denies that women are any longer at the bottom of this 

 needless bird slaughtering business. She says that nearly 

 all women who have souls worth saving have joined the 

 Audubon Society, and scarcely a bird is worn in bon- 

 nets now. 



If this is true I may yet die hapi^y. I am a sportsman, 

 but this bloody business has made me miserable for many 

 a weary year. 



In Florida, where I eat my daily bread, the slaughter 

 has been frightful. I have heard men, who claim to be 

 sportsmen, tell of shooting into a tree where egrets col- 

 lect by hundreds to roost, and then in the morning pick- 

 ing up those that had attractive plumage and leaving 

 the rest to rot. Now, I believe when such fellows die, 

 their souls, if they have any, will be kept in a state of 

 miserable unrest for several eternities by the screams and 

 flutterings of birds that they have slain in wanton bar- 

 barity. 



In Brazil a great part of the revenue is derived from 

 the skins of humming birds and other birds of plumage, 

 millions upon millions of the lovely little creatures being 

 killed to decorate the hats of the tender-hearted ladies, 

 who would hardly tolerate the presence of a man who 

 would brutally treat a dog or cat. These little innocent 

 creatures are in their finest plumage during the nesting 

 season, and when the old birds are killed the young ones 

 must, of course, die a miserable death by starvation. 



Now, if the women who thoughtlessly give encourage- 

 ment to this hellish torture could be brought to the point 

 of thinking on the matter, the revenue of Brazil would be 

 seriously diminished. Didymus. 



A Feathered Cut-Throat. 



My cousin Sam, who lives in Beyroo, says that there is 

 a pigeon hawk in Syria which kills pigeons by cutting 

 their throats with its sharp bill as they fly. It gives a 

 swoop, a quick dart, and presently there is a tumble. 

 The pigeon is picked up with a gash across its throat. 



Chas. Hallo ck. 



RARE BIRDS' NESTS. 



We are permitted by the recipient to publish extracts 

 from a private letter written by Mr. H. Austen of Hali- 

 fax, N. S., to Dr. Elliott Coues. The notes are of great 

 interest to ornithologists. It will be renaembered that in 

 Forest and Stream of Nov. 26, 1891, we published a 

 figure of the nest of the ruby -crowned kinglet from a 

 specimen taken by Mr. Austen. This, if we recollect 

 aright, was the first figure of the nest of this species ever 

 published. 



In his letter to Dr. Coues, dated June 27, Mr. Austen 

 says: 



"It has occurred to me that you might be interested in 

 the following note about 'ruby' kinglets, as your Key to 

 North American birds says 'eggs unknown.' I think I 

 was the first to discover the nest and eggs of this bird. 

 On the 5th of this month I found a female ruby that had 

 just begun to build her nest. On the 6th all the out- 

 side was complete, on the 9th she was carrying feathers 

 to line the inside, and on the 18th I examined the inside 

 and found it to contain one egg. I looked at it again on 

 the 24th._and as it still held only the one egg, and as the 

 female did not show up and the ega: was cold and inside 

 of the nest damp, I knew she had deserted it. Hearing 

 the male about I went to work and in one hour and ten 

 minutes had the new nest, which contained six eggs. I 

 left it until the 26th, and it still holding the same number 

 I knew the set was complete and so took it. 



"Now to day I was out again, and hearing the male 

 about the same place I spent part of the day in the vicin- 

 ity and saw the female carrying material for another 

 nest, and after a time I succeeded in locating the bough 

 on which she has commenced to build her third nest for 

 this month, I watched her come to the place three times, 

 and can just make out with my glasses that the nest is 

 started, and when it is complete and eggs are all laid I 

 will take it. Is this not something remarkable and worth 

 knowing? 



"I have taken 5 nests of the bay-breasted warbler this 

 month; 3 ruby kinglet, 2 with 6 eggs each and 1 with 10; 

 1 nest of the Nashville with 5 eggs; 1 nest of olive-sided 

 flycatcher with 3 eggs; 1 nest of Canada jay (last April) 

 with 3 eggs, and many others beside. H. Austen." 



IZAAK WALTON. 



With thee to trudge up Totoam Hill 



That summer morn so cool and still. 



When smiling in the early day 



Around the peaceful landacape lay. 



The humble cot in vale withdrawn, 



The noble mansion on its lawn, 



The village church whose taper spire 



As index finger pointed higher. 



The whistling plow-boy far afield. 



And distant rivers scarce revealed, 



1 think as in thy book I read, 



I should have liked it well indeed; 



To listen to tlie liomely talk 



That still beguiled the tiresome walk, 



Of scaly wonders of the iiood 



From Pliny and Dubartas good, 



And texts with holy meaning fraught 



In plenty from the Scriptures brought, 



And legends, too, of pious men 



Who loved to angle through the glen, 



More pleased tbe speckled trout to hook 



Than ponder o'er some ancient book, 



To barken as thou didst rehearse 



Sir Henry's or sweet Herbert's verse, 



I think as in thy book I read 



I should have liked It well indeed; 



For such the talk with which the way 



Thou didst beguile that summer day, 



While pleased Viator,* led along 



By holy text and fragrant song. 



Forgot the dust and growing heat 



As on he pressed with willing feet. 



Till in surprise at length he sees 



The "Thatcht Hnuse" shining through the trees. 



Its swinging hoard the sign of rest 



And comfort for the welcome guest. 



Where in a brimming cup of ale 



He reads the moral of the tale. 



T. J. Chapman. 

 * The first edition of "Walton's Compleat Angler" opens with 

 but two interlocutors, Pisoator and Viator. 



NEW ENGLAND FISHING. 



The trout fishing season has proved to be a most singu- 

 lar one thus far, especially in northern New England 

 waters. Early in the season the water was unusually 

 low, the melting of the snows in April and May not 

 bringing the Maine lakes and streams nearly up to high 

 water mark. Indeed at the time of the ice leaving the 

 Sebago, the Rangeleys and Moosehead those waters were 

 the lowest ever known at that season. This was generally 

 unfavorable to trout and salmon fishing, though many 

 fair catches were made. But later the tables have turned. 

 From a very dry April and May there has followed a June 

 noted for its rainfall. For twenty days in Maine it 

 actually rained some part of the twenty-four hours,whUe 

 for ten full days and nights it rained all of the time. This 

 was followed by a perfect flood of rain the last days of 

 June and the first of July, till by that time the lakes and 

 streams the most noted for fishing were the highest ever 

 known. Old guides said that they had never before seen 

 the Rangeley Lakes so high as they were on the last days 

 of June. The rivers have been running full banks, and 

 the smaller streams have overflowed their banks. At the 

 Upper Dam and Middle Dam, Eangeley Lakes, the gates 

 had to be started, the water being above the danger line. 

 All this has been ruinous to fly-fishing. 



Some of the papers, which make it a business to habit- 

 ually lie on this subject and always represent the fishing 

 good at the points they are the most desirous to boom, 

 have told fish stories this season the same as ever. But 

 in spite of such stories, fly-fishing has been unusually 

 poor. A party of expert fly-fishermen returned last week 

 from Camp Stewart, Richardson Lake, where they had 

 been spending a couple of weeks. They tried the fishing 

 faithfully every day, when it did not rain so hard as to 



preclude the getting out of doors, even clad in rubber : 

 coats and boots, and they found it diflicult to get trout .1 

 enough for the table. They caught nothing above l^lbs. ' 

 in weight. The water ran roily and spring high into the 

 Richardson Ponds and all the streams where they tried to , 

 fish. This party was composed of Mr. C. S. Robertson, i 

 city auditor of Somerville; J. F. Wellington, of the Boston ( 

 Coal Trade; J. S. Murphy, superintendent of Stickney, 

 Poor & Co.'s spfce works, and John J. Vaill, of Somer- i 

 ville. These gentlemen came back pleased with the resti, 

 they had had, but their fly-fishing was a failure. They ■ 

 tried at the Upper Dam several times, but without success. 



A party consisting of H. H. Haskell, son of E. B. 

 Haskell, one of the senior proprietors of the Boston 

 Herald; H. C. Moffitt, R. D. Ware. S. A. Lord and C. B. 

 Ashendent, have recently returned from Allerton Lodge, 

 Mooselucmaguntic Lake, where they had been stopping 

 for several weeks. They too found the weather noted 

 only for the continuous rain and very poor fishing. Mr. ' 

 Ashendent is credited with a 61b. trout, however, by the 

 papers, but the paper story remains to be confirmed by , 

 some member of the party. It is a remarkable fact that 

 these later fishermen to return report that the black fliea ; 

 have been less troublesome than usual this season, not- ', 

 withstanding the wet weather, which is usually favor- 

 able to their growth and increase. : 



Gov. Russell, of Massachusetts, is an angler, and he is . 

 as popular among anglers as he is as the ruler of the 

 Commonwealth. Lately he has had a new honor con- 

 ferred upon him. He had good success with a peculiar fly 

 at B Pond this spring, where he was the guest of Messrs, ; 

 John and Bayard Thayer. The fly was a suggestion of , 

 Senator Simpkins, a companion angler with the Gover- 

 nor. It has- the body of a silver-doctor, the wings of a 1 

 professor, with brown hackle under feathers and a red ' 

 tail. Messrs. Dame, Stoddard & Kendall have lately been j 

 making the fly, and at the suggestion of Mr. j. Oda ' 

 Wetherbee, another companion angler of the Governorj, | 

 the fly is to be called the "Gov. Russell." Such a fly ia i 

 likely to be heard from in the fall campaign. 



Some of the Boston salmon anglers in Canadian and 

 other waters are already returning, generally reporting 

 very poor success. The streams have been greatly swollen 

 by the very heavy rains, conditions decidedly against 

 success in taking salmon with the fly. It is believed that 

 the run of salmon is being a heavy one, the high water 

 being favorable to their ascent of the rivers to their 

 spawning grounds, though not favorable to angling. ' 

 Besides, it is understood that the unusually high water ' 

 in some of the salmon rivers has hindered the operations 

 of the net fishermen. 



July 3 and 4 was to have been pretty generally given 

 over to bluefisbing by a number of Boston anglers. Re- 

 ports indicated that bluefish were plenty, especially off 

 Nantucket, and a great fleet of boats was chartered for 

 the days in question. The late trains on the Old Colony 

 were pretty well crowded with sportsmen on the Satur- 

 day night of the 2d, and matters looked propitious for 

 good fishing. Mr. Horace Cook, of the Boston grain 

 trade, at the Chamber of Commerce made up a party of 

 his friends consisting of Harry B. Moore, A. A. Keen, 

 agent of Pillsbury's flour in Philadelphia, and Mr. F. W. 

 Darling. They had a nice 32-ft. boat. They went down 

 to Nantucket, where they arrived Saturday evening. The 

 next morning there were some 20 boats, with crews and 

 skippers all engaged, in Nantucket harbor, ready to go 

 for bluefish. But the weather was bad. There was 

 a heavy wind, with one of those peculiar fogs that make 

 it dangerous going a dozen rods from land. Most of the 

 parties refrained from starting out. But the Cook party, 

 having an excellent boat with a captain and a mate, de- 

 cided they would try to get around i;he point. They made 

 good headway before the wind, but when the Point was 

 reached the captain decided that it looked "too nasty'' to 

 venture out into the open sea. The boys were disap- 

 pointed, for not a bluefish had they caught. But there 

 was nothing for it but to beat back into the harbor. By 

 this time the wind had increased almost to a gale. The 

 captain suggested to the mate to put on his oil suit and 

 take the helm while ho donned his own oil clothing. 

 They put the boat about, and the fishermen, who were 

 not much used to rough salt water, soon began to appre- 

 ciate the putting about and the difference between run- 

 ning before a heavy wind and beating against it. Though 

 the mainsail was under three reefs, yet the boat careened 

 so that she took barrels and almost hogsheads of water at 

 every sea. It was necessary to pump constantly to keep 

 the craft afloat. Added to the wetting was the fact of a 

 terrible mal de mer that seized the poor landsmen. I 

 asked Harry Moore if he was seasick. He answered, 

 "Seasick! No. I was too frightened to be sick. Hon- 

 estly I was never so scared in all my life. I want no more 

 salt-water fishing; the inland lakes and ponds are good 

 enough for me." 



After beating for two or three hours the Cook party 

 got back into Nantucket harbor, and the universal ver- 

 dict was that no money would hire them to try it again 

 in such weather. The other boat that ventured out had 

 about as tough a time as did the Cook party. Very few 

 bluefish were caught. On Monday, the Fourth, the wind 

 again blew a gale from the northwest and fishing was 

 almost an imposibility. Such is fisherman's luck. 



Special, 



Colorado Trout. 



Ceipple Creek Gold Fields, Colo., July 3,-1 am not 

 a subscriber in the full sense of the word, but have been 

 a purchaser of it for many years past. Being a miner, 

 my occupation necessitates moving from place to place 

 oftener than I would wish the address changed to reach 

 me. It will be fifteen years this fall since I first beheld 

 Old Sol rise over yonder mountain range. Since that 

 titue I have arrayed myself in raiments of buckskin, and 

 with the ever trusty ''Old Reliable" Sharp .45-90 have 

 hunted all kinds of game to be found in the Rockies, 

 sometimes being very lucky, at other times not so lucky. 

 But of more recent years the study of geology has re- 

 mained the foremost thought. T have just now come in, 

 pick and shovel on shoulder and pan in hand, from a 

 search for the yellow metal. At this season of the year 

 Dame Nature (here in the mountains) is dressed in her 

 lovelies'; of robes. Over on Ten-Mile trout are quite 

 plentiful. A friend of mine went trouting there last 

 week and had the pleasure of taking 32 fish. I will go 

 and try my hand at the business, and if I have good luck 

 will write you all about it, and if no good luck will write 

 anyhow. Buckskin Harry. 



