Aug. 4 1892.] 



F^OHMST AND STiRBlAM. 



91 



forms no better when the next cavnp ia made it will find 

 a final resting: place on the bottom in thedeeppst water to 

 be found in the lake. 



We burned a good many logs and limbs that night, for 

 each one had his story to tell about the happenings of 

 the day, and the hour was late before the camp-fire gave 

 its last d J ing flicker, warning us to seek the tents and 

 bed: even tbe Colonel had run out of warp and woof for 

 the fancies he bad been weaving for the last half hour in 

 the glowing embers, the ashes were knocked from his 

 fireless pipe and be was ready for once to turn in with the 

 rest of us. ' Kingfisher. 



[TO BE CONTINUED. 1 



rock above him, the male bird walked slowly forward 

 toward the cMff, talking in a low note to the others behind 

 Mm, while the mother bird stepped forward to a little 

 point of dry land at the edge of the marsh, and there 

 threw herself forward flat upon her breast, spread her 

 long head and neck on the ground in front and lay still. 

 Soon the little one walked up, and, poking hishead'under 

 his mother's wing, squatted down and wriggled forward 

 under her wing close to her side, and soon the little head 

 and slender neck came twisting up through her feathers, 

 and there be was housed perfectly from the cold of the 

 approaching night. I watched them for an hour or 

 more, as long indeed as I could distinguish my rifle sights, 

 and when at last I crept away homeward I was careful to 

 make no disturbance, and giving no alarm to the watch- 

 ful creatures resting peacefully below. 



What other reader of Forest a tsd Steram has ever 

 seen the mother sandhill crane liover her young? Don't 

 all speak at once. Obin Belknap 



are right. Snipe are not wai erf owl in any usual, proper or re- 

 coeni zed sense of the word. By waterfowl is understood ducks, 

 geesfi and swan, and such is always the intent of the laws oon- 

 cerninsr game. You can rest asstired of this, and you will do good 

 .if you make it clearly understood whenever the question comes 

 up. Yours truly (Signed) Er,r,iOTT Coues. 



"Prof. R. A. Turtle, the well known taxidermist, 

 writes: 



CHT(J\r.o, .7ulv v.— Col. E. S. Bond: Dear Sir—You ask if 1 

 thonnbr, snipe came under the head of waterfowl. My answer is 

 a decisi ve no. When you show rae a snipe starring out from shore 

 and swimming of his own free will, then I will say tiaey are clas- 

 sified as such. ji" Waterfowl" includes ducks, geese, swan, pelicans 

 and any bird that alights in the water. Yours truly, 



(S'gned) ,R. A. Turtle. 



".John Watson, the veteran sportsman and snipe 

 shooter, who knows as much about snipe as any one, 

 writes: 



rmcAoo July 7.— Ool. E. S. Bond: As to the question 'Are 

 snipe waterfowlfc'i" my answer is: Clip a snipe's wings and throw 

 it into the water SOOvds. from shore, and it would drown before 

 reaohiog land. The claim ia unmitigated rot. Yours truly. 



(Signed) John Watson. 



"Prof, Packard, of Brown University, in his elemen- 

 tary course in zoology, says there are four different types 

 01 birds, viz., the running, walking, swimming and the 

 perching, Baird, Jasper and Coues follow this classifi- 

 cation nearly. Among old ornithologists a,re Bonaparte 

 and Wilson, about the beginning of this century, whose 

 works are out of date and out of print. Audubon comes 

 next as to habits and description of birds, fie will always 

 he authority, but great as he is, he has ceased to be author- 

 ity on classification. Baird, Jasper and Coues's works 

 have been published within the last fifteen or twenty 

 years or later. I ask Mr, Bortree to produce some late 

 authorities, or even the opinion of five men, who know 

 anything about the matter, who say snipe are waterfowl, 

 I do not believe he can find one in the State besides him- 

 self. In the whole ■range of my acquaintance I have not 

 found one who takes his side of the question. The game 

 warden thinks it very wrong and almost wicked for me 

 to advise the dealers to make a test case, and appears to 

 be very much aggrieved. He cannot tolerate an honest 

 diff'erence of opinion, but thinks it our duty to submit to 

 his dictation. I will have to lacerate his feelings further 

 by repeating ray advice to dealers to test the law, and I 

 now call on the sportsmen to contribute and make com- 

 mon cause against the dictation of one man, who prob- 

 ably never read a modern work on ornithology. 



"In any event, where authorities conflict the courts will 

 be govei-ned by the intentions and understanding of the 

 framers of the law, and this can be easily established. I 

 have several letters from prominent sportsmen concern- 

 ing the stand I have taken. The game warden's con- 

 struction of the law means very little snipe shooting. It 

 will not make much difl'erence in the spring, but the best 

 shooting in the fall comes before the 15 'ih of September, 

 and the best I ever knew opened on the 12 th of August. 

 This ends all I have to say on the snipe question. 



"E S. Bond,'" 



A TEST CASE NEEDEt). 



Col. Bond puts up a rather rugged case to handle, that 

 is sure. As to the original intention of the law there is 

 no question. Neither has there been any case, to my 

 knowledge at least, with decision counter to this original 

 intention. The general impression and belief of Chicago 

 shooters is alike unmistakable. They do not class snipe 

 shooting with duck shooting, nor snipe with ducks. One 

 of the heaviest bags of snipe ever reported here was 

 made by shooters who took off their rubber boots, walked 

 in their thin sheepskin inside moccasins, and shot snipe 

 on ground where the walkers kicked up du3t at every 

 step. The snipe shooter is not an expert who sticks to 

 the marsh when the snipe are missing. Pie must try 

 the high knolls miles back from the marsh, and per- 

 haps even the willows or brush in rough weather. 



This much, snipe hunting will teach any one, but it 

 does not settle the question of classification, and it does 

 not settle the point at law as raised by Warden Bor- 

 tree. I hardly think the sportsmen will or shoitld fol- 

 low the shiftful advice of our friend the Colonel, and 

 contribute toward the expense of a test suit. Should 

 they do this, they would appeal- to rebuke Warden Bor- 

 tree, and so might lose his services, which are alto- 

 gether too valuable to be dispensed with. We can't af- 

 ford to spare the first real, actual, active and in 

 earnest warden we ever had here. Knowing so 

 well that Mr. Bortree is sincere, even if he grows extra- 

 zealous, I have some hesitancy in saying anything which 

 he might take to be ojiposition, and I know a great many 

 of our sportsmen feel the same way. It seems to me now, 

 as it did at first, that we need a test case to live up by. 

 The sportsmen will back the decision. They want to back 

 the warden, W^e don't want a weak-backed warden. It 

 is all right for M r. Bortree to pluckily stand up for his 

 position, and. not to give it up easily. In this case, how- 

 ever, should he smile good-naturedly and say, "Well, 

 boys, back me the better on the chickens and ducks and 

 we'll let the snipe question rest for awhile,"' I don't 

 suppose he would lose much dignity or prestige! The con- 

 fession is nevertheless extorted that a compromise is not 

 desirable to the warden, and not often desirable at all in 

 a question of this kind. The right and the wrong of it 

 should be determined actually and definitely. We may 

 as well admit it; until the test case we are all at sea, and 

 don't know what to think. Oar personal beliefs or 

 preferences ought not to weigh. W^e want a case. By 

 courtesy the sportsmen can not start it. Has Col. Bond's 

 right hand lost its cunning':* He has retired from the 

 street, but has he not his old influence among the dealers? 

 In a half day can he not raise all the small money needed 

 for a case? Come, Colonel; this would be only another 

 chance at thine ancient enemies. For the game dealers, 

 consider: Sujipose the warden seizes 500 snipe some day, 

 and makes his case hold. A case by consent might be 

 cheaper, L^t U'^ have it. 



Chicago, 111., July 30 —Mr Percy Stone, of this city, 

 relates a little incident of his late visit to the old home- 

 stead near Osonomowoc, Wis., which may ofter to Prof. 

 Garner a new field for the study of language. Mr. Stone 

 was looking out toward the wood in front of the house 

 when he saw an obi fox squirrel and five young ones 

 coming toward him along the top of the fence. 



"It looked just like one big squirrel, about 5ft. long," 

 said he, "for they were all running along one close after 

 another, and every tims the one in front would come to a 

 post in the fence over he would go and each one behind 

 right after him, They kept right along on top the fence 



NOTES ON THE SANDHILL CRANE. 



On the top of the rush-built mound or house of the 

 muskrat near the shore of lake or slough, and just far 

 enough from the bank to be safe from the marauding 

 coyote, the sandhill crane scooped out a nest and raised 

 her young in safety, in the old days when Minnesota and 

 northern Iowa formed the finest trapping ground on 

 earth. 



I once found such a nest, and although the mother bird 

 laid her head down close to the side of the rat-house to 

 escape observation, she was driven from her treasures, 

 and a glance into the nest revealed two eggs about the 

 size of those of the turkey, brown in color, mottled and 

 spotted with darker brown. The sight of the nest and its 

 embryo occupants was enougli to repay the discomfort of 

 WHding in the icy water to reach them. 



W^ho among the readers of our dear old journal has 

 seen the weird dance of a flock of sandhills? Once only 

 in a lifetime of more than half a century have I seen 

 this strange performance in its perfection, when each 

 member of the flock of fifteen or twenty long legs en- 

 tered into the sport with the evident intention of getting 

 as much square fun as possible out of this "all prom- 

 enade" of nature. 



It was on the prairies of Iowa nearly forty years ago, 

 and for half an hom- 1 faced the northwest wind of early 

 springtime to watch the awkward hops and fantastic 

 posturing of this merry group of untaught dancers, as 

 with wings half outspread the strange "hop, skip and 

 jump" went on, so very like the awkward, stiff-legged 

 dances of the Indian braves that it really seems as though 

 the Indian dances were first suggested by observations of 

 the wild gyrations of the sandhill crane. Certain it is 

 that the Indian is not so very much the more stiff legged 

 and ungainly performer of the two. 



Courageous, too, is this wary bird of the wilderness, 

 and in extremity can fight with the energy of despera- 

 tion. On a well-remembered day "lang syne,'' when dear 

 old Jim Morehead followed the same trail across the 

 prairies with me, a pair of cranes was approached within 

 300yd8., and as Jim was the rifleman par excellence, the 

 old muzzleloader was quickly passed to him, and the bul- 

 let broke the wing of a stately bird, which fl 3pped and 

 fell awkwardly as its mate rose in the air; and at the 

 sight of the struggling bird Jim's old dog Coaly sprang 

 forward to retrieve it. 



Courageous and active as he was, for once he reckoned 

 without the host. The brave old bird drew himself 

 grandly up and met the reckless charge of the dog with a 

 veritable iance thrust of the long neck and spear-pointed 

 beak, so fierce and deep that with a howl of pain the dog 

 recoiled, and tried by actively springing from side to side 

 to catch his prey unawares. But ever the fiery eye and 

 lance-pointed beak fronted his attack, and another fruit- 

 less effort or two soon taught him the value of discretion, 

 and he was forced to await with impatience the help of 

 his master to put his foe hors cLe combat. 



I once had a fine exhibition of the courage of this bird 

 when not half grown. I was looking for deer one even- 

 ing an hour before sunset when, at a distance, I saw an 

 old crane closely followed by two little ones nearly large 

 enough to fly. As I approached the little ones disap- 

 peared and the old one took wing. Carefully marking 

 the spot and keeping my eye fixed steadily upon it I 

 walked directly to them as they crouched in tbe grass. - 

 I lifted the little creatures in my arms, being careful 

 meanwhile to protect my eyes, but as the little female 

 appeared almost overcome with terror and refused to be 

 comforted I put her carefully down again, when with 

 drooping head and outstretched neck she scudded away 

 through the grass for a few rods and dropped from sight 

 again. Not so the male. He was for war immediately 

 if not sooner, had got his "dander riz," and proposed to 

 prove that he was from Bitter Creek direct. 



After amusing myself with him for a few minutes, 

 during which I kept hold of his neck to protect my eyes 

 which he appeared viciously inclined to strike, I put him 

 down and offered him his liberty. Not a bit of it! Lib- 

 erty was nothing to the fierce joys of the warpath with 

 this fiery young savage of the prairie. 



The brightly shining heads of the brass rifle shells pro- 

 truding from my cartridge belt seemed to arouse all his 

 wrath, and a dozen times he amused me and no doubt 

 gratified himself by stalking up in front of me and spear- 

 ing those offending shell heads with rage insatiable. I 

 really had quite a difficult j )b shaking him off as he 

 followed me through the long grass for quite a distance, 

 all the while muttering his little impotent wrath and 

 daring me back to the fight. 



But it was not until within a very few years since that 

 I saw what I very much doubt if any half dozen readers 

 of Forest and Stbeaai ever saw — a mother crane hover- 

 ing her young. Again 1 was looking for venison, and 

 having reached a point of rocks nearly a hundred feet 

 above the swampy bottomland of the Colville River, 

 almost directly beneath me, and as this was a favorite 

 point of observation with me, from which I had killed a 

 dozen or so deer at other times, I sat down on the gnarled 

 root of an upturned tree, and as the sun sank behind the 

 mountains far off toward the Cqlumbia River I watched 

 the open swamp for the coming of a deer. Not a deer 

 appeared. Half an hour after sunset came three cranes 

 instead — two old ones and a little bird half grown. 



Flying slowly around to survey the ground, they 

 alighted at length within lOOyds. of the base of the cliff 

 on which I sat. Taking a careful look at all his sur- 

 roundings, but seeing nothing of jne perched high on the 



Is it a New Humming Bird? 



I H i.^'E seen it stated that there is but one species of 

 humming bii'd native to New E igland, namely the ruby- 

 throat. This may be correct, though observers here in 

 Cummington assert that they are visited very often in 

 mid-summer by two kinds, Avhich vary not only in color 

 of plumage, but in form and figure. Every day at this 

 season the ruby-throat visits the flower beds, very tame 

 and often seen at rest on the stems' of annuals and small 

 woody plants. L '.st year and the year liefore there came 

 frequently in company with the ruby-throats, two pairs 

 of humming birds noticeable for their stouter bodies and 

 shorter tails, with black heads and green reflections all 

 over the body and wing coverts. One flew into a window 

 and was caught; so that upon examination the difference 

 became strikingly apparent. This year, however, none 

 have been seen. 



Is it possible that these birds with green plumage were 

 mere casual visitors? or have they come to stay? 



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')nnie ^nq mid 0ittj, 



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CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[By a Staff Cnrresr.>mi(lrnt.l 



Chicago, 111., July 20.— In regard to the suggestion of 

 a test case in the much vexed question whether or not a 

 jacksnipe is a waterfowl, my c intentions friend. Col. 

 Bond, has the following to say in regard to Warden Bor- 

 tree's position : 



"Ravenswood, 111., July 14.— I send you my reply to 

 Mr. Bjrtree. Ic may worry him some. The sportsmen 

 should contribute and have a test case, as they are as 

 much interested as any one. But I do not expect a penny 

 from them, as I never knew them to give anything for 

 game protection, though they always stand nearby to 

 share the benefits secured at the expense of others. 



E S. Bond. 



The article prepared by CoL Bond is as follows: 



ABE SNIPE WATERFOWL? 



"Sickness has prevented my answering Mr. Bortree's 

 reply to my letter in the Tribune. Both have been pub- 

 lished in the For est and Stream, and have been read 

 with interest by sportsmen generally. Mr. B irtree 

 appears to depend greatly on dictionary definitions to 

 find out what a snipe is. They are poor authorities at the 

 best, as compilers of dictionaries are not supposed to 

 know much about birds, and probably would not know a 

 snipe should they see one. Webster's definition of snipe 

 is 'A bird of the genus Sc.olopax, that frequents the banks 

 of rivers and the borders ot fens." In this he is correct. 

 He does not say that they are waterfowl, or even go into 

 tbe water. The Century Dictionary gives no definition of 

 waterfowl: its definition of 'water bird' is 'an aquatic as 

 distinguished from a terrestrial or aerial bird,' oliierwise, 

 water as distinguished from a land bird. Worcester's 

 Dictionary is so old it is no authority. Mr. Bortree must 

 be hard up for authorities to go as far back as Belonin in 

 1.555. No one disputes that some old writers had a class 

 called waders, but this classification has been abandoned 

 by all modern ornithologists. The same can be said of 

 Rev. Hick's catalogue. So far as Mr. Henry Breton, 

 State geologist, is concerned, he may know something 

 about rocks and stones, but is not supposed to know much 

 about birds. 



"Mr. Bjrtree sayshe does not find any authority to sup- 

 port my statement that -'Any bird that makes its home 

 on the land is not a waterfowl." The authority is the ex- 

 ercise of plain, common sense. If M r, Bortree will read 

 Coues's "Kfy to North American Birds" and Jasper's 

 "Birds of North America," he will know more about birds 

 than he does at present. The game warden's personal at- 

 tacks I care nothing about, and do not consider them 

 worthy of any attention. The question is "Are snipe 

 waterfowl?" Mr. Birtree labors hard in defending Jus- 

 tice White, and his absurd decision as to what is a "wild 

 buck." The inconsistency of his decision can best be 

 illustrated by taking a mountain sheep. The male would 

 be a wild buck and protected by law, but the female being 

 a ewe, would not be protected. This would be hard on 

 the ewe, as the game warden says as to snipe. I offer the 

 following letters in support of my position that snipe are 

 not waterfowl. Dr. N. R owe writes: 



CHiOAfiO, June 10. 1893.— Ool. E. ,S. Bond: There is one thing 

 tbat everybody is off on m regard to snipe, lb was 1 who, in order 

 to harmonize matters proposed to remov^e all protection from 

 snipe, and it was thoroughly and positively understood that fnipe 

 should not be protected. Moreover, the snipe is not a waterfowl; 

 that I stated in tiie ^r/UTiVad P(.e7(7 several limes. In reg-ard to 

 this very question you can stale positively what I have writ- 

 ten you. Tnat it was 1 who proposed to throw tue protection oflE 

 from snipe in orclef t > get better protection on some other game 

 birds. Yours truly, (Signed.) N. fiowE 



ALMOST EQUALLY GOOD. 



"Prof. Elliott Cones, the author to Coues's 'Key to 

 North American Birds,' a professor in the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and the best living authority on birds, writes: 



Smithsonian Tsstituiion, June ?.-S. S. Bond: Dear Sir—You 



