466 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deo, 1, 1892. 



At any rate, a robin has been in the habit for some time 

 past of making regular daily (usually in the afternoon) 

 visits to a tall, wide-spreading elm standing across the 

 street from my residence. Away up in the topmost 

 branches the solitary representative of a blithesome race 

 would perch, and upon the ear of the alert listener would 

 now and then fall the faint cadence of a tuneful chirrup 

 that sounded almost weird and strangely out of place. 



A few days prior to Nov, , 1 I missed my feathered 

 afternoon caller, and now, after ten days of keen watch- 

 fulness, I have come to believe that my hope for his 

 return must necessarily be deferred until the coming year 

 has donned its spring overcoat and demanded something 

 new in the way of neckties. 



An incident illustrating the tenacious hold the English 

 sparrow has upon a more or less combative existence, 

 came recently under the notice of a friend of mine. A 

 sparrow flew against a telegraph wire in front of the city 

 post office with such force that it fell stunned and ap- 

 parently lifeless to the stone pavement below. A boy 

 passing a moment later thoughtlessly kicked it into the 

 gutter. My friend, from across the street, had seen the 

 bird fall to the pavement, and hastening over picked the 

 sparrow up and laid it upon the casement of one of 

 the post office windows. It remained motionless as though 

 dead for some minutes. Then a slight quiver ran through 

 the short, stuffy little body, followed presently by an 

 energetic picking of the legs, then a quick, deft beating 

 of pinions; and a moment later, with tne sprightliness of 

 a Japanese juggler, the bird flew aloft to a favorite re- 

 ■ treat, as vigorous, voracious and quarrelsome as ever. 



By the way, I don't believe the sparrow has as many 

 enemies as it once did. There is an impudent friendli- 

 ness, a persistent and effusive familiarity about the little 

 ruffian that tends to modify the popular verdict once 

 passed upon him. M. 0. H. 



MORE ABOUT THE SCREAM. 



Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 21.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I know that the discussion of the panther's scream is 

 getting to be an old story, but I want to add my testi- 

 mony to the fact that he does scream, and she, too. 



I spent seA^eral months in the Spanish Range of the 

 Rockies, in New Mexico, and heard the scream a number 

 of limes there; but the first time is the one I Mvant to 

 tell about. 



1 wish I could make your readers realize what it is, 

 but 1 know I can't. No one who has not heard it can 

 imagine what it is like. We, that is my partner and 

 myself, were lying one night, wrapped in our blankets, 

 in front of our house in Mora county, N. M. About 100 

 yds. from us was the carcass of a calf that had died that 

 day. We were both asleep when a cry came that, to 

 speak for myself, raised me to my feet as if some one 

 had me by the throat. It was the most horrid, hair- 

 raising cry that I ever heard; it actually choked me. As 

 we got on our feet, we brought our Winchesters with us 

 and between us managed, nothwithstanding our scare, 

 to kill the animal. It was what they call there a moun- 

 tain lion, really a panther. 



It seems that some coyotes were already at work on 

 the carcass and his scream must have been one of rage, 

 for we found two dead coyotes, one with his skull 

 crushed and the other with a broken back. 



I do not care what any one may say, I know that the 

 panther does scream, and I will never forget the first 

 time I heard it. H. D. McVban. 



One Effect on the Hair. 



The editor of the 7\.8htabula, O., Sentinel, sends tis this 

 note (rf a panther-slayer's experience, and adds that Mr. 

 Spencer describes the scream as closely resembling that of 

 a woman in distress: "Our townsman Sylvester Spencer 

 is not a very old man, but has been white-haired for forty 

 years. He was always fond of hunting, and when game 

 became scarce in Ohio, he went to Michigan and Wiscon- 

 sin for large game. In 1850, when he was 33 years old, 

 be was hunting on the Wisconsin River. One day while 

 following a deer, which took him along a regular runway, 

 he heard a slight noise overhead, and in looking up saw, 

 about 13ft. above him, a large panther on a limb, juet 

 preparing to spring on him. He looked it full in the'eye 

 and it settled back for a moment, which gave Mr. Spen- 

 cer time to quickly raise his gun and send a bullet through 

 the head of the beast, and stepping aside the panther 

 sprang at him but fell dead on the ground. During the 

 encounter, which did not take as much time as to read 

 this, he was not scared, but when the danger was over it 

 came to him in full force, and the effect was so great that 

 within twenty-four hours his hair was as white as that of 

 a man of 80. 'The panther measured 8Ut. from tip to tip." 



An English View of One American Institution. 



A CELKBBATED Eiigiifih HuUior recently made a stiort tour iu 

 the Unii'-d StHies?, and speaking of his trip from Naw York to 

 Niagara Falls by "America'^ (i jeatest Railroad," he makes usb of 

 the following exDreasions; 



"I have t wo ineffaceable visions before me, a river of peace, the 

 broad waters of the Hudson, a river of tumult, the roaring cata- 

 ract of Niagara. 



"For about 170 miles, the New York Central runs along the 

 margin of the Hudson, and if the eye were never lifted higher 

 tban its level, it would feaston a bouquet of colors, like a rainbow 

 spread upon the earth." 



Speaking of the rtiuing and sleeping cars, the bath and buffet 

 anil barber shop he says: 



"With luxuries like these, the 1.000 miles to Chicago may become 

 a day's holiday, and if tiie journey be made by the New York 

 Central, it will be amidst fiouie of the most exquisite spots of this 

 vast and beautilul uoiuiLry. 



/'Al ter the Palisades come the Hiphla Jds of the Hudson. The 

 river itself c«n never be forgotten. The eye cannot escape it. It 

 tascmates. Itjis majesty amidst the majestic; beauty among the 

 beautiful. Memorv cannot obliterate it. 



"A word about the New York Ceutral. It is the only line in the 



City may be reached iu half an hour, and on rainy days without 

 even wettim; the sole of the toot. _ '1 he fastest train in the world 



minute,"— ^fJii. 



Stood It as Ijong as He Could. 



FUB-MtK, Va., Nov. 16.- 1 inclose checli for one year's subscrip- 

 tion 10 FOREST AND Stheam. Hrvb done without, it as Ions as I 

 can Bland it. A. S. Elrt, 



"Game Laws in Brief," TTnited States and Canada, 

 illustrated, 25 cents. "Booli of the Game Laws^' {fvll 

 text), 50 cents. 



RABBITS AND FERRETS. 



Haetfoed, Conn.— ^difor Forest and Stream: You 

 ask in the Forest and Stream of Nov. 17, 1892, What 

 place does the rabbit (or hare) hold in the popular estima- 

 tion as a game animal, and how are they looked upon by 

 the average gunner or bird shooter? 



In answer to your first question, the rabbit (or hare) is 

 not held in high popular estimation as a game animal in 

 this section of Connecticttt. 



Answering your second question, the rabbit (or hare) is 

 looked upon here by the bird shooter as an animal beneath 

 his own or his dog's notice. 



Regarding hunting rabbits by ferrets. The Pennsyl- 

 vania ferret breeder claims the practice one that does not 

 exterminate, but fosters the breeding of rabbits. This 

 theory is not modeled upon lines altogether unfamiliar. 

 It is one skimmed ofer with adroitness. The theory ad- 

 vanced may be sound logic, but at this writing I am not 

 ready to accept it. 



Your correspondent says, "It is not the male rabbit that 

 holes up and is killed, while the female runs and does not 

 hole up so often, and is saved to rear her young." This 

 statement is rather too sweeping to be entirely consistent 

 with facts. At this point there is more than one breach 

 of inconsistency. 



Many barrels of rabbits killed by the aid of ferrets are 

 shipped from the State of New York to this city, and 

 fully 75 per cent, of the rabbits killed by the aid of ferrets 

 and on sale at our markets are females. It would seem 

 by this silent contradiction of the finely spun fancy and 

 vain delusion that ferrets do not foster the increase of 

 rabbits— in New York. If I remember rightly. Fisher's 

 Island teems with rabbits: there they are pi'otected — that 

 is, the use of ferrets is prohibited by the club controlling 

 the island. 



It is claimed here in Connecticut by parties who know 

 something about rabbits that "ferreting" them is a very 

 destructive method of extermination, but it is unneces- 

 sary to dilate upon such unsportsmanlike means of taking 

 game. When a man, with dramatic accentuation, which 

 becomes woefully tiresome, advocates snares for ruft'ed 

 grouse, nets for catching trout, spears for taking black 

 bass from their spawning grounds, ferrets for rabbits, he 

 reminds me of the advice given by a colored minister to 

 one of his flock. The stovepipe happening to fall during 

 a revival, the minister asked one of the "bredderin" to 

 put it in position. Brother Johnson essayed to do it, but 

 rather slow. The old minister said, "Pick it up, brudder, 

 pick it up: de Lord won't let it burn you." Brother 

 Johnson, with faith in tne assurance, seized the hot pipe 

 and of course had his hands badly blistered. He dropped 

 it with the inappropriate but forcible and dramatic re- 

 mark, "De debbil he won't." Moral: Do not put too 

 much confidence in those who advocate snares, nets, 

 spears and ferrets, for surely you will fare as Brudder 

 Johnson did when he picked' up the hot stovepipe. 



A. C. Collins. 



Auburn, Susquehanna County, Pa.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream : 1 notice the communication of Mr. Decker 

 in your issue of Nov. 17, which seems to be put forward 

 as an excuse for selling ferrets when he knows they are 

 to be put to illegal use ; and, at the same time, get a'little 

 free advertising. Would not " I know " have been better 

 than "I am quite sure?" 



Now, Mr. Decker and I reside but a few miles apart, 

 yet our conclusions vary widely. I am confident that 

 rabbits are not holding their own, but, on the contrary, 

 are rapidly decreasing. Ferrets were not used to any 

 considerable extent in this locality until the past three 

 years. Two years ago rabbits were very plentiful. The 

 first time out I shot ten ahead of my beagle belore noon. 

 One year ago a considerable diminution was noticeable, 

 and this fall, using the same dog and hunting over the 

 same ground, three were the largest bag I have made, 

 and often none at all. 



Most of the rabbits killed are taken to the country 

 stores and from these shipped to the cities. Ask any of 

 the country merchants and they will tell you they are 

 handling but a small per cent, of the shipments of two 

 years ago. 



No specie,? of game can survive a mode of hunting 

 where there is absolutely no chance of escape. One 

 young fellow tells me of hunting two years ago with a 

 ferret bred by Mr. Decker, and he killed from twelve to 

 nineteen rabbits a day a,nd kept it up nearly every day 

 for three weeks. According to Mr. Decker such slaughter 

 — " the more we hunt with ferrets "—conserves the sup- 

 ply. Never before have we heard it intimated that the 

 rabbit.was in the least carnivorous. We always supposed 

 that its antipathy to anything like blood or grease was 

 extreme. What proof has Mr. Decker that the male rab- 

 bits devour their young ? Or is it a mere "theory," not a 

 " condition ? " We hope it is as well authenticated as was 

 the fact that the old express horse Santa Anna subsisted 

 and grew fat on an exclusive diet of bullheads. 



And again, if it is only the males that hole when pur- 

 sued by dogs, how does Mr. Decker account for the fact 

 with which all rabbit hunters are conversant — that on 

 some days every rabbit started will go straight to a hole, 

 while on other days they will all run some time before 

 going to earth ? 



And does not Mr. Decker show ignorance of the habits 

 of game when he hints that the ' ' true sportsman " shoots 

 young grouse during the warm months "up among the 

 maples and hemlock ti-ees on the very top of our hills ?" 

 If we are at all acquainted with the habits of the ruffed 

 grouse the heavily- timbered ridges would be the last place 

 the true sportsman would look for them early in the sea- 

 son. And if they are so killed one lawless act does' not 

 justify another. 



His assertions are : The more rabbits killed with ferrets 

 the more there ir left. The male rabbits kill and eat their 

 young. That the male only Roes to earth when pursued. 

 That the law prohibiting the use of ferrets can not be en- 

 forced. That rabbits subsist on grain. That the younc 

 grouse are found on the heavily-timbered ridges. How 

 many of them will stand inquiry ? Behold a new axiom 



in mathematics. Any part is greater than the whole, 

 and the smaller the part the greater the total ! 



His sympathy for the " farmers' boys " makes me tired. 

 It is so old, so very old and so very thin. When any one 

 wishes the repeal of a protective law they always over- 

 flow with sympathy for the " poor farmer's boy," down- 

 trodden and oppressed. It is the same self-interest sym- 

 pathy whether coming from a grouse-snarer in the East, 

 or a Pennsylvania man who wishes to hunt rabbits with 

 a " bug." I was a farmer's boy for twenty-one years and 

 have been associated with them ever since, and I know 

 them to be above and beyond any such sympathy. And 

 a large per cent, of the boys upon the farms of Susque- 

 hanna county could give Mr. Decker points on game and 

 gportsmanship. Bon Ami. 



Ithaca, N. Y. — Although much ferreting is no doubt 

 annually done in this section of the State the tupply of 

 rabbits holds out remarkably well. Good bags are fccored 

 daily now. I believe, however, that i-abbits should be 

 protected from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1. Between the ferrets, 

 the beagles, and the breechloaders, bunnie has a small 

 chance to thrive and multiply as the law now stands, 

 Mart Oltz, a local trapper, tells me, with a wink of the 

 eye that is rich in meaning, that he has already trapped 

 over one hundred muskrats and two minks, M. C. H. 



THE LOST PARK BUFFALO AGAIN. 



Kenosha, Col., Nov. 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 On Oct. 5 a prospector named Boeher, who has been pros- 

 pecting during the summer, came in from Lost Park 

 with information that he had met while in there two 

 hunters, one of whom, named Foley, he had been 

 acquainted with in times past on the plains and knew 

 him as an old buffalo hunter. Foley confided to Boeher 

 that his party were there for the express purpose of get- 

 ting some bison for future mounting, and that two taxi- 

 dermists accompanied the outfit for tbe purpose of pre- 

 paring the frames, that they had already killed thirteen 

 and had arranged with a party owning thirty jacks to 

 come after them and pack their game out of the Park. 



Boeher told his story to Mr. M. F. Case, of Kenosha, 

 with whom he stopped that night, and off'ered to go back 

 with him (Case) and locate the camp of the outfit, but 

 Case at that time was sick (is now lying at point of 

 death) and could not go. He did the next best thing, 

 however, and notified the State authorities, recom- 

 mending that they come to Kenosha and he would sup- 

 ply them with the necessary horses and camp outfit to go 

 into the Park and make a thorough hunt for the killers, 

 also that they could get Boeher to go with them, and 

 have him show where he had met the parties and where 

 he had seen the evidence of their having killed some of 

 the bison. Gordon Land, the State Game Warden, 

 thought the matter could be attended to from other 

 points and so sent an outfit under charge of J. P. Lower, 

 and with Jonathan Higginson, of Buffalo Creek, as 

 guide they entered the Park from Buffalo Creek, and 

 after searching two or three days came to the conclu- 

 sion that there had been no killing and retraced 

 their steps to Estabrook, where they heard of a pack 

 outfit having passed a few days previous. They started 

 on the trail of this outfit and traced it as far as 

 Slaghts, where all traces of it were lost. As the Park 

 can be entered from the vicinity of Slaghts, it is very 

 probable that the parties they were tracking vvere the 

 outfit that Foley had spoken of as coming after them. 

 Having lost the trail Lower and company retttrned to 

 Buffalo Creek. 



Another party in charge of Deputy Game Warden 

 Kimball went into the Park from this end after nearly 

 two weeks' delay, but after a three days' search they re- 

 turned not having seen any traces of the buffalo hunters. 



A short note appeared in one of the Denver dailies 

 from Florrissant, saying that two taxidermists of that 

 place had left there on a hunting expedition, and no 

 knowledge of their whereabouts being had it was sup- 

 posed that they might be the parties sought after. These 

 men have not returned to their homes yet, and it will de- 

 pend on their word where they have been, whether they 

 are the ones wanted or not. It is very probable that they 

 have heard ere this that they are suspected of being the 

 buffalo slayers and it will be an easy matter for them to 

 get rid of the pelts, head, etc., if they have them; or they 

 could continue on to Wyoming or Utah and on returning 

 say that they had killed their game in those States, and 

 there would be none to dispute their word, unless this 

 man Foley could be found and brought before Boeher. 



Lost Park is a long narrow valley about ten miles long 

 and varying from a few feet to a half mile in width, there 

 are many gulleys running into it and the country around 

 is very rough and heavily timbered, so that it is an easy 

 matter for a person to keep out of the way of any search- 

 ing party that might go in after them. 



There is no one living in the Park and the buffalo use 

 it a part of the year for their grazing ground, and they 

 range from Kenosha on this side to the vicinity of Pike's 

 Peak on the other and all along the ranges intermediate, 



S. S. Cakruthers. 



Denver, Nov. M.— Editor Forest and Stream: Mr. S. 

 S. Carruthers, of Kenoshti, sent the following special to 



the Denver Bepublican: 



Keworha.. Uol., Nov. aa.— [SpeefaLl— Mr. .Tames Gregg, a resi- 

 dent of Webster, wt o has been hunting in the neiKht. rhnod of 

 Lost Park. Teporta thaf in Craig Gulch he found the carcass of a 

 freshly killed buffalo. The hide had been stripped from it, Inav- 

 ing the head and meat. The Uide had been diagged along the 

 trail in tbe direction of the Puper Mill Camp at Chase. Some 

 steps should be taken, and at once, to place a dspnty game warden 

 in the Lost Park country, and have him take up hia residence 

 tliere. If some such steps are uot taken, it will be but a short 

 time till all tlie remaining buffalo, one by one, will be exter- 

 minated. 



This is probably authentic, as the buffalo are known to 

 range in Craig Gulch. It is to be hoped that this mis- 

 creant will be caught and an example made of him. If 

 the authorities move quickly they can follow the trail of 

 the hide and thus locate the killer. Teseeby, 



Florida Quail. 



Tallahassee, Fla., Nov. 19.— The quail are abundant 

 this year. On the 1.5th John A. Pearce and Geo. Beard 

 killed eighty-one. Quail shooting was always good, but 

 March 1, 1893, the close season began, and that and other 

 causes have made the birds numerous, D. D. B, 



