448 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 25, 1898. 



shot one if it had been near the bank. I himted along the 

 creek until I caught a couple of frogs, which I cut up mto 

 bait, and then I sat down on a nice bank and went to fish- 

 ing. In a few minutes down went the cork float, I gave 

 a ierk and found I had hooked a fish, which I landed 

 over head and as far back as my pole and Ime would 

 reach. I rushed back to where the grass was shaking, and 

 there lay flopping a yellow catfish of ahout 21bs. weight. 

 I soon had mv hook back into the water, and m a mmute 

 or so had another bite. I landed another cat. This I kept 

 up until time to go to camp. When I strung them I found 

 I had seventeen nice catfish; the first was the largest, yet 

 the smallest would have weighed over a pound, so I had 

 about 351bs. of fish. When I reached camp the boys gave 

 me three rousing cheers, and wanted to know what kind 

 of game I proposed to bring in next. I told them it would 

 be owing to what kind I found, but that I was not after 

 buffalo or beaver any more for souie time. 



Lew Wilmot. 



[TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.] 



"PODGERS'S" COMMENTARIES. 



San Francisco, May 15.— Here it is the 15th of the second 

 month since the fishing season opened, and the under- 

 signed has not yet wet a line in any stream, a lamentahle 

 fact that goes against all precedent. But that dreadful 

 condition of slavery called business, which is the bane of 

 existence, keeps one's nose down to the grindstone, and 

 leaves no time for the pastimes that the soul yearns for. 



At this season, too, California is at its best, and the 

 coimtry is beautiful. The hills and dales are in luxuriant 

 green, and wild flowers intermixed with the grass make 

 a trip to the interior streams a joy and a luxury. You 

 can camp out and fear no drenching shoAvers to dampen 

 your ardor; and the trout are eager and ready to snap the 

 dancing fly. Everything is lovely except yourself. And 

 the season slips by, wMle you cast longing glances at the 

 split-bamboo in its case. What is more trying to the soul 

 than not being able to go fishing when the time is rife and 

 all nature smiles? I leave the conimdrura unanswered. 

 The ti-ue fisherman only can appreciate the longings for a 

 day in the country where the fish wonder why you come 

 not. It is true one can slip off for a Sunday one day, but 

 our near-by streams are pretty well fished out, and to 

 enjoy good sport it is necessary to go further away, and 

 that requires time — a couple of days at least, and how one 

 hates having to fish by the watch, with the screech of the 

 locomotive in his ears and a train to catch. Besides, Sun- 

 day is no day to be on a stream, as every farmer's boy 

 takes that holiday to splash along the creek and spoil your 

 sport. Hence I wail over lost opportunities, or rather the 

 want thereof. What makes it more irritating is that 

 the trout are said to be abundant this season in the far- 

 away streams, and are biting well. Woe is me, for I am 

 not in it. 



I notice in reading the last number of Forest and 

 Stream that our friend Judge Greene administers unto me 

 a gentle rebuke for having, as he says, in all gentleness, 

 cast unseemly refiections on Oregon, its tendency to rain 

 at all times, its chmate and its general shortcomings. I 

 bow in all humility and meekness to the reproof, but dis- 

 claim all intention to poke fun at his adopted country. 

 Of course I sympathize and condole with him that he does 

 not live in California; but that is a misfortune, notafault, 

 I really did not intend to wound the sensitive hearts of 

 our neighbors, and was totally unaware that I had done 

 so. I take it all back, a,nd will sin no more, whatever the 

 shortcomings of Oregon's climate, it is amply redeemed 

 by the existence of noble trout streams, its pheasants and 

 its ardent sportsmen. Hence, I throw myself on the 

 mercy of the court and plead "previous good character" 

 in mitigation of the punishment that may be in store 

 for me. 



I am not sensitive on the subject of earthquakes that 

 the Judge hints at, as one of the attractions of California. 

 I have had chills and fevei% and would welcome any 

 other kind of shake in preference ; neither do I take any 

 stock in Death's Valley he mentions as being 800ft. below 

 the level and liable to submersion. That is in Arizona: 

 hence California is not responsible. But if the Judge is 

 looking for a more local sheol where he can send poachers 

 and those who kill game out of season, we have several 

 localities we can offer quite warm enough to answer the 

 purpose. 



As to the invitation the judge extends to have me to 

 "come up"' and try the Chinook salmon, the huckleberries 

 and bears, I accept, with the proviso that I take them 

 separately. Beai-s and berries might not agi-ee with me 

 taken together, and it might suit the bears better to have 

 Californian served up cold. I must on the whole decline 

 the bears. As my experience with that class of natural 

 history has not been a happy one, remembering, as I do, 

 spending a whole night in a tree on one occasion in the 

 '50s, while a grizzly did me the honor to camp at the foot 

 of the tree awaiting my descent to shake hands with me, 

 I confess to a slight piejudice against bears ever since. 

 Anything else the Judge may have to offer in the way of 

 Oregon attractions I accept with thanks. 



I note the discussion in the Forest and Stream on the 

 merits of cockers, and I take the side of the cockers, for 

 they are very nice little doggies and have merits. I have 

 owned several and can attest to their good qualities as re- 

 trievers in dense scrub and underbrush, as they can 

 wi'iggle imderneath and bring out birds where it would 

 bother the larger dog. Speaking of dogs reminds me of 

 the inteUigence of a half-breed (half retriever and half 

 spaniel) owned by a man who manages trap shoots for a 

 club near here. The dog in question reti-ieves all the 

 birds that are shot, and in cases where there are a hun- 

 dred bh-ds it gets to be rough on the dog. For his con- 

 venience a bucket of A\^ater is placed handy to enable him 

 to alleviate his thirst. iVs the shoot progresses he gets 

 weary and footsore, and after bringing in half a dozen 

 birds he goes to the bucket, and after taking a lap or two 

 puts first one f orepaw in the bucket, then the other, then 

 turns around and dips in each hindfoot successively, and 

 continues to do this to the end of his labors. He was 

 never taught to do it, but reasoned it out himself that it 

 was a good way to relieve Ms feet from the heat conse- 

 quent upon so much travel. 



It is my theory that most dogs know more than most 

 men, and taking the average of dogs and men on intelli- 

 gence the dog would win "by a large majority." Dogs 

 can do many things that a man cannot. What man was 

 ever able to scratch a flea between his shoulders? and yet 

 man is four-legged, his arms representing his forward ones 



in our early stages, only we have become too proud and 

 cockey to use them as nature intended, but devote them 

 to prize-fighting and the double purpose of driving with 

 one while we hold our best girl in the buggy with the 

 other. Speaking of which, how singular it is, that before 

 marriage that girl requires so much holding, and after, is 

 so well able to take care of herself. The danger phase of 

 pitching out of a buggy seems to have passed entirely. 



Speaking of prize fighting you will soon have an ex- 

 hibition of the skill of the kangaroos in that line. A man 

 has just landed here from AustraUa with a couple of 

 kangaroos that he has taught to stand up and sparr with 

 skill sufficient to knock out any ordinary pugilist. It ap- 

 pears to be a natural tendency of the animal to strike out 

 with his fore-feet or hands, and when very much in 

 earnest he brings to aid the long single toe of one of his 

 hind feet and rips down the abdomen of his opponent. 

 This feature and tendency and one also to kick a man 

 about 10ft. his trainer is endeavoring to suppress; and 

 things go on very well until the animal gets two or three 

 heavy "biffs" on the nose, when he forgets all the rules 

 about below the belt and shows a disposition to return to 

 his natural methods and tear things. But the owner and 

 trainer speaks encouragingly of being able to eradicate 

 that little fault in time; meanwhile if a few pugilists 

 should happen to be "opened out" there would not be 

 much mourning I imagine, as gentlemen of that class are 

 fast losing their j)opularity. 



The kangaroos wiU first visit the World's Fair of com-se, 

 or in course of their progress eastward, but you will see 

 them in due time. Why not turn them loose in Wall 

 street with the bulls and bears? When jumps are in order 

 they will be found useful. But ' 'slumps," not jumps, seem 

 to prevail in that sulphurous latitude just at these pres- 

 ents. Blessed are they who are far away, and having 

 nothing to lose are not in it. Podgees. 



THE LAST BEAVER. 



A skeleton of a beaver's head adorns a shelf in my 

 library. It often calls for the telling of a story which 

 may be of interest to the younger readers of Forest and 

 Stream who have never had, and perhaps now never wiU 

 have, an opportunity of witnessing the curious habits 

 and great instinct of this almost extinct animal. 



Early in the '50s I was engag;ed in the peninsula of 

 Northern Michigan, and necessarily had to run a sawmiU 



A BEA.-VER POSE. 



for making material for buildings. There was a pretty 

 lake, one of a galaxy of them, from which flowed a 

 stream that ran the mill. The foot of the lake was closed 

 by a beaver dam, and a supply of water was thus kept up 

 for a dry time, when the deficiency was made up by cut- 

 ting into the beaver dam to let the water down the stream. 

 There were a large number of beavers in these lakes, each 

 of which had two or more beaver houses and a dam at the 

 foot. Most of the beavers had been caj^tured by the 

 traiDpers, and I made an effort to save this remnant by 

 forbidding the taking of any more on my land. But I 

 soon found that a sawmill and beavers were not com- 

 patible. 



No sooner had we cut into the dam, and returned to the 

 mill a mile away, when the expected water began to drib- 

 ble and finally stopped. "Wliat the is the matter 



with the water?" said the foreman. A man was sent to 

 examine and found the beavers had mended the break 

 and stopped the water. The break was opened again, but 

 no water followed the man on his way back. The man 

 was talked to in the expletive way usual to Westerners, 

 but he insisted that he had done his duty. 



When you want a thing done go yourself, was my 

 motto, and I went. Knowing a good deal about beavers, 

 having explored their haunts with Mr. Morgan, the 

 author of the only book about beavers extant so far as I 

 know, I approached the dain cautiously and peering over 

 the thick brush saw five or six fellows, just jiutting the 

 finishing touches to the repair of the dam by jjlastering 

 mud on the work with their broad flat tails, excellent 

 trowels for the purpose. As soon as they discovered me 

 they dived and disappeared. 



There was no help for it but to trap the animals, for 

 which 1 was sorry, but no water no lumber, no mine no 

 money, and the beavers mast go. I set some traps and 

 opened the break. 



The water ran freely for a few hours but the next 

 morning the stream was dry. There were three beavers 

 in the traps, and the break was repaired as neatly as if 

 the best mason had plastered the dam over. The break 

 was opened and the traps reset, and water came down for 

 a few days, when it stopi^ed. The same com-se was re- 

 peated, and as soon as the work was finished I hid in 

 the brush and awaited events. The lake slowly fell, and 

 in less than an hour I saw a gentle ripple from one of the 

 beaver houses, and very soon a beaver landed on the dam 

 and examined the break very intently for a few minutes. 

 Then he dived and returned to the house on the opposite 

 side of the lake, and with another started on a trail I had 

 seen to another lake twenty or thirty rods away. By and 

 by he returned with two others, and the four went to 

 work filling the break. They stai'ted up the lake and 

 swam back, each with a stick in its mouth, which was 

 stuck in the hole, and this was repeated until the break 



was filled again. Then they all went to work stirring up 

 the bottom which was made up of dead leaves, and these 

 fiUed the openings between the sticks, and the water was 

 stopped once more. 



This went on until all the beavers were captured as I 

 thought. The last one caught was a female, and by its 

 side as it lay dead in the trap, stood a young beaver on its 

 haunches in the peculiar way with these animals, resting 

 on the stretched out tail, and looking most disconsolate. 

 This .sketch I made at the time and send it for perpetuation 

 in the Forest and Stream. I was sorry for the little fel- 

 low, and thinking he would not bother us, I left him as 

 he stood mournfully viewing his desolation. I sent a man 

 for thp trap and the skin of the beaver in it, and he 

 brought this last of the family, which he found lying 

 dead by the trap with no doubt its dam in it. The water 

 ran and probably runs yet, but I still feel sorry for his sad 

 fate. The skull on my library shelf was his. 



H. Stewart. 



BREEDING RUFFED GROUSE. ' 



Toledo, O., May 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: Dur- 

 ing the month of February and the early part of March I 

 was fortunate enough to get together a number of ruffed 

 grouse for the purpose of continuing the experiments for 

 their domestication interrupted some four or five years 

 ago. In this labor of love I have had the very kindly co- 

 operation of "our paper," and of Messrs. Nathan L. 

 Hayes, of Clinton, N. Y., and L. D. Burdick and Clark 

 Black, of McDonough, in the same State. At Toledo Mr. 

 W. O. Dakin, an experienced poultry raiser, has con- 

 tributed his very extensive knowledge on that subject to 

 the general fund, and under all these favoring circum- 

 stances we are quite sanguine of success. Our arrange- 

 ments this spring include a covered house about 8ft. 

 square, connected by a small door with a nicely sodded 

 and netted run which contains several trees (and which is 

 some 8ft. in width and nearly 100ft. long). At the back 

 of th^ house proper is a covered rectangular space with 

 nest boxes which can be examined from the outside with- 

 out in any way disturbing the birds themselves. 



As you may readily imagine, I am as much delighted 

 these days as a boy with a, new pair of boots. One of my 

 grouse hens, whicli began laying on the first of May, has 

 a nice little nest with eight eggs, and a fair prospect of 

 half a dozen more before she finishes. She is so 

 thoroughly tame, more so than any bird I have ever 

 owned, that I have no doubt she will go straight along 

 and take up work of incubation as soon as she is through 

 laying. 



Are the ruffed gi'ouse really polyganious? We have 

 always been told so, and all my experiments looking 

 toward their domestication have been conducted on this 

 assumption. But this spring there have been in this par- 

 ticular inclosure, three hens and one male bird, and the 

 latter has attached himself to this one hen, foUowtng her 

 about from place to place like a sedate and well-disciplined 

 husband, apparently caring nothing for other females, 

 nor they for him. And if we go into the inclosm-e, 

 (which is some 8ft, wide and nearly lOOft. long), he is 

 so intensely jealous that his attitude and actions are as 

 ludicrous as those of a school-boy under his first "great 

 passion." At such times he will at once strike an aggres- 

 sive pose, and attack the hand or foot of the intruder, 

 whichever may be presented to him, with all the dash 

 and bravery of a game-cock. The behavier of this bird is 

 more like that of the male quail, who is always a model of 

 conjugal fidelity. He has, however, killed one hen whose 

 presence in the same range with himself and liis sj)0use 

 did not seem to meet with his approval. 



The authorities aU tell us that the male grouse is a 

 passionate but tyrannical and selfish tm-k, and that he has 

 no interest in his female companion after the fervors of 

 the mating season have abated. Here possibly is an 

 Ulustration of the refining influences of civilization, and 

 an opportunity for a constant companionship with the 

 better sex. 



Under aU circumstances, there seems every probability 

 that these eggs are fertile, and that if they are properly 

 incubated they will hatch. But so far I have not ven- 

 tured to count the chickens to be produced from them. 



Jay Beebe. 



"Nehrling's North American Birds." 



It is with satisfaction that we receive Parts VI., VII. 

 and VIII. of "Nehiiing's North American Birds," a work 

 of which we have had occasion to speak favorably in past 

 numbers of Forest and Stream. We have often alluded , 

 to the need of an accurate, popular and pleasantly writ- 

 ten ornithology of America, which should be illustrated 

 by colored plates and yet should be published at a price 

 which would be within the reach of the average man. 

 This need will be at least partially supplied, we think, by 

 Dr. Nehrling's work when it shall have been completed. 

 Originally the plan was to limit the work to a single 

 volume, but this has been found impracticable, for the 

 material has expanded until now two are necessary. The 

 numbers now before us carry us to the end of the first 

 volume. 



Part VII. deals with the warblers, from the oven bird 



{Seiurus) to Gardellina and the vireos are begun. Parts ' 

 VII. and VIH. cany us through the vireos, shrikes, Avax- 

 wings and swallows. In this double number also is 

 j)rinted an extended introduction, which among other 

 subjects treated, includes bird legislation, tlie acclimati- 

 zation of exotic birds, and a brief memorandum of nest- 

 ing boxes, the latter illustrated by a number of cuts of 

 bird houses. The index to the first volume is also f oimd 

 here. Of the plates illustTating these parts of the work, 

 the single figures by Mr. R, Eidgway are remarkably life-i 

 like and true to nature. The grouped birds are less' 

 effective, although those representing the blackbirds and 

 the swallows are fairly good. 



The life histories of the species described in these parts 

 of the work are quite as good as in past numbers and are 

 delightful reading. The value to agiiculture of bird life 

 is quite fully gone into, and the whole tone of the work, 

 is admirable. The author never loses the opportunity of 

 insisting on the importance of preserving our birds, and. 

 yet the lesson which he teaches is so happily presented 

 that it never becomes wearisome. 



The Best I/ine to Denver 



Prom either Chicago or St. Louis is the Burlington route. Only one 

 night on the road. Daily vestiliuled trauis, with Pullman sleepers, re- 

 clining cha.Ir ears r.seats free") and Bui'lington route dining caiB.—Adv. 



