June 1, 189S.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



471 



A HABIT OF THE ROBIN. 



MUNCT, Pa., May .31. —Mr. Elting in a paper to Forest 

 AND STEEiUi last fall wrote of some disreputable practices 

 or habitri of the robin. He alleged that the parent bird 

 ate the excrement of it^; young, and that invariably, too. 

 Now, I did not believe that your correspondent had ex- 

 amined closely enough, but that he was perhaps deceived 

 by some action of the bird. Mr. Gibbs took issue with 

 him immediately and sent in his protest. For one, I said 

 that if our robin is guilty of such detestable habits 

 he cannot hide them long from the great army of watch- 

 ful inverstigators. I did not suppose, however, that I 

 would be able to prove or disprove the statement, nor do 

 I expect to now, but I giye the results of aome personal 

 oliservances, made only a few days ago. 

 _ About the first of May, while" helping to trim out the 

 limbs of a large walmit that hung too heavily over the 

 roof of my house, I discovered a robin's nest and in it 

 five young birds, apparently not more than two or three 

 days old. The nest was close to the house and could be 

 seen very plainly from three windows. I spent hours 

 watching the old bird feed and care for the young. I 

 have seen them come to the nest with food and take out 

 the excrement many times, yet I never saw them swallow 

 it. Usually they would drop it while flying sometimes 

 close under the tree, and at other times rods away. 

 Sometimes they would not drop it at all, but alight on the 

 fence or walk or on another big tree with it. When I 

 first iTiade this discovery I said, '"Mr. Elting is right, I 

 ^uess." But I began to "investigate and found that the 

 junning bird had deposited it every time where it alighted 

 — it made no difference whether on a limb of the tree, on 

 the ground or on the fence or on the walk, it was there 

 ^very time, I invested nothing in either theory, and 

 :iaid let the right pre vail; and now, after a careful "exam- 

 ition I find that I have found and accounted for it each 

 and every time it was taken from the nest, and I for one, 

 day emphatically that the robins, of this section at least, 

 do not eat it, J. M, EmuSH. 



Exactness in Observation. 



"Grentlemen, you do not use your faculties of observa- 

 ,tion," said an old professor, addressing his class. Here 

 he pushed forward a galUpot containing a chemical of 

 exceedmglj^ offensive smell. "When I "was a student," 

 he contiuued, "I used my sense of taste," and with tlmt 

 he dipped his finger into tbe gallipot and tlien put his 

 finger into his mouth. 



"Taste it, gentlemen, taste it," said the professor, "and 

 exercise your perceptive faculties." 



The galh]x>t was pushed toward tlie reluctant class one 

 by one. The students resolutely dipped their fingers into 

 the concoction, and with many a wry face sucked the 

 abomination from their fingers. 



"Gentlemen, gentlemen," said the professor, "I must 

 repeat that you do not use your faculties of observation; 

 for if you had looked more closely at what I was doing 

 you would have seen that the finger which I put in my 

 mouth was not the finger I dipped in the gallipot." — 

 Travele7''s Record. 



"DIDYMUS" AND HIS NIGHTMARE. 



St. Augustine. May 15.— It is generally thought that 

 the Houyh bullhead yarn which was jjublished in FOREST 

 AND Stream some time ago could "take the rag off the 

 bush" against anything in the line of whoppers ever 

 penned, but a ((uiet little story (not sworn to) was placed 

 before the readers of Forest a?jd Stream about that time 

 tliat takes the rags from all the bushes, from Maine to 

 ■Mexico. 



"Gircum stances alter cases," and a little female circum- 

 stance is in the way of my saying much about it, but I 

 humbly beg, beseech and pray, that the gifted author-ess 

 will, evfji at tliis late day, own up, retract, and utterly 

 repudiate the whole thing and let me have a good night's 

 rest. It it was about a pair of buzzards, the story, as big 

 as it is, might be swallowed with some oiling, but it was 

 all about a pair of insignificant pet humming birds. One 

 of them was brought up on principles adopted by its an- 

 cestors (and rigidly adhered to by generations of them yet 

 unborn), and stubbornly refused to bathe its lovely little 

 form in anything but water from the clouds, before it 

 touched the earth. The other was a little rowdy, and be- 

 cause his companion refused to wallow in the water with 

 him like a vulgar catbird, ' 'he would take him by the leg 

 and drag him in!" 



Now, I do not like to dabble in doubts, and especially if 

 jjrhited in the truth-loving pages of Forest and Steeat^i, 

 and when I saw in imagination those long lines of wagons 

 loaded with slimy bullheads of the Hough variety I man- 

 aged to swallow the story, with a little straining; but 

 those humming birds have been gradually training me 

 for the luua,tic asylum ever since their unparalleled ex- 

 ploits were paraded before the world by Forest and 

 STREAJtf. Now, let's see. 



The tmwashed little party would not, with meekness 

 aforethought, lie down on his back by the side of the 

 saucer of water to let the other fellow "pull his leg" and 

 ha.ul him up over the side! That has not an air of prob- 

 ability hanging round it. and if he had to chase him 

 rovmd the room to "catch as catch can" he couldn't fly 

 with him through the air, like a fish-hawk with a mullet, 

 to get Mm to the bath tub, and as to getting him on the 

 oai-pet and hauling him across the room and then up the 

 table leg. But I may as well stop. It won't do! And I 

 want to say right here that I do not write this for pub- 

 lication, but to ask your individual sympathy in my 

 troubled state of mind. I wake up twenty times a night 

 . in a dazed condition, only to see that villainous little brat 

 of a bird dragging his companion across the room by his 

 leg, with his feathers rumpled and torn out till he looks 

 like a bit of mussed-up rag, etc. Yours in misery, 



Didymus. 



Cow, Calf and Coyotes. 



Corpus Cheisti, Texas, May 33.— As I was looking 

 over your paper I noticed a piece about a coj^ote or wolf 

 catciiing a jack rabbit. I have a jack rabbit instance to 

 mention. Once as I was going to a ranch on the Rio 

 Grande River I noticed a cow fighting a pack of coyotes. 

 We went up and examined the case. The cow hall her 

 calf underneath her and Avas keeping the coyotes oif . 

 She had already killed fifteen of them when we came up. 

 Of course we shot at them and killed three, which made 

 eighteen dead. The Mexican I had along began skin- 

 .ning them and brouglit them to the ranch. J. S. K. 



'mtie md 0ur( 



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

 illustrated, S5 cents. "Book of the Game Laws" {full 

 text), 50 cents. 



THE SOUTHERN QUAIL'S HARD LOT. 



Mr. Wm. C. Blackiier, Salisbury, N. C., under date of 

 May 11, writes the following interesting information con- 

 cerning the bird supply in North Carolina this year: 



"From my own experience and from inquiries made, 

 I am satisfied that our birds in this immediate section 

 were not hurt by the cold snap. Of course, some men 

 slaughtered; but "the unprecedented weatherHkept the pot- 

 hunter from his avocation, and the coveys found enough 

 food to sustain life. I ha,ve been told, what I did not 

 know before, that when driven to it by hunger, our quail 

 will fly to the cedars in covey and eat the small blueberry. 

 I opened the craws of some I killed after the snow was 

 gone, and whUe I found no cedar-berries, I did find the 

 redberry from the wild briar and pine mast in abundance, 

 and further east, the birds were said to be tainted with the 

 pine odor. This I camiot vouch for." 



From an old friend, Mr. S. N. Ayers, Blue Mountain, 

 Miss. , I received the following game notes under date of 

 May 15: 



"The quail stood the winter well, although we had a 

 12in. snow in January which remained on the grormd 

 more than a week. But, fortunately for the quail, after 

 three or four days the snow melted sufficiently to settle 

 and harden so the quail could tra,vel on top and get acorns 

 which had fallen in the meantime, and sumac berries 

 enough to live on. 



"The prospect for the coming season will be better than 

 last, especially if we have a dry June, that being the 

 month most of the quail are hatched in this section. 



"The quantity of birds last season was below the aver- 

 age owing tri a very wet May and June, which drowned 

 the larger part of the young; consequently, the most 

 which were raised were of the second crop, or late hatch- 

 ing. 



"The quantity of birds here has diminished from one- 

 half to one-third in the last seven years, especially in cer- 

 tain sections of Mississippi, although there is a fair quan- 

 tity here now. The reasons for this are tliat there are 

 fully three times as many bird hunters now as then, in 

 some localities; more particularly pot-hunters Further- 

 more, in some localities, the game law is not respected 

 and in particular b}^ tliose who own no dogs. Such men 

 slip around in Bob White time and whistle them up to 

 shoot them. They also rob all the nests they can find. 

 The trouble here is the most of the people need educating 

 up to respect the game laws. No longer ago than this 

 morning I heard a young man say he was sorry he failed 

 to have his gun with him to-day, 'as he could then have 

 kdled a half dozen of quail. I shamed him all I could, 

 telling him it was against the law and that in any case it 

 was a shame to kill birds of any kind when they were 

 nesting. He then said he would not shoot hens. I told 

 him the cock sits half the time and would raise the 

 young should the hen die, so that he was no more excus- 

 able for killing cocks than hens. 



"Squirrels are very scarce. No ducks. The fewest 

 number of turkeys. In fact, a turkey is not allowed to 

 yelp, gobble ov put-t-t at any season of the year. Such as 

 a,re so fortunate (?) as to hatch are killed before tlxey are 

 as large as jay -birds." 



Now, I consider that a real nice letter, full to the brim 

 with useful information and containing an admonition 

 which every shooter in the land should heed. Spring 

 shooting and wanton destruction will exteriuir.ate the 

 game birds of America if persisted in. The novice and 

 the unthinking will say, "No — impossible." Think of tlie 

 fate of the buffalo, the wild pigeon, and the partial de- 

 struction of ducks, quail and snipe. No sensible man can 

 then say, "No." The day has come when legislation 

 should destroy the vocation of the market-hunter, w^hen 

 a fixed open season should be rigidly enforced, and Avhen 

 individual selfishness should give way to public good. 



It is not commonly known that negroes destroy thou- 

 sands of quail eggs every season. The negroes use them 

 as an article of food and find a ready sale for them in 

 most of the Southern towns. Negro dogs also destroy 

 large numbers of nests. There are from one to a dozen 

 dogs to each negro family. They are in a chronic state of 

 semi-starvation, and have to depend on their own exer- 

 tion for subsistence m most instances. Thus they become 

 great prowlers. Between civilization and barbarism the 

 poor quad has a hard time and an imhappy life. 



B. Waters. 



An Old Southern Rifle. 



Among the arms now hanging up in the Boone and 

 Crockett Chib Hunters' Cabin at the World's Fair, and to 

 be seen by visitors there, is an old crooked-stocked muzzle- 

 loader winch was once the pi-opertj^ of John L. Villalonga, 

 late of Savannah, Ga. This arm, w-hich until recently 

 was in the hands of Mr. Inglis Stuart, of this city, was by 

 him loaned to Mr. Grinnell to be a part of the furniture of 

 the himters' cabin. 



When the rifle was delivered a note giving its history 

 accompanied it, which we print: 



Nh-wTohk, May %.—Mr. George Bird Grinnell: Dbas Sm— The Vil- 

 lalonga rifle— so-called— was made on the order of John L. Villalonga, 

 late of Savannah. Ga. My informant, Louis Smith, of Genoa, Fla., 

 told me that Mr. Villalonga used it in the Seminole outbreak in about 

 1840, being a member of the expedition sent against these Indians. I 

 do not know how it came into the possession of Louis Smith, who says 

 tliat he has had it for twenty-seven years, but believes he bought it 

 from some trader. I became aware of its existence while I was in the 

 South last Januaiy, and subsequently purchased it from him on be- 

 half of the Villalonga family. I understand they are quite willing it 

 should be exhibited at Chicago, provided it is returned to me when the 

 Fair is over. Mr. Villalonga had a great passion for hunting, and, as I 

 am informed, was especially proficient in "barking" squirrels, and I 

 am told that he was an exceedingly accui-ate shot with this rifle. In 

 this respect he was primus inter pares, and that is saying a good deal, 

 for these men were most skilled in the use of rifles. But he also used 

 this rifle in his expedition into Florida and into the Okefinoke Swamp 

 region on the larger game, which in the earlj' days were so abundant 

 in that locality. This rifle has brought down bear, deer and panther, 

 and in its day was evidently a hne weapon. Indeed, Mr. Villalonga 

 was noted for alivays procuriug the very best of everything, and was 

 a fine representative of the Southern gentleman, who could combine 

 active business qualities with a love for hunting and fishing. I have 

 talked with many of the old men in the southern tier of Georgia and 

 northern Florida, with whom his memory is still green, and they have 

 given me many anecdotes which I do not deem it necessary to recall 

 here. Doubtless such of the Southerners who may see this rifle will 

 find an interest in it, as by raany (jf thSfm h^i is well rememembered. 

 I Yours very truly, Inglis Stdart, 



The Merchantable"! Timber of the Adirondacks. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Forest Commission of the State of New York has 

 lately issued its report for the year ending Dec. 31, 1891, 

 and an interesting and beautiful report it is, one of which 

 the Commission and the State may well be proud. 



There is, however, one page in this otherwise commend- 

 able book, with which I take ipsue, and with which every 

 reader of Forest and Stream should make himself 

 familiar, and then use every effort in his power to thwart 

 the execution of the recommendation there made. I refer 

 to page 194, the conclusion of the chapter on the spruce 

 blight. After referring to the immense damage done by 

 this blight, and the probability of its recurrence, the report 

 continues as follows: 



In view of this liability the State should amend its forestry laws 

 so as to permit the sale of matured spruce trees. The full sized spruce 

 on the State la,nds should bo harvested, and the proceeds turned into 

 the State treasury. The large trees can be taken without injury to 

 the forest and without any diminution of its foliage and shade. The 

 spruce, more than any other tree, can be cut with safety and benefit 

 to the forest, because its habitat is always plentifully supplied with 

 young growmg trees and nurselings. It is a fast grower, and the 

 young trees will soon take the place of those removed, creating thus a 

 perpetual supply. Throughout the Adh-ondack forests there are 

 many localities where the lumbermen are cutting a second crop of 

 spruce; and on some lots they are taking off the spruce for the third 

 time. In view of all this w^e feel constrained to m-ge the State to 

 accept the revenue which can be obtained from its matured spruce, 

 instead of leaving these trees to blow down, or to fall from old age, or 

 to be destroyed by the recurrence of some blight. 



It sounds exactly as if a lumberman dictated it. 



The statements are all true, and yet all lovers of the 

 forest must unite to prevent the execution of the scheme 

 set forth, or live to weep again over the injury done to 

 public property by treating it as one might with safety 

 treat private property. 



Facing page 139 of the report is a wonderful picture 

 representing the result of removing the matured spruce, 

 and on page 139 is the statement that the desolatioa 

 represented, is caused by the erection of a dam two miles 

 below Raquette Pond, whose back flow extended up the 

 river fourteen miles or more. This dam was built by the 

 State to assist lumbermen in driving logs. If the Forest 

 AND Stream would reproduce this picture it would be aU 

 the argument needed against the sale of timber on State 

 lands. Timber can only be gotten out by the aid of dams 

 or railroads; and we want neither on the State preserve. 



The estimates of the number of matured spruce to an 

 acre (given as eight on page 28 of the report), a,re, to say 

 the least entirely below the average in the parts of the 

 forest with which I am familiar; but even if this very 

 low number were correct, it would mean the destruction 

 of forty trees to an acre, for it is generally conceeded 

 that five trees are destroyed for every 12in. log which 

 reaches the mill. Log roads must be made throughout 

 the territory cut over and lodging camps must be erected. 



In No. 13 of your present volume you published an in- 

 teresting article on the "Adirondack League Club," with 

 a beautiful half-tone of the foot of the Lower Stillwater. 

 Many a delightftd day have I passed on and near the very 

 spot represented, but it will be twenty years before an- 

 other such beautiful view can be taken there; for this 

 great club has been bitten by the same serpent which has 

 poisoned the Forest Commission, and to-day a dam spans 

 the stream at the point represented in your picture, a 

 desolate clearing of considerable size covers the site of the 

 old bark camp, and the beautiful Stillwater is overflowed 

 and ruined. Even Lake Caswell, the gem of that locaUty, 

 is no more, having been included in the general drowning 

 out. (I send two photographs of the "Foot of the Lower 

 Stillwater" more correct than the one printed by you, one 

 showing the dam in process and the other the lumber- 

 men's clearing. I wish you could reproduce them along- 

 side of the i^icttire you printed Marcli 30. ) 



No! Let the clubs and preserves sell their timber if 

 they think best, but keep off the people's property. 



One hardly likes to put into cold type all he thinks 

 about such honorable men as the officials of a great State 

 like ours; but I am certain that every one of your readers 

 (not a lumberman) who has seen the forest in process of 

 being stripped of its merchantable timber must agree with 

 me, and I call upon all those who have seen it to impress 

 it upon all their sportsmen friends, that we, the people, 

 want no axes in ours, S. A. C. 



Carrying Guns in Close Season. 



Chicago, IU., May 2d.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 have just read the article by "Sink-Box" in your issue of 

 May 18, in which he- suggests that it should be prima 

 facie evidence of the violation of the game laws in regard 

 to close time for a person to be seen in the woods or field 

 with gun and dog, or gim alone, during the close season 

 on upland game. I may not fully understand his position 

 in the matter, nor do I know how the law works in the 

 States in which it is in force, but I should think that it 

 would be a very unjust law in certain cases. Under such 

 a law a person could be arrested for hunting hawks, 

 gopliei-s, skunks, foxes, wolves and other vermin during 

 the close season on upland game — arrested for violating 

 the law, when, in fact, he was doing much for the pro- 

 tection of game in destroying some of the worst enemies 

 with which it has to contend. In most of the States this 

 law would prevent a person from hunting fur-bearing 

 animals with a gun during part of the season in which 

 their fur is in prime condition. 



"Sink-Box" adds that if such a law was in force you 

 could get out a warrant and make the hunter prove that 

 he was not violating the close law. This would be a great 

 inconvenience to the honest hunter, and have a tendency 

 to keep him at home, for he would not wish to be annoyed 

 by an arrest, while it would have no great terrors for 'the 

 violator. A person disreputable enough to violate a game 

 law would have little trouble in proving that he was not 

 out for that pm-pose, unless found with the game in his 

 possession; for a witness testifying that the person did not 

 go out for the purpose of violating the law, would only 

 have for his proof the Avord of the violator, and a game 

 law violator would have no hesitation in lying to his wife 

 or friend before starting out, and thus have his witness 

 fixed in advance. 



As I expressed myself above, I may be way off the 

 track, and may not understand the Avorkings of similar 

 laws already in force. It seems to me a useless incum- 

 brance to the laws; however, I may be superficial in the 

 matter. What we want is good, plain laws, so arranged 

 that there may be no loop holes for the offender, and not 

 laws which wfll be obnoxious to the honest citizen. 



Old Avalanche. 



