JtfHB 15, 1898.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



B13 



fegard for the law. That region is a fine game groimd 

 too, if the many flattering reports are credible, deer, bear, 

 cougar, grouse and elk enough for everybody, whUe to 

 the westward of this valley in the Cabinet range, the 

 supply is, if possible, even greater, and to the northward 

 on either hand, the streams and mountains, all imhar- 

 vested, are waiting to yield to the sportsman fruits satis- 

 fying to the most exacting. Long may an ever-growing 

 public sentiment preserve them in this condition. 



O. O. S. 



Kalispell, Mont., April, 1893. 



DANVIS FOLKS.— VII. 



At Work in the Linter, 



Next morning Uncle Lisha laid aside his holiday attire 

 with a sense of great relief from the constraint and care 

 which their wearing had imposed upon him, and j)ut on 

 his ordinary garb with the comfortable feeling of being 

 rehabilitated in his real self. Blaking such haste with 

 his breakfast that Aunt Jerusha said he was "in a bigger 

 hurry 'n a boy a goin' a fisliin'," he put on his leather 

 apron and set about the odd jobs of mending for the 

 family. 



Sam and his father went out to their husking, and the 

 door between the kitchen and the shop being opened, 

 that the old man might have the companionship of the 

 women folks, the house presently rang with the merry 

 thud of the hammer on his lapstone. 



Huldah was paring apples with a worn out shoe knife 

 discarded from U ncle Lisha's kit, and Aunt Jerusha quar- 

 tered and cored them with frugal care that the least pos- 

 sible share should go to the pigs, while the baby made 

 frequent excursions on all fours between the two great 

 objects of interest presented by the two industries. 



Now he brought a cliubby fistful of stolen shoe pegs to 

 /lis mother's knee, then made restitution to the owner 

 mth a slice of applp, begrimed by repeated contact with 

 i)he floor during its transportation. 



"Why, yes, bub," said the old man, beaming down a 

 kindly glance through his round glasses upon the u]i- i 

 turned baby face as he took the profi;ered gift and laid it 

 on the bench beside him, "it's turrible nice, but Uncle 

 Lisher don't 'pear tu feel like eatin' on 't jest naow. He 

 haint apple hungry, guess he eat tew much breakfus' er 

 suthin'. Ta' keer. Don't put his leetle hanny onf the 

 lapstun. Git it smashed finer 'n a barn. No, bubby, 

 could n't hev the wax. Gaum him all up so 't mammy 'd 

 hafter nigh about skin him tu git him clean agin; an' 

 haow she would scold both of us, an' haow we would 

 cry, wouldn't we? Here, take a pooty paig tu Aunt 

 Jerushy an' ask lier 'f she ever see sech a cur'osity, Clip- 

 per, naow." 



"Thank ye, a thaousand times, you darlin' creetur," 

 cried Aunt Jerusha, when the child had scrambled to 

 her with his gift, "I never see a neater paig an- I'm agoin' 

 to keep it tu hev me a shoe made. These ere apples seems 

 if they was gittin' turrible metier, Huldy, an' wan't a goin' 

 tu keep no gret spell." 



"I know it," said Huldah, putting a thin slice between 

 her lips and meditatively munching it. "There's lots an' 

 sacks on 'em that's all squash, an' if we save many of 'em 

 we've got tu hev a parin' bee if you an' Uncle Lisher 

 could Stan' the rumpus." 



"Stan' it! Law sakes. I could stan' a leetle o' the 

 young folkses catousin, an' he'd enj'y it jest as much as 

 any on 'em, furzino. But apple cuts is turrible wasteful 

 an mussin' an' gin' ally cost more 'n they come tu." 



"But we'd get the" apples worked off an' the young 

 folks 'd have a good time, T wonder if Father Lovel 

 -lyould care?" 



"Law sakes alive," said Aunt Jerusha, "if he c'd stan' 

 S'man thy twenty- year, I guess he c'n stan" one evenin's 

 catousin. But hear me talk, an' she an oF neighbor an' 

 your mother-in-law if she was a livin'. Lisher!" she 

 called, "du you s'pose you an' Timerthy could stan' it, if 

 we had a apple cutV" and she shook her knife at Huldah 

 while they paused in their work to hear his answer. 



"A apple cut? A parin' bee? Good airth an' seas. You 

 jest try it an' see. I bate ye, me an' him 'U shake our 

 hommels wi' the spiyest on em." 



"What 'd I tell ye?" Aunt Jerusha whispered trium])h- 

 antly. 



When the subject was broached to them at dinner, Sam 

 and his father made no objections and it was settled that 

 the entertainment should be given as soon as the necessary 

 preparations could be made. 



A whole day was spent in bountiful if not elaborate 

 cooking; the frying of at least a bushel of doughnuts and 

 the making and bakmg of pumpkin pies, whose crowded 

 ranks filled lialf the pantry shelves. Then the rooms were 

 put in cleanly order, which Aunt Jerusha declared while 

 giving her best efforts to it, ' 'A useless work, a scrubbin' 

 an' puttm' tu rights just tu hev 'em mussed an' cluttered 

 intu jest a hoorah's nest." 



Meantime invitations were issued, not on perfumed 

 paper, buu by hearty word of mouth and given pretty 

 generall}'- yet discreetly. 



"Don't ye gin no invite tu none o' them Forge fellers." 

 said Huldah as Sam lingered on the threshold in indecis- 

 ion between the various routes, "They 're such a rantank- 

 erous passel o' critters, allers fer raisin' a rumpus. An' 

 don't ye forgit tu gin Tom Hamhn a bid, an' his parin' 

 machine, both on 'em, fer one haint no good withaout 

 t'other. An' come raound by Joel Bartlett'a an' git ten 

 paound o' his best cheese, but don't let him know what 

 ye want on 't. He wouldn't knowingly let his cheese git 

 mixed up wi' no sech worl' people's fryVolity." 



"Sho, I guess his screuples haint wuth more 'n seven 

 cents a paound," said Sam irreverently. 



"An' I hope you'll make it a pint tu give Peltier a bid tu 

 the apple cut," Uncle Lisha called from the shop, "he 

 needs chuckin' up wust of any on us, the poor love-cracked 

 creetur. Ef Danvis gals is pooty 's they was when aour 

 womern was gals, Samwil, the'il be some here pooty 

 enough tu take his mind off 'm that lake shore gill fiirt, 

 maremaid I d' know but she is. Did he find her in the 

 lake, Samwil? An' ef ye can scare up a fiddler, git him. 

 What's come o" that leetle huin]j-backed feller "at when he 

 sot in the coi-ner a fiddlin', you couldn't see nothin' on, 

 behind liis fiddle. But good "airth an' seas, he'd saw that 

 fiddle all up into tunes. He'd be ekernomical for a kitchen 

 tunk, gitten'intu accruer so, aout'n the way." 



Sam hurried away before he should be burdened with 

 further instructions, lamenting as he went, the loss of so 

 fine a hunting morning. " Rowland E. Eobinson. 



J'BHRISBURaH, Vt, 



TURTLES ON THE GULF BEACH. 



OSPREY, Fla., June 1.— "Time— time," is the cry from 

 the North, and alas! in a few days I must close up ray 

 shanty. Once more I must turn my back t'o the alluring 

 Gulf and exchange this azure sky and this fresh salt air 

 for the dust of your overcrowded centers of population. 

 Good-bye for a time to my Nature, my palmettoes, my 

 moon flowers, my jungle, with its many curious plants 

 and living creatures. Farewell to this quiet, broken only 

 by the ripple of bay and the splash of fish, as they leave 

 their native element to escape their hungiy enemies. 

 Once more for a time to elbow my way through the surg- 

 ing crowd, with its never-ending roar and bustle. Seven 

 months is long to linger "away down South," but not 

 long enough, for each month brings out some new excite- 

 ment. In October tarpon fishing is at its very best, and 

 from month to month either in the water or in the woods 

 one can find some fresh excitement. Just now turning 

 turtles is in order. 



With the moon in May a new visitor comes to us from 

 the Gulf. The female loggerhead turtle emerges from 

 her native element to deposit her eggs. Madame Thalas- 

 socJieUs cavuana, as the scientific man prefers to call her, 

 if imdisturbed, makes a bee line for the upper margin of 

 the sand beach above tide level. From the water's edge 

 to the point selected for her nest she leaves a broad trail, 

 just such a trail in fact, as a man would leave if he saw 

 fit to lie flat upon his chest and stomach and propel him- 

 self by the use of hands and feet. In this case the flip- 

 pers are called into service, to be used as legs. If, upon 

 reaching the higher zone of the beach, the turtle finds 

 suitable texture of sand for her purposes, she proceeds to 

 make a hole in which to leave her eggs. If, however, the 



r 



TAKIXQ- HIS MEDICINE. 



The illustrat'on is of a pet antelope owned by Mrs. W. T. Doster, of 

 Eddy. New IMexico. Ic was captured on the plains by a Mexican, and 

 broi'ight into Eddy -when only f-wo or three days old. It is now three 

 months nld and "is about lialf grown. It has become very fond of 

 Mrs. Doster, follows her about like a dog, and still takes its food from 

 a nursing bottle. The photo was sent to us by Mr. G. O. Shields. 



spot happens to be too solid on account of layers of coarse 

 shell, she returns to the water, makine: a new trail or 

 "craAvl," and never by the route selected in emerging 

 from the Gulf. 



By dint of hard work she digs a funnel-shaped cavity, 

 which has a diameter of froni 8 to lOin. and a dey)th of 

 about I8in., tapering to a diameter of about Sin. at the 

 bottom of the repository. This opening into the sand is 

 made by the use of the rear flippers. When it is com- 

 pleted, Madam proceeds to drop her eggs into the nest. 

 She lays from 70 to 14u and covers them up carefully by 

 gently pushing the sand over them with her back flippers. 

 Then she presses the sand down compactly with her 

 heavy body, makes an efl'ort to conceal the spot, and 

 after a short rest, for the labor seems to exhaust her 

 thoroughly, she returns to the Gulf. 



These turtles weigh from 100 to 2501bs. , and each turtle 

 has a store of meat which is eaten with relish by the 

 average Florida cracker. The meat is coarse in texture 

 and tough, but when carefully separated from the fat 

 and ligaments makes a broth of choice flavor. The eggs, 

 which aj-e protected by a tough skin in place of a shell, 

 are verj-- nourishing, easily digested and of fine flavor. In 

 form these eggs are spherical, with a diameter, say, 1+ to 

 If in. , and three of them weigh as much as two average- 

 sized hen's eggs. When boiled, the albumen or "white" 

 does not harden as ih the case of the eggs of our domestic 

 fowls. A i)erson with a capacity of two or three hen's 

 eggs for breakfast could easily eat ten tm-tle eggs either 

 boiled or scrambled. We think nothing of eating twenty- 

 five turtle eggs in one day. They are particularly good 

 scrambled or prepared as muflins"^: they can be whipped 

 up very light, and a good French cJief could no doubt 

 make a grand omelette souffle from loggerhead eggs. 

 . In addition to the eggs deposited on the beach, the 

 female has within her from 500 to 800 yellow eggs, which 

 vary in size from lin. in diameter to the size of an ordin- 

 arj- marble. It is said that later in the season — in fact up 

 to about August — many of these eggs become sufficiently 

 developed to enable the turtle to lay tliem. 



The eggs are sought after by man and beast, and it is 

 doubtful if one egg out of every thousand left by the 

 mother is ever hatched out. By day and by night the 

 beaches along the outer keys are patrolled' by hungry 

 natives, who carry pointed sticks and bags or baskets. 

 The stick with its sharp point is used as a erobe, and is 

 poked into the sand until the deposit is located. When 

 the point strikes a soft place our Florida man claws very 

 vigorously, and in the com-se of a very few minutes man- 

 ages to transfer about 100 eggs from the nest to his bag. 



It is quite a picnic for the hungry "cracker" to get 

 away from the piny woods to the Gulf beach. Some go 

 by ox team, others borro\v boats, and on bright moonlighte 

 tliey tramp up and down the beach. They are happy in- 

 deed, if after many disappointments they come to a place 

 where there is only a single "crawl" to be found. This 

 single line of "footprints in the sands of time" means that 

 the turtle is still tip on the beach. Bag, basket and sharp 

 stick are discarded. The tirrtle hunter notices a dark 

 form looking like a rock, behind a tall tuft of grass away 

 high up on the beach. He approaches and notices a slight 

 movement. The turtle is so busil 3^ engaged in performing 

 her function that she makes no ati:emptto retreat; in fact, 

 she pa3^s no attention to her natural enemy. She has 

 evidently just arrived, for the cavity is only a few inches 

 deep, but she works hard. The hunter may light his pipe 

 and go and sit down right behind her; he may even wait 

 and place his hat where the nest sliould be and thus get 

 the eggs without being forced to remove them from the 

 sand. When he is ready he seizes her by the shell near 

 the hind flipper and out of reach of the fi'ontfiippers, each 

 one of which is armed with a rather dangerous claw. A 

 single quick movement, a lift with might and main, and 

 the poor creattire lies prone upon her back, entirely help- 

 less. So she is allowed to remain until the next morning, 

 then a blow of the ax across the neck and all is over for 

 that tiu-tle. 



While the females are doing all they can to perpetuate 

 the race of loggerheads, the gentlemen turtles are not hav- 

 ing a life in the Garden of Eden. Not by any means, for 

 at this season they fight and tear each other in the most 

 bloodthii-stj'- manner. They frequently tear each other's 

 eyes out and bite the front flippers ofl' with their powerful 

 beak-like jaws. • 



It is said that the young hatch out about four weeks 

 after the eggs have been laid. In size they are not much 

 larger than a silver dollar when they quit the shell. These 

 defenseless little fellows are devoured eagerly by sharks 

 and other large fish which prowl along in the breakers. 

 Coons, with their fine scent, discover and destroy many 

 entire nests, and it is a wonder indeed that any escape. 



None Such. 



Wild Birds in the Fair Grounds. 



Boone and Crockett Cabin, World's Fair, Chicago, 

 May" 30, — The cabin appears to be a great attraction; thou- 

 sands come here every day. When night comes, and I 

 get it shut up, it don't seem as though I were in Chicago 

 or anywhere near the World's Fair. 



Early in the morning i b is very quiet and beautiful on 

 the islands. Besides ali the water fowl, there are a great 

 many very pretty birds, several that are quite new to me; 

 as yet I have found no nests of these birds; I suppose they 

 are on their way nort'-.. There is one nest, though, whose 

 owners and the fev/ that know of it keep very quiet about. 

 It's an owl's, in the top of one of the large oak trees. The 

 top of the tree hau been broken ofl: and in the hollow sits 

 one of the owls on guard, while its mate is on the nest. 

 The one on guar ' is almost impossible to distinguish from 

 the dead wood. It is a small bird, and I suppose cominon 

 to this country. He .=its up watching the thousands of 

 passing visitors b"low, with now and then an eye open, 

 I sometimes look up a,t him and attract his attention, and 

 then he winks, as much as to say, "Don't give the snap 

 away. Keep dark!" 



During tlie day only a few of the birds are to be seen, 

 but I often hear them in the shrubbery about the cabin^ 

 There are three ducks' nests and one wild goose nest close 

 by the cabin. The goose nest is back of the old log 

 chimney. I have run wire screening and ropes out from 

 the front of the cabin to keep people from going back of 

 the house and from disturbing the birds. This little 

 island is a great resort for all the water fowl. 



Just now I can hear the twitter of wrens and the songs 

 of other birds blended with the distant sound of brass 

 bands and the hum of electric machineiy in the electric 

 exhibit. The ducks and geese and gulls keeji up a racket 

 that at times drowns the noise of the electric railway. 

 Sometimes they appear to be trying to answer the electric 

 launch signals. 



The whole thing here on the island — cabin, birds, fowl, 

 fire, lights and all — is in great contrast with the sur- 

 roundings of buildings, electric lights, launches, guards, 

 patrol wagons, fire engines and everything modern. I 

 have only to turn my eyes from the window to be trans- 

 ported back to the Rocky Mountains, for here I can see 

 everything from my home there. 



Nothing so lonesome in the world as a big crowd where 

 you don't know any one. I am getting used to the 

 crowds. At first I would rather have faced a big grizzly 

 (if I'd had a good gun) than the crowd here on the first of 

 Ma}^ But after thirty days' practice I am getting so I 

 can inspect them and give them as good a game as they 

 do me at times, all in a pleasant way. E. Hofer. 



That Habit of the Robin. 



A communication from Mr. English informs you (and 

 me) that Mr. Gibbs "took issue" with me in the matter of 

 the "detestable habit" of the brown-breasted songster. If 

 Mr. Gibbs's "protest" was in the Forest and Stream I 

 did not see it. Had I seen it I would have replied. Now, 

 I do not doubt the statements of Mr. English in regard to 

 his observations of the bird's habits, which do not coincide 

 with the habit of the particular bird that came imder my 

 notice. But this I wish to reiterate: The bird did swallow 

 the excrement, and oftener than once. I was not de- 

 ceived — I could not have been. I looked right down upon 

 her; she was perhaps less than 10ft. from me. I cannot 

 say that the habit is general; this case may be anomalous. 

 As to the habit being "detestable" I may not say. Animals 

 frequently exhibit peculiarities of taste as well as man. 

 Some dogs eat candy, some cows leather, and I knew a 

 horse that would eat tobacco, N. D. Elting. 



Hawk Migration. 



MONTCLAIR, N. J., May 26.— The hawks began to pass 

 through Montclair. on their way north, in the latter part 

 of March. Since then have been shot specimens of red- 

 shouldered, red-tafied. sparrow, marsh. Cooper's, sharp- 

 shinned, broad-winged and American osprey. On AprU. 

 18, thirty-seven hawks were shot from three bhnds on 

 Orange Mountain and many others seen. The most com- 

 mon were broad-winged and sharp-shinned. 



KaRE V, S. HoWLANp, 



