Mat 5, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



SSI 



ENGLISH PHEASANTS. 



The following communication from Mr. John Brett, 

 manager of Spratts' Kennels, Closter, N. J., will prove 

 interesting and instructive reading to those who are 

 interested in adding to the variety of American game 

 birds. From information received from different sources 

 I believe that there is quite a widespread interest and 

 effort toward increasing the kinds of game birds and 

 protecting what is left of the once abundance of native 

 birds. B. WATERS. 



Mr. Brett writes: "I am very pleased to answer any 

 questions I can regarding the English pheasant and their 

 habits. Of all pheasants the old English black-necked 

 bird is the best and hardiest for stocking purposes. They 

 are larger than the Chinese or Japanese, so-called Mongo- 

 lian, pheasants, and do not stray or ramble half so far 

 away. 



"The old English bird will live through the coldest and 

 roughest winter. They will live where quail and part- 

 ridge starve. They set and raise their youag well in the 

 wild state. They do not fight or disturb any other game 

 bird or their nests, but will protect their young like an 

 old barnyard fowl. 



"I have known often the English partridge and the red- 

 leg partridge both to lay in a pheasant's nest, and at the 

 finish the red-leg take possession of the nest. They are 

 very fond of young plantations with cultivated fields 

 round about. The cocks will take from three to four 

 hens each in the wild state; about six hens to a cock 

 when confined. They will take possession of a certain 

 place where the hens will lay their eggs and breed, and 

 stay round that section the whole season. "Wherever 

 you hear a cock pheasant crowing in the spring of the 

 year, there his hens are and round that section they 

 intend to breed. 



"I am certain pheasants would do as well, or better, 

 than quail in the South, if left alone and protected from 

 the pot-hunter and vermin. The hen bird will fight like 

 a demon to protect her young. Even in the wild state I 

 have often lifted them off their nests, when they would 

 fight like a tiger and return to the nest. They will always 

 find plenty of food for themselves and young. They will 

 eat almost anything. Acorns they are very fond of in 

 winter; berries and such like they will eat. Nothing 

 comes a miss to a pheasant. 



"I should be pleased to see these best of all game birds 

 introduced into this country, for I am sure no game bird 

 would do better. I have bred and handled thousands of 

 all kinds." 



, PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION. 



To the Sportsmen of Pennsylvania: 



The officers of the Pennsylvania State Sportsman's As- 

 sociation are very desirous of increasing their member- 

 ship, and earnestly urge every shooting organization in 

 the State to apply for membership at once. 



A few of the reasons why every shooting organization 

 in the State of Pennsylvania should become members of 

 the Pennsylvania State Sportsmen's Association: 



First — The organization is formed for the purpose of 

 combining to secure proper legislation for the propagation 

 and protection of game birds and animals. 



Second— The consolidation of the shooters of the State 

 means a power, and through it there is no reason why we 

 should not receive an appropriation annually equal to 

 that received by the State Fishery Commission for stock- 

 ing our State with game. 



Third — It makes every individual member of a club 

 joining the Association a member of the organization, a 

 game warden who will report to the officers of the Asso- 

 ciation any unlawful hunting or trapping. Thus it will 

 be seen that the State will have thousands of men who 

 will see that game is protected in accordance with the 

 laws of this Commonwealth. 



Fourth — It only costs, if you are a club or an associa- 

 tion, $5 to join, and your annual dues thereafter are $1. 

 If an individual, $1, and annual dues 50 cents. The ex- 

 pense to a club is but a trifle, and the benefits to every 

 true sportsman are incalculable. Send along the required 

 fee, and let us by union of thought and action make the 

 Association an honor to the State whose name it bears. 



The committee on game laws are drafting an entire new 

 set of game laws, and propose to send a copy of same to 

 every club and association in the State, asking for their 

 comments on the same; the matter will then come before 

 ithe Association at their annual meeting, which will be 

 held on Aug. 22, at Altoona, Pa. , and a general discussion 

 will be had on the subject and a regular bill will be 

 adapted and placed before our next Legislature. In this 

 manner it will be possible to draft a set of laws that will 

 subserve the interests of the great majority of our sports- 

 men. The committee urgently ask the cooperation of 

 every true sportsman in the State. 



Application for membership should be made to Edward 

 Banks, Sec'y, Altoona, Pa., or 



N. A. Hughes, Pres. (Williamsport, Pa.). 



CARING FOR QUAIL. 



Mb. N. P. Leach, of the Committee on Introduction of 

 New Game, has issued to members of the Vermont Fish 

 and Game League, the following instructions for those 

 who propose to put out quail: 



"The first thing to be considered is to secure strong, 

 hardy birds from either West Virginia or Eastern 

 Tennessee, Southern birds are smaller and much less 

 hardy. The next to be considered, is your locality 

 adapted for quail? The most desirable localities for quail 

 in Vermont, are the pine plains in the lake towns, wnere 

 there are thickets of white birch, sweet fern and 

 briar, with low evergreens in the ravines and swamps. 

 When you release your birds, select a warm day in May, 

 and take them to some back road, or where the sand is 

 exposed near a thicket. Take them out of their coops one 

 by one, and thoroughly saturate them in a pail of luke- 

 warm water; this will cause them to run and hide in the 

 thicket, instead of starting for some distant locality. 

 After the last bird has been released, retire with the coops 

 as quickly and quietly as possible, and the birds will soon 

 come out to the sand to dust and dry themselves, and 

 thus become wonted and attached to the spot. 



"The next thing is to provide shelter and food for your 

 birds during the coldest stormy days of the coming win- 

 ter. Get some farmer in the vicinity to put in a patch of 

 buckwheat, and when ripe cut and stack it, with the tops 



outward, m the edge of a thicket where the quail 

 frequents. Drive down each side of the stack crotches; 

 lay in poles and cover with brush to keep off the snow. 

 This will furnish them food during the stormy days, when 

 they cannot forage elsewhere. For shelters, they are 

 best made beside a rail or brush fence by laying rails or 

 poles side by side, one end on the ground and the other 

 end raised 2ft. from the ground. Make this lean-to 10 or 

 18ft. wide, put a layer of straw underneath, and cover 

 with straw and brush. Also brush up the sides, except- 

 ing a hole about 2ft. square each side near the top end. 

 If not built against a fence, also inclnse the raised end 

 with a wall of brush. If not convenient to make a buck- 

 wheat stack, feed for the birds should be placed every 

 few days during the winter in the shelter that they most 

 use. This food may consist of screenings, seeds of all 

 kinds, corn, damaged wheat, etc. Their food should be 

 placed in the shelters during the middle of, the day so as 

 to not disturb the birds in the morning or evening. With 

 a moderate amount of food and shelter they will stand 

 any amount of cold weather. Trap off all weasels and 

 skunks, and shoot all prowling woods-cats found in the 

 vicinity, and "Bob White" will flourish and be the merriest 

 game bird in the country. 



"To this it may be added that the planting of wild sun 

 flower seed, which may be obtained in Colorado, furnishes 

 an excellent food for quail." 



Colorado State Association. 



Salida, Col., April 26. — Editor Forest and Stream: In 

 the convention call sent out by the Salida Gun Club for 

 April 6 to 9 the committee say: "In organizing a State 

 Sportsmen's Association the object in view is to combine 

 to assist in the protection of the game and fish of our 

 State, and also to bring the lovers of rod and gun more 

 closely together for the mutual goodfellowship and enjoy- 

 ment of its members, both at our streams and in our 

 woods, as well as at the trap and target. This association 

 is not to be a political association in any sense of the 

 word. We will work with our State game wardens to 

 procure an enforcement of our laws and assist him in 

 prosecuting all market, skin and head hunters, who may 

 persist in breaking the laws, regardless of any political 

 party he may hold office under, and we earnestly request 

 a full attendance of all interested at the convention." 



To this end a literary programme has been arranged for 

 the three evenings. The papers, addresses and discussions, 

 which will be interluded with music, are as follows: 



Opening address, by President Salida Gun Club, Peter 

 Mulvan. "Fish and Game," by W. R. Callicotte, State 

 Fish Commissioner and Game Warden. Discussion, 

 "The Game of N. W. Colorado," by C. M. White, of 

 Grand Junction. "The Preservation of Our Game," by 

 Wm. Cardnell, of Glen wood Springs. "Brook Trout," by 

 J. M. Schaedler, of Aspen. "Fish Culture," H. D. Dean, 

 of U. S. Fish Hatchery, Leadville. 



Subjects for discussion: Fish Planting in Colorado, 

 The Preservation of Trout, Game Protection, Game As- 

 sociations, Organization. The secretary is Mr. C. L. 

 Hoagland. 



New Jersey Coast Shooting. 



• Tuckerton, N. J., April 20.— Samuel A. Jones, of this 

 place, killed on Saturday four sheldrakes. Samuel Smith, 

 of Port Republic, killed twenty-one black ducks and shel- 

 drakes. J. W. L. 



e& dtfd §-ivqr fishing. 



HUDSON RIVER SALMON. 



Give the Salmon in the Hudson a fair chance.— Forest akd Stream, 

 June 10, 1886. 



The Mohican Rod and Gun Club, of Glens Falls, N, Y., 

 has sounded the tocsin and boldly flung its banner from 

 the outer walls, resolved to accomplish a purpose that 

 will add luster in its renown in the years to come, and 

 cause every sportsman in the land to rise up and call the 

 Mohican blessed. 



The first note in the campaign was sounded in Glens 

 Galls, on Thursday evening, when Mr. A. N. Cheney, the 

 president of the organization, read a paper before an open 

 meeting of the club in Ordway Hall, to an audience which 

 largely comprised the solid and representative men of the 

 community. The paper was entitled "Salmon in the 

 Upper Hudson," and it was an exhaustive analysis of the 

 material benefits that would accrue to the people of the 

 State from the building of fishways along the river above 

 Mechanicville. Mr. Cheney's wide knowledge of his sub- 

 ject was aptly displayed by the able manner in which he 

 brought out the strong reasons that' exist for taking im- 

 mediate action in the matter, and even the dry statistics 

 of the financial returns to be derived from the presence 

 of salmon in the Hudson were so startling in their nature 

 that they became intensely interesting to the thoughtful 

 people present. 



At the close of the meeting Mr. Cheney was heartily 

 congratulated by his townsmen on the brilliant success of 

 his effort. The statement was repeatedly made to him 

 that a knowledge of this matter awakened an immediate 

 interest, and that apathy heretofore was largely due to 

 ignorance as to the benefits to be derived. 



To dispel this ignorance and awaken an active interest 

 all over the State is the immediate aim and object of the 

 Mohican Rod and Gun Club. It will use every means in 

 its power to arouse a popular sentiment that shall culmi- 

 nate in the passage of a bill through the next Legislature 

 providing for the building of these fishways, and in the 

 successful furtherance of this object no effort will be 

 spared,- and the aid of every friendly influence will be 

 earnestly sought. 



With this avowed object in view, the Mohican Club asks 

 the hearty co-operation of every kindred organization in 

 the country. This is a matter, aside from its relation to 

 the food supply and financial return to the State, that is 

 of paramount importance to every sportsman, and it 

 should awaken an enthusiasm that could easily be made 

 productive of great results in the future. All sections of 

 the State are signally interested in the successful fruition 

 of this plan to provide fishways, and our organization 

 feels confident that its efforts to bring it to an issue will 

 meet with the hearty approval and indorsement of every 

 lover of the kingly salmon. C. H. Baxter, Sec'y. 



NEWS NOTES FROM THE WATERS. 



Canadensis, Monroe county, Pa., April 25. — Trout are 

 taking the fly at Canadensis and good catches are re- 

 ported. J. B. B. 



Tuckerton, N. J., April 20.— Capt. Jos. Shourds, of 

 Tuckerton, canght with hook and line 411bs. of winter 

 flounders on Tuesday. J. W. L. 



The Mechanicsville, Pa., Journal reports of the opening 

 day on trout: "Some of our fishermen started out long 

 before daybreak for the trout streams and commenced 

 fishing by the light of the moon. One lone fisherman 

 started at midnight, and at half past twelve o'clock had 

 caught his first fish, a beauty of 12in., but it likewise 

 proved his only one, and with him the early business was 

 a failure. The great majority of our Waltonians con- 

 tented themselves with the trout streams in this vicinity, 

 but several, bent on larger game, went to Newville and 

 cast the fly, but only with partial success. It is strange 

 what queer stories the opening of a fishing season will 

 bring to the surface. Yesterday afternoon a fond wife 

 said to her husband: 'Do you remember, dear, how many 

 trout you caught on your fishing trip Monday?' The 

 husband, unsuspecting of danger, replied blandly, 'Just 

 twelve, and all beauties. Why?' 'Oh!' the wife replied, 

 'the bill only calls for six,' and exhibited to his astonished 

 gaze the fish dealer's bilL This is only one of the stories, 

 but it is sufficient to illustrate the methods adopted to 

 shine as an expert fisherman." 



Waltham, Mass., April 25. — There is a fish and game 

 warden in this city, if the Tribune is correctly informed, 

 and in spite of that fact fishing with a dip net, and in fact 

 a drag net, has s.been going on near the mouth of the 

 brook which runs down past the Roberts Paper Mill dur- 

 ing the past week. A gentleman who was boating on 

 the Charles, Sunday, tells the Tribune that he saw parties 

 using nets at that place, and when he came away they 

 had captured more than half a bushel of perch. — Tribune. 



Norwich, Conn., April 28.— Some good catches have 

 been made in trout streams in this section of the State. 



L. W. B. 



Beech Creek, Clinton Co., Pa., April 26.— When the 

 trout season came in, the streams in this vicinity were 

 bank full. But at the present writing a good many fish 

 are caught, notwithstanding the weather is very cool. 

 Yesterday the streams were lined with fishermen. This 

 was due to the strike of the coal miners near the streams; 

 many men, being idle, put in their time fishing. The 

 Beech Creek Railroad touches all the runs and tributaries 

 from one end of Beech Creek to the other. The runs are 

 all good trout streams. There is no clear lands within 

 miles of them. Twin Run is about five miles long. A 

 mile beyond is the Monument Run, length about the same 

 as Twin. Three miles further west we find the Big Run, 

 which with main stream and tributaries will measure 

 twenty miles or more. Further west about three miles is 

 Hayes's Run, a splendid stream for trout, is about eight 

 miles. Next comes Panther Run, some seven or eight 

 miles in length. There are several others, all of pure, 

 cold mountain water, without an acre of cleared land on 

 any of them, and all within twenty-five miles of Lock 

 Haven, the county seat of Clinton county. Parties from 

 here caught several nice strings yesterday; one that John 

 Wait brought home had over five dozen, all caught on the 

 Monument Run in less than eight hours. Jos. Miller. 



Canadensis, Pa., April 25.— Companion and myself 

 have fished five days at stream on Robert Lomax's place, 

 Mountain Villa House, Canadensis, and caught 150 trout, 

 running from 6 to lOin. long. Find fishing good, and 

 accommodations all that can be expected. J. E. K. 



The Waters of Coos. 



Lancaster, N. H.— Coos county comes as near the 

 sportsman's paradise as any locality east of the Mississippi. 

 A day's ride from New York city will land you where ex- 

 cellent trout fishing can be indulged in. Leaving there 

 in the morning, at 10 o'clock in the evening you take sup- 

 per at Connecticut Lake, which is stocked with the square 

 tailed brook trout, landlocked salmon, to say nothing 

 about the original occupants — red-meated longe. The 

 first are caught weighing 51bs. , salmon that will tip the 

 scales all the way from 2 to lOlbs., while the longe are 

 taken from 1 to 151bs., one being caught a number of 

 years ago that weighed 291bs. Or one can go to the Dia- 

 mond Ponds, kept fully stocked by the State Fish Com- 

 mission, or up the Magalloway, where there is fine fishing 

 not only in that river, but in the numerous large brooks 

 that empty into it. June and September are the best 

 months for angling. If one is out for a long outing he 

 can take in the three Connecticut Lakes, then take a 

 guide and follow a spotted path across the_ northern 

 part of the county to Parmachene Lake in Maine, a dis- 

 tance of fifteen miles, where one will find a lodge. 

 Here is excellent fishing and the finest of sport. Then 

 take the Magalloway River home, the whole length of 

 which is good fishing to Eroll Dam. 



The Parmachene Camp will take sportsmen at so much 

 per day. The camp was purchased by a club, but they 

 control no part of the fishing. There is a law in Maine 

 that no fires shall be built by parties fishing and hunting. 

 This law the club enforces. H. F. Whitcomb. 



Maine Ice Out— Salmon In. 



Guilford, Me., April 28.— The ice left Sebec Lake 

 Thursday, the 26th, and many e large salmon, weighing as 

 high as 71bs. 7oz. are being caught. 



The ice will certainly leave Moosehead within a week, 

 and a heavy wind may take it out any time. 



F. S. Bunker. 



Campbellton, N. B., April 28.— Ice left the Restigouche 

 to-day. The bay is also open and clear. This is twelve 

 days earlier than last season; and in all probability the 

 salmon will arrive correspondingly early. No doubt the 

 river will be in good angling trim by June 1, as snow has 

 gone a great deal, and we will be looking for the finny 

 beauties between the 1st and 8th. John Mowat. 



