70 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 35, 1896. 
ABOUT OUR CHRISTMAS NUMBER. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The writer, as doubtless all the other readers of Foeest 
and Stream, was deeply impressed by the extraordinary 
excellence of the Dec. 28 number of "our own sports- 
man's journal." It would be difficult or impossible to find 
elsewhere grouped together such an array of talent and 
ability in this field as is presented by the galaxy of stars 
who constitute the list of contributors to that number, 
and I may remark in passing that Forest and Stream 
appears to be coming out stronger from year to year in 
the number and ability of its active contributors. 
Mr. Robert T. Morris heads the list with an idyllic de- 
scription of "Hopkins's Pond," and arouses a lively sym- 
pathy in the bosoms of all the old boys who cherish the 
memory of boyhood days. Mr. Rowland E. Robinson 
gives "A Bee Hunter's Reminiscences" in his usual happy 
vein, which never fails to enchain the interest of nis 
readers. I learned from a chance allusion of one of your 
contributors that Mr. Robinson has been totally deprived 
of his eyesight, in which affliction he will certainly have 
the warmest condolences of a host of Forest and Stream 
readers. 
Next comes Mr. Charles Hallock, with a most enjoyable 
description of "A Christmas on the Rio Grande." Then 
"Close Quarters with a Grizzly," by Mr. Morton Grinnell, 
is a well-told and most interesting narrative. 
Your readers will all share in regrets at the recent death 
(announced in a late number of Forest and Stream) of 
Mr. Edward Jack, who contributed a short but very inter- 
esting sketch of the "Maliseets and Mohawks." 
The gifted El Comancho soars aloft among the cloud 
wreaths of dreamland most entertainingly in "The Talk- 
ing Pine," with a suggestion that we will have further 
opportunity to enjoy the production of his mystical pen 
in the No. 1 in the caption of his article. 
I have reserved the adjective "charming" to character- 
ize Alice D. Le Plongeon's little picture of domestic life in 
British Honduras, in "Cat, Kittens and Kid." 
"Teal and Tarpon at Tampico," by F. S. J. C, is a well 
written and most readable narration. 
Mr. Paul Pastnor deserves a place away up in the art 
gallery for his very amusing and highly entertaining story 
of "The Christmas Grouse," with its lucid illustration of 
the battlefield. 
But where has Ransacker been keeping himself all this 
while? Surely he has been most reprehensibly "hiding 
his light," and withholding from Forest and Stream one 
of the raciest pens that has adorned its pages. While 
contemplating the magnificent array of rich contributions 
in Forest and Stream's "banner number," amid a good 
many doubts as to their comparative excellence, I believe 
I am inclined to cast my vote to "At Sunrise in the 
Sierras" as being entitled to the prize. 
I trust we shall hear more from Ransacker. 
Mr. W. S. Smith's description of his trip "To the Ecen- 
lockhatchee" is exceedingly "picturesque" and full of re- 
freshing scenes of forest and stream. 
And now I come to our own inimitable Mr. E. Hough, 
in whose fascinating pen all of Forest and Stream's 
readers feel a proprietary interest, for he belongs to all of 
us. An attempt at commendation from my Faber No. 2 
would be a bootless task — a "measuring of a mountain 
with an ell yard wand." I hope we shall soon have Mr. 
Hough's story of his second bear hunt with Bob Bobo in 
the Mississippi canebrakes, where, as Horace Kephart 
says, when a man enters "he is alone with his 
maker." Mr3. M. E. Warren's delightful chat about 
"Curly" has made me fairly in love with — the dog — 
I might have said with Mrs. Warren, if I knew 
i she was a widow; but in these days of annihilated dis- 
tances a possible Mr. Warren might possess an arm long 
enough to reach away down in Mississippi, with an in- 
timation tbat I would better keep my affections until 
called for or words to that effect. Last, but not by any 
means least, comes "The Realization of a Dream," in 
which Mr. H. N. Curtis "does himself proud" in a good 
story, well told and superbly illustrated. 
In thus briefly noticing the principal contributions in 
Forest and Stream's Christmas number I have of course 
done poor justice to any of them, as each one of the 
articles affords matter for extended comment, my pur- 
pose being to express my high appreciation, which is 
shared by thousands besides myself, of Forest and 
Stream's growing excellence and of the individual merits 
of each and every one of her splendid corps of contribu- 
tors, which I do without any feeling of constraint, being 
myself a "back number." Coahoma. 
CUNNING COCKROACHES. 
In the Caribbean Sea we once had to take passage in a 
small sloop that was a regular Noah's ark, such a diversity 
of creatures had been stowed therein. 
On the deck there was only one clear spot large enough 
for a human body to repose at full length, and that space 
v> as in possession of a man from Spanish Honduras. 
On the floor of the cabin, which was 10ft. long and 
6ffc. wide, a few turtles, each weighing 300 or 
4001bs. lay helpless on their backs, their flaps sewn 
together. From time to time those victims heaved 
gasping sighs. Finding sufficient room to lie down on 
the floor, I utilized the soft side of a turtle in the absence 
of a more inviting pillow. When quite exhausted, a 
weary mortal can sleep under any conditions. 
Never having been partial to cockroaches, I had sent 
no invitations to those inhabiting the sloop. Neverthe- 
less, Neptune had only just lulled me to sleep when a 
company of winged callers assembled and, finding me in 
a passive mood, simply walked over me. The visitors 
were well worthy of consideration, being of the full 
grown Siin. kind ; and when one member of 
the party bestrode the bridge of my nose I felt 
called upon to arise and resent such unjustifiable intru- 
sion. After some persuasion the impertinent wretches 
retired, my pillow and I heaving a sigh of relief. The 
largest cockroaches are not necessarily the smartest. 
Those Caribbeans were big, but in cunning they could 
not be compared with some that invaded our domicile in 
the city of Merida (Yucatan, Mexico). They lacked 
beauty, but were as clever as they were ugly. 
Ml the apartments of our hoiise were on the ground 
floor, in a line, parlor, bedroom, dining-room, kitchen, in 
very primitive style. The cockroaches preferred the 
kitchen, and they being much given to nocturnal wander- 
ings whole regiments paraded the walls after nightfall. 
As there was no chimney, the walls were begrimed with 
soot, but the enterpribing insects cared nothing about 
that. We were assured that the invaders could not be 
exterminated, but we had a decided objection to their 
multiplying to such an extent as to prevent the cook 
from doing her work. We decided to enlist the co-oper- 
ation of a snow-white, frisky, sagacious hen. At 9 
o'clock at night we lifted her from her perch. She was 
indignant at being forced to get up in the middle of the 
night, and loudly expressed her opinion. Coaxing her 
into calmness we carried her and a lighted candle to the 
stronghold of our enemies, that were out in full force. 
The amiable chicken entered into the business indicated 
to her with considerable spirit and besides frightening 
many of the winged tribe killed a few, though each 
execution was a task. The cockroaches, obeying an in- 
stinct which is common .to many creatures, availed 
themselves of the damp and sooty stains on the wall, 
hurrying to such as were of their own color, thus making 
it more difficult for the hen to see them. The lazy cook 
had left small pieces of charcoal scattered over the floor. 
These were at once utilized as dodging posts, each being 
held by a wily insect that, peeping upward and round 
the corners, kept a sharp lookout and shifted from side 
to side evading our ally's beak. As soon as the dear 
creature lost patience and turned her head in another 
direction the dodger scampered off to seek better 
shelter. 
Anyone who has studied the cockroach family knows 
that the above is all quite true. 
Every night we induced our chicken to renew the 
campaign and we thus prevented a too rapid increase of 
the winged colony. Alice D. Le Plongeon. 
SOME FEATHERED FOREIGNERS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have been pleased at reading lately in American 
sporting papers that clubs are being formed to shoot 
Passer domesticus, and hope they will continue at work 
until he is exterminated; but I beg to protest, for several 
reasons, against the name " English sparrow " being given 
to him. Firstly, it is annoying to see England credited 
with being the source of such a pest; secondly, I have 
read in an American paper that the bird was really intro- 
duced by a German clergyman; thirdly, the sparrow is 
no more English than he is French, German, or Russian. 
He inhabits the Old World from tha western coasts of 
Europe to, I believe, the eastern coasts of China. He 
swarms in India, where the grain annually destroyed by 
him amounts probably to millions of bushels. 
Some individuals who believe that "everything was 
created for a wise purpose" contend that the sparrow 
does more good than harm by eating insects and the seeds 
of weeds. So far as I have been able to ascertain he col- 
lects caterpillars and grubs for the nestlings, but only 
while they are unfledged. From the time the young 
birds can fly they subsist almost entirely upon vegetable 
food, and the damage they do in gardens is most irritating. 
Early in the spring sparrows pluck bunches of blossom 
off the currant bushes and drop them on the ground, ap- 
parently from sheer mischief. Later in the season they 
eat the currants. 
Young peas must be protected by netting as soon as the 
shoots appear above ground, otherwise the sparrows stop 
their growth by eating the tops. When the pods begin to 
fill, sparrows peck holes in them, eat one or two peas in 
each pod and leave the remainder to shrivel. 
I once planted a large bed with radish seed and neglected 
to cover it with netting for two or three days. In that 
time the sparrows worked so industriously at digging up 
and swallowing the seeds that only six radishes ever 
grew. 
Although sparrows sometimes rob house martins of their 
nests, they do not drive away our insect-eating birds to 
the same extent as is reported in America. Our robin, 
which greatly resembles your bluebird in structure, size 
and habits, is such a desperate fighter that sparrows are 
afraid of molesting him. If it were not for this pugnacity 
I would gladly see him introduced into the States, but 
fear that he would hunt away the lovely little bluebird 
from the neighborhood of houses. He is certainly one of 
the most useful birds in this country, singing for about 
ten months in the year and living almost entirely upon 
insects and worms. He may perhaps occasionally eat a 
few currants and will take bread crumbs in cold weather. 
He is so tame that he often hops within 2 or 8yds. of any- 
one digging in a garden, ready to pick up wire worms 
and grubs. During a very sharp frost he sometimes 
comes inside our houses and remains until the weather 
becomes milder. 
Not long ago I read in an American paper a suggestion 
to import the European blackbird, but earnestly hope that 
this will not be attempted. The blackbird sings beauti- 
fully during three months out of twelve, and lives largely 
upon insects. He is also, unfortunately, the greatest 
stealer of fruit in this country, beginning with tbe earliest 
currants and raspberries, and stripping whole bushes if 
not stopped. All through the rest of the season he feasts 
upon plums, cherries, grapes, figs, pears and apples. Of 
the last he destroys fully four times as many as he eats, 
by pecking holes in them and leaving them to decay on 
the trees. At one residence I had a small orchard where 
the blackbirds spoiled in this way many bushels of apples 
annually. They are so watchful when stealing and quick 
at putting a tree between themselves and a gun, that a 
man who can shoot one out of every four that he catches 
a glimpse of ought to be a match for the wariest old 
ruffed grouse or woodcock. 
In another American paper I saw an objection made to 
the European starling being introduced on the ground 
that he is mischievous. The writer must have been mis- 
informed about him, for it is doubtful whether there is a 
more innocent and useful bird in existence. During the 
whole year his food consists of grubs and insects, although 
he will eat bread crumbs when starving in frosty weather. 
He has indeed been occasionally accused of taking fruit, 
but I have never seen one starling doing so, and they 
have built nests in the chimneys of every house I have 
lived in for many years past. The accusation probably 
arose through young blackbirds being mistaken for young 
starlings, [which they resemble in size and color before 
the bills of the former acquire Itheir bright yellow tint. 
I lately spoke about this to a friend who is very fond of 
natural history and has always lived in houses where 
starlings bred. He stated that he had never known them 
steal the fruit. 
Starlings make great efforts to sing, but only succeed 
in producing a low warbling noise. If they persevere in 
this for a few more thousands of years, they will perhaps 
develop into fine songsters. 
I find a paragraph in Forest and Stream about the 
successful introduction of pheasants into the States. It 
is to be hoped that thev will be protected until they spread 
over wide tracts of country. Besides being first-rate game 
birds, they devour immense quantities of wire worms 
and other pests by which farmers are persecuted. 
If the raleej or silver pheasant has not been imported 
he would be quite worth trying. He lives on the slopes 
of the Himalayas up to a height of 6,000ft. above the 
s ea — so would probably thrive in the mountains of the 
Southern States. 
Another bird which ought to repay the trouble of 
acclimatizing is the large bustard of India. He subsists 
to a great extent upon beetles, grasshoppers and above 
all locusts, so he would be especially useful in Utah and 
some of the other Western States. His flesh is excellent 
and he affords fine sport with the rifle, being as difficult 
to stalk as an antelope. 
There are two smaller kinds of bustard in India, called 
houbara and floriken. Both of them live upon insect 
food and are good for the table. They are less wary than 
the large bustard— so can usually be approached within 
range of a shotgun. J. J. Meyriok. 
South Devon, England. 
BIRDS, NOT MONKEYS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Darwin was a very great man, but like a man he made 
his mistakes, and probably the most remarkable of all was 
that he should have believed that men were mere im- 
proved monkeys. Of course no one believes that now. 
Lots of people used to think monkeys were mirrors, re- 
flecting their own faces and forms and all that, but they 
would feel insulted if they were told they looked like 
monkeys or monkeys looked like them now. The real 
ancestors of the human race were, of course, birds, of one 
kind or another, not yet exactly determined. It is 
evident, however, that the birds of paradise (Paradisea) 
family are as closely allied to the human race by way of 
brains, the artistic senses especially, as any, while the 
human form is not so different from the heron family as 
might be. The seeming difficulty in the matter of teeth 
and bills iB not so hard to explain. The hesperornis had 
socketed teeth, while the mandibles of birds themselves 
are nothing but projecting jawbones. 
Monkeys don't build houses, men and birds do. The 
housekeeping of many birds is not dissimilar from that of 
human beings. It is the male bird who seeks the favor of 
the female, and although we consider the male birds 
handsomest as a rule, who is to say that the males of 
birds do not have a "fairer sex?" Surely no one till the 
languages of birds are understood. And there is a bird 
language of which we are already able to distinguish this 
much: love songs, war cries and cries of fear of many if 
not all birds. 
Many birds are human in their actions, or shall we say 
many actions of mankind are birdlike? We do say so. 
We admit it in our language. In the southern Adiron- 
dacks there is a dance in which two of the figures are ex- 
pressed by "Birdie fly in and hawkie fly out, birdie fly 
out and give hawkie a swing." I doubt not that in the 
dances of the herons there is a "Birdie fly out" call, but 
do not know as to the "Hawkie fly in." We say: "She is 
a bird," a "dove" and "now, birdie!" all of which ex- 
pressions in one form or another appear in the written 
literature of all languages and ages, indicating the close- 
ness of birds' lives to our own. 
We have a custom of giving to our relatives or friends 
a little tidbit or ornamental trinket. It is the old bird 
instinct that crops out in our lives. The bower and gar- 
dener birds, who are our next of kin as far as Trains go, 
when they visit their wives or sweethearts in the reception 
room of their country house always take along a flower, 
a beautifully colored feather, a bright shell, a handsome 
insect or a bit of ornamental fruit, not a few of which 
articles are acceptable to human sweethearts and wives. 
These birds are not American birds, but no doubt there 
are American birds that give presents. 
Vanity is not lacking among human beings (Omiihus 
h nmanicii) or birds. In fact, the most beautiful birds are 
as conscious of their splendor as any human beau, and 
there are a lot of birds who think they are lovely when 
they are not, likewise as in the human family. And there 
are birds that do not think much of personal adornments, 
and if we only knew their talk what wonderful histories, 
romances, fables and tales of travel, might we hear from 
the plain night birds — herons, owls and the like; and what 
a lot of bad stories the cowbirds must have to tell one an- 
other. The feathered sportsmen, or, as we would say, 
< feathered pot-hunters, hawks, eagles and so on, no doubt 
tell one another about sly partridges and quail quite as 
much as do our sportsmen. 
How immeasurably above the improvident blue jay 
must the one that has stored up its acorns, bush nuts and 
the like feel, and how he must swagger around when the 
improvident one whines when hungry. What a punish- 
ment must the improvident one get when it gets caught 
stealing the wealthy one's fortune. And when human 
beings do such things they are but carrying out the old 
bird instinct. 
Then there are families of birds in which, when half a 
dozen of them get together, they pitch on to some one 
little bird and proceed to do him up. It is the English 
sparrow (Passer domesticus) that is most notorious for 
this. This little immigrant has got an idea it owns all 
birdland, going about in bands of half a dozen or more 
to prove it. There is a little bird not quite so big as the 
English sparrow, belonging to the same class, known as 
the chipping or American sparrow (Spizella socialis). Six 
of the English sparrows proceeded to whip one American 
sparrow out on Long Island once. It looked pretty 
serious for the Yankee bird for a while, with all the 
others a-pecking him from all sides, but pretty soon the 
Yankee got in enough blows to make the others stand 
back a bit. After that he soon had all but one of the 
birds out of sight. This one paraded around like a cock 
turkey till the Yankee sailed in and sent it clear up on to 
the fence, pecked it along for SOffc. or so, and pretty spon 
