April 18, 1896.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
318 
fracted or reflected by prism, or stopped by scalp or 
cranium; but we think it was the angler's sixth sense, de- 
scended from St. Peter, the fisherman in apostolic succes- 
sion, and always to be transmitted to the elect of future 
generations. 
My split-bamboo was of the lightest, I had 50yds. of line 
on the reel, and a single gut leader. I removed all flies 
but tbe trailer, hooked on three fat, juicy Pasadena 
worms, and carefully dropped them, with their seductive, 
wriggling, squirming lengths, into the water, where the 
current slowly swept them, down into the bark-covered 
depths. I had played out about 10yds. of line when I 
knew a fiBh had stopped the bait. How did I know it? 
We will not wait now to analyze the intuitions of an 
angler, or the flash when eyes of lovers meet, or the Bnap 
shot you made last November when that old cock par- 
tridge set all the dry leaves whirring as he sped away 
in his last rush. I instinctively waited for him to swal- 
low everything, and then struck. It felt solid and no 
mistake. The rod bent, fortune smiled, and the big trout 
swam, without unseemly haste, into the clear eddy on the 
other side; and then all at once he discovered that his dig- 
nity was compromised. One tremendous swirl, a dive, a 
soar, and he came to the surface with a mighty splash 
and lunge. I remembered afterward that my involuntary 
exclamation was in the exact words used by Pharaoh's 
daughter more than 3,000 years ago, "Moses in the bul- 
rushes!" a sort of hydropathic swear, and for the exi- 
gency not very wicked. The fight was now on, and tbe 
actors and audience interested. Time was noted and cool- 
ness assumed, if not felt. Round and round the pool the 
big fellow darted, now yielding to the rod and now mak- 
ing the reel sing again. After a goodly exhibition of this 
circus he dropped to the bottom of the deepest hole and 
sulked. All was quiet for seven minutes, when suddenly 
he resumed his former motions, with additions and vari- 
ations. At last, as the watch ticked on, he began to show 
fatigue, his rushes became less frequent, and we could 
oftener see his broad, gleaming side, and almost imagined 
we could hear him gasp for breath. Yet even now he 
needed the closest attention, and I was very, very careful. 
Finally he made a closing rush up into the white foam of 
the inlet, and his strength seemed to depart. I gently led 
him into shallow water, my son carefully drifting the net 
under the exhausted fish, and in a twinkling he was ours. 
Time, thirty-five minutes. Mr. J. S. Worley came down 
with a carpenter's square, we laid the trout on a plank, 
and exactly measured him at 25in. "A gallant trout," to 
use Izaak's words, and alone worth double the journey. 
Of course the boy wished to try his skill, and he suc- 
ceeded, under tuition, in landing one of 18|in. Then a 
gallop home to camp and supper. Boiled trout with 
sauce of drawn butter, baked potatoes, coffee, tomatoes, 
hot biscuit. Fatigue, the lost luncheon, wet feet, church, 
state, and even home and friends, were all for the mo- 
ment forgotten, and only when nature cried enough did 
we come back to earth and wonder if there were other 
worlds to conquer. 
Somebody kicked off the clothes that night. The next 
day we spent in visiting the gold mines in Holcomb 
Valley. Another day we made a trip to Bluff Lake, and 
you may be sure in the delightful week that followed we 
did not forget to visit and revisit the trout stream, and 
always with abundant success. 
All too soon the hour of departure came; a good-bye to 
the squirrels, the birds, the meadow and lake, and we 
were Hying down the hills and through the forests. We 
made the final descent from the mountain by the City 
Creek road, which drops 8,800ft. in the first ten miles 
below the upper toll gate. 
We reached Redlands in time to express a box of fish 
home to our household and neighbors, and camped for 
the night at the edge of an orange grove. The next day 
on to Riverside and through the whole length of its in- 
comparable Magnolia avenue, camping on the Santa Ana 
River near Rincon. The third day with a big drive 
brought us home, the most satisfied pair of Pages that 
ever cast a fly or caught a trout. Benj. M. Page. 
Pasadena, Oal. 
THE WILY GOBBLER DECOY. 
Greenville, Miss., April 7.— Some of you folks up 
yonder may think it a sin to kill awild gobbler in the 
Bpring. I have heard it stated that the best time to kill 
him was when you could. The man who fools an old 
gobbler at any time of the year will never be considered a 
pot-hunter in my estimation. There will always be 
enough to go round. 
While the hen is hovering over her brood and fighting off 
hawks, owls and wildcats, old Mr. Gobbler is on his roost 
far out over the water, never attempting to fly to the 
ground until all disturbance is over and he has scanned 
every inch of the ground near where he expects to get 
his breakfast. He generally has the company of several 
old rascals like himself, and what one fails to see some of 
the rest are sure to see. When their eyes are shut their 
ears are open, and nothing in the world has sharper ears 
or eyea than a turkey. 
When spring comes and the buds begin to swell the old 
gobbler begins to strut. He is then as fat as a pig. He 
does not gobble much at first, perhaps once or twice from 
the roost at break of day and once after he flies up on his 
old cypress limb and is comfortably fixed for the night. 
He does not get down to business in the tone of his voice 
till later on when the hens begin to set. Then he feels 
lonesome and begins to ramble about. He listens for the 
call of his hens and will go a mile out of his way at the 
sound of another gobbler to see what he is making such a 
fuss over. The anxiety of his situation causes him to get 
thin, and the thinner he gets the more he puffs himself 
up with wind. What was a short and indistinct gobble 
at first now sounds like a role on a brass drum, and the 
drumming of hiB feathers can be heard a mile. % 
A tame gobbler is the best decoy, if he is trained well 
and is used to the woods, and does not struggle to get loose 
at the approach of the game. 
A. cedar box bored out of inch stuff 6in. long by Sin. wide, 
with thin sides, and a piece of slate lin. wide and 3in. 
long, make the best call. Hold the slate between thumb 
ana forefinger lengthwise, and draw the furthest edge of 
the box toward you across the slate. With a little prac- 
tice it can be graduated to any note. 
On March 29 a friend and I took the train for Anguilla, 
a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley road. W e were 
met there by Paul Dinkens and bis party, all good hunt- 
ers. We spent the night and next day at Anguilla getting 
our camp outfit ready, and on Tuesday morning, with a 
pair of stout mules and heavy wagon well loaded, we 
we started for the hunting ground. Six miles brought us 
to the Sunflower River, where we crossed on Mr. 
Batton's ferry, and then took our course due east ten miles 
further over a very rough road. We camped near Dar- 
ling Bayou on a high cane ridge. We carried our decoy 
gobbler in a box just made to fit bis body, with openings 
at each end for head and tail to protrude. The sides of 
the box are about 4in. high, and hoops are bent over the 
top just high enough to keep the turkey in a sitting pos- 
ture. This box is mounted with broad straps to go over 
the shoulders and buckle in front like a knapsack. There 
were just eight hunters in the party, and by dividing in 
twos we arranged to have a hunter acquainted with the 
woods with each two. 
In the morning at 4 o'clock we set out, going in 
different directions. My partner and myself took Fox, 
the gobbler, and persuaded Wash, our driver, to go with 
us and tote him. We took our way through a most 
abominable thicket. After passing through the cane we 
got into briars and tangled vines. It was very dark and 
we floundered over Jogs and through water sometimes 
waist deep for four or five miles, until we found a good 
location on a palmetto ridge with an open space among 
some large trees. We tethered Fox to a stake in the open 
and took our station by the root of tbe trees at a good 
shooting distance from him. I told Wash to get back out 
of the way and hide himself, but I could not get him to go, 
as he declared a " ' pant'er' would sure get him." 
When day began to break Fox gave a mighty gobble 
and everything in the swamp appeared to hear him and 
make answer, the owls especially. The sun was shining 
through the tops of the trees when we heard an old fel- 
low answer. This pleased Fox and he came very near 
LOCKED ANTLERS. 
gobbling his head off. We soon had the wild one com- 
ing; we could hear him drum as he strutted through 
the palmetto long before he was in shooting distance. At 
last he came into the open, cautiously took in the sur- 
roundings, and started toward Fox. My partner stopped 
him with a load of No. 6 in the neck. A grand fellow he 
was, with spurs like a game cock and beard full lOin. 
long. 
As it was late in the morning we went to camp with our 
trophy. Wash was disgusted. He declared that Fox 
was as heavy as a sack of meal, and that he could have 
killed two turkeys if he had had a gun. 
We broke camp on Saturday after spending four days 
in the woods, our party having killed ten gobblers, which 
was one apiece and two over. We had a fine time. Every- 
body was good-humored and happy. 
Just before our leaving camp two hunters came to us 
who had been all the morning trying to call Fox away 
from the camp. They had heard him and taken him for 
a wild one. They looked very sheepish when they found 
out their mistake. 
We parted company at Anguilla to meet again, if we 
are all alive, in November for a big deer hunt on the same 
ground. I hope we will all be there. Southern. 
Deer Horns and Velvet. 
Oregon. — Editor Forest and Stream: In your issue of 
Nov. 9, 1895, I see that one of your correspondents makeB 
the statement -that in his opinion deer do not rub the 
horns to remove the velvet. I have hunted deer in the 
West for twenty years, and my observation leads me to 
the belief that your correspondent is certainly mistaken. 
There is in captivity a short distance from here a large 
buck, the owners of which have ample opportunity to ob- 
serve its habits, and they state that he does rub the horns 
upon trees and bushes during the season that the antlers 
are in the velvet. Nearly all the hunters in this region of 
western Oregon agree that this is a fact. 
I should like to ask the readers of Forest and Stream 
if it is considered that there is a distinct species of deer 
that bear only forked antlers. While a good many fine 
heads of horns have fallen to my rifle, some of the largest 
deer killed had simply forked horns. In one instance the 
horns were slightly palmated or flattened like the horns 
of the moose, and the deer was as large as one killed near 
the same place that had six points. E. L. Howe. 
'Hie Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
alcst by Monday, and f as much earlier as practicable. 
BIRD FLIGHTS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In Forest and Stream of March 14 Mr. C. F. Amery 
undertakes to explain how a hird maintains or even in- 
creases its elevation by sailing flight, by taking advantage 
of the wind, and the parabolic curve of the wings. I am 
sorry to say that he haB not made it clear to me, as this is 
one of the things I have been wanting to know for many 
years; and what is now said on this subject is not for the 
purpose of provoking argument or asking puzzling ques- 
tions, but solely in search of information. When the bird 
is floating in the air, after his momentum is used up, he 
is subject to just two forces— that of the air and the force 
of gravity. This latter force is changeless under all cir- 
cumstances. If the bird weighs 51bs., gravity is pulling 
him toward the earth with a 5-pound pull all the time, 
whether the bird is moving upward, downward or hori- 
zontally, or is stationary, and it makes no difference 
whether his movements are the result of muscular exer- 
cise or whether he is being carried along by the wind. If 
an opposing force equal to or greater than that of gravity 
is not applied, the bird will inevitably be drawn to the 
earth. 
Mr. Amery says the bird finds this force in the wind. 
As wind is a body of air moving horizontally, I am un- 
able to see how a bird floating in it would be in any way 
affected by it, except to be carried along with it. That 
this body of air is constantly changing its position as re- 
gards terrestrial objects could not affect the bird, because 
he is subject to no terrestrial influence except gravity. 
Wind, applied to a floating body, is a force only so long as 
the wind moves faster than the floating body. When the 
speed of the body becomes equal to that of the wiad, as it 
is bound to do, the relations of the body and the air to 
each other are exactly the same as if both were motionless. 
For these reasons I am unable to see that the wind has 
anything to do with it. 
Mr. Amery also compares the sailing of the bird to the 
sailing of a ship, but the conditions are totally differpnt, 
for the ship is acted upon by two forces, the wind and the 
resistance of the water against the keel; but the bird has 
no keel, except in slanting flight upward or downward. 
Then gravity acts as a keel, or rather just the reverse, as 
it is an active instead of a passive force. 
As yet I can call the phenomenon nothing but a para- 
dox, although it is self-evident that a paradox in nature is 
an impossible thing. I am not saying that Mr, Amery's 
theory is all wrong, only that he has not made it clear to 
me. 
If he or any one will give an explanation that is clear 
to all of us he will clear up a mystery that has puzzled 
millions of us. O. H. Hampton. 
Mohawk Valley, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
"Chained to the grippe" has been my lot for a week 
past, and to my fellow- sportsmen who have been chafing 
under the other "chained to" let me say, congratu- 
late yourself that you have not been fastened to this vile 
importation from sunny France. 
I have been much interested in the recent articles on 
"bird flights," although the opinions expressed have been 
entirely at variance with my own. I think the tail of a 
bird in its flight is like a rudder to a ship, and the direc- 
tion of the flight is controlled thereby. To illustrate and 
corroborate if possible my own theory, I will give an in- 
cident that occurred to me in my early shooting days, 
when I owned neither pointer nor breechloader: I was 
hunting in an extremely thick piece of second growth 
when a grouse rose behind and a good distance from me. 
I turned and shot at the bird, which presented a square 
cross shot. After a flight of a few feet the bird struck 
against one sapling after another until seemingly 
exhausted, and finally struck the ground with that "dull 
thud" so familiar to sportsmen and the readers of sensa- 
tional fiction. 
On retrieving the bird I found it alive and apparently 
unhurt; but on closer examination I found two tail feath- 
ers cut by a shot about in the center, and the loose ones 
hanging. On subsequent examination I found this was 
the only shot that had touched the bird. Now, my theory 
is, that the bird directed its line of flight with its tail (or 
rudder), and being unaccustomed to these two loose feath- 
ers was unable to avoid the trees, the repeated concus- 
sions dazing and exhausting it. I hope to hear from 
others on this subject. 
I must not close without joining the thousands in praise 
of our favorite Forest and Stream, the ne plus ultra of 
a true sportsman's journal. Two recent articles have par- 
ticularly delighted, me: "The Christmas Gmuse" (how 
often has his counterpart outwitted us), and -'The Carlin 
Grouse," in your last number. In Timothyseed we recog- 
nize one who lives "near to nature's heart," to whom it is 
not all of hunting to fill an enormous game bag, but 
whose delight is to get in touch with her virgin sim- 
plicity. He has the happy faculty not of bringing the 
described scene to us, but of transporting us from our 
offices and counting-rooms until we seem to hear in real- 
ity the whir of rapid wings, and grasp our cherished and 
familiar gun again. Adirondack. 
New Hampshire Bird Notes. 
Charlestown, N. H., April 9.— The first robin I have 
seen this year made his appearance on my garden fence 
the day before yesterday, April 7. No bluebirds have 
been seen here yet, though some of your correspondents 
note their arrival in places where they were not found 
last year. 
We have had a larger invasion than usual of the rose- 
breasted grosbeaks, first noticed about Feb. 20, and re- 
maining a month. A flock of eight or ten of them have 
been in evidence from my window nearly every day for 
a month, but I have not seen them within the last ten 
days. ____ Yon W. 
Locked Antlers. 
Mb. Isaac Edson, of Otsego, Mich., kindly sends us a 
photograph of locked deer horns discovered by him while 
on a hunting expedition in the Northern Peninsula last 
fall. Mr. Edson came upon the two bucks while one of 
them was still alive and was struggling to free itself from 
the dead body of its antagonist, The reproduction givw 
a very good view of the horns, 
