Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1896 
i 
VOL. XLVI.— No. 18, 
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NORTH AMERICAN BEARS. 
The paper on the North American bears recently pub- 
lished, by Dr. Merriam, of which we give an abstract in 
another column, cannot fail very greatly to surprise and 
interest those of our readers who have given any 
attention to this remarkable group of animals as found 
in this continent. 
Up to tbe present time naturalists have been substan- 
tially agreed in dividing the bears found in the United 
States into two groups, each of which contained a single 
species. Individuals of either of these types might be of 
almost any color, but the bears with short claws on the 
forefeet were all black bears, and those with, long claws 
were all grizzlies. This, however, was not the opinion 
of hunters, who made as many species of each type as 
there were colors — half a dozen of the long-clawed sort 
and a less number of the short-clawed, with a few hy- 
brids and undescribed species thrown in for good 
measure. Such are the cinnamon grizzly, the pine nut 
bear, Nessmuk's swamp bear and others. 
Besides these two United States forms, there was 
in British America the barren ground bear, believed to be 
a good species, and, of course, the polar bear, found in the 
Arctic regions. To these four species Dr. Merriam now 
adds six others, besides a number of subspecies with 
which he threatens us, but which as yet are annonnced 
only as possibilities. 
This avalanche of new bear material is a shock, and we 
may naturally feel injured that our long-cherished beliefs 
about this group are so rudely overthrown. We must 
remember, however, that Dr. Merriam is one of the most 
competent men in the world to decide on points like this, 
and that his conclusions are based on an amount of 
material far greater than any other naturalist has ever 
had an opportunity of examining. 
The very wide range of individual variation in the skull 
characters in the bears — even of the same age and sex — 
to which Dr. Merriam calls attention, might at the first 
thought seem to shake the reader's faith in his conclu- 
sions, but on the other hand he tells us that, while this 
variation exists, it has limits beyond which it does not 
pass, and that he finds good characters for the divisions 
that he has made. 
Dr. Merriam tells us, too, that this is a mere prelimi- 
nary paper, and that it will be followed by a more com- 
prehensive treatise on our bears. Such a treatise will be 
anxiously awaited, and will no doubt furnish answers to 
the many questions which suggest themselves in reading 
over the synopsis which has just been published. One of 
these questions of very great interest, and which will be 
asked by* all naturalists, is as to the relations which our 
bears hold to the brown bear of the Old World {Ursus 
arctos) and other Old World species. Dr. Merriam's 
paper is full of suggestion, and while it is a review only, 
and a strictly technical production, based entirely on de- 
scriptions of skulls, it is yet a most valuable contribution 
to the literature of sport as well as of science. 
What could be more interesting than to know that there 
is found on this continent the largest bear in the world, 
and that he has two near relatives here that are almost as 
large? The description of the glacier bear, quoted from 
Dall, although unsatisfactory, is enough to stir the imag- 
ination by its account of the creature's beautiful fur. 
Surely there is material enough in this paper to load a 
vessel with enthusiastic bear hunters bound for Alaska. 
BATTLE ROYAL. 
The term "battle royal" is very commonly used to con- 
vey the meaning that a struggle between two men or two 
stags or two alligators or other combatants is a severe and 
long-drawn conflict in which both contend with all their 
might and main and acquit themselves in a way to inspire 
terror in the soul of the beholder. For instance, we used 
the term in a recent issue in a note on a fight between 
two buffalo bulls in the National Zoological Park. 
We are advised by a kindly but captious critic that 
such use of the expression is erroneous, for a battle royal 
signifies a conflict in which more than two are engaged. 
As the dictionary defines it it is ' '(a) a fight between several 
game cocks, where the one that stands longest is victor; (5) 
a contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two 
are engaged." 
It will be seen then that according to the dictum of the 
lexicographers we were in error in describing as a 
battle royal the great fight of the two buffalo bulls, and 
our correspondents are none the less at fault who have 
used the term. We are inclined to believe, however, that 
this is one of those cases where usage should be accepted 
as authorizing the employment of the term as we 
ourselves and our correspondents have used it. In fact, if 
the dictionary makers of the day, who are running a neck 
and neck race to surpass one another in the number of 
words and the number of definitions given in their rival 
works, shall require sufficient authority for a new defini- 
tion of the term battle royal, they may find it in the 
Forest and Stream. 
MARTHA'S VINEYARD HEATH HENS. 
A sentimental interest attaches to any species of game 
which, formerly abundant, has become extinct or threat- 
ens to be exterminated. The passing of the American 
buffalo has been deplored by thousands of people on 
purely sentimental grounds, for if the buffalo were still 
roaming the plains the great majority of these persons 
could derive no possible advantage from the existence of 
the great game; they could not hunt it, nor even see it, 
nor eat of its flesh, nor protect themselves with its robes. 
Their deploring its extermination is purely sentimental. 
It is of more account to take note of the lessening sup- 
ply of a species which has not yet passed beyond the pos- 
sibility of perpetuation. One of the most interesting of 
such species is the heath hen found on the island of Mar- 
tha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It will be remembered 
that a few years ago there was some discussion in our 
columns respecting the identity of this bird, and it was 
shown that the heath hen was indigenous to Martha's 
Vineyard and had persisted through all the years of pur- 
suit, while other birds of the same species in other parts 
of the Eastern States had long been exterminated; and at 
that time we pointed out how desirable it was that the 
bird should be given every protection that its race might be 
perpetuated. In his report to the Massachusetts Fish and 
Game Commission, Deputy Game Commissioner Thos. A. 
Dexter, of Edgartown, reports that the heath hen is hav- 
ing a hard struggle for existence. It is systematically 
hunted by non-residents of the Vineyard, who come to 
the island ostensibly for rabbit hunting, but with the real 
purpose of seeking the heath hen. Foxes have been in- 
troduced for the purpose of affording material for fox 
chasing, and this vermin preys upon the birds all the 
more successfully because the fox was not an indigenous 
species on the island, and the birds have not inherited 
from their ancestors the ability to protect themselves 
from it. 
The result of this harassing is very evident in the rap- 
idly lessening number of birds, and Mr. Dexter makes a 
very reasonable plea for the services of a special deputy 
to be detailed to look after the preservation of the heath 
hen particularly. It is reported that the English ring- 
neck pheasants which were put on Martha's Vineyard two 
years ago have multiplied and are becoming very abun- 
dant. It would be a pity if an exotic species could be 
given opportunity to thrive while the native heath hen 
should be driven out. We trust that the Massachusetts 
Commission may provide the necessary protection for this 
bird, or if this shall be beyond their power, that the 
matter may be taken up by some of the public-spirited 
residents of the Vineyard. A bird which has kept its 
hold so far as this should not now be wiped off from the 
face of the earth by inconsiderate shooting. 
THE AUDUBON SOCIETY. 
The Audubon Society movement projected and carried 
on by this journal some years ago has ceased to be an 
active force in itself, but its influence is still shown in the 
several societies here and there springing up first in one 
quarter and then in another and assuming the name of the 
original institution. We recorded in our issue of April 18 
the formation of an Audubon Society in Boston, having 
for its special purpose the discouragement of the wearing 
of bird plumes as elements of woman's dress. We are in 
receipt of several communications from different parts of 
the country requesting us to renew our activity in this 
direction. While this is impracticable at the present 
time, we extend our good wishes to those who are pro- 
moting the work, whether under the name of the Audu- 
bon Society or other titles, and bespeak for them the 
practical encouragement they so well deserve. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
This is the time of the year when the amateur scientist 
gets out his gun and bags the unwary song bird to make 
certain its identification, that he may know beyond per- 
adventure that it occurs in the locality where he kills it. 
The fact that it occurs there may be well known, and 
may have been well known since many years before he 
was born; but this counts for nothing with the youthful 
scientist. Though a thousand text books record the fact, 
he must learn for himself by a new sacrifice of bird life. 
The fewer the individuals of a species, the more eager is 
he to shoot one of them; the rarer the specimen, the more 
certainly does it fall to his gun. The scientific preten- 
sions of small boys and of grown men are quite often far- 
cical in the extreme, but however slight rarely fail to 
afford self -justification for a bird slaughter which is alto- 
gether profitless and indefensible. 
Some years ago the Agriculture Department at Wash- 
ington, and later Pennsylvania, appropriated a large sum 
to investigate the food habits of hawks and owls with 
special reference to their relations to agriculture as de- 
stroyers of vermin and insect pests. The result of the 
inquiry was to show that the hawk and the owl were use- 
ful allies of the farmer, and because of this were deserv- 
ing of protection. The report to this effect was published 
in an elaborate volume, and the information thus con- 
veyed to the public. Now comes the Luzerne County 
Sportsmen's Club with an offer of prizes to competitors 
who shall score the highest number of scalps of certain 
species of animals and birds, including hawks and owls. 
The club offers money for the destruction of birds whose 
usefulness the State expended funds to demonstrate and 
declare. Manifestly some one is blundering here, the 
State's ornithologists or the club's bird scalp competition 
promoters. 
What shall be said of him who writes of the odious 
skunk cabbage ? Odorous it may be, but odious never — 
not to the fisherman. For the homely plant is one of the 
signs of spring; it unfolds its green banners as signals on 
the banks of newly released trout streams, and is asso- 
ciated in the angler's memory with the first outings and 
the first fish of the year. Other vegetation of March and 
April may have sweeter fragrance, but all malodorous as 
it is, the skunk cabbage is not to be set down as odious by 
one who has the poetry of angling in his soul. 
The New York Legislature adjourned on Thursday. At 
this (Tuesday) writing the result of the session's fish and 
game legislation cannot be given, for most of the meas- 
ures under consideration have, as usual, been left to be 
disposed of in the rush of the last days. The session has 
been marked by a multiplicity of bills mainly inimical to 
protection. The spearer, the netter, the market dealer 
have been given ready hearing. 
The Brackett bill in the New York Legislature, which 
proposed to hand over to a commission of lumbermen and 
wood pulp manufacturers a generous slice of the Adiron- 
dacks, has met its death by exposure. It was one of those 
creatures which can live only in the dark, and quickly die 
when exposed to the light. 
