Nov. 24, 1994.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
443 
elected field captain, have shot over 4,000 shells at cliy 
pigeons. Bought an Antonio — Ruby's Girl pup and had 
it trained by Lewis. 
And all for what? Just because I have a life-long pleas- 
ant account to settle with that wonderful game bird the 
grouse. He hides in such romantic places, feeds in such 
secluded nooks, gives you such unexpected surprises, 
dies so hard, drops with such a thud, runs so like a deer 
when wounded, taxes so thoroughly the quality of your 
dog, makes you so joyous when you conquer. I would 
rather bring to bag one grouse than five of any other 
game bird in existence. 
I asked my friend and neighbor Mr. K. , to go grouse 
shooting with me this fall. He declined, saying a man 
should be built with one leg shorter than the other to hunt 
grouse successfully. This may be true at Mr. K.'s time of 
life but not at mine. I do, however, believe a man 
should be under fifty and a shining mark for a life insur- 
ance company, for this sort of shooting. Nor do I think 
a man should live luxuriously eleven months in the year, 
and hunt grouse the other one. 
It'fi a wonderful way and place to size up human and 
dog nature. After the first day's hunt you either love 
your companion or you never want to see him again. 
Your dog is no good or else not for sale. And in the 
meantime you get awfully well acquainted with yourself, 
and should any one yell, "Who killed dat caribou," 
retrieve the bird and say, "We have another." 
Having had considerable experience in grouse shooting 
since my first attempt at making the woodland echo, I 
should like to say a word about field or woods compan- 
ions. 
An acquaintance asked me some time ago to take him 
grouse hunting. I firmly declined. I now respect him. 
If I had taken him along, I am sure that on the return 
my estimate of real value of him would have been less 
than that placed on poor Ned. The reverend doctor has 
been my constant field companion since we first played 
Indian together on the old farm many years ago. Of him 
I can only say, he is a sweet preacher, an instructive 
teacher, a faithful brother, and a good shot — effective 
with tongue and gun alike, except when the devil and a 
rhododendron thicket are in the way. I have never seen 
a railroad built through a rhododendron thicket. They 
always go around. It's easier. 
The Doctor and I initiated two brother sportsmen into 
grouse hunting this fall with splendid results. We have 
known these men many years and have held them both 
in high esteem. Now they can have anything we have 
got, except our guns. (Joe fell down too often, George is 
a little slow and strains his gun.) I have known these 
two men to hunt two full days — results, one grouse, one 
woodcock, and then to kick because duties called" them 
back to New York; but never to kick on account of the 
weight of their bag. They had had good full days in the 
woods, and had seen a number of birds, but were in un- 
fortunate positions. I have never known George's dog to 
come to a stand that I wasn't shoved into the open, while 
he would break into cover to flush. Are they sportsmen? 
Yes, of the highest type, a lesson, I am sure, to many who 
may rpad of them. If a mule has a kink in his tail, a sure 
way of discovering it is to pull it. If a man has a mean 
trait in his nature, take him grouse hunting and it will 
reveal itself in a series of kicks that would make a mule 
blush. Thomas Elmer. 
New York, Not, 13. 
A Memory of the Antarctic. 
Chicago, III., Nov. 9. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
note in the last issue of your paper an article on the 
breeding habits of king penguins, quoting as authority 
Capt. J. J. Fuller of the then sealing and whaling 
schooner Roswell King. Inasmuch as the names and 
subject mentioned brings to me a series of recollections 
of times long since past I deem that a few after words 
may not be considered amiss. 
I cruised with Capt. Fuller, and owing to my fondness 
of the eggs of the penguin I can vouch for the facts 
mentioned. I particularly had cause to study the habits 
of the penguin during my search for their eggs (a choice 
morsel wit sailors). 
It was a very common matter among us seamen to 
frequent their haunts from time to time to replenish our 
larder, with a whaleboat of eggs, an immense number 
being consumed daily by our crew of thirty odd always 
hungry men. We fairly had to force our way through 
the countless numbers of birds in our search for the im- 
mense quantity we desired and consumed. Often we 
found with the female two to five eggs, and in but few 
instances failed to find the one concealed as described by 
Mr. Hazard. This, however, we generally let alone, 
owing to the abundance of others, and somewhat to the 
fact that the fowl had an effective way of wielding their 
seemingly ungainly half wing, half flipper, when so op- 
posed, a stroke of which seemed not unlike a crack from 
the soft side of a club in an antagonist's hands. 
I recall the wreck of the Roswell King and the isola- 
tion of Capt. Fuller and her crew for some sixteen months 
on the dreary Desolation Islands, the subsequent mutiny 
of her crew and their privations amid an antarctic winter 
when even a search expedition failed to find trace of them. 
I recall too the fact that it fell to the lot of the writer first 
from the crow's nest to note their signal of distress, when 
by them we too were despaired of; how we picked them 
up, clothed in skins from head to feet: how we shared 
with them our bunk and biscuit, sailing from pole to 
ocean until we placed them in safe hands in Capetown 
harbor. 
To the writer somewhat and to the Francis Allyn was 
due the rescue. And strange to say, Captain Fuller now 
commands the little vessel that so befriended him, the 
Francis Allyn. Francis H. Buzzacott. 
Shooting Near New York. 
Yonkers, N. Y., Nov. 15.— Our local sportsmen have 
had the best woodcock shooting in this vicinity during 
the past ten days that has been had for several years 
past. An acquaintance bagged fifteen on Friday within 
three miles erf our city. Another party of three killed 
seventeen on Tuesday, just across the Hudson, on the 
Jersey side. There have been many scores ranging from 
five to eight. We think that the greater part of the fall 
flight has passed. Quail are very scarce, notwithstanding 
that we put out a great many southern birds, this spring 
It is a mystery what has become of them. J. T. W 
THE FIELD MOUSE AND THE SPIDER. 
The incident recorded, so far as the writer knows, is 
one by itself; although naturalists' notes are filled with 
accounts of the courage and ferocity of spiders, and it 
stands to reason that very many encounters such as the 
following must have taken place. 
Spiders, on account of their spinning propensities, take 
the name by which they are known in natural history 
{Arachnidoz) from a Greek fable that tells how Arachne, 
an Athenian maiden, was transformed into a spider for 
attempting to rival Minerva in the art of weaving. This 
occupation, however, is not practiced for peaceful pur- 
poses by her descendants. They weave "snares for the 
falling:" their webs are traps for the unwary, and these 
creatures themselves, that have their brains in the breast 
and their hearts in the abdomen, are as spiteful as they 
are ugly. Fortunately all species are comparatively small, 
like most of the more fierce and dangerous inhabitants of 
our earth. If this were not the case — if such a being as 
the black, bird-killing tarantula of Surinam, for instance, 
could grow indefinitely, like some members of its family, 
it would be one of the most dreadful specimens of malig- 
nity and destructive energy alive. 
The following events took place among the Smoky 
Mountains of Georgia, and were witnessed during the 
course of some scientfiic explorations of that region. It 
may be supposed by some people that pursuits of this 
nature entirely absorb those who follow them, but gener- 
ally a little leisure is left for thinking about other matters 
— getting something to eat, for example. At all events, 
that was the object which led the writer into a lonely lit- 
tle valley with a large shallow pond at its upper end. 
Trees stood in the water and it was an excellent place to 
look for turkeys. 
The wild turkey, most splendid of all the feathered 
game of America, is shy and wary to the last degree, and 
looks out for its own security with an eye quite as keen 
as that of the proverbial ha wk. On this occasion, however, 
prudence was likely to be disadvantageous, because this 
man who had become discontented with pork and beans, 
noticed the trees, and knew for a certainty that no tur- 
key would be so rash as to roost in the forest, when a 
resting place surrounded by water was at hand. Rac- 
coons and wildcats that steal upon these lordly birds by 
night dislike to get wet, and in roosting amid marshes or 
ponds, this creature shows its discernment. 
On the west of the valley rocky terraces clothed with 
brush rose to a considerable height, and seated on a sand- 
stone slab the hunter silently waited for his expected 
prize. Not a breath of air stirred the boughs, an intense 
stillness brooded upon the scene and dark shadows from 
the mountains were lengthening across the glade, when 
a faint chirping sound near by drew attention to its 
cause; a tiny field mouse came over the rock's edge, 
going in a bewildered sort of way. It did not seem to 
notice the motionless figure resting there or perhaps was 
past making observations, for matters were evidently in 
evil case with it. 
Ordinarily this animal lives in a dry, comfortable nest, 
eats its fill of grain and seeds and is plump and sleek and 
well-to-do looking as any creature can be. But now its 
eyes were dull and half closed, the coat was staring and 
it staggered in its gait. The cause of this discomfiture 
soon revealed itself, for a large gray spider, mottled with 
black, darted up from below and drew near the mouse 
with an unmistakably hostile mien. This new-comer 
also appeared to be unconscious of a man's presence. 
Probably notwithstanding the tarantula's eight eyes, he 
may have been too big to see or this denizen of wilds of 
nature did not recognize him for what he was. It is a 
popular fallacy to suppose that all inferior creatures 
know human beings and dread them instinctively. At 
all events, the spider paid no attention whatever to the in- 
truder, but began circling round its enemy, who fronted 
the foe as it moved. 
There are altitudes which betoken terror equally well 
with expressions of the countenance, and although it 
cannot be said that the field mouse looked as if it were 
overcome by fear, despair was stamped upon every 
motion that it made. Spiders have no proper heads, and 
consequently there would be a certain absurdity in speak- 
of the ferocious look of any being in such a condition as 
that. Nevertheless, no tiger bristling with rage, and 
with sinuous deadly movements making ready to charge, 
could have expressed his full purpose more plainly. 
When at length it rushed upon its adversary, both com- 
batants became so mixed up in the struggle that it was 
impossible to see distinctly what happened. So far as 
could be distinguished, the mouse did not attempt to bite, 
though it has enough power in its jaw to press those sharp 
little teeth which f urnish its mouth, through the body of 
any spider. All it seemed to do, however, was to throw 
off that fierce assailant whose arms clung to its body. 
Desperate efforts were made to this end, and they were 
successful, for the spider retreated, and the mouse stood 
swaying from side to side, and then fell down. 
One cannot say exactly what ailed the animal, The 
chemical character and effects upon the body of those 
venoms belonging to poisonous Asiatic and American 
serpents are well understood. That of the only venomous 
lizard on this continent, the Gila monster, is "a deadly 
heart poison." In insects generally, formic acid is the 
active principle, but in this case, although nervous ex- 
haustion, fear and fatigue, no doubt contributed to pro- 
duce prostration, the symptoms did not correspond with 
those which could have followed injection into the system 
of any of the agents mentioned. After lying panting for 
a few moments, the mouse roused itself, was again at- 
tacked, and probably bitten anew. This occurred several 
times, its resistance gradually becoming more feeble, and 
the 6igns of distress more pronounced. At length it fell 
to rise no more. Two or three convulsive tremors shook 
its body, and it was dead. 
Spiders live on blood or those juices that stand in place 
of blood, and now was the opportunity for this one to 
gratify any sangiunary tastes that it might have pos- 
sessed. No exhibition of this kind took place, however. 
After walking around and over its victim, it seemingly 
became certain that the mouse was dead. Most likely the 
mouse had been assailed out of pure viciousness, and not 
because its murderer needed food or had any desire to 
make a prey of an animal of this description. Anyway 
it shortly walked to the edge of the rock and went down; 
a procedure which was not interfered with, partly for the 
reason that it is preposterous to object to any being for 
acting in accordance with its nature, and also because the 
observer entertained some hope that it might possibly re- 
turn and do something else in the way of disposing of its 
victim's body. 
The tarantula did not reappear, and the brief episode 
described was all that happened. There is, however, 
some uncertainty attaching to this. It is certain that 
poisoning caused the mouse to die, but the creature's 
behavior set at naught what is known of the action of 
venoms, which are continuous and cumulative. The 
same is true of any theory of fascination that might be 
formed; there would be no reactions while this state con- 
tinued. Naturalists commonly repudiate the idea that 
animals charm their prey, and explain such facts as a 
bird's flying round and round a coiled snake in smaller 
circles until it is seized on other grounds. It is useless to 
speculate upon this matter, but the event itself was full of 
interest, and in that regard is given for what it is worth. 
Wild Pigeons. 
Dunnville, Ont., Nov. 16. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was much interested in the report which you say Dr. 
Willett Kidd, of Newburg, N. Y., made to you about a 
flock of forty wild pigeons seen by him in Orange county, 
in September last. This has been an interesting subject 
to me for a few years, having seen the wild pigeons when 
they were here in myriads, while now there are probably 
not forty passenger pigeons on the continent. 
In September last a man came to me saying that a 
flock of "real wild pigeons" were feeding upon a pea field 
some miles away from here. My informant was so posi- 
tive that they were pigeons, having shot hundreds when 
they were plentiful, that a friend and I were induced to 
take our guns and drive to the place. When we reached 
there, it turned out as I had suspected — a lot of mourning 
doves rose from the field which had been sown to peas 
and buckwheat. 
It is strange that a man who formerly had known 
pigeons so well should make such a mistake, yet I find it 
very common among old sportsmen. The dove is very 
like the passenger pigeon in plumage, but is very much 
smaller, I would venture to ask might not the birds seen 
in New York State have been mourning doves? 
While doves are common here and breed, there is no 
record since April 9, 1883, of wild pigeons having been 
seen. G. A. MacCallum. 
[We are perfectly willing to accept Dr. Kidd's identifi- 
cation of the birds he saw as correct.] 
Black Squirrels Supplanted by Gray. 
Belleville, Ont., Nov. 12. — The same process noted by 
your correspondent, F. M. Comstock, as taking place in 
New York, is going on here, namely, the displacing of the 
black squirrel by the gray. Twenty years ago a gray 
squirrel was a rarity in this region. Now they number, 
at a rough estimate, one to six. These two varieties of 
the family Sciuridoz are often found in company, and 
that they breed together is apparent from the black and 
gray coats of some of them. The assumption that the tail 
of the black is more bushy and its head more elongated 
than that of the gray are quite correct, as shown by my 
stuffed specimens, one of which, by the way, is cream- 
colored, but shows the distinguishing characteristics of 
the black. The tail of the gray is broader, flatter and 
more feathery-looking than that of its black-coated rela- 
tive, and the hair is longer and finer. Belleville is, I may 
add, within about twenty-five miles of the northern range 
of the black squirrel. North of that the red has the woods 
to himself. R. S. B. 
Minnesota Buffalo. 
The Hallock Enterprise of Nov. 8 contains the follow- 
ing important statement: 
"A two-year-old buffalo was killed near the Snake 
River, west of Warren, last week by Judge Lakin of that 
place and a Grand Forks gentleman. This is the first of 
the species running wild which has been seen in that 
vicinity for over twenty years. Where it came from or 
where the herd is from which it no doubt strayed is a 
mystery." 
Warren is forty miles south of Hallock on the line of 
the Great Northern Railroad. 
"That reminds me." 
We were quietly floating down the Ouachita one day 
last season, when a shower of rain came up, and as it 
was near dinner time, we concluded to tie our little 
canvas-covered craft to the bank until after we had fin- 
ished our repast. While ashore making a line fast the 
sailorman noticed a hollow log near by and remarked 
that it looked like a "possum log;" so we concluded to 
investigate. Investigations revealed nothing. Seeing a 
fallen pine we thought we would gather a little of it for 
kindling wood. This carried us further into the woods, 
and one of the boys exclaimed: "Here is a possum log 
sure." Upon thorough examination we came to the con- 
clusion that he might be right. One of the boys cut a 
long pole and poked up the hollow and twisted it around 
a little, and when he brought it out it was covered with 
long white, grayish colored hair, which evidently be- 
longed to none other than a possum. "Well, boys, I 
know he'll go fine, and as that cook of ours was raised 
down here in Louisiana, I know he can fix him into a fine 
dish. Give me that axe and I'll have him out in a 
minute." Sure enough, in about a minute the axe went 
crashing through the log, and the boys, gathered around 
all expectant, began to stand a little further back — "Gee! 
I guess that fellow has been eating something which 
ceased to exist" — and another lick of the axe revealed the 
animal in quest, with his nose drawn down between his 
forelegs, and coiled all up in a knot as dead as the hollow 
log in which he had been incased. We silently returned 
to our little boat. Bacon and beans were good enough 
for us. We carried our pine knots and disappointments, 
but we carried both in our arms, and they were soon dis- 
posed of when the cheerful crackling in the stove restored 
us to comfort and to yarns of other times. Plumb-Bob. 
Jlisstssjpp 
