dbc. 22, 1894.] FOREST AND STREAM. 
of this city. It gives short life histories of each species o' 
our shore birds, with accounts of their migrations, and 
will contain keys so plain that any species may be deter- 
mined even by a novice, and a map of a bird showing 
every part of its plumage and explanations of the terms 
used. Full page illustrations drawn by Edwin Shepherd, 
of Philadelphia, and reproduced in half-tone, will repre- 
sent each species. The size of the book will be octavo 
and the price about $2,50. The date of publication has 
not yet been fixed, 
m\\& J?a# m\d <§un. 
TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST. 
A Responsive Chord. 
The leader in the editorial columns of Forest and 
Stream of Dec. 1, wherein it proposes to war upon dis- 
honest methods and individuals in trap-shooting has met 
with general approval as far as the Texas sportsmen 
are concerned. While trap-shooting is yet in its incipi- 
ency in this State, the insinuating microbe of dishonesty 
has developed and several cases of "skulduggery" if not 
absolute robbery, disgraces the pages of the shooting 
history of this State. Not only have individuals proven 
dishonest in their methods, but entire organizations, pre- 
sumably organized with honest intent, have been con- 
victed of ways that are dark and tricks that are vain. 
The sportsmen — the clean sportsmen — in Texas are glad 
that Forest and Stream has sounded the tocsin. Let no 
guilty man escape. 
As Bad as a Seine. 
The fishing in Elmendorf Lake has been very good this 
winter. Indeed, the finest string of black bass ever 
caught in Texas waters was lured from the mossy beds of 
that fine body of water six weeks ago, and nearly every 
one who has been fortunate enough to secure the entree 
into the preserve has had a nice time with the rod. While 
the discovery that there existed biting bass in the lake has 
been heralded with delight, and while the fishing has been 
"dead easy," the pot-huntishness of a certain individual 
who enjoys the fishing by virtue of his payment of $2.50 
toward the "watchman fund" has asserted itself. It may 
be all right for one to hunt for meat and kill quail on the 
ground, and it maybe all right for one who does not claim 
a full knowledge of sportsmen's ethics, to drag a seine or 
otherwise catching fish by methods which are not recog- 
nized as fair by followers of Izaak Walton; but that right 
becomes a wrong when perpetrated by one who is a mem- 
ber of a high-toned gun club and who howls himself hoarse 
crying for the protection of game. 
The facts are as follows: A member of the chosen few 
who have each paid $2.50 toward a fund with which a 
watchman has been paid to guard Lake Elmendorf has 
disgraced himself and his club by "jug-fishing" for bass 
in the lake aforesaid. He has placed a lot of beer bottles 
in the lake, to which he had attached a 4ft. line, and has 
caught a lot of fine black bass through the nefarious 
device, and has had the audacity to bray about it. Worse 
than that: the watchman's boy has been doing the same 
thing and sold the proceeds of his nefarious practice to 
members of the club at 25 cents per fish. 
If the party spoken of was not a member of a gun club, 
I would not feel quite at liberty to criticise his practice as 
bitterly as I do, but when a man belongs to an organiza- 
tion that claims to protect game and fish, and employs 
other than the recognized fair methods for the capture of 
each, I feel like going for him with a sharp stick. Put 
him out. 
Geese! Geese !I 
From Copano Bay, about eighteen miles from Rockport 
on the Texas coast comes the word that there is a fine flight 
of geese, swan and brant twice a day. One man killed 
twenty-seven one evening over six decoys. The cool 
weather up north the last few days has driven the 
canvasback and redheads to their winter quarters, and 
the shooting on these rare birds is beginning to be good. 
Bluebills on the Nueces. 
The heaviest bluebill flight in years is on up the Nueces 
Bay every morning and evening. The bay water is 
fresh for about five miles and the birds come off the salt 
bay where they feed on young oysters to slake their 
thirst and out again in the evening. The birds are there 
in thousands but there will be no first-class shooting until 
very cold weather sets in. 
A Gay Party. 
Messrs. Peabody, Burton and Dubois, of Cincinnati, E. 
Hough, of Chicago and Robt. Merrill, the noted dog man 
and crack shot of Milwaukee, accompanied by O. C. 
Guessaz, of San Antonio, have just returned from a two 
weeks' outing on the Texas coast, where they have been 
shooting all kinds of game. A full account of the trip 
will be given in these columns through the facile pen of 
Mr. Hough, of the Chicago office. 
Quail at Linton. 
A personal trip to Linton, 135 miles from San Antonio, 
on the line of the Aransas Pass Railway, resulted in find- 
ing plenty of quail. Five coveys in two and a half hours 
were found in splendid cover and under the best shooting 
circumstances. Hotel accommodations and teams galore. 
Deer Hunters. 
Messrs. Albert Steves, Otto Wahrmund, Hon. J. L. 
Slayden and Capt. Ernest August Dosch, all of San 
Antonio, are enjoying a deer and turkey hunt in the 
mountain fastnesses of Kerr county. From parties in 
KerrvLUe it is learned that the gentlemen are meeting 
with great success and having a splendid time. 
Javelinas 
or better named, the American peccary, has his abode all 
through the heaviest chapparal of the Southwest. It is a 
small pig, about the size of a yearling shoat and a mottled 
gray in color, and a most dangerous animal to hunt. 
Through Judge McCall of Portland, who has a splendid 
pack of hounds, it was learned that they are plentifuL 
around Portland on the Texas coast. The Judge has 
kindly invited the writer on a hunt after the javelinas, 
and a full account of the experience will be given to the 
readers of Forest and Stream. Texas Field. 
QUAIL HUNTING IN DRY COVER, 
Burnside, La., Dec. 12.— Last Saturday afternoon I 
tore myself away from the factory and spent an hour or 
two after quail, but with poor success. The weather has 
been so hot and dry that it is almost impossible for a dog 
to do any sort of work. There is not a drop of water to 
be had for the dogs; and if you do not have the luck to 
find a water-cask out in the field the poor dog soon plays 
out. 
^ I knew where there ought to be some birds, so I hitched 
up a gig, and putting the old setter dog into it, started for 
the field. The first little outing after quail makes a man 
feel like a school boy receiving an unexpected holiday. I 
soon reached the field, and over the fence I climbed. 
Then I put the shells, loaded with E. C. powder, into my 
old cylinder quail gun. This old gun I scarcely ever use 
for anything else but quail, and I kill some with it every 
year. This same old gun will scatter over both sides of 
a barn at 20yds., and it is just the thing for quail and 
brush shooting. About the first thing the old dog did 
was to flush a covey of eight or nine birds, and without 
caring about me one particle they all safely hid them- 
selves in the windrowed cane. With the next covey I 
was more lucky. I was standing on the edge of a thicket 
when I noticed a very large hawk cruising about over 
the field. Presently he flushed a big covey of quail and 
straight for the thicket they flew. They lit within about 
30yds. of me, and I felt sure of some of them. I talked to 
the old setter and advised him to be careful. He pointed, 
up got a quail and down he dropped at the crack of the 
gun. My dog retrieved him, but did not want to give 
him up, so nice did the first quail of the season seem to 
him. 
The next bird I missed as he went whirring through the 
bushes. The next came down when I bid him. Every- 
thing was so dry that the poor old dog could not make 
much out of the scent, so I called my driver, made him 
cut a good big stick, and put him into the cover, and very 
soon he had the quail flying in every direction. First he 
put up four quail, and I got one with each barrel. Then 
the next quail that got out of the grass I missed with both 
barrels, although it was a fair, straightaway shot in the 
open. The next was snapped down almost before he was 
well under way. After a while the old dog recovered 
somewhat from the heat and pointed a quail, which I 
scratched down, and recovered after a chase, which made 
the dignified old brown meat dog so excited that I was 
afraid he would have an apoplectic stroke. 
Then I tried another field and after much careful trail- 
ing and creeping by the dog, the birds flushed wild, but I 
marJied them down and after them I went, After think- 
ing out the direction in which the birds must fly on being 
flushed, I laid my plans of approach. But the first bird 
that got up flew directly over my head and directly in line 
with the afternoon sun. Both barrels were fired, but all 
in vain. Then the whole covey followed suit. My first 
barrel was unsuccessful, but the second brought down a 
fine big cock. I followed up the covey only to have them 
get up wild, and with both barrels missed again. Then I 
walked up two stray fellows, missed the one to the left, 
but cracked over the one on my right. The ground was 
so dry that I found the dog almost useless, so I gave it up 
and came home, quite satisfied, however, with the few 
hours of recreation with the quail. 
I think that we will have fine quail shooting now, for 
yesterday we had the first big rain since last April. We 
are still killing some deer. Last week we killed one mag- 
nificent buck, and on last Sunday we chased a buck, but 
did not kill. Blount saw this buck when the hounds 
jumped him, and he says he has a fine set of antlers, 
W. P. M., Jr. 
MAINE GAME NOT BAGGAGE. 
Boston, Dec. 15. — The latest railroad move is the 
announcement made by the Maine Central, that no more 
moose, deer, caribou, or fish or game of any kind will 
hereafter be received as naggage. This news comes by 
special dispatch to the daily papers, and doubtless it is 
true. Sportsmen are much displeased, so far as I have 
been able to obtain their views. Heretofore the Maine 
Central has very kindly forwarded the fish or game of 
sportsmen, in the legal open season, free of charge, in 
their baggage cars. There is no doubt but what the pres- 
ent season has shown this road that they have had to do 
a good deal of transportation for nothing, except the 
regular fares of the hunters and fishermen. But its pas- 
senger traffic is greatly increased by the hunting and 
fishing interest in that State. It is a safe estimate to 
claim that at least one-fourth of the passenger traffic of 
the Maine railroads is due directly or indirectly, to the 
actual or anticipated sport from fishing and hunting 
promised there. The Maine Fish and Came Commission- 
ers, in their report, recently submitted to the Governor 
and Council, suggest that the amount of money brought 
into Maine by her fish and game interests is over $3,000,000 
a year, and they have rather under-estimated its value 
than otherwise. Now if only one-fourth of this sum goes 
into the treasury of the Maine Central Railway, it amounts 
to a very large revenue from the hunters and fishermen, 
and for that company to suddenly refuse to convey any 
more game or fish, without extra charge, is looked upon 
with disfavor by every prominent sportsman whom I have 
heard express an opinion. The claim is at once set up 
that the American Express Co. has had something to do 
with the change, and there is cause for believing that the 
claim is correct. Sportsmen have been seriously bothered 
this fall by suddenly finding that their game was in the 
hands of the express company, when they had left it in 
the hands of the baggagemaster at the point where they 
had taken the train. In a great many cases the hunters 
have been assured by the baggagemasters that their game 
should go through safely and without cost. In many in- 
stances tags have been furnished by baggagemasters, in 
order that the deer might be tagged with the owner's 
name and residence, as provided by law. Neither express 
nor any other transportation companies are allowed to 
forward game out of the State of Maine unless it is tagged 
as above; and then it is the property of the man who shot 
it, and is being forwarded at his risk. Legal gentlemen 
tell me that under the present law regarding transporta- 
tion, made to prevent the sending of game out of Maine 
and into market, there is a doubt as to whether any ex- 
press or railway company can legally forward game in 
any other way than free of charge and as the property of 
the hunter, who must, according to law, be in charge of it. 
In each case the express company has insisted upon 
687 
being paid for the transportation. In some cases the bill 
has been paid, and in one or two cases the owner of the 
game has declined to pay, claiming that the express com- 
pany had taken it without authority. In one case where 
the express company claimed pay for transportation, the 
owner of the game positively declined to pay, and the 
driver of the express took the game back to the office of 
the company. In a short time he came back and said that 
"the boss said that if Mr. would sign a receipt he 
might leave the deer." But Mr. also flatly refused 
to sign any receipt, declining to acknowledge the express 
company in any way in the matter. After some words 
the driver left the deer at the hunter's home. Hunters 
and fishermen are also disposed to ask why it is that the 
Maine Central cannot bring out the fish and game that 
they are fortunate enough to take, when some of the 
Western roads are not only bringing out the fish and game 
of sportsmen free, but they also carry their dogs free, and 
give them the best of care. A gentleman mentions espe- 
cially the Grand Rapids & Indiana Road, over which he 
had occasion to travel on a hunting and fishing trip a 
couple of seasons ago. On the train there were a number 
of sportsmen with their dogs and equipments, and even 
one or two movable camps. There were four baggage 
cars in the train and two freight cars, and not a sportsman 
was called upon to pay a dollar for any sort of trans- 
portation. Special. 
Summer Shooting In Pennsylvania. 
Williamsport, Pa., Dec. ■ 14,— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I very much regret to learn that there are a 
few sportsmen in our State who object to the abolishment 
of summer woodcock shooting. 
The committee on legislation, appointed at the last 
meeting of the Pennsylvania State Sportsman's Association 
which met at Harrisburg not long since to make such 
. changes in our game laws as they deemed advisable for 
the better protection of our game, considered this point 
in particular and agreed, one and all, that there was more 
destruction wrought among our young "pheasants" by 
unscrupulous hunters than could be well calculated; and 
unanimously agreed that it was one of the most vital 
points in our game laws. True, there may be some who 
could refrain from pressing the trigger should a nice 
young pheasant rise before him, but how many more are 
there who shoot first and pay their regrets afterwards. 
There is no one who enjoys a day afield after woodcock 
better than I do, but surely I would a thousand times 
rather deny myself this pleasure, than be a party to an 
act upholding the summer slaughter of our young pheas- 
ants. 
The committee had hundreds of letters from all points 
in the State urging one season for all game, and it is to be 
hoped that the few who want summer shooting, will see 
the matter in its true light and magnanimously deny 
themselves a few short hours' sport for the better protec- 
tion of our king of game birds. I urge you, gentlemen 
sportsmen of Pennsylvania, to take the matter in hand, 
and assist this committee in their efforts for better laws. 
N. A. Hughes, Pres. 
Penn, State Spts. Assn. 
Opossums on the Main Street. 
Windsor, N. C, Dec. 11.— Last night, about 11 o'clock, 
just after a rain, Mr. M., a lawyer, whose office is on 
Main street and in the most public part of town, was 
standing in his front door, when his attention was at- 
tracted by some animal crossing the sidewalk. He con- 
cluded to investigate; took his cane, and on reaching the 
gutter found a very large and fat opossum, which he pro- 
ceeded to kill. We suppose the possum had made his 
home under a stone near Mr. M.'s office and had come out 
to get a drink of water. This is the second one caught in 
cur town within the last three months. 
I have had several days with the quail this season, but 
do not find them so plentiful as they were last season, the 
greatest number bagged being twenty-nine in a day's 
hunt. I notice wild turkeys for sale on our streets almost 
daily. A. J. R. 
A Towering Bird. 
Newark, N, J. — While I was hunting for partridge my 
dog Nick drew up near a fence well covered with under- 
growth and brush, and as I advanced a bird sprang out. 
I held just ahead of him and fired. He flinched and im- 
mediately sprang upward and began to circle around. 
Higher and higher he mounted. On he went until he was 
many feet in the air, out of gunshot. Then his wings 
began to wobble and he came down slowly but surely, 
landing within 10ft. of the place he started from. On 
examination I found three shot had struck him just behind 
his right eye and destroyed his sight, and caused his 
curious movements. I have shot many birds, but never 
had an experience like this. W. F. B. 
Holiday Tours via Pennsylvania Railroad to 
Washington, Gettysburg, and Old 
Point Comfort. 
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company has announced the followiog 
select pleasure tours, under its personally conducted tourist system, 
for the holiday season. The destination of each tour offers so much 
in the way of recreation and sight-seeing that the festivities of the 
holiday season may he doubly enjoyed by participation in any of 
them. 
To Gettysburg and Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 26, returning the 
following Saturday. Tickets covering transportation, meals en route, 
and hotel accommodations at Gettysburg and Washington will be sold 
at the following rates: New York, Brooklyn and Newark, $20; Tren- 
ton, $19; Philadelphia, $17.50. Tickets will also be sold to Gettysburg, 
returning direct by regular trains until Dec. 31, at rate of $13 from 
New York, $11 from Trenton, and $9.50 from Philadelphia. 
To Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 27, returning the following Satur- 
day. Round-trip rates, including hotel accommodations: New York, 
Brooklyn and Newark, $13.50; Trenton, $12.75; Philadelphia and Wil- 
mington, $11.50. 
To Old Point Comfort, Thursday, Dec. 27, returning the following 
Saturday. Rate3, including round trip transportation and all neces- 
sary expenses: New York, Brooklyn and Newark, $15.50; Trenton, 
$14: Philadelphia, $12.50. Tickets will also be sold at the same rates, 
including luncheon going and one day's board at the Hygeia Hotel, 
and good to return via Richmond and Washington by regular trains 
within ten days. 
Tickets for any of the above tours from other points will be sold at 
proportionate rates, and any additional information in regard to the 
tours may be obtained on application to the Tourist Agent, at 1196 
Broadway, New York; 660 Fulton street, Brooklyn; or Room 411, 
Broad street station.— Adv. 
Prairie Chickeus. 
Recent reports received by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
way from stations in the prairie chicken country of Minnesota and 
South Dakota all indicate a prospect of the best hunting for years. 
Chickens are very plentiful and in fine condition. Duck shooting 
prospects are also good. Full information can be had by addressing 
Ticket Agent, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 207 Clark 
street, Chicago.— Adv. 
