Jan. 12, 1895.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
mountain, then I saw one of my hounds Rare up 
and smell a trash and start off switching his tail. 
I knew what that meant. I put spurs to my pony, 
the hill being steep and them little dogs striking 
ahead. I just got to the point in time to see my old buck 
start down the other side, 1 knew from the way he was 
.lumping and the miisie behind him there was nO Use of 
me trying to head him. sol stopped to listen. So, pretty 
aoon I heard a shot ring out ; then another and another, 
until I counted nine shots. I made up my mind the 
magazine had blone up, for I Knew Bennie was down 
there with a good . 38 and plenty of shells. I could hear 
the dogS go out of hearing. I hustled down there, 
Couldn't find anybody and began to hunt for tracks. 
Pretty soon I found Bonnie's mule's track coming out 
in the road. He had fled to the creek, where the dogs 
had him dead. He had shot 8 shots at him while run- 
ning across the field. Two balls passed through his 
body, one cutting his melt half in two, then ran a mile 
and a half to the creek. TimS had shot the first shot 
at an old gobbler that couldn't Stand the music of the 
hounds. The deer and the turkey had both put for the 
Creek. When we ail got there the fun commenced 
again. They put the dfeer on Bonnie's mule, and tied 
jt on tight and then the mule bucked everything off but 
his hide and ran off home, sO my pohy had to pack it 
in, as Tims had to go clear back on the moiiutairi after 
his horse and gobbler. You see there is a little game 
here yet. Dr. S. went down to Mr. J. 's last week. He 
says there is a deer to every acre of land. Tims says if 
you all cant come down we will go down and catnp a 
week ourselves. ' ' Yours truly, 
•J. F. Blantox. 
Kingbird and Hawk. 
Lockport, N. Y., Jan. 4. — While hunting grouse in 
September last I was passing from one piece of woods 
to another when I saw a kingbird chasing a hawk of 
some species for a long distance, and from the motions 
of .the hawk I thought that the kingbird was not hav- 
ing its own way in the fight. Finally, and just -before 
they reached the piece of woods that was my objective 
point, the hawk made a Sudden dive and both birds 
disappeared from view across a rise in the ground, and 
I supposed that the hawk had reached the woods in 
safety, and the kingbird had given up the fight. The 
sequel showed that such was the case. 
When. I was about ten rods from the woods, 1 saw 
fitting on a log what I supposed was a grouse, and pre- 
pared to take it in as it flew up on my approaching 
nearer, but 1 failed to do so, and then I Saw that 
instead of a grouse it was a hawk. As I shot it dropped 
something, which, on securing, found to be a kingbird 
as neatly decapitated as if done with a knife. From 
the nearer view I had of the hawk I saw it was the 
Cooper's hawk. This is the first instance I have known 
a hawk to get the best of Tyrannus tyr annus. 
rJ, L. Davidson. 
Herding with Buffalo. 
New Mexico, Dec. 1.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Old buffalo hunters will remember that in the early 
days it was not uncommon to find domestic cattle and 
even horses rummg wild with the buffalo herds and 
apparently accepted by them as welcome associates. 
I remember well an old Texas coW that I often used 
to see ranging with the buffalo on the north fork of the 
Arekaree Fort of the Republican river about where the 
line between Kansas and Nebraska now runs. I have 
many a time crept within a short distance of the bunch 
of buffalo with which she ranged and have taken notes 
of the actions of the animals. Many a "scrap" have I 
seen for her favor, and often a buffalo on either side 
kicking her. She was fat, sleek and in the nest of con- 
dition, and she seemed to recognize that she was one of 
the elect and accepted her honors with the air of an 
aristocrat. I think that very likely her color accounted 
for the partiality which the buffalo manifested for her. 
Although I have before and since seen cattle and even 
horses in buffalo herds, I never observed the same atten- 
tion paid them as in this case. 
I have been asked whether I supposed that the feelings 
of the buffalo toward this cow were -different from those 
which a mule feels for a colt. I am inclined to think 
that they were. The mule is swayed by the same emo- 
tions that govern the human being when he looks upon 
the helpless infant. These are awe, love, or it may be 
the instincts of protection or maternity. In the other 
case the controlling sentiment is admiration such as we 
would feel for a beautiful woman or a type of beauty 
altogether different from anything we have ever seen. 
F. T. W r . 
The Deer of liruid HiU Parir. 
Baltimore's greatest park is Druid Hill, and it has a 
present interest because a sharp contest has been started 
by wealthy men of the city against the park commis- 
sioners allowing deer to range at large. 
In 1867 Thomas Winans presented to the park fifty-two 
deer, which had been tamed on his Baltimore County 
farm. Many have been killed and sold since then, but 
the herd now numbers 140, ranging at will throughout 
the 700 acres. It is claimed by these gentlemen, who 
are owners of fine horses, that the deer cause driving 
accidents and are general nuisances. An instance is 
given where an infant lost its life in a runaway caused 
by one of the animals. The allegation is: "The main- 
tenance by the Park Board of this large herd of wild, 
mischievous and dangerous animals, not confined to a 
certain part of the park, is illegal ; and the city is liable 
for any injuries done directly by them to the person or 
property of the citizen,- and for damages occasioned by 
runaways caused by them. It is a misuse of their 
powers by the Park Board to maintain this herd of deer 
to the detriment of the trees and shru bbery — the prin- 
cipal ornaments of the park — to the disfi gnrement of the 
park by unsightly devices resorted to to prevent the 
ravages of these animals, and to lavish so ch an enormous 
expenditure as is spent an such a wm thless object. " 
They further point out that the interest on a principle 
of $400,000 is expended' substantially'to" preserve~these * 
animals. 
The park officials stand faithfully by the deer, and 
the general population seem to want them to remain, 
but those who have fine horses are opposed to them. It 
is true that it is not always pleasant, when taking a 
quiet drive in the wooded section of the park, to have 
a ski ttish stag spring like a bolt of lightning across the 
road ; but then the thousands who use the park most 
do not drive, and the tricks of the deer constitute a 
large part of their interest in the park grounds. Druid 
Hill is the only park in the United States where such a 
herd would be allowed : that is to say, in other words, 
it is the only park of its kind that we have in this 
country, Its unique points always repay the attention 
of the visitor. 
If you come to Druid Hill looking for landscape gar- 
dening you will go away disappointed. It is no more 
like Central Park in New York than the forest is like a 
conservatory ; it is HQ more like Faimiount Park in 
Philadelphia than a good country road is like a speed- 
Way. Long ago nature claimed it as her own, and in 
spite of many imperfections in the way of modern 
improvements nature still holds sway in a goodly pro- 
portion of its 700 acres. It is the only forest park in the 
Country. — [Correspondence New York Evening Post]. 
Cormorant CJanght in a Steel Trap. 
Lockpob't, N. Y. , Dec. M—Fditor Forest and Stream : 
While. I was stopping at Theresa, N. Y. , the past 
season Mr. Fred Rodenhurst, a prominent hardware 
dealer and sportsman, informed me that last April he 
noticed at different times a pair of large birds flying 
about Red Lake, a few miles from the village, and often 
sawfthein sitting in the top of a dead tree, but could 
not get within shooting distance of them, and concluded 
to set a steel trap for them, which he did, and secured 
one of them, and it proved to be a cormorant. This is 
the first instance to my knowledge that this species 
occurred so far i aland from the great Lakes. Mr. Roden- 
hurst kept this bird about the store for a week, to the 
terror of the dog, which it would attack on sight. 
Finding that it was unhurt he gave it its freedom 
thinking it might rejoin its mate and breed in the 
Adcinity But nothing was seen of them after its release. 
A few days after this was related to me I was enter- 
ing the lake from the Indian river and just as I had left 
the outlet two large birds came flying over the boat. 
My gun lay beside me, but as I had my wife and daugh- 
ter with' me I did not have any shell in the gun having 
them on the seat. It was but the work of an instant to 
drop the oars, pick up the gun and slip in a No. 4 shell. 
The next moment one of the birds dropped in the water 
with a broken wing. My first thought was that it was 
Mr. Rodenhurst 's cormorant, but on securing it I found it 
was an American osprey. At that time the- water at 
the outlet was very shallow and often in passing in and 
out mullet and pickerel could be seen, and these were 
probably what the ospreys or fish hawks were after. On 
passing out of the lake within an hour I shot a marsh 
hawk, which fell within ten rods of where the osprey 
had. While the stomach of the osprey was empty 
that of the hawk contained the remains of two birds — 
one of which was that of a white crowned sparrow, 
which at that time was veiy plenty along the river and 
lake shores. J". L. Davison. 
Range of the Blackfooted Terret. 
New Yoke, Dec. 17. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The range of the blackfooted ferret (Putorius Nigripes) 
is known to cover Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and 
oerhaios other parts of the West, but I do not know how 
far North it goes. 
Recently while at Blackfoot, a station on the G-reat 
Northern Railroad in Northern Montana, just east of 
the mountains a half breed Indian named Francois 
Monroe presented me with the dressed skin of what he 
called a "spotted mink." He evidently thought it a 
partial albino of Putorius vison, but it is a black-footed 
ferret. On inquiry I learned that it had been taken in 
a steel trap on Willow Creek, and that another "spotted 
mink just like it. ' ' had been killed a short time before 
by an Indian on Milch River about twenty miles further 
north, and not far south of the 49th parallel. 
On writing to Dr. C. Hart Merriam to learn what is 
the northernmost locality recorded for this species, I 
learned from him that he knew of none so far "north as 
Blackfoot. That the animal is not common in this 
locality seems probable from the fact that the Blackfoot 
Indians do not know it as a species. Further south — 
say in Nebraska— the Pawnees know this animal well. 
With them it goes under the name ' ' ground dog, ' ' and 
certain curious beliefs are held about it. It is an animal 
rarely seen, and when not abundant might well escape 
observation for a long time. The early history of the 
species and the fact that 'for some'years^it'wasy 'lost" 
show this 
Geo. Bied Gexnneee. 
A White Crow. 
I enclose a photograph of a white crow which I shot 
last September in Connecticut, eight miles below 
Hartford. I had hunted him off and on since June 
without getting a shot, but finally came upon him while 
I was paddling in a canoe after ducks. His bill and 
legs are perfectly black. He was always in company 
with half a dozen other crows and never was seen far 
from a grove of willows on the banks of the Connecti- 
cut River, where he was shot. J. E. B. 
December Robins in Pennsylvania. 
Chestnut Hill, Phila^, Pa., Dec 31. — Dear Sir — Yes- 
terday (Dec. 30), while taking a short stroll near the 
border of a wood I was surprised to hear the call of a 
robin, and on close inspection discovered a flock of at 
least 25 birds. What do you think they are doing here 
at this time of the year?' Had they just come North? 
Or were they going South? They were very disconsolate 
looking. They had evidently been feeding upon the 
sumach berries, of which there were a great many in 
the neighborhood. A Reader, 
[Belated, birds or possibly winter presidents, ] 
A Connecticnt Wildcat. 
Portland, Conn. , Jan. 1.— A willdcat (Lynx rufus 
was taken here Dec. 12, 1894, and through the kindness 
of Mr. J. C. Reeves is in my collection. It is a half- 
grown kitten, and weighed ten pounds. So far as I 
know, this is the only specimen killed within the limits 
of the town for more than sixty years. As rattlesnakes 
have heretofore been the principal "game" for our citi- 
zens, it is a pleasure to state that at least one wildcat 
has come to stay. John H. Sage. 
Ionnaean Society Meeting. 
A regular meeting of the Society will be held at the 
American Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh 
street and Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evening, Jan. 22, 
at 8 o'clock. Dr. Allen will read a paper on the Mam- 
mals of Southern Arizona. 
Old Mexican Dogs. 
Editor Forest and Stream.: 
In looking over an old Mexican history, published in 1817, I 
find the following regarding dogs, which may interest some of 
your readers: 
"The Itzcuintepotzotli and Xoloitzcuintli are two species ol 
quadrupeds similar to dogs. The Itzcuintepotzotli are hunch- 
backed dogs, as large as a Maltesan dog, the skin of which is 
varied with white, tawney and black. Its head is small in pro- 
portion to its bodv, and appears to be joined directly to it on 
account of the shortness and greatness of its neck; its eyes are 
pleasing, its ears loose, its nose has a considerable prominence 
in the middle, and its tail so small that it hardly reaches half 
way down its leg; but the characteristic of it is a great hunch 
which it bears from its neck to its rump. The place where this 
quadruned most abounds is the Kingdom of Michuacan, where 
it is called Abora. 
"The Topitzcuintli, that is, the mountain dog, is a wild beast 
so small that it appears a little dog. but it is so daring that it 
attacks deer and sometimes kills them. Its hair and tail are 
long, its body black, but its head, neck and breast are white. 
The Xoloitzctiintli is larger than the two preceding, there being 
some of them whosn bodies are even 4ft. long. Its face is like a 
doe:, but its tusks like the wolf, its ears erect, its neck gross and 
tail long. The greatest sinsrut&rify about this animal is its being 
totally destitute of hair, except upon its snout, where it has 
some thick, crooked bristles. Its whole body is covered with a 
smooth, soft, ash-colored skin, but spotted in part with black 
and tawny. These species are almost totally extinct, or atleast 
very few of them remain." 
In a footnote to the above is added : "Giovanni Fabri. a Lin- 
cean academician, published at Eome a long and learned disser- 
tation, in which he endeavored to prove that the Xoloitzcuintli 
is the same with the wolf of Mexico; having without doubt been 
deceived by the original drawing of Xoloitzcuintli which was 
sent to Eome with other pictures of Hernandaz; but if he had 
read the dpscription which this eminent naturalist gives that 
animal in the book of the 'Quadrupeds of New Spain,' he would 
have spa red himself the labor of writing that dissertation and 
the expenses of publishing it." 
The illustrations of the Itzcuintepotzotli which accompany the 
above, are stransre-looking canine specimens, but are said to.be 
taken of drawings from the original. F. W. Hott. 
Sharon, Pa. 
Knowing that you, your readers and every true angler 
seek to gather data pertaining to the gentle art, I beg 
leave to call attention to the facts narrated herein, only 
vouching for the truth thereof and modestly leaving to 
each to determine for himself the exact significance 
and scientific value of the things set forth. At the 
noon hour, on a day in August last, we met on the 
banks of a trout stream for lunch. In the party were B. 
and L. , brothers-in-law ; B. distinguished by a nose 
most decidedly hooked. After lunch the fishing of the 
morning was discussed, as we rested and smoked, under 
the shade of an old oak. Gradually the conversation 
drifted into reminiscences of former exploits and adven- 
tures. An experience had by B., often hinted at but 
never told in detail, was called for. Finally, after much 
urging, he was induced to unfold his tale. "No, sir, I 
don't tell that story, for I know you will all say it is a 
yarn, but it's true — every word, and there isn't any- 
thing funny about it. " More urging brought the story. 
"Well, I^was fishing this stream one hot day, and 
becoming thirsty I "kneeled down to drink from the 
stream. Just as my lips touched the water a trout 
seized me by the nose and gave it a strong yank. Yes, 
sir ! he just held on and shook my head from side to 
side. I could have landed him, but I was so astonished 
and scared that "he got away. ' ' 
A profound silence followed, which was finally broken 
by L. , who, after a long, deep sigh, said in a tone of 
remonstrance : "B. , tbat can't be true — no trout in the 
world that once got hold of that nose could ever get 
away, there is too much hook in it. " 
Seventy. 
The Buffalo of North Carolina. 
Editor Forest and Stream : In criticising the menu of 
a game dinner given at the Hotel Chattawka f in New- 
bern on Christmas day you sententiouslyTask, 'Where 
that buffalo tongue came from. ' ' 
Now, that tongue was alP right. I anticipated that 
exception would be taken to" that item in the menu on 
account of the scarcity of buffalo in the West. I beg to 
assure you, however, that these viands are a staple 
article in this State and that buffalo, so called, can be 
found" all along the North Carolina coast. The breed 
first came to notice during the war, and representatives 
are even seen to this day. Quite a number of them 
were present in Newbern on the occasion of the recep- 
tion of the veterans of the Connecticut 15th Regiment 
last November, and the tongue referred to in the menu 
was probably procured by the enterprising proprietor at 
that time. I hope, sir, that you will be satisfied with 
this explanation and grant the landlord immunity from 
the operation of the game laws, governing the slaughter 
of Bos americanus. C.H. 
TO 
TELL 
WHEN 
Consult the Game Laws in Brief. All 
dealers. 25 cents. 
Forest and Stream Publishing Co, 
318 Broadway, N. v. 
