Sat*. 5, 1395.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
7 
far as its source in the Rooky Mountains. This was the wildest 
country I saw. 1 auueudeU booib mountains over 5 Ouult. high, 
ami iound little snow on Lhem." Count do Samville reee..Uy 
Beat to Ins relatives tiie tirst. letters he nad a chance to niail in 
five years. He expects to return to France and write a book. 
E. HOUGHEL 
909 Secxjkits- Bcelding, Chicago. 
ROUND ABOUT MEW ORLEANS. 
[From a Staff Correspondent.} 
New OEiiEAKS, Dec. 22. — The protracted drouth t still 
continues without a break, much to the injury^ of 
shooting, and to theinjury in^particular of shooting with 
the wild-fowl. In respect.to cue latter, shooting parties 
report most unsatisfactory* experiences. Many of the 
bayous, sloughs, lagoons ana marshes being entirely 
dried out, or in respect to thejarger ones, lowered to 
a degree beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant, 
the ducks frequent new haunts. ^Swamps which ordi- 
narily have from one to four orjfive feet of water, are 
now dry, and fakes, in 4 places unapproachable owing to 
swampy borders, have a good footing around them 
The warm weather, too, has kept vegetation rank and 
thus increased the dirhcuity of snooting on the uplands. 
Ail reports are that quail are in abundance, but, owing 
to tiie dry weather and the consequent dryness and 
hardness of the prairie, the snipe snooting practically 
amounts to nothing. In ordinary seasons at this time 
of tiie year mucn of the_ prairie "is good snipe ground, 
• the heavy rains softening "it and forming sheets of water 
here and there, making most abundant reeding grounds 
for the snipe and woodcock. (Some of the bags made m 
good seasons are enormous. There are authentic' records 
of bags of between three,, hundred and four hundred 
snipe being made by one shooter in one day. The 
largest one is said to have made by Mr. Prmgie of ISew 
Orleans, famous as an expert shot througnout the 
Southern country. It is said that the record bag of 
nearly four hundred, whicn he made some' years ago, 
was made with two guns, one being insuihoient, as, in 
rapid snooting, it becomes too hot to hold. A darkey 
carried the spare gun, others carried the ammunition, 
and still others retrieved the birds and carried them A 
little figuring will show that this was pretty rapid 
work, and to the sportsman whose experience has been 
limited to snipe shooting in the .Norm it may seem to 
be m the realm of fairy tales. But Northern snipe 
shooting is no standard of measurement for the shooting 
in the South. In favorable seasons m the bouth the 
shooter simply walks along on the feeding grounds and 
flushes and shoots, sometimes as fast as he can load and 
fire, A dog is no service then except to retrieve. Still, 
it is a most uncertain sport, owing to the erratic habits 
of the birds, for a ground which is swarming with snipe 
one day may have none on the next day. 
The most successful bag made recently in last week's 
trip out to the duck mines of Bayou des AUemands, so 
far as I have learned, was that made by Messrs. Drank 
Ellermain and L. W'enct, 47 ducks, and these were 
gotten by hard work. That is, by walking through mud 
m the prairie to a hole where the ducks were seen to 
frequent. They report ducks very wild and the shooting 
to decoys as very poor. 
The Market Shooters« 
No section of country canpreserve its game supply 
if it is systematically worked by market hunters, .new 
sportsmen realize tne enormous destruction of game 
which is constantly m progress to supply the demands 
of the market, Eorty or hity birds eacn day to one gun 
do not seem to be a destructive quantity, but it amounts 
to an enormous total in four or five months. When 
there are several guns in one neighborhood, used m 
market shooting, such shooting must result in the 
destruction of tne game in that section. 
The western part of the btate, 1 have been informed, 
is losing its game birds rapidly from this cause. Market 
shooting is in progress there on an extensive scale, and 
not the old-time style of shooting, wherein the shooter 
relied on his individual effort and carried his modest 
bag to the nearest dealer to sell for such sum as he could 
get, but organized shooting with modern equipments. 
The shooters scour the surrounding country, killing all 
the birds that they possibly can, A wagon is engaged 
to visit certain prearranged points at stated times to 
collect the birds killed, and take them to the town in 
which is the shooters' headquarters. The birds are put 
in a refrigerator box made for the .purpose, and when 
1,000 pounds are collected they are shaped in the 
refrigerator to New York, 
I was told that the shooters netted from $4,000 to 
$5,000 per year from their work in market shooting. 
This iStace needs a non-export law badly. The law pro- 
tecting the birds is lax. i^uaiis and prairie chicken can 
be killed from October 1 to April 1, six months m the 
year, which, so far as it protects, is no legal protection 
at all, since it covers a longer time than the natural 
conditions of climate cover, etc. , will permit sport, and 
it unquestionably covers a longer period than m which 
the game should be permitted to be shot. With the 
modem equipment of improved guns, improved ammu- 
nition and multiplication of shooters, the present 
destructive conditions are not those of a few years ago. 
As game becomes scarcer in the North, the Southern 
game sections will be more and more invaded each year 
by non-resident shooters. The number which come 
here now is quite large. While no legislation, in my 
opinion, should be made to discriminate against the 
non-resident shooter, legislation which win preserve 
the game sufficiently to guard against its decrease is 
necessary. 
No land in America is more favored in its bountiful 
variety and quantity of "game than is Louisiana and 
eastern Texas. Wild fowl in countless numoers winter 
there. Snipe and woodcock, the latter in the last of 
December and early January, are in abundance, so 
great that to the non-resident any mention of their vast 
numbers or the great bags made savors strongly of 
Munehausenisin. 
Bears, too, are quite numerous, though difficult to 
kill owing to the protection whicn tneir haoitat, the 
dense swamps, affords them By the way, I notice in a 
local paper a mention of a party arriving here in quest 
of bear. Under date of December 19 it states : 
The Kenton Hunting and Fishing Club, of Kenton, 0., com- 
prising the loliowing prominent business men : Gol. J. M. White, 
1).. \V. 1'. lieuiwbl, llr. A. u. .Baiiey, Ueorge L. harrelt, ±\ H. 
insey, W. D- Inch, vVush Shadier, Jonn L. Valley, Joan yvhkius, 
W. J^mrnons, kugeiie LirawiOia, John E. lieiuutn and (ieorge 
ltobens, arrived ueie this mornmy in their private oar, ana will 
spend about thirty day s hsiung ana hunting on l>03ul Kiver. 
Tney were well equipped lor sport, having with thorn cooiung 
utensils, Uo 0 s, ana all iiuCessaiy accoutrements. Tney say ttioy 
are here lor a general hunt and tro.ic. Mr. 13. Y. Liny, with 
whuni they corresponded, met tiiein at the train and at once 
pnoted UiOin aoioss to the eampiug grounds. Mr. Lilly n as 
killed more, bear man auy other one man iu tne State, and will 
spend liis time witnthe cmb, and agraudnuut is aosuied them. 
I k Deer, too, are qui te_ plentiful, but, owing to the 
denseness of the swamps and forests, they are difficult 
to shoot. Oapt. A. L>. Bordes, a local ritLe^inan of 
extraordinary skill, told me of three deer being* killed 
near the city limits near the swanipsjast Sunday. 
My reference to the deer shooting brings to mind a 
most charming afternoon spent witn Oapt. Bordes last 
Tuesday, and I then learned much concerning rifle 
shooting in New Orleans. It is the shootingest city 
that 1 ever was in. There are about fifteen nrle clubs 
in this city, all strong in membership, and nearly every 
one has its own range. The club of wnich Oapt. Bordes 
is a member has about one hundred and fifteen mem- 
bers. In a turkey shoot, closed last week, about lb, 000 
cartridges were hred, which will give some idea of the 
intere-' m shooting. The shooters were divided into 
three classes, according to their skill, and each crass had 
a turkey to shoot for. 
Tne range is fitty yards, two inch bullseye, with 
rings one-haif inch apart, scoring from one to thirteen, 
the latter the bullseye. Eacn shooter has 2b shots, shot 
in series of 5 snots. Thus a possible for 5 shots is b5, 
and the possible total is '625. To win a prize requires 
almost perrect shooting. 
Oapt. .bordes kindiy showed me the club house and 
grounds. It is on Broad street near Dumaine, in the 
older part of the city, which still retains its quamtness 
of arcniteccure and customs and a pervading air of con- 
tent and easy going haoits. The oino house was on tne 
first door, open on the side facing the range, thus 
affording accommodations for the shooter wnen a con- 
test practice was m progress. A long bench at the 
score made a convenient place to hold cartridges or to 
lay the nhe on when not in use during the snoot. At 
the other end of the range, fifty yards distant, were the 
targets m a row, each one numoered. 
On the second floor was a locker for the rifles and a 
kind of cIud room for meetings or gatnenngs. The 
captain very kindiy gave me an exhibition of snooting, 
and the precision with which he would ring the bell at 
fifty yards was extraordinary. It is no easy matter to 
hit a two inch bullseye at nr'ty yards. 1 know because 
I tried it. Still, 1 hit the target, which the captain in- 
formed me, after it was ah over, he did not think I 
would do, as before shooting I struck about the same 
shooting attitude that a lady does when about to throw 
a stone. 
Bane competitions are numerous. There are two 
leagues, the buate and a city league, about the same 
nunioer of membership m each. 
The following cupping from a local paper will give 
an idea of the scores with the 22 calibers at fifty yards : 
The Jackson Kine Club held a turkey snoot at their range last 
Saturday, and the loliowing scores »ere made: 
P. Carvers i8t), D. Jb'ietoh.uger 187, (1. K. ilauck 186, J. F. Batik 
185, L. A. Joachim 18d, Louis YY. eland 179. ih. Herman 178, A. 
Campson 17*, u. Desemare 168, 0. Hur.ey 166, A. llet»hiugor 
164, a. Cai ver» 160 ; J. Lambert 156, i. Itacnei, Jr. 155, Jua. Hu^ 
163, E. iahusier 151, u. nuber 150, a. Stuinpi 148, H. J . iviiudohen 
li7, W. V\aiz Mi. The slioot V\ld close at 4 f. M. next Sunday, 
wnen the prizes will oe asvarued. Next .brainy nigut the Jaek- 
son KiUe Club wiu compete with the kuroKa lade Olub iu a 
shoot by electric li^ht at the Young Aien'a uynmas^ie Clue. The 
teams are practicing lor the event, and promise to make tne 
score interesting. 
In reference to Sunday shooting, it is not looked 
upon here as any violation of the day of rest and devo- 
tion. It is considered more as a harmless diversion and 
pleasant recreation, in the same manner as it is consid- 
ered harmless m some sections to go walking or driving, 
or on an excursion on Sunday. It carries no sacrilegious 
violation of religion either m act or intent, from the 
ethical standpoint of this community. 
The customs of one's own province always seem to 
be the correct standard by which to measure what is 
right or wrong for all communities, just as the horizon 
of one's own knowledge is a measure of all knowledge. 
But as to which horizon is right I do not pretend to say. 
The custom, so far as refers to this section of Uncle Sam's 
territory, is so old that the mind of man runs not to the 
contrary. 
A new hunting and fishing club was organized here 
recently, with the following membership : M. O. Shaugh- 
nessy, captain ; Jos. H. Darr, president ; W. J. Stoessel, 
secretary ; W. J. Scanlan, O. iShurr, Jos. Brown, J. L. 
Sprich, T._ Burke, E. L. Stream, A. O. Grosskoff, A. 
Bothe and L. Picker; and O. M. Dunn, honorary 
member. B. Watebs. 
grouse, Virginia partridge, ^American woodcock, Wilson 
snipe, Canada goose, mallard duck, pintail duck, redhead 
duck, canvasback duck, brant Carolina dove, butterball 
duck, quail. 
lA Game Menu. 
JSTewbebn, N. O, Dec. 25. — On this Christmas day 
the Hotel Ohattowka, Mr. D. C. Smith, late of Min- 
neapolis, manager, set out a game dinner which I dare 
say has been seldom equalled except by friend Drake of 
the Grand Pacific m Chicago. Twelve kinds of fresh 
fish, including shad, twenty-one kinds of game, with 
oysters in variety, winter radishes and asparagus, made 
up a menu which is not only hard to beat in itself, but 
is strikingly indicative of the abounding forests and 
covers of this delectable region. Bear meat, wild 
turkey, venison and opposum figured prominently, all of 
them home products, wniie the quail, woodcock, goose, 
rnaiiard, pintail, redhead, butteroall, canvasback, brant 
and Carolina dove ail come from our own fields and 
waters. Tnermometer at noon 6d degrees. Negroes 
hilarious with horns, firecrackers and persimmon 
beer. Sunday school children happy and everyone 
enjoying the charming weather and oright sun. O. H. 
(Where did the Bud'alo tongue come from? Here is 
the full list of fish and game : White fish, trout, shad, 
redfin, mullet, redsnapper, sturgeon, eel, pickerel, haii- 
but, flounder, drum, ham of black bear, wild turkey, 
leg of mountain sheep, buffalo tongue, venison tongue, 
saddle of antelope, opposum, loin of venison, pintail 
OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
There is an old East Indian proverb to the effect that 
' ' an abode without birds is like a meat^ without season- 
ing. ' ' That would indeed be an insipid spring, or an 
unsavory summer, which found j us deprived of this 
piquant sauce to out-of-door feasts. The return of the 
birds marks a bright spot in our calendar and the most 
sluggish blood is stirred when the^first blue-bird sends 
his divine note over the brown 'fields or the pioneer 
robin offers his melodious spring greeting. 
These feathered messengers are always on time and 
there are no delays nor mistakes in the train service 
which conveys them to their destination. The first real 
snow storm brings the snow birds as certainly as if they 
fell out of Heaven with the flakes themselves. The 
unfailing accompaniment of the first jDahny spring day 
is the blue bird, and when the reign ox frost is fairly 
over and the nights and days are warm alike the chim- 
ney swallows bring us notice that they and summer 
have come to stay. How came they at the right moment? 
By what mysterious foreknowieage do they plan their 
journeys and arrivals? And by what unfailing instinct 
do these tiny wanderers, traversing hundreds of nines 
of country, crossing mounams, lakes and rivers, at last 
settle down with unerring precision upon the very 
spot they left the . year before, so that the oriole rears 
another orood in the same tree and the ground sparrow 
bunds another nest under the identical tuft of grass 
w T kich shadowed her the previous season? 
As with our human companions, so with our feath- 
ered friends, the most laminar ones are deadest, and 
although we gaze curiously upon strange or rare specks 
we most love the common songsters. If all our birds 
w r ere pelicans, parrots and cockatoos we could soon tire of 
their presence and their barbaric utterances, but the 
robins, the thrushes and the song sparrows seem as 
much a part of our orchards as the blossoms and the 
fruit, and belong in our gardens as assuredly as the 
hyacinths and roses. 
It is a fact worth noticing that the gentlest and most 
inoffensive of our songsters have the sweetest voices. 
Their notes are the smybois and exponents of their love- 
ahie dispositions. Timid, but not wild, and seeming to 
be m a measure dependent upon man, with whom they 
associate and share the results of the cultivation of the 
soil, they are very properly called our domestic birds, 
and their cheerful ways and joyous minstrelsy insure 
them a warm place in our regard. When we come to the 
more quarrelsome and beiigerant birds, such as the blue 
jay and the king bird (appropriately named the 
tyrant fly catcher) we are struck with the sharpness 
and harshness of their cries. There is something dis- 
agreeable and metallic in their voices. What they have 
gained in ability to defend themselves and create a 
disturbance among their fellows they have lost in these 
softer charms which distinguish and endear to us the 
more peaceable and helpless birds. Those fierce and 
predatory rovers, the eagles hawks and owls have no 
song at all. Nature is consistent in all she does, and 
to put a sweet song into the throat of a bird oi prey 
would not be in the eternal fitness of things. Bloody 
deeds are generally done in silence and when the woods 
and fields are filled with the melody of the little song- 
sters no note of music comes from the rapacious birds. 
The scream of the eagle, the shrill cry of the hen hawk 
and the dismal hoot of the owl have a quality m perfect 
consonance with the nature of the birds that utter them. 
B Sweetness of song, however, is rarefy accompanied 
by brilliancy of plumage. But as nature has kindly 
planned some compensations for homely people, so the 
sober-tmted birds are in some respects better off than 
their gaudy fellows. There is an element of safety in 
dull plumage, because it blends so harmoniously with 
the colors of the weeds, grasses and bark of trees where 
the birds build their nests that they thus escape the 
notice of their enemies. Contrary to the laws of dress 
with us, the male member of the bird family wears the 
most showy garments, while the wife and mother is 
clothed in (Quaker colors. But this, too, is a wise pro- 
vision of Providence, because the female does most of 
the nest warming, and her inconspicuous dress contrib- 
utes to the security of herself and young. 
It is worth noting in this connection that the birds 
of brilliant hue take the greatest pains to make their 
nests secure against tne attacks of their foes. The 
scarlet tanager builds a model house, and, like "the 
straight and narrow way, ' ' few there be who find it. 
The golden robm swings his hammock from the long, 
pendulous branches of the ehn, where no terrestrial 
enemy like the squirrel or the snake would venture, 
and the pouchiike nest, which almost closes at the top 
with the weight of the mother bird, is so deep that no 
claw of hawk or owl can reach its inmates. The ruby 
throated hummingbird also deems it necessaiy to con- 
struct his nest with a view to attracting as little atten- 
tion as possible, and although it is usually in an 
exposed position, saddled on a tiny limb, it is built with 
so much art that only the most practiced eye can dis- 
cern it. The cunning architect sticks bits of moss and 
lichen on the outer surface to make it resemble the bark 
of the tree. Thus we see that even among the birds 
beauty is a dangerous thing and must be hedged about 
with many safeguards, while plainness has little need 
of concealment or defense. 
These little feathered people know how to adapt 
themselves to circumstances and spare themselves un- 
necessary labor. Under changed conditions they vary 
the character and style of their living and building. 
The European martin u^d to construct a globular 
house, With a hole in one side, thus protecting herself 
at nearly every point ; but the sanitary arrangement of 
this sore of nest was bad and proximity to man made 
such an elaborate sneiter unnecessary, because the 
predatory birds were driven away. Tneref ore the mar- 
tins, recognizing the situation, made a new depature in 
arhitecture and began to build open nests ! 
Our common eave swallow formerly constructed a 
