286 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
April 13, 1895. 
unsuitable would fly to another, measure it carefully and 
thence to another. The diameter of the hole must be the 
same as the distance from the "back of the head to the end 
of the beak, and when the holes were bored that size the 
starlings quickly entered and evinced great joy at the 
change. I understand that in their native country there 
is a bird somewhat larger than the starling, that robs 
their nests when possible, and to keep him out they 
select holes that barely admit their bodies 
Rude nests were quickly built, and rere soon filled 
with treasures offpale blue eggs, and great was the re- 
joicing among the members of this colony of starlings 
when the peeping of young birds were heard in the rude 
boxes. About fifty starlings were hatched during the 
season, but all died when nearly full grown. 
The parent birds, usually so blithe and gay, would 
grow sad and dispirited, the twittering of the birdies 
grew fainter and fainter and when all was silent in that 
feathered house, we knew the last of the mothers' 
treasures had died. 
Various kinds of food were used, but none availed. 
The birds were dying for dainty morsels that could not 
be found in a cage, but can be gathered in great abund- 
ance in the fields and forests of Northern Europe. Per- 
haps some reader of Forest and Stream can advise us 
how to raise this year's broods of these pretty songsters. 
James M, Norris. 
Children of the Devil. 
We old fellows remember that in our boyhood days of 
trapping, the smell of the skunk was not upon our gar- 
ments, for the animal was not worth skinning, and was 
only caught by accident, or to lid the poultry yard and 
the barn of a nuisance. 
We thought it a disgrace to "git stunk up by skunk," 
yet the trade in skunk's fur is venerable with years, and 
the fragrant memory of it comes down to us through the 
mist of centuries. For it is recorded in Parkman's "Dis- 
covery of the Great West" that among La Salle's furs, 
which were put under seal by the intendant at Quebec, 
were 284 skins of "enfants du diable." The illustrious 
author slightingly mentions them as a ' 'not very pre- 
cious," but perhaps even then under another name they 
would smell as sweet to patrician noses as they do now. 
Awahsoose. 
nn[e m\d %ntu 
Sportsmen's Exposition. 
May 13 to 18. Madison Square Garden, New York.— First annual 
Sportsmen's Exposition. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
SWAN lake club and spring shooting. 
Mr. E. W. Bangs, president of the Swan Lake Shooting 
Club, where the heavy bags of ducks were made as men- 
tioned in Forest and Stream of March 80, hands in the 
following statement as to the position of his club on the 
spring shooting question. It is, of course, very gladly 
printed, and it would be a great pleasure if the coalition 
of clubs along the Illinois River could be secured, as Mr. 
Bangs suggests, for no straighter or stronger step could 
be taken toward the abolishment of spring shooting in 
Illinois. That it should be stopped by law is now coming 
to be thought by a great many sportsmen, who realize 
that conditions are different to-day from what they 
were in the past. Until it is stopped legally, and for all 
alike, there will of course remain much force in the plea 
of those who say they need not stop shooting till the 
others do. To stop it legally will mean very much of a 
fight, but that fight, if won here, would \>e won for Wis- 
consin and Iowa and other sister States also. United 
action of these clubs would be the best possible begin- 
ning for such a fight, and no club's counsel thereto can 
have more weight than that of Swan Lake Club, which 
is made up largely of wealthy and well known sportsmen, 
whose position has always been upon the side of progress. 
Mr. Bangs' letter follows: 
"Chicago, April 5. Mr. E. Hough, Forest and Stream. 
Dear Sir: — I have read with considerable interest the 
recently published comment on the large bags made this 
spring on the excellent preserves of Swan Lake Club, and 
while I think I meet the spirit of the writer of the com- 
ment in saying that I do not take it to be made in the 
way of any strictures upon the sportnianship of that 
body, I realize that in minds less temperate, wrong im- 
pressions might easily be seated, and would therefore like 
to say a few words which will set forth exactly the posi- 
tion of our organization on the subject of spring shooting. 
"My own gun was one that did some of the heaviest of 
the shooting referred to, and I have nothing to offer in 
way of palliation of that fact except to say that had I 
feared publication of the facts, or had I been ashamed of 
the act, I should not have gone out to shoot, I take the 
position that it is legal to shoot, not unusual to shoot, 
and very desirable to shoot at this season, when so heavy 
a flight was on. The clubs all along the Illinois River shoot 
in the spring, and while I do not claim to be purely logi- 
cal in the matter, I am human enough to feel that a bird 
in the hand is worth two in the bush in the coming fall, 
and I am disposed to want that bird, if others feel entirely 
at liberty to go after him whether I do or not. This may 
be selfish, but I repeat it is human nature. In this posi- 
tion I do not bind any member of my club, many of 
whom may feel differently, though we have no club regu- 
lation prohibiting shooting in the spring. 
"I would like to say that our keepers have not mar- 
keted any ducks this spring, except in one case, where I 
personally thought the facts warranted it, and not then 
birds killed by themselves. They do not go out alone to 
shoot for the market, and when they take out club mem- 
bers, the latter do the shooting. It may be remembered 
that under our original lease of our grounds from the 
father of our keepers, the latter were allowed to' do a 
certain amount of shooting on our grounds, that being 
part of the consideration. Afterwards, seeing the pos^ 
tion this might place the club in in the eyes of some we 
took up this consideration by a sum of money which we 
gave them instead, thus buying them off from shooting 
on the grounds, which fill t.hen they had a perfect right 
to do. I have known of no bird wasted on Swan Lake 
shooting this spring, though most extraordinary bags 
were made, it is true. Some shooters have said that they 
found the spring birds in very good order this spring. 
So much as that I cannot say. The mallards at first were 
not very fat, but very soon became so, and were in as 
good < rder as any I ever ate. The pintails were poor and 
thin. 
"It may be seen I do not wish to alter or distort any 
facts for or against spring shooting. The truth is, 
though some may think it comes ill after my direct ad- 
missions above, that I do not believe in spring shooting 
personally, and neither does Swan Lake Club believe in 
it as a body. More than that, the club and all its officers 
would like to see it stopped, and wish now and here to 
take a decided step looking to its abolishment. By this I 
mean an abolishment which shall be a condition, not a 
theory, and a condition which shall fit all sorts and con- 
ditions of men alike, so that we can still possess human 
nature, and not possess spring shooting. It is no use 
theorizing. What we want is a law, and one that is 
enforced until it is respected. I wish to say that the 
directors of Swan Lake Club are unanimously and un- 
qualifiedly in favor of just such a law. 
"To begin the work of =ecuring such a law, I suggest a 
union of all clubs owning preserves along the Illinois 
River waters, and as many of the Mississippi River clubs 
as like to join. I feel sure the Princeton Club, on the 
Goose Pond waters above us, would join such a move- 
ment, and so no doubt would the new club going in below 
Bureau. The Duck Island Club, on the old Beebee 
grounds, would be equally willing I think to go in with 
us, and so should be also the Spring Lake Club and our 
near neighbors, the Hennepin Club. Here we have in 
close compass a large body of sportsmen, of whom 1 trust 
it is not too much to say that they a? - e all sportsmen in 
the full sense of the term, and of liberal and advanced 
beliefs. I suggest that these clubs convene their respec- 
tive directories at an early date, and elect delegations to 
be sent to the second day meeting of the convention of 
the Illinois State Sportsmen's Association, which is to be 
held at the Sherman House, Chicago, June 4 and 5, there 
to confer with that body as to the best means of secur- 
ing the passage of a law in Illinois prohibiting the shoot- 
ing of wild fowl in the spring season. By that time we 
shall know what has been done at the present session of 
the Legislature, and shall be in better position to estimate 
what can be done at the next session. I promise for my 
club that it will be behind none in the serious attempt to 
have this measure passed. If the other organizations 
near it, which lie under practically the same conditions, 
will join -us in this movement, I believe we may do some- 
thing: more practical than theorizing. 
"If we should have a law prohibiting such shooting, 
the members of the Swan Lake Club could look to it that 
their grounds were really protected in the spring. As it 
is, it being legal to shoot at that season now, if our mem- 
bers did not shoot, the grounds would be overrun with 
poachers from near-by waters. The place where we did 
our shooting in the spring was small in extent, and I 
venture to say that had we left our guns in their cases 
and remained in the city, nearly the same number of 
tirds would have been killed. This I say, not so much 
as excuse for our conduct, for we do nothing covertly, 
as for argument showing that the only practical way to 
get at the matter is to get a law passed which shall stop 
it for all alike. If the preliminary steps suggested above 
seem to my friends in the other clubs named wise an I de- 
sirable, it would give the members of Swan Lake direc- 
tory great pleasure to hear from them as early as pos- 
sible." "E. W. Bangs, 
"President Swan Lake Shooting Club." 
PROPOSED WISCONSIN LAW. 
Wisconsin has been having the usual trouble over game 
laws at this session of the legislature, which has been 
common among the States of the Northwest. At this 
writing it seems there is no law yet actually passed, but 
there has been reported by the joint committee a bill 
which has some little show at least of becoming a law. 
This bill makes the legal trout fishing season April 1- to 
August 1; the season on bass, wall-eyed pike and muscal- 
longe opens June 1, and runs to March 1 the following 
year; the season on deer is the first twenty days in 
November; the season on ducks, geese and brant is made 
from September 1 to May 1 of the following year, per- 
mitting spring shooting, excepting on mallard, teal, wood 
duck, plover or snipe; the season on prairie chicken, 
quail, grouse, woodcock, partridge or ruffed grouse is 
from September 1 to December 1. It is forbidden to 
use a r dog or dogs for hunting quail, chicken, grouse, 
woe dcock, snipe or plover. Mongolian pheasants are pro- 
tected for five years. 
ILLINOIS OFFENDERS. 
The usual spring grist of offenses against the game 
and fish laws around Lake Calumet, just south of Chi- 
cago, is coming into evidence, and it is .said that the game 
warden and his assistant have arrested a number of men 
this week for illegal shooting and fishing. Fred. Knack 
and J. Larson, found fishing with nets, were arrested 
and fined $25 and §10 respectively. E. Sender, Louis and 
William Dick, Axel Morrell, W. Dennison, J. Hoffman, 
and J. Long, all of Pullman, were arrested for shooting 
from a sail-boat, which is contrary to lav?, and were fined 
$10 each. D. Levi & Co., No. 1906 Wabash avenue, were 
prosecuted for having quail in possession contrary to law, 
but; they escaped conviction. J. D. White, Momence, 
111., was arrested for killing quail out of season. The 
case is still pending. 
CHICAGO FLY-CASTING CLUB. 
Eight members of the Chicago Fly-casting Club attended 
the annual meeting this week. Mr. G. W. Strell was 
re-elected president; Mr. J. E. Strong was elected vice- 
president; Mr. F. B. Davidson, secretary; Mr. Strong, 
Mr. F. B. Orr, Mr. B. W. Goodsell, members of the execu- 
tive committee. 
GONE (TO THE COAST. 
Col. A. G. Courtney, of the Lefever gun, dropped in on 
the spring house-cleaning operation of this office to-day. 
He is on his way to thp. Pacific coast for his annual trip 
to the gun ^ade/ tL " ~ E ' HouGH ' 
THE SPORTSMEN'S EXPOSITION. 
Madison Square Garden/ N. Y., April 4— The great 
exposition to be given of field sports of this country is be- 
coming an item of general interest and comment. If 
there has existed any doubt as to how the sportsmen 
themselves would look upon the exposition, there is no 
longer reason for conjecture. The hundreds of letters 
asking for information have been a gratifying surprise, 
and an evidence of the unanimity of good will towards 
the exposition. The offers of trophies and ancient arms 
and v eapons for the loan display increase each day. 
Prominent sportsmen are anxious to do all they can to 
assure a splendid representative exhibit of everything in 
the line of mounted game. The occasion will be one of 
unusual privilege. The cc mmittee of measurements and 
records desires this exposition to be as complete as pos- 
sible. The Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Rogers 
and George Bird Grinnell are gentlemen who are familiar 
with the best types of our North American game, and 
this committee should have placed before them a full col- 
lection of our North American game animals to pass 
judgments upon. 
Here permit us to urge every sportsman who owns typi- 
cal heads of our large game to send at once to the secre- 
tary of the association a list of the same, with such data 
as may be authentic. The association expects to have 
500 heads of the various species pledged for exhibition. 
There has never been an opportunity before to compare 
the largest heads of our antlered game, and this occasion 
should be made a memorable one. Below is given a list 
of the articles which are needed in order to make the ex- 
hibits of a historical nature complete. 
A primitive dug-out, an old birch bark canoe, a flat bot- 
tom boat, a modern canoe, a racing shell, a catapult or 
slung shot, cross bow, boomerang, blow gun, Indian 
arrows and bows, blunderbuss, primitive guns of different 
designs, Kent rifles, flint-lock guns and pistols, percus- 
sion guns and pistols, and various kinds of sights and 
levels. 
These collections will interest the general public, and 
be an incentive to others not now devotees of any special 
field sport to take up some one of them. 
Avery interesting, unique and instructive exhibit will 
be that of Messrs. Tatham & Brothers, the well known 
shot manufacturers, whose shot tower has been a land 
mark in New York City for over half a century. This 
enterprising firm is constructing a shot tower to be placed 
in the exposition, where the public will be shown the 
method of making shot. The lead will leave the furnace 
at the top of the thirty -foot tower, and the shot will fall 
to the bottom, and the several sizes be sifted as they fall 
at the base. The packing and labelling will be done in 
plain view. This exhibit will reveal to the public the 
mystery of how shot are made round and of a uniform 
size and weight. 
As the management intend making a great feature of 
the various club nights, it is their desire that all shoot- 
ing, fishing, golfing, lawn tennis or other clubs formed 
for out-door sports, should send a list of their officers and 
members to the management of the Madison Square 
Garden, that they can be furnished with tickets for the 
special evenings upon which the clubs from their vicinity 
attend. Sportsmens' Exposition Association. 
THE BIG BEAR OF HUNT'S CANYON 
I was camped at the head of Hunt's Canon some sea- 
sons ago "in a broad open flat, and was building a jacal 
(hackell) or pole house and a big corral for a cattle 
ranch. "Where is Hunt's Canon'?" "Well it is in 
Colorado, and has such nice water and grass and timber 
and bear and deer ani turkeys that I feel a little re- 
luctant to mention the exact locality." But there I was, 
with a negro named Sol and two Mexicans, doing chop- 
ping and house-building under my direction. My partner 
was away on the roundup, and I had my hands pretty 
full, attending to our cattle that I tried to keep around 
camp, and bossing the work. 
It was forty miles from the nearest settlement, and 
was and is now one of the most lonesome places I ever 
saw. One night after sitting around the camp-fire till 
late, the Mexicans and I'rolled into our blankets, leaving 
Sol cooking bread. After a while I was aroused by a 
twitcn on the arm and sat up. It was a moonless, clear 
night. Sol poitned across the canon, and there stood a 
shadowy form seeming to be watching the camp. It 
looked "at first like an enormous man in flowing robes. 
Sol whispered "Injuns, doss." A moment after it sunk 
down on all fours, and Sol said with a sigh of relief, "Oh, 
my, it's only a bear." We built up the fire and saw no 
more to disturb us that night. Sol looked for tracks in 
the morning, and found three sets together, »ne big, old 
bear and two small ones. We were busy, and conclud- 
ing that they were just traveling through, forgot them. 
In two weeks we had the place fixed up nicely; I paid 
off the men, and they went home up the country, leaving 
me in my new house, monarch of all I surveyed. Penley 
was not coming down for another month, and I rode hard 
pretty much all day attending to the cattle and felt quite 
jolly, but at night, whewl It is not good for man to be 
alone, and it was a wretched life to live. After two 
weeks I gave in, and concluded to go up to the settle- 
ment and hire a man and make something for him to do. 
So next morning I saddled a good horse, locked up the 
house, and struck out for forty miles in the saddle. At 
noon I was at the post office, and forgot the dreamy mo- 
notony of Western life in reading my letters from home 
and the newspapers that were always two or three weeks 
old when I got them. That afternoon I heard that Bob 
Gray had nothing to do, and I rode over to Lew's ranch 
and found him— We soon made a trade and started back 
for my ranch the next day. 
When we got to the cabin we unlocked the door, and 
it was a wreck inside. I had hung up half a beef in the 
cabin, and that confounded old bear had come prowling 
around and smelled it; she had smashed in about half the 
stde of the house that had the window in it, and after 
pawing over the flour and everything else, had walked off 
with the whole half beef. There were the tracks of the 
two cubs also. 
We cleaned our guns that night and held a council of 
war. I concluded that we could not hunt her for a day 
or two, as the cattle were somewhat scattered; and by 
that time a runner came down and warned us that the 
Indians had broken out again, and we locked up the 
