462 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 8, 1895. 
IForeign Birds in America. 
Springfield, O., May 2S. — Editor Forest and Stream-' 
I heartily agree with Kate E. Styer in her article on for" 
eign birds in America, which appeared in the Forest 
and Stream of April 27. 
If the foreign gentlemen who advocate the introduc- 
tion of the starling to this country, to remind them of 
their boyhood days, would cultivate the acquaintance of 
our native birds, they would find them fully as worthy of 
love and admiration as the feathered youngsters of their 
own country, and if the surplus enthusiasm for their 
home birds were spent in cultivating means and ways for 
the protection of the native birds of this country, it would 
be of far greater benefit to the bird life of our land than 
introducing a bird which to my notion is in no way 
superior to our common crow and red-wingt d black- 
bird. 
I beg to differ with Mr. Armin Tenner in his assertion 
that our songsters are outclassed by those of Europe. 
Of all birds our moeking bird is beyond compare the 
most proficient songster. He can imitate the song of all 
birds and is a perfect orchestra in himself. The brown 
thrush is the American rival of the nightingale. The 
red bird will compare with the best European songsters. 
The bobolink is a most charming songster. Finches, of 
which there are not less than forty-two species in America, 
are as pretty songsters as anyone would wish to hear. 
After the nesting season the catbird pours forth a melodious 
song. What is the matter with the song warblers, of 
which there are fifty- seven species, with the Western 
meadow lark, with the numerous song sparrows, with the 
robin or others too numerons to mention? Don't tell me 
American birds can't hold up their end of the string 
when compared with those of Europe. They not only ex- 
cel in song, but also in the gayness of their plutnage. I 
do not think I would change my mind if I were in a 
German grove, field or forest. 
If Mr. Armin Tenner will read the article entitled 
"Expensive Robins," on page 409 of the May 25 issue of 
your excellent paper, he will see who the real destroyers 
of our birds are and that they are not "Young America." 
Hugh L. Ford. 
Chuckor Partridge. 
Dr. W. O. Blaisdell, of Macomb, 111., sends us a pho- 
tograph of a chuckor partridge bred by him. The stock 
was imported from India. The Illinois Legislature, has 
passed a law to protect the birds; but we are not advised 
whether Gov. Altgeld has vetoed it. A previous measure 
to this effect was incontinently squashed by the Governor. 
Cattle Killed by Snakes. 
Newbern, May 25. — A bull and steer belonging to Will. 
Foy, six miles up the Trent River, died on Tuesday from 
snake bites received while ranging in the bush. This is 
unusual. Charles Hallock. 
$mp §ug md §mu 
CONCERNING PHEASANTS. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Who has been practising on the credulity of the Star 
that beams on Oneonta, N. Y.? According to your extract 
from its columns in your issue of May 18, the light it tries 
to throw on "Mongolian Pheasants" is eminently mislead- 
ing, a very will-o'-the-wisp to bring unsuspecting readers 
of those remarks into a morass of error. Allow me to 
copy the following sentence: "They" [£. e , the Mongolian 
pheasants] "pair off and brood two settings" [sic] "of eggs 
every year, and usually hatch about twenty-five young 
ones to each setting." To "brood a setting" of eggs is 
quite an innovation, and I would advise the Staroi One- 
onta to add a lexicon and grammar to its library; elemen- 
tary works will suffice. 
Now, in the above sentence every remark is absolutely 
and egregiously erroneous. Pheasants do not pair off, 
they do not have two sittings (I prefer to return to the cor- 
rect term) in a year, and they never, never, never hatch 
about twenty-five young ones from each sitting. Really, 
Mr. Editor, it is not right to promulgate such a tissue of 
pure imagination. It is extremely unfair to people in 
search of the real facts about these birds to be crammed 
with any rubbish that an inventive brain, seething in ig- 
norance, can produce and utter authoritatively as gospel 
truth. With such blind leaders of the blind, no wonder 
that knowledge concerning these splendid game birds is 
but sparse and errors rampant. 
Now, pheasants do not pair off, but are as polygamous 
as a Mormon. No matter how seductive the members of 
his own harem may be, every cock's motto is, "The more 
the merrier," till the stronger than he cometh, and not 
content with thrashing him, robs him of his lady loves. 
They never have two sittings of eggs in a year in a wild 
state. It is a physical impossibility. From the time that 
a hen lays her first egg till the day her fledgelings can 
leave the maternal wing is close on four months. Say she 
lays her first egg about the .middle of April, it is August 
before her nursery duties are over. She is then in full 
molt, and everyone knows that a hen cannot drain her 
strength by forming fresh feathers and laying eggs at the 
same time. Is it necessary to say that a pheasant does 
not lay in the winter? Then when is this second brood to 
be produced? If pheasants are deprived of their first nest- 
ful of eggs or lose their brood at an early stage in their 
existence, they will often, as a rule, I may say, generally 
begin afresh their task of reproduction. But this was 
evidently not the point alluded to by the Star and which 
was most probably unknown to it. 
Some people, when they have a pen in their hand, seem 
to think it better to write utter nonsense than nothing at 
all, never heeding the mischief this cacocthes scribendi 
may create. 
But I have not finished with this wonderful rigmarole 
from the Star yet. It says, "and usually hatch about 
twenty-five young ones to a sitting." Now a pheasant's 
nest containing over twenty eggs laid by a single hen is 
not frequently found, though two hens have been known 
to lay in the same nest. Fourteen to eighteen eggs are the 
usual numbers; twenty-five is absolutely abnormal, though 
I do not state that such a nestful from one hen is either 
an impossibility or unknown. At any rate I have never 
heard of any instance of such productiveness, nor _am I 
referring to Ursus natures. Therefore, all this statement 
of the Star is the sheerest of sheer romance, and it is very- 
unfair to enthusiastic beginners to publish such mislead- 
ing information, which if listened to can only lead to 
disappointment. 
I notice that this article in your paper was headed 
"Mongolian Pheasants." Permit me to say that such a 
term is incorrect. Doubtless the "Chinese pheasant" is 
alluded to, the Phasianus torqiiatus, which being ( inter- 
preted means, the pheasant with a collar. The "Mon- 
golian pheasant" is Phasianus mongolicus, and I greatly 
question if there are any of them in the States. Now 
that pheasants are becoming so common here, do let us 
use the right name for each variety. If any appellation 
is more incorrect and puzzling than another, it is that of 
"Oregon pheasant." If a person wrote about a New York 
sheep, he would be asked if it was a Merino, or South- 
down, or Cheviot, etc. There are some dozens of pheas- 
ants and their allies, none of them indigenous to Oregon, 
so which of them is meant when an "Oregon pheasant" 
is spoken of? For example, a gentleman wrote me lately 
about "Oregon pheasants." I thought he was referring 
to the Chinese variety, and then found it was quite a dif- 
ferent bird that he was discussing. Tegetmeier states that 
the Mongolian pheasant is unknown in a living state in 
Europe, and it seems to me unlikely that it should be 
common in America. There is no object to be gained in 
searching for new and confusing names for well-known 
species. No one would talk of an Oregon cow without 
mentioning its breed more particularly. Why should 
pheasants not receive the same treatment? The old and 
distinctive names by which they have been known for so 
many years, before one was even seen in this country, are 
quite good enough, therefore what is the advantage ex- 
pected from inventing others, to the confusion of every- 
thing and everyone? Why talk of a "green" or "copper" 
pheasant when the Japanese and Soemmering pheasants 
are better distinguished by their ancient titles to fame? 
Several pheasants have green or copper colors in their 
plumage, so that anything but their correct names will 
only lead to mistakes of all kinds. 
But now that I am discoursing about Chinese pheas- 
ants, erroneously called Mongolian, let me state again in 
your columns how unsatisfactory they are as denizens of 
a game preserve. About the only paragraph I can agree 
with thoroughly in the Star's lubrication on this subject is 
that it "can run very rapidly." Indeed it can, a very 
"beast of a bird" in this respect, here to-day and miles off 
by to-morrow, all covered on foot. It is ruination to a 
good dog or temper. I have had several samples of this 
bird from Oregon, and have talked about them with 
many sportsmen who have bred and shot them, and all 
opinions coincide that it is the puniest of all the game 
varieties of pheasants. No one ever dreams of having it 
in their coverts in Europe, where it is utterly barred in its 
purity, and many game preservers there even object to 
the slightest trace of its cross with the dark-necked pheas- 
ant (Phasiayius colchicus), thereby forming the hybrid 
known as the English ring-necked pheasant. However, 
my Chinese pheasants which I imported from England 
are half again the size of the Oregon productions, though 
I would never dream of comparing them with the Eng- 
lish pheasant as a perfect game bird. Unfortunately the 
latter, Phasianus colchicus, has the reputation of not 
being quite so hardy as the Chinese, which weakness is 
counteracted by the cross between them, whereby a large, 
prolific, hardy bird is produced, quicker on the wing, less 
fond of its legs and not such a rambler as the Chinese. I 
have stocked many large preserves with the English ring- 
necked pheasant in various States, and in many cases 
they have' increased so rapidly that they now give an 
abundance of sport for a minimum of care and expense. 
I have never supplied the pure Chinese bird to any one 
who shoots on a large scale, and strongly deprecate their 
introduction for' such a purpose. They ought only to be 
seen and admired as the inmates of an aviary, where 
their shortcomings are not apparent. Some people 
are to be found, of course, who will persist in 
saying that "the Oregon pheasant is good enough for 
them," and as far as this nondescript expression refers to 
the Chinese bird, contend that it has none of the charac- 
teristics that every authority attributes to them. Need- 
less to say, in such cases a little knowledge proves itself 
to be a very dangerous thing, and were it not that they 
utter so freely their opinions based on such scanty experi- 
ence, they would be best left to wallow in their self-con- 
ceit. Unfortunately they blazon abroad their praise of 
the Chinese, pheasant with such an authoritative air that 
seekers after truth are beguiled thereby to believe iu the 
super- excellence of this breed. I am sure the partisans 
of the Chinese pheasant are quite sincere in their 
opinions, but having had no knowledge of the other sport- 
ing breeds, they fancy that none can rival the fascina- 
tions of their first and only love. When these gentlemen 
have seen as much of the English ring-necked pheasant 
as they have of the Chinese, their verdict will have 
weight and be worth serious attention. Till then their 
opinions lack importance, as they can but give a very 
one-sided view, unfair to the English ring-necked bird of 
which they are in perfect ignorance, and of no utility to 
prospective breeders. I would therefore appeal to them 
to restrain their desire to rush into print till they have 
become competent judges, and then I will be the very 
first to bow to their decision if their arguments can re- 
verse the hitherto universal sentence of taboo pronounced 
for ages back in all lands against the Chinese pheasant 
for all sporting purposes. 
This year I am experimenting with the cross between 
the Japanese and English pheasant, which has been 
strongly recommended to me from several quarters as 
making a first-rate game bird, with no propensity for 
wandering, and quick on the wing. Being very hardy 
they seem likely to be a valuable addition to our preserves. 
Mahwab, n. j. Verner de Guise. 
Holland, Mich., May 81.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
We have just had two splendid hatches of Eaglish ring- 
neck pheasants, with which the Rod and Gun Club is 
stocking this vicinity. Out of thirty eggs set under two 
hens, twenty-two strong, lively chicks were hatched. 
Owing to the extremely cold weather here this spring our 
hens have laid less than one-half the usual number of 
eggs, but from these we are having excellent results. 
We receive weekly reports from the owner of the land 
on which we liberated a number of the pheasants this 
spring. He says that the birds have paired off, and one 
pair has left his farm and gone to another patch of 
timber about a mile away. He hears the males crowing 
every day. We consider these reasonable indications that 
they will breed this year if nothing happens to them. 
All the farmers in the vicinity have been told about our 
liberating pheasants and say they will do all they can to 
protect them. They know a suitable reward is awaiting 
them if they furnish proof of any shooting. 
Sportsmen all over the United States are investigating 
the pheasant, and I believe that another year will see a 
general move in the direction of stocking with these 
beautiful birds. I have letters inquiring about them 
from most of the Northern and from some of the Southern 
States. Our club has shipped the few eggs we have had 
to spare to different places in our State, and have sent 
one setting to Arkansas. 
I believe that if the money we expend in stocking with 
Southern quail were used in introducing the pheasant, 
more good would result. A severe winter will kill nearly 
all the quail and nothing is gained. 
Our only hope now for future sport is to stock our 
coverts with pheasants; for these birds will thrive where 
the others will not. No matter how well grouse and 
quail are protected, from the very nature of things they 
are bound to grow scarcer every year, as the number of 
sportsmen increases. 
In almost any town or village there are sportsmen 
enough who could, by clubbing together, raise sufficient 
money to purchase a dozen or two eggs or a few birds, 
and in a few years I will warrant fair shooting could be 
had. Arthur G. Baumgartel, 
Sec'y Holland Rod and Gun Club. 
The New York Fish Commission has appropriated $250 
for ring-necked pheasant breeding at Caledonia. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
[By a Staff Correspondent.] 
Chicago, 111, May 29. — Three days more and the season 
on bass and muskallonge will be open for Wisconsin, and 
a vast crowd of waiting anglers will join those who have 
not waited along the fruitful lakes and streams of one of 
the loveliest fishing States of the Union. From all ap- 
pearances the sport will be good this year along some of 
the most popular chains of water. Abe Lafave writes 
from Manitowish that the logging drive commerced a 
month earlier this year than usual, so that the fishing 
should be good by June 1 on the Manitowish chain. The 
water is 3ft. lower than it was last year on Manitowish 
waters. Mr. J. DeLong and party, from Brooklyn, N. 
Y., leave next week for the Turtle Waters, above Manito- 
wish. The next two weeks will see a tremendous traffic 
from Chicago north to the cooler regions of the woods 
and streams. 
Singular Snake*. 
Dr. W. D. Taylor, of Brownsville, Tenn., writes very 
interestingly in regard to certain singular snakes of his 
neighborhood, and one may but quote his letter entire: 
"The question of snakes having feet I believe has now 
been settled, and scientists say there is nothing of the 
kind. I send you by to-day's mail part of a blue racer 
with two feet which was killed near here a few days ago. 
There was also a Bnake with a horn on the end of its tail 
killed on the same farm and I sent after it, but it bad 
been destroyed; nothing but the bones were left, and tail 
entirely gone. But the negro says they kill five or six 
every summer, and the next one they kill he will be sure 
and send it to me, and I will send it to you. 
"I think we have nioi'e quail than we have had in 
years, and if we have a dry Bummer will have them in 
great numbers next fall, and we hope to have fine sport 
with you. We expect you and friends with us next sea- 
son, so please make your arrangements accordingly. We 
enjoyed your "Sunny South" very much and are glad 
you had such good sport. I hope you may have as pleas- 
ant a trip next fall, and you know you will always find 
the ever-open door." 
Dr. Taylor's section of snake arrived duly, preserved in 
alcohol. The section is 4 or 5in. long, and shows 
the bluish color commonly known in the "blue racer" 
snake. The "feet" are imperfect projections of some 
sore or other, sure enough, and unlike anything of the 
sort I ever saw. I could not examine the specimen well 
without taking it from the alcohol, and preferred to send 
it to the Natural History Department of Forest aND 
Stream for a more conclusive examination. We shall no 
doubt hear from it there in due time, and I shall be de- 
lighted if science is obliged to admit that snakes do have 
legs. 
Forest and Stream has always been skeptical about the 
"horn snake," but I feel that we are at last upon the way 
of showing Forest and Stream one of these much mooted 
Tennessee reptiles. In all these things I am a devout be- 
liever, j ust as I believe also that William Tell shot the apple. 
Science would leave nothing in life but sawdust if we let 
it alone, and this must not be. 
The Fantail Deer Again. 
Another belief to suffer at the hands of science is the 
legend of the "fantail deer." Science says nay, old 
hunters say yes. Mr. W. S. Phillips ("El Comancho"), of 
Seattle, Wash., who is in Chicago this week, is one of the 
real Westerners who write good stuff sometimes for 
Forest and Stream. "El Comancho" was raised in a 
game country, and has always lived in one. Bringing up 
the subject himself, he mentioned that Custer Peak, near 
the Bear Lodge Mountains of the Black Hills system, is a 
range famous among local hunters for what they call the 
"fantail deer." He says furthermore that he himself saw 
on Inyan Kara Mountain, down toward the southwest 
corner of the Black Hills, a live wild specimen of the 
fantail. He says it was about two-thirds the size of the 
whitetail. deer, and had horns flat and knife-edge shape, 
instead of round in beam. The tail was not whisked and 
waved in running, as is done by the whitetail. ' 'This may 
be a freak whitetail," said he, "but it was not like any 
whitetail I ever saw. Moreover, I found a number of the 
shed antlers in that country, and they are not like the 
whitetail or blacktail horns. The hunters at Sun Dance 
said they got fantails." 
Well aday! for science, if the time shall come when I 
can send in alcohol at one shipment a horned snake and 
a fantail deer. 
Mr. Phillips was looking at a big gray wolf skin in the 
Forest and Stream office, and we spoke of the destruc- 
tiveness of that animal on cattle. He told me he had 
