306 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Oct. 17, 1896. 
era began shooting what few wood ducks there were in 
this neighborhood in July, and since then they have kept 
persistently at it, but six is the largest bag I have heard 
of. Wood duck shooting in the summer time is a most 
unsatisfactory sport. The flight never lasts longer than 
an hour in the morning, and about the same length of 
time in the evening, and frequently much less. About ' 
50 per cent, of the birds shot are lost, as no effort is made 
to retrieve them until after the flight has ceased, during 
which time all the cripples have made good their escape. 
The shooting is generally where the water is covered with 
buckbrasb, lilypads or flags, where even the dead ones 
are dilScult to find, while on the evening flight the re- 
trieving must be done after dark. Imagine a man push- 
ing his boat through such obstructions seeking his dead 
ducks with a torch, with millions of moequitoes buzzing 
around and very likely the temperature up to 90°. This 
is what some people call sport. This handsome duck, once 
so abundant in our neighboring marshes and lakes, has 
almost disappeared. Yet some of our shooters are at a loss 
to account for its departure, for only five short years ago 
a bag of forty in an evening was no extraordinary feat. 
To me the solution of this problem is very apparent. 
For the past ten days there has been a good flight of 
these ducks near Cache, a small station on the Helena 
branch of the Noble division, which is a part of the Iron 
Mountain system. 
Our prospects for fall duck shooting are not any brighter. 
The extreme and prolonged drought of the past summer 
has dried up many of our lakes, sloughs, bayous and 
marshes, so that imlesa we have a great rainfall within 
the next two weeks I fear this sport will be of a rather 
inferior quality here. Some few teal have already ar- 
rived, and our first flight is now about due. Teal are 
reported to be quite numerous on the lakes near Van 
Buren, in the northwestern part of the State. A bag of 
thirty-eight was made on the Sank Lands last Tuesday, 
Sept. 29. 
A tidal wave of squirrels seems to have struck the 
State, as though to overrun it. Everywhere large bags 
are made daily, and without any visible diminishing of 
the supply. At Wilmot, in Ashley county, there is a 
market hunter who first ascertains how many squirrels 
he can dispose of, and then kills just that number; no 
matter how many, he always fills his orders. 
Paxil R. Litzkb. 
WILD TURKEYS. 
I HAVE kiUed wild turkeys. But there came a day 
when I was entering my 't^ens and living on the farm 
that I saw more wild turkeys than I ever saw before or 
have seen since, and I did not kill any of them either, 
though I was armed with father's favorite rifle. Where 
those turkeys came from and where they went after the 
chasing I gave them is not plain to me, for I did not 
hear of them before nor after that day. 
It was my habit in those days of boyish irresponsibility, 
whenever a leisure hour afforded me the opportunity, to 
take down the old muzzleloading rifle and make a bee 
line for the woods. I did not hE^ve far to go and kept 
the family table pretty well supplied with squirrels. In 
this way I became a tolerably sure shot even before I had 
the strength to hold the long- barreled piece off-hand. I 
usually kept the rifle in order and the old shot pouch 
supplied with everything needed. So on this day I slung 
shot pouch on shoulder, took down the gun from its 
rack, and crossed the highway that separated our farm 
from a neighboring wood. I reached the corner of the 
wood about lOOyds. from our house, walked along the 
fence a few rods to find a top rail that would not roll, 
climbed to the top of the rail fence and took a look at the 
woods. I would not have been surprised to see one or 
more gray squirrels going up trees or running on logs, 
but imagine my feelings when I counted just twenty-five 
full-grown wild turkeys on a large oak log not ISOyds. 
distant. One would have been enough, but twenty-five 
all in a row, and not over 250yds, from our house. By 
the time I had recovered from my surprise the turkeys 
were off and going, some walking, others stopping to 
pick a bit of nut or look at me, then running to catch up. 
Of course some of those turkeys were mine. I concluded 
that two would be about the right number, so slipping off 
the fence I started to sneak within rifle shot. 
It was impossible to keep behind trees from all of 
them, and when the turkeys saw that I was following 
them they just laid themselves out to have fun with me. 
One would raise himself on his tiptoes and flap his wings, 
and just as I pointed my gun around a tree at him an- 
other one would say quit and my intended victim would 
move on. Thus for half a mile I followed, dodging from 
tree to tree, and trying for this one, then for that, but 
never being able to get a bead on one before it moved. 
Finally, after they got me so rattled I could not have hit 
a flock of barns, a fine gobbler stepped on a small log and 
gave me the fiist fair chance for a shot; of course, I 
Boissed. The turkeys flew a short distance and went to 
scratching for their dinner. 
Blowing through the gun to open the tube, if perchance 
burnt powder had lodged therein, I poured the powder 
home, then fished out bullet and patching and placed 
them on the muzzle. Next I felt for my knife, with 
which to start the ball and cut the heavy drilling. No 
knife there. Could I tear the drilling with my teeth? 
Of course, I must. And I did succeed in getting a por- 
tion torn off large enough for half a dozen loads, and 
rammed the charge home. The turkeys were no doubt 
looking for me and gave me the same old "song and 
dance." I fired at the first one that came in range, but 
missed; and with much flapping of wings the twenty- five 
turkeys flew over me and back toward the place where I 
had first seen them. Again I chewed at the drilling and 
enveloped the bullet with a goodly portion, then wiping 
the perspiration from my brow started after my turkeys. 
When I reached the edge of the woods, the turkeys had 
crossed the highway and were running across our farm, 
I went to the house and got my knife, then started to get 
my turkey. I had concluded that I could get along with 
one turkey. They seemed a little shy when I tried to ap- 
proach within easy gxm shot, so I took the first chance 
and fired. Twenty-five turkeys arose and sailed away, 
and that was the last I ever heard of wild turkeys in the 
vicinity of my old home. 
Daring the winter of '69 to '70, while getting my 
first experience in pedagogy near where the Wabash 
River enters the Sbate of Indiana, I took a stroll in the 
neighboring forest one evening, and for a companioij 
took along a rifle belonging to the gentleman with whom 
I was boarding. 
I did not expect to kill anything; simply had to work 
off some of that pent-up wildness that was not allowed 
to assert itself in the schoolroom, and to draw on my 
imagination for the rest. 
After going some distance into the timber I stopped by 
accident, facing a large dead oak tree that stood some 
fifty paces distant and towered head and shoulders above 
its neighbors. I scanned this once mighty oak from base 
to branch, meditating the while on the ravages of time. 
But what is this? Perched high upon a branch and look- 
ing out over a sea of gentle swaying tree tops stood a 
lone wild turkey. What a fitting finale to my medita- 
tions. The decaying oak, once the monarch of the for- 
est, now hoary and withering, the worms gnawing at its 
trunk, and its roots mouldering in the earth, and sup- 
porting with one of its lifeless arms what was the last 
specimen I have seen in eastern Indiana of the noblest 
game bird known to America. 
I have never forgiven myself for killing that bird. 
G. W. Cunningham. 
RHODE ISLAND GAME INTERESTS. 
Pbgvidence, R. I. , Oct. 12.— Editor Forest and Streavi: 
Just at the present time the members of the sporting fra- 
ternity of this State are more or less interested in the ul- 
timate results of the prosecution of Allen Stone, who was 
captured red-handed during the close season with nine- 
teen partridges in his possession. The details of his ar- 
rest and the technical quibbles whereby his lawyer has 
endeavored to secure his liberty have been given at length 
in these columns. Last Friday the matter again occupied 
the attention of the court, when something of a surprise 
was given by the discontinuing of these cases, it being 
deemed unwise to prosecute on the warrants in those 
cases, because of technicalities involving the legality of 
the appointment of the game warden who made the com- 
plaint, and the manner in which the several warrants 
were issued. Lawyer F. W. Tillinghast, who has been 
called into the case by the Rhode Island Game Protective 
Association since the first calling of this case, advised 
this discontinuance after a careful examir^ation of the au- 
thorities. He said: 
The statute clearly intends to punish the offender for 
every bird found in his possession, but it does not follow 
that a separate complaint must be made for each bird. 
It is the having in one's possession that constitutes the 
offense, and whether it be one or many birds, the offense 
is the same, only the penalty is changed. For the nine- 
teen birds found in the possession of the defendant Stone, 
he may be made to suffer the penalty prescribed in the 
law of paying a fine of $30 for every bird, but it should 
all be alleged in the indictment. 
He also argued that the intent of the word bird was the 
act which constituted the offense, and he quotes a case in 
point, that of State vs. Prescott, 153 Mass. 396, in which 
it was alleged that the defendant did unlawfully take 
1,000 smelts. The court held that but one offense had 
been committed and that the number of fish was of no 
consequence except for the purpose of determining the 
penalty to be imposed. 
Mr. Tillinghast said that when the birds, however, were 
separated the case ceased to hold. However, the matter 
of W. L. Plaisted's qualifications to serve the warrants 
was not a consideration, as the intent of a warrant was to 
get the offender into court, and after once appearing and 
pleading it would make no difference if a seven-year- old 
boy had served them. 
As to Mr. Stone's once having been in jeopardy, he 
stated that in the lower court it was not possible that he 
be in jeopardy unless he had been tried and sentenced. 
Stone was immediately arraigned again on a warrant 
including the nineteen birds in one. He pleaded not 
guilty, and was placed under $500 bonds to appear for 
trial next Friday, Albert Burgess being his bondsman. 
The warrant was sworn out by Game Warden Thomas 
W. Penney, of Providence, to avoid mistake. H. P. 
Thompson is counsel for Stone, 
John Comstock and George L. Keach were tried, fol- 
lowing the above case, for each having a partridge in his 
possession unlawfully during the close season. Fines of 
$30 and costs were imposed and both men entered appeals. 
Efforts to Stock Warwick Neck. 
The Warwick Neck Game Association was organized 
in September, 1895, It is composed chiefly of summer 
residents who are interested in field sports and are 
desirous of protecting the game in the depleted covers of 
the Neck. 
The club has a small number of members, and they are 
allowed a limited number of days shooting during the 
season. If they start to hunt on a day and spend but an 
hour, that counts as a complete day. They are limited 
to ten birds to each gun, and are fined 80 cents for each 
"bird above that limit, and must not shoot more than 
fifteen in all. No birds may be sold. The oflBicers of the 
association are: President, F. H. Peeham, Jr.; Vice- 
President, H. N. Campbell, Jr, ; Secretary and Treasurer, 
C. A, Nightingale, 
Warwick Neck is favorably situated for the experiment, 
as it is surrounded on three sides by water and has contin- 
uous cover which is congenial to quail. Leases of the 
land were readily obtained from tne owners, who pre- 
ferred that the shooting on their premises should be done 
by responsible parties, who would use due care and not 
injure the property. These leases were carefully prepared 
by a prominent Providence attorney and contain provi- 
sions authorizing the taking of such measures as they may 
deem necessary for the protection of game on their prem- 
ises and to bring suit against any trespassers. 
It being too late for stocking when the association was 
organized, the grounds were posted and pains taken to 
preserve what native game birds there were on the Neck, 
and it is stated that there never was so little shooting as 
during the fall of 1895. 
In March, '96, about 400 Kansas quail were purchased 
of Charles Payne, of Wichita, Kan., and liberated on the 
preserves of the association. Kansas quail were chosen, 
as they were considered more hardy than other birds and 
are of larger size. Of the 400 quail purchased by the as- 
sociation, only about a half dozen difed in the transporta- 
tion of 2,000 miles. 
Care was taken to feed the bifds after they were liber- 
ated, and as the season advanced they spread out all over 
the Neck and wandered over the lawns and meadows, pip- 
ing their cheerful notes in all directions. Many nests were 
found in quite unusual places. One containing-twenty-seven 
eggs was placed in some weeds not lOft. from high water 
mark. Another was located beside a large rock in a pas- 
ture where blasting was going on within a few rods. The 
mother quail continued to "hold the fort" through it all, 
and brought off seventeen lively chicks. One of the resi- 
dents put off for two weeks the cutting of grass, until the 
quail could be hatched from several nests that were in 
the field. 
The association proposes to care for the birds that are 
left over, and in the close season have them fed and 
cared for. This is in a measure necessary, for the quail 
will go where they can get food. And as they are de- 
pendent upon seeds and the like for their sustenance, 
when the ground is covered with snow, they will go long 
distances in search of food. To avoid this and keep them 
on the Neck an effort will be made to induce the farmers 
to throw out a little grain at such times as may be neces- 
sary. 
Another game bird which this association is to have on 
the preserve is the English pheasant. The organization 
has received 158 eggs, and from these some fifty birds 
were hatched. There is a peculiarity about the pheasant, 
for she will continue to lay some fifty or sixty eggs if 
they are taken from her as fast as they are laid. As soon 
as these eggs were received they were placed under 
twelve setting hens within one week from their leaving 
the other side. As soon as they were shipped a wire 
was sent which gave notice to have the setting hens 
ready, and they were secured. The hens were set 
in small houses especially prepared. Unfortunately 
they were placed too near the ground, and during 
the heavy rains which occurred about that time some of 
them became wet and were chilled, so that only fifty 
hatched, or possibly they were made weak by the jour- 
ney. As it resulted only twenty-six birds lived to matur- 
ity. It is a question whether these birds will be able to 
take care of themselves in this climate and find food, but 
at all events the association wiU see that they are cared for. 
The young birds required a special kind of meal and they 
have grown very rapidly. 
The members will refrain from shooting them this sea- 
son, and application will be made to the General Assem- 
bly to place a close law on English and Mongolian pheas- 
ants until Oct, 1, 1397, The club feels much encouraged 
by the results of these efforts to propagate the pheasant, 
and propose another season to enter upon it on a much 
larger scale. 
All these experiments cannot but prove beneficial to 
the sporting interest of the State, and these birds will 
help the shooting all over the vicinity. 
The association has posted a notice to sportsmen: "The 
land on Warwick Neck is posted, and shooting rights 
have been acquired by the Warwick Neck Game Associa- 
tion. Sportsmen will kindly take notice and avoid tres- 
passing on these grounds." 
Notes. 
Stray deer have been reported as having been seen in 
different parts of the State during the past fortnight or 
so, but with one exception I have seen no reports of any 
having been shot, Edward Underwood, seventeen years 
of age, shot one a few days ago in the Buck Hill woods, 
near Pascoag, It weighed about 1501bs. 
John D, Tiplady and Joseph E Gates were recently 
fined $20 and costs each for shooting quail in the close 
season in North Providence. W. H. M. 
THE SORA OR RAIL BIRD. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
As in Forest and Stream of Oct, 10 you have an article 
entitled "Some Qaeer Ways of Game Birds," it has oc- 
curred to me that it would be a good thing if any reliable 
information can be obtained as to the habits, etc, of the 
sora or water rail, I have hunted them in the marshes of 
Maryland and Virginia for many years, and the queer 
stories about these birds and their habits are legion. 
The negroes and many white sportsmen down their posi- 
tively say that they originate from frogs, and assert that 
there is nothing more strange in this than "that butter- 
flies should come from caterpillars and frogs from tad- 
poles," At first thought this seems ridiculous, but in a 
recent rail shooting trip away up on the Rappahannock 
River, in Virginia, I found any number of the natives 
who stuck to this story, and in another location in Mary- 
land, fully 200 miles away, they one and all made the 
same assertion. One thing is certain, that if the hunter 
goes on to the marsh one day and is deafened by the 
croaking of frogs, his guide will quickly say, "No birds 
to-day," and diligent search will fail to find any. The 
next day if he visits the same spot, and the frogs are 
silent, the guide will say, "The birds are here, sir," and 
sure enough they will be found on hand. 
Now everybody knows that the water rail is a poor 
flyer. When he first appears he can fly but a few hun- 
dred yards at the utmost; toward the latter part of the 
season, when he becomes fat, he cannot fly any distance 
at all. In the September Outing there is a very interest- 
ing article on the rail bird, in wnich the writer says that 
the birds "arrive in the marshes in May and depart at the 
first fiost." How could they do this when they can't fly? 
I have made diligent inquiry, and have never found any- 
body who ever saw them in May or found their nests or 
young. Men who have spent their lives in the vicinity of 
the marshes ridicule the assertion that the birds ever ap- 
pear there until August or September, and I have been 
repeatedly told by these very men that the birds do not 
entirely disappear at first frost, but have been seen and 
killed even as late as Christmas. 
Several guides at points far distant from each other 
have even asserted that "in digging out muskrats, they 
had dug up the birds out of the mud in a state of torpid- 
ity," and the same has been said of the house martin. I 
once overheard one of them telling a group of his friends 
that in turning up his nets one winter day near a muddy 
spot they found a house martin in them, "torpid and sort 
of gummed up," They wiped the bird dry and laid it in 
the sun, and in a few minutes it became lively, rose in 
the air some 50ft. and then dove straight down into the 
mud and disappeared. At any rate this is a most inter- 
esting subject, so much so that I have heard it discussed 
for years by rail hunters everywhere I have been, and the 
natives one and all agreed that the birds "came from 
frogs." I know of a marshy place in a valley in the 
mountaiRS of West Virginia where rail birds h&vg fre- 
