S44 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 31, 1896. 
The birds were given to a friend, who had them 
mounted. 
In coloring, the heath hen is considerably darker than 
the pinnated grouse; the legs are feathered less, and, if I 
remember correctly, comparison indicated fewer feathers 
in the tail. The flight is the same as with the Western 
bird; there is no decided whir-r-r, such as the ruffed 
grouse has when started. The heath hen is indigenous to 
the island probably, not an importation, nor have any 
pinnated grouse been liberated to the knowledge of the 
residents. I have heard well authenticated stories of 
the bird's existence here from the time of the early in- 
habitants, and gentlemen with whom I have talked well 
remember the tales of its aViundance as related by their 
ancestors; also when the first law was passed for their 
protection; again when it was rescinded and an open 
date of J»n days allowed, which law lasted but a short 
time. 
A few weeks ago, after reading the article within re- 
ferred to, I took the train for the Vineyard, accompanied 
by my pointer Kentwood, with the idea of getting some 
fresh information; and though I searched the grounds 
thoroughly, or such portions as I considered the best, I 
saw no evidence that any of the birds remained, though 
friends who are residents of that section (than whom 
none are more mindful of the game laws) tell me that 
occasionally one is seen, where but a few years ago they 
could be found in almost any nf the roads leading to the 
southern part of the island. Year by year the flock has 
diminished.' until now but a remnant of it remains. I 
am in doubt as to the cause, though I am aware that the 
heath hen is hunted by gunners who, while pretending 
to be out for rabbits, are always accompanied by a setter. 
It is a sad commentary on the avarice or thoughtlessness 
of thespnrtsmen that this noble bird, the finest game bird 
in New England, should be allowed to pass into oblivion, 
which will surely be its fate before many years. I doubt if 
there are 100 heath hens on the island at the present 
time. 
I noticed with pleasure on my last trip the rapid in- 
crease of the beautiful pheasants placed on the island 
through the generosity of one of the residents, and pro- 
vided they are properly protected we shall have as suit- 
able a substitute as could be found for the Martha's Vine- 
yard heath hen. Kentwood. 
We quote from Audubon's "Ornithological Biography" 
the f oUowini? interesting letter describing the heath hen 
on Martha's Vineyard; it was written to Audubon by his 
friend David Eckleiy: 
"Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of sending you a brace 
of grouse from Martha's Vineyard, one of the Elizabeth 
Islands, which for many years past I have been accus- 
tomed to visit annually for the purpose of enjoying the 
sport of shooting these fine birds. Nashawenna is the 
only other island of the group on which they are found. 
This, however, is a sort of preserve, as the island being 
small and the birds few, strangers are not permitted to 
shoot without the consent of the owners of the soil. It 
would be difiScult to assign a reason why they are found 
upon the islands above named and not upon others, par- 
ticularly Nashann, which, being large, well wooded, and 
abounding in feed, seems quite as favorable to the pecu- 
liar habits of the birds. 
"Fifteen or twenty years ago, I know from my own 
experience, it was a common thing to see as many birds 
in a day as we now see in a week; but while they have 
grown scarcer, our knowledge of the ground has become 
more extended, so that the result of a few weeks' resi- 
dence of a party of three, with which I usually take the 
field, is ten brace of birds. Packs of twenty to fifty are 
now no longer seen, and the numbers have so diminished, 
in consequence of a more general knowledge of their 
value— the price in Boston market being $5 per brace — 
that we rarely see of late more than ten or twelve col- 
lected together. It is often observed, however, that 
there is very little encouragement to be derived from the 
circumstance of falling in with a large number, and that 
the greater the pack the more likely they are to elude 
the vigilance of the sportsman; though it must be ac- 
knowledged that it is a most exhilarating yet tantalizing 
sight to start a large pack out of gunshot. To watch 
them as their wings glisten in the sun, alternately sail- 
ing, fluttering and scooming over the undulating ground, 
apparently just about alighting, but exerting their 
strength and fluttering on once more, some old stager of 
the pack leading them beyond an intervening swell, out 
of harm's way, beyond which all is conjecture as to the 
extent or the dii'ection of their flight; in such a case it is 
best to follow on as quick and as straight as possible, 
keeping the eye fixed upon the tree or bush which served 
to mark them, and after having proceeded a reasonable 
distance in the direction which they should have flown, 
if a clear or cutting place should lie in the course, the 
birds may be confidently expected to have alighted there. 
They never in fact settle down where the woods are 
thick or the bushes close and tangled, but invariably in 
some open place, and often in the roads; neither do they 
start from thick foliage or briary places, but seek at once 
to disengage themselves from all embarrassment to their 
flight by attaining the nearest open space, thus offering 
to the sportsman the fairest mark of all game birds. It 
frequently happens that not one is killed on the first 
flight of a pack, as they are often very unexpectedly 
started, but on api reaching them a second time with 
greater caution success is more likely to follow, partipu- 
larly if they have become scattered. 
"Toward the middle of November they have attained 
their average weight of nearly Slbs. each, and nothing 
can be fuller, richer or more game-like than their plu- 
mage. At this time of year, however, in sportsman's 
phrase, they seldom 'lie to the dog,' but are easily started 
by every sound they hear. Even loud talking alarms 
them, for which reason a high wind, which drowns the 
approach of danger, is the most desirable weather. A 
calm, drizzly day is also favorable; for the birds, being 
less likely to be disturbed by the glare of objects, venture 
into the old rye fields, the low edges of the wood and the 
bushy pastures to feed. 
"It is seldom that we start a bird a second time in the 
exact spot where he has been seen to hover down, for no 
sooner do they alight than they run, and frequently into 
thick cover, from which they often attempt in vain to 
disentangle themselves, A dog is then necessary to scent 
the bird, which alternately runs and squats, until, being 
bard pressed, it rises, and frequently with a sound which 
resembles the sj^ilables coo, coo, coo, uttered with rapi4- 
ity. One good dog is better than two, and, though sufBL- 
oient, is absolutely necessary; for, besides the enjoyment 
of observing his action generally, his challenging cheers 
and his pointing prepares you. But more than all a dog 
is required la recovering those which are winged or not 
fatally wounded, which but for his tracking them would 
be entirely lost. 
"The barberry, which abounds in many parts of Mar- 
tha's Vineyard," is the principal food of the grouse, par- 
ticularly such as grow on low bushes, near the ground, 
and easily reached by the birds. They also feed on the 
boxberry or partridge berry, the highland and lowland 
cranberry, rosebud , pine and alder buds, acorns, etc. In 
summer, when young, they feed on the more succulent 
berries. 
"We frequently meet with the remains of such as have 
been destroyed in various ways, but more particularly by 
the domestic cat, which prowls the woods in a wild state, 
and which often receives a very unwelcome salute for the 
mischief it does. Owls, hawks and skunks also do their 
part toward the destruction of these valuable but defense- 
less birds. In these ways they are thinned off much 
more effectually than by the sportsman's gun. They fre- 
quent no particular soil, and, like all other hunting, 
wherever the feed is there is the likeliest place for the 
game. In addition to this rule as a guide, we look for 
their fresh tracks among the sandy barberry hillocks and 
along the numerous paths which intersect that remarka- 
ble part of the vineyard called Tisbury Plain. Into this, 
should the birds fly from the edges, as they sometimes do, 
it is almost impossible to start them a second time, as 
there are no trees or large objects to mark their flight. 
Being mostly covered with scrub oaks of a uniform 
height, with occasional mossy hollows, it affords them a 
place of refuge into which they fly for protection, but 
from which they soon emerge, when the danger is past, 
to their more favorite haunts. 
"I have only seen them in the month of November, but 
I am told that in the spring of the year, previous to the 
season of incubation, they congregate in large companies 
in particular places, where they hold a grand tourna- 
ment, fighting with great desperation and doing one an- 
other all the mischief possible. In these chosen spots, it 
is said, the cunning natives were accustomed to strew 
ashes, and rush upon them with sticks when blinded by 
the dust which they had raised. In later times the cus- 
tom of baiting them has proved more destructive to the 
species. In this way very great but very unsportsman- 
like shots have often been made. Another practice has 
been that of stealing upon them unawares, guided by 
that peculiar sound for which they are remarkable in the 
spring of the year, called tooting. By these and other 
means, to which I have adverted, the birds were dimin- 
ishing in numbers from year to year; but it is to be hoped 
that they will revive again, as they are now protected by 
an act of the State of Massachusetts, passed in 1831, 
which limits the time of shooting them to the months of 
November and December, and imposes a penalty of $10 
each bird for all that are killed except in those two 
months. 
"Boston, Mass., Dec. 6, 1832." 
DEER AND LILYPADS. 
Lansinu, Oct. 16. — Editor Forest and Stream: In your 
issue of Oct. 10 I note the remarks of Dr. Henry Skinner, 
of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, to 
the effect that he has seen miles of lily stems sticking out 
of the water, and that the lilypads had been snipped by 
deer. Also that he had seen deer swim in the water and 
eating the lilypads as they went along. < If Dr. Skinner 
has seen what he says he has, he has seen what no other 
man ever saw before, and what no man will ever see 
again. No man ever saw miles of lily stems sticking out 
of the water, or ever saw a lily stem sticking out of the 
water and could say positively that a deer snipped ofl' the 
pad. When a deer accidentally breaks off a stem he does 
it down under the water, and when he is feeding on the 
water weeds that grow among the lily plants never snips 
them off on top of the water. No inan ever saw a deer 
snip off a lilypad or break off a stem on top of the water 
purposely. When a deer accidentally pulls off a stem he 
will show at once that he has something in his mouth 
that annoys him and he wants to get rid of it, and he 
will spit it out just as soon as he can. He may chew it a 
little, particularly if he also has some weeds in his 
mouth at the time that he likes, but he never has a stem, 
or pad, or any part of the lily plant in his mouth without 
some other article of food is taken with it; and he will 
not swallow the lily plant or any part of it, but he will 
separate the stem from the other food he has in his 
mouth and he will spit out the stem or pad just as soon 
as he can get it out. 
As to deer being able to swim in the water and snip off 
the pads as he goes along — well, such a statement is too 
absurd to even call for an answer. 
When lilypads are in a condition to be snipped off, the 
deer is in his short coat, and when he is off his feet in the 
water he has something else to think of besides feeding. 
He has all he can do to keep his head above water. 
No man ever saw a deer swim and snip off lilypads as 
he went along. Such a thing is an absolute impossibil- 
ity. Late in the fall, when the coat of the deer is fully 
developed and the hair Jong and thick, he can float to a 
certain extent, but not enough even then to enable him 
to feed as he swims along; and at that time of the year 
nature has nipped the lilypads so closely that the deer, 
even if he was so inclined, could not find a lilypad in go- 
ing a hundred miles. 
There are many things in this world which pass for 
facts, but which have no foundation whatever, and one 
of the greatest errors is this mistaken notion about deer 
eating lilypads. If one should say that the deer feed 
among the lilypads, that would express the matter as it 
actually is; but to say that deer eat lilypads or any part 
of the lily plant is misleading and such a statement is not 
correct. Julian. 
Boston, Oct. 33. — Editor Forest and Stream: I notice 
in your recent issue a communication on "Deer and Lily- 
pads." I think I might as well set that matter right. Deer 
do not eat lilypads, but they do eat the tuberous root of the 
water lily and are exceedingly fond of it. They put their 
heads down under the water and pull up, not, as suggested 
by the writer of that article, delicate leaves and sprouts, 
but the root of the lily, That is why you so ot^n see a, 
lilypad hanging from the mouth of a deer; they are 
separating it from the root. I have very frequently dur- 
ing the past summer started deer from the water among 
the lUypads and found a dozen or more roots which it 
had secured from the bottom floating on the top, some of 
them being bitten in halves. I had the curiosity to taste 
one of these roots and found it was exceedingly acrid, 
almost as much so as alum. I know the pucker remained 
in my mouth for an hour. My guide told me at the time 
that a man Was lost in the woods a year before, and that 
he had subsisted for three days on these roots. There- 
fore there must be considerable nourishment in them. I 
think this will explain the movements of the deer men- 
tioned in the previous article. C. S. CoOK, 
New York, Oct. 17.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 
have usually examined the stomach contents of deer 
killed by myself or by friends in the same camp. In the 
late summer or early autumn I have found the paunch to 
contain large quantities of the leaves and stems of various 
water plants, among them the leaves and buds and flowers 
of the yellow water lily, but chewed so fine that it required 
a rather close examination to determine the species. The 
lilypads when finely masticated turn an unnatural brown 
color, but even the little bits of pieces show the peculiar 
glaze of the under surface of the leaf. The largest frag- 
ments of food that I have found in any deer's stomach 
were halves or quarters of leaves of the striped maple and 
mushrooms. Robt. T. Morbis. 
The Call of the Pintail. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: I note 
what Buckshot says about the call of the pintail. This is 
a duck of which I know little in a wild state and I asked 
for information about their calling. I kept them in con- 
finement for years and bred them, but only once did I 
hear a soimd from them, and I was not sure then but it 
was some other duck that made it, for I had many- 
species. I could not say now what kind of a soimd it 
was, and Buckshot does not say. 
I note what he says about call ducks. If he had some 
of those which I used to breed he would be surprised. 
None of our wild or tame ducks are such persistent callers 
as these little pets that are bred in Holland. I don't know 
of anyone who has them now; my stock went to Georgia 
and were killed by mink. They are valued as bantam 
fowls are, the smaller they are the more they are prized. 
I did not know but the pintail might be as silent as the 
giraffe, which never makes a sound of any kind, at least 
not in confinement. Fred Mather. 
knf0 §Hg mid §mu 
Oti/r readers are invited to send us for these columns 
notes of the game supply, shooting resorts, and their 
expenence in the field. 
PARTING SHOTS AT MAINE MOOSE. 
Bangor, Me., Oct. 33. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
When the Maine Legislature meets next January it will 
be asked to put a close time on moose for ten years. The 
men who make the demand for such a law are the fore- 
most hunters, guides and naturalists in the State. They 
have discussed the matter among themselves and through 
the papers for a number of years, and have come to the 
conclusion that moose will soon become extinct in the 
Maine woods unless stringent laws for their protection are 
enacted at once. 
The reasons presented in favor of such legislation are 
powerful, and of such a nature as should demand imme- 
diate attention, Except during the two years between 
1891 and 1893, it has been unlawful to kill cow moose 
since away back in 1877. The belief was that, as the bull 
moose are polygamously inclined, they could be killed 
freely without endangering the production of offspring. 
While the law was enacted for the purpose of maintain- 
ing a supply of these lordly animals, and while it looked 
all right in theory, its practical application has been fol- 
lowed by many disappointments. 
The first object of the hunter who goes to the woods for 
large game is to get a set of moose antlers which he may 
keep as a trophy. MoQse hunting is no doubt a lordly 
sport, but no one can make complaint against the pleas- 
ures of shooting deer or caribou. Even the much-praised 
moose steak, while good as a bill of fare oddity, cannot 
compare with beefsteak for a steady diet. For these 
reasons the antlers are the most prized portions of the 
moose. As cow moose grow no horns of any kind, the 
bulls have been patiently and persistently hunted in 
Maine for many years. Another reason why bull moose 
of more than two years of age are getting scarce in Maine 
is that all the large males can be called in the love- 
making season, at which time they lose all fear, and rush 
out to give battle to railroad trains or anything that is 
capable of locomotion. Of the 1,000 or more bull moose 
that were slain in Maine last year more than one-half 
were lured to their destruction by guides who called 
them with birch bark horns. Of the remainder nearly 
all were still-hunted by tracking them on the snow of 
December. 
Men who are familiar with the habits of big game have 
noticed that large male moose have been growing scarce 
for several years. As soon as they said so in print, how- 
ever, the railroads that looked for travel, the hotels which 
sought guests, and many of the guides who needed pay- 
ing employment, all came forward and said that moose 
were gaining in numbers every year. The legislators, 
who formed their opinions from a majority of witnesses 
rather than from the facts in the case, voted as the rail- 
roads and hotels desired, and the killing of moose was 
unchecked. No one can tell how much the moose herds 
of Maine are endangered by the present law, though the 
evidence of a few men who ought to know may assist one 
in forming a conclusion. 
Dr. G. Gilmore Weld, ex-mayor of Old Town, Me., has 
been a devoted hunter from boyhood, and has passed 
nearly half of his life in the woods. In December, 1892, 
he dissected eleven cow moose that were brought down 
by hunters, and of these only four had promise of produc- 
ing offspring in the spring. If the same ratio held good 
throughout the Maine forests— and there is no reason why 
jt should not— nearly^ 70 pep cent, of tfee females were 
