FOREST AND STREAM. 
[JtTiiT 3, 1897. 
eyes. A tremor ran through the puma's body, it clung 
spasmodically to the liijih for a second, then fell with a 
crash almost into the fire. The dogs sprang upon it in- 
stantly, hut it -was dead. H. had redeemed himself with 
interest; I had never seen any animal killed more sud- 
denly. We skinned the puma and returned to camp. 
Next morning my horse, Spotted Dick, was missing. In- 
stead of tethering him with the manilla rope, as the others 
had done theirs, I had used my lasso. We found that 
some animal, possibly the puma, but more probably a fox, 
had chewed the la8.so in two. After hunting for nearly 
three hours we found him on the further side of the 
monte. It was so late in the day by this time that we de- 
cided to stay where we were until the morrow. 
Jim said that he could easily make my lariat as good as 
new, and stayed in camp. H. and I went to explore the 
monte. We hadn't gone far before the dogs stjuck a trail, 
and we soon heard them barking furiously off in the cen- 
ter of the monte. Hurrying forward we found that they 
had two wild pigs at bay; or, the pigs bad them at bay; it 
was a hard matter to decide the point. The pigs snapped 
their tusks in a terrific manner, and the dogs showed 
their respect by keeping at a safe distance. We shot the 
pigs, and, as we were afraid that there might be a drove, 
did not stop to take any of the meat. Soon after this the 
dogs treed a monte cat, which I shot and skinned, as their 
hide is very beautiful. 
In a swampy piece of prairie we came across a lagoon 
filled with ducks and geese, and were successful in getting 
some. 
The next morning we reached the house of my friend, 
Juan Companion, who declared that we would have to 
spend at least a month with him. He introduced us to his 
wife, a full-blooded Indian. Juan was very enthusiastic 
in his descriptions of the hunting and fishing to be had in 
his vicinity, and said that there was a greater variety of 
game to be found in that neighborhood than anywhere 
else in the Eepubhc. He had six dogs: five greyhounds 
mixed with other breeds, the sixth an otter hound. As 
Juan continued to give descriptions of the excellent hunt- 
ing, and pressed us so strongly, we agreed to stay for a 
week. He proposed an ostrich hunt next morning. 
The eastern sky gave golden promise of a beautiful day 
as we drove away from the house. In twenty minutes we 
reached a narrow stretch of canada. On the northern edge 
of the Canada flowed the river, while its southern edge 
was skirted by a dense monte. To the west lay a large 
lagoon or lake, which was connected with the river by a 
narrow outlet. Juan explained that the best way would 
be to hunt from east to west toward the lagoon. After 
placing Jim and H. near the center of the canada and tell- 
ing me to take my position near the river, Juan rode over 
near the monte's edge. When all was ready we started 
on an easy gallop in the direction of the lagoon. While 
the grass grew very rank and thick, still, it was not so high 
as to hide us from one another. 
Juan was first to reach the lagoon, and he signaled for us 
close up, quick. We put spurs to our horses and were 
pressing forward at a sharp gallop when a troop contain- 
mg fully fifty ostriches started pell-mell through the grass 
ahead of us. Soon all was hustle and excitement, for the 
ostriches, finding themselves hopelessly penned in in the 
rear by dogs and mounted men, rushed, first in the direc- 
tion of the southwestern end of the lagoon, hoping to escape 
into the monte by that way. Here, however, they found 
their way barred by Juan, with his old-style Winchester. 
Swinging to the north, the troop dashed wildly along the 
edge of the lagoon in the direction of the river. Here was 
our chance, and we took it. Now, the band are near the 
river's edge, and as a few more shots ring out, into the 
water dash the whole troop, and soon are flopping, scram- 
bling and swimming for the other shore. Now, those 
birds may not have been swimming; they were getting 
there, though, just the same. There is one thing certain: 
they were not walking on the bottom, for the river is over 
20ft. deep and 100yds. wide at that place. When we had 
collected the spoils we found we had fourteen birds. After 
skinning them and taking the best parts of the meat we 
returned to the house, arriving there about noon. 
After supper we were lounging, smoking, and talking 
over our hunt, outside the house, when suddenly a tall 
figure, followed by an immense dog, strode silently 
among us from out the darkness. So quiet had been 
the approach, that they were in our circle before we 
knew it. Juan introduced the man to us as Rubio An- 
tonio. In many respects Rubio was a remarkable man. 
He was a half-breed, and the only one of that class of 
people whom I ever recollect seeing with red hair and 
whiskers. He was nearly 6ft. in height, and very strong 
and wiry. His dog, CoSee, was a famous hunter, part 
bulldog and part mastifiF. Cofiee had wild, bloodshot eyes, 
and certainly was the fiercest looking canine I had ever 
laid eyes upon. He was covered with scars from head to 
tail, and Rubio told me one day that some of them had 
been received in an encounter with a puma. He said that 
the dog killed the puma, but nearly at the expense of his 
own life, as it took many weeks for him to recover from 
the wounds. 
So fierce was the appearance of Coffee, and so little desire 
did he show to make friends with strangers, that it was some 
time before 1 overcame a habit of slipping my hand to the 
butt of my six-shooter whenever he would come near me. 
No man, woman or child loves a dog better than I do, but I 
confess that Coffee was a little too much for me. I gradu- 
ally came to understand that his mind was centered en- 
tirely on the chase, and anj'- little affection he might have 
to show was reserved for liubio's little girl and wife. 
While we never knew him to attack a human being, still, 
he had a look which made me feel uncomfortable; after 
we got a little used to him, however, we didn't mind him 
so much as at first. While I never loved him to any ex- 
tent, I must give him the credit of being the most fearless 
creature I ever knew. No matter what the animal, Coffee 
never hesitated an instant about attacking it. 
f^nie ^Hg mid ^mu 
SOME OF NATURE'S WAYS. 
Two barn swallows made a nest under the balcony roof of 
our house. The little old man with his buff vest and swal- 
low-tail coat used to sit by the old lady when she was on the 
nest and twitter to her by the hour. ' Perhaps he was con- 
gratulating her OD her nice home or perhaps he would twit 
her of a fondness for another buff vest, or perhaps wonder- 
ing if their young ones would be worn on the fall hats. 
Both of them would fly in and out while we were quite near. 
Soon the babies came and then the trouble began. Either 
because of the work of catching insects on the wing or be- 
cause the nest only contained two young ones, the old birds 
became cross and would dart at any one who went to that 
side of the house. Every time one of the old birds came 
near the nest two big mouths weie wide open for the small 
amount of food brought. On watching the nest closely we 
found that one old bird fed the young one at the right of the 
nest and the other one that at ihe left of the nest. 
For several years we have had about the house a number 
of gray squirrels. They became quite tame, and one of 
them — ^we called him Bobby, because he had lost a part of 
his tail — would sit on ' a person's lap and eat or take nuts 
from the hand. Last seasor. the nuts left over from previous 
year we thought were too dry for this pet, who had now 
been coming every spring for four or five years; so we 
cracked some of them to feed it. The other squirrels came 
around just then, and Bobby deliberately drew the cracked 
nuts into a heap and spread himself so as to cover the lot. 
He was willing that the others should eat uncracked nuts, 
but the easy ones were for him alone. 
During the wet, cold weather of early June, we noticed a 
single song sparrow come under the balcony one evening 
just at dusk, and nestle in the vines, away from the wet and 
cold. After this she came every night about the same time 
until the fall. She never attempted to make a nest, although 
others did about her, but just came in for a night's lodging. 
At first we thought she might be a widow whose home and 
family had been destroyed, but later on we judged from her 
precise habits that she must have been an old maid. She 
never stayed out nights, but attended all the morning con- 
certs. 
One day I heard the distress cry of several birds from the 
lawn. As I approached an evergreen tree a robin flew 
toward me and back again to the tree. I soon located a 
blacksnake near the bird's nest and shot it, with a young 
robin in its mouth. The old bird did not fly away from 
fright, but as soon as the snake dropped to the ground she 
flew to the nest to look after her young. If ever a bird could 
talk this one told me of her troubles and thanked me for 
ending them. Sayville, 
Long Island. 
Editor Forest and, St/ream: 
1 am glad to see that my "Cat Story" has drawn out more 
evidence in favor of the positive possession of reasoning 
powers in animals, as contrasted with the purely instinctive 
faculties, which they also share in common with the human 
race, I have seen two illustrations of the latter within a 
week, which will illustrate the difference. Sitting on the 
doorstep after tea, smoking, one evening last week, I was 
startled by a sudden rush of the house cat, who came 
through the fence like a rocket, followed in hot chase by a 
robin, and both disappeared around the corner of the house 
in an instant. On investigation it was found that the cat 
had picked up a young bird, which had evidently fallen 
from the nest, and the mother bird was trying to rescue it. 
It was too late when help arrived, however, for the 
tragedy was over. The next evening my daughter men- 
tioned the incident to a friend at the other end of the village, 
who in return showed her a young fledgling in a cage on the 
piazza, which she had picked up on the ground (the bird, 
not the cage), and hung up on the piazza, where the mother 
came and fed it regularly, and which was thriving very well 
apparently, 
iSTow, I call these cases pure instinct ; they do not involve 
cause and effect, like ringing a bell or lifting a door latch. 
CHAINED 
to Business? " 
Can't go Shooting:? 
Do the next best thing- 
Read the 
Forest «nA Strearm 
I am glad to see that Awahsoose hears more birds in his 
region than last year; I have seen more here, and, although 
I did not see any bluebirds, there are plenty of robins, spar- 
rows and fly catchers, and the same pair of orioles seem to 
be nesting in the big elm in front of my window, for, 
though I cannot see the nest, I see them shoot up and down 
every day and occasionally hear them, but there is my weak 
spot, and if Awahsoose and I could combine his ears with 
my eyes, we might note the birds pretty well. Vosr W. 
Charlkbtown, N. H., .June 33. 
Hawk and Martins. 
A GALLANTLY-CONTESTED battle between a small sparrow- 
hawk and a flock of black martins was seen tne other day 
among the hills near Diiarte. The hawk had captured a half- 
grown dove and was flying low and heavily when he was 
viciously attacked by a flock of black martins. 
He dropped his prey and dashed upward, then swooped 
down upon one of the martins With the little bird in his 
claws the hawk dropped toward the earth, tearing at his un- 
fortunate little antagonist as he came. A trail of black 
feathers followed the pair until they were about 50ft. from 
the ground, when the mai'tin fell hke a stone, and the hawk 
shot upward again. The flock of martins instantly closed 
around him, and within another moment or two a second 
bird was torn to pieces and dropped. This maneuver was 
repeated three or four times, ending each time in the death 
of a bird, before the flock of martins gave up the pursuit and 
allowed the hawk to escape. Upon examination each one of 
the dead birds was found disemboweled and terribly mutil- 
ated. — Tucson {Ariz.) Citizen. 
Faith and Works. 
A PRETTY anecdote is related of a child who was greatly 
perturbed by the discovery that her brothers had set traps to 
catch birds. Questioned as to what she had done in the 
matter, she replied : "I prayed that the traps might not catch 
the birds." "Anything else?" "Yes," she said, "I then 
prayed that God would prevent the birds getting into the 
traps, and," as if to illustrate the doctrine of faith and works, 
"1 weht apd kicked the traps all to pieces."— Si? vseMd! 
A KENTUCKY RABBIT HUNT. 
The Kingfishers, sun- browned and tanned by the winds 
of the lakes, were returning from one of their annual trips 
to the North Woods. Seated in one of the easy coaches of 
the Grand Rapids line and chatting, as they sped southward, 
of the humors and adventures of the trip, the talk gradually 
drifted from fishing to hunting. 
Culbertson, whose more extended experience gave him 
first seat in the circle as the big hunter of the gang, recalled 
in thrilling description deer hunts and bear hunts in cane- 
brake and tangled wood ; closing with pathetic recital of the 
death of a companion whose finger was punctured by the 
fangs of a dead rattlesnake. 
Morris told of outings with Kentucky quail, and Eurr 
gave vivid pictures of possum and coon hunts, noisy with 
their retinue of darkies and dogs. When "Kingfisher's" 
turn came, he professed a profound ignorance of the mys- 
teries of the chase, "Though, said he, "when I was a boy, 
long about the 208, I did shed the blood of some birds and 
animals, whose presence I could not endure, with weapons 
adapted to my youthful arms." This hint, in default of 
specific facts, was presumed to refer to his forays with bow 
and arrow upon the tribes of woodpeckers and jaybirds, 
and to shots from the window with the family musket, in 
the dead hour of night, when all was still— except the cats — 
that immediately became stiller. 
Harry Foulds closed the round of story-telling by stating 
that in the vicinity of Cincinnati, where he earned his bread, 
or, rather, made his flour (and good flour at that), "by the 
sweat of his brow," game was an article so scarce that a 
day's raking with a fine tooth comb would scarcely scratch a 
rabbit from the weeds. And that the rabbit, when found, 
would be lank and lean, with variegated scars adorning his 
body, as proof of daily battles with the small boy and his 
dog, and "Chawles" and his "purp,"'in the desperate effort 
to prolong a miserable life. 
Having a rabbit or two left in Kentucky, we forthwith 
invited the Cincinnatians to come over to Frankfort in the 
fall and take a hunt. 
Late in November following Harry Foulds and Ack Hall, 
responding to the invitation, stepped from the cars at the 
Midland Depot and were shortly banging at my door, chipper 
as larks, and loudly vociferating, "Show us them rabbits!" 
A hearty handshake, and they unloaded an inundation of 
apologies from the balance of the gang as to why they 
couldn't come. Hickman had just gotten in forty bags of 
mail matter from Goshen, Ind., 200 from Alaska, and 700 
from Japan — all to be distributed at once as extra. Culbert- 
son was preparing his kit for a Florida trip, and Murray was 
"lost," as usual. A message from Capt. Tinker advised the 
use of frequent "durkees" if the weather became warm — a 
decoction that is said to be mixed in a big tumbler, with ice, 
and a little sugar, and a little water, and some lemon peel, 
and a bit of gin, and some other harmonizers. Uncle Jerry 
Kiersted sent his blessings, and hopes that "the boys would 
live long and prosper." 
The greeting over, I casually glanced at the outfit of my 
two {friends. Each had a 12 -gauge Parker and lugged a 
grip whose bulging sides denoted hunting clothes. Just then 
the baggage man drove up with a dray on which was a big 
box about the size that incloses parlor organs for packing. It 
was strongly nailed and securely bound at the corners with 
hoop iron. 
"What's in the box, Harry?" I inquired. 
"Ammunition," he responded, indifferently. 
Taking a good square look at the box, and making a fair 
estimate of its capacity, I judged it would hold somewhere 
between 5,000 and 10,000 shells, with plenty of spare room 
for loading tools, gun cleaners, corn oil flasks, bootjacks, 
etc. 
As my friends had written me they could only spare time 
for a two days' hunt, and measuring the amount of death in 
the box, I began to feel sorry for the rabbits. Then I pon- 
dered whether they had not misunderstood me when I said 
in the cars "there were a few rabbits left in Kentucky," and 
were expecting a sort of round-up of a million or so jack 
rabbits or "other rabbits," when they were to take stands 
and shoot into the thick of them as they went by, sixty shots 
a minute. 
I thought best not to disturb the enchantment of view em- 
braced in spending so much ammunition so quickly, but to 
let events work their own revelation. However, Dick Morris 
and Charley Furr came over that night, and after an evening 
spent in reminiscences of hunting trips, fishing adventures 
and "reminders of old times," I managed to get a private con- 
ference with them, and whispered my suspicions as to the 
meaning of the big box. "Oh, wefl!" said Dick, "perhaps it 
isn't all ammunition; they may have a lot of fossils— y-ou 
know you dote on fossils — and perhaps Old Hickory, Cul- 
bertson and the balance have sent you a contribution of rocks 
for your cabinet from some of those big piles we saw along 
the road near Big Rapids and Cadillac; and then maybe 
Kelpie has added a boulder from Central Lake." His eyes 
twinkled and his broad shoulders shook at the demoniac sug- 
gestion, while Charley amiably chuckled, for it is the im- 
pression of the gang that I am weak in the upper story when 
fossils are mentioned. 
Charley, however, was inclined to take a more serious view 
of the situation, and to lament any disappointment our visit- 
ing friends might suffer. 
"Can't we shorten their misery," said he, "if they don't 
find rabbits as abundant as they expect, by giving them some 
diversion? Let's show 'em the country^ — take 'em out to 
Elkhorn, up Devil's Hollow, out to Old Crow distillery, and 
then to the cemetery." 
The idea seemed good, and before parting for the night it 
was agreed to have a double team at the door in the morn- 
ing, with seats for six, and spend the day till noon in sight- 
seeing, and after a hasty lunch devote the afternoon to the 
rabbit hunt. I was deputed to impart the programme to 
Harry and Ack ere they retired for the night, and be pre- 
pared to dilate extensively on the beauties of Frankfort 
scenery if they manifested any impatience at not being 
sooner permitted to "get at them rabbits." 
Luckily, they seemed content to have us map out the pro- 
gramme, and I merely concluded the announcement with 
the precautionary inquiry. "Do you think you have shells 
enough to last you for the hunt? If not, I will load a few 
more," 
"Oh, yes," replied Ack, "I guess we have plenty, though 
Frank (Harry's big brother) said when we were packing the 
box he thought we ought to put in a few hundred more." 
