Dec. 25. isfilj 
POHEST AND SfH^g^Alvl 
hatched thirteen ; they did well until one day she scratched 
a hole uader the wire and every one escaped. As it Was 
only a hundred yards to good cover, we saw no more of 
thecQ ; whether they lived or not 1 do not know. The other 
sixteen eggs (as the pheasant hen would not sit on them) 
we placed under another bantam; twelve of them she 
hatched and three of them she killed, smothering or treading 
on them. The others are now nearly grown up, and we 
shall turn them out or keep all and try to hatch a larger 
numbar next spring and then release them. We saw or 
heard from those released on reeaipt last April every few 
days ever siace, They scattered well (I f ouad one nest over 
three miles from where the birds were released) and they 
laid and hatched well. I have haard of aad seen six diftsr- 
ent nests, all hatchmg well. 
•'The largest nest of eggs was hatched by a pair on the 
farm near which they had been released. There were thirty- " 
six eggs in it, and I watched it daily until one day when we 
found one egg in the nest and thirty-flve hatched oat. I saw 
this brood a few days ago, grown full size, and had at least 
twenty-five in it or more. All the sportsmen here agree not 
very lame, but as soon as the grass and oats Were cut they 
left the fields, and they are now fully as wild as our common 
pheasants. The sportsmen are very much pleased with 
them." 
Fish and Game Warden George W. Dunham, of Fleming- 
ton writes: "The pheasants sent me were placed upon ad- 
joining farms for several miles square. They all remained 
upon the farms where they were first placed, and the young 
birds, which a,re quite abundant, have remained with them. 
"One hen was killed by a mowing machine and ber nest 
of sixteen eggs destroyed, and another nest was plowed 
up. Wherever I placed them the owners of the land agreed 
to advertise, and promised that no one should shoot upon 
tbeir premises this fall. This has been done, and I doubt 
whether a single shot will be fired among them. The birds 
are doing remarkably well, and I have seen a great many of 
their young." 
The above include all the letters, both favorable and un- 
favorable, received by your Commission ; and it is apparent 
from them that the pheasants will do well in this State, es- 
pecially when the people become better acquainted with their 
RUFFED GROUSE 
From "Birderaft," by courtesy of Tba Macuiillan Company. 
to kill a single bird this year, and I have warned all that if 
they kill any they will not be allowed to gun any more on 
the farms near here. There are so many city and strange 
gunners here that some may be killed during the season, but 
we shall protect them with all our power. I am thoroughly 
satisfied that the pheasants will do well in this part of the 
country, and we shall have it well stocked in a year or two 
if we can protect them another year They lay an enormous 
number of eggs and hatch well. The only trouble I see is 
that they are quite tame, and we often walk up to 8 or 
10yds. of them and then they only run off; they also come 
out into the open fields and seem to like to get out of cover. 
The nest of thirty-six I spoke of was laid in a field of oats; 
the farmer in mowing frightened the hen off in time to avoid 
cutting over the nest and left 8 or lOyds, of oats around it. 
The hen kept her nest and hatched, as I have told above, I 
hope the birds have done as well in other places," 
Hon. E 0. Hutchinson, Assemblyman from Mercer, said: 
"The pheasants have done very well indeed and nothing has 
happened for a long time which has so pleased the farmers. 
We have a good many of the sporting fraternity in Mercer 
county and all agreed not to kill any for a year at least. 
One man did kill one of the birds and at once trespass no- 
tices went up on five farms in the neighborhood, and the 
farmers will not permit any hunting unless they feel confi- 
dent that the gunners will not destroy any of the pheasants. 
We had„them with us all through the summer and they did 
very well. Xow that they are to be introduced for the bene- 
fit of the general public I shall strenuously urge the passage 
of a law prohibitina' their being killed for a period of years." 
Mr. Samuel P. Fithian, Surrogate of Cumberland county, 
writes: "In relation to the ring-necked pheasants I will 
state that we put out two cocks and four hens on the land 
of Isaac M. Smalley, in Stow Creek township. All four of 
the hens had nests, and in mowing the clover two of them 
were completely demolished and the legs cut off one of the 
hens. The other two hatched and I hear from them once in 
a while, and Mr, Smalley is endeavoring to protect them 
this year so we can have the increase for another year. The 
balance of the dozen you sent me were put in the care of 
Fish and Game Warden Harry R. Dare, and he kept them 
in a pigeon fiy, Mr, Dare found only one egg, and late in the 
summer he took them into Fairfield township and turned 
them loose. We hear from them, but do not hear that they 
have any young. I do not think much of keeping them in 
captivity, but wi(h their liberty I think they would do well 
and be a great benefit to the sportsmen of this section." 
Mr. M. Warner Hargrove, of Brown's Mills, Burlington 
county, writes: "From all appearances the pheasants are do- 
ing well. I have not seen any myself, but have heard of 
them frequently. They appear to have spread fairly well, 
but are too tame for practical sport to get well introduced, 
as I fear they will get killed this fall, I am encouraging 
gunners not to kill them this fall, and I have requested land 
owners where there are pheasants to prohibit gunning this 
year, " 
Mr. George W. Phifer, of Manumuskin, writes: "The 
pheasants I received are doing very nicely. The twelve 
birds 1 received have raised forty two young ones that 1 
have seen, and these are almost grown to full size. I found 
one of the male birds in my potato patch dead, which I pre- 
sume was due to eating potato bugs where I had placed 
Paris green. 1 find that they are quite an insectivorous 
bird, and I have frequently watched them catching grass- 
hoppers in the clover field. I was afraid that they would be 
traits, characteristics, habits and needs. The southern part 
of the State, as had been anticipated, showed itself particu- 
larly well adapted to their needs. As it is evident from the 
above letters, and from others received from persons antici- 
pating the purchase of birds for introduction at their own 
expense, that the experiment of endeavoring to establish the 
birds firmly in this State will be continued for some time at 
least, it may perhaps be well to give a few facts for the guid- 
ance of those interested. That the introduction of -the birds 
in some localities will prove failures is not more than may be 
expected, for with all the teachings of science and the les- 
sons learned from experience it is impossible to always in- 
dicate just the kind of a place to which pheasants will take. 
A guarantee of success at propagating the birds could be 
given with no more safety than a guarantee that trout will 
do well in a stream just because the water flows from springs 
through sheltered territory. Mankind has not as yet become 
sufficiently well acquainted with the animal kingdom to deal 
in certainties. The probabilities certainly favor the estab- 
lishment of the pheasants as a valuable addition to the game 
birds of the State. 
Although essentially a woodland bird, the ring-necked 
pheasant resembles the quail in that respect that it requires 
arable or cultivated fields for its well-being. As a rule they 
confine themselves to the woods in the daytime and at night 
for roosting, but in the early morning and again at dawn 
they forage in fields— especially cultivated fields, where the 
work of the gleaner has left something for them to subsist 
on. When disturbed at such times they w^ill quickly retreat 
either to the woods or to some convenient hedge. Success 
need not be looked for in the introduction of pheasants un- 
less there are fields and woods in the neighborhood. To put 
out pheasants where there is no food or water for them is 
simply absurd. An ideal harborage for them is a wooded 
hollow with a stream passing through it, with cultivated 
fields in the neighborhood; they have always shown a pref- 
erence for cedar and deciduous trees. 
Pheasants should be put out as nearly as possible just be- 
fore their breeding time, and should invariably be released 
at night. If they are put out in the daytime they are apt to 
take to flight and scatter far and wide, and frequently to 
continue flying until utterly exhausted, Becoming separated 
in this way, increase is hardly to be looked for. When put 
out at night they will find some limb of a tree or shelter 
under a hedge, and before dawn they will have become 
calmed down. Under such circumstances they will quietly 
examine the place, and if it suits them they will remain; if 
for some reason they are not suited they are apt to remain 
together until they have found a more favored locality . At 
times success has attended the putting out of pheasants when 
they were first placed in a wire inclosure after the quill 
feathers from one of their wings had been removed. Under 
such circumstances it is necessary that the same person 
should supply them with food every day. It will take about 
five weeks for the plumage to grow again, and by that time 
the birds will have escaped over the top of the inclosure, 
finding themselves well at home in the new locality. 
Although the introduction of the birds is attended generally 
with the best results when the adults are released, the same 
end has frequently been attained by rearing the young from 
eggs. For the purpose of doing this it is not advisable to 
Select a bantam, as this bird can cover only a. very few eggs. 
Any clean-legged fowl, weighing not over31bs., is preferable. 
It is best always to begin the hatching in a covert which the 
birds are expected later on to inhabit. 
In selecting a place of tais kind care should be taken that 
there is fresh water near by, that the soil is not too damp nor 
1 00 sandy, and that there is plenty of insect life in the vicin- 
ity. The young birds should be carefully housed, or they 
will quickly escape to the woods, with nearly all the chances 
against their surviving. Young chicks should be fed six 
times a day, the food consisting of hard-boiled eggs chopped 
up fine, shells and all, with a few bread crumbs added. 
When they are a month old boiled potatoes mashed fine may 
be added and the number of times of feeding reduced to 
five a day. When they are ten months old they may be fed 
whole grain, and after this they require less care than the 
common barnyard fowl, being far hardier. Then is the time 
to put them out, and they will find shelter and food for 
themselves. In putting them out the proportion should be 
one cock to three hens. Persons desiring to keep them over 
another year can readily do so, as they require very little 
shelter, an ordinary chicken coop being more than is requisite 
to protect them against the rigors of winter. 
The Preserve Question. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Twenty Or thirty ducks are as many as any man should 
be allowed to shoot in one day, and any club that gives its 
members greater limits ought to suffer for it. Many years 
ago, when ducks were as thick as bees on Lona: Island 
Sound, two of us came home one day with sixtv bluebills; 
but even that I look upon as slaughter, and it did not give 
me half the pleasure that ten or twenty have given me since, 
because the pleasure becomes deadened as it merges into 
labor. 
Clubs are looked upon as aristocratic institutions, and. 
naturally rouse antagonistic feeling among people whose 
privileges are restricted. 
If clubs would be more considerate in their intercourse 
with the people and allow them a little more latitude over 
grounds that they have always considered free, they would 
get along with much less friction. 
It's all well enough for a club of wealthy men to monopo- 
lize a few hundred acres of swamp land, but they are not 
satisfied till they have scooped in every foot that a duck can 
feed on. 
Wealthy men have bought up nearly all the approachable 
land in the Adirondacks, and many of them have purchased 
tracts containing from one to half a dozen lakes, for fear 
that others besides themselves might have some pleasure. If 
preachers would give us more sermons on selfishness and 
less stuff about dogmas they would benefit the world far 
more. 
I would like to know what but hatred of monopolies 
finong the stupid and ignorant classes at the South cnuld in- 
stigate such an unparalleled piece of barbarism as poisoning 
those club pheasants. But where is the remedy ? The only 
thing that 1 can suggest is careful preparation for such work 
among the neighboring country people by slyly sending in- 
telligent but common-Jooking men among them to show them 
the advantages of the spread of such game through the 
country, and at the same time they should employ them as 
much as possible on the place, and by that means come to a 
better understanding with them. There would, of course, 
be many escapes from their inclosure, and the whole sur- 
rounding country would reap the benefit of their splendid 
enterprise. Didymtjb. 
St. Augustine, Fla., Dec. 14. 
The British Columbia Wood Pile. 
Oeoville. Okanogan County, Wash., Dec. Editor- 
Forest and Stream: The game laws are enforced much 
better over in British Columbia than they are here. The 
Indians from the lower Okanogan and the Columbia have 
been in the habit of coming up on the Reservation and 
hunting every fall. They would camp near the line and 
oacasionally go across the line and kill a few deer that 
seemed to be slow about crossing to the "Boston" side. 
This fall some came and camped near the line and hunted 
for a week and killed several over on the British side. The 
police were watching and found where they had killed two 
deer; but the Indians had got back to the American side. 
The police got a Chinaman to go to the Indian camp and 
get the Indians to bring some venison down to Rock Creek 
on the British Columbia side; then they arrested two and 
fined them $50, and put them to sawing wood for a month 
each. That has put a very bad taste in their mouths,' and 
the rest of the tribe have pulled out for home, saying it 
would be the last time they would hunt across the line. 
If they would serve all men on the Reservation who kill 
game out of season the same way, there would not be any 
tears shed by Lew Wiljiot. 
A Heavy Southern Deer. 
New Berne, Dae. l4 — One of the largest buck deer ever 
killed in this latitude was shot last week on the Foy planta- 
tion, n^ar New Berne, by a colored man named Chadwick. 
The animal weighed 2001bs,, and was served as meat at 
one leading butcher shop in town. Deer seldom run over 
12olbs. on the hoof in this section. 
Since one of our young sports captured a bear cub out on 
the macadamized road the other day, this method of hunt- 
ing is likely to be popularized. The cyclist picked the ani- 
mal up without dismounting, and succeeded in escaping 
with his prize, although the old bear pursued, as is usual in 
such cases. 
A party of Pennsylvania railroad officials spent several 
days out at the Benders' shooting box, near Catfish Lake, 
below Riverdale, and bagged deer, turkeys, ducks and quail 
to their satisfaction. 
I understand that no less than seven parties have been in- 
quiring about the Bogue Bank hunting ground.s below More- 
head City, which were advertised in the Forest and 
Stbeaji, which shows what a remarkable advertising me- 
dium it is, and how a good thing is appreciated when it is 
offered, C. fl. 
Books for Holiday Gifts. 
The Forest and Stream PiibhsLing Co, invites attention to its list of 
works on outdoor life and sport as including many books whicii are 
admirably adapted to be given as Christmas or New Year's gifts. 
Mather's "Men I Have Fished With,". Whitehead's "Camp-Fires of 
the Everglades," Robinson's Danvis books, Grinnell's Indian books 
the Boone and Crockett Club's series, Kunhardt's "Small Yaclits," 
and the "Supplement" to it— these are some of the volumes which 
are in subject and examples of fine book making certain to be valued. 
The list is given on another page. Orders should be sent in such sea- 
on that they may be filled in time for the holidays. 
