Jan. 22, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
6S 
comes the mosquito we know not; as to where he goes 
we are positive. He can only exist in a warm climate. 
Rise from the supper table, take a paddle from the 
rack, and off for a canoe trip on the lake. The lisping, 
gurgling waves impart a restful motion to your boat. 
Paddle slowly toward the sunset. A streak of red, shad- 
ing into orange and light yellow; an expanse of pale 
iblue, deepening toward the zenith, the water faithfully 
reflectmg the warmer tints, and to the northward tossing 
a cold green against a purple sky. When you are far 
enough out, the lighthouse, two miles away to the east, 
flashes a red gleam across a violet expanse of dancing 
water; then the glorious full moon looks over the woods 
.and sends you a bar of molten silver. Watch the western 
•colors fade, and the woods take on a dusky hue, and 
presently you will catch a gleam of light from among 
the trees. When you would return, point your prow 
toward that light, and there you will find the bovs, talk- 
ing low from behind huge clouds of fragrant" smoke, 
•rolled from the restful bowls. 
As the season advances, what a change occurs! Per- 
ichance, as you glance from the cabin door some cold 
ifall morning, the lake lies still and gray and sullen be- 
neath a burden of purple mist. At night the sun sets, 
■-red and angry, behind the point. The wind comes sing- 
"iiig, fresh and strong, across a tumbling waste of steel 
'blue breakers. The trees wave leafless branches, and 
■mutter and groan, and the surf pounds incessantly upon 
the beach. The little bunch of ducks, hanging limp and 
lifeless from the white birch in fi-ont of the cabin, sways 
in the rising wind. 
Inside there is a smell of clam chowder and coffee. 
As the darkness falls, this is succeeded by the fragrance 
of tobacco. The guns are cleaned and put away; then 
comes th€ 'tinkle of guitar and the song. Soon the fire 
snaps and roars unaccompanied; the flicker of the light 
upon the wall of the cabin ceases, and the camp is 
♦wrapped in slumber. 
Muffins and Ragamuffins. 
We call our sparrow pensioners ragamufiins, though 
really having a very good opinion of them, and we 
give them muffins as often as we can, since discovering 
their preference for this form of bread. 
Once there appeared in Forest and Stream a story 
of a '"Feathered Foundling," and as this closed with 
a discouraging outlook for the foundling's love affair, a 
further report may be acceptable. 
They are quite well, those same two sparrows, and 
now the summer is dead and buried beneath autumn 
leaves and wintry snowflakes, it amuses us to recall in- 
cidents connected with a big three-story cage. 
To begin with, we were, by a visit to Europe and by 
other matters, separated from our birds for eleven 
months, an indulgent friend taking charge of them. 
To our surprise we found this period was insignificant 
in the memory of the sparrows, for restored to this 
room they at once resumed their familiar ways, and, on 
the cage being opened, flew to perch on former favorite 
places. The Foundling went straight to the shoulder of 
the Philosopher who had, three years before, rescued 
him from a Brooklyn cat, nestled there a moment, then 
hopped to his beard and insisted on receiving bread 
from between his lips, just as of old. Within one hour 
we became convinced the birds had forgotten nothing 
during an absence of nearly a year from our study. 
In the spring of 1897. after two years' courtship, Dick 
won his suit, as we had assured him he would do, in 
the fullness of time. The honeymoon was sentimental, 
spiced with occasional tiffs, in which Loulou generally 
came off victor because Dick suffered with palpitation 
of the heart, due, possibly, to the anxiety he endured 
while urging his suit. Melancholy and sentimental Dick 
irritated the gay, matter-of-fact bride, who sometimes 
relieved her mind by suspending him in mid-air. There 
were three degrees of this chastisement. When we 
saw Dick hanging plumb, held in his mate's beak by the 
tip of his tail or a wing, we knew her temper was ruf- 
fled; if Loulou dangled him to and fro, a more advanced 
stage of wrath was indicated; but if she jerked him up 
and down this expressed severe displeasure. After a 
fight in which feathers were made to fly, regardless of 
decorum or chivalry, friendly relations were re-estab- 
lished through Dick's humble repentance and adoration 
of the arrogant little beauty who, while gently scolding 
him, preened her wings, those satin-smooth, glossy 
wings, which were the despair of poor, amorous Dick! 
She was on the perch; he, beneath it, softly pecked at 
her tail while whispering his flatteries, and she liked him 
to thus kiss the hem of her garment.- Contrary to the 
renutation of female birds, this one developed a good 
voice, and sang, does sing, sweeter melodies than birds 
of her feather are supposed to- attempt. She likes to 
show off before visitors, and on certain occasions has 
sung by request. One afternoon when a friend was 
taking coffee with us and Loulou was picking crumbs 
from the carpet, I said: "Come here, pretty Loulou, 
and sing to me." She flew to the table at which I sat, 
perched on a book and warbled her sweetest notes; then 
away she went. Again I invited her and once more she 
came to my side and repeated her song. It is very 
funny when this little songster scolds her own throat 
because it does not quite respond to her ambitious in- 
tentions. 
This birdie, beheved to be the prettiest sparrow in 
Brooklyn, has had many admirers, but is not a flirt. 
She and Dick each have favorites among the numeroiis 
visitors that flock around their cage at the window, but 
their liking does not seem to be influenced by sex: 
Friendship exists among all creatures. When Loulou's 
admirers are in sight we know it by Dick's attitude of 
haughty contempt and defiance, expressing "Vagabonds, 
what care I for you? You can't come in here! This 
3S my house, she is my wife." On one occasion he was 
loudly scolding a would-be rival, but seeing this had 
no effect, he took in his beak one end of his paper carpet, 
raised it slightly and gave it a rattling shake. At the 
noise, away flew the obnoxious party, but soon returned. 
Dick at once repeated his former effective action, and 
off went the intruder. Within an hour we saw the 
Foundling repeat this several times with various birds, 
proving that he was observant and calculating. 
We have been much interested in the diversity of char- 
acter shown by birds that flock to our window, and are 
obliged to acknowledge that, as in the human family, 
those lacking self-confidence and persistence fare badly 
and appear depressed and shabby, while the plucky, 
stick-to-it sparrows are fat and sleek. 
As soon as we scatter bread for their visitors, our 
birds summon them with shrill calls, but some pensioners 
have a fixed idea that whatever is in the cage is better 
than the portion served to them, and all have decided 
they prefer muflins to any other bread. On this point 
Dick and Loulou agree with them and therefore resent 
the determined efforts of certain acquaintances to possess 
themselves of large pieces placed in the cage bars. The 
exhibition of ill-nature on the part of the feathered urch- 
ins, called forth by one particular puffy kind of muffin, is 
sometimes positively disgraceful and heart-rending. In 
the absence of muffins the tribe is better mannered, and 
having summoned his guests Dick keeps his back to- 
ward them, that they may feel quite free to feast, also 
encouraging them with cheerful remarks, which, with 
Dick's patient assistance, I have endeavored to learn so 
as to reduce the expression to English spelling. The 
nearest we can get to it is "wickoo-too-choo," and this 
we interpret as "Pray help yourselves!" But on muffin 
days this cordiality is tinged with reserve. 
Dick's original wooden house in which he was brought 
up by the Philosopher forms the third story of the cage, 
and notwithstanding his tender infatuation he has never 
been willing to give up that cozy corner to his lady- 
love; but she, having a will of her own, entereel again 
and again. Furthermore, she had an eye to the future, 
so her mate scolded and coaxed in vain when she chose 
to make herself at home in his old bachelor cliambers. 
Then he resorted to tricks. A favorite one was to tear 
from his carpet a scrap of paper, and, with this in his 
beak, enter the door with a great pretension of wanting 
to stuff lip some chink. If his spouse did not then va- 
cate the premises a pitched battle ensued. Generally 
she humored Dick by hurrying out; but as the spring 
advanced she showed such eagerness to occupy the nest 
that I carefully explained to her her right to it, and 
suggested the expulsion of her mate if he would not 
listen to reason. That night Loulou slept in the nest, 
as if she had really grasped the sense of our words. 
She now began to take life seriously and arrange Dick's 
old nest to her fancy. He, too, gave himself great im- 
portance. On one occasion I carried to the cage some 
muffin wrapped in a piece of old white china silk; the 
silk I kept in my hand and put the muffin between the 
bars. Dick pushed it out, went to the nest and brought 
from it a small scrap of the same kind of silk I held, 
uplifting his beak that I might see just what he had. 
Clear language, this — he preferred silk to bread, even 
muffin, at that moment. I cut the silk to pieces and 
put it in the cage bars, and within ten minutes every 
piece was in the nest. Next day, while Loulou was 
eating cuttlefish and seeds, Dick dashed into the nest 
and brought down to the basement of tlie cage o:ie of 
Loulou's new silk sheets. He had seen a pretty feather- 
girl outside, and, with the sheet in his beak as an offer- 
ing, began that love-dance in which his wmgs and tail 
become so suggestive of a butterfly that we call it "doing 
the butterfly." In the midst of the performance Loulou 
came upon the scene. Instantly Dick dropped the silk 
and ran to the seed-box as if very hungry. Such dis- 
simulation ! 
By way of studying their perception of color we gave 
the young couple pieces of black and of white muslin, 
mixed. Not one black thread was carried to the nest; in 
like manner all other colors were despised when white 
could be had. The male bird did most of the work, and 
frequently brought to his mate, for approbation, the 
morsel of stuff he proposed adding to the pile. If she 
ignored his approach, he went on with his work; but 
if she snapped her beak angrily, he let his offering drop 
to the ground and did not venture to place it in the nest. 
On the 27th of May Loulou kept her wings in a state 
of agitation, as chicks do when begging to be fed. Oh, 
the little fluttering wings! — messengers of some one com- 
ing. And next morning a great event occurred, coupled 
with calamity. At peep of day Loulou's first creation 
was dropped by her on the floor of the cage, she being 
on the perch while the bad Dicky was cozy in his nest, 
which he had insisted upon occupying — the monster! 
Here was a domestic tragedy! The Philosopher showed 
his FoundHng the broken shell and told him such hard 
truths that the culprit kept himself in a corner while 
his mate moped on a perch. We put the broken shell 
in the nest, as an indicator of what should be. Dick 
threw it out, but passed the day stuffing the nest and 
conciliating his companion. 
At exactly the same hour on the following morning 
there was a repetition of the scene, with like results, andi 
again on the third day, but this egg remained intact 
because we had padded the floor. We placed it in the 
nest, and the little mother, in a burning fever, went 
there to comply with her duty. Presently Dick coaxed 
her out, and remained in her place. Soon she returned, 
and discovered he had broken the egg. Out she came, 
her large, expressive eyes full of sadness, and all day 
she remained in a corner, her feathers bristling, her 
head under one wing; and Dick's blandishments found 
no response. 
Just one month later Loulou laid three more eggs, 
on consecutive days, this time in the nest; and now tUe 
Foundling proved himself a wicked infanticide, for he 
deliberately broke the eggs, one by one, and threw them 
out. Why? He did not tell us; and whatever reasons 
he gave to the little mother proved unsatisfactory, for she 
subjected him to several prolonged hangings anel jerked 
him up and down so violently that he screamed for 
m.ercy; she also scolded him fiercely every time he had 
the audacity to declare his unalterable affection for her; 
and not for three or four weeks did we Hear her sing a 
note. 
When the days grew long and warm, many birds 
brought their chicks to this window, sure of a meal, and 
we were greatly interested in seeing our couple show 
more consideration for the weak than for the strong. 
They never objected to a bird's taking food from their 
cage to feed its young, and any adult that had been 
maimed, or appeared ill, was treated with equal consid- 
eration. As for the young birds themselves, Dick pushed 
bread out of the cage to them, as he used to do when 
only a year old. Seeing his great liking for chicks, we 
felt at liberty to remind him that he alone was to blame 
for having none of his own. 
Sparrows do not, like men, worry over their ofTspfittg 
to the day of their death; in fact, they quickly abandon 
them to their own resources, and many perish in con- 
sequence. Only the strong survive. The weaklings seek 
a sheltered corner, pick up the crumbs more easily 
reached, and are beaten back into eternity by the first 
heavy rain which breaks over them. Early one morning 
two little feathery heads peeped up above the sill to look 
through a window-pane. The pretty things begged for 
food — could any one resist? We threw up the window 
and the chicks flew from our reach; but while pretending 
to pick up something in the distance, they watched us 
as we crumbled soft bread in front of the three-story 
cage, and as soon as we withdrew the sm,all strangers 
came to enjoy the offering. These twins were not robust, 
and soon they came within the room, on the bench where 
the cage rested, and there, with their heads tucked under 
their wings, stood napping, propped against each other, 
now and then waking to pick up the crumbs strewn for 
their benefit. It would have been easy to catch them 
while they slept, but such an abuse of confidence would 
have been unpardonable. 
Alas for the twins! After they had speni five days with 
us, always flying away at dusk to some favorite night 
corner of their own, a heavy rain caught tbem in transit, 
and never again did the little fluffy balls prop each other 
up close to the Foundling's cage. 
A lone chick came next, and was so tame after three 
days that it alighted on the sofa cushions and on the 
table at which I was writing. This birdie also perished, 
apnearing no more after a heavy rain-storm. 
The Foundling had taken a great fancy to the chicks; 
their fate, nerhaps coupled with remorse for his crime, 
affected his health and temper; he grew very thin, gave 
up singing and took to habitual fretting, even scoMing 
us when we reproved him. A few days ago I caught 
hold of his tail, sticking out througTi the bars. He 
immediately turned and pulled the lace on my dress. 
Here was retaliation in kind. 
Sparrows cannot be induced to eat fruit of any de- 
scription, but have a strong liking for lettuce. The 
charming, docile Loulou, whom every one loves, will 
peck at a lettuce leaf for ten minutes at a time, while 
Dick prefers to rub himself against it to moisten his 
feathers. Possibly he has read on his newspaper carpet, 
"Use lettuce cream," and desires to improve his com- 
plexion by polishing himself on the unadulterated article.^ 
Alice D. le Plongeon. 
Srooklvn, Dec. 21. 
0mn^ ^'dg md 0un, 
Shots Across the Snow. 
With the closing of the year the hunting season in 
New Brunswick came to rinse also, and now the shy 
capricious caribou and the reminiscent moose are safe 
for many moons to come from the pursuit of honest men. 
While out hunting on the Gaspereaux barrens with 
the Indian guide Jim Paul during Christmas week I 
had a chance to test the .30-30 on a herd of caribou. I 
picked out for the experiment the two best specimens, 
one of them a bull with a fair set of antlers. Each of 
these caribou was hit within 6in. of the shoulder. They 
were doubtless fatally wounded, but failed to succumb 
until they had received one of them two, the other three 
additional shots, all placed in vital parts of the body. 
None of the bullets went through the body, but mush- 
roomed as soon as they struck the flesh, and being so 
light in weight showed very limited penetration. The 
experience confirmed me in my belief that while the .30- 
30_is about as sure a hitter as any rifle I ever handled, 
it is not as sure a killer as the larger calibers. On the 
2gth ult. we found a very large freshly shed moose horn, 
which shows that old bulls are apt to drop their horns 
at a somewhat earlier date than has generally been sup- 
posed. 
The Provincial Government has been engaged during 
the past four or five j-^ears in procuring specimens of 
the gam.e animals and birds of the Province, imtil now 
there is to be seen in the Crown Land office a very com- 
plete collection. Until recently they had not secured a 
suitable specimeil of a bull moose to be mounted whole 
and placed on exhibition. On the 21st ult. the famous 
guide Henry Braithwaite was commissioned to find a 
large moose for this purpose. He was accompanied on 
the trip by the well-known local sportsman William 
Chestnut. I have just received a letter from Billy, dated at 
Ridley's Camp, Little Sou'west Lake, Dec. 27, in which 
he states that the moose has been secured and is a re- 
markably fine specimen ; also that they would haul it out 
as soon as there was sullicient snow. 
Many of our American friends who made their head- 
quarters at Edmundston during the past tiunting season 
will have a lively recollection of the genial proprietor of 
the leading hotel at that place, p-elix Herbert. Felix, 
with Dave Bates as guide, has just returned from an ex- 
tended moose hunt on the headwaters of Green River. 
They brought in one moose and two caribou. The 
moose, after being wounded, gave Felix a chase of eight 
miles before he was finally brought down. There Avere 
several feet of snow in the country where they hunted, 
yet they climbed a mountain the top of which was en- 
tirely bare, apparently the result of. subterranean heat. 
E. W. Forbes, Robert Walcott and R. C. Storey, three 
sportsmen from Massachusetts, returned from Doak- 
town the other day after a brief stay upon the barrens. 
They shot two caribou, one of them a fairly good speci- 
men of a bull. 
Mr, Charles S. Bird, of East Walpole, Mass., who has 
