March 12, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
203 
is no extravagance to state that 90 per cent, of all skins 
mounted are in the condition given above; yet these 
facts play no part in our writer's scheme. Moreover, 
the taxidermist has to produce quantity under influences 
almost entirely to his disadvantage; he knows little of 
the anatomy; he can know but little of the animal whose 
skin he is working on;, he has little time to learn; per- 
haps he cannot. The average taxidermist works under 
a very great disadvantage, but he generally satisfies the 
capabilities of his employer's pocketbook, and if his 
employer wants a finely modeled result, and is willing to 
pay the price, he can always get it. In a word, our 
friend indorses a method well known and useful, but 
appHcable, all things considered, in comparatively few 
cases, and then only under the best conditions; but 
the price must fit. The average of taxidermy has been 
greatly raised in this country of late years; this has 
been almost entirely accomplished by manikins and the 
use of clay under proper conditions; let us not burn 
•the ship that has carried us safely over, but rather 
treasure it for the good it has done and will do yet. 
William Palmer. 
Some Oddities of the Field. 
Memphis, Tenn. — I write to ask as well as to give 
information about curios of land and water. Two sea- 
sons ago at Wappanocca Lake, Ark., I killed a perfect 
cross of mallard and pintail, and this season at the same 
lake Mr. J; A. Austin, of Memphis, killed another" dis- 
tinctly and beautifully marked pihtail-mallard drake. 
Mine had the dark green head and neck, with white ring, 
purple breast and court beauty-spot of black and white 
of the mallard drake, but excepting also the mallard's 
yellow bill. It was an excellent pintail in back, dark 
feet and finely pointed tail, also in shape of body; Mr. 
Austin's hybrid had the mallard body, head, neck, breast 
and rear beauty-spot, but slate-colored bill and feet and 
perfect sprig's tail. 
Passing through Frcyler's Corner during an extremely 
violent wind, my boat put thousands of ducks and hun- 
dreds of geese to flight, but I did not fire, so they would 
retijrn. Watching the wheeling, rushing, circling myr- 
iads, my punter, Adam Green, said: "Look! a duck is 
falling," and sure enough the Ughtning down-winders 
had collided with a bested up-winder and knocked him 
down, though he rallied from an icy bath and human 
touch. 
At Atoka, Tenn., while quail shooting with Wm. El- 
lison, we fired at a bevy of quail flying through thin 
woods near a cottage, when a fine hen bird, which was, 
hke Lot's wife, looking backward, crashed against the 
house and killed herself. We added six more to give the 
rosy matron a Sunday feast as she opened the door to 
our supposed knock. Once before in a storm I saw 
part of a flushed covey fly against a cannon-ball express 
tram. 
I was recently paddling through a wooded arm of 
Wappanocca Mud Flat when three geese crossed in 
front, and firing at the middle man, though rather high 
for duck sliot, I wheeled my revolving chair sharply 
to left to kill an easy one that rose at report from wet 
grass, when my punter yelled, "Dat fust goose dun broke 
hees own wing a-climbin," and it was even so; a small 
chilled shot had pierced the wing bone, and the weight 
and strain of "climbin' " snapped it. 
My next tale is of a fox squirrel's tail, and my excellent 
cruiser was and is Ebenezer Wingfield. We had thirty 
ducks by II A. M. (the limit is fifty), and as we cruised 
along the ' cypress side" a fox squirrel on a "knee" was 
eating an oily cypress ball and never drooped it as he 
scurried up to a flat limb, and spreading out, shook his 
red flag at us like a Spanish girl's flaring scarf at a mad 
bull. Eh begged the p-un and two goose shells to "h'ist 
him wid one and bust him wid tuther bar'!," and turned 
loose "the Thunderer" from a rest. Down rushed the 
bob-tad squirrel on Eb's blindside, and again "the 
Thunderer" belched fire, as Ebenezer shot through the 
grapevines at only the tail, which ends here. 
W. A. Wheatley. 
A Word for the Red Sqwirrel. 
Grand View, Tenn., Feb. 20.~Editor Forest and 
iiitream: I notice that the characteristics and habits of 
that erratic and lively little rodent, the red squirrel have 
been pretty thoroughly discussed. It reminds me of an 
old story. 
It was said that Daniel Webster, when about sixteen 
years of age, made his first plea on a case of trespass 
Dan s elder brother, Ezekiel, had caught a woodchuck 
m the bean patch. According to the unwritten law 
punishment for trespass by woodchucks was the death 
penalty, and Zeke was preparing to kill the animal when 
Dan interfered, contending that the chuck should be 
set at liberty. While the contest was waxing hot between 
the two boys the elder Webster came along and proposed 
to be judge and jury, and that Dan and Zeke each 
should make his plea for and against the prisoner. It 
was said that Zeke made out a pretty strong case against 
the prisoner; but before Dan got through with his 
plea^ his sympathetic appeal had worked on the old 
man's feelings so powerfully that a tear could be seen 
m the corner of each eye, and he cried out: "Zeke let 
that woodchuck go!" ' 
_ My opinion is favorable toward the red squirrel. It 
is true that in my boyhood days there was always a sort 
of good-natured warfare between us; he was fond of 
stealing my butternuts, and I was just as fond of throw- 
ing stones at him, in which I generally came ofif second 
jbest. He had a trick of laying flat on a horizontal limb ■ 
and dodging every stone that was likely to cut very close 
by slipping over on the opposite side, then coming back 
on the top ready for another throw. The result would 
be that he would come off unscathed, while I occasion- 
ally came off with a lame arm; and you may be sure 
that it required considerable stone throwing to lame a 
boy s arm in those days. 
In my very early youth, when six or seven years of 
age I caught several red squirrels with a little rat trap 
and dressed the skins, and of them my mother made 
for me a very nice cap, which was about the first head 
covering I remember wearing. 
But I have never wantonly destroyed many red squir- 
rels, nor wished that their numbers were any less. They 
store up provender when it is plenty, and they are well 
able to forage for a living when it is scarce. Their diet 
consists of a great variety of food, and if nothing better 
is found they can live on the buds of the willow and 
soft maple; and mushrooms or toadstools are their de- 
light. They are the most lively and active of all squir- 
rels, and arc out in the coldest days of the Northern 
winters, when they are found in the beech and maple 
woods and in pine and hemlock forests, and they are 
plenty in butternut groves. I believe that red and black 
squirrels are not found in this State. Antler. 
Bluetirds and Robins Winter in Connecticwt. 
Hamden, Conn., Feb. 27. —Editor Forest and Stream: 
I send you a few sprigs of swamp, or pussy, willow. 
Their velvet buds will show that spring is coming, and 
I send them as that glorious season's first harbinger. 
I cut them in a small swamp to-day — a place where the 
cold never seems intense, and where bluebirds and rob- 
ins live the year around. It is an indisputable fact that 
nearly all individuals consider the bluebird the first har- 
binger of spring. In this vicinity, however, I have 
abundantly proved, to my own satisfaction, that this 
notion is an extremely erroneous one. During the past 
three winters I have closely observed this cheerful little 
warbler, and can emphatically declare that some of them 
stay with us through the coldest weather. Especially 
through this winter have I kept a vigilant watch upon 
them, and the results of my observations have afforded 
me considerable gratification. Not only have I seen 
them whenever I felt so inclined, but I have heard their 
warble, at some time, in every month since winter com- 
menced. 
One warm day about the middle of January a robin 
perched himself in the top of an apple tree near the 
house and regaled us with a burst of melody. 
Sorne Sunday near the last of April, after, the frost 
has disappeared and the cowslips are in blossom, some 
hibernating, petty city politician will break away from 
the side entrance of his favorite saloon, don his new 
spring suit and sally forth to the outskirts of his politi- 
cal bailiwick; here he will hear a bluebird warble. He 
vyill then hustle back and disclose the astonishing intel- 
ligence to some eight-dollar-a-week reporter on one of 
the city dailies. Then the electrifying news will be 
heralded far and near that "Councilman So-and-so saw 
the first bluebird of the season to-day. Spring is surely 
with us." 
I simply judge from established precedent in this vi- 
cinity. William H. Avis. 
Intimations of Spring. 
MiLHURST, N. J., March s— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The vernal migration of the avian hosts is fairly on 
throughout this section, as one can at almost any 
time see large flocks of both crow and red-wing black- 
birds, and also robins in considerable numbers; besides, 
the bluebirds are coming fully up to their old-time num- 
bers, seemingly. Many of the ground birds and the 
bush_ birds are also here. A great many meadowlarks 
live in this part of the State — more in proportion than 
in any other district that I have ever been in. 
Along the brookside the spathe of that highly odor- 
ous harbinger of spring in the vegetable world in this 
latitude— skunk cabbage (Symplocarpns foetidus) — is al- 
ready out in its full size and beauty. By the way, there-, 
are more points of beauty in the spathe— yes, and in the 
leaves also — of that plant than many who are admirers 
of plant-life, and others who are supposed to be well 
versed m botany, are aware of. Catkins on the willows 
also are out— another sign that sprins?, with all its floral 
attractions, will soon be with us. A. L. L 
The Third Linnean Society Lecture. 
The third Linnaean Society lecture in the American 
Museum will be delivered by Mr. Ernest Seton Thomp- 
son on March 17. It was provisionally entitled "Mam- 
mals of North America. It should have been "A Pic- 
turesque ^ View of Some of the Mammals of North 
America." The lecture is to be limited practically to the 
mammals of the Yellowstone Park, and is to be fully il- 
lustrated with lantern slides of sketches and photographs 
taken there last summer by Mr. Thompson. The slides 
will illustrate: Tracks in the-snow; tracks in the dust- 
dogs, gophers and coyotes; beavers and their work' 
bands of elk; the bears of the Park; the gray wolf 
hunting; trapping the gray wolf. 
.u^^i^- lectures were by Prof. D. G. Elliott, of 
the Field Museum, and Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the 
American Museum. The final lecture, April 7, will be 
ture ' * Mernam, of the Department of Agricul- 
Early Springf Birds. 
New York.- While walking along the West Drive of 
Central Park on Feb. 26 I saw, close to the smaller res- 
ervoir, a flock of white-throated sparrows. They were in 
tull song, and allowed me to get quite near them 
Is this not rather early for them? 
I had heard song sparrows in the same neighborhood 
on Feb. 17. Wm. Coffin Dornin, Jr. 
Take inventory of the good things in this issue of 
Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was given 
last week. Count on what is to come next week 
Was there ever in all the world a more abundant 
weekly store of sportsmen's reading? 
The Forest akd Stream is put to press each week on 
Tuesday. Correspondence intended for puUication 
should reach us at the latest by Monday, and as much 
^arlier as practicable. 
§n^e §ag md 0mu 
Non-Resident Licenses. 
Friends in the West recently told me of certain ^ex- 
periences which they had while on a shooting trip in 
JNorth Dakota. The questions involved were of so much 
mterest to me that I went to some trouble to look them 
up, and I now venture to send to the Fore.st and 
Stream the results of the search. 
My friends' experiences were connected with the tak- 
ing out of permits for shooting, which is made neces- 
sary by recent legislation in North Dakota, and which 
in the case of non-resident sportsmen has a tendency 
toward making a lean purse. 
. The legislation to which reference has just been made 
IS so important that perhaps it will be best to quote at 
length from the statutes. The North Dakota statute 
is as loJlows: 
hl'f^'^L °l w°''*'' JJ^-J^ota, 1897, page 128, Section 1643: It shaU 
be unlawful or any person to hunt, kill or wound in this State 
any of the wild anirnals or birds mentioned in Section 7677 of the 
Ivev.sed Codes of North Dakota, as amended, without haviL^ firs? 
obtained a permit as hereinafter provided fo-, which permTshal 
be subject to inspection by any person upon den and and an v 
^fTl,-^!?'^""^ ''^"y °] provisions of this section is gull ^ 
of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall he 
not less than $20 nor more than $50, or may be iniprisoned in 
he county jail not more than thirty days, or may be subfect to 
^eft1on'l644^ tI' permit must first be obtained^ ^ 
nerm « ^I""^" .^•''V''^ ^yA^dm shall cause forms of sucli 
^S%IVo?th^?)Sa;^'^S!]nt?ff ^^^f^^^J^^iy ^^^jonlp: 
Dakota' unde^r°tt nro°'^-' ''Z'^^ licensef to hunt in North 
fhl^^lf ( A provisions and cond t bns of the same laws 
ne'.7lft'ertht"iat'e° of ?Sit ^"'"'^•i"^ -^Jl^'^^*'^ day of ^Decembe? 
ferable ^ °^ ^^'^ P^""™'*' ^^'^ P^^'t is non-trans- 
A^it'or. ' °f ' 189- , County 
Section 16-15: The county auditor shall fill out and issuf nnp 
any non-resident who may own cultivated And, ^r^U^"^ ^^^^ 
onif°o-irt1r ^o^'Z/''}^^^ i^ 
resident is the owner of the lanX so^cuTt^^^^^ '^^J^' 
approval. Approved Feb 26 1897 ' ''"'^ ^'"''^^^ 
r-J^'^ °^ North Dakota, Section 7677 
referred to above, mentions prairie chickSis nrnnVtM 
pTer ■ 4 irdudc^' ^^r''' '"^^^ ^-ser^oTdcoS' 
^iZl ' I ] duck, wild goose or brant, buffalo elk 
deer, antelope, caribou or mountain sheep ' ' 
is ^"follows?*"*' °" "'""''■^ South Dakota 
^.Sess^ion Laws of Scuth^D^^^^^^^^^ pa.e 184, Chapter 66, Sec 
resident and citizen of the Stat/orc;^^^^^^ ^ fide 
wp— ^^^^^^^ 
in fhe. „"uX?'of =,t.. J^^tf^S^ .t^"-^ 
our present discussion. In order to bring the fac s 
S's°e or-rr °f the sue in the 
case ot Geer against Connecticut " 
ii^iiiSiS&S^Sn^ 
«L'rcf'llfJi.TinlMerrsr;s'°;?c",!l'=^? 
clause" in tbf. T7<^io,-oi V • ^ °* commerce 
I^Jwhich says: Constitution, Section 8 of Article 
"The Congress shall have power to re<^uhte mm 
LTJwiJ^^^JilTnK^^^^^^^^^^ 
vLle%S;b'i\tr United State.™ burdoJin- 
lon to he - ^ ^'^^'^ °^ Constitu- 
tfilo'^w referred to shortly. In spite of 
this difference between our case and the Geer c-i.e 
the opinion of Mr Justice White will throw Sat Sht 
I am sure, upon the problem which confronts us ^ ' 
anli^yj^rietrtirsf - ' -^^^^^^ - 
