May 21, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
406 
The Hosts of the Birds. 
New Jersey. — Editor Forest and Stream: Having con- 
siderable leisure time at this season of the year, I put in 
the greater part of it in strolling around through the 
woods and fields and along the streams, or else paddling 
or floating in my canoe upon the mill ponds in this 
vicinity. My wife often says that I was cut out more 
for a good-for-nothing wood loafer or a savage than 
for a civilized being; and often I think so myself. 
While ofif in my canoe on Saturday three weeks ago — 
a very pleasant day it happened to be — I shot a very 
large hawk, measuring nearly 5ft. from tip to tip of its 
wings — the' largest bird of that species ever shot in this 
section of the State, so several of the local gunners who 
saw it said. 
But I write this to let you know of the great abun- 
dance of bird life here this spring. I do not recollect 
that I ever saw in any other time and place so many of 
the perchers as during the last few weeks — robins, blue- 
birds, larlcs, purple grackles, red-wing blackbirds, cat- 
birds, thrushes, chewinks, little ground and bush birds, 
and others, in great numbers. 
Let one go around through the fields and he will 
hear and see them in all directions; the same in the 
woods. While I am paddlmg or floating along by the 
shores of the ponds around here the birds swarm among 
the bushes along the shores in myriads, warbling and 
nest building. 
Around the house are quite a number of very large 
and tall white pine trees, and I should judge that not 
less than fifty and perhaps a hundred purple grackles 
(crow blackbirds) are nesting among the branches. Just 
at the peep of day I can hear their matin warblings or 
gabblings, making a regular pandemonium of bird notes, 
from the tree tops, and while they are flying from and 
to their nests. Many robins also are nesting among 
the other trees and the buildings. 
After thinking the matter over I have xome to the 
conclusion that the present abundance of bird life is 
owing to the strict laws enacted in many of our States 
protecting the perchers, and I find that in dififerent parts 
of the State where I have been the laws relating to the 
smaller birds are almost wholly respected; for I have not 
known this spring of any one, either man or boy, killing 
or mainiing even one bird of the protected species, or 
disturbing their nests in any known way. 
I think the people, both old and young, are learning 
more and more each year about the benefits arising 
from the greater abundance of bird life, and are one 
and all taldng a much greater interest than formerly 
in the protection of oitr little feathered friends. 
A. L. L. 
Florida Drought and Alligators. 
Mr. E. J. Watson, who came up in the schooner 
Veatless from Chatham Bend last Saturday, says the 
unprecedented drought still continues. The Big Cy- 
press, on which water most always stands, has gone dry. 
The gator hunters are the only ones who appear to 
profit by the drought, as they are enabled to slaughter 
thousands of gators in the Big Cj'press. G. W. Storter, 
who keeps a store near ChuckalUskee, has shipped 5,000 
gator hides since Feb. i last. — Fort Myers Press, May 5. 
\mri^ ^nq mid ^nn. 
on Alligator 
Roostin* Turkeys 
Gully, 
After Prince was unharnessed and given his foddfer— 
a bundle of cornstalks — I proposed that we make camp, 
but Skinner said "no, if we was goin' ter roost them 
tukkies 'twas time to be on the move." We had out- 
spanned on the banks of Alligator Gully, just before it 
entered Cypress Swamp, about seven miles from Skin- 
ner's place in the fiatwoods of South Florida, and about 
that distance from any house. Time, an hour before 
sunset. We had come out to "roost" turkeys and "run" 
deer. The first named is the favorite method of the 
native hunters for taking this noble fowl, and is founded 
on a careful study of its habits. The birds feed by day 
in the uplands and prairies, on pine mast, acorns and the 
like, and toward sunset repair to their roost, generally 
a thicket in some almost inaccessible swamp, which they 
have occupied for generations. The particular roost 
we were to watch was an island of thick pines in Cypress 
Swamp, a jungle of giant cypress, small bay and live 
oak, palmetto, vines and plants, and covered with water 
and mud about mid leg deep. 
We took our fowling pieces, one barrel loaded with 
nine buckshot, the other with smaller turkey shot, 
crossed the Gully, and followed a trail made by wild 
cattle and deer along the edge of the swamp. Presently 
my guide halted. "We're about opposite the roost," 
lie said. "You sit here and I'll go farther up. When the 
tukkies cross this open space a-gittin' to their roost is 
the time to take 'em." This "open space" lay between 
the swamp and the palmetto scrub of the upland, and was 
about two rods wide. I took my seat on a cypress boll 
and waited. The red sun sank in the smoky October 
haze of a southern winter. Crows flew cawing about, 
and one settled in a pine just over me; a kingfisher lit 
upon a dead tree over a stagnant pool on my right and 
uttered his sharp, peculiar cry. I waited and watched. 
By and by in the twilight I heard a great pother among 
the crows on the bank of the Gully below me; there 
seemed to be something there which they decidedly ob- 
jected to, and they darted and circled about, filling the 
air with their discordant cawings. The next moment a 
gaunt gray body came loping up the trail toward me 
as lightly as a feather; it stood as high as a dog, and 
there was a purring, expectant expression on its coun- 
tenance, as if it were saying to itself, "Now very soon I 
will have a good fat rabbit or turkey for my supper." 
When about 30ft. away it scented me, stopped, crouched 
and Ipokpd jnp directly in the eye as I stood with gup 
4 
leveled at it. There was an inquiring expression on 
the brute's face, as if asking, "What sort of creature 
is this, and is it good to eat, I wonder?" However, it did 
not have long to speculate, for the next instant two buck- 
shot were in its brain, and two more in its spinal col- 
umn, and it sank down and died without a struggle ;_ in 
fact, it died so quiet!}'' that I suspected it was crouching 
to spring on me, as I approached, and slipped another 
cartridge in my gun before doing so. About this time 
Skinner, who had heard the gun, came up, and together 
we approached the quarry, which proved to be a full 
grown wildcat, one of the largest. Skinner said, he had 
ever seen. These creatures are common in Florida,, but 
are rarely seen, as they hunt by night, and lie in their 
dens by day; sometimes, however, the hunter's dog routs 
them out; if the latter is alone the cat will fight and whip 
him, but if his master is near it will usually take to the 
nearest tree, where he shoots it at his leisure. As to 
whether the cat will attack a man or not, there is a dif- 
ference of opinion among the native hunters, some say- 
ing that he will not; others that he will when rendered 
desperate by hunger, especially if the man is carrying 
meat. 
I said to Skinner that I should always regard the crow 
as' a friend hereafter, for having warned me of the ap- 
proach of the cat. 
"I've often heard 'em make that row over a snake," 
said he. "Three of the largest diaman' backs (rattle- 
snakes) I ever killed the crows helped me too in that 
way, an' I've known 'em git a coon in a tree an' torment 
him most to death that way. It's pure mischief on 
their part, I reckon, for the cat never troubles 'em." 
We went back to camp carrying the cat between us. 
and after svtpper skinned it by the light of the camp-fire. 
Skinner was a veteran hunter arTd cowboy, and I was 
curious to learn from him their method of making 
camp. First he built a fire of "fat wood" (pitch pine), 
so abundant in the flatwoods, using a fallen tree for a 
back log. Then from the wagon produced a side of 
bacon, a bag of sweet potatoes, coflfee, bread, sugar, 
spoons, knives and forks, tin cups, a frying pan, and a 
small tin pail to serve as coffee pot. Water from the 
Gully was put in the pail and it was set on the coals 
to boil, the sweet potatoes were ranged around the edge 
of the fire to roast, and slices of bacon cut and put into 
the pan to fry; when the water boiled coffee was put 
into it; the potatoes, turned at the right moment, baked 
quicker than one would have thought possible, and in 
a very short time an appetizing, if rude, meal was placed 
before us on newspapers spread on the ground. When 
we had eaten and the debris cleared away, we heaped 
up a plentiful supply of firewood and pine knots, skinned 
the cat, lighted our pipes and sat with our feet to the 
fire, while Skinner told hunting stories, and I listened. 
"Are there really any deer and turkeys in these 
woods?" I asked. 
"Plenty of 'em," he replied. "There's just as good 
tukky signs in that swamp as I want, but they're hunted 
so much they're mighty shy; I reckon that danged wagon 
scart 'em, an' your gun finished the Job. I allow they'll 
roost to-night at the no'th end o' Cypress, an' we'll 
have a chance at 'em in the mornin'. I calculate to get a 
deer afore noon too, because Riley Jacobs is comin' 
out in the mornin,' an' his Ring is jest the best dog for 
deer in the flatwoods; a slow trailer, don't git too far 
ahead, so when he jumps the deer you're there to shoot." 
"How many deer did you ever shoot at one time?" 
I asked, to keep the conversation moving, for Skinner 
was a dreatny sort of man, and inclined to lapse into 
reverie unless jogged a little. 
"How many deer?" he replied. "Three" — after think- 
ing a while. "You see, at certain times o' the year the 
deer separate, the bucks bunching together and the does 
keepin' to themselves. One day I saw through the pal- 
metto three bucks lying down with their heads toward 
me and fired and killed the three at one shot. I killed 
one onct without seein' him; it happened this a way: 
I was goin' through the scrub an' saw one git up to 
change sides, an* then lie down again. I fired at him 
an* he lay still; I mistrusted there was another, an* 
walked up with the other barrel ready, but he didn't 
jump, an' pretty quick I cum on him dead too. My 
shot had killed him and his mate both." 
It was past 9 and bedtime in the woods. We had gath- 
ered pine boughs for bedding before the daylight faded; 
over these Skinner spread the canvas cloth used as a 
cover for his wagon, with the sheep skin and sacking 
that formed the wagon cushion, and a quilt, and our 
bed was ready; then wrapping our blankets about us we 
laid down to rest. How black the forest was outside of 
the circle cast by our fire, and save the occasional hoot 
of an owl, and a deep booming sound that Skinner said 
was made by the sandhill crane, a profound silence 
reigned. My companion dropped ofif to sleep quickly, 
and his sonorous snores shook the forest. I lay and 
dozed awhile, trying to fit the projecting portions of 
my anatomy into the yielding pine boughs, and then I 
too slept. About i We both awoke from the extreme 
cold; the fire had died down, and a stratum of cold air 
seemed to have settled on the earth, as is often the case 
in Florida. We rose, and with the axe chopped down 
dead spines of pines laden with turpentine, piled them 
upon the fire, and in a few moments had a sheet of flame 
soaring almost to the tree tops, then lay down_ and slept 
again. I was next awakened by Skinner's moving about. 
The first faint rays of light were breaking in the east. 
"I'm goin' after tukkies," said he. "Will ye go?" 
As it included a mile tramp through mud and water 
up to o'ne's knees over tussocks frequented by the 
treacherous mocassin, I said I would stay at home and 
mind the camp. A little after sunrise, a cheery voice said 
"Good morning," and looking up there stood Riley 
Jacobs, the most renowned hunter in the flatwoods, with 
his dog Ring at his heels. He had got up at 4 and 
Avalked in through the darkness from his place, five miles 
distant, following his own trail through the forest; how 
he did it I can't imagine; it must be a seventh sense. 
"I should 'a' been heah afore," he said apologetically, 
"but that ther' Ring, he jumped a coon in Blue Heron 
Swamp: he couldn't muckle him, an' he woiildn't leave 
him, so I had to wade out an' shoot the critter to git 
the dog. The varmint looked as if he'd like to get away 
mighty well when he see me comin', but 'twa'n't no use," 
and he sat down ajid lifted Up heels to get the wate^" 
out of his shoes. As he is a type of his class, allow me 
to sketch Riley Jacobs. He is short, thin and wiry, with 
tanned and sallow face, and wears an old, black, slouch 
wool hat, a woollen shirt, pants of strong woollen cloth 
held up by a leather v belt in which _ are pockets for 
twenty-six cartridges, and stout plantation brogans. His 
face is unshaven, and he talks with the slow drawl pe- 
culiar to the Florida backwoodsman. Jacobs is a Soft- 
Shell Baptist, and has an excellent reputation among his 
fellows. His dog Ring is also worthy of being limned; 
a thin, bony, long-legged, bob-tailed mongrel, with such 
an alert, intelligent, friendly expression in his keen gray 
eyes that one's heart unconsciously Avarms to him; he 
is the best deer and bear dog in the country, as his mas- 
ter is the best hunter. 
Skinner comes in presently, with a fine fat gobbler 
on his shoulder, and finds a good fire and the water boil- 
ing for coffee. 
"Ain't been to breakfast, hev ye, Riley?" he asks. 
"No, I ain't," was the reply. "Got up at quarter ov 
four an' lit out. Was plowin' in co'n all day yesterday, 
an' cum night was plum' tired. Thort I'd rather sleep 
ter hum an' cum out in ther mornin'." 
Breakfast dispatched, we set out after deer — Skinner, 
Jacobs, Ring and myself. The Florida hunter has sev- 
eral ways of taking the pretty creatures, as still-hunting, 
fire-hunting, etc., but the one chiefly depended on is 
to jump them with dogs. The deer feeds by night, and 
at daylight seeks some thick hamak or bay head, and 
lies there concealed all day. The hunter puts his dog 
on the track of the deer, which follows it to its lair, 
starts it up, and the hunter shoots it as it jumps or 
rushes forth. This is the whole art and mystery of jump- 
ing deer as practiced in Florida. 
We crossed some pine barrens and came upon one of 
the prettiest landscapes I had seen in the South — a wide 
prairie filled with bayheads or islands, here of bay or gum 
with green, glossy, shining leaves; there of cypress, 
which, shedding its leaves in autumn, stood up gaunt 
and bare, except for its covering of fleecy white moss. 
How large the prairie was I know not, but the islands 
extended rank beyond rank into "the rich heart of the 
West." Skirting this prairie we advanced about a mile; 
then Jacobs halted, and pointing to a spot of green in 
the piney woods to the south, said, "You see the bay 
head yonder? I'm a-going' to put Ring in here at Blue 
Hills Swamp. If he jumps a deer an' I don't drop him 
he'll be sure to run across that neck, one side or other, 
of that bay head, an' one of ye wants to sit on one side 
an' one on t'other, an' take him as he jumps." 
"All right," said Skinner. 
To reach our posts we had to cross a piece of marsh 
covered with long grass, and here we flushed snipe 
after snipe, which got up in most tempting proximity, 
but we were loaded for deer, and manfully withstood the 
temptation to fire. Concealing ourselves behind trees 
we waited and watched a half hour or so, but no welcome 
bark of Ring announced that he had started a deer, and 
presently hunter and dog appeared bedraggled from the 
swamp; they had seen nothing. 
"We'll try Alligator Gully," said Jacobs. This was the 
stream our camp was on, but we were now above, 
toward its source. Its banks were a pei-fect jungle of 
saw palmetto, bay, huckleberry and blackberry bushes 
and gum, and wet and marshy. 
"Just the place for moccasins," said I. 
"Yes," replied Skinner. In point of fact I had looked 
for rattlesnake or moccasin before putting my foot down 
all the morning, but the men strode along with their 
eyes on the dog, seemingly careless of consequences. 
I too looked at the dog; he seemed to have struck a 
fresh trail, for his stump of a tail wagged vigorously, 
and he snuffed eagerly as he ran through the thicket, 
doubling and twisting on his track; at length he leaped 
into the air once, twice, as if to get his bearings, and 
then darted into the thicker portion of the jungle on 
the banks of the Gully. The next moment we heard a 
whistle from Skinner, who had taken the opposite side, 
and saw two fine deer skipping over the barrens light 
as air. their antlers up and their white tails curled over 
their backs; the wind had blown from us to them and 
they had winded us before we were near enough for the 
dog to jump them. After that we beat Alligator Gully 
back to camp, but saw no more deer. As we approached 
a flock of buzzards got up and flew heavily away. They 
had cleaned every vestige of flesh from the carcass of 
the wildcat that had been thrown on one side after skin- 
ning the night before. Not a sign of one had been vis- 
ible when we left camp. How they discover so quickly 
the presence of dead meat, whether by sight or smell, 
was a question neither Skinner nor Jacobs could answer. 
"But they git ther' powerful quick," added the latter. 
"Ther' was q. man out on Peace River last summer got 
thunder struck, an' before anybody could "git ter him the 
buzzards had picked his eyes out." 
Chas. Burk Todd. 
Ctiffittick Sound, ' 
Currituck Sound, May 10.— Judge Robert C. Cor- 
nell and Mr. John White spent a part of last week at 
the Currituck Sound Shooting Club. The migratory 
flight of yellowlegs and curlew was large, and the bags 
made were good ones. Wednesday they kflled 170, 
mostly large yellowlegs, with a sprinkling of curlew 
and dowitchers; Thursday 72, and Friday 121 of the 
same kind. It was a beautiful lot of birds, and afforded 
keen sport. But when the judge found that the hen 
birds were full of eggs, he decided to give up spring 
shooting, which does seem wicked, when one considers 
how many more this 363 snipe would have brought 
back with them in the fall. . t,t \r 1 
I am glad to see you have a law in New York 
which prevents the sale of game in New York after the 
first of May. This will save many thousands of birds 
here, as the nearby markets, Norfolk and other South- 
ern cities, are too small to use many of them, conse- 
quently the gunners cannot dispose of them. 
The flight of Eskimo curlew still continues, and has 
been larger than I ever knew before; redbreast plover 
(robin snipe) are just beginning to come, and like gray 
backs (dowitchers) will be abundant until about June 15. 
