106 
movements, amid the darkness which' shrouds their 
hours of exercise and refreshment. I know of no other 
bird nor mammal so strictly and absolutely nocturnal 
as these kiwis. Most owls are sometimes seen in full 
light of day, and even the bat comes out in twilight, but 
apteryx creeps forth only when twilight has faded into 
deep darkness, and retires again to his straw nest at the 
first suggestion of coming dawn; and when, on occa- 
sions, they are lifted out into the sunlight, some degree 
of force is required to control them, and the instant 
haste of their retreat when released has in it something 
indescribably ludicrous. 
Of the two species represented by the pictures, Apteryx 
mantelli is the larger, being some 22 to 24111. in extreme 
l'ength; the bill being about sin. and the tarsus about 
3in. ; the color being in general a reddish brown. 
Apteryx oweni is smaller, not exceeding 14m. in length, 
and is grayish brown, banded and spotted with white. 
The former species inhabits the North Island of New 
Zealand, while oweni is known only from the eastern part 
of the South Island. 
By no means least among the anomalies of these 
strange creatures is the fact that the unfortunate female 
— upon whom it would appear that some Pliocene fore- 
shadowing of the curse of Genesis must have rested — is 
condemned to produce an egg weighing nearly one- 
fourth as much as herself and having one-fifth of her 
linear dimensions, 
Arthur Erwin Brown. 
Zoological Gardens, Philadelphia, July 11. 
As to Grasshoppers. 
During my sojourn in Nebraska twenty years ago I 
had the good fortune to witness a flight of grasshoppers, 
of which I had heard so much in the East, of their 
destructiveness and dreaded visitations. The ground, 
fences, trees, houses, in fact everything that had an out- 
side, was in a manner covered with them. 
It was interesting, if not amusing, to see them like 
flakes of snow rising before pedestrians in Omaha. 
Wells were covered to keep them out, and along the 
shores of the Missouri millions of them were struggling 
and drowning. Their flight would begin about g o'clock 
in the forenoon, and continue for perhaps six hours. 
What I want to call attention to is the great distance one 
can see these little marauders. That they can be seen 
a mile or more away I think I can clearly show. The 
miscroscopists tell us that of the largest spider's thread 
it would take 10,000 to make the size of a human hair. 
The reader, as well as I, has doubtless seen a spider's 
thread floating high in the air 100yds. away, when it 
was in such a position as to reflect the sun's rays to the 
eye. I have seen a spider's thread floating from a tele- 
graph pole 120 paces distant. I suppose I could have 
seen it much further than that. The thread was clean, 
no dew nor dust on it. The wings of the grasshopper 
will reflect many thousand times the number of rays 
that a spider's thread will. During a flight of hoppers 
not one could be seen in looking away from the sun, 
which showed that they were pretty high. But when I 
looked toward the sun, myriads of them were revealed. 
The insects darting around the electric lights give some 
idea of the appearance of the hoppers between one and 
the sun. The lower stratum seemed to be hundreds of 
yards high, through which were seen far beyond the 
glistening wings of the migrating hosts, more than a 
mile distant. It was an interesting sight. Perhaps the 
hopper himself was not distinguirfiable, but the light 
from his wings was seen, and in common parlance I 
saw a grasshopper one full mile away. 
N. D, Elting. 
%tt\e md %nn. 
Bluish-Greenish Gray. 
From ioo to 200ft. acr-oss, covered with small mesquite, 
cacti and loose stones of volcanic origin, the draw lies 
before us. On either hand rise steep hills, gray, lifeless 
and barren, except for the same mesquite, cacti and 
stone. Not a drop of water is in sight, and the late fall 
sun is beating fiercely down from a cloudless sky, as 
it always does in this country 300 out of the 365 days 
in the year. Gray is the prevailing tone; the stones are 
gray, the mesquite likewise, and even the «acti are more 
gray' than green. Now that we note closely, the sky itself 
is of a grayish blue shade that seems to be but a reflec- 
tion of this draw. Yet we know from experience that 
the game we have come for, the little Mexican or blue 
quail, makes its home in just such places as this. 
We have no dogs with us, for dogs are useless on this 
game, as the birds rarely lie to. cover, and they would 
soon be incapacitated from lack of water, so they have 
been left at home. 
Something is moving about the foot of that larger mes- 
quite bush— yes, it's a quail; in fact, there are several 
of them, and as we rapidly approach they resolve into a 
bunch of some thirty or thirty-five, excitedly moving 
about close together. Now in hunting the Mexican 
quail it is necessary to do some running, as will de- 
velop later on. We may just as well make a beginning 
now, so strike a dog-trot with me and let's see how 
close we can get to them before they take to the air. 
Here we are at 40yds. The temptation to take a pot-shot 
at the bunch is strong, but that is not our style — there 
they go now, and at the crack of the guns three birds fall 
out, while the rest scatter out over the draw head of us. 
No dogs to retrieve for us, so we seek dead ourselves. 
There is no trouble in finding the first bird, but what 
has become of that second bird of yours? You saw him 
drop just about there, but he does not seem to be in 
sight now, and you have looked carefully around that 
spot for half a minute, and he ought to be right there — 
a'nd so he is; you have had your eye on him a half- 
dozen times, but his colors blended so harmoniously 
with the soil and stone — bluish-greenish gray — that you 
overlooked him. This is not the last time you will ex- 
perience difficulty in finding the dead birds. 
Let's see what sort of birds we have shot. They are 
somewhat different from our old friend Bob White. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
About the same size, you would say, but that is be- 
cause you have been shooting in the. North. Color is 
not near so brown as Bob; in fact, almost the only 
brown about them is of a rusty shade, marking the edges 
of the back feathers and those of the head, the latter 
mounted by a well defined crest, whose feathers are 
from % to Im - long. The wings have a light brown 
cast to them; the body appears to be more of a bluish 
gray than anything else. They are rather pretty little 
birds nevertheless, and have bright black eyes. 
But our cursory glance at the birds has given the 
bunch time to get some distance ahead of us, and if we 
expect to see them again we must get a move on. A 
hundred-yard dash at a good clip, and we are among 
them again. Now comes our best shooting. As several 
get up before us we single our birds and bring them to 
grass in good style. Hastily gathering dead, we do 
some sprinting worthy of a professional, for we know 
that the birds will not settle down at the end of their 
flight, but keep going, doing a little sprinting on their 
own account, and if you do not think they are good at 
it, just follow us while we let out another notch. It 
is not a short run this time, as the birds are keeping 
ahead of us and we must cover 300yds. before getting 
within range. But we see our birds ahead scooting in 
and out among the mesquite bushes and cacti, and as 
one, hard pressed, takes to the air, I get a fine single on 
him, and at the report the others are alarmed and get 
uo. scattering in front. A crack or two and they are all 
out of sight again, scattering badly, while many have 
taken to the steep sides of the gray hills. 
Not much chance of getting more good shots, but we 
proceed leisurely ahead, keeping a sharp lookout for 
stragglers. There seem to be none left, but there 
ought to be at least one — whir-r-r-r-r ! Right behind us 
too; almost stepped on him; the little cuss must have 
been hidden behind the broad leaf of that cactus or 
that prickly pear; but if we want him it is time' to pull 
down on him, as he is fast getting away. Hardly know 
where to look for the next one, but we'll keep good 
lookout for a stray. Ah, there's one, just out of range! 
Now comes the tug of war, for we must see who is the 
better runner. No telling when we can put him up, as 
he will try to keep just so far ahead, we might as well 
take it easy at first and let out gradually as we go. How 
the little fellow runs, dodging in and out among obstruc- 
tions, and all the time keeping an eye on his pursuer. 
Guess he must have been deceived by our gait, for we 
are gaining on him; yes, are almost within gunshot; 
but it will be necessary to let loose some more steam if 
we expect to get near enough for a shot, and we let out 
another notch. That last 100yds, must have been done 
pretty lively, as we have gained on him considerably, and 
he is in fair range, if he only would get into the air, but — 
what! a four foot, thorny mesquite right in front! We 
can't stop and go around; 'twould cost too much time; 
only one thing to do: Take it like any other hurdle, 
thorns and all. As we land on the other side the extra 
maneuver seems to have frightened the little chap, and 
with a sudden bound he is in the air and nearly out of 
range. No time to stop, so as we soar over an ugly spiked 
cactus a snap shot is taken, with the result of a clean 
kill, and the satisfaction Of that last shot more than pays 
for the exertion of a quarter-mile run in the hot, dry, 
thin air, after one poor lone little blue quail. 
Such about is blue quail hunting in New Mexico; and 
each succeeding covey started would be but a repetition 
of the story of description. I know of no other bird in 
the hunting of which the peculiar attributes of the 
sprinter are needed so much as in the chase of the Mex- 
ican or blue quail, for it is more of a chase than a hunt. 
I think I would recommend, as an outfit for the quail 
hunter in this country, as fitting and almost necessary, a 
pair of spiked runner's shoes, bicycle cap, and for nether 
garments i8in. armor plate guaranteed to resist pene- 
tration by mesquite thorns and cactus spikes. And above 
all a record as a sprinter of 10 1-5 seconds for 100yds. 
E. A. Hersperger, C, E. 
Eddv, New Mexico. 
Indian Mode of Hunting. 
II, — Lynx. 
Snaring is the principal way in which the lynxes are 
killed by the North American Indians. After a heavy 
fall of snow, however, if an Indian crosses a fresh lynx 
track, he immediately gives chase, even if he has only 
his belt axe. 
The hunter only follows very fresh tracks, and in 
a short time comes up with the big cat. As soon as the 
animal knows it is pursued, it either climbs a tree or 
crouches under some thick shrub. If the hunter finds it 
up a tree, he sets to work at once to cut down the tree 
(that is if he has no gun). As soon as the tree totters he 
makes his way in the direction which it is to fall. The 
lynx clings to the tree until near the ground, and then 
springs clear. While he is floundering in the snow, the 
Indian bravely runs in and knocks him with his axe. Of 
course, if he has his gun, he simply shoots the cat and 
it tumbles dead to the foot of the tree. The feat of run- 
ning down a lynx and shooting him with a bow and 
arrow is what all Indian youths aim to accomplish; they 
are then considered hunters. 
Lynxes are always found in greatest numbers where 
their natural food supply is most plentiful. They feed 
usually on rabbits and partridges, and these are to be 
found in young growth of such trees as pitch pine, birch 
and poplar. 
The Indian also, when he is dependent on rabbits, 
lives on the border of such a country, and has long 
lines of snares which he visits two or three times a 
week. Along this snare road at certain distances he has 
his lynx snafes, which are nothing different from those 
set for rabbits, except being much larger. Yes, there is 
another difference: Instead of the snare being tied 
to a tossing pole, it is simply tied to a stout birch stick, 
3 or 4ft. long by about 2in. in diameter. The extreme 
ends of this are lodged on two forked sticks, and the 
snare hanging down in the middle is then set, tied to 
small dry twigs on each side to keep it in position. 
At the back of the snare, at about 2 or 3ft., the 
head and stuffed skin of a rabbit is fixed under some 
brush. The skin is filled with moss, or pine brush, and 
[Aug. 6, 1898. 
is fixed so as to look as much as possible like a live 
rabbit in its form. The head being to the skin gives it 
the natural shape and smell, and the lynx, walking 
leisurely along the snowshoc track, notices the game and 
makes a spring for it through the snare. In his headlong 
bound he carries snare and cross stick along with him, 
and as soon as he feels the cord tightening about his 
neck he not infrequently becomes his- own executioner 
by getting his forefeet on the stick and pulling back- 
wards as hard as he can. The more he struggles, the 
madder he gets, and pulls the harder to free himself, but 
this is, on the contrary, only making matters worse. The 
loop of the noose gets matted into the soft, thick hair 
of the throat, and there is no "slack" after that; in a 
few moments the great cat is dead. 
Sometimes the lynx carries the cross stick in his mouth 
and climbs a tree. This is invariably the last tree he 
ever climbs, because once ttp the tree he lets the stick 
drop and it hangs down, generally on the opposite side 
of the limb from that on which the lynx is. As the cat 
goes down the tree on one side, the cross stick goes up 
toward the limb on the other and gets fixed in the 
crotch. As soon as the cord tightens about his neck he 
tries the harder to get down, and is consequently hang- 
ing himself. 
Lynxes are very stupid. They will even put their foot 
into an open and exposed steel trap; and the better-off 
Indians often use small No. 1 traps instead of snares. 
This, however, is only done latterly, and by the very 
well-off Indians. As a rule Indians only have traps 
for beaver, otter, fox and bear. 
Lynxes are very rarely seen in summer, keeping close 
to the thickest bush. In any case, the skin is then of 
no value, and they are far from being "a thing of beauty," 
with nothing but a bare skin. 
In the prime state they are largely used on the conti- 
tent as linings, and each skin is worth about $4. 
Martin Hunter. 
Stocking with Game Birds. 
Sheldon, Vt. — Editor Forest and Stream: Blessed be 
the Forest and Stream; for besides being brimful with 
the best of information and entertainment, it oftentimes 
saves us both time and postage by enabling us by one 
letter to answer a full score of correspondents. I am 
constantly receiving letters from correspondents in all 
sections of the country making inquiries about the most 
desirable game birds to import into their respective 
localities. During my absence for a few weeks this class 
of letters has accumulated to such a number that it 
prompts me to give a brief reply through your columns, 
and if any of those interested fail to read their answer, 
their punishment is just and deserved. Moral — Read the 
Forest and Stream. 
The most desirable game birds to import into our 
country may be divided into two general classes, seed 
eaters and bud eaters, not migratory, but local in their 
habits. The seed eaters are most suitable for the range 
of country occupied by the Virginia quail, the Southern 
and Middle States, where the snow does not fall to a 
sufficient depth to cover the seed-bearing vegetation. We 
would recommend the various varieties of pheasants and 
the pinnated grouse. The Mongolian pheasant would 
be the best bird for the Middle States. If turned out in 
lots of sav five or six hens and one cock, and thorough- 
ly protected for several years — then with an open season 
say from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, and a restriction of shooting 
to only between sunrise and sunset, also the number of 
birds to four or five to each gun during the first week 
of the open season — these birds would become abundant 
even in the vicinity of the larger towns and cities. 
The bud eaters are the ones adapted for our North- 
ern States — the home of our noble ruffed grouse. In the 
heavily wooded districts the most desirable bud-eating 
game birds are the capercailzie and black cock. When 
ordering these birds, give special instructions that they 
must be delivered unmutilated — not with clipped taif 
and wings. For the farming districts the sharp-tail 
grouse would live and propagate if they could get thor- 
ough protection against the pot shooter. Early in the 
season they are easily potted while sitting on the fences; 
and during the colder months we have seen them bud- 
ding in the orchards within a few yards from the high- 
way where teams were passing every few minutes. 
We have released here in northern Vermont both 
West Virginia quail and Mongolian pheasants. The 
quail, when in parts of the country where there is sumac, 
have lived through our winters without assistance; that 
is every winter until last winter, when the extremely 
wet season during the preceding stunmer prevented the 
sumac seeds from developing, and we believe that most 
of the quail perished from lack of food. 
Our experience with the Mongolians during the past 
winter was not a pleasing one. as every bird released was 
lost, with the single exception of a hen that was picked 
up in the highway with one wing nearly severed from its 
body, caused by flying against a barb wire fence. This 
bird* is now in the aviary, sitting on a full nest of eggs. 
After the winter snows came the released pheasants 
would on pleasant days come in around the buildings 
for food. They disappeared during every storm, and 
after the storm had passed by would reappear in a nearly 
famished condition. At last, during a long continued 
storm, they made a final disappearance, and in the spring 
their feathered skeletons were found about the fence 
corners, where they had skulked, starved and frozen. 
The birds in the pens, where they had regular feed and 
water, were during the most severe weather — when it 
was 30 0 below zero — bright and lively. 
Without doubt there are other Asiatic game birds 
that would be desirable to introduce into some sections 
of our country, but as we have not had any experience 
with them we cannot speak with authority on the 
matter. In States like Vermont, where our Game Com- 
missioners have the power to appoint one or more 
wardens in each town, they could, with but little expense, 
lease large tracts, of land from the farmers for game 
preserves, where -both -imported and native game could 
breed and rear their, -yo^rg unmolested. In fact, in many 
localities this llr tTitf only way that our game can be 
saved from total extermination. The breeding grounds 
are constantly being encroached on, and the game dur- 
ing the open season is more and more persistently 
