146 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
visited the place, and as T sat by the fire in the evening I 
was greatly amused to overhear a man say to his com- 
panion: "No, he don't look it, but they say he found 
the thief stealing his horse, when he grabbed him and 
brought him into the house by main strength, and gave 
him up to the officers." In after years I found that I was 
known to about every one in the vicinity as the boy 
who captured the thief single-handed. Now I had done 
this just to see how the two men would act, with no 
thought as to ulterior results, but like many another 
who has unthinkingly performed some act that he 
thought of little importance and awakened to find him- 
self famous, I found myself a hero, and the more my 
innate modesty prompted me to disclaim any merit for the 
performance, the more did my admirers appear to think 
me deserving; in fact, this greatness was thrust upon 
me, for I do not believe that I was a born thief-taker 
and most certainly I had achieved nothing of the kind, 
so I just wore my honors meekly and received the adula- 
tion of my admirers with my accustomed modesty. 
There was one resultant feature of this episode that 
afforded me abundant pleasure and satisfaction: every' 
farmer in the whole region appeared to be pleased to 
have me shoot over his grounds, and many a sweet 
spot for birds did my good friends point out to me dur- 
ing the years that I frequented the dear old town. 
While there were no extensive covers that were well 
stocked throughout, there were little runs where grouse 
loved to stay, and many nooks and corners in the exten- 
sive alder covers where woodcock could nearly always, 
be found in proper season, while quail were fairly abun- 
dant all through this section. 
For several years the grounds in 'both Ellington and 
Tolland, together with those of Willington, were known 
to our set as the Willington grounds, but after the old 
chaparral and some of the other noted places near it 
were discovered and laid waste by the market shooters 
we sorrowfully abandoned those covers, and for a few 
years this section of country was known to us as the 
Tolland grounds, although many of our best covers were 
in the adjoining towns of Ellington, Coventry and Mans- 
field, for we had thoroughly explored a vast amount of 
good looking country in this section, and discovered 
quite a number of "favorite covers," so many, in fact, 
that we could not visit nearly all of them during the three 
or four days usually allotted to a visit to this section, but 
within a few years after we had been crowded out of the 
Willington grounds the town of Tolland became too 
densely populated with shooters to suit us, and, much 
to our regret, we were obliged to abandon many of the 
dearly loved covers that we had worked so hard to find 
and that had afforded us so many happy days of royal 
sport. Of course we did not begrudge axiy one the 
pleasure of shooting over our premises, but we did blame 
some of them for the persistent manner in which they 
haunted a favorite cover until not a feather remained, for 
utter desolation will surely follow when this course is 
pursued for a season or two. Take, for instance, the 
old chaparral. In all the years that our set shot there, 
two to four visits were all that were made in any season, 
and upon every occasion, year after year, birds were 
found there in abundance; but after two seasons, during 
which the market shooters shot it out nearly every day, 
scarcely a bird could be found within its borders, and it 
has remained barren ground to the present time. But 
the little patch previously described as the home of 
the corn stealers has not been found by these destroy- 
ers, and among its rocks and brambles a goodly number 
of birds may yet be found, at least this has been the 
case up to a few years ago, since when I have not visited 
the place. Shadow, 
[to be continued.] • 
It was very difficult at first to find something the 
young birds would eat; flies constituted their article 
of diet the first two weeks; then they would take cooked 
eggs; this was followed later by grits, bread, etc., and now 
they will eat anything other fowls will. I shall turn out 
several pairs as soon -as they are fully grown, the others 
I shall keep in captivity, so as to be better able to dis- 
tribute them. 
The young birds were gentle when first hatched, but 
are growing wilder; the old birds are the wildest I have 
ever seen. They are about the size of our native pheas- 
ant, but are a much prettier bird. 
F. W. Houston. 
Mongolian Pheasants in Virginia, 
Lexington, Va., Aug. i.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Complving with vour request, I write you of my experi- 
ence in introducing the Mongolian pheasant into Rock- 
bridge county, Va. In March, 1897, I secured two pair 
of young birds, through my friend, Col. Jno. D. Letcher, 
who was at that time located at Eugene, Oregon. The 
box or coop, in which they were shipped, was about 20111. 
square, the sides and ends were of woven wire which 
was covered with gunny sack, and a tin trough was fast- 
ened in one end. The birds were thirteen days en route, 
but were strong and healthy when received. 
They were placed, a pair each, on two secluded farms 
in a bend of North River, in woven wire coops 8X-20X3it., 
with a small house at one end to afford shelter and 
seclusion One pair was located some distance from 
the farm buildings in a grove, and no one was allowed 
to approach them except a little girl, who attended to 
feeding and watering them. This pair became reconciled 
to their situation in a few weeks, and occasionally an egg 
would be found in the coop. The irregularity m finding 
the eggs excited some interest and closer observation, 
when it was discovered that snakes were feeding on the 
eogs After a number of snakes had been killed in close 
proximity to the coop, the eggs were gathered with more 
regularity. We saved one setting of eggs, and in the ab- 
sence of something better placed them under an ordi- 
nary barnyard hen. Mv information is that the pheasant 
here will not sit in captivity. Only two of these eggs 
were hatched, and the young birds were trampled upon 
and killed by the hen. 
The other pair was placed nearer the house, in a more 
public place, and they were, if possible, wilder at the end 
of three months than when first received. They were 
then removed, their coop being placed beside the other 
pair Instead of enjoying each other's company, as was 
supposed would be the case, the male birds quarreled 
incessantly, and neither pair did any good. Since then 
I have heard that the males are desoerate fighters, that 
when two or more are confined together there will soon 
be but one left. In November one of the hens escaped; 
after unsuccessful efforts to trap her, six weeks later her 
mate was turned loose, and nothing further was heard 
from them until May, 1898, when they were seen to- 
gether. . ..... 
In May of this year the hen in captivity built a nest 
and began to lay. The first thirteen eggs gathered were 
set under a bantam hen, and there were hatched out nine 
birds; one died, and the other eight are now as large. as 
full-grown partridges, and perfectly healthy. 
Buffalo in Colorado. 
Denver, Colo., Aug. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I send you a little buffalo information, which may inter- 
est if it is second hand. If the number reported is true, it 
probably entitles Colorado to the credit of having the 
largest band of buffalo in the United States. If the "62" 
were "cows and calves," it also follows that there were 
bulls not far away in one or more small bands; probably 
altogether from fifteen to thirty of them. 
A cow belonging to the Lost Park herd was killed 
recently, and our game warden has two "prominent citi- 
zens" of Leadville under $500 bonds each to stand trial 
for the offense. 
We have a splendid buffalo bull in our city park here. 
Wm. N. Byers. 
The Republican of Aug. 2 says: Some of the early 
inhabitants of the northwestern part of the State have 
returned to view their former hunting grounds. Henry 
Schaffnitt, a reliable citizen living at Steamboat Springs, 
has written to the game warden stating that a herd of 
sixty-two buffalo cows have been discovered grazing 
within thirty-five miles of Steamboat Springs. Game 
Commissioner Swan cannot account for the appearance 
of the herd, as it was not seen previous to the present 
time, and buffalo are becoming so scarce that an actual 
count of the number in the country is possible. 
The reports of the discovery of a large herd of buffalo 
near Steamboat Springs in the northwestern part of 
the State, whose appearance cannot be accounted for, 
have made interesting reading for old residents of Colo- 
rado, who remember when great herds of these animals 
roamed the State. W. N, Byers, who has followed the 
history of the few remaining herds of the State, says 
positively that the buffalo discovered are Colorado ani- 
mals, and that he has known of them for the past 
thirty years. 
Besides the herd near Steamboat Springs, there is only 
one other herd of wild buffalo in the State, and that 
is the Lost Park herd. Mr. Byers has known of and fol- 
lowed the history of this herd for the past thirty : nine 
years. He is very much interested in the remaining 
buffalo in the State, and urges strongly that the State 
Government give them the best possible protection from 
hunters. In speaking of the buffalo near Steamboat 
Springs, Mr. Byers said: 
"I can give you positive information regarding those 
buffalo, which will show you that they did not come from 
any other section of the country than that which they 
are now in. These buffalo are the remnant of a herd that 
ranged in Middle Park as long ago as thirty-five years, to 
my knowledge. At that time they frequented the open 
part of the Park and occasionally one or more of them 
were killed by white men or Indians. 
"About 186S or 1866 they were ranging about the 
mouth of the Troublesome River, ten miles below Hot 
Sulphur Springs. At that time settlers were gradually 
moving into the Park and their advent drove the buffalo 
back into the hills, and toward the western rim of the 
Park. The winter of 1875 was an exceedingly severe one 
in the Park, and large quantities of snow fell, covering 
the country to a great depth. The buffalo were at that 
time on the headwaters of the Muddy River, which 
Fremont called the Milk River, about thirty miles north 
of Grand River. 
"In the latter part of this winter, when the snow was 
still very deep, the herd was discovered by a band of 
Ute Indians. The Indians attacked them in the deep 
snow and killed nearly the entire herd, a few only escap- 
ing into the underbrush, and in this way avoiding 
slaughter. In the spring of 1876 three or four men who 
had settled at Hot Sulphur Springs went up to where 
the buffalo had been killed and brought back several 
loads of tallow from the carcasses of the dead animals. 
The men reported that the Indians had apparently sur- 
rounded the buffalo in the deep snow and had killed 
seventy or eighty on three or four acres of ground. The 
men thought that only a few of the herd had escaped. 
"The buffalo were next seen on the headwaters of the 
Troublesome, fifteen or twenty miles from the place of 
the slaughter by the Indians. The Porter brothers, who 
had been buffalo hunters on the plains until the buffalo 
were exterminated, went into Middle Park, and turned 
their attention to killing game for the market. This was 
in 1877 or 1878. They found the little band of buffalo 
on the Troublesome, and killed four or five of them. 
They brought the meat to Hot Sulphur Springs and at- 
tempted to sell it. Information was filed against them 
for killing the buffalo, and a constable was sent to their 
camp to arrest them. They resisted arrest and drove 
the constable away at the point of their revolvers. Soon 
after this they left the country, apparently from fear of 
prosecution under the game laws of the State, in the 
district court, which was to convene thereafter at Hot 
Sulphur Springs. 
"After the episode with the Porter brothers the buffalo 
continued to range on the headwaters of the Trouble- 
some, and some of them crossed the mountain range into 
North Park. Some of these were seen on the North 
Park slope by Judge Spicer in the summer of 1883. He 
went up to capture some elk calves, and while there saw 
about ten buffalo, but supposed that there were more in 
the neighborhood. 
"Soon after that prospectors invaded that section of 
the country in considerable numbers, and their presence 
drove the buffalo west along the crest of the main range 
to the neighborhood of where these buffalo are reported 
to have been seen a few days ago. The last definite re- 
port that I have had of the herd was from a young 
man who was hunting there four years ago this coming 
fall. He reported having seen, I think, ten buffalo, and 
he also thought that there were others in the vicinity., 
That is the last definite report that I have had of them,, 
but I have been given to understand that they are 
still in the same section of the country. 
"It is very gratifying, if true, to learn that the herd 
has increased to sixty-two, and if it continues to be pro- 
tected it is probable that it will continue to increase. It!; 
is not natural for small, isolated herds to grow much in 
numbers, the tendency being usually the other way,' 
People who have had knowledge of this herd have not, 
been inclined to publish the fact, but since the announce- 
ment has been made by the newspapers I am willing to 
give this brief history of one of the two small buffalo, 
herds roaming in a wild state in Colorado. They are be- 
ing closely watched, and if any one is found hunting 
them, or reported to have done so, they will be prose- 
cuted and punished to the full extent of the law." 
o 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Illinois Prairie Chickens. 
Chicago, 111., Aug. 13. — Last week I had occasion tc 
write something about the early and illegal shooting o 
prairie chickens in this and other Western States. It i: 
still the same story. Each week brings out more indica 
tions that the sooner is at work and will continue a 
work, so that by the opening of the season we shall hav< 
once more the" same story of broken coVeys and wile 
birds. By this no reproach is cast upon the wardens, foj 
they have a colossal task before them, and deserve credj 
for the bare fact that we have any chickens at all left it 
the West. . 
I refer more especially just now to the State 
Illinois, which is notoriously bad this year, and ver' 
much worse than ordinary, for reasons already set foiftl 
in the matter of a (pretended) confusion of chickei 
dates. I get word this week that around Kewanee bird 
have been shot in considerable numbers, more thaj 
thirty days ahead of the law. At Kankakee, only aboti 
fifty-five miles south of Chicago, a restaurant is suspecte. 
of serving the illegal game as a regular thing, though thi 
is not yet proved. At Rochelle, last Saturday, Deput 
Hizer arrested John Oleson and Gus Williamson fo 
shooting prairie chickens. Trial continued. At Quinc 
it is stated that the disregard for the law was "never 5 
great as it is this year." Judge Ramsey, of Whitesid 
county, has done one of our noblest game birds 
damage which a thousand Judge Ramseys can never r< 
pair. 
Passing of the Chicken in the Nations, 
Every shooter of the West knows what a paradise fc 
small game the Indian Nations once were, and can r. 
call the stories of the enormous bags once made by at 
shooter who cared to make them in that prolific lan. 
It seemed indeed that the chickens "never could I 
shot out." It was the common story that there wo.u! 
"always be chickens away down in there, it was so f; 
away." Perhaps there are some shooters who think tl 
old abundance is still in that region, and that on son- 
lucky dav they may be able to get a trip down there ar! 
have a "real good old chicken hunt" where the "bin, 
have not been shot out." To all such I would reft 
the clipping from the Denison, Texas, Gazetteer, whu 
1 append. Denison is near the northern end of Texs 
and not so very far from what was once a grand gan 
country in the Nations. The writer of the article in 6 
Gazetteer does not seem to be a crank or a particul 
rabid sportsman, but makes the statements in a co 
and matter of fact way, as a piece of news. It will 
unwelcome news to those who have not already learn 
it. ,.,.*, 
"A few years ago," says the paper, "prairie chicke 
were plentiful within a day's drive of Denison, but th 
time is past. With the rapid settlement of the counb 
the birds have disappeared. . The best chicken shootuj 
used to be at the Cale and Caddo prairies. There is f:# 
shooting there yet. While in the Choctaw Nation kj 
spring, the writer learned from settlers that a great mai 
birds were in the Jones' pastures, which are about fiftel 
miles east of Caddo. Carriage Point was another fayct 
ite resort, and thousands of birds have been kill! 
there. It is now said that there is not a covey in til 
entire section. The best hunting country in the terf 
tory was on the prairies in the Creek Nation, at Che 
tah', Honey Spring, Summit and Muskogee. A til 
years ago hundreds of Denison sportsmen visited annu 
ly the chicken grounds of the Creek and Choctaw IS 
tions and made enormous bags, but the birds have be 
'shot out.' and good sport in that section is a thing of t 
past." 
Minnesota Chickens. 
The chickens of Minnesota this year are a fair cn 
the weather conditions over a good part of their natu 
breeding grounds having been more than ordinal 
favorable for them. The district wardens have bel 
vigilant, and the gradual education of the people 
Minnesota by the able game commission is slowly 
ginning to be felt, so that the violations of the chick 
law are nothing like what they formerly were. It 
confidently stated that the crop of chickens will b< 
great one, and that sportsmen may count upon gc 
shooting. This, I am sure, is true, as true as any si 
statement can be for any chicken country. Yet this d 
not mean that all shooters will have good shooting, 
that all shooters will find country where the birds h; 
not been shot into before the opening day. I kn 
there are chickens still in Minnesota, for I had a v) 
nice little shoot last fall with one of the local deput 
and we found plenty of birds to satisfy us. But w 
we need in Minnesota, as we do in every Western St 
is more law. more wardens, more popular respect for 
chicken law, less of this old-time thievery of the Sta 
property. It was said that the safety of the frontier 
quired the killing off of the buffalo. Is it the behei 
t man with a gun that a like extermination she 
/meted out to the big grouse, lest it give aid and c< 
fort to sportsmen? 
Gokey, of Dawson. 
My friend Gokey, of Dawson, N. D., has got hii 
the 
be 
