FOREST AND STREAM. 
168 
season when the Northern farmer, who has his maple 
grove, is thinking of tapning his tree, the sap is gath- 
ering in this part of the tree. In spite of cold and snow 
and ice, the warmth of nature in all living things sets 
this sap in motion from the source of it to the cam- 
bium layer, lying between the old wood and the bark, 
the sap wood, as we call it, from the base of the tree 
(the roots) to the topmost twig. It gathers in this 
part of the tree, and as the growth of the tree increases 
at some seasons, we can scarcely distinguish why or 
how, but it appears mostly in a dry time, there is a 
surplus of this sap gathering in the leaves, and under 
i the pressure due to that process known as osmosis the 
sap flows by the passage of it from wood cell to cell, 
quite irrespective of the force 'of gravitation. The sap 
passes through the walls of these cells by this force. 
•,d as there is an excess of it for the growth of the tree 
i ^.aiues through the leaves and gathers on the surface, 
sometimes so freely that it drops from leaf to leaf, and 
finally even moistens the leaves of shrubs under the 
trees or the ground. It of course attracts myriads of 
insects — bees often — which feed on it, but mostly plant 
lice, which gorge themselves with it. Otherwise these 
lice would get it from the leaves by suction, as they 
pierce the. leaf with their suckers. The excess of the 
sweet sap and the presence of these lice attract the 
ants, which, it is alleged, induce these lice to exude the 
sweet sap through their skins, and so get their share 
of it. The effusion of the honey dew is thus caused 
by the pressure of an excess of sap in the tree, 
and my belief is that this exudation is most profuse in 
a dry season, when .the supply of moisture in the soil 
checks the growth of the tree, so that there is not 
sufficient use for the excess of sap. 
This matter brings up another related to the work 
of these insect parasites of trees. This is the work of 
f gall flies, minute insects which puncture the leaves or buds 
of plants or trees, depositing eggs in these punctures. 
The irritation due to their presence in the tissues 
causes an abnormal growth, some of these growths 
being quite curious. The witch hazel gall is a small 
conical growth on the leaf, and sharp pointed. One 
on the scarlet oak is round and smooth, and is prettily 
spotted, really a distorted bud, in which the fly has 
laid an egg. The azalea is very commonly infested 
with these gall insects, by which large irregular growths 
are made on the small stems where a leaf should have 
i been., I need scarcely say that the oak galls are some- 
1 times used in various industries for tanning or making 
ink, on account of the large quantity of tannin they 
contain, and which, with iron salt, makes an intensely 
black liquid. 
But it would fill the Forest and Stream full every 
week for months to mention a small portion of the in- 
teresting things to be found in the forest, and even in 
the streams, by one who has a habit, founded on a love 
for it, of prying into and studying the wonderful works 
of nature. If every sportsman were a naturalist, and 
noted these things, the mere love for sport would become 
a secondary thing, just as the pleasures of the mind 
and intellect are far surpassing those of the mere ani- 
mal nature of mankind, which is merely akin to the 
hunting proclivity of the animals the sportsman competes 
with in pursuit of his game. 
"One impulse from a vernal wood 
May teach you more of man, 
Of moral evil and of good, 
Than all the sages can." 
And thus the true sportsman, who would enjoy life in 
- the woods to the full, must surely be at least something 
of a naturalist, and live very close to nature: 
I was very sorry that your Mr. Hallock did not 
visit what he calls the lakes at this place. They are 
not exactly lakes like the Sapphire Lake, but good- 
sized ponds, in which he could have found the 4lb. trout 
which he didn't get at Sapphire. To be so near and yet 
so far greatly disappointed me. H. Stewart. 
Highlands, N. C. 
The Band-Tailed Pigeon. 
We have received from a correspondent from Stock- 
ton, Cal., the flat skin of a bandtail pigeon of the Paci- 
fic coast, sent to show the marked difference between 
the passenger pigeon of the East and his Western cous- 
in. _ This difference is very striking — one of its most 
obvious features being seen by a comparison of the 
cuneate tail of the passenger pigeon and the nearly 
square one of the bandtail. The latter belonging to the 
genus Columba, while the genus Eclopistes was made to 
include the migratory bird of the East. The specimen 
sent us was killed on the McKenzie River, in Oregon, 
late last June, at which time the birds were feeding in the 
cherry orchards and berry patches. Our correspondent 
states, "One. of the few killed discloses mature eggs, 
showine- that 1 they were nesting at that time, which 
was late in June." It will be remembered that observa- 
tions made not very long ago in the southwest during 
the breeding season gave the observer reason to think 
that these birds carry about with them their single egg. 
1 . 
A Wisconsin Report. 
; A letter from the railroad agent at Manitowish, Wis- 
consin, says: "There is no pheasant hunting here what- 
ever. But there is some good fishing and deer hunting. 
W Guides say deer are more plentiful this year than they 
fehave ever known them to be before. I have myself 
Jseen, while taking walks less than a mile from my 
| station, three deer at one time, and always see not less 
f than one. There is also fair duck hunting on the Mani- 
■towish River." 
The Forest and Stream Publishing Co. are the largest 
(publishers and importers in America of Books on Out= 
d"ir Sports. Their illustrated descriptive catalogue 
will be sent free on request. 
m\{£ mid 0mu 
The "Briefs" Pictures. 
The illustrations in the current edition of Game Laws in Brief, 
Mr. Charles Hallock says, well represent America's wilderness 
sports. The Brief gives all the laws of the United States and 
Canada for the practical guidance of anglers and shooters. As 
an authority, it has a long record of unassailed and unassailable 
accuracy. Forest and Stream Pub. Co. sends it postpaid for 25 
cents, or your dealer will supply you. 
Reminiscences of an Old 
Sportsman.— XVL 
There was one cover in Tolland where we always 
found grouse in abundance, and many famous bags we 
made here, even after the surrounding covers were 
desolate. This cover was not an inviting one to look 
at, and I probably would not have found it, but upon 
my second visit to the locality I made the acquaintance 
of a farmer, who told me of it and gave me a cordial 
invitation to shoot over it whenever I wished. The cover 
was in a little valley among the hills in the eastern 
part of the town, and was from five rods to forty or fifty 
in breadth, and wound among the hills for more than a 
mile. A little brooklet ran through the valley among 
the alders and maples which covered the -ground, and 
there is scarcely a square yard in the whole cover where 
I have not found birds. When I first entered the cover 
it was well along in the afternoon, and it was my in- 
tention to make a hurried examination only, as I was 
several miles from my stopping place, which I wished to 
reach before dark, as I was unacquainted with the roads, 
but before I had been in the cover ten minutes I lost all 
consciousness of everything except grouse, and at twi- 
light I found myself a mile from my team, with fifteen 
heavy birds in my pockets. But my heart was light, for 
I had found one more bonanza, the sure abiding place 
of my favorite bird. The farmer's house was only a few 
steps out. of my way, so I called upon him and made 
him happy with deeds as well as words, for, after thank- 
ing him for the information he had given me, I laid upon 
the kitchen table a couple of brace of the birds and 
took my departure with lightened load, and still lighter 
heart. This was the beginning of a sincere friendship 
that lasted until the final parting came. Two or three 
times each season we enjoyed the hospitality of my good 
old friend, and upon each occasion he tramped with us 
through the cover and soon became an ardent lover of 
the sport. It was mainly through his persistent efforts 
to keep our favorite cover free from the footsteps of the 
vandals who had laid waste nearly all the surround- 
ing covers that we so long enjoyed abundant sport in 
this our happy valley. 
The shooting here was of marked peculiarity, for 
nearly every bird, as soon as flushed, would mount 
straight in the air like a rocket and make for the 
steep and almost inaccessible hillsides that completely 
surrounded the valley. But difficult as the shooting was, 
Eaton and I were on to them, and many famous bags 
did we make. Our best score here was twenty-eight 
November birds, and we were back to the house for 
lunch before 2 o'clock. There were birds in those 
days, and during the woodcock season our score for a 
three or four-day trip in this section of country was 
seldom less than too birds, and often it would be thirty 
or forty more than this, but notwithstanding the large 
quantity of game that we brought home and distributed 
among our friends I never heard one of them complain 
that there was an over supply, and I know that we did 
not impoverish the covers, for we shot over so large 
an extent of territory, and visited the different localities 
so seldom, that there was always an abundant breeding 
stock left, and, as the years passed by, each re- 
turning season found our favorite covers as bountifully 
supplied as when first we explored them. 
The advent of the market shooter, however, changed 
all this, for with them a bird in the hand was worth 
more than whole broods in the bush, and they therefore 
usually made a clean sweep, and very nearly extinguished 
everything in the way of game in many of the most 
prolific covers in this section of country. In those days 
there were no posted grounds worth mention, and 
scarcely any attempt was made to enforce the crude and 
meager game laws. 
The second season that we visited the Tolland grounds 
we made quite a long trip of it, and extended our re- 
searches over considerable new territory, finding many 
excellent bits of cover that were well stocked with 
birds. After working out our best covers we turned 
south and drove the whole length of the town of Cov- 
entry, _ sampling such covers as we thought looked 
promising, finding woodcock fairly abundant, and good- 
ly numbers of grouse and quail, but nothing that came 
quite up to our ideal until we crossed the line into 
Andover, and saw spread before us the beautiful valley 
through which runs Hop River. Here was a game 
looking country that even our fastidious taste was well 
pleased to pronounce faultless. Spread before us with 
lavish profusion was a bewildering display of inviting 
looking covers, scattered along the gently sloping hill- 
sides and in the little valleys, where, with eye of faith, 
we could plainly see an abundant stock of grouse and 
w r oodcock, while an occasional grain field bordered with 
low growing bushes was suggestive of quail. 
The next morning we drove back to the place intend- 
ing to look over considerable ground, sampling a cover 
here and there, for we had not much time, as it was 
Saturday and we were some thirty miles from home, and 
for nearly one-half the distance we were entirely un- 
acquainted with the , roads, but the sport that came to 
us in the first cover we entered completely drove all 
idea of hurried work out of our minds. The cover was 
of fairly open growth, upon a gentle slope that led down 
to a sweet-looking alder run, while the opposite slope 
w-as covered with rather a dense growth of sprouts. 
Some fifty rods down the run was a swampy tract of 
about twenty acres that was completely surrounded by 
a wide border of alders, the whole making a picture that 
we had very rarely seen equaled. We entered the cover 
at the upper corner", and worked along the edge toward 
the run, and had nearly reached it when the dog, as he 
was crossing in front of us not more than 25ft. away, 
suddenly dropped all in a heap with his head turned 
back over his shoulder. While we stood enjoying the 
very singular picture, Eaton raised his hand, and with a 
low breathed "sh!" pointed a little to the right of the 
dog, and as I turned my eyes in the direction I saw 
a bevy of nearly twenty quail slowly coming straight to 
ward the dog. When the foremost ones were within 
3ft. of him, one of them stretched out his neck with his 
head turned sideways, then with an alarmed "chit-chit," 
which was echoed by some of the others, all of them 
sank into the ground out of sight, and it was in vain 
that we strained our eyes and carefully searched the 
ground, not a trace of one of them could we discover. 
Not the least interesting part of this performance to 
us was the behavior of the dog. The wind was in the 
wrong direction for him to smell them, but he was 
too old a campaigner not to know that they were close 
by, for he had heard that warning note too many times 
to be deceived. This dog was- well trained and had lots 
of intelligence, but I had never given him instruction 
that covered this point, and he appeared to be all at sea. 
IL was comical to see him rofl his eyes toward me with 
a look that plainly showed that he was perplexed,, then 
he very cautiously turned his head partly toward the 
place where he had heard the warning sounds, and we 
could plainly see his nostrils distend and collapse in an 
effort to smell them, but it was of no use. and he 
again turned his head in the direction of his first love, 
but thoughts of those quail in such close proximity 
evidently disturbed him, and he. again turned his head 
toward them; but there was still no scent, and he again 
put his head over his shoulder for a. second or two 
and then he compromised tlie matter by sticking his nose 
straight in the air and holding his point in this posi- 
tion until we went to him and flushed the birds. A 
woodcock rose first, only a few feet behind the dog, and 
a second later the quail flushed, and all, with the ex- 
ception of the woodcock and three quail, went down 
the run. Just before the quail disappeared from sight 
another large bevy rose under them and went in the 
same direction. 
Following them down the run a snort distance, we 
found a brace of grouse that gave Eaton a nice double, 
which he attended to in his usual good form. One of 
the birds fell dead, but 'the other turned when struck and 
flew about 200yds. and fell on the opposite hillside among 
the sprouts, and I sent the dog after it, but as he did not 
return in proper time I went to see what was the 
matter, and found him on point. When I came to him 
and signaled a point to Eaton, a bevy of quail flushed 
wild beyond him, and they also took their course down 
the run. When I returned I found Eaton in a little open 
place upon a knoll that overlooked the swamp at the 
lower end of the run that I have previously described. 
As I joined him he pointed to the place, and told me 
that he had a presentiment that we sftould find down 
there about as red-hot a corner as wc had ever struck. 
This I am pleased to say proved to be the case, for in 
addition to the three bevies of at least fifty quail that 
were hidden among the tussocks of grass and clumps of 
low growing bushes in the marshy ground in the center 
of the swamp, we found nearly half as many grouse 
and woodcock in the border of alders around the edge. 
This was indeed a red-hot corner, and had the birds 
lain as well as they often do, or had we been armed with 
breechloaders, the score would have been something 
phenomena], for our shooting was of the best, but the 
trouble was that too many birds were in tire afr at 
once, and it was often the case that several would flush 
while we were loading. But notwithstanding the wild- 
ness of the game we were well pleased with the re- 
sult, for when wc returned to the team we counted out 
seventeen quail, eight woodcock and seven grouse. 
It is the incidental happenings connected with our 
days afield that often bring to us the most pleasure, and 
add more to the day's enjoyment than pockets full of 
birds. Why! I would not barter the wealth of pleasur- 
able thoughts that cheer my heart when, in overhauling 
memory's storehouse, some pleasing incident of the by- 
gone days comes back to me for ten times the birds 
that haA'e fallen to my gum. When recollection of this 
day comes back to me the air is filled with quail, wood- 
cock and grouse in countless numbers flying in every 
direction. Little Gipsey is alternately pointing and 
bringing them in, while Eaton and I are shooting the 
score, of our lives. Although I well know that there 
must have been some misses, the hand of time" has 
erased them from the record, and the score is clean. 
The glorious October sun illuminates the brown and 
gold of the thicket above us with a radiance that artist 
brush can never portray. The balmy air encompasses 
me with a halo of happiness; worldly cares have fled, and 
with love in my heart for all the world I am a boy 
again. This is the day as it comes back to. me now, and 
as I fondly trust it will come — together with many other 
glorious days — in the dim future, when the easy chair 
by the fireside shall hold me in its embrace, powerless 
to roam through my favorite covers in search of still 
other such days. There is a world of satisfaction in the 
thought that when our shooting years are over, memories 
of all that was pleasant and bright in the good old days 
will come back to bless and cheer us with happy thought 
of joys that once we knew. It seems to me a y.evy 
singular as well as blessed thing, when these memories 
return to us after many days, that only the pleasant 
Features present themselves; misses and all else that at 
the time was unpleasant have faded from memory's 
tablet, and only the brilliant shot and pleasing incident 
remain. 
In a number of Forest and Stream not long since 
Awahsoose hit me a rap for not missing more birds. 
Captain Bogardus was once pulling trap for me, and as 
I passed him, when going to the shooting point, he 
whispered the number of the easiest trap, and then al- 
most before I called pull' he let loose the very worst 
one, but a quick snap shot did the business, and the 
laugh was on him. When I asked him why lie did 
thus, he answered that it did him good to see me miss. 
Now if this is what's the matter with Awaksoose, I don't 
mind telling him that upon a great many occasions I 
have missed mor^e than half my birds, but. for the reason 
