EC. If, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
4S9 
-e more plentiful than at any time within my recollec- 
on. 
From Mr. J. Ludwig, Montague, Aug. 25, 1898: I 
3 not know that I have ever known quail to be as 
entiful as they are at the present time. 
From Mr. George Van Buskirk. secretary of the Farm- 
's' Game Protective Association of Bergen County, 
ackensack, Aug. 26, 1898 : The quail are doing especial- 
well, there being an abundance of birds all over. Right 
this vicinity we have no difficulty in finding from ten 
twenty coveys of birds almost any time. The reports 
e all the same from every section where we put the 
ids out. 
From Fish and Game Warden Gus Hilton, Anglesea. 
ug. 26. 1898: The thirty quail you sent me to put out 
d excellently. There are more quail in this county than 
ere have been for a great many years. 
From Fish and Game Warden Edward Hill, Rocks- 
irgh, Aug. 26, 1898: The. quail which were sent me 
ive done very well. Every farmer, on whose property 
rds were released, reports numerous young birds. Two 
lir were released in my peach orchard, and last week I 
id some friends nut un two nice bunches. 
From Mr. Joseph B. Righter, secretary of the Dcnville 
ame Protective Association, Denville, Aug. 26, 1898: 
/e are pleased to note that the quail you favored us with 
ive prospered and propagated finery. 
Side-hunt, Concert and Ball. 
Mot.tne, Kan. — Editor Forest and Stream i t I enclose 
)U herewith a circular announcing the organization of a 
-and hunt, game supper, concert and ball by the Gun 
hub of Howard, Kan., which was the most original and 
iccessful affair I have heard of m a long white. I was 
3t fortunate enough to be able to_ participate in it, but a 
ascription was given me by the lieutenant. Messrs. Mc- 
ee and Rush. Through the efforts of Mr, Mark McBee, 
award ha" been famed for its sports, and this grand 
fair is significant of the interest taken in game shooting 
lere by all the leading people. The programme was 
Us announced in the preliminary circular: 
RAND HUNT, CAME SUPPER, CONCERT AND BALL. 
A grand hum lias been organized, and will take place on YVerl- 
:sday, Nov. 16. 1S08. the srame killed to be donated to Oklahoma 
imp" No. 93r>, Modern Woodmen of America, to be served at 
grand pub'ic supper, the afternoon and night of Friday, Nov. IS. 
le hunt will be in the nature of a friendly contest between two 
tjjles of hunters, with Capt. A. M. Jackson and Lieut. IT C. 
ush in command of one side, and Capt. L. Scott and Lieut, 
ark McBee in command of the other. The following will be the 
ale of points for various kinds of game: Possum, 50; jackrabbit, 
i cluck. 25; o.uail, 10; plover, 10; squirrel, 15; cottontail, 5; wild 
>ose, 50; prairie chicken, 20; .snipe. 5. 
The hunters may form themselves into squads at their own 
mvenience, and use their own. judgment as to the manner and 
ace of hunting, the game to be delivered to the proper com- 
ittee in Howard not 'ater that 12 o'clock noon, Thursday, the 
th, at the city building in Howard, where committees will be 
1 hand to receive it. Any others desiring to engage in the 
lot can do so; if convenient, send your names to either Lieut. 
cBee or Rush, if not, go ahead and hunt, and when you bring 
the game you can be credited to the side whose next choice 
may be. 
The supper will be served from 5:30 P. M., Friday, Nov. IS, to 
A. M. following. There will also be a grand concert by the 
oward band and orchestra, free to patrons of the supper, to be 
llowtd bv a grand ball, beginning at 8:30. All are invited to the 
mtr supper, concert and ball. Mark McBee, Dr. H.- C. Rush, 
eutenants. 
The hunt took place Wednesday, Nov. 16, and every 
le returned home tired, but well repaid for the hunt. 
On Thursday and Friday the ladies of Howard pre- 
ired the game, and Friday evening the greatest crowd 
tat ever gathered together in Howard, to enjoy a de- 
ghtful evening, were on hand at the handsomely deco- 
ded hall with a floor space of 140 by 75ft. Seven hun- 
reds covers were laid for an earlv supoer. which was 
strictly game," consisting of : 50 dozen quail. 12 opus- 
mis, 36 jack rabbits, 198 cottontails, 92 squirrels, 6 wild 
:ese, 27 prairie chickens, 72 snipe. The ladies are 
orthy of much praise for the dainty manner m which 
tey prepared the game and served it with salads and 
:her delicacies. After supper the dancers, consisting of 
venty-eight sets, enjoyed themselves in the two-step 
altz and other dances to the music rendered by the How- 
-d Orchestra. At an early hour of the morning a 
incheon was served, and thoroughly enjoyed by all those 
ho were game enough to stay with the crowd to the 
St. 
The members of the Howard Gun Club are so pleased 
ith the results of their undertaking that they have de- 
ded to make their yearly hunt a recognized event in 
1 southern Kansas, and in fact the entire West, 
Boston Sportsmen. 
Boston, Dec. 9. — E. M, Gillam, of the Boston Adver- 
ser, and his brother, A. M. Gillam, of the Philadelphia 
ecord, have returned from thei rannual quail shooting 
ip to Vineland, N. J. They secured over 100 quail from 
weral days' shooting, but were much disappointed as to 
ng-neck pheasants, as Mr. Gillam explained in the 
ore st and Stream last week. He put out over fifty 
nail last spring, and calculates that their luck in shoot- 
ig was largely due to this restocking, in spite of all the 
ifficulties he met in regard to other hunters having evi- 
ently commenced shooting before the opening of the 
Jason. As Mr. A. M.. Gillam explains in the Forest and 
tream, it is of but little use to attempt restocking with 
ither pheasants or quail when the small berry farmers 
ave the notion that their fruit is destroyed by these 
irds, and when they even resort to Paris green to rid 
lemselves of the troublesome, birds. 
Two or 3ft. of snow in the Maine woods has made deer 
unting difficult, and Boston sportsmen are mostly at 
omc. So far as they are concerned, the season is virtu- 
lly closed. Not so the native Maine hunter. He is after 
le deer on snowshoes, and judging from the number 
oming into Boston markets, he is making a good deal of 
howing. More deer have been received here the past 
iree or four days than for any period of the same length 
his season. The deer comes straight into the markets, 
nd curiously the. records of shipments by express are 
ot very extensive. Thus it is certain that they are not 
he deer killed by returning snortsmen, but the results of 
legal shipments out of that State, 
Boston, Dec. 12. — Late reports from the Maine and 
New Hampshire big game regions mention very deep 
snow for the season, with good snowshoeing, and lots of 
deer taken. Looking over one Maine paper last evening 
I counted sixty-one deer slain, and all by local nimrods; 
not a deer to outside sportsmen. The fact of the matter 
is that Boston and New York hunters are generally done 
for the season. Capt. F. C. Barker called on Saturday, 
fresh from the Rangcley woods. He remarks that he 
never saw better snowshoeing. He took a fine buck early 
in the week. The paper', noted above, only covered one 
section, with its game record, Rangeley and Dead River. 
From further east the reports are fully as strong con- 
cerning the slaughter that is being carried on; mostly by 
hunters and guides in the State. This only serves to 
illustrate with greater force what has so often been 
stated , that Maine game is in much more danger from her 
.own citizens than trom outside hunters. This is not at 
all strange, and is just as it should be. The value of a 
fine deer is great to the farmer or backwoodsman, but 
he should be willing to obey the same laws for the pro- 
tection of game that he . wants the city sportsmen to re- 
spect. The Maine Legislature is soon to convene, and the 
backwoods farmer will be there with his petition to allow 
him to shoot deer at times, because the deer occasion- 
ally get into his crops. I should like to come under 
obligations, if the thing could be fairly done — fairly esti- 
mated — to pay for every dollar's worth of crops destroyed 
by deer last, season in Maine, for a single $too. 
It may be stated on the authority of Mr. Walter L. 
Hill, treasurer of the Sportsmen's Show last season, that 
the association will not repeat that show the coming 
spring. What other parties may do it is not yet cer- 
tain, but the association of last year will give no show 
this year. It has been suggested that some of the at- 
tractions of the show to be held in New York the coming 
spring were to be brought over later to Boston, but 
nothing definite is yet decided. Another year the Sports- 
men's Association is very likely to hold a show in Boston. 
Mr. Walter L. Hill was much pleased to receive the 
other evening, at his house, a beautiful hall clock, as a 
token of the appreciation of the members of the Sports- 
men's Association, for the admirable manner in which he 
performed more than his share of the labor involved in so 
well carrying out the financial affairs of the show last 
March. The clock was accompanied by a letter signed by 
nearl yall of the associates who put in their time and 
money, and made the show a success. Special. . 
Birds in the Great Storm. 
East Wareham, Mass., Dec. 6. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The hard storm of last week made it quite 
difficult for our birds to get their customary food. I saw 
a number of song and field sparrows around the barn 
and hen house, where we had cleared the snow away; 
they were feeding on cracked corn and hayseed. One 
belated crow blackbird came up and a few robins. The 
meadow larks were very tame, and came right up to the 
door. We fed these birds, and it was - worth while to 
watch them. To-day, as I was cutting up a large pine 
that the wind had blown over, I saw four quail, the rem- 
nant of a flock of fifteen, half -of which never got beyond 
the age of "peepers," these four seemed well and lively. 
Of course there may have been others. On Sunday Mr. 
N. A. Shurtleff saw fourteen in the Wareham road from 
Indian Neck. I hope these will last till close of the 
season. 
Shortly after seeing the four quail I heard an entirely 
new voice, it only called once, and as near as I can spell 
it said: "Squaw-clurec-crurec-clurec," harsh and pea- 
fowl-like in sound. I looked, and on the edge of the salt 
marsh 200ft. away saw a Mongolian pheasant. There 
have been three wandering about the fields nearby for 
some weeks, and this was one of them. They are a part 
of Mr. Wm. Minot's stock, and I am only too pleased to 
see that they are spared by the gunning element here — 
which usually spares so little. 
I like to hear a new voice, and once have heard the 
clear, loud whistle of the European widgeon ; it was on 
the marsh opposite the city of Tacoma, Wash. I shot 
the bird; a male in fine plumage. My friend, E. T. Har- 
ris, shot one at Nisqully, and my brother, A. B. Savary, 
killed one I think at Tacoma. There we used to see the 
spotted blackbirds; often in Annie Wright's Park there 
would be a large flock of blackbirds, and among them 
several with more or less white in spots. I have never 
seen any blackbirds with those spots in any other locality. 
Will some one tell us why those little birds in their nest 
in the foretop of a buffalo bull were not all shaken out 
when flies annoyed him? I would rather find that bird's 
nest than have killed that mighty moose whose horns I 
saw in Shear d's fur store in Tacoma. The bird who 
builds on the forehead of the buffalo is the same one who 
migrates on the crane's back, though I must say that I 
have heard the sound of little birds with a flock of sand- 
hill cranes, and tried my best to see them, but could not. 
Walter B. Savary. 
St. Louis Notes. 
St. Louis, Dec. 5. — Sportsmen in Missouri are. still dis- 
cussing the game shipment law. The original law passed 
by the Legislature prohibited the shipment of quail, prairie 
chickens and pheasants for a period of five years. The 
law was enacted in 1893. In 1895 the law was amended 
by adding "deer and turkey" to the prohibited shipments. 
It has been claimed by some that this amendment ex- 
tended the shipment time two years. Recently the State 
game warden asked the opinion of the attorney general 
of this State with regard to shipping quail. He stated 
that the law expired this year, and that quail can be 
shipped. He stated nothing in his opinion about turkeys 
and deer, and it is held by some that these cannot be 
shipped until 1900. One of the best legal authorities of 
St. Louis informs me that in his opinion the shipment 
law has expired, that the amendment made in '95 did not 
affect the date of the law, but simply added "deer and 
turkey." This seems to be the real status of the case. 
Game dealers, however, are very shy of openly shipping 
turkevs and deer. 
This has been the most unsatisfactory tall season for 
fishermen known for years. Generally there is good fish- 
ing in South Missouri and North Arkansas until at 
least the middle of December. This year, however, a 
cold wave swept down on Thanksgiving, and since then 
there has been no fishing worth mentioning. Hundreds 
of anglers left St. Louis Thanksgiving eve, but were 
frozen up, and compelled to return. 
The officials of the Territory of Oklahoma seem to be 
enforcing the game law with earnestness. A couple of 
"leading citizens" of St. Joseph, Missouri, have been ar- 
rested for illegal shipments of quail. Other prominent 
men have been indicted for shooting quail out of season, 
two dealers for shipping out of season, and an agent of 
an express company. If conviction can be had in these 
cases it will be a great gain for better game production. 
Proprietors of fishing and hunting resorts will find it profitable 
to advertise them in Forest and Stbeam. 
There is no more lastingly appreciated holiday 
gift than a good book. For one who is interested 
in outdoor sports the volume may well be one of 
those included in the "Forest and Stream's'* list. 
And do not forget to order in good season. 
Skates and ' hoter Rays. 
BV FRED MATHER. 
These curious fishes are allied to the sharks, differing 
from them m form, and in some points of structure as 
well as in habits; but, like them, are not true bony fishes. 
On our Atlantic Coast we have five skates, as well as 
other rays, for all skates are rays, but all rays are not 
skates; just as all teal are ducks, but all ducks are not 
teal. The frequency with which the salt-water angler 
lands an awkward skate is the reason that I have been 
asked to write about them. They are not awkward 
in the water, nor much so in the boat. Perhaps it is the 
angler who is awkward in getting one off his hook 
without getting his fingers in its clam-cracking jaws. 
If that happens the men in neighboring boats, and often 
on shore, will know by the angler's remarks that some- 
thing has displeased him, and they will not need ear- 
trumpets to assist them to that conclusion. 
How to Unhook a Skate. 
The mouths of all the rays are on the under side. 
In the skates the very generous mouth has rolling lips, 
covered with a pavement of flat, rounded teeth, and no 
word expresses the arrangement as well as "pavement," 
for the teeth are set close, like cobblestones in a street, 
there being from thirty to ninety rows in each jaw. ac- 
cording to the species. When a skate comes unwillingly 
over the side, flapping its great pectoral fins, it is best 
to hypnotize it with a club, an oar or a boot heel be- 
fore going further; but in the hypnotic state it may 
gasp and unconsciously crush a finger or two, a thing 
that is objectionable to many anglers. 
Make assurance doubly sure by putting something 
in its mouth, just as your dentist treats you at times. 
An oyster shell set edgewise, your meerschaum pipe or 
any old thing will do to keep his face open until you 
can find in what portion of your captive's anatomy your 
hardware lies. The chances are that the hook is in the 
stomach, and if so a carefully conducted post mortem 
will reveal the fact, but many anglers prefer to save time 
by cutting the snell and letting the skate digest the steel 
with the bait, and who can say that a little iron in his 
system might not be as beneficial as it is to many of us? 
The salt-water angler gets many things for which he 
has no use, but which have use for his bait. Among 
these are sculpins, toadfish, puffers, spider crabs, dogfish 
and skates, and all of these things, except the crabs, 
have a way of swallowing a bait in a quiet manner, 
giving the angler no warning until they move off. Then 
thev have the bait so securely pouched that a surgical 
operation is necessary to recover the hook. This takes 
time, and as the turn of the tide is his best fishing time 
he begrudges every minute of it that is wasted on these 
pests. Of course I am writing of the angler who anchors • 
his boat and uses the "drop line" or the rod and reel in 
bottom fishing. The troller for bluefish, nor he who 
anchors and "chums" for them, is not troubled with 
these fishes, but the one who casts his bait of men- 
haden or lobster tail into the surf for striped bass oc- 
casionally brings out some of the things which are named 
above, but he is on the rocks, where he finds material 
to quiet his unsought catch. 
Our Five Skates. 
I have said that on our Atlantic Coast we have five 
species of the skate. All of these lay eggs in curious 
black, hornv, square cases from 1 to 3m. long, with two 
long tubular horns at each end, for all the world like a 
hand-barrow. Through these tubes the embryo gets a 
circulation of water, and when ready to leave the case, 
after absorbing the yolk-sac, it emerges from the square 
end, the other being slightly concave. These cases are 
washed ashore, and those who are unfamiliar with them 
take them for some vegetable formation. In England 
they are called "pixey purses" and also "sailor's purses." 
I have watched the development of- the embryo by re- 
moving it from the case and putting it into a bowl in 
which salt water dropped. The embryo was not ob- 
served from the start, but was U'm. long, and with eyes 
well developed, but the pectoral fins had not begun to 
expand. The yolk was a flattened disk i«4 by 34«i., 
with a thickness of y 2 in. It was soft, like the yolk of a 
hen's egg, and instead of being attached directly to the 
abdomen, as the eggs of all fishes which I had previously 
handled are, there was an umbilical cord_ of an inch in 
length between the embryo and the yolk, hence tke 
necessity of the horny covering. Released from the case, 
with the yolk resting at the bottom, the little fellow made 
semi-rotations above the yolk at the length of the cord, 
showing that it was lighter than water, and so it grew 
