Feb. 4, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
afternoon wore on it became colder, but the rain graJ- 
lially ceased, and as we descended a steep hillside, slid- 
ing and slipping, we saw a light below us that was not 
sky, but the gleam of water through the trees. A few 
moments more and we dropped our packs on the soft, 
brown carpet of needles beside the rock-rimmed shore of 
MahnagziJanegiiiasebem. 
Never was home more welcome to a tired, cold and 
hungry traveler than the little 13x14 log cabin that wc 
came to after a two-mile paddle down the lake. At tlie 
back of a small clearing, perhaps half an acre in extent, 
the camp stands against a background of dense forest 
growth; above its low roof giant spruces tower and a 
footpath winds among the stumps to the water's edge. A 
wooded island renders the clearing invisible from the 
other shore, and the surrounding foest hides it till a 
canoe is opposite the camp. It is the only habitation for 
many miles in any direction, and is so situated as not to 
disturb the wild game. We entered and took possessiion. 
EUiot's Wildfowl. 
In presenting to the public his book on the "Wild 
Fowl of North America," Mr. Daniel Giraud Elliot 
has completed the service to .sportsraen which he began 
some years ago. The three volumes on Shore Birds, 
Gallinaceous Game Birds, and Wild Fowl of North 
America comprise a series of illustrated accounts of 
North American game birds, which include evervthing 
except the unimportant rail. As Mr. Elliot says, '"It is 
a noble list; one few countries of the globe can equal 
in importance and variety. For numerous reasons, not 
the least of which are the economic, these birds are a 
most valuable possession to the people of this land, to be 
{ Cygnma), the geese (Anserina;) , the wood ducks 
iPlectropterince), the fre^h-water ducks {Anatina), 
the sea ducks (FtiligHlince) , the spine-tail ducks (£m- 
maturince), and the mergansers (Mergince). In many 
respects his nomenclature differs from the A. O. U. 
Check List, for the author has not hesitated to make 
such changes as seemed to him desirable. Thus Ross' 
goose is put back into the genus which Mr. Elliot formed 
for it more than thirty years ago. A new derivation 
is given for Branta, the old Ai.r becomes Aex, Aythya 
is corrected to Aethyia, while the canvasback is put in 
the genus Arislonctta, a name which fits it well, for it 
means the best of ducks. There are other changes in 
generic names, one of which is the use of Havdda for the 
misspelled or misprinted Harclda. 
The charm of Mr. Elliot's biographies, familiar to us 
for lo these many years, increases rather than diminishes 
with time, and in the 300 pages of the present volume 
theire is much to delight the thoughtful reader. An 
J. Wol}.: 
..i,--'.;-t'-3,( [ 
Ross's Snow Goose, 
Long-Tailed Duck, Summer Plumage. 
A pile of wood was already split, and we soon had a fire 
roaring in the stove. Supper was started, and we re- 
moved our wet clothes and made ourselves comfortable. 
The camp Contained two wide bunks, a table and stool, 
protected with watchful care. Have we been faithful 
to our trust .f"' 
The present volume is similar in plan to those which 
have preceded it. It is an account of the wildfowl of 
extremely interesting observation on the song of the 
dying swan, long supposed to be mythical, is worth quot- 
ing in full. Mr. Elliot says: "I had killed many swan 
and never heard aught from them at any time save 
Trurnpester Swan. 
Labrador Duck. 
all made on the spot; a chest held blankets and clothing, 
while shelves were handily arranged for small articles. 
_ Snowshoes, moccasins, traps, stretchers of various 
.sizes for mink, sable and other skins were there, as were 
augers, axes and other tools, all telling the mute story of 
the lonely life of a trapper during the long winter, when 
the snow lies deep in the woods and the icy wind howls 
through- the mountain gorges. Outside the door stood 
a large frame for stretching moose and bear skins. The 
interior was clean and neatly kept, and with-fehot meal 
inside, and warm, dry clothing outside -oT'-fe; we sat 
by .the fire and complacently listened to the rain, whicn 
was falling again, and watched the growiffg darkness of 
the night. 
We had found the Rainbow Country, and the sun's 
last rays, struggling for a moment through the clouds, 
drew across the heavens the sign of the bow, and, under 
the arch, showing dimly through the mist, was Katahdin. 
Then the clouds closed in again and night came on apace, 
W. A. Bkooks. 
You cannot imagine how much I have enjoyed a second 
.reading of your book, "Men I Have Fished With." It 
contains more correct natural history than all the text 
books.--CharIes Hallock to Fred Mather. 
North America, north of Mexico, and includes the 
swans, geese, ducks and mergansers, with accounts of 
their habits, nesting, migration and dispersion, with de- 
scriptions of adult and young. It is a book, as stated on 
the title page, for those "desirous to know how to dis- 
tinguish these web-footed birds, and to learn their ways 
m their native wilds." It is emphatically a book for 
sportsmen. This is but natural, for Mr. Elliot is as keen 
a sportsman as he is a naturalist, and he knows well what 
it is that sportsmen desire. Having m mind especially 
this class, to which he himself belongs, he fitly opens his 
book by calling attention to the continued and ever 
increasing destruction by sportsm.en and others,- and to 
the tact that wildfowl are becoming year by year less 
plentiful, so that before long many of them will be so 
scarce as to be practically extinct. 
Of the sixty-two species .here, described, six or eight 
are mere stragglers fromf^i^TOpe, and not likely to be 
met with by any gunners. There are three species of 
swans, fourteen of geese, including the brant, four of 
mergansers, and the remainder are true ducks, though in 
several different groups. Mr. Elliot reverses in this 
volume the order followed in the A. O. U. Check List 
and begins with the swans as the most important species' 
ending with the mergansers. He divides the North 
American Anatidce into seven subfamilies, the swans 
the familiar notes that reach the ears of every one in 
then- vicinity. But once when shooting in Currituck 
bound, over water belonging to a club of which I am 
a member, in company with a friend, Mr. F. W. Leggett, 
of New York, a number of swan passed over us at a 
considerable height. We fired at them, and one splendid 
bird was mortally hurt. On receiving his wound the 
wmgs became fixed, and he commenced at once his song, 
which was continued until the water was reached, nearly 
half a mile away. I am perfectly familiar with every note 
the swan is accustomed to utter, but never before 
nor since have I heard any like those sung by this 
stricken bird. Most plaintive in character and musical 
m tone, it sounded at times like the soft running of the 
note in an octave. 
'And now 'twas like all instruments, 
Now like a lonely flute; 
And now it is an angel's song, 
Which makes the heavens be mute,' 
and as the sound was borne to us, mellowed by the dis- 
tance, we stood astonished and could only exclaim, 'We 
have heard the song of the dying swan.' 
"I made inquiries among gunners as to whether any 
of them had ever heard notes different from those usu- 
ally sung by the swan when he was mortally wounded 
