150 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Feb. 25, 1899. 
will in tlieir persistent search for insects tear these sods 
to shreds with their beaks. 
Mating and Breeding. 
"The aviary containing the stock birds should he situ- 
ated in a quiet spot, separated and apart from those hold- 
ings birds for shipment, where they may be undisturbed 
when orders are being filled. These pheasants are poly- 
gamous, and eggs collected from yards containing four or 
five bens and one cock are strongly fertilized. The sooner 
the}-^ are mated the better. If they have been removed 
from some other run, should be placed in the breeding 
yards at least a month before the breeding season begins, 
as they must have time to accustom themselves to their 
new surroundings. The early hatched chicks are the 
easiest reared, and each thrifty hen lays sixty or more 
eggs, beginning April i. In selecting the stock birds avoid 
inbreeding and choose well grown pheasants, alert in style 
and free from deformity. Keep all of your birds full- 
winged. A rank growth of grass, affording seclusion, en- 
courages the laying in nests. No other laying accommoda- 
tions may be provided ; this wanting, the}' drop their eggs 
promiscuously in the yard. They should be daily collected 
and placed under domestic hens for incubation. During 
five years' experience I have possessed but one pheasant 
hen sufficiently tame to trust with a setting of eggs. This 
especial pet hatched and raised her brood in confinement. 
Management of the Setting Hen. 
"Always select a tame, broody hen — I consider one with 
smooth legs and of light weight best. Unless the hen has 
chosen a quiet, suitable position, secure from interruption, 
at dusk place her on the trial nest which has been prc- 
Adously arranged in one corner of a roomy coop. Form 
the nest by securing a turf about 5in. thick, which, with 
the grassy side, upward, fit into a shallow box and beat 
the turf into a saucer-shaped hollow; some soft oat 
straw is last added. Give the hen trial eggs for a day, as 
she will build and form this nest to hei- shape and the risk 
of breakage is thus reduced. Never neglect to_ free the 
hen from body vermin. Provide her with food and 
water, as the eggs are small and easily chilled. During the 
time the hen is feeding examine the nest and if any eggs 
are broken they should be removed; should other eggs 
have become dirty in consequence, or from any other 
cause, wash them in warm water and afterward wipe 
them dry. The pheasant eggs are generally fertile and 
require about twenty-four days for incubation. I have 
used eighteen eggs as a setting. 
Rearing the Chicks, 
"When the pheasant chicks are thoroughly dry care- 
fully remove the hen and brood to another roomy 
coop placed on short grass, with some dry chaff 
in the corner most protected from cold winds. 
During unusually severe weather special methods of 
shelter should be adopted. So construct your coop 
as to allow the chicks their freedom from the first, 
but do not frighten them by remaining near to admire or 
attend them. They are active and wary, and at one signal 
of alarm from the hen I have known them to scatter and 
creep through the grass beyond sight or recall. Many 
have been the disappointments of keepers oyer solicitous 
who have searched in vain for these wee birds. If they 
had retired, the inquiring call of 'chee' from the hidden 
chick would have soon been heard. The hen's cluck, 
which they learn in the nest, is the one note to which they 
will at this stage respond; then leave them undisturbed 
for twenty-four hours. 
"Every two hours for the first week T placed a little 
hard-boiled egg, bruised small with a fork and mixed with 
cracked wheat, about and in fro'n't of the coop, and leave 
the hen to teach them to eat. As they grow they should 
be fed at gradually increased intervals, and curd, stale 
break crumbs and other grains may be added. Early in 
the .season the chicks find insects -among the grass and in 
the garden; when the range is exhausted some acceptable 
animal food should be procured for the birds too young to 
forage beyond the coops. Insects, as cutworms, grasshop- 
pers or ants' eggs, are more eagerly eaten than cooked 
meats; either preparation should be mixed with the egg 
and cracked wheat, which I regard as the staple food for 
young pheasants. 
. "They will not thrive properly unless they have plenty 
of fresh, green food. As the season advances and the 
ground near the coops has been i-^n over. I snip into sniall 
pieces with scissors dandelion and lettuce leaves ; chick- 
wood, onions, bulb and top, are also s-uitable. Give but 
little, if any, water the first three weeks. After this criti- 
cal period, fresh water may be supplied two or three times 
a day. Never allow water to remain in the drinking basiri, 
as sun heated water is often fatal to young pheasants by 
causing diarrhoea. Cleanliness is the best prevention 
of disease and cannot be too strongly urged. Use a certain 
call at eack feeding. Group pheasants of a like age to- 
gether, as some hens are cruel to birds belonging to other 
broods. When the birds are the size of quail they should 
be confined and may then be fed as the stock birds are. 
"Handle these pheasants by the body, as their legs are 
easily broken. There is a satisfaction, aside from the 
money profit, enjoyed by successful breeders of these 
iaeautiful game birds." 
Tallahassee Game Fields* 
A RECENT letter from Judge R. C. Long reports that 
about Tallahassee the quail season is at its height, the 
supply of birds is good, and their condition excellent. 
Some" Northern shooters are here. My little son, fifteen 
yezTS old, at home from University of the South for jiis 
winter vacation, on Saturday, over an old (eight years ) 
setter, found twelve bevies, and bagged nineteen birds 
out of twenty-six shots with a single-barrel .12 gauge 
Remington. Lesser scaup are here in great numbers, and 
in prime condition. They feed on a species of wild celery 
or Valisneria, growing on the bottoms of our deep fresh- 
water lakes. Shooting them from "stands" along the 
passes and straits is very high order of sport, requiring 
grit and skill, and is much engaged in by our local shoot- 
ers. They are just a little faster in flight than any other 
natural or p.ny artificial target I have eyer crooked a 
finder .-il. J 
Adirondack Deer and Hounds* 
The Adirondacks, Feb. 10. — Editor Forest and Stream; 
Although not a subscriber to your valuable paper, I 
read it frequently, and am an ardent admirer of the 
high ideals at which it aims, and the true sportsmanlike 
ring to its articles from the sincere pen; yet I cannot 
refrain from replying in part to a recent contributor to 
its columns (Mr. J. H. Woodward) in an article written 
in the interests of deer protection in the Adirondacks. 
In the main his sentiments are mine, though I cannot 
wholly agree with him on the question of hounding. 
Even though he has spent twelve consecutive seasons 
within the North Woods — I assume a few weeks each 
time — yet I think one to be thoroughly and intelligently 
conversant wdth the deer question must be an absolute 
resident, being in constant touch with guides and natives 
and in consequence thoroughly able to treat the situa- 
tion in an impartial manner. Owing to ill health, I 
have been obliged to live steadily in the Adirondacks 
for ten years past, having resided in that portion near 
Paul Smith's and the Saranacs, and I am personally 
acquainted with nearly every guide within a radius of 
fifteen miles. 
Ther£ is not the slightest doubt that the anti-hounding 
law has done and is doing more to protect and thereby 
cause a decided increase of our Adirondack deer than 
any measure that could ever be adopted; it is already 
manifest in the two years it has been in force. I 
thoroughl}'^ appreciate the feelings of Mr. Woodward* 
when he refers to the sagacity and true hunting qualities 
of the hound, to say nothing of the excitement that is ever 
present when one is anxiously waiting on a watch 
ground, straining every nerve to catch even a faint sound 
of the approaching dog, giving tongue on a fresh track. 
All of this sounds very "sporty," ' but even our noble 
hound mu-st be "called down" occasionally, and not 
have it all his own way. St. Law^rence county is an 
admirable illustration of what a non-hounding law will 
accomplish if permitted to remain in force a while. 
The above section is infested with deer, and if a sports- 
man comts to this vicinity in quest of this game and 
engages a guide for this purpose, he is invariably taken 
tu or near the limits of St. Lawrence county. And 
yet, in the face of this indisputable evidence, if this 
same guide is approached concerning his opinion on the 
deer law, in nine cases out of ten he will support hound- 
ing, Avhen at the same time they all know that, if per- 
mitted, it will in the near future annihilate our deer. 
Deputy game protectors are lax; in a great number of 
instances they will break the law as quick as a would- 
be sportsman, or in other cases, if one finds that_tl.e 
culprit whom he is after proves to be a neighbor Ox 
friend whose ill-will he does not wish to incur, of 
course the case is not pressed, and so it goes. I fear 
space would not admit, but there are other points I 
would like to touch upon and lay before your readers 
in an impartial light. However, in conclusion I would 
say that after all still-hunting is the only mode that 
appeals to the true sportsman, in this that the deer has 
an equal chance; but it is the height of absurdity to 
contend that in hounding the deer has the same chaiice 
as the dog. If you want to hear the melodious voice 
of your hoimd put him on a fox track or turn him loose 
in a rabbit swamp; but spare the deer and enable, our 
North Woods to enjoy the reputatioti accorded it for 
years in offering superior inducements to the sports-- 
Tiaan- • J- Thomson Gale. 
Shooting from the Hip. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Among the very pleasant features of your paper is the 
opportimity of exchanging views, queries and yarns, it 
may be (fish or otherwise), with our brother disciples of 
the ash or steel from all over this vast sporting world. 
I was very much amused by the very emphatic demon- 
stration of our old friend and versatile writer Didymus 
on the hip position in game shooting. He says he has 
shot with nearly as many men as our great character 
delineator Fred Mather has fished with, and "nev^er met 
with more than one instance of a bird being killed in 
that way," and intimates that that was an accident. Well, 
he has not seen everything in the shooting field by a long 
shot. There are several hip shooters, that shoot that 
way and no other, and they are good shots too. 
Some forty years ago, when I was much younger than 
now, and was considered a fair wing shot, there appeared 
in our village, away up in the Chenango Valley (Madi- 
son county, N. Y., to be more explicit), a little wiry 
Englishman — Stringen, I think, was his name. He had 
been gamekeeper or assistant to one for some English 
lord over the water. Whew! the oldest inhabitant had 
never seen or heard the like of this extraordinary being. 
He cleaned up the grouse (pa'tridges we called 'em) lor 
miles and miles around; and he always shot from the* 
hip; said he never shot any other way. He was art in- 
defatigable walker, as well as more than excellent marks- 
man. 
One day, upon descending the hills to the flats aftep 
a day's 'tramp (he had five grouse, I one). I thought 
if I could get him among the snipe or meadow larks in 
open ground I could do him, or at least hold my own. 
We found no snipe, but struck a lot of larks. But, whew! 
I wasn't in it. It didn't seem to make much difference 10 
him. far or near; he dropped them the same. "Long 
practice," he said, "in tlie turnip fields" had made hun 
accurate on distances and elevation. And as Forrester 
says. "With the eye of faith and the finger of instmct" 
he' let go and the birds almost invariably came to bag. 
Killing from the hip an accident! Poh! Many a 
July woodcock, when I was a boy, have I shot in the 
thick brush without raising my gun from my side; and 
no later than a few years ago, up in tlie Pocono Moun- 
tains, as I was crawling through a laurel thicket, a coek 
grouse whirled up in front. I couldn't get my gun up 
on account of the tangled brush, but I gauged as well 
as I could as the bird towered, and he came down. 1 
don't call that an accidental shot any more than if I had 
glanced along the barrel and been as sixccessful. 
I have no doubt there are many sportsmen, notwith- 
-tanding Didymus' yery positive assertion ''^n^iK^ stwffv, 
who have made many successful attempts from the hip 
that were not chance. I have in my mind now a resi- 
dent of Jersey City, one Richard Dyne, whom I regard 
as one of the best brush shots (on grouse more espe- • 
cially), barring neither John Henry Outwater nor Sam 
Castle, in the Stale; and that is saying a good deal. I 
know of his killing at least two grouse without raising 
his gun to his armpit; and I have little doubt that Sam 
Castle or Hen Outwater will own up to the same. But 
Vt'hy run on so garrulously on so palpable a thing. Let 
Didymus start something about which he is better posted 
before he calls it stuff. Jacobstaff. 
Boston Sportsmen. 
Boston, Feb. 18. — Qiiail shooting in the South is get- 
ting up a good name among Boston gunners who can 
find time and means to enjoy the sport. Harry B. Moore, 
of Boston, and Geo. C, Moore, of North Chelmsford, 
have hunted and fished together about as much as it is 
possible for two busy men to do. This year they again 
planned their fall outing for the South, and have ju.st 
returned. They left Boston Jan. 19 for Hickory Inn, on 
the Southern Railway, between SaHsbury and Asheville, 
N. C. Here they were met by Dr. French, one of Bos- 
ton's best known gunners. They had seven or eight 
dogs, mostly pointers, of registered breeding, and most 
thoroughly trained. The Northerners were in charge oi 
a guide thoroughly posted in that part of the country, 
and went quail shooting about every day. Still they did 
not shoot for numbers, for Dr. French was quick to call 
a halt when from eight to a dozen birds had been taken. 
They hunted mostly over ridges of cleared land, and 
Harry Moore says that it was worth the trip to see the 
dogs work. They cotdd stand on one ridge and watch 
them work another. The weather was fine, with mer- 
cury registering about 60 in the middle of the day — not 
too warm. The dogs were very fast rangers, generally 
working in couples or trios, and the Boston gunnefi 
were particularly delighted with their careful poiulinf? 
and steadiness, one dog never disturbing the point of 
another, but immediately coming into positioti too- In 
every case the hunters went forward and flushed the 
game, which they could not see, and often the hlrd^ 
would get up behind the gunner, requiring skill and prac- 
tice to whirl and shoot in season. 
.'\fter a few days of this delightful North Carolina 
weather and shooting there came a snowstorm, and this 
was the signal for packing the guns and starting for 
Florida. They visited St. Augustine, thence to Talla- 
hassee, and thence over to Panacea Springs, near the 
Gulf Coast. Here they stopped to enjoy the shore bird 
shooting, which they found to be all that could be de- 
sired, especially snipe shooting, which birds they found 
in great variety. The weather w'as warm and this had 
started the ducks and geese north to some extent, though 
they had some shooting on that class of game. The in- 
habitants always tell strangers that there are no snakes 
in their particldar section, especially in winter, but they 
do crawl out in the sun occasionally. The hunters were: 
a good deal startled one day by the sudden jumping 
backward of the negro guide, as they were beating 
through the canebrake and saw palmetto. He pointed 
ahead, and there lay a big moccasin. It took only a 
charge of shot to settle him, but the boys were more on 
the alert afterward. Speaking of fireflies, there are 
doubtless some big ones on the Gulf Coast of Florida, 
One night there was a tremendous flashing in the cane- 
brake and Harry Moore called the landlady of the house 
to see it. She allowed that there were many good-sized 
flies of that class there in the summer, but she had 
never seen one that made so nirich of a flash as that.' 
She called to the principal darky man, Joe, to come and 
see it, and if possible to capture it for the Northern 
hunters to take home. Joe allowed that he had never 
seen anything like it, and shouted for the other negroes 
to come and help him catch it. Thej^ skipped about in 
the darkness as well as they could and tried to ptit their 
hats over where it was last seen. Each time it eluded 
them, and woidd flash in another place. All this time 
Harry Moore was calling to George Moore to come 
down stairs and see the firefly. At last it flashed directly 
in the face of the foremost negro and nearly blinded him. 
With a yell of fear he ran from the canebrake, followed 
by the others; the light flashing after them. By this tirtie 
Harry Moore was nearly dead with laughter, and George, 
who was really in the canebrake with one of the new elec- 
tric flash tubes in hand, was ready to join him. Those 
two htmters are alwaj's sure of some joke every lime 
they go on a trip together. Since they got home Dr. 
French has sent each a beautiful specimen of Florida 
squirrel, to be mounted. Special, 
Mountain Parks. 
Mistaken effort is pending in this State and at the 
national capital to open the mountain reserve parks to 
sheep pasturing. With the increase of Western popula- 
tion, the available ground for promiscuous feeding has 
been constantly shrinking, and the wool growers feel that 
it is but right to allow them the unoccupied meadow lands 
in the Government reserves. 
Two weeks ago the Post-Intelligencer printed a very 
timely communication, setting forth the injury which 
sheep pasturing has wrought to the meadow lands of other 
States, and urging that the State of AVashinglon be far- 
sighted enough to toke care of its natural beauties while 
they are yet undamaged. There was much sentiment in the 
cornmunication, but it was eminently wise on the whole 
and must have met with general approval. 
The mountains are places for sentiment, and sentiment 
holds an indispensable place in the happiness of humanity. 
But there is something more than sentiment which in- 
hibits the- spoliation of places of wild nature. There is 
something in the congested life of modern municipal civili- 
zation that requires that districts unmarked wdth the as- 
pects of artificial development be available. Lest man 
should become worn and coarse with the constant con- 
templation of his own w^orks, it is necessary that he shall 
be able, when he so desires, to withdraw to a retreat 
wdiere he can feel, that the world and all that is in it 
t^-It<«?-c9r^- of itself iii^eptjidfui^: pf hi . ■rr •: 1 Of i -- m 
