^64 
been breeding .bison four years next May. Last spring 
I caught two calves, male and female. The cow dropped 
a fine heifer calf. Last summer I bred twelve Galoway 
cows to the bison bull. Now I am waiting with curi- 
osity to see what the offspring will be like, as the cross- 
ing is an experiment with me and predictions are many 
and various as to the outcome. Dick Rock. 
Lake, Idaho, 
Weights of Foxes. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The enclosed dipping is taken from the Winchester. 
Mass., Star: 
"Many frequenters of the Middlesex Fells have seen at 
different times a large black fox— an exceeding rarity. 
Word has been received from Mr. Gerry, of Stoneham, 
that this fox was shot last week in Burlington. He 
weighed 27lbs." , . 
As- the item states, a black fox in New England is an 
exceeding rarity," but a fox of any color actually weighing 
27lbs. is something I never heard of before. I have shot 
something over 200 New Hampshire foxes and have care- 
fully weighed a good many immediately after they were 
killed. Our ordinary red fox weighs from Sj/^ to glhs. 
We consider lolbs. large, and i2lbs. an unusually large 
one. The largest I ever killed weighed i3lbs. I usually 
kill every winter several weighing from 10 to I2lbs., and 
they are always old doe foxes in fine condition. A fox is 
very deceptive in appearance, as to his weight. His winter 
coat is long and the hair stands out straight. Strip off his 
pelt, and what is left is comparatively very small. 
Estimated weight of wild animals, as I have found, in- 
variably exceeds the actual. A black bear was killed late 
one fall while swimming across Parmachenee Lake, in 
Maine. This bear was towed to the wharf at Danforth s 
Camp. There were several sportsmen and guides there 
at the time, and thev all estimated the weight. The bear's 
fur was full of water, which would greatly add to his 
weight. The general estimate was 40olbs. As there was 
a set of Fairbanks scales at the camp, the bear was 
weighed, and the actual weight was 25olbs. In several 
instances I have known of the estimated and actual weight 
of different animals to vary fully as much. If any of 
the readers of Forest and Stream know anything about 
this 27lb. fox, the Forest and Stream would be glad to 
hear of it. C. M. Stark. 
DUNBARTOK, N. H. 
Cfow and Engine. ■^^^^ 
Utica, March 31.— Lieut.-Gov. Woodruff and a party 
of friends came up the Central to-day on an observation 
engine hound for Fulton Chain, where they are to spend 
Sunday. Between Frankfort and this city a crow struck 
the window of the engnie and shattered it. Some pieces 
of glass struck the Lieutenant-Governor in the face and 
the dead body of the bird hit him on the forehead. Upon 
reaching this city the Lieutenant-Governor visited a drug 
store, where a liberal application of court plaster was 
made. — New York Herald. 
}^ffi^ 
Game Laws in Brief and. Woodcraft Magazine, 
See announcement elsewhere. As the April issue will be gov- 
erned by the advance orders, it is requested that subscribers will 
order now either for the year or for the April number. 
Alaska as a Game Country, 
Juneau, Alaska.— Editor Forest and Stream: We ex- 
pect a great many visitors to Alaska next summer. Many 
of them attracted by the remarkable gold discoveries, the 
richest of whicli are so near to Juneau that they can be 
visited in two days. In addition to this, there will be 
tourists and others in search of big game shooting. 
Upon Admirality Island, 100 miles from Juneau, reached 
easily in a day by local steamer, black bear can be found 
in abundance. The Indians inform me that from a point 
on the beach where the boat lands to a point up a gentle 
rise two miles away, they don't care to travel at night, as 
the bears are very large and ferocious. Some of the 
finest skins ever brought to Juneau came from that 
vicinity. . , , 1 1 • 1 
Deer are in abundance. Fishing and duck hunting al- 
most cease io be sport. ■, <■ 
On Shelter Island, upon Lynn Canal, ten miles from 
Juneau, a sportsman can find all the wolves he wants. 
When the steamer Detroit was wrecked there a few 
months ago, the passengers and crew had occasion to 
camp out for two nights, and so numerous were the 
wolves, big gray fellows, that it became necessary to place 
a guard at the door of the tent to protect the men and 
their passengers. . W. A. Beddoe. 
Hawk and Grouse. 
Berkeley, lovfa..— Editor Forest and Stream: While 
stroUing through the fields one day in February I was an 
interested spectator in witnessing the capture of a pin- 
nated grouse by a red-tailed hawk. The hawk was ob- 
served soaring slowly about over an oat stubble, when he 
suddenly darted to the ground, and arose with the bird in 
his talons. As there seemed to be no struggle m the air 
it must have been killed almost instantly when struck by 
the hawk. The whole affair took place so quickly and un- 
expectedly that I could hardly believe my vision. Thinking 
the bird could not possibly sustain the load for any dis- 
tance I followed its flight, but after flying some distance 
they were obscured by the intervening woods This is the 
first incident I have ever noticed where the red-tailed hawk 
has attempted to carry off anything as large as the prairie 
chicken, and it was doubtless driven to it through neces- 
^^*^The heavy snows and extremely cold weather of the 
previous three weeks having c*t off his food supply, and 
with starvation staring him in the face it was his only 
alternative. E. D. Carter. 
The Linnaean Society of New York. 
Regular meetings of the society will be held in the 
American Museum of Natural History, on Tuesday even- 
ings, April II and 25th, at 8 o'clock. . -.r .1 
April II.— By members. "The Warblers of North 
America" Exhibition of specimens, wnth discussion of 
distribution, habits, etc., of Magnolia, cerulean, chestnut- 
sided, bay-breasted, black poll and blaclcburnian warblers. 
April 25.— By members. "The Warblers of North 
America" Exhibition of specimens, with discussion of 
distribution, habits, etc., of yellow-throated, sycamore, 
Grace's black-throated gray, golden-cheeked, black- 
throated green, Townsend's and hermit warblers 
Walter W. Granger, Sec y. 
American Museum of Natural History. 
A Penobscot Back. 
The illustration is of a beautifully marked buck killed 
bv Mr Fred Hubbard, of East Berlin, Conn., m the East 
Branch Penobscot Valley of Maine. The party consisted 
of Messrs. Hubbard, J. N. Akarman, of Worcester, Mass 
and Tno. Towne, of Amherst, Mass ,This buck was of 
very large size, and the unusual marking is a white with 
dun mottling. The mounted effigy now adorns the rooms 
of the new athletic building in East Berlin. 
New Hampshire Fox Hunting, 
In Forest and Stream of Jan. 7, a correspondent 
writes: "In the South they hunt foxes with foxhounds, 
and join the folk of the old world in calling it treason to 
kill a fox in any other way. In New England they go not 
fox-hunting, but fox-shooting, and consider it sweet and 
decent to shoot a driven fox with any sort of gun. Out 
in North Dakota they hunt the fox with greyhounds." 
To follow a pack of hounds, as is the custom in the 
South or in the old world, over such rough country as 
we have, would be impracticable. To use greyhounds 
or any fast dogs which follow by sight only, would be 
equally so. Such dogs might succeed were our foxes 
fools enough to keep on open ground. Our New Eng- 
land method is almost as old as our granite hills. Wo 
who follow it are satisfied to call it fox-huntinor. Others 
may call it what they will. 
have been asked recently by some of Forest anh 
Stream's readers to give my experience as connected 
A PENOBSCOT BUCK. 
White, with Dun Mottling. 
with our foxes when huntir^ them in our New England 
manner. During the past twenty-five years I have 
hunted them more or less each winter. I seldom begin 
until snow falls. When I go out it is with the intention of 
shooting every fox I can, and I do not hesitate to use 
any means of outwitting them. 
A good dog is necessary, and what I consider a really 
good fox dog is not always easy to find. I do not like a 
very fast dog, neither must he be too slow. The first 
drives too many foxes out of hearing, while the latter 
gives them too much time to play their well-known tricks. 
I want a dog to have a clear voice and to give tongue 
fast and regularly after the fox is started. I have found 
that foxes are often afraid of a coarse heavy-voiced dog, 
and also of one which only barks now and then. One ot 
the latter sort I have found to be the poorest kind of fox- 
hound, no matter what other good qualities he might 
possess. A fox wants to know just about where the dog 
is and will keep much nearer to one which barks steadily. 
The dog must be a good ranger, hunting the ground well, 
and should come in at least every half-hour, should he 
fail to find a track. He must know enough to come home 
after a run and not stop at the nearest house, no matter 
how tired he may be. One other point I am particmar 
about is, that he must do his work himself and not go to 
join any other hounds he may hear. It is comparatively 
easy to get a hound having some of the above require- 
ments, but one which combines them all is not found 
so easily. . , ^ ^ 
As for breeding. In this section we do not count on 
long or high pedigrees. Some of the most worthless fox- 
hounds I have ever seen for practical work were blue- 
blooded, They might take prizes on the bench but they 
could not follow a fox. Puppies from a bitch known to be 
a good fox dog and from a similar dog, almost invariably 
learn quickly. The dog I now have I consider one of the 
best I have owned. He is of medium size, standing 
nineteen inches at the shoulders, black, white and tan and 
mottled He is not a fast runner, but still he holes more 
foxes than any dog I fehye had. This is the third winter 
I have owned him, and lie has driven in thirty-three. As 
I seldom try to get a fox after he holes, I do not like 
this, but know of no way to help it. , , , 
For a good foxhound, from two to four years old, 
twenty-five dollars is considered here a fair price. Some- 
times' a good one can be bought for half that amount 
Again there are some for which a much higher price 
would be asked. Such cases, however, are^ where the 
owner of a hound does not wish to part with the dog 
and would only be tempted by the amount offered. 
Speaking of very fast running hounds. Some years 
since there was such a dog owned a few miles from here. 
1 am very sure that without exception there never has 
been such a dog in this part of New Hampshire. He was 
a cross between a foxhound and a bull dog, and looked 
like a hound, but with shorter ears than our natives. 
He was not a large dog, but stood up pretty well. Were 
this dog alive to-day and in his prime, I would like to 
see him compete in some of the trials where speed and 
accuracy were the point. He was the only dog I have 
known which could and did catch our red foxes. He 
caught and killed fifteen foxes one winter, and not one of 
them had been previously shot at or injured in any 
manner. When he got after a fox the latter did not 
have any time to fool around and when he once got hold . 
of one his bull-dog nature was in evidence, and he never 
broke his hold as long as the fox had any life in -hmi. 
He was wonderfully ti'ue on a track when a fox ran the 
roads, on ice or such places. One day when there was a 
few inches of snow he drove a fox through a field 111 front 
of the house, saw the fox when he came into the field and 
saw him follow around after the sheep which raced off 
when they saw him. The dog was not far behind and 
one of the men who knew the dog by his voice said 
"George's dog will get bothered among all those sheep 
tracks." The dog, however, never made a skip or a break 
and was on after the fox and out of hearing m a few 
minutes. Another time he drove a fox through a small 
village near here. It is about half a mile m length, and 
the fox kept in the road with the dog about three rods 
behind. Neither seemed to gain, and at a turn m the 
road the fox left and went into a rocky pasture where the 
dog caught and killed him. A fox was started by this 
dog near where he was owned. There was some crust on 
the snow which favored the fox. The dog drove him 
about ten miles, nearly straight away. During the run the 
fox passed near where lived an old fox-hunter, who saw 
him cross a pasture quite a distance ahead of the dog. 
The old man said to some men who were with him, "He 
has got after a fox this time that he will never catch, 
no dog could on such running." But the dog did catch 
and kill the fox, and his owner followed up the trail and 
found the fox the next day. This dog did not hole so 
many foxes as any one would suppose. Perhaps he 
pushed them so fast that they did not have time to go to 
holes they knew of. Now I would not care to own such 
a dog. About the only chance to shoot a fox ahead of 
him was to get on some runway before the fox was 
started; and nearly always to find a fox wdiich he had 
caught 'and killed entailed a very long tramp. 
Occasionally a rather slow dog will catch a fox i never 
knew of but one instance of any of my dogs doing so. 
On that day there were several inches of very light snow 
and it was easy running. The dog caught this fox in 
about fifteen minutes after starting him. I saw the fox 
cross a meadow some five minutes before he was caugiit 
and he was running ea.sily and about one -hundred yards_ 
ahead of the dog. They both went into a thick piece ot 
bushes and sproutland, and the dog stopped barking. 
Thinking he had holed him I followed on and found the 
doo- lying on the fox which he had killed. I could not .■^ee 
anj^ signs of the fox having been hurt in any way before 
the dog caught him, and it has always been a mystery 
how the dog got near enough to get hold of liim. 
I usually go alone when after foxes, and 1 decidedly 
prefer to use but one dog. There may be (while it can 
be heard) more music hearing a number of dogs driving 
a fox. but our foxes when so hunted nearly always run 
straight out of hearing and often do not come back 
during the day. Of course, foxes will sometimes run 
straioht away for a good many miles when followed by a 
singfe dog and a slow one at that, but I find it is only 
occasionally, while with a number of dogs they nearly al- 
ways do so. I have shot a good many foxes during the 
time I have been after them, and am now pretty well in 
the third hundred of what I have killed. With one ex- 
ception they were all killed in this section. I have notice-i 
that our foxes change their routes some years. One 
winter nearly every fox when followed by a dog will take 
to high ground, running over ledges and the tops or 
ridges, while, perhaps, the following winter m the same 
locality hardly a fox will run in such places, they keep 
on low ground and in sproutland or thick small growth 
of pine or hemlock. They have done so almost entit y 
during the past winter and would seldom go over a lull, 
keeping well down and going around. . 
Another change in this vicinity is m the Color. V\e 
seldom now get a fox of as dark red color as in years 
past They incline towards a light grayish color 011 
flanks and back. During the past six months I have seen 
but one of as deep a red as we used to kill, hoxes, like 
almost everything which runs or flies, are hunted a grc-it 
deal more than in years, long past. To-day they are 
wilder and run over more ground than formerly, the 
past winter has been unusually unfavorable for our style 
of hunting them. Days when it was even fair running, 
have been few and far between. Yet I know of sixty-one 
being killed within a radius of seven or eight miles 01 
here. Of this number I shot ten. CM. Stark. 
DUNBARTON, N. H. 
There is such a thing as knowing your business too 
well. Mr. Boodle and Mr. Griffin, of Hampton county, 
were out hunting wild turkeys in Coosawatchie swamp. 
Each was "yelping," and their imitations of the move- 
ments and calls of the turkey were so realistic that they 
deceived each other. The result was that after dodging 
and yelping around in the underbrush an hour or so Mr. 
Griffin caught sight of something moving and fired 
promptly, putting four buckshot into the temple of Mn 
Boodle, which was the .end of poor Boodle. When Mr. 
Griffin went for his turkey he found a dead man whom 
he had never seen before. No doubt it was a quastion 
of which got the first sight of the other. Each thought 
he was calling aj'ffiiid5tturkey.— Greenville (S. C.) News. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at th« 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. ^ 
