FOHfiST AND STHfiAM. 
into high grass or any place of concealment and flut- 
tered up to the very wheels of the instrument that had 
caused their death. James Fenimore Cooper, in his 
book, "The Pioneers," gives a most interesting and 
graphic account of a slaughter of wild pigeons in which 
a small cannon was used. 
That these birds should have disappeared from this 
section of the country is hard enough to realize, but 
that it should become so nearly extinct in the United 
States passes comprehension, since it was common to 
a vast section of the country. Audubon, the great or- 
nithologist, observed a flight of pigeons in- Kentucky 
that extended as far as the eye could see, and was more 
than five hours passing. He attempted to compute 
the number of individual birds in the flight, and esti- 
mated that there were more than 500,000,000. Further 
than that he estimated that there could not have been 
less than that number in the smaller and detached flocks, 
which were passing to the North in great numbers early 
in the day, flying very swiftly and unusually high. 
These first flights appeared to be the vanguard ot thf 
immense army, patrolling the blue field of heaven, un- 
heralded, yet possessing the dignity and confidence of 
overwhelming numbers. He observed with wonder that 
the number of flocks visible early in the day increased 
and multiplied until the earth was canopied with the 
feathered hosts, and that when the main body of the 
rank and file had passed there were yet detached regi 
ments to cover the rear of the fleeing army. The strag- 
glers continued to pass mutil darkness rendered them 
invisible. 
This wonderful flight is well authenticated, not alone 
by Audubon, which would have been sufficient, but by 
many persons who were living in the territory over which 
'the birds flew. 
The disappearing di the pTgeOri reminds us that only 
a few years ago flocks of what is known as tame doves 
could be seen around this place daily. The court house 
roof was a great roosting place for these birds, which 
also have nearlv disappeared, but few being seen in 
that vicinity. A. V. Meersch, 
[Mr. Meersch further advises us that at the time of this 
last flight of pigeons in Dutchess Co., which he says 
took place in 1895, great numbers of the birds were killed 
and sold for food ail over the country. Many of those 
who were engaged in the destruction came from the 
towns of Kingston and Amenia. Cannot some of the 
readers of Forest and Stream give us further informa- 
tion as to this matter? It is certainly worth recording,] 
Lakewood. O,, April 15— Editor Forest and Stream: 
This morning, about 8 o'clock, I saw a flock of fifty or 
seventy-five birds flying in a northeasterly direction, 
and if it had been twenty years ago I should have called 
them passenger pigeons beyond a doubt; but now 
that these birds have been pronounced extinct by high 
authorities, I hardly dare venture an opinion or believe 
my own eyes. 
Nevertheless, this flock was moving along m true 
pigeon style, and I would advise sportsmen to look sharp 
about the Alleghany and Adirondack mountains, as they 
were headed that way, and are probably there at this 
writing. Hall. 
Instinct. 
Editor Forest and Stream: Tin 1 
To prove that the lower animals reason I shall make 
use of the facts that scientific investigation has disclosed. 
Science teaches that in the brain of the vertebrates, 
man included, the seat of mind is situated in the 'su- 
preme hemispherical ganglia." The invertebrates do 
not possess these higher nerve centers. They have no 
centers of intelligence and will, like the higher animals. 
All the intelligence they exhibit is located in the sen- 
sary ganglia. A study of insects, however, will prove 
to any one that they possess an intelligence akm to 
reason. The bee. and the ant are noted examples that 
prove something more than blind instinct. The fact is 
science cannot draw the line where mind commences in 
animal life. In the evolution of mind there are grades 
from the lower to the higher life. Man's mind is su- 
perior because it is ministered to by superior organs. 
What is a superior organ? I will illustrate. In the 
nose of man there are the inferior turbinated bones. 
They are scroll-shaped, which increases the surface ex- 
posed These bones are covered by the mucous mem- 
brane through which the olfactory nerves are distributed. 
Because the surface is large, man possesses the sense 
of smell in a high degree, these bones in the_ dog are 
separated into plates or leaves, which greatly increases 
the surface to which the nerves of smell are distributed. 
Thus the dog's sense of smell is superior to nian s be- 
cause he possesses superior organs. The bram follows 
the same natural law. In the lower animals the primary 
convolutions may be traced. The Hottentot brain is far 
below the brain of the European. In the latter the ar- 
rangement of the convolutions is remarkably complex. 
A large surface is thus exposed to the network of 
nerves that minister to reflection, giving to man the 
power to reason beyond any other animal, just as the 
dog's sense of smell is increased by the increased net- 
work of nerves that minister to the sense of smell. 
Is' it not a logical conclusion that the lower animals 
can reason when we are told by science that they possess 
the necessary organs? It is one of nature's laws that a 
useless organ soon disappears. Why do the.se persist? 
The answer is plain: Because they arc used and are 
absolutely necessary to the existence of the lower ani- 
mals Without the power to reason animal life would 
be blotted from the face of the earth, as nature is consti- 
tuted to-day. Man's reason is occupied with the sur- 
roundings of his daily life. The same is true of the 
lower animals. . , 
Man considers first the three necessaries of lite— 
iood shelter and clothing. After that comes the luxuries. 
The'lower animals consider food and shelter and how 
to maintain an existence. The advent of man was a 
serious danger to most animal life. The animals under 
changed conditions were forced into new channels_ of 
thought. Some, like the rat. reasoned it out by forcing 
man to provide food and shelter. Some were^ domesti- 
cated Others were exterminated. Those' that exist 
in a wild state to-day find their surroundings continu- 
ally changing, and the bitter struggle for existence turns 
their thoughts into new channels. Reason must work 
out their fate. If they adapt themselves to changed con- 
ditions aiid maintatin an existence, it is evidence of a 
power to reason, which can onh/ be denied by assertion. 
Mr, Wade's argument contains all the earmarks of the 
argument advanced by opponents of reason in the lower 
animals. 1 will put it in a nutshell. 
"The acts of animals which seem to indicate reason 
are null and void because of other acts which seem to 
indicate a lack of reason." 
Ihis boils it down and reduces their argument to a 
plain statement. They measure animal intelligence by 
some act which seems to indicate a lack of reason, be- 
cause man can compass the act, while they coolly 
ignore millions of acts that indicate reason in the lower 
animals as well as in man. Again, if these "blind 
leaders of the blind" will apply their logic to man they 
will find themselves obliged to deny reason to man- 
kind. 
Take the dog trained to protect the child's perambula- 
tor, which Mr. Wade asserts attacked another child be- 
cause there was a limit to a dogs intelligence, as much 
as to say that man would not fall into such an error. 
What can Mr. Wade say about the unnumbered errors 
which are so common and arc usually caused by trained 
human beings who fail to comprehend orders? Would 
he limit the intelligence of mankind because of these in- 
dividual errors of judgment? 
Mr. Wade cites that old fake of pushing the burning 
brands together to show that animals do not com- 
prehend such a simple problem. Mr. Wade forgets 
that fire is not necessary to the existence of the lower 
animals. 
I challenge him to name anything that is absolutely 
necessary to maintain the existence of the lower animals 
which they do not comprehend. When whale oil and 
the tallow candle made darkness visible man did not 
comprehend the electric light. "He had the electric spark, 
why didn't he push the brands together and enjoy a new 
light? Simply because it was not necessary at that time. 
Man's necessity evolved the electric light. He pushed 
the brands together when he was educated to it. A log- 
ical mind will judge the lower animals by the same rule, 
and grant them the power to reason upon the things 
that are necessary to their existence. 
Mr. Wade's remarks about adoption are wholly iflog- 
ical. Adoption is a common thing in human life. 
Strange children are adopted and tenderly cared for, and 
sometimes it seems impossible to reconcile the act with 
a power to reason. Surely if human beings adopt strange 
offspring animals cannot be deprived of reason for doing 
practically the same thing. 
The cow that was satisfied with the hide of her calf 
always bobs up serenely in the controversy. I wonder 
if it ever occurred to those who advance this argument 
that the cow comprehended the meaning of death, and 
accepted the situation just as poor human beings are 
forced to do? My experience when a farmer proved 
to me that animals comprehend death. It frequently 
happened in cold weather that lambs dropped in the 
night would get chilled. Such were removed to the 
house, but usually died. The mother would be placed 
in a pen by herself and one of a pair of twins would be 
jplaced with her for adoption. At first I had no end 
|of trouble with these sheep. It was almost impossible 
Jto get a skeep adopt a lamb. A farmer, old at the 
ibusiness. told me to let the mother have the dead lamb 
for a short time. As he expressed it, "The mother is 
saving her milk for her lamb, which she thinks is alive 
and hungry. When satisfied that it is dead she will adopt 
another." 
I found the theory all right in practice, and had but 
little trouble afterward. 
I applied the theory to my cows, with the same result. 
During mv fourteen years of hermit life I have run 
across many incidents that prove that wild animals 
comprehend the meaning of death. Two years ago I 
found the nest of a "wild" domestic cat in an old stone 
wall. There were three live kittens and one dead one. 
I left the dead kitten as an experiment. Whenever I 
had found a nest before this, a visit a few hours later 
would find the nest deserted, the kittens removed to 
some secret spot. -When I again visited the nest in 
question it was deserted save for the dead kitten. If 
that cat had no conception of death she would have 
placed the dead kitten beyond my reach, and for the 
same reason that caused her to remove the live Icittens. 
Mr. Wade and his ilk do not call on science to verify 
their claims. We know how gladly they would do so 
if science was on their side. They claim that the lower 
animals cannot reason because they do not reason in all 
things, but forget to apply their logic to mankind. _ 
What can be said of the millions of human beings 
who use alcoholic drink to excess, knowing that the 
j)enalty is death or dementia? 
If any large number of animals should act in such an 
unreasonable manner Mr. Wade and his friends would 
blazon it to the world, as sure proof that animals lacked 
reason. In my study of animal life I find that the lower 
animals stick 'closer to the lines of reason in adapting 
themselves to their surroundings than does mankind. 
I will put the reason of the sturdy red squirrel that lays 
up food for a cold winter against the reason of the 
spendthrift who. having spent a fortune, goes to the 
hospital to die with a loathsome disease. Who would 
not score one for the squirrel? Hkrmtt. 
Edible (?) Puff BalL 
I REMEMBER that somc time ago the Forest and Stream 
showed its readers some fine illustrations of the mush- 
room, and this led me to make inquiry, together with 
what t saw. I am extremely fond of the genuine mush- 
room, and had thought it was the only edible variety of 
the fungi. But one afternoon I went out of town to shoot 
woodcock. On my way I came across several gentlemen 
and ladies, who are artists in the copying house of this 
city, and found them gathering the fungus that m decay is 
called the "puff-ball." which all country residents are 
familiar with. It sometimes grows as big as a man's first, 
is round, almost white-skinned, and pure white mside 
while fresh, and when thoroughly decayed and dry be- 
comes purple in color, and sends forth volumes of purple 
smoke when bursted. ■ ■ ■ • I 
Well, this party had about a peck Or JJioTe. Cif these 
fungi, "What!" said I, "you afe not going to eat these?'' 
"Certainly we are/' said one of the men, who began talk- 
ing of the different species, and I concluded he ought to 
know what he was about, as he seemed to be up to date in' 
the matter of botany as it regards the mushroom and itS' 
congeners. 
And they ate them. Talking with several who partook 
of the fungus,* they said it was entirely safe when fresh 
and white, but should not be eaten when it began to turis 
its color. They are sHced, then soaked an hour or twOt 
in saltish water and fried in butter. 
Can the Forest and Stream or some of its readers give 
us any points of enlightenment on the edibleness of the 
"puff-baU"? N. D. E. 
American Game Parks* 
The "Forest and Stream's'* Fifth Annual Report on Game 
in Preseives. 
(Coticluded from ^dge 287.) 
Charles F, Dietrich's Game Park. 
Mr. Charles F. Dietrich's park at Milbrook, Dutchess 
county, N. Y., has an area of 3,000 acres. Of this about 
2,400 acres are fenced with a 9ft, woven wire fence of 
Page manufacture. 
Mr. Dietrich has at present one hundred white-tail 
deer, as well as smaller game. When his game enclos- 
ure was much smaller than at present he tried the ex- 
periment of stocking with German roe deer. They did! 
not thrive, however, in the thirty-acre enclosure. They 
could stand it for a year or two, but in the end all died., 
The roe is essentially a forest deer and cannot bear con- 
finement in small, open parks. Some friends of Mr.. 
Dietrich who tried to rear them in Germany under simi- 
lar conditions said the deer always died, and that their 
bodies were generally found close to the restraining: 
fences. ■ 
Mr. Dietrich has imported German hares on three or 
four occasions, and at present he has several hundred ofi 
these animals, which have been acclimated and are do- 
ing well. 
He has put out 500 quail for the coming season, and! 
released the same number last year. English pheasants- 
are raised each year at the park, and a certain number are 
released previous to the shooting season. 
Two years ago this journal mentioned Mr. Dietnich's 
experimental stocking with prairie chickens. UnfbutUi- 
nately the plan was not a success, as all the birds hance 
died or disappeared. The ruffed grouse put out abiont 
the same time are doing very well, and have increased 
in number. 
The attempt to introduce English partridges was not 
successfulj'as the birds are tender and do not seem able 
to stand our climate. Mr. Dietrich will, however, try 
another importation in the near future. The German; 
partridge, "feldhuhn," which closely resembles its Eng- 
lish cousin, and which is certainly more robust, seems tO' 
be thriving. Mr. Dietrich found a covey of these biids. 
which had lared in the park late last fall. 
There are some small natural lakes in a hilly portion of. 
the park, which contain fish. Several streams crossing,' 
the meadows and also some artificial ponds have becni 
stocked with trout. 
Mr. Dietrich has imported from time to time a considU 
erable variety of European song birds. The nightingales 
which he released died. Finches of various kinds did 
well. F'inches are almost as hardy as English sparrows 
and are well able to take care of themselves. He has 
made several experiments with skylarks. Last spring 
fifty or sixty were released. They were seen all during 
the" summer, but when fall came they migrated, south. 
I5irds put out previous seasons have not returned. Mr.. 
Dietrich is particularly anxious to introduce this en- 
chanting songster and will try another importation. His 
birds are procured from Germany, but are identical with 
the English skylark. 
Ozonia Park. 
Ozonia Park has been somewhat enlarged and now 
contains 2,000 acres of densely wooded mountain land, 
including Lake Ozonia. It is situated seven miles froni 
St. Regis Falls Station, on the New York & Ottawa 
Railroad. Adjoining it are 6,000 acres of forest which I 
control, but do not include in the park, being partly 
lumbered. 
The park is kept for friends and for the guests of my 
summer hotel, Fernwood Hall. The lake has been 
stocked with salmon and brown trout, and landlockeii 
salmon, but the principal fish are black bass. Deer have 
been unu-sually plentiful during the past year. 
Every year makes me more determined to preserve the 
virgin forest and the beauty of nature, as I see more 
proofs of its great value to the worn and weary from 
the cities. Frederic M. Heath. 
Brandrelh Park. 
"We have no new information regarding our pre- 
serve. We have protected it carefully for the last twenty-^ 
five years and now estimate the number of our deer at 
1,000. These figures are considered by many to be far- 
short of the actual number, however. 
"We have not imported any exotic species, and so far 
as our experience goes those who have done so have, 
little but trouble and expense with them. 
"The preserve includes some 30,000 acres and thir- 
teen lakes and ponds, the largest being four miles long. 
Grouse are becoming fewer each year, owing, we think, 
to the increase in the number of foxes." 
Cutting Preserve. 
Mr. Frank A. Cutting writes: 
"My preserve is well protected and the deer are in- 
creasing; also the deer are increasing in the territoj^ 
surrounding me. Owing to their being protected on my 
preserve and increasing in numbers there, they then 
stray' away to the adjoining territory, 
