JuiY 29, 1899.]' 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
88 
ducks. I have Witnessed some encounters between them. 
In one case, when a duck and her family were saiHng 
quietly along, I saw them make a mad rush, the old one 
calhng loudly, when suddenly out of the water rose a 
large loon ,and attacked them with great fury, churning 
the water into foam with his wings in the pursuit. He 
seemed to me to secure one of the young ducks, with 
which he disappeared under the water. At another time I 
witnessed a contest between a loon and an old duck— the 
latter defending her young apparently. In each of these 
cases the loon was concealed under the water, and rose 
suddenly from it to the attack. It will be interesting and 
instructive to know if the loon makes food of youns 
ducks. 
Of course Forest and Stream knows. 
Owe of Greenough's Guests in July, 1899. 
Birds in Town. 
Ann Arbor, Mich,— Are the natural inhabitants of the 
helds and woods taking up new homes in the smaller cities 
and villages where they are not molested but fed and en- 
couraged.^ The robin and bluejay long since did this. 
More of these birds can be found in the little cities than 
elsewhere m southern Michigan, I think. Certainly the 
cities contain numbers of these birds out of all proportion 
to their relative area. I have often walked through our 
deserted woods and been oppressed by their silence. 
Birds, squirrels and rabbits are gone. In the cities all of 
these are found. The catbird is more numerous in town 
than in country hereabouts. There are one or two on my 
place (less than half an acre) every spring. 
From what I have seen and have been told, I think the 
squirrels are making the change. I have learned of no 
place where they have not been welcome, except in isolated 
cases where they have entered and occupied portions of 
dwellings against the expressed wishes- of the owners. 
Ihe squirrels of which I write are the red squirrel and the 
fox squirrel. I know of no gray squirrels or chipmunks 
following this practice yet. Chipmunks do better near 
the habitations of man— a little to one side— not among 
the houses. 
More interesting still is the accumulating evidence that 
something of the idea of safety in cities has crossed the 
mmd of the quail. We had scarcely returned home lately 
from a stay of some weeks, till ray wife twice noticed Bob 
White call right near our house in this city. Twice the 
same fall a few years ago I saw, at widely separated 
places, quail cross the street, not far in front of me— evi- 
dently a passing flock of which I saw a few in each case. 
Note also the evidences of the same thing published in 
Forest and Stream. Let them come in. Perhaps the 
way to raise quail is to be good to them. Even grouse 
might some time be so raised. 
In_ cities the natural enemies of these creatures have 
nothing like the chance at them that they do in the 
country. 
Is there a change going on in the chosen abode of our 
friends of the air,, the trees and the ground? 
For years there was, perhaps there is yet, a large 
colony of crow blackbirds on the college campus here 
There were plenty of others about various parts of the 
cny. I have not noticed any of late years though 
J. B. D. 
The July number of the Game Laws in Brief and Woodcraft 
Magazine is now ready. See advertisement of it. 
Utah Justice. 
A FEW mornings ago, about 9 o'clock, I was in a book 
store, when the proprietor came in from the rear and in- 
formed me that a man had offered him some very small 
trout for sale. I went out and found in a farm wagon a 
box containing about 4olbs. of trout, carefullv packed in 
ice and all under size. Three young men from Walls- 
burg, Wasatch county, offered the lot for 17^ cents per 
pound. They said that the fish had run out on their 
lucerne patch while irrigating and they didn't know what 
to do with them. They admitted having sold several 
boxes of trout on the previous evening to a local whole- 
saler. These remaining had been refused as ■'too small," 
though the wholesale dealer did not do his duty in the 
matter. Immediately I sought Commissioner Newell, who 
was out of town, and then went to the sheriff's office and 
brought a deputy to the wagon. The fish varied from 
4 to 7in. m length. Arrest, immediate trial, plea "guilty," 
fine $30. All inside of two hours. We thought that the 
fish had been seined, but could not prove it. The confis- 
cated trout sold for about $7. 
Owing to the fact that the Indian agent at Fort 
Duchesne has specially deputized Indian police to look 
after the waters in Strawberry Valley, there has been less 
poaching upon the reservation this season than for a num- 
ber of years previous. Late high water prevented a viola- 
tion of the law before the open season, in the streams 
emptying into Utah Lake, Salt Lake, Bear River and 
tributaries. Since June 15 there have been several charges 
preferred by the Fish and Game Commissioner. On look- 
nig over the justices' docket I find that three convictions 
have been secured for having in possession trout under 
size ; two for spearing bass ; one for seining, and one for 
the use of a fish trap. This is a splendid record when we 
consider how the local sentiment has had to be educated. 
Good work is also being done in Cache county. 
The State has planted suit against the Telluride 
Power Transmission Company for failure to provide a 
screen, as required by law, at the head gate of their 
mammoth flume. Concerning the fishwav at their dam, 
about \vhich I have written previously, I give the com- 
pany's side of the case from a local paper : 
"Anent the criticisms offered in regard to the fish ways 
over the dam of the Telluride Power Transmission Com- 
pany in Provo Caiion the Democrat man on Monday in- 
terviewed ^^' . B. Searle. chief engineer of the power com- 
pany. Mr. Searle states that three experimental fishways 
have been put in. The first was according to company 
plans and did not meet the satisfaction of the Fish Com- 
missioner. The second was constructed by the Telluride 
Company on plans furnished by the Fish Commissioner, 
but failed to be satisfactory. The third was constructed 
under the direct supervision and direction of the Fish 
Commissioner and entirely paid for by the Telluride Com- 
pany, but it also fails to meet the requirements of the 
oflicial who constructed it. The Fish Commissioner has 
submitted plans of another fishway and demanded that it 
u * ^' understand that it is on the plan approved 
by the Department at Washington. The companv say they 
will put in the new one if the Commissioner will agree to 
accept It, but that they are tired of being experimented 
with. The matter is still in abeyance, but should certainly 
be adjusted." 
Utah county and the State in general may be proud of 
the effort that is now making marked headway to have 
good game laws that can be lived up to, and of having 
these laws strenuously enforced. Shoshone 
The Big Head. 
We had gathered in the drawing-room. My host 
l-liarlie, an old college chum, had always been an ardent 
sportsman, and in true hunter fashion had furnished this 
the principal family room, in backwoods— yet neverthe- 
less elegant— style. On the polished hardwood floor and 
on the spacious wall appeared all kinds of trophies of the 
stalk and chase, which, as well as giving a frontier as- 
pect to the room, showed his skill with the rifle There 
was a naonster grizzly's skin, with great dull claws as long 
as my fingers, that seemed to occupy at least one-third 
of the floor space of the big room, and a mountain lino's 
skin. Several big gray wolf and three or four red fox 
and coyote skins covered the remainder. Suspended from 
the walls were several deer heads, a pair of massive elk 
horns and a fine mountain sheep's head, while just over 
the fireplace, in the most conspicuous position in the 
room, and looking down at us in a proud and lordly man- 
ner, was the finest blacktail buck's head I had ever 
seen. 
This head had been mounted by some one who thor- 
oughly understood the business, for the workman had 
given just the right expression to the wise old face, with 
Its bright eyes, great ears' and sensitive nose, and the 
widely spreading, many-pronged antlers were carried in 
a manner well fitting the noble animal which this one be- 
yond all doubt had been. Many times had I seen deer 
heads with more points on irregular, misshapen horns, 
but never before one with such heavy beams, such a wide 
spread between the tips, nor such elegant symmetry in 
every turn, all of which were shown in the twelve points 
of the antlered head before me. The grayness of the 
scalp abont the nose and under jaw, the jet black of the 
long hair between the horns, and snowy strip across the 
throat, all proclaimed the beast to have been an old- 
timer, and the great antlers marked him as a leader of 
his tribe. 
My friend noticed the look of admiration with which 
I regarded this noble specimen and asked casually, but 
in a manner which showed he wished to say more, 
"Pretty nice head, isn't it?" I replied in a most posi- 
tive affirmative, and added that I would give a large sum 
to become the owner of such a trophy. 
, ''I 9all that my Thanksgiving deer head," said Charlie. 
_ During all of last season I did not have any luck find- 
ing game, although I hunted through several districts 
where deer and elk were quite plentiful. So when I re- 
ceived an invitation from Andy Hilger, a noted young 
hunter, to come and spend a few days with him hunting 
in the Belt Mountains about forty miles north of Hel- 
ena, Mont, I decided to try for big game once more 
before the close of the season. Three days before 
Thanksgiving I was at the ranch of my friends' father. 
The ranch lies on the river bottom close to the Mis- 
souri, and just above the point where that stream rushes 
through the narrow pass in the Belt range called the 
Gate of the Mountains. 
"On the next morning after my arrival Andy and I 
loaded our blankets, provisions, guns and ammunition 
into a light skiff and pushed off from the ice-covered 
shore. It was riskv business running the rapids through 
the Gate, but guided by Andy's skillful hand onr light 
boat mounted and overcame the big, foam-crested waves 
and floated safely through the wild rush and on down the 
river, which was running full of slush ice, the intense cold 
having formed the surface of the stream into a partially 
frozen mass. Our camp was to be in a little cabin which 
had been built close to the river bank several miles 
below the Gate and at the mouth of a deep cafion called 
Bear Gulch that ran back into the very heart of the range. 
"We arranged our camp that afternoon, and the next 
day, bright and early, we started out. Half a mile from 
camp we struck some fresh mountain sheep tracks in the 
snow, and we followed them all day without getting sight 
of the animals, which, from the sign, were evidently trav- 
eling. Crossing the high ridges on our way back to 
camp we could see by the clouds in the west that a 
storm was brewing, and that night it snowed about 2in., 
covering all old tracks. 
"The next mornnig, which was Thanksgiving, we were 
afoot before the cold, gray dawn made the sights of our 
rifles visible. It was bitter cold, and as we stole our way 
up the steep_ incline in the bottom of Bear Gulch our 
breath rose in white clouds above us. But it was an 
elegant day for hunting, and we vowed to have fresh 
meat in camp that evening if it was a possible thing. 
Shortly after the sun had risen above the rugged peaks 
ahead of us, its first rays tinting the surrounding forest 
crests a beautiful crimson, Andy, who was ahead, stopped 
suddenly and looked long and carefully up the steep 
mountain on our right. I soon stood beside him, and he 
asked, without removing his eyes from a dark object 
that was but faintlj'' discernible among a heaA^y growth 
of dead scrub pines far above us, 'I wonder what that is?' 
"I had my glasses out in a moment, and through the 
powerful lenses I could distinctly trace the outlines 
among the twigs and branches of an immense blacktail 
buck. He had seen us, for his big ears -w^ere up and he 
stood still as a rock for several minutes, looking down 
at us. He was away out of range — fully 800yds. away 
so we just stood still and waited to see what he would 
do. In a little while a doe and her fawn an<l another 
buck trotted in sight. They didn't see us, as we stood 
still as a couple of black stumps, but the big fellow who 
■ had first spied us knew there was danger in that vicinity, 
for having finished his observation he led his little band 
up over the crest and out of sight. 
"As they trotted along a small bare spot near the 
summit of the ridge, the big buck we had first seen 
loomed up almost twice as large as the others, and even 
at that distance we could see the sun shine on his mas- 
sive antlers. When we saw what an immense fellow he 
was, both of us made up our minds, though nothing was 
said, that we would have that deer before night. 
'They will run over into the head of Dry Gulch,' said 
Andy, who was thoroughly familiar with the lay of the 
country, 'and as they are not badly frightened, will 
probably he down. That is about three miles from here, 
and our nearest and easiest route is to climb to the 
top of this ridge, which we can follow up and strike the 
gulch just to the right of Cap Mountain. I think we shall 
find them somewhere in the head of that gulch.' 
"We immediately started on our long climb to the 
top of the ridge, which we gained after an hour's hard 
and steady work, for it was very steep, and we often 
slipped back quite a distance, taking an avalanche of snow 
with us, and had to climb up again. On the summit of 
the crest the icy wind blew directly in our faces, but we 
didn't mind that, although it drove sharp particles of snow 
m our eyes and ears and benumbed our hands, for it 
gave us 'the wind' on the deer. Several times we crossed 
the tracks of the game we had started, but did not fol- 
low them. We could see they were heading for Dry 
Gulch m a roundabout way, traveling in the gulches, 
where there was scattering timber, while we were going 
the shortest route, following the ridges. 
"In about two hours we stood on the crest of the long 
rocky ridge which bounds Dry Gulch on the" west. From 
this point the scenery was grand, and we stopped a few 
moments to rest and 'take in the country,' as Andy ex- 
pressed It. We had attained such a height that we over- 
looked an immense expanse of country, and that one 
of the roughest in Montana. To the east rose the high- 
est peak in the Belt range. Mount Moore, which reared 
Its forest-covered sides and rugged, snow-capped head in 
the very heart of a great mass of deep ravines rocky 
canons, bare, burnt hillsides, and rolling wave after 
wave of timber-covered ridges— the very wilderness the 
blacktail most love to roam. 
"To our left the same seeming endless expanse of wild 
country swept away into the blue distance. The sheer 
walls of Picnic Canon stood out clear-cut and gigantic 
from the dark colors of the surrounding, evergreen tim- 
ber, and directly above us towered Cap Mountain, a curi- 
ous, conical-shaped peak on whose summit, like the ruins 
of some ancient castle, a great jumbled mass of rock was 
outlined distinctly against the cold blue sky. 
"To our right, full forty miles away as the crow would 
fly, partly enshrouded in a smoky haze, we could fair'y 
make out the buildings in Helena, and now and then 
catch the glint of the sun on a window or bright tin 
roof. At our rear, and thousands of feet below us the 
Missouri, dwindled to a mere ribbon by distance wound 
Its way between icy banks. Just above the river, grim 
and silent, old Bear's Tooth reared its rocky, crevice- 
nven peaks. 
"At our feet, and stretching away on either hand, lay 
the great gulch m which we were sure we would find 
our game. The immense hillside opposite us had a few 
years before been swept by a forest fire. All timber had 
been killed, but the blackened trunks still remained stand- 
ing. On our side of the gulch the timber was still green 
the hre, in one of its curious twistings and turnings hav- 
ing passed by it altogether. 
"But a short distance back we had crossed the tracks 
of the game we were after, and they were going- for the 
head of the gulch. So we knew if everything went all 
right we would soon have some sport. We pushed 
ahead rapidly, for the freshness of the trail showed we 
were not tar behind. We dropped over into the gulch 
and descended its steep sides for a short distance and 
then, some 30yds apart, commenced to hunt carefully 
up toward its head. In a few minutes, happening to look 
down toward Andy, I saw him stop suddenly and raise his 
ritle He did not shoot, however, but after looking in- 
tently down the hill for an instant, he turned and beck- 
oned to me. I went down as fast as I could without 
making any noise, and he exclaimed: 
1 J "^'^^^ '^^^^ passed below me there, and if one of them 
had stood still a mmute longer I would have killed him: 
but we will get them sure, now, at any rate,' 
"We started on a run diagona^lly down the hill and we 
made good time, I can tell you, for when we were within 
20oyds. of the bottom of the gulch the deer were only a 
short distance ahead of us. Andy, who was in the lead 
ran out on a point of rocks, from which elevated posi- 
tion he could overlook the bottom of the ravine One 
look was enough; then he sat down in the snow and be- 
gan to screw up his Lyman hunting sight. I looked into 
the bottom of the gulch, and the deer had just begun 
to cross in single file, the smaller buck leading Then 
they started up the hillside directly opposite, going quar- 
tering from us through the scattering burnt timber, on a 
slo\y trot. In the meantime I had screwed my sieht uo 
to the 300yd. notch. ^ 
J\'Y-^\^^''f.i^ ^^'^ An-^y. 'but where is 
that big buck? And we both looked up and down the 
gulch in search of the big deer. 'Here he comes'' ex- 
claimed Andy; 'and ain't he a slasher,' he continued. 'Just 
look at those horns, will you!' 
"The big fellow— and he was a monster, I can tell you— 
trotted slowly and majestically up the hill, following the 
trail of the others. He did not act as if he was in a very 
great hurry, but even then, in the presence of danoer 
seemed to defy us as he proudly held his big antlers back 
on his broad shoulders and plowed his way up the hill 
through the snow. It seemed a pitv to kill such a mag- 
nificent beast, but both of us wanted that pair of massive 
antlers, so after taking a good look at the proud old 
fellow we began to shoot, one after the other. It took 
our bullets over a second to cross the gulch. One would 
shoot and watch where his bullet struck, making a dirty 
patch as It threw up the dust in the clean snow, and then 
the other would fire. 
"Andy's first bullet struck just behind the big fellg^ 
