Oct. |4, 1S99.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
BOB 
Pet Deer. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Perhaps I can add something to Mr. Andrew Price's 
interesting communication in yours of Sept. 30. 
I remember oije 'Lish Bryner, a typical mountaineer 
of Fayette county, Pa., who, thirty years since, kept a 
ragged, gaunt pack of hounds, about the stoutest and 
best deer hunters of the mountains. He had a pet deer — 
I suppose about a year old — that ran at large about his 
farm in entire harmony with his hounds. Now, as any 
native hound will run a deer trail more readily tJian any 
other (I think this is true of all hounds that have not 
been carefully broken from such trails), how came it that 
'Lish's hounds let the pet alone? Did they distinguish 
her scent from that of a wild deer? 
Another bit was amusing. A German was met coming 
down the railroad track with a small animal under his 
arm, which he said was a fox that he had jumped on in 
a fence corner, and as it is not the habit of foxes to be 
so sleepy examination was in order, when, behold! he 
was carrying a fawn and had it nearly choked to death 
in fear that it would bite him! 
I remember Dr. Hill's noted old Bulger running a 
pet deer and snapping a hindfoot off (i. e., snapping it 
into a jelly) just as it rose to clear a fence. 
Tame deer are mighty inconvenient pets in a hound 
country, and any kind are detested by a fox hunter 
(so are goats). One year the mountain parts of Fayette 
county were so infested with deer that at last we gath- 
ered up all the half-hounds and running curs we could 
find, and harried the woods in our neighborhood night 
after night, until we ran the pests out of the country, and 
could have a fox chase with safety. 
"Hounding deer" is a high crime with you sportsmen, 
and it may be destructive of deer for all I know; but did 
it never strike sportsmen what a beastly business it is 
to wound a deer that escapes into the brush, cannot be 
found, and dies and rots there? In my experience in 
running deer with hounds I never knew an instance 
where it appeared this had happened. We always had 
one or more hounds that would lead to the game, if, on 
their coming in, we had reason to suppose they had run 
into the deer. I am not arguing the question of hound- 
ing, pointing out the wrong of the outlawing any dog 
found on the trail of deer. An active spaniel, Bassett, 
beagle or any trailing dog to follow up wounded deer 
ivould relieve the "sportsmanlike" method of killing 
deer from the disgrace of wounding animals and leaving 
them to rot in the Y/oods. 
''Car" Dof. 
I must dissent from the statement you extract from 
the London Field that "cur" is derived from "curtail," 
as the term "curtal dog" is frequently applied to the 
bobtail sheepdog in Shakespeare, Drayton and other 
early writers, and as "curtal" was constantly applied to 
shortened animals, men and implements, as "curtal friar" 
(hair cropped), and "curtal axe" (short-handled), and 
as "curtal" is still given in Webster for a horse with a 
cropped tail, is it not more reasonable to derive the 
word "cur" from the old English "curtal," despite the 
professors who go to the Danish "Kurre" (only the 
name "dog" in general), when so obvious a derivation 
! Is right under their noses? W. Wade. 
OaKmont, Pa., Oct. 2. 
The Wild Pigeon of Colorado. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In the matter of the wild pigeons. 
For ten or twelve years past there have been from titty 
to one hundred wild pigeons on the Crystal River, about 
thirty miles south of Glenwood Springs, Colo. 1 have 
seen them nearly every summer in July or August. Saw 
them last the middle of this month. 
They frequent two localities about ten miles apart, and 
so far as I know are not seen anywhere else. 
I think they have doubled in number, and I never heard 
of one being killed. 
As they are high up in the hills— about 7,500ft. above 
sea level— where the snow gets deep in winter, they must 
migrate, but what brings them back every year to the 
sagie localities is a mystery, as there is, so far as 
known, no food there not common to the Rocky Moun- 
■**They do not flock to any considerable extent— usually 
thi4e or four together— but the whole area occupied by 
-'each bunch does not exceed one or two miles square. 
Scrub oak acorns and berries are all the food in these 
places. When frightened they rarely fly more than a 
quarter of a mile, D- C. Beam an. 
DBNvea, Colo. 
[The bird here described is probably the band-tailed 
pigeon, or white-collared pigeon, which ranges from the 
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific] 
Wide Range of the Ruvetto. 
In an interesting monograph on the Atoll of Funafuti, 
Mr E. R. Waite speaks of a large fish known to traders 
as the oilfish, known to the natives as palu. This is 
said to weigh sometimes i5olbs. and to grow to a length 
of 6ft. It lives in very deep water and is usually 
caught from 120 fathoms down to 200 fathoms, and is 
fished for only at night. It is highly valued by the 
natives of Funafuti. Everv portion of it is edible, and the 
flesh if left uncooked never putrifies, but merely dissolves 
into oil. . . . , , , 
The last expedition to this island secured a specimen 
of this fish, which is found to be nothing more than 
the escolar. known to the Italians as Ruvetto. It it a 
North Atlantic fish, found in the Mediterranean, at 
Maderia and at the Canaries. Here in winter it occurs 
in e-reat schools, and the fishermen take it with hook 
nrid line at a depth of about 100 fathoms. At Madeira 
it has been found at depths as great as 300 and 400 
fathoms. It occurs also in the waters of Cuba, and we are 
t^old that there it can be caught only on dark nights in 
September and the early part of October at a depth of 
300 fathoms. The fish is rarely seen in the market on 
account of the difficulty of capturing it. It has been 
taken on George's Bank. Its discovery at Funafuti 
vastly extends the known range of this fish. 
Rotftes to the New York Zoo. 
Harlem Railway from Grand Central Station, Forty- 
second street, to Fordham Station. Eight minutes' walk 
to the right along Pelham avenue to Southern Boulevard 
and main entrance to the grounds. Round trip from 
Forty-second street, 25 cents. 
Second or Third avenue Elevated Railway to Treinont 
Station, thence by trolley either to Pelham avenue or by 
trolley along Tremont avenue to Southern Boulevard and 
short walk to lower entrance to the grounds. 
Sixth or Ninth Avenue Elevated Railway. Take the 
trolley at 135th street and change at 138th street and Third 
avenue, either to the Fordham car for main entrance 
to grounds or to a West Farms car for lower entrance to 
grounds. 
Trolley car can be taken at Third avenue and the 
Harlem River. Fare, 5 cents. 
When going by elevated and trolley buy an 8-cent trans- 
fer at elevated station. 
From Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle leave trolley at 
Pelham avenue and walk west to entrance to grounds 
at Bronx River. 
Cycle Routes. — i. From West Side of town, take 
Seventh avenue to Harlem River, cross to Jerome avenue, 
thence to Fordham road, turn right and on to Pelham 
avenue, then to main entrance at Southern Boulevard. 
2. From the Third avenue bridge take 134th street left 
on Alexander avenue, left on 143d street, right on Col- 
legs street, right on 148th street, left on Court- 
landt street, cross railroad to Railroad avenue, to 
Webster avenue, direct to Pelham avenue, where turn 
right to the main entrance to grounds. Asphalt all the 
way except a few blocks on Railroad avenue. 
Field Columbian Museum Lectures. 
Chicago,, Oct. 8. — A course of lectures upon science and 
travel has been arranged by the Museum for Saturday 
afternoons in October and November at 3 o'clock. All of 
these lectures will be illustrated by stereopticon views. 
The lectures are given in the Museum Lecture Hall, En- 
trance doors will be closed at ten minutes past 3 o'clock. 
Admission free. 
Oct. 21 — "A Cruise Among the Antilles — Puerto Rico,"^ 
Dr. C. F. Millspaugh; Oct. 28— "A Cruise Among the 
Antilles— Cuba," Dr. C. F. Millspaugh; No. 4— "Some 
Curious Insects," Mr. E, B. Chope; Nov, 11 — "Fishes and 
Fishing on the Pacific Coast," Dr, S, E. Meek ; Nov. 18— 
"The Katcinas of the Hopi Indians," Rev. H. R. Voth ; 
Nov. 25 — "The Eskimo," Dr. George A. Dorsey, 
The Ground Sloth. 
In a communication recently published in the Revista 
del Museo de la Plata, Dr, R. Hauthal expresses the 
belief that the ground sloth, whose skin and other re- 
mains have been found in a cave in Patagonia, was a 
domestic animal of the pre-historic Indians of Patagonia, 
and that the cave where the specimens were discovered 
was the stable in Avhich this_ herd was often sheltered. 
The author expresses the belief that all the remains are 
pre-historic, and that the animal is extinct to-day. 
Nest of the Little Tern. 
In a recent number of the Irish Naturalist, Mr. Patten 
publishes an interesting note on the little tern, and thus, 
so far as this bird is concerned, corrects a quite; common 
impression that terns and gulls make no , nests, but lay 
their eggs on the bare sand or earth. Mr. Patten shows 
that the little tern digs out what is really a conical pit 
about 2in. deep in the sand, in which the eggs are de- 
posited. The deepest part qf the nest contains broken 
shells in which the eggs lie with their points down. The 
eggs of this bird being very large in proportion to the 
mother, this is evidently the way in which they should lie 
to be most easily covered. 
Zoological Society Opening. 
It is announced that the New York Zoological Park 
will be formally opened to the public Oct. 25. Among 
the large animals recently received there are elk, buffalo, 
polar bears, a pair of Russian wolves, and many others 
less in size. 
The Russian wolf which made its escape last week from 
an improperly secured pen has been recaptured, and 
without injury. 
Rhode Island ^Bird Protection. 
Mr. Thomas B. Stockwell, Commissioner of Educa- 
tion of the Public Schools of Rhode Island, has issued a 
circular calling attention to the great destruction of 
birds, and to their value both from the materia] and 
the assthetic point of view. He alludes to the general 
reawakening of an interest in nature study, and urges 
that the children be encouraged to observe and study 
the birds. 
A Bob "White Snap Shot. 
Mr. G. Hills, of Hudson, N. Y,, sends us a photograph 
made by Mr. John Crawford, of a quail in shrubbery, 
"one of a brood of fifteen that were hatched within five 
minutes' walk of the court house." 
B^s 0^^* 
More About the Stutzen. 
The old gun was, as I thought, safely concealed in the 
hollow willow tree, and would have been, had I been 
able to get it before the first snow or rain had a chance 
to fill up in the barrels. It must have been fourteen days 
or nearly as long before I had a chance to bring the 
Stutzin home unobserved. Having tasted of the forbid- 
den fruit, my appetite was sharpened for more of it; but 
the next time it was my desire to get a hare or two. 
These animals are in that country of considerable weight 
and size, ranging from 10 to iSlbs. They always sleep 
in the open, taking advantage of and having their bur- 
rows in the strip of grassy sward which forms a boun- 
dary line between the fields of two different owners, and 
which is generally 2ft. broad. These small strips of un- 
plowed land take the place of wire fences in that coun- 
try. Fences, especially barbed wire fences, are unknown 
there; and I hope fervently they will never be introduced. 
In very cold weather the hares have the habit of coming 
to the immediate vicinity of villages and towns to gnaw 
the bark of small fruit' trees, and do considerable damage, 
for the gnawed and stripped trees generally die. This 
habit makes them also an easy prey for the hunter, who, 
hidden to leeward, can easily bag them, although this 
manner of killing is not at all sportsmanlike. 
I had hardly arrived at the place of my eager expecta- 
tions when I heard the voices of two gamekeepers well 
known to me. I had jitst time to take the stutzen out of 
its hiding place and to sneak off as quickly and noise- 
lessly as I could. The moon was about half full and 
shone now and then through slowly passing clouds; and 
after about ten minutes' swift running I made a halt to 
examine the gun. The hammers opened hard and stiff, 
the barrels had a coarse feeling like sandpaper. This in- 
dicated rust, although I could not see it in the uncertain 
moonlight, but could perceive the folly, and carelessness 
committed in leaA^ing the gun muzzle up in the old tree. 
Considering what to do, I heard the two keepers talking 
in a loud voice, and to judge by their conversation they 
were bound toward the Upper Inn, a hostelry about two 
miles away at the north end of the town, Jumping has- 
tilj' back a few yards, where an old gnarled apple tree af- 
forded me a hiding place, after what I thought was half 
an hour's time of waiting I started in the opposite direc- 
tion, determined to - shoot off both barrels and reload 
afresh. But three or four caps snapped without igniting 
the load, and to my chagrin I found that I would have 
to give up hare shooting for this evening, so I struck out 
for honie, where with not a little trouble I succeeded in 
hiding the stutzen in its old place in the garret. 
There was an old locksmith in the next block from 
where we lived who was known to be very skilled in re- 
pairing guns and pistols — in fact, about everything made 
out of iron. Paradox as it maj^ seem, in his idle moments 
he used to make door mats out of long lye straw and did 
it neatly and substantially. In that part of the country 
houses are built in a peculiar and novel manner. In al- 
most every one of the stone or brick houses a hall runs 
through the center of the house, with tlie rooms ar- 
ranged on either side of it, and this hall has either a brick 
or stone flagging. Soon after my unsuccessful hare 
shooting expedition I asked mother whether I should not 
take some rye straw over to old man Eger and have some 
mats made for the house floor, as it is called, and she 
consented. This was my opportunity. Making two bun- 
dles of straw, I put the gun into one and carried them 
over to the old man, Avho was very much surprised, and 
asked me what kind of grain we threshed out of old 
shotguns. I told him how I found the gUn in the garret 
and asked him to do me the favor to put it into shootinp: 
condition, but to take care, as it might be loaded ; that I 
had shot out of it I kept to my.=;e!f. He readily con- 
sented, even promising to be mum about my possession 
