Jan. 6, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
7 
all cases drive away even some of our smaller birds; that 
the return of the two birds showed an accurate memory 
of place, and that the accompaniment this fall by a third 
bird which was as large as the other two, showed either a 
very rapid growth of the young in this case, or the passage 
t:if communication between adults which induced three 
birds to come to our yard in a species which I believe 
does not usually flock together. 
I also saw some orioles in the yard last spring. 
J. E. HiNDOTsr Hyue. 
Animal Plagues itx Jamaica* 
In a paper in the Journal of the Jamaica Institute on 
the late Mr., P. H. Gosse, by Mr. Duerden, appear some 
observations on recent changes in the life of that island 
which are interesting. 
. The mongoose, which, as is remembered, was introduced 
there in order to destroy the cane rat, and which after it 
had exterminated the rat destroyed almost every other 
small living thing, is still very common in the island, 
where it is said that over 1,400 of these animals were 
trapped on two estates in eight weeks. 
He says also that ticks have become an absolute plague 
in certain sections of the island. Ticks have always been 
found in Jamaica, but it appears that originally there was 
but one species there. Many other sorts seem to have 
been introduced on imported cattle. The writer refers to 
a severe outbreak of disease among cattle a few years ago 
Avhich was at first thought to be the Texas fever. Later it 
appeared that many of the symptoms of this disease were 
absent, but it is believed that the introduced ticks had 
something to do with the epidemic. 
A Gigantic Egg, 
Naturalists will be interested to learn that a magnificent 
specimen of the egg of the ^pyornis maximus has ar- 
riA'ed in London from Madagascar, where it was dis- 
coA^ered by the natives buried in the sand. This zoological 
curiosity is the largest known to exist, and measures 
nearly a yard in circumference, and over a foot in length. 
Its cubical capacit}^ is equal to nearly six ostrich or 150 
hens' _ eggs. Specimens, of this gigantic production have 
occasionally been met with in London, where they have 
fetched as much as £70 apiece. — London Telegraph. 
Some Notes on Iowa Game* 
DuKiNG the season just past the game in northern Iowa 
has been in some respects unusually abundant. The 
season has been favorable for the rearing of young 
prairie chickens, and as a consequence we have had a 
somewhat imusuai number of them. Another condition 
which is proving favorable to the preservation of game in 
this part of Iowa is the fact that each season more and 
more "posted fields" are seen. This posting, however, 
by the farmers is not due altogether to their desire to pre- 
serve the game, but more often to preserve their stock 
from possible accident through the carelessness of irre- 
sponsible sportsmen! Thus it Avill be seen that careful 
and true sportsmen in the fullest sense, must suffer 
equally with the irresponsible ones — -a fact which is to be 
regretted. It has not infrequently been the ease that 
chickens have been seen in llocks of considerable num- 
bers. 
Quail have nowhere in this part of the State been very 
abundant, but they arc- most usually met with in farm 
groves and along roadway hedges. 
Partridges are rare, and not often seen. 
Water fowl, in the western and northwestern portions 
of the State, during the past fall, have been quite plenti- 
ful, and furnished some fine sport for local and other 
sportsmen. Jack rabbits are on the increase in various 
regions, and for sportsmen using hounds especially 
they have furnished some very enjoyable spoil, as 
they keep to the open fields. This game also often fur- 
nishes splendid practice for long-range rifle shooting 
while the animal is "on the jump." 
Cottontails are numerous, and will furnish much of the 
sport our "gunners" will have this winter. But little 
hunting in this line has so far been done, this owing 
to the fact that only up to within a few days ago has 
there been any snow on the ground. 
The fiend with two to five ferrets and a couple of old 
coflFee sacks is here as usual, proving a curse to the real 
sportsman. 
Gray squirrels arc a good "crop" this season. Red 
s<iuirrels are in places considerably in evidence also. 
At infrequent intervals a red fox, prairie wolf or a few 
coons are captured. The two former are started with 
hounds, and lead the dogs a chase extending over the 
country for miles and miles, and generally in a circle. 
It is a difficult matter to follow the hounds, owing to the 
fact that the country everywhere is so cut up by wire 
fences. 
Minks, muskrats and skunks are quite abundant, owing 
mainly to the fact that for some years past but little trap- 
ping has been done in this part of the State. At one or 
two points on the Little Cedar River^-once the trapper's 
paradise— are existing one or two families of otter. 
The sportsmen, especially fishermen, of this State have 
during ihe past season become considerably "r'iled" over 
the discrimination of the Illinois State fish law, which 
compels non-resident fishermen to procure a license in 
order to "fish its waters." while Iowa has no such law. 
Doubtless the result of the test case in this matter 
brought by some sportsmen of this State is familiar to the 
readers of Forest and Stream, The decision in this 
case has so incensed many of the sportsmen in Iowa, as' 
well as the State game warden, that doubtless a re- 
taliatory measure will be introduced at the coming session 
of the State Legislature, and doubtless be enacted into 
law. > ■*! 
Anotlier class of "sportsmen" who have successfully 
fished the waters of many of the streams of northern 
Iowa 4unng tlic past season, are the "pearl fishers" and 
those "fishing for clams" for the commercial value of 
their shells. 
The fish car which the State fitted out for the use of 
the State Fish and Game Commissioner has been put 
to good use, and numerous carloads of young and partly 
grown fish have been distributed in the rivers and lakes 
throughout various parts of the State. 
In spite, however, of the stringent and pretty well en- 
forced laAv against seining, spearing and other forms of 
illegal fishing, considerable of it is reported. The worst 
violation of the fish law in this State, however, is by 
the neglect or refusal of dam owners to furnish adequate 
fish runways in their dams which cross the streams. The 
complete enforcement of this statutory provision wiU 
doubtless necessitate costly law suits and long-continued 
litigation. Clement L. Webster. 
Charles Citv, la. 
With the Antelope. 
MoRGANTOWN, W. Va. — ^Little has been written on the 
very interesting subject of antelope hunting, compared 
with that of other big-game hunting. In my varied ex- 
periences with the big; game of the West, nothing has 
afforded me more exciting pleasure, tired legs and stiff 
joints than has the pursuit of these wary creatures. 
In the days when they were found in large numbers 
their curiosity often led them within easy range of the 
hunter who would hiost a flag to their view, but not so 
with the scattered remnants remaining in the early 
nineties. 
Owing to the great distance at which they can be seen, 
and the traveling necessitated to reach them, most per- 
sons hunt them on horseback, but I could not get the 
real good of a hunt without long tramps and crawling 
up on my game unseen. 
In the early spring of 1893, before the snow had gone 
off sufficiently for game to come into their summer 
range where we lived, Bert Reed, my near neighbor and 
hunting and trapping companion, and I thought we were 
hungry for fresh meat, not having seen any big game 
since the fall before, and that was 'all the kind of meat we 
could get. So the very early part of one morning found 
us with a two-horse wagon loaded with gunny sacks full 
of hay, tent, bed, cooking utensils and grub for s~everal 
days; and after pulling through innumerable snow drifts 
and going over two mountain ranges, we landed on the 
Hunter Flats, near the Platte River, in southern Wyo- 
ming, where a few small bands of antelope continued to 
show their "white patches" to passers by. 
At noon, ten miles from home, we pitched our tent, 
made coffee and ate our lunch, after which we each 
took our own way out over the rolling country, which 
was a valley between two mountains, about four miles 
wide, the antelope range extending many miles either 
way. 
I went directly across the valley and ascended the foot- 
hills on the opposite side, when I sighted a fine bunch 
of antelope back in the valley. There were about twenty of 
them, and they were feeding and moving slowly at right 
angles with a line from me to them. They were a mile 
away, and my best chance was to get ahead of thejii on 
their course, and lie in wait. 
I started for that purpose, now running at full speed 
while in low ground, out of their sight, now crawling on 
hands and knees going over a ridge, now walking bent 
double, as if I had cramps ; then crawling from one to 
two hundred yards on hands and latees over a flat with 
nothing but the friendly sagebrush to hide me from 
view; now peering out from among the sagebrush to de- 
termine the distance of the game and the direction they 
were traveling; then retracing my steps a long and tedious 
distance to get advantage of some lower ground. Thus 
did I work with every sense at its highest tension for 
over two hours. Finally, peering out over the tops of the 
sageli*ush I saw a very large buck in full pursuit of a 
smaller one, which it had chased quite a distance from 
the band, and was bringing it around in a circle directly 
toward me. 
I felt good; better than I did later. 
Getting in position I poked my gun out over the top 
of a sagebrush and waited. They cam? within forty 
yards of me, and the big one turned broadside and 
stopped. I took deliberate and careful aim and fired, and 
to the best of my knowledge and belief never touched a 
hair, I didn't say a word that any one knows of ; I 
never even considered the matter of following the bunch, 
but shouldered my gun and went straight to camp. After 
taking care of the horses and getting supper well on the 
way, Bert came in and reported having killed one. 
The next morning I went out early, feeling equal to 
doing anything whereby I might redeem myself. When 
only a few minutes' walk from camp I spied a buck 
antelope, which was wandering around alone, about a 
quarter of a mile away. Resuming my tactics of the day 
before, after some stalking and strategy, principallj'^ on my 
hands and knees, I crawled to the top of a knoll which 
was bare of everything except a badger hole, where the 
dirt had been thrown up, making breastworks sufficient 
to hide me while lying fiat and pulling myself along with 
rny elbows. First poking my gun over the top of the 
dirt pile, tlien raising my head, I beheld my buck about 
17s yards away, and at the same time he beheld some- 
thing over the top of the dirt pile.. The wind was blow- 
ing a gale. Making allowance for the ball to drop about 
6 inches and being carried about a foot by the wind, I 
fired, and watched him run 50 yards and tumble all in a 
heap, shot through the heart. 
In about half an hour I sighted a. bunch of five, lying 
down about half a mile away, btit located so that I could 
not approach any nearer in a direct line without being 
seen. Taking a long circuitous route of over a mile, I 
crawled^ to the top of a rise of ground and viewed them 
about eighty rods away, and that was as far as I could 
go at that place without being seen. Taking another circle 
of OA'er a mile, I came up from the opposite side, but found 
when within 300 yards of them that I could get no nearer 
without exposing myself, except by lying down flat and 
crawling through the scant sagebrush. .1 wormed my 
way along in a zigzag fashion, keeping in the thickest of 
the 'Sagebrush, and poking m.y head up' occasionally to 
see that they were all lying quiet. After making my way 
by this tedious method of locomotion for about a hundred 
yards, I looked up to find they were all on their feet, look- 
ing intently it hiei That decided my actions at once. 
Calculating for about the same fall and drift of ball as 
before, I fired at a fine buck, and was delighted to see him 
drop dead, and found on coming up that his neck was 
broken. That was all I wanted. I went to camp and had 
dinner ready by noon, when Bert came in with his antelope 
which he had killed the day before, having taken his horse 
along in the morning for that purpose. 
Both of the ones I had killed were directly on our way 
home, and we broke camp after dinner, gathered up 
our meat as we went, and were at home before dark with 
all the meat we needed. 
As a result of my crawling so much, I Was nearly help- 
less during the next week from stiffness and soreness of 
muscles. I still have the horns of the two bucks, which 
will ever recall to mind the enjoyable days of antelope 
stalking in the West. ^Jmerson Carney. 
Massachusetts Game. 
Sportsmen and others in this State are more than ever 
alarmed at the rapid disappearance of the ruffed grouse 
or partridge, our only game bird that abides with us 
summer and winter. The importance of shortening the 
open shooting season is apparent to all who are in- 
terested in game preservation. The open season now 
extends from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31 inclusive, giving three 
months and a half of continued slaughter and persecution, 
which is more than the smartest game bird that flies can 
stand without being exterminated. Conditions have 
changed within the last two decades. Men who are good 
shots, with improved guns and trained dogs, have wonder- 
fully multiplied. 
Of course, there are quail that survive some winters and 
are destroyed by the deep snows of others in central 
Massachusetts, making them an uncertain quantity in this 
section of the State. 
The months of October and November would give all 
the time that should be allowed for the shooting of the 
fast disappearing partridge. Efforts were made at the 
Legislature of last year to have a law enacted to make 
the open season shorter, but for want of concerted action 
we failed to accomplish the desired purpose. We hope to 
have better success with the next Legislature. We must 
either have a shorter open season on these birds, or the 
farmers will be compelled to post their lands to protect 
the birds. After going through a constant fusillade in the 
months of October and November, the game should be 
let alone the first of December and be given a rest after so 
much persecution; and as the snow often covers the 
ground, the birds are forced to subsist on buds of trees 
and other foi-ms of food that are not conducive to making 
the birds as wholesome for food as they are earlier in the 
season. 
Chairman Bracket, of the State Commission of Fisheries 
and Game, has about three hundred Mongolian pheasants — • 
old and young. Many have been released, and seem to 
thrive and stand the winters well; but it is to be doubted 
if they have increased enough since they were liberated 
some years ago to allow shooting them next year, as was 
expected. Mr. Bracket lives near the State reservation 
of about three thousand acres, has helql his position of 
Commissioner about thirty years, and has filled the posi- 
tion in such a manner as to be reappointed by the different 
Governors every five years. He says wood duck and black 
duck breed near the ponds in the reservation where they 
are' protected. 
Spring duck shooting should be abolished in every State 
in the Union. It is a most barbarous and foolish practice 
unworthy of a civilized people. And yet the laws of this 
State permit their being shot from the first of September 
until the middle of April, March and April being the 
mating and breeding season, when their flesh is unfit for 
food, when the shooting of a pair of ducks means the 
possible destruction of a whole brood in the fall. There 
would be just as much sense in killing our food-producing 
domestic animals in the breeding season. I know there 
has much been written on this subject, but it is one that 
will bear a great deal of agitation, the more the better, 
and I hope the readers of Forest and Stream will keep 
agitating it until every State shall make laws that will 
prevent spring duck shooting. The black, wood and teal 
ducks are those that most frequent our fresh-water ponds 
and streams. In the State reservations the wood and 
black duck breed as they would in other sections of the 
State were they not disturbed in the spring. A bill was 
introduced in the last Legislature for protecting these 
birds during the spring months; it was favored by the 
committee and passed by the House, but was unfortunately 
killed in the Senate — as is said, b}' the influence of some 
one who wished to shoot birds for the market. It seerris 
we need a good deal of missionary^ work among our own 
so-called civilized brothers in Massachusetts, as well as in 
foreign lands. 
The past season has been marked by scarcity of both 
woodcock and partridge, especially the woodcock. It is 
the first year for twenty-five years, from my own obseiva- 
tion, that no flight could be noted. What few birds were 
seen were those that were bred in the locality. Having 
shot a few every year during that length of time, I have 
noted the date of their arrival from the North to be from 
the loth to the 25th of October, their departure being 
governed by climatic conditions. Sometimes they stay 
several days, at others not over twenty-four hours. This 
fine game bird is having a hard time in holding its own, 
being shot in its winter home at the South, as well as in 
its breeding home at the North. All these birds must be 
protected by man or they Avill go the way of the wild 
pigeon and the buffalo. Geo. L. Brown. 
Boston, Dec. 26. 
Danvers, Mass.. Dec. 25. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
This week will end the gunning season in this State, with 
the exception of rabbits, squirrels and sea fowl. The 
rabbits and squirrels should be protected with the game 
birds after Jan. i, as by leaving the open season up to 
March there is more or less hunting in the woods, and 
many game birds are killed on the quiet. I always make it 
a point to notify the local papers of the opening and 
closing of the gunning season ; thereby it gives the public 
readers a chance to observe the law. 
We have had a fine fall for the birds to feed; we 
haven't had any snow nor cold weather, I hear of a f«w. 
