March 31, 1900.J 
not yet moved 'out. Should the weather remain mild as it 
is to-day, they should be-good for "a bag of redheads and 
bluebiJls before their lime is up. . , - 
■ At Gos^hen, Ind., there is reported to be good duck 
shooting this spring, there being plenty of water in the 
lakes near "by. . . 
Ligonier, Ind., sportsmen, are .out this- week in foi-c-e 
along the lakes and' creeks near that, town, where the 
birds are reported to be dropping in to some extent. ■ - . 
On Lake St. Clair, Mich., the camrasback iiight has set 
in, to, say nothing of the sawbills. Mostly ice shooting 
this, as yet, for that is a cold bit of country. . I - warrant 
that Jack Parker may be found iiow in cold storage out in 
the middle of the lake^ operating on. the deep water 
birds. - .- 
Mr. Houston, at the Calumet Heights Club,- near 
Chicago, this week iiad the rare good fortune to kill and 
bag a nice specimen of the Canada ^oose, which was re- 
trieved only after a haird chase out in the big waters of 
Lake Michigan. Ten pintail s.were killed on-the club marsh 
the same da}''. . ./ ,. . - - 
Along the lake shore above town the- geese £re be- 
ginning to work, and I .make no doubt that our friend Mr. 
Townsend. Smith is doing business with them, -for he 
W&s seen carrying home four pounds of double B'*. 
Within the Gates. 
Mr., D. G. Henry, prominent on game protection and 
angling matters in Michigan South Peninsula, is Over this 
week from Grand Rapids for a visit to Chicago, 
Mn J. Henry, of St. Paul, long identified with, the 
sporting goods trade in the Northwest, is in town this 
week looking over the situation in Chicago. ; ■ - 
Mr. J.: Dyer, ,of the .U., M. C. Co., is in-. ■town this 
week seeking whom, he niay devour, he and Charlie- 
Sylvester^ of the Winchester Go.rapaayj .tr-avcHng beat 
together. . .- . . ..;.-••«• •'.;■>' 
Mr. Joseph Hamblen Sears, author of tliat very charm- 
ing little volume, "Fur and Feather Tale.s," is in Chicago 
this week for a few days, on, business connected with his 
house, the firm of Harper & Bros,. New York city. / 
Mr. J. Otis Averill, late of Japan, now of New- York 
city, was in Chicago this week for a few days, and called 
two or three times to see me, but tmluckily I was out 
each time, knocking dollars oft the Chicago trees. I 
should have been glad to . forego the dollar -industry for 
some time to talk with Mr. Averill. This is the gentle- 
man who wrote for the Forest and Stkeam the very in- 
teresting story on the fly-fishing of the Japanese, which 
appeared two years ago, soon after the story on the Taylar 
system of fly-casting. There still come in at this office 
inquiries about that story of Mr. Averill's, and I still get 
flies inclosed with the request that I cut the hackles "like 
the Japanese flies." It always seems to me, even in view 
of these frequent references, that the theory of fly-easting 
as evidenced by Mr. Averill and as perfected by Mr. Taylor 
never attracted half the serious attention to which it was 
entitled. The recent article by Silver Sedge is from an 
expert fly-fisher who realizes the value of the facts there 
set forth. I thought the news most interesting, since it 
was so utterly at variance with accepted traditions on 
these heads. It is much to be hoped that Mr. Averill will 
write more about the Japanese and theii- ways, for the 
readers of the Forest and Stream would eagerly read 
all he had to say. 
Mtssoofi Mallards. 
Mr. A. E. Grimes, of Green Ridge, Mo., writes me this ■ 
week as follows about the duck crop in that neck of 
woods: 
■ "I did not know but you would like to hear about the 
niqllards, especially sometliing in their favor. Not in . 
several seasons has the flight been as good as this— 
actually goings by the thousands.. Not many: are being 
killed in this locality, not because the shooters are too ■ 
modest to kill in the spring, but .because they fail to 
connect on account of the jiigh flight, and when they do 
light, the ducks are- safe out in some field or pasture. 
The species known , as "spikes" has . always been the -ma- 
jority of the flight here in the spring, except this spring. 
Very few spikes are seen. Happily so, as they are poor 
stuff." : , \- - 
From Alabama. 
Mr. Fred Badger, of Birmingham, Ala., writes me as 
below in regard to a very cold-blooded exhibition of live 
quail for butchering purposes. This is not the first time 
I have heard of just this .same^ort of thing, and- it always 
ifflpressed me as a most repulsive, show, of brutality; and 
one which ought almost cure one of the wish to eat quail. 
Mr. Badger writes : 
"You may remember my calling on you last spring and 
telling you some Texas duck stories. The fortunes of 
war have taken me through this section lately, and I just 
saw _ something that I thought might interest- you. In 
passing a restaurant in this city yesterday I saw a sign 
out, 'Special to-day, quail on toast." I looked in th.e 
window and there was a nice flock of the pretty little 
chaps running around alive, and a pretty sight it was. 
There was a box in the window under which thej' fre- 
quently ran for shelter when any one paused by the win- 
dow. I was never accused of having much' sentiment 
about killing game, but it did seem cold-blooded to go 
into that place and order 'quail on toast' and have the 
proprietor reach in and catch one and wring its neck! I 
suppose it doesn't make much difference to the. quail how 
he is done to* death, but not any for me under those cir- 
cumstances. — . ■ . 
"Early next morning I passed by there again, and as 
it was cool in the window the quail were ■bunched under 
their box, feathers all ruffed up and heads drawn in, 
sleeping with one eye open in their u.sual circle, with 
tails in the center. I don't know what the laws of this 
State are. but I suppose the fellow could have been made' 
to turn them loose, couldn't. lie?" 
¥.. Hough. 
"60 BovcE Building, Chicago, Tl. 
Assistant — "'How shall I catalogue this book describing 
a hunterV adventures?" Librarian — "Among inventions." 
— Fliegende Blatter. 
The FoREiT AND Stream ts put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at tht 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable- 
FOREST AND STREAM^ 
Spring in I the|ChampIain Valley. 
Essex, N. Y., Ms.vch -23.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The winter has been an unusual one, and the calendar 
spring more so. Of the genuine spring we know nothing 
as yet. Up to.F_eb. 17 the lake, which is here three miles 
wide and attainsr a maximum depth of 400 feet, had not 
frozen, and there Jiad been very little extremely cold 
weather. A few days previous a flock of geese was re- 
ported 'between Essex and Split Rock in the open water 
of the- lake, and the stoty was vouched for by a number 
of persons. There were a great many gulls and ducks 
in the lake, driven from the south, and north as well, by 
rlie advancing ice, which had bridged the shallower waters 
a' number of weeks before. Most of these left the night 
of the 17th, striking a course, no doubt, for the Atlantic 
Ocean, as there could have been then no great extent of 
open water nearer at hand. 
The morning of the 18th the lake was covered from 
shore to shore with a film of beautiful black ice, and one 
day later 1 skated a mile and a half across Whallon's Bay 
to the lighthouse on Split Rock. At one place there was 
a crack several feet wide that necessitated my going 
ashore to get around it on the outward trip; but on my 
retiu'n I skated far out in the lake and around the outer 
end of the crack. The narrow strip of open water was 
lashed into miniature waves by the wind, and from it a 
belated duck got up, and hovering for a minute as if 
uncertain in which direction to go, finally flew north- 
ward, skimming- along so cloSe to the ice that it cast its 
flying shadow on the steely surface. 
The winter had been mild and many predicted an early 
spring, but alas, Mjii'ch i it began snowing, and kept it 
up with -such businesslike regularity that soon stone 
walls and fences began disappearing, and presently even 
the old- timers- -had to admit that we were having a real 
old-fashioned snow storm. A week later many heads of 
families .stated that they had never seen more snow on 
the ground, and before the middle of the month — the 
month which ushers .in balmy spring — the local news- 
papers^hegan to talk "of records and said that nothing like 
the- snowfall had been known for twenty years. 
It is generally believed hereabouts this year that March 
is a winter month. The sleighing would be good were 
there not too much of it. It is not pleasant to go out 
sleighing with a horse and lose him in 6 feet of snow 
with nothing but the cutter to buoy the spot. 
Fortunately the snow has been melting for several days 
past, and the traveling will soon be better. 
The crows apparently go by the calendar, and know - 
as little about weather prognostication as human beings. 
They all came back on the northward migration about 
the time of the commencement of the heavy snow. I 
never pitied a crow before, but though I lose caste as a 
farmer I will admit that I have pitied them recently, 
nearly dead from starvation and with scarcely strength to 
stem the wintry gales that howl across the white expanse. 
Their hunger has for once made them oblivious of danger, 
and thc}'^ come into the dooryards to pick up scraps. The 
foxes, too, are driven from the woods, and as they can 
get no mice in the meadows they prowl around and are 
seen, in daytime close to the houses. And each fox car- 
ries a $5 bill on his back in this Yankee land, and lives. 
The coons, too, seem to go bv the calendar. No doubt 
hibernation is becoming a trifle monotonous, and the 
coon has a hankering memory of last year's juicy green 
corn. La"st night as I w^as driving home about 8 o'clock 
I saw a coon in a field near the road. At first I thought 
it Avas a cat. but a close sight of its tail dispelled tlie 
illusion and I attempted to gather it in with a club, but 
my horse took no interest in the sport and started for 
home and I liad to let the coon go. 
Skunks and woodchucks are also out and just as much 
scandalized at the unreasonable depth of snow as the rest 
of tis. ■ V '.■•y , ' J. B. B. 
: , A True Bear Story. 
Jusi before the; holidays of the- year '97, on a Monday 
morning., three- fishermen started to try their luck with 
■■tip-ui3:".for the white pickerel- of Lake ^escolong (Pike 
county,' P'a.,). ■ 
The party may be described as made up of two old hunters 
who had traversed "the hills of Pike for well nigh fifty 
years — and maii}^ the flying deer that had come to grief 
before their . old, long, swivel-breech, muzzle-loading 
Kuntz rifles. !- These two. occupied the front seat of the 
country -jdemocrat, while the rear seat carried a son. 
The -fish were put on a blue Monday, and when the 
horses- heads were turned homeward thoughts of a salt 
pork breakfast tied tongues and palates into a pucker tliat 
carried silence for a long way. Finally the boy behind 
broke the spell: "Drive a bit slow, pop; I saw the track 
of a. bear crossing the road somewhere here." 
''A bear; and this tracking snow! Why, boy — ^why 
didn't you say so?" 
"Never mind, pop. AVe've had our fish, now we'll make 
cal'lations on that ar' b'ar hide." 
The track was soon discovered — a very large one — 
headed for Big Spruce Swamp, but it was getting dusk 
and a light snow was falling. The journey homeward 
was continued with an occasional shake of the head from 
the old fellows that plainly told their thoughts that there 
would be no more seeing anything of that bear track or 
his hide either. 
Next morning there was 4 inches of new snow, a zero 
thermometer and a wind blowing forty miles an hour. 
The old men shook their heads. "That b'ar is a goner." 
Another sou (one of the other man's), who had been 
listening with much interest, and wishing to mix in a 
hunt where chances of doing something more than miss- 
ing foxes ahead of Bang on Ragged Ridge were good, 
now spoke up: "Just where did that bear leave the 
road?" 
"Between J'oe's road" and Buckhorn Swail, bearing 
tuward head of pond," was the reply. 
It was a lonely, cold trip, but Buckhorn Swail was 
finally reached, and every foot of the road on both side.s 
back to Joe's road was carefully scanned. No signs were 
seen. On' to Spruce Swamp. An all day's tramp over 
bogs and through laurels sent this ambitious youngster 
home with the conviction that the bear was an ox, or 
niore likely, imagination. At any rate, all prints were 
hidden by the drifting snow. 
^49 
Wednesday morning opened clear, still and warm. The 
old fellow.s shouldered their guns and went off to Buck- 
horn, with no encouragement from any of the younger 
men, who couldn't miss this fine snow for fox hunting. 
After dark, as the two hunters had not come in^ the 
boys were all anxiously looking for them. What could 
it mean? At last they came. "Well, boys, we've aade 
a good two mile on that b'ar," they said. 
- Early next morning the horses, hitched to a jumper, 
were headed bearward, the party now consisting of five — ■ 
the old fellows and three sons. All were soon on the 
trail, finding it very difficult to make much speed on 
account of the new snow. The bear had walked on a thin 
crust over the old snow, and breaking through left holes 
which the new snow hardly ever failed to fill, so that the 
boys were kept wondering and guessing how these old 
fellows ever gained so much ground in one day. 
Finally the tracks were seen no more, and gradially 
everybody drew in on where the trad was last seen. 
"Well, I am going to back in here," said the boy who 
had spent a whole day tramping over this very ground 
and who was somewhat chagrined that two old spectacle- 
eyed fathers could track a bear where he had helped the 
day before to blot out these tracks within 40 yards of 
this particular spot; and wishing to do anything to gain 
a point in his favor, he started on hands and knees with 
his .40-85 Ballard into the almost impenetrable thicket, 
so thick and dark that until within 10 feet he could not 
tell whether it was a bear or a blackened log that con- 
fronted his gaze. Finally he called: "You fellows get 
ready out there. I see him. Don't shoot me. I am 
going to shoot." 
Nothing but a black ball seemed to present itself — no 
head, legs or anything else. 
"Give him a good one," said one of the men o.n the 
outside. 
"I can't tell what part I am aiming, at; .he is rolled up 
so. But here goes." 
Bang! and for a bit there was a lively time in that 
thicket, the boy shoving a fresh cartridge in his gun and 
the bear quitting the place. Out he went. Bang! bang! 
bang! bang! It was all over in a minute, and there the 
bear lay with four bullets through his heart, the other one, 
the first, going down through his kidneys and paralyzing 
his hind parts. 
"Pretty good shooting, boys," came from the old fel- 
lows, when the bear was opened and it was found that 
any one shot w^ould have killed him, and in a short time. 
The range was short and target comparatively steady. 
AH that was required was cool heads. That there were 
five such was evidenced by every man having his trade 
mark on tlie bullseye. Stop. 
Ithaca Notes. 
It is said that over $100 woi-th of fish were caught with 
nets (illegally) in the southern end of Cayuga Lake one 
day two weeks ago. 
A few ruffed grouse remain scattered through the 
woods, but at the same time a few hunters have forgotten 
that the close season is on. 
Foxes and minks are very abundant in this region. 
Th«re should be a reduction of these serious enemies of 
our small game. 
Snow over a foot deep covers the ground. It has been 
with us three weeks, and the heavy crust has resulted in 
the death of what few quail there were in this region. 
It has been some time since skunks have been as 
abundant as they are at present in central New York. 
They have entered houses, public buildings and cellars in 
the city. Thirty dollars per week represents the earnings 
of one trapper, for whom skunk skins were the principal 
feature. This abundance of these creatures means de- 
struction to the eggs ot many species of ground-nesting 
birds during the coming spring. 
During the present winter ferrets have been used very 
extensively in. hunting. In fact, it appears that there are 
more hunters in this region who use them than there are 
who do not. The result is that a person hunting without a 
ferret does not stand an equal chance with his neighbors 
in securing game. 
The only kinds of game now seen in bur markets are a 
few specimens of the smaller kinds of wild ducks. Occa- 
sionally a sawbill, or merganser, is seen among them. 
Last year a dealer displayed one of these birds continu- 
ously for six -weeks, and finally gave it away. A few 
divers and grebes have been caught out on the snow 
away from the lake. This year a few guillemots, or 
Bruennich's murres, have been shot on Cayuga Lake, but 
they were not at all as abundant as they were two years 
ago, when they appeared here by the thousands, and had 
an appreciable effect in diminishing the numbers of small 
fishes in the lake. In the stomach of one. Professor Sur- 
face foimd twenty-six minnows (shiners) ; some swal- 
lowed head foremost, and some with tails down. 
The Fish and Game Association is attempting some 
important and original lines of work, from which we shall 
doubtless hear later. The bill which they introduced into 
the New York State Legislature to prohibit the sale of 
game birds will probably fail on account of opposition 
from market-hunters, dealers, transportation companies 
and hotel men. The Association is going to look after 
some of the most violent cases of illegal hunting and 
fishing. Professor Surface has visited Albany twice in 
the interest of a -bill providing for the establishment of a 
State biological station. He has succeeded in securing its 
establishment, and in having it placed under the control 
of the State Forest, Fi^h and Game Commission. It was 
strongly supported by sportsmen and educators; ' 
Lucitrs. . , 
Only One Escaped. 
Barre, Vt. — Editor Forest and Stream: One day dur- 
ing rny outing last Qctoher^I was returning from an after- 
noon's hunt, when I was accosted by a farmer inquiring 
as to my success. He was surprised at my small bag of 
three woodcock, for the day before he had kdled 
in his back lot six grouse with a hand rake ! 
On further questioning him, I learned that there -vvas 
an old barn on this lot, and after hauling in wheat the 
farmer had found seven grouse feeding on the grain. 
Quietly closing the door, the rest was easy; only one 
escaped. It is not an uncommon occurance for grouse to 
fly into a bam or alight on a dwelling, but is it not singular 
that a bevy of grouse could be lured to a building even 
as remote as this one may have been? B. ZL 
