. 7, 
FORESt ANB stMfeAM. 
sea 
1 appears to be prospering, and will contiime to do 
j field appears lo be constantly widening and the 
f its work growings Its publications are gottett 
h great care, and as a rule are singularly attrac- 
typography, as well as in their illustrations, and 
31y received by those to whom they go. 
The Weasel as a Hunter. 
day last August I was sitting by a stone wall which 
ed a shed, and rifle in hand was on the lookout for 
veteran woodchuck that I had made up my mind 
her in." As I sat there my attention was called 
fht noise near me, and turning my eyes, but keeping 
i quite still, I saw what appeared to be a full grown 
looking at me sharply, and approaching without 
>arent fear in a series of small hops and friskings 
layful kitten. 
I within a few feet, he put his nose to the ground 
lound, made a circle, then went across a lane we 
, still with his nose to the ground, and disappeared 
id of sowed corn that was very thick and tall. I 
m no more attention, but shortly out of the sowed 
ame a large gray rat, and after, and on 
s of him, nearly at once, the weasel. Not the 
t attention was given me by either party. 
•at would try to fight, and he was as large again as 
tsel, but when he made a lunge and a grab, would 
. enemy altogether too quick for him, and would 
a nip that would make him scream with fear or 
he was being driven slowly but steadily toward 
II at my back. I wondered much as this, as I 
that would be the place he would be prevented 
proaching. At last on reaching its base, the weasel 
Sash of lightning closed in, and although within 
f them, their movements were much too rapid for 
distinguish, let alone describe. The battle lasted 
three seconds. 
the rat straightened out, and the weasel ap- 
with a death grip on the back of his neck, and 
waiting to get breath began dragging and pulling 
-ng to the end of the wall, and then took a short 
iring which I arose and approached to see what 
:ome next. Again seizing the rat by the neck he 
irew him from sight in a small hole between the 
t the end of the wall. 
w, of course, that weasels killed rats, but never 
yrthing quite like this before. I had been sitting 
1 of half an hour, and there were certainly no rats 
id during that time it appears as though the weasel 
lis game by following his trail. S. S. N. 
<s, N. Y. 
doubt many other readers have made observations 
habits of the weasel's or the mink's hunting that, 
; above, are well worth recording. There is yet 
0 be written on the habits of these interesting 
:s.] 
The Last of the Winter Birds. 
DENCE^ R. I., March 25. — Editor Forest and 
: This afternoon I went on a hunt for white- 
crossbills again, and was successful in finding one 
only. She was in the top of a fir tree and was con- 
calling for her mate, but he did not appear, nor 
re see him on any of the nearby trees, 
larch 4 I found a few of these birds under these 
rees working on the fallen cones. Again, on 
18 a pair was observed working on the cones on 
e. Their method was to hang head downward on 
ally - opened cone and reaching up between the 
or segments, to shear one of? and with a few mo- 
f their mandibles extract the seed and discard 
t. They were quite tame, allowing me to watch 
3 long as I saw fit. A flock of chickadees and king- 
me by flitting from bough to bough, ever restless 
er cheerful, not minding the bleakness and cold of 
:h afternoon. On one of the trees there were a 
ort icicles, the remains of a snow and ice storm ; 
ckcap paused, cocked his head, concluded he would 
drink, took a nip, followed by another chickadee 
other, each apparently breaking off a little piece of 
birds were quite numerous to-day, one old orchard 
It by having a dozen or more in it. Robins, flickers 
ng sparrows arc becoming more plentiful every 
w. Nuthatch. 
Pine Siskins in New York City. 
lOUGH this has been a rather mild and open winter, 
jf the cold weather birds have been seen in this 
orhood. 
s surprised to see on March 78 five or six pine sis- 
eding in a hemlock tree by the house. They were 
ively, hopping from branch to branch, and once 
o near the window that I could see in their bills the 
vhite seeds they were extracting from the cones, 
ebruar}'^ I saw many red and white winged cros.sbills 
same hemlock, feeding in the same way. 
or two lesser red polls have been seen at various 
and quite close to the house. 
these birds were seen at Aiidubon Park, Broadway 
6th street. New York city. R. Page. 
Tild PigeoQs in Oklahoma. 
OMB, in., March 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
itleman from this city who spent the winter in 
oma Territory told me to-day that he saw there a 
f wild passenger pigeons of about one hundred. He 
talk with Mr. Cale Ervin, formerly from Ohio, 
lad lived in that section ten years, and during 
hole time he had never seen a pigeon till last 
hen out hunting he saw a good many and killed 
Ervin is a hunter and knows a passenger pigeon 
he sees one. W. O. Bl.\i.sdell. ■ 
Wounded Woodcock. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
One of our cellar men this morning picked up a badly 
wounded woodcock on Bergen near Nevins street. Its 
breast was badly lacerated from having come in con- 
tact with an exposed trolley wire. It was a handsome 
cock bird, weighing 6 ounces. It was alive when he picked 
it up, but it died a few moments afterward. 
Terrapin Tom. .. 
Echoes of the New York Show. 
Forest and ^tkeau ie put to press each week on Tuesday. 
>ondence intended for publication should reach us at tbe 
f Uoiuky *ad m much Mrlier m practicable 
Saariog Lynx. 
Fred L.a.voie, of Roberval, Lake St. John, some of 
whose experiences were told in the report of the New 
York Sportsmen's Show last year, catches a great many 
lynx, or Loup cervier. 
His method is ingenious. A 6-inch loop of stout cord 
is suspended from a horizontal pole 4 or 5 feet long, at- 
tached at either end to trees by means of downward gashes 
cut on the sides of the trees with an axe. 
At right angles with the snare on either side two 
stakes are driveii into the ground, 4 feet apart, their xip- 
per ends roughened and smeared with castor from the 
beaver. ■ ,. • •. 
The loctttioti selected is generally some-filsiiit in a lake 
thickly w-Q^ded with small evergreens near where a stream 
debouches^ Rabbits resort to such covers in winter, and 
in search of the rabbits comes the lynx. He is attracted 
hy the smell of the castor and goes to the nearest stake 
and rubs against it, captivated by the odor. Presently 
he beoonies aware of the second stake and going over 
to; investigate it puts his head through the only available 
opening, and so into the noose. His first startled leap 
pulls free the stick to which the snare is attached, and 
off the lynx dashes, soon falling over and tangling him- 
self in the cord, and eventually ending his life by 
strangulation. 
Young Adirondack Hunters. 
The Adirondack exhibit at the Sportsmen's Show was 
very effective. Two yearling bear cubs, Topsy and Jack, 
were one of the attractions. These cubs were very tame, 
and some of the more courageous visitors played with 
them as if they had been dogs. One of the cubs would 
sprawl full length on its stomach on the flat top of a sort 
of pedestal affair that had been built to give it exercise 
and hit with its paws at the visitor's hand in a way that 
would not hurt, and at times it would take the hand in its 
mouth and give it a friendly nip. 
The cubs weighed 60 or 70 pounds. A year ago they 
weighed exactly 24 ounces apiece, and were carried home 
in the game pocket of a hunting coat. 
I w-as sitting in the Adirondack lean-to camp talking 
with President E. E. Sumner, of the Guides' Association, 
when in walked Master Benny Baker, who, with Jim 
Doty, captured the cubs the 23d of last iS'Iarch. The boys 
were off fox hunting on McKenzie Mountain, about three 
miles from the village of Saranac Lake, and suddenly en- 
countered the old bear, which had just come out from her 
den. The bear was off before they could shoot, but two 
days later Jim Doty, after having spent one night on the 
mountain side, came up with her and- killed her. 
When the bear disappeared the boys took her back 
track and found the den under the roots of a tree. The 
bear had torn off limbs and filled up the openings at the 
sides and carpeted the bottom, with leaves and made a 
very comfortable place of it. The two cubs were curled 
up in the leaves at the back. The boys carried them down 
to the village, and raised them on the bottle, and looked 
after their training so well that to-day they are models 
of good manners and gentleness. Benny Baker wants to 
sell the pair. They would be a safer investment at their 
age than Tom and Jerrj^, the suckling cubs shown in the 
Quebec exiiibit at New York last year, which were pur- 
chased, it is said, by Governor Roosevelt, and died almost 
immediately. 
Wanted to Be Sociable. 
Speaking of tame bears recalls the story of Hi Ben- 
ham's bear. Hi is another Adirondack man, and as good 
a guide as there is to be found in the North Woods. It 
happened when Hi was off with Verplanck Colvin on one 
of the Adirondack surveys. The party were camped in 
some wild country north of the Fulton Chain, and one 
dark night they were aroused by a bear which was grunt- 
ing and nosing around down bj' a brook which ran at one 
edge of the camp. Colvin, as it happened, w^as absent, and 
as he had the only rifle in the partj^ the bear was not 
molested. In the morning it was found that the bear 
had feasted on the best in the camp larder, including 
twelve pounds of butter left in the brook to cool. 
The following night the bear again visited the camp, but 
he found most of the edibles out of his reach and did not 
fare so well as he had on his first visit, 
The memory of that feast, however, clung in his 
mind. Some time during the day Colvin returned. The 
fact that there was a gun in camp made it seem tin- _ 
likely that the bear would come back. Bears, like crows, 
generally give guns a wide berth. No watch was kept for 
the bear, and as the men were very tired they slept more 
soundly than usual. 
Along about sunrise Hi was awakened by a grunting 
almost at his elbow. The flies had bothered him, and he 
had his head wrapped in his blanket and could see 
nothing. The grunting sounded so free and easy that Hi 
did not believe it was produced by the vocal organs of a 
bear. It seemed far more probable that one of his fel- 
low guides was putting up a joke on hiin. Accordingly Hi 
lay low and said nothing. 
The grunting continued and presently something 
stepped on Hi's foot in no very gentle way. Hi threw 
the blanket off and sal up ready to give the man who had 
waked him a piece of his mind, "fhe words were never 
uttered, for instead of a man there sat a little black bear 
on the foot of his bed, regarding him with the blandest 
kind of an expression, as if it wished to apologize for the 
intrusion and come to a friendly understanding, at once. 
For his part. Hi forgot his manners and instead of accept- 
ing the bear's wclLmeant advances, he got to his feet and 
lidstily retreated to the camp. He aroused Colvin, and 
together they returned to the spot. The bear had 
ambled off a little way and was sitting up on its 
haunches, meditating, no doubt, on Hi's incivility. Colvin 
shot at it, and wounded it, but the bear got away and was 
never afterward seen. 
Hi has since regretted that he did not meet hs ad- 
vances in a-more friendly spirit. He beHeves that he could 
have tamed -the bear and made a pet of it if he had taken 
the trouble, and he is certain the bear's intentions were of 
the most amiable character. 
.The Huoson's Bay Company. 
The great organization of the Hudson's Bay Company 
has of late years done much to further the interests of 
sportsmen, and has proved such an invaluable aid in the 
way of providing guides and supplies and information 
relative to hunting territory that it is likely to have a 
great deal more of this work to attend to in future; 
Mr. C. C. Chipman, of Winnipeg, head of the com- 
pany in Canada, has taken a personal' interest in the mat- 
ter, and at Mattawa, which is headquarters for moose 
hunters, Mr. Cobin Rankin is ready to provide guides and 
outfits upon telegraphic notice. 
Mr. Rankin was with the Hudson's Bay Company 
fifty years, and is now senior chief factor. He is also a 
chief magistrate in Mattawa, and was mayor of the city 
for six years. He has the reputation of being a man of 
sterling character and integrit)-, and is thoroughly in- 
formed as to the game resources of the territory for which 
Mattawa is the starting point. 
iThis year the opening of Ontario for moose hunting is 
likely to bring a great rush of sportsmen into Mattawa 
at the first of the season, and there is likely to be a 
scarcity of guides unless Indians from the interior can 
be procured in time. It is well for sportsmen to bear 
this fact in mind and secure guides in good season. 
There is plenty of hunting territory on both sides of the 
Ottawa River, both in Ontario and Quebec, but first-class 
guides are necessary to success, and naturally the num- 
ber of first-class men is limited. 
La.st year the guides for this territory charged $2 a 
day for their services. This year it is likely they will ask 
$2.50, as they were informed by guides who came in from 
other sections that their pay was too small. Mr. Rankin 
supplies canoes, tents, provisions, etc., at reasonable 
prices. , 
Pfictty Smart Fellows. 
"When General Miller's party came up last fall," said 
Mr. Rankin, "Cormier, who had made the arrangements 
for the hunt, wired me for nine guides. I had only eight 
on hand, and so sent for Chief Simone of the Nipissings. 
"I went in with the party. Camp was made on Taggart 
Bay, Keepawa, late in the afternoon. After supper we got 
a list of names and set about arranging guides for the 
party. There were seven sportsmen in all, including a 
Canadian guest, Major Maynard Rogers, who is now in 
South Africa at the head of his company of Ottawa volun- 
teers. ' 
"Major Rogers was the last man provided for, and when 
it came his turn he had to take Simone, of whose ability 
as a hunter^we knew less then than we know now^ It 
was thoughf" that he had not fared quite so w^ell as the 
others. 
"The hunters started off in canoes in various directions 
about 8 in the morning. At 11 o'clock I sighted one of the 
canoes coming back. The cook said there was a moose in 
the canoe, and sure enough they had the skin and head of 
a fine felloAV. The lucky hunter proved to be General 
Miller's son, to whom I had taken a particular shine. 
"While we were at lunch Major Rogers came in, and 
he too had his moose head. He called me to one side and 
said. "Rankin, you thought you gave me the cull guide, 
didn't you? Well, I'll tell you what that fellow did. He 
paddled into a bay, and he announced. "Moose sleep 
here lagt night." We left the canoe and went on shore, 
Simone said there were two moose. We trailed them, and 
presently Simone said, "Take care." He had sighted the 
moose a long way oft', 250 yards or more across an open- 
ing. I raised my rifle to fire, aiid .Sirhone tried to stop 
me, saying it was too far. I wa§^a4iaid the moose would 
run and risked the shot, with the result that the moose 
toppled over witli a ball square through his heart.' 
"If there is anjlhing in God's world," says Rankin, 
"that an Indian admires, it is a good snowshoe runner or 
a man who can shoot. When Simone saw the result of the 
shot, he was wild w'ith delight and pump-handled the 
Major and patted him on the back. 'Major,' said Simbne, 
'me and you pretty smart fellows, I t'ink.' 
"Each of the party got a moose and seven heads were 
taken out as a result of the hunt." 
Lori Steathcona's Buffalo H^rd* 
Lord Strathcona. who was Sir Donald Smith, of Winni- 
peg, lives in England now, and is head governor of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. At present he is equipping five 
hundred of the best fighting stock in British Columbia 
for service in South Africa, personally paying all ex- 
penses and guaranteeing $1,000 to the family of any man 
who falls at the front. His famous buffalo herd, which 
was formerly kept at Winnipeg, has been sent to Banff, 
and is there to be seen in the Dominion Park. 
J. B. Burnham. 
Maryland Sportsmen^s Show. 
The' Maryland Sportsmen's Exposition Association, 
of Baltimore, Md.. has leased Electric Park, where it will 
hold the Second Annual Sportsmen's Show. 
This is one of the handsomest as well as the best patron- 
ized parks in the South. The Casino, where the exhibits 
will be held, is an ideal building for the purpose, having 
30,000 square feet floor space, allowing 118 booths — 
twenty-two spaces 16 x 25 feet and ninety-six spaces 10 x 
12 feet. We have arranged for the best attractions that 
can be gotten. 
First Week. — College outdoor athletic sports; shotgun, 
rfific and pistol tournament: golf, lawn tennis, fly-casting 
and swimming contests; running ot whippets; high-jump- 
ing horses ridden hy gentlemen who are bona fide mem- 
bers of the different hunt clubs: also dog show held under 
the auspices of the Baltimore Kennel Club. 
Second Week. — Poultry and pigeon show and a Wild 
West show to give two performances daily. 
