266 
In the Northern Sierra Madre. 
It it worth all the trouble that a person undergoes to 
possess the experience acquired in getting through a 
Mexican custom house, and when one has to pass two 
such robbers' roosts and the line of gendarmes that ex- 
tends southward for thirty miles from Lhe Arizona border, 
he has served his apprenticeship and is ready for promo- 
tion. A month's delay within the "free zone" was ex- 
ceedingly profitable so far as obtaining good collections 
was concerned, but it did not amount to much for big 
game, except in the immediate vicinity of Nogales. When 
we struck southward from Naco we felt that a new world 
was before us, and we were fairly cut adrift from our 
good old CJucle Sam. A last farewell look at the line 
of barren peaks that extend from Bisbee to Tombstone 
ar"^ we plunged into the labyrinth of mesquite, mescal, 
yucca and cactus that lay between us and the Sierra Madre, 
where there was promise of better sport than we had en- 
joyed for many a day. 
For four days our only game consisted of cottontails 
and two kinds of partridge — the scaled and Gambel's. 
Then we i-eached the Babisbe River — one of the head- 
waters of the Yaqui — and entered the' footliills of the 
main cordilleras. We left our first camp on the Babisbe 
with high hopes, for we had been told that the region we 
were entering abounded in deer, bears, wild pigs and 
turkeys. Our cavalca'de had been jogging along for about 
ail hour when a flock of ducks arose from the river be- 
side us, circled overhead and went down not a quarter of 
a mile away. Fairbanks took my gun, and, as he ex- 
pressed it, "sneaked" after them. We heard the two bar- 
rels go off like one, and in a few moments he returned 
with a brace that were new to me. They resembled 
teal, but were larger than any I had seen before. Refer- 
ence to Ridgway determined them to be Abert's duck. 
This first success emboldened others of the party, and • 
soon two turned their pack mules over to the charge of 
their accommodating friends and climbed the hills to 
the right. The rest of us .just "moseyed" along until 
about II o'clock, when we heard two shots from the 
hunters. There one of them appeared on the hill and 
signaled for a pack animal. For dinner we had the liver 
of a white-tailed buck that dressed iiot less than 75 
pounds. Still, the sport of the day was not done, for 
when evening came, and we pitched camp once more by 
the Babisbe, wc caught enough catfish to make two good 
meals for ten men. These catfish li^■e in swift water, and 
are much better flavored and more gamy than those of 
the Mississippi Valley. 
At Oaxaca, Sonora, where we recruited for a couple 
of days, we heard great tales about wild pigs. But 
Oaxaca had other charms for us than listening to hunters' 
yarns. Here we first reached the typical Mexican flora 
and avifauna, and, better yet, we feasted on melons, 
sweet potatoes and all the vegetables that our Eastern 
market garden produces in an entire season. There is no 
frost at Oaxaca, and the watermelon season lasts from 
July until Christmas. We were shown one vine that was 
said to have borne constantly for three years. Leaving 
the village we climbed the main range by means of one 
of the most picturesque canons that I have ever seen, and . 
last Sunday afternoon we crossed the continental divide 
and entered Chihuahua. 
The Sierra Madre at this point were a disappointment 
to me from the fact that they are treeless. But it is the 
rainy season and the wealth of flowers is something 
wonderful. The rich green of tlie new grass is fairly 
spangled with all the hues of the rainbow. A long chain 
of rolling hills and level uplands followed— one vast cattle 
range, where we saw numerous herds of antelope, each 
containing from ten to fifty head. Of course, this 
'brought a corresponding change of diet. The ruins of a 
large city, where the grassy mounds still retained the 
square shape of the ancient houses, arrested our march 
for half a day. Then we struck the valley of the Janos, 
which we have been ascending for three days. 
At first this valley was wide and the grass was belly 
deep to the cattle. Ranches were about ten miles apart, 
and each 'dobe house had its cornfield and melon patch. 
Presently the valley narrowed into a succession of 
beautiful canons with level parks between. In the canons 
vine-clad oaks and sycamores predominated, but the black 
walnut is the tree of the flats. The underbrush was 
luxuriant, and it was a very easy matter to get lost. 
Higher yet we struck large pine timbers, in which we 
have been traveling for a day. The number of ducks 
that are found at this altitude and on as swift a stream 
as the Janos is a surprise to me. We left Abert's duck 
in Sonora. Hei-e we find a few pintails and large flocks 
of green-winged teal. Apparently the deer have never 
been hunted, for they are close to the trail and allow us 
to approach within 50 yards of them. In the morning 
when it is clear we find them singly and in pairs, but in 
the afternoon after the rain commences, they bunch, and 
several are found together. 
This article was commenced with the intention of 
recording some of my bird notes. I find several changes 
or extensions of habitat, as well as some variations in 
measurement that make me believe that this region has 
never been ''done" thoroughly. As a few of these items 
may be of interest to your bird-loving readers, I give 
some of the most important. 
Anas aherti, Ridgw. Abert's duck. Hab. extends in- 
land to Sierra Madre, north nearly to Arizona border. 
A. carolinensis, Gmel. Green-winged teal. Common 
in the mountain basin of Chihuahua. August and Septem- 
ber too early for migration to have commenced. 
Dafila acuta. Linn. Pintail. One large flock found on 
Babisbe River, western Sonora, August. 
GalUnago delicata, Ord. Wilson's snipe. 
Tringa bairdii, Coues. Baird's sandpiper. 
Totamis soMtariiis, Wies., Solitary sandpiper. Three 
species above were found on the Janos River,- Chihuahua. 
Sept. 5. 
Sympbemia semipalmata inornata, Brew. Willet. 
Babisbe River, western Sonora, Aug. 30. 
Oreortyx pichis plumiferus, Gould. Plumed par- 
tridge. Common in Grand Caiion district, Arizona. 
CaUipepla squamata, Vig. Scaled partridge. 
C. ganibeU, Ntitt. Gambel's partridge. Common in 
desert region of northwestern Mexico, the scaled partridge 
FOREST_ ANP_ STREAM. 
favoring the more at4d localities, while Gambel's par- 
tridge is nearer water. 
Cyrtoiiy.v inoiitesnm<B, Vig. Massena partridge. The 
most widely distributed so far as altitude is concerned, 
being funnd in the timbered country, but not on the 
deserts, from the Gulf of California to llie highest tim- 
ber lands of Chihuahua. 
Colwnha fasciata, Say. Band-tailed pigeon. Found in 
large flocks in the oak timber of southern Arizona and 
Sonora. 
Mclopclia leucoplera. Linn. White-winged dove, com- 
monly called Mexican pigeon. 
L'riibitinga anthracina, Licht. Mexican black hawk. 
An -examination of several specimens warrants me in 
stating that Ridgeway's measurements are too small. 
Wing of female averages 16.50, and in one specimen went 
over 17.00; other measurements in proportion. 
Melanerpes formicivorus angustifrons, Baird. Nar- 
row-fronted woodpecker. Found extensively in western 
Sonora along coast and extending inland at least as 
far as Hermosillo. 
Tyrannus melancholicus couchi, Baird. Couch's king- 
bird. Found in upper Gila Valley, Arizona. I believe 
this to be its northern limit. 
Myiarclius mexicanus, Kaup. Mexican crested fly- 
catcher. Western and central Sonora. The measure- 
ment of several specimens proved it to be this species 
rather than its Arizona congener. 
Myiarclius lawrenacii olivasceus, Ridgw. Olivaceous 
flycatcher. Gila Valley, Arizona. 
Icterus parisorum, Bonap. Scott's oriole. Flagstaff 
Crossing of Little Colorado, Arizona. May. Northern 
reported limit. 
Zonotrichia leucophrys, Forst. White-crowned spar- 
row. Buckskin Mountains, Arizona, May. 
Cardinalis cardinalis supcrbus, Ridgw. Arizona cardi- 
nal. Found as far north as MogoUon Mountains, central 
Arizona. ♦ 
Calamospisa melanocorys, Stejn. Lark bunting. In 
large flocks, northern Sonora. August. 
Lanius ludovicianus gambeli. Ridgw. Califonia shrike. 
San Pedro River, southern Arizona, July. 
Harporhynchus crissalis, Henry. Crissal thrasher. 
Northern Sonora. 
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha. Swains. Thick-billed par- 
rot. Pine forests, Pacheco, Chihuahua. Measurements: 
Length, 18.00; wing, 11.20; tail, 7.50; culmen, 2.00; height 
of bill at base, 2.20. 
Trogan. Anterior toes not united for basal half. Front 
serration in upper mandible smaller than that figured in 
Ridgway. Back and scapulars rich metallic bronze, green 
varied with blue and coppery. Crown, occiput, hind neck 
and chin much darker. Rump and tail coverts metallic 
blue. Tail, solid blue; back, with three outer pairs of 
feathers, broadly tipped with white. No white breast 
band. Basal half of outer web of primaries and entire 
basal half of secondaries white. Breast metallic green like 
back. Rest of lower parts bright red. Length. 14.00; 
wing, 7.50; tail, 7.45. Found in pine timber near Pacheco, 
Chihuahua. Altitude, 7,200 feet. Sept. 10. 
Shoshone. 
Pacheco, Chihuahua, Sept 13. 
The Granite State's Neglect. 
New Hampshire'.s great wealth consists of the White 
.Mountains preserved in a state of nature, and of the 
Merrimac River, having its sources in the mountains,, 
which flows down through the length of the State and 
has been well described as the main artery of the State's 
economic life. The summer resort business is estimated 
to pay the State $10,000,000, and over one-half of this 
income is .derived from the White Mountain region, 
Nevertheless, the State has chartered a compony that 
is engaged to the best of its capacity in the wholesale 
denudation of the mountains — which not only destroys 
the beauty and attractiveness of the region for the 
summer visitor, but subjects the Merrimac to suc- 
cessive floods and droughts to the great injury of the 
water-power upon which large manufacturing interests 
all down the stream depend. The treasurer of the big 
Amoskeag cotton mills, at Manchester, recently com- 
mented in his annual report on these alarming effects 
of the deforesting of the country at the headwaters of 
the river. 
The operations of the New Hampshire land company 
are described in a pamphlet recently printed by ,Rev. 
John E. Johnson, a missionary of the Episcopal Church 
for the mountain region. It is called the "boa-con- 
strictor of the White Mountains" and the very worst 
trust to be found in the world. This company is not 
only deforesting the mountains and destroying the value 
of the river as a water-power, but it is depopulating 
the region. In its early days it was allowed to acquire 
all the public lands thereabouts for next to no equiva- 
lent, and has been adding to its holdings ever since by 
various processes, chief among which is the crowding 
out of the original settlers or their descendants by 
buying land around their farms, closing up highways 
and the like. It is stated that whole valleys in the 
mountain region have in this way been depopulated. 
The writer of the pamphlet says: 
"Summer visitors to this section of the White Moun- 
tains have noticed the many deserted farms and dilapi- 
dated buildings and have wondered at such scenes, not 
dreaming that the cause was to be found in the opera- 
tions of a company chartered to do it; that this desola- 
tion was due to the gradual tightening of the coils of 
a boa constrictor legalized to cru.sh the human life out 
of these regions, preparatorv to stripping them of their 
forests; for depopulation here is not due to the causes 
which have led to the abandonment of farms elsewhere 
in the State. The inhabitants of this section never de- 
pended exclusively upon the scant returns from their 
rough farms for a living, but rather upon their winter's 
work in the woods, a dependence that never would have 
been exhausted had they been left in possession, since 
their methods were those which are now advocated by 
scientific forestry. The farmer felled some of the largest 
trees in the woods every winter and hauling them out 
endwise iniured nothing, but rather left the rest the better 
for it. His successor, the professional lumberman, cuts 
everything, rolls it down the mountain, crushing the 
tUc'T. b, \.gou. 
saplings, and not content \\'\ih that, often burns the 
refuse for char^coal. The land company has bcssted 
that extensive lumber operations never could have been 
undertaken in this section without its assistance in pre- 
paring the way — an assistance which in one instance 
they say involved the preliminary acquisition of 60 dif- 
ferent titles." 
Everything is subordinated by this company to the 
deforesting hidustry. It puts a veto on all summer 
resort extensions which interfere with the business of 
cutting and burning. No roads are allowed to be * 
opened through the company's lands to points of in- 
terest. Seekers after health and recreation are repelled 
and driven away, it is said; and deserted farms owned 
by the company, which are sought by such people for 
Summer liomcs, are not for sale because that would 
interfere with the prosecution of lumbering on the whole- 
sale plan. In the moimtains of Pennsylvania are six 
sanitariums, and in the White Mountains not one, and 
one explanation is that no physician could hope to buy 
a site for such an institution from the New Hampshire 
Land Company. The answer to all would-be purchasers 
is always. "We sell only in lots of not less than 10,000 
acres, and to lumbermen" — wholesale operations in the 
work of destruction thus being kept constantly in view. 
Mr. Johnson's description of the situation is indorsed 
as truthful by the chairman of the board of selectmen 
of North Woodstock, N. H., and by other leading '-i^i- 
zens of the place. He contrasts it with ■ the public 
ownership of the forest cantons of Switzerland for the 
public good, and believes that nowhere else in the world 
outside of the United States can a population be found 
"abandoned by its riilers to such a remorseless despotism 
as this vampire of the White Mountains, the New 
Hampshire Land Company." Gov. Rollins ha.s called 
attention to the moral degeneration of many of the rural 
sections of the State, and Mr. Johnson asks whether 
anything else could be expected of commtmities so 
afflicted as to material conditions by a -merciless and 
degrading trust as are many of those in the mountain 
section of the State. The place to begin the evangeliza- 
tion of rural New Hampshire is at Concord, says ivi'' 
Johnson. | 
The end of the processes now in ftdl swing is to be 
evidently the skinning of the mountains and then their 
sale at a profitable figure to the State as a reservation. 
This is the game which has been played in the Adiron- 
dackSj and unless there is a sudden and great awakenmf 
in New Hampshire it will not stop there short of 
a conclusion.^ — Springfield Republican, Sept. 2-5. 
mtje md 0m. 
North Carolina -Hunting Grounds. 
WvoMiNG, Del.— Editor Forest and Stream: While the 
middle and western sections of the old Tarheel State 
have become quite familiar to lovers of rod and gun, 
there is a vast region of marsh and piny woods along 
the coast, as yet almost unknown to the sporting world, 
watered with numerous rivers and streams which flow 
to the ocean and up which the tides ebb and flow. It 
is on these waters the wild goose spends his winter 
vacation and the different varieties of duck are at home; 
while in the great pine forests through which these 
streams wind and bend, there are numerous deer, turkey, 
bear and wildcat. Quail also are found in evidence 
wherever there is a field or plantation. I have camped 
in the backwoods of Canada and tramped the trails of 
the Adirondacks, have explored the dark ravines of the 
mountains of West Virginia, but have never found a 
spot where all kinds of game, both large and small, can 
be found from one camp as can be done in these delight- 
ful forests of the sunny South. There also the sports- 
man's privileges are as yet but litttle restricted. He 
may hunt deer with or without hounds at any season of 
the year. There may be State laws for the protection 
of game, but the people of Onslow and adjoining coun- 
ties know little or nothing of such laws and never ob- 
serve them. Game of all kinds is taken at any season. 
When this section becomes known to sportmen this con- 
dition will doubtless be changed. 
Black bass and pike are also found in all the streams 
and take the hook freelj'^ in the winter months. Foi' 
years I have spent my winters in this delightful climate 
and will be pleased to give any information to brothei 
sportsmen, either by private letter or through Foresi 
AND Stream. This locality offers great opportunities fo: 
clubs who desire to secure game preserves cheap. Man_" 
are alreadj' taken, but plenty yet remain. 
S. H. Thomas. 
Moose in ^Ontario. 
H.\MILT0N, Ontario. — Editor Forest and. Stream: L 
should be generally kno\vn, now the open season for big 
game is near at hand, that the Government of Ontario 
has made a short open season for moose, caribou and 
reindeer. The license for non-residents is $25, allowing 
the holders thereof to kill two deer and one bull moose or 
one male caribou or reindeer in one year, also other species 
of game in season. In consequence of the big-game re- 
gions in Ontario being so easy of access by the various 
lines of railway, there will no doubt be a large number of 
non-resident sportsmen take advantage of these facilities 
to procure a moose or caribou this season. Moose and 
caribou are found in considerable numbers north of and 
adjacent to the main line of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
way from Mattawa to Sault Ste. Marie and Rat Portage. 
North Bay, which can also be reached by the Grand 
Trunk Railway from Toronto, is a favorable point to 
start in from for large game. The Ottawa & Parry 
Sound Railway also runs through a big-game coimtry, 
moose and red deer being found within short distances of 
this road. 
In the Province of Ontario there are no large tracts of 
the public domain leased to private parties or clubs, with 
the exception of a few duck preserves acquired from the 
Dominion Government many years ago, so that there will 
he no danger of visiting sportsmen to Ontario trespassing. 
RaXger, 
