Oct. 27, 1900.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
SS7 
of ours, and one of the noisiest is a species found in 
tropical America. The common locust, which we know 
do any harm by feeding on vegetation, although in some 
cases they injure trees by depositing their eggs. 
Mr. Marlatt, in his interesting paper, gives an early 
reference to the locust, quoting from the Barton Medical 
Physical Journal of 1804, which refers to Moreton's "New 
England's Memorial" as follows: 
"Speaking of sickness which, in 1833, carried off 
many of the whites and Indians in and near to Plymouth 
(Plymouth in Massachusetts), he says: 'It is to be ob- 
served that the spring before this sickness there was 
a numerous company of Flies, which were like for bigness 
unto Wasps or Bumhle-Bees. They came out of little 
holes in the ground, and did eat up the green things, and 
made such a constant yelling noise as made all the 
woods ring of them, and ready to deaf the hearers; they 
were not any of them heard or seen by the English in 
the country before this time. But the Indians told them 
that sickness would follow, and so it did. Very hot in 
the months of June, July and August of that summer.' " 
Proprietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Fokest and Stream, 
North Carolina Wolves and Quail, 
KiNSTONj N. C, Oct. 17. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The Weldon Leader reports: "Mr. Tillman Picot, of 
Littleton, tells us that a pack of wolves are playing havoc 
with the sheep in that section. He says several have been 
killed, and that he has several young ones that he cap- 
tured." Littleton is between Weldon and Raleigh, on 
the S. A. Line. You might get further information by 
inquiry of these parties. I would be very pleased to 
have you settle the matter, as rumors of wolves in eastern 
North Carolina have often reached my ears of late. 
Our season for quail, or Bob White, shooting opens on 
the first proximo, and there are promises of plenty of 
birds. 
Two of our local shooters went into the adjoining 
county (Jones) yesterday, where there is no close season, 
and they report seeing a large number of very young 
birds barely able to fly. 
I have seen recently in my rambles several mixed 
coveys, about half of them grown and half very young. 
Our past summer has been phenomenally dry and 
favorable to the hatching and rearing of the birds, and I 
think there is no doubt that many pairs of old birds have 
made two hatchings this season. 
The fact is that the spring and summer of this year 
have been favorable to the reproductive efforts of all kinds 
of game. More squirrels are seen this year than have 
been known to exist in the past ten or fifteen years, and 
deer are occasionally reported in this county, where they 
have been about exterminated. 
The 'coon and 'possum hunters, however, are meeting 
with very poor luck so far .as your scribe can testify of his 
own experience. 
The black bass and pike fishing is fairly good. 
Thos. H. Faulkner, 
Vermont Wolves. 
MoNTPEUERj Vt, Oct. 16.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
Kindly permit me to note that in your issue of Oct. 13 
\ou"say: '"That wolves should occur now in Vermont and 
in North Carolina, States from which they have not been 
reported for many years, is most unlikely, and no such 
vague newspaper records as those quoted will be accepted 
by naturalists until some specimen shown to have been 
killed there has been identified by competent authority. 
It must be remembered that in these days not one man 
in ten thousand knows a wolf when he sees it." Now 
the fact that the town clerk has paid a bounty of $12 
each on those wolves is pretty good authority that they 
were wolves. What other animal is there which could 
possibly be mistaken for a wolf? The wolf now lies 
buried, and the spot has been described to me, so I ex- 
pect to be able to find it, and I shall exhume the carcass 
in due time, if nobody else does, and have jt mounted. 
Wolves are not altogether a great rarity in this State. 
In Fairlee in 1894 a wolf was killed and bounty paid on 
it by the town clerk of that town, and you lately pub- 
lished the mention of it in your paper in your issue last 
previous to Oct. 13 page 265, article by the writer, con- 
tributed to Montpelier Daily Journal, "Wild Animals in 
Vermont." The so-called vague newspaper records of 
killing the wolves are correct. Carlos L. Smith. 
[Some years ago we received from the Adirondacks a 
"wolf's" slcin, which proved to have been worn by a 
yellow dog.] - 
The whale does not discharge water, but only its breath. 
This, however, in rushing up into the air hot from the 
animal's bodj' has the moisture condensed to form a 
sort of rain, and the colder the air, just as in the case of 
our breath, the more marked the result. When the spout 
is made with the blowhole clear above the surface of the 
water, it appears like a sudden jet of steam form a boiler. 
When effected, as it sometimes is, before the blowhole 
reaches the surface, a low fountain, as from a street fire 
plug is formed, and when the hole is close to the surface 
at the moment a little water is sent up with the tall jet of 
steam. The cloud blown up does not disappear at once, 
but hangs a little while, and is often seen to drift a short 
distance with the wind. — ^London Fishing Gazette. 
The Octotcr Woodcraft. 
The October number of the Game Laws in Brief and Woodcraft 
Magazine contains the game and fish laws of the United States 
and Canada. The Woodcraft part has this capital list of con- 
tents: 
GRAN'THER HILL'S PA'TRIDGE. By Rowland E. Robin- 
son. 
IN THE FOREST. 
THE OLD CANOE. 
THE RESCUE OF MR, HUNDLEY. 
KELLUP'S ANNUAL. Bv Teflferson Scribb. 
DEACON THROPE'S PIGEONS. 
ANY LETTERS FOR ME? By H. P. Uflord. ■ 
TEHOSSEE ISLAND. By Olive F. Gunby. ' 
FLORIDA INDIAN DEER HUNTERS. 
AT CLOSE yUAK lJtKS: The Hon. S., the Mover and the BuH; 
A Nova Scotia Bear; The Panther's Scream; A Time with a 
Florida Alligator; The Owl's Swoop; The Dog Climbed. 
THE DOG AND THE TURKEY. By Tohn Tames Audubon. 
^F'-'AT'^R VFST's: «;TtnDAV PTGEOST SHOOT 
AUSTRALIAN ROUGH-RIDERS. By R. Boldrcwood 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them.— VIL 
BV GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL. 
\\C6ntinued /rom pag^e 308.] 
Tree Ducks. 
Intermediate between the true geese and the ducks 
are the so-called tree ducks, belonging to the genus 
Dendrocygna. Of these, two species are found along 
our southern border, and occasionally afford some sport 
to gunners. They are rather duck-like in form, but have 
very large heads and feet, the tarsus being reticulate in- 
stead of scutellate, like the ducks. In other words, the 
skin of the tarsus is covered by small scales, looking like 
a network, instead of by broad, deep scales which overlap 
in front. This, it will be remembered, is a character of 
the geese (Anserince). Moreover, the tarsus in the tree 
ducks is equal to or longer than the middle toe, instead 
of being shorter than it. The lower part of the thigh is 
naked, and the hind toe is extremely long. 
This group appears to have relationship with the Old 
World sheldrakes, and with the goose-like genus Chenal- 
opex, rather than with either the ducks or the geese. 
They are birds of tropical distribution, and are found 
only along the southern border of the Utiited States. 
One .species is common in the West India Islands. None 
of them, however, are sufficiently abundant to be con- 
sidered as furnishing gunning, but two of the three species 
belong in the list of our water fowl. 
Black-Bellied Tree Dacfc. 
Dendrocygna autumnalis (Linn.). 
The neck, back and breast are cinnamon-brown, the 
forehead somewhat paler. Sides of head, throat and 
upper neck yellowish-gray. At the back of the head a 
black strip begins, which runs down the back of the 
neck. The middle of the back, rump, upper tail coverts, 
belly, flanks and under wing coverts are black; the wing 
coverts are yellowish, fading into ashy and grayish-white 
on the greater coverts. When it is closed the wing thus 
shows a white strip for nearly its whole length. The tail 
is blackish, and the under parts yellowish-brown. The 
under tail coverts are white; the bill is red. changing to 
orange at the base ; its nail is bluish ; legs and feet whitish. 
The young bird resembles the adult, but its colors are 
duller throughout, and it lacks the black flanks and belly; 
they are grayish- white, barred with dusky; length, 19 
•inches; wing, g% inches. 
In certain parts of Texas the black-bellied tree duck 
is not a scarce bird. It is fotmd there in summer and 
autumn, and at this time of the year visits the grain 
BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK. 
fields, where some shooting at them may sometimes be 
had. Its name is well applied, for it perches in the trees 
without difficulty, and walks about on the branches as if 
much at home. In fact, it is said to pass the hours of 
daylight largely in the branches of trees, and to do its 
feeding and traveling chiefly at night. This duck nests 
in the hollow trees, and there deposits twelve to fifteen 
eggs, without forming any nest. When hatched the young 
are said to be carried to the water in the mother's bill. 
It is easily domesticated, and when once tamed asso- 
ciates with the fowls of the farm on perfectly good 
terms. When tamed it is said to be very watchful, and 
to utter a shrill call at the approach of any individual or 
at any unusual sound. 
In parts of Texas, where the bird is common, it is known 
as the tree duck, cornfield or long-legged duck, while in 
Louisiana the common appellation for it is fiddler duck, 
from the clear call-note that it utters at night when in 
flight. It frequents the old cornfields which have been 
overflowed, and from such places it may be started in 
pairs, often giving good shooting. Its flesh is highly 
esteemed. Some of the local names used in South Amer- 
ica and in Mexico are applied to it by reason of .its 
call -note. 
Mr. Xantus took a single specimen of this duck at 
Fort Tejon, in southern California, but this is the only 
specimen known from that State. In Mexico and Central 
America they are common. Dr. Merrill states that these 
birds reach Fort Brown. Texas, from the South' in April. 
Most of them depart again in Septem.ber or October, but 
some stay until November. 
FalvotJs Tree Duck. 
Dendrocygna fulva (Gmel.). 
The brown tree duck is a more northerly species than 
the precedin^f, and is foan4 in McTfico and noftl^ws^rd 
through parts of California and Nevada, as well at in 
Texas and Louisiana. The head, neck and lower parts 
are deep reddish-yellow, darkest on top of head, and 
changing to reddish on the flanks, the longer feathers 
being streaked with pale yellovy; middle of neck whitish 
obscurely streaked with black. A distinct black stripe 
runs from the head down the hind part of the neck. The 
upper parts are brownish-black, the feathers of the wing 
being tipped with chestnut. The upper tail coverts are 
white; the belly and lower tail coverts yellowish-white; 
the bill is blackish, and the feet and legs are slate-blue; 
FULVOUS-BELLIED TREE DUCK. 
the length is about 20 inches; wing, gyi inches. The 
colors of the young are somewhat duller, and the wing 
coverts lack the chestnut. 
The fulvous tree duck, known as the yellow-bellied 
fiddler in Louisiana, and the long-legged duck in Texas, 
is quite common there at certain seasons. Its habits do 
not vary greatly from those of the black-bellied tree duck. 
Like that species, it spends much of its time in fresh 
water lakes and sloughs, feeding on the grasses that grow 
there, and it also visits the cornfields at night in search 
of grain. 
The flesh of both these species is said to be very de- 
licious, and is eagerly sought after. The birds are shot 
only by being stumbled on or by lying in wait for- them 
as they come into or leave the cornfields. 
The duck is exceedingly unsuspicious and readily per- 
mits approach, so that many of them are killed. When 
crippled, however, their .strong legs enable them to run 
very fast, and, like all ducks, they are expert hiders, 
getting into the grass and lying there without moving. 
The bird is also a good diver, and if it reaches the water 
is not likely to be captured. It is said never to be 
found on the salt water, but confines itself entirely to in- 
land pools, rivers and swamps. 
An October Afternoon. 
The same man who killed the three brant one Sep- 
tember afternoon is on the same prairie again. He has 
dug a hole 4 feet deep in the same stubble field, and 
hauled the excavated dirt away and lined the hole with 
stubble. He has also covered the hole with a trap door 
of light boards; and the door is supported by a pole laid 
across the hole under the middle of the door, so that 
the door is balanced on the pole. It can have either 
end thrown up quickly, as occasion may require. Bushels 
of wheat have been strewn over a spot some 30 yards 
from the south side of the hole, and this afternoon it is 
observed that the wheat is all gone. The mallards have 
been after it. It is about 3 o'clock on this particular 
afternoon when the man arrives. Bunches, droves and 
clouds of mallards are to be seen flying here, there and 
everywhere. They have started for their evening feed 
on the stubbles, and this man proposes to get some of 
them. 
Driving to within 50 yards of the hole, he and his two 
boy assistants take some twenty tame mallards from a 
crate and tether them about 30 yards from the edge of 
the hole and scatter more wheat over the ground. There 
are two other stubble fields one-half and three-quarters 
of a mile away, and as these fields are also favorite 
feeding grounds for mallards, he gives the two boys 
a lot of ammunition and sends one of them to each 
field, with instructions to keep the ducks away. Then he 
seats himself in the hole and waits. The tethered dtscks 
do not struggle with their tethers, for they have been 
kept tethered at home, and know it is of no use to waste 
strength trying to get loose, so they walk about a little 
and eat what wheat they want. 
After twenty minutes of waiting, a bunch of twenty 
or thirty mallards make a circle around the edge of the 
stubble, but are not satisfied, and swing off to one of the 
other stubble fields, but catching a sight of one of 
the boys stationed there, back they come, and after 
circling a half dozen times, come in to the decoys. 
Straight they come, from eighty rods away. They are 
almost ready to spread their wings and drop among the 
decoys, when some caprice causes them to swing out 
and up instead of in and down, and away they go, as if 
they -were gone for good; but they turn again and sweep 
in wide circles around the field again. Once more they 
come straight for the decoys, and in full faith that it is 
all safe, hover for a moment and then settle to the decoys 
with drooping wings. Down, down they drop. Now 
they are within 30 feet of them— 20 feet — 6 feet. The 
trap door flies open and the jack-in-the-box pops up, 
striking terror to the birds, but it is too late. The puffs 
of smoke, two sharp explosions, and three fall heavily 
to the ground, while the rest are flying as they never 
flew before. The man behind the gun drops powder 
into the gun, rams down the wads, and follows with the 
shot charges. Half a mile away he sees a flock of sand- 
hill cranes coming straight toward him, so he quickly 
hides in the hole. But it is no use; the. cranes saw him 
before he hid, and as they near him they swerve away 
and pass 300 yards to the right of him. Presently there 
come other flocks of mallards. Some of them come to 
the decoys and leave one or more of their number, 
