344 
FOREST AND .STREAM. J 
many visitors, and all were loud in t'hsir praisr of mr 
camp, and our large pieces of bark excited a great deal 
of wonder and comment. I will not g6 mto the jolly 
times we had around the camp-fire. Lindoubtedly they, 
were very much like those of other and similar camps, 
but this being our first camping trip somehow it seemed 
as though we got more out ot it than most people did 
who go camping, and undoubtedly we did. 
But I must tell you something of our fiishmg experi- 
ences, for this was a fishing trip as well as a camping 
trip. 'None of us had ever before fished with a fly. W,^ 
had n,ever even seen it done. The Fiend cared nothing 
for fishing; Billy was more or less indifferent about the 
matter, but 1 was determined to have some trout and 
to catch thetti in the regular orthodox fly-casting way or 
have some experience in making the attempt. At 
any rate I had learned that once in a while some fiae 
brook trout were to be had at the mouth of Eagle 
Creek, diagonally across the lake from us, and so one 
morning I took the boat and crossed over, tied my boat 
"up, worked my way along the bank, and as opportunity 
offered and the bushes permitted, I gave myself my very 
first lessons in fly-casting. I can't remember now just 
what kind of a job I did make of it, but I worked 
away, and had not gone so very far or worked so very 
long before I had a strike, and, my ! but how that line 
went out, and how I perspired! 1 knew it must be a 
monster, and jolly! but I did want to land him. It 
seemed almost an age, but gradually he came inshore. 
Then of a sudden there was renewed life and another 
desperate ei¥ort, and under a log he went and up on the 
other side, but his strength was so near gone that he 
could not take advantage of the opportunity, and by 
some good fortune I was able to keep the line taut and 
bring the trout back the way be came, and eventually 
landed him safely. It was my first trout caught with a 
fly, and was the largest I caught that season or for several 
seasons thereafter, for he weighed a trifle over i pound. 
It was the only fish I was able to catch that morning, 
but I was very well pleased with my effort and my ex- 
perience. I had had a taste of true sport that I was 
never to forget but was bound to cultivate. Of course we 
had broiled trout for dinner. We tried baiting a buoy 
and chugging for lake trout, and in that way caught 
several lake trout of from 3 up to as high as 7 pounds. 
But our great experience was to come the second "VVednes- 
day in the woods. We had been looking forward to this 
date with a great deal of pleasure and anticipation. The 
president of our college would be in the woods by that 
time, and he was an old Adir.ondacker and an old and 
experienced fisherman. It was he who had told us where 
to go, what to do and given us the few general ideas that 
we had about this whole camping trip, and his last part- 
ing injunction was to be sure and meet him at a certain 
camp that second Wednesday morning, and that he 
would surely be there — -and he was, and so were we. I 
do not remember the exact hour, but at the appointed 
time we started out in what was to be really our first 
fishing trip that was worth mentioning, and one we shall 
afl remember, for on this little trip we were taught the 
first rudiments of fly-casting, and given our first lesson in 
genuine brook trout fishing, and by one of the best masters 
of the art. We appreciated the privilege, and you may 
be assured that we kept our eyes and ears open and 
listened attentively to instructions. The Doctor and his . 
guide were in one boat and we three in another, and 
away we started. 
"Well, boys, we will not go far unless we have to. We 
will try it at first over in this little bay to the right. 
There is a little stream coming in there, and I know 
of a spring hole near its mouth that I am glad to say 
very few are aware of except my guide and myself." 
So we started, the Doctor's boat taking the lead and 
we following, and in a few minutes we were at the .place. 
It seemed to us a most unlikely spot for brook trout. 
Lilypads and various water plants grew up through the 
water, showing that the lake at that point was not very 
deep, and the stream that came in was more of a swale 
filled with logs, dead trees, brush and ferns, through 
which the water must have found its way so slowly that 
it must be as warm as if not warmer than the lake water — 
so we reasoned. I do not remember whether we had 
ever heard of spring holes before that day pr not, but we 
soon found out what such a hole was, or rather is. Only 
two of us fished — Billy and myself — while the Fiend 
handled the oars or held the boat steady by grasping 
hold of the lilypads. The Doctor had previous to our 
starting out examined our rods, lines and flies, made a 
few changes and had finally satisfied himself that we were 
properly equipped, and in arriving on the field of action 
he dr^w off to one side and directed our boat where to 
proceed. 
"Now, boys, I propose to catch some trout this after- 
noon by proxy, and as you are my proxy you must do 
exactly as I tell you. Now move up your boat about a 
rod toward that tree leaning over the water there. There, 
that will do. Now cast your flies out a short dis- 
tance; now let out a little more line. Whoa, whoa! Give 
yourself more time on the bacl< cast. No, no ; don't snap 
your line like a whiplash. Now watch me." 
Here the dear old Doctor proceeded to give us an ex- 
hibition of fly7casting that I have seldom seen equaled,, 
explaining each movement. He would choose some lily- 
pad oiit in the bay as an imaginary trout, and out wouldl 
shoot his line and down would come his leader of flies 
so gently — twitch, twitch — then stop as though they were 
truly alive and had changed their mind and were going to 
rest a moment, then twitch, twitch — whizz, and away they 
went on the back cast, swiftly, but the Doctor's rod 
seemed hardly to move and was absolutely stationary for 
a full moment on the back cast. It looked easy, and for 
the Doctor it was easy. 
"Now, boys, try it again — there, carefully, now. Now, 
Henry, put your flies about 10 feet this side of that 
stump, in the water. That's good. Let them come down 
lightly ; trail them carefully. There, that's good. Don't 
get anxious. What did you say? No trout there? Oh, 
yes, there are! Keep on; that's all. Well, well, that 
certaiiily is all right. Do you see an old log down there 
under the water? Don't see it? Look sharp! It is 
largely in the "mud with one end pretty well up, but per- 
haps 4 or 5 feet under water. Over there? Yes, yes, I 
had forgotten. I began to think that perhaps I was a 
yard of so out of the way. Now work up gradually and 
cut nearer and nearer until yOU Cast over' and a loitle 
beyond the log." 
"Oh! Oh!" . , 
"There, I knew ySu would find them. Now be care- 
ful. Keep your poles apart. Take plenty of time. Well, 
how do yQU like that?" as we both succeeded m landing a 
good sized trout each. . , , 
At the next cast the water jUst boiled and seemed to 
be alive with trout, There- must have been a doz.en or 
more that sprang out of the water at every cast, and 
^several times we brought in doubles. All were of. fan- 
size, and sqme quite large, but none were as large as my 
first tr.out. Bvt, oh ! the sport we had there for an hour 
or so. " It was fast and furious. Between us we captured 
some thirty-five trout, and then the fun stopped almost 
as suddenly as it had commenced, and cast as carefully 
and as skiflfully as we could, not a fish would rise. 
This ended our fun for that day. ,. The Doctor un- 
doubtedlv enjoyed that fishing by proxy fidly as much as 
we, and a great deal more than if he had done the work 
himself. 
During the following week we went on many little trips 
with the Doctor and received further instruction, not 
only in fishing, but in the habits of trout and where and 
when to look for them, and also tried lake trout fish- 
ing, and had the pleasure of seeing the Doctor land a ro- 
pound salmon with a 6-ounce rod in Third Lake. The 
Doctor was -very fpnd of this fishing, and undoubtedly 
at that time had taken more large fish ouf of Third Lake 
than anv other fislierman. • 
Finally, however, oUr,, capping trip came to an end. 
Our tAvo weeks were up, and if I am not mistaken we 
were all glad to get back to civilization. This is generally 
the case. But there is not one of us but looks back 
on that first trip with the greatest pleasure, and as per- 
haps among the happiest days of our life. Every day of 
it was a revelation and brought new experiences, and as 
time goes by the memory of it will only become dearer, at 
least to one of us who on that trip fell in love at first 
sight with beautiful Avild Dame Nature, and who has 
ever since courted her at every opportunity to his great 
blessing of health and happiness to mind, body and soul. 
BtrcK. 
Habits of the Buffalo Bird. 
Editor Forest and Stream: " 
Some weeks ago I wrote you concerning the buffalo 
bird, and made some inquiry of your readers with re- 
gard to its habits in old times, when it was constantly 
found associated with the buffalo herds. 
That letter brought to me two interesting notes— one 
from Mr. J. W. Schultz, who nearly twenty years ago 
saw much of the buffalo in northern Montana, and the 
other from that veteran plainsman, scout and cattleman 
Capt. L. H. North, whose knowledge of the buffalo goes 
back forty years or more. iVi i . Schultz says: 
"The Blackfeet call the owbird {Molothrus ater) ksi- 
ni, which sounds most suspiciously like under buffalo. 
I have asked several of the Indians what the word means, 
but they cannot tell me. However, I am quite sure that 
ray interpretation of the word is correct. 
"The cowbird, or buffalo bird, as the old-timers used 
to call it, is one of the few wild creatures that is holding 
its own. Indeed, it seems to be increasing year by year. 
I cannot remember that there were such large and 
numerous flocks of them in the old times as we see in 
recent years, and this is also the opinion of friends with 
whom I have talked upon the subjecL 
"I cannot learn that the buffalo birds ever associated 
with antelope as they, did with buffalo, but it is reasonable 
to suppose that they did. The two animals used to range 
and graze together, and no doubt the birds swarmed 
about both. 
"Mr. Jos. Kipp says he has seen them perch on the 
backs of elk along the bars of the Missouri, just as they 
did upon the buffalo. 
"All the Indians and old-timers agree that the bird 
fed upon grasshoppers and other insects which the 
buffalo scared up and put to flight as it grazed along 
on the plains. Yet how many, many times we have seen 
these active little creatures come wheeling and dipping 
through the air, and alighting on the backs of the buffalo 
of a herd, only to resume their erratic flight in a moment 
or two. Often they will thus wheel about and .-^ilight on 
the beasts five or six titnes in succession without ever 
once taking to the ground, from which it seems reason- 
able to infer that they either have an attachment for the 
large ruminants and horses, or that they prefer a lofty 
perch, from which they can see the approach of their 
enemies, tlie hawks, in preference to resting m the grass." 
Capt. North's note, though brief, is very much to the 
point. He says: 
"I always supposed the buffalo birds were after flies 
when they were with buffalo or cattle. A friend, Mr 
Gerard, tells me that a couple of them stayed in his 
house one summer, and that they caught flies. They 
had entire liberty to go and come as they pleased, and 
when it got cold in the fall they wo(uld bring others of 
their kind, and tried to coax them into the house, but 
the strangers would only come to the door. 
"I used to think that when they stayed on the ground 
near the buffalo it was because the wind was blowing 
and the flies were staying close to the buffalo's hoofs, and 
that when they were on their backs and were pecking or 
pulling at the skin they were trying to get the grub- 
worms that are found in the backs of the buffalo and 
cattle." 
It is certainly interesting to have positive testimony 
that the buffalo birds associated with the elk as they 
did with the buffalo, but it would seem that Capt. North 
has given the truer explanation of the bird's presence 
on the ground, and it is altogether likely that much of 
the work that they were seen to do on the great animals' 
backs was trying to rid them of the grubs so constantly 
found in the backs of the buffalo and the cattle. It was 
not uncommon to find buffalo hides, taken off at certain 
seasons, ■ perforated by these grubs, so that when the 
hides were dressed for any purpose they were seen %q 
cdntain nurrlbefs of holes. The same thing may be 
seen in the hides of cattle to-day. If the cowbirds suc- 
ceed in relieving the buffalo and cattle of the grubs which 
trouble them they perform the same service that the so- 
called "rhinoceros bird" (Buphaga) does for certain 
large ,^nimals in Africa. , 
It is of course well understood that flies and mosqui- 
toes have great difficulty in supporting themselves in a 
high wind, and that they seek the shelter of branches, 
undei;growth or grass to escape the wirid',s. violence. It 
is also remembered that in many portions of the plains 
country of the West the wind blows almost continuously 
through the day. It is readily conceivable therefore that 
the flying insects which hover about large game and the 
large domestic animals when the wind is not blowing, 
drop down into the grass for shelter so soon as it begins 
to blow. Here they would be the ready prey of the 
buffalo bird, and it seems altogether probable that this is 
just what happens. 
The frequent flights of which Mr. Schultz speaks are 
probably nothing more than the birds taking exercise, as 
birds commonly do. G. B. G. 
New York, Oct. 23. 
The Belgian Hare. 
ToRowxo, Oct. 14, — Editor Forest and Stream: Your 
correspondent Mrs.. Llewella Pierce Churchill has ad- 
mirably described the Belgium hare (rabbit) fad of Cali- 
fornia. For the benefit of your readers who wish to. try 
the experiment of breeding the Belgium hare (rabbit) 
I Avill write what I have discovered at considerable time 
and expense. 
The Belgium hare is not a hare at all, but a rabbit 
(Lepus mnicuhis). The common rabbit of Europe is its 
progenitor, as it also is the progenitor of the Australian 
and New Zealand rabbit, the domestic rabbit here and 
all the fancy breeds, such as the lop ear. Angora, black 
and tan, Dutch, Flemish giants, Himalaya, etc. There 
are no native specimens of the rabbit outside of Africa, 
Europe and Asia; in other words, there is only one 
rabbit (Lepus cuniculus). What astonishes me most is 
the absurd prices paid for the Belgium hare (rabbit) in 
California, and the delicate, uncertain constitution of the 
animal in question. 
Its breeding capacity is the same as that of any other 
rabbit. Its period of gestation is thirty-one days. Its 
young are born naked and blind, and number from one 
to thirteen, according to the age and fatness of the 
mother, the very old fat does having only one. It will 
breed six times a year, but is bred only three or four, as 
size is one consideration in this breed. It takes six 
months to mature, and if properly fed should weigh 5 
pounds; in the next six it will add 2 more 
pounds to its weight. A Belgium hare (rabbit) should 
not weigh more than 8 pounds, as it then loses shape 
and becomes clumsy, its ears will lop and its color be too 
gray and not golden enough, and it thus approaches the 
Flemish giant in appearance. Like the Flemish giant 
and all other breeds, the Belgiums have originated in the 
brain and desires of an English fancier, whose chief idea 
was to breed a rabbit in imitation of the European hare 
m size and color. The ideal Belgium hare is a long, 
rakish animal of 7 pounds, with ItDng, straight ears, of 
a beautiful bronze color. On close inspection of the ani- 
mal 3'ou will observe that the longest hairs are half gold 
and black, the shorter under hairs are blue, the tips of 
the ears are velvety black, the belly and undersurfaces 
dull white. On stroking the hairs down you will notice 
them gather in jet black streaks against the gold back- 
ground. Color, shape and size as like the English hare 
as you can breed them is the rule with fanciers. 
Ah hutch-bred fancy rabbits have the consumption. 
The causes of consumption are two-fold. First, over- 
feeding with oats under exercise; second, want of suf- 
ficient air. 
Food is a very important matter in breeding rabbits 
for market or show. All green food should be free from 
drops of water, and is best gathered the day before and 
spread out to drain. The only cabbage rabbits should 
eat is the outside dark green leaf of the curly or savoy; 
lettuce and dandelion are good; chicory tops, carrots 
and carrot tops are excellent; timothy is the best hay 
to feed, and grass hays are better than clover hays. 
Turnips make the flesh strong, and the tops are poison 
to the constitution of the rabbit. Oats are the best grain 
to feed the rabbit. Night or evening is the proper time 
to feed rabbits, and feed them enough, so that they will 
sleep all day. Whatever is left over in the morning 
should be taken away from them. Dry and moist food 
should be fed in proportion. Does with young should 
he fed more inoist food, and more oats and less bulk than 
the others, It is unnecessary to give them water unless 
the weather is very hot and dry or very cold and dry, 
and under these circumstances, if not given a drink they 
will suffer from constipation, and the hind limbs will 
become paralyzed. Cabbage .plantain and many other 
weeds, also beet tops and beets, tend to cause the young 
to become p tunchy and the old to suffer from diarrhoea 
and slobbers. Milk or sow thistle is natural food for 
rabbits; in fact any plant containing a milky opiate' 
agrees with the constitution of Lepus cuniculus. 
The constitution of the rabbit is so delicate that aknost- 
any disease it is troubled with will kill it, and it wul be 
the best plan to kill all sickly stock, and by proper out and! 
out breeding, food and environment get hardened stock. 
To make a success of Belgium hare (rabbit) farming 
for the market, taking it for granted that there is a 
m.arket at 20 cents per animal at six months old, dead, 
I would advise the stock raising on a large scale. Don't 
try the experiment on poor soil; there is plenty of rich 
soil just as cheap as the poor a little further away from 
the centers of industry. Three hundred acres would 
make a good rabbit farm, divided thus: Fifty acres to 
timothy hay, fifty acres to oats, twenty acres to carrots^' 
There should be eighty acres of rich, low meadow land 
sown with milk or sow thistle, dandelion, lettuce, clover, 
timothy, oats and other grasses. Immediately beside 
this eighty acres of meadow should be 100 acres of 
hogbacks — ^that is, land that goes up one side and down 
the other. The more the ridges are lumped together the 
better, for then one would need just so much less land; 
in fact this space could be reduced to twenty acres if the 
