492 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 22^ tgoo. 
In Maine Woods. 
Boston, Dec. 15 —One of the latest rulings of the 
Maine game wardens, and their instructions come f''om 
the Fish and Game Commissioners, is that all captive 
or tame deer, caught in open season, must be released 
at the beginning of the close season. In a number of 
cases deer have been caught alive, and have been held 
in captivity. The Avardens have been powerless to have 
them released during the open season, but now it is 
understood that immediately after Dec. iS, the beginning 
of the close season, they must be set free, unless special 
permission from the Commissioners is obtained. _ Such 
permission is seldom granted, except in the case of parks, 
where the animals can be kept with greater security. 
One of the arguments made by the persons holding tame 
deer is that they have become so very taine that if set 
free they will at once fall an easy prey to dogs and dis- 
honest hunters. Even if they get through the winter and 
the close season, they will be among the very first to be 
killed by hunters at the beginning of another open 
season. It is suggested that the commg Legislature will 
be asked to further define the capture and holding of 
deer in captivit3^ 
Some good coot and shore bird shooting was reported 
from Chatham and other points along shore last_ week. 
Gunners say that somehow the birds have stayed off shore 
longer than usual this fall, and some good bags have 
lately been made. Black ducks have suddenly become 
quite plenty in the markets, having been scarce all the 
fall. The gunners have been sending more to Boston 
within a week. L. E. Boyden, Benjamin Fox and C. R. 
Crosby shot at Chatham last week, with the result of 
eighteen coot and eight black ducks. C. G. Collins, of 
W'altham, carries off the record for coot shooting, having 
recently shot at Monomoy 150 coot, fifty of them the 
result of one morning's shoot. 
It is sad that the Maine deer shooting season could 
not have closed without another terrible tragedy being 
added to the list of shooting casualties in that State. 
But Ira Sturtevant, of Foxcroft, is a victim of careless 
shooting, at the very last days of the season. Thomas 
Daggett, Gilman Gould and the dead man started out 
last Saturday for deer hunting in the vicinity of Sebec 
Lake. They separated, and about noon both Daggett 
and Gould heard two shots in the direction Sturtevant 
had gone. They at once went to see what had been 
shot, and Daggett soon came upon a deer hanging up to 
a tree, shot by Sturtevant or some other hunter, and near 
by the dead body of Sturtevant, with a bullet wound in 
the head. Gould soon came up, being called by Daggett. 
At first they thought that the dead man had committed 
suicide, as his riRe lay across his legs, but the wound in 
his head was evidently made by a .30-30, while the rifle 
of the man was a .38-55. After caring for the dead man, 
search made to see if any other hunter could be tracked, 
but without success. The theory is that some other man 
had shot Sturtevant supposing him to be a deer, and 
finding what he had done, had fled, rather than face the 
terrible ordeal. So far no light has been obtained as to 
who fired the fatal shot. Investigation has been made 
to find out if it were possible that shots fired by Daggett, 
earlier in die day, at a deer, might not have been de- 
flected and caused the death of the other hunter, but last 
reports say that there is nothing in this theory. The 
shooting is a mystery, but still greater interest is aroused 
in the direction of something being done to prevent such 
terrible occurrences, as far as possible. The proposition 
of the Forest and- Stream that accidental shooting be 
made a criminal offense is meeting with a good deal of 
favor among those who go into the woods for hunting, 
and the Maine Legislature will soon take up the matter 
in some such form. It is also su-ggested that a law be 
passed compelling hunters, guides and all persons going 
into the Maine woods during the hunting season to wear 
a regulation color of clothing, such as could not be mis- 
taken for deer or other game. Something must be done 
to stop the terrible slaughter of hunters. The record of 
the past season is worse than ever before. 
Dec. 17. — ^Tlie Maine big game season is closed, the 
season on deer closing Dec. 15, while that on moose 
closed Nov. 30, The record for shipments of big game 
through Bangor for the season has been 3,113 deer and 
138 moose; a decresae of 331 deer and one nioose from 
the preceding season. But it must be remembered that 
this is only one section of the big game countrj-, though 
the most important. All other sections would, if the 
record could be known, show a worse falling off, with 
the exception of the sections around Kingfield and 
.Andover, where there has been an increase in the number 
of deer killed. The game boomers are inclined to take 
courage from the fact that the season just ended has 
been the largest recorded with the exception of 1899. 
The last two weeks of the deer season were exceedingly 
unfavorable for hunting, especially for the outside sports- 
man, not used to snowshoeing and tramping through 
deep snows, and these sportsmen have generally re- 
mained at home. Bttt the guides and backwoodsmen 
have gone after the deer on snowshoes, and they have 
been very successful. Accounts are numerous, in the 
Maine newspapers, of the deer killed the past week by 
'local gunners. In man}- instances they have been killed 
close to the villages. In some instances they have run 
into the towns and villages, just to be shot. Each local 
paper or local correspondent makes great note of the fact 
that deer have been slain in their very midst. 
The results of the shooting of deer by Maine local 
gunners and guides are to be seen in the Boston markets. 
Early in the season venison was very scarce in these 
markets. Saturday I counted ig deer hung up for dis- 
play; many very large bucks. In one instance six deer 
had just come in. It is an open secret that anybody can 
bring a deer out of Maine, or could during the open 
season, whether killed by himself or not; though the law 
strictly prohibits the shipping of deer out of that State 
except by the hunters killing them. The evasion of this 
law has become wonderfully easy. Two marketmen were 
telling me Friday of how they were just out of Maine 
and had brought their deer. "It was easy enough. The 
expressman, warden or some other man, at the station, 
called out: 'Who claims the deer?' and we simply stepped 
fqrward and gave a name. That is all there was to it, 
\t thfe expVfesfe officfe in Bosto?i we ordered tUe 4eer sent 
to No. — street. There the deer have been sold 
whole for 13 cents a pound. One buck weighed almost 
200 pounds. Paid us well. We only paid $10 and $12 
apiece for the deer." The marketmen also told me a 
funny story of a fellow coming out by the same train. 
He had taken a deer to bring out and sell for a guide; did 
not own it himself. At Bangor he was asleep in the 
smoker or sleeping car, and did not answer when the 
official asked for an owner for the deeer. It was seized, 
and the guide has lost it. If one will take the trouble 
to look over the published list of men bringing deer 
through Bangor for the past two or three weeks, and 
then trace the names to Boston, he will find that many 
of the names are not in the city directory, and the names 
that are in it are not the names of hunters, in but very 
few instances. They are the names of men who know 
nothing about gunning; did not go down to Maine to 
shoot deer; simply brought them out, and they went 
straight to the market. Will the coming Maine Legis- 
lature do anything to prevent such shipping? If the 
Commissioners want facts, 1 have them. I believe they 
will be startled to learn to what extent the selling of deer 
by guides and others is carried; in most instances going 
directly to the markets of this city, through the 
medium of anybody who will take the trouble to claim 
them at the express offices. On such shipments the 
American Express Co. is silent; refuses blandly and 
politely to know anything about it. 
Alas, stifl another shooting accident must be reported! 
Reports to the daily papers, Saturday, dated at Machias, 
Me., say that there has been another fatal shooting ac- 
cident. The victim was Ernest R. Phipps. He was 
mistaken for a deer by his cousin, with whom he was 
hunting in Plantation No. 14. This makes eight shoot- 
ing accidents of the kind since the big game season 
opened in Maine, nearly aU fatal. The number is alarm- 
ingly too great. It is true that the close season is now 
on, and we can breathe easy for a few months, but another 
open season will be coming. Will the Maine Legislature 
take reasonable action on this matter? The last proposi- 
tion that I have heard in this direction is to make it un- 
lawful to shoot a fawn, and to punish the offense by a 
fine of $25. This, it is reasoned, would make hunters 
more careful, and not shoot till they had thoroughly seen 
their game; hence they would not shoot other hunters. 
Quite a roundabout way of getting at something that 
Inmters should be made more careful about. The Forest 
AND Stream is right. Make accidentEil shooting a more 
heinous offense. I would also make it an offense to go 
into the woods loaded with whiskey, and forbid the use 
of it when on hunting trips. Special. 
Massachusetts Association. 
7 Cortes Street, Boston, Dec. 13— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Massachusetts Central Committee and the 
Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association 
held a meeting and dined together on Thursday evening, 
Dec. 13, at the Copley Square Hotel. 
Officers of the Central Committee for 1901 were chosen 
as follows: President, A. B. F. Kinney, of Worcester. 
Executive Committee — Chairman, Hon. Robt. S. Gray, of 
Walpole; Wm. B. Phinney, of Lynn; A. C. Sylvester, N. 
Attleboro; Dr. D. S. Woodworth, Fitchburg; Dr. J. T. 
Herrick, Springfield; Dr. A. Ricketson, N. Bedford; 
Henrv Hanson, Fall River; Jason Spofford. Amesbury; 
H. S' Fay. Esq., Marlborough; J. E. Wood, Pittsfield; 
Dr. W. S. Clark, N. Adams. Secretary-Treasurer, H. H. 
Kimball, Boston. 
Hon. Geo. W. Wiggin presided at the dinner, and 
among the speakers were Harvey N. Shepard, Esq., of 
Boston, representing the Appalachian Club; S. O. 
Staphs, of S. Framingham, delegate from the Middlesex 
South Agricultural Society; Dr. C. N. Raymond, of the 
Rehoboth Farmers' Club;' Dr. D. S. Woodworth, Presi- 
dent of the Fitchburg Rifle and Gun Club ; Harry D. Hunt 
and A. C. Sylvester, of N. Attleboro; H. S. Fav, of Marl- 
borough; John Fattier, Jr., Boston, and others. 
All expressed a readiness and determination to do any 
defensive or aggressive work during the coming session of 
the Legislature as occasion should require. The Nominat- 
ing Committee, Dr. E. W. Branigan, Chairman, presented 
a list of officers for the Massachusetts Fish and Game 
Protective Association for 1901. 
Messrs. Addison M. Thayer, of Franklin; Frederick 
Freeman, John F. Bowditch, M. J. Keane and Wm. G. 
Retd, of Boston, were elected to membership, and the 
following names were added to the list of corresponding 
members, viz. : Harvey N. Shepard, Esq., Boston ; C. 
M. Buckminster, Georgetown; I. O. Converse, Fitchburg; 
Dr. C. N. Raymond, Rehoboth ; W. S. Hobbs, Uxbridge ; 
H. T. Dispean, Grafton ; Geo. F. Gains, Rockland ; H. F. 
Havnes, Bolton; Frank E. Walker, N. Brookfield; Geo. 
H. 'Palmer, Esq., N. Bedford ; W. T. Simpson, S. Wey- 
mouth ; H. E. Tuck, Haverhill; A. W. Walls, Worcester; 
C. H. Goodell, Worcester; M. E. Hawes, E. Weymouth; 
Dr. W. S. Carr. N. Adams; Bradford S. Turpin, Rox- 
bury; Wm. B. Phinney, Lynn; W..C. Thairlwall. Boston. 
Your readers will regret to hear of the recent death of 
one of the most enthusiastic sportsmen of our State, Wm. 
Minot, Esq., the first President of the Rod and Gun 
Club of Massachusetts, and for many years a valued 
member of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective 
Association. The next meeting of the Association will 
be the annual for election of ofllicers the second Wednes- 
day (the 9th) of January. 
Hej^ry H. KiitfBALL^ Secretary. 
Those Quebec Moose Shipments. 
Ayemer, Que., Dec. 11. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
I notice in your issue of Dec. 8 an error a:gainst Mr. J. W. 
Collins, of Pittsburg, by giving F. M. Turner, also of 
Pittsburg, Pa., the credit of having three moose, one 56}4- 
inch spread and the other two 36-inch. 
The two moose heads 36 inches should be credited to 
Mr. J. W. Collins, of Pittsburg, Pa., addressed to Mr. 
W. Sutherland, Orillia, and shipped by Mr. Collins him- 
self. Kindly correct same in yOur next issue and oblige. 
N. E. CoRMrER, 
Provincial Gs.me Ward.en a^nd, Fishery Qverseer, 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them*— XV. 
BY GEORGE BIRD GKINNELL. 
[CeMii^ued JroMi fage 46T.] 
Diving Ducks. 
Sub-Family FuliguKnce. 
Under this head are included what are commonly 
known as the sea ducks, deep-water ducks, or diving 
ducks, birds more fitted for a continuous life on the 
water than those heretofore described, and which, as a 
rule, derive their sustenance from water deeper than that 
frequented by the shoal-water ducks. 
As pointed out in another place, these birds have 
larger feet than the shoal-water dueks, while the legs 
are placed further back. These characters make pro- 
gression on land more difficult, but assist markedly in 
swimming and diving. All the birds of this sub-family 
may be known by having a web or lobe hanging down 
from the hind toe. This web or lobe is absent in all 
the fresh-water ducks. The sea ducks or diving ducks 
are supposed to spend most of their time on the salt 
water, but this is a rule to which there are a multitude 
of exceptions, and many of the species of this sub-famUy 
resort to inland waters to rear their j^oung. Some birds 
commonly regarded as exclusively marine are found at 
all seasons of the year on great bodies of fresh water, as 
the Great Lakes and Yellowstone Lake in Wyoming. 
As stated, most of the members of this sub-family 
procure their food by diving, and bring up from the 
depths of water fish, mollusks and grasses of one kind 
and another. Many of them are, therefore, not delicate 
food, akhou^gh, on the other hand, the far-famed canvas- 
back, which belongs to this group, is one of the choicest 
of our ducks. 
There arevarious strongly marked anatomical and other 
differences within the group, w-hich do not require con- 
sideration here. They are described at length in various 
ornithological works. 
While the fresh-water ducks usually spend their time 
in the marshes and in fresh-water ponds during the day, 
the sea ducks, as a rule, resort to wide stretches of open 
water, where in moderate weather they rest during the 
middle of the day, resorting to their feeding grounds at 
evening, and sometimes feeding during the night and 
well into the morning. 
Dr. Elliot has pointed out that, as a. rule, the notes of 
these birds are harsh and guttural. 
Rufous-Crested Duck. 
Netta rufina (Pall.). 
Adult male. — Sides of head and throat, purplish-brown, 
becoming darker on the throat, and changing to pale 
reddish at the front and base of the crest, becoming 
paler toward the tips of the feathers. The lower half 
of the neck, with a narrow strip running up the back of 
the neck to the head, the breast, belly, lower tail-coverts, 
upper tail-coverts and rump, black; darkest on the neck 
and breast, and with greenish reflections on upper tail- 
coverts. Back, grayish-brown, growing darker toward 
the rump. The scapulars, or shoulder feathers, brown- 
EUFOUS -CRESTED DUCK. 
ish-j^ellow. Speculum, white tipped with gray. The 
bend of the wing, white, as are also the primaries, ex- 
cept the tips of some of the outer ones, which are gray- 
ish-brown. The sides and flanks, white, indistinctly 
marked with brownish bars. The tail is grayish-brown; 
the bill and feet red. There is a full, soft crest on the 
crown of the head. Length, 22 inches; wing, 10 inches. 
The female has much less crest than the male, and it 
is brown. The rest of the head and neck, and the lower 
parts, generally, are pale ashy, darker on the breast and 
sides. The upper parts are grayish-brown. Those por- 
tions that are white in the m_ale are faintly marked in 
the female, or do not show at all. The speculum is white, 
as in the male, but much duller. 
This is an Old World species, very doubtfully attrib- 
uted to North America. It may be questioned whether 
it has ever been seen here in life by an ornithologist, but 
specimens have been found in the New York markets 
for sale, with other ducks which were known to have 
been killed near that city. No sportsman is likely to 
meet with it, but it is introduced here to complete the 
list of North American ducks. 
Fawn. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The question is frequently asked. What is a fawn? The 
answer is, a deer during the first year of its life. And 
as the fawn is protected by the laws of the State of New 
York from, being killed, the next question naturally pre- 
senting itself is. How can the hunter distinguish whether 
the game he sights is a fawn or a yearling? It is a fact 
and of frequent occurrence that an early buck fawn, 
if well supplied with nourishment, is by Nov. I, following 
as heavy as many a j^earling doe, and as neither would 
have homes to show, and each dresses 90 or 100 pounds, 
with coats of same color, ho%v shall we distinguish at 50 
yards diststnce o^.^ ftonj the otfefet? Cap Locjc 
