1 
Jan. 26, igoi.J 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
67 
Nofth Attleboro, and I will not rehearse them. Suffice 
it to say, the Committee did the work assigned to it 
and should receive the warmest gratitude, not only of our 
.inembers, but of all lovers of birds. 
The self denial of the clubs in the western counties 
in surrendering early fall shooting, and of those in the 
southerly sections in giving up their favorite month of 
December, entitles them to hearty commendation. The 
"divergence of views" alluded to by Mr. Stevenson in 
1898 were no longer in, evidence, but all stood shoulder 
to shoulder for the greatest good of the greatest number. 
To mention all those who lent their influence and actively 
engaged in securing this legislation would require too 
much t ime, but the names of Representatives Hunt and 
Morse (now Senator Morse) and Senators Wm. Tolman 
and Howard K. Sanderson deserve special recognition 
ifor their zealous efforts in behalf of the bill. 
To the Fish and Game Commissioners for their cordial 
mdorsement of the measure we would make our ac- 
jknowle<lgments. 
To the pr^s of the State, also, for its enlightened 
presentation of the principles involved in the bill, and to 
the Forest and Stream, not only for keeping its readers 
informed from the beginning to the end of the various 
movements in which we were engaged, but for its very 
able editorials in favor of the bill. 
To Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of New York, who in 
one of his lectures at the Lowell Institute (in Boston) 
on birds last winter spoke with emphasis of the good 
work of the protective sportsmen's associations in their 
efforts to save game birds, expressing the wish that the 
song and insectivorous birds had friends who were 
equally zealous in their defense. 
In closing I may say the bird law was the outcome of 
an enlightened public sentiment which has been created 
by the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Asso- 
ciation. Henry H. Kimball, Sec'y. 
All Sorts. 
Elmo, Kan., Jan. 14. — Editor Forest and Stream: Last 
■winter, through the medium of Forest and Stream, I 
brought to the notice of a startled (?) public the horned 
rabbit of Kansas. Yesterday, while out hunting, I shot 
two more specimens, and I was intending to forward 
one to you, but the idea that the horns were the outcome 
of disease took possession of me, and after examining 
one closely they became absolutely repulsive, and I 
threw them into a hedge, and Forest and Stream is 
out a horned rabbit. One of the rabbits had six honis 
on its head, the horns closely resembling the horn of a 
young buck antelope when the horn is about an inch long. 
I should like to know more of them, but the revulsion 
against handling them is too strong. 
In this week's Forest and Stream I notice something 
about the Carteret Gun Club expelling members for com- 
peting with professionals or on grounds where pro- 
fessionals shoot. Now, I have seen reports of Carteret 
Club shoots, off and on, ever since I can remember, and 
none of them have left any impression on my mind. But 
when I see a closely printed column report of some 
tournament written by Hough, Waters or some other 
graphic writer who understands the ins and outs, haps 
and happenings of the game, and in which the names 
Elliott, Gilbert, Budd, Parmelee and Marshall appear, I 
always read the whole of it; and I have not read "David 
Harum" yet either, and am some shy on Shakespeare. 
These are the men who make the game interesting, and 
without whom the name of Carteret would neyer have 
been heard. If some of them go into the gun and am- 
munition business, so much the better, as it is only 
through the employment of the best talent that machines 
are perfected. Let the race go to the swift and the bat- 
tle to the strong. See that everything is on the square 
and then — hands off. Let every individual be the sole 
judge of whom he is able and whom , he is not able to 
compete with. This constant warfare on the best per- 
formers is like breaking one leg of a jack rabbit in order 
to let the hounds catch it. Improve your hounds is the 
better miy, and is a more drawing card with the average 
onlooker; 
Another thing that keeps irritating me is the immense 
amount of nonseiicical talk about game protection. Game 
laws have been passed in such idiotic profusion that all 
respect for them is a thing of the past, yet the howl still 
■goes up for more. Half a dozen States are threatening 
non-resident license laws. I suppose the profit accruing 
to wardens for State licenses is quite large; it must be, 
for already there is such a thing as reduced rates where 
•competition is sharp, but what does the sportsman gain."* 
.The effect of the law has always been to debar the law- 
abiding and throw everything into the hands of the law- 
less. I have always thought that a law something like 
that af Colorado would do some good, only I want all 
game sold under a revenue stamp, the same as tobacco, 
and the nioney to go for the propagation and protection 
■of game and fish. This would instil the idea of value, 
■arid wanton destruction would be less, especially if it 
■were made .'a penitentiarj'- offense to take game out of 
season,.! However, if other cranks will agree to drop 
.their idiosyncrasy I will promise not to say another 
word about this fad of mine. E. P. Jaques. 
Sailmgf of Ducks in Great South ^ay. 
East Quogue, Long Island. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The Forest and Stream said the other day that the ducks 
-in Great South Bay as soon as disturbed go to sea. I 
atfi' not surprised that they do just- as soon as a battery 
.is rigged otit. I have seen from two to three boats from 
one battery, sail, sail, sail, until the ducks had to resort 
to one of two things — go to sea or to some other bay. 
When I used a battery I woirld take the large boat and 
-anchor, her out of the way, and then wait for the ducks 
to come back, • There was no trouble about ducks going 
to. sea then, and- I am quite positive I made larger bags 
by rtot sailing the ducks than tbe batteries do how 'by con- 
tinually sailing them from one place to another. Point 
and bar shooting was decidedly good this last fall, and 
many New York sportsmen who came down here di<^ 
^dl ^nd went home Jijvpp.y, g, ^, Jack50?t, 
AmericanI Wildfowl and HowJ to 
Take Them,-XX. 
^. BY GEORGE BIRD GRIN NELL. 
[Coniinued from page 46.] 
Bufflebead Duck. 
Charitonetta albeola CLinn.). 
The adult male with head and upper neck black. 
From behind and below the eye a very broad white band 
or patch extends backward to the ends of the feathers. 
The black of head and upper neck is brilliant with me- 
tallic reflections of green and purple. The feathers of 
head are long and loose, giving it a puft'y appearance, 
and they can be raised so as to make the head seem very 
large. The back is blaclc, fading to ashy on the upper 
tail-coverts. The tail is gray, with whitish edges. The 
Hower neck, entire under parts, greater wing coverts, 
•outer scapulars and some secondaries, white. The quill 
ifeathers of the wing are gray, the bill is lead color, the 
•eyes brown and the feet flesh color or lavender. 
The head of the female lacks the extreme puffiness of 
the male's. She is generally a dark lead color, or slaty, 
very much paler below, has a white patch on the side of 
the head behind and below the eye, and a white wing 
patch formed by the outer webs of the secondaries. The 
bill is dark lead color and the feet and legs grayish-blue. 
long-tailed duck. 
The male bufiflehead is one of the most beautiful and 
active of North American ducks and is also one of the 
most abundant, especially along the seacoast. It is con- 
fined to North America and is scattared over most of 
the continent, from the extreme North to Mexico. It is 
said not to be common in Alaska, but sometimes to oc- 
cur on the Aleutian Islands, and Dr. Stejneger found it 
in \vinter also about the Commander Islands, on the 
Asiatic side of the Pacific. The bofflehead breeds 
throughout much of British America, nesting in hollows 
in trees, and its nests have been found on the Yukon 
River, as well as in many other localities in the North. 
Mr. Boardman believes that it breeds near Calais, M!e.. 
and young birds, still unable to fly, are said to have 
been killed at Pewaukee Lake, in Wisconsin. 
The butterball is an extremely restless and busy bird, 
and in the dull times of the duck shooting, when the 
■weather is still and no birds are flying, it is very likely 
to dart over the gunner's decoys and startle him by its 
nmexpected presence. However, the butterball is so 
small, and also so swift of flight, and so expert in div- 
ing, that not very many of them are killed. They are 
by no means shy and often come readily to the decoys, 
among which they alight, feed and after swimming about 
for a short time, will fly oft' again. The dipper flies very 
rapidly, quite equaling in this respect the blackhead, 
■which is known for its speed on the wing. Usually it 
alights without checking, itself at all and strikes the water 
with a splash, sliding along the surface for some little 
distance. Dr. Elliot's remarks on the diving of this 
species are well worth repeating. He says: "As a diver 
the butterball takes rank among the most expert of our 
ducks, disappearing so quickly, and apparently with so 
little exertion, that it is almost impossible to shoot it 
when sitting on the water. When alarmed, with a sud- 
den flip up of its tail and a scattering of a few drops of 
water, it vanishes beneath the surface, appearing almost 
immediately at no great distance from where it went 
■under, and either dives again at once or takes wing, 
which it does easily and without any fuss. Sometimes 
half a dozen of these birds will gather together in a shel- 
tered piece of water and be ver}!- busy feeding. A few 
will dive with a sudden jerk, as if drawn beneath the 
surface by an invisible string, and the others will quietly 
5wim about as if on the watch. The first that went under 
■water having returned to the surface, the others dive, and 
so it goes on for a lone time. Occasionally all will dis- 
arinear, and then the first one to rise seems much dis- 
concerted at not finding any one on watch and acts as if 
"he were saying to himself that if he had only known their 
unorotected state, he would never have gone under." 
Dr. Elliot states also that the flesh of this duck is very 
palatable and is excellent when broiled. In this species, 
as in others, the food regulates the excellence of the flesh. 
Mr. Gurdon Trumbull gives among the names for this 
very well-known species the buffalo-headed duck, little 
brown duck, spirit duck, conjuring duck, dipper, robin 
dipner. dapper and dopper. die-dioper marionette, butter- 
hall, butterduck and butterbox, diver, woolhead, Scotch 
duck, Scotchman, Scotch dipper and Scotch teal. ■ 
Old Sqaaw, Long-Tailed Docfc. 
Clangula hyemalis (Linn.) . 
Male! in winter, with broad strip running from the 
base of the bill, back, including eye. to about the ear. 
pale gray: at the ear darkening to, black^ which fades 
again to pale gr.ay on the side of the neck; top and back 
of head, throat and lower .sides of head and upper neck, 
all about, white; breast, back, upoer tail-coverts, ■wing 
and long feathers of tail, black, the outer sides of the 
tail fading to white. The secondaries are P?dd.i§lT-]^fg^}i^ 
spapuigrs, pe3f|-gra.y5 ra^er psrt§, wWt?^, 
In the male, in summer, tlie pale gray line running 
back from the bill, including the eye and parts of cheek, 
are as in winter, but the remaining parts of head, neck, 
breast and upper parts generally are deep brown or even 
black. The feathers on the foreback and the scapulars 
are margined with tan. The other upper parts are black, 
or blackish-brown, with some grayish on the secondaries. 
The four middle tail feathers are black; the breast and 
part of the belly are dark brown, and the rest of the 
under parts white. The bill is black, crossed by a bar of 
orange, and the feet are black 
The female, in winter, has the head, neck and lower 
parts white, marked with dusky on forehead and crown, 
as well as on the ears, chin and throat. The upper parts 
are brown, many of the feathers being bordered with 
grayish. In summer the head and neck are more gray 
and the general plumage darker. 
The old squaw, as it is commoflly called on. the New 
England coast, is one of the commonest of our winter 
birds, and is found on both coasts of America, as well 
as of the Old World. It is a beautiful bird, active, noisy 
and hardy, going little further south than it is obliged 
to to procure food, although occasionally it extends its 
migrations as far as Florida and California. In Europe 
it is sometimes found, in winter, in the Mediterranean 
Sea. ii,Ti)!g| 
The old squaw breeds in the Arctic regions and has 
been found in Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Iceland and 
northern Alaska, as well as in Hudson's Bay. It com- 
monly associates, even on the breeding grounds, 
in great flocks; and I have seen them in Alaska 
in June and July, hundreds together. They com^ 
monly breed on the .waters of fresh-water pools, 
making their nests under low bushes, or among 
coarse grass, close to the water. The eggs are 
given as being only five to seven in number. The 
nest is made of grass and weeds and is invariably 
lined with down, which is of fine quality, apparently 
not much inferior to that of the eider duck. 
On their return from the North the old squaws 
do not reach the New England coast until the 
weather has grown quite cold, long after the differ- 
ent varieties of scoters have come and established 
themselves in their winter home. Here they con- 
gregate throughout the winter in vast numbers, 
associating with the scoters and the eiders and 
yet often keeping very much by themselves. The 
old squaw is one of the most expert of divers and 
it used to be stated — and may be believed — that 
in old times it could not be shot on the water 
with a flint-lock gun. Even now it frequently dives 
so rapidly as to apparently escape the shot, and 
instances are given of where a bird, shot at when flying 
low over the water, hais dived from the wing and escaped 
uninjured. 
The common name of this species refers to its noisy 
habit. It is continually talking while on the water, and 
the flocks when flying frequently utter their musical 
cry. In almost all localities the bird takes its name from 
this call, which is difficult of imitation. Perhaps the 
Canadian syllables Cacca-wee imitate the note as well 
as anything that has been attempted. South south 
southerly is supposed to represent it, but hardly does so. 
The old squaw is remarkable for the rapidity and the 
irregularity of its flight. A flock starting low over the 
water, to go in some direction, will zigzag hither and 
BUFFLE-HEADED DUCK, ' 
thither, constantly uttering their mellow cry and re- 
mmdmg one, in their swift and darting flight, of the 
nocks of wild pigeons which used to be seen in the 
olden times. 
Beautiful and active bird though it be, the old squaw 
is unfit for use on the table. It is always fishy, and no 
treatment with which I am acquainted will render its 
flesh palatable. It feeds chiefly on shellfish, and its flesh 
tells the story. 
In the spring, when the birds are preparing to take 
their flight to the North, they prepare themselves for 
-their long journey by extended flights, as the local gun- 
ners call It. "trying their wings." Late in the afternooa 
they rise from the water in great flocks and, circling 
high in the air. fly about for hours, performing many 
beautiful evolutions. The migrations are usually per- 
formed by night and perhaps at no very great height 
above the ground. At all events, I recall that some 
years ago, in a New England village near the Sound, 
the weather-vane one morning in April was observed tp 
be rnissmg from one of the churches. A search revealed 
It lying on the ground near the building, bent and broken, 
and not far from it was the body of a male old squaw, 
which had flown against the vane with such force as to 
break off the iron pivot on which it swung. 
Tennessee Quail. 
Henderson, Tenn,— Quail and other small game were 
never known to be so plentiful here as this year ; thirty- 
five and forty quail are no yriHsu.M'Dag for an afternoon's 
