Jan, 12, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
rence. He was when a young man hunting and trapping 
in the extreme northern part of Maine, and one day — 
from a hill which commanded a view of the frozen sur- 
face of a lake — he saw two large animals, which he un- 
hesitatingly took to be panthers, come out upon the ice 
and play. He described their lithe movements and tlieir 
leaping oyer one another, and I think he spoke 
of their waving tails — though on this point I cannot 
now be sure. Billings took to hunting and trapping at 
a very early age, and rapidly acquired the skill for which 
he was noted, and I should suppose that at the time 
mentioned he must have been entirely familiar with both 
the Canada lynx (or, as h© would have called it, the 
lucivee) and the bobcat. I remember well his descrip- 
tion of their great size and strength, and his frank con- 
fession that he was quite willing to observe them at a 
safe distance, and to pursue his hunting in another direc- 
tion. 
But if even a very few of the modern Maine panther 
stories are true, some one -must at some time, have 
killed one of the animals, and we shall have the skin in 
evidence. We know how the recent stories of wolves 
in Maine "peter out," and either turn out to be altogether 
myths or the animal proves to be a yellow dog. There 
is big game in Maine "for sure," but I am inclined to 
think it does not now include the wolf and that it never 
included the panther. Still I should be interested to find 
myself proved or mistaken. 
Just here, also, I would like some one to tell me what 
animal was meant by the "leurxsus" or "Indian devil." 
Till recent years I supposed it must be the panther — but 
now suppose it must be either the lucivee or the bobcat. 
C. H. Ames. 
No one is more familiar with tii^ wild animals of 
Maine than Mr. Manley Hardy, the veteran woodsman 
and traveler of Brewer, Me. We have no authenic in- 
formation as to the occurrence of the panther in Maine 
— though newspaper tales of its presence abound — and ap- 
plication to Mr. Hardy draws from him the following 
characteristic note: 
In answer to whether the panther {Felis concolor), 
more commonly called catamount, occurs in Maine, I will 
say that though my father and myself were buyers of fur 
for more than seventy-five years, neither of us ever saw 
the skin of one of these animals taken either in Maine. 
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Canada East. I have 
handled nearly or quite half a million dollars' worth of 
fur taken in the above places, but have yet to hear of a 
single skin being taken. The same is true of the wolverene 
or carcarjou, commonly called Indian devil, or lunksoos. 
I have read scores of stories of both being taken, but 
unfortunately they either have no skins or else they get 
lost on their way to market. It is but fair to say that I 
have had several reliable hunters tell me of seeing tracks 
of what they believed to be catamounts, and one who is 
well acquainted with animals has told me of wounding' 
what he supposed to be one, but up to date I have never 
known of any positive proof of the animal ever being in 
Maine. I have had dozens of men minutely describe cata- 
mounts they had seen, but from their descriptions I feel 
sure that what they saw were either Canada lynx or wild- 
cats. It has been for many years a common thing in lum- 
ber and hunting camps to try to frighten tenderfeet with 
terrible stories of catamounts, ding-mauls, side-winders 
and other ferocious animals they were likely to meet. I 
remember in the spring of 1861 that as I traveled on foot 
over a hundred miles from Katahdin Iron Works to the 
head waters of the St. John I met many crews com- 
ing out who usually had frightful stories to tell me of the 
walruses and the danger I ran of meeting them. While 
it is possible there may have been catamounts in Maine, I 
should judge that the chances of meeting a walrus in our 
woods was about as great as seeing one of them. 
Manxy Hardy. 
Potest and Stream and Nature* 
The Popular Educator, Boston, Mass., has this to say 
of Forest and Stream as a journal devoted to the in- 
terests of sportsmen and nature students : 
We wish to call attention of teachers of nature study 
and other persons interested in nature and bird and game 
preservation to this publication, which weekly brings with 
it a breath of nature as fresh as the breeze that rustles the 
leaves along the mountain path. It is full of natural his- 
tory that is reliable and almost every week there is a re- 
freshing article on fish and fishing, referring to the habits 
of fishes, by one of America's best known writers, Hon. 
A. N. Cheney, the New York State Fishculturist. A large 
number of correspondents from various parts of the world 
give the reader a correct idea of the habits and haunts 
of most kinds of animals and plants. This is a present 
living knowledge of a kind that is not to be obtained from 
books. 
The descriptions of animal life in Alaska and Mexico 
as well as in our own country would be a great aid in 
teaching both geograph}' and nature studj' in the most 
effective manner. 
The pictures published are generally from photographs 
from life, and animals are depicted in their characteristic 
attitudes in such a way as to justify their careful study. 
The Wide, Wide World, 
A decided curiosity is issued by the publishers of 
Forest and Stream in the shape of a 12x8 inch reproduc- 
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from letters comprising "the Forest and Stream^s mail 
during 1899." The sheet shows the postmarks of almost 
every known country, and for that reason it is likely to 
be. kept and studied. The reverse of the sheet is an 
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lished twenty-two years ago, which proves that even after 
that length of time a back number was being read.— 
Printer's Ink. 
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Correspondence intended for publication should reach us. at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. 
^mne ^ag mid ^nn. 
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always be ad'dressed to tl/ e Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual co'inected with the paper. 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them .— XVm. 
BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL. 
[Continued from page 5.] 
Broadbill. 
Aythya mania nearctica (Stejn.). 
The adult male has the head, neck and fore part of 
breast and of back, black; the feathers of the head and 
neck with a greenish gloss ; rump, primaries and tail, 
brownish-black; the speculum, or wing mark, white; 
middle of back and sides, white, cross lined with black 
and white. The under surface of the body is white, 
marked on the lower belly with narrow blackish cross 
lines and black beneath the tail. The bill is broad, pale 
bluish-lead color, with a black nail; the eyes yellow; the 
legs and feet gray; the length, 18 to 20 inches. 
The female has the front of head, immediately around 
the base of the bill, white. Those parts which in the male 
are black are in the female brown. The back is much 
darker, faintly marked with zigzag white lines. The bill 
is darker. 
Many widely different opinions are expressed as to 
ihc value of the broadbill as food, and those who de- 
broadbill. 
bate this question are both right and both wrong. In 
other words, the flesh of the broadbill, as of most other 
ducks, is sometimes good and sometimes bad, depending 
on the food which it eats. Along the New England coast, 
where to a great extent it feeds on shellfish and other 
animal matter, the broadbill is not a delicate bird, but 
further south, where its food is largely vegetable, and 
where its name is changed to blackhead and bluebill, it is 
a most excellent fowl. In the interior, too, it lives chiefly 
on vegetable matter. There it is known as the scaup duck, 
bluebill, raft duck, big fowl duck, and is eagerly sought 
after. However, the tendency of this bird appears to be 
toward the sea coast. It is abundant in California, where 
many are killed, but it does not seem to go as far south 
as its relative, the little blackhead, and winters on the 
New England and New York coasts and in New Jersey, 
being, in my experience, rather rare as far south as 
Virginia and North Carolina, where the little blackhead 
is very abundant. 
The broadbill is a species of wide range, being found 
throughout Norih America, as far south as Central 
America, and also in northern portions of Europe and 
Asia. It formerly bred in some numbers on the Northern 
prairies, and I have found its nests in North Dakota and 
Montana, though some of these may have been those of 
the next species. Dr. Dall found it breeding in Alaska, 
and it is supposed to breed generally through northern 
North America, in the British possessions. The nest of 
the broadbill is usuallj' placed close to the water; it is 
UTTLE BLACKHEAD. 
little more than a depression in the ground, among the 
grass, lined perhaps with a few spears of bright grass 
and with down from the bird's breast. The number of 
eggs is six or eight; they are grayish-white in color, and 
when the mother leaves them are usually covered by the 
down. 
The broadbill is abundant in Long Island Sound and 
on the Great South Bay, where it is shot in great numbers 
from batteries. It reaches our coasts late in October, and 
is usually found associated together in considerable 
bodies, which, however, are likely tt) break up into small 
flocks in rough arid stormy weather. 
Little Blackhead, 
Aythya a-fHnis (Eyt.). 
Exactly similar in color to the broadbill, but smaller. 
The gloss on the neck is likely to be bluish or purplish 
instead of greenish. The length of this species is about 
t6 inches, as against 18 or 20 in the preceding. 
These two species were long regarded as the same, and, 
indeed, as yet there seems to be no definite character to 
separate them, except that of size. On the New England 
coast, during the migrations, the two are often found 
associated together, and this is true to a less extent further 
to the southward. At the same time, the difference be- 
tween them is well recognized by ornithologists and by 
gunners generally, and is expressed in the common names 
applied to this species, which Mr. Trumbull and others 
give. Some of these are little broadbill, little blackhead, 
little bluebill, river broadbill, creek blackhead, river blue- 
bill, little bluebill, marsh bluebill, mud bluebill, mud broad- 
bill and fresh-water broadbill. 
Notwithstanding the fact that most of the little black- 
heads are readily to be identified by their size, there is 
considerable variation in the species and sometimes these 
birds almost equal the broadbill in their measurements. 
It is staled that the adult males can be easily identified, 
no matter what their measurements m-ay show, by the 
metallic gloss of the head feathers, these being always 
green in the broadbill and blue or purple in the little 
broadbill. This metallic gloss, therefore, would seem to 
be considered by some naturalists a specific character. 
This is one of the most abundant birds of the South- 
ern sea coast, being found, in winter, from New Eng- 
land south to Florida, and even beyond that, to the West 
Indies and Central America. It is fotmd, indeed, over 
the whole of North America, and, while breeding chiefly 
north of the United States, it 3'-et is found in Minnesota, 
the Dakotas and Montana. 
Owing to its similarity to the greater broadbill* it is 
not always easy to determine just what the range of this 
.species is. Some Alaska explorers give it as breeding in 
that country, while others declare that of the many broad- 
bills seen by them none belong to this .species. However, 
east of the Rocky Mountains the nests have been found 
throughout British America, usually placed in swamps or 
near lakes, verjr simple in construction and lined with 
down. * If I .SSj'fip 
The little blackhead is one of the swiftest flyers and most 
expert divers of all our ducks, and the task of retrieving 
one that has been wounded, unless one is provided with 
a good dog. is not always an easy one. This species is 
quite as much an adept at skulking and hiding as its larger 
relative, and, on the whole, is very Avell able to take care 
of itself. The flesh is usually very delicate, yet the very 
reverse of this may be true in localities where it has had 
an opportunity to feed largety on shellfish, 
Blackheads seem to be equally at home in shoal water 
and in deep ; they can dive as well as the canvasback, and 
yet they are quite willing to puddle about through the 
edge of the marsh and to pick up a livelihood in company 
Avith the fresh-Avater ducks. 
A Flock of Wild Geese, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The weather was so fine one Sunday afternoon in No- 
vember that two of us Avere tempted to take a Avalk over 
ground long familiar to both as the scene of sports fol- 
loAved Avith ardor in boyhood. Perhaps the region could 
scarcely be regarded as overpoAveringly impressive, but 
as we had long ago found it good enough for fishing, 
shooting, skating, rambling, etc., the land about the west- 
ern Wide Waters on the Erie Canal is not without at- 
tractions for men Avho dearly enjoyed the place as boys, 
and Avander out that Avay at intervals to look over the old 
grounds and rencAV their youth. 
The stroll proved to be of more than common interest, 
and furnished ample reward for the effort. We had not 
been on our feet ten minutes when the sight of a trim 
miniature jacht on the canal attracted attention and gave 
rise to a question Avhether Cup defenders that cost a sack- 
ful of money afford their OAAmers proportionate pleasure 
to the toy that a boy can Avhittle out Avith his jackknife. 
The little craft came across the canal on the starboard 
tack Avith cA'-ery inch of canvas draAving, and ran on the 
rocks, from which she was floated and returned to her 
OAvned Avith helm set aport. 
At the Wide Waters the sight presented was a study. 
The children of Calvin might find much in it to con- 
demn, but the present spectators Avere of a tolerant cast 
and had none of their sensibilities Avounded by the spec- 
tacle of about three score and ten patient anglers sitting 
on the banks of the pond fishing for Avhatever St. Peter 
Avould send them. A glance at the bait in every case 
shoAved that carp Avere Avhat the fishers expected, for it 
Avas seen that an ample supply of parboiled potatoes was 
the main reliance to lure the fish to his fate. And that it 
Avas a successful lure was attested by the strings of 
captives to be seen at every fishing station. One man, 
Avhose spouse was in his company to enjoy his good luck, 
had taken a fair sized Avall-eyed pike, and AA'^ord of the 
event had been passed along the whole line. When I first 
cast a line in the Wide Waters there Avere no carp in 
it. but noAV they abound, and are sought for from the 
day the ice melts in the spring until the snoAv flies in the 
fall. 
After enjoying the scene where so many satisfied 
brothers of the angle were absorbed in their favorite pas- 
time, Ave crossed into the fields on the east and had the 
satisfaction of finding some mushrooms of the kind that 
do not assist man to shirffle off this mortal coil against his 
will. In the field where the mushrooms were waiting to 
be picked Ave met AA'ith tAvo youths, who confided to us the 
fact that they Avere searching for field mice, Avhich, they 
said, make very interesting pets. 
Across the railroad from the mushroom field is a piece 
of Avoods, the remainder of Avhat Avas some years ago my 
favorite shooting ground. It nnist be a good many 3rears 
since any game bird has tarried there, but in our teens 
It Avas a very likely spot in Avhich to get a shot, and I 
have found there pigeons, woodcock, quail, grouse, bares 
and squirrels. How I envied the late Robert Walker Ctl« 
