Jan. S, 1901. J 
Jj'O^lEST AND STREAM. 
Homingf Instinct of a. Ttjftle* 
In a recent number of Science, Mr. C. L. Bristol 
prints some interesting observations on the homing in 
stinct of a sea turtle in Bermuda, communicated to him 
• by Miss Victoria Hayward, a resident of the island. To 
us who are familiar only with dry land, the incident 
seems very extraordinary, but we may perhaps imagine 
that it is no more difficult for a turtle to find its way back 
from a distant place to its old home in the sea than it 
would be for a cat or a dog to do the same thing on dry 
land, and this, of course, is something that is frequently 
done. Miss Hayward writes : 
■'My father caught a turtle in June that weighed 75 
pounds. He placed it in a pond in the harbor of St. 
George. In August, on going to the pond, he found that 
some person had thrown a piece of iron weighing about 
50 pounds into the pond, and it had broken a large hole 
in the turtle's back. It had been wounded apparently 
.about a week, and was weak and seemingly dead. My 
J-ather thought he had better kill it, but he changed his 
-iiiind, and let it go alive into the harbor. 
"In the latter part of October he and another man re- 
captured it in the same place where they had caught it 
before — about four miles from land, on the flats (reefs) 
that lie to the north of the islands. The back was nicely 
healed, and the turtle was altogether in excellent con- 
dition. You know that it requires no little knowledge of 
the art of navigation for a turtle to find the way from 
the southern side of St. George's Harbor through some 
,one of the. many little channels to its own special honie 
on the north reefs — 'four miles out to sea." 
}mrie ^ng mid 
Dallas Mountain Sheep, 
The four heads are specimens of Ball's mountain sheep 
killed in Alaska by Mr. Ball Be Weese, of Canon City, 
Colo., in the year 1897 They are beautifully mounted 
and adorn the walls' of Mr. Be Weese's den — a large and 
comfortable log house which he has built on his place near 
Caiion City. The ewe, which is the lowest of the four 
heads, was killed by accident when Mr. Be Weese overshot 
one of the rams. He did not know of the existence of 
the lamb at this time, as it was hidden behind some rocks. 
When it appeared, it seemed to him more humane to 
shoot it than to leave it to starve to death or to be de- 
voured by wolves. It may be questioned whether a 
similar group of the heads of Ball's sheep are to be 
found anywhere in the possession of one individual. 
Elk for the Adirondacfcs. 
Wm. C. W hitney has made a formal ofl?er to the 
Forest, Fish and Game Commission of thirty elk from^ 
his preserves at Lenox, Mass., to be used for stocking,' 
purposes in rthe Adirondacks. . . . . 
Three of the Coinmisioners. — Mayor W. Austin Wads- 
worth, 'tfGen'eseo ; BewittC. Middleton, of Wateftowtt. 
and B. Frank Wc5od, of Jamaica — waited upon Mr. Whit- 
ney to '^learft the" condition of his offer, and they ascer- 
tained that his gift was not hampered by any conditions 
-Whatever. Mr. Whitney offers to deliver the elk in the 
Adirondacks and turn them out in any locality that should 
be designated by the Forest, Fish and Game Commission. 
100 $pomtnen'$ finai 
Some of the Queer Discoveries Made fay Those Who Are 
Looking for Game or Fish, 
36 
Kaiser Wilhelm while out hunting discovered a huge 
rock, which he fancied for a monument to his grand- 
fath'g^r. It weighed 100 tons; and having been suitably 
inscribed, has been set up as a monument. 
37 
Jacob Brown and George Rowe, of Newberry, Mich., 
Wore looking for deer, and in the course of their hunting 
smarted a mink, which made for a swamp near by and 
took refuge in a hollow stump. In digging under one 
side of the stump in order to get at the mink, they struck 
stones which bore evidences of the handiwork of man. 
Becoming interested, they secured picks and spades and 
unearthed the stones. 
As the result of their labors, three stone images were 
uncovered, also a large stone tablet. All four articles 
yvere cut from brown sandstone, the rock probably com- 
ing from the northeastward, where the pictured rocks, 
great cliff's of sandstone, worn by the wind and waves 
into fantastic forms, frown for many miles upon the blue 
water of the great lake. Of the three images, the largest 
is that, of a man in a sitting posture, nearly life size. 
This .statue is on a pedestal, formed from the same piece 
of stone. The second image, from point of size,- is that 
of a woman, and is a trifle under three feet in height, 
while the third is the image of a child, and. like the man: 
is postured' in a sitting attitude, and is about two feet 
high. All three of the inrages were found placed with 
faces toward the east, which may have been accidental, 
but mere probably intentional, and points strongly to- 
ward sun worship on the part of the unknown race that 
carved and placed the statues in times so distant that 
even an approximate estimate of tsliie period is impossible. 
: i.ear these figures was found a- slab of brown stone, 
averaging six inches in thickness and 18x25 inches on 
each face. One side was smoothed as carefully as the 
coarse structure. of the rocks had allowed, while .upo*n 
the other face weEe engraved a series of inscriptions, 
each set in a square of approximately one and a hah' 
inches, there being 140 of these. 
*- ■ • '- ' 1 
X r ake inventory of the -good things in this issue ^ 
*^ of Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund tvas 
u; giifen last week. Count on what is to come next, n 
Jl^ peek. IVas there evef in all, the xatrld a mote' % 
1^ abundant zmeMy store of sportsnten's reading? ' ' jj 
<^ 
Notice. 
All comnimiicatioiis intended for Forest and .Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Pubiishing Co,, and 
!iot to Jiny nidividiial connected with the paper. 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them^ — ^XVII. 
BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELt. 
[Continued from page 50T.] 
Redhead Duck. 
Aythya americana (Eyt.). 
Tn general aspect like the canvasback, for which it 
is often mistaken. The adult male has the feathers of 
the head full and puffy. The head and neck are bright 
reddish-chestnut, often glossy with coppery reflections; 
the tipper part of back, lower neck, breast aird rump, and 
upper and under tail coverts, black. The back, shoulder 
feathers of the wing, sides and Hanks, v^hitish, cross 
marked with black lines, .slightly wider than in the canvas- 
back, thus giving the wdiole plumage a darker tone. The 
speculum is pale bluish-gray,' bordered with black above 
and tipped with white. The primaries arc dusky, some of 
the inner quills being dark slaty-gray. The tail is dusky. 
The bill is pale blue, black at the tip, the eyes yellow, and 
the feet are bluish-gray. The abdomen is white. 
The female is a plain brownish duck, almost white on 
the forehead, chin and sides of the head. The lower 
neck, sides and flanks are brown, as are the lower parts 
generally, but the lower lail-coverts . are wliijtd. The 
speculum is as in the male. . . 
Like the canvasback, the redhead is a bird of general 
•distribution through North America. It is very comrnon 
in inigration on the Atlantic coast, as well as in the in- 
terior and on the Pacific coast. Mr. Ridgway found it 
common and evidently breeding at Sacramento, Cal., iit 
June, 1867, as well as in Nevada, where he saw beautifttl 
decoys made of its skins by the Piute Indians. It is said 
not to reach Alaska in summer, but is found bi;eeding 
throughout the Hudson Bay country, ea.st of the Rocky 
Moitntains, Formerly it bred in great mirribers in the 
REDHEAD DUCK. 
United Stales in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Bakota, Montana and Wyoming, but the continual perse- 
cution to which the redhead, with our other ducks, is 
subjected in spring has driven it from many of these 
ancient breeding grounds. There are some localities; 
however, in the middle West occupied by gunning- clubs 
where spring shooting is not allowed, and here the red- 
head and some other varieties of ducks stop and breed, 
with the result that in the autumn the club members havjs 
shooting far better than they ever did when spring shoot- 
mg prevailed. Birds that have been bred on the grounds 
are gentle and wonted, and act as decoys to their relatives 
migrating from the North, calling tliem down and giving 
them confidence that here, at least, is a place where they 
may be free from persecution. 
In winter the redhead is found as far south as Mexico 
and southern Texas, but is more common further to 
the northward, and, indeed, goes but little south of the 
region where open water is found. It is abundant during 
the migrations on Long Island, but is not common on 
tke NcAv England coast. Each autumn and winter, how'- 
ever, redheads are shot in great numbers on Great South 
Bay, but are rarely or not at all on Long Island Sound. 
On the eastern shore of Virginia, in Chesapeake Bay, and 
on the sounds along the coasts of North and South "Caro- 
lina, the redhead is very abundant, and it spends the win- 
ter m -great numbers in ihese waters, leaving them only 
whaiu, as usually happens once or twice each winter, it is 
drivcH further south by the occurrence of cold weather, 
which freezes the sounds. In such places, in all sorts o£ 
weather, they may be seen, high in air, trading, as it is 
termed ; that is to say, flying long distances far above the 
wa er. as if examining the ground before thev determined 
to ahght. T he great flocks of birds that do' this trad'ng 
are usually canvasbacks and redheads. 
The redhead is said by Northern explorers to breed 
throughout the fur countries, and they have aNo been 
found breeding near Calais, Me. The nests are usually 
biult close together, in colonies, generallv near the water 
and are somewhat more subs antial than ducks' nests ofteii 
are. The eggs are almost Avhite, and are usually ten or 
twelve in number. 
In many of its habits the redhead resembles the broad- 
bill or blackhead. It comes up to decovs quite a'^ gently 
as that bird, when it has once made up its mind to do so 
and when about to alight the birds crowd close together' 
and thus oft'er the gunner an opportunity to kill several 
at a time. When only wounded, the redhead dives and 
skulks well, and is not always to be recovered After 
divmg and swimming a long way under water, it comes to 
the surface, and perhaps shows only a portion of the jjill 
swimming off so low against the wind that jt is not likely 
to be detected. 
The flesh of the redhead is excellent, ;MHd wlien it h^s 
been feeding on the same food it cannot be distinguished 
from that of the canvasback. 
The redhead is a near relative of the European pochard, 
which it closely resembles, though easily distinguished on 
comparison. 
This species is sometimes called the redheaded broad- 
bill, redheaded raft duck, and, oddly enough, Washing- 
ton canvasback^ 
Weights of Game* 
Green Bay^ Wis., Dee. 14. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In the last issue of Forest and Stream the weights of 
game are mentioned, and this prompts me to comment. 
The redhead ducks at 2 pounds 9 ounces for males in good 
condition would be less than our birds here, I believe, 
taken on an average through the season. 'When redheads' 
first come in on our bay here, they would weigh about 
2j4 pounds av.erage, but after being here a short time they 
will average close to 3 pounds, I believe. I have weighed 
my birds a great deal this fall, and I have killed redheads 
that weighed 3 pounds 7 ounces on several occasions, and 
at the same time I have killed undersized or young red- 
heads that would weigh a scant pounds. 
We get the flight directly after leaving the Canadian 
grounds, and I presume that the birds do not make more 
than one or two stops from the north to this point, the 
birds being thin when they get here. 
I had the opportunity to weigh some canvasbacks, and 
there was a great variation in these birds when first here 
and -after being here for a short time on their feeding 
grounds. I think the average canvasback's weight after 
being here for a while is very close to 3j>2 pounds. A 
great many weigh a good deal less and some quite a few 
ounces more. 
Mallards are the same way as the other birds. I have 
killed mallards when coming into the ponds and sloughs 
in the evening flight, that were from 35 to 50 yards high, 
which would split open on contact with the water when 
shot, and this is no uncommon thing. 
We shoot a duck Avhich is called big bay bluebill, hut 
which I think is a broadbill, that will average as heavy 
as the canvasbacks, and it is really too fat to eat when 
cooked, unless some of the fat is removed. These big 
ducks are not killed on the inner bay nor on the west 
shore, but we get them on the east shore and at Grass 
Island and Point Au Sauble. They are strictly deep- 
water birds, aiid very nice eating. 
We have fine grounds and miles and miles of natural 
feed for the birds here. We had a flight of ducks in the 
first week in November that was as large as any single 
flight here for twenty years, but they did not stay more 
than a day. It was a grand sight to see these countless 
thousands of ducks working out over the open water. 
Redheads, bluebills. canvasbacks, whistlers and broadbills 
were the main flight. Our bay is now frozen over arid the . 
"birds have gone south. A. G. Holmes. 
Our Thanksgiving Turkey* 
I PROMISED you when reporting on the fishing and 
chicken hunting to tell later how goose and duck shoot- 
ing was in the valley during the flight. The weather 
'w-as "agtn tts" during October and the first two weeks 
of Novembei- we were treated to one of those beautiful 
falls that make the Indian dream of the happy hunting 
grounds, when a cloudless skv, with the sun coming 
aslant through the haze, making one feel as though 
he was dreaming. And when the sportsmen of Missoula 
watched the sky they could see the V-shaped forms 
going lazily over, too far above to even hear their honk, 
ihe wise Ones would say that a good snow storm on the 
mountains, followed by a cold snap, would bring the 
young fellows down to roost on our river bars and feed 
on our grain fields. But luck favored the goose rather 
than the hunter. However, on the I2th of November 
' there seemed to be a change coming ; a cloud was hang- 
ing on Alt. LoLo, the barometer of the Bitter Root Val- 
ley. On the 13th, the storm came, and a most severe 
one for the first three days. It snowed, and the snow was 
driven by high winds, the thermometer going down to 
12 below zero In the valley the snow reached a depth 
Of 8 or 10 inches; and a still greater depth in the hills 
Low thermometer and the wind continued until the 
ibth. iM-equent telephone messages came from down 
the river, which is the winter pasturage for deer, which 
roam the mountains during the summer. The first hard 
•storm brings them down to the river, then they go back 
and do not come down until the snow gets too deep to 
travel in. 
Elmer Chapman and myself were planning a trip down 
there. Perry Steefe, a lumberman, whose mill is 40 
miles down river, was going down to his mill in the 
morning and gave us a very pressing invitation to go 
down. He said he could not insure us a deer, but could 
show us some. Perry is a prince of good fellows, and a 
lew days spent at the camp would be an outing well 
spent, even without deer; and the chance of getting one 
which wonkl serve for our Thanksgiving turkey helped 
to gn-c our contemplated trip a bright hue. We were 
ready and off' on a morning train, which was late so we 
did not get dovv-n tliere until after dark. The weather 
was very cold. 
We were up and breakfasted before daylight. Our 'host 
said he could not go out to hunt, but he would direct us so 
we could not miss them. We were to take such, a caiion 
pass, by so many draws, which would bring us to one 
of more prominence, and tip this we could find them I 
felt the same as when once in Minnesota, on asking an 
Indian for some venison, he replied, pointing to his 
canoe, "\'ou take canoe, go down river past one river 
look the other side see meadow, see deer eat grass, yoti 
get htm. We did not take the Indian's advice but 
we did Perry s. On reaching the draw described we 
began cautiously to work our way up. We had gone only 
a tew hundred feet when I slipped and fell. On looking 
around there stood a fine blacktail doe looking at me 
A hasty shot only made the deer jump into cover, having 
only knocked off a bunch of hair. We began to look for 
more and the whole side of the mountain seemed to be 
alive with deer; hut we could not get a shot until thev 
were iully Soo yards away. Chapman had the old style 
,40-05 Winchester, and could not reach. At: the first shot 
n^^y -30-40 the deer turned, showing the lead was 
getting there. In turmng they , came over a bare point 
