Fee, i6, igoi.]' 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
129 
strike camp short of that distance from Trousers Lake, he 
is almost sure to get moose, as the country, when one 
gets back four or five miles from the lake, shows signs 
— hoof tracks, barked trees, and yards — in almost every 
direction one goes. 
We saw many beaver upon this trip, but these are pro- 
tected — and very rightly so. Caribou are scarce, but 
ducks are plentiful. Enough fish for cooking purposes 
could always be got with one hook and line in twenty 
minutes. 
In closing, I would say that if we were again going 
back to New Brunswick we certainly would insist upon 
being taken five or six days further into the woods than 
where the crowd stops, and nothing would please me 
better than to go again with David Ogilvy, of South 
Tilley. C. P. Ambler. 
. AsHBVii-r.E:, N. . 
Pennsylvania Game Bills* 
Ofpice of the Board oi? Game Commissioners, Harris- 
burg, Feb. 6.— Editor Forest m^d Stream: A special 
meeting o.f the Game Commission was held at their office 
in this city yesterday^ . Mr. Kennedy, the president of the 
hoard, called -the meeting for the purpose of ascertaining 
if -possible where each member of the Commission stood 
regarding what is known as our general game bill and 
otthcr bills connected therewith, that will be presented 
to the present Legislature. Each member present, with 
one exception, stated that he was for the measures as they 
had been agreed upon at former meetings by this body. 
Mr. Sober said that he was not in favor of the meas- 
ures, was opposed tp the clause that reduced the num- 
ber of -pheasants allowed to be killed in one day from ten 
to five, that it was a measure aimed, at him, and. he would 
fight it. He was then asked, if he was not also opposed 
to other fea tn^es: of the game measures, if he had not 
written letters against these bills and had not put in circu- 
lation petitions against numerous other features of these 
proposed laws. He replied, "I have not, and will not do 
so." One of the Commissioners then presen.ed to the 
chair arid had read a newspaper clipping from a paper 
printed in the home town of Mr. Sober, stating among 
other things that men in the employ of Mr. Sober, or 
men who claimed to be in the employ of Mr. Sober, were 
circulating petitions against the game bills, and stating 
at the close "the sportsmen of this community are very 
indignant, and sa.y that if such is the mission of the Game 
Commission of Pennsylvania, it should be abolished." 
Mr. Sober said this was spite work. 
The attention of the Commission was then called to the 
fact that a petition had been filed in the Execuiive De- 
partment of Harrisburg, asking among other things that 
the game season be extended at both ends, that all game 
be allowed to be killed without limit, that the sale of all 
game be allowed in this State, and that all appropriations 
be refused the present Game Commission. Mr. Sober 
was asked if he had not filed this paper, to which he re- 
plied, "Is my name attached to that petition?" The reply 
was made that his name was not attached to this petition, 
but was attached to the letter conveying the petition to the 
Governor. A'Ir. Sober then said he had filed the paper, by 
request of friends, and presented a similar paper, accom- 
panied by a letter directed to him, asking him to see to 
it that it reached the proper authorities. One of the 
Commissioners then asked him if he knew or could guess 
Avho had drafted this paper or could say where it came 
from, to which he said "That letter shows where it came 
from." After considerable cross-fire, he said it had issued 
from one Dr. Warren (late Zoologist of this State). One 
of the Commissioners then said he had met a gentleman in 
this city a few days before, who had said to him, "I just 
had a talk with Mr. Sober, of your Game Commission, 
and he is dead against your bill. He told me he was in 
touch with the game dealers of the State ; that they had 
raised a fund to fight these measures, and that he was 
then waiting to meet a member of the Legislature from 
Philadelphia (naming him) w'ho had been selected by these 
people to down all bills you might introduce," Mr. Sober 
said, "That is not so. Is that sworn to?" to which Mr. 
Worden replied, "It is not sworn to at present, but if 
you deny it, I can have it sworn to in ten minutes." Mr. 
Sober made no reply. 
A paper was here filed, secured from a taxidermist of 
(be State, who said it had come from Dr. Warren, asking 
him to sign and forward at once to his representative. 
This paper was a protest from taxidermists, stating that 
if the present bill of the game people became a law they 
(the taxidermists) would be driven out of business. This 
paper devotes fully half a page to the crow and loon, in 
ihe attempt to create feeling against the bill with the 
farmers. It points out the great wrong of protecting these 
birds, etc., when both birds are named in the new bill as 
birds that are not included in the list protected. Dr. 
Warren then goes on with a lengthy list of birds that this 
iniquitous board is attempting to protect. This list in- 
cludes the screech owl. barn owl, snowy owl, tern and 
gulls, also a number of harmless hawks, forgetting that 
only a few years ago he published at the public expense a 
book known as "The Birds of Pennsylvania." in which 
he says among other things: 
They IiaVe received answers from Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornith- 
ologist of the United States Department of Agriculture; Dr. Elliot 
Coues, vice-pri'sident American Ornithologists' Union: Roljert 
Kidgway. Cnrator Department of Birds, United States Mtiseum; 
Di-. Leonard Stejneg^er,, Assistant Curator of the same depart- 
.ment; TT. W. Herishaw, of the Bureau of Ethnology, also collector 
of birds for the Smithsonian Institution and connected with the 
late Wheeler Survey of the Territories, and Lucien M. Turner, col- 
lector of birds for the Smithsonian Institution for the last twelve 
years. These answers, which are attached to this report, all bear 
testimony that tlie hawks and owls are of great benefit to the 
farmer, and render him far greater service than injury, and that it 
is unwise to select any of them for destruction. 
He attempts to create the impression that this proposed 
bill takes away inherent right of self-defense and renders 
the farmer liable to fine or imprisonment if he should kill 
an eagle or crow found destroying his property. The 
words "or any wild bird other than a game bird," which 
the doctor attempts to warp into the creation of feeling 
against this measure, were introduced at the instance of and 
by request of Dr. T. S. Palmer, Assistant Chief of the 
Biological Survey the Department at Washington, to 
whose care Congress has intrusted the care of the game 
and birds of our nation. This gentleman is the com- 
panion an^ associate Xh^ yer^ gentlemen Dr. War- 
ren quotes as authority in his book on the birds of Penn- 
sylvania, and voices the ideas of these gentlemen to-day 
as the doctor claimed to do some years ago. Dr. Palmer 
is tnaking special effort to have these words made a part 
of the game law of every State of the Union, and espe- 
cially asked this Commission to name gulls and terns in 
their bill. Stirely Dr. Warren imist have some other 
motive than the protection of our birds, and there is 
perhaps more in the statement made by Mr. Sober (that 
the game dealer has raised a fimd to down these bills) 
than would at first sight appear. Dr. Palmer writes that 
the song and insectivorous bird is rapidly being wiped off 
the face of the earth, saying the decrease averages from 
ten to seventy-seven per cent, in different States, ten per 
cent, in Nebraska and seventy-seven per cent, in Florida. 
The Pennsylvania Game Commission consider it their 
duty to stand by the experts of the nation and to listen to 
their advice in matters pertaining to game and bird pro- 
tection. We feel as Dr. Penrose, of the Commission, said 
at our last tneeting, "I think it my duty to preserve the 
game and birds of this State, even though it he. necessary 
to absolutely forbid the killing of quail, the sport I most 
enjoy." The game bills now before the Legislature are 
necessary measures if our birds and our game are to be 
perpetuated, and the time is now here when those in- 
terested in this matter should rise in their place and speak 
in terms that will not be misunderstood. 
Joseph Kalbpus, 
Secretary of the Game CommiR,sion. 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them.— XXIIL 
BY GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, 
{Coniinued from page 109,] 
American Scoter. 
Oidemia americam (Sw. and Rich.). 
In the adult male the entire plumage is deep black; 
the neck shows faitit purplish reflections; the fore part 
of the bill and a line running back to the feathers, along 
the cutting edge, black; the remainder of bill, from before 
the nostrils, much swollen, and bright orange in color; 
the legs and feet are black. 
The adult female has the bill entirely black. Above 
the plumage is dark grayi sh -brown ; the feathers of the 
cheeks, back and scapulars often tipped with paler; the 
lower parts are more nearJy gray. The length is about 
i8 inches. 
The scoter is a bird of very wide distribution, being 
found on both coasts of North America, as well as on 
many inland lakes. On the Pacific coast it ranges from 
the Arctic to southern California and on the Atlantic 
at least as far souih as the Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Au- 
dubon, on the other hand, says that the scoter ranges 
along the entire southern coast and that it is found as 
far south as the Mississippi River. 
On its southward migration the scoter reaches south- 
AMERICAN SCOTER. 
ern New England late in September, and often in open 
winters remains there through the whole season, taking its 
departure for the North in May. When, however, the 
weather is cold, and the shore blocked with ice, it moves 
further southward to open feeding grounds, returning 
northward as the ice disappears. 
. Alaskan travelers have found this species as far north 
as Norton Sound, where it breeds as well as in Labrador, 
on the east coast. This species, with other scoters, also 
breeds in some of our inland lakes, nests of these birds 
having been found on some of the larger lakes in Dakota 
and the birds having been seen in abundance on the Yel- 
lowstone Lake, in Wyoming, all through the summer. 
The scoter on the New England coast is usually found 
associated with the Avhite-winged and the surf scoters, 
which commonly outnumber it in the flocks. 
All these scoters are characterized by curiously swollen 
and more or less hollow bills, which are highly colored 
All of them are known along the Eastern seaboard as 
"coots." 
TiconcJerogfa Gttn Gwb. 
New York, Feb. -/.—Editor Forest a.nd Stream: The 
annual meeting and dinner of the Ticonderoga Gun Club 
will be held on the evening of March 8 at 7 o'~?clock at the 
Yale Club, 17 East Twenty-sixth street, one-half block 
from the Madison Square Garden, during the first week of 
the Sportsmen's Show. 
The object of this meeting is to bring together the 
members of our club, discuss any business that mav be 
necessary, to elect tifiicers for the ensuing year and to 
hear from out of town members. 
It is requested that those who will attend will kindly 
notify Mr. Peter Flint, Secretary. 150 Nassau street, this 
city, to that effect by Feb. 15, and inclose with their ac- 
ceptance check for $1.2.15 to pay for dinner. 
Very truly, W. Bradford Sinith, George Ketchum, Paris 
JRussell, Committee, ' '"^ ' ' 
' Lumber' (Camps ^and Game. 
A WRITER in our issue of Jam. 26 wrote of Maine lum- 
ber camps and game and gaiTie wardens as follows; 
We discuss on the subject of Maine game laws'. We_ "sports" 
consider ourselves very much wronged, and so do the guides. We 
spend much money in the State, and all the laws seem directed 
against us. The Game Commissioners and lumbermen seem to be 
the only ones satisfied— the Commissioners because they made the 
laws, and the lumbermen because they jiay no attention to them. 
The wardens avoid a lumber camp as tney would a plague. It is 
not healthy ground for wardens. I know of one case where the lumber- 
men from a camp caught through the ice two bushels of trout 
from a couijle of trout ponds on Sunday. Why .ire alt the game 
laws leveled against outsiders? 
In comment upon this a Bangor correspondent writes: 
Bangor, Me., Feb. 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
wish to draw your attention to an article in your paper of 
Jan. 26, erititled "A Month on Millinockett," and, as I 
presume you are a fair-minded man, to ask if you think 
it just to print such a slander against lumbermen as this 
contains without, probably, an iota of proof? 
I have read your paper for many years, and have been 
sorry to see great numbers of similar articles or worse, 
none of which have been accompanied by proof, nor even 
given names; but simply have slandered the land owners 
or lumbermen, as a whole, as breaking the game laws 
wholesale, even to the extent of feeding their crews 
largely upon moose and deer killed in close time. 
Now, if you are a man possessed of a fair amount of 
horse sense, and will consider these matters freely, after 
corresponding, and getting full opinons and information, 
from, say, such a good authority (as to the doings of 
land owners in their logging operations) as Game Com- 
missioner Oak, I think you will decide that a large pro- 
portion of your articles in the past, regarding lumbermen 
breaking the game laws so extensively, have been untrue. 
«T do not believe there is a foreman of a logging camp 
on the Penobscot to-day who would dare kill, or buy, 
or allow his men to kill and bring into- camp, moose or 
deer during close time. If any wished to do it, they know 
the jealousies of men in a logging camp, likelihood of 
disagreements between them and some of their men be- 
fore spring, and, in fact, the almost absolute certainty of 
its coming to a game warden's ears sooner or later. 
Most of the articles I have referred to ostensibly have 
been written by so-called visiting sports, men who come 
into the State, coolly camp down upon the land of the 
man they slander, burn up his valuable timber for their 
camp fires, hunt over his land, and in very many cases 
set fires that destroy large areas of timber; and I have 
yet to liear of a case in which they offered to pay for the 
privilege of hunting, or for the wood they burned or, in 
fact, ever even asked for these privileges without pay, sim- 
ply taking possession as if they owned them. 
Now, I do' not own one acre of land on the river, but 
T do object to see the men who have made eastern Maine 
what it is so basely slandered, and I should Hke to see 
land owners as a body post their lands and allow no hunt- 
ing or fishing without their permission, and grant said 
permission very sparingly to visiting sports. Should the 
lumbermen as a whole in the State allow absolutely no 
hunting or fishing on their lands, I believe it would be 
greatly in the interest of the people and State, for more 
timber, and what Avould make timber in value, has been 
destroyed by fires set by and through visiting spor.smen 
than all the money they ever have or will bring into the 
State. James Webber. 
Human Hounds Dog Deer. 
Manchester, N. Y., Feb. 4— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The report of the Forest, Fish and Game Com- 
mission, published in Forest and Stream, Feb. 2, shows 
that more deer are now killed by still-hunting than in 
years when the use of hounds and jacklights was 
allowed. I think that I can explain why this is so. I 
have spent considerable time in the woods in different 
sections of the Adirondacks during the open season for 
deer, and know something about how they are killed. 
It is done by dogging. Human dogs do the work. Here is 
the way in which the hunt is conducted: A party of 
hunters, composed of five or six men (the more the 
better) and a guide (I never saw a party hunting in this 
manner unless they had a guide; the guide being em- 
ployed because it is strictly necessary that one of the party 
be perfectly familiar with the country) will go out to- 
gether. The guide will station three or four of the party 
out around some swamp or along the side of a mountain, 
usually in some old lumber trail, and then, taking a man 
with him, will work in from the opposite side toward the 
shooters, all the time howling to imitate hounds; and 
they have got the howl down so fine that old hunters are 
fooled, thinking that parties are out in the woods using 
hounds to dog the deer. 
At the first howl, if there is a deer within half a mile 
of the drivers, they will get out as if scared to death. I 
myself have seen deer get up at that distance, and in 
the manner described. 
I have seen parties of as high as fifteen men out hunt- 
ing in this way. It is needless to say that this method 
of hunting is very destructive to the deeer. Skill is not 
required, a fair shot and a strong voice being all that 
is needed. In the sections with which I am familiar in 
the Adirondacks, I believe that wWy two-lliirds of the 
deer killed are killed by this waj' of hunting. 
The Michigan still-htrater does not stoop to use such 
despicable tricks to get his deer. He gets them in the 
good old way, prowling quietly through the woods, un- 
til getting his eye on them, he drops the deer with a well- 
directed biillet. Such hunting requires skill and patience 
The majority of the hunters that I have met in the 
Adirondacks know nothing about still-hunting. I have 
met them when they seemed to be amazed when told that 
It was not necessary to dog the game to get the lawful 
number of deer allowed. 
Prohibit dogging, whether by human dogs or others 
and jacking, and provide more game wardens, and the 
supply of deer m the Adirondacks will never grow less. 
Ezra G. Smith. 
Mr. Edmund H. Osthaus -writes : "My friends like 
|)icture very much; it is a splendid reiprodtictjon." 
