426 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Rabbit Hunting, 
Somewhere in FoiiEST and Stream or some other 
journal I noticed some time ago a rather harsh criticism 
on the'nse of ferrets in rabbit hunting. Of course localitj' 
or circumstances may aher cases, but to my mind shooting 
a rabbit chased out of its hiding place by a ferret is no 
more unsportsmanlike than shooting a hare or deer 
chased by a keen-scented hound, or a pigeon liberated 
from a trap, and j-et the sportsmanship of our deer 
hunters and crack pigeon shots is never assailed. All 
things considered, I think the rabbit has the better chance 
of getting away, for usually his retreat is located in un- 
even ground, or in some fence corner, or is surrounded 
by trees, shrubs or weeds, of the cover of which Bunny is 
sure to take full advantage. With the pigeon it is not €0, 
for the locality of the trap is generally chosen with a view 
to giving the shooter every advantage. Were I asked 
for a definition of the word "sport" as applied-- to rod 
and gun, I would say that it is the pitting of the skill, 
courage, endurance and knowledge of woodcraft of the 
marksman or angler against the speed, courage, endurance 
and natural means of offense, defense and concealment of 
the denizens of the woods and streams. I do not mean 
to deprecate the sport of shooting live birds at the trap, 
for I have spent many a pleasant hour there, both as 
spectator and participant, although I must say I would 
rather hunt raljbits ; but I do not think it just to draw 
too -'dose a distinction and condemn wholesale the use 
of ferrets in rabbit hunting as unsportsmanlike. 
It must be remembered that I am only speaking of 
rabbit hunting as we have it around here, where they 
are not very numerous, but have good cover and plenty 
of almost inaccessible retreats. A bag of from two to 
four per gun per day is considered very good, and one 
has more often to be satisfied with but a single one, and 
to get this perhaps many miles are covered, up hill and 
down dale, through deep snows and tangled swamps, over 
brier-covered ridges, boulders and fences. 
Of course I do not attempt to defend the netting of 
rabbits except to procure like animals for breeding pur- 
poses. That is unsportsmanlike. 
Were it not for the use of ferrets around here I believe 
rabbits would soon multiply to an injurious extent, for 
it is very seldom you can get a shot at one except per- 
haps just at dusk, when they come to the edge of the 
bush to feed, or else at daybreak. Occasionally the dogs 
will start one while hare hunting and run it pretty well 
for a time, but owing to the very erratic course it takes it 
is hard for them to hold the scent, and after a short run 
it will almost invariablj'- hole up. Then it is that the 
ferret comes tin so handj', and the man who can kill "ten 
straight" rabbits as they bounce from the hole, hollow 
log or stone pile is indeed a good shot. A pigeon may 
be able to make pretty good time through the air, but the 
way a rabbit can get over the snow-covered ground and 
twist and turn and dodge around bushes and stumps is an 
eye-opener to the uninitiated. 
Perhaps I may be prejudiced in favor of rabbit hunting 
on account of the surroundings. The club or shooting 
grounds are usually situated Avithin easy distance of the 
city or town, and there is unavoidably a certain amount 
of artificiality about it all. On the other hand, rabbit 
hunting takes you right into nature's lap — and who is there 
that can walk nature's winter carpet and breathe the 
pure, keen, frosty air for a day or half-daj' without com- 
ing home the better for the outing, even though he has 
nothing to show for it, except, perhaps, a bunch of 
green, delicately leaved moss, found on some old log, from 
which he has swept the snow in passing, or a root of win- 
ter firns dug from the frozen ground beneath the shelter- 
ing snow-laden arm of balsam or spruce? JAy Bee. 
GuEL^H, Canada. 
A Pleasant Duck Hunt. 
Did I feel like taking a hunt? I should say I did. 
The long winter had passed, in which I do not remember 
having so much as taken my gun from its resting place 
until there came one of those warm, still, balmy days of 
spring, made doubly enchanting by song of bluebird and 
robin, that makes' a man feel, no matter what his tem- 
perament, that melancholia had never an existence save in 
the imagination of painters and poets. 
My cousin, who had been mustered out at the close of 
the Civil War, felt, with me, a longing for the fields and 
meadows over which reigned most blessed peace in glori- 
ous contrast with the scenes of years in war's horrid 
strife, and so we took up our fowling pieces and started 
for the Black Creek and Shadigee Pond, about four miles 
distant, accompanied by a golden-haired setter of almost 
sacred memory. 
After an hour's walk we came in sight of Black Creek, 
which far below us meandered through the meadows with 
scarcely a perceptible current, and which looked as in- 
viting for ducks as a mill pond to me in the swimming 
days of my boyhood. 
"There !" ' Sailing at considerable height over the creek 
was a quartet of ducks which soon pitched into the 
water, and down we started. As we got near them we 
took every precaution to cheat their vigilance, creeping 
behind bushes and whatever else might come between us 
and our game. When we thought we were near enough 
we rose suddenly from our covert and the ducks took 
instant flight. As quickly two shots rang out, dropping 
one bird, Avhich fell on the opposite side of the stream. 
I bade my dog (as good a retriever as ever brought to 
hand a dead bird) go over and get the prize. As the 
current of the creek is very sluggish, the ice on either 
side had not been worn away. The dog plunged into 
the water, but could not succeed in getting upon the 
ice at the opposite side, and I instantly called him back. 
With an obedience not possessed in a greater degree by 
any other dog, he turned and essayed to get on the ice on 
our side, but his efforts were in vain. I saw his danger 
■ — ^he was weakening. Something desperate had to be 
done. Unexpectedly, to my joy, the ice yielded to the 
vigorous stamp of my feet, and in a moment or two I 
reached him, but not much too soon. When I got him 
on terra firma his hind legs were useless — bemimbed by 
the cold water. He tried to shake himself, but what a 
shake ! It was all_ fore and no aft, but he soon warmed 
up and was as active as ever. 
Henry took a stroll up the creek, while, for some rea- 
son, I remained with the dog. He soon'returned with a 
beautiful small-crested duck. 
We sauntered along the creek as if to enjoy as much 
of the beauties of nature as possible, as well as keeping a 
sharp lookout for game. We came to a ditch, and as 
we jumped across it two big ducks rose, but were rather 
too far away to risk a shot. We watched them, and, to 
our surprise, they turned and flew directly over our heads. 
As they saw us all the while, one may be assured they 
were very high. Henry had a large, heavy gun of. great 
reputation, but he thought it useless to fire, because of 
the great height of the birds, but as we were out to burn 
powder, more or less regardless of chances, I sent two 
loads after them. To' bur utter astonishment one of the 
ducks had to go on his way alone, as the other, swaying 
to and fro, came down to our very feet. Had I not 
yielded to Henry's solicitation to put a load of his big 
shot into my gun, that duck would not have been reached. 
He was struck by two pellets. 
We now .struck out for the pond, or rather lake. As 
we approached the inlet, which for about 75 yards was 
clear of ice, we espied a dozen or tv/o dvck in the 
water, very close to the ice. We stole along through the 
trees and bushes until we were afraid to advance further 
lest we should expose ourselves. We sat or lay there 
some time, not able to decide whether or not to open on 
them. After some deliberation, conclnding they would 
come no nearer, we decided to pull trigger, hit or miss. 
Just as the word "Now" was spoken, I saw the green head 
of a mallard that was swiumiing a little out from the 
rest of his companions, and let drive. All took wing but 
the mallard. 
The question now was, How shall we get the old fel- 
low? We looked toward the shore on the left of us, and 
saw a boat bound in the ice. In order to get to it we had 
to cross the creek. We called to mind a bridge that 
spanned it a few hundred yards back, which we crossed 
and were soon in the boat breaking the ice before us to 
get to the open inlet. The task was not very great, as the 
ice had become very mellow. When we reached the water 
the duck made a desperate effort and succeeded in getting 
on the ice, and was walking prettj'^ rapidly for one of his 
kind. Not relishing a long duck race througli the ice, I 
leveled my gun and laid him dead. 
On our way homeward we took the other side of 'the 
creek, and as good luck would have it, we came across 
the duck which the dog had failed to retrieve. 
The sun was sinking behind the hilks as two pretty well 
fagged out young nien turned into their yard on Washing- 
ton avenue. Highland, N. Y., but not at afl regretting the 
tramp on that glorious, sunnv April day. 
N. D. Elting. 
Central City, W. Va. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Death of Governor Tanner. 
Chicago, 111., May 25. — In the death of ex-Governor 
John R. Tanner, of Illinois, which occurred on May 23, 
this State lost not onlj^ a' prominent political figure but 
one not unfamiliar in the circles of sportsmen. Governor 
Tanner in his later years was not averse to a bout at the 
traps with a friendly competitor, and he was for many 
years an ardent lover of field shooting. Robust and 
powerful by nature, he was, like other strong men, too 
careless of his health, and it is stated that the exposures 
undergone during a snipe shooting trip which he under- 
took a few weeks earlier had much to do with the progress 
of the malady which carried him away. Pie was over- 
heated, then underclad, and he slept in a cold draft upon 
the train while going home, the result being that he was 
assailed 'with a severe case of rheumatism, which is said 
to have been the cause of his later demise. Governor 
Tanner took an active interest in game protection as well 
as in field shooting, and he was a warm friend of ex- 
Warden Loveday, with whom he annually opened the fall 
shooting season upon some of the better preserves of lower 
Illinois. 
Western Game 5n NeW York, 
The news from New York this week, stating that State 
Game Warden Overton had raided the Arctic Freezing 
Warehouse, of New York city, and discovered 2,100 game 
birds illegally held in possession, comes like a thunderbolt 
from a clear sky. Most of these birds came from the 
West, and we Western shooters have a very much un- 
divided interest in them. It is stated that Mr. Overton 
traced most of the shipments, • discovering them to be 
largely from the West. Now if any Western man needs 
stronger argument than this to induce him to hois-t the 
banner of "Stop the sale of game," he is _ surely narrow 
minded enough to want to throw away his own goods, or 
lilieral minded enough to want to give away his neighbor's. 
E. Hough. 
Hartford Building, Chicago, 111. 
Deer and the Railroads. 
DuNB.'\RTON, N. 11., May 23. — Some time -since a train 
coming to Concord, N. H., from the north, came to a 
stop (as I am told) a few miles from the above city to 
allow a herd of some six or seven deer to get out of the 
way. (The engineer of this train certainly deserves 
praise.) 
A few days ago' a deer was killed a short distance 
below Concord. It is supposed the newspaper train which 
reaches Concord veiw early in the morning killed the deer. 
A freight train which came next found the deer and 
brought it to Concord, where It was turned over to Com- 
missioner Wentworth (who happened to be in towm). 
Mr. Wentworth gave it to a market man with the under- 
standing the latter was to pay what he could. It was 
found the deer was so badly bruised that it was onlj^ fit 
to be buried. I saw the deer, and it was a very small 
doe, as I judged, weighing not over 75 pounds. It was a 
very scrubby looking deer as compared with those I have 
seen in November and December. It had not shed its 
winter coat, although the hair was very loose and could 
be easily pulled out by the handful. It was also very 
evident that it was carrying a fawn. I know very little 
(from practical experience) as to the time does usually 
drop their young, but I supposed.it was somewhat earlier 
in the spring. One of our prominent"" daily papers men- 
tioned the killing of this deer, saying, "The paper train to 
Concord killed a beautiful deer just below Concord." As 
I looked at the dead deer, I thought any man who called 
himself a sportsman ought to be ashamed to kill such a 
specimen. I certainly would not bring home such a deer. 
Should I be unfortunate enough to kill one, we would use 
it in camp. C. M. St.^rIc. 
A Fine Moose Head. 
Boston, May 25. — Boston hunters have been interested 
this week in Mr. Thomas Ripley's moose head, which has 
been shown in a store on Washington streets The color: 
ing has been preserved on the mounted head, a beautiful 
yellowish brown. Old moose hunters say that they have 
never seen that coloring on moose antlers before. Besides 
this coloring, the veination of the antlers is remarkable, 
reminding one of the veination of a net-veined leaf. The 
veins can be traced all adown the antlers, in a most re- 
markable manner. Special. 
mid ^iv^t «^iBl(ing. 
— — 
Proi)rietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest And Stkeau. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
De Witt Clinton's Letters. 
One evening at the Suffolk Club on Long Island, Mr. 
Daniel B. Fearing told me that he had Dewitt Clinton's 
letters upon the "'Natural History of the State of New 
York," and later wrote me that he would have them 
copied for me, and this he has done. Ex-Mayor, ex- 
United States Senator and ex-Governor Clinton, the 
father of the "big ditch," wrote a series of letters over 
the pen name of Hibernicus upon "The Natural History 
and internal Resources of the State of New York," which 
appeared first in the columns of a newspaper in 1820, and 
were later (1822) printed in book form. The volume is 
now very rare, though the letters are of great interest 
even in this day. The editor of Forest and Stream tells 
me that one of them was once reprinted in whole or in 
part in this paper, but I have no recollection of it, though 
I have read the paper since its first issue, and have hoped 
that I might some time read the letters which I have 
heard of but never • seen until Mr. Fearing was kind 
enough to have them copied for me. Governor Clinton 
predicted in one of the letters that the building of the 
Erie Canal would bring Western fish into Eastern waters, 
and, in fact, it did bring the black bass from Lake Erie 
to the Hudson, to spread over not only the State of New 
York, but into the waters of New England. 
The latest edition of the "Manual of Fishculture," pub- 
lished within the year by the U. S. Fish Commission, 
states that the ovaries of a 75-pound codfish have been 
computed to contain 9.100.000 eggs. In 1820 Clinton 
wrote: "The vast fecundity of fishes is astonishing. 
Their powers of production transcend their powers of 
destruction. A single ovary of the large cod has been 
known to contain nine millions of eggs." 
Now that salmon (salar) have reappeared in Salmon 
River, in this State, as the result of restocking by the 
U. S. Fish Commission, and the State of New York is 
erecting fishways to enable the fish to ascend to proper 
spawning groiyids, it is of great interest to read what 
Clinton said of the .salmon more than eighty years ago: 
"The salmo salar, or common salmon, is found in Lake 
Ontario, and some of the secondary lakes which com- 
municate with it, but in none of the waters above the 
Falls of Niagara. It is too well known to need descrip- 
tion. 
- "This fish, it is said, is caught all the year in the lakes; 
perhaps some of them remain without ever returning to 
the ocean. They have never been observed at Ogdens- 
burgh. Maj' they not be deterred by the porpoises at 
Quebec from descending? The received opinion is that 
they are naturalized to the lakes, and stay all the year. 
"Trout in ponds run Up into streams to spawn. Fishes 
in lakes ascend the rivers which. supply the lakes for the 
same purpose, and in like manner they proceed from the 
ocean. This is probably for a two-fold object — for the 
safety of their young in shallow waters, and for food. 
The salmon of Lake Ontario go up the great Salmon 
River in August, and return in September. In some other 
places they ascend twice a year and .spawn. 
"In Champlain River there is no dam for .seven miles, 
and salmon go in about the middle of April, and are good 
till the first of June. The Little Sable River has plenty, 
also the Great Sable, because there are no mill dams. The 
Saranac River at Plattsburgh is a rapid stream, and its 
bottom is sandy and stony. Formerly it contained so 
many salmon that laborers, when about to be hired, would 
stipulate that they should not have it often; and the only 
danger in passing the ford, before the erection of a 
bridge, proceeded from the darting of the salmon through 
the water and frightening the horses. A mill dam was 
erected on it close to the head of the bay, and the salmon 
endeavored, for a number of years, to ascend, but fail- 
ing, they abandoned the ground. This fish does not 
ascend the Champlain Lake above Ticonderoga. Salmon 
have been caught in the Oneida Lake and Lake Champlain 
by the hook. Some of the lakes and ponds are filled in 
July, August and September with the ova and teguments 
of aquatic insects, which substances go under the name 
of lake blossom. The ova are hatched on the surface of 
the water, and the winged insect flutters a short time in 
the air during the process of ejecting the ova, after which 
it perishes in a short time. During this state of these 
insects, the salmon and other fishes fare luxuriously and 
disdain the hook. In July the salmon of some of the 
small lakes are greatly annoyed by aquatic insects, which 
fix on the gills and fins, and eat the latter so that the fish 
can hardly swim. 
"It is supposed by some that tliey go up into the creeks 
^ to get rid of this annoyance. The salmon has small, short 
teeth, and is undoubtedly carnivorous. When most as- 
