S04 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
fJijNE 29, icyM . 
— # ■ . 
Sometimes They Do. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In March and April oi 1887 I was encamped with a 
small detachment on the Rio Grande River in Texas at 
a little railroad town called Langtry. The river here has 
high, vertical sandstone cliffs for banks, whiclr have 
been sculptured into shelves and ledges by the wind or 
some other agency, and on these places, it is said, eagles 
formerly made their nests^ — in fact, when I w^as there 
the remains of old nests of some kind or other were still 
to be seen — for wliich reason this point of the river was 
called Eagle's Nest. When the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road came that way and built the little station, it changed 
the name from one that was descriptive and appropriate, 
and called it after the professional stage beauty of the 
■day, though the connection between this forlorn station 
and the Jersey Lily was difficult to understand. The 
necessity for maiiitaining troops in this vicinity was about 
equally obscure. In former days, whci troops were first 
stationed there, it was a favorite Indian crossing place, 
but in my time Indians in Texas existed only as a tradi- 
tion, though there was some ocular evidence of their 
former existence in certain caves near by, the rock walls 
of which were ornamented with many painted Indian 
pictures, representing, 1 suppose, some kind of hfstory 
or record of their forays or predatory expeditions in that 
region. My time being consequently nearly all leisure, I 
spent many hours in listening to tales of doubtful authen-- 
ticity by Judge Roy Bean, of the celebrated Chinaman 
decision. Roj' kept a kind of store at the station, and as 
he had been in that country ever since the Mexican War 
and was also of a rather active imagination, his tales were 
quite interesting. Some day I may be reminded of some 
of them and jot them down for my friends of Forest 
AND Stream. 
I also derived considerable entertainment out of a pro- 
fessional mountain lion hunter who had his camp a few 
miles up the river, on the Mexican side, and who fre- 
quently came in to visit and "booze" when there was a 
lull in the lion industry. His name was JuHus, and he 
was to me an interesting character. It seems, or at least 
he claimed, that when once a lion gets into a flock of 
goats or sheep it must be promptly destroyed, or it will 
linger about indefinitely and visit the flock night after 
night and do enormous damage. Julius kept a small 
pack of hounds — three or four in number — and I suppose 
they must have understood their duty, as he was fre- 
quently sent for by owners of flocks — sometimes at a dis- 
tance of many miles — to come and destroy an intrudirig 
lion, an undertaking which he usually accompHshed in 
a short time to every one's satisfaciion. Lion killing 
appeared to be his only vocation, as he had no other 
visible means of support, and the number of lions he 
must have killed in his time was something appalling to 
tenderfeet. I will not now attempt to give the figures, 
but he had certainly killed a lot of them, and his various 
exploits, as he used to narrate them to me, were very 
interesting. As these excursions necessarily took him far 
away from Langtry I was obliged to forbear going Avith 
him, as I would have liked, my duties not permitting me 
to leave my detachment by itself for so long a period, 
though he used to come regularly and endeavor to per- 
suade me to go with him whenever he had a call. Many 
officers stationed at Langtry had disliked to have old 
Julius continually hanging around camp, but I enjoyed 
his narratives and always welcomed him, though it sorne- 
times required some skill to get him to bring his visit 
to a close. Julius seemed to hold lions in the same de- 
gree of contempt as dangerous animals as does Mr. 
Wells, and according to the best of my recollection his 
method of killing them was to have the dogs overtake 
them and pull them down while he rode up on his pony, 
jumped off, and thrusting his Winchester muzzle right 
into their mouths, killed them always at a single shot. 
I may have misquoted him at this late date, but that is 
my recollection of what he used to tell me. 
It is not, however, of Julius and mountain lions that I 
intended to write, but rather of beaver, my rnemory hay- 
ing been jogged by the recent articles on this subject in 
the Forest and Stream. It seems that at that time the 
Rio Grande country must have been full of beaver. My 
attention was first called to that fact by the appearance 
one afternoon of a couple of trappers in the vicinity of 
my camp. They had an abundance of beaver pelts with 
them — I do not now recall the number, but it was some- 
thing like seventy-five or a hundred. They shipped them 
at the station at Langtry, and that was how we came 
to find out about them, as they were rather of a reticient 
party and not given to proclaiming their affairs abroad. 
From the efforts of the inquisitive it came out that they 
had journeyed for miles along the river— at least that's 
what they said— and when they found favorable places 
they trapped beaver. Two .of them traveled by row boat 
and trapped while a third journeyed by land in a cart 
with one horse and acted as a kind of tender to the boat, 
meeting it at favorable points, bringing supplies, and car- 
rying their pelts to the railroad for shipment for them. 
It was here that I saw my first beaver pelt, and to see 
the number these men shipped at the station one couldn t 
help gathering the idea that trapping beaver was rather 
easy. The arrival and departure of these men of course 
set every one to talking beaver, and for a while but little 
else was heard. Then, as now, one of the most deeply 
mooted points was 'whether or no beavers came out m 
the day time— about as many contestants appeanng for 
one side of this question as for the other. I knew noth- 
ing about beaver myself, though while fishmg m Texas 
streams at night loud noises were frequently heard that 
were attributed to the beaver by some of my companions 
who claimed to know about them. I was destined, how- 
ever, soon to have the question of the beaver's diurnal 
appearance settled to my entire satisfaction. A_ few days 
after the departure of the trappers I had occasion to go 
over to Fielder's ranch on the Pecos River. The latter 
is tributary to the Rio Grande, about twenty miles below 
Langtry, and Fielder lived about the same distance up 
♦ he Pecos, so in going there I had simply to cut across 
on the third side of the triangle to make it in about 
thirty miles or so. On the opposite side of the Pecos 
was a nice spring creek tributary, and as I had brought 
my fishing tackle along I crossed over and caught some 
nice bass. It had rained pretty well the night before 
and more or less during that day, so that on my return 
10 the river I was surprised to see how it had ri.sen since 
morning. It was now brimming full and rushing along 
like a mill race, its red waters sweeping down with them 
all sorts of drift and surface litter. While I stood gazing 
at its changed appearance, my eye was quickly caught 
hy some objects near the other bank swimming and play- 
ing about in the water. The river was not wide at that 
I)oint — probably not over thirty yards — and I could set 
these animals distinctly. They were three in number, 
and I had not the slightest difficulty in recognizing them 
as beaver, as the trappers had with them one unskinned 
beaver that I had examined quite closely, and as that 
had been but a few days before, I knew then just how a 
beaver ought to look— size, shape and detail — so I was 
positive that these animals were beaver. I stood and 
watched them with the greatest interest; they seemed 
engaged wholly with play, and though they remained 
nearly always in the water their gambols and antics re- 
minded me more than anything else of kittens at play 
on a carpet, jumping over each other, cuffing and tousel- 
ing each other about, and all apparently without the 
slightest fear of outside disturbance. There was an old 
log or something of the sort, upon which they would 
once in a while climb for a minute or so and then plunge 
off into the water again, and all go to playing as before. 
T stood and gazed .it them for quite a time, and although 
they couldn't have helped seeing me as 1 stood upon the 
bank in plain sight — at least so it seemed to me— and at 
only a short distance away, they nevertheless paid not the 
slightest attention to me, but continued their play. 
Finally one of my men on the side opposite me noticed 
me standing there, and concluding that I wanted some- 
thing came hastening over to see. At his approach, 
doubtless warned by his footfall, the beaver disappeared 
below the surface, and I have never seen one since. My 
recollection is that on that evening I told Fielder about 
having seen the beaver at not over a mile from his house, 
and that he told me that he saw them frequently in the 
day time ; of this, though, I will not be certain, as I had 
not then adopted the practice of keeping a note book; 
but of one thing I am- positive, and that is that they do 
sometimes come out in the day time. 
Wm. F. Fi.ynn. 
Puerto Principe, Cuba. 
The Blue Heron. 
Ardea herodias. Linn. 
Statuesque, comparatively unite, the blue heron is a 
bird of silence. 
True philosopher, he loves solitude and quiet. I would 
have you know, however, that he is no closet naturalist. 
Abroad with the sun, he spends his peaceful days in 
stately pacings along some favorite creek, often ankle deep 
in its waters. 
Again you may find him poking about the broad reaches 
of quiet pools in some restful swamp till dusk closes in. 
Then with soft, slow, whish ! whish! of broad fans he 
rises .and floats off in the twilight to join his fellows at 
camp in some secret spot far in the woods. 
Possessed of a very even temperament, this bird rarely 
gives way to excitement, though he is apt to forget him- 
self when suddenly startled. 
It is very difficult to take him unawares. 
Extremely suspicious and watchful, he is ever on the 
alert, and only on rare occasions has it been my fortune 
to approach him within fair observing distance unseen. 
A long neck gives his wonderfully keen eye great range 
of vision, while his hearing is so acute that you have to 
exercise the most perfect art of the still-hunter _ while 
making your approach under cover. A snapping twig, the 
careless rustling of the underbrush as you advance, is 
sure to attract his notice, and you will find his glistening 
eye at once turned in your direction. 
His attention is riveted on the spot where you lie con- 
cealed, while the poise of his body indicates readiness 
for speedy, departure should the suspicious sounds be 
repeated. Alisolute silence is required if you desire to 
continue your observations in such a case. 
Like as" not, now that his suspicions are aroused, he will 
silently stalk off without any appearance of undue haste 
in his manner, only to take wing further away. 
In any event you may as well change your base, for 
you will find it useless to attempt a closer acquaintance 
with him from that direction. 
If, however, you have made an advance with due cau- 
tion you will be well repaid for the trouble,, in watching 
this silent bird close at hand. 
Motionless he stands surveying the surroundings for 
minutes at a time, then with slow, stately stride, moves 
about the shallows with lowered recurved neck. A 
pause, a dart, and a small fish glistens between his man- 
dibles. Again that wary look about him. All's well ! A 
quick reversal of the morsel in his beak, a gulp and the 
tiny fish vanishes head foremost. Another cautious look 
around, and the slow walk is resumed. 
In some favored locality, where day after day he has 
fished unmolested, he is apt to abate somewhat of his 
cautiousness. Should you be fortunate and arrive within 
close range undiscovered when he strikes and captures a 
fair-sized fish, you will be interested to see him play with 
it before devouring, much as a cat will tease and torture 
a mouse. 
Walking sedately ashore, he will drop his prey on the 
sand, place one foot upon it and jab it spitefully again 
and again, with his dagger-like bill, whenever it flaps its tail 
or works its poor little gills in strangling. He may toss 
it in air and catch it as it falls, only to drop it, and 
presently resume his jabbing. When he thinks he has 
fooled it long enough, down it goes, and you will be 
surprised at liis capacious swallowing ability. It may 
be he will hunch itp uncomfortably for an instant as it 
goes down and tickles his throat, but the discomfort is 
momentary, and he immediately appears perfectly serene 
once more. 
Gawky as this creature seems with his stilt-like legs, I 
have always admired a certain wild grace in his every 
motion, when undisturbed and free in his native haunts. 
Should you come upon him unawares, which, of course, 
is possible, though not at all probable — owing to his un- 
ceasing watchfulness — his consternation is laughable. All 
fuss, feathers and legs, he flops up with a hoarse, guttural 
croak, "a soft sound," as Kiphng puts it — legs and neck 
seemingly all mixed up, while the big wings fan the air 
like a windmill, the most undignified exhibition of com- 
plete demoralization that I know of. 
Of wide range, the blue heron is found in all solitary 
localities- — in swamp, .salt marsh, along the meadow creeks 
or on the bog — in fact, wherever frogs, little fish and 
other small water delicacies abound. 
He is useless for the table, and if let alone by pllimt- 
hunters will long hold his place among us. -His somber 
plumage harmonizes so perfectly with the grays of swamp 
moss, lichens and tree trunks, that he utilizes as a back- 
groiind for his stately poses and contrasts so pleasantly 
with the duns and browns of meadow and marsh, that it 
is a pity he should be so relentlessly killed. 
WiLMOT TOWNSENIl. 
Some Notes on the Beaver. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Dr. C. P. Ambler's entertaining article on "The Beaver 
at Home" wilL I hope, call forth other accounts of day- 
time study of beaver. My own experience in this line is 
not extensive, but most interesting to me. 
Once in the Yellowstone Park I watched a long time 
near some fresh beaver workings in the hope of seeing the 
workers, but my patience gave out before my curiosity 
was gratified. 
Once with my old guide, T. W. Billings, of Brown- 
ville, Me., a noted beaver hunter in his younger days, when 
beaver were plentiful on the Allegash and Tobique, and 
whose fund of beaver stories was exhaustless, I hunted 
beaver on Randall Brook, up above the Eberne lakes in 
Piscataquis county. Me. 
There was a report that beaver sign had been seen 
there, and Billings led Owen Chase, another Brownville 
guide and woodman, but who had never trapped beaver, 
and me in quest of them. It was a great adventure to 
me — and successful — and might be worth tefling some time, 
but we saw no beaver by daylight till one morning we 
found one in our trap. We contented ourselves with this 
one, but I have never ceased to regret our capture of it. 
I was excited enough at the time over our success. I 
brought out the 46-pound prize six miles on my shoulder 
without setting it down to rest, and thought niyeslf very 
happy. We ate baked beaver a day or two afterward, and 
I have always counted it the finest meat I ever tasted in 
the woods. For years its .soft pelt was the thing my toes 
first touched when I got out of bed in the morning. 
But the animal was one of a single family that had 
worked its way down from the north and located where 
beaver used to be plentiful, but none had been seen for 
years, and they should have been protected instead of 
disturbed. We know better and do better now, I tnist. 
Some years later I learned of a colony of beaver living 
on Kennebago Stream, near the outlet of the well-known 
Kennebago Lake, in Maine, and twice I have made a 
pilgrimage to the place for the purpose of observing 
them. Both attempts were quite successful, and both times 
in daylight, late in the afternoon, I have watched beaver 
swimming about, carrying branches and sticks and now 
and then, when startled, diving with the resounding stroke 
of the tail upon the water — a very remarkable thing when ' 
it is heard for the first time. I am by no means sure 
that it is always a signal of alarm. I have heard it when 
it seemed to be done as much for amusement as for any- 
thing else, so far as I could discover. My method was 
that of still approach by canoe, and I am inclined to 
think that any one with a little skill and patience could 
secure my results. And let me commend to any one who 
wants to see in actual process some of the most won- 
derful of the '"ways of wood folk" to try it. Going out in 
mid-afternoon, I have remained alone among the beaver 
and been utterly absorbed in their work till 8 or 9 o'clock 
in the evening, and getting from it an exhilaration hard to 
describe. 
At last accounts this colony of beaver was in a flouri.sh- 
ing condition, protected and prosperous, and I believe 
there is no reason why beaver colonies may not, and en- 
tirely by natural process, be established on a thousand 
Maine lakes and streams if the same protection be granted 
them as at Kennebago Stream. The cut of the beaver 
house given in connection with Mr. Ambler's article is 
very characteristic and good. Let me here call attentiqn 
to the very remarkable beaver group in the museum of 
the University of Vermont at Burlington. It is equal in 
its way to the famous group of bison put up by Mr. 
Hornaday in the Smithsonian Museum at Washington. 
It is studied with extraordinary care and mounted with a 
loving faithfulness to nature that is almost beyond praise, 
and is well worth much trouble to see it. 
C. H. Ames. 
Boston, Mass. 
Pike and Perch, 
The attractive "Fur, Feather and Fin Series," published by 
Longmans, Green & Co., is still further enriched by the addition 
of a volume on "Pike and Perch Fishing," by Wm. Senior, with 
chapters by other anglers. Mr. Senior, better known by his pen 
name of Redspinner, and as the editor of the Field, should of all 
persons be best qualified to write on this subject, which is one 
in which he has had experience for lol these many years. He is 
also especially well fitted to select his associates in the produc- 
tion of this volume, and the mere mention of his name is guarantee 
that the work is well done, and that here may be found all that is 
known concerning pike and perch fishing in British waters. 
All the different methods of pike fishing in different waters are 
here given, happily introduced by a chapter, more or less historical 
in character, which is entitled the "Pike of Fable and Fancy." 
The chapters on the pike are twelve in number, while to the perch 
arc given only four, and of these one is devoted to artificial perch- 
culture. The last eighteen pages 'of the volume treat of the cook- 
ery of the pike and perch, and are by Mr. Alexander Innes Shand. 
In the chapter entitled "Some Foreign Relatives," an account \s 
fiven of certain American species of the genus Esox and also of Mr. 
enior's experiences in fishing for muscalonge in Canadian waters! 
The author is evidently increduloits concerning the size of the fish 
of this group commonly caught in North American waters, and is 
disposed to laugh at 40-pound fish, yet he himself landed, on his 
first and only excursion for muscalonge, one which weighed 24% 
pounds and had a head 11% inches long. 
It is to be understood that the waters treated in the volume be- 
fore us are wholly British, but no angler of other lands is likely 
to read the book without being charmed by its style and interested 
in its subject. The volume is illustrated by nearly a dozen full- 
page cuts of great beauty. 
