Sep'i'^ 14, igoi.j 
tuHEST AND StHEAM 
— 
A Tragedy in the Woods. 
The book of Nature is a volume of huge proportions, 
and all the years of a long life are not sufficient to more 
than scan a few of its many pages. From earliest times 
has man heeded the command to go forth "and fill the 
earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea 
the fowls of the' air, atid all the liviiig creatures that 
1 111 ive .upon the earth." 
in every age has he heeded the command and striven _ 
to familiarize himself with his surroundings and to force 
Nature to give up hei secrets. While the door to many 
■a labyrinth has never been opcited. and no key has yet 
bee I. found to effect an entrance and reveal the treasures 
contained therein, the record of his success may be read 
in our high and rapidly advancing civilization. 
In that departtnent which is of special interest to the 
snortsman naturalist may be found the names of many 
taking highest rank with the most brilliant minds which 
have made the world their debtors^ — m.en who shed the 
luster of their genius and attainments upon the whole 
human race, and who wbn undying fame by the rich 
legacy left behind and by lifting up their fellow-men to 
higher levels. 
When we consider the years devoted by such men to 
the patient observation and study of animate nature — 
fur. fin, and feather — in many climes and under manifold 
difficulties— the evohition of order out of chaos, and the 
triumphs cif biology — Ave may Avell pause in amazement 
at the results alreadj' achieved and which are now so 
amicable and helpful. 
Rut to no one individual js it given to know all that 
there is to be known regarding the habits and home-life 
of any species, even in a given locality, inuch less as 
modified by habitat and environment in other parts of 
the world. Mitch that has been recorded as true of cer- 
tain times and places must now be modified to meet 
later and more extended observation and investigation. 
The intelligent sportsman of the twentieth century may 
discover nothing striking or marvellous in his outings 
which will be an important contribution to natural his- 
tory with which his name will be handed down to pos- 
terity; but a multitude of important, if lesser, matters may 
profitably engage his attention which will well reward 
his efforts and add items of value to the storehouse of 
knowledge of mankind. There are j^et many things in 
natural history to learn, and many things that are 
r-'^cordecl in. the bocks to unlearn — and no one is better 
cjualified for the task than the iritelligent lover of rod 
and gun, who takes his outings with eyes and ears wide 
.ipen, and who gives to his fellows the benefit of what 
he learns, which is not known or improperly recorded. 
This train of thought has been suggested by a tragedy 
which fell under the observation of the writer while seek- 
ing the gamy troitt in a woodland brook during the early 
months of the open season of the present year, and in 
which some half dozen crows and a hen partridge were 
the participants and victim. 
It is true that the incident may be well-known to others 
and so of no moment as a new factor in natural history, 
but as it had never fallen under my observation before, 
and never having seen in any work upon natural history 
that crows make open warfare upon game birds, the on- 
slaught came home to me as a sad discover3'-, and one 
worthy of record 
It is true that the crow is considered a bird of ill omen, 
carnivorous, and an outcast that every man and boy de- 
lights to persecute and destroy, From early boyhood 
has the writer known that crows love to feed upon car- 
rion — and so become the scavengers of the land — and 
this, with other laudable traits, has, he thought, justified 
the belief that they were more helpful than detrimental, 
even though they do pull up and destroy more or less 
corn in the early spring. 
Journeying beside the brook, through a piece of wood- 
land, a great commotion was heard among the crows, and 
] concluded that some of their young had fallen from the 
jiest. or that the young brood had, for the first time, used 
iheir wings in flight. - As I proceeded their noise and 
clantor grew in intensity and volume out of all propor- 
tion to their number, when, on arriving at a road through 
the woods, I saw a great commotion among the crows — 
some flying hither and thither — some flying upward and 
wheeling around and darting down again — and again at- 
tacking one another — and all' doing their utmost to add 
to the general dtn. I approached quite near to them be- 
fore they heeded my presence, when the more timid took 
flight to the nearest tree top, where they became inter- 
ested spectators. 
One. more brave than the rest, was not to be driven 
away, but kept striking with his beak and tearing feath- 
ers and flesh from his victim. Nor did he desist and take 
flight until my hand was within three feet of him, when 
he reluctantly beat a hasty retreat. 
There before me lay gasping in death- a ruffed grouse 
hen, from the neck and back of which nearly all the 
feathers and fle.sh were strinped. Death came as a relief 
in a few minutes and closed the scene, unless a brood of 
young were left to die of starvation, or- otherwise. And 
now, with added knowledge. I no longer entertain my 
former kindly feeling for the crows. 
Geo. McAlerp. 
Worcester, Mass 
Weasels' Ways, 
R. A. Allen, who devoted much time to shooting squirrels, 
frequently saw them. One seemed to have very little fear 
of him. Sometimes he would see the creature run into its 
hole, and going there, would hold a dead squirrel down 
in the hole, and the weasel would come up and seize it 
with his teeth. At length the little animal became so 
tame, that it would leave its hole and come to him and 
reach for the squirrel held above, and would often jump 
into the air trying to catch it. 
Of course, the weasels were never troubled — they were 
useful in destroying squirrels. 
Major Allen told me of a family of weasels which he 
had observed at his home in Ohio. They had been suffer- 
iiig from a plague of rats and mice, but suddenly all these 
disappeared, and one day, up through a hole by the hearth- 
stone, a weasel's head appeared. It soon developed that 
under the house there was a family of half a dozen. They 
seemed very hungry, and as Major Allen fed them they 
soon grew very tame. They used to come out and run 
about the room, and manifested no fear whatever of the 
family. At last they disappeared. G. B. G. 
A PioKs Parrot, 
If Coco meant the half of- what he said, and was even a 
quarter as wise as he looked, he was a wonderful bird. I 
met him in Paris, where he lived with an old English 
lady, who spent her life in her own apartments between 
her maid and her parrot. Coco was thus her almost con- 
stant companion, her guide, counselor and friend. He 
had an easy flow of conversation, and said many funny 
and apt things that I have forgotten, but no one who saw 
and heard him at his devotions of a Sunday morning, is 
likely to forget it. His mistress, being unable to attend 
the English chapel, read the service in her own room 
aloud, with Coco for congregation, for none' ever exceeded 
tlte unction of his long-drawn "Amens," nor the cotitrite 
quaver of his "Good Lord deliver us" in the Litany, and 
when it came to "miserable sinners," he rolled up his 
eyes and nodded his old head in dismal approval. 
It would have been unkind to smile during the per- 
formance, for Coco's feelings were sensitive, and, more- 
over, the old lady found comfort in the thought that he, 
perhaps, diinly understood. She told the following story 
in proof of his sagacity: 
A friend came to visit her one day, who also owned a 
parrot. The talk turned upon the rival birds, and the 
visitor instanced, in proof of her pet's powers, an intri- 
cate sentence that he had been taught to say. She re- 
peated the sentence several times, inimicking a parrot's 
nasal voice. Coco, meanwhile, showed ev^tlence of great 
excitement. He sidled hand over hand across the back of 
the sofa on which the visitor sat, puffing out his chest and 
holding his breath till all of his feathers stood on end. 
Something was on his mind, and he was straining 'to get it 
off. As the visitor rose to go, his efforts culminated, and 
as she passed out of the door ha screamed the sentence 
after her, exactly as he had heard his rival quoted. 
M. M. 
The Oposs«m in Canada. 
About the middle of January, 1899, an opossum, evi- 
dently Didelphys virginiana, was taken in a hen house near 
Port Colborne, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and 
about twenty miles west of Buffalo. The hen house was 
situated on the south side of a hill, and near a thicket 
of hemlock, in which was a hollow tree. The little fellow 
was evidently hibernating in the tree, and, from the tracks 
seen on the snow, was making nightly visits to the hen 
house. He was apparently half-starved, his stomach 
empty and his tail and ears frozen, the tail only a stump 
four or five inches in length. He is now mounted and in 
the collection of Mr. Chas. Hay, of Port Celborne, Ont. 
A female of this same species is reported to have been 
killed a few miles west of Port Colborne, and with her a 
number of young ones. Again, another specimen is now 
mounted in a collection in Chathain, Ont., which was 
taken in 1900 near Rondeau, Kent county, Ont, 
As far as I know, this animal is an addition to the fauna 
of Canada not generally recognized, and it would be in- 
teresting to hear if other observers have any record of its 
occurrence. G. A. MacCallum. 
DUNNVILLE, Ont , Aug. 81. 
New American Jagfuars. 
Until very recently the jaguars of South, Central 
and North America have all been grouped under one 
species — Felis onca, Linnseus. In August last, however, 
Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, in the Proceedings of the Wash- 
ington Biological Society, describes two species and one 
subspecies of jaguar from Central America. These are: 
The Central American jaguar (Felis centralis), the Ma- 
zatlan jaguar (Felis hernandesii) and the Campeche 
jaguar (Felis hernandesii goldmani) . These species differ 
chiefly in skull characters, in the extent of the black 
markings of the skin and in the ground color, which 
varies from a pallid clay color in the first-named species, to 
a much more intense tawny yellow in the last. 
The Central American jaguar occupies Central Amer- 
ica from Honduras to Panama; the Mazatlan jaguar is 
found in the arid tropical areas of Mexico north to the 
United States, while the Campeehe jaguar inhabits the 
humid tropical areas of Mexico, perhaps north as far as 
Texas. 
In certain portions of the West the common weasel, or 
ermine, frequently takes up its abode in the villages of 
the ground squirrels, which are such a pest, and preys 
on the j'oung and perhaps the adult squirrels. If, for any 
reason, the squirrels desert their village and move on- 
ward — as they frequently do, through lack of food — the 
weasels are likely to migrate with them. 
This year the ground sqttirrels have been a pest on the 
Blackfoot Reservation, in western Montana, and have 
devoured many of the gardens, root and branch. There 
~eems to be no efficient way of destroying them, though 
hy means of the trap and a small rifle my friend, Mr. J. 
B. Monroe had managed to kill in his small garden about 
300, up to July I. 
In this village there were several weasels, and Major 
An effort will be made to remove a large red oak tree 
from the wildest section of Arkansas to Forest Park, St. 
Louis, for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The tree 
is 160 feet high, and 12 feet in diameter at the base. A 
double tramway will be built from the tree to the river, 
where it will be floated and towed to St. Louis. It is 
estimated that this will occupy six months. The tree 
will be dug up by the roots, instead of being cut, and 
none of its branches will be trimmed, so that it will ap- 
pear on exhibition just as it now stands in the woods. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at the 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable. 
— 
PrQi)rietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stkeam. 
The Outing of the Three B/s. 
(Concluded frenn J>age 188.) 
Supper over, we went as usual to our places around th« 
office stove, and there laid our plans for a dtxck-shoot- 
ing trip down the river the next day. 
Some' one finally noticed that Steve was working away 
at some scheme, and asked if he were juggling the electoral 
vote. "Better luck," said Stevens; "I am going to raffle 
my pump." "Come oil with your chances," said Bob. 
"We are game as long as the numbers run low." 
When the numbers had all been put in envelopes and 
shuffled, the bunch was passed around, and of the ten or 
more drawn I eame within tliree cents of getting the high- 
est number — the highest-priced ticket. That was my 
normal luck in this kind of a game, so I was not dis- 
couraged. Bob got his chance for one cent and Burt for a 
nickel more, so we three agreed we would go again, and 
the others thought they would come in, and the pack of 
numbers passed around again. Burt got a chance gratis, 
Bob got thii-ty nine and I, as usual, above fifty cents. 1 was 
getting a little disgu,sted with this ^me, and offered to 
pitch "crackliew" with any one, got a taker right off and 
won two more chances. Then the storekeeper got the 
floor and explained that that sort of thing was all right 
after everybody had enough chances out of the pack, or 
there were no more to draw, and he had a propositioa 
to offer. He proposed that every one draw, and the one 
coming nearest to a certain number have all the chances 
drawn, each one, of course, paying for the number he 
drew. All agreed, and Steve named 39, and again the 
bunch of tickets went around, and I won the lot at forty- 
one cents, which placed my stack of chances at sixteen. 
We kept at it until we had exhausted the bunch, and I 
held nearly one-third of the total number of chances, witla 
our party holding about one-half, and we decided we 
would have a gun ourselves to sell or raffle off before we 
left, sure, atid at once became much interested about the 
remaining details of the raffle. The managing spirit ex- 
plained that we would "shoot it off." which remark did 
not convey a very clear idea of the proceedings to any of 
us, but at any rate we had the gun won. Afti^r getting 
the cash balanced Steve announced it was up to the 
"shoot off." The storekeeper left the room and soon 
returned with the head of a barrel, with a nail through 
the center, on which the disk would whirl lilce a bu?z- 
saw. The barrel head had been spaced off with lines 
running like the spokes of a wheel, and on the outer 
edge of the wheel the spaces were numbered to corre- 
spond with the numbers on the tickets. With this con- 
trivance, a lamp and a rifle, we all filed down to the ice 
house, where the barrel head was nailed up and whirled to 
see that it worked properly; then a disinterested guide 
took a stand ten yards away with the rifle ready, called 
out, "Let her roll," and as the head whirled, took quick 
aim, fired, and a saw-mill hand with number 42 owned 
the best pump gun on the St. Francis River — at least, that 
is what Steve declares, and what Steve says is so, if it 
isn't so. 
Next morning we started for a day with the ducks down 
the river. The day promised to be a good one, as the 
morning broke gray and cold, with now and then a little 
sleet. With the boats hidden, we had but a short time 
to wait before along caine a pair of mallards. I_got one 
with my first, but rocked the boat so that Bob missed his 
with the first: then I took a shot at the bird, \{;hich_I 
thought would escape, and missed it clean; then Bob did 
it up brown, for he not only "wiped my eye." hut made a 
clean kill at fully seventy yards. In a few minutes along 
came a flock, flying directly over us. We dropped one 
stone dead, and another, which was hit hard, swung over 
Burt, who doubled him up in good shape for the bag. 
Then another 'flock came over, and we had visions of 
doubles for each, but after tlfe report of six barrels died 
away one lone mallard, which had climbed to a great 
height, set its wings and sailed off ever the timber, where 
he dropped, beyond our reach. "We will have to change 
our lead or get them closer," I remarked. "They were 
close enough ; it's our shooting," said Bob. "I guess 
that's right^" chimed in Burt, from his side of the channel. 
"Well. I'll bet I will get far enough' ahead of the next 
one," said I. "Get down, here conjes one to try," and 
down the river came a sawbill on an errand and qil'te 
high. Burt too-k a shot at him as he passed, increasing 
the bird's speed, and, to demonstrate what could be done 
with a proper lead, I drew fully six feet ahead, and he 
dropped dead as a mackerel. "Did you see me get my 
eye wiped?" said Burt. "Lead 'em," said I. and at that 
moment. Whiz ! went a flock of teal just back of Bob, who 
turned quickly and with a snap shot killed one of them. I 
giving them a parting shot as they went on down the 
river, but with no effect. I suggested that we retrieve 
the dead birds. ar?d had pushed partly out of the flags, 
when Burt hailed us and pointed down the river, from, 
which direction a flock of fully seventy-five mallards was 
headed our way. "Darn the luck," said Bob ; "if we were 
only in out of sight !'" We crouched as low as pos'sible, 
and' the ducks came on and sailed around, as if to light 
out of gunshot below us, then rose and came on over us, 
but evidently too high, for we failed to bring down a 
bird. W& picked up our birds, losing several in the flag, 
whqre we could not push the boat or wade, and returned 
to our blind, Burt having killed a couple while we were 
gathering our birds. 
The shooting continued until about 10:30, when the 
clouds began fo break, and in a short time the sun came 
out and the flight stopped almost completely. At it 
o'clock we started back to the club house with a, fair 
string of birds, intending to return later in the day. 
Bob and I in one canoe, and Burt in another up the 
river, where he was just disappearing around a bend, when 
up the river to the left efime a fine flock of mallards. Bob 
and I dropped our paddles, grabbed our guns, and. as 
they came within range, veering off as they , saw us, I 
fired my right barrel just as Bob was getting his aim. 
During this time the boat, unguided, had swung around 
in the current, and, as we gave the birds a broadside, the 
