186 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
{March 8, igQi 
are not often seen in captivity, but here is a good number 
of fine specimens. There are also ruddy ducks, lesser 
scaup, American widgeon, European widgeon, shovelers, 
gadwall, redheads, ^sprigtails, American green-wing teal, 
European green-wing teal, gargany teal and blue-wing 
teal. 
The partridge show is most remarkable and near to the 
sportsman's heart. The ruffed grouse have already been 
described at considerable length in this paper. Then 
come the English partridges in a large compartment, some 
twenty-five or thirty of them. They seem to bear con- 
finement well. The French partridges come next. To 
already a goodly number, Mr. Dimick received an addition 
of ten on Saturday. The Hungarian partridges are rare 
birds in this part of the world. Most of these birds will 
be subject to a trial for breeding in confinement, when 
the Sportsmen's Show is over. The Virginia quail are 
sprightly little fellows, and readily breed under fair con- 
ditions. Commissioner Brackett is brought, to mind by 
the good showing of Mongolian pheasants, very attractive 
birds. 
The fish exhibit is simply remarkable. Commissioner 
Nathaniel Wentworth, of the New Hampshire Board, is 
proud of what his State shows here, and he has good 
reason to be. His tank of lake trout is one of the best 
ever shown, with individual fish up to nearly 15 pounds. 
Taken right off the spawning beds, he has been able to 
move them to Boston without a scar, and so far they have 
not shown a particle of fungus. His Sunapee trout 
(Aureolus or seibling) are most beautiful fish. Behind 
the scenes one was dipped up in a net for me to see. 
It was truly a beautiful fish, and rightly named from the 
brilliancy of its colorings. Mr. Wentworth has succeeded 
in crossing the seibling with the brook trout, and shows a 
fine result of this crossing. The question is, Is it a mule 
fish? Mr. Wentworth thinks not, for the cross seeks the 
spawning beds with the other fish. The seibling are found 
originally in Lake Sunapee, Dan Hole Pond, in New 
Hampshire, and the Avery ponds in Avery, Vt. Mr. 
Wentworth thinks that they also exist in other waters of 
Maine, and New Hampshire, though not yet established. 
The tank of brook trout from the Diamond Ponds, New 
Hampshire, is excellent, with fish ranging from 1 to 2 
pounds. These fish are also beautiful specimens. Right 
from the spawning beds, they are perfectly natural, with- 
out fungus or defect, so common with artificially reared 
and fed trout. The exhibit of landlocked salmon includes 
only small fish, 1 to i$4 pounds. It has been found to be 
no easy task to transport the larger of these fish without 
scar and fungus, so_ great is their power and ability. The 
Massachusetts exhibit includes some fine specimens of 
large and small trout and salmon. Maine has no fisheries 
exhibit at this show. The show of tropical fish is a 
wonder and a delight, and will be likely to be greatly 
enlarged at future shows. The angel fish and the trunk 
fish are sufficiently wonderful to cause our friend the 
wise man to declare that "they are not fish at all; only 
automatas, put into the water and propelled by some 
sort of machinery." He says further, "I for one can't 
see why they can't get up a sportsmen's show and give 
us more of the real thing, without adding so much cheap 
trash? Just a catch-penny game." Well, it takes all sorts 
of people to make up a world. Give some people a good 
deal of reality and they will cry sham. 
Special. 
Ruffed Grouse in Confinement. 
Boston, March j. — It has been done. Partridges or 
ruffed grouse are being shown in confinement, without 
that terrible fear of man and everything else that has here- 
tofore rendered such exhibitions almost painful. Mr. C. 
W. Dimick has once or twice failed in exhibiting these 
birds in former sportsmen's shows. The birds have re- 
fused to eat, and have evidently died of starvation. But 
a thing that is difficult has a particular attraction for him, 
especially if it concerns birds or animals. Last year he 
made up his mind to try again. He obtained, several 
months ago, permission to trap or snare partridges alive 
in both Massachusetts and Maine. He made known his 
wishes to several men, and two of them claimed that 
they could trap partridges without destroying their lives. 
These two he engaged; the others all backing out. The 
two men employed were soon reduced to one. the other 
writing Mr. Dimick that he could trap no birds. The 
last one finally sent him one bird, which soon died of 
fright or starvation. At last the other man gave up in 
discouragement. Still other men applied for the job, but 
after hearing what the others had gone through and 
failed, they were ready to abandon the idea. Out of all 
the applications one or two were secured who succeeded 
in catching a few partridges, which were forwared'to Mr. 
Dimick. Experience seemed to teach the trappers, and 
they soon secured over twenty partridges, and Mr. Dim- 
ick had them in an inclosure. Wild was no name for the 
state they were in. 
Now the problem was begun. Mr. Dimick and his son, 
a boy of 18, who loves birds and animals as well as his 
father, made a great study of the subject. They put the 
birds in an inclosure, padded with cloth of a dun or dead 
leaf color. The windows, large and capable of great ven- 
tilation, were covered with mosquito netting that the birds 
could fly against and not cling to or injure themselves. 
The floor was of earth, and covered with leaves and moss. 
Green boughs were supplied in plenty, with plenty of hid- 
ing places. But the greatest difficulty was yet to over- 
come. They had already lost a number of birds, evidently 
through starvation induced by fright. What was to be 
done? The poor partridges would only crowd into a 
corner, and refused to eat. Mr. Dimick reasoned that 
they were- actually made sick by fright. If a man were 
sick from fear, something must be done to quiet his fear 
and tempt his appetite, and it must be a natural, most 
tempting and stimulating food. What must be obtained 
for the frightened partridges? They studied further when 
almost everything had failed. At last they thought of 
ant eggs or lava?. These they could obtain from anthills 
and decayed wood. They were tried. The partridges 
eyed them. Soon one "grabbed for them." The others 
followed. From that forward the birds began to mend — 
began to eat; and the thing was done. But their wildness 
was improved but a little bit. Here was another knotty 
problem; how could the wildness, a part of the nature of 
the ruffed grouse, be overcome? Mr. Dimick made up 
his mind that it was best to enter the inclosure where 
the birds were with as little motion as possible. At first 
he would be several minutes in moving a few feet toward 
the birds; moving very slowly, with hands down and 
without motion of his head. If the birds showed ex- 
treme fear, he stopped — remaining motionless till they 
were more quiet, For a long time he would not raise 
his arm, or even move his hand, if he thought it increased 
the alarm of the partridges, huddled together under the 
brush in an extreme corner of the inclosure. Gradually 
they seemed to lose their fear. Now he enters their in- 
closure and they do not manifest the least alarm. 
The opening night of the Sportsmen's Show they were 
greatly frightened. They were in a new inclosure, with 
hundreds of eyes staring at them; moving people in all 
sorts of dress. Mr. Dimick noticed that it seemed to 
calm their fears somewhat when he or his son came along 
with others. The next morning early he came into the 
Mechanics' building, and the first place he visited was the 
partridge compartment. There they were, huddled in the 
corner the same as the night before. They had not moved 
from the position first taken. He entered the compart- 
ment, crawling flat on the floor, so as not to frighten 
them N more by his standing height. Very carefully he ap- 
proached the crouching birds. He worked his hands 
under one, at the same time making a soothing whistle 
or chirp which he and his son have learned that the 
grouse make to one another. The birds seemed to begin 
to lose their fears. Cautiously he pushed one bird for- 
ward toward the other end of the inclosure, the others 
followed. Others were moved still further ahead, and 
within a half hour Mr. Dimick had the whole brood of 
23 partridges moving about the inclosure. Since that time 
they seem to enjoy running about in and out of the little 
hiding places made for their comfort. They show little 
or no fear, jump or skip over the little logs of wood and 
artificial stones with all the beautiful dexterity and grace 
of motion that the hunter loves so well. . The male birds 
are particularly beautiful. One of them, Mr. Dimick 
says, already begins to strut, and then hops on to a little 
log. "I will have that fellow drumming on that log be- 
fore the show is over," says Mr. Dimick. That will be 
a sight worth seeing. He will surely try to breed them, 
and has good reason for hope of success. 
Mr. Seaton-Thompson, the author, has seen the grouse 
and seen one of them come down and drink. He says 
that the sight has given him great satisfaction. Later it 
is possible that he may see the male bird drumming and 
the female on her nest. Mr. W. H. Weld, a gentleman 
of means, with a big place on Cape Cod, is desirous of 
trying some of Mr. Dimick' s partridges in the way of 
breeding them. He will be allowed a few, and if he suc- 
ceeds in getting them started in good shape; that is, does 
not get them frightened and lose them, others will be put 
in his keeping. Both gentlemen will do all in their power 
to breed partridges in confinement. Their operations will 
be watched with a great deal of interest. Both will do 
everything that can be done in the way of inclosures 
and attendance. Men will be put in charge who are bird 
lovers and have shown some adaptability for the work. 
At present the birds are being fed regularly on white birch 
buds, brought in fresh every day. They are also particu- 
larly fond of apple tree buds, and are treated with the 
same. Wild rose buds and the dried berries of several 
species of blueberry, etc., are given to them. Mr. Dimick 
will have about a dozen more partridges to add to his 
coop when the show is over. It is more than probable 
that the great problem of raising ruffed grouse in confine- 
ment is to be solved, and hence the depleted game covers 
restocked. Special. 
Foreign Game Birds. 
Macomb, 111., Feb. 26— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The picture of the Armenian partridge in your last num- 
ber of the Forest and Stream is nothing more or less 
than the Caccabis chukor partridge I imported from 
Karachi, India, some nine years ago. These birds will 
stand any New England climate. I raised some here 
that stood 28 degrees below zero. They are a strong 
bird, and will fight like a game cock. They will fly as 
fast as a quail, and can be introduced into the country. 
The young cannot be held in confinement. If so, they 
will die by the time they are one week old. They must 
have their liberty and have animal food. The best way 
to hatch the eggs is under bantams, and turn them loose 
and they will take care of themselves. I turned a bantam 
loose in a field with six young chicks one mile from a 
house, and in eight weeks she found the way to a farm- 
house with the brood, and they roosted with the other 
chickens all winter. They weigh about 234 pounds, and 
are fine eating. Col. Ramsdale, of the. English army in In- 
dia, wrote to me that they would stand any climate on the 
face of the globe. He had shot them on the higher moun- 
tains covered with snow, and he had shot them on the 
burning sand in the valleys. 
I have my doubts about raising the California quail in 
New England. Some twenty years ago I imported four 
dozen of the valley quail from Knight's Landing, on the 
Sacramento River, to this city, about the first of April. 
I turned them all loose on a man's farm about two miles 
from this city. They laid and hatched large broods, and 
sometimes we would see twenty in a flock. We were 
more than delighted over our success. They did not sing 
"Bob White," but they had a song of their own, and made 
the music lively till about the first of October. Not a 
voice could be heard after this. We took our dogs and 
hunted the country for miles around, and not a bird 
could be found, and not one was ever seen after this. 
The next spring the Smithsonian Institution had a man 
in Kansas hunting birds for the institution. He came 
across a large flock of California valley quail. He said 
in his report that this was the first time he ever knew 
that there were any of these quail this side of the Rocky 
1 Mountains. We believed that those quail were ours, and 
were moving in the direction of a warmer climate. 
W. O. Blaisdell. 
[The birds figured in last week's Forest and Stream 
are forms of the widely distributed Old World partridge 
(Perdix), and its near relatives, found under many names 
in many localities, and adapted to many different climatic 
conditions. Obviously, for the severe climate of the 
northern United States, such birds, when imported, should 
come from regions having cold winters. 
It is hardly to be wondered at that the valley quail has 
not done well in New England, since they are not adapted' 
to so severe a climate. It is quite possible that the moun- 
tain quail of California, or plumed partridge, might have 
done better. In Vancouver Island — well to the north, but; 
on the other hand with a mild climate, where the grass| 
remains green throughout the winter — the valley quail 
have done fairly well.] 
A Mother Grouse. 
Kettle Falls, Wash., Feb. 24.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I note in the issue of Feb. 22 the statement 
made by Jay Pee that the partridge displays no courage in 
defense of her young'. 
By the word partridge I understand him to mean thei 
ruffed grouse, and in reply to his statement I want to 
bear testimony to the courage of at least one of these; 
faithful little mother birds. 
When first I came to the Territory of Washington, the t 
desire to explore the mountains to the west of my home 
near Valley grew upon me, and at the first opportu- 
nity, taking ponies and blankets, and accompanied by 
my eldest son, a lad of seventeen, set out on a four-days'' 
trip into the new wonderland. 
The summit of the range was reached on the secondj 
day, at a point entirely out of the line of travel of either 
Indians or whites, and when almost at the summit, just, 
as we were passing a clump of bushes, on June 6, 1884, we 
ran into a brood of little ruffed grouse. 
My boy was riding in front a couple of rods in advance, 
and the first move of the mother bird seemed to be to 
hustle her babies away from his horse's feet, and just as 
he rode past she rose in the air and flew directly toward 
me. , 1 
I pulled up my pony instantly, and as I sat still she: 
flew straight for my head, rising just above it as she 
came, and suddenly the boy cried out, "She is going to! 
alight on your head." 
It was true, and to the day of my death I shall regret' 
that the unexpected sound of the fluttering of her wings, 
as she settled toward my head for an instant startled me 
from my composure, and the temptation to glance upward 
was momentarily irresistible, and, in consequence, my 
slightly tilting hat brim frightened her while just in the 
act of "setting her feet upon my head, and swerving lightly! 
to her left, she swung round and settled on the rump of 
the tired pony under me. The pony stood perfectly still, 
and slowly — very slowly — I turned my head and looked 
at her. Beginning in a very low tone and gradually 
raising my voice, I talked to her and to my boy about her 
for a minute or two before she fluttered away in search of 
her babies. 
Telling her what a graceful little beauty she was, and 
how we had no thought of hurting either her or her 
babies, I cajoled her into listening for quite a time, and. 
though I am well persuaded that she had never before 
seen either man or horse. I contend that it was courage — 
pure and simple — which prompted her to fly in the face of 
so formidable an apparition in defense of her little ofles. 
Orin Belknap. 
Hawk Killed by a Bone. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I send you herewith a bone— commonly called wish- 
bone — which has a rather interesting history, inasmuch asi 
it appears to have demonstrated the fact that .predaceous 
birds may sometimes suffer death in a peculiar manner. 
This bone, which has been assumed to be the wishbonei 
of a quail, caused the death of a rough-legged hawk. The 
hawk was found in the town of Marblehead, Mass., on 
Jan. 18. 1902, by Mr. T. Kenney, of that town, and _ it 
had apparently died as a result of the bone being in its 
throat, where it had become so firmly fixed that parts; 
of it protruded through the skin of the hawk's neck. 
The hawk was taken to Mr. George O. Welsh, the well- 
known taxidermist at Salem, for the purpose of having its' 
skin mounted. Mr. Welsh gave the bone to Mr. Thomas 1 
L. Burney, president of the Lynn Fish and Game Club, 
and he handed it to me, together with the facts above' 
stated. J. W. Collins. 
[The occurrence noted by Capt. Collins is an interesting 
one. We fancy that birds are killed by eating more fre- 
quently than is generally supposed. We recall once catch- 
ing, with a landing net in a small fresh-water pond, a 
broadbill duck which had a mussel firmly clamped to the 
root of the tongue. The hinge of the mussel was toward 
the throat, and the partly opened valves directed forward. ' 
The bird had evidently seized the open mussel and at-i 
tempted to swallow it, and the shellfish had closed on, 
the tongue so firmly that it could not be moved. That 
this had taken place some time before was made evident 
by the fact that all the flesh of the mussel had disappeared. 
Stories are frequently t told of ducks caught by the bill 
by shellfish which were open.] 
The Porcupine's Quills. 
Carthage, Ohio. — Editor Forest and Stream: My 1 
attention has just been called to Stanstead's query 
in a recent number of our paper. I bave met and killed 
quite a number of these pests of the woods, and have| 
observed their action when attacked by a dog, as well as . 
when pursued by a man with a club and I have never 
as yet seen any flinging of quills. A favorite spaniel that 
I had in the Adirondacks was intent on rushing at every 
qUill pig that he saw. notwithstanding a number of ex- 
periences when his nose and mouth were filled with the 
quills (and which would take an hour's work to remove 
with tweezers), and on several occasions I was so near as 
to observe the procedure. The porcupine would run, but I 
when about overtaken (by either dog or man) would stop 
and turn his nose down, apparently between his forelegs, 
and thus in the shape of a ball, with quills erect, await the 
attack, and the dog that touched or nabbed him was 
glad to let go at once with a muzzle filled to repletion. 
If given opportunity, the porcupine will climb a tree or 
seek refuge under roots or in holes in rocks. 
E. S. Whitaker. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper, 
