FOREST >AND STREAM. 
ing with food as otherwise. After one of these grand 
migrations, very few of the species are found in the 
locahties from which they have moved, and these, as 
if alarmed at the unusual solitude, are silent and shy. 
They rapidly increase in numbers, hoAvever, and in a 
few years are as abundant as before. I am not aware 
that they ever migrate except when exceedingly 
abundant. Of these immense hordes but few probably 
survive. No sudden increase in their numbers was 
heard of in southern Wisconsin after the several mi- 
grations from northern Illinois. Many are drowned 
in attempting to cross streams; not a few are de- 
stroyed by man; some die from utter exhaustion, and 
when forced to travel in an i^nnatural manner, upon 
the ground, they fall an easy prey to rapacious birds 
and mammals, all of which feast when the squirrels 
migrate." 
I learn from Dr. Hoy that one of these migrations 
is said to have taken place in 1842; he witnessed an- 
other in 1S47, and a third in 1852. From these facts, 
and from observations made in Ohio and elsewhere, 
he is of the opinion that the migrations, in most cases 
at least, occur at intervals of five years; and if he be 
right, the squirrels, which are now exceedingly abund- 
ant again in southern Wisconsin, maj^ be expected to 
migrate in the autumn of 1S57* He further says that 
the migrations observed by him in southern Wiscon- 
sin occurred when the mast was exceedingly abundant 
and the squirrels in good condition. Near Racine 
they were observed pas.sing southward in very large 
numbers for about two weeks, at the end of Septem- 
ber and the beginning of October, and it was a month 
before all had passed. Thc}'^ moved along rather leis- 
urely, stopping to feed in the fields, and upon the 
abundant nuts and acorns of the forests. So far had 
they departed from their accustomed habits that they 
were seen on the prairie, four or five miles from any 
timber; but even there, as usual, they disliked to travel 
on the ground, and ran along fences wherever it was 
possible. 
* Since writing the above I have received the following letter 
from Dr. Hoy: 
Racine, A\'is., April 2, 1878. — Dear Sir: Black and gray squir- 
rels did migrate in 1S57, as predicted. Whether there is a precise 
interval between their migrations I will not pretend to state; yet 
they did migrate in this section in 1847, 1852, and 1S57, since 
which they have become so scarce that I could not determine 
whether there was an attempt to migrate or not, as they are nearly 
exterminated now in this vicinity. In 1857 I knew one negro who 
stood by a tree, in an open space on the line of a fence, and shot 
over twenty in one afternoon. In other years one might stand 
at the same place six months and not see one individual. 
Yours, 
P. R. Hoy. 
English Pheasants in New Yofk, 
The Utica Observer reports : English pheasants, for 
which there is closed season till 1905. are becoming a 
positive nuisance in the section round about Canandaigua. 
They have grown so numerous and so bold that they in- 
vade the barnyards and house with the fowls, and steal 
as much of the latter's feed as they can without being de- 
tected by the farmers, who are compelled to drive them 
off the premises. They roam the fields and woods this 
time of the year in large numbers, and, since food of 
which they are fond is scarce, they must needs find their 
way to the farm houses. They roost near the barns and 
have no fear of anj^one or anything. They may even be 
seen searching for food alongside the highways in more 
unfrequented sections. 
Proprietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Hunting Along Simple Lines. 
It often • strikes one that we sportsmen put a wrong 
valuation on the joys of a well-stocked game country. 
We tell of our big bags, of our long strings, of a country 
that swarms with game, and forget the days of travel, the 
bother and expense of guides, the end of the trip before 
we have really gotten accustomed to the life. In the glut- 
tony of our kill, we forget for the time that it is not 
meat that we are out for, not mere pleasure of destroying 
life, but for old Mother Nature, the excitement of the 
chase, the meeting of wariness in beast nature with the 
cunning of man and of conquering with our superior intel- 
ligence the less scientific but more experienced woods- 
men and the fera natures. 
Here the common experience that that which is most 
rare is most to be desired is forgotten, that when one's 
dog puts up birds right and left, or when one's guide is 
so skillful in his art that one has killed his' whole allow- 
ance of deer and moose in one day, it is apt to cheapen 
the sport with one through sheer surfeit. 
Some of the most delightful little hunting trips that I 
have ever enjoyed have been on some Saturday afternoon 
when I have stolen surreptitiously from my office with a 
rifle of small caliber, caught the trolley and been whirled 
eft some ten miles into the country, where I have spent 
the afternoon in pursuit of gray squirrels._ 
No long days of preparation or of anticipation never 
realized. Clothed in a presentable, if somewhat worn, 
business suit, a small box of cartridges about the size of 
your match-safe in one pocket, your take-down rifle mak- 
ing a small brown-paper parcel, you pass for a suburban- 
ite returning home for over Sunday, and. you have noth- 
ing to fear but "cow lice" and perhaps a little mire to 
soil your attire in your afternoon in the woods. 
Then there is that long-forgotten sensation surging 
exultantly in your breast — once more you are playing 
"hookey" and all the other boys and girls (your profes- 
sional brethren) are slaving away at their desks, using 
up the gray matter and spoiling their tempers as they look 
out and see the glorious autumn day going to waste. 
And then the end of the car line is reached; before you 
is the howling wilderness of the outlying country. You 
look about you and settle on the hill over there with its 
tall chestnuts and browning hickories for a place beloved 
of the squirrels. So you tramp up the grass-grown wood- 
land path, drinking in the perfume of the forest and the 
elear upland air in large draughts. Insensibly you are 
affected by the scenery, although your eyes roam from 
right to left of the path in search of your furry victims 
to be. 
Now you hear the piercing chirp of the chipmunk, blue- 
jays scream discordantly about you, protesting your pass- 
age, and occasionally you hear the call of a quail. 
Yot: leave the path, after you are fairly in the woods 
(for along this most hunters will have gone), and strike 
off independently into a clump of cedars with here and 
there a glimmering white birch. Here there are no leaves 
and you steal along with the softness of a cat. The ex- 
citement of the chase, the glamour of the silent forest steal 
over you, yoia even feel a slight palpitation of the heart, 
and if yotir imagination be good your pleasure is com- 
mensurable with that of moose hunting. And then some- 
thing catches your eye. You cannot tell what it is, or 
where, but instinctively you feel that somewhere eyes are 
fixed on you — and wild eyes. Then you are struck with 
the peculiar gray of that fallen cedar, near its up-rooted 
base, some fifty yards ahead of you. How like a — yes. 
//, is, for you have seen the unmistakable bushy tail of 
the gray squirrel. You follow its flattened form, which 
seems the bark of the tree itself, to the beady eyes watch- 
ing your every movement in fearful curiosity. Now that 
he knows you see him he will be off like a flash, for in this 
country there are more hunters than game, and the latter 
correspondingly wary, so you give him a shotgun sight 
and the rifle pings out. You have caught the squirrel 
through the shoulders as he was turning; he drops limply 
off the cedar. You are as proud as though he were a big 
buck. Indeed, he is a more difficult thing to hit at that. 
You pick him up with a smile of satisfaction and tuck his 
soft, plump body away in your coat pocket with visions of 
squirrel pie already stealing hungrily in upon you. Yes, 
you do feel rather cruel, heartless — like a huge bully — 
but then (you ask yourself) what easier death than this 
could one ask for? And then, too, the gray squirrel of 
these woods, as you know, is no easy prey, to find and no 
easy mark for a rifle when found. 
After having justified your aboriginal instincts, you 
make your way through the cedars to the taller chestnuts 
beyond. As you come out on the edge of these, some 
hundred yards or more away, you catch a glimpse of a 
dash of gray, darting along limbs, jumping from tree to 
tree in a fury to reach his hole before he is seen. Of 
course you blaze away — that is what you are out for— and 
equally as a matter of course you miss and the squirrel 
disappears into his inviting hole to stay there for an hour 
or two ; so you leave him and tramp on slowly and watch- 
fully. The leaves rustle loudly and the twigs crackle 
under foot ; you feel that you might as well be aimounced 
to the squirrel by a brass band as far as getting near him 
is concerned. The woods appear to be deserted now and 
you stop to rest a moment. Before you rises a low, rock- 
strewn knoll where pines mingle with the chestnuts. 
There is something moving up there between you and the 
open sky, and again with a start of pleasurable excitement 
you recognize it as a squirrel. A good hundred yards 
you reckon it, and when the ring-sight circles it the little 
fellow is nearly hidden by the bead, but he is seated on a 
limb now, so you take a long, careful aim and fairly let 
the trigger drift off. A second later you realize to your 
amazement that he is still there; you are so far away the 
report has not frightened him. You hurriedly screw the 
rear Lyman up a notch, shove another cartridge in and 
again take aim. This time, when the puff of smoke drifts 
away, the squirrel is gone, too. You run to the tree and 
there at its foot he is, a nut still between his teeth. 
So you go on through the ripening afternoon, your 
pockets bulging on either side and your luck indifferent. 
Then walking along a prostrate forest monarch you, in 
turn, hear the erratic pattering of small, wild feet, and 
al! afire you charge in the direction of the sound in the 
hope of running the little fellow up the wrong tree. But 
no, you see the bushy tail disappear in the tempting 
crotch, high up in a chestnut. Big? He is the largest 
thing in the squirrel line that has ever gone uncaught 
(which, by the way, are always the largest) ; so you de- 
cide to wait for him to come out. You select a large, 
f.-dlen trunk with a limb branching out conveniently for 
a back, and sit waiting patiently the pleasure of his royal 
highness. The charm of the warm autumn afternoon steals 
upon you, the drowsiness of the silent woods soothes you ; 
you lean the rifle against the trunk near at hand and lay 
your head back, and then 
When the cool of the twilight awakens you, you start 
up bewildered, and then, far up above you, you hear the 
staccatic bark of the squirrel who has been making the 
most of his shining hours as you slept. You take up the 
rifle softly and steal carefully around the tree, for you 
cannot see him here. Back you step, shunning all leaves 
and twigs until at last you place him, far up in a bunch 
of chestnut burrs. He is outlined sharply against the 
whitening sky, the Lyman sight fits around his head like a 
halo. Gently you press the trigger and something comes 
hurtling down through the foliage and lies still before 
you. 
But now the afternoon is gone, your sport is done for 
the day. You tuck your rifle tenderly under your arm, 
for it has done good work to-day, and with loaded pockets 
make your way down through the darkening woods, the 
fresh air pumping into your lungs, a pleasant weariness 
in your limbs, and your tired brain rejuvenated and ready 
for another week's work, with a prospect of this recrea- 
tion at its end, Edwin C. Dickenson. 
Fish and Game at the "WofIcJ*s Fait, 
St. Louis, Feb. 3. — Editor Forest and Stream: I have 
the pleasure of advising you that the building to be oc- 
cupied by exhibits of the Fish and Game and Forestry 
Departments will be located on the Tesson Tract, imme- 
diately west of the grounds and buildings of the French 
Government. It will have a frontage of 600 feet on an 
avenue, by a width of 300 feet. Because of its command- 
ing position all of its facades will be hiehly ornamented. 
It is a pleasure to be able to state further that great in- 
terest is being manifested in applying for space for dis- 
plays in this building. Not only our own people, but 
many representatives of important foreign countries have 
already filed applications. Everything at present indicates 
a full participation in the competition for awards in 
1904, Tarleton H. Bean, 
Q^xti Department of Fish and Game. 
Massachusetts Fish and Game. 
Boston, Mass., Feb. 7. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Among the bills referred to the Committee on Fish 
and Game is one to extend the right of search by deputies 
without a warrant in suspected places, except in private 
dwellings, for game illegally killed. Last year several 
members of the Hottse declared they would not vote 
authority to search a man's domicile without a warrant 
One of these was a member of the State Association, 
Hon. E. L. Osgood, now a member of the Senate. It is 
thought that it will stand a better chance in its present 
form. 
Another bill before the committee makes fishing on 
Sunday, in salt water, legal. Another is designed to 
recuperate the lobster fisheries by prohibiting the taking 
of all those over lo^.^ inches in length, granting permis- 
sion to take small lobsters of any length. This may 
please the lobster fishermen about Martha s Vineyard and 
in waters contiguous to Rhode Island, where there are 
none reaching the present legal requirement and have not 
been many for several years, if we may believe the testi- 
mony of the fishermen who have appeared before the 
committee from time to time from that quarter during 
the last five j'ears. 
Has not the experiment of taking all sizes and throw- 
ing back none been thoroughly tested in the waters of 
Rhode Island and Connecticut? Everybody knows what 
has been the result. Looking at the subject in the light of 
the experience of those States why should not Massa- 
chusetts do the same thing and thus hasten the day when 
there will be no lobsters caught of decent size in her 
waters? This would show everybody the necessity of a 
close season for a period of years. A law to be good for 
anything must be fairly easy of enforcement, either from 
its inherent nature or by its being in accord with public 
sentiment. 
The difficulties of securing a complete enforcement of 
our present lobster law have, hitherto, been too great to 
be overcome. Some of the fishermen believe in it and 
live up to it. Many do neither. The same is true of the 
dealers, possibly of consumers. An absolute close season 
for a period of years seems to be the inevitable result of 
failure to regulate the catching by limiting the length. 
Some concerted action on the part of all the coast States 
of New England is demanded in order to perpetuate a 
supply of this crustacean, so much enjoyed by all good 
livers. 
From Maine comes news that the gentlemen interested 
in the preservation of forests and the regulation of tim- 
ber cutting would be willing to have a portion of the 
money to be derived from hunters' licenses to defray the 
expenses of that work. Who, comes next? Do not all 
speak at once, for there may not be enough to go around. 
Already some Massachusetts sportsmen are making pro- 
vision to secure hunting and fishing regions in Vermont 
and New Hampshire, where there still remains stretches 
of land abounding in streams and forests as attractive as 
those of Blue Mountain Park or even the northern wil- 
derness of Maine, though not so extensive. 
The following brief extract from the Boston Herald 
may interest some of your readers in the Pine Tree 
State: 
"The hearings on the proposition to levy a big tax on 
non-resident hunters dowit in Maine has brought out the 
fact that game is decreasing down there and that this tax 
is needed to restrain the hunters. Also that game is con- 
stants^ increasing there and that the proposed tax is 
neither wise nor generous. This evidence looks as if the 
question would have to be decided on its unrevealed 
merits." 
Mistaken for a Cariboo. 
From New Brunswick comes ncAVS of another victim — 
this time a lumberman, who left his two companions in 
order to gather .gum. Such carelessness, it seems to me, 
is no less than a crime, and deserves to be punished as 
such. 
Among the witnesses who have given testimony before 
the special committee of the Legislature which has been 
investigating the condition of the coal trade in this State, 
is a well known sportsman and a vice-president of the 
Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, 
Hon. C. M. Bryant, Mayor of Quincy. 
In this case, as always, Mr. Bryant showed himself a 
man who is not afraid to speak his mind, and from his 
official position he possessed a knowledge of facts not 
familiar to the ordinary citizen. 
Representative Wm. B. Phinney of Lynn, is one of 
that committee. Mr. Phinney was for several years the 
president of the Lynn Fish and Game Protective Associa- 
tion. 
On Monday evening, Feb. 9, occurs the twelfth annual 
concert and ball of that club, which is always one of the 
events of the Shoe City, and is likely to do much to- 
ward replenishing the treasury. Central. 
Nofth Carolina License. 
Much interest is felt in the bill chartering the Audu- 
bon Society and protecting song and sea birds. The 
slaughter of the terns and gulls has practically exter- 
minated them, but with protection they will again multi- 
ply. A man named Gould, in Dare county, is the one 
who slaughters birds for milliners' use. He hires men to 
shoot them. The shooting is largely done during the 
breeding season, "dust" shot being used. Of course the 
young birds, their parents killed, die in the nests, and the 
eggs decay. The committee has so amended the bill that 
it does not conflict with local laws regulating the killing 
of game birds. The law as to these is shamefully abused. 
Mr. W. W. Smith, of this city, during a recent trip to the 
Coast found that the people who shoot by "fire light," 
at night, were killing 50 or 60 ducks at a shot. These law 
breakers will be knocked out of their nefarious business 
by the game wardens provided for by the Audubon bill. — 
New Bern (N. C.) Journal. 
Extradition for a Moose Killer. 
Gov. Bates, of Maine, has granted extradition papers 
to the Maine authorities for the return to that State of 
Lawrence Mott, who was indicted by the grand jury in 
Washington county, Maine, for killing a cow and calf 
moose near Calais on September 12. 
