Forest and stream, 
1^0 
Items from the Pacific Coast, 
Because of the long drought last winter, and lack of 
rain during the late spring, nearly all precipitattion oc- 
curing during the month of March, many of the moun- 
tain brooks are nearly dr3' and the mountains are bare 
of pasturage. Though plentiful at the begininng of the 
season, trout have been difficult to take on account of 
shallow water. Mountaineers report deer sign scarce 
throughout the best country. A reduction in the reserva- 
tion force and the unusual number of campers this 3^ear 
make it necessary for the rangers to be exceedingly 
watchful. Fires have been burning for a fortnight among 
the Big Trees near Yosemite and are now reported as 
having entered the park. Under a recent order from the 
Interior Department, allowing guns to be taken into the 
forest reserve only by those who have a permit from the 
supervisor, attention is directed especially to shotguns, 
as the ammunition used for these is deemed more likely 
to result in conflagration. 
The recent tour through the south of President H. T. 
Payne, of the State Game and Fish Protective Associa- 
tion, appears to have awakened some enthusiasm in in- 
terests of this character, as nearly every week one hears 
of cases in which the law has been enforced or other 
beneficial work has been accomplished. A notable in- 
stance occurred in one of the parks in Los Angeles. 
The nearest residents found during the spring that the 
waters of Echo Lake were full of black bass and carp, 
and though it was out of season, everybody had a good 
time fishing. All would have gone well perhaps had 
not W. M. Meece, who had boating privileges for the 
lake, discovered he could catch bass' by rocking a skiff 
near shore, and thereupon supplied the anglers with these 
fish. Deputy Pritchard heard of this "performance, ar- 
rested the offender, and later in the Police Court had 
Meece fined for catching bass out of season. 
Those of your readers who visit this State for the ex- 
cellent salt-water fishing may be pleased to learn that 
a compromise has at last been effected with the canning 
companies in regard to Avalon Bay, near the island of 
Santa Catalina, where the purse netters have been so 
destructive to sport the past winter, though supposed to 
be prohibited by a county ordinance from entering such 
waters. - Secretary Ryder and President Holder, assisted 
by other members of the Tuna Club, had obtained suffi- 
cient evidence to convict the crew aboard one of the 
most persistent launches, but consented not to prosecute 
if the sardine company withdrew from the island all of 
the offending boats. Undisturbed by nets the fish have 
come into the bay as never previously and sport is ex- 
cellent. 
Hunting and fishing are well looked after in Santa 
Barbara County, where a strong club upholds the efforts 
of Game Warden Abels to enforce the law, and during 
the close season beast, bird or fish may consider itself 
comparatively safe, or the pot-shot who would kill il- 
legally may know that his act immediately puts him in 
jeopardy. The manner in which the Game Warden ap- 
pears where least expected has aroused no end of con- 
sternation; though a very large county, rough, too, he 
may pervade all of its extremities upon the same day, 
almost as^ if doubles or worse had assumed the pro- 
tective office. Zeal of this order seems worthy of imi- 
tation elsewhere. The above official is now employed in 
stocking the streams with rainbow trout. Untiring ser- 
vice of this kind is rendered only in communities that 
give wardens assurance of moral support from the resi- 
dents. 
A decision rendered lately by the Supreme Court of 
this State, though seemingly in direct opposition to the 
opinion delivered several years ago, really conforms with 
the latter in every point, indeed throws further light 
upon the view then assumed. To state the case in the 
former action briefly, James Knapp, of Stanilaus County, 
California, in December of 1899, upon being convicted 
of shipping ducks out of the county in direct violation 
of an ordinance passed by the supervisors, brought his 
cause before the Supreme Court, which ordered his re- 
lease and wrote the following opinion: "The State 
regulations upon this particular subject seem complete, 
and restrict the rights of citizens so far as is necessary 
to prevent the unlawful killing of game. Serious ques- 
tion has been made as to the power of any board of su- 
pervisors to add either restraints or regulations to the 
right to take and kill game to those made by the legis- 
lature. We do not find it necessary for the purposes of 
this case to decide that question. If such further re- 
strictions upon the right to kill game may be made by 
the county boards, such regulations must be reasonable, 
not oppressive to any class, and must not contravene 
any established policy of the State. Having taken the 
game lawfully and at a time when it is lawful for any- 
one to shoot ducks, the ordinance prohibiting its ship- 
ment is an unreasonable interference with the right of 
private property, and an unnecessary restraint of trade. 
It was stated in the argument, substantially, that the 
ordinance was aimed at pot-hunters. Relatively, a small 
part of the community only are sportsmen. , A law or 
ordinance which would discriminate in their favor would 
not be a proper exercise of the so-called police power. 
If that be the manifest or admitted purpose of the ordi- 
nance, it is void for that reason also." 
The test case recently decided was brought at the in- 
star.ce of the commission merchants of San Francisco 
who wished to ascertain the validity of the State law 
m regard to the sale of game. One of their clerks sold 
a quail, was arrested, pleaded guilty, was fined $25, and 
at once appealed the case. He asked for a writ of 
habeas corpus, on the ground that the law was class 
legislation and that when a man killed any game if be- 
came his property, with which he could do as he pleased. 
But the Supreme Court held that all game is really the 
property of the State, that sportsmen kill animals only 
through sufferance, and that the Legislature in granting 
favors can make whatever qualifications may seem 
proper, nor does the prohibition in reference to the sale 
of game destroy a property right. Two of the seven 
justices, however, dissented on the ground that the law 
discriminates in favor of sportsmen and hence is class 
legislation. The opinion upholding the State measure 
following as it does that overthrowing the county ordi- 
nance, defines clearly the right of legislature and board 
of supervisors to enact game regulations. 
A young bird, said to be a California condor, was 
caught the other day by a ranchman in the mountains 
near Santa Maria. Your correspondent, however, is 
somewhat incredulous as to the variety. He heard in 
the spring that a condor's egg had been found by two 
boys m the mountain near Santa Barbara: but investiga- 
tion proved that the egg was only one of "another kind" 
of condor. The great California variety still exists, 
though, for specimens infrequently cross this valley, one 
large individual only several months since, and are easily 
identified by the observer. The egg of these creatures 
sells readily for $1,500, or about at the market price of 
great auk eggs, nor has one been forthcoming at even 
these figures for years. 
Golden eagles, the eggs of which are now deemed so 
rare that oologists will give $35 for a good specimen, 
may still be seen frequently about the Ojai Valley, espe- 
cially during winter or spring, and up to a few seasons 
ago one pair built annually upon a hillside scarcely a 
mile from our postoffice. The collector, who secured 
their egg, informed me that the old birds did not con- 
duct themselves at all with the conventional ferocity 
reputed to these creatures by the writers for certain 
juvenile papers, but when the nest was approached, sailed 
away n^ver to return. The spot chosen for building 
was easily accessible and did not have to be attained 
by him through the aid of a rope secured to one foot. 
Conduct so unheard of in the parent birds, with such 
commonplace choice for their home, if persisted in gen- 
erally, would make the writer of adventuresome stories 
weary, even as he often makes his readers weary. 
An eagles' nest on a high peak thirty miles from town, 
from Its being near the point at which Supervisor Slos- 
son has located one of his reservation guard, has ac- 
quired no little fame among the forest rangers, even a 
degree of veneration, as the lonely individual whose mis- 
fortune has isolated him up there has no other com- 
rades than the restive occupants, and nearly every mem- 
ber of the force has had his opportunity to become inti- 
mately acquainted with the pair. Though all the world 
lies within view, to the ranger in distress it appears 
quite remote. For this Jove there can exist for imme- 
diate entertainment no Venus, no freaky Juno, no am- 
brosia, but only wide prospect for his delectation. His 
lightning defies and scares him. Assuredly ownership 
m the royal birds must be a solace. Should they steal 
young lambs, the herds are a pest to the range. 
Camping for Women. 
It is well to make up one's mind in the beginning 
of a camping season to abandon starched garments, both 
outer and inner. The woven gauze union suits are the 
simplest and in every way the best things that may be 
had in underwear. These require no ironing, and' are 
warmer in cold, damp weather, and safer, because ab- 
sorbent, in hot weather than are muslin. An extra pair 
of tights for unusual cold should also be taken. A di- 
vided underskirt of pongee for hot weather should serve 
instead of petticoats. Corset covers should be of the 
gauze sort. 
In a hot camp a short denim skirt of dark color is ad- 
mirable; in cooler places, corduroy is better. But in 
either place the woman who really expects to accompany 
the men of her party on expeditions will have to be pro- 
vided with a divided skirt. In mountain regions, where 
the horse is the favorite means of locomotion, any other 
sort of a riding skirt is an absurdity, and in any un- 
beaten forest hunting knickerbockers are a necessity. 
For these, again, either denim or corduroy, according 
to the climate, should be selected. 
Thin flannel shirt waists should be substituted for any 
starchable varieties; and a sweater to slip on over them 
when sunset or showers chill the atmosphere is also 
desirable. _ Soft, starchless stocks may be worn if the 
camper insists upon being conventionally dressed through 
everything, but a more comfortable and picturesque 
fashion is to knot a soft silk handkerchief about the 
throat above a collar cut sailor-wise, or even turned 
back. 
A waterproof bag for one's extra clothes is a prudent 
purchase, and a set of waterproof pockets, to be at- 
tached to a short pole set in two crotched sticks in the 
tent, is a necessity. In it, if it is of at all generous pro- 
portions, everything, from hairpins— of which no supply 
can be extravagant— handkerchiefs, cosmetics, medicines, 
to needles and literature, may be kept. 
If you are going into a region of mosquitoes or flies, 
take a head net. It is a sort of bag of bobbinette, which 
is fastened around the rim of the hat and in yoke fash- 
ion about the shoulders.- It is unlovely, but not so un- 
lovely as the face which has needed its protection and 
failed to find it. 
High canvas leggings, double-bottomed shoes, a rub- 
ber or waterproof coat— these should complete the outfit 
of the amateur camper, so far as mere material appen- 
dages are concerned. The immaterial necessities will be 
at once perceived by every woman of common sense. 
Having invaded the masculine realm of pastimes, she 
must adopt the masculine virtues. She must learn to 
regard discomforts with gayety, to reserve all her tears 
until she is home again, and in the seclusion of her own 
room, to divorce her "moods"~a woman of moods is a 
scourge and an abomination in a camp — to subdue all 
whims of appetite and to be indifferent to all vagaries 
of weather. Unless she can make up her mind to all 
these things, let her at the beginning of the summar seek 
her well-piazzaed hotel, and decide to busy hei'self with 
her ^Renaissance lace-work or five-hole golf, as in years 
gone By.— Anne O'Hagan, in Collier's Weekly. 
While Amos Cartright was fishing in the Big Bush- 
kill Creek, Sullivan County, he hooked a large trout, 
and while playing it in the pool a large fishhawk pounced 
upon the trout and rose with it from the water. Cart- 
right was so excited he did not stop his reel, and the 
hook holding fast in the fish's jaw the line parted at the 
tip of the rod. The hawk disappeared from view with 
not only the trout, but the fly, leader and 50 feet of the 
fisherman's line. — Oswego Times. 
A Theory of Animal Instinct. 
Paper read before the Pairhaven Men's Club by Joseph K Nye 
Fairhaven, Mass. " ' 
For ages men have been observing some apparent 
method of communication which one animal holds with 
another. To be sure, the order of intelligence in such 
communications is very low, nevertheless we have all of 
us noticed the ability with which some familiar animal, 
family cat, house dog, horses and other animals share 
A^Tth each other the sentiment of joy or fright How 
often iiave we seen a dog sensible to the approach of 
Ganger of Avhich a human being is totally unconscious? 
How often have we seen a flock of half a hundred birds, 
so bunched up that it is impossible to observe the leader 
turn instantly in their whirling flight, as one bird? No 
known method of human thought could be devised bv 
v/hich a command and its execution could be compassed 
v.ithm the space of a hundredth part of a second: and 
jet the phenomenon is familiar to us all ; and the scientific 
question comes to us, what method of intelligence is em- 
ployed by the leader of that whirling flock by which he 
maneuvers his little army? 
I have questioned closely a large number of whalemen 
and it seems to be an established fact that, when on^ 
whale of a school is struck, all others in the immediate 
vicinity are aware of danger. Certainly some means of 
ccmimunication exists among these animals beyond that 
which can be attributed to sight and hearing. 
Ernest Seton Thompson, in a recent articles, describes 
very vividly the actions of two herds of antelope, who. 
although two or three miles apart, were made aware of 
danger one to the other; and although his explanation 
goes so far as to say that certain physical changes in the 
patch of white hair would make it possible for these 
animals to communicate by sight, I want, later on, to sug- 
gest another means which may be possible, and which 
It remains for science to develop. Go further than this 
what is It that guides the wildfowl high in the air, through 
days of fog and nights of darkness, unerringly in its 
thght north or south? Surely some power other than 
the sight of familiar landmarks, and as an indication of 
my tram of thought, I will say, why not the same power 
that points the delicate little magnetic needle in the same 
direction. 
Now, I cannot state facts, that is, so far as asserting that 
this is so, but let us hold up to the light of this suggestion 
some of the recent discoveries in science, which, I ftiink, 
can be truly claimed to have some bearing on *is 
phenomenon. 
In 1888 Prof. Hertz, by a series of experiments, which 
have been widely discussed and studied, discovered that 
throughout all nature in all matter, solid, liquid or 
gaseous, there exists an attenuated, intangible substance 
which, for want of a better name, he called ether He 
round that by means of certain electrical instruments 
which would produce what we call an elctric spark, this 
ether would be set in motion, and start out in all direc- 
tions a series of waves or vibrations, which certain other 
electrical contrivances would be sensible to; and out of 
this sprung the present method of what is known as ware- 
less telegraphy. 
No human eye is delicate enough to feeJ or in any way 
receive an impression from these ethereal waves, that is 
stating It specifically, but in a general way there is no 
doubt m the scientific mind that all human sensations 
oi heat and light are truly produced by these vibrations 
of ether; and does it follow that because our eye is not 
sensible to certain ether vibrations, that the eye of some 
animals may not be? 
The theory of light is nothing new. We know that a 
beam of light can be decomposed into its seven primary 
colors ; ranging from the highest, violet, down through the 
blue, green, yellow, orange, to red, the lowest color in 
the spectrum, or, at least, the lowest which any human 
eye can see; and we know that these color effects upon 
the human eye are produced by vibrations of the aforesaid 
ether, and even the rapidity and length of these vibra- 
tions has been proved, until to-day science says the high- 
est color, violet, is produced by a vibration of ether equal- 
ing 700 billions per second. And now comes Prof. Hertz 
to prove that his little electric spark, in itself scarcely 
visible to the naked eye, can start out a series of these 
vibrations so much longer and so much lower down in the 
scale of color that no human eye can detect it. But the 
scientific mind has not been content with the mere theory 
tliat these low vibrations do exist, and after months and 
years of research, the discovery has been made by young 
Marconi, that a small pinch of nickel filings become vio- 
lently sensitive when placed within a radius of these lower 
frequency waves. 
It is wonderful to think of, that this little pinch of nickel 
filings should so far surpass the human eye in delicacy, 
and see colors which we know nothing of, but such is th^ 
case. To be sure, our filings have no nerves or gray 
matter to translate their sensation into human intelli- 
gence; but for an instant suppose they had. Away off 
yonder on a distant coast, through houses, trees and hills 
a, minute spark flashed between two electrical points would 
be- gathered m by the filings, the sensation transmitted to 
ink brain, and we could count them one, two. three and so 
ort'with a prearranged sequence, which would carry intelli- 
gence around the world. In fact, the sensation would b- 
--^sight. 
Is it not possible that our dumb animals, deprived as 
they are of the power of speech and reason, should have 
within them some physical organ through which thev may 
be sensible to this ethereal vibration which is knoWn to 
exist far below the range of human sight? Does not some 
power within the leader of that whirling flock of birds un- 
derstandingly transmit its order to turn? Does not the 
wonaerful phenomenon of life admit of some power hy 
which the frightened antelope sends forth its ethereal 
warning to its fellows, miles away? Why not the same 
thing, far more comprehensive than what we call instinct 
transmit the agony of the wounded whale to its kind 
vvithm the danger radius? 
What are the electric currents which surround the 
earth but a stream of ethereal vibrations, which for the 
