Forest and Stream. 
A w 
EEKLY Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1902, snr Forbst and Stream Publishihg Co. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1902 
Terms, |4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. | 
Six Months, $2. j 
( VOL. MX^No. 13 
j No. 846 Broadway, New York. 
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sent. 
THE FOREST FIRES. 
It has been years since there have been so many and 
so extensive forest fires as within the past few months, 
and it is probably not too much to say that millions of 
dollars' worth of standing timber have been destroyed; 
while in Oregon it is believed that more than 40 per- 
sons have lost their lives in the flames. The destruc- 
tion of timber in the neighborhood of Grand Encamp- 
ment, Wyoming, and on the borders of the Yellow- 
stone Park Forest Reserve has been widespread, and 
many, many years must elapse before nature or art can 
repair the damage. Not only have the mountains been 
stripped of their timber, but in some cases the winter 
range of the stockmen has been burned over, and their 
cattle and horses will have to be moved somewhere to a 
winter range. 
In Wisconsin and Minnesota there have been serious 
fires, which, happily, have been put out. Montana, 
Washington, and northern California, as well as Ore- 
gon, are said to have suffered severely, and it is reported 
that the smoke of the forest fires along Puget Sound 
and some other points on the coast is so thick as to 
make navigation difficult and dangerous. There have 
been many fires in Colorado also; and at last advices 
most of the fires which have been raging for months 
over the mountain country west of the Missouri River 
are still burning. 
If the United States had a proper forestry system and 
service, such extensive and disastrous conflagrations 
could not occur. 
The first step looking toward such an improved serv- 
ice was taken at the last session of Congress, when a 
bill was introduced which had practically the unanimous 
approval of the best equipped foresters in the country. 
The purpose of the bill was to transfer the control 
of the forestry service from the Department of the In- 
terior to the Department of Agriculture. i^argely 
through the instrumentality of Mr. Cannon, of Illinois, 
this bill was killed, chiefly, it was reported, on grounds 
of economy. It is to be hoped that the loss of property 
and loss of life which have taken place this summer may 
open the eyes of Mr. Cannon and other economical per- 
sons of his caliber to the importance qf providing against 
a recurrence of such fires in the future. If we take into 
consideration the value of the water stored by these 
forests to the inhabitants of the arid West, it will seem 
that it is a good investment for the Government to take 
all steps that wiU insure a permanency oi this water 
stapply. _ _^ ^ : 
THE RAIL TIDES. 
In the Northern States the closing days of September 
mark usually — though not always^ — the closing also of the 
rail shooting season. 
The broad fields of corn grass or wild rice, which a 
month ago showed unbroken surface of tasseled heads 
that bowed before each passing breeze, are interrupted 
now by many narroAv lanes where the boats of the rail 
shooters have passed to and fro, breaking down the grass 
which now lies in unsightly tangles on the water's sur- 
face. The heads of the grass which still remain upright 
no longer bend beneath a burden of long, slender grains, 
but stand upright, straight and naked, stripped of their 
fruitage by the birds. For beside the rail which run over 
the floating vegetation, and squeeze their way among the 
close set stems, and sometimes climb part way up the 
stalks of the grass; and the ducks which pick up the 
falling seed and at low water dabble in the mud of the 
bottom, these rice fields are the resort and feeding ground 
of great flocks of other birds. But now since most of the 
grain is gone and food has become scarce and the nights 
are growing cooler, the metallic cluck of the red-winged 
b'ackbird is heard less often, and the high-pitched musical 
tinkle of the reed bird no longer comes to the ear. 
The wet meadows have long been mowed, and on the 
higher ridges along t^ir borders, goldenrod and aster 
are beginning to matere. On the hills back from the 
water, patches of brown appear on the chestnut trees and 
the birch leaves ar&J^iting go their" hold on the slender 
twigs, and are slo-'J^^^alling^'fo; feirth. Here and there, 
the soft maples of^e lower ground are patched with 
vivid red, foreshadowing the general blaze of color that 
the next month will show, and the conical cedars which 
crown the higher rocky knolls are twined with streamers 
of the Virginia creeper, already turning crimson, and 
.-con to glow yet more brilliantly against the -dark green 
background. The heats of summer are still felt at mid- 
.lay, and the air is smoky with a presage of the autumn 
which is not yet here. At morning and evening in quiet 
v,'eathef, light fogs hang over the streams — fogs which 
hardly obscure the view, but distort and magnify well- 
known objects so that they are hardly to be recognized. 
A morning tide is always a low tide, and so is favored 
not at all by the average gunner, but if one starts for the 
rail grounds early in the morning, he may see strange 
things. Once in a while a woodcock may be seen to fly 
across the stream with the air of one who has been out 
all night, and is ashamed to be caught abroad by the 
rising sun. Even a ruffed grouse has been seen to cross 
the river — perhaps influenced by the curious wandering 
instinct which in early autumn attacks this noble bird, and 
leads him to show himself in all sorts of unexpected 
places, careless of his own safety and quite without the 
wisdom which will characterize him a month or two later. 
Rail shooting is a charming sport, but a sport for 
women and children and aged men, rather than for the 
hardy sportsman, who, tough of muscle and long of wind, 
is able to tramp hour after hour through New England 
woods and swamps, or over the slippery prairies or the 
rough mountains of the Northwest, or among the pine 
v/oods and old fields and briery thickets of the South. 
What can be more luxurious than to stand or sit in the 
boat, and to be shoved smoothly and slowly among the 
wild rice fields, while the tame and slow-flying birds rise 
in front or on either hand and gently flap their way to ' 
a hoped-for place of safety? The gunner has abundant 
time, a clear field. There is no need to allow much for 
crossing shots. Rarely, to be sure, if a bird is started 
within a foot or two of the shore, or of the thick cat- 
tails which the boat cannot penetrate, a snap shot is called 
for, but for the most part the shooting is open and easy. 
For this very reason the rail grounds offer a capital 
school for the small boy or girl who desires to learn to 
shoot. Properly equipped and standing in the bow of the 
boat, the novice has every opportunity to do well, while 
the instructor, sitting on the midship thwart, may coach 
the pupil, and explain why each shot was missed, why- 
each mistake was wrong, and what should be done when 
the next bird gets up. The pupil who shoots too quickly 
may be checked by a word of warning just as the bird 
rises, and urged to be deliberate; and lesson after lesson 
may be given which should greatly profit the learner. 
In these latter days such instruction is much more im- 
portant than it would have been to those who were learn- 
ing to shoot twenty-five or thirty years ago, since to-day 
the opportunities for practice on wild birds are fewer 
than they used to be. 
Unfortunately, not every one has access to rail grounds 
where lessons oi this sort may be given, but those who 
can spend a few days each autumn in the pleasant task of 
giving instructions to their young people in such matters, 
should avail themselves of the school of the rail grounds. 
. VANISHING GAME BIRDS. 
That certain species of North American mammals and 
birds have become absolutely extinct is too well known 
to make it necessary to enlarge on the fabt. That certain 
other species are approaching, or 'have already reached, 
the danger line is well understood by those who watch 
such matters. One of these species is the woodcock, and 
- it is only last week that Mr. Theo. Gordon called atten- 
tion to some of the special dangers' which threaten this 
simple fowl, so easily found, and when found so easily 
secured by the competent shooter. Like other game birds, 
it has to rim the gauntlet of many dangers, and it is far 
Ies« Avell able to take of itself than are the gallinaceous 
game birds, and suffers in consequence. 
On another page Dr. A. K. Fisher, the Ornithologist of 
the Biological Survey, sounds a timely note of warning 
which it will be well for sportsmen and legislators to 
heed. He points ottt that the woodcock and the wood 
duck are becoming so scarce that they are in danger of 
e2<tinction, and gives the reasons for their scarcity, which 
are not far to seek for any one who- has followed the 
course of shooting and alleged game protection in the 
United States for the last twenty years. 
For many years the woodcock was everywhere shot 
during the summer ; sometimes before its eggs were 
hetched, usually before its young had lost their down or 
v/ere able to. take care of themselves. Even to-day dur- 
ing autumn and winter it is wholly without protection in 
its Southern home. The two facts, coupled with the small 
number of eggs laid and the further fact that it is a bird 
very easily found and shot, have contributed to the over- 
destruction of the woodcock, so that it has now become 
actually a rare bird. 
The case of the wood duck is somewhat similar. By 
some strange mental twist, our legislators seem to think 
that wildfowl need no protection, and in many States the 
close season covers but four or five months, and these 
the months when few or no ducks are found in the 
Southern or Middle United States. There is thus no 
check on the duck shooting habit, and people have come 
to believe that whenever a wild duck is seen it is open 
season for that duck. The wood duck breeds over much 
of the United States, and is therefore present with us 
during the close season, and to some extent destroyed 
even then. It is encouraging to observe that there are 
seven States in the Union — New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Utah and California — 
and three Provinces of Canada — New Brunswick. On- 
tario and Manitoba — which have abolished spring shoot- 
ing, not in terms, it is true, but by making the open sea- 
son close during the winter. One of the counties of New 
York offers an interesting object lesson in duck protec- 
tion during the spring, and in consequence duck abun- 
dance during the legitimate shooting season. 
In matters of game protection we Americans are great 
hands for locking the stable door after the horse has 
been stolen, and then talking largely about what ought to 
have been done a long time before. There have been not 
a few examples of this in recent times, and in the matter 
of the wildfowl generally and of the dainty woodcock — 
once regarded as the especial game bird of America — we 
are threatened with evils which there is yet time to avert. 
The most effective action that can be taken to protect 
these birds is to shorten the season during which it is 
legitimate to kill them. Spring shooting should be 
abolished in all the States, and those of the South espe- 
cially should enact laws closing the season on the w®od- 
cock and on all wildfowl not later than Jan. 30. Such 
laws if enforced, together with non-sale laws in the 
different States, might readily enough bring back the 
wildfowl and the woodcock in something like their old- 
time plenty. 
Dr. Fisher is entitled to the thanks of all sportsmen and 
naturalists for his strong plea for the woodcock and th^ 
wood duck, " ' ^ ' ... 
