448 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Dec. 6, 1902, 
visitors, who were subsequently taken through the Park 
by Dr. Frank Baker, the Superintendent. 
The question of holding a special meeting of the Union 
in California the coming year — ^possibly in May or June — 
was referred to a committee, with power. 
The next annual meeting will be in Philadelphia, com- 
mencing Nov. 16, 1903. 
Following is a list of the papers read at the sessions : 
1. "Notes on the Life of Edward Harris, with Extracts 
from his Journals" — Geo. Spencer Morris. 
2. "The Development of the Pterylosis" — ^Hubert Ly- 
man Clark. 
3. "The Domestic Afifairs of Bob White"— John N. 
Clark. 
4. "Summer Bird Life of Eastern North Carolina"— T. 
Gilbert Pearson. 
5. "Change of Color without Molt"— R. M. Strong. 
6. "Iridescence and White Feathers" — R. M. Strong. 
7. Some Problems of Local Bird Population" — ^Wzilter 
B. Barrows. 
8. "Notes on Picoides americanus and Picoides arcticus 
in Minnesota." Illustrated with lantern slides — T. S. 
Roberts. 
9. "Comparison of the Bird Life of Gardiner's Island 
and Cobb's Island." Illustrated with lantern slides — 
Frank M. Chapman. 
10. "A Contribution to the Life History of the Herring 
Gull." Illustrated ^vith lantern slides — ^W. L. Baily and 
Wm. Dutcher. 
11. "The A. O. U. Check-List; Its History and Its Fu- 
ture"— J- A. Allen. 
12. "A Glance at the Historical Side of the Check-List 
of North American Birds" — ^Witmer Stone. 
13. "Evolution of Species and Subspecies as illustrated 
by Certain Mexican Quails and Squirrels" — E. W. Nelson. 
14. "Form in Bird Music"— H. W. Olds. 
15. "Ancient Birds and their Associates." Illustrated 
witli lantern slides — F. A. Lucas. 
16. "Observations on the Herons of the District of 
Columbia. Illustrated with lantern slides — Paul Bartsch. 
17. "Bird Life in the Bahamas." Illustrated with lan- 
tern slides — Frank M. Chapman and Louis Agassiz 
Fuertes. 
18. "Reports of the Chairman of the Committee on the 
Protection of North American Birds" — Wm. Dutcher. 
19. "Federal Game Protection in 1902" — T. S. Palmer. 
20. "Some Variations in the Piping Plover {Mgialitis 
meloda)" — Jonathan Dwight, Jr. 
21. "Nesting of the Red-bellied Woodpecker in Har- 
ford County, Md." — Wm. H. Fisher. 
22. "Some Food Habits of West Indian Birds"— B. S. 
Bowdish. 
23. "The Significance of Trinomials in Nomenclature" 
— Witmer Stone. 
24. "An Epidemic of Roup in the Canandaigua Crow 
Roost" — ^Elon Howard Eaton. 
A Robin in f Barracks* 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I noticed in the current number of the Forest and 
Stream a communication under the caption of "The 
Murder of Young Among Birds," that recalled to me 
something that happened many years ago. I had been 
sent early in January of 1880 to Jefferson Barracks, 
Mo., just below St. Louis, to drill recruits there; it 
was the cavalry recruit depot then. 
There is a large reservation here covered with forest 
trees, and I knew that the next spring these trees 
would be full of birds; this seemed to be a favorite 
place for them. I asked permission to put up boxes 
for them and was told to put up all I wanted. I made 
about fifty, some of them with large doors in them for 
my favorite, the robin; and every box had a family of 
some kind of birds in it the following summer. 
One of my robin boxes I put up in a tree in front of 
our quarters,' and a pair of robins took possession of 
it and raised a brood. When the young were half 
fledged, one of them fell out of his box during a rain 
storm, and a big Tom cat we had brought him into the 
barracks to make a meal of him. 
I took the bird from the cat, and now took a notion 
to raise this bird myself. I could have put him back 
in his box, but getting an old cage I put him in it; then 
hanging it on the back porch began feeding him. He 
would eat a chunk of beef the size of his body three 
times a day if I pulled it apart and fed it to him. I 
never offered him anything except beer that he re- 
fused. I fed him about everything we would eat, from 
peanuts and candy to raisins and boiled prunes. He 
refused the beer, though. Pie had only been a few 
hours in this cage before his mother found him, and 
she began feeding him, but never tried to poison him. 
I scraped up an acquaintance with her, and after a time 
she would eat out of my hand. It may be that this is 
why she did not kill' her young one, she knew I had 
him. 
When he was full fledged I took him one morning 
and holding him out over the porch, let him go. He 
flew off and I expected to see him no more, but at din- 
ner time I found him back in his cage again ready for 
his dinner. He occupied this cage all summer and 
soon found his way into the quarters. He would perch 
on a gun rack here and let any of us take him in our - 
hands. I could call him, and have him fly on my 
shoulders to be fed; but he never would allow a woman 
to touch him. 
He seemed to hate the English sparrows, and never 
missed a chance to whip them; he could whip half a 
dozen of them. He grew very large, on account of the 
food he got, I suppose, and stayed with us until late in 
the fall; in fact, I had about concluded he did not mean 
to go at all, before he finally left. 
I left there the following spring before the birds be- 
gan to come; but a friend wrote to me that among the 
first to come was my robin. He brought a mate with 
him. They took possession of the box he had lieen 
hatched in, then flew into the barracks and took his 
old place on top of the gun rack. He and his mate 
raised a brood here that year, and did not have to do 
much foraging for them, either, the men kept them 
supplied with plenty of boiled meat. 
^ My friend told me that this robin of mine would put 
in whole hours in trying to get his mate to come into 
the quarters with him. flying back and forward from 
his box to the open window, then waiting for her to 
follov\j, but she never would come. 
Cabia Blanco. 
A Coltmibia Cownty Wolf. 
The Hudson, N. Y., Republican of Nov. 24, reports: 
"The first wolf that has been seen in Columbia County 
m forty years was shot Friday near Lebanon Springs by 
William H. Hatch. This animal had been committing 
great depredations, getting into sheep folds and terror- 
izing the whole neighborhood. It was asserted by the 
farmers that it had killed probably more than one' hun- 
dred _ sheep within the last three months. The animal 
had its haunts in New Lebanon and Stepentown, and in 
the latter town recently killed and partly devoured a calf. 
It became very bold lately, and on several occasions was 
seen in the open, but managed to elude the hunters who 
were in pursuit of it, until Mr. Hatch came upon it among 
his sheep. _ The first shot from his gun badly wounded the 
wolf, but it turned on the farmer and was ready to give 
him battle until the second shot in the breast took deadly 
effect. The wolf bounded in the air, and after giving a 
yelp, fell dead a short distance from Mr. Hatch, who did 
not lose his nerve, when a miss would have left him in 
a dangerous predicament. The farmers had clubbed to- 
gether and offered a reward of $100 for the capture of the 
animal, and now that it is dead they will feel more at 
ease,_ as they were afraid to travel along the highways 
at night while the wolf was roaming about. It stood 
about three feet in height and weighed 150 pounds. Last 
Thursday it attacked a cow, which was lacerated so badly 
that it had to be killed. It is thought that the wolf had a 
mate, which will have to be killed before sheep and cattle 
in the neighborhood are safe." 
[What proof is there that it was a wolf?] 
Tame Adirondack Moose* 
Hamburg, N. J., Nov. 24. — I saw an account in yester- 
day's Sun of a tame moose at Newcomb, N. Y. I left 
Newcomb Oct. 23, and this moose appeared soon after 
that. A few days ago Mrs. J. M. Chase sent me two 
pictures of the animal. In one the moose is taking an 
apple from a lady's hand: in the other it is lying on the 
ground near the house. The moose has no horns, one 
ear lops, and there is a long scar or sore on the left 
shoulder. This is probably some tame animal turned out 
by Mr. Whitney. Newcomb is about thirty-fiAi^e miles 
from Long Lake, west, near where the moOse and elk 
were let go. These pictures prove that some hunting 
stories are true. J. B. Pellet. 
§^nie Hnd §mu 
— ^ — 
Proprietors of shooting resorts -will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Fosest and Stskah. 
Experience with Pheasants. 
East Wareham, Mass. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The modern mowing machine is one of the jugger- 
nauts of small life, and the greatest sufferers are toads, 
frogs and mice; at the time for cutting hay the mea- 
dows fairly teem with these small creatures, but there 
are others which flee from the fearsome clatter, and 
sedcing the thickest cover, naturally keep in the stand- 
ing grass, and are roused up each time the circuit is 
made, their cover narrowing till laone is left, and away 
they rush — cats, rabbits or meadow mice, and some- 
times a black snake. These last, with others of their 
family, are often caught bj' the cutter bar and lose a 
portion of their bodies, if the division Is well aft they 
may recover; if otherwise, they are doomed. 
Nesting birds suffer much, for if the nest withstands 
the cross tramp of horses as one machine after another 
is used, and escapes the tread of wheels, its seclusion 
vanishes when the hay is raked, and the changed ap- 
pearance with attending turmoil discourages the 
mother, who abandons the location, leaving eggs or 
young, as the case may be. 
On the 7th of July last, while mowing a piece of 
stout grass, the cutter bar of my machine passed over 
a Mongolian pheasant sitting on eight eggs, so closely 
that the knives cut off her long tail. She sprang from 
the nest into the standing grass, and then flew to a 
nearby maple swamp. Stepping off the machine, I 
found five eggs unbroken, the others were mashed by 
the bird as she sprang up after being pressed almost 
fiat by the bar. 
There was no nest or depression whatever, not a 
shred of material had been contributed by the bird 
herself, and after the eggs were taken up no one would 
ever imagine that a nest had been on the spot. The 
long tail feathers mixed with cut grass, showed, how 
close the call had been; that the bird escaped is ex- 
- plained by the fact that the fingers on the cutter bar 
turn up slightly, and on striking any lump tend to raise 
the knives and pass over. When this took place I was 
almost through cutting and had a baby rabbit in each 
of my two coat pockets. After cutting out the piece I 
placed the five eggs in my cap and performed the 
somewhat difficult trick of driving a horse, holding a 
cap with eggs and keeping a rabbit in either pocket 
with my elbows. 
On my arrival home the children, with a young 
friend from the city, were delighted with the woodsie 
babies, and it was some time before they were willing 
to return them to their meadow and mamma. After- 
ward, while raking the hay, one little body "was found 
mutilated almost beyond recognition as a rabbit; there 
must have been a litter of them. 
The pheasant's eggs I placed under a very gentle 
bantam. In just 21 days she brought out the whole 
five. What next to do we did not know, so tnrned 
them out into the garden after 24 hours in their nest— 
a nail keg half filled with hay. The bantam was so 
gentle anyone could pick her up outdoors or in. They 
seemed to thrive for two or three weeks, then we 
missed one; it failed to come in at night. The hen 
came back to her nail keg every evening, until the little 
ones were large enough to fly, then she took them up 
on a high shelf in a shed built against the barn. When 
they were six weeks old a second one grew sick and 
died, the others have never shown any signs of sick- 
ness. 
We fed them but little, the hen was an indefatigable 
scratcher and worked all summer in a hot bed and 
around the woodpile. This last had been on the prem- 
ises some time, and one day I got a Portuguese to 
saw it up. When he got down to the bottom the hen 
and pheasants were on hand. When he raised a stick 
from the moist earth and chip dirt there were exposed 
a lot of black field roaches, angle worms and earwigs 
or myriapods that sought seclusion under it; then the 
hen and chicks rushed in and caught them. This wood 
was long-cut— not cord wood — and required two 
trestles to hold many of the sticks; this, of course, 
necessitated the man's walking back and forth between 
them, and the hen was often under his feet, and some 
of his time was spent in "shooing" and pushing her 
away, for, when he lifted up one stick others were 
likely to roll down on either her or the chicks. In this 
manner they grew up tame, coming into the outbuild- 
ings or house when a door was open. 
They like flics and spend much time in the horse 
stall scratching in the bedding, not minding the horse. 
When it rains they come into the shed; it does not 
matter if men are coopering barrels and children play- 
ing I spy or tag; they will sit on the grindstone, a 
barrel or bench, and dress their feathers as uncon- 
cerned as their foster mother. 
Some four weeks ago she began to wean them and 
commenced to lay in the same keg where she sat. They 
did not take to weaning, would not be weaned; she 
could not lose them; while she was in the keg attend- 
ing to her duties they stood about with their necks 
stretched up and peeped dolefully. 
At first, when the notion to fly" struck them, the hen 
would fly with them— usually a short distance into the 
garden, sometimes across the road into a neighbor's 
corn field. Now, when they fly, she stays back, and 
they commence to peep as soon as they find she is not 
with them. These birds can be quite destructive to 
crops; they will eat tomatoes equal to domestic fowl, 
dig up beans, peas, and corn, and even scratch out 
potatoes, whoever thinks of stocking a place with 
Mongolians should consider well beforehand what re- 
ception they are likely to meet when they spread about 
the country. In this town they are remakably .plenty 
now, and are prized by the citizens generally; some 
few complain that they cannot raise peas or beans un- 
less close to the house. How this will be in a few 
years is hard to say; the birds are in every field now; 
they are quite prolific, from six to fourteen eggs in a 
nest and two broods. They are hardy as the ruffed 
grouse, and Jrom their greatest range, not being re- 
stricted to timber or brush, can support themselves 
better. 
Our birds now eat all grains, corn in preference to 
any; they do not care for dough, but eat bread. I 
think they would be difficult to raise on artificial food 
in the manner of chickens; they must have a large per- 
centage of insects, and only a hen can supply them. 
I am not certain that these birds roost off the 
ground, and think mine were taught by the hen. I 
have never seen one alight in a tree. 
Of the three two are hei*s; if they are monogamous 
I shall need another male, i.e., supposing they con- 
tinue to stay about the place. Cock birds appear the 
most numerous from their brilliant coloring, catching 
the eye more readily than the duller plumage of the 
females. They also are more fond of the open, like to 
sit on fences, v/alls, haycocks and other posts of van- 
tage; the hens are more shy and really fully as plenti- 
ful. How we shall hold out after 1905 if shooting is 
then allowed, is hard to say. but I opine that then \\«e, 
who have cherished these birds and love to see them 
about, will see a crowd of aliens come in and clean 
them out before our faces. 
If an open season is declared only landholders 
should be allowed to shoot them, or their permission 
should be required, a limit on the number and sex 
should be insisted upon. 
These birds are the gift of one or two public spir- 
ited gentlemen to the community. They are singularly 
confiding and easy to approach; once open the season 
and market, goodby pheasant. 
Walter B. Savary. 
P. S. — Since writing I have had to confine my Wrds, 
partly to save them from the army of irresponsible 
shooters and partly for fear they would go off with 
wild pheasants. A few days ago I saw a flock of 
females fly down to the salt water, while some alighted 
on the shore at the water's edge, two dropped into the 
grass — called "creek stuff" here — where the water was 
two feet deep; there they sat like ducks, their long tails 
well up until I put up the covey in my anxiety to 
see them. W. B. S. 
A Maine Center* 
WAterford, Oxford Co., Me., Nov. 24. — Brown 
trout that were planted three years ago in the brook 
and lake here have thrived, and were quite plenty in 
the brook, spawning last of October. I caught one in 
August of 2 pounds weight. Lots of fine salmon in 
Muting Brook, a tributary to Bear Pond; a few have 
spear marks, showing poaching; they are natives. 
C. D. Morse shot a buck of 256 pounds, and a Mrs. 
Emmerson shot one of 201 pounds from her door, said 
to be at 40 rods. We would like to see Mr. Converse 
hunt foxes his style up here. These real and only 
sportsmen are now all in the South. Conditions and 
circumstances change them. A large black cat was 
caught in a trap recently, thgught to be a "Jock cat." 
" E. Porter, 
