ass 
FOHEST AND STREAM. 
f ndcr a rock nearby, but the dog going in a fter it 
dragged it out. It finally broke away from liiiii asid look 
refuge on a rock, where it remained uini) ihe hunter 
kilkd it. In Lycoming county there is an inferential 
tradition tliat a panther killed a man. The two spea- 
thcns killed by Mr. Hastings, a male and a female, are 
said to have measured, the female 8 feel ; the male, 9 
feet. On the other hand, we know that panthers killed by 
Mr. Roosevelt in Colorado averaged abuiil / J incht-s tise 
largest male lieing 8 feet long; the largest female 7 feet 
long. ■ _ 
The Canada lynx has been taken in Pennsylvania to 
quite recent years, though it was probably never a com- 
mon species in Pennsylvania. Specimens taken wuliin 
the State have been examined by the auilior, an<l one ir 
reiiorted as having been killed in Lycuniing county in 
i8g6. 
The wildcat is probably increasing in Pennsylvania, but 
scarce in New Jersey. 
Both the red and gray foxes are abundant in both 
States. 
Of the wolf, Mr. Rhoads has much to say, and he be- 
lieves that in Pennsylvania it has been exterminated only 
within a few years, although in New Jersey the last 
wolves were probably seen -in llie early part of the last 
century. Pennsylvania accounts seem to indicate that i 
remnant of the typical wolf of the Allegheny may si ill 
exist in some of the momitains of the State. In Clear- 
field county a wolf is reported to have been killed by 
a man with a club the winter of iScji y2, and wolves 
have been seen and their tracks have been seen at diiTer- 
ent points in recent years. But these are nut records to 
which the scientific observer would care to lie him-.elt. 
There seems to be evidence, however, that wolves siill 
exist in Somerset and Westmoreland counties in Penn- 
sylvania, and that at least one wolf was capturL-d there 
perhaps in 1897. Wolves have bepn killed also in Tioga 
county, but they were western prairie wolves purchase<l 
from a circus for 50 cents ajiiece, and then killed and |iu 
bounty collecte<l on each one. The date of the e.Kter- 
mination of the wolf in New Jersey is a long way hu-k. 
The wolverine, known also, as glutiu)i, and rccenily 
more or less di-^cussed as carcajou, no «ioubi formerly 
occurred in Pennsylvania and New Jer-ey. but mu.sl have 
always been rare in recent years. Inhere is testimony, 
however, of Avoiverines having been optured in I'euusv!- 
vania in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but only 
on one or two occasir.ns. 
The fisher or black cat may still occasionally be found 
in the rough mountains of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Rliuads 
has secured many records of its capture in recent years. 
The black bear, of course, is still occasionally found 
in the territory under consideration^ and some observers 
in 1900 report them as increasing. 
Among the introduced species mentioned in Mr. 
Rhoads' list are Franklin's spermophile from the west, 
the beaver, and possibly the western timber wolf. There 
is a long list of extinct mammals. 
Mr. Rhoads' admirable w^ork is one which should be 
not only in every public library in Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, but in the library of every man resident in those 
States who is able to afford the luxury of a few books. 
It would be hard to imagine a volume which should have 
a greater interest for each resident of these States than 
this one, and indeed it is besides of much practical use 
to the farmer, and the man who spends much of his time 
out of doors. The volume is heartily to be commended. 
The cloth bound book sells for $2.50. 
The Apple Bird. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
May I thank Forked Deer through j'ou for his last con- 
tribution to the "apple-bird" mystery? He has certainly 
proved to my satisfaction that he got the right bird, and 
it is no doubt my own fault that I cannot name it from 
his description, but that light .stripe the length of the 
under parts is beyond my e.xperience in w.-.odpeckers. 
However, one of the first things to learn in science is that 
there is a great deal that we have not seen ourselves, and 
one of the next (which I set aside because 1 was not 
afraid to show what 1 didn't know myself if 1 could find 
out what someone else did know about the "apple-bird"), 
is "not to guess without you know." There can be prac- 
tically no doubt about this bird, and yet J am not ac- 
quainted with any plumage of the Lewis's woodpecker 
which answers to the description. 
If someone could settle the point authoritatively it 
would give me one more additional good point about the 
woodpeckers, for all the (information that i'orked Deer 
has given about the habits of the bird, including its 
eating green corn, bears ^ the mark of unimpeachable 
authenticity. 
There are notes upon notesjpublished in natural history, 
some manifestly bogus, some as patently careless, som^ 
written by those who have had neither the information nor 
the experience to enable them to make a true record, so 
that they put together a tissue of well-meaning blunders; 
but I wonder sometimes if those who really do have the 
ability to tell the truth clearly and who are good enough 
to record their observations for the public service, know 
how quickly their records are sorted out from the trash 
and taken in charge by the specialist fn some department. 
There is always someone wdio is waiting for just that 
bit of information. Fannie Hardy EcivSToim. 
An Albino SquitteL 
Decorah, Iowa, Oct. 14.— A snow white female squirrel 
was captured here last Sunday without injury. She is a 
most beautiful animal, almost full grown, yoimg, pure 
white, with pink eyes. Understanding that I-'irest axu 
Stream had a standing offer for animals of the albino 
persuasion, will you kindly write m.e what, if any, price 
or prices you hold out for same, or refer me to a fancier 
who is reliable, as this is a chance for a handsome pel? 
M. A. Harmon. 
[We do not give prizes for albino specimens.] 
^iUHe ^ug mid 
' — ♦— 
Ali comniunicaiions intended tor Forest and Stbeam should 
alv\<;ys be uv.iJi>.S3i.u lu Hit uiiu Sirtain I'uua.itimK i o., 
I\evv liork, aiiii not to any luuiviauai cminfccicd wiiti vaP'^i'. 
The Game Laws in Udd. 
All comraurications for Forest and Stream must 
be directed to Forest and Stream Pub. Co., New 
York, to receive attention. We have no other oHice, 
is the standard auibunty oi lisli and game taws of the United 
bliiita aiiu cuiuiiiii, it IcliS cvvl>iniiitt and K'*cs U cuirctUjf. 
iitt III aan.ti»jiini paji'-d Hal oi suuic ui luc atmcrs wUo Uau\^ie 
Uic line*, 
American Game B.rds. 
m.-l Le Quail. 
From the personal pomi oi view, each one generally 
has his own prcujrcncv: ni icspeci to iiie bud wmca iie 
preieis lu alioul lu secuic me greatest pleasure, and 
tins prelereuce in Uiin d*.icimiiiei tuc snuoler s 
opnuou ilial such bsrd ts thereiure lue best oi ali buds 
loi iiie purposea ul spurt. 1 lius uile piticifc ducKS, and 
n.jl cuusiueiing tliai hiS own pcrsuiial idiosyiiciasies, 
or greater oucetsa, or lialJii uuu lung absuciatioa, or 
wliui Hot, may iiUvc lUuch to uu wim i.is prciercuce, be 
buicUMuy aiiiiius liiai di.cli snuuting is lae be.^i oi ali 
sliouiiiig. And au Willi liun wuuoe cnoice 01 sport is 
tlie siiuoinig oi suiue ou.er bud — Hiui bird is sure 
to be exaiieu abo\c ail oUieis. 
Jbut irom tiiC slauiipuiiil of the greatest good to the 
greatest number, t|uaU oi.uoung for nuny leaaons is 
tiie best 01 all siiooiiiig. it is a Kind wutcji ailOids such 
nii.xed aliuuuug — upt-ii and euvcr, alow and awiic — iliat 
liaris can be luuiiu 10 mcel luc sin.u1 and lancy oi ali, 
be liie lornu'r liulc or grt-ai, and the iaiier lasiidious. 
Tlicic IS iiuicn ul Uic open yuail abuoting vvuieii ib not 
so diliieull as tu dishtai len nun ol uiuderaie alciil, 
wliile, oil the ouicr band, siiouiiiig in cover tests lue 
SKill ui tiie must t.xpe.i apurtsmaii. And again. laKen 
ail III all, wliciber in open ur cu\er, liie quad suuuter 
ui good avciage aivili can Lonipasb a guud aiiuvviiig in 
reauUs, Laving lUe eunscqueuT ijleaaure wlncii comes 
from reasonable success. 
in this connection, it may not be amiss to maintain 
that a certain degree of success is essential to the 
shooter's pleasure. Many writers deprecate the con 
sideration of the bag, treating it as an irrelevant, 
gross incident, so dominated by the beauties of na- 
ture and the ethics of shooting in the abstract that it 
should be mentioned in hushed tones, or viewed with 
eyes askance. The beautiful and the useful of sport 
should go hand in hand. Each is a part of the great 
whole, and as such should be equal factors in sports- 
manship. To the sentimental, which ennobles and 
adorns the useful oi life, there must be added the mate- 
rial and the practical. To the shooter there must be 
reward for his efforts. It has often been said that it is 
not all of shooting to shoot, nor all of fishing to fish, 
forgetting the converse that, all of shooting or fishing: 
being absent, there is no shooting nor fishing at all. 
As to quail shooting in respect to quantity, there is 
more ot ii than there is of any other kind of shooting, 
hence each shooter can better satisfy his longings for 
spoil if it be measured by ibe poasibilities oi the bag 
or the number ol oiipoi tunitics ollercd. And there is 
alsu mure ol it when measured by the inatlcr ol lime, 
for it extends ihruiigli a season ol about five months, 
taking it as it is in ilie IMurth and llie South. Thus 
the man whose business caics lea\e hnn but a few 
days lor shouting, and. these at no definite tmie, has. 
more possibilities of sport on quail than on any other 
bird. 
But the very abundance of the quail '■ecms to have 
checked ibc proper apprecialiuii of it. Not that it is 
treated with neglect, but there seems to be a lack of 
the enthusiasm and lavish use of ihe superlali\es, as 
is often to be noted when writers are discoursing uii 
tlie ruffed grouse, or wundcuck, etc. Nevertheless, it 
is not uncoininun to have a keen relish for what is 
rare, even il it be not of the besi, while the good may 
be so cummou as to*' escape notice. 
The quail is inor^ uniiurmly and widely distribntcd 
throughout the Unit'^d States than is any other game 
biid. its habitat gi^iie rally comprises both open audi 
cover (though whule" disiriets are e.xcepliuns, as willl 
be touched un later), thus, be.sitles giving the spurts- 
man a mi-xed style of shouting, is :ulded the cliarm of 
constant variety aiul the testing of the siinrtsman's 
skill in woodcraft. It differs frmn the ruffed gruuse,. 
whose habitat is in the woods, a much smaller section, 
relatively. The ruffed grouse is strictly a bird of the 
forest. It in practical sbuuiiug ne\er can be the bird! 
of the people, thougii it be a bird whose qualities are: 
equal to testing the skill of the best sportsmen. 
All works on natural-histury, so far as I know, teachi 
that the quail's habitat comprises conjointly both opcm 
and cover, and while such is true in a genera! way, 
there are important exrcptiuns to it — so much ,so that 
a work devoted to the habits and habitat of tlie quail! 
as they are in one locality might be <li>tinci!y errone- 
ous if applied to the quail of some oiher locality, liiy 
this respect it differs from the prairie chicken and the 
ruffed grouse; for of the one it may, be said without 
qualiitcation, that it is a bird of the prairie, of the 
other that it is a bird of the woods. Such saying of 
them will be found to be true wher- th'^^-e 
may be found 
The quad thrives wherever it can obtain a food sup- 
ply, in open or cover. It readily adjusts its habitat 
according to the dominating circumstances of food an di 
cover, whether it be in prairie or woods, or a country 
comprising both open and cover. 
In the country north of the Ohio and east of the 
Mississippi rivers, it frequents the open fields largely, 
preferring such as have a good food supply, with 
hedges or old walls and fences fringed with brush, or 
nearby woods and lliickets to which it can run or 
fly tor slicker or saleiy. In such sections it rarely 
goes far into the woods, preferring to skirt along the 
outer edges oi them merely for protection and shelter. 
The hawks are its deadly enemies and it needs ever 
to be alert in avoiding them. 
Fiithts. 
:hei 
Often the flight of the quail when fleeing is a compro-, 
mise between cover and open, so that it is never so 
easy a prey to mediocre skill as is the bird of the. 
open, the prairie chicken, slow of wing, little given to, 
strategy in evading us enemies, and trusting for safety 
to bight, which is neither switt in itself nor puzzling^ 
to the shooter. 
As the rulted grouse is so discouraging to most oC 
shooters consequent to being beyond then- skill, pa- 
tience or endurance, so the prairie chicken, being at the! 
other extreme, soon dulls the sportsman's interest fro 
the munutouy of the sport which is afforded, and the 
ease with wliicli the bird may be killed. The chief 
merit of chicken shooting consists in that it is summer 
shooting, eummg at a time when the zest of the sports 
man is keen from months of deprivation from sport wit 
dug and gun, and when llie uuliug has the charm o 
the prairie in its most beautiful adorning. There is 
monotonous sameness to chicken flights which begin 
and end in the open, thus lacking the variety whic 
pervades the sport when solving flights in cover and 
open wherein the trees and brush force the shootei 
to time his shots and to take advantage quickly of the 
opportunities offered. Such combinations of obstrUc 
tions and flights, curves and straight lines, require 
style of shooting differing in every particular fro 
the spiritless and calculating method so common^ 
practiced by the methodical chicken shooter. Whei 
the chicken becomes very wild, as it does late in thd 
season, it flushes at long ranges and is difficult tc 
shoot. Shooting then is a test of the gun quite ai 
much as it is of the shooter. However, chicken shoot 
ing is at a time when nearly all sportsmen have fin 
ished their shooting on the prairie, hence late, it i: 
not worthy of much consideration as a sport of th« 
many. 
Roosts and Shooticg, 
The quail oftenest roosts in the open fields, wher« 
there is at least a few inches growth of grass, stubbh 
or weeds for concealment, and it uses the same placi, 
many times if not constantly disturbed. This is indi 
cated by ihe grass or other vegetation being beatei 
down in the roust, the small circular opening, aboul 
2 feet in diameter, and the pile of droppings in th( 
center of it. 
The birds huddle on the ground, bunched up close 
in a circular form with their heads outside; thus al 
face toward the outer circumference of the circle' 
which cannot be approached without coming to the 
view of some bird. This arrangement is said to pro 
vide admirably for the safety of the whole. In theon' 
it seems a wise arrangement; in practice it worki 
very faulty, since they often fly reluctantly when the; 
have comfortably adjusted themselves for a night 
rest. The pointer or setter also can draw very clos' 
to them then, generally doing it with greater pre 
'cision than when they are more scattered about, thf 
evening hours being more favorable for strong 
scent and accurate pursuit. Were not dogs trained t 
such stanchness as is required in shooting, they coulc 
easily, at such juncture, spring in and capture, as in 
deed some partially trained dogs will do under the cir 
cumstances. 
In the States of greatest bird abitndance, as m Ar 
kansas, Mississippi, etc., and where there are man;' 
ragweed fields, in them very destructive shooting ofte 
takes place near the twilight hours, wdien the bir 
have settled themselves for their slumbers. When th 
dog points the bevy the shooter fixes himself at th 
proper distance from the roost to obtain the bes' 
scatter of the shot. Then the huddled birds, beinji 
flushed, swarm up loosely together for 3 or 4 fe 
then the shooter takes a snapshot at them, and oft^ 
■does nearly as much consequent damage as if he haj 
potted them on the ground, —it 4s hardly necessary 
add that this practice is disapJ)roved by all true sport 
anen. 
