Nov, 28, 1903.1 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
419 
Why can't the fellows who differ about Kipling's ability 
as a poet get together and settle their differences in some 
quiet spot and give the other fellows a much needed 
rest ? 
J. W. •Parsons. 
Buffalo, New York.— Editoy Forest and Stream: To 
fully appreciate Kipling's poem one must be acquainted 
with the scenes he is describing \vhen these pen pictures 
become vividly real. I was born in Maine and to me 
the poem is a masterpiece and accurate in detail. I read 
and re-read the contributions of The Old Angler, Manly 
Hardy, and other able writers. They brought me back 
to the old scenes. Kipling does not mean that the Red 
God.s are actual, live, real Red Gods, but to him who.se 
affinity is in the wilderness, they are real enough, and I 
often hear them calling — not only calling, but almost pull- 
ing me to the forest I love so well. 
DiXMONT. 
■those of its antjpode. Hence I regard much of the mat- 
ter in the log-jam controversy as power run to waste. 
Mr. Brown's fanfare of last week, calling the chase off, 
is the most ingenious allocution I ever read. Such a 
mingling of the chaste and beautiful with the grotesque 
and absurd is beyond parallel. It is as queer a combina- 
tion as Red Gods and Limburger cheese. 
C. H. 
Durham, Kansas. — Editor Forest md Stremu In your 
issue of November 14, Hermit says, in regard to my letter 
of the 7th : "Your correspondent, E. P. Jaques wants 
five questions answered 'by the able defenders of Kipling.' 
He wants the answers to agree. The questions have been 
answered by several correspondents, and the answers have 
agreed, except in minor points." 
Now, for fear there may be some who have not fol- 
lowed the contest closely, I will submit a few of these 
replies which Hermit says agree. As explained by the 
Forest and Stream commentators, Kipling meant by Red 
Gods "red salmon" (Hermit) ; "red gods of desire" (Ken- 
neth Fowler) ; "pompous poetic license" (Ashcroft). 
Raw log-jam means "a raw thing in the landscape" (Old 
Angler); "logs stripped of bark" (Charles Cristadoro; 
'raw, as not altered from the natural state" (M. Hardy) ; 
"superlative degree of rough" (Hermit), 
Right-angled log-jam means "jam at right angle to the 
stream" (Hermit) ; "tendency to rear up at right angles" 
(Hardy) ; "right-angled at every possible angle" (Von 
W.) 
These are only sarnples of the answers which Hermit 
says "agree." 
Mr. C. H. Ames quotes from Shakespeare to show 
that meaningless language is all right in good descrip- 
tion, but I would say to Mr. Ames that "to take arms 
against a sea of trouble" is very apt metaphor, and can- 
lUot be interpreted a half dozen ways by its best friends. 
Good description carries a picture that looks alike to all 
observers, yet these eight Kipling lines of the "best 
description ever written" appears different to each on- 
looker. I hold from this that Mr. Brown is vindicated. 
Most people will remember the lines of poetry that got 
entangled in Mark Twain's head until he could think, 
talk, or dream of nothing else : 
Punch, brothers, punch with care; 
Punch in the presence of the passenjair. 
I am afflicted in the same way by these Kipling lines. 
E. P. Jaques. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have taken no part in the Red God and log-jam con- 
troversy (eheu jam satis), though I have been quoted as 
authority on some points ; but now that you have put a 
lime limit to the wrangle, permit me space to congratulate 
Mr. Brown upon his masterly climax in your last issue, 
and the bonhommie with which he lifts his "stein" of 
Brown stout to the health of all concerned — Kipling pos- 
sibly excepted. 
Mr. Brown has well expressed the exhilarating charms 
of the western mountain ranges, in comparison with 
which the Maine forests are stuffy and tame. Neverthe- 
less, I thank Mr, Kipling for his stirring poem whose 
lines, so happily phrased, present the most striking fea- 
tures of the Maine environment; for I shall never again 
think of the Pine Tree State without recalling the 
blackened timber, the racing stream, the canoe-pole, the 
log-jam, and the smoky Indian — and the discussion that 
went with them! As to Mr. Brown's literary criticism, 
which I dare say is just enough, he seems to me to set his 
standard of scholarship so high that no common minds 
can hope to attain to it. What can ordinary poetasters 
hope for, and how much of edification, comfort, and en- 
joyment would be lost to the guild of foresters and 
sportsmen, if we all kept silent ? 
In versification is everything short of success to be pen- 
alized by a rebuke for being so foolhardy as to make the 
attempt ? 
1 don't wonder at Mr. Brown's preference at his age 
for the comforts of a tent or camp. These are prac- 
ticable where a location is to be permanent. But one can- 
not travel or explore rapidly with these encumbrances. 
How often have I wished for a tent when I slept with 
my "face to the stars !" Yet I never carried a tent for 
Thirty-five j'cars. I preferred to rough it and travel light, 
even in canoe voyaging, which is the acme of backwoods 
luxury; for then a man can carry comforts so long as he 
sticks to the water routes. This is what makes the 
Adirondack region and the Minnesota chain of lakes so 
charming, where the voyager can go from one body of 
v.'ater to another without breaking bulk. Of course, in 
wilderness journeys where one can procure poles and 
bunks, the comfort of a tent or lean-to, or even of a 
square camp, will pay, during a protracted Avet spell, for 
Ihe hbor of peeling and putting it up. On the prairies, 
where no trees are, and away from lines of transporta- 
tion, even Indians have to carry their lodge poles and 
bark or canvas covers with them. Skin tepee covers are 
rare in these days, and it sometimes costs human lives to 
cbtnin them.- 
Of course, no one wants to camp in "blackened timber." 
and Kipling's poem did not intiinate that he does. He 
simply introduced the blaclcencd timber as one of the phe- 
wmicna of a forest region. And yet I would much prefer 
a camp on a brnh' iii' Alaska, for instance, to one in the 
bush, or to one in the Florida everglades, or to one in 
thc'llat woods of Wisconsin, with its oozy muskegs and 
tamarack swamps, with black Bies, gnats, and mosquitoes 
galore in all of them. 
Extended travel enables us to profit by results through 
<omparati\^e study, but we cannot predicate the hghits, 
<oals. idiosyQa-a,si£S and phenomena of one locality by 
American Ornithologists' Union. 
The twenty-first congress of the American Orni- 
thologists' Union convened in Philadelphia. Monday 
evening Nov. 16. The business meeting was held m 
the council room, and the public sessions, commencing 
Tuesday, the 17th, and lasting three days, were held in 
the lecture hall of the Academy of Natural Science.s 
The fellows present were: Witmer Stone, of i^lnla- 
delphia; William Brewster and C. F. BatcheWer, ot 
Cambridge. Mass.; Drs. J. A. Allen, Jonathan Dwight, 
Tr and R. W. Shufeldt, and Messrs. Frank M. Chap- 
man and William Dutcher, of New York City; Drs. C. 
Hart Merriam. A. K. Fisher, T. S. Palmer C W. 
Richmond, and L. Stejneger, Professors F. E. L. Beat, 
W W Cooke and E. W. Nelson, of Washington, D. 
C.j H, Nehrling, of Gotha, Florida; Dr. Louis B. 
Bishop, of New Haven, and John H. Sage, of Port and, 
Conn. Corresponding fellow present: Dr. Samuel W. 
Woodhouse. , . ^, 
The members and associates present during the ses- 
sions included Geo, Spencer Morris, C. J. Pennock, 
W. E. Clyde Todd, Dr. Spencer Trotter, Wm. L. 
Bailv, N. H. Janney, J. J. Wisler, Jas. A. G. Relm. H. 
W Fowler, C. Few Seiss, Anthony Robinson Dr. VVm. 
E Hughes, Stewardson Brown, Sam. Wright, H. -L. 
Coggins. Arthur C. Emlen, W. H. Trotter J. Harris 
Reed, Professor August Koch, Thos H. Jackson, Mrs. 
Julia Stockton Robins, Miss EUsa W. Redheld Mrs. 
Thos R. Hill, Miss Anna L. Bright, J. Warren Jacobs 
Profe'^sor H. A. Surface. Mrs. Katharine R. Styer and 
Frank L. Burns, of Pennsylvania; Louis Agassiz 
Fuertes. C. Wm. Beebe. Miss Mary Mann Miller, Miss 
Lilian G. Cook, John Lewis Childs, Mrs Emelme T. 
Holden, and Arthur H. Helme, of New York; \N. R. 
Davis, Miss Harriet E. Freeman, Miss Emma G. Cum- 
mings Rev. W. R. Lord, Miss Harriet E. Richards 
and Mrs K. Marrs, of Massachusetts; Vernon Bailey, 
W H Osgood, E. A. Goldman and Henry Oldys, ot 
Washington, D. C; Samuel N. Rhoads and La Rue 
K. Holmes, of New Jersey; Dr. Eugene E. Murphey, of 
Georgia; Rev. H. K. Job, of Connecticut; Professor T 
Gilbert Pearson, of North Carolina; Mrs. Elizabeth 
B. Davenport, of Vermont; R. W. Williams, Jr., of 
Florida, and James H. Fleming, of Toronto, Canada. 
Chas. B. Cory was elected president; C. F. Batchelder 
and E. W, Nelson, vice-presidents; John H. Sage, sec- 
retary; Jonathan Dwight, Jr., treasurer; Frank M. 
Chapman, Ruthven Deane, A. K. Fisher, Thos S. Rob- 
erts. Witmer Stone, William Dutcher and C. VV . Rich- 
mond, members of the council. r 
Dr. Samuel W. Woodhouse, of Philadelphia; Profes- 
sor bean C. Worcester, of Manila, P. I.; Dr. E. C. 
Hellmayr, of Munich; Dr. Emil A. Goeldi, of Para 
Brazil; Dr. Peter Sushkin, of Moscow, and Dr. Herluf 
Winge. of Copenhagen, were elected corresponding 
fellows. Eight associates were elected to the class 
known as members, and 104 new associates were 
elected. ^. , • , 
luesday morning, Dr. A. K. Fisher gave a memorial 
address on Thomas Mcllwraith, whose death occurred 
Tan 31. 1903. Mr, Mcllwraith was a founder and lel- 
iow of the union, and, although deeply engrossed in 
business, never lost his taste for ornithology. IIis 
writings relate mainly to the birds of Hamilton, On- 
tario. , ^ -..I 1 ■ 
Mr. Frank M. Chapman's account of an ornithologi- 
cal trip to the Pacific— illustrated as it was with many 
beautiful lantern slides— brought forcibly to mmd the 
exceptional opportunities afforded the Eastern mem- 
bers of the union, by the Cooper Ornithological Club, 
to study the avifauna of the Pacific coast after ad- 
journment of the special meeting of the A. O. U., held 
in San Francisco during May, 1903. Other results ot 
the trip were shown at the present congress. Dr. T. b 
Palmer spoke of the bird colonies of the California and 
Oregon coasts. Mr. Chapman exhibited most excel- 
lent views of Farallone bird life, and described the 
different species found there, and Otto Widmann gave 
a list of the birds noted during a short stay in the 
Yosemite Valley. 
A paper on Bird Life on Laysan Island— an interest- 
ing but little known region— was presented bv Walter 
K. Fisher, who had had extraordinary opportunities 
for photographing birds on that island. In the absence 
of the author the paper was read by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 
who also explained the slides. 
Mr. Witmer Stone had gathered all obtainable mate- 
rial relating to John K. Townsend and William Gam- 
bcl. and incorporated it in a paper of historical interest 
regarding these neglected ornithologists,_ Mr. Stone 
has a happy way of presenting historical facts, and the 
wish was expressed that his various papers on the 
older "birdmen" might be collected and published in a 
volume. 
Rev. H. K. Job showed a large series of lantern slides 
from photographs of birds taken in the bird rookeries 
of Cape Sable and the Florida Keys, and explained 
how he waited for hours to obtain snapshots. In- 
genious expedients had to be resorted to to secure 
good results^ 
Miss Mary Mann Miller described the nesting habits 
of the whippoorwill, a^d told interesting facts front pe.r- 
soiml observation. 
Mr. Geo. Spencer Morris spoke of bird life at Cape 
Charles. Va., and referred to the decrease in recent 
years among the water fowl f«uiid at that noted re- 
sort. . 
The report of the Committee on Protection of North 
Atnericaii Birds, read by its chairman, Mr, William 
• Dutcher, showed that satisfactory results had been ob- 
tained during the past year. This was made possible 
by the Thayer Fund — money secured through the ef- 
forts of Mr. Abbott H. Thayer. 
New Bird Studies in Old Delaware, by Samuel N. 
Rhoads and C. J. Pennock, brought out valuable orni- 
thological facts relating to that apparently neglected 
State. 
Invitations were received from the Exposition man- 
agement and Mayor of St. Louis to hold the 1904 con- 
gress in that city. 
The next annual meeting will be in Cambridge, Mass., 
commencing Nov. 28, 1904. 
Following is a list of the papers read at the sessions: 
In Memoriam: Thomas Mcllwraith. A. K. Fisher, 
Washington, D. C. 
Notes on the Bird Colonies of the California and 
Oregon Coasts.. T. S. Palmer, Washington, D. C. 
Nesting Habits of Florida Herons. A. C Bent, 
Taunton, Mass. 
New Bird Studies in Old Delaware. Samuel N. 
Rhoads, Audubon, N. J., and Chas. J. Pennock, Ken- 
nett Square, Pa. 
The Esthetic Sense in Birds. Henry Oldys, Wash- 
iugton, D. C. 
Notes on the Protected Birds on the Maine Coast, 
with Relation to Certain Economic Questions. A. H. 
Norton, Westbrooke, Me. 
Exhibition of Lantern Slides of Y'oung Raptorial 
Birds, photographed by Thos. H. Jackson, near West 
Chester, Pa. Witmer Stone, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Views of Farallone Bird Life. Frank M. Chapman, 
New York City. 
The Bird Rookeries of Cape Sable and the Florida 
Keys. Illustrated with lantern slides. Herbert K. Job, 
Kent, Conn. 
■A Winter Trip in Mexico. Illustrated with lantern 
slides. E. W. Nelson, Washington, D. C. 
Some Nova Scotia Birds. Spencer Trotter, Swarth- 
more. Pa. 
Nesting Habits of the Whip-poor-will. Mary Mann 
Miller. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Some Variations among North American Thrushes. 
J. Dwight, Jr., New York City. 
The Spring Migration of 1903 at Rochester, N. Y. 
E. H. Eaton, Rochester, N. Y. 
Warbler Migration in the Spring of 1903. W, W. 
Cooke, Washington, D. C. 
Some Birds of Northern Chihuahua. Wm. E. Hughes, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
A Reply to Recent Strictures on American Biologists. 
Leonhard Stejneger. Washington, D. C. 
The Exaltation of the Subspecies. J. Dwight, Jr., 
New York City. 
Variations in the Speed of Migration. W. W. Cooke, 
W^ashington, D. C. 
An Ornithological Excursion to the Pacific. Frank 
M. Chapman, New York City. 
Bird Life on Laysan Island. Illustrated with lan- 
tern slides taken by Walter K. Fisher. A. K. Fisher, 
\v ashington, D. C. 
Ten Days in North Dakota. Illustrated with lan- 
tern slides. W. L. Baily, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Two Neglected Ornithologists — John K. Townsend 
and William Gambel. Witmer Stone, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Bird Life at Cape Charles, Virginia. George Spen- 
cer Morris, Philadelphia, Pa. 
San Clemente island and its Birds. Geo. F. Bren- 
inger, Phtenix, Arizona. 
Y'osemite Valley Birds. O. Widmann, St. Louis, Mo. 
The Origin of Migration. P. A. Tavernier, Chicago, 
111, 
A Contribution to the Natural History of the Cuckoo, 
M. R. Leverson, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Mortality among Young Birds due to Excessive 
Rains. B. S. Bowdish, New York City. 
Collecting Permits: Their History, Objects and Re- 
strictions. T. S. Palmer, Washington, D. C. 
Report of the Chairman of the Committee on the 
Protection of North American Birds. Wm. Dutcher, 
New York City. 
Deer and Sleep. 
Deer reverse the apparent order of nature, for thcv 
sleep in the daytime and feed at night. How much sleep 
they do take is a matter of contention even among expe- 
rienced stalkers — some say little, others much. On the 
whole, we are inclined to agree with the former, for it has 
to be remembered that they chew the cud when lying 
down. Two most experienced and observant foresters, 
the one in Argyllshire, the other in Aberdeenshire, thus 
gave their opinions : Deer sleep or rest from about ten or 
eleven A. M. to four P. M. ;" "Deer sleep from noon to 
five P. M." 
It is no nncommon occurrence to come on deer asleep; 
a stalker in the Blackmount had the rare experience of 
coming upon a parcel of seven stags, all sound asleep. A 
herd was seen to move in Glenfeshie, but one stag re- 
mained behind, lying motionless. On a careful approach, 
he was found to be asleep. Perhaps, however, the oddest 
occurrence of this nature happened in Braemore, when a 
stalking party, on going up to the stag which had just 
been shot, found a three-year-old close to it fast asleep. 
In fact, it is by no means rare to get within a yard or 
two of a sleeping deer. — Scottish Field. 
The Nighthawk. 
New York. Nov. 23. — In your issue of November 2S, 
a\Ir. Peter Flint expressed the desire to hear from .some 
city watcher of the habits of the nighthawk, and have 
his observations confirmed. 
I have heard the peculiar note of the bird, which Mr. 
Flint describes as Go-zvalk, on so many summer evenings 
during my residence on Central Park West that 1 cannot 
:iccount for the ear of any intelligent listener having 
tailed to hear it. To my mind, Go-tvalk by no means con- 
veys an idea of the sound. It is very difficult to imi- 
tate, but 1 think can best be described by saying that it 
resembles the twanging of a loose bass string of a guitar. 
1 might add that most of my observations of the bull bats 
A\'ere made from near the top of tlie Hotel Majestic, al- 
though I have also heard the note referred to while walk- 
ing in the par^, G- B. Perkins. 
