F6ft.EST AHf) STREAM. 1 
tUi^ 9, 1904. 
Bred in Old Kentucky. 
"Among a big batdh of recruits assigned to my com- 
^khy a while ago/' said a captain of infantry stationed 
at a far Western, post, who was here recently, "was a 
gaunt, gawky Kentucky lad of the mountaineer class, and 
not much above twfenty year§ of age. He was growing so 
fast that he was as clumsy as a St. Bernard pup, and he 
fHl all over himself in drill. Notwithstanding his per- 
fect willingness, he was so inapt a soldier that I attached 
him to my quarters in the capacity of dog robber or 
striker. Soon afterward my company was sent out for 
target practice on the ranges. My striker for Kentucky 
beat out every man in my company, some of them 
veterans wearing the 'distinguished marksman' medals, 
in a common canter. He was as crackerjack a rifle shot 
as I ever saw in the army, and I'd be willing to bet that 
there's not a shootist in that team that lately won the 
Palma trophy in England that could outshoci him. The 
gawky Kentucky boy's performance on the range filled me 
with amazement, as it did everybody else who watched his 
marvelous shooting, and when he was through I said to 
him : 
" 'Look here, boy, where did you ever get a chance (o 
practice such fine shooting?' 
" Tinkin' rev'noo ofificehs, suh,' he replied with a grin. 
'Yo' all fuhgits, suh, that Ah'm f'om Kentucky.' " 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The above story from the Washington 'Post has been 
going the rounds of the papers, and it reminds me of an- 
other Kentucky recruit that I had something to do with. 
We were in camp near New Braunfels, Texas, on our 
way to San Antonio, and I had gone up the road a mile 
or two hunting, when I met a young fellow who still wore 
his butternut clothes; he was hunting "you un's camps," 
he told me. He wanted to join "that ar critter company 
of mine." Critter company is the southern white's desig- 
nation for a cavalry troop. 
He was twenty years old, nearly six feet high, and 
looked as if he had just let go of the plow lines to join 
the "critter company." 
He had been born in Harlan county, Kentucky— Kain- 
tuck he called it — and had come out here with his uncle 
and a string of horses. 
The War of the Rebellion had only been closed a year 
or two, and I wondered why he had not been a volun- 
teer before on one side or the other. Kentucky had about 
an equal number of men in each army. 'T belong with 
you uns." he told me. He was a Union man, not a Con- 
federate, and he had never had a chance to join. . "But 
I have fit," he said. "The Confed Cavalry came to 
our neighborhood to conscript we uns, and I got into the 
mountains and bushwhacked them; then they let us 
alone." 
I took him to the Captain and had him enlisted. Our 
men began to make a butt of him right off. I told them 
to be a little careful how they tried that on this boy. "He 
comes from a part of the country where they would as 
soon fight as. eat, and he probably has forgotten more 
about his pistol than the most of you know about yours. 
If he puts a ball into one of you, there won't be much 
fun in that except for the doctor." 
He was given to me to be drilled, and I began by teach- 
ing him his facings. Nowadays he would have to com- 
mence with the setting up drill ; we did not have it then. 
It reminds me every time I see it of a lot of school boys 
going through some play that they have invented them- 
selves. He was quick to learn, and we soon got through 
the Manual of Arms. When I came to the pistol I found, 
as I had expected, that there was nothing about it that I 
could teach him. All I had to show him was how to hold 
the pistol for inspection. The hardest task I had with him 
was to get him to stop saying "sir" to me. "Say 'sir' to 
no one except officers here," I told him, "but don't for- 
get to say 'sir' to them; if you do they won't forget to 
tell you of it." 
The first time we went out on target practice Kaintuck 
went with us. We were going to fire at 300 yards, but 
the lieutenant thought that Kaintuck had better begin at 
100 yards first. 
"I can hit that thar thing from heah, suh," he told the 
lieutenant, and was let try it. In his first five shots he 
made three bullseyes, a 4 and a 3; 22 out of a possible 
25, a sharpshooter's score. Some of the men who had 
been rigging him found it hard work to make a qualifying 
score of 16; but they would have to make it or else keep 
shooting at "that thar thing" all day. 
He turned cut to be a first-class soldier, never was a 
"dog robber ;" they don't use men like him to dog rob ; 
and although he had come from Kentucky he never could 
be got to touch whisky. 
When I left the "critter company" eighteen years after 
this, he was still in one of them, and was a sergeant, too. 
He had learned to read and write, he could _ do neither 
when we first got him, and had dropped his southern 
dialect; he spoke the same kind of English that we did, 
but he always made it a point to inform everyone he came 
in contact with that he was from Kaintuck. 
Cabia Blanco. 
December BI«efcffds in Ohio. 
Akron, O., Dec. 22. — Editor Forest and Stream: For 
the last month a flock of seven bluebirds have been feed- 
ing about my house. Is it not very much out of the order 
of things for this bird to remain north during the winter? 
They were very plentiful this year, and were about in 
numbers as late as November i, but as the weather was 
fine up to that date I thought nothing strange about their, 
remaining. R. S. Iredell. 
The Next Best Thing. 
'A Pennsylvania correspondent writes: In this year 
of scarcity of game the Forest and Stream is the next 
thing to carrying my favorite arm in its pursuit. Your 
Christmas number was a work of art, the finest yet com- 
ing to my table. I missed Fred Mather, but now can en- 
joy Mr, Spears, who writes differently but interestingly. 
T. W. Greenfield. 
Concerning Cats. 
Paris, France. — Editor Forest and Stream: As a Cato- 
logue — please do not print catalogue — I was much in- 
terested in Von W.'s contribution in Forest and 
Stream of Nov. 14, page 375, concerning a cat,_ which 
seems to have a strong tendency toward vegetarianism. 
I had never heard of a cat eating corn, but, from my 
experience I am inclined to think that Von W.'s cat's 
"tastes for a vegetable diet" are more frequent than is 
generally recognized, and can even be said to make a 
part of the "ordinary cat instinct." 
It is often said, in France, at least, that cats are 
partial to melons. I never had a cat of this sort; but 
I had melons, and sometimes noticed that they had 
been gnawed and opened, and considerably reduced. 
The gardener assured that the wicked deed had cer- 
tainly been done by some neighboring cat. Of course 
it might have been the work of some other quadruped. 
But tradition has it that cats like melons, and it may 
be so. However, this is tradition, not history. 
As a historical fact, I may observe, having often been 
a witness to it, that many cats take very kindly to some 
carrot, now and then. It is even recommended by 
French veterinarians for cats who live in cities, in 
apartments, and have no garden at their disposal 
wherein to cull some vegetable food, such as grass, 
leaves, etc. Of course no cat goes to dig the carrot 
out of the earth; but many, being offered some boiled 
carrot, swallow it with relish. 
One of my departed pets — Plucky — a big, glossy, 
black cat with golden eyes — was a great lover of 
beet root. Of course, he was no such fool as to con- 
sider the red vegetable as a piece of meat; he took it 
as beet root, and liked it as such. In fact, he very 
much enjoyed a treat of boiled beet roQt naw and then. 
Most cats are quite willing to eat green peas — cooked, 
of course— and some beans. Lentils are also very 
much appreciated by most of them. Another vegetable, 
or, rather, fruit — but it is eaten in France as a vegetable 
and as a fruit as well — is much liked by my present 
friend Thoth. I refer to the chestnut. . Roasted chest- 
nuts, boiled chestnuts, chestnuts en puree, to accom- 
pany venison, or sweetened with sugar, and surrounded 
with cream, chestnuts under all forms, and under all 
methods of cooking, are always most willingly accepted. 
And if not offered, he knows how to say he wants some. 
And he always gets them, of course. Cats cannot be 
refused. They are always obeyed. And it is proper it 
should be so. They are of superior essence. But I 
digress. Rez'enons a nos.. .chats. Most cats accept some 
potato now and then: boiled, roasted, mashed, _ espe- 
cially if there is some gravy added — but even without 
this adjunct. Chocolate they generally like; not only 
liquid, with milk, but solid 'also. Thoth greatly en- 
joys a good piece of chocolate. He always comes back 
to ask for more, and gets it generally; though, of 
course, there is a limit. There must be one, some- 
where, even for a catologue and catophile. 
Lastly, I have known no cat who was not very much 
excited over asparagus, and ready to swallow that 
which was left to him by a loving master, chopped in 
small pieces to help matters (the asparagus; not the 
master, you must understand). All cats,_ I think, eat 
asparagus most willingly; they seem to enjoy the smell, 
and the taste as well. Here is an end to my experience. 
I have offered bananas, and most fruits — apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, apricots, strawberries and so on, but 
no cat of mine seemed to appreciate tlie offer. Some 
other reader may have been luckier; if so, he would 
increase the knowledge of catologues by describing 
the results of his experiments and observations. Of 
course, Mark Twain has— in a very amusing anecdote 
of his — referred to the liking of a cat for cocoanut: 
but — as some grave English reviewer observed, _ with 
much sadness — "as an historian, that man is unreliable." 
So, the cocoanut matter remains undecided. It would, 
though, be very easy to settle the matter. I would 
immediately; I have the cat, but I lack the cocoanut. 
Henry ce Varigny. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In an article eopied from Forest and Stream we 
read of a vegetarian cat, which is not so remarkable 
as the owner seems to think, many house cats being 
extremely fond of cooked sweet corn, as well as vari- 
ous other foods, such as people partake of, especially 
summer and winter squash, sweet potatoes and creamed 
white potatoes, some felines even devouring cooked 
onions with avidity. 
A large black cat we once owned had an odd way of 
placing one great paw against the head of a companion 
cat and holding her off from eating her share of some 
dainty bit he was particularly fond of, and when repri- 
manded he would sit back with a scowling face and 
wait until the other cat had finished. As a kitten 
Tinker became greatly attached to grandfather, climb- 
ing up into his lap and hiding inside his coat for a 
quiet nap; indeed, both of them dozing together in the 
big armchair. Tinker seemed to have an idea that he 
could assist in taking off the old gentleman's boots, 
for when the cat heard the bootjack placed on the 
floor he would quickly get down from his particular 
chair and place one big paw on the toe of the boot 
while it was being drawn off. One day, soon after 
grandfather died, seeing the cat go to the door of his 
room, we said: "Yes, you may go in, but you will not 
find him," then with tearful eyes we watched the cat 
go pattering around the room, looking up at the place 
where the bed once stood, and then, as though to tell 
us his search was in vain, with a "mew, mew," ran 
hastily out of the open door. 
There is a cat aristocracy as well as a high class 
breed of dogs, and if people will talk to cats as they 
do to other four-footed creatures, will find them intelli- 
gent and capable of understanding what is right or 
wrong, such as living in the same house with caged 
birds without attempting to harm them; while dogs 
and cats often form a strong friendihip. M. L. 
Brighton, N. Y. 
Song of the British Robin. 
A BIRD does not deserve much credit for singing when: 
skies are clear and winds are soft and earth is decked in; 
all the fresh beauty of spring and early summer. But 
what shall be said of the bird which sings all through, 
the dreary decline of autumn and the cold desolation of 
winter? Surely nothing were too good to say of it. The 
poets realized this, and hence they have celebrated the 
British robin with a special celebration; not, indeed, with 
the lavish enthusiasm of admiration they have showered 
upon the nightingale and the lark, but with an intimate 
love and regard such as is bestowed upon some cherished 
pet. 
And the people, though lacking the expression of the 
poets, have not been backward in showing that they, too, 
can appreciate the spiritual, the unselfish, the devoted, 
even among birds, for they have taken the robin under 
their special protection. Throughout the British Isies 
it is unmolested; the predatory schoolboy stays his hand 
when the robin or' the robin's nest is concerned, for it is 
an injunction laid solemnly upon him by his mother. And 
then, when frost or snow prevails and food is scarce, the 
window sill or the doorstep will not fail to be strewn with 
crumbs for poor redbreast's comfort. 
For those who have not had the good fortune to see 
the bird, it may be noted that it bears but little resem- 
blance to our American robin (which, indeed, is no robin 
at all, but a thrush),.. It is half the size of the latter, and 
instead of being brown above is olive green, speaking by 
way of general description. Only in the coloring of its 
breast does it resemble ; TwrcfM^ migratorius. And the 
songs of the two are as different as possible. 
Perhaps the chief characteristic of the song oi Ery-. 
thacus ruhec-ula is its -sweet subdued sentiment. ■ It is de- 
livered in a series of bars with measured pauses, which 
have a most telling effect. Occasionally a bar is prbloriged 
or lingered upon as if the bird were carried away ;by the 
intensity of its emotion. . There is in this something so. 
sincere that it appeals irresistibly to the sympathy. 
It were useless, and indeed somewhat absurd, to , try 
to give any imitation of the song in words or syllables. 
After all, the music is everything. I have an idea that 
Mendelssohn wrote his "Songs Without Words" after 
listening to the robin. Certainly many of those chaste 
and exquisite strains echo the outpourings of redbreast. 
While the latter are of course always instantly recog- 
nizable, they vary more or less in tone with the season. 
In the spring' they speak of tender joy; in the autumn 
they breathe a plaintive regret, with an undertone- of 
consolation, as it were, while in winter they ring out with 
a distinct note- of fortitude and hope. It may bC that 
these variations are but imaginary, or echoes of the 
human mood; yet a bird must have its moods as well as 
man, and feel the influences of the seasons. If there 
were more perennial songsters we might be able to re- 
solve this question better, but the redbreast in its constant 
devotion stands practically alone. : 
In this country, at least in this northern latitude, we 
hear an ocasional lilt of the song sparrow on a bright 
autumn day, but that is all. And the winter passes in 
sombre silence. If only the British robin had been 
imported here instead of the British sparrow and had 
thriven as well, how blessed instead of cursed we should 
be 1 
To those who have visted the British Isles during the 
autumn and winter, there is something at once novel and 
delightful in the song of the robin. You get up on a 
morning when perhaps the rain is beating against ■ your 
window and the wind is wailing in the chimney or sough- 
ing in the trees outside ; there is a momentary lull in the 
storm and you hear a sweet pipe or thrill. You look" out 
and lo ! there is redbreast seated on a wind-swept branch 
rapt in his m^usical devotions. Or again it is evening— 
blue-black, sodden, dreary — and you are walking along a 
country road. Where is the living thing that could feel 
a spark of enthusiasm on such an evening as this ? you 
ask yourself. "Here !" answers redbreast from a drip- 
ping hedge, lifting up his mellow voice like a true poet 
of philosophy. Or again it is midwinter; a black frost 
has taken the earth in its iron clutch, and shivering cat- 
tle huddle beneath hedges, and the birds of the air are 
nowhere to be seen— none, that is, but our ruby-breasted 
friend, who, perched high upon a tree, prophecies sweetly, 
bravely, hopefully of spring. _ • 
Is it any wonder that a bird so musical, so brave, so 
constant, should have endeared itself to the heart of the 
British people? Wherever one of these may wander he 
bears with him the memory of his native songsters. The 
nightingale . Or the lark perhaps he associates with the 
idea of his 'motherland : they are imperial songsters. But 
when he things or dreams of home — that particular spot 
where he first saw the light and around which the asso- 
ciations of his childhood cluster — then the bird above all 
others that is apt to rise to his imagination is the robin— - 
the homely, familiar, pleasant little robin. 
Francis Moonan. 
A Hotse^s Homing: Sense. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Speaking of back-trailing horses reminds me of a story 
that is told in Cleveland, New York, and its truth is 
vouched for -by- nearly every one who was a resident of 
that beautiful village a dozen years ago. A horse bred 
and raised in or near Cleveland and kept by the same 
man for a number of years, was finally sold to another 
party on the opposite side of the lake, which is exactly 
seven miles wide at this point. ' . > . 
One morning the first owner, on going to his barn, 
was very much surprised to find the animal there and 
seemingly very glad to get home. 
It is claimed by those who should know that it was 
impossible for the horse to travel around the lake in 
one night, therefore it must have swam the seven miles 
to its old home. Of course that can't be Called back- 
trailing, as there was no trail, but if the storv is true, it 
shows intelligence and reasoning in the animal far greater 
than most people imagine. Frank H. BoucKi 
Chadwicks, New York. 
The h'lmter was home again. "Any luck?" they asked. 
"Splendid!" he exclaimed, radiantly. "I didn't kill a 
single person." — Puck, 
