Feb. 27, 19014,] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
167^ 
his tree. Starved to death, both of them, beneath my 
eyes, and I would gladly, to save them, have filled their 
tree with nuts, all too late now to count as merit. 
Two years ago, at the time of the great storm, as I 
cleaned up the wreckage with my ax, I came across a 
maple bough gnawed clean of bark by this same pair, or 
one of them. Oh, dull of apprehension ! This should 
have told me of their starvation hunger in far earlier 
days. I saw only the desire of a more varied bill of fare. 
This has been a winter severe beyond the recollection 
of any squirrel living hereabouts. Long since their 
granaries and magazines of food, their chestnuts and 
their walnuts, have been exhausted, and this little pair, 
the most interesting of neighbors on a college lawn full 
of gleaming interests, was sacrificed to sheer stupidity on 
my part. I did not know they were there in a tree be- 
neath whose branches I slept. Perchance this letter may 
induce someone to scatter nuts, not letting a night inter- 
vene between his intention and his act, and so save a pair 
or two of these adorable little beasts — a gleam of the 
wild life amidst the routine of the civilized. Also a 
pound of tallow hung in the branch of a tree near the 
house may prove grateful to the birds, and repay with a 
glimpse of unusual visitants. 
I might note that ten days ago I saw here a solitary 
catbird, mistiming its northern flight, and doubtless, too, 
long since starved to death. Trusting that some other 
squirrel lover may chance to read this and be saved from 
a like bereavement, I remain, 
Ai.DEN Sat^pson. 
Haverford, Pa., Feb. 16. 
United States Biological Survey. 
The recently published report for 1903, by Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam, Chief of the United States Biological Survey, 
contains much matter that is interesting to sportsmen. 
As is well known, the work of this survey is divided into 
three branches, of which the first relates to the geo- 
graphical distribution of animals and plants, and the de- 
termination of the life and crop belts, matters of the 
deepest interest to farmers. This is in charge of Dr. 
Merriam. The second has to do with the economic rela- 
tions of birds to agriculture, which is in charge of Dr. 
F. E. L. Beal ; while the supervision of matters relating to 
game preservation and protection and the importation of 
foreign birds and mammals is in charge of Dr. T. S. 
Palmer., 
Under the operations of the Lacey act, a close watch 
has been kept on interstate commerce in game, and 
in this matter the survey has had the assistance of the 
game commissioners and the wardens of a number of 
States. Some convictions have been had. Much atten- 
tion has been given also to the new Alaska game law, 
which has been so often misunderstood. It is thought 
that the wholesale shipment of deer hides has wholly 
ceased. 
At the request of the American Ornithologists' Union 
and the Biological Survey, the President in March, 
1903, set aside a small island in the Indian River, Fla., 
as a resei-yatipn for the protection of native birds. This 
island which is less than four acres in extent, is occupied 
in the breeding season by from 2,000 to 3,000 peli- 
cans, which in past years have been much disturbed by 
the public. Every effort is now being made to preserve 
the colony. An interesting account of this island is to 
be found in the last New York Zoological Society Bulle- 
tin (No. 12), fromi the pen of Mr. C. William Bebee, 
curator of birds for the society. 
Naturalists have long felt the need of a complete and 
modern index of the family and generic names of mam- 
mals. Such an index has been prepared by Dr. Palmer, 
and is now in press. 
During the coming year the field work will continue 
in California, and some of the forest reserves on the 
Pacific slope will be visited for the purpose of determin- 
ing their fitness for game refuges. It is hoped that a 
home may be found for the herd of Kern county elk — 
sole survivors of the elk in California — which has been 
presented to the Government by Messrs. Miller & Lux. 
No appropriation has been as yet given for moving this 
herd, a bit of shortsighted parsimony on the part of Con- 
gress which is greatly to be regretted. 
The field work of the naturalists will continue, as will 
also the study of the economic relations of birds to agri- 
culture, especially with relation to the products of Cali- 
fornia. It is thought that the bulletin on the food habits 
of the woodcock and upland game birds will be published 
before long. The study shows that game birds do com- 
paratively little harm to crops, and that they consume 
large quantities of injurious insects and noxious weed 
seeds. Efforts will be made to secure information re- 
garding the abundance in certain localities of birds that 
are known to be becoming scarce, such as the woodduck, 
the woodcock, and the upland plover. Continued atten- 
tion will be paid to the Lacey act and to the Alaska game 
laws, and new regulations with regard to Alaska are 
likely to be issued. The caribou of the Kenai Peninsula 
are becominv scarce, and a close season of five years will 
be established for these species. 
Back-Tfackingf Horses. 
Weli.s^ Wyo. — Editor Forest and Stream: It is my 
opinion that a horse back-tracks partly by scent, partly 
by sight, and a whole lot by sense of locality. Just as 
some men always know where they are, so do some 
horses. And a horse has the advantage of his scenting 
powers. • A horse has a better nose than most people 
think. It is a common thing to see a range horse which 
has lost the bunch trailing it up, nose to the ground, like 
a hound. 
I never had but one back-tracking horse that was 
always right. He was a little gray, and he not only 
always knew where camp was, but where the rest of the 
horses were. Some horses can never be turned loose 
at camp and trusted to hunt up the bunch, but I never 
had to worry about Crowfoot. And if he went over a 
piece of ground a second time he always went just where 
he had gone before. 
Many horses can always find their way back, but will 
not follow the trail. My best hunting horse was this way. 
The first down hill he came to on the back track he 
would, if let alone, pick out as easy a trail down as he 
could, and from that on would follow his own sweet will, 
with the result that he sometimes got into awful country. 
But he would find camp sooner or later. By the way, 
some time ago there was some talk in Forest and. 
Stream as to^ a horse's swimming powers. This horse, 
Vs'hich was a thick-set little fellow, with tremendous 
width of chest, would swim so high with me in the sad- 
dle that it was a rare thing for water to come over the 
saddle seat. I never remember getting wet above the 
waist while swimming him. Another horse I had would, 
while swimming, go clear down till only his nose showed, 
then come up with a surge half way out of water. Nearly 
all horses can swim, but some will not, and will drown 
just as soon as they lose their feet. 
Wm. Wells. 
Life in the Woods. 
\^l-'/li<^^S/ HUNT; 
nA.O AND OUN 
IV.— The Old Camp at Echo Lake. 
A PEARL set in emeralds. A crystal framed in green. A 
de^y drop in the hollow of a gigantic leaf. A mirror over 
which even Venus, in the mystic flight of the great gods 
and goddesses of mythologA^ could have hovered and 
viewed with delight her perfect charms. In an ideal spot 
in a sheltered nook on the shore of this gem of nature 
stood the old camp. Facing to the south the lake 
stretched out before it and from its shores, perpetually 
green, it sent back the echoes until they came hurrying to 
the listener at the camp in almost endless procession. To 
the north, northeast and northwest lofty rocks and hills 
barred out the cold blasts, the advance guard of the army 
of old winter as he moved down to take possession of his 
chosen realm. No marks of civilization here. No signs 
of work by the hands of man. Nothing but the handi- 
work of time. 
There the old camp stood for many long years until the 
log sides and bark roof were garbed with moss and vine, 
until decay from_ light attacks had gained an almost 
complete conquest. Winter, spring, summer, and.autunm 
passed in an endless procession, but the old camp stood. ! 
Storms came only to be succeeded by sunshine. The 
cyclone passed over it, tearing the tall treetops into 
atoms, and piling up the sturdiest growth of nature into 
confused masses, but the old camp in its security laughed 
at the rage of the elements. There it stood as first built. 
Its doors always open for hospitable shelter. The' years 
rolled on and brought with them the iron way which 
sent trains hurrying along only a short distance- awav- 
carrymg with them the stream of trade flowing to and ' 
from the great commercial centers, but the old camp aud- 
its surroundings stood unmolested. , One generation suc-^ 
ceeded the other, and the son, grown to manhood, stood 
where the father had been, but the old camp, grown older, 
stood there still. By its side before the silent lake who 
of those who stop to think could hardly help feeling the 
inspiration which nature in her primitive form creates?' 
The thoughts of the wondrous power of creation ! Near- 
twenty years the old camp stood — near twenty , years - it ■ 
sheltered, from time to^ time, the hunters and thefr-' 
friends. It saw them come young, strong, active," lithe,- 
eager for the spoils of the : chase. It saw them come when-- 
time's changes were only too visible, when age had 
bowed the frame once so straight ; when the lapse of 
years had frosted the hair and whitened the beard. 
When no longer active arid eager they came more to live 
over old times than .t.o revel, in Ihe success of the chase. 
It saw the old muzzteloading. guns give place to the 
t)reechloaders, and they in turn to the wicked repeaterg- 
It saw the wolf, fox, and bear, shot, trapped, and poisoned 
until only a few stragglers now and then were left. It 
saw the sportive muskrat, the agile mink, and the busy 
beaver vanish from its view forever. It saw the timid 
deer, which for many years had been its constant visitor, 
become almost exterminated. It saw the fish that sported 
m Its waters give way to nets and dynamite. It saw the 
invading lumbermen sweep through the forest, leaving a 
pathway of utter desolation behind. It saw the water- 
courses where the bubbling spring found outlet to the 
rushing river's side become dry and useless, and then it 
beheld the red blast of hell descending upon it. The 
next fall when the old hunters came to their favorite 
spot they found a mass of charred sticks and ashes. 
Miles of black, barren burnings stretched out before 
them, and they saw that the primitive wilderness had 
passed away— aye, even as man lives and dies; and who 
knows but as they turned away something swept over 
them akm to that feeling which plays upon th^ human 
heart when the angel stands over some of our dear ones, 
and, taking them by the hand, leads them into the seem- 
ing blackness and desolation of that which we call death. 
Around this lake, and within a radius of a mile or 
■ more about the old camp, was good ground for still-hunt- 
mg^and driving, and the first thing that morning was the 
: E^ho Lake drive. S. B. and the Colonel were given the 
..choice of taking the stands, and away they went, working 
up carefully against the wind to their positions. S. B. 
perched on a high stump where he could command a 
good view all around him. My, how frosty it was. 
.vExe.ry stick stepped upon seemed to snap in the frosty 
::aiF.-Jik€ a pistol shot, and a man, when he attempted to 
tr-avel.-.where the brush was thick, made about as much 
.noise as:. a yoke of oxen would under ordinary circum- 
stances.- -It ^ was a cold morning for those upon the 
-stands, - but a glorious bracing day for those who were 
moymg., It seemed as if a deer must surely be killed on 
such a day. Time wore on and no gun cracked We 
had nearly reached the stands when bang ca-bung went 
S.- B. s. old shower gun, and pretty soon, "Hurrah! 
hurrah !: I ve -got him, boys," as S. B. -shouted for joy. 
In a mmute more I could see him standing on his stump, 
- with his hat- on the end. of his gun barrels, waving if over 
his head, and shouting vigorously. It did not take me 
long to reach him,-. ^Vhat have -you got?" I asked, as 
. excited as he was. T)on't know, what: it is, but it lays 
right over there," he replied. I went over there, but 
couldn t find anything. "Where is it?" I asked again. 
Why, right over there by that bush. It's, a little deer— 
a mightydittle fellow. It came sailing along like a bird 
and at the second shot I knocked it down right over 
there,\ pointing to near where I stood. I looked again, 
but m Y^m..- 'Can't yon. find it ?" anxiously- queried S. - B. 
i shpoJf- my Jiead. I will come over there and steo on 
it for you," and he came. He looked all around. The 
Colonel came and looked. Mack came and looked. The 
Old Trapper came and looked. We all looked, but no 
deer did we find, nor was it ever found. Didn't S. B. 
feel badly? He wouldn't give it up, and so we circled 
and crossed and crisscrossed. We got down on our 
hands and knees, the snow having melted, and searched 
over every inch of ground and were finally rewarded by 
finding a few drops of blood, showing that the deer must 
have been struck and knocked down with buckshot, but the 
wound did not prevent its getting up and running off un- 
noticed while S. B. was putting his hat on the end of his 
gun and shouting for the benefit of the rest of us. The 
Old Trapper had lots of fun over this ending of the 
"drive," because S. B., in previous years, had a somewhat 
similar joke on the Old Trapper, which I will try and 
relate later on. - 
It seems while going to his stand that morning S. B. 
had started two fawns," which apparently had not been 
much frightened, and had not gone far, so we imme- 
diately formed a conspiracy to assassinate them both. 
They were supposed to be located along a small creek 
bottorn, so we arranged to come Indian on them and sur- 
rounding the locality all worked toward a common cen- 
ter. It so happened that when we closed in I was next 
to S. B., who was about thirty rods or so' on my left and 
above me on a ridge while I was below in the creek bot- 
tom. I had just located him when I saw the white tail 
of a deer ahead of me, and looking sharply I could see 
one of the fawns standing still. I was- just throwing the 
gun to my shoulder when a noise startled the deer, and 
away he went ; t..he brush being too thick for a running 
shot, I looked ahead a few rods, when bang went S. B.'s 
rifle, followed a moment later by his shotgun barrel, and 
the buckshot rattled in the treetops ahead of me like a 
first-class hail storm. I waited and watched, but neither 
hearing nor seeing anything I walked slowly to the place 
where S. B. had fired and found him searching the 
ground carefully for hair or some signs of blood. He 
couldn't seem to find anything satisfactory. He pointed 
out the spot where the deer was running when he fired, 
and explained : "Here I shot at him first with the buck- 
shot, because the brush was so thick and after he got 
off there, more in the open, I let the rifle go at him." He 
had It wrong, for according to the sound of the reports 
and the rattle of the buckshot he had fired the rifle first 
and then the shower barrel. But he couldn't believe it, 
and said : "Tut, tut, it can't be ; I am sure I am right." 
The others, however, were all against him, and as it was 
a ease of four to one, we held we were right. He would 
never admit it, but at all events, the deer kept on going, 
and is probably going yet, if it has been permitted to 
escape the army of hunters that at times infest the woods. 
No one should ^mafine from this that S. B. was a 
