Dfic. 3, 1904] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Federal Game Protection. 
Prom the Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, relative to the 
work of the Biological Survey. 
Eatfy of Foreign Birds and Animals. 
Constant vigilance is necessary to prevent the intro- 
duction into the United States of birds or animals that 
are likely to become pests. No species, therefore, ex- 
cept a few that are well known arid harmless, are al- 
lowed to enter this country without a special permit 
from the Department. The permits issued during the 
year numbered 318, and allowed the entry of 1,470 mam- 
mals, 205,400 canaries and 41,630 miscellaneous birds. 
Several importations were made of birds intended for 
liberation, among them 65 capercailzie from Sweden, 
brought in at New York and destined for the stocking 
of Algonquin Park, Ontario; 40 Mexican quail, lib- 
erated at various points in California by the Board of 
Fish Commissioners of that State, and 366 European 
song birds— goldfinches, bullfinches, larks and robins— 
turned loose in British Columbia. Permits were also 
issued for the entry of about 3,000 eggs of partridges 
and pheasants. 
Interstate Commerce in Game. 
Since the passage of the Lacey Act in 1900, 42 con- 
victions for illegal traffic in game have been secured in 
cases passing through this Department. Of these, 26 
were tried in Federal courts, 16 111 State courts. During 
the past year 10 cases, involving the shipment of 700 
birds and ,16 rabbits, were reported to the Department. 
Six convictions were secured, one of which involved the 
longest distance shipment thus far taken up— from St. 
Paul, Minn., to Portland, Ore. In order to expedite 
cases arising under the Lacey Act, State wardens have 
been advised to present their evidence direct to the 
Federal courts instead of referring it through this De- 
partment and the Department of Justice. This advice 
has been followed in two or three instances within the 
past few months, and the indictments have been much 
more promptly secured in consequence. 
Limited available resources have, as heretofore, made 
ft necessary to concentrate efforts in two or three areas, 
and in all cases prevention of local shipment has been given 
precedence over prosecution after shipment has oc- 
curred. The passage of the laws by Texas in 1903, pro- 
hibiting sale and capture of water fowl, made it pos- 
sible for the first time to restrict the enormous de- 
struction of ducks in that State for Northern markets. 
Through local authorities and. express companies, gen- 
eral' attention was called to the provisions of the State 
and Federal laws, and a close watch maintained on 
usual shipping_ routes. No violation of the law was 
noted, and it is probable few consignments of ducks 
reached Northern markets from this State during the 
.year. 
An attempt was made to ascertain the effectiveness 
'of recent legislation prohibiting shipment and sale of 
Same by means of a special investigation in co-opera- 
*tio'n with State wardens and others. The kinds and 
irrices of game in the markets of a dozen or more im- 
portant cities during Thanksgiving week were ascer- 
tained. That considerable progress has been made in 
enforcing shipping laws was conclusively shown; few- 
prairie chickens were on sale in any Eastern markets, 
and in some instances prices three or four times as high 
as those of a few years ago were charged; pheasants 
were absent from the markets of several cities where 
they were formerly abundant; and at the opening of the 
season quail were unusually scarce, though later, when 
the routes of shipment still open were discovered by the 
trade, they became more abundant. 
Protection oi Game in Alaska. 
The Alaska game law has accomplished the two main 
objects for which it was enacted: the shipment of deer 
hides has been stopped, and the export of heads of big 
game as trophies has been curtailed. The protection 
of game has been as satisfactory as could be expected 
in so large a region and without wardens. A mistaken 
belief, however, that the law does not permit natives to 
kill game for food, coupled with objections to the pres- 
ence of visiting sportsmen, particularly on the Kenai 
Peninsula, gave rise to considerable criticism of the law. 
This adverse feeling led to the introduction of a bill in 
the Senate to replace the present law with one doing 
away with all restrictions except a provision to limit the 
export of trophies and charge license fees of $25 to 
residents and $250 to non-residents for such export. As 
the adjournment of Congress without definite action 
left this measure still pending, the Department deemed 
it advisable to suspend the issue of permits for the 
present except in very special cases. Early in June 
new regulations were issued extending some seasons, 
permitting unrestricted shipment of bear skins, and 
making other desirable changes. 
The Bend of the Hemlock Tip, 
Charlottesville, Va., Nov. 26. — Editor Forest and 
Stream : Please note how positive the Canadian Pacific 
people are that "the topmost twig of every uninjured 
hemlock tree tips to the east." Dr. Hedges, who is a very 
close observer, writes me from the Adirondacks that that 
is not the case. See his letter attached. What can you 
tell me about it? W. O. Watson. 
"Woodland, N. Y. — Dear Mr. Watson: All summer I 
have been trying to settle the question as to the direction 
of the top of the hemlock. So far as I can see, it is 
governed entirely by local conditions, for here in this part 
of the Catskills it is entirely different from what it was 
in Saranac. 
"In Saranac the tip tended pretty generally northeast 
(winds largely southwest) ; often in the deep woods you 
would find one due north. 
"Here I have found them turning more to the west, 
though the direction is not so constant as at Saranac. 
Trees side by side will go entirely different ways. 
"Anyway I would not advise you to use hemlock tips 
as a compass till you know the country so well that you 
do not need a compass. H. S. Hedges/'' 
O' Pinions Vibrant. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I would like to ask those sophisters who are discussing 
the drumming grouse, whether hummingbirds, bumble 
bees, locusts, bluetail flies, and other buzzing insects, pro- 
duce their rhythmic sounds by thumping their sides with 
their wings, hitting them together overhead, or beating 
a tattoo on sonorous substances? No one seems to have 
raised this question in structural analogy, but it might 
prove interesting to investigate. Perdrix. 
Long Island Shooting. 
Bayport, L. I., Nov. 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The past week has been the most successful for duck 
shooting we have had so far this season, the weather 
being fine and the birds flying good. Quail and rabbit 
shooting has been pretty slow, but in my rambles 
through the woods, this week, I kicked up several par- 
tridges, and when the leaves get off the brush a little 
more, there ought to be some good shooting. The 
most successful duck hunters this week were: Mr. G. 
Still and party, 36; Capt. Green, 22 and 2 brant; Mr. 
D. F. Thompson, 24 and 4 redheads; Mr. J. C. Hutzel, 
28; Mr. A. J. Lewis and H. C. Smith, 22; Mr. F. B. 
Lord, 12; Mr. Daly and party, 26; Mr. Stansburg, 12; 
Mr. E. S. Hawkins, 12. Others shooting here from 
Manhattan were Mr. J. K. Hackett, Mr. Goebel, W. R. 
Wheelen, E. Runge, Sr., E. Runge, Jr., C. Rump, J. 
Boyd, U. J. Brower and G. E. Blakeslie and Dr. G. 
Wilkinson, Jersey City. 
The ducks are in the bay in millions, one flock at least 
a mile in length can be .seen off here at any time. 
Henry Stokes. 
A Short Lesson in Natural History. 
Port Richmond, S. I., Nov. 28.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: If all the type used in printing stories about 
the wild things were set end to end, I have no doubt 
they would form a four-ply belt twice around the glube. 
The reading public, for the past three or four years, 
have gone daft on the subject of animal study, and yet 
the New York Tribune, one of the biggest newspapers 
of the second city of the world, publishes a full -page 
photograph on the cover of its supplement, showing a 
colored man up a tree after what the Tribune calls a 
'possum, but which is very evidently a stuffed 'coon. 
The Tribune should know better. Even without a 
course of Bon Jurroughs or Kan Jellyan or Ernest 
Theton Sompson, the Tribune should have identified the 
animal bya mental reference to that poem of our child- 
hood, beginning, 
"Squirrel has a bushy tail, 
'Possum's tail is bare; 
Raccoon's tail has rings around 
And stumpy grows the hair." 
Sidney Edwards. 
Dakota's Varying Seasons* 
Galesburg, N. D., Nov. 21. — In this country it is cus- 
tomary for the ground to freeze and farm work to be 
over at this time, but this year so far, though the ground 
froze at the usual time, yet the weather since has been so 
fair and mild that considerable outside work such as 
plowing has been going on up to now. It only goes to 
show the vagaries of this climate, and if there is any 
place where more capers can be cut in this respect than 
by our fickle Dakota Lady of the North, I would like to 
be told about it. But with all her vagaries she is a 
bountiful mistress, and gave us this year, as usual, many 
large portions of prairie chickens and mushrooms until 
we surely had "our satisfy." Therefore we grumble not 
at any game of freeze-out she may make us play. In fact, 
we would hardly trade winters or summers, either, with 
any Eastern man. J. P. W. 
Ajm wnw iMflira 
An Outing Among: the Rainbows 
A Letter to an Angliog Friend. 
Tacoma_, Wash,. Nov. 6.— Dear Friend: The fishing 
'season has closed, the rods and tackle have been put away, 
and nothing is left but pleasant memories of delightful 
trips and big fish. I have not wet a line since the trip 
to the Skokomish, September 5, 6 and 7, though I was 
greatly tempted to try it up there again. In writing you 
about that trip. I did not do justice to it, and have always 
thought I would take it up at a later- day and give you a 
more detailed description of the catch. - 
Mr. Howe and I left Shelton at 5 A. M. on the morn- 
ing of September and loafed on the way over to hunt 
grouse. We reached the river about 9 o'clock; we sent 
the wagon on to the ranch and then put our tackle to- 
gether. The stream was low, and the water on Latham's 
Bar was hardly half way to our knees. Clear up thai 
stretch of water to Kelly's Pool was black with salmon, 
and the water was kept in a turmoil by the fish fighting 
and dashing here and there, while many were busy stand- 
ing on their heads digging their spawning beds. They 
were the dog salmon, and beastly looking things they 
were as I kicked them out of my way when I crossed to 
ithe other side. Howe went up to the pool on this side, 
while I began at the little willow patch on the opposite 
[bank. My second cast brought a fine fellow to the sur- 
face, and the next hooked him. It was twenty minutes 
ibefore I netted him, and he pulled down the scales to 
31/2 pounds. Howe was having a struggle above, but 
after a vigorous fight lost his fish. We then went down 
to the pool — you will remember the place where I "dis- 
covered" the fish on our first trip this year. There Howe, 
who was fishing below me, hooked a big one and in a 
second I was fast to a daisy. They leaped and fought 
here and there, up and down, till we felt that we had 
.contracts on our hands that we could not fill. There 
were plenty of thrills running up our spinal columns; 
and with teeth set and jaws locked we fought the good 
fight. Howe's leader broke, and his fish (he declared it 
uva? an 'fHujunder) went to nurse his sore jaw among 
the roots under the bank. Mine was "fought to a finish" 
at last, and in the net showed 4^. pounds. 
Two more 4-pounders fell to us there, and then we 
passed down to where the river turns to the left. At the 
lower end where you cross over, and where the water 
rolls over a half sunken log, I shortened my line to about 
J2 feet, and standing above cast over and hooked a big 
one as it rose. It broke away. Another cast and another 
big one was fast ; but, it, too, broke away, taking the 
lower half of my leader. I went ashore and bent on a 
new one, and stepped back and cast again. As long as I 
live I chink I shall never forget the whale that came 
out at me from the depths of that little pool. Three times 
he rose lazily, smelled the fly and disappeared. It was 
the first time in my life that a fish scared me. I have 
hunted and killed all sorts of big game of the West, and 
have had some nerve-trying experiences, but I do not 
think that even my biggest grizzly ever gave me a greater 
"creeu" than the fish that rose to me there. I said to 
myself: "Jack, get out of this and get your nerves in 
srnpc Cool off. Go take a smoke, and don't tackle that 
fish to-day." Howe, in the meantime, was busy, and had 
landed two good ones, making four to each of us, 
We went through the woods to the Donkey Engine 
Bar; sdmon. salmon everywhere. You will remember 
bow swiftly the water runs under this shore at the head 
ot the bar. I went in there and crossed and was nearly 
knocked off my feet by salmon dashing between my legs 
and throwing water all over me in their hurry to get out 
of the way. In this swift water I hooked five big fish 
and landed three. My basket was now full to the lid — 
seven fish : Howe's ditto. The tip of my big rod was 
showing signs of weakness, and I was afraid to trust it 
any longer; so we crossed on the logs to the Donkey En- 
gine and went through the timber to the jam below (only 
a few hundred feet), and then walked the jam to the 
head of Foster's Bar. I took both baskets — no small 
load— and went up to the house, where I put the fish on 
ice and changed my rod for the one Mr. Canfield gave 
me. 
It was then 11:30; we had been fishing 2^ hours. 
Jfowe took this side of the bar and I crossed over. What 
a time we had! Big fish came at us from everywhere. 
I hooked one, and after fighting him half an hour made 
up my mind that I could never land him. I could not 
get him within sixty feet of me. I finally worked him 
over into still water and held on. When I would try to 
pull him in he would go the other way. Finally he stood 
on his head, with his tail, which was fully eight inches 
broad, out of the water. I knew what he was after, but 
in spite of all the strain I could bring to bear, I could 
not raise his head out of the gravel, where he finally suc- 
ceeded in rooting the barb from his jaws. From his 
weight on the rod and the vitality and strength he 
showed, he was a good 8 or 10-pound fish. Need I tell 
you I went ashore and lay down on the bar, filled my 
pipe, and thought things ? 
When rested, both in mind and body, I went at it again, 
and was soon fast to another big one. After a long, hard 
fight, in which I was in fear of again losing, I telt the 
fish was mine. Howe was busy, but called to ask if I 
needed any help. I said "No," for I had my quarry well 
in hand, and when I got him into my net "at last and stag- 
gered ashore, I felt that I had well earned the old fel- 
low that tipped the scales at S l A pounds. 
It was now 2 o'clock, and our baskets were so full that 
a sardine could not have been packed into them. Again 
seven fish each, arid nothing under 3^ pounds. We had 
enough, and were very tired after so many royal battles. 
So we went to the house and rested the remainder of the 
day. It would have done no good to have fished in the 
afternoon, for as soon as the sun got directly overhead 
it was so bright that it showed the river bottom along 
the whole bar, and the fish simply lay on the bottom and 
would not rise. Had the weather been cloudy, I actually 
believe we could have caught a wagon load had we been 
so minded. It was keen sport, such as a man does not 
often get. 
We fished over the same water every day, namely, 
Latham's, Donkey Engine, and Foster bars, and it was 
a repetition of bis? fish lost and big fish caught. On the 
Donkey Engine Bar I hooked and landed a double, one 
a 3^2-pound rainbow and the other a Dolly Varden of 
about iH or 3 pounds. Again I hooked a good fish and 
