April i, 1905. j| 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Spring Notes from Prospect Park* 
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., March 19. — The most 
conspicuous arrivals are the purple grackles, who have 
taken up their old quarters on the pine bluff beneath the 
gardens. They were a little late this year, wherein they 
showed their good sense, for certes the weather hereabout 
has not been of a kind to make southern sojourners feel 
comfortable or happy. Late as they were, it is easy to 
imagine them wishing they had been later, for conditions 
have not improved much since their arrival. However, 
they do not show any disposition to despond; on the con- 
trary, they are as full of life, as garrulous and light- 
hearted as ever. Hidden among the dense branches of 
the pines they keep up an unceasing interchange of re- 
marks in their peculiar tongue. If I mistake not, it is 
all about the momentous question of mating. Occasionally 
when some coy female finds herself the object of too 
much attention or remark, she will take wing, and a 
group of gallant males will flock after her. What mag- 
nificent tails they display (cut "bias," as the ladies say), 
and one cannot help wondering that birds with such long 
tails migrate at all. 
Second in conspicuousness among the arrivals are the 
robins. Though far more numerous in the aggregate than 
the grackles, not being gregarious, they are not so notice- 
able. Here and there you see them by ones or twos hop- 
ping about upon the sere and sodden turf in search of the 
guileless worm. They are all looking plump and well, 
and must have wintered prosperously. Truly he is a wise 
bird that knows enough to emigrate. Had those robins 
chosen to remain here last fall, where, O, where would 
they be to-day ! 
Apropos, it makes one tremble to think of the skylarks 
of Rugby. What has become of them? Unless they had 
sense enough to work away from that flat, unsheltered 
region by Canarsie Bay, it is hardly supposable that they 
are alive. Yet there is the case of the starlings noted in 
Forest AND Stream a few weeks ago. If they managed 
to survive the winter, why should not the skylarks? But 
heaven only knows what they fed on, or where they slept 
o' nights. It seems really cruel introducing those poor 
tenderfeet from abroad and casting them loose amid the 
savage blasts and inhospitableness of our winters. But 
to return. The robin tunes his lyre betimes, and there is 
no more pretty or spiritual effect than to hear him sing- 
ing in the rain. His note seems charged with a sweet- 
ness and tenderness unrecognized later on, and it is so 
fresh and unfamiliar withal that we stand charmed to 
listen to it. And albeit the woods are still leafless and the 
general aspect of thiiigs gray and cheerless, we feel that 
spring is come, and a silent orison rises from our hearts. 
So far but one bluebird has been seen, crouching in a 
thicket with half-closed eyes, as if tired out after his 
long journey. But a week or two more will bring him 
many companions, for Prospect Park is a favorite haunt 
oi Sialia sialis. Especially is the Vale Cashmere, with its 
thick laurels and flowering shrubs, a favorite. Last year 
the writer knew of at least half a dozen nests on which 
he could put his hand without leaving the walk; and how 
■ the air used to resound with lute music at eventide ! 
Though the_ song sparrow we have always with us, we 
do not appreciate it, perhaps, except in these early spring 
days, when his bursts of joyous melody, even more than 
the song of the robin, cheer us after the dreary winter. 
See him jump up from the general ruin of the earth and 
proclaim the faith that is in him : Resurrection ! His, 
.pre-eminently, is the title of prophet of the spring. 
The chickadees, who were in evidence all winter, have 
disappeared. They will probably keep going north as 
long as there is a chance of running into a snowstorm. 
In general, the season is very backward. Migration 
las been light and vegetation is in abeyance. The lakes 
are still full of ice, and the eye lights upon not a sign 
of new greenery. But presto! what a few warm days 
:will do'. F. M. 
nternational Ornithological Congress 
The fourth international ornithological congress will 
3e held at London, June 12 to 17, 1905. 
The Prince of Wales is the Patron of the congress, 
while the honorary presidents are Prince Ferdinand of 
Bulgaria, and Alfred Russel Wallace, D.C.L., LL.D., 
P.R.S. The president-elect is R. Bowdler Sharpe, 
^L.D., Natural History Museum, London; the treas- 
urer, Mr. C. E. Fagan, of the Natural History Museum, 
and the secretaries. Dr. Ernst J. O. Hartert, Tring, 
Herts, England, and Mr. J. Lewis Bonhote, Ditton 
Hall, Fen Ditton, Cambs, England. The organizing 
committee and the general committee include the most 
eminent ornithologists of the world, and its members 
"rom the United States are Dr. Joel Asaph Allen, F. M. 
Chapman, Dr. D. G. Elliot, Chas. W. Richmond, Robert 
Ridgway, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger. 
The congress will be held from the 12th to 17th of 
June, inclusive, and arrangements are being made for 
excursions during the following week. 
The price of subscriptions for membership has been 
fixed at £1 (=20 mks. = 25 frs.), and all members will 
receive a copy of the published proceedings of the 
ongress. Ladies may be admitted as members on the 
same terms, or they may participate in all privileges of 
membership, but without receiving the printed report, 
Dn payment of los. (= 10 mks. = 12 frs. 50 cents.). 
• Subscriotions should be sent to the trea.surer (Mr. 
Z. E. Fagan, British Museum, Natural History, 
Cromwell Road, London, S.W.), or they rnay be paid 
it the commencement of the congress, but in the latter 
case it is requested that notice of an intention to be 
present be sent to one of the secretaries. 
Members intending to read papers are requested to 
:ommunicate particulars of the same as soon as possible 
;o one of the secretaries. 
The meetings will be divided into general meetings 
and meetings of sections. The sections will be as 
follows: 
I. Systematic Ornithology, Geographical Distribu- 
tion, Anatomy and Palaeontology; II. Migration; III. 
Biology, Nidification, Oology; IV. Economic Orni- 
thology and Bird Protection; V. Aviculture. 
It is expected that many interesting papers will be 
presented on these various subjects. 
The preliminary programme, which, however, is subject to al- 
teration, is thus announced : 
Unless otherwise stated, the meetings of the Congress will take 
place at the Imperial Institute. South Kensington. The office of 
the Congress at the Imperial Institute will be open daily during 
the week from 10 till 4. 
Monday, June 12. — 9 P. M., informal reception at the Imperial 
Institute. 
Tuesday, June 13. — 10 A. M., general meeting. 3 P. M., meetings 
of the sections. Evening, social gathering at some place of enter- 
tainment. 
Wednesday, June 14. — 10 A. M. and 3 P. M., meetings of the 
sections. Evening, conversazione at the Natural History Museum. 
Thursday, June 15. — Excursion to Tring. There will be lectures, 
and the members of the Congress will be the guests of the Hon. 
Walter Rothschild. 
Friday, June 16. — 10 A. M., general meeting. Afternoon, re- 
ception by the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London, at the 
Mansion House. Evening, dinner given by the British Ornitholo- 
gists' Union. 
Saturday, June 17. — 10 A. M., meetings of the sections; 2:30 
P. M., general meeting. Conclusion of the Congress. 
Sunday, June 18. — The Natural History Museum, the Zoological 
Gardens and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew will be open 
to members of the Congress. 
Monday, June 19. — Excursion to the Duke of Bedford's ' park 
at Woburn. 
Tuesday, June 20. — Excursion to Cambridge. Professor New- 
ton will welcome the members of the Congress and luncheon will 
be served at Magdalene College. 
Wednesday, June 21. — Excursion to Flamborough Head in 
Yorkshire (breeding place of many sea birds). 
The Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park and the Library of the 
Zoological Society at 3 Hanover Square, will be open free to all 
members of the Congress throughout the week. 
A Bear and a Moose. 
"We cut the top of a dead cedar that hangs over the 
water at the end of the lake and blazed both sides of the 
stump so that you could find the spot." And immediately 
six excited disbelievers jumped into their canoes to prove 
that we were lying. And well they might, for they were 
to view the scene of a conflict that, according to all 
authorities, has never been duplicated in the State of 
Maine. But I am anticipating. 
"Well, there's no use in talking, they're not on the 
ridges," observed As (and I have often wondered if this 
should not be spelled Ace, from his known weakness for 
the game American), as we were nearing the end of a 
day's tramp over the very roughest kind of trail. "These 
other fellows may be right, and they ought to know, for 
they've had a chance to size things up ; but you can't make 
me believe but what game is still comin' to the water." 
And so when we were gathered before the cheering blaze 
that evening at Spider Lake camp I barkened to the game 
oracle. The next morning bright and early we paddled 
away from the boat landing, thoroughly agreed on a day's 
campaign that we felt would be a winner. Paddling the 
length of the lake and carrying over the dam we ran 
down the stream to its entrance into Grassy Pond. Our 
arrival here started a very large buck on the bank, but 
he vamoosed in plenty of time, and no harm resulted to 
him. Here we lay in the grass on the bank all day in 
true Micawber style, and by dark, in reply to- the birch 
bark, we got a fine answer, and our moose came right 
into the lake. However, by the time we could paddle close 
up to him, shooting was guesswork, and while my nine 
shots must have been "keeping company" with him, he 
managed tO' get off intO' the black woods. How often 
must the enthusiast's vision of himself seated on the body 
of the "fallen monarch" crumble into a silent- home- 
coming charged with the feeling that a fellow's hindsight 
is better than his foresight, and both are better than his 
gun sight by a great sight. 
On the morrow we were up and off again betimes, vow- 
ing as we drew near the dam to track that moose till a 
very warm place was suitable ■ for skating, when we met the 
erratic yet fascinating maiden "Chance," this time disguised 
in the form of five successive shots down the lake by the 
camps. "What do you suppose those blessed idiots are 
wasting lead on ?" I said to As, as we stopped paddling to 
listen, while the rain drops began to break the leaden 
calm of the lake. "Firing at a target, I guess," he re- 
plied, "but that sounded mighty like an 'answer' from 
the ridge." 
Just as the silence was becoming "audible," a loud 
grunt from the lake shore, not one hundred yards away, 
nearly startled me out of the canoe; and turning I looked 
at As and he "blinked" at me. When the remarks suit- 
able to such a condition had passed and we had partially 
recovered our composure, we started to paddle in the 
direction of the call. Twice en route we were startled 
and surprised by the intensity of repeated grunts, until 
finally our canoe hung in deathly silence close to shore, 
and directly in line with the "big head" (as we sup- 
posed). After listening intently for some time. As, much 
to my surprise, quietly shoved the nose of the canoe on to 
the shore and motioned to me to get out. I did so, and 
cautiously climbing up the bank, was just on the point of 
advancing into the woods in obedience to another signal 
from As, when I was so startled by another loud "blat" 
(apparently right beside me) that I almost fell over back- 
ward, and decided that retreat as well as advance has at 
times its good points. By this time As, rifle in hand, wa« 
on the bank beside me, and we began to creep sidewis« 
in opposite directions to try and find an opening to piere* 
the thick growth hiding the "area of disturbance" from 
ourselves. We soon did, and I think neither of ui will 
ever forget the sight presented. 
At first there was only a sense of a large black object 
about thirty yards off, swaying wildly to and fro, but 
closer inspection revealed a large cow moose squatting 
op her haunches, while planted on her back was a good 
sized black bear, his teeth firmly set in her back, worrying 
her much as a terrier would a rat. Local color — decided 
mixture of flying fur and claws, accompanied, whenever 
an unusually heavy blow struck her ribs, by a pitiable 
blat. When we were finally able to take in the situation, 
As and I and the slaughter house formed practically an 
equilateral triangle, and simultaneously from our respect- 
ive positions we opened a converging fire. At the first 
shot that bear came off the moose like a cat off a fence, 
and after hesitating a moment on landing, apparently puz- 
zled which direction to take, he came in a bee-line for 
me. Meantime we kept our Winchesters busy, and when 
he had reached a point about half-way between the moose 
and myself, he rose on his hindlegs to his full height, tot- 
tered for a second, and then slowly, half backward and 
sidewise, a collapsed bear. 
"Got him," from As. 
We now inspected the arena and victim. Each time we 
approached the moose, which was steadily regarding us, 
she would make frantic and piteous attempts to get on 
her feet, only to fall again in a more helpless heap. We 
judged that the bear had injured the backbone, thus prac- 
tically paralyzing the hindfeet. The space surrounding 
the moose, in a diameter of say fwenty-five feet, was all 
trampled up and littered with tufts of hair and stained 
with pools of blood, testifying to the desperate nature of 
the struggle that had been going on. From the height 
at which a fallen tree was broken, we judged that the 
moose had tried to reach the lake as a possible chance to 
drown the bear off her back. The animal herself was 
covered with blood, her skin shredded to ribbons, one eye 
gone and hair torn out in "clawfuls," while later we dis- 
covered that the bear had driven in most of her ribs. I 
wanted to put her out of her misery, but As dissuaded 
me, as he said she might recover if left alone; but really 
he was thinking about that statute in regard to lady 
moose, I guess. 
I now went to the assistance of As, who had hold of 
one of the bear's hindpaws and was making valiant but 
rather uncertain efforts to reach the lake, towing the 
bear. After some Hitle difficulty we got him comfortably 
into the canoe and went off to trail up the moose we had 
shot the night before. Passing the dam on our return a 
couple of hours later, we decided to have a second look 
at the battle ground, and found that the cow had died in 
the interval. 
That is about all of this unheard-of tragedy of the 
forest, except that that afternoon six excited "sports" and 
guides from camp viewed the remains and finally believed. 
Two daj'S later As was cursing roundly while packing the 
head and hide ovef a rocky trail. To-day I am sending 
the taxidermist final instructions in regard to mounting. 
Henry Dunnell. 
Springes Ever Inspiring Advance. 
Sayre, Pa., March 24. — The sure manifestations of 
spring are on every hand. The pussy willows are smiling 
fresh and green under the touch of the south wind, and 
wild geese are honking their way northward in a steady 
drift. The Susquehanna is harboring great companies of 
wildfowl wading along its still reaches of water. Robins 
and bluebirds are in evidence everywhere, and out in the 
big meadows the sweet song of the little ground sparrow 
falls_ softly upon the air. There is something wonderfully 
inspiring about the simple little ditties which this early 
migrant sings \vith all the charm and ardor of, a more 
pretentious musician. 
Bluebirds are reported more plentiful than for several 
years past, a fact which will cause bird lovers to feel a 
new measure of hope for a return of the old conditions, 
when the blue coats were swirling in iorce through every 
northern orchard. 
It is too early to estimate accurately the effect of the 
past winter upon the grouse and quail supply. In con- 
A^ersation with a few parties who have been recently afield, 
information indicates that the grouse have cared for 
themselves in good shape, as usual; but the quail have 
fared ill in many localities. It is hoped, however, that 
later observations will bring more encouraging reports. 
M. Chill. 
Spring on Staten Island* 
Prince's Bay, N. Y., Alarch 17. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have read lately of the signs of an early 
spring. It has been recorded that the skunk cabbage is 
out, and certain buds, when cut with the knife, have 
shown an unusually early start, and that song sparrows 
were here; but the true harbinger of spring I saw to-day 
--the tree swallow. This is the first time in my expe- 
rience that I have seen a swallow in this part of the coun- 
try on the 17th of March. I watched him for a long time 
making graceful circles in the air, and when the sun 
caught the fine plumage on his back, the steel-greenish 
color was most beautiful. It outclassed all shades of 
green so prominent to-day; it was a rest for my eyes to 
notice that beautiful green. I have had song sparrows 
around my place all winter. I fed them, and they paid as 
good as cash on every sunny day with their song. Robins 
and bluebirds have been here all winter, but have been 
scarce, and one would have to travel some to find them, 
unless acquainted with their winter habits. *** 
A Loony** Question. 
That California correspondent, J. D. C, writes inter- 
estingly of the striped bass. But will he have the kind- 
ness to tell us when he ever saw "the cusps of the new 
moon high in the starry zenith"? I can't figure the thing 
out, especially as he intimates that it was late at night. 
Aztec. 
