Aug. ig , 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
181 
n autopsy on such and everyone that dies, the principal 
luse among the Hungarians can be placed to the door of 
apes. I am not speaking now of the chicks but of the 
Ider birds that were born in their native land. One hun- 
red per Cent, of this disease was found in the hens _dur- 
ig the time of setting. We can oiiljr account for it by 
le cramped position of the mother bird giving the WOfni 
good chance to obstruct the windpipe. _ On this subject 
f gapes, the worms found here in Virginia will average 
a inch in length, almost twice the size of those found in 
lost other places. The change of climate for the first 
ear of the importation will notice a marked degree of 
on-fertility among the eggs. It is not that the cock is 
ot doing the best he can. Give the same birds a trial a 
;cond year and you will notice the difference. 
As far as the chicks are concerned they take absolutely 
) their surroundings, and if anything thrive better than 
ley do in the old country. Who will deny that_ quail 
anting is the finest sport that we have on our side of 
le water? Imagine your marked bird twice as big as he 
;ally is and you have the Hungarian brother. Isn’t it 
orth the effort at cultivation? To many parts of this 
nintry the bird is admirably suited atid will thrive by 
s own efforts if given a chance. We firmly believe mat 
is the bird of the future and should be closely watched 
id studied and every effort made to cultivate and make 
le of our own. D. W. Wynkoop. 
i:ssEX Park Game Preserve, Montague, Essex Co., Va. 

Massachusetts Game Birds. 
Boston, Mass., Aug. J2 .— Editor Forest and Stream: 
on. Joseph P. Love, of Webster, writes “there are no 
lail whatever,” but for partridges the prospect is “fair.” 
1 1904 an application for quail to be liberated was sent 
by the town of Webster, an appropriation having been 
)ted in town meeting. The State Association was un- 
de to send the birds oil account of the lateness of the 
fl. The only other town to pass a similar vote, so far 
. 1 know, was CohaSset, to wnieh birds were sent, with 
ccellent results, in the opinion of Mr, Souther, to whom 
e birds were consigned;, 
Mr; Gfeorgb iff; Goings, SPisretary of tile Rofikland FiSh, 
ame and Gun Club, reports quail very scarce. He Sa^s 
e must stock with quail and put a close season on them 
.11 the time,” besides providing feed during the winter, 
e favors a hunter’s license of $1, the money derived to 
! used for stocking with game. 
Mr. A. B. F. Kinney hears of no quail. Broods of 
lung partridges reported generally large, but though this 
IS been a good breeding season he thinks they are 
lothing as numerous” as they were ten years ago. 
M. A. Estabrook, of Fitchburg, expresses the opinion 
tat quail are increasing since the “freeze out” in 1904, 
wies large and in fine condition. For partridges, he 
iys, prospects are “all any reasonable sportsman can 
■k.” He favors extending the license law making it ap- 
y to residents and non-residents as well as aliens. 
.Representative A, E. Kiiowlton, a bird hunter, reports 
out Gardner that quail are scarce and partridges re- 
>rted plenty-. ... ■ , - 
W- H; G. Wight, of Lowfeil, a member of the State 
sSociation and a man who has been interested in garrte 
1 his life, declares there are only a few scattering quail, 
id the partridges have been “cleaned up” by j>ot hunters, 
he country about his City, he says, has excellent covers, 
’t they need restocking and strict enforcement of the 
WS; _ 
Mr. F. B. Green, also a member of the State Associa- 
on, has extensive forest lands in North Dartmouth, says 
; has heard quail only onCe or twjce, has seen sonte 
irtridges ; would be glad to restock his Covers with quail. 
A report from Yamtouthport is “fairly good” pros- 
;cts. The inforniant has seen four pairs of quail. Very 
■w shot last fall. 
Mr. Howland, of Taunton, has not heard a single quail, 
id has sold his dog. Thinks we must do some stocking 
id “wait.” 
Mr. Crocker, of Barnstable, knows of two or three 
acks of quail and of partridges ; considers quail rather 
;arce. 
Dr. Shurtleff, of Kingston, a South Shore town, re- 
irts quail very scarce, partridges abundant. 
Senator F. M, Chace, of Fall River, says prospects “not 
ery good.” He would favor close time of two years and 
1 appropriation from the State. 
A report c.overing Dover, Medway and Bellingham is 
') the effect that no quail appear to have survived the 
inter. These towns are good quail country. 
Mr. E. H. Richards, a member of the State Associa- 
on from Woburn, considers both quail and partridge 
:arce. 'Another member, Mr. W. H. Manning, of North 
illerica (Middlesex county), regards “prospects poor” 
id suggests the encouragement of fish and game_ clubs 
)r protection of game and fish, that the commissioners 
:nd men out to look after the formation of such clubs 
id the extending of information on existing conditions, 
le laws, etc. 
A correspondent in North Grafton believes “quail 
looting a thing of the past.” 
F. F. Baldwin liberated birds in Hopkinton in 1904 and 
links the prospect encouraging. Says those planted by 
im did well. Thinks town authorities should be induced 
) co-operate in the work of the clubs, posting the 
.ws, etc. 
President Schofield, of the Groveland Club, Essex 
Dunty, thinks prospects “fairly good” as compared with 
ther years. A Peabody correspondent says quail are 
lirly plentiful and partridge scarce. North Eastham, 
better than last year”; Northbridge, prospects for fall 
looting good. 
The secretary of the Leominster Sportsmen’s Club re- 
orts quail scarce, and he would limit the bag to four 
artridges a day and other birds in proportion. “Quail 
;arce” is the report from South Lancaster, West Bridge- 
/ater. Savoy (plenty two years ago), Millbury, Millville, 
Vest Stoughton, Montague, Brookfield and Berlin. 
Mr. Andrews, of Hudson, member of the State Associa- 
lon, reports quail “few," will be cleaned up in November; 
pity that month had not been closed.” 
kir. Rice, writing from a town in the east central part 
f the State, says he has located seven young broods of 
artridge with “ffopt seven to fourteen birds" in each 
brood. He says a fox caught the old bird of one family. 
He knows it for a fact, he says. He tells of a few wood- 
cock and two broods of black duck. Outside of quail, 
he thinks birds will be more plentiful than for the past 
two years. He has seen two deer, and a neighbor reports 
seeing three together. 
A pleasant letter from Mr. Roberts, of New York city, 
informs me that he has just returned from the Tunxis 
Club preserves in Tolland, Mass., where he saw a deer as 
large as a three-yeat-old Jersey heifer,_ a bald eagle, a 
crane, besides partridge ana woodcock right around close 
to the club house, but he missed the familiar whistle of 
Bob White, not hearing a single one. 
Perhaps the most doleful report of all comes from Mr. 
Payson, who has a large tract of land in Lexington. He 
says Italians shoot “anywhere, everywhere.” They are 
utterly lawless. Says he released partridges (quail?) only 
to have them driven away or destroyed in spite of the 
land being posted. He adds, “I try to feed in -winter but 
no use under existing conditions.” I trust the alien license 
law will be so rigidly enforced as to relieve every citizen 
of the State whose experience is like that of Mr. Payson, 
and there are many such. H. H. Kimball. 
The Wood Duck. 
Handsome indeed is the wood duckrirt his resplendent 
spring pelage, his wedding suit, if you please* Scientists 
call him Aix sponsa. When the writer was a boy they 
were common, generally speaking, throughout nearly the 
whole of the United States, except that being shallow 
water feeders they were seldom found on our sea coasts. 
Non-divers, lovers of partially submerged tree tops, nest- 
ing in hollow stumps and in trees sometimes sixty feet 
above old mother earth, feeding upon acorns, vegetable 
growths of shallow pond bottoms, the seeds of wild oats 
and certain other weeds and- scattered grains, they fur- 
nished our ornithologists with a nut to crack, for how 
did those young ducklings get to the water sixty feet 
below the nest in their tree home? The solution of this 
question occupied the bird men for the better part of a 
Century. Of a verity the wood-duck is among the most 
interesting as well as most beautiful of our feathered 
bipeds; 
I stole the miller’s Swan-like skiff and hunted the old 
mother duck and her dowtly bfood on the mill pond, 
sloughs and old creek beds that in early days were fed 
by Stillman’s Run, long before I dared to- steal his gun 
and count coup on the myriads of feathered and other 
game with which this section, at that time, abounded. It 
was a joy and a delight to the boy who sent the little skiff 
in arrowy flight after the speeding mother duck and her 
young, to see her gaining cover for the brood, break into 
night with squealing notes of distressed mother love, as 
the flappers quickly disappeared in some friendly shelter, 
nor was much required to hide them most securely. 
Beginning in the days of loose powder, shot and patched 
bullets, and continuing in a progressive way to the pres- 
ent time, the writer has stood the successful hunter above 
the great majority of the game of our country, than which 
no land ever had a nobler heritage. But never has he felt 
quite the same thrill of pride as when he started down 
the Creek for home, with several of those downy duck- 
lings in the straw hat that he had seen his dear old grand- 
mother (a pioneer product of the American forests 
primeval) build for him out of wheat straw that he had 
cut for the purpose. Of course, the -trophies of this first 
hunt were proudly laid at her feet. She commended the 
skill of the little hunter, but assured him that in spite 
of anything that we could do, the young wood ducks 
would surely die, and sent him willingly back -to turn 
them loose at the scene of their capture. 
Dr. a. J. Woodcock. 
Notes from Arizona. 
PhcenIx, Ariz., Aug. 5.— White-winged pigeon (Melo~ 
pelia leucoptera) and dove shooting has Been fine here 
for the past four months. The pigeons are much easier 
to hit on the wing than the dove, being a straight flying 
bird y they winter in Mexico south of here, and come to 
the grain fields of southern Arizona in the summer. Last 
week Messrs. Williamson, Snoke, Stull, Ainsworth, Cassi- 
day, Pinney and Hedger bagged. 236 white wings in a 
couple of hours’ shooting in the afternoon. The birds are 
very fat now and particularly fine eating. The shooters 
sit in the shade of the big cottonwood trees in a line of 
flight, and kill the birds as they fly over. The doves are 
usually more plentiful than the pigeons, both of which 
are so numerous as to be almost a pest, and there is no 
closed season on either. 
Our quail (Gambel’s partridge) this fall will be plenti- 
ful everywhere in the valley. Last, year was so dry in 
the early summer the quail did riot mate, but this summer 
they are bringing off two or three broods, which will 
give abundant shooting. 
Under our new game law the deer season opens Sept. 
IS and closes Dec. i, with a limit of three male deer. 
Non-residents must secure a license to- hunt big game, 
which costs $10. Game Commissioner Pinney is now hav- 
ing the licenses prepared, which for convenience may be 
had next month. 
The thirteenth annual tournament of the Arizona 
Sportsmen’s Association will be held early in December. 
There will be three days target shooting, with good 
purses added, and teams from all the gun clubs of Ari- 
zona, as well as a number of outside shooters, will parti- 
cipate. The tournament will be held during or just fol- 
lowing the first annual Territorial Fair, the date of which 
is Dec. 4-9 inclusive. The Phoenix Gun Club will have 
an election of officers within a few days, and make pre- 
liminary arrangements for the tournament, which -will be 
held this year under their auspices. • 
Very few violations of the deer law are reported this 
summer. Nearly all the forest rangers are deputy game 
commissioners, and as they make it a point to carefully 
examine the outfits of every camping party they meet in 
the mountains, it has practically put an end to killing 
deer out of season. 
d'rout fishing in Oak Creek south of Flagstaff, and in 
White and Black rivers on the Apache Indian Reserva- 
tion, has been exceptionally good this summer, and has 
been enjoyed by a large number of the disciples of the 
rod and reel. pnffiNix. 
Birds on Roefc Island. 
Davenport, la., Aug 12 . — Editor Forest and Stream: 
About a week ago I took a short walk over a part of the 
Rock Island Arsenal island, which lies in the Mississippi 
River .opposite to this city. As I was walking along one 
of the beautiful but little traveled woodland drives there, 
I was surprised to flush a ruffed grouse and its young 
from a large cluster of tall weeds, that were growing in 
an opening: in the woods about ten feet from the road. 
The old bird flew up quickly into a nearby tree, while 
the young birds hurried into the thicker woods beyond. 
Later the old grouse flew around the open space and 
joined its young at a safe distance from me. 
The ruffed grouse, like the prairie chicken, is rarely 
found in this county. That the ruffed grouse is rare is 
probably due to the fact that there are now very few suit- 
able covers left for them, and also that a large amount 
of hunting is done in this county. 
The Bob Whites here are doing nicely. On Aug. 7 I 
came across a flock of about fifteen young on^-s that could 
fly fairly well, and were nearly full grown. Another flock 
of young birds was seen on Aug. 3. 
Owing to the protection they receive. Bob Whites are 
quite numerous on the island. Often they cross over to 
the Iowa shore, but few nest here, as they seem to prefer 
the island as a nesting site. About a year ago a pair of 
Bob Whites was seen running about on one of our prin- 
cipal streets, and cases of their being seen on lawns in 
the residence portion of the city are not very uncommon. 
A few years ago a flock of fifteen came into our yard, 
and after running about for a short time, they flew off 
into the less thinly settled portion of the city. 
Donald Berryhill Davison. 
**Thc Game Laws in Brief.” 
The “Game Laws in Brief” in the current edition has 
been revised to date and contains the laws as in force 
for 1905. 
The plan of the “Brief” is to give all essential provi- 
sions of the laws relating to game and fish, omitting the 
surplusage but retaining everything that may be of use. 
For instance, the book is not lumbered up with specifica- 
tions of penalties; it is assumed that a sportsman wants 
to know the law, and does not want to figure on what 
he will have to pay or how long he will go to jail if he 
breaks the law. It happened the other day, though, that 
a man from Connecticut came into- the Forest and 
Stream office to find out about the Connecticut export 
law penalty. He was figuring on whether it would pay 
him to run the risk of taking some birds home with him. 
When he added up the possible (if not probable), amount 
of the penalty he concluded “not to.” 
Apart then from the fine and prison features, the laws 
are all here, and they are so put as to be understandable 
by all men. 
The “Game Laws in Brief” is an up-to-date, compre- 
hensive, accurate and reliable compilation for the United 
States and the Canadian Provinces, while the “Woodcraft 
Magazine” feature has been discontinued, because it has 
proved impossible to publish successive issues at regular 
dates. There are in this edition two capital bear stories 
by Allen Kelly, out of his book, “Bears I Have Met,” 
the volume which contains the original story of “Mon- 
arch, the Big Bear,” concerning which a few months ago 
there was a lively discussion in these columns. 
Fifcatms in Belgium* 
Consul McNally, writing from Liege, Belgium, calls 
attention to the trade of that city in firearms. He says 
2,479,936 weapons — guns, revolvers, etc. — were officially 
tested, against 1,938,470 in 1903. _ Of these 891,875 for 
1904 and 629,785 for 1903 were single-barreled; 656,327 
(1904) and 536,433 (1903), double-barreled; 549,654(1904) 
and 483,411 (1903) were revolvers. The increase is cred- 
ited to the war in the East. 
The Pfesident's Spring Hunt. 
The issues of Scribner’s Magazine for October and 
November next will contain articles by President Roose- 
velt descriptive of his recent hunting trips in the West. 
One of the articles describes the expedition after coyotes 
and wolves in Oklahoma and the other the trip for bears 
and other big game in the Rocky Mountains. 
The Old Home. 
An old lane, an old gate, an old house by a tree; 
A wild wood, a wild brook — they will not let me be; 
In boyhood I knew them, and still they call to me. 
Down- deep in my heart’s core I hear them, and my_ eyes 
Through tear-mists behold them beneath the old-time skies, 
’Mid bee-boom and rose-bloom and orchard lands arise. 
I hear them, and heartsick with longing is my soul, 
To walk there, to dream there, beneath the sky’s blue bowl; 
Around me, within me, the weary world made whole. 
To talk with the wild brook of all_ the long ago. 
To whisper the wood-wind of things we used to know 
When we were old companions, before my heart knew woe. 
To walk with the merning and watch its rose unfold; 
To drowse with the noontide, lulled on its heart of gold; 
To lie with the night-time and dream the dreams of old. 
To tell to the old trees and to each listening leaf, 
The longing, the yearning, as in my boyhood brief. 
The old hope, the old love, would ease my heart of grief. 
The old lane, the old gate, the old house by the tree. 
The wild wood, the wild brook — they will not let me be; 
In boyhood I knew them, and still they call to me. 
— Criterion. 
The Melbourne Sporting and Dramatic has been running a 
Rtoryette competition, one of the prize-winning yarnlets being 
the following: A son of Erin, a recent arrival to Australia’s 
shores, was being shown the sights of Melbourne. On a recent 
Sunday, the Zoological Gardens was their rendezvous, where, 
after visiting the large and varied exhibits, they came to a group 
of kangaroos. “And what may these be?” inquired the new chum 
of a fellow-countryman who had ‘‘come out” some time before. 
“Faith, if me mimry serves me right, they call ’em Australian 
natives,” “Australian natives!” cried the new chum, in amaze- 
ipent. “Oh! wirra! wirra! And I have a nace married to wan 
av thim same,” 
