272 
-‘I say to Joe, ‘Now we go home,’ imd ve pick up 
tventv-one geeses. 
“Joe, .he is such, a hobo, anyhow,, he say, Hans, you go 
home und bring de vagon yet, und I stays’ mid de geese.’ 
He vas a lopster, anyhow.” 
Just then the train whistled and as it pulled up to the 
station Hans made me promise to come back in two 
weeks and. get some Canadas, which I did; not twenty- 
one, however, but I did have the pleasure of some good 
shooting; and above all _ saw Hans and his wonderful 
“mussiling loater” in action. Noynek. 
Wild Rice and Wild Ducks. 
Newark, N. J., Sept. 20 . — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Inclosed you will find a cliping, which I cut out of a 
Newark paper. I hope you will put it in this week’s 
Forest and Stream, as it will interest a good many 
of your New Jersey readers. G. D. M. 
The enclosure is a report in the Newark Evening 
News, of Sept. 13, from. Lincoln Park: Dr. Unger, of 
Paterson, and Artie Zeliff, of this village, were out 
yesterday morning in Bog-and-Vlie swamp after snipe, 
and in passing one of the ponds filled with wild rice 
flushed a flock of ducks, which had settled in there to 
feed. Three birds fell at the first shots fired, and the 
remainder of the flock flew to an adjoining pond about 
a quarter of a mile away. By chasing uu the birds from 
pond to pond twelve in all were bagged before it began 
to rain so hard as to drive the hunters from the field. 
It is unusual for ducks to come in so early in the 
season, but in all probability they came down in ad- 
vance of the storm from further north. 
Since the planting of the wild rice in the Bog-and- 
Vlie pond-holes, a year ago last April, the plant has 
done remarkably well and affords a feeding ground for 
vast numbers of ducks in their migrations from the 
Canadian wilds to the sounds and bays of Noith Caio- 
lina and Virginia. Last fall large bags were secured 
here, when none could be found anywhere else for miles 
around. The rice is just . ripening now, and on every 
stalk hangs a well-filled head of rice, the wild ducks 
favo-rite food. 
The rice was brought from Minnesota and planted as 
an experiment. It had been tried several times before 
in New Jersey, but had failed every time, as the right 
conditions did not exist for its best development in the 
localities where planted. To insure success the. rice 
must be planted in soil that is constantly covered with a 
few inches of water, but it must not be deep during the 
growing season. Land that is flooded during part of 
the year only will not do for its cultivation. 
The prospects for all kinds of game, except quail, 
in the vicinity of Lincoln Park were never better than 
they are this fall. Snipe shooting in the swamps and 
lowland meadows has already begun and fine bags have 
been made. Now that ducks have begun to arrive the 
snipe and ducks will afford plenty of sport until Novem- 
ber, when the rabbit and partridge season will open. 
The quail were apparently all frozen out last winter, 
as none have been seen this season at all, but rabbits 
and partridge fared better, the former securing shelter 
under farmers’ outbuildings and haystacks and the lattei 
in the thick cedars on the mountain side. 
The past season has been a remarkably good one for 
breeding on account of the dry weather when the young 
were very small, and those left from last year have 
multiplied wonderfully. The result is that rabbits and 
partridges were never more plentiful than they are now. 
The deer that have made the vicinity of Lincoln Park 
their hom^e for the last two years are still in the neigh- 
borhood, but as New Jersey law forbids that they 
be shot for several years to come, they can hardly be 
looked for as legitimate game. 
North Carolina Notes* 
Raleigh, N. C., Sept. 22.— Editor Forest and_ Stream: 
The outlook for what our people here call partridges, but 
what our northern friends call quail, is certainly very 
promising. The summer was a remarkably wet one, 
though luckily June was dry, that being the month when 
the young birds are apt to suffer from too much ram. 
As a result there are very good broods, and the young- 
sters looked very well indeed. I have had the opportu- 
nity of seeing a good many coveys in my rambles and 
also here through my farmer and sporting friends m a 
number of counties. T. here is a great deaj of food tor 
the birds, and the acreage in cow peas, which, after all, 
is the best food for the birds, and which really increases 
their size,, it seems, is larger than ever before in my 
recollection. • 
Your correspondent will about Thanksgiving time give 
the annual rabbit hunt to his friends, Governor Glenn 
and the other State officers. We will repair again to the 
century-old home of Mr. Samuel Wilder, a few miles 
west of Raleigh, and we will have thirty-two dogs all 
thoroughbred beagles. No guns will be used and there 
are a thousand acres of land to hunt over. A turkey din- 
ner is to be, as usual, one of the features of the day, and 
ex-Gov. Charles B. Aycock will come up from Goldsboro 
to be the writer’s guest for the hunt. ^ We ought to get 
and probably will, twenty-five to thirty labbits. Last 
year we caught nineteen. ^ 
Most of the North Carolina fox hounds will go to the 
great meet of the Virginia-Carolina fox hunters meet 
at the Mecklenburg Hotel, Chase City, Va., Oct. 24-28. 
This is to be made the largest meet ever known in the 
United States, or perhaps in the world, as from 750 to 
1 000 dogs will be there. A good deal of attention is 
being paid to fox packs in North Carolina now, and 
this association has stimulated this. _ 
The foxes, all of them grays, in this county have nearly 
been exterminated, this having been the work of the 
Ian pack, which up to a few years ago the late Mr. 
. William Boylan had kept for twenty-five years or more, 
numbering from forto to sixty dogs. The son of Mr. 
Boylan. Mr. William M. Boylan, tells me a very strange 
thing about the bite of dogs, this being that he has been 
bitten a score of times, by. dogs of the pack which were 
said to be mad, and never wa,s affected in the least. He 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
firmly believes that the attack and death of persons who 
have been bitten was due solely to fright — that is fear ot 
hydrophobia. He tells me of a case in which a negro 
was attacked by one of the hounds, which suddenly went 
mad. Mr. Boyland, minus clothing, dashed out of his 
room with a shotgun and found the man down and the 
dog at work on his throat and face, and had literally to 
blow the dog’s head away in order to. stop the furious 
beast. The man never suffered from the many bites given 
hiin. All over North Carolina is a popular belief in the 
mad-stone as a cure for hydrophobia, and the writer has 
heard of four of these stones, one of which has for 
twenty-five years or more been in great request. How- 
ever, when persons are bitten now. the rule is to take 
them north for Pasteur treatment, not everybody having 
faith in the mad-stone. 
The deer hunting season has opened and reports from 
the east are to the effect that there are many deer in fine 
condition. Governor Glenn will take a hunt near New- 
bern early in October or early in November. 
In a small way one or two experiments are in progress 
in breeding pheasants, but nothing extensive has yet been 
done, though there are great advantages since the game 
laws are not only stricter and more complete, but are so 
much better observed than ever before. The chief game 
warden tells me that he has had very little trouble this 
summer in enforcing the law. There are now forty-two 
under-wardens. These report that the plumage birds on 
the coast are more numerous , than ever before. The 
writer observed more of such birds during a trip along 
the sounds in August than in many years. There are two 
rookeries of cormorants in this State and some pelicans 
have been seen along the coast during the summer. 
The most encouraging thing about bird protection is 
the interest which the farmers are showing in it. It was 
thought at first they would not like the law, thinking it 
was a deprivation of rights which they fancied they had, 
but they have looked from a very sensible viewpoint, and 
have very heartily helped in enforcing it. The Audubon 
Society has sent out many thousands of leaflets which 
give information about the bird. 
The sounds, where the ducks delight in the wild celery, 
notably Currituck Sound, will be better policed this sea- 
son than ever before, as there will be two patrol boats in 
the service, while last season there was only one. North- 
ern members of the Audubon Society continue to express 
a very lively interest in its work in North Carolina, 
which more than any other State in the South, except 
Florida, is engaged in the work of protecting all song, 
plumage and game birds. 
The writer was shown this week some of the women’s 
hats for the' coming season, and found that some styles 
were made entirely of feathers, these being arranged on 
a sort of frame of canvas. The feathers were of various 
colors, and it was rather difficult to determine from what 
fowls they came. The dealers said that gallant bird, the 
rooster, furnished them, but the writer does not vouch 
for this. Very few of the women seem to mind wearing 
bird feathers ; in ' fact, some of them would wear live 
birds, fastened by the legs, or for that matter stuck 
through with a hatpin, only providing that such use was 
fashionable. No doubt all over the country hats entirely 
of feathers will be seen a little later, and the authorities 
interested in bird protection might well now look into the 
establishments where such headgear is turned out and 
find out what kinds of feathers are used and whence 
they came. Fred A. Olds. 
The Natural Enemies of Birds* 
BY EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH. 
• From the “Special Report on the Decrease of Certain Birds, and 
its Causes, with Suggestions for Bird Protection.” in the 
Fifty-second Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board 
of Agriculture. 
Concluded from Page 253 
The Mink, 
Minks feed along water courses, where they kill a 
water-fowl now and then. They also make excursions 
overland, killing mice, as does the weasel. _ At times 
they kill many domestic fowls and some birds. Mr. 
Brewster has recorded, in “Bird-lore,” the almost com- 
plete destruction of a colony of bank swallows by one 
or more minks. Mr. H. B. Bigelow says; “Minks 
kill few if any quail or partridges, but a good many 
ducks on the marshes. I have found black ducks, 
evidently killed and partly eaten by them.” Their fur 
is valuable now; they are trapped much, so they are 
rather rare, which is fortunate for birds and poultry. 
The Skunk. 
The skunk is a sluggish and rather stupid animal, but 
knows enough to steal young chickens from under 
the mother at night. When a boy I once surprised a 
skunk apparently eating some grouse eggs, while the 
bird hovered round, afraid to come to close quarters. 
Wishing to interrupt the proceedings, I undertook to 
investigate, but was so warmly received by the un- 
daunted animal that it was soon left in undisputed pos- 
session of its ill-gotten meal. Probably the injury 
done by skunks to birds has been exaggerated. While 
occasionally they may stumble on a nest of eggs or 
young birds, they are too slow to pursue and overtake 
any bird that is able to use its wings or legs. I have 
seen forty fowls roosting two and one-half feet from the 
ground in safety, while night after night, skunks came 
and ate refuse from the ground in the sarne coop. 
Hunters, finding the nest of a game bird despoiled 
of its contents, are very likely to attribute it to a skunk, 
without sufficient evidence. Most people who have 
been much in the woods believe that skunks eat many 
birds’ and turtles’ eggs; but thus far I have been able 
to find but one man who has seen the skunk eating birds’ 
eggs. This may be mainly because the skunk usually 
hunts at night; but MT- Martin L. -Sornborger writes 
from Haydenville that he has actually seen the skunk 
eating the eggs in a grouse’s nest. He also says he has 
found the remains of young birds in the stomachs of 
some skunks that he has examined. 
Other Minor Enemies. 
Three observers each report sna,kes, pheasantg 4 n 4 
[Sept. 30, 1905. i 
orioles as destructive to young birds. The black snake; 
is a deadly enemy to birds, and -eats the young in ne^s, 
both on the ground and in trees. Other species of. 
snakes' are probably less destructive. 
The introduced pheasant ( P hasianus torquatus) is 
reported as killing young chickens and game birds, but 
the evidence against it is circumstantial, and not very 
strong. 
Orioles are reported as tearing down the nests o 
other birds and destroying the eggs — -a -trick. „ofi. which 
a few individuals are undoubtedly guilty. 
Raccoons, being nocturnal, omnivorous and fair; 
climbers, are probably destructive wherever they are 
common; but there is little evidence against them as' 
destroyers of birds, and they are no longer numerous^ 
in many parts of this State. 
^“Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers,” John Burroughs, p. 87. i 
John Davidson. ! 
John Davidson, for the past thirty years had beer^ 
known throughout the United States and Canada as one 
of the best and most successful breeders of hunting dogsj 
in this country, as well as for his connection with th(i 
bench shows of his own and other countries. 
Mr. Davidson was pre-eminently a lover of the dog: 
and of everyone who loved a dog. He was often sough] 
to judge the leading classes of hunting dogs at the manj 
bench shows in every section of the country, from Ney 
York to San Francisco, and from Maine to Florida,, ant 
to, the perplexing and trying duties of this position he 
carried ability, experience and incorruptible honesty. I: 
was ever said of “Honest John” that no man had mone; 
enough to buy his opinion or to “warp” his judgrnent 
He was not always right, perhaps, and sometimes diplo; 
macy would have dictated' a course different from tha' 
he chose to pursue, but- it remains to be said by his wors 
enemy, if he had One, that, he was unswervingly honest. ; 
John Davidson was born in the Highlands of Scotland 
and came to America when a boy^ going almost at one 
to- Monroe, Mich., where he found service with W. H^ 
Boyd as bookkeeper in the leading hardware establish 
ment. Afterward he was employed by Hon. Thomas _G. 
Cole, of Monroe, to take chara:e of his stock farm, whic 
was a large one, and here John found congenial occu 
pation in the handling of the large numbers of fin 
horses, which were owned by Mr. Cole. 
Upon the death of his employer, and. the sale of th 
stables, Davidson followed the hunting instinct whic 
was strong within him, and became a noted .field she 
and dog breaker, conducting parties south and southwes 
to most successful and enjoyable sport. He had alway 
made his home near Monroe on a little farm some tw 
miles from the city, where his kennels were and where h 
bred some of the most successful dogs of their day- 
Donald Bane, Ailsa and scores of others. From here h 
sent their progeny to delighted purchasers. English an 
Irish Setters were John’s favorites, though in the earlR 
days he leaned toward the Blue Beltons. 
John had recently returned from Toronto, Oht, whei 
he was an exhibitor instead of a judge, and where J 
had some fine animals on view. He contracted a sevei 
cold while returning from, that place and was ill for 
few days succeeding his return, but mending, soniewh; 
he was imprudent and exposed himself and suffered a n 
lapse. His death was a great shock to his friends, wb 
supposed that he was but slightly indisposed. His aj 
was about seventy-five years. Good old John, good-b 
Frank Heywood. : 
Kansas Pfaitie Chickens. 
Topeka, Kan., Sept. 21.— The best district for prair 
chickens is the western part of the State — the counties t 
Ellis, Trego, Barton and Kiowa. Ducks are every wher 
though the favorite spots are at Ellinwood, on the s 3 | 
marsh and at McPherson, in the McPherson basin. 
Herman Crow and C. C. Houston returned yesterd: 
from Greensburg, Kiowa county, where they found e; 
cellent prairie chicken shooting. They brought _ bat 
forty-five chickens. “We killed twenty-seven chicke: 
the last day we were there and forty-five during the thr> 
days,” said Mr. Crow. “The new game law has mat 
the open season for chickens fifteen days later than tl, 
old law, and as a result the birds are two weeks oldfi 
are stronger and more wild and not so easy to kill.” _ ^ 
There are nineteen counties in Kansas in which it 
unlawful to shoot either quail or chicken at any time^ ' 
year. The counties are: Hamilton, Scott, Wichit 
Greeley, Smith, Sherman, Rooks, Stafford, Gray, Grai 
Stanton, Haskell, Decatur, Hodgeman, Stevens, Mortc 
Finney, Crawford and Bourbon. ' 
Adirondack Elk Killed. ^ 
Oneonta, N. Y., Sept. 18 . — Editor Forest and Streai 
At Norwich, N. Y., the i6th I got report from thr 
gunners who opened the season on grouse and woodcoj 
in good shape. The three killed fourteen grouse and t 
woodcock. They said the young grouse were very sm 
and not worth shooting. Gray squirrels were report; 
quite plentiful in that section. A Mr. Aldrich, who’ 
building a State hatchery in the Adirondacks, says tl 
he has seen two carcasses of elk lying in the woods tb 
had been shot down in pure wantonness by some, one u 
worthy the name of man and left to rot. What a p' 
that the guns used by such people could not burst a; 
blow their heads off. A case of the hunter being hunt; 
would be all right, too, I think. E. H. K 
) 
“It’s strange how the .mere intonation of the voice/ can chat 
the entire meaning of a sentence.” “Yes, but no matter w: 
tone of voice you use there’s one sentence that can never expri 
anything but doubt.” “'What’s that?"’ “When one man says^ 
another: ‘Of course, ,y°a know, your own business better tha;i 
do.’ ” — Piiiladelphia Press. .; 
■ - ■ , j 
“What is butter to-day?” asked the possible -customer. “I; 
ter is butter to-day,” answered the waggish grocer, with a shr 
of laughter. “Glad, to hear it,” said the other cheerfully; 
last I got here was axle grease.” — Cle-veland Leader. .1 
THE MANY-USE OIE CO., N. Y. ! 
Write for free sample. Thin oils cause film of rust on guns.— 
