Oct. 7, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
291 
The Gulls of No Man^s Land. 
i Mr. W. H. Brownson, of the Maine Ornithological 
iSociety, made an expedition in the last of August to 
Matinicus Island, the great sea bird breeding grounds 
ioff the Maine coast. The story of what was found is 
told in the Portland Advertiser, from which the fol- 
1 lowing paragraphs are taken: 
We'started off to find Captain Mark Young, the well- 
iknown warden in the employ of the National Audubon 
^Society, who takes excellent care of all the immense 
: (number of sea birds in the cluster of islands. Now 
(Captain Young’s aid was really necessary if_ we ex- 
pected to see ihe most interesting things which here 
labound. He owns a dory, he is a seaman of long ex- 
perience, he knows all the best landing places_ on the 
rocky islands, he is moreover the sole proprietor of 
No Man’s Land, which boasts of the densest colony 
of herring gulls on the Maine coast. There may be 
more birds on Great Duck Island, off Mount Desert, 
jbut they are not so thickly gathered in a limited area. 
Dropping his work, without a moment’s delay. Captain 
Young announced himself ready for the row over to 
the gull colony, and thus we set out in his dory for 
what proved to be the greatest sight in the bird line 
that had ever fallen to my lot. On Two Bush Island, 
which lay directly in our path, a big flock of gulls 
arose from a jutting ledge and I exclaimed at the un- 
usual number, but my companions smiled quietly and 
remarked that we had not yet begun to see gulls. Thus 
we approached No Man’s Land and I soon felt well re- 
paid for my visit, even if not another bird should be 
seen while we remained. . 
Young gulls and old gulls were everywhere. This 
island is some twelve acres in extent and it did not seem 
that there was a square yard of it which did not hold 
one or more birds. One side of the island is spaisely 
covered with turf and the other is given up to a growth 
of stunted black spruce trees. Gulls, white and dark, 
roosted on every rock, covering also all the grassland. 
Up in the trees big white birds had alighted on the 
bare branches, one above the other, forming a series 
of terraces of living and glistening forms. As we drew 
near we saw several of the great black-backed gulls 
sitting with the others, merely visitors it seemed, for 
these big fellows had bred further north and were 
now coming south to spend the winter on the outer 
shores along the coast. Captain Young steered for 
^Rumguzzle Cove, the elegant name applied to a won- 
derful natural inlet, a depression of the high rocky 
(formation of the island, nearly cutting it in two Here 
it is related a drunken crew from the West Indies was 
wrecked and drowned, while a big cask of rurn went 
ashore on the rocks and landed high and dry in this 
cove, where it was a^fterward rescued by the neighbor- 
ing fishermen. The place served our purpose now, but 
it was no easy task to get out of the boat on the ledges 
without getting wet. It could not have l^en done with- 
out the aid of so skillful a boatman as Captain Younp 
Now the wonder of the scene opened before us._ We 
were right in the midst of the gulls, which shrieked 
and barked over our heads, eved us with suspicion from 
the cliffs on either hand, and fled in our pathway up to 
the highest point of the island. The young gulls were 
there in thousands, being easily recognized by their 
brown plumage, while the adult birds were a glossy 
white. Captain Young put the difference before us m 
his pithy way, when he remarked, “You see the dark 
ones— well, sir, every one of them was an egg this 
spring.” Now we began to thread our way among the 
gulls up the steep cleft in the rocks and oim real ex- 
perieiice began. Young gulls, hardly able to fly, ned be- 
fore us and tumbled down among the rocks with much 
weak flapping of wings. Picking themselves up they 
perched at a safe distance and regarded us with no look 
of favor Over our heads swarmed more than a thous- 
and adult gulls, every white beak sending forth a dis- 
cordant cry. On our left there was another thousand 
and on our right as many more, perched on the ledges, 
on the grass, and in the tops of the spruce I^ees. 
Down at our- feet, in the water, was a bunch of birds 
that must have numbered over a thousand, and as 
many more in sight in the water on the other side of 
the island. Besides these the farther ends of the rocks 
were still covered with gulls out of observation and 
as yet resting easily, though as we progiessed oyer 
the island they constantly rose over us in a threatening 
“How many gulls are there on the island? I asked 
Captain Young and he replied confidently, Well, sir 
we estimate them at 10,000.” This was surprising and 
I looked around me with a critical eye But i could 
not contradict him, for that seemed to be a fair com- 
putation. I counted a section of the swimming flocks 
and judged that there were two or three thousand m 
the water, while the birds were as thick over our heads 
as a swarm of mosquitoes. There may be no more than 
six thousand birds, and there may be as many as twelve 
thousand; no one can say, for it is impossible to count 
them. Captain Young’s estimate of ten thousand 
therefore, will have to stand undisputed, at least until 
more accurate information can be obtained. We saw 
not a single nest, but plenty of places where they had 
been built. Captain Young says the birds tear their 
nests to pieces as soon as they are done with them, but 
they are nothing but a collection of sticks and soft 
material placed on the ledges and grass ground and 
doubtless the young birds, during their growth, scatter 
what is of no further use to them. On the islands 
further east gulls often build their nests in trees, but 
we saw none of that kind here. _ 
There is no breeding place for herring gulls nearer 
to Portland, and doubtless many of the gulls seen 
around Portland Harbor, spring and fall, belong at _JNo 
Man’s Land and to Captain Young, who fondly clairns 
ownership of them all, no matter where they are found. 
And the way he protects them is good to behold. Mind 
you he owns the island on which they breed, and he is 
the ’warden selected by Mr. Dutcher, of the Audubon 
Society to see tliat they are not molested. Armed with 
this authority and being proprietor of their nesting 
<^round, he has an immense advantage oyer the lawless 
hunter oi eggs or pearly ^htniage. His big sign op 
the most conspicuous part of the island warns off any 
intruder, in language that cannot be misunderstood. 
Woe to the gunner who disregards that warning, for 
the strong hand of the law is likely to lay hold of him. 
Enemies of Bird Life. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have carefully read Mr. Forbush’s articles on 
“Natural Enemies of Birds,” and think in every case his 
statements are correct. From personal observation, I 
can verify all he states about the destructiveness of 
crows and squirrels. I have seen where crows have de- 
stroyed hundreds of eggs of the night heron, where in 
a colony of from fifty to seventy-five nests containing 
from two to five eggs apiece, not one was left, and in 
another near by of about one hundred nests, more than 
half had been robbed, and I saw the crows in the act of 
taking eggs from the others. The only good ^I ever 
knew a crow to do was once to rob another crow’s nest. 
I found one of the eggs, which had been carried quite a 
long ways, and the hole in the side showed plainly that 
it was the work of crows. 
I have seen squirrels robbing nests, and have known 
one to take four young robins nearly large enough to 
fly from the nest, which was in a tall elm in a large city. 
All Mr. Forbush says of foxes is true. I know that 
they kill a great many ruffed grouse as well as a great 
deal of poultry, but I think they kill very few small 
birds; in fact, I believe they do the birds more good 
than harm, for they kill a great many squirrels and 
chipmunks, and these would destroy a great many more 
birds than do the foxes. Besides this, no one seems to 
notice the good they do in killing so many cats. Our 
woods are infested by half-wild cats, which live largely 
on birds and among them kill a great many woodcock 
and ruffed grouse. Just let a fox find one of these cats, 
and his only chance of escape is by climbing a tree. 
Probably there are few things which a fox likes better 
for a meal than a house cat. They rarely eat the heads, 
and I have known the heads of three cats to be found at 
one time under a barn where a fox had eaten them. _ A 
guide of unquestioned truthfulness tells of once seeing 
a fox chasing a house cat, and of another which he 
saw walking the top of a fence with the hindquarters of 
two cats in his mouth. 
I often wonder why hawks and owls are written of as 
the friends of the farmers, and the same persons speak 
of the damage done by foxes and weasels. If this were 
reversed it would be much nearer the truth, as my 
observation goes. I have seen hundreds of hawks, but 
I have never seen one either catch or eat a mouse, a 
mole or rat. I have carefully dissected scores of owls 
of eight different species, and many hawks of nine 
species, and have never seen any 'evidence of one of 
them having ever eaten mouse, mole or rat, except 
muskrat, while of the many sharp-shinned hawks I have 
killed I have rarely killed one which had not just de- 
stroyed some small bird, usually some species of 
warbler, and I have found the crop of a broad-winged 
hawk, which is said to be harmless, full of the bones of 
small birds, evidently taken from the nest. My opinion 
is that one fox will kill more mice and moles than all 
the hawks and owls in a township. 
As to weasels, I have heard of their killing fowl, but 
in traveling the woods for sixty years, and for some 
thirty winters having been in the woods nearly half the 
days from December to April, I have never seen any 
evidence of weasel troubling grouse or birds of any 
kind, though I have twice seen them have mice or moles 
which they had just killed. 
One weasel will kill out the mice from a camp or the 
rats and mice from farm buildings quicker than any ten 
cats can do it. When a weasel enters farm buildings 
he usually pays his whole attention to the mice and rats, 
and as he can follow rats into any place they can get 
into, he soon cleans out the premises, and very rarely 
molests any kind of fowl. Yet when he is known to do 
so much good the hand of every farmer is against him. 
All that Mr. Forbush tells of bluejays is true; but he 
has omitted to speak of his near relative, the Canada 
iay, which is a greater rascal than he is._ I know no bird 
cir animal to compare him to for cunning, rascality and 
greed. He can find nests which neither a crow nor a 
bluejay would ever think of finding, and he gets 
all there -is, because if he cannot eat all the young ones 
at once he will carry them away and hide them for 
future need. 1 j 
Besides English sparrows, cuckoos, blackbirds, 
skunks, raccoons, minks, sable, fisher, mice and snakes, 
birds have another enemy which destroys a great many 
young birds and sometimes the eggs just hatching. I 
have seen nests of ground sparrows when all the young 
were being eaten by small red ants, and several times 
where all the young of both robins and cedarbirds had 
been killed by large black ants. The ants came in such 
numbers that probably the parents were unable to pro- 
tect the young. It seems a wonder that any birds are 
left when they have so many enemies among birds and 
animals, not to mention the small boy with air gun and 
sline shot, who is responsible for the death of great 
numbers. Manly Hardy. 
A Freak Fox. 
A MOUNTED freak fox, owner by L. R. Nelson, of Win- 
chester, N. H., killed in January of this year, resembles 
the cross, silver and woods gray fox, but is not like any 
of them; it has the large black spot on fore shoulder 
about six inches square, like the cross fox; and chest, 
belly, tail and under parts of sides are black with silver 
tipped ; the sides and hips are black under the prominent 
gray. The only red on it is down the spine from kidneys 
to tail. The tail is tipped with white, the ears are four 
inches long. The fox stands 1714 inches high and 
weighed pounds. It has been pronounced by the best 
judges of fur to be altogether different from the wood 
gray or the cross fox. The hair is longer and coarser 
than any of them. 
THE WORLD RENOWNED MANY-USE OIL. 
Is the only su/re rUSt preventive on guns in any weather.— 
Moccasin and Minnows. 
Galena, Mo.— Fish Lake Slough is a _ narrow neck 
connecting Fish Lake with the Ohio River one 
above Shawneetown, the oldest city in Illinois, since the 
site of Kaskaskia has been eaten away by the current. 
While sauntering along the shady banks one warrn sum- 
mer afternoon Harry, Louis and myself observed that 
thousands of bass had congregated and were feeding in 
the overflow waters of this slough, which had been 
backed up by the river. The fish were continually coming 
to the surface in their chase after minnows. A water 
moccasin was lying partly on a floating clapboard with 
his tail resting upon a small snag. He was feasting upon 
minnows that flounced out of the water when they were 
pursued by the bass, and alighted upon the clapboard. 
For half an hour we watched this exhibition with in- 
terest. Several times the bass came up underneath the 
board, turning it over and throwing the snake off. The 
moccasin seemed to be in no wise discouraged or 
“rattled,” but would deliberately readj ust himself and pro- 
ceed as before. 
I recently read a statment that many rough fish have 
been frozen into the ice and ground near shore, but that 
the wary bass are never so caught unless the entire body 
of water freezes to the bottom. I have seen_ tons of fine 
bass frozen and killed near the edge of Fish Lake, in 
fourteen-inch ice, when a short distance further from 
shore the water was ten feet deep. 
The bass fishing in James and White rivers is excellent 
for about nine months in the year, as a rule. These are 
mountain streams, fed by many springs, and are beauti- 
fully clear and as swift in most places as a mill race, with 
now and then an eddy or a hole with a comparatively 
still water. The fish are both large and small-mouth, 
and fighters not to be compared with those hooked in 
lakes and suggish streams, and relatively as superior in 
their edible qualities. The climate is free from malaria 
and deliciously invigorating. L. F. T. 
Care of Captives. 
The Civil Service Board of New York city recently 
examined twelve men who desired places as animal keep- 
ers and attendants in the Zoo. Some of the questions 
and the answers that some of the applicants made were 
these : 
Question— On what are deer fed in captivity? 
Answer— They are fed during captivity on whatever 
you can get that agrees with them at the time they are in 
captivity. 
Question — What is a bird? 
Answer — A bird is an animal with wings. 
Question. — An animal ? 
Answer — Well, a creature with wings and feathers. 
Question — On what is a boa constrictor fed? 
Answer — A boa constrictor is fed on worms as often as 
twice a day. 
Another Answer— A boa constrictor is fed on potatoes, 
cabbage and food which will agr.ee with him. He is fed 
as often as four times a day, or according to his health. 
Question — What is the common fatal disease among 
monkeys ? 
Answer — The fatal disease among monkeys is fleas. _ 
Question — Name three birds of prey in the United 
States. 
Answer — The fox, the wild cat, and the bear. 
Animal Importers Petition. 
Importers of animals and birds of this city, says the 
New York Times, have begun an agitation through C0I-. 
lector Stranahan and the Department of the Treasury 
to abolish the practice of collecting a fee of $5 for every 
bird or animal importation on account of expert exam- 
ination. 
In 1900 a law was passed to prevent the importation of 
undesirable birds and animals, and the Secretary of Agri- 
culture received authority to devise rules for carrying 
out the law. 
The rules provide that no birds or animals shall be 
imported except upon a permit from the Department of 
Agriculture stating in detail what kind of animals or 
birds they are. After the customs officials have examined 
the importations on arrival they compare the lists on the 
permit with the importations, to see if the birds or beasts 
are actuallv as described. 
Because 'customs officials are not naturalists, experts are 
called in and allowed to charge a fee for examining the 
importations. This custom the importers wish to have 
abolished. 
Camp Sttfgety. 
New York, Sept. 30. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In Forest and Stream for Sept. 23 I find an exceljent 
article by Senex on camp surgery, but he runs straight 
into giving a bit of advice that would be dangerous. 
After describing well the usefulness of boric acid as a 
wound dressing, he advises its employment in a case of 
punctured wound made by a rusty nail, for the purpose 
of preventing lockjaw. The bacteria of lockjaw liveNn 
the soil and seem to be particularly fond of the region 
of iron that is becoming oxidized. Boric acid is a very 
weak antiseptic and one that is of little service against 
this particular bacterium. The bacteria of lockjaw ini- 
prisoned in a punctured wound and covered by boric 
acid, according to the directions, would be likely to be- 
come virulent at once. Nature destroys these bacteria by 
pouring out blood serum, which is germicidal for a few 
hours only. The surgeon helps by opening up the wound 
freely and adding strong antiseptics which supplement 
the germicidal action of blood serum. A punctured wound 
made by a rusty nail is therefore not to be plugged with 
a weak antiseptic, and dammed with a firm compress. 
Robert T. Morris. 
All communications for Forest and Stream must be 
directed to Forest and Stream Pub. Co., New York, to 
receive attention, We hftve no other office. 
