8S0 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
delivery was peculiar 5 sitting in a noimal, erect position 
the bird emitted the first note, then depressing the tip 
of the bill almost to touch its breast, with a motion as 
though hiccoughing, it gave the second, then throwing 
back its head and pointing its bill skyward it uttered 
the explosive, far-reaching third note. 
Breeding Habits. 
The nesting time of bobwhite in each section of the 
bird’s range is usually limited to a fairly well-defined 
period, but varies considerably in the time of beginning, 
the difference being partly seasonal and partly regional. 
About Washington, D. C., the coveys usually_ break up 
the first part of May, one covey being seen in 1899 as 
late as May 9. In 1902 the first nest with eggs was 
found at Marshall Hall on May 29, and the first downy 
chicks on July 6. Between the end of June and last of 
August seven pairs of birds were found there which 
had recently mated or were incubating. This was shown 
by the fact that the cock birds were flushed thirty-six 
times and the hens only four times. During the same 
season five nests were found between July 15 and 19 at 
Sandy Spring, Md., less than 20 miles away. One of 
these nests contained 24 eggs. Itven larger clutches 
are recorded, and one nest found at Woodstock, Ohio, 
is reported to have contained 42 eggs.* Such large 
clutches probably are the product of more than one 
bird. In 1903 nesting appeared to be later than in 1902, 
as the first eggs found were discovered July 10. The 
farmers at Marshall Hall say that they usually find the 
first downy chicks during wheat harvest, usually the 
last week of June. A number of broods of chicks were 
seen about Marshall Hall from July to September. 
The newly hatched young have chocolate-streaked 
heads, and resemble small black and red bantam chicks. 
Whenever these newly hatched chicks remain motion- 
less their protective coloration renders them invisible 
unless one makes a most careful search. 
From information at hand it appears that the main 
breeding season for bobwhite in the Northern States, 
including the country about Washington, D. C., is dur- 
ing May, June, and the first half of July. Florida birds 
begin to breed regularly the first of April (though some 
are much earlier), and continue nesting till well into 
June. Texas birds nest mainly in April and May, but 
some nest as late as September. Throughout its range 
some of the birds breed earlier and others later than the 
main body of the species, and the occurrence of second 
or even third broods may lengthen the season. Robert 
Ridgway found a clutch of freshly deposited eggs in 
southern Illinois on Oct. 16, and H. C. Munger found 
another set in Missouri in January, the parent being 
afterwards found frozen on the nest. Authentic records 
from various parts of its range show that bobwhite 
has been known to breed, at least occasionally, some- 
where in its range every month of the year except 
December. This sems to prove that under certain cir- 
cumstances bobwhite, like the domestic hen, will lay 
a clutch of eggs at any time of year. 
The occasional presence with the female of young of 
two or three sizes appears to show that at least two 
broods are sometimes raised in a season, but we lack 
definite information on this subject. _ Major Bendire 
gives twenty-four days as the period of incubation. The 
male is reported as sometimes assisting in this duty. 
[to be concluded.] 
tFoREST AND STREAM, X., p. 399, 187S. 
Bird Reservations. 
Authority of the Pr€£id?nt to Create Them from Public 
Lands Unquestioned. 
The widespread and rapidly increasing interest in bird 
protection, and especially that feature of the national 
movement relating to reservations for the protection _ of 
birds, is responsible for the numerous inquiries being 
made as to the authority for the dreation of reservations 
of this character. , . • j 
It should be noted, in the beginning, . that th& bird 
reservation as established by executive order, is a reser- 
vation of public land for a public use. It differs from 
the military, lighthouse, reindeer or any _ other of the 
numerous reservations created by the President no more 
than any one of these differs from each of the others. 
Each reserve was created for a specific public purpose, 
and the inquiry which will satisfy anyone of them will 
satisfy ^11 
On June 17, 1890, the Assistant Attorney-General, on 
request, submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, an 
exhaustive opinion as to the right of the President to 
issue such orders or proclamations. This opinion was 
asked pursuant to a request from President Harrison, 
who desired to “be informed under what ‘statute’ it is 
proposed to make certain reservations in Alaska,” in con- 
formity to recommendations of the then Governor of that 
Territory. In his said opinion the Assistant Attorney- 
General said in part : 
The lands of Alaska are part of the public domain, and as such 
are subject to the supervision of the President, as other public 
lands But the right of the President to put public lands in 
reservation so that all questions in reference to thern might be 
nroperly considered, or as the exigencies of the public service 
demand or to aid in the execution of a proposed statute, has 
always been maintained by the courts. Withdrawals were made 
for the Dubuque & Pacific, and the Burlington U Missouri River 
Railroad grants on May 10, 1856, though the act was not passed 
until the 15th of that month. So in many other cases. 
In the matter of the withdrflwsl for the Southern Ps-cific Jxsil* 
road grant, which the Secretary of the Interior had made upon a 
line which the company had no authority to adopt, and the 
validity of which was challenged by certain settlers, Attorney- 
General Devens said (16, Op., 80): “Even if it be conceded that 
the acts of the Secretaries in this respect were erroneous m law, 
the consequence does not follow which is contended for on behalf 
of the adverse claimants to the land. They were m fact with- 
drawn by competent authority, and were thus placed in a state 
°*‘Tn^Grisa”‘vs! McDowell (6 Wall.,. 363, p. 380) the plaintiff 
claimed title to a tract from the city of San Francisco, the 
defendant claimed possession as an officer of the United States, 
on the ground that the tract had been reserved by the President 
for military purposes.” 
The -opinion of the court is too long to quote in full, 
but it held that “from an early period in the history of 
the Government it has been the- practice of the President 
to order, from time to time, as the exigencies of the pub- 
lic service required, parcels of land belonging to the 
United States to be reserved from sale and set apart for 
public, uses. The authority of the President in this re- 
spect is recognized in numerous acts of Congress.’’ 
Several of these acts of Congress are cited, in the 
opinion of the court, and quoted by the Attorney-General 
who goes on further quoting the court in Wolsey vs. 
Chapman (loi U. S., 755, p. 768) with reference to a 
withdrawal of disputed lands until differences were set- 
tled either by Congress or j udicial decision, in favor of 
the legality of the withdrawal and against the proposed 
entryman, the local land office being instructed to with- 
hold the lands. 
To a like effect the case of Wolcott vs. Des Moines 
Co. (5 Wall., 681) is referred to by the Assistant Attor- 
ney-General, who then states that the ordinary method 
adopted for creating military and Indian reservations 
consists of a simple indorsement made by the President 
upon the recommendation of the Secretary of War or the 
Secretary of the Interior. Another style of withdrawal, 
in the form of proclamations made by President Arthur, 
was referred to with the statement that: 
The line between the use of these two methods is not well 
marked. Perhaps the only distinction is that the proclamation is 
more formal. Certainly it does not depend on the amount in- 
volved or the nature of the reservation. In this case, the Execu- 
tive order would be a competent method, as is evidenced by the 
constant practice in similar cases. 
The Assistant Attorney-General discussed the proposed 
Alaskan reservations seriatim, concluding as follows: 
I see no reason why the remaining reservations recommended 
by the Governor should not be made. Accordingly I herewith 
submit a draft of an Executive order based on the views herein 
expressed, following the description given by the Commission’s 
reports forwarded by the Governor, although some of these de- 
scriptions seem to be vague and uncertain. 
It may be said in conclusion that the draft of the 
Executive order noted above was approved by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, and the same was issued by Presi- 
dent Harrison, June 21, 1890, or four days only after the 
opinion was signed. The practice of the President since 
that time has not been changed; indeed, as indicated by 
the Assistant Attorney-General, that practice has been 
uniform since the beginning of the Government, and it 
is not likely to be changed. Reservations of public land 
for public uses, whether to preserve the birds for the 
people or to erect lighthouses for their ships, will prob- 
ably continue as long as the high office of President is 
occupied by men as courageous and broadly patriotic as 
President Roosevelt, who has cheerfully subscribed his 
name to the orders establishing the three bird reserva- 
tions created during the past two and a half years. 
Frank Bond. 
The Aquatic Proclivities of the Skunk. 
Sayre, Pa. — Mr. A. P. La Plant, a local Susquehanna 
River frequenter, and a typical latter-day Nessmuk, is 
convinced past a shadow of a doubt that the fragrant 
and melancholy skunk is a proficient swimmer. The 
other evening while Adonijah was paddling his trusty 
canoe over the moon-swept waters of the Susquehanna 
and hobnobbing with queer goblins and other strange 
creatures of the country, his attention was attracted to 
a white and black vestured animal swimming directly 
toward his boat, and presently the strange and uncanny 
visitor poked his wet nose up over the edge of the 
craft, and with sundry rappings of his paws manifested 
his evident inclination to come aboard. Adonijah sat 
motionless with a strange, creepy feeling tingling under 
the roots of his sparse locks, and his curiousity fully 
aroused. However, after fussing about the boat for a 
time the annimal turned and swam leisurely to the 
shore, where, after one or two ineffectual attempts, it 
landed, rested a moment, shook the water from its hairy 
coat, sniffed the cool air of the night with apparent en- 
joyment and then meditatively jogged across the marshy 
wastes in diligent quest of a late supper. And Adonijah, 
the fearless voyager up and down the Susquehanna for 
many years, assures us that he is more than ever con- 
vinced that the skunk is an ingenious little beast well 
able to survive the vicissitudes incident to a precarious 
existence on both land and water. M. Chill. 
Mammals and Summer Birds of Western N. C* 
Last summer Mr. Harry C. Oberholser, of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, published a brief list of the mam- 
mals and summer birds of western North Carolina for 
the use of students in the Biltmore Forest School, Bilt- 
more, N. C. The list is without notes, yet it possesses 
considerable interest for the student. The mammals in- 
cluded in it number fifty-seven, counting the American 
elk (C. canadensis) and the buffalo {B. bison) ; species 
which have long been extinct in North Carolina, and of 
which no specimens exist on private lands in the State. 
The squirrel family is represented by seven species, the 
beaver is still found, while the mice and jumping mice, 
have sixteen representatives. There is but one hare, the 
cotton-tail. Of the two cats, the panther has been taken 
in recent years ; the gray wolf probably still exists, 
though very rarely. 
The summer birds number 136. The only duck found 
in summer is the woodduck, but the duck hawk and 
golden eagle are found, as is also the American wood- 
cock. Among the high mountains of western North 
Carolina, many birds breed which we are accustomed to 
think of as northern species ; such are a number of the 
warblers, the blue snowbird, the pine siskin and the cross- 
bill. 
It is understood that this list of Mr. Oberholser’s is 
merely the forerunner of an annotated list soon to appear, 
which will be looked for with interest by many readers. 
How Fast do Birds Fly? 
William W. Murphy, a locomotive engineer on the 
Burlington’s fast express between Hannibal and St. 
Joseph, has been making observations on the speed of 
various birds and insects. Many birds, he says, make a 
practice of flying beside or in front_ of his engine, and 
when the weather is clear and there is no wind he opens 
the throttle and races with them. 
He finds that the chicken hawk and a crow can make 
twenty-five miles an hour. A turkey buzzard flies at the 
rate of twenty-one miles an hour. The pigeon is one of 
the fastest birds in the United States. It makes a speed 
of forty-six miles an hour with ease. When chased by 
[Oct. 21, 1905. I 
- — ^ ^ ^ 
an eagle it can_ beat the Burlington’s St. Louis express.® 
The wild duck is traveling at the rate of forty-four miles® 
an hour while the hunter is pumping the contents of a a 
repeating gun at it. The blackbird, robin, dove and other }| 
small birds travel at a speed of thirty-eight miles an hour.-— 
The humming bird can and does excel a speed of a mile S 
a minute. Murphy says that a humming bee the other day* 
flew in and out of his cab window while he was going aV^ 
the rate of sixty-three miles an hour. The performance 
lasted while the engine traveled a half mile. — St. Joseph ! 
News. 
D^er Liver. j 
Troy, N. Y., Oct. 13 . — Editor Forest and Stream: In.: 
a conversation, held lately by the writer with an Adiron- ^ 
dack guide, the subject of the edibility of deers’ livers 
was discussed. He told me that in very many of the j 
deer livers that he had cut during his guiding years, i 
he had found encysted in them a flat leech, sometimes ^ 
two or more together, in a pocket, frequently several i 
pockets in each liver. They were flat, fully half-inch 
wide, and from one to two inches long. As the gall 
bladder is absent in a deer, I am wondering if the; 
presence of the leeches is necessary for the health of the i 
animal. "vv B. A 
[Flukes, so-called, are common parasites of many ani- .! 
mals, and the liver fluke is one of the most common. | 
These_ are trematode worms, which have a complicated! 
life history. The eggs_ are laid in the final host, are! 
hatched after leaving him, and the larval forms sometimes ^ 
inhabit several hosts before reaching their final resting 
place. Man is the final host for no less than five species j 
of these worms, and there are many animals that shelter 
a greater number. 
The presence of the woirnis in the deer’s liver is not 
essential to the animal’s health. The deer would be bet- 
ter off without them, just as a dog would be better off 
without fleas, notwithstanding the dictum of the amiable 
David Flarum.] ' 
The Wild Pigeon. I 
Tapachula, Chipas, Mex., Sep. 27. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: .1 note with interest the article by Noynek on' 
the disappearance of the wild pigeon. The black fog 
and norther in lexas would not account for all of the 
pigeons in the United States. How about the enormous, 
flocks that used to pass down through North Carolina, 
did they also disappear in the Gulf of Mexico— if so, 
from what cause? 
When a boy, I lived up in the Blue Ridge Mountains 
of North Carolina, and in the year 1869-70 millions of 
these birds used to pass south, and I cannot remember 
ever seeing these birds on return north — did they take 
another route? • Guatemala. 
Boric Acid in Camp Surgery, 
When I sent that little item about boric acid in camp 
surgery, published in No. 247, I had no idea of stating 
anything unorthodox, or unscientific, or that would do 
harm. I judged from my own extensive experience, and 
also on advice of our family physician, that it was a good 
article to use on cuts and wounds. 
A member of my family stepped on a rusty nail pro^ 
truding through an upturned board. It went through thd 
shoe deeply into the foot. The wound was at once bathed 
in a saturated solution of boric acid crystals, which form, 
my druggist tells me, is stronger than the powdered 
article. The puncture was then filled with the powder, 
bound with gauze bandage, shoe put on and worn right 
along. There was but little inflammation, and in six days 
pain and soreness gone, wound healed. As there was no 
soil around this particular rusty nail, may be there were 
no bacteria on it; hence no lockjaw. These germs are 
said to live in soil. ; 
A friend of mine, going down cellar stepped on an 
oxidized piece of metal sticking through a board, prob- 
ably an ancient nail. He would not use boric acid, but 
put on a piece of fat bacon until the summoned surgeon 
carne to give it scientific treatment. His foot swelled up! 
until it looked like a case of gout. He could not put his] 
foot to the floor. He suffered dreadful pain, and came 
near losing his life, for six weeks, with a visit from the! 
surgeon daily at $3 per. He had no lockjaw, but finallj 
got well. Maybe, as the lockjaw bacteria live in the soili 
and there- was none on this board, they were absent ir 
this case. 
As a fellow is not likely to step on a rusty nail while 
tramping through the woods or fields, or wading streams! 
away from home, I will still carry my ounce box of pow -1 
dered boric acid and roll of antiseptic gauze bandage. 1 
often get cut and scratched while crowding through our 
western barbed-wire fences, or get cut with some kind of 
an edged tool, .or run a sliver into my flesh, or get 
wounded in some other way. ( 
As I am not scientific, nor a chemist, nor educated if, 
medical arts, I wdsh Dr. Morris would tell us what, frorr! 
a medical viewpoint, is the proper thing to do at once' 
when a rusty nail chanced to penetrate our anatomy, 
probably miles away from a surgeon — an emergenej^ 
casse, which might result in lockjaw, unless scientifically 
treated. Senex. 
Passengers on a morning electric car from Northamp-i 
ton to Easthampton yesterday w^ere interested in i 
glimpse of a pursuit by officers of the law in the wood.^ 
at Meadow Park. A man carrying a gun was observed 
running on the track several rods ahead of the car, and 
throwing into the bushes as he ran what appeared to be 
dead squirrels. At about the same time there emerged 
from the woods behind the car two men, who were said 
to be Officers Cook and McEvoy, of Easthampton. Tht 
hunter (if such he was) left the track just before he 
reached the junction of the track and highway ancj 
plunged into the bushes. He had so much the start tha' 
the officers apparently had no chance of taking their 
quarry. — Springfield Republican, Sept. 25. | 
THE MANY-USE OIL 
Brushed on disc record's, prevents metallic tone; 2oz. bottle, lOc 
— Adv. 
