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[Dec. 9, 1^5. 
Frightened Animals. 
Paterson, N. J., Nov. 2 Q.-r— Editor ^ Forest and Stream: 
I do not know that I can shed any light on the question 
propounded by Mr. Thayer as to hpw hares act when 
attacked, but the question recalls tlifee incidents which 
may or may not assist Mr. Thayer dnd others in arriv- 
ing at a conclusion. I was gunning in a marsh through 
thick brush. _ I heard a rustling in the brush near me, 
and looking in that direction; saw a hare. I do not be- 
lieve the hare saw me first,' fer'^ he seemed in no hurry 
to get away; then he caught sight of me, and instead of 
.scudding away, stretched himself out on the ground. I 
did not know what to make of this action, and before, I 
had time to determine what to do a pheasant flushed 
and I fired at the bird. It fell dead only a short dis- 
tance from where the hare was. The hare had given no 
signs of life, and I determined to investigate. I ap- 
proached the hare, and was almost near enough to seize 
him, when .suddenly he seemed to remember that he had 
urgent business elsewhere, and he scudded away in an 
orthodox manner. 
On another occasion two friends and myself were 
walking along a road leading through a field of stubble 
and high grass; our dogs Were working through the 
field to the right, and we were walking along, with no 
attempt to concealing our presence. Suddenly we came 
upon a flock of quail gathered in a fence corner; there 
were probably twenty-five birds in the flock, and about 
twenty of them had formed a ring; the others were ap- 
parently not interested in the ring; they were just 
■‘moseying.” We were within ten feet of the birds be- 
fore we saw them. They saw us too, for they looked 
at us; but they evinced neither curiosity at our pres- 
ence nor fear of us, for they remained for fully five 
minutes just as unconcerned as they were when we 
first perceived them. Finally some of them flew away; 
but we left the rest just where we had discovered them, 
keeping our dogs away. We did not fire at the birds 
that had flushed, as the law was not off quail, although 
it was off partridge. 
Some years ago, when I was connected with fish and 
game protection in an official capacity, ■ two boys came 
to my house, bringing with them a hen ruffed grouse. 
I examined the bird and failed -to find any wound; its 
liright eyes and general appearance indicated that it 
was in good health. The boys’-'told me that they had 
seen the bird on the branch of -a tree some twenty feet 
or so from the ground. One of the boys climbed the 
tree and the bird made no attempt to evade capture. 
So they brought the bird to me. I was puzzled, but pre- 
sumed that the bird must have been injured in some 
way, of which no outw^ard evidence was apparent. I 
put the bird in a large cardboard box and tried to feed 
it, but it would not eat. It did: not show the least in- 
dication of fear and made no- objection to being 
handled. It was as pretty a pi-ftridge as I have ever 
seen. On the following day I tbdk the bird in the box 
to a clump of woods some distatoee' from my house. I 
opened the box, but the bird acted very much like Poe’s 
raven. I then took it out of th'fe box and placed it on 
the ground. I walked some distance away, keeping my 
eyes on the bird. When I retraced' -my steps the bird 
siiddenl}^ flushed and never stopped in its flight until it 
was out of sight, plainly indicating to me that it had not 
been injured and that it was- -enjoying ordinary health. 
Fear evidently actuated the hare — fear such as would 
follow from the approach of a predato.ry animal. The 
ruffed grouse also may have been affected from a similar 
cause, and I regretted that I could not learn anything 
about the bird before it was seen in the tree. But in the 
case of the quail, there was not the slightest trace of 
fear. Bunny undoubtedly was stunned with fear, and 
perhaps so too was the ruffed grouse; it took both some 
time to get over it, the hare a few minutes, the grouse 
over a day; but w'hen they had recovered from their 
first paroxysm of fear, they sought safety in flight. My 
reasoning may be at fault, but does it not seem probable 
that hare and other animals act differently when pur- 
sued by birds or beast of prey, that some simply cower 
down and permit themselves to be captured, and, that 
others promptly resort to flight, for I do not. presume 
that there is a sportsman of any experience at ^11 who 
has not seen hare and smaller birds endeavoring to get 
away from their pursuers. . C. A. S. 
New York,. Nov. 2^.— Editor Forest and Stream: I am 
unable to contribute anything in answer to Mr. Abbott 
H. Thayer’s recent inquiry as to how hares act when 
threatened by hawks, but I have made some observa- 
tions as to how they act when suspicious or slightly 
alarmed. 
One often sees a cottontail rabbit concealing itself, 
just as a game bird conceals itself when sought for by 
the dog. The rabbit appears to be watching the in- 
dividual who alarms it, and to take to its heels so soon 
as it has reason to think it is seen. Game birds do the 
same thing, remaining immovable, even when one is 
very close to them, but taking to flight so soon as they 
catch the eye of the person who looks directly at them. 
During many years of riding in the west, I have seen 
many thousands of jack rabbits and have observed how 
they act. If one is riding along and comes unex- 
pectedly on one of these hares, feeding or sitting, it is 
almost sure to gather itself together, lower its ears, 
flatten itself to the ground and remain motionless. Very 
frequently, howe-yer, a hare which saw me at a little 
distance would sit up on its haunches with ears held 
straight up in the air, watch my approach for a moment 
or two and then dropping its ears would sink to the 
ground, disappearing so completely that it was difficult 
to discover it again when one had closely approached. 
When really frightened this hare runs off at a famous 
rate, but if only a little alarmed it may lope away to a 
distance of fifty or sixty yards and there stop on top 
of some little knoll, examine the alarming object and 
then disappear by squatting. 
In old times this habit was taken advantage of by the 
bow and arrow-armed boy hunters among the Indians. 
Little parties of boys would traverse the prairie, four 
or five marching abreast at a little distance each from 
the other, and beating a strip 75 or 100 yards in width. 
1 he hares started by the boys would lope off to a little 
distance, sit up and look at them, an4 then sink down 
and disappear. If the hare was near enough, the boys, 
as soon as it started, shot their arrows at it; but if it 
was not within bowshot, they stopped until it had looked 
at them and sunk down. Then, having carefully marked 
the spot where it was last seen they approached very 
carefully, and were able to discover the animal on the 
ground and to shoot it as it crouched there. 
On a number of occasions I have seen large 
buteonine ha-yTs sweep down and pick up young hares 
from the prairie, but I have never seen a case where I 
believed that the mammal was caught in flight. 
You will thus see that I know nothing whatever about 
the subject in hand, for which ignorance I offer apol- 
ogies to you and to Mr. Thayer. Range Rid.er. 
Leased for Bird Preserves. 
I HE Louisiana Audubon Society has given a fine ex- 
hibition of public spirit by its recent leasing of several 
islands belonging- to the State, which it purposes to 
use as bird preserves. The final action took place on 
the afternoon of Nov. 24, when the Lake Borgne Levee 
District Board met to take action on the- proposition. 
Hon. John Dyniond presided and Commissioners Harry 
McCall, Jr., John Dymond, Jr., and Secretary Fernando 
Estopinal were present. 
At an earlier meeting a resolution had already been 
passed by the board agreeing to this lease, which is 
for a period of ten years and involves Brush Island, 
comprising about 1,000 acres; Martir. Island Key, about 
20 acres; Sam Holmes Island, about 1,700 acres; six 
unnamed islands in Morgan’s Harbor, about 100 acres; 
eight unnamed islands in Eloi Bay, about 180 acres. 
The consideration expressed is $45 a year. The right 
is reserved to both parties to terminate the lease on 
six months’ notice. The lands will be held by the 
Audubon Society as bird breeding reservations and the 
lessee agrees not to make such use of the land as will 
be detrimental to the interests of the Lake Borgne 
Levee Board or the neighboring oyster interests. 
Old Man’s Island, on the coast of Maine, has long been 
known as a great breeding place for gulls. It has often 
been visited by naturalists and described in various orni- 
thological publications. It is about ten miles long, lies 
east of Cross Island Life Saving Station, near Machias 
Bay, and is partially covered with a growth of black 
spruce trees. 
The State Land Agent of the State of Maine, by order 
of the Governor and Council, has leased Old Man’s 
Island to the National Association of Audubon Societies. 
The island is to be used as a bird reserve where seafowl 
and other birds shall be protected, preserved and propa- 
gated. The Audubon Societies will police the island, and 
protect the birds at their own expense. It is reported 
that there is hope that a colony of eider ducks will be 
maintained on the island. ■ 
It has always seemed a more or less astonishing matter 
that no effort has been made in America to domesticate 
the eider duck, as has partially been done on the coast 
of Europe. Here are wild birds, which, with little 
trouble, might be made to produce annually thousands of 
dollars’ worth of down and eggs and furnish support 
to a considerable population here, as they do on the 
coast of far northern Europe; but now this product goes 
wholly to waste. ,One would have imagined that the 
thrifty Canadians would already have taken up a trade 
such as this, but it has not been done. 
The State and National Audubon Societies are to be 
congratulated on the good work they are doing. 
Snowy Owls and the Winter. 
Bangor, Me., Nov. 25. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Seldom, if ever, has this State seen such long continued 
adverse conditions for hunting as during these fall 
months. The leaves held on unusually long, then they re- 
mained dry and deep after falling, so that the slightest 
movement on the part of the hunter was carried to the 
listening game. An occasional rainstorm proved insuffi- 
cient to wet the leaves down effectively, and it was only 
when snow finally fell that still-hunting became at all 
feasible, and even then the quick change to colder 
weather resulted in crusts that have continued since. 
Thursday of this week the weather moderated so much 
as to soften the crust, and in those sections where snow 
still remained, it has been fine tracking for the past two 
days. As a consequence, the next few days will see some 
good lots of deer and moose pass through the city. 
This week has seen some unusual sights among the 
game specimens received in this city. One firm of taxi- 
dermists received, in a night and morning, eight snowy 
owls, all in splendid condition, and all but one from the 
same locality, the exception comitig from a point not far 
from that where the other seven were secured. Those 
who are looking for signs are certain that the presence 
of so many of these birds presages a hard winter for 
New England, but it certainly has held off well thus far, 
as Maine is enjoying mild, pleagant weather thus far, 
with the possible exception of a few days when the mer- 
cury got away and crept down toward the zero mark 
for awhile. Yet, it has been cold enough in the woods 
to make ice, the nights being quite cool, and a party com- 
ing out from the head of Pamedumcook Lake Friday, 
vyalked down on the ice the day before, hauling their out- 
fit and the game belonging to a party that preceded them, 
and was obliged to abandon the trophies temporarily a 
few days ■ before. In the region tributary to the Vance- 
boro Di-vision of the Maine Central Railroad, the snow 
^ reported as all gone, but the two or three feet on Mt. 
Katabdin-.-vvon’t give way to dust for a few months yet. 
A singular bear’s head was received in Bangor from 
Millinock'et this week with a skin sent down for the at- 
tention of the taxidermists. The bear was old enough 
to be a many times removed grandfather, and the peculiar 
feature of its head was in the lower jaw, the outer point 
of which had been almost separated from the rest of the 
jaw. One of the long fangs was bent down until it stuck 
straight out, instead of standing upright, and the part 
was so loose, containing as it did most of the lower 
teeth, that it was wonderful that the animal could chew 
anything. No bullet caused the injury, nor could the 
naturalists in the taxidermy establishment offer any 
cause for such a strange condition. Herbert W. Rowe. 
The Linnaean Socict'y' Meeting. 
A VERY interesting meeting of the Linnaean Society was 
held at the American Museum of Natural History, in 
New York; on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 8:15. 
T he speaker for the evening was Mr. William L. Finley, 
ot Portland, Oregon, who is especially well known as a 
student and photographer of Western bird life, and who 
lead several beautifully illustrated papers on this sub- 
ject before the recent Congress of the American Orni- 
thologists’ Union. 
After the customary routine business had been trans- 
acted the- President, Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., before 
introducing the principal speaker, called for brief com- 
municatiobs from any member. 
Mr Williatn Dutcher, President of the National Audu- 
bon Associations, spoke briefly concerning a trip made 
month by Dr. T. S. Palmer of 
Washington, and himself to the Great South Bay of 
Long Isfend, the purpose of the visit being to estimate 
the wildfowl found on these waters and to get some 
notion as to whether the anti-spring shooting law has 
or has not, increased the number of the fowl. Two days 
were spent in a naphtha launch on Great South Bay and 
Moriches Bay going over the ground. Immense beds 
of broadbills were seen, flocks so large that it would be 
hard to say how many they contained. Great beds of 
redheads -were observed, estimated to number several 
thousand birds. Especially interesting was a flocL of 
about 2,000 American coots— the “blue peter” of the 
South— feeding among the ducks, and two considerable 
flocks of canvasbacks, birds which commonly occur only 
singly or ' in very small numbers on these waters, and 
never before seen there in life.' 
Mr. Dutcher said that the warm, still weather of the- 
autumn had made the duck shooting very poor, for the- 
birds remained collected in vast flocks and did not break 
up into small bunches which would come to the gun- 
ners. He said that in all his experience in shooting ons 
the watefs of Long Island Sound — and this experience: 
went bacL over a good many years — he had never seeni 
so niany ducks, and he believed that this was due largely- 
to the artti-shooting law. 
Mr. Wemerill stated very briefly that he had recently- 
teken oUgLon^ Island a bird which he believed to be- 
lownsend-s sqhtaire, a Rocky Mountain species. It was; 
suggested ;that this might be a caged bird, but it appears, 
not to bg'ki^wn that this bird is ever kept in captivity 
will, no doubt, be identified by Mr Frank 
M. Chapman. 
Mr. Finley, now introduced, gave a most interesting; 
talk on some Oregon birds, illustrated by a great number- 
of marvellous photographs. These wonderful pictures; 
were supplemented by most attractive accounts of the'i 
birds. Those taken up were the flicker,, 
the redtail hawk, the barn owl, the bushtit, the titmouse, 
the black-throated gray warbler, and the humming bird' 
the charming story told about each had to do largely- 
with the nesting of the bird, the hatching of the youn^- 
and their gro-wth to maturity. Each auditor thoroughly- 
enjoyed Mr. Finley’s talk, and fhe' members who were- 
not present missed something very interesting. -: 
The Linnaean Society of New York* 
Regular meetings of the Society will be held at the 
American Museum of Natural History, Seventy-seventh 
street and Eighth avenue, on Tuesday evenings Dec 12 
.and 26, at 8:15 o’clock. 
“The Snipe’s Loye-Song.” 
Illustrated by sketches and experiments. 
Dec. 26, Jonathan Dwight, Jr. “Some interesting 
plumages of North American Birds.” Illustrated with 
specimens. 
_ Members are especially requested to contribute to the 
interest of both the above meetings with notes and 
observations. 
Sixty Years on the Plains.’^ 
Mr. Luther S. .Kelly, “Yellowstone Kelly,” writes of “Sixtv 
J ^ just finished reading old Bill’s 
book. Fine, IS It not? My regret is that, while near him several 
times, I never had the pleasure of making his acquaintance He 
ma Miles.’^"®” ^°wder Rifer in IsV when I fiTsI 
The Cleveland Leader says .of the book: “Here’s a simple little 
book; interesting because of its very boldness. It is the stoiw of 
William T. Hamilton, trapper, scout, Indian fighter and the Safi 
plains, whether red man or white. When 
he dies, the art will probably die, too, for the present-day Indians 
t^e no pains to hand their . knowledge down to their children! 
My Sixty Years on the Plains is an unvarnished tale that to 
the man who can read between its lines and see its couraae 
resourcefulness and knowledge of man and beast and nature, makes 
Mayne Reid look even less than the traditional ‘thirty cents ’ 
The progress of ‘Uncle. Bill’ as an Indian fighter is only hiSted 
modest narrative. Those who know what he has done 
call him one of the greatest of his time.” 
