474 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 9, 1905. 
Connecticut Fall Shooting. 
Milford^ Conn., Dec. i. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
It seems only a few days since we were looking forward 
to the opening of the shooting season, and now it has 
closed. In some respects it has been a good one, in 
others bad. 
The past two hard winters almost exterminated the 
quail in this part of the State, and when the season 
opened the persons best informed as to shooting pros- 
pects knew of only four or five flocks hereabouts. An 
agreement was entered into by half a dozen of the best 
shots in the town by which they pledged themselves not 
to kill any quail. The few flocks seen have been watched 
by these good shots, and it is not thought that any con- 
siderable number have been killed. Certainly, the men 
who promised to abstain from shooting them have done 
so, though they have frequently found them while out 
shooting. 
There was a good flight of woodcock about the middle 
of the month and quite a number were killed. 
There was a fair crop of partridges, and of these a 
number have been killed, but on the other hand there is 
an abundance left over for seed for the coming year. 
Unless the winter now opening should be a very hard 
one, next year’s shooting will be much better than this 
one has been. Ramon. 
Robin Shooting by Wholesale. 
Staten Island, Nov. 22.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
While this correspondence may not be very interesting to 
some it may be of interest to others. We have had fine 
robin shooting on the island this fall, on the south side 
as well as on the north shore some fine bags have been 
made. It is not altogether the persistencv of the Dago 
that, the results show the score, but almost anybody 
could have gone out and killed what they desired. Dur- 
ing the second week in October I stooned at a Dago’s 
retreat one morning and was admiring the goats, 
chickens, geese, and other animals that made up the 
group, and asked the women of the house if the old man 
did much shooting this fall. 
"No,” she said, “my husband he no shootet his gun. 
My boy he good shoot ; he bring me home twenty-one 
robin fore he eat to-day.” 
That was good for a boy fifteen years old to do before 
breakfast, so I reported the fact to. those who should get 
acquainted with him, but I suppose he is shooting yet. 
Staten Island is a queer place. We have any auantity of 
special game protectors watched over bv one State pro- 
tector. We have magistrates’ court and the Court of 
Special . Sessions. But somehow or other the courts and 
game protectors do not seem to agree or else agree to 
disagree. There is more shooting of song birds on 
Staten Island than in any other one county in the State. 
If the Audubon Society would put a man here there 
would be something doing, I think. Every fall I have 
made it my business to be in the woods and save the lives 
of as many birds as I could. I have no official standing, 
but I threaten arrest, and do a little good, but this fall I 
have been a cripple and am hardly able to write this, but 
I hope it will reach the eyes of the powers above (say up 
Albany way, for instance). I am glad to think there is 
a movement to put J. B. Burnham in a place where he 
can use his brains to protect nature. To thoughtful peo- 
ple and readers it seems to be a correct move. *** 
Prizes iot Game Heads. 
The Forest and Stream offers three prizes of $20, $10 
and $S respectively for the best moose heads secured in 
the year 1905 in the hunting grounds of the United States 
and Canada. 
It offers also three prizes of $15, $10 and $5 respectively 
for the best white-tail deer heads takeji in the hunting 
season of 1905 in the United States or Canada. 
The heads will be fudged from photographs submitted 
to the Forest and Stream. In estimating their merits 
the two qualities of size and symmetry will be taken into 
consideration. With the photograph of each head must 
be sent a memorandum of the place and the time of its 
taking and the name of the person taking it. The compe- 
tition will be open to amateur hunters only ; and with this 
single restriction it will be open to the world. There are 
no entrance fees. The photographs submitted will be the 
property of Forest and Stream. Entries for the compe- 
tition must be made not later than Jan. 15, 1906. 
Httntefs^ Lodgfe. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Having just concluded a visit of several weeks’ dura- 
tion to this delightful resort, I am disposed tO' mention 
to brother sportsmen the pleasures I have enjoyed. 
Hunters’ Lodge is in eastern North Carolina, a few miles 
from Lumberton, the countv seat of Robeson county. It 
is easily reached by the Seaboard .Air Line to Moss Neck 
or by the Atlantic Coast Line to Pembroke. It is an old 
and true proverb th^t “a man must enjoy and appreciate 
good things himself before he can provide them for 
others.” Mine host of Hunters’ Lodge is an old Con- 
federate soldier, who has held many positions of trust 
and honor in his native State of Maryland. Fond of 
hunting and of the comforts of li^<=, for many years he 
has spent considerable time in different parts of the 
South seeking the quail, and occasionally enjoving the 
music of the beagles in pursuit of the cottontails. Five 
years ago it was my good fortune in his company to 
stumble upon the section now graced by Hunters’ Lodge. 
W e found level lands, with a sandy soil, rather open 
country, delightful climate and abundance of quail. It 
was to the sportsman a virgin country, with freedom to 
roam where you chose and shoot anything you found 
in the fields, except a “man or a mule.” My friend — and 
I will give his name, Gen. Frank A. Bond — decided he 
would buy a plantation, build a house, bring servants 
and furniture from Maryland, and spend his winters 
right there. And, mj^ brother, if you are properly 
recommended and will communicate with him at Lum- 
berton, you may share his pleasures. He is ably seconded 
by his good lady, and all the comforts and luxuries of 
home are yours if you are domiciled beneath their hos- 
pitable roof. You w'ill find comfortable kennels for your 
dogs and good and accommodating guides to show you 
over the country. I have spent the greater part of the 
four past winters there, and look forward with great 
pleasure to spending many more in the same place. 
J. H. Hunter. 
Washington, D. C. 
Ye Huntsmen. 
Now doth ye citie huntsman 
Take_ “hunting license” oute. 
And with a brand-new “outfitte” 
He goeth forth to scoute 
And seeke ye beastes ferocious 
That haunt ye woodes aboute. 
He seeks with zest ye rabbit. 
And eke ye doe and bucke, 
But presently he shooteth 
Ye farmer’s gentle ducke. 
And as he payeth for itte, 
He darneth of hys lucke! 
Anon he tries another. 
Yclept ye “stille-hunting” plan. 
And sneaketh through ye forest 
As softly as he can. 
And suddenly he baggeth 
A costly hired man. 
Mary well ye citie huntsman! 
Hys gunne he keeps atte cocke. 
But when a hare he seeth 
Hys knees together knocke — 
And finally his guide doth kille 
Ye rabbit with a rocke! 
Beware of ye same huntsman. 
And walk behind hym notte. 
The which of his vicinage 
Is ye moste fearsome spotte — 
For there is where hys comrade 
Most frequently gets shotte! 
Meanwhile, observe ye Nymrod — 
He stoppeth for to buy 
A goodly bag of bcasties, 
And personally doth lie 
Unto hys trusting wyfe, who 
Just winketh of her eye. 
— St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 
The Anglers^ Club of New York. 
Although anglers are almost as thick in New York 
city' as flies or Jersey mosquitoes, for some reason not 
easily explained, the only representative organization 
that gentlemen of the present generation can remem- 
ber was the National Rod and Reel Association, which 
at one time held casting tournaments at Madison 
Square Garden, but which finally died of old age or 
lack of support — it is not clear which. 
Shortly after the Sportsmen’s Show last spring a 
riumber of enthusiasts met together and took the pre- 
liminary _ steps toward the organization of a fly and 
bait-casting club, but nothing came of it, although 
numerous anglers who were anxious to see a club of 
this sort in existence in this city were willing to give 
such a club their support. 
Recently a few of these gentlemen met together and 
discussed the subject of the formation of a club, and 
the first meeting was held the night of Nov. 21. Mr. 
Robert B. Lawrence was unanimously chosen tempo- 
rary chairman and Perry D. Frazer temporary secre- 
tary. Plans were discussed and a date set for a more 
representative meeting, and notices were sent out to 
some twenty-five well-known amateurs. This second 
rneeting was held at the Hotel St. Denis on Tuesday 
night, Nov. 28. The weather conditions were very 
unfavorable, the strong wind and rain keeping a num- 
ber at home who would otherwise have been on hand, 
but still there were enough anglers present to transact 
business and discuss ways and means necessary before 
definite steps were taken. 
In calling the meeting to order Mr. Lawrence said, 
among other things, that there had long existed among 
anglers of this city a desire for just such an organiza- 
tion as it was proposed to form, and that he believed 
when other anglers, who were not present, or could 
not be notified in the usual way, principally because 
their addresses were not known, should hear of the 
efforts to organize a club, they would give their sup- 
port. _ It seemed to be the desire of all concerned to 
organize a club on the broadest possible lines, and 
while all would like to see casting contests held, and 
these would be held, he believed there was a need for 
a club whose members could in time secure a com- 
fortable meeting place where they and their friends 
could gather at stated times to discuss fishing, cast- 
ing, relate stories, become better acquainted, exchange 
ideas, exhibit the trophies of their skill (or luck), and, 
m fact, enjoy themselves as anglers can and do 'when 
brought together. 
The question of a name being brought up, it was 
decided (o call thg new club the Anglers’ Club of New 
Pursuant to a motion, the chair appointed Messrs. 
Chancellor G. Levison, Edward Cave and G. M. L. 
LaBranche a committee to draft a constitution and by- 
laws. On motion, Mr. Lawrence’s name was added, 
making a committee of four. 
It was then decided to limit the charter membership 
to twenty-five. There were fifteen present, and these 
nominated ten others to fill out the desired number. 
The next meeting will be held on the evening of 
Tuesday, Dec. 12, at the home of Mr. James D. Smith, 
SI West Eighty-sixth street, when officers will be 
elected, committees named, and the constitution and 
by-laws adopted. 
Applications for membership may, before that time, 
be sent to the temporary secretary. Perry D. Frazer, 
501 West 164th street, New York city, who will hand 
tliem to the membership committee as soon as it is 
named. No limit has as yet been decided on, but it 
is probable that the membership list will be limited 
to a reasonable number, and there are now nearly 
fifty names of anglers who can reasonably be counted 
on to become members, in the hands of the acting sec- 
retary. Early application is, therefore, desirable. 
So much interest has been taken in bait-casting 
during the present year by New Yorkers that the first 
contest of the Anglers’ Club will be looked forward 
to with impatience, and it is probable that bait-casting 
will attract a great deal of the attention of members, 
although many of them will stick to their old favorite, 
the fly-rod. 
Eating Habits of Fishes. 
For some years I have followed certain fishes with a 
kodak endeavoring to photograph them out of their na- 
tive element. I have a set of views which the critical 
observer might say have pre-Raphaelite tendencies, as ap- 
parently they were taken without regard to the selection 
of conditions or scenic effect. Some show vessels sliding 
down hill at frightful angles at full speed; others show 
parts of the bowsprits of yachts or the cutwaters of 
steamers. .Some show nothing but a waste of waters, and 
the collection might well challenge attention, so interest- 
ing is it. Yet, these remarkable pictures possess a cer- 
tain value, representing as they do the efforts to photo- 
graph at many and varied times the California flying-fish. 
The fish had always moved on, at least the sharpest eye 
fails to find it. ' 
My usual point of vantage when photographing, or 
attempting to photograph the flying-fish, was the fore port 
of the steamer which plies between San Pedro and the 
island of Santa Catalina. The channel of this name is a 
fam.ous locality for these fishes, and by standing in the 
bow, where they weip frequently darting up, one could 
snap the camera with apparently a fair chance of success. 
I have had the flying-fish come directly toward me, and 
have dodged them successfully, a fish on one occasion 
passing within a foot of my face. They have repeatedly 
struck on the outside and inside of my boat when fishing. 
I can fairly claim to have met the flying-fish under favor- 
able conditions, but the close contacts were generally un- 
expected or so exciting that the wrong end of the camera 
was presented, or the instrument had to be dropped to 
save it. 
Besides making these attempts I provided the agent of 
the steamer with a kodak and encouraged the boatmen to 
take a camera w'ith them when fishing, and finally an in- 
teresting photograph was secured which , shows the king 
of oceanic fishes high in air in its act of feeding upon the 
illusive flying-fish. The fish, Thimnus thynnus, is seen on 
the return of the leap, which possibly is the most sensa- 
tional performance enacted by fishes of any waters. This 
fish in the Atlantic apparently is not at all particular as 
to its diet — sharks, dogfish and fishes of many kinds hav- 
ing been taken from its stomach, while it is well known 
as a scavenger, following the boatmen or fishermen, eat- 
ing dead dogfish, which are thrown over after being de- 
spoiled of their liver. On the Pacific coast the .fish is 
mere fastidious, and I have never found them to contain 
anything but squids, flying-fish, sardines and mackerel. 
The fish appears off the southern California coast the lat- 
ter part of May or the first of June, coming, apparently, 
to feed and driving in the schools of flying-fish, which also 
appear at this time. The tuna is rarely if ever seen with- 
in fifteen miles of the mainland, its exploits being at the 
island mentioned, and, so far as can be learned, only on 
the northeast coast of that region. The tunas undoubt- 
edly retire to the deep sea or go out into the channel at 
certain times of the day, but between 3 and 4 o’clock in 
the morning the}' begin to feed, coming shoreward in a 
widely distributed school. Their motion is always rapid ; 
they charge a school and keep it in motion until the vic- 
tims are exhausted. T have seen flying-fish almost unable 
to swim, readily crowding under m}’- boat for protection 
from the insatiable creatures. The tuna habitually swims 
three or four feet below the surface and comes up under 
the flying-fish like an animated rocket. Often it misses 
and rises ten or twelve feet into the air, turning grace- 
fully and coming down head first. It was in this position, 
fortunately, that the fish was photographed. The tuna was 
on the return, about entering the water, and the foam 
masses of many others could be counted in the picture. 
The latter are what The fishermen term rushes. The tuna 
has come upon a flying-fish from behind ; suddenly, and 
before it takes to the air, it plunges at its. victim for eight 
or ten feet along the surface, plowing the water into foam 
and showing the dorsal fin and part of (he blue back. I 
have frequently observed, this rush when fishing for tuna. 
The latter often sees the bait twenty or thirty feet away 
