514 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Dec. 23, 1903. 
Some Commentaries* 
In the comments upon the wild pigeon in recent num- 
bers of Forest and Stream I have seen no allusion 
to the wild pigeon we have in California, and I do not 
know our bird is classified. While they are not plenti- 
ful as compared with the accounts of the birds east of 
the Rockies in former times, it is not unusual to see 
them in flocks of one or two hundred in this region. 
They nest in the mountains of Shasta county in certain 
localities, and seem to congregate in flocks in the late 
fall, at which time their flights may be commonly ob- 
served. They are wary and difficult to approach, as 
they seem to have a systematic way of keeping sentinel 
birds constantly on duty while the flock feeds. Upon 
shooting several of them last year, I was surprised to 
find their craws each contained from two to four whole 
acorns from the black oak. These acorns are larger 
in diameter than the normal necks of the birds, and it 
would appear to be an impossibility for a whole acorn 
to get through their heads, although it is true they open 
sufficiently in the emergency. The birds are about the 
size of the domestic blue rock pigeon, but in color 
they are slatish blue, yellow crescent over the eyes and 
red feet. [The bird is the band-tailed pigeon {Colwmba 
fasciata, Say. ) ] 
About the scale carp: The Sacramento River was 
stocked with them and small yellow catfish, and ten 
or twelve years ago the lower reaches of the stream 
and its tributaries and sloughs teemed with these pests. 
I presume they have not decreased in numbers. There 
were formerly plenty of native fish in the Sacramento, 
no one of which was not superior in every way to 
either carp or dwarf catfish. I believe the fish com- 
missioners deny having introduced the carp, but it and 
the catfish seem to comprise the chief addition to Cali- 
fornia waters — whoever is guilty of it. 
The article upon the quail of the United States by 
Sylvester D. Judd, of the Biologidal Survey, duly en- 
rolls the California mountain quail, and I would like 
to see more space in the article given to the bird. He 
is, in my opinion, the finest, as well as the most beauti- 
ful game bird of the West, if not of the continent. His 
call notes, too, deserve full praise. These notes are 
many; the bird an accomplished ventriloquist. His 
clear, full whistle echoing from the mountainsides is 
one of the most cheerful and inspiring sounds 
imaginable. 
A San Francisco paper gives a portrait of the Eng- 
lish peer Earl de Grey, together with what purports 
to be a lengthy cable dispatch eulogizing the nobleman 
as the finest shot in England, if not in the world. He 
knocks over 500 grouse in a day’s shoot, and again 
750 pheasants — and when he goes out for rabbits he 
bags 950 as a matter of keeping his trigger-finger in 
training. 
The article blandly states that in America (can it 
be?) many people would regard these facts as mere 
slaughter, but English folks do not so consider them, 
and “Earl de Grey is English in everything.” Up to 
ten years ago he had killed 316,699 “head” of game. 
These statements read smoothly enough in a modern 
daily paper, but what an arduous time the nible Earl 
must have when he goes out for 750 pheasants or 950 
rabbits,! Even if he misses no shot, he must take along 
about 1000 cartridges weighing about 125 pounds, not 
to mention a lunch. When he comes in with 950 rab- 
bits or 750 pheasants — either approximately weighing 
a ton— he must be tired. 
Such an account as this must make our market 
hunters think life in this country is a failure, while the 
rising generation of American sportsmen will have to 
abolish the game laws in order to emulate English 
nobility. In order to count 316,699 head of game our 
ambitious representatives of the quadrupeds that the 
devil was conjured into will have to hustle for sufficient 
ammunition. 
It appears that there are no real sportsmen among 
the cablegram editors of the atrociated* press, while 
they are rare enough among editors throughout the 
country. When are we to hear from the Kaiser’s an- 
nual roundup, with accompanying photographs of his 
trophies? 
N. B. — ^To kill 950 rabbits in a day the peer, shoot- 
ing steadily for ten hours, would have to kill some- 
thing over a rabbit and a half per minute. No charge 
against the press for these deductions. 
Charles L. Paige. 
Califoria, October. 
*Made the word myself; it means “fierce.” 
Antlers in the Velvet. 
Leominster, Mass., Dec. 12.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I killed a moose on Sept. 23 which had not shed 
his velvet a particle; in fact, had not begun to rub his 
horns at all. The veins in the velvet were still full of 
blood, .and this velvet in all probability would not have 
come off for ten days or two weeks. W. F. W. 
Lockport, N, Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: A party 
of six Lockportonians returned from a week’s hunting in 
St. Lawrence county Nov. 15 and brought home six deerl 
five of which were bucks, a queer head among them, of 
which I send you a photograph. The antlers, besides 
being deformed, were also in the velvet, and so soft that i 
blood showed where they were broken during transpor-j 
tatiom The deer was in as good condition as any of the 1 
other five. Is it .not rare for antlers to be in the velvet ■■ 
so late in the year ? The head was presented to- me by 
Mr. Huber. 
I have a pair of antlers in the velvet that are larger j 
than any antlers of the Virginia deer I ever saw. The \ 
deer was killed several years ago by a boy thirteen years 
of age, while watching for woodchuck in a field of oats, ‘i 
1 he deer came in and was feeding on the early-growing ^ 
grain, same as the woodchucks, and the boy slaughtered 
it. The antlers were not full-gTown, but at the fourth ; 
prong they measured 23J/2 inches in width from inside of ■ 
one antler Jo the outside of the other. Before I got these ; 
I had a pair of antlers that I thought were very large, but ^ 
they measured only eighteen inches in the widest place. I 
doubt that you will get a larger pair of antlers among . 
your coming prize heads than the pair of antlers in the , 
velvet would have been. , J. L. Davison. ! 
Explorers^ Club. 
The annual meeting of the Explorers’ Club was held : 
on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the rooms of the Club, 23 West 
Sixty-seventh street. Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn oc- - 
cupied the chair, and the business meeting was largely 
devoted to^ a review of the events connected with the 
Club's recent incorporation. The officers elected for the ‘ 
following year were: President, Gen. A. W. Greeley; , 
Vice-Presidents, Col. D. L. Brainerd, Carl Lumholtz and i 
Dr. William H. Furness ; Secretary, Henry Collins Walsh ; ; 
Treasurer, Tappan Adney; Board of Governors, Dr. F. 
A. Cook, Prof. Herschel C. Parker, Plenry Collins i 
Walsh, Frank M. Chapman, IL S. Dellenbaugh, Prof. , 
Marshall H. Saville, George Bird Grinnell, Tappan 
Adney, Herbert L. Bridgeman. 
The business meeting was followed by two talks of 
unusual interest. One, by Dr. W. H. Furness, on his ' 
travels in Borneo, dealt especially with the wild and un- 
known natives of that country. It was illustrated by a 
multitude of colored slides of great beauty, and the de- 
■scriptions of the habits of life, the customs and the be- 
liefs of these people was of the greatest interest. Fol- i 
lowing this came a talk by Dr. D. G. Elliott on his travels : 
in Somali Land, whither he had gone to secure natural ■ 
history specimens for the Field Columbian Museum, of 
ChicigO'. Dr. Elliott’s slides showed many species of 
African mammals and his descriptions of the country 
and its fauna and of the methods of travel through it, 
were very entertaining. 
Boston and Maine. 
Boston, Mass., Dec. 16. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
The Nominating Committee of the State Association, of 
which Dr. Benjamin Varnum Howe is chairman, at the 
December meeting, on Wednesday next, will present the 
name, of Prof. William Brewster, the well known orni- 
mologist of Cambridge, as their candidate for the presi- 
dency of the Association for 1906. Professor Brewster 
IS widely known among bird lovers as a practical sports- 
man, in full sympathy with sportsmen’s interests as well 
as an eminent authority in scientific knowledge of nat- 
ural history subjects, and the members of the committee 
are highl}^ gratified by their success in securing his ac- 
ceptance of the nomination to the presidency. The elec- 
tion will be held at the annual meeting, the second 
Wednesday in January. 
The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Forestry 
Association was held in Boston on Thursday last. The 
ballot for officers resulted in the choice of Henry P. 
Walcott’ of Cambridge, as president; Edwin A. Start, 
of Billerica, secretary-treasurer, and among other officers 
chosen appear the names of Messrs. William P. Gale, of 
Springfield; James S. Russell, of Milton; Richard A. 
Hale, of Lawrence; Charles Francis Adams, of Lincoln; 
George M. Weed, of Newton; Fred. L. Olmstead, Jr., of 
Brookline, and George N. Whipple, of Boston, and sev- 
eral others, besides a number of prominent ladies. Mr. 
Frederick Cunningham, of Brookline, presented the fol- 
lowing resolution, which was unanimously adopted : 
That th6 Association wishes to place on record its 
great appreciation of the services of Mr. James N. Bow- 
ditch to the cause of forestry, both as one of its officers 
and as an individual ; its regret that he can no longer 
serve on its Executive Committee, and its hope that he 
may be able to do so again at some time in the future ” 
_ Mr. Bowditch has held that position by annual elec- 
tion ever since the Society was organized in 1898. This 
is one of ^ the associations which joined hands with the 
sjmrtsmen s clubs in the celebrated convention of 1899 
when the first steps were, taken in forming the Massa- 
chusetts Central Committee for protection of fish and 
pme, and which resulted in the passage of the anti-sale 
law of 1900, prohibiting the sale of woodcock and ruffed 
grouse. It needs no argument to show the close relations 
that the advancement of systematic forestry bears to the 
interests of the sportsmen. - : 
The Maine deer hunting season closed at midnight 
14th. Ihe receipts at Bangor for Friday were 143 ( 
one mpse and one bear. Among Boston hunters bi 
out out deer that day were A. R. Rogers, N. Dorr, 
Davis J. O. Ricprds, J.'W. Small, H. W. Davis 
several oth^s. There were also representatives f 
Worcester, Gloucester, Medford and other towns of 
btatC’ and quite as many from Maine towns as all 
ptheps pomffjned. TJip records for the ye^r exceed tl 
of 1904 by about 400 deer; total to Friday being 4,646 
deer, 215 moose and 40 bears. 
The annual meeting of the Maine Sportsmen’s Fish 
and Game Association will occur on Jan. 2, at Bangor, 
when one of the questions that will be discussed is “What, 
if any, changes are necessary in the close time for fish 
and game?” This will bring out the opinions of Maine 
sportsmen on further protection of big game by short- 
ening the hunting season. Other topics for discussion 
are to be the prohibition of the carrying of firearms into 
the woods during the close time ; whether non-residents 
should be allowed to carry firearms into the woods in 
the open season without a license to hunt birds or other 
game. 
This year has witnessed less shooting accidents than 
occurred last year, when there were eleven that resulted 
fatally. This year seven such have occurred, but all that 
proved fatal this year have been caused by residents of 
the State. 
The friends of “Bill” Sewall, of Island Falls, the Presi- 
dent’s old guide, are much pleased by his recent nomina- 
tion as collector of customs for the Aroostook district. 
He is reported to have made a personal canvass of the 
entire county for the position. H. H. Kimball. 
The Boston Herald gives this description of the 
biograph pictures, which are to be among the attractions 
of the Boston Exposition : 
“It looks very much as if the biograph pictures of a 
real moose hunt will prove the big sensation of the sports- 
men’s show at the Mechanics’ Building, the exhibit by 
the New England Forest, Fish and Game Association, 
which will open on Christmas Day. Next to the interest 
of seeing the pictures themselves it is a very interesting 
story that is told as to how a party of sportsmen started 
out from .Boston for the avowed purpose of hunting and 
shooting moose in order that it all might be caught by 
the biograph machine and thrown on the canvas at the 
coming sportsmen’s show. ■ 
“The party was composed of Dr. Heb.er Bishop, Bos- 
ton’s well known sportsman; R. E. Follett, the second 
vice-president of the New England Forest, Fish and 
Game Association and manager of the sportsmen’s show; 
C. Everett Johnson, an artist of this, city; F. J. Marion, 
manager of the American Mutoscope & Biograph Com- 
pany; G. W. Bitzer, chief operator of the Biograph Com- 
pany, and Harry B. Coe, of Portland, representing the 
Maine Central Railroad. 
“The moose hunt pictures start with a view of the 
party boarding the train at the Union Station, Portland, 
and on the platform as the train pulls out are Dr. Bishop, 
Mr. Coe, Mr. Follett and other passengers. ■ . 
“After arriving at St. John, N. B., the journey was 
made on the Interqolonial Railway to Peticodiac, a 
couple of hours’ run from St. John, and there a special 
train was taken on the Elgin & Havelock Railroad. This 
train eppsists of the entire equipment of the railroad, i 
including one locomotive, one flat car, one passenger cat 
and one box car, the latter used for baggage. The 
uniqueness of the road is well depicted in the moving 
pictures, and the tall grass growing between the rails of j 
' rough-and-tumble roadbed makes the journey over it ! 
one that will not be forge tten. On this special trip the ' 
moving pictures were taken from the baggage car, look- ! 
ing toward the engine, showing the party in all their 1 
hunting clothes on the way to the moose hunting . 
grounds. 
“The biograph machine now follows the party very 
closely, showing their arrival at Havelock, where they 
W'ere met by guides with teams. Then follows a drive j 
of eighteen miles to the forks of the Canaan River, with 1 
pictures showing the general character of the country \ 
through which they pass. Then come the scenes show- 
ing the party taking to the bed of the Canaan River, ,i 
which stream in their trip up its course for seven miles 
to the next stage of their journey, had to be forded ; 
fifty-two times. Incidentally, one sees Mr. Follett ford- ■ 
ing the stream and catching trout as he goes along. His i 
record is just sixty on the trip. At times the horses are i 
seen up to their bodies and the wagons up to^ their hubs. ; 
in the river. 
“At the end of the seven-mile trip the so-called Bad '' 
Lands were reached, a great stretch of country which t 
has been burned over and is now a mass of charred 
stumps of trees. The arrival at Jim Ryder’s head camp , 
is interestingly shown, located on the ridge which forms 
the watershed between the Canaan and Salmon rivers, ’ 
both of which streams finally find their way into the St. 
John River. Jim Ryder, probably the best known guide . 
in New Brunswick, is shown calling the moose, and then ■; 
there is the camp scene, with the supper being cooked 
and the return of Dr. Bishop from a hunting trip, 
“One of the best series in the biograph is that showing 
Mr. Follett shooting the ,'moose. He and Mr. Johnson 
went out to the Crow’s Nest and stayed all night until! 
the following morning at daybreak Mr. Follett, who had 
never called a moose before but knew what kind of a 
sound they made, succeeded in getting an answer to the ; 
calls he sent out over the barren waste. Soon the moose, 
an immense bull, came out of the brush and met his 
doom for the benefit of the biograph pictures. The moose 
was an immense one, its antlers having a spread of fifty- ’ 
four inches, and it weighed 1,200 pounds. It was mounted 
and will be on exhibition at the sportsmen’s show. 
“Another section of the series of the biograph, pictures ’ 
shows Dr. Bishop and his guide paddling across the lake 
in a canoe, then the sighting of the moose and coming 
around the point and shooting it, and finally coming j 
ashore. This particular moose is the twenty-eighth that ' 
Dr. Bishop has -shot 
‘‘In' all, over ' one mile of' film was exposed, or a total 
of 4,s,ooo pictures taken at the rate of six a second. It , 
ijiji rcQuires a little oyer fialf an hnur to .show them on the ' 
ibiograph. 
