16 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
grounds, east of the Alleghany, for this chief of our fea- 
thered game. In former years they were in great abun- 
dance on these barren grounds, which were then visited by 
old and scientific sportsmen, who regarded the laws of 
shooting, as well for example as from principle, — and mul- 
titudes fell beneath the unerring aim of many gentlemen, 
who themselves are now numbered with the dead. But 
lately, through great persecution, by those who have no 
claims to the principles which constitute sportsmen, and 
who visit these grounds months before the season for shoot- 
ing commences by law, and while the birds are in an un- 
fledged state, the Grouse are driven from this favourite 
abode, to seek shelter in other and more retired spots 
among the mountains. 
Year after year has this unhallowed persecution of the 
Grouse been carried on, until the species has been almost 
exterminated from the state. Of what satisfaction can it 
be to a man who claims the character of a sportsman, to de- 
stroy in numbers birds so young as to be useless for the 
table, and possessing so little energy and power to fly, that 
an ordinary missile would answer the purpose to kill them 
as well as the gun; and that, too, so early in the season, 
that the heat creates putrefaction, and renders them unfit 
to bring home, and our soi disant sportsmen have no other 
evidence of their success, than the boasting which usually 
is so strong a feature in the characters of such persons? 
Is it not more praiseworthy to bring down, in sportsman- 
like manner, one full grown bird, powerful on the wing, 
in October, than a score of young, squeaking birds, unable 
even to top the scrub oaks, for want of feathers and 
strength to support them? 
Rabbits. Of the abundance of these animals, every one 
seems aware; and although they do not rank in our cata- 
logue as game, yet numbers find their way to the different 
markets, and by many are eagerly sought as a luxury. 
But to a certain description of gunners they afford much 
amusement; and in the absence of other species of game, 
the sportsman may divert his leisure hours, and find recrea- 
tion frequently in hunting Rabbits. It often occurs, that a 
party of but few persons, will, without much fatigue, kill 
from thirty to fifty of these animals in a single day. 
Foxes. Of the variety of hunting in New-Jersey, less 
appears to be done after Foxes than other animals, although 
in great abundance in every part of the state. In East 
Jersey, they are yet hunted in the laudable, old-fashioned 
style, on horseback; but in the western part of the state, 
this appears, of late years, to be relinquished altogether; 
more, perhaps, from the difficult land to ride over, being 
generally covered with thickets and brushwood. And it 
is only towards the holydays, that here and there a few 
neighbours congregate for a Fox hunt, with horses, dogs, 
guns, &c. and altogether in a most unsportsmanlike way of 
hunting. The gunners, however, at Cape May, appear to 
have a mode adapted peculiarly to their neighbourhood, 
of hunting “ Sly Reynard,” which is chiefly on small 
islands, situated on the sea-side, and separated considera- 
bly from the main land. On some of these islands, the 
Foxes are in great abundance, for hither they resort for the 
variety of food which may at all times be found along the 
margin of the sea, such as crabs, muscles, clams, gull’s 
eggs, young birds, &c., and, as the covering consists of 
high grass, weeds, and a species of bush common to these 
islands, and being altogether uninhabited, the Foxes pro- 
pagate in numbers here, and at particular seasons afford 
fine sport to the inhabitants along the sea shore. The 
thickest cover grows on a ridge in the centre of these 
islands, from which, to the water’s edge, and where the 
tide ebbs and flows, forms a clear space. Consequently, 
when a party is made up, to hunt the Foxes, one or two 
drives the centre, with dogs, while others of the party are 
stationed with guns, at distances from each other to the 
end of the island, and shoot successively as the Foxes pass 
them. And here the manners and cunning of the animal 
are often fully displayed; for frequently, when pursued by 
the hounds, which go by scent altogether, the Foxes, to 
avoid them, will run into the surf, and by keeping near 
the edge of the water, as the breakers roll over the sand, 
all the scent is effaced by the water, and the hounds are 
disconcerted. But few, however, with all their artfulness, 
escape, as the stationed gunners are ready at every point 
to receive them, and in this way many are killed. 
Deer. Nothing is more common in the western part 
of New-Jersey, than deer hunting in the months of Octo- 
ber, November and December, and it is scarcely credible, 
that in a country so thickly populated as is this state, and 
so adjacent to the city of Philadelphia, that such herds of 
these animals may be found; multitudes are killed every 
fall in the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Cumberland 
and Cape May. I have been on hunting excursions, 
wherein ten or twelve Deer have been started in a single 
drive. 
The manner of hunting these animals is by still shoot- 
ing, or at stands. All the persons who compose the party, 
(except one or two, who act as drivers,) depart for dis- 
tant places, designated as the stands for each hunter, 
and here they remain until what is termed, “the drive is 
out.” These stands, generally, are on knolls of land in the 
wood, or in roads, and Deer-paths, which continually 
intersect the region where these hunts take place, and are 
generally selected by experienced hunters, as places where 
the Deer have repeatedly crossed during the night season. 
After sufficient time is allowed for the individuals of the 
