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Forest and Stream 
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ADVISORY BOARD 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, NEW YORK, N. Y. 
CARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
EDMUND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, lU. 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 3d, Washington, D. C. 
JOHN T. NICHOLS, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
T. GILBERT PEARSON, National Association of Audubon Societies. 
WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 
JOHN P. HOLMAN, Managing Editor 
T. H. MEARNS, Treasurer 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously 'promote a healthful interest in outdoor 
recreation, and a refined taste for natural objects. 
August 14, 1873. 
MID-SUMMER DAYS 
A lways in August, and sometimes earlier, comes 
that lull in nature which tells us that mid-summer is 
here. Now the rattle of the mowing machine sounds 
in the hay meadow ; the yellowing grain, which billows in 
the passing breeze, stands ready for the reaper; the long 
drooping leaves of the growing corn rustle with a soft 
sibillant murmur. On the shorn stubbles of the meadows 
gather great hordes of blackbirds and sparrows to feast 
on the insects which all through the spring have led fear- 
less and jovial lives, hidden down among the grass stems, 
but now uncovered, ashamed and afraid, must hastily seek 
some other shelter. 
The birds have not yet begun to flock. They go about 
in family groups ; the young as large as the parents, and 
yet often to be distinguished from them by dress or voice. 
The robins fly across the sky by fours and fives ; but if 
you see them in the trees or on the ground near at hand 
you may recognize the young by their spotted breasts, as 
well as by the light-hearted unconcern with which they 
regard your close approach. Crows are seen by the half 
dozen, all looking alike at a distance, but not alike in the 
way they talk. The cries of the old ones are harsh, 
decisive, imperative ; but in the voices of the young there 
is a tone of supplication and often of peevish complaining. 
Now the swallows are beginning to range themselves 
along the telegraph wires, resting at intervals from their 
continuous play back and forth in the upper air. Soon 
they will be preparing for their southward migration which 
will take them far, far away to the land of warmth and 
sunshine ; but even there their activity will continue. Truly 
the swallow above most other creatures must work to live. 
Although at night and in the early morning the song 
of the robin is still heard ; before long, now, even he will 
become silent, and bird songs will cease for another year. 
Then will come the time for moulting, for donning au- 
tumn plumage, the flocking and the preparation for the 
long journey to more genial climes. 
Soon the sportsman will begin to look over his gun, 
and to consider that presently the rail shooting will be in 
order. He will remember, too, that he ought to give some 
exercise and work to the old dog, who will need tuning up 
before he can be expected to start in on the fall campaign. 
THE CASTING PLATFORM 
F or more than a quarter of a century those anglers 
who are constantly endeavoring to improve fish- 
ing rods and tackle, and to attain the highest 
order of skill in their use, have diligently practised fly- 
and bait-casting. Clubs have been formed and tourna- 
ments held from time to time. These public or semi 
public afifairs have shown what skilled men can do 
with the best of rods and accessories, but the patient 
and painstaking experiments of individuals have made 
possible the attainment of excellent records. It is to 
the man who devotes time and money to the working 
out of theories — the elimination of ideas that are un- 
tenable — that so many improvements in fishing tackle 
are due. 
Men of this type have experimented carefully and 
methodically with all the known materials the world 
has produced, with the result that to-day less than six 
of these materials are recognized as good enough to be 
made up into fishing rods. By the same token the 
best types of reels for certain purposes have been per- 
fected, and this process of elimination has given the 
angling fraternity an accurate knowledge of the re- 
liable materials for lines, leaders and so on. The manu- 
facturer may produce an article of apparent merit, but 
the crucial test by the man who practices and experi- 
ments proves its worth or otherwise. 
And the results of these experiments and tests are 
not kept secret, but are disseminated among anglers, 
so that in time certain articles become standardized, to 
their makers’ profit. 
The angler who fishes for recreation and amusement 
may attain a large knowledge of rods and tackle. He 
may declare that it is not necessary for him to practice 
fly- or bait-casting alone, with a club or at a tourna- 
ment, in order to learn the niceties of casting and of 
equipments. He may argue that tournament casting is 
not fishing. But let him associate with men fond of this 
sort of amusement, and try their pet rods, and all his 
old resolutions are forgotten. In a short time he will ad- 
mit that while actual fishing taught him many things it 
is well and pleasant to know, practice casting and all the 
little things connected with it throw a new light on the 
sport. His enthusiasm grows apace. He recognizes, 
as never before, that the casting platform is the proving 
ground for fishing tackle, and he knows then that it is 
of value equal to that of the target range where rifles 
are tested before being placed in the hands of hunters. 
IMMIGRANT IN NEW ZEALAND 
F or nearly four hundred years we had in Western 
America an interesting example of the naturalization 
of a foreign animal. Soon after the invasion by 
Cortez and De Soto, the horse escaped on the western 
plains, found there conditions favorable to its existence 
and no enemies. It increased greatly, became useful to 
the Indians and, up to the time of the building of the 
first transcontinental railroad, was still abundant in many 
places in the West. Then the wild horse passed away, 
but its place was taken by the escaped range horses which 
are still found in many places. 
More interesting examples of the same thing, because 
dealing with many instead of few species, are those of 
the naturalization of animals and plants in Australasia, 
and especially in New Zealand. This has taken place 
during the century and a half that has elapsed since the 
date of Capt. Cook’s second voyage. 
In New Zealand, when the white man came there, there 
were only four or five mammals, — two bats, a rat and 
