October, 1921 
457 
the beauty of their aristocratic ancestors 
they have lost none of the arrogance. 
Therefore stockmen are urging that a 
strenuous effort be made to exterminate 
them ; their numbers still run up to the 
thousands. Expert rifle shots are being 
engaged in several sections to hunt them, 
and ere long only a few isolated bands 
will gallop over the high grassy mesas 
where once they flourished in huge 
herds. As late as 1902 there were 300,- 
000 wild horses in the state of Oregon 
alone, and their capture amounted to 
quite an industry. The “culls’ were sold 
at $2.75 per head and sent to slaughter, 
yielding an average of sixty pounds of 
good “canned horse,” which was destined 
for European markets. The hides and 
hair were readily disposed of and the 
balance utilized for fertilizer, glue, etc. 
Some of these animals were exceed- 
ingly beautiful specimens, but as wild as 
deer, and it was with difficulty that they 
were rounded up for capture. Of the 
better horses, some brought from $15 to 
$30 per head, and the finest ones often 
were sold at large figures. The British 
government bought many of them for 
use in the South African service; this 
light, blocky type of horse they found 
well adapted to the country, and they 
used them in great numbers. So, by one 
means and another the “mustang” dis- 
appeared, and the few remaining are so 
extremely wild and vicious that the ex- 
pense involved in their capture and re- 
duction to usefulness is not commensu- 
rate with the possible profit. Therefore 
the bullet, rather than the lasso, will 
claim the last of them. It is better so. 
Lupe Loya, Texas. 
CONCERNING CANINE 
INTELLIGENCE 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
I HAVE read with a good deal of in- 
terest and amusement the letter writ- 
ten by L. S. Beers, of Michigan, which 
appeared in your September issue, under 
the caption of “Canine Intelligence.” 
As he desires to have the opinion of 
others expressed on this same subject I 
am submitting my report for review 
based on the years of experience I have 
had with dogs : 
To really define the basis of the brain 
power, instinct, or intelligence of a dog 
would require research that could be 
carried on for an indefinite period, and 
the attempted conclusion would always 
remain in the dark. 
We can readily determine under the 
surgeon’s knife the intricate and com- 
plex formation of the brain, but when 
the hand of Providence stills the feeble 
fluttering of the heart, and the ether 
of life becomes extinct, all trace is ob- 
literated as to the actual basis on which 
to proceed to discover the wisdom, 
power and goodness of the Divine Crea- 
tor of human life. We know that dogs 
love, obey, and execute our verbal de- 
sires, are endowed with the same ner- 
vous propensities as the human system, 
are subject to impulses, heat, and cold, 
hunger and exposure, admiration, anger, 
and the instinct to fight. Yet the proto- 
plasm of all life is in tune with the In- 
FOREST AND STREAM 
finite, and there are numberless worlds 
around us controlled by the same uner- 
ring law of nature, and to discover the 
hidden principle, has through all the 
ages been the stumbling block of human 
progress. 
Dogs are empowered with intelligence 
or whatever else you desire to call it, 
to a lesser degree with regard to ratio- 
cination than the human mind, and in 
this maze we might ask why is the eagle 
the only bird that can look into the sun 
without losing the natural force of its 
eyes? We might also ask what is on 
the other side of the sun ? What causes 
the stupendous revelation of the comets ? 
What are the seven Sebatic years? 
Why are the seven days of the week? 
And we might ask ad libitum, but the 
answer remains the same, the unalter- 
able and inflexible principle. 
Dogs are also divinely equipped with 
cicatrization which is their first aid, 
while the human race must depend upon 
Materia Medica for assistance. And 
thus we find ourselves immediately at the 
beginning of the impossible to determine 
that which is the handiwork of the Great 
Creator of the universe. 
Henry O’Hara, 
Missouri. 
WILD SWANS 
O UT of the trackless north they 
come, 
To the land of marsh and sea; 
Flying at dawn to the rising sun, 
White as angels, wild and free — 
Yellow as gold is the sand hill, 
Clear and pale-blue is the sky. 
Round and red as a fiery ball 
Is the sun as he mounteth on high. 
Shining and blue is the ocean, 
Endless and flat is the sand, 
Amethyst and pink as the waves run 
back, 
A ray glow tinges the land. 
Home from the open sea they fly, 
On strong, quick wings they run, 
With long white necks and wild, sad 
cry, 
Into the setting sun. 
Rosemary Crane. 
SHOOTING PROSPECTS IN 
NORTH DAKOTA 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
| HAVE been a reader of your maga- 
* zine for a number of years and can 
say that it satisfies me. 
Answering your request in the Sep- 
tember number for readers to write 
about the fall shooting prospects in 
their respective locations, I will say 
that round here the chicken crop is 
fairly good considering our settled coun- 
try. I asked a number of the boys about 
the prospects and they reported favor- 
ably. 
The crows got quite a lot of the nests 
before the chicks were hatched, but 
there will be fairly good shooting here 
this fall anyway. 
This is a good duck country owing 
to the prevalence of small lakes and 
sloughs. D. Brewster, 
Dazey, North Dakota. 
FROM THE AMERICAN CHES- 
APEAKE CLUB 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream 
S INCE the advertisement which was! 
inserted by the American Chesa- ' 
peake Club appeared in your magazine 
I have been simply deluged with in- 
quiries from people all over America, 
who wish to obtain a Chesapeake Bay 
Dog, and had I, or did I know of 
fifty puppies of this breed I could place 
all of them. This condition shows 
conclusively that your paper has a 
very wide circulation among the kind 
of people who need things. None of 
the inquiries mentioned any other 
magazine, although our advertisement 
appeared in them also. 
F. E. Richmond, 
Registrar, A. C. Club. 
PIGEON, GROUSE AND 
QUAIL 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
T HINKING over old times and shoot- 
ing-trips, brought to memory by the 
cleaning out of an old desk-drawer 
wherein I ran across a picture taken 
probably twenty-five years ago, brought 
to mind many things, and, among others, 
the way we used to tie up our passenger 
pigeons in bunches of a dozen to carry 
them home after a morning or after- 
noon’s shoot. I never heard of any 
other birds being handled in the same 
way; neither have I run across anyone 
writing of this. The two long tail 
feathers of the passenger pigeon were 
from eight to eight and one-half inches 
long. We used to pull four of these 
feathers, which required, of course, two 
birds. Laying them together, we would 
tie just a common knot in the tips of the 
feathers and then take the quill and slip 
it through that soft V-shaped bit of skin 
right under the bill. We generally 
strung three birds to a feather and with 
the four feathers tied together this made 
a bunch of a dozen. Then the quills of 
the other two feathers were tied and you 
could slip your finger or your gun barrel 
in the intervening space between the 
knot and the pigeon’s bills and you had 
a securely-tied bunch of a dozen" 
The other reminder was that of one of 
the most delightful days afield with 
grouse and quail that I recall of the 
many, many good times I have had. I 
do not know how long ago it was, some- 
where between 1893 and 1897 that this 
took place. My friend, Dr. C. R. Sum- 
ner, of Rochester, N. Y., had come up to 
have a few days’ partridge shooting with 
