April, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
169 
further removed from their first most northern 
home. The migratory habit, having been com- 
menced and implanted, never ceased, and the birds 
found themselves by it reaching every autumn a 
further southern limit, and every spring a more 
restricted northern one. Other planetary disturb- 
ances may in future ages drive birds altogether 
from Great Britain, or restore them again to their 
Polar homes. 
NIGHT PROWLING BIRDS 
A CORRESPONDENT questions if predaceous 
birds fly by night and pursue the streams of 
migratory birds on their journeys from North to 
South. We think there is no doubt that hawks, owls, 
and other predaceous birds pursue the fleeing 
swarms, and the only question is, do they take their 
prey at night? All kinds of owls we know will take 
birds at night, and it is probable that certain kinds 
of hawks do likewise. The difficulty, of course, is 
to prove cases, as night and the high altitude at 
which birds migrate prevents observation. Height 
raises another question. Migratory birds are said 
to fly at a height of many miles, and this would take 
them up to a twilight zone. We have seen hawks 
take their prey, including blackbirds and sparrows, 
after they have gone to roost. About five o’clock one 
evening last December, hearing much chattering 
from some small birds which were accustomed to 
roost in a large clump of bamboos, we approached 
to try and discover the cause. We suspected a cat, 
but, after some time, we made out the shape of a bird 
perched on a branch near the bamboos. Finally it 
made a dash into the bamboos, and then made off 
with what we strongly suspected was a sparrow 
dangling in its talons. The moon was up, and this 
enabled us to make a good guess that it was a spar- 
row hawk hard pressed with hunger. 
A DOG WITHOUT A MASTER 
1^ ID the reader ever see a lost dog in a great city ? 
^ Not a dog recently lost, full of wild anxiety and 
restless pain and bewilderment, but one who had 
given up the search for a master in despair, and 
had become consciously a vagabond? If so, he has 
seen an animal that has lost his self-respect, travel- 
ing in the gutters, slinking along by fences, making 
acquaintance with dirty boys, becoming a thorough 
coward, and losing every admirable characteristic 
of a dog. A cat is a cat even in vagabondage; but 
a dog that does not belong to somebody is as hope- 
less a specimen of demoralization as can be found 
in the superior race among which he has sought in 
vain for his master. We know him at first sight 
and he knows that we know him. The loss of his 
place in the world, and the loss of his object of 
loyalty, personal and official, have taken the signi- 
ficance out of his life and the spirit out of him. He 
has become a dog of leisure. 
WHY NOT SCENTED BAITS 
A QUESTION was asked recently if fish were able 
to smell food at a distance. We do not think 
there is the slightest doubt about it, as there is so 
much evidence confirming our opinion. Water is 
very similar to air as a medium for conveying scent, 
and anyone who has seen chub, for instance, nosing 
up-stream in search of a bit of cheese, or eels and 
trout working up for worms, will be quickly con- 
vinced that fish have a very strong sense of smell. 
Old Izaak and many ancient anglers strongly advo- 
cated the use of scented baits, and it seems strange 
that today no investigations have been made into 
their usefulness, only the plainest unadulterated 
baits being used. Salmon roe has a very strong 
scent, and it may be that this is the reason why 
fish are attracted to it from quite long distances 
down-stream. It is not always that the scented bait 
is palatable to the fish, proving that it is the scent 
alone in cases where the bait is not devoured that 
invited their curiosity or expectation. Horrible mix- 
tures are sometimes used for attracting fish, but, 
with the exception of honey, perhaps, in paste for 
carp, there is little bait-scenting done. 
PASSENGER PIGEONS SEEN 
“yHE New York Sun of February 4, 1919, prints the 
following letter from C. W. Dickinson, the famous 
wolf hunter of northern Pennsylvania: 
“In the fore part of September, 1918, as we were 
going to our war garden in Concord, Mass, we saw 
a flock of about 200 beautiful passenger pigeons. 
There is not a possible chance for us to be mistaken 
about these birds, for the sky was clear, the sun 
shone bright and the birds passed within 150 feet of 
us. 
“The country there is practically level and all 
cleared, so we could see these birds a long distance. 
They flew in a northerly direction until they were 
nearly out of our range of vision, when they circled 
to the left and came back on the northwest side of 
us and about the same distance from us as they were 
when they passed at first, but on the opposite side, 
and we could plainly see the white breasts of the 
hens and the red breasts of the toms. These birds 
are a uniform color except the red and white breasts 
of the toms and hens. 
“When these birds are making a flight they fly 
as steady as wild geese or ducks. They do not wabble 
or criss-cross, but go straight ahead unless something 
frightens them. Then, too, they have the long 
pointed tail. 
“Of course there are rare exceptions as to color. 
During our time we saw ten or twelve spotted birds. 
Some of them are about white. During the latter part 
of the ’50s we saw a snow white passenger pigeon 
ten or twelve different times. 
“We have seen billions of these birds. We have 
caught over 1,600 dozen with nets and we have shot 
thousands of them. When a small boy we caught 
hundreds of them in quail traps; so taking our ex- 
perience into consideration we think we ought to be 
able to tell a flock of passenger pigeons today, for 
our memory is good even if we are growing old.” 
A REQUEST FRQM THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
T N connection with its administration of the Migra- 
' tory Bird Treaty Act and other work in game con- 
servation, the Biological Survey desires to secure in- 
formation concerning every hunting club or other 
organization whose object is the hunting or conser- 
vation of game of any kind. It desires information 
as to the names of the officers, the location of their 
hunting ground if they possess property of this kind, 
and the number of members of the organization. 
The postoffice address of the secretary is particularly 
desired. Address all communications to the Chief 
of the Bureau of Biological Survey, Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
