296 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 25, 1906. 
A Bonanza Except That— 
The following letter, written from Detroit, 
Mich., to the recipient in Eutaw, Ala., has been 
sent to us as a curiosity. The writer evidently 
has in view a mode of ducking which is not 
precisely in keeping with the genesis of our game 
laws: 
“I have trapped ducks and geese (and other 
game) by the thousands week after week dur¬ 
ing the season in many countries, and if they 
are plentiful in your neighborhood, and you 
will send me exact description of the lay of the 
marshes and adjacent land, with the character 
of the water and the natural growth of their 
feed, both in deep and shallow water. I will 
show you how to catch them (all sorts) in the 
marshes, on the land and in deep and shallow 
water to your heart’s desire. 
“Everything is so closely preserved here that 
it is impossible to trap, and the shooting to an 
outsider is not worth the exposure in this 
horrible climate; but where a man is properly— 
that is to say, advantageously—located, it is an 
easy thing to clear from $100 to $300 a week; 
and it never scares the birds away but attracts 
them more and more all the time. 
“If you mean business and will send to me 
(or to the G. T. A. of the R. R.) or any one 
you please, four first-class tickets (for self and 
family) good from this point to your place, I 
will come at once and show you how everything 
used is made, for it cannot be bought; and will 
give every instruction required, provided that 
upon arrival you pay me $25 down to enable me 
to locate and care for my family while thus en¬ 
gaged, and purchase yourself such material as 
is necessary to commence the trapping, which 
will be but a very small outlay. And I will then 
and there give you a receipt in full of all de¬ 
mands; and inside of the first two weeks I can 
safely promise you that your catch will more 
than double and, if the birds are plenty, be more 
than four times the total cost of your venture. 
“I will not reveal my modus opcrandi to any 
living man for less than $250, cash down, 
for it is as good as a gold mine to one who can 
operate. 
“I am willing to do a great deal to obtain the 
chance to operate where I can make all the 
money I want in a few weeks. 
“If you purchase the tickets here or send them 
to any one, notify me by same mail that no time 
may be lost.” 
Game in Hawaii. 
The visitor to Hawaii will do well to bring 
his gun with him, for, although Hawaii is not 
what might be termed a shooter’s paradise, still 
there is enough game, both furred and feathered, 
to make a trip afield with shotgun or rifle in¬ 
teresting. 
Doves, or Chinese pigeons, everywhere 
abound and provide good sport. Pheasants are 
fairly plentiful on all the islands of the group, 
and at certain seasons good bags of duck and 
plover may be made. The latter two birds are 
migratory, going north to breed in May and 
returning about the beginning of September. 
Curly and black brant are occasionally met with. 
Hawaii has two indigenous birds, the Hawai¬ 
ian teal duck and the Hawaiian goose. The 
former, which much resembles its mainland 
•cousin, is found in sequestered ponds and 
streams. The habitat of the goose is the base 
of Mauna Loa, on Hawaii. 
California quail are abundant on all the islands 
except Oahu, and royal or mountain quail are 
to be found on Molokai. Quite recently several 
pairs of Eastern quail, the Bob-White of the 
States, were turned loose on Kauai. 
Wild turkeys are sometimes bagged on all the 
islands, but these fine birds are becoming very- 
scarce. Wild peacock and guinea fowl, whose 
progenitors 'undoubtedly escaped from captivity, 
have been reported from Hawaii and elsewhere. 
The mongoose works havoc with the ground¬ 
nesting feathered game of the islands. On 
Kauai, where there are none of these pests, 
game is more plentiful than on any other island. 
Retribution is overtaking the mongoose, how¬ 
ever, for, having killed off the insectivorous 
lizards he is himself being consumed alive by a 
tick which threatens to make life unbearable, 
if not impossible, for the little creature. 
For the lover of rifle there are numerous deer 
on Molokai to claim this attention, while all 
the islands, especially Kauai and Hawaii, have 
wild cattle, pigs and goats. 
Sea fishing, if scientifically prosecuted, would 
undoubtedly yield satisfactory results, the aku 
and kawakawa, ocean bonito hardly distinguish¬ 
able from each other, and the gamiest of fish 
abounding in the waters near Honolulu. 
There are no carnivorous beasts or lurking- 
snakes to imperil the sportsman, though a spice 
of danger may be found in the quest of wild 
cattle and pigs.—Honolulu Advertiser. 
Massachusetts Game and Fish. 
President William Brewster, of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, 
has a delightful home in Concord, Mass. He 
owns a tract of more than 300 acres, only about 
a dozen acres of which are cleared land, situated 
three miles from Concord village in the direc¬ 
tion of Carlisle. He is riparian owner of a mile 
of the north bank of the river, besides a por¬ 
tion of the southerly shore. On an eminence 
overlooking the stream, he has a fine log cabin 
for the family, and another for the accommoda¬ 
tion of invited guests. The old farmhouse in 
which he is now living was built in the year 
1720. The grounds have every variety of tree 
growth indigenous to New England; and in 
many sections of open land have been planted a 
great variety of flowers, such as will thrive in 
a partial clearing. The predominating idea, 
however, has been to maintain the conditions of 
the landscape in its natural condition, rather than 
resort to artificial embellishment, so common in 
the treatment of public parks. 
In strips of lowland there are several patches 
of good woodcock cover, and plenty of cover 
adapted to quail and ruffed grouse. In our 
tramp we .flushed one partridge that was sitting 
on a nest with ten eggs. No shooting nor build¬ 
ing of fires is allowed on the premises; but manv 
canoeing and boating parties go ashore for 
lunch and a stroll in the woods. So long as 
they observe the necessary rules they are en¬ 
tirely welcome. Mr. Brewster says. 
Quite near the house is a pond formed by 
damming a small stream. The location is ad¬ 
mirably adapted for taking observations of the 
various species of native birds, and is the home 
of a good number of game birds. Stretching 
to the northward is one of the largest areas 
of forest land within fifty miles of the Hub, if 
not in the State, extending a distance, Mr. 
Brewster told me, of some three or four miles. 
The water front is to be looked after this 
summer by Prof. E. H. Forbush, the entomolo¬ 
gist of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. 
Mr. Henry Purdy kindlv acted as my escort 
from Boston, and it affords me pleasure to ac¬ 
knowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Brewster 
and Mr. Purdy for one of the most enjoyable 
outings of the season, in fact, one of the pleas¬ 
antest within my recollection. 
Boston, Aug. 18. —Editor Forest and Stream: 
Mr. Wall, of Plymouth, to whom were sent' a 
few dozen live quail in the spring, brought into 
the office the shells of sixteen quails’ eggs, all 
of which had been hatched in a nest found by 
him. Mr. Wall says these were without doubt 
laid by the birds the association sent him this 
year. The birds had been liberated in a section 
where there were no quail previously. This evi¬ 
dence of the good results of bird planting is of 
such a character that no reasonable man can 
doubt it. Whether birds transplanted from their 
native habitat breed during the first season in 
their new home or not is a question on which 
all are not agreed. It may be that some of them 
do not. Evidence is not wanting that many of 
them mate and go right on with the work of 
propagation just as they would in their native 
covers. 
A gentleman who has been in towns along the 
south shore tells me that he saw a good many 
shore birds that had been driven in by the heavy 
fog that has prevailed for many days all along 
the coast of New England and the maritime 
provinces. A few have found their way to the 
Boston market. 
The secretary of the sportsman’s club in Tur¬ 
ner's Falls, writes that there were more birds 
last year and are more this year than there 
were for four or five years previously, and he 
thinks the outlook for fall shooting is encourag¬ 
ing. They have seen no quail for a few years, 
but “hope they may come here again.” Some 
very good strings of trout, he says, have been 
taken and the small trout in the streams are in¬ 
creasing, as the result of the fry and fingerlings 
the club has planted from time to time. 
From other reports, not very numerous how¬ 
ever as yet, the indications are that the hatch¬ 
ing season and the few weeks following that, 
which is a critical time for fledglings, were so 
favorable as to encourage hopes of a good num¬ 
ber of quail and grouse in the covers. 
Controversies over the question of how far the 
citizen should be willing to go in surrendering 
what he has considered his rights on bodies of 
water used for the supply of cities, are still com¬ 
ing to the front. A few days ago the State 
Board of Plealth gave a hearing on the subject. 
The hearing grew out of petitions filed with the 
selectmen of various towns including Arlington, 
Carver, Fall River and about twenty-five others. 
As counsel for the owner of Sandy Pond in 
Lincoln, G. M. Pond, Esq., said his client’s cow 
couldn't drink in the pond. At present he said, 
cattle cannot be kept on the watershed of a 
water supply; farming cannot be carried on there 
nor sheds built. The owner in question, Mr. 
Smith, of Lincoln, argued that citizens are being 
deprived of their rights without compensation 
and are forced to contribute more than their 
share to the good of the public. Mr. E. W. 
Keith, of Brocton, as an owner of property on 
the shore of the Lakeville ponds, said cottagers 
there were willing to observe proper rules, but 
.should at least be given a .hearing before the 
boating and fishing privileges are denied them. 
The end of these controversies is not yet in sight. 
These people who think fish are not to be taken 
in Maine in August have something to learn. 
The fishing regions furnish such a variety of 
waters that it is to my certain knowledge an 
all-summer fishing State. For fly-fishing in the 
larger lakes the best-of the year is usually for 
a few days following the middle of June; some¬ 
times, as this year, it continues good for several 
weeks. Probably the present year, which has 
been an exceptional one, there were more fish 
taken on the fly in July than in June. Then 
(here is ujually a portion of September when-the 
fish will rise to the fly. In Kennebago Lake the 
writer has taken fish enough on the fly several 
summers to keep the camp supplied in the month 
of August, but not large ones. Such fish were 
taken, however, by deep fishing at certain points 
in the lake. But no one should go into the 
Rangeley region just now without first ascer¬ 
taining whether there are accommodations to be 
had, unless he plans to tent out, for if reports 
are not exaggerated, theTe has never been a sea¬ 
son when the camps have had so large a patron¬ 
age in August as this year. H. H. Kimball. 
A Memorial for John Sfroud. 
The news of John Stroud’s death causes deep 
regret to those who shared what was probably 
his last hunt less than a year ago. On the 
twentieth of last September, he planted a stand¬ 
ard, bearing a tattered sleeve, on the summit of 
Mt. Sylvester. 
Nothing could be more appropriated than some 
lasting inscription in its place to his memory. 
This mountain is the chief land mark in that 
part of Newfoundland which was especially his 
home. He undoubtedly knew the surrounding- 
region earlier and better than any other white 
man. He was a man of commanding and lovable 
character and did much to increase the knowledge 
and respect of many in England and America 
for both his country and his countrymen. 
These would be glad to know his name written 
large on some rock that he loved, as it is in the 
memory of all who came in contact with him. 
