33 ^ 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept, i, 1906. 
After re-stocking our shell pockets, we started 
out again and it was not long before we dis¬ 
covered that our dog was not with us. After 
hunting for him quite a while, we began whistl¬ 
ing, and pretty soon he came around. My father 
said, “What’s the matter, Ben, have you been 
pointing?” Ben began to wag his tail, and 
started off in the direction he had come from. 
We followed him, and he went right up to an 
old log and dropped to a point. I stepped over 
the log, and up jumped four partridges, of 
which we got two with our four barrels. 
We hunted all the rest of the afternoon, start¬ 
ing seven more woodcock and getting five; and 
we felt well satisfied with the day’s sport. 
One of the woodcock that we started and did 
not get completely outwitted me. It was like 
this. My father was hunting up one side of a 
little wet run, and I on the other, with the dog 
* in the middle. When the dog pointed I ordered 
him on, and he began roading toward me, and 
when he got out in the open he pointed, and 
up jumped, the bird. I fired and she came down 
in a heap. I told Ben to go fetch, and opened 
up my gun to put a shell in, when I just stood 
there and watched it sail away. I told my father 
about it, and he said that that was a favorite 
trick of the woodcock; so I’ll be watching for 
that trick the next time. 
Well, we got seven woodcock and two par¬ 
tridges that day, and I know of a party that got 
sixteen woodcock, a little later in the season, 
out of that same cover. So you see, we have 
a little woodcock shooting left in Massachusetts 
and the prospects are very good for a good fall 
this year. Red L. 
Hatteras Light. 
Raleigh, N. C.—Dr. Richard H. Lewis, presi¬ 
dent of the State Audubon Society, recently re¬ 
turned here from an extremely interesting visit 
to the seabird rookeries along the coast, in com¬ 
pany with Secretary T. Gilbert Pearson, of the 
Society. The trip was made in the Audubon 
patrol boat Dutcher, which was bought with 
money privately subscribed by gentlemen in this 
and other States interested in the great work 
of saving the seabirds, which have been on the 
point of extinction. Dr. Lewis afod Secretary 
Pearson went first to Morehead City and thence 
to Royal Shoals, ten miles from Harbor Island 
Lighthouse. There they found the rookery with 
over a thousand old birds, including royal 
terns, Forster’s terns, Wilson’s terns, the least 
terns, skimmers, or shearwaters, and laughing 
gulls. The young birds, about 200 in number, 
huddled together like little chickens, and as the 
inspectors walked along, ran before them, while 
the old birds, flying above, kept up a perfect 
babel of sound. A considerable number of un¬ 
hatched eggs were found. All the nests are 
made on the bare beach, which is nothing but 
sand. Most of the young birds had been hatched 
and had departed. 
Five or six other breeding places were visited, 
these being little sand islands knowns as lumps. 
When the Audubon law was passed in 1903. there 
were only 1,600 terns left, but last year the num¬ 
ber had increased to 7,000. In 1903 only 12 eggs 
of the least terns, which was the most beauti¬ 
ful of them all, were found, while last year 700 
were counted. There were more gulls along the 
coast last year than in many years, and all the 
fishermen hailed the return of these birds with 
joy, as they show where the schools of fish are. 
The men who used to shoot birds for their 
plumage, and who were nothing more or less 
than murderers of the poor creatures, have been 
driven from their work, and soon the waters will 
be full of birds, which lend such a charm to the 
scene. 
Dr. Lewis and Secretary Pearson went to 
Hatteras Lighthouse, and were charmingly en¬ 
tertained by Dr. and Mrs. Davis. The banks 
which there separate the sea from the Sound are 
wider and bolder than at any other point, there 
being considerable yield and a great variety of 
trees. The holly is an important tree, and 
grows larger there than anywhere else, it is said. 
During the winter people feed their cattle upon 
both the leaves and the berries of the holly, and 
cows fatten wonderfully by eating such food. 
They are so used to being bitten on the outside 
by mosquitoes that they do not seem to mind the 
sting of the sharp points of the holly leaves on 
the inside. Both leaves and berries are ex¬ 
tremely nourishing. In some cases the branches 
of the trees are trimmed and then carried to 
the cattle, while in others leaves and berries 
are beaten off with sticks and hauled in carts. 
It is a very remarkable use of these things for 
food, and is peculiar to Hatteras Island. 
At the widest point the beach there is nearly 
three miles across. Of course, the lighthouse 
is one of the most important in the world, and 
is one of the most powerful. It stands several 
hundred yards on the mainland. Great interest 
is expressed in the new light which is to stand 
out in the sea on one of the shoals which are 
the chief sources of danger to vessels. Opinion 
differs widely as to whether this lighthouse will 
stand the storms or not. Many people there¬ 
abouts declare that it will not stand more than 
one or two seasons. The shoals are merely 
enormous masses of quicksand, and the sea is 
so fierce that it sometimes “breaks” where the 
water is thirty feet in depth, storms very often 
raging there while there is a dead calm and 
bright sunshine only a few miles away. 
Hatteras is really the dividing line between 
the North and the South, and is the nearest 
point to the Gulf stream, the latter being the 
prime cause of the storms, and being aided in 
the way by which the coast projects so sharply 
into the ocean. Dr. Lewis says that while at 
Hatteras lie saw a tarpon or king shad 4 feet 
9 inches in length, and a pompano which 
weighed 20 pounds, both of these having been 
taken that day. Fred. A. Olds. 
A Solace of Summer in Town. 
New York, Aug. 20 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: One of the greatest delights for the 
man who loves the woods and who is kept in 
town during the warm weather by demands of 
business is the weekly visit of his favorite hunt¬ 
ing and fishing ground. Forest and Stream has 
had many good stories lately, but none has in¬ 
terested me more than “I11 the Lodges of the 
Blackfeet” by Mr. Anderson, and my wife makes 
me send the paper to her at our hunting lodge 
j ( n the Adirondacks now because of the quaint 
Uncle Shaw and Some Others” which we con¬ 
sider a perfect Arcadian gem. I really forgot 
New ,York and the heat as I followed Uncle 
Shaw’s methods of capturing the “silver” fox. 
The article on Small Game Preserves will in¬ 
terest many to undertake a work which they had 
hitherto believed impossible, and much will be 
done to stimulate game protection. Too much 
cannot be said about saving the trees and bushes 
along the course of our trout streams and keep- 
the sun out of the cold springs, their sources. 
One of our dalies is having a correspondence 
on the question whether the ordinary chipmunk 
or striped ground squirrel of New York can 
climb a tree. Why, only last summer at Eagle 
Lake, Ticonderoga, N. Y., my dog Cliff treed 
one m front of my lodge and I went to shoot it 
to teach him to stand by a tree and take the game 
falling, but the women folks wouldn’t “stand for 
it.” So I “shooed” the “chip” out of the little 
poplar and he jumped from a limb to the ground 
quite nimbly. I have known woodchucks to 
climb quite, a large tree. There is no question 
that the chipmunk ascends trees when he wants 
to do so. 
A hunter and I were reading about the trout 
destroying minnows in Sullivan county and he 
said: “I have fished for brook trout for twenty 
years in New York State and have dressed thous¬ 
ands of them and never yet did I find a minnow 
or any kind of a fish except crawfish in their 
maws.” I quickly replied that that had been my 
owen experience in Essex county, N. Y., through 
a period of nearly forty years catching many 
large speckled trout in brooks; creeks and rivu¬ 
lets. I don’t doubt that brown and rainbow trout 
are shiner-eaters and I believe that they cut 
down the supply of young fontinalis wherever 
introduced. Would like to hear more on alleged 
Cannibalism of fontinalis. Peter Flint. 
The Currituck League. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I notice your editorial on “Gunners’ and Fish¬ 
ermen’s League of Currituck,” and wish 
briefly to explain why it was formed. It was 
first suggested by Mr. Gilbert Pierson the sec¬ 
retary of the Audubon Society of North Caro¬ 
lina, to some of the gunners who hunt for a 
living at Waterlily. He thought the gunners 
and his society might work together for the 
better protection of the game at Currituck, 
which they could do nicely but for one reason. 
Mr. Pierson’s notion, like Forest and Stream’s 
platform, “Stop the sale of game”; and only 
allow say twenty-five or fifty ducks to be shot 
in a day, naturally could not meet with the ap¬ 
proval of the hunters here who shoot for a 
living. 
As you well know, there are a large number 
of natives, who get their meat and bread in this 
way. This is the principal difference between 
them; and it seems to me it could be easily 
managed. The League has no intention of 
asking for any changes of laws for any other 
part of the State but Currituck county, and very 
few changes there. One of the first things to 
be done is to pass a more rigid fire-light law, 
and to try to stop all-night shooting. 
I am quite sure there is no feeling among the 
League members against any gentleman sports¬ 
man from the North, or any other section. 
They will be welcomed by the League, and ex¬ 
pected to share in all its victories for the better 
protection of game. Of course, there is a 
struggle among the local politicians for the 
offices as there would be in any other section. 
All the League meetings have been held with 
open doors, and some of them at the County 
Court House with everybody invited to attend. 
The officers of the League are: Pierce Hamp¬ 
ton, President, Waterlily, N. C.; E. R. Johnson, 
Secretary, Currituck, N. C. 
More Anon. 
Vermont Game. 
Sheldon, Vt.—In the early summer the covers 
seemed to be fairly well stocked with breeding 
woodcock, and some large broods of young 
ruffed grouse were seen. From the description 
a large covey of young birds seen in East 
Middlebury, Vt., we believe that they were young 
blackcock, the progeny of several pair of those 
birds that we had released in that vicinity several 
years ago. 
Deer are very numerous in this section of the 
State, though they are mostly dry does, the re¬ 
sult of having been run by hounds in the spring 
season. We have had far more trouble with 
hounds running deer this year than during the 
past years, which comes from this fact, that 
many does and.fawns have been shot by fellows 
who are out with a gun to kill something, and 
these deer have been left where they fell and 
the dogs have found and fed on the carcasses, 
getting a taste and smell of venison, which has 
caused them to follow the live animals. 
There is a strong, healthy sentiment growing 
here among all classes, and especially among the 
farmers toward game protection, and we may 
look at the next session of our legislature to 
see more stringent laws passed for the protection 
of ^me. Stanstead. 
California Law Muddle. 
A test case just decided has resulted in a de¬ 
cision that the supervisors of San Bernardino 
county have no authority to make a close season 
on doves conflicting with the State law. This 
is in line with other decisions; but, says the 
Breeder and Sportsman, notwithstanding these 
decisions sportsman all over the State are puzzled 
as to. j ust when they may shoot doves, or deer, 
for in many counties the seasons have been 
shortened. In some counties the game wardens 
and prosecuting attorneys propose to proceed 
against any and all non-observers of the county 
laws. 
