556 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. i, 1913. 
A Canadian Eagle Hunt. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
On the 15th of May, 1913, about 2 o’clock 
in the afternoon, accompanied by my friend 
Rufus Shirley, and an Indian guide, I set out 
from the North Lake Fish and Game Club on 
Lake Commando, twelve miles from Point au 
Chene, P. Q., Canada, and sixty-five miles north 
of Montreal, with the idea of obtaining a photo¬ 
graph of an eagle’s nest on a cliff about 400 feet 
up the side of a mountain. 
The eagles had been carrying off chickens 
from the club, but no one had ever been able to 
get a shot at them, so we determined to destroy 
the birds if possible, as well as photograph the 
nest. We crossed the lake in a canoe and pro¬ 
ceeded along the base of the cliff to a spot about 
a quarter of a mile south of where we figured 
the nest to be. We then proceeded to climb up. 
The guide went ahead, and in two places had 
to climb trees, swing himself over the ledge of 
a rock and lower a rope to us. By climbing and 
taking advantage of footholds in the rock we 
were able to follow him. Our equipment con¬ 
sisted of a block and falls fifty feet long, a stout 
clothes line fifty feet long, a camera, a .30-30 
rifle, an axe and a .38 caliber revolver. By hard 
climbing, at the end of two and a half hours 
we arrived at the top of the ledge and found 
the walking easy until looking over the side of 
the cliff, fifty feet below us, we saw the nest 
containing four eggs. Just then the guide cried, 
“Look! look!” Above our heads we made out 
a speck in the sky, which proved to be a very 
large eagle. This one wa§ shortly followed by 
another, and they kept circling above us and 
whistling during the time we were preparing to 
capture the eggs. We tied the block to a tree, 
and Shirley, putting another rope under his 
arms, attached himself to the other end and pre¬ 
pared to descend. The nest was on a flat rock 
about four by five feet, which stood out straight 
from the cliff, and below the nest was a drop 
of about 350 feet, the cliff shearing in from the 
nest. 
From where we stood the view was superb. 
We were able to see Cross Lake, fifteen miles 
in the distance, as well as numerous other lakes, 
and our point of vantage commanded a bird’s- 
eye view of Lake Commando itself, which has 
150 miles of shore line. When all was secure, 
Shirley gave the word and we let him over the 
cliff. The end of the rope was reached, and he 
was still about twenty feet above the nest, sus¬ 
pended in mid air. So he tied the clothes line 
on the end of the falls and went down the re¬ 
maining distance hand over hand. Unfortunately 
the position of the sun made it impossible to 
secure a photograph, as it was then 5 o’clock 
p. m. Shirley gathered the eggs and packed 
them carefully in a sweater. While he was 
doing this, the eagles started to swoop at him, 
and I, posted on top of the cliff, kept shooting 
at them with the rifle. At last it became evident 
they meant business, as they kept swooping closer 
to him at an increasing speed. He fired two 
shots from his revolver at them, when the larger 
with a wild cry made straight at him. I then 
fired my fifth shot, and by a lucky chance hit 
the great bird. He disappeared into the trees 
400 feet below. Shirley, having secured the 
sweater containing the eggs carefully on his 
back, climbed hand over hand to the block and 
tackle, hooked himself on, and the guide and 
myself hauled him up. 
It was as hard a trip as I ever had, and 
Shirley’s going over the cliff was as nervy a 
piece of work as I have ever seen. We went 
down in about half an hour, and although we 
searched until dark, we could find no sign of 
the eagle I had shot. Whether or not he was 
hanging in some tree at the base of the cliff 
we could not determine. However, there are 
five eagles less to carry off chickens from the 
farm of the North Lake Fish and Game Club, 
and although we were bruised and tired when 
we reached camp, we felt well repaid for our 
trouble, and will always have a great day in 
the open to look back upon. J. F. Hahn. 
Canvasback in Massachusetts. 
Bradford, Mass., Oct. 19 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am sending you the head of a duck 
which I wish you would identify and advise me 
as to its species. 
This bird was taken by me near this city 
on a small fresh water pond, which lies twenty 
miles inland where I have kept a stand of de¬ 
coys, and shot for a great many years. Of the 
different varieties of fowl taken during that time 
I do not recall one of this kind. 
It was with a small flock of five broadbills 
to which I sculled in the float, and, while not 
positive, I think that one of the birds which es¬ 
caped was another of the same breed. 
If I were to make a guess I should say it 
was an adult female canvasback from descrip¬ 
tion given in “American Duck Shooting.” Am 
I right in so assuming, and if so are they not 
somewhat uncommon on this portion of the 
Atlantic coast? Charles B. Morss. 
[Our correspondent is right in his conjec¬ 
ture as to the specimen sent. It is a female 
canvasback, and we are glad that he was able 
to identify it from the description given in 
“American Duck Shooting.” 
Up to the early years of the present century 
the canvasback was very seldom seen in Massa¬ 
chusetts. The old writers speak of it as rare 
there, “very rare,” “very rare, transient visitor” 
and “chance straggler,” but about 1903 and 1904 
the birds began to increase in numbers, so that 
in the year 1909 hundreds were killed and seen. 
The question of the birds’ increased numbers in 
Massachusetts was studied by S. Prescott Fay, 
who in Vol. XXVII., of the Auk, printed an in¬ 
teresting paper, giving the results of his inquiry. 
He adds to his paper the following note: 
“Not only are canvasbacks becoming more 
numerous, but scaups and redheads have also 
noticeably increased lately. They are now seen 
and shot in some ponds in Cape Cod and Ply¬ 
mouth county, w'hich they never frequented be¬ 
fore ; and in some localities where they for¬ 
merly were met with, only occasionally they are 
now becoming quite common, so that their ar¬ 
rivals during the fall migrations can be de¬ 
pended on with a reasonable degree of certainty. 
This flight, or rather change in the migratory 
route, seems to include these three varieties of 
ducks. The question is whether this condition 
is only temporary or whether it is to be per¬ 
manent.” 
Gunners at large can help to solve this 
question by making reports of the birds they 
kill or see, giving dates and localities. The 
whole question is one of great interest.— Editor.] 
California Duck Season Promises Well. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
When the duck season opens on Oct. 15, 
hunters will find a plentiful supply of water- 
fowl in the territory contiguous to San Fran¬ 
cisco Bay. The supply of home-bred birds this 
season is much larger than usual, especially in 
the counties along the Oregon line. These birds 
are now working their way down the Sacra¬ 
mento Valley. Large flocks are now feeding on 
the marshes of San Francisco Bay, and sport 
on the opening day promises to be excellent, un¬ 
less a heavy rainstorm occurs to scatter the web 
feet. In Southern California the birds are very 
numerous, and reports indicate that the season 
should be the best enjoyed in years. 
In the Tulare Lake section ducks are plen¬ 
tiful, but they are still dying in large numbers. 
The Fish and Game Commission has an investi¬ 
gator on the ground, but as far as can be learned 
it is not an epidemic that is raging. It is be¬ 
lieved that the wholesale death of the birds is 
caused by impure water and food, and that this 
will be brought to an end as soon as a heavy 
rainfall occurs. The commission would probably 
close this district to hunting for a time if it had 
the authority in order to prevent the birds from 
being placed on the market, but unfortunately 
there is no provision in the game laws making 
this possible. 
Assisting Goverrment Officials. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
Now 7 that the Federal game law covering 
the open season for migratory wildfowl is in 
effect, the uncertainty which has attended the 
situation in California has been cleared. In two 
of the fish and game districts into which the 
State is divided, embracing the extreme north¬ 
ern and southern sections, the California law 
permits duck hunting on the first of October, but 
the new Federal regulations will take precedence 
and hunting will commence on all of the dis¬ 
tricts of the State on Oct. 15. Considerable dis¬ 
satisfaction has been voiced in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia in regard to the new regulations, and there 
are those who believe that the State law can¬ 
not be interfered with by Federal statute. •Doubt¬ 
less some ducks will be shot before the 15th of 
the month, and a test case will probably be held. 
The Fish and Game Commission will co-operate 
with the Federal authorities and will arrest all 
those found hunting earlier. Commissions have 
been received for its deputies from Washington, 
and thus they will be clothed with Federal, as 
well as State, power. Notices have been sent 
broadcast explaining the Federal law which 
shortens the duck hunting season in this State, 
making the period in which this bird may be 
shot from Oct. 15 to Feb. 1, and which makes 
it unlawful to shoot any shore birds except the 
golden and black-crested plover, jack snipe, 
Wilson snipe and yellowlegs. The woodduck 
may not be shot for five years and fantail 
pigeons are given similar protection. The pro¬ 
tection given pigeons meets with the popular 
approval of practically all sportsmen, as this 
bird was threatened with extinction in the no 
distant future. 
In changing address, the old as well as the 
new should be given. 
