Nov. i, 1913 - 
FOREST AND STREAM 
575 
mineral matter, is responsible for the death of 
the birds there. However, during other years 
many birds have been found dead in this lake, 
and in some others also when their waters were 
comparatively fresh. Nevertheless the point of 
infection during those years is not definitely 
known, but is popularly supposed to have been 
near where the birds were found dead. 
Most of the birds that die are fat and have 
the appearance of being normal birds. The first 
symptoms of the disease are loss of the power 
of flight. Following this the ability to walk is 
lost. Finally in the later stages the sick birds 
sit with breast on the ground or mud, as the 
case may be, and after a few days during which 
time a diarrhoea develops, they die, apparently 
of a paralysis. 
Among the many questions that have come 
up are those pertaining to the “edibility” of the 
sick birds and the possibility of contraction of 
the disease by humans. The investigation has 
made no attempt to fathom these questions. It 
only recommends that sick, diseased birds should 
be regarded in the same light as diseased ani¬ 
mals of any kind, and at any and all times such 
animals, or any coming from flocks so dying, 
should be excluded from the category of food, 
no matter how perfect is the appearance of the 
fat or flesh to the casual observer. These latter 
points should be borne in mind in this case, as 
many of the birds are very fat when they die, 
and post mortem examinations do not show ap¬ 
pearances very dissimilar to those of the well 
birds. 
The investigation has made careful counts 
and estimates of the numbers of dead ducks on 
Buena Vista and Tulare Lakes this year, and the 
least figure that a conservative estimate could 
make was 15,000 for the former and 25,000 for 
the latter. Thus a total loss of over 40,000 ducks 
has been sustained in the two counties of Kings 
and Kern, besides a loss of many hundreds of 
other water birds. 
The Cedars of Lebanon. 
All that now remains of the cedars of 
Lebanon is a little forest of some four hundred 
trees, which are rigidly preserved. They lie on 
a small fertile plateau, situated at an altitude 
of 6,123 feet above sea level. The grove is 
reached from Bsherreh by a steep and winding 
road. 
With the exception of a few stragglers, the 
grove is inclosed by a neat stone wall built by 
a former governor of Lebanon to protect the 
smaller trees from goats. 
The older trees have always occupied a 
position of honor in the estimation of man be¬ 
cause of their connection with the Temple built 
by Solomon and the various allusions to them 
in the Bible. 
Among the dwellers in Syria, where forests 
of tall trees do not exist, the cedars naturally 
excite admiration, and a modern Syrian writer 
says of them that they are undeniably the most 
lofty of all the vegetable kingdom. We know 
of course that this is hardly the case, for the 
famous redwood trees of California reach a 
height of over 300 feet, while in Tasmania the 
blue gum is almost as large so far as height is 
concerned. The cedars are actually about eighty 
feet high, which is more than the height of the 
trees of an average forest.—Wide World Maga¬ 
zine. 
The Bisons. 
Very frequently I have warned my friends 
who are working hardest in the cause of wild 
life protection not to expect that they ever will 
receive credit from the public for their sacrifices, 
or that the public will long remember what they 
have done. I will confess, however, that I did 
not think in six years from the day that the 
United States Forestry Bureau itself finished 
building the fence that to-day incloses the 
Wichita national bison herd in Oklahoma, 
through the initiative, and the gift of the nucleus 
herd by the New York Zoological Society, that 
the Forestry Bureau would have forgotten the 
source of that gift. 
Yet that is exactly what has happened. 
About three months ago, so the press declares, 
the Forestry Bureau at Washington sent out 
broadcast what is described as a “circular” re¬ 
garding the condition of the Wichita bison herd 
that were “presented to the Government by the 
American Bison Society.” I have received at 
least fifty newspaper clippings containing this 
statement, all crediting the information to the 
same source of the United States Forestry 
Bureau. 
As a matter of fact, when the Zoological 
Society conceived the idea of this gift herd 
for a national bison range in the Wichita Forest 
Reserve (1905), formally offered the gift and it 
was accepted by Secretary Wilson, the American 
Bison Society was not in existence, and from 
first to last the Bison Society had nothing to do 
with that herd. 
Incidentally I wonder to whom will be 
credited, six years from now, the fine herd of 
fourteen American bison that the Zoological 
Society picked out recently one afternoon and 
marked f6r shipment to the New Wind Cave 
National Park bison range in South Dakota as 
another gift to found a national herd.—Dr. Wil¬ 
liam T. Hornaday in the New York Times. 
Choking a Tiger to Death. 
In the mountainous Province of Kirin, for¬ 
merly one of the three Provinces of Manchuria, 
dispatches are conveyed by soldiers, who ride 
from one district to another. One day last 
November a soldier was on his way back to 
Kirin City, the capital of the Province, when he 
espied a large tiger coming toward him. Dis¬ 
mounting, he aimed as best he could with a 
rifle not of the most modern pattern, and fired. 
The animal, though wounded, was not disabled, 
and sprang in a fury toward the soldier. For¬ 
tunately for the man he kept his head, and with 
the rifle tightly clasped and supported against 
his chest, awaited the oncoming of the animal. 
Just as the tiger was ready for the final spring, 
with his jaws wide open, the soldier jammed 
the point of the rifle with all his might through 
the mouth, against the base of the skull. The 
force of the animal’s spring as he rushed for¬ 
ward no doubt helped to end the struggle, for 
in a few minutes the tiger was lying on its side 
and breathing its last. The plucky soldier rode 
to the capital, thirty miles away, and reported 
the incident to his commander. Half a dozen 
other soldiers then accompanied him to the spot, 
and between them the animal was carried home 
and photographed in front of the commander’s 
house, with the damaged rifle in situ .—Wide 
World Magazine. 
For Sale. 
game; birds 
Hungarian Partridges, Quail, Ring-neck Pheasants, Wild 
Turkeys, Capercailzie, Black Game, Wild Ducks, Decoys, 
Beautiful Swans, Fancy Pheasants, Peafowl, Cranes, 
Storks, Ornamental Ducks and Geese. 
“Everything in the bird line 
frem a Canary te an Ostrich. " 
t am the oldest established and largest exclusive dealer 
in land and water birds in America, and have on hand 
the most extensive stock in the United States. 
G. D. TILLEY, Naturalist 
Box “F” _ DARIEN, CONN. 
RAINBOW TROUT 
are well adapted to Eastern waters. Try stocking with 
some of the nice yearlings or fry from our hatchery, and 
you will be pleased with the results. 
PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT COMPANY, 
Colburn C. Wood, Supt., Plymouth, Mass. 
Small-Mouth Black Bass 
We have the only establishment dealing in young small- 
mouth black bass commercially in the United States. 
V'igorous young bass in various sizes, ranging from ad¬ 
vanced fry to 3 and 4 inch fingerlings for stocking purposes. 
Waramaug Small-Mouth Black Bass Hatchery. 
Correspondence invited. Send for Circulars. Address 
HENRY W. BEAMAN - - New Preston, Conn. 
RRfinif TBftllT °f all ages for stocking 1 brooks 
DIVUUIV 1 Kvl/U 1 an d lakes. Brook trout eggs 
in any quantity. Warranted delivered anywhere in fine 
condition. Correspondence solicited. 
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK TROUT CO., 
Plymouth, Mass. 
BROOK TROUT 
Particularly strong, healthy and well developed. Brook 
trout fingerlings, in any quantity, for fall delivery. 
Orders being booked now. 
JAMES CRUICKSHANK ESTATE, 
Big Indian, Ulster County, N. Y. 
FROGS. —Investigate Bullfrog culture. Easy, tremendous¬ 
ly profitable, and the thing not overdone. Our book 
explains all. No failures here. AQUAFROGLIFE, 
Seymour, Conn. 
FOR SALE. —Brook trout, fry, fingerlings and yearlings, 
eyed eggs in season. Hotel trade a specialty. Address 
N. F. HOXIE, R. F. D., Plymouth, Mass. 
LIVE WILD RABBITS (Cottontails). 
Please book orders quickly. 
E. B. WOODWARD, 302 Greenwich St., New York. 
^8. Curios, Den curios for sale. Illustrated list, 5 cents, 
egmk Large stock prehistoric and modern Indian relics, 
■Hi old guns and pistols, Alaska curios, minerals, fos- 
A sils, etc. Address N. E. CARTER, Elkhorn, Wis. 
READ THE OLD STORIES 
If you want to lead Nessmuk, Robinson and other old 
masters, I will sell you reasonably ten bound volumes of 
Forest and Stream —from 15 to 25, inclusive. Address 
TAYLOR, care Forest and Stream. 
SAVE YOUR TROPHIES 
Write for Illujtrated Catalogue 
“Heads and Horns” 
It gives directions for preparing and preserving Skins, 
Antlers, etc. Also prices for Heads and Rugs, Birds and 
Fish, and all kinds of work in Taxidermy. 
Ward’s Natural Science Establishment 
ROCHESTER. N. Y. 
J. KANNOFSKY. 
PRACTICAL GLASS BLOWER 
and manufacturer of artificial eyes for birds, animals and manu 
facturing purposes a specialty. Send for prices. All kinds of 
heads and skulls for furriers and taxidermists. 369 Canal - 
Street, New York. 
Please mention "Forest and Stream.” 
