800 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Hazen, President Charles L. Wise, Treasurer 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary Russell A. Lewis, Gen. Mgr. 
22 Thames Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE:—Forest and Stream is the re¬ 
cognized medium of entertainment, instruction and in¬ 
formation between American sportsmen. The editors 
invite communications on the subjects to which its pages 
are devoted, but, of course, are not responsible for the 
views of correspondents. Anonymous communications 
cannot be regarded. 
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Entered in New York Post Office as Second class matter. 
THE MT. PISGAH GAME PRESERVE. 
The purchase of the Pisgah Forest by the Na¬ 
tional Forest Reservation Commission adds 87,000 
acres to the southern appalachian territory which 
is being conserved for water supply and other 
like purposes. The Pisgah Forest is one of the 
most beautiful sections of the estate of the late 
George Vanderbilt, and for nearly a quarter of 
a century has been guarded and protected from 
fire and destructive lumbering. The Pisgah 
Range, of which the forest constitutes a part, 
covers the source of tributaries of important 
southern rivers. It is understood that the com¬ 
mission, among other plans in view, will make of 
the acquired tract, in itself a small empire, a 
game and fish refuge. This means really that 
the Commission will only guard what has already 
been accomplished, since the forest has been for 
a number of years past devoted to such protec¬ 
tive work. In these days of destructive lumber¬ 
ing and ruthless extermination of our wild 
fauna, it is pleasant to recall that in spots at least 
there is to be found territory within which wild 
life is safe, and from which in natural course 
will flow a surplus that will make for good hunt¬ 
ing and fishing in contiguous localities. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. 
Washington, D. C., May 27, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In Forest and Stream for May 23, 1914, there 
appeared on page 681 of the text an article en¬ 
titled “Walter Winans, Big Game Hunter,” by E. 
G. B. Fitzhamon, which contains some statements 
that should not go unchallenged. It is not the 
intention of the writer of this to be hyper-cri¬ 
tical, but simply to point out these statements for 
the benefit of those readers of Forest and Stream 
to whom they may prove misleading. 
In the first place, there is no such an animal as 
an “oroch” or “orochs.” What the writer evi¬ 
dently intended to convey was that Mr. Winans 
hunted “aurochs,” probably in or near the forest 
of Bialowicza in Lithuania, or what is now Rus¬ 
sian Poland. Even so, however, his statement is 
not correct, as the Aurochs of Europe (Bos 
primigenius) is long ago extinct, although prob¬ 
ably some bovine animals constituting what is 
known as the “Chillingham cattle,” of which the 
Duke of Bedford at some time had or still main¬ 
tains a herd in England, are direct descendants 
of the Aurochs ( Lat. Urns, meaning primitive 
ox), and which latter were also the ancestors of 
our modern domesticated cattle. 
The animal shot by Mr. Winans was evidently 
a European bison (Bos bonasus), of which a 
herd is still maintained in the Imperial forest 
preserve of Bialowicza (German Bialowitz) in 
Poland, under the direct protection of the Im¬ 
perial Russian government, and preserved with 
jealous care, the Czar being theoretically the 
only person permitted to hunt them. Other 
scanty herds of the same species are also sup¬ 
posed to exist in the Caucasus mountains, the 
total number of animals still in existence being 
probably less than one thousand. It will there¬ 
fore be seen that careful protection of these cat¬ 
tle is a matter of the greatest necessity, and the 
only surprising thing is that Mr. Winans was per¬ 
mitted to shoot even one specimen from Count 
Potocki’s herd. 
The European Bison, which resembles to a 
great extent the American, but for perhaps a 
somewhat smaller dorsal protuberance and a few 
other characteristics, is quite frequently, although 
erroneously, referred to as the “Aurochs.” This 
is, however, a misnomer and should be corrected, 
as has already been pointed out by persons famil¬ 
iar with the subject. 
Again it is stated that “on the same day the 
‘Russo-Baltimorean’ shot a moose and an elk—an 
elk and a wapiti they are called in Europe.” 
This is another misleading statement, firstly be¬ 
cause there is no European member of the 
family Cervidae or Deer that is termed “Wapiti” 
or identical with the North American deer of 
that name. This is purely an American Indian 
name and is applied solely to the large North 
American stag Cervus canadensis, of which there 
is no European representative, except possibly 
the Cervus elaphus or common European red 
deer. The “Wapiti” shot by Mr. Winans was 
probably a male specimen ( stag) of the last 
named. Secondly, what in America is termed 
a “moose” (Alces sp.) is a true elk and a relative 
of the European elk (Alces alces), and what in 
America is called an “Elk” is in reality a deer, 
preferably the Virginia red deer (Cariacus vir- 
ginianus). The European elk, however, is con¬ 
siderably smaller and less imposing looking an 
animal than its American congener, which fre¬ 
quently attains an enormous size and height, as 
for instance the Alaska moose (Alces gigas), 
which nevertheless is a true elk. To speak, how¬ 
ever, of a European “Wapiti” is entirely without 
justification. 
In view of what has been said above, the 
statement that the bison shot by Mr. Winans on 
Count Potocki’s estate was “probably the world’s 
record orochs hunted and shot in modern 
times” may therefore, with certain qualifications,, 
already indicated, be easily believed, even though 
the other possible record makers could only be 
the Czar of Russia and Count Potocki, and the 
number of remaining animals be less 'than one 
thousand. The magnitude of this exploit may 
justly be compared with that of an American 
“nimrod” who had succeeded in killing a large 
native bison, a nearly exterminated species, the 
few remaining specimens of which are strictly 
protected and shielded from persecution, which 
would ultimately mean complete extermination. 
S. M. GRONBERGER. 
BIRDS PROTECT FORESTS. 
The protection of wild birds is a matter im¬ 
portant enough to farmers to preserve all the 
legal barriers against bird slaughter that have 
been erected. It is a new idea to most of us 
that William P. Wharton advances in American 
Forestry, namely, that the chickadees, wood¬ 
peckers and to a less degree the migratory birds 
are of a great service in the protection of the 
forests. More than half the diet of the chicka¬ 
dee and almost the entire menu of the wood¬ 
peckers consists of moths, caterpillars, boring 
beetles and other insects that injure the forest 
trees. The warblers, kinglets, thrushes and other 
birds of passage do their part, though some of 
them are in such a hurry to get to the breeding 
grounds farther north and back again to their 
winter quarters in the South that they can’t do 
constant police duty in this latitude. They are 
of vast importance, however, Mr. Wharton 
says, as checks upon the increase of insects injur¬ 
ious to forest trees. 
In Germany, where they practise forestry and 
agriculture, too, much more systematically and 
efficiently than we do here, hospitality to wild 
birds has become a duty of Government. Frank- 
fort-on-Main spends $400 annually in providing 
nesting boxes, feeding stations and bathing places 
for wild birds in an area adjacent to one of the 
forest nurseries. Darmstadt has placed 6,000 
nesting boxes in its woods. In the Heidelberg 
forests special plantations of shrubs pruned for 
the special use of nesting birds are provided. 
All this is done in the interest of forestry. 
Naturally it attracts people to the forests too. 
It is incidentally a minute part of the great Eu¬ 
ropean system of making Europe attractive to 
tourists. It pays. 
FOREST AND STREAM FISHING CUPS. 
In reply to hundreds of letters from subscrib¬ 
ers asking where the Forest and Stream cups 
will be offered we take this opportunity to ad¬ 
vise that the complete list of resorts where these 
trophies may be found in competition will be 
published within the next two weeks. The list 
practically is completed but will not be published 
until every resort has been investigated as to its 
“livableness” and fishing quality. We have se¬ 
lected from International Silver Company a cup 
of handsome design and have every expectation 
that the cups will be ready for delivery within 
ten days While the cups will be open to every 
guest at resorts where the trophies are placed, 
here’s hoping Forest and Stream subscribers may 
win their share of the prizes. Full particulars 
concerning conditions governing the contest will 
appear in next issue. 
RUFFED GROUSE HUNTING. 
Austin V. Denman. 
A whirr of wings in the tangled brush; 
A flash of brown cross a sunlit space. 
And the hunter stands with gun half raised, 
While the fluttering leaves drop back in place 
He turns round, and once again 
There’s a rush of wings and a flash of brown; 
Disgusted and vexed he blazes away 
But just too late—for the bird is gone. 
He who would shoot the shy ruffed grouse; 
Must fire without thought at a speeding ball. 
He must know the woods, and the skulking ways 
Of the bird if he hopes to see it fall. 
