620 
magazine; a Mannlicher Schonauer, 6.5 m.m. in 
the short, carbine model, or other rifle of this 
sort, with light recoil and equally light weight. 
The automatic I would not advise, as it is too 
speedy of fire for the neophyte, heavy, and al¬ 
ways loaded after you fire the first shot, a 
dangerous condition for the person not used to 
guns. 
If possible get the rifle made to order with 
full pistol grip stock, no set or hair trigger, 
grip adapted to the lady’s small hand. Usually 
a stock of 12% inches for the very small girl, 
up to one of 13I4 inches for the tall one, fills 
the bill. Made to order, the grip should be not 
to exceed 4% inches in circumference, and pushed 
up very close to the trigger guard, to enable 
the lady to reach the trigger without stretching 
the hand or losing the advantage of the grip. 
Rarely is there any occasion for a barrel to 
exceed twenty-two inches on the lady’s rifle. 
The sights should be a gold front of Sheard 
type, as small as possible, with a peep rear. The 
lady should be taught to use the peep, too, to 
forget about it, once she is looking through it, 
and to concentrate on the front sight and the 
thing to be hit. A very good sight is a new 
•convertible affair—not with the beads of the 
colors of Jacob’s coat, but with a large white 
bead for use in the dusk, that flaps up in front 
of the ordinary gold, broad day-light sight. 
See that the rifle is fitted with sling strap, 
as wide as the sling swivels will handle, lest it 
cut her shoulders. An inch is about right. The 
sling is of inestimable value in carrying the rifle, 
particularly when one is tired out. The shirt 
may be padded up at the outer seam of each 
shoulder to keep the strap from slipping off as 
the rifle hangs by the side. 
The rifle should never have the steel, prong 
horned butt plate, sold on some rifles. It should 
be of the flat, shotgun shape, preferably of steel, 
lest it go to pieces on some rock. The trigger 
pull should be light and smooth, women are more 
sensitive than men to such things. About 3% 
pounds is right. Then teach the lady to keep 
her finger away from the trigger until she is 
ready to fire. 
There is little room for argument when it 
comes to the lady’s shotgun. The twenty gauge 
is indicated in nearly every case. It is efficient 
except for long shots, or for ducks at sea-shoot¬ 
ing distances. It will not break blue rocks with 
the montonous regularity of the big load of the 
twelve, nor will it stop wild geese at the usual 
honker range. But it is light-weight, it has little 
recoil, its barrels are small and easily gripped 
in a small hand, and its ammunition is light and 
easily carried and easily handled in reloading. 
The twenty-eight gauge is just outside of the 
pale of efficiency. The sixteen gauge is a bit 
too stiff in recoil and too heavy in normal weights 
for true comfort in the lady’s hands. The lady 
is more subject to headaches than her lord and 
alleged master. A few shots with gun of heavy 
recoil may start one, even though her shoulder 
may not suffer from the kick. 
Greener, the English writer, specifies a twelve 
gauge, to weigh five and three-quarters pounds, 
with the right barrel half choked, and the left a 
modified choke, for the lady’s gun, the right bar¬ 
rel to be loaded with a light powder load and 
an ounce of shot, the left with one and an eighth 
of shot. From American standards this is out of 
FOREST AND STREAM 
the question, as our makers do not turn out guns 
of this weight in the twelve gauge, and our fac¬ 
tories do not load such light powder loads as 
the Englishman prescribes. On top of this the 
recoil would be severe. 
The full choked twenty would deliver the goods 
at nearly the same ranges as the twelve bore 
English gun, the ammunition would be lighter 
and easier to handle, and the barrels smaller, 
neater, and easier to grasp. It would require 
closer holding, that’s true. 
The twenty can be had in dainty proportions 
of frame stock and barrels, and in weights with¬ 
in the limits of the lady’s strength. The barrels 
for a small girl should be, say, twenty-six inches 
long, twenty-eight for a taller one, to keep pro¬ 
portion with the stock. The weight should run 
about five and three-quarter pounds. 
It is important, for the comfort of the lady, 
that the stock be castoff. Most of our makers 
turn out guns to order at no advance of price 
in their grades from $35 up, and the lady’s gun 
should be of the made to order sort. By castoff 
is meant a stock twisted out of line with the 
barrels at the butt. The toe, or part going into 
the shoulder nearest the arm pit, should be 
twisted off from one-quarter to three-eighths inch, 
the heel about one-quarter. The gun maker un¬ 
derstands, if you do not. This throws the sharp 
toe of the butt outward away from the breast 
and adds much to the comfort and fit of the 
lady’s twenty. 
Morgantown, W. Va., April 15, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A few days ago, while in the woods with some 
men cutting blighted chestnut timbers, a small 
chestnut tree with a hollow top was cut, in which 
was a flying squirrel’s nest, containing four 
young ones. 
The old lady was not at home, but soon showed 
up, coming right up without apparent fear and 
ran up the leg of one of the men and then jump¬ 
ing to a nearby tree. 
She then began gathering up her young, while 
the men stood by within a few feet, and carried 
them away to a new home. As nearly as could 
be observed, she took in her mouth a front leg 
and the hind leg of the opposite side, and carried 
them with back downward, and head back be¬ 
tween her front legs. She carried her babies to 
an old stump nearby, where they were deposited 
temporarily until a new home was found, when 
they were moved again. 
I have been in the mountains of Morgan 
County for some time, where wild turkeys are 
more abundant than I had supposed they were 
anywhere in the state. 
The quail have certainly nearly all perished 
during the very deep snows and severe weather 
of February and March. One covey came to our 
camp when they were so nearly starved that they 
were just tottering along on top of the crusted 
The grip, as on the rifle, should not run over 
four inches, or four and an eighth, smaller on 
the scattergun on account of the less liability 
to breakage. Often the lady, tackling the double 
gun for the first time, has 'her second finger 
badly bruised from the rear curve of the trigger 
guard. The trouble lies, first, in loose holding, 
allowing the gun to slip through her grasp, sec¬ 
ond to the distance she has to reach to the front 
trigger, carrying the second finger up against 
the guard. The remedy is either a single trigger 
in the rear position, or else the first trigger 
placed nearer the second one than it is nosmally, 
to shorten the reach forward. Stocks rarely run 
longer than fourteen and a half inches for the 
feminine side of the family, drop not more than 
two and three-quarters at the heel, less if the 
lady can possibly shoot it. 
Put enough sheckles into the gun to get a 
good one, have it made right, then hang on to 
it. A recoil pad of the Silver variety, or one 
of the lace-up Akron sort, should form part 
of the gun, and be allowed for in ordering the 
stock. The lace-up adds about three-eighths of 
an inch to the stock length. The Silver should 
be fitted when the gun is built. 
Then having the gun part of her outfit, don’t 
wait until she goes afield to teach her how to 
use it. The beginner, learning how to use a 
gun for the first time, on real live game, is at 
once the most mixed up and the most dangerous 
combination you’re likely to find. 
snow, with their wings hanging down, about 
ready to give up. 
I went to a farm and got some wheat for them 
and went out within fifteen feet of them and 
scattered it right among them, without their tak¬ 
ing fright. Then I shoveled a spot bare of snow 
and put a supply of feed there and drove them 
to it. Thereafter they fed there daily and soon 
were strong again. 
I was fearful for the safety of the turkeys, 
but since the snow has disappeared it seems they 
have all come through, from the number we see. 
I recently had the pleasure of having a flock of 
a dozen come my way while I was hid in a se¬ 
cluded spot within a few rods of camp. Some 
came within forty feet of me and scratched for 
acorns. EMERSON CARNEY. 
STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS. 
For many years information concerning State 
geological surveys was difficult or impossible to 
obtain. Much of it was scattered through many 
publications, and many facts regarding organi¬ 
zation and methods were not published. This 
need of accurate information became so appar¬ 
ent that the United States Geological Survey 
has published these data in a single volume, 
Bulletin 465, entitled “The State Geological 
Surveys of the United States,” a copy of which 
may be obtained free on application to the Di¬ 
rector of the Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 
Dispossessing Mrs. Squirrel 
How a Flying Squirrel Moved Her Youngsters When The Nest Was Destroyed 
