13 i 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. I, 1913 
Shooting in 1818 
Being Extracts From Nicholson’s British Encyclopedia, Published in Philadelphia in i 8 i 8 . 
{Continued from last week.) 
you want white geese we can go back in the 
fields and kill a wagon load before night.” 
And so we could. But wdrat about white 
geese to-day? If you go out on the Platte next 
March and get a dozen in a week, you'll be ac¬ 
complishing a feat worth talking about. 
And ‘‘not fit for anything, anyw'ay.” Well, 
j'ou won't hear Sam Richmond, or any other 
sportsman who knows anything about the table 
qualifications of our game birds, make that decla¬ 
ration in these piping times of truth and veracity. 
There has been a great change in the opinion of 
wildfowlers over the gastronomic value of white 
geese since the days when they used to line the 
Platte's shores for miles and miles like a solid 
snow bank, and there are scores and scores of 
good eaters wdio will tell you that they can be 
set on the table in as palatable shape as either 
a Canada or a speckled front. 
But that memorable day. It was over a 
quarter of a century ago, and I have no hesi¬ 
tancy in telling it. Our bag was 178 ducks, 31 
Canada geese and 20 speckled fronts, besides 
quite an intermingling of jacksnipe, four sand¬ 
hill cranes, one whopper, a dandy, and now in 
the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, D. C., 
to which institution it was donated liy old Sam 
himself. 
Forests Need Protection. 
Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Dec. 10.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: In your Nov. 2 number 
there is an editorial under the heading ‘‘Forests 
Need Protection.” In that editorial you say “it 
is difficult to understand the mental attitude of 
certain Western representatives in Congress” on 
this question. 
You mention that a certain Idaho Congress¬ 
man “most bitterly opposed every movement 
looking tow-ard better control of fire.” 
That Congressman has just been re-elected 
by an overwhelming vote as an endorsement of 
his course in Congress. If you will read the in¬ 
closed letters on the subject of the forest service, 
perhaps you will understand a little better why 
the West is fighting. Forest and Stream 
has a great mission—that , of protecting and sav¬ 
ing the forests. Better come out here to the 
forest service ridden Idaho where we have 
twenty-seven national forests, one of them, not 
the largest, containing 900000 acres, and investi¬ 
gate their methods and you will wonder no 
longer at the “mental attitude of certain Western 
Congressmen.” C. W. PI. Heideman. 
There is no publication anywhere whose 
influence with its subscribers is more vital than 
that of Forest and Stream. 
T he bustard is the largest of our feathered 
game, the male sometimes weighing nearly 
thirty pounds, being in length (from beak 
to toe) nearly four feet, and expanding its wings 
so as to measure full nine feet between their tips. 
Some eonsider it to be gallinaceous, while others 
class it with the ostrich and cassowary. The bill 
is strong and somewhat convex, the eyes red, head 
and neck ash-colored, and on each side of the 
lower beak is a tuft of feathers from five to 
nine inches in length; in some countries of a 
beautiful jet black, but with us of a white or 
dun color. The back is barred transversely with 
black and bright rust color; the greater quill 
feathers are brown, the belly white, the tail has 
twenty feathers, the middle ones barred with 
blaek; the legs are long, naked above the knees; 
it has no hind toe (which is a peculiarity where¬ 
by this genus is distinguished, for there are in¬ 
numerable varieties in different parts of the 
world), but has a callous process, serving as a 
heel. The female rarely exceeds twelve pounds 
in weight, and is not so strikingly marked as 
the male, and has no tufts under the bill. Her 
color is more dull, and she has not the reservoir 
or water pouch found within every male, and 
which is capable of containing from four to 
seven pints of water. This enables the bustard 
to remain for a long time on those immense 
plains, remote from water, where it is often 
found, and where the female lays her eggs, which 
are of a pale olive brown, sprinkled with dark 
spots. Her nest is very soon made, being noth¬ 
ing more than a shallow hollow, scraped in some 
dry place, especially in a turnip field, or in some 
dry stubble, or grass, whence she can see what¬ 
ever approaches. Her own color so much re¬ 
sembles the soil that unless scented by dogs she 
is often put up by persons who almost tread on 
her before she rises. 
Bustards were formerly numerous in Eng¬ 
land, but now are only found in the south and 
east parts, particularly on the large downs of 
Yorkshire, and of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. 
They are supposed to be extinct in Scotland. 
They very rarely wander more than thirty miles 
from their native haunts, making very short 
flights, running very rapidly, and rising from 
the ground with considerable difficulty. Hence 
they have been frequently caught by greyhounds 
after chases affording considerable diversion. It 
is. evident that for so heavy a bird large shot 
must be necessary, especially when found on a 
plain, where it is extremely shy. Some have, 
however, been brought down w'ith No. 6, but 
in such cases they have risen within a moderate 
distance. In aiming at the bustard with large 
shot, endeavor to strike under the wing, but if 
with anything les.i than No. 2, you cannot do 
better than level just before his beak, so as to 
hit the head. This bird is by some ealled the 
floriken; in the east it is called the cherruss. 
The pheasant, though not a native of Eng¬ 
land, nor indeed of Europe, for it was first 
brought from the banks of the Phasis in Asia 
IMinor, has multiplied so extensively among its 
as to form a very considerable object among the 
sporting world. The cocks sometimes weigh 
nearly four pounds, though in general not more 
than three. The hen is usually from eight to 
twelve ounces lighter. This bird is too well 
known to require description in respect to color 
or figure. The wings of a pheasant are extreme¬ 
ly weak, hence it can rarely fly half a mile. To 
this it is attributed that none are found on the 
new continent, though they are now very nu¬ 
merous throughout Europe, and in some parts 
of Africa, as well as in Asia. There are many 
varieties such as the argus, of which the wings 
are all over dotted as with eyes ; the golden, 
which is of a beautiful luster green, marked 
with gold-colored specks of the most vivid ap¬ 
pearance; the black, which is only found in 
India, where it is called the Moco, and is erron¬ 
eously considered as appertaining to the crow 
tribe. 
The pheasant does not easily resign its wild 
habits; when it does, it seems to languish. It 
lays but few eggs, and is indifferent, or indeed 
at a loss, regarding its young, which are usually 
hatehed and reared by a common hen on that 
account. When allowed to ramble, they multiply 
as quick as the means of subsistence may afford, 
and appear to thrive during even our most rigor¬ 
ous winters. They are extremely fond of ants, 
without which, it is asserted by many, they will 
neither breed nor remain where bred. In cop¬ 
pices abounding with haws, hips and many other 
kinds of berries, the pheasant takes great delight; 
they also fatten a little upon acorns. They begin 
crowing about the middle of March, when they 
will sometimes come into the farm yards and 
tread the common hens, whence many assert the 
finest game fowls are produced, for the pheasant 
is remarkable for its spirit. One cock serves 
seven or eight hens. They are particularly fond 
of clover, especially when it stands for seed. In 
that they will, if undisturbed, make their nests; 
hence so many young and eggs are destroyed by 
the scythe. 
In pheasant shooting, most old sportsmen 
confine their aim to the cock bird, unless the 
game is extremely abundant, when it is often 
neeessary to thin them on account of the pro¬ 
digious damage they do among ripening corn. 
When the corn is cut, they will frequent the 
stubble, in search of the stray grains, until 
alarmed by the researches of sportsmen. At first 
they take to the hedge rows, where they often 
lay extremely close, or wind in among the briers 
so as to puzzle the spaniels, and to rise in a 
position adverse to the sportsman. After being 
several times put up. they take refuge in heavy 
woods, in which it is extremely difficult to make 
them take wing. There they run under the low 
bushes and generally gain much upon the dogs, 
unless followed up with great spirit and activity. 
Aim at the head or wing, allowing a moderate 
advance for the bird’s flight, which is at first 
very rapid, but soon becomes languid, and is at 
all times very fluttering and noisy. 
Sportsmen are sometimes deceived in re- 
