360 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 21, 1912 
During the night the weather turned much 
colder and the rain continued, but in the fore¬ 
noon next day it quit at intervals. We all tried 
for jacksnipe and managed to bag fifty and a 
brace of ducks, but the walking was bad and the 
birds wild, besides which the rain made shoot¬ 
ing uncomfortable. 
We sent some of our game across the lake to 
the other ranch house and had no difficulty in 
getting rid of the rest, as, we had numerous 
visitors at meal time. Quail were so plentiful 
in the larder that John, under my directions, pre¬ 
pared a thick soup or stew of some of them. 
Poured over well buttered toast (made of the 
last of our loaves of bread) it was a dish fit 
for a king. John cooked some more quail in a 
Southern style, which I believe he called 
“puldoo”—the chopped-up birds were boiled with 
rice and highly seasoned. They made a tasty 
dish which all appreciated. 
The next day was stormy and I did not go 
out. but Leonard did, and in spite of the ra n 
and the bad walking, managed to pick up a fair 
bag of jacksnipe. f amused myself by shooting 
from the porch enough blackbirds to make a 
fine stew. They were plentiful and compara¬ 
tively tame, and I fear I took an unfair ad¬ 
vantage of them by baiting with oats. 
That evening the weekly boat came down, 
bringing from Bartow Captain G.. his young son, 
and Mr. W.’s son, a welcome addition to our 
party, especially as we were able to get up a 
fair game of bridge each evening. Captain G. 
brought his dog with him, but she had gotten 
a front foot hurt en route; moreover, Lass had 
been suffering from a festered toe since our trip 
in, consequently next day we left the three 
pointers at home, took the two setters, and went 
across the lake, Captain G. and I, to try for 
snipe and quail with old Joe’s aid and Leonard 
and the boatman to look for larger game with 
their rifles. The weather turned warm, the 
walking was bad, and the snipe were very scarce 
and wild, besides Joe disgraced himself by leav¬ 
ing us to run rabbits, hence after two or three 
hours’ walking, the captain and I gave it up and 
went to the ranch, taking in a small bag of 
snipe and quail. After resting a little we tried 
again to the south and east with no better luck. 
We got a few birds apiece, and Captain G. 
bagged a fine, fat ’possum. 
The country on the east side of the lake is 
quite different from that on the west side, the 
land being more sandy and partially covered with 
high, thick palmetto infested with rattlesnakes. 
There were occasionally grass swales and once 
in a while a live oak mott, but there was no 
pine forest. The snakes are so troublesome that 
it is found impracticable to keep dogs at the 
ranch. 
About 2 o’clock Leonard and his companion 
returned without any game. They had seen two 
or three deer, but no turkeys. However, each 
of them had killed a rattlesnake, Leonard’s 
being five and a half feet long with thirteen 
rattles, and the other one somewhat smaller. 
The boatman discovered his between his feet 
just as he was putting one leg over a barbed 
wire fence. It was a close call for him, be¬ 
cause the reptile was coiled all ready to strike. 
Leonard, who was close at hand vows that the 
man jumped ten feet when he heard the warn¬ 
ing note. One cannot hunt in country like that 
without taking his life in his hand, and it is too 
dangerous for employing dogs. There are quail, 
but the palmettos are too high and dense for 
sport. 
After eating all the oranges we wanted, we 
filled a gunnysack with them and made our way 
back across the lake, having spent the day very 
pleasantly, although not profitably as far as game 
was concerned. The two boys had a good time 
shooting blackbirds and crows, the latter being 
exceedingly destructive to the orange crop. 
Next day Leonard, Captain G. and the latter’s 
boy took the two setters in one buggy and went 
southwest, while R. and I took his two pointers 
in the other buggy and went northwest. Both 
parties found plenty of coveys and easily bagged 
the limit, returning home before dark. The boy 
shot two or three quail (his first) and was much 
elated thereby. One of the party killed a king- 
rail, a rather rare bird in that part of the coun¬ 
try. Once during the day the two parties met, 
and as one of them was following a scattered 
covey, we lost the best part of an hour in sepa¬ 
rating the dogs who were insistent on hunting 
together. The weather was cool, but compara¬ 
tively clear, the wind continuing to blow from 
the north. 
That night John served us for supper among 
other good dishes the ’possum roasted with sweet 
potatoes in true darkey style, and we voted 
unanimously that we had never eaten anything 
more toothsome. 
Next day we went for quail again, Leonard 
and R. going to the southwest and Captain G. 
and I making a long drive northwest before 
turning west, then south so as to reach some 
undisturbed shooting ground. Again both parties 
had no difficulty in bagging the limit, and I 
picked up another kingrail. 
That evening the steamer came up-river, tying 
for the night at the wharf across the lake, and 
early the next morning Mr. W., Captain G. and 
the two boys left us for home, taking a good 
bag of birds with them. 
The dogs being tired, we decided to retain the 
launch and go up the lake for wildfowl. Just as 
we started it began to rain, and when we reached 
the island I concluded that I had not lost any 
ducks that day, consequently L. and R. stepped 
out into the water and waded ashore while I 
went back to the ranch, where I spent most of 
the day in bed keeping warm and amusing my¬ 
self by reading magazines. L. and R., to w T hom 
I had sent back the launch, stuck it out and suc¬ 
ceeded in securing a dozen ducks—mostly mal¬ 
lards—as many jacksnipe, and a ’coon, which 
John skinned, but failed to cook for the reason 
that we broke camp too soon. Our young men 
truly earned all the birds they got that day, for 
they were soaked to the skin, and the tempera¬ 
ture was pretty nearly down to the freezing point. 
[to be continued.] 
Woodpeckers Destroying Ohio Church. 
The Oak Hill Church in Belmont county, 
about fifteen miles north of St. Clairsville, is 
threatened wdth destruction by a vandalistic 
horde that has already rent great holes in its 
sides, and the board of trustees has .been called 
to meet to devise ways and means of checking 
the onslaught and saving the edifice. 
The attacking army is composed of wood¬ 
peckers, and so extensive have been its ravages 
that some action by the church board is re¬ 
garded as imperative. Holes large enough for 
a man to crawl through have been made in sev¬ 
eral places and the birds are literally destroying 
the church. — Philadelphia Record. 
STEALING UP ON A FLOCK. 
