364 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 21, 1912 
birds at the Wilbraham farm. At Palmer, where 
a fish hatchery has been established, attention 
will be given to raising ducks, and quite likely 
quail and grouse. In these places the commis¬ 
sioners have planted considerable quantities of 
the western sunflower, buckwheat and other 
food. 
The American Game Protective and Propa¬ 
gation Association, the national association which 
every sportsman should join and assist, has ac¬ 
quired an extensive preserve near South Carver, 
Mass. While large numbers of ducks and pheas¬ 
ants will be raised, the problem of rearing quail 
and especially ruffed grouse will be studied. At 
present a number of grouse that have been 
hatched out under hens are thriving nicely. 
The greatest work of the national associa¬ 
tion has been to arouse the country to action on 
the Federal bills to protect migratory birds. The 
bills were introduced in the House by Congress¬ 
man Weeks and the Senate by Senator McLean. 
These bills were argued before the House and 
Senate committees in Washington last March, 
and the Secretary was present on behalf of the 
association and urged the passage of such a law. 
Most of the States were fully represented and 
practically all of those not represented have since 
approved of the measure. The bills have been 
favorably reported by both committees, and each 
member is urged to write to his congressman and 
senator asking their active support when the bills 
come up to be voted on in the House and Senate. 
For years thoughtful sportsmen have been 
lamenting not only the cutting of the timber, but 
also the vastness of destructive forest fires in 
this Commonwealth. These fires come at the 
time of year when thousands of young game 
birds are helpless. State Forester Rane, during 
the past five years, has converted several thou¬ 
sand acres of barren land into flourishing plan¬ 
tations of white pine. The lover of the grouse 
knows what this means. This work is being 
rapidly carried on. 
The forest fire protective system now in 
charge of a State fire warden is made up of 
town forest wardens and deputies numbering 
more than fifteen hundred men well informed 
as to their duties. Observation stations on high 
ground manned day and night, and with tele¬ 
phone connections, are now arranged so as to 
cover the entire forest region of the State. No 
one but the man who has seen the ravages of 
the axe thoughtlessly or ignorantly laid to our 
forests, and the terrible waste of a forest fire, 
can appreciate the far-reaching benefit of this 
work. 
The secretary of the association was present 
at all the hearings held at the State House dur¬ 
ing the year, and was present at many important 
conferences with representatives of other asso¬ 
ciations. As legislative counsel for the associa¬ 
tion he opposed various bills which the executive 
committee believed were against the interest of 
the sportsmen. 
Notably among these matters was the bill 
(which comes up every year and is strongly sup¬ 
ported) to give to all city and town clerks a 
sum ranging from 15 to 25 per cent, of the hunt¬ 
ers’ license fee as compensation for their work 
in issuing licenses. 
He opposed a consolidation of the depart¬ 
ments of State Forester and Fisheries and Game. 
Also a law to lengthen the present season on 
quail, woodcock and partridges. Also a law to 
open the black duck season on Oct. 15. Also a 
law to increase the license to hunt deer. Also 
a law to prevent minors from shooting deer. 
Also a law to put a close season and bounty on 
foxes. 
Each year, since the shooting of wildfowl 
after Jan. 1 was prohibited, great efforts have 
been made to extend the season on certain birds, 
particularly coot, whistlers and shelldrake. The 
executive committee has always favored these 
bills subject to sharp limitations. But the bene¬ 
ficial results of this regulation are now so appar¬ 
ent that it is strongly urged that this matter be 
allowed to remain in statu quo for a few seasons 
to give a full opportunity to test the value of 
this law. 
The experience gained by being constantly 
on the ground during the past years has con¬ 
vinced your secretary that if the sportsmen of 
this Commonwealth would really get together 
and proceed in concerted action, they could abso¬ 
lutely control the situation as to game, and could 
make laws such as only their understanding of 
the real conditions can dictate. This matter 
should never be considered as a political ques¬ 
tion, but in some cases it amounts to just that, 
and the best legislation is therefore lost. 
For instance, men in last year’s com¬ 
mittee in the Legislature frankly admitted 
to me that they never packed a gun 
and knew nothing of game conditions in this 
State. There were others who, if the sportsmen 
had insisted on a statement of views as to gun¬ 
ning before election, never would have been 
elected. This is what 45,000 gunners (most of 
them voters) sat by and tolerated last year. 
There is just one fact—the sportsmen must orga¬ 
nize ; they must support a State association that 
will fight for their rights, be vigilant as to pro¬ 
posed wrongs and truly represent their interests 
without fear or favor. 
After this it is up to every man to be honest 
with himself in the sport, to give the game a 
square deal and to obey the law. Sober reflec¬ 
tion will show him these are for his benefit, and 
ultimately will give him larger opportunities to 
gun. It is a hackneyed expression, but every 
year it becomes truer that every man must be 
a game warden—certainly unto himself, if not 
unto the other fellow. 
Finally every one of us should read at least 
the first volume of Frank Forrester’s “Field 
Sports of America” and try to develop within 
us some of the old-time etiquette and courtesy 
of a day afield and thus idealize the sport to 
make it just what we have pledged ourselves 
to make it—recreative gunning of a high and 
noble sort. William C. Adams, Sec y. 
Disappearance of the Wild Pigeon. 
Floral Park, N. Y., Sept. 4 —Editor Forest 
and Stream: Replying to the article of Herman 
L. Collins in your issiie of Aug. 24, regarding 
the disappearance of the wild pigeon, I would 
say that there is no doubt in my mind as to the 
cause of its extinction. The habit of this bird 
nesting in vast colonies was the secret of its 
wonderful abundance, for a pigeon and its nest¬ 
lings and eggs are the prey for many birds and 
animals, and if they had nested singly, scattered 
about all over the country, their natural enemies 
would have kept their number down to a very 
small limit, but by collecting in such vast quan¬ 
tities to raise their young, their natural enemies 
of the vicinity were not abundant enough to do 
them any perceptible damage. It was different, 
however, when man appeared upon the scene and 
visited these nesting colonies, killing the birds 
and shipping them to the market by the carload, 
diminishing their numbers at a fearful rate and 
preventing them from breeding. Under these 
conditions this noble and beautiful bird, like the 
buffalo of the plains, diminished so rapidly that 
before anyone realized it, it was practically ex¬ 
tinct. 
During the later years of the wild pigeon’s 
apparent abundance, it is probable that all there 
were in the country were assembled in one flock, 
and all there were left probably made up the 
last two or three large nesting colonies of which 
we have record. 
When this colony was reduced to a few hun¬ 
dred pairs, the bird no longer had a chance to 
increase, for its natural enemies would easily 
prevent it. 
The last nesting in Vermont was in 1898. 
A dozen pairs were found building nests in a 
piece of woods near Lunenburg, but within two 
days an enterprising local hotel keeper had them 
all served up to his guests. 
John Lewis Childs. 
Madelia, Minn., Sept. 1.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In your paper of Aug. 24, the article 
by H. L. Collins, on the disappearance of the 
wild pigeon, reminds me that five or six years 
ago, while up in Northern Minnesota, a lumber 
jack came to our camp, staying over night. In 
talking over the disappearance of the wild pigeon, 
he said: “Some years ago I was a sailor on 
Lake Michigan. One spring (I forget the year) 
it thawed early and we had several weeks of nice 
warm weather. Then it got cold and foggy. So 
dense was the storm that we had almost to lie 
still, and during that time clouds and clouds of 
wild pigeons flew all around. A few days later, 
when it cleared up, the surface of the lake was 
covered with dead wild pigeons.” 
He said he never saw such a sight and had 
intended to write to some game paper about this, 
but never did, and I told him I would. 
I shot many wild pigeons years ago and 
know them well. One day, going through the 
woods near here by the Watouwan River, I saw 
two wild pigeons flying along the river. After 
that I went there a dozen times, but did not see - 
them again. 
I thought I would send you this, as it may 
lead to someone remembering the incident. 
Henry Joerg. 
Giant Spiders. 
The collection of giant spiders of the tropics 
is of marked interest. Some of our examples 
have been exhibited considerably over a year, 
and all of them have spun intensely white silk 
tubes in their cages. These spiders regularly 
shed their skins. When the old skin is about 
to be cast, it splits up the back, the spider with¬ 
draws its legs from the original casing, leaving 
the former covering so intact as to appear like 
another spider. The keepers have several times 
been deceived in cleaning the cages by cautious¬ 
ly poking aside the shed skin of one of these 
creatures, while the living inmate of the cage 
was actually hiding in its silk tunnel.—New York 
Zoological Society Bulletin. 
