84 
recognize the need of fish and game laws and the 
necessity for their enforcement. Much can he 
accomplished in this respect 'through organized 
effort, and it would be well worth the trouble 
if there were an active fish and game club or 
association in practically every town in this 
state. These local clubs or associations should 
be affiliated with the county and state organiza¬ 
tions, and there should be created so strong a 
public opinion that every man who violated the 
fish and game laws would feel that he was held 
in contempt by his fellow townsmen, whether he 
was prosecuted and fined or not. 
The popular favor with which the movement 
is being received makes it altogether probable 
that another season will open with many of the 
associations organized and in practical working- 
condition. 
Sportsmen and Concord’s bird loving com¬ 
munity together are rejoicing at the recent ap¬ 
pearance on the extensive Merrimack River in- 
terv'ale east of the city of two entirely new addi¬ 
tions to the varied feathered colonies that an¬ 
nually take up a summer residence there. 
These new comers are one each of the Mon¬ 
golian pheasant and Bob White families, neither 
one of which species is understood to be a 
natural habitat o'f this northern latitude. It is 
a most unexpected development in bird migration 
for which local sportsmen and ornithologists 
are utterly at loss to account. 
The breaking in of a somewhat harsh and 
discordant crow upon the melody of an early 
■evening bird concert was the first intimation of 
the pheasant’s presence and it led to a systematic 
search for the bird by an individual who at once 
recognized the call. His efforts were rewarded 
with a sight of a handsome cock pheasant, since 
which time that bird has been seen and more fre¬ 
quently heard by different persons. 
It is asserted by a resident of the north end 
of the city that he found the pheasant feeding 
with his chickens on an early morning, but that 
the bird upon being observed took to flight over 
the tall chimney of a nearby manufacturing 
establishment, going toward the locality on the 
intervale where he had been occasionally seen. 
That the bird escaped from captivity some¬ 
where is an explanation that is regarded as not 
satisfactorily explaining the phenomenon. Fifteen 
or twenty years ago a number of pheasants and 
quail were liberated in covers about Concord, 
but they gradually disappeared and in a com¬ 
paratively short time not an individual of either 
family was to be found. It was supposed that 
they fled to warmer climates or had succumbed 
to the rigors of the New Hampshire winters. It 
was impossible and therefore abandoned, 
was impossible and therefor abandoned. 
The quail in question has been heard in his per¬ 
sonal announcement of identity as “Bob White,” 
something never forgotten when once heard and 
never need be confused with the notes of an¬ 
other bird. Whether he is alone or is accom¬ 
panied by a mate is a mystery as yet unsolved, 
as he has kept himself well hidden from observa¬ 
tion. Sportsmen are hopeful that the incident 
of appearance augurs both pheasant and quail 
breeding in the future. 
State Fish and Game Commissioner Frank J. 
Beal of Plymouth has closed the Bennet Brook, 
FOREST AND STREAM 
so called, in the town of Holderness to all kinds 
of fishing. The commission are about to liberate 
several thousand salmon fingerlings in these 
waters in an attempt to raise them to stock the 
Asquam lakes into which the brook flows. The 
young salmon are of the Chinook variety and this 
is the first attempt to introduce them into these 
waters. 
A. H. ROBINSON. 
OHIO NOTES. 
Bellevue, Ohio, July 3, 1914. 
Governor Cox, of Ohio, spent a brief vacation 
at the Castalia Trout Club grounds, near this 
city, Monday of this week. After having been 
a guest at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home 
over Sunday the governor spent Monday at the 
trout stream, angling for the gamey trout. 
The Castalia trout club is maintained by 
wealthy Ohio and Pennsylvania men and the 
stream -wherein are found the trout is fed by the 
waters which come from the Blur Hole, one of 
this state’s natural wonders, the bottom of which 
has never been reached in measurement. 
Fears some weeks ago that the sides of the 
hole were caving in because of the roily condi¬ 
tion of the waters, which is naturally cold and 
crystal clear, have been cast aside as the water 
slowly regains its natural clearness. 
A. C. CALLAGHAN. 
NEW INSTANCES OF ENGLISH HUMOR. 
Starlings Doing Stunts Make New Yorkers 
Laugh. 
By Peter Flint. 
Observant people in New York City have 
doubtless often noted a large bird of a -bluish- 
black color walking proudly across the grassy 
lawns of Central Park, or occasionally in Madi¬ 
son Square, surrounded, albeit at a respectful 
distance, by a bevy of sparrows. These former 
birds are generally found in small flocks of from 
ten to fifteen, and at such times are in search 
of the angleworms which they pull from their 
holes by the aid of their strong orange-yellow 
beaks, like the robin. 
Of course, any reader of this journal will know 
by this time that I refer to the common starling, 
which was introduced into this country from 
England some years ago, which forms an in¬ 
teresting part of our local bird colony. 
It is not generally known, however, that this 
bird belongs to that class which we may now 
designate as “the clowns of the air,” and it was 
only last week that the writer, while visiting at 
the residence of an old friend in East Ninety-first 
Street, was permitted to see them perform. 
“Did you see that?” said my host, suddenly, 
pointing at a black object that fell across my 
field of view and appeared to come out of the 
clear sky. “Look up on the east cornice of that 
five-story apartment-house in Ninetieth Street. 
You see those four large, black birds about the 
size of a pigeon? Well, thos'e are my perform¬ 
ers. They will take no pay whatever from me 
except food, and I give them plenty of that every 
day. Now watch that nearest one sharply.” 
I did so. The bird walked slowly to the ex r 
treme edge of the cornice, and to my great sur¬ 
prise deliberately folded up its wings tight and 
actually fell from that house-top like a lump 
of lead into the empty lot below. My exclama¬ 
tion of amazement was suddenly checked. As I 
was expecting to see the bird strike the hard 
earth and be killed by the force of its supposedly 
accidental fall, it suddenly opened its strong 
pinions like a parachute, when about eight feet 
from the ground, made a quick turn, and then 
flew up again to rejoin its friends on the cornice. 
Soon -down fell starling number two, breaking 
the force of his fall just as the other one had 
done. This “act” having been successively per¬ 
formed by each of the four birds, the first one 
again took a dive into space, but, before he was 
in the yard below, another acrobat fell. It direct¬ 
ly became impossible to follow the motions of 
the birds. Each dropped from the roof and re¬ 
turned to repeat the performance as fast as pos¬ 
sible. You can readily imagine that we two men 
laughed immoderately. Finally, from mere cap¬ 
rice, the whole outfit flew away to Central Park 
or somewhere, and we saw no more of them. 
“These starlings are a great source of amuse¬ 
ment to my wife and children,” said my host. 
“They come early in the morning, roost in that 
tree out there, and chirp until they get breakfast. 
Then they do their interesting act to pay for 
their food, just as any strolling performers 
would. The first entertainment of this kind that 
I ever saw or heard of, was witnessed by me 
and my friend, Mr. W. Barclay Parsons (who 
will vouch for the truth of my story), as we 
were lunching together, in a house one day, not 
far from old St. Thomas Church, on Fifth Ave¬ 
nue. I knew that a large colony of English 
starlings had taken ‘lodgings’ up in the bell- 
tower of that church, and so paid but little at¬ 
tention to several of them that sat in the gut¬ 
ter of a four-story brownstone house opposite, 
until they began to fall off the roof in a most 
unaccountable manner. We were much excited 
on that occasion on account of their strange con¬ 
duct, and supposed it to be suicidal in character, 
until we left our table and thoroughly investi¬ 
gated the whole matter.” 
It would be interesting to learn from natural¬ 
ists on the other side whether these birds “show 
off” that way in their native country, or whether 
they are giving us Americans what they conceive 
to be an example of English humor or horse¬ 
play. 
I have heard about the comical quadrilles 
danced by prairie hens, and know about the 
drumming grouse, the woodcock’s love song at 
twilight, and the robin’s match making, but, 
surely, those starlings give the best performance 
of all. The nearest animal approach to it is 
the coasting of the otter down its slides of ice 
or earth into the water. 
EARLY INDIAN FIGHTER DEAD. 
Aberdeen, S. D., June 15.—Charley B. John¬ 
son, who cooked the last meal that General 
George A. Custer ate before he went against the 
Sioux on the Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876. 
when he and his entire army of 1.100 men were 
wiped out, died here at the German Baptist 
hospital from gangrene from which he had been 
suffering for the past four months. He was 61 
years old and had been a resident of the West 
since his early boyhood. 
He was not known to have any relatives, and 
the body was sent to Vermilion, where it will 
be given to the university. 
