i8 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Jan. 2, 1909. 
Teaching Buster How to Rest.—III. 
We had not traveled many rods through the 
forest ere I discovered that the names of trees 
and shrubs were as a dead language to my 
patient and companion; he could not tell an 
oak from a chestnut, save that one looked un¬ 
like the other, but of the name of either he was 
in dense ignorance. I gave him a practical 
lesson in arborculture, which so absorbed his 
attention and interest that we were upward of 
two hours traversing a distance not exceeding 
eighty rods. 
“I didn’t suppose there were so many differ¬ 
ent kinds of trees in the world,” was Buster s 
comment, as we finally emerged from the tim¬ 
ber and stood on the edge of a broad expanse 
of pasture, comprising the great plateau at the 
summit of Woodruff Hill. “Where did you ac¬ 
quire such a thorough knowledge of these sub¬ 
jects?” 
I told him that I was born and brought up in 
the country and simply picked up that which 
every country boy comes to know as a matter 
of course. A large herd of cattle were feeding 
in the out field and I asked Buster what, if 
anything, he noticed about them that was 
peculiar. He regarded the herd intently for a 
while, then said: 
“The only thing in particular that I observe 
is that the cattle are all feeding in one direc¬ 
tion, that their heads point the same way.” I 
congratulated him upon his powers of observa¬ 
tion and asked why this was so. 
He disclaimed the ability to explain and 
came back at me with the same question. I 
told him it was heredity; that it had been trans¬ 
mitted through successive bovine generations 
down from the time when they roamed, wild 
and free, over their native plains. Then they 
were on the constant lookout for wolves, 
panthers, mountain lions and the like, and were 
compelled to be on the alert for a momentary 
attack. “Take another good look and see if 
you can detect any additional peculiarities,” I 
said. 
Thus admonished, he studied the herd for a 
while, finally remarking that he saw nothing 
further, “unless it was that one animal, larger 
and apparently stronger than the others, always 
seemed to take the lead.” 
“Just watch the leader for a few minutes.” 
“I notice that every few seconds he raises his 
head and takes a good look around, while the 
others keep on grazing; is there anything sig¬ 
nificant in that?” and Buster’s eyes shone with 
the interest he was evincing in this new theme. 
“There is just this significance; that, as the 
leader, he is responsible for the safety of the 
entire herd. If, through any negligence on 
his part, harm should befall the herd he would 
withdraw from his position of his own accord, 
and thenceforth he would be the most incon¬ 
spicuous member of the herd, despised and in¬ 
sulted by every other creature. He gets his 
position through his personal prowess, being 
obliged to ‘lick’ every other animal in the 
bunch ere he can obtain recognition. Suppose 
the owner of these cattle should introduce a 
new or a strange animal to this herd; he would 
have to try conclusions with the leader, and he 
would have a hard tussle, too, judging from the 
appearance of that old bull.” 
As though ocular demonstration of my state¬ 
ments had been planned, and before Buster 
could voice the astonishment visible in his eyes, 
two men appeared at the bar-way leading to 
the field and drove a large bull that they had 
been leading into the pasture. The newcomer 
sniffed the air for a moment, then walked in 
a most deliberate manner toward the cattle. 
The doughty old leader had caught sight of the 
intruder the instant he set foot into the in¬ 
closure, and he gave expressive vent to his 
sentiments through the medium of a deep bel¬ 
low, emphasizing the same by pawing up a 
quantity of dirt which he threw over his back. 
Then he stalked slowly and majestically out from 
the herd to meet his tacitly admitted antagonist. 
With lowered heads, emitting deep bellows 
from time to time, the two animals approached 
each other, while the herd huddled closely to¬ 
gether, in fearful apprehension of the inevitable 
conflict. 
When, perhaps, a rod apart the big brutes 
halted, shook their heads, threw dirt over them¬ 
selves, then as by mutual consent, they pitched 
in simultaneously. From our point of observa¬ 
tion all that was visible was a conglomeration 
of broad backs, horns and stiff standing tails, 
twisting, turning and winding in a seemingly 
interminable tangle. We could hear the clash 
and shock of battle while over all rolled a cloud 
of dust mingled with hair. Several tense, ap¬ 
prehensive minutes rolled by when, suddenly, 
from out of the tangle emerged the erstwhile 
leader of the flock. The dignity and prowess 
of his approach was lacking; with depressed 
head and lopping tail he trotted away to the 
outskirts of the field, while the new leader, 
born in that strenuous interim, strutted forth 
in all a conqueror’s hardly-earned pride, and 
took his position at the head of the waiting 
group, whereupon all went to grazing as if 
nothing unusual had occurred. 
“I am sorry for that poor fellow,” said 
B.uster, indicating the deposed boss, who now 
stood licking off the gore and dirt of battle at 
the further side of the field. “We often see its 
counterpart in human life.” 
As M'e strolled down the old military road, 
the line of traffic in Revolutionary days between 
Lake Erie and the seaboard, which traversed 
the spine of the hill longitudinally, Buster had 
seasons of ruminating, broken when he made 
some,comment upon the object lessons of the 
day, happily demonstrating to me the success¬ 
ful operation of my plan of treatment. 
“I had always regarded the country as in¬ 
sufferably dull and uninteresting,” he finally re¬ 
marked, as we halted for a short rest on the 
outer fringe of the Towantic Forest. “But do 
you know that I’ve found more food for thought 
since I crawled out of bed this morning than 
I would find in the city in a month’s time?” 
“Nature gives more lessons than one can 
commit in a lifetime,” I responded, at the same 
time calling my companion’s attention to a 
fierce conflict that was being waged between 
two gray squirrels in the branches of a neigh¬ 
boring oak. After a series of sharp onslaughts, 
the combatants fell to the ground and continued 
the struggle in the open in plain view. Pres¬ 
ently the victor, having suffered no apparent 
injury himself, ran up the tree to a lower limb, 
where he sat and chattered triumphantly, while 
his victim made off in evident pain. 
{Continued on page 36.) 
Association of New Jersey Sportsmen. 
The annual meeting of the Association of New 
Jersey Sportsmen was held at Trenton, N. J., 
on the evening of Dec. 22. There was a large 
attendance of enthusiastic members at the meet¬ 
ing and the dinner which followed. 
Several men prominent in science and in game 
protection, as well as in the field of sport, were 
present, among whom were Dr. A. K. Fisher, 
of the Biological Survey, of Washington, D. C; 
Wm. Dutcher, President of the National Asso¬ 
ciation of Audubon Societies; Col. Austen Col¬ 
gate and Prof. Alexander Hamilton Phillips, 
of Princeton. These gentlemen spoke on the 
various special subjects on which they are 
authority. 
Prof. Phillips gave some very good reasons 
for and startling figures as to the diminishing 
numbers of game birds, and some helpful sug¬ 
gestions as to how the game.could be preserved. 
He also brought clearly to the attention of the 
sportsmen present the fact that at one time the 
prairie chicken was indigenous to New Jersey, 
and he felt that it could be again introduced and 
successfully propagated and ought to do better 
than foreign birds. 
Mr. Dutcher as always was eloquent, and his 
startling figures as to the number of quail 
illegally sold in New York city sent the mem¬ 
bers home thinking.. 
Dr. Fisher gave a startling illustration of the 
rapid decline in the number of wild ducks that 
we now have as compared with a few years ago 
by producing records of one of the best known 
clubs on Chesapeake Bay, where, in 1881, in the 
month of November, there were killed plus 
twenty-nine hundred ducks; in 1907, less than 
three hundred, and for these two seasons about 
the same proportion. Not that there were less 
guns or gunners now, but less ducks to shoot. 
'I'he intervening years, showed a gradual decline. 
From these figures it is fair to assume that we 
have about one-fifth as many wild ducks now as 
we had thirty years ago. He named also six 
species of migratory food birds breeding in New 
Jersey, and expressed the opinion that with a 
close season in spring a good supply of home- 
raised birds would be assured. He pointed out 
also the desirability of State game preserves, 
refuges or sanctuaries such as are now being 
considered all over the country. He expressed 
serious objections to the present New Jersey 
game law, which divides the State of New 
Jersey into two shooting districts, declaring that 
the differences in climate between north and 
south New Jersey are not great enough to war¬ 
rant such a division. He pointed out that Texas 
has a single law and intimated that if one law 
was enough for Texas with its great north and 
south extent of territory, one should be enough 
for New Jersey as well. He might have added, 
but did not, that the New Jersey division is a 
survival of the old feeling that each village, 
town or country should have such a law as hap¬ 
pens to suit its local population without regard 
to the remainder of the State. This feeling, 
however, is passing away in the south and will 
ultimately disappear. 
Col. Colgate referred to the difficulty of secur¬ 
ing proper game legislation. Laws seem to be 
made in order that shooters may have more 
opportunity to shoot rather than for the pro¬ 
tection of birds. The sentiment which governs 
