Feb. 6, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
217 
ably but a mile or two away, were the marshes 
that guard the mouth of the Rio de los Trinitas, 
where we proposed to gun for the wary goose 
and the succulent duck. 
Gradually the eastern horizon lightened, a 
streak of gray flashed out of the windy black¬ 
ness of the sky. Our field of vision lengthened, 
as the dawn light was faintly reflected from the 
water, ere yet strong enough to lighten the 
darkness of the upper air. The whirr of wings 
overhead and incessant flock calls, gave notice 
that the morning’s flight had begun. 
“There’s the channel stakes, Jim,” called Ed.; 
“we’re well to the eastward. Let’s give her the 
jib—that’s itl” And a few moments later: 
“Way enough—down jib—fend her off with the 
boat-hook. Steady now—hand me that line with 
the bight in it—good!” We were cordelling up 
the narrow channel, Ed. walking the top of the 
piling with the hawser, while I steered and 
Vic. fended her clear with the boat-hook. 
We found Captain Billie on the point of start¬ 
ing for his morning shooting grounds, but he 
promptly postponed that purpose for the more 
pleasing one of welcoming us. 
“Howdy, boys, howdy? Glad teh see yeh. 
Shootin’s good this mornin’, but ’ll be better be¬ 
fore night. Jes bin erwishin’ you fellahs were 
heah. Come in, come in. Coffee’s still er 
bilin’, an’ there’s er good . fire in ther 
chimbney.” 
In a few moments we were comfortably dis¬ 
posed before the hospitable fire-place in Captain 
Billie’s hermitage, where the driftwood blazed 
merrily as we drained big pannikins of steam¬ 
ing black coffee, and discussed events and 
hunting plans. 
Two hours by sun found us on post in the 
blinds. Vic. and Ed. were at the head of 
Spunk Weed Marsh, about two hundred yards 
away, and Captain Billie and I at the lower 
c«d and far side, down wind. No decoys were 
needed, for the birds were already coming up 
the wind, from the feeding ground in the 
shallows of the bay. Pop! pop! pop! went Vic. 
and Ed.’s twelve-gauges, as a flock of mallards 
flashed over the tall canes from the river, and 
poised, with uptilted wings, for lighting before 
their stands. Whang! went the Captain's ten- 
gauge, and a brace of teal sent a splash of spray 
into the air, as they struck the water and drifted 
shoreward. Crack! went my sixteen as a lone 
sprigtail circled down into range, after passing 
high above the other stands and floated belly 
up toward the rushes. 
Hastily I broke my gun and slipped in a 
couple of shells, charged with BBs, as the 
familiar “Honk-honk” came up the wind, and 
a^little to my right, just clearing the cane tops 
in labored flight against the north wind, came 
a sturdy old gander, leading his flock. A stir 
in the canes around the Captain’s blinds sent 
the triangle towering in huddled flight, bring¬ 
ing them within nice range; so picking a plump 
young goose, part way down the line, I let drive, 
and as they swerved, the other barrel brought 
down another. 
Bang! bang! rang Vic. and Ed.’s guns, and 
I saw the splash of spray that denoted falling 
birds. The sprigs were coming over Captain 
Billie’s stand, fairly plenty, too, and the roar of 
his ten-gauge kept the feathers flying and the 
water splashing as his birds dropped with regu¬ 
larity. 
The sun flashed like a gleam of fire for an 
instant over the top of the marsh growth, then 
dropped from sight, leaving a crimson after¬ 
glow, against which the birds loomed big as 
flocks and singles darted into sight and the 
survivors away. Quickly the twilight faded, as 
the Captain pushed his sneakboat from the 
blind and retrieved our game. 
The flash of the boys’ guns gleamed red in 
the dusk, and the reports came to our ears 
with that long hissing note that open water 
seems always to impart when the air is dry and 
vibrant with electricity, as when the Gulf 
northers blow. 
By the time we had picked up the boys and 
their trophies and gotten ashore, darkness had 
shut down, and it was no amateur’s work to 
follow the devious trail, through rush and cane, 
to Billie’s shack. But soon, before a rousing 
blaze, we sniffed appreciatively at the odors 
wafted from the shed kitchen, where Billie was 
“brilin’ duck, en’ bakin’ bread,” now and then 
vouchsafing a criticism on the plans we dis¬ 
cussed for the morrow’s shoot and happenings 
of the day. P. C. Tucker. 
Boone and Crockett Club Annual 
Meeting. 
The annual meeting of the Boone and 
Crockett Club was held on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 
at University Club, New York city, at 7:30. 
About fifty members were present. Major W. 
Austin Wadsworth presided. At the business 
meeting the secretary and treasurer read their 
reports and there was a brief report from the 
editorial committee. 
The officers elected for the following year 
were: President, W. Austin Wadsworth, Gene- 
seo, N. Y.; Vice-Presidents, Arnold Hague, 
Washington, D. C.; Walter B. Devereaux, Colo¬ 
rado; Winthrop Chanler, New York; Win. D. 
Pickett,. Wyoming; Archibald Rogers, New 
York; Secretary, Madison Grant; Treasurer, C. 
Grant La Farge; Executive Committee (ex- 
officio), W. Auston Wadsworth; Chairman, 
Madison Grant; C. Grant La Farge with Lewis 
S. Thompson, Chas. Sheldon, Wm. F. White- 
house, Alexander Lambert, A. R. E. Pinchot and 
Wm. Astor Chanler. Editorial Committee—Geo. 
Bird Grinnell, Theodore Roosevelt. Committee 
on Game Measurements—Madison Grant, Chas. 
Sheldon, James H. Kidder, Chairman. 
After some discussion the officers of the club 
were authorized to hire rooms for permanent 
quarters, the sense of the meeting being appar¬ 
ently that the club should have a permanent 
headquarters where trophies and its library might 
be stored, and where frequent, if informal, meet¬ 
ings might be held. 
Following the meeting came the dinner, which 
was held in the Council Chamber of the club, 
and this was followed by an illustrated talk by 
Chas. Sheldon, describing some of the in¬ 
cidents of his winter passed on the shoulders of 
Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Mr. Sheldoft ex¬ 
hibited something over 100 slides, showing cari¬ 
bou, sheep, ptarmigan and bears, and his lecture 
abounded in new and of course unpolished in¬ 
formation about the extreme north. One of its 
most interesting features was the detailed ac¬ 
count of the killing of sheep by lynx as recently 
described in Forest and Stream. Extremely 
interesting also were the pictures of the wounded 
bear preparing to charge its assailant. 
Following Mr. Sheldon’s talk was an account 
by Mr. Roy C. Andrews, of the American 
jMuseum of Natural History, of his experi¬ 
ences on board whaling vessels on the north¬ 
west coast. Mr. Andrews worked on the shores 
of Vancouver Island and also on the Alaska 
coast. He described roughly many different 
forms of whales and the way in which they are 
taken, and showed many beautiful photographs 
of the whales and of the various operations. 
More than one of his slides showed the har¬ 
poon passing through the air after it had been 
fired from the gun, and there were a multitude 
of pictures of whales in all conceivable positions. 
The talk was one of extreme interest. 
Among those present at the meeting were: 
Col. Geo. S. Anderson, Col. David L. Brainard, 
Col. H. C. Heestand, Dr. C. H. Merriam, Col. 
Hugh L. Scott, Hon. Geo. Shiras, 3d, D. M. 
Barringer, of Philadelphia; H. Casimer De 
Rham, W. B. Devereaux and son. Dr. W. K. 
Draper, Dr. D. G. Elliott, Major Robert Temple 
Emmett, De Forest Grant, Madison Grant, Geo. 
Bird Grinnell, Dr. Walter B. James, J. H. Kid¬ 
der, C. Grant La Farge, Dr. Alexander Lambert, 
Dr. Lewis Rutherford Morris, E. W. Nelson, 
John J. Pierrepont, Amos R. E. Pinchot, Archi¬ 
bald Rogers, Alden Sampson, Dr. L. C. San¬ 
ford, Dr. J. L. Seward, Chas. Sheldon, Dr. Wm. 
Lord Smith, Caspar Whitney, Wm. F. White- 
house. There were present also a number of 
invited guests. 
The Ostrich’s Digestion. 
Robert J. Stordy, Chief Veterinary Officer, 
British East Africa, has kindly sent us the fol¬ 
lowing: “Alany remarkable stories have been 
told of the powers of digestion of the ostrich, 
but probably the one I now publish establishes 
a record. The ostrich in question was the prop¬ 
erty of S. Clark, Nairobi Falls Estate. The 
bird was about one year old, in poor condition, 
had been ill for a considerable period, and died 
on Oct. 19. I made an incision across the 
stomach, at the same time laying open the giz¬ 
zard, and from the two compartments there were 
removed in brass cartridges cases and two .303 
bullets. The cases were of all sizes and descrip¬ 
tions, and were, as far as could be judged, made 
up as follows: Mauser, 24; revolver, i; Mar¬ 
tini, 2; solid bullets, i; hollow-pointed bullets, 
i; .450, 2; .400, 3; .375, i; .350, 2; .303, 76; 
total, 113. Many of the cartridges were worn 
to the size of a pea, in four instances only the 
detonators were left, while others had been but 
recently swallowed; some had the flanges worn 
down level with the body of the cases, and the 
majority of them were crushed and distorted. 
A large quantity of brassy flakes was found in¬ 
termixed with the contents of the stomach and 
gizzard. As the stomach and gizzard were the 
only organs which were brought to me for ex¬ 
amination, I am unable to say what was the 
cause of death, but certainly the consumption 
of the cartridge cases was not responsible.”— 
Sporting and Dramatic News. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
