972 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 19, 1909. 
friends in Vancouver, and succeeded fairly well, 
but as soon as the smoke died down a little the 
birds alighted on the fish and ate great holes in 
them. The males were specially troublesome 
about this, on account of their greater timidity, 
because they secured less food than the females. 
The amount of food which one of these birds 
would eat in a day was astounding; possibly 
twice its own weight, as they were exceedingly 
light, being composed principally of feathers. 
Sometimes the females of their own accord 
would alight on our shoulders as we stood 
around camp or upon our legs when we were 
lying down, for they soon became surprisingly 
^:hummy. Our little bird romance, however, had 
a sad sequel. After we had been in camp about 
a week, while all of us were away at a distant 
lake, where the trout were large and rather 
plentiful, a messenger came with mail and tele¬ 
grams. On our return in the evening we met 
him at camp, and just as we got there one 
of our bird friends flew down and rested on 
Everett’s shoulder, much to the messenger’s sur¬ 
prise. We explained how we had tamed them. 
Then he remarked, “I guess I must have gotten 
one of those birds of yours.” He walked away 
a few paces and brought in a little dead bird. 
He stated that when he arrived in camp he pre¬ 
pared himself a meal, which he ate at the table, 
then sat down in the tent, when presently an 
impertinent bird lighted on the table and com¬ 
menced to steal food. Then he pulled out his 
revolver and killed it at the first shot, as the 
bird was only three or four paces from him. 
I felt as grieved over the killing of that bird 
as I should have been over the death of a 
favorite dog. We could not blame the mes¬ 
senger, as he did not know the circumstances, 
but we felt that it was a breach of faith with 
our feathered friends. The incident appeared 
to make no difference with the others, which 
during the remainder of our stay fed around 
camp as before. 
Nothing seemed to frighten them. They stood 
around on the ground and on the low branches 
of the trees close to camp while we chopped 
wood, and were not disturbed by shooting at 
a mark with a pistol or at passing loons with 
a shotgun. We parted from these little friends 
of ours with much regret. 
One of our halfbreed packers, when on the 
way to camp to move us back, caught a young 
sandhill crane, too young to fly, and staked it 
out so as to have it photographed on the way 
in. We reached it rather late in the evening, 
but managed to secure a picture. We then let 
the bird go to its parents, which were flying 
around in an uneasy state of mind, but the 
“breed,” desiring to see what it would do if 
chased, ran after it. Young as it was, it turned 
and attacked him, not even waiting for him to 
reach it, but meeting him half way. He had 
to turn his back to protect himself from the 
blows of its sharp beak. The full grown birds 
when wounded are very fierce and have been 
known to wound sportsmen by striking them 
either in the face or body. I shoot them occas¬ 
ionally in Texas, and when my dog is along I 
always have to run in ahead of him to prevent 
his being .attacked by a crippled bird. 
J. A. L. Waddell. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from any 
newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to supply you 
regularly. 
But Was it Hardened Copper? 
Galesburg, N. D., June 10. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Here is a clipping which tells about 
some copper weapons said to have been found 
in the Rainy River near Fort Frances, Ont., 
which bounds the State of Minnesota on the 
north; 
“While workmen were removing rock and 
debris from the old channel of the river be¬ 
tween the second and third chutes to make way 
for the big power dam on the American side, 
they unearthed in one of the pot holes in the 
rock a remarkable collection of Indian weapons 
and other articles, comprising tomahawks, 
spearheads, arrowheads, sturgeon fishhooks, 
etc., all made out of pure copper and hardened 
to the consistency of steel. 
“The articles are bright in appearance and 
are of superior workmanship, being evidently 
the work of the prehistoric race which fashioned 
the mounds, ornaments and utensils of the 
WILD DUCK ON NEST IN CENTRAL PARK. 
early days. That these people possessed the 
knowledge of tempering copper is evident from 
the specimens. How they came there is a 
mystery, but the general belief is that a party 
of Indians, while endeavoring to land or make 
a portage, lost control of their canoe and were 
swept over the falls, the canoe being overturned 
in the descent, causing the contents to go to 
the bottom of the river or be carried down 
stream. 
“Perchance it was a party of warriors return¬ 
ing from battlefields in Wisconsin or Michigan 
with the spoils of war and rich in copper 
weapons, these articles having undoubtedly 
come from the places mentioned. That these 
articles were together is proof that they must 
have been tied in a leather sack, or some such 
receptacle. They were found packed together 
in the hole which had doubtless been caused 
by centuries of swirling waters and gravel.” 
Rainy River is a grand and noble stream, a 
quarter of a mile wide sixty miles from its 
mouth. Its banks were a favorite dwelling place 
for the Indians, as is witnessed by the large 
and numerous mounds all along its banks. It 
is a lovely place and I admire the good taste 
of the Indians in living there. Around various 
lakes in Minnesota their camping places are to 
be found always in best and most picturesque 
places on the shore. I often think what good 
times they must have had, beautiful places to 
live, and multitudes of fish and game for the 
taking. I reckon I will go up there next fall 
and play Indian awhile myself. J. P. W. 
Ivory Billed Woodpecker. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
This bird was never very numerous in Florida 
and during a stay of two years I saw but one 
specimen. This was shot near Otter Creek, on 
the line of the old Atlantic Gulf and West India 
Transit Company’s railroad, twenty miles from 
Cedar Keys. The great Gulf Hammock at that 
time sheltered many wild animals and birds that 
are now rare. Large flocks of parakeets—the 
so-called Carolina paroquet—flew screaming from 
tree to tree. There is a harsh wildness about 
the cry to this pretty bird that was always in¬ 
spiring. One felt that he was actually in the 
wilderness. 
The ivory bill was rare, but its first cousin, 
the pileated woodpecker, was very numerous on 
the lower Suwanee River, below Oldtown. The 
bill of this species is black, but the crest mark¬ 
ings and size are almost the same as in the ivory¬ 
billed woodpecker. At one time we were glad 
to kill a couple when short of food during a 
storm, but I cannot say that we enjoyed the 
meat. Two of us floated down the river for 
three weeks in a small boat and camped in the 
open when we reached a suitable spot. The 
country was undisturbed at that time. Wild 
turkeys were abundant. One flock that we saw 
on a bluff must have contained nearly forty in¬ 
dividuals. The deer were in the swamps, but 
swam the river occasionally in spite of the alli¬ 
gators which were present in extraordinary num¬ 
bers. 
The pileated woodpecker was formerly com¬ 
mon in parts of Canada, and in an old book, 
written by all Englishman, it is stated that they 
were seen during the winter. They are by no 
means extinct in the State of New York. I have 
seen specimens occasionally in Sullivan county 
and heard their cry. They make a great racket 
when at work on a hollow tree. There are sev¬ 
eral mounted specimens in Liberty and I saw a 
live bird on the ridge nearby that place on the 
last day of November, 1907. The species must 
be verjr hard}q yet I have seen them in Florida 
in the latter part of the month of March when 
the weather was decidedly warm. 
I fancied that these birds might rear a brood 
in the South or remain there during the whole 
of the year. They are about the size of a teal. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Beavers in Oregon Increasing. 
A newspaper item from Long Creek, Oregon, 
says that beavers are becoming plentiful in the 
Monument country and are also beginning to be 
destructive to some of the orchards of that 
vicinity. Dams are being built in the North 
River Fork and the smaller streams tributary 
to the river in and about Monument. The ani¬ 
mals are said to have increased remarkably with¬ 
in the last few years. 
