Feb. 24, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
241 
man Patrie, of Greene, in relation to sturgeon, 
and to nets in the Hudson and Delaware rivers. 
Senator Emerson and Assemblyman Prime 
have introduced a bill increasing from five to 
fifteen the number of tip-ups which may be 
operated at the same time by one person in Lake 
Champlain for catching certain kinds of fish. 
Among the bills just reported favorably from 
the Assembly committee on forest, fish and game 
is one of Assemblyman Seaker for a fish hatch¬ 
ery for hatching black bass and other fish in 
St. Lawrence county. The bill carries with it 
an appropriation of $20,000. 
Beautiful Dog Pictures. 
On Feb. 19 an exhibition of pictures of high 
interest for all sportsmen who use the gun was 
opened at the art galleries of Moulton & Ricketts, 
10 West Forty-fifth street. New York city. These 
pictures, fourteen in number, are by Edmund 
Osthaus, the eminent painter of dogs. They are 
chiefly quail shooting scenes and many of them 
of the dry country of the Pacific coast. 
Prof. Osthaus is so well known for his famili¬ 
arity with dogs and their work, his skill with 
the gun, and his knowledge of technique, that 
it is hardly necessary to say that these paintings 
are no less remarkable for their fidelity to nature 
than for their great beauty. Our front cover 
this week shows one of them. The scene is in 
the dry California country, and 'the quail shooter 
is giving his dogs drink by pouring water into 
his cap from the canteen which he carries. 
All who are familiar with the field work of 
dogs, and indeed all who love a good dog, should 
avail themselves of this opportunity to see these 
rare pictures. While most of the scenes por¬ 
trayed have to do with field shooting, there is 
one picture of a pack of foxhounds in full cry. 
The exhibition will be open for two weeks. 
Cooperation. 
Bloomington, Ill. Feb. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Three hundred farmers and sportsmen 
assembled in a mass meeting at Frankfort this 
week to discuss the game and fish laws. Game 
Warden William Courey, of Bloomington, ad¬ 
dressed the meeting. It was desired to create 
friendly feeling between landowners, hunters 
and fishermen, and the rights of each under the 
law were explained. All present were urged to 
co-operate with the fish and game wardens in 
prosecuting persons who violate the law either 
by trespass or taking fish illegally and hunting 
out of season. 
The first flock of wildfowl to reach the Illi¬ 
nois River this year was reported this week near 
Pekin. The birds were thought to be shell- 
drakes. The flight is unusually early and is 
thought to portend an early spring. 
Central Illinois sportsmen are looking forward 
to a roundup of the wolves that have been 
plundering sheep and poultry yards of Menard 
county during the past winter. 
J. E. Kiple, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to the 
charge of purchasing wild ducks from a Mason 
county man and was fined $250 and costs by 
Judge Rahn. The defendant did not appear, 
sending word that he would pay the fine assessed 
without going to trial. The assessment is a 
sequel to the recent seizure of several hundred 
wild ducks which were consigned by hunters in 
Mason county to Chicagoans. E. E. Pierson. 
Grouse in North Carolina. 
Hendersonville, N. C., Feb. 10.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: I have just read with interest the 
letter of W. H. Starratt in to-day’s issue of 
Forest and Stream. Replying to his question 
as to the ruffed grouse, as far as I am able to 
learn, there have been no ruffed grouse for 
very many years, at least, any distance south 
of our mountains. Some years ago there were 
a few, I am told, in the Piedmont belt. I do 
not think they can stand much very hot weather, 
and this may account for the fact that they are 
not found far south of the mountain section of 
the South. 
Here we are from 2,000 to 6,000 feet above 
sea level, so that we are practically on a par 
with higher latitudes, so far as cold weather 
goes, and this winter the mercury has dropped 
below zero, particularly all through this moun¬ 
tain country. Hendersonville is 2,500 feet above 
sea level, and when I go grouse shooting, I am 
from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above it. I doubt very 
much if very young grouse could stand the 
moist heat of the lower country of the Caro- 
linas. 
It is snowing as I write, and the ground is 
covered with it. Robins, thrushes, catbirds, 
and in fact all the migratory birds leave us as 
the winter approaches—the woodcock staying 
in small numbers till unable to push his bill into 
the ground. 
This week I saw the largest eagle I have 
ever seen in captivity. The spread of his wings 
was seven feet, or more, and of his talons full 
seven inches. This bird looks as large as a 
turkey when on his roost. He is very dark in 
color, and in part a dark mottled-brown and 
black on back and breast. Color of head dark, 
and nothing bald about him. He was caught 
in a steel trap set for him (yet is unhurt), as 
he had been carrying off pigs. This was close 
up to the great Smoky Mountains.- He is a 
magnificent specimen. I call him a great Amer¬ 
ican eagle. Ernest L. Ewbank. 
Bison Society’s Annual Report. 
The fourth annual report of the American 
Bison Society just issued gives much interesting 
information relative to the society’s work, con¬ 
tains many beautiful illustrations and is alto¬ 
gether interesting. 
The president’s report opens the booklet and 
gives an account of the operations of the society 
during the year. Dr. W. T. Hornaday, president 
of the society since its foundation, resigned his 
office at the annual meeting, and Prof. Franklin 
W. Hooper was elected in his place. Minutes 
are given of the fifth annual meeting of the so¬ 
ciety, and reports of several meetings of boards 
of managers. 
The census of the pure-blooded bison in North 
America shows for 1911, 2,760 head against 2,108 
in 1910. This census does not include some re¬ 
cent increase, for the buffalo in captivity in 
Alberta are given as 954, while as a matter of 
fact they numbered in November 1,132. Again 
the buffalo on the Montana range are given as 
fifty-one, while in September, 1911, they .were 
sixty-nine in number. Accompanying the census 
is an excellent outline map of the United States 
showing where captive buffalo still exist within 
our limits. 
An interesting history of the Canadian move¬ 
ment in behalf of the buffalo was prepared by 
the Canadian Government at the request of the 
Bison Society by Fred H. Byshe, and E. H. 
Baynes has written of the Corbin herd, which 
is said to number eighty-five head. 
The report gives the constitution of the Bison 
Society and a list of its members, divided into 
patrons, life members, active members and as¬ 
sociate members. 
Snipe in the Provinces. 
Halifax, N. S., Feb. 16.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In the issue of Feb. 10 you published 
a letter written by me which you head “Wood¬ 
cock in the Provinces.” It would have been 
more properly styled “Snipe in the Provinces.” 
The printer has also changed two words in 
the manuscript which altogether alters my mean¬ 
ing. The point I was making as to the unusual 
distribution of snipe is thereby lost. As printed 
it reads: “Often enough when you expected a 
grouse to rise before the pointing dog in alder 
covers, up would dart a woodcock.” What I 
really did say was; “Often enough when you 
expected a woodcock to rise before the pointing 
dog in alder covers, up would dart a cork- 
screwer” (viz.: a snipe). 
W. H. Starratt. 
[We share the error. Mr. Starratt wrote 
“cock” and not “woodcock,” as he remembered 
it. We had in mind the Nova Scotian term 
“cock” for grouse. —Editor.] 
Pheasants vs. Partridges. 
Batavia, N. Y., Feb. 15. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: In relation to the remarks of O. E. M. 
and R. L. W., I beg to say that we have a few 
grouse, but they were practically cleaned out 
years ago. What few have bred have been killed 
off each year with no chance to multiply. I make 
decided objection to the statement of R. L. W. 
that the pheasant is not in it for eating, com¬ 
pared with the grouse. The pheasant breeds 
rapidly and the grouse does not, but there is 
one sure thing; the pheasants we have taste 
much better than the grouse that we do not 
have. 
If you want to get rid of your Massachusetts 
pheasants, send them over here where they will 
be appreciated. We have another foreigner up 
here—the Hungarian partridge—and our birds 
are doing well in spite of our recent severe 
weather. Chas. W. Gardiner. 
William W. Nixon. 
William W. Nixon, Chief Deputy of the 
Massachusetts Commission on Fisheries and 
Game, died at the Massachusetts General Hos¬ 
pital on Feb. 8, and his funeral, held in Cam¬ 
bridge on Feb. 10, was attended by the full 
board of commissioners and nearly all of the 
deputies in the State. 
Mr. Nixon was appointed a deputy from 
Gloucester in 1903 and for several years has 
been chief deputy. He was a most efficient 
officer and worker, and nothing but praise was 
ever said of him by the commissioners and all 
who came in contact with him. His soul was 
in his work, and it was in the performance of 
his duty in the woods that the accident hap¬ 
pened that caused his death. He leaves a widow 
and seven children. 
