March 9, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
305 
Feeding Wildfowl. 
Buffalo, N. Y., Feb. 20. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: In a trip around Seneca and Cayuga 
lakes, which bodies of water have frozen over 
this winter from end to end, something which 
has not happened before in a number of years, 
I endeavored to find out how the ducks man¬ 
aged to winter. 
There is a small piece of open water a few 
acres in extent north of the Central railroad 
tracks on Cayuga Lake in which were a large 
number of ducks of several varieties. I saw 
one fine flock of canvasbacks which were read¬ 
ily distinguishable by their red heads and large 
black bills, which were not over forty yards 
from the train and did not leave the water when 
the train passed. 
A man at Seneca Falls informed me that a 
boy gave him a blue-billed duck which he had 
found dead. This was picked and found to be 
in pretty fair condition. It did not seem to 
have starved to death but was probably killed 
in some manner. I did not hear of any other 
ducks being found dead, but think they have 
had a hard time to get along. 
I inclose two clippings taken from a Syra¬ 
cuse paper to-day: 
“By direction of the Geneva Rod and Gun 
Club, H. J. Loomis to-day took to the outlet 
fifty bushels of wheat to be fed to a flock of 
about i.ooo ducks occupying an open space in 
the lake near that point. 
“The ducks have been cut off from their feed¬ 
ing places, owing to the freezing of the lake, 
and about 1,000 have crowded into a small open 
space. The State has already made arrange¬ 
ments with farmers along Seneca Lake to feed 
numerous flocks along the lake shore. 
“A flock of seventeen ducks near the long pier 
has become so tame that people, throwing corn 
and bread to them, have approached within a 
few feet. The ducks embrace practically all the 
varieties which frequent this section.” 
“George Travis, of the village of Cleveland, 
a game protector, stood guard the greater part 
of to-day over 2,000 to 3,000 wild ducks in the 
waters between the bridge at Minetto and the 
Battle Island dam. The warden secured a 
vantage point on wooded highlands about a 
quarter of a mile from the Oswego River. He 
discovered no violations of the law. 
“Mr. Travis said one way he made sure the 
ducks had not been shot at was that they con¬ 
tinued to stay about the bridge. He said if they 
had been shot at they would become frightened 
and fly away.” ' E. P. R. 
Game Laws. 
W. E. Hookway, of the New York State 
Sportsman's Association, has written the follow¬ 
ing letter to members: 
I call to your attention the necessity of the 
shooters in your county doing work in behalf of 
Bill No. 45, 113 Int. 45, appropriating $75,000 for 
six game farms. 
I saw an article in the papers, stating that it 
was proposed to cut down the allowance to about 
$25,000. Besides, it is quite uncertain if we get 
any appropriation. Certainly we will not if we 
do not work for it. 
Besides interesting your Senator and Assembly- 
man, if you please call personally upon the com¬ 
mittee of your county and get them to use their 
influence to get the passage of this bill. This will 
be of the best possible assistance. Unless active 
work is done in behalf of this appropriation, we 
will not get it, and sportsmen need the farms. 
If the shooters will pull together, we will get 
it. It will take work and lots of it. Please go 
for the politicians in your section at once and 
get the shooters to again write letters to their 
representatives. We would like to see this bill 
reported out of finance committee. 
Havoc in the Blue Ridge. 
Baltimore, Md., Feb. 20. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The severe weather of the last eight 
weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains killed scores 
of game, and has driven to desperation the more 
ferocious animals. The intense cold had a ten¬ 
dency to bring wildcats and bears from winter 
quarters for food. 
The committee appointed by the Baltimore 
County Game and Fish Protective Association 
met Feb. 13 at the Hotel Junker, Baltimore, to 
draft a bill to be submitted to the Legislature 
No Break-up Yet. 
Sullivan County, N. Y., March 4. — Editor 
Forest and Stream: The cold weather has con¬ 
tinued quite steadily since the thaw in February, 
and the ice holds in the streams and lakes. Of 
course, this ice is very heavy, and if we were to 
have a thaw of several days, followed by rain, 
there would be danger of a bad breaking up. 
The water would pour off the frozen ground, 
assisted by the melting snows, and we might see 
the ice go out on a sudden flood, as we did in 
mid February, 1908. 
There is but little life to be seen in the woods 
at present. Even crows are very scarce, and for 
the most part all the land is without life. This 
will change very quickly, as two days of mild 
weather would bring the earlier migrants north¬ 
ward. After such a severe winter everyone is 
longing for spring, they would like to hurry it 
forward. This can not be done. If we have 
mild weather in March, we usually pay up for it 
by cold weather in May, and after the frost has 
left the ground the air is extremely penetrating, 
as there is water everywhere and the air is . full 
of moisture. We must wait patiently for the 
change of the seasons. Everyone hopes for good 
fishing this year. There is less snow in the 
woods than is usual at this season. 
There is a good deal of speculation in regard 
to the prospects for sport on the celebrated 
Beaverkill the coming season. A great many of 
the brown trout of good size died last year in 
IMay and June from some disease, the nature of 
which was never discovered. 
The Beaverkill is one of the clearest and least 
polluted of big trout streams, and no other fish 
were affected by the conditions that affected the 
large brown trout. Quantities of small fish 
were seen during the summer, and some anglers 
believe that trout will be as abundant as usual. 
to control dogs in Baltimore county. There is 
a State law now on the subject, but like many 
other Maryland laws, there are no means of en¬ 
forcing it to the satisfaction of those interested. 
The committee has in view the extermination of 
worthless curs, but recognizes that it is hardly 
feasible to adapt, city dog-catcher methods to 
the country dog. Parts of the State law, such 
as taxing owners $i for dogs and $2 for bitches 
were indorsed. 
The killing of curs running at large by con¬ 
stables was another feature endorsed. The 
stumbling block came when the matter of pro¬ 
viding for the reimbursement of the constables 
for killing unlicensed dogs and the disposition 
of money received for licenses was taken up. 
Interviews will be had with the county commis¬ 
sioners and others on these points, and the re¬ 
sponsibility for the enforcement of the proposed 
law, if enacted, will be placed. The committee 
is composed of Upton S. Brady, Chairman, Bal¬ 
timore; Dr. W. A. Low, Catonsville, Md.; Ed¬ 
ward Reynolds, Dr. H. Lee Clarke and Gustave 
Delcour. Frank A. Heywood. 
only that the average size will be small. A great 
many fingerlings were turned in last fall and 
more interest than usual was displayed in re¬ 
stocking the streams in this part of the country. 
Nothing is too good for these fine waters and 
large quantities of our native trout have been 
introduced during recent years. These will do 
well in the upper waters and small tributaries, 
but in the lower reaches, where the water nowa¬ 
days becomes very warm in summer, it is doubt¬ 
ful if fontinalis will thrive. There has been much 
prejudice against the brown trout, but they have 
afforded a vast amount of sport during the last 
fifteen years, and exciting battles with large fish. 
When one remembers that this is the same trout 
of which Izaak Walton wrote and around which 
much of our best angling literature has been 
written for 400 years, fario is a fish deserving 
of some consideration. I have examined the 
stomachs of many large trout of this species and 
never found a trout in one of them, though oft- 
times they contained many minnows. Yet I have 
heard many stories of their cannibalistic habits 
and no doubt there is some foundation for these. 
I have seen a half-pound native trout with a 
small brother or sister fontinalis in his month. 
Big-game fish will eat little ones if the latter 
get in the way. A little pickerel or pike is a 
very good bait for a big one, but they do not 
make a business of feeding upon their own 
species; they usually fill up on small fry of some 
sort or minnows. Theodore Gordon. 
Dry vs. Wet Fly. 
Anglers intending to attend the meeting of 
the Anglers’ Club of New York at the Hotel 
Navarre on the night of March 12 will do well 
to lose no time in advising the secretary, A. B. 
Hubbell, 144th street and Southern Boulevard, 
as the capacity of the room is limited. The 
