220 
applies. The ordinary canoe will support three 
or four people hanging to it, but an upset acci¬ 
dent, particularly when it concerns people who 
cannot swim, is a mighty unpleasant thing and 
there is no getting away from the fact that it is 
also a mighty dangerous experience. 
Perhaps the advice is not worth much, for 
canoes usually upset before the occupant knows 
what is going to happen, but if you can remem¬ 
ber in going over to hold on to the craft by one 
of the thwarts or the side, so much the better. 
You will not have to swim to the boat after the 
spill is over. 
Canoe accidents are many times made more 
serious from the fact that novices are inclined 
to wear the fancy footwear sold to people going 
into the woods. Heavy, high-laced knee-boots, 
either for men or women, may be all right in 
tramping through the woods, although to tell the 
truth the writer could never see the advantage 
of carrying around from six to ten pounds of 
excess leather on the feet at any time, but it is a 
certainty that such footwear is not for the canoe. 
The heavy soles damage the canoe to begin with, 
and once afloat in the water, these boots are a 
decided drawback and even a danger. If you do 
happen to be wearing them and have been lucky 
enough to grab an upset canoe, try to kick them 
off or get them off in any way, for they are a 
great drag in swimming. 
The ideal canoe shoe is the moccasin or canvas 
rubber-soled sneakers worn over a thick stocking 
or sock. Your feet may get a little wet once in 
a while, but if you have a portage to make after 
a long canoe paddle, you can slip off your heavy 
boots when you get in the canoe and resume them 
when you land again. As it is, many an old timer 
excites a smile occasionally from those who do 
not know the reason why, for doing most of his 
canoe work in his stocking feet. Such a man 
may be laughed at, but he has the satisfaction 
of realizing that he is stripped for the fray, so 
to speak. 
What I have written above with reference to 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Does the introduced pheasant drive out our 
native game birds? I have talked with many 
gunners in eastern Massachusetts, and I find that 
most of them think the pheasant does drive out 
our native birds, but there seems to be very 
little direct evidence to prove whether this is so 
or not. 
I have been much afield at all seasons for the 
last twenty years, collecting specimens in natural 
history, and my own observations seem to point 
to the fact that our native game birds were very 
slightly, or not at all, affected by the introduc¬ 
tion of the pheasant. 
The ruffed grouse and bob-white were dimin¬ 
ishing very rapidly before the pheasant was 
liberated in this state and I do not think the rate 
of their decrease has been any greater since the 
pheasant came. Gunners seem to think that the 
ruffed grouse has suffered the most from the 
presence of the pheasant. The males of both 
these species are well known to be very pugna¬ 
cious, and undoubtedly they will fight more or 
less when they meet. But that does not neces¬ 
FOREST AND STREAM 
upsets, etc., applies to lake canoeing. What to 
do when the canoe goes over in roaring white 
water river rapid cannot be presented in the form 
of written advice, except to say that should such 
an accident befall you, above all things else, 
hang to your canoe like grim death to one of our 
colored brethren, and do not let go unless you 
happen to strike bottom where you can stand up, 
or can gain the shore with certainty. The canoe 
usually comes through the rapids still floating 
and if your breath has not been knocked out of 
your body or if the rocks have not battered you, 
you will be better off than to let go and endeavor 
to shift for yourself. An accident or two will 
teach you the value of tying as many loose things 
to the canoe as possible, and if you have ever 
crawled out on shore shivering and soaked, you 
will perceive without further reminder the advan¬ 
tage of having a waterproof match-box with you. 
Some people advise that the way to master a 
sarily prove that the grouse are driven out of 
the territory as the result of these battles, even 
though they are the smaller of the two. 
If the grouse were plentiful in a locality when 
the pheasants were put out, and in a short time 
it was found that the grouse had almost entirely 
disappeared, while the pheasants had taken their 
places, it might seem probable that there were 
some good reasons for the hunters' arguments. 
But although I personally know of plenty of 
localities where the grouse have decreased or dis¬ 
appeared within a comparatively few years, these 
localities are not now and never havexbeen much 
frequented by the pheasants, although the latter 
are very common in cultivated districts nearby. 
I do not think they have invaded the grouse 
covers in numbers worthy of notice. 
Although on general principles I am opposed 
to the importation and liberation of wild birds 
from foreign countries, as it has a strong ten¬ 
dency to upset the balance of nature, I feel that 
the pheasants are an unqualified success in 
Massachusetts. In the open season of 1914 about 
nine thousand were killed in this State. 
canoe is to peel off and upset the thing while 
trying out experiments. This is all right if you 
will benefit from what you learn, but the usual 
result is to make the ordinary man careless and 
the victim of many an otherwise avoidable acci¬ 
dent in the future. I have always gone on the 
theory that the canoe is to be watched like a 
skittish horse and then if the darned thing does 
get away with me, I can console myself thinking 
that it was because of no neglect, carelessness or 
inattention. 
Only foolish parents send children out in a 
canoe when the kids cannot swim, or will let 
them have anything to do with such a boat until 
they have had preliminary training. This applies 
to adults as well as juveniles. The person who 
can swim has little to fear on inland waters— 
and as a matter of fact such people are the only 
kind who should trust themselves in small craft 
on the water. 
This meant recreation for the people, desirable 
food for the table, and a good increase in busi¬ 
ness for the sporting goods dealers, dog breeders 
and trainers, transportation companies, and for 
many other people who profited either directly or 
indirectly from the additional number of shoot¬ 
ers who were attracted to the woods and fields 
when the State game commissioners declared 
the first open season we have had since the pheas¬ 
ants became numerous enough to arouse much 
enthusiasm among the hunters. Some of our 
newspapers published many very foolish remarks 
about slaughtering the pheasants, but the birds 
proved to be well able to take care of themselves, 
and enough are left to restock our covers. 
If any of the Forest and Stream readers have 
direct proof that the pheasants drive out the 
grouse, let us hear from them, for conditions in 
other parts of the country may be much different 
from what they are here. 
Perhaps it will not be out of place to call atten- ^ 
tion to the fact that the pheasants we have in 
New England are frequently erroneously called 
“Mongolian Pheasants.” No true Mongolian 
Pheasants are found running at large in this 
country. The bird which we have is really the 
Chinese Pheasant, (Phasianus torquatus). 
HORACE O. GREEN, Stoneham, Mass. 
Stripped for White Water. 
The Imported Pheasant and Native Birds 
