FORES T AND STREAM 
707 
'He does not proceed long in a straight line, but 
-zigzags from bush to bush, and tuft to tuft, 
either for variety and amusement, or in search 
• of food. He moves with freedom and boldness, 
but travels slowly and with many leisurely 
pauses. If we should follow his devious trail 
for fifty rods or so no doubt we should hear him 
burst into thunderous flight far ahead and out 
of sight, for he is too old and experienced a 
bird to be caught within gun range of a man, 
whether the man come stealing on like a hunter 
•or not. Once let a ruffed grouse attain to years 
of discretion—say two or three of them—and I 
will trust him, particularly if he be a male bird, 
to outwit the sportsman in any locality. So far 
as guns and dogs are concerned, he will survive 
to a ripe old age; but I am not so sure of his 
ability to contend against the meager nourish¬ 
ment afforded by much-trodden, cleared, and 
stripped suburban woods, where scarcely a berry 
•or any wild fruit ripens, that is not already 
marked and appropriated in advance by some 
factory boy or girl. 
Everywhere among these scrub oaks and pines 
the white carpet of the woods is intricately pat¬ 
terned and traced by the tracks of the long-tailed 
wood mouse and the hardy, cold-defying red 
•squirrel. Here and there you will see a little 
5 brown-mouthed burrow in the snow, where some 
squirrel has mined for a pine ®one, dragged it 
up, and devoured the edible part on the spot, 
scattering the coffee-colored chips about him as 
he eats. Chipmunks, apparently do not venture 
forth in the winter, unless some unusually warm 
and spring-like day rouses them from their nap 
and calls them forth for a bit of lunch to tide 
them over until April, but the red squirrel is 
abroad at all seasons and in all weathers. I 
have seen him breakfasting in the hemlocks 
when the thermometer registered ten degrees be¬ 
low zero, and often in a driving snowstorm his 
welcoming, cheery chatter would startle me. 
For a greater part of the winter the short¬ 
legged skunk continues his diligent predatory 
wading through the snow. You will find plenty 
■ of his dot-like tracks in these suburban Woods. 
He is a mighty hunter, and a mightily persever¬ 
ing one, despite his dumpy, Dutch build and ab¬ 
breviated legs. In the snow his trail looks like 
a succession of black-spotted dice cubes, laid 
side by side, so short and positive and ploddingly 
repetitious are his steps. It seems ridiculous that 
■ such a creature can toil through the woods, and 
seize such swift prey as partridges and rabbits. 
Yet he does it, by virtue of his marvelously keen 
senses, the silence and stealthiness of his ap¬ 
proach, and the lightning-like quickness with 
which he makes his final spring. 
We are fortunate if we find any report of the 
rabbit or hare in this snow record. Between the 
hunters and the foxes and the boys with their 
snares and traps, there is little chance for these 
delicate creatures to survive. Perhaps, however, 
we may find where the last hare in the woods 
has leaped timorously across the moonlight on 
his broad, furred snowshoes. What a conspicu¬ 
ous trail he leaves—each padded hindfoot half as 
broad as a man’s hand. But how he can skim 
over the surface of the snow, while other small¬ 
er-footed creatures sink and flounder in it! If 
he escapes his many winter enemies, he may 
thank his snowshoes and his protective gift of 
speed. 
BOY SCOUT ARCHERY CLUB. 
Here is a photograph of what is the founda¬ 
tion of the Boy Scout Archery Club of Chat¬ 
tanooga, Tenn., which now numbers twenty-five. 
Not only that, but nearly every boy who watches 
the contests between these boy archers wants a 
bow and arrow. 
The education of woodcraft is not complete 
without a knowledge of archery. It is too bad 
that this ancient sport has been allowed to go 
on the downward road as it has. The Boy 
Scouts find it essential to some of their best 
games. 
By planting this noble sport into the coming 
citizens of our country the Boy Scout Move¬ 
ment hopes to do much to revive the interest 
in archery. 
It takes the place of the gun in the way of 
creating interest not only among the boys but 
grown up folks as well, and is not near so 
dangerous, and at the same time trains not only 
the eye but the mind and muscle as well. 
The Scout Movement is an advocate of the 
protection of wild animal life. The gun and 
especially the modern shot gun is an irresistible 
weapon of wholesale murder. It is through this 
and poor sportsmanship that America has lost 
so much of its best game animals. 
BUGS, BUTTERFLIES AND BEETLES. 
By Dan Beard. 
“Is there a boy with soul so dead 
Who never to himself has said 
‘I like the woods and swampy places 
More than stiff shirts and whitewashed faces? 
I love all bugs, fish, worms and mice 
Live outdoor things I think are nice; 
To follow Dan on walks and hunts 
Will make a man out of a dunce. 
And ’tis for this I say to you 
Go buy his book, and read it through.’ ” 
Dan Beard stimulates boys to go out into the 
woods and fields to develop a love of the beau¬ 
ties and a curiosity concerning the mystery of 
nature, to observe and understand the ways of 
living things. The man who does this is the 
man of whom parents are glad to hear as they 
realize that his books must be of more real 
value to their boys than are the common and 
multitudinous stories of athletics and crude ad¬ 
venture. 
Dan tells the boys in his own inimitable way 
of the fun and value that is derived in making 
a collection of insects. If the boy has this book, 
whether he is in the suburbs, the far country, 
the mountain or the seashore he will be happy; 
he will have plenty to do. It is not only in the 
summer that fun may be had with the little 
winged and armored creatures, for in the winter 
some of the most fascinating discoveries of 
cocoons and insect life may be made. 
The especial aim is to tell the boy the value 
of a collection of bugs, butterflies and beetles, 
the habits of the most important members of the 
different tribes, and the best methods of captur¬ 
ing and preserving the specimens. Making this 
collection will be the most useful one a boy can 
make. The birds are the friends of men—col¬ 
lecting their eggs and shooting them may well 
be considered a crime—but the bugs are usually 
enemies, they ravage our gardens, poison our 
orchards, and kill the proudest monarchs of our 
forests. Let all boys read this book, become im¬ 
pregnated with the divine fire, and take sides 
with the birds in a relentless war upon the army 
worms, the gypsy moths, the potato bugs, and 
all the rest of the host of pillagers that prey 
upon our food, our lumber and our flowers. 
300 illustrations by the author. 8vo. Cloth 
net $2.00. Publishers, J. B. Lippincott Com¬ 
pany, Philadelphia. 
A CORRECTION THAT SAVES MONEY. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In my contribution in your last issue in re 
“Fishing License” you made the fee $10. It 
should have been as sent, $1.10, for the com¬ 
bined hunting, trapping and fishing license. 
Commissioner Pratt’s idea simply is to add the 
anglers of the State to the list of those who now 
pay the $1.10 fee for hunting and trapping. 
Albany, Dec. 6, ’15. John D. Whish. 
