The Vanishing Wood Buffalo. 
There still exists in the Northwest the little 
band of wood buffalo, known as the Peace River 
herd, which ranges along the Peace River and 
Slave River in the wooded country north of 
Lake Athabasca. This herd, which the most 
sanguine do not estimate as over 400 head, is 
said to be rapidly decreasing. 
It is true that Canada has legislated in be¬ 
half of the buffalo, and has thus striven to pro¬ 
tect them from man. It is possible that a few 
are killed annually by Indians, but the number 
is small. Within the past two or three years, 
however, it has been frequently reported that 
there has been no increase whatever in this 
herd, because each spring the wolves kill off all 
the calves that are born. Late information 
which we have received from traders from the 
north, who live near the range of the buffalo, 
points to the conclusion that there are no ani¬ 
mals in the buffalo herd under three years old. 
The gradual extinction of this little herd, from 
whatever cause, is a melancholy thing, and one 
that cannot but be regretted by every nature 
lover. No one feels more earnestly about it 
than the President of the United States, who in 
a letter sent not long ago to the convention of 
the North American Fish and Game Protective 
Association spoke of this herd of bison, and 
urged that every precaution should be taken to 
preserve it. Much more recently he wrote to 
Earl Grey, Canada’s Governor-General, asking 
him what influence, if'any, can be brought to 
bear in behalf of this herd. 
If it is the fact that danger to the wood 
buffalo’s existence arises solely from the wolves, 
some method should be devised for reducing 
the numbers of these destructive beasts. The 
most obvious way to kill them is by poison, a 
means which we do not know has ever been 
employed in the extreme north. Wolf hides are 
valuable, and it would seem that the Indians and 
white trappers might profitably employ time 
and effort in the killing of wolves. In a heavily 
timbered country, such as that occupied by the 
buffalo, it is difficult to think of any other 
efficient means. . , 
Since, however, the heads of governments of 
the United States and Canada, are deeply in¬ 
terested in this matter, we may hope that the 
local authorities on whom the burden of the 
destruction must finally fall, will also take hold 
of it with energy, and devise some method of 
protecting this remnant. 
White-Winged Crossbill in Staten Island. 
Prince’s Bay, N. Y., March 1 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: One day last week one of my 
neighbors told me his little girl had picked up 
a little bird in the front yard of his home and 
he wished that I would come over and tell him 
what kind of a bird it was. 
I called and saw the bird and saw it was a 
white winged crossbill; when the bird was 
picked up it was nearly dead, but child-like the 
little girl got out the old canary cage and put 
him in it and in an hour or so the crossbill was 
eating seeds and nibbling some fresh lettuce and 
showed no fear of any one who came near the 
cage. He would eat- seeds from your hand. It 
was amusing to see him walk over the sides of 
his cage like a parrot all the time uttering a 
chirp peculiar to his family. This is the first 
time I have ever seen a crossbill on Staten Island. 
They may be plenty here, but my eyes have not 
met them. 
The past month I have picked up dead cat¬ 
birds (two) and several bluebirds on the snow. 
It has been a hard month on our feathered 
friends. I have put out suet for the chickadees, 
woodpeckers and nuthatches, but this winter the 
English sparrow has taken a liking to the suet, 
/■ 
iatji'UiyytK.s If J(wtr 
From GoodspeecTs Catalogue. 
bewick’s long-tailed wren, in “audubon’s birds 
OF AMERICA.” 
and there is not much show for the native birds. 
If you read in the papers that tell you to feed 
the birds, that the little Britisher will not eat 
suet, don’t believe it. 
I will inform you that the little girl that 
picked up the crossbill had no license to take 
birds, but as we have no protection on such 
matters down this way I guess she is safe from 
arrest. * * * 
[Seldom seen though they are in the latitude 
of New York, a few crossbills—the red and the 
white-winged—occur sometimes, and usually 
when met with are notable for their gentleness 
and lack of suspicion. We remember years ago 
walking up to within a few feet of a group 
of red crossbills that were working at some pine 
cones on the ground, and once we captured two 
of these little birds in an ordinary landing net. 
They at once became tame and friendly, like the 
one spoken of by our correspondent, and re¬ 
mained so until they were set free. The hard 
winter which is now just ending ought to bring 
us many reports of the occurrence of winter 
birds.] 
Tragedy in Zoological Park. 
On the introduction of a new Polar bear at 
the New York Zoological Society’s Park to the! 
big cage which for years has been occupied by 
the Polar bears, there was a fatal fight. The 
new bear was a female which had been at the 
park only for a few weeks. 
Preliminary to the introduction the new bear! 
was put in a shifting den which adjoined the 
one occupied by the old bear, and through the 
bars the two animals made acquaintance and 
seemed to be very friendly. 
According to the accounts, when the female 
was put in the den with the male they began toj 
play with each other, but in a very few moments 
the smaller bear was knocked down and the 
large one caught her by the throat. Efforts were) 
made by the keepers to separate the two animals,! 
but with only partial success. But at last ropes 
were thrown over each and they were dragged 
apart. It was too late, however, for the female 
died shortly after they were separated. It seems 
to be a question in the minds of those who wit¬ 
nessed the fracas whether the encounter was a 
fight, or merely a play so rough that the smaller 
bear, which is said to weigh only a little over 
500 pounds to 900 pounds of the old bear was 
choked to death and her throat torn. 
A case somewhat similar to this happened at 
the Zoological Park two or three years ago when 
a female jaguar was introduced to the cage of 3 
large old male and was instantly grasped by the 
head and killed. 
Alligators 1 Have Met. 
My first meeting was in 1862, at Ship Island, j 
A party of us (soldiers) were gathering rushes 
for beds. Passing a small pond which had only 
white sand for bottom and shores, we saw, as 
plainly as if on the dry land, an alligator about 
seven feet long. I went on for my rushes, but 
on my return to camp found the ’gator tied to a 
stake. The boys had caught him in some way. 
From this specimen I learned how they defend) 
themselves, i. e., with their very powerful tail, j 
They can, when free, strike a blow that will 
break the legs of a calf, hog or dog. 
My next interview at short range was in the 
jungle of Bayou Des Allemands, Louisiana. A 
path only wide enough for one man or one alli¬ 
gator led through some blackberry bushes. On 
either side it was impossible to leave it. I had 
a tin cup with some berries. I heard a noise, 
and along this path with open mouth came a 
big ’gator. He was coming fast, and, needless 
to say, I ran, and he came right along; reach¬ 
ing the railroad, which had a deep ditch on 
each side, I jumped across to the railroad and 
he went into the ditch. Going to camp, I was 
joined by another soldier, and with our Enfield 
rifles we went back on the railroad and shot a 
good many alligators. We dragged one back, 
and the cook boiled part of the tail, saying it 
was good. I tried it and chewed it awhile until 
it swelled so. it was too large a mouthful, then 
cut it in three pieces and tried again. My con- 
elusion was that it was tough and dry. We saw 
many of these reptiles in Louisiana. 
My next intimate acquaintance with them was 
when I came to Florida in 1887, and from that 
time I have seen a great many, and have killed j 
a few. The largest dead one I have measured j 
was twelve and a half feet long. I have seen | 
several that seemed to be fifteen feet. 
In Florida the female goes back from the 
rivers, away from the males, to lay her eggs, I 
close by the small flag ponds which are found 
everywhere in the flat woods of the State. She 
scrapes up a mass of leaves, grass and rushes, j 
and in this mass she lay her eggs. The sun j 
