Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal. Copyright, 1907, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1907. 
VOL. LXVIII.-No. 23. 
No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre¬ 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
Objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
TO SAVE THE HEATH HEN. 
Chairman George W. Field, of the Massachu- 
s setts Fish and Game Commission, has urged the 
l) Massachusetts Legislature to appropriate $2,500 
| to be used in protecting the few heath hens that 
' remain on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. A 
sum almost equal to this has already been con¬ 
tributed by persons interested in the matter, and 
it is proposed to use the money in building arti¬ 
ficial incubators and protecting the birds and 
their nests from woods fires. 
I The heath hens now on Martha’s Vineyard 
number about one hundred only, and as they are 
decreasing slowly it is certain that if better 
^protective measures are not promptly adopted a 
jjfew years’ time will mark the total extinction 
of the species. In 1885 William Brewster stated 
that the heath hen {Tympanuchus cupido), of 
r Martha’s Vineyard, was “so well protected as 
1 not likely to become extinct.” It is probable, 
however, that at that time he could not foresee 
the change that was soon to occur in the ranks 
of the heath hen’s cousin, Tympanuchus ameri- 
canus, the pinnated grouse, once abundant 
throughout the Middle West, now dwindling in 
I numbers from year to year. 
THE AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY. 
1 he loss tO 1 the United States of the largest 
herd of buffalo in the world emphasizes very 
strongly the need of at once taking steps to 
Protect and propagate so far as possible the buf¬ 
falo which remain. This is the object of the 
\merican Bison Society, and with its plans and 
) mrposes all readers of Forest and Stream will 
Ipeel a strong sympathy. All good American 
Sportsmen, and many good Americans who are 
riot sportsmen, feel a strong interest in the fate 
! if the bison, and will be glad to do what may 
ie in their power to save it from extinction. 
[ To carry on this good work money is needed, 
vhich may best be raised by adding to the mem- 
| iership of the Society. The memberships of the 
! iociety are of several sorts and there is no rea- 
: on why persons, even of very modest means, 
j nay not become members and thus contribute 
| /hat is in their power to the good work. The 
J orms of membership established by the Ameri- 
an Bison Society are as follows: 
; Associate member, with dues $1 a year. 
I Member, dues $5 a year. 
Life member, $100, payable at one time. 
| Patron, $1,000, payable at one time. 
1 Subscriptions to membership in the American 
lison Society may be sent to the editor of 
'Orest and Stream, 346 Broadway, New York, 
1 nd will be acknowledged and turned over to the 
Society. Further information concerning the So¬ 
ciety may be had from the Secretary, Ernest 
Harold Baynes, Meriden, N. H. 
SEA FISHING. 
The so-called light tackle movement, which is 
attracting such widespread attention on the 
Pacific coast of the United States, is one worthy 
of the consideration of every angler for the salt 
water fishes of America, east, south and west; 
for, among other things, the use of light rods 
and lines gives the fish more opportunities to 
break away, and it is in keeping with the move¬ 
ment toward finer fishing paraphernalia that has 
been in evidence in fresh water angling for a 
number of years. 
Too many anglers for salt water fishes go 
down to the sea with rods and lines heavy and 
strong enough to haul in the largest fish that 
swim, and once hooked a fish of small or medium 
size has no more chance for its life than if 
caught on a hand line. If the fishermen be on 
the upper deck of a steamboat and no gaff is 
handy, the fish is reeled in and lifted bodily. The 
lines used are strong enough to lift a dead weight 
of twenty-five pounds or more, and experiments 
have proved that men of heavy weight and with 
great powers of endurance cannot long swim 
against the strain of one of them, but are soon 
“landed” and compelled to admit that the “angler” 
is the stronger one in the contest of strength. 
What fish, then—excepting possibly the largest 
sharks, jewfish, tarpon and tuna—can match their 
strength against the man with the billiard cue 
and codline, and win ? With an automatic brake 
on the reel, even these giants of the sea are 
soon subdued and brought within reach of the 
gaff. This may be fishing, but it is not gentle 
sport. 
The tendency toward lighter rods and lines, 
however, is making salt water anglers of men 
who heretofore have found little sport in sea 
fishing. Smaller fish are being sought and the 
varieties that are too large and coarse to be fit 
for food are not molested so much as in the past. 
One result of this reform movement, at least 
on the Pacific coast, is smaller catches. When 
one must govern the size of his catch by his 
ability to place it where it will not be wasted, 
he is not so likely to go to extremes as was 
the case with tuna and black sea bass, which 
were landed, weighed, perhaps photographed, 
then towed out to sea and abandoned. 
There was a time, less than a decade ago, when 
severe criticisms by Pacific coast sea anglers 
greeted the protest we then made ‘against this 
waste of tuna and black sea bass. Not that the 
anglers themselves, and other sportsmen tourists 
to the fishing waters round about Santa Catalina 
had not already felt the sentiment to which we 
gave expression, but the sea was so prolific in 
fish life and the anglers so numerous that, as 
with bison, it seemed impossible for all the 
anglers of the present generation to make any 
real impression on their numbers. Besides, it 
was the popular thing to catch a monster tuna 
or bass and secure a photograph of man and 
fish, to show the latter’s size by comparison, then 
throw away the carcass. 
At first little heed was given to the light tackle 
movement, but after wholesale catches had been 
brought in only to be set adrift later, there came 
a revulsion of feeling, and this has gained ground 
steadily. Then the big tuna disappeared. For 
nearly three years they have remained away, and 
there is no one who can say positively that the 
waste of former years had no part in the change 
in the big fishes’ habits, if indeed it is not cus¬ 
tomary for them to seek other feeding grounds 
at times. 
With the adoption of lighter tackle—a change 
that is affecting the sea anglers all along the 
lower California coast line—the smaller edible 
fish have been sought for sport and food. More 
anglers than ever are given opportunities for 
splendid sport, and it is to be hoped that the 
waste of fish life is nearing its end. 
The metropolitan press used to poke a good 
deal of fun at the late Russell Sage because of 
his frank assertions that he had worked day in 
and day out for more years than most of us can 
remember without taking a vacation. Now 
“Uncle Russell’ is enjoying the long rest he per¬ 
sistently denied himself in this world. At dif¬ 
ferent times men were employed by him who 
did not take kindly to his view, but who insisted 
on a change of scene at least once a year. Need¬ 
less to state, they sought other employment in 
time; but there was one man who, for twenty- 
nine long years, was to be found at his desk 
every week day and on most of the holidays 
observed by other employers. He may not have 
believed in his employer’s line of reasoning, but 
he respected and observed it. Him Mr. Sage 
made his lieutenant, and remembered him in his 
will. And the other day this faithful servant 
broke the rule and took unto himself a whole 
week, though it was not believed by any of his 
associates that he could by any exertion of will 
power remain away the full time allotted him. 
English importers of Egyptian quail are con¬ 
fident that they will be able to obtain and dispose of 
1,000,000 of these game birds before the season 
closes, at the end of July. One London firm 
alone claimed that it had 100,000 live Egyptian quail 
on hand a fortnight ago. The birds are im¬ 
ported for food almost exclusively, and are fed 
on millet and kept in good condition during 
their long journey by steamship and until sold. 
Even Egypt, with her immense acreage and the 
favorable conditions for the rapid growth of 
quail, cannot withstand this drain forever. 
