FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. i, 1908. 
I 72 
to retain their ancient privileges, but if they are 
willing to give these up, and the Canadian Gov¬ 
ernment is willing to arrange with them to do 
so, it may very likely mean the salvation of 
this herd. If, further, the Indians can be in¬ 
duced to take a personal pride in the continued 
existence of the wood buffalo, and to constitute 
themselves game keepers and watchers in their 
behalf, the task of preserving and greatly in¬ 
creasing this little herd is easy. A great reserva¬ 
tion should be set aside for it. 
And now arises the question as to its present 
numbers. Obviously no one knows, and a guess 
made to-day is perhaps scarcely better than one 
made two or three years ago. Mr. Seton, how¬ 
ever, made careful inquiries on this subject, and 
carefully sifting the testimony of Indians and 
halfbreeds and exercising the caution of the 
trained naturalist in his conclusions, he is in¬ 
clined to think that the number of buffalo is 
greater than is generally believed. The territory 
is 100 miles east and west, by 150 miles north 
and south; a great area, and very sparsely in¬ 
habited. Of course, however, in winter the buf¬ 
falo are accessible and may easily be killed. 
Last summer we reported Inspector Jarvis to 
have said: 
“Unless these animals are given protection 
now, I am sure it will be the same as happened 
thirty years ago further south. Canada will 
wake up to the fact that the buffalo are extinct, 
and they will wonder how it was done. Now, 
when a novice can creep to within fifty paces 
of a band of thirteen and twenty of them, how 
easy it would be for a good hunter to kill every¬ 
one of them. I am of the opinion that the buf¬ 
falo are in danger, not from wolves, but from 
the poachers who live at Smith Landing in the 
summer time, but who could be easily controlled 
by a local patrol of police. I have so reported 
to the commissioner and have recommended that 
if it is the wish of the Government to protect 
the buffalo, resident guardians be placed upon 
the grounds, otherwise the buffalo will not last 
five years.” 
White Perch Devour Mosquito Larvae. 
In May last, employes of the New York 
Aquarium were sent to the lake in Prospect 
Park, Brooklyn, to collect specimens of black 
bass and white perch for exhibition in the 
Aquarium, says Director Townsend. A large 
seine was used which brought in hundreds of 
young perch. Some of these, being found to 
be distended with food, were examined, and the 
food was found to be chiefly the larvse of mos¬ 
quitoes. 
This observation is important in view of the 
increasing interest taken in fish useful in com¬ 
batting the mosquito nuisance. The white perch, 
though chiefly a marine species, ascends streams 
to spawn, and can be kept permanently in fresh 
water where, however, it does not attain a large 
size. As it is an excellent food fish, the fact 
that the young are active feeders on mosquito 
larvse will be of especial interest to persons col¬ 
lecting fishes for private ponds. 
All the fish laivs of the United States and Can¬ 
ada, revised to date and nozv in force, are given 
in the Game Laivs in Brief. See adv. 
The Shore Lark. 
Delanson, N. Y., July 18.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The call of the shore lark chords with 
the season. The winter note of this far-north¬ 
ern bird is a cheerless peep, but in early March 
he offers up the first field song. Perched on a 
stone in the upland meadows, or on the highest 
clod in some fall-plowed field, he ushers in the 
spring. 
My acquaintance with the shore lark’s song- 
dates back to a drive over the country road 
one bright afternoon in March. The snow lay 
deep, bluebirds and robins were at least a week 
away: but spring was in the air. A solitary 
shore lark flew up before me and, alighting on 
the roadside wall, began a sweet, low warble 
for my benefit, it seemed, for no companion lark 
was visible. Round and round he turned on his 
pedestal, bowing low and moving his head from 
side to side. His delivery was spectacular, but 
the song was reminiscent of the vesper spar¬ 
rows in the June fields. I waited, hoping that 
this was merely preliminary to a lark-like flight 
and song overhead, but at last was compelled to 
leave him there, still warbling softly and beating 
time. 
A few days later I heard the song again, 
under similar circumstances. The bird was 
shyer than my first acquaintance, and his song 
was brief; but he turned round and round sev¬ 
eral times, as a sort of preparatory exercise be¬ 
fore delivering it. Since then I have heard him 
many times, often in the open fields and on each 
occasion with renewed interest. 
One comes to look in February for the 
arrival of the shore larks, to listen for their 
call, to note their elusive warble, “at once far off 
and near,” and finally to record the day of their 
departure. This season the last flock of snow 
buntings rippled by on the 6th of March, but 
little companies of shore larks lingered until 
the 30th. The day was cold and windy, follow¬ 
ing a thunder storm the night before. The 
level fields were bare, but snow lay deep along 
the fence rows and on the eastern slopes. 
Robins, sparrows and juncos held to the valley 
below, while shore larks were still busy on the 
desolate hills. 
How this curious black-cheeked bird attracts 
one! Yet how the faint pinkish-brown of his 
back blends with the color of the reappearing 
earth, and the dead grass! He has “the receipt 
of fern-seed”; running or walking or crouching 
low in the stubble, he is almost invisible. I shall 
not see or hear his like till the vesper sparrow 
skulks in the dead-furrows and cricket-like wel¬ 
comes the warm twilight. 
Will W. Christman. 
For the Montana Buffalo Herd. 
Forest and Stream has received from Mr. 
Wm. Barker, Jr., $5, a contribution for trans¬ 
mission to the American Bison Society toward 
the purchase of the herd to stock the Montana 
buffalo range. Mr. Barker, referring to a recent 
editorial in Forest and Stream, says: “I have 
often thought as I read articles regarding the 
efforts to save the buffalo that I would like to 
lend a hand, but did not feel willing to rush 
in, as my means would not warrant much of 
a splurge. 
“I believe there are many like myself who 
would like to help in a modest way, and if all 
our sporting magazines would mention the fact 
that small subscriptions as well as large are 
wanted, many sportsmen of moderate means will 
gladly send their mite.” 
We agree with Mr. Barker that a large num¬ 
ber of sportsmen and naturalists would be glad 
to help on this cause, and those who wish to do 
so may rest assured that their subscriptions will 
be very gladly received by the Bison Society 
whose sentiments in regard to this matter are 
well known. We shall be glad to transmit any 
such contribution. 
New Haven Birds. 
The New Haven Bird Club has issued its ' 
Bulletin No. 1, giving a list of birds of the New 
Haven region. It is compiled by a committee 
of which Mr. Freeman F. Burr is chairman, and 
Messrs. P. L. Buttrick, A. W. Honywill, Jr., D. 1 
B. Pangburn, Aretas A. Saunders and C. H. 
Pangburn are members. A number of localities I 
near New Haven are described, and these are | 
followed by an annotated list of 217 species. A ! 
supplementary list occupying two and a half | 
pages gives birds known to occur, or to have ! 
occurred in the region about New Haven, but | 
which are either now extinct or so rare as not I 
ordinarily to be found. 
The list is quite as interesting for what it | 
omits as for what it includes. The American j 
merganser appears to be no longer found, though g 
formerly it was not uncommon. The woodduck, j 
once reasonably abundant, is spoken of as now j 
very rare, while the blue wing and green wing | 
teal are also rare. The king eider duck is men- j 
tioned as an occasional fall migrant and winter 1 
resident, but the eider duck is not named. For- J 
merly the eider was not very uncommon in win- | 
ter and the king eider extremely rare. 
A general decrease is to be noted in all birds, | 
but especially in those birds which are pursued I 
by gunners. The game birds, shore birds and jj 
ducks have especially diminished. 
The list is an interesting contribution, but we | 
could wish that the proofs had been more care-1 
fully read. 
Births at the Zoological Park. 
During the first half of the year 1908, a large I 
number of animals have been added by birth to I 
the collections of the New York Zoological I 
Society at its park in the Bronx. Among these I 
are the following: A red-faced monkey, Rocky I 
Mountain goat, Beatrix antelope, mouflon, Span -1 
ish ibex, American bison, barasinga, sambur,| 
axis, fallow, sika, mule and whitetail deer, 
American elk, bactrian camel, Canada geese, 
various wild ducks, and of course a large num) 
ber of small native birds. 
Big Leather Back Turtle. 
An immense leather-backed turtle, weighing;! 
750 pounds and measuring 6 feet and 5 inches 
from beak to tail, was received in June at thei 
Aquarium from Bay Head, N. J. Unfortunately 
it did not reach the Aquarium alive. The 
leather-backed turtle is the largest of all the 
marine turtles. Unlike most of the other species 
it does not live long in captivity! 
_ 
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