SErr. s, 1908.] 
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I 1 
Game and Forest Fires on Long Island 
Jamaica, L. I., Aug. 29.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: J have just returned from my second 
trip to the east end of Long Island in the past 
month, and am pleased to report that the small 
game outlook seems to be exceptionally bright. 
Everywhere I inquired farmers reported big 
bunches of young quail, and I myself saw 
enough to satisfy me that quail are going to be 
more plentiful than they have been in ten years. 
On my first trip, about July 25, quail were 
whistling everywhere, and it was not unusual to 
hear from four to six birds at one time. On my 
second trip, I heard very few birds whistling. 
This, however, might be accounted for by the 
fact that it rained quite hard nearly all one day. 
On the 22d I flushed eight partridges from the 
river bank; seven of thfse birds were only 
about two-thirds grown; the other was an old 
bird. I understand there are about fourteen or 
fifteen birds in this bunch. 
It was too wet to go in the field Saturday, 
and Sunday I had only a couple of hours to 
spare, but in that time I found a quail’s nest 
with fifteen eggs, a Hungarian partridge’s nest 
with thirteen eggs, saw a big bunch of small 
quail not over a week old and several pairs of 
old birds. The nest containing fifteen eggs was 
i located in a cut-down hedge and was only about 
four feet from the edge of a main highway. The 
eggs must have been nearly hatched, as the hen 
|| bird did not leave the nest until it parted the 
leaves over its head. 
The Hungarian partridge’s nest, I regret to 
state, was deserted, and upon making inquiry, I 
learned that a spark from a Long Island train 
had started a fire in the grass of the lot where 
this nest was, and before it could be ex¬ 
tinguished, had run over the nest and scorched 
: the eggs. Last April our club turned out a 
dozen pairs of these birds, and this is the only 
nest I have heard of, but several pairs of the 
: birds have been seen regularly and no doubt 
some of them have raised broods. The nest re¬ 
ferred to was located in an old weed lot about 
seventy-five feet from the Long Island Railroad 
tracks and about fifty feet from a patch of 
j woods; it was formed of coarse weeds and 
| grass, and was flush with the ground. On my 
j former trip on two different days I saw the cock 
bird close to the spot where the nest was, and 
| when flushed, it made a short flight, alighting 
j again in the open field. When followed up 
[ again it went into the woods. 
As far as rabbits are concerned, everywhere 
I go they seem to be very plentiful. I have 
; seen as many as four young ones at one time 
| scampering along the road ahead of my machine. 
Woodcock also have done very well, and I 
| believe when the season opens, we will find them 
| more plentiful than for a number of years past. 
In conclusion I would state that this year the 
j forest fires have been the most destructive Long 
Island has ever known and great destruction of 
small game has resulted. On my way east on 
my last trip I saw four fires, one of them very 
extensive, and I passed through miles of burnt 
brush. If these forest fires continue, it will be 
only a short time when Long Island will be a 
! barren, blackened waste, and it is really too bad 
1 hat the Forest Commission does not take some 
[active steps to prevent this destruction. Al- 
| ready the destruction of our forests in the cen¬ 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tral and eastern portions of the island is making 
itself felt on the farm products. 
During June and July of this season we had 
practically no rain in above sections, and there 
being no forests left to conserve the supply of 
moisture, the result has been an arid condition 
of the soil, and an almost total failure of the po¬ 
tato and corn crops. Last year similar con¬ 
ditions existed, and I fully believe it will become 
more aggravated as the years go by. In many 
parts of the island, formerly heavily wooded, 
you can now see for miles with scarcely a tree 
to interrupt the vision. 
I hese fires have a two-fold effect on the 
game supply—they not only destroy much of the 
game inhabiting the sections affected, but also 
the food supply, and besides make the ground 
unsuitable for any kind oi game. 
John H. Hendrickson. 
Game in Connecticut. 
Putnam, Conn., Aug. 16. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Soon after arriving here at Oakledge, 
in June, I came across one partridge with a 
brood of some twelve chicks; and also another 
that went peeping and fluttering away, thus 
showing that she had a brood of chicks near. I 
did not try to find them for fear of stepping 
upon them, as they were probably hiding near. 
On another tract I came across another hen that 
went off fluttering. She, too, must have had a 
brood near there. Later on I saw a full-grown 
cock partridge, and he was a beauty. 
A neighbor of mine told me that he had re¬ 
cently come upon the largest flock of chicks that 
he had ever seen. He said there must have been 
at least twenty-five in it, and that undoubtedly 
there were two broods together. The chicks 
were quite large. 
Local gunners speak of the scarcity of the 
birds last year. They seem to think it was ow¬ 
ing to the unseasonable spring weather about 
hatching time. 
Since I have been here I have heard just one 
Bob White, and only one. The farmers and 
sportsmen all speak of their scarcity. 
Rabbits are plentiful. I very often see them 
not far from the hut. There are lots of gray 
squirrels. One is now sitting on the stone fence 
nearby chewing on something which looks like a 
green butternut. 
Several times since I have been here I have 
seen two deer just below the hut. One is a five¬ 
pronged buck, the other a doe. I have also seen 
a fawn’s tracks in the road near where the two 
were seen. It was probably hidden in the bushes 
nearby. Deer are getting to be quite plentiful 
in this part of the State, as I hear of their being 
seen in many places. One lady told me that she 
saw eight in one drove. She said she had 
often seen them at other times in smaller num¬ 
bers. 
I have got several woodchucks with the old 
single shot rifle. Two of them were old 
bouncers, weighing over fifteen pounds each. 
Twice I have seen a lynx or bobcat in the woods 
at some distance from the hut, but each time T 
happened to be without a gun. Tried to get a 
shot at her, but when I had the rifle along she 
made herself scarce. 
Take it altogether, in this section the prospects 
for a good gunning season the coming fall are 
just about fair. A. L. L. 
_ 
Charles Aubrey. 
Charles Aubrey, whose “Memories of an Old 
Buffalo Hunter” were concluded only last month, 
is dead. His body was found in a field on his 
ranch near Browning, Mont., on Aug. 21. He 
had evidently been thrown from his horse and 
dragged. 
Mr. Aubrey was one of the old timers, having 
lived in the West for more than forty years. 
He was born in New York State, served in the 
Civil War, and went West about 1863, going up 
the Platte River, passing through Nebraska, then 
a country wholly wild, and roamed over only by 
buffalo and Indians. About 1865 or 1866 he was 
mining in Alder Gulch, Montana. He had been 
prospector, miner, hunter, trapper and trader, 
and finally settled down to the business of cattle 
raising, which he carried on with great success. 
1 wenty-five or thirty years ago he married 
the daughter of a chief of the Blackfeet tribe, 
and since then most of his life has been spent 
on the Blackfeet reservation in northwestern 
Montana. For a time he was agency farmer 
there, and under his judicious and energetic rule 
the Indians made more progress than they had 
ever made before. Knowing Indian character 
thoroughly, and possessing the confidence of the 
tribe, he exercised great influence over them, and 
this influence has always been for good. Of 
recent years, since the Indians obtained cattle, 
Mr. Aubrey organized among them a stock 
growers association, for which he labored un¬ 
ceasingly. He was its president. 
In the decade between 1875 and 1885 Mr. 
Aubi ey traded with the Indians along the Mis 
souri River. At the time he was much in the 
hostile camps, and at one time was offered in 
tiade a gold watch said to have been General 
Custer s, but finally the Indian was afraid to 
let it go. 
In the year 1883 he endeavored to start a herd 
of domesticated buffalo on the plains and a 
number of calves were caught for him, but the 
person in whose charge he put them was care¬ 
less with them and they all died. 
Three years ago, persuaded by an old friend 
who knew of his great knowledge of placer min¬ 
ing, Mr. Aubrey made a trip to Brazil, to look- 
over some mines there. These seemed promis¬ 
ing, but as a disagreement arose among some of 
those interested in the mines, Mr. Aubrey aban¬ 
doned the enterprise and returned to his North¬ 
ern home. 
His interest in the buffalo was very great and 
he had written much in Forest and Stream 
on the subject. A most interesting article was 
the story of the beginning of the Pablo-Allard 
herd recently sold to the Canadian Government, 
which was printed in July, 1902. In 1905 he con¬ 
tributed some “Memories of the Buffalo Range,” 
and only a few weeks ago appeared his “Mem¬ 
ories of an Old Buffalo blunter.” He was a 
member of the American Bison Society. 
Mr. Aubrey was a man of great energy, strong- 
common sense, and a high sense of honor. The 
Blackfeet reservation has lost one of its main 
stays. 
All the fish lazes of the United States and Can¬ 
ada, revised to date and now in force, are given 
in the Game Lazvs in Brief. See adv. 
