652 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 24, 1908. 
bark of a dog in a beaver’s house is unsur¬ 
passed by any like effect on any other animal, 
not excepting the proverbially timid sheep. 
The flesh of the beaver is considered very 
palatable by trappers, and the tail is regarded 
as quite a delicacy. In consistency and del¬ 
icacy it surpasses the best marrow. 
Pious Jeems. 
Black Ducks Breeding in New Jersey. 
Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 15.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Noting with interest your comment in 
recent issues on the breeding of black ducks in 
New Jersey and Connecticut, I venture to add 
a little more to the evidence already given. In 
the latter part of August, while on a one-day 
fishing trip to Barnegat Bay, N. J., I noticed 
several apparently full grown black ducks circl¬ 
ing around some ponds on a nearby meadow. 
Finally two of the ducks came near enough to 
plainly show that they were young birds, and 
I was told that they had been bred on the 
meadow, which does not happen to be in a wild 
or secluded section. Further inquiry brought out 
the fact that, judging by the number of the young 
birds seen, at least four pairs of black ducks had 
nested within a radius of perhaps two miles of 
the place I had under observation. 
While on this subject I would like to ask 
what is the general sentiment among Forest and 
Stream readers as to the standing of an orni¬ 
thologist who finds it necessary to kill a nest¬ 
ing bird of this well known species in the in¬ 
terest of science(?). I am sure he would not 
be at all flattered if he should learn just where 
he is placed in my catalogue. If he were a 
neighbor of mine I would certainly keep a sharp 
eye on my Plymouth Rocks and probably fit a 
padlock on the bird cage. 
The black duck, as all experienced duck shoot¬ 
ers know, is well able to take care of itself when 
the shooting season is open, and should be al¬ 
lowed to rest secure during the breeding period, 
even if science does receive a temporary set¬ 
back. Ocean. 
Albino Ruffed Grou se. 
Dumbarton, N. H., Oct. 14.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: On the afternoon of Oct. 8 a pure 
white partridge (ruffed grouse) was killed in 
this town. Its markings are pure white ex¬ 
cepting under side of base of each wing where 
are one or two very small slate-colored feathers. 
This bird can be seen for the next week at M. 
Abbott Frazar’s, taxidermist, 93 Sudbury street, 
Boston. C. M. Stark. 
A Curious Robins’ Nest. 
Northfield, Vt., Oct. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am sending you a photograph of a 
robins’ nest. The photograph shows the nest 
just as it was built by the birds. The draperies 
are shreds of packing paper which were left in 
the grove where the birds found them. 
Whether or not the birds were conscious of 
the decorative effect is conjectural. 
E. A. Shaw. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
A Letter to Our Readers. 
New York Zoological Park, New York City : 
To the Readers of Forest and Stream.—Greeting 
—About three months ago Forest and Stream 
published a communication stating the facts re¬ 
garding the Montana National Bison Herd, and 
calling for subscriptions. It was set forth that 
Congress, at its last session, appropriated $30,000 
for the purchase of a twenty square mile bison 
range on the old Flathead Reservation in Mon¬ 
tana and $10,000 with which to erect a fence 
around it. That action was taken under the 
definite agreement of the Bison Society that it 
would present to the Government a nucleus herd 
of forty pure blood American bison delivered in 
the range as soon as the range is ready. Under 
robins’ nest 
Photograph by E. A. Shaw. 
no circumstances can Congress ever be asked 
for money with which to purchase bison for 
that range. 
You were informed that the Bison Society is 
now making a general canvass for subscriptions 
to the fund of $10,000 that must be raised for 
the purchase of the nucleus herd. It is still the 
belief of the Society that the American people 
as a whole feel a keen interest in the preserva¬ 
tion of the bison and that they will cheerfully 
contribute toward this fund. 
Up to date, however, our entire canvass for 
funds has produced only $3,100 and the situation 
has become acute. My effort to arouse the 
mayors and boards of trade of the cities of the 
United States is very much like an effort to 
awaken the dead. Only eleven States are repre¬ 
sented by total sums exceeding $50, and only 
five by sums above $100 each. The latter are 
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Mon¬ 
tana and Illinois. But, as John Paul Jones once 
remarked on a historic occasion, “We have not 
yet begun to fight!’’ 
The call of Forest and Stream has brought 
- 
in only $15! William Barker, Jr., of Troy, sub¬ 
scribed $5 and induced ten of his friends to con-| 
tribute $1 each. 
Surely, the thousands of readers of Forest! 
and Stream take more than a fifteen dollar -in -1 
terest in the perpetuation of our most conspicu-l 
ous American quadruped! Surely they are will-jl 
ing to give more than that to the movement that I 
will produce, in the not far-distant future, a 
herd of at least a thousand bison, self-sustain¬ 
ing and self-perpetuating for centuries to come 
on a splendid range of twenty square miles! 
It is impossible for me to reach each reader] 
of Forest and Stream with a personal letter.; 
And is it necessary? Does not this cause appeal 
to you, at least a dollar’s worth? If you carej 
anything about the future of the bison, then send 
me at least one dollar, immediately, before you; 
forget it, and say that it is to be credited to the 
Forest and Stream bison subscription list. There! 
are plenty of bison to be had for money, and 
they will cost the society about $250 each. The 
question is, how many will you contribute? 
The bison millions were exterminated by the 
“business interests” of this country, represented 
by men who wanted robes to sell at $2.50 each 
The unearned increment of robes and meat 
added millions of dollars to the wealth of this 
nation, and it is now up to the business men of 
the United States to take part in the work of 
restoration. The zoologists, the scientific men 
and the sportsmen had really nothing to do with 
the extermination of the millions, but it is their 
duty, none the less, to join in the movement -tc 
create a national herd of a thousand head be¬ 
fore it is too late to bring it about. 
Make all checks payable to the order of Clark 
Williams, Treasurer, and send them to the un¬ 
dersigned by whom they will be acknowledged 
and accounted for. 
William T. Hornaday, 
President American Bison Society 
Northerly Range of the Coyote. 
The American Museum of Natural History 
is indebted to Madison Grant, Secretary of the 
New York Zoological Society, for the skin anc 
entire skeleton of a coyote killed near White 
horse, on the Alaska River, Alaska, in Febru 
ary, 1907. This is by far the most northerr 
record for any form of coyote. The formei j 
northern limit of distribution of the coyote or 
the east side of the mountain, according tc 
Richardson, was about the 55th parallel. Thi: 
little wolf is still abundant on the plains of th< 
Saskatchewan, and E. T. Seton, during his 
trip to the Barren Grounds in 1907, found it as 
far north as Little Slave Lake. West of th< 
mountains the most northerly records for thi 
coyote were in the arid region of Centra., 
British Columbia, near Ashcroft and Shuswap 
The coyotes of the northern plains are the 
largest members of the group and considerably 
exceed in size those found west of the Rocky 
Mountains in the same latitudes. The Alask: 
coyote is smaller and different in color and ir 
dentition. It seems to be nearest to the Cani. 
lestes of Merriam, but presents some differenc< 
in size. The Alaska specimen is much darkei 
than Saskatchewan specimens and less fulvous 
but, on the other hand, the ears, nose ancj 
front surfaces of the limbs are redder. 
