8 i 8 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Hunting in California. 
San Francisco, Cal., Nov. 7 . — Editor Forest 
and Stream: The sport of quail shooting has 
received quite an impetus, as the rain that fell 
a week ago has greatly facilitated hunting with 
dogs by moistening the ground, and the cold 
spell following the rain has driven the game 
from the thick brush in the foothills and moun¬ 
tains to the open valleys and has made hunting 
comparatively easy. Although quail are plenti¬ 
ful in all of the counties around the bay, the 
sport has not been very lively until recently, as 
the lack of green food and water in the valleys 
caused the birds to seek the wooded slopes of 
the hills where satisfactory shooting was out of 
the question. It is said that in the bay counties 
the birds hatched as many as three broods dur¬ 
ing the long dry spell and that this accounts in 
a measure for the number of birds now to be 
found. 
According to hunters who are now making 
a study of game prospects, the coming winter 
will be a severe one. Duck hunters in the north 
ern part of the State say that sprigs are flying- 
south by the hundreds and these do not usually 
come from the North until spring. In addition 
to this, not only ducks but wild geese are flying 
high and headed due South. Generally when 
ducks and geese commence their Southern flight 
so early in the season a severe winter is looked 
for. In Oregon and Washington the Arctic 
white owls, which are always supposed to be 
late visitors, are to be seen in great numbers. 
Hunting parties in the mountains bring the 
news that the bears are commencing to seek their 
winter quarters and that they are very fat. Ber¬ 
ries and salmon have been plentiful this season 
and the bears are in the very best of condition. 
George T. Tohl, of Bellingham, has recently re¬ 
turned from a hunting trip and reports having 
seen thirteen bears in one day. He shot two 
deer and two bears, which were all he could take 
out with him. At one time he saw two deer 
and two bears in one clearing and could have 
shot bears any time he desired to. 
Pheasant shooting in Oregon and Washington 
is now at its height and the sport is described 
as being so fine that large crowds of sportsmen 
from all along the coast are making the trip to 
the favored sections to enjoy a hunt. In What¬ 
com county, Washington, some Chinese and 
Reeves’ pheasants are to be released soon in 
choice localities where there are no birds at 
present. The Reeves’ pheasants are larger than 
the Chinese pheasant, keep more to the tim¬ 
bered regions and fly as swift as a rocket. 
An agitation is now under way in the State 
of Washington to change the game laws from 
a county to a State system, and many ideas are 
being put forth by interested sportsmen. It is 
generally felt that if a State system is to be 
put in effect there should be a well defined un¬ 
derstanding in advance what is to be done with 
the county hunting license funds. It is sug¬ 
gested that if the change is made that each 
county be allowed to retain 60 per cent, or more 
of its entire revenue from hunting licenses for 
the purpose of purchasing game or game birds 
to stock each county. The present county system 
is operating well in most cases and before sports¬ 
men are willing that a change be made they feel 
that they should be given a guarantee that each 
county would get a square deal. 
Duck shooting in the vicinity of Tulare Lake, 
near Tulare, Cal., has been resumed, as the 
peculiar malady that affected the ducks there 
for a time has disappeared entirely. There are 
also a few geese to be found there, but these 
are now a rarity as compard with the numbers 
to be found a few years ago. The settling of 
the country and the dividing up of the great 
wheat farms, together with the drying of a large 
portion of the lake, has resulted in frightening 
the geese away. Sandhill cranes are commenc¬ 
ing to make their appearance there this season, 
but hunters are not paying as much attention to 
these as in former years. Quail hunting in the 
foothill country east of Tulare is excellent, but 
birds are rather scarce in the valley. Dove 
WHAT LUCK ? 
shooting was good at the commencement of the 
season, but the rains that have occurred since 
then have made it possible for the birds to se¬ 
cure water almost anywhere and they are now 
badly scattered. A. P. B. 
Ruffed Grouse Through a Window. 
Lockport, N. Y., Nov. 2.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: This morning while passing the office 
of the American Express office I noticed that 
the door was boarded up where glass should 
have been, and thinking that robbers had per¬ 
haps broken the glass, I stepped inside to ask. 
I was told that a partridge flew against the glass 
yesterday and broke it. I asked where the bird 
was and was told that it was at the police sta¬ 
tion and went there to claim the bird. I found 
Chief of Police Smith in earnest political con¬ 
versation, but he turned to me with a smile 
when I asked if he had my “partridge” as a 
captive. The chief said that a Mr. Fox—proof 
you see that foxes do catch grouse—could tell 
me where it was. 
Mr. Fox was a cigar maker at No. 86 Main 
street, nearly opposite the express office. Thus 
I was put on the track of “Bre’r Fox” and his 
captive and soon “ran him to earth.” When ac¬ 
cused of hunting without a license he was will¬ 
ing to part with his prey for the sum of fifty 
cents, and the bargain being closed he brought 
out the bird, and to my great astonishment it 
[Nov. 21, 1908. 
was alive. I had been told that “the partridge’! 
was dead when picked up. But for the loss of 
all its tail feathers it seemed unhurt. The tail j 
was pulled out in its efforts to get free after ; 
playing possum for some time after being picked I, 
up. As I brought the bird home in one hand 1 
it struggled many times to get free, showing that h 
no bones were broken. I now have it in a large 
box with wire screen in front, a pail of sand i 
in one end and a low box of leaves in the other, j? 
It hardly seems possible that a grouse could jj 
break a plate glass one-quarter inch thick, only j? 
about thirty by fifty inches in size, and still live. ?i 
Had it been a large window I should not be L 
so astonished. 
I can recall six instances of grouse flying into | 
or against buildings in this city within the past ji 
forty-five years. I have in my collection one I 
that flew through a window and into the hands - 
of an elderly lady sitting in a chair. It was 1 
given to me and I kept it about six weeks in * 
a box. It got to be quite tame and would eat 
from my hand. I trimmed the primaries of one | 
of its wings and turned it loose in a vacant 
hen yard where a number of chickens had died jj 
of croup, and it died within a week of that I,' 
disease. 
Nov. 3, Election Day.—I have just been out to i 
see the grouse. It was eating and was as lively j 
as a ward politician. J. L. Davison. 
[This is the “crazy season” when partridges [’ 
are found in all sorts of unexpected localities |' 
and do all sorts of unexpected things. In one fri 
New England town there is record in one place j: 
within the last thirty years of three grouse killed 
by flying against buildings, two by flying through [ 
windows and one by flying against a low wire 
netting fence. Just before the advent of cold 
weather the birds seem to shift, and during the 
movement do these unexpected things. —Editor.] ; 
Pennsylvania Grouse. 
Scranton, Pa., Nov. 8 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: One of the Pennsylvania game war- I 
dens told me last night that he found the grouse 
of the State were having a feast of roasted 
chestnuts and acorns which they find in the 1 
burnt districts. 
Gunners’ reports as to game vary. Some few 
report grouse quite plenty, others say very scarce. 
The same game warden said that the parties | 
who report grouse plenty probably found the 
birds in swamps where they had been driven 
by the forest fires. E. H. K. 
Quail at Hunters’ Lodge. 
Buies P. O., N. C., Nov. 31 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Mr. and Mrs. Potter, of the St. James, 
Philadelphia, came on the first for a month and 
yesterday he bagged twenty-eight quail and re¬ 
ports more birds than ever before. 
Frank A. Bond. 
A PLEASING DESSERT 
always wins favor for the housekeeper. The 
many possibilities of Borden’s Peerless Brand 
Evaporated Milk (unsweetened) make it a 
boon to the woman who wishes to provide 
these delicacies for her family with conven¬ 
ience and economy. Dilute Peerless Milk to 
desired richness and use same as fresh milk 
or cream.— Adv , 
