BMUMM, IMMt» 
Vagaries of Forest Trees. 
IV—The Play of the Wind with Trees. 
ithin a circumference of 360 degrees why 
lid the wind land a conquered tree in one 
tion rather than another? Yet if we find a 
fallen fairly across a stream to form a 
je for our passage of the swift current, we 
it chance. Not infrequently may such a 
ce fall be met with to your great pleasure 
du are roaming through the woods. And 
should it be strange that when the wind 
succeeded in wrenching a monarch of the 
■t from his fast-held seat it should throw 
into the arms of a neighboring tree rather 
lay him prostrate? Such an odd position 
es our interest, while a fallen tree may 
■ attract our attention, 
ere are what some woodsmen call “man- 
s. A large limb broken by the wind is 
it by the smaller end in the fork of an 
ent tree and held suspended in mid-air. 
st perhaps it may be fairly safe, but after 
e when the limb has lost its vitality and 
ie brittle any unusual twist of the wind 
nap its hold and let it crash to the ground, 
significance of the name is apparent if you 
Jppose the chance of a man walking be¬ 
at the fatal moment. 
he accompanying picture is an instance of 
jttism in the forest. A small limb had 
from a higher tree and landed in the 
of a young beech. The lowermost end 
limb is some two feet from the ground, 
neither end touching, the stick had bal- 
itself at an odd angle. Close inspection 
beech shows that the fork has grown to- 
above the confined limb and now holds 
rm as in a vise. 
However, you wish to gain an impression 
terrific force of the wind against a tree 
ust view the roots of an upturned tree, 
un expanse almost as wide as the reach 
limbs, the roots present a surface seem- 
2rge enough to cause the tree to stand 
without anchorage. But when to this is 
the intricate twining of the small roots 
stones and their contorted penetration 
e earth, one stands lost in marvel be- 
he strength with which a tree holds it- 
1 upright position and the superior power 
■wind which can tear it from its mooring 
by instruments. 
George Haws Feltus. 
I cannot be sure. Some people say that these 
Id i 1 ds we see now make a cooing noise, which 
I understand wild pigeons do not. I have not 
seen any this season but last summer I saw a 
flock of seven near here. 
Three miles back from the shore of the ?<■ 
Lawrence, there is a field, an old stump lot 
where I have frequently observed small flocks 
of these birds. They seem to fly from a thicket 
near by where wild blackberries grow. Old Dr. 
Pierce of St. Lawrence, some fifteen years ago, 
shot one of these birds in this lot and showed 
it to me. He said it was a wild pigeon. I 
mean to go back to this field before long and 
look for traces of these birds, and find out 
if possible if they nest in the thicket or in a 
feathers for holding on as they do upon their 
claws. These feathers were well worn. 
The negroes call these birds log-cocks and 
have another name for them which is strange. 
Not a few white people also apply this name 
to them. It is “Good God!” and when I asked 
a darkey why he called them that he replied, 
“ ’Cause dey says dat when dey hollers.” When 
I told him how the bird squeaked when I 
squeezed him, he said, “I knows he squoke when 
you squz him.” The strident calls of these 
woodpeckers can be heard a great distance. 
They often go on a dead and very hard upright 
snag of a tall oak and strike this with their 
bills until it makes a booming sound which can 
be heard a mile or more. Evidently they do 
this for amusement. 
The ivory-billed woodpecker, now extinct in 
this State, is, I am informed, precisely like these 
birds save in the color of the bill. In 1895 I 
saw either an ivory bill or a pileated wood¬ 
pecker with something white in his bill, among 
the thick live oaks and palmettoes on Bald Head 
or Smith’s Island, at the mouth of the Cape 
Fear River near Wilmington. It is a matter of 
recoi d that one was seen at Fort Macon, near 
Beaufort, in 11867. Up to the period before the 
Civil war there were untold numbers of Califor¬ 
nia parrakeets in this section. F. A. Olds. 
IN THE FORK OF A BEECH. 
woods near by, where there are a good many 
pines. E . R . F . ' 
[The birds referred to by our correspondent 
aie no doubt mourning doves ( Zenaidura viac- 
roura) and not wild or passenger pigeons 
(Ectopistes migratoria) .— Editor.] 
Not Passenger Pigeons, 
| Vincent, N. Y., July 10.—Editor Forest 
■earn: I have been receiving inquiries 
n g the wild pigeons which I mentioned 
.‘ter published July 3 in Forest and 
ago wild pigeons were numerous here, 
while they were making a flight, one 
hen young folks knocked several pig- 
vn with a fishpole. As to whether the 
call wild pigeons now are the same, 
Pileated Woodpeckers, 
Raleigh, N. C., July 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Pileated woodpeckers are found all 
through this part of the State. I think these 
are just as numerous now as they were thirty 
years ago. Once I was up a tree in which a 
grape vine ran riot. It was in the late autumn, 
the grapes were thick, and as I hung there by 
one hand, picking the grapes with the other, 
one of these big woodpeckers flew almost in 
my face. There never was a worse scared bird, 
as I grabbed him by the long neck. With a 
peculiar sort of a squeal he gave me a very 
hearty grab with his sharp claws. He was 
rough, and had a smell about him which was 
not at all pleasant. Every feather stood apart, 
his eyes glared, but I held him so his big bill’ 
could do no damage, and examined him at leis¬ 
ure. His longest tail feathers were almost like 
wires, for the moment they alight on a tree 
these birds depend about as much on these tail 
Biltmore Forest School. 
No plans for the continuance of the Bilt¬ 
more Forest School have as yet matured. Doc¬ 
tor Schenck has received several offers of sites 
for location in North Carolina but, so far, none 
show the proper guarantee of permanent own¬ 
ership. Permanence of location must be the 
first point considered in moving the school. 
Doctor Schenck is planning to take all of the 
class who wish to go with him on a trip through 
Germany and France. He will leave about 
November 1, and will remain abroad six months, 
the regular course of lectures being given, and 
the men on the waiting list admitted during that 
time. 
The outlook for the school seems bright. 
Adirondack Beavers. 
Blue Mountain Lake, N. Y., July 17. _ Ed¬ 
itor Forest and Stream: I am sending you a 
photograph which I took for you of a beaver 
dam built last year ten miles from this place. 
The construction is so strong that when the 
man in the picture—a veteran Adirondacker 
weighing 185 pounds—sprang upon the dam and 
tried to shake it, as he said, “It never winked.” 
We could not detect a leak anywhere. 
I have learned of beaver work in several 
other places in the Adirondacks, and as these 
places are eight to fifteen miles apart, it seems 
that the effort to restock these mountains with 
beaver is likely to prove successful. Juvenal. 
The Forest and Stream may he obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
