653 
. Oct. 23, 1909 ] 
laccessible place of refuge when hard pressed, 
ley never will be exterminated by gunners in 
pis section and will respond promptly to every 
fort of protective or propagative nature. They 
ford a splendid illustration of the value of co- 
peration among sportsmen, for the California 
tate Game and Fish Protective Association has 
;en the chief factor in securing every really 
iluable feature that has been incorporated in 
le game laws during the last ten years. It 
is stood for reasonable bag limits and as long 
>en seasons as the bird supply permitted. 
Good sport will not last long with the quail, 
: too many are after them, and the birds soon 
arn all about a gun. Some declare 25,000 
mners were afield Sunday—10 per cent, of the 
ipulation of this city—and if all Southern 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Most of the clubs are short of water in greater 
or lesser degree, and this contributed consider¬ 
ably to the poor sport experienced, but general 
opinion awarded the unattached hunters who 
lined the roads, a lion’s share of the credit—or 
discredit—for spoiling the shooting. 
A few widgeon are here already, early like 
the green teal. They did not appear in the bags 
to any notable extent, sprigs and teal being the 
prevailing kinds. 
The great flocks of snipe seen a few weeks 
ago on the ponds were not in evidence open¬ 
ing day, and seem to have gone. No sport was 
offered at all. 
Mudhens are appearing in force. Club men 
who have been shooting these birds to leave 
them lie, are making a serious mistake. The 
Pheasants, none, as this seems to be no sec¬ 
tion for them, their range being further south 
and down in the brush land along the edge of 
the pines. 
Rabbits are quite numerous. I have come 
across a good many, and by what I have seen 
and heard their number is fully up to or even 
above the average. 
Gray squirrels are more than ordinarily plen¬ 
tiful, as numbers of them can be seen in all 
places where they are usually to be found. But 
what the little rodents will find to live upon 
during the coming winter is a mystery, for I 
have never before seen their food so scarce as 
it is this fall. Scarcely a hickory nut or an 
acorn to be found and but very few chestnuts, 
more than half of the chestnut trees in this 
lifornia be included I believe the statement 
not exaggerated. 
fucks proved a bitter disappointment. The 
on was full the night before opening day, 
'ich permitted the birds to feed and water to 
' lr capacity, and no doubt helped them to re- 
■ ln out on the ocean longer without being 
ipelled to come in and down for a drink. 
:re was no scarcity of ducks, but they were 
high, kept so by the terrific bombardment 
)rded by several thousand road hunters and 
chers who infested the roads running be- 
1 en the duck clubs. No one would begrudge 
;e fellows the ducks they drop on the road, 
1 by their wild shooting at ducks a hundred 
; is beyond the range of any gun they spoil 
sport for everybody, including the club men 
'* h ave spent a mint of money in developing 
nd bringing ducks where they never came 
l,re - They create, not corral, the shooting, 
naturally feel entitled to some protection 
:h the Orange county authorities have with- 
I. 
SEASONABLE SPORT. 
breast of a Southern California mudhen, after 
a month’s feeding on the barley of the duck 
ponds, affords a morsel fit for any king. 
Dove shooting has continued longer than 
usual this year. The doves are very fat now 
and indeed are at their best. A few jacksnipe 
have arrived. Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Game Outlook in Two States. 
Milhurst, N. J., Oct. 19.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The prospects for game here in Cen¬ 
tral Jersey this fall are not altogether encourag¬ 
ing. 
By what I have seen and heard quail are 
scarce. Last Sunday, while strolling through 
the woods, I came upon a splendid bevy of the 
birds, some fifteen or more in number, and 
those are the only ones I have seen this fall, 
although I have tramped a great deal through 
both open lands and woods. Farmers and local 
gunners also seem to think that there are not 
nearly so many quail this fall as in years past. 
part of the State being either dead or dying, 
caused by the blight, and the other trees bear¬ 
ing but few nuts. 
While at the brush hut in Connecticut dur¬ 
ing the past summer I was much pleased to 
find that the partridges seemed to be increas¬ 
ing up to their normal number. I saw several 
broods, and likely broods they were, a dozen 
and more in each, and they did look just lovely. 
One big brood in particular was hatched and 
stayed but a short distance below the hut. 
Quail were very scarce. I saw none and 
heard only one during the ten weeks I was 
having my outing. 
Rabbits were fairly abundant, but squirrels 
seemed to be very plentiful, and their food—- 
acorns, shelibark hickory nuts and butternuts— 
promised a good crop, but a very few chestnuts. 
I saw several deer and the farmers in that 
section spoke of seeing quite a number, often 
several together. One woman in particular, 
living some three miles from the hut, told me 
that one morning she saw eight fullgrown ones 
