Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months. $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1910. 
VOL. LXXV.-No. 10. 
No. 127 Franklin St. New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1909, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
127 Franklin Street. New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
THE PASSENGER PIGEON INQUIRY. 
It seems almost incredible that within thirty 
years one of the most impressive forms of life 
found on the North American continent should 
have been generally forgotten, as seems to be 
shown by Dr. Hodge’s report. In the minds of 
many people of the older generation, the stories 
of the enormous abundance of passenger pigeons 
in this country still remain, and no doubt there 
are many who carry in their memories—though 
vaguely—the appearance of these swift flying- 
birds as they crossed the sky in their rapid 
passage over the land. Nevertheless, of those 
persons who used to be most familiar with 
passenger pigeons, who saw them by thousands 
or hundreds of thousands, and who handled them 
by barrels and car loads, few have any clear 
idea of how the birds actually looked—and this 
is an interesting, if rather sad, commentary on 
the worthlessness of human observation and so 
of human testimony. 
To the average person a pigeon is a pigeon, 
and most people do not know that there are some 
hundreds of different species. T,o most people 
wild means nothing more than uncaged, or free, 
and a wild pigeon is any pigeon that is at liberty 
to go where it will. Therefore, we should speak 
not of the wild pigeon, but of the passenger 
pigeon. 
The untrustworthiness of statements made in 
the best of faith by observers apparently quali¬ 
fied to testify by long experience is shown by Mr. 
Mershon’s observations made on the Pacific 
Coast some years ago. Mr. Mershon was as¬ 
sured by old residents of Michigan, who had 
been familiar with the passenger pigeon from 
their youth up to the time it disappeared, that 
these birds were still to be found in numbers 
in the Southwest. But as soon as he saw the 
biids in question Mr. Mershon recognized them 
as band-tailed pigeons. 
That the large awards offered failed to lead 
to the finding of an undisturbed nest of the 
passenger pigeon is discouraging, but that no 
such nest has been found does not necessarily 
mean that the bird is actually extinct. The many 
persons interested in the subject will continue 
their observations and will strive to secure all 
the light possible which bears on this interesting 
but almost forgotten bird. 
FOREST FIRES. 
While in many places the fires in the Rocky 
Mountains have burned themselves out for lack 
of further fuel, and in others have been quenched 
by rains and snows, the newspapers still speak of 
them as raging on the Pacific Coast—in Oregon, 
Washington and California. 
No one can know what the total loss is, but re¬ 
ports indicate that more than two hundred people 
have been killed and injured, and many millions 
of dollars’ worth of property destroyed. All 
this merely emphasizes what we have already 
said about the mistaken parsimony of Congress 
in the matter of forest appropriations, and lends 
especial force to Mr. Pinchot’s statement quoted 
in another column. 
One of the chief opponents in the Senate to 
adequate appropriations for the forest service has 
been Senator Heyburn, of Idaho, whose home 
town, Wallace, suffered severe loss. The experi¬ 
ence of his constituents should bring about a 
change of heart in the Senator. 
If the National Forests were worth establish¬ 
ing, they are worth protecting and making use¬ 
ful to the whole country. In these days, when 
the mountains are full of miners, ranchers, lum¬ 
bermen and campers, forest fires are very dif¬ 
ferent things from those of twenty-five years 
ago, which, though they might destroy quantities 
of timber, did not, 'except in rare instances, 
threaten human life. The United States has 
never known a conflagration like that which has 
been and still is raging in the Western forests, 
and Congress should see to it that funds are pro¬ 
vided in such amount as to prevent, if possible, 
such loss of life and property in the future. 
NATIVE BIRDS FIRST. 
In Missouri the sportsmen and the farmers are 
clamoring for imported game birds. For a year 
Warden Tolerton has been distributing thesb 
birds among residents who promised to care for 
them and liberate them in due season. Recently 
Mr. Tolerton placed an order for several thou¬ 
sand additional birds, to be turned down in the 
winter, after the close of the shooting season. 
This order is for four thousand gray partridges 
and one thousand five hundred English pheasants, 
the total cost of which will be more than thirteen 
thousand dollars. This money is to be taken 
from the fund contributed by the sportsmen 
themselves in the form of shooting license fees. 
Mr. Tolerton wisely admits that this costly ex¬ 
periment may not prove successful, but the de¬ 
mand is a popular one, and he is prosecuting the 
work in earnest. 
4 
The northern part of Missouri consists of 
rolling land largely devoted to farming, while the 
southern and larger portion is hilly, with vast 
stretches of wild land, interspersed here and 
there with small fields, Yiver bottoms being nar¬ 
row, but excellent for farming. There is much 
small growth. Woods and thickets clothe the 
rocky hills. Quail thrive in this large region 
and are the important game bird of the State. 
With adequate protection they multiply rapidly. 
There-are still many flocks of wild turkeys in the 
rough hill country, and the sandbars of the Mis¬ 
souri River in late autumn and early spring are 
dotted with Canada geese. At one time, not so 
long ago, prairie chickens were fairly abundant 
in northwestern Missouri, while in the lowlands 
of the southeastern part wildfowl, quail, turkeys 
and deer are found in fair numbers. 
Missouri is not lacking; in a supply of native 
game birds, but has suffered mainly through want 
of proper protection of these birds, hence it is 
probable that- better shooting could be secured 
through the expenditure of thirteen thousand dol¬ 
lars on the protection of her native birds than 
in the expenditure of this sum on foreign pheas¬ 
ants and partridges, which may or may not with¬ 
stand the attacks of countless two and four- 
footed enemies. 
A FAIR RULE. 
The dissatisfaction with which certain rules of 
the National Association of Scientific Angling 
Clubs have in the past been received by anglers 
is at an end and harmony has taken its place. 
American rules for American anglers have been 
adopted, and the threatened dissolution of the 
central organization—in itself an excellent insti¬ 
tution of its kind—has been averted. 
What Forest and Stream has frequently 
pointed out has been endorsed by the associa¬ 
tion : There are no professional tournament 
casters or promoters in this country, and classing 
those who are directly or indirectly connected 
with the fishing tackle trade as professionals has 
in many cases proved unjust. There are many 
anglers who practice casting. The pastime in 
itself is a pleasant one, and in it there is much 
to be learned that is of real benefit on stream 
and lake. 
Under the old rules it was possible to admit 
as an amateur the manufacturer of some angling 
device, whose principal business was foreign to 
the tackle trade, and at the same time to class as 
a professional the tackle dealer or salesman who 
disposed of that manufacturer’s output. 
Under the new rules every contestant will be 
classed as an amateur until he himself proves the 
contrary. Important contests will be open to all. 
and the most expert casters will in no way be 
handicapped. 
Tournament casting is an established sport, 
and in the numerous clubs classification on the 
merit system is recognized as the best known 
plan to encourage recruits, rVho, when they, 
have won their spurs, but not before, may be¬ 
come candidates for higher honors in the 
national tournaments. 
