
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 

Dr WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 

Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation 


THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor 
recreation, and a refined taste for natural objects. 
August 14, 1873. 
A HAVEN AND A REFUGE 
UCKY is the man who can slip out of town at 
L the week-end and hide himself in a little camp 
among the forest trees. More fortunate is 
he who does it nightly. The camp may be a rough- 
hewn affair, but during occupancy it is a haven 
and refuge. It can look upon a placid lake, a hum- 
ble mill-pond, a great river burdened with com- 
merce of the world, a quiet stream rife with pas- 
sage of wild inhabitants, or it may look out through 
a thicket of trees into the many greens of a valley 
and a sliding river. It is camp with all its mystery 
and magic—a place to flee the city. 
Amidst the trees the camp soon takes on a rai- 
ment of hoary antiquity in harmony with sur- 
roundings. It becomes a part of the landscape, 
and it is this which pleases the tenant and makes 
him feel he is lord of all within a wide survey of 
eyes. When darkness falls and the world is a 
place of long shadows and silences, the fire is 
lighted and the cabin glows with the beauty of “‘the 
red flower that blossoms at night.” The mental 
ills of a hard day in town are forgotten. Night 
and nature are close. The world of men is lost in 
dark miles. 
The majority of men cannot snare “‘the changes 
of the year in soft and fragile nets of song,” yet 
they have that fine frenzy for the open which is 
allied to singers and dreamers. They feel but do 
not express nor interpret. Their creative effort is 
the cabin, and in this seclusion they can look out 
upon the world as men look out of Mecca. Sea- 
sons come and fling abroad their gifts and beauty 
and go like the passing of night. Dawn and the 
sunrise is seen and deeply felt—a thing unknown 
in town. Hesperus is followed sinking behind an 
aras of mist, and chaste Diana, dripping with dews, 
stirs strange sentiment as never before. Odors 
drift from herbage and hidden flowers. From the 
thicket at the water’s edge sings a happy bird a 
refrain subdued, plaintive, reedy. Simple things 
of nature are these, but they give the romance and 
adventure to the cabin one longs for. Without 
them it is merely a lodging place for the night. 
Amid the sounds and odors, the colors and gentle 
adventure of living things, the cabin is a haven 
and a refuge. 
RUFFED GROUSE DISEASE 
VERY few years a number of ruffed grouse 
E are found dead that apparently had not been 
in any way wounded. During 1918 and 1923 
particularly large numbers of such birds were dis- 
covered. Some of these were sent to Dr. Arthur 
Allen, of the ornithological laboratory at Cornell 
University, for investigation. It was found that 
the large majority of the birds were infested with 
a parasite in the stomach known as dispharagus. 
This small worm causes ulceration and inflamma- 
tion. The few years following such an epidemic 
are generally succeeded by a marked increase in 
the number of birds. Death resulting from the 
infestations of this parasite generally occurs be- 
tween December and March, and from present in- 
dications scientists are inclined to think that this 
parasite makes it ravages every five years. Defi- 
nite information on this, however, is not obtain- 
able at the present time. 
Strenuous efforts are now being made to deter- 
mine the life history of the dispharagus in order 
to formulate means of combating its ravages. 
Present progress hints at an early solution of the 
problem. 
WILD DUCK FEEDING GROUNDS. 
HERE have been innumerable methods pro- 
ap posed for propagating our wild ducks, and a 
number of them are now in effect. There is 
one means, however, that is not receiving the at- 
tention it deserves, viz., the planting of food in 
their favorite haunts. 
To do this requires surprisingly little effort and 
expense, and the beneficial results ensuing there- 
from will more than repay for the cost and labor 
expended. There are ponds, bays and coves of in- 
finite number in all sections of the country that 
would make ideal havens of refuge for all species 
of waterfowl were it not for the lack of suitable 
feeding conditions. 
The favorite vegetable foods of the wild duck 
are celery and wild rice. These plants are not only 
nutritious, but they improve immensely the culi- 
nary value of all waterfowl. The canvasbacks of 
Chesapeake Bay have not merited their reputation 
among epicures because their delicious flesh is 
peculiar to this species, but because these ducks 
feed on the proper sort of vegetable food. In the 
same way, the flesh of most golden-eyes is rank, 
because they feed almost entirely on marine life. 
Were these same ducks fed on celery and rice their 
flesh would be as palatable as that of the canvas- 
backs. 
Both wild rice and celery are very easily planted, 
and both are best suited to muddy bottoms. The 
former plant should be sown thickly and in water 
that is not stagnant. The celery should be scat- 
tered more.thinly. Full information on the culti- 
vation of these plants may be obtained from the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
Sportsmen’s clubs have made extensive plant- 
ings of various duck foods, and the results in al- 
most every case have been most gratifying. There 
is no reason why other organizations and communi- 
ties should not make similar efforts. The splendid 
possibilities in this direction will prove astounding. 
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