adjacent to Lake Placid, a lovely sheet 
of water which I think is said to be 
one of the most beautiful lakes of the 
Adirondacks, old “White Face” tower- 
ing above it with heavily forested 
slopes. 
Beaching my canoe, I went on my 
way through the clearing, when sud- 
denly I heard a terrific squawking, an 
unusual sound, as of some large bird 
in mortal agony. I ran toward the 
sound and caught a glimpse of a 
beautiful red fox with a fine ushy 
tail just starting into the woods at 
the further edge of the clearing, carry- 
ing a large black bird lying along his 
back. Startled by my rush through 
the undergrowth, he dropped his prey 
and vanished. The bird was a large 
black woodpecker with a spot of scarlet 
on top of its head. It was nearly as 
large as a common crow but not so 
heavily built and entirely black with 
the exception of the red spot. The 
bird was breathing its last when I 
picked it up, as little foxy had been 
carrying it by grasping its neck in 
its teeth with the body lying on his 
back between his shoulders, “fatally 
twisted,” one might say. Evidently 
the fox had stolen up behind the wood- 
pecker, in his crafty still hunting and, 
the bird being busily at work on one 
of the stumps, he had pounced upon 
it. As I remember it, not more than 
half a minute or so elapsed between 
the first cry of the bird and the in- 
stant of my seeing it on the fox’s 
back. I think he probably seized it by 
the neck as he jumped, and slung it 
on his back almost in one motion, mak- 
ing for the woods at a good speed. 
The noise I made of course frightened 
him and he could not get away fast 
enough so he dropped the bird; a 
larger fox would, I think, easily have 
carried it off. This was in the sum- 
mer of 1896. I do not know the name 
of this large black woodpecker. It is, 
I think, a trifle heavier than the Cock- 
of-the-Wood so well known in North- 
ern Maine. I would be very glad to 
be informed concerning it. 
(The bird mentioned was undoubt- 
edly a pileated woodpecker.—Editor. ) 
J. WARREN ROGERS, 
“Wapanahker,” Grand Gorge, N. Y. 
WE ARE REFORMING 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
S a contrast to present day 
methods and progress in wild life 
conservation, it may. be of interest to 
publish a news item which appeared in 
a Kennebunk, Me., newspaper in 1865: 
Kennebunk, Sept. 27, 1856. 
FRIEND HaANscomM.—At a Gunning 
Party in this place yesterday, the fol- 
lowing Game was killed and brought 
IN, Viz: 
Page 157 
Red Squirrelis, 514; Woodpeckers, 
14; Blue Jays, 14; Yellow Hammers, 
10; Wild Pigeons, 42; Flying Squirrels, 
24; Black Birds, 5; Plovers, 14; Yel- 
low Legs, 6; Crows, 5; Musk Rat, 1; 
Rabbit, 1; Owls, 2; Woodchucks, 2; 
Grey Squirrels, 106; Crane, 1; Wood- 
cock, 2; Red-headed Woodpecker, 1}7 
Partridges, 5; Sand Birds, 234, Snipes, 
2; Weasel, 1; Hawks, 2; Wild Ducks, 
5; King Fisher, 2; Seal, 5. After 
counting the Game, the Count of which 
amounted to 8079, the party (17 on 
each side) repaired to the Mousam 
House and partook of an excellent 
supper. The best that can be said of 
which, is, that it was furnished the 
party, by the Landlord of that popular 
House, R. F. Goodwin, Esq., which is 
a sufficient guarrantee at any time 
that it would be equal to any thing of 
the kind to be obtained in the County, 
but on this occasion it is admitted by 
all who partook of the supper that 
Mr. Goodwin excelled himself in cater- 
ing for his guests. 
The largest Count of Game, brought 
in by any one person, was brought in 
by N. N. Wiggin, Esq., the Count of 
which was 1290. CoM. 
While it will readily be admitted 
that a bag of this size would no longer 
be possible under present day condi- 
tions, it is a satisfaction to know that 
even if it were, we have now reached 
a stage of education and experiénce in 
the protection of our natural resources 
that would no longer permit our con- 
sciences to sanction such slaughter. 
At the same time, it is a fairly safe 
conclusion to make that some of the 
bags of modern day “game hogs” 
would look almost as bad as this, but 
in the glaring light of twentieth cen- 
tury educational campaigns fostered 
by our many national, state and local 
conservation organizations, public sen- 
timent would not countenance the 
publication of such excessive killings. 
In 1856, there was no public sentiment 
against such sort of thing. The mere 
fact that news items as the above were 
brazenly printed where all might see 
them, proves this. For this reason, 
we must not be too ready to criticize 
the hunters of that generation. Game, 
too, was many times more plentiful in 
those days and there were much fewer 
hunters. We should rather cast as- 
persions on those of the present gen- 
eration who kill game far in excess of 
reasonable needs even though such 
bags sometimes conform with the game 
laws and in spite of the sentiment and 
education advanced against it. 
It must be conceded, however, that 
we have made considerable progress 
in this direction, and the perusal of 
such news items as the above should 
prove an incentive to spur us on to 
eyen greater efforts. Some species of 
our wild life have unquestionably been 
saved for future generations to use 
and enjoy, for which fact our thanks, 
in a large measure at least, are due 
to those broad minded individuals and 
organizations that fostered the Migra- 
tory Bird Law. Much, however, still 
remains to be accomplished before we 
may rest assured that all wild life, 
especially some of our game birds and 
animals, has been made safe from all 
possible chances of extermination. Un- 
fortunately, this is not yet the case. 
OLD TIMER. 
A CIVILIZED BEAR 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
ON the Pisgah National Forest and 
Game Preserve, North Carolina, 
this bear was rescued last April from 
a log drift in a creek by Ranger C. S. 
Edmundson, who has reared it the 
past eight months. When rescued from 
the icy waters and taken to the North 
Mills River Ranger Station, it weighed 
but four pounds. Teddy, the handsome 
cub, will tip the scales now at seventy 
pounds. 
The cub has been a big attraction in 
all the country surrounding. He has 
posed in store windows in several 
cities. He has been a successful ama- 
teur at a local theater. At the 30th 
Division reunion held at Nashville, 
Tenn., he paraded with General Persh- 
ing. His favorite mode of transporta- 
tion is automobiling, sitting upright 
on the front seat. Teddy even spent 
a night in a Pullman sleeper without 
a bit of fuss. C. S. EDMUNDSON, 
Horse Shoe, N. C. 

WHO HAS A 
COPY? 
DEAR FOREST AND STREAM: 
WE are looking up the published 
works, books and historical writ- 
ings of men and women of Tioga 
county, Pa., for use in writing up a 
history of this section. Therefore, we 
would be pleased to know if you have 
any copies of George W. Sears (Ness- 
muk) poems, which we understand was 
collected and published by you over 
twenty years ago. 
L. K. KING, Westfield, Pa. 
(Continued on page 163) 
