952 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[JUNE 16, 1906. 

A Tramp in June. 
West LerAnon, Me., June 4.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: 1 am spending a month in Maine 
before going to Theresa, N. Y., my regular 
summer resort the past few years. 
Yesterday I started out for a tramp through 
the fields and woods; I had passed through a 
deserted farm and had entered a_ thicket of 
birch and poplars (that had grown up since my 
first visit here in 1892). I had proceeded some 
three or four rods, when I saw what I at first 
thought was a woodchuck trying to get from 
nearly under my feet; but on an instant I 
realized that it was a mother grouse apparently 
unable to fly. I had had other birds try the 
same game on me, and I said to the old grouse, 
“Vou can’t come that game on me.” I also 
saw what looked to be about a dozen brown 
leaves rolling in different directions. You will 
see something very similar in the fall when a 
grouse gets up from among the dry leaves. I 
gave no attention to the old bird after she had 
got ten feet from me, but kept my eyes on the 
nearest apparently rolling leaf, which stopped 
under another brown leaf within six feet of me.. 
I made two steps and picked it up. It made no 
more motion than would the real leaf had I 
taken it up. After examining its beauty some 
two or three minutes, I put it on the moss and 
leaves in front of me, and, without moving my 
feet, looked about: me for more of the young 
birds, but without success. I then looked for the 
one I had released, and although it had moved 
only about six inches (which I saw it do) after 
I put it down, I looked more than a minute 
before I saw it. 
I then walked away about three rods and sat 
on a larger stone and watched for the mother 
grouse to return. In less than five minutes | 
saw her coming back, when, within about two 
rods of where she had left her young, she dis- 
appeared from my view. After waiting several 
minutes, thinking she had gathered her chicks, 
I returned and found the one I had left had 
not moyed. 
Noticing what I supposed were old stumps 
some three rods away, I thought that I might 
find the deserted nest. On getting near them 
they proved to be tombstones; three of them 
were rough, brown stones without visible signs 
of‘ any inscription;-the other two were marble, 
inscribed: ‘‘Daniel Gerrish, died May 15th 1850, 
JE. about 75.” “Sally, wife of Daniel- Gerrish, 
djed Nov. 14th, 1892, ZE. 90 years, 3 months.” 
One of the marble stones was broken off a few 
inches above the ground. The brown stones 
were of the usual ornamental shape of the latter 
part of the eighteenth century and stood intact 
and solid. 
I am located in surroundings quite as pleasant 
as if I were camping in the woods. I am the 
only occupant of what my hostess calls “The 
Shelter.’ It is 18x32 feet, located about twenty 
rods back from the house and. 40 to 50 feet 
higher, in the edge of-a thicket of birch and 
poplars. There are sleeping accommodations 
for ten persons (one double ~bed, a_ leather- 
covered couch and seven single cots, including 
two cots on the veranda. The family and guests 
all sleep here during the summer months. In 
one end is a “Franklin fire-place’ set in a 
cobblestone foundation, 4x4% feet, 20 inches 
deep, with a brick chimney 16 feet high, sur- 
mounted with a fancy terra-cotta top. 
I have been here two weeks, except on but 
a few evenings a fire has-been indispensable for 
comfort. 
A pair of catbirds have a nest in a clump of 
blueberry bushes within two rods of my desk, 
and while writing this I have seen the male 
twice within ten feet of the window. It reminds 
me of what Mr. Alex. Starbuck called, “Some 
Homemade Poetry ‘of My Catbird,”’ published 
in FOREST AND STREAM several years ago, and 
I can, in truth, quote: 
“Nightingale I never heard, 
Nor the skylark, poet’s bird.” 
Twice, also. I have seen while writing this, a 
warbler (strange to me) within a few feet of 
the building. I reached for my field glass and 
went outside, but failed to find it. 
Again, also twice, have I seen a brown 
thrush while sitting here. A wire fence with a 
board at the top runs around three sides of 
“The Shelter’; on the edge of the board the 
thrushes run down to the corner (about two 
rods) and back, stopping in front of my window, 
and we watched each other, but at the first 
motion I made he was gone like a flash. 
Excepting the warbler, mentioned above, all 
other species that I have seen here occur in 
Niagara county, N. Y. But Maine is fortunate 
in not having that parasite, the cowbird. 
While two of the young ladies of the family 
and my grandchildren (4% and 3 years) were 
driving to the post office several days since, they 
saw two deer standing in the road. They drove 
within a few rods of them. Last week, while 
driving over to Rochester, N. H., the boy (4% 
years), pointing his finger, said that he saw a 
deer. It was standing behind some low bushes, 
and as the ladies could not see it plainly, they 
left the road and drove toward it. The deer 
stood and looked at them for some time, then 
running a few rods, stopped and looked again, 
finally disappearing in the nearby woods. 
My hostess has asked me to come in October 
and go deer hunting; I replied that I hardly 
thought that I would shoot a deer if I had a 
good chance. I would prefer the grouse and 
woodcock shooting, which must be good here. 
I came near forgetting to say that since I 
came here I have caught and eaten my first 
brook trout. JL DAVISONe 
The Fiji Islands. 
On Wednesday, June 6, a meeting and smoker 
of the Explorers’ Club was held at the club rooms, 
23 W. Sixty-seventh street, New York. The 
speaker of the evening was Mr. Charles H. 
Townsend, Director of the New York Aquarium, 
who gave an illustrated talk of extreme interest 
on the Fiji Islanders and other people of the 
South Seas. 
The great group of islands of which Mr. 
Townsend told constitutes the Oceanica of the 
maps, and from the easternmost islands, the Mar- 
quesas, west to the Malay Islands, the distance is 
more than twice as great as across the Continent 
of North America, between New York and San 
Francisco, while from northwest to southeast the 
distance is as great as from Canada io South 
America. Here is a whole world of extraordi- 
nary beauty and interest. The character of the 
islands varies very greatly. Some of them are 
mere coral reefs, built up as the result of years 
of labor by millions of coral polyps; others are 
volcanic and consist chiefly of high steep moun- 
tains. Lying within the tropics they all abound 
in vegetation. They have practically no large 
mammals, the great fruit-eating bats, known as 
flying foxes, being the largest mammals found on 
them. 
Mr. Townsend described the gathering of cop- 
ra—the dried meat of cocoanut—from which oil 
is made. This is the great crop of the South Seas, 
the article which brings money to the people. His 
lantern slides showed also the manufacture of 
tappa cloth by the native women. Until recently 
this has been the universal clothing of the island- 
ers, and it is so still, except in the localities where 
the people are constantly associated with whites. 
For a number of years Mr. Townsend was the 
naturalist of the U. S. Fish Commission ship Al- 
batross, which was engaged in sounding the 
depths of the South Seas, and made soundings 
which for several years were the deepest yet 
made, having reached a depth of five and a half 
miles. It is only recently that this depth has 
been exceeded, by soundings extending to a depth 
of five and nine-tenths of a mile. The Albatross 
has done by far the deepest dredging ever done. It 
brought up animal life from a depth of four and 
a half miles. These creatures live in total dark- 
ness, the temperature of the water is not far 
from freezing, and they are under an ocean pres- 
sure of four and a half tons, for it is generally 
believed that a mile in depth represents a water 
pressure of a ton. 
Mr. Townsend’s talk was devoted largely to ex- 
plaining the very beautiful lantern slides with 
which his stcry was illustrated. He showed the 
people, their houses, canoes, implements, building 

methods, cooking methods, and many other scenes 
from their lives, and then he explained how it 
came about that he found himself in Fiji, when 
the Albatross had sailed away to other lands. 
Many years ago, Admiral Wilkes—of the Wilkes 
exploration expedition—made a very complete 
collection of the primitive weapons of the Fiji 
Islanders, which he sent back to the United States 
on one of the vessels of his fleet. The vessel 
was lost at the mouth of the Columbia River, 
and since then no collection of Fiji implements 
has been made, and they have become very rare. 
It was learned that in the interior of the largest 
island of the Fiji group, which is one hundred 
miles in diameter, there is a great population 
which as yet has not greatly changed from its 
earlier ways of living. The British authorities 
thought it altogether possible that Mr. Townsend 
might be able to secure from these islanders the 
collections which the Smithsonian Institution de- 
sired to secure, and the authorities and the 
descendants of the old chiefs of the island made 
great efforts to forward Mr. Townsend on his 
journey and see that he had everything that he 
wanted. The efforts were successful and the 
American had a delightful and successful journey 
across the island. 
In his journey through Fiji, Mr. Townsend saw 
much of the descendants of the most famous of 
the old cannibal chiefs of the island. Cannibal- 
ism ceased in this group only about thirty-five 
years ago, and Mr. Townsend gave some explana- 
tion of the probable origin of cannibalism. 
Mr. Townsend’s clear and effective description 
of the scenes that he had witnessed, together with 
the excellent Jantern slides that he showed, made 
his talk one of the most interesting that the Ex- 
plorers’ Club had listened to this season. 
Shall we Spare the Eagle? 
New York, June 8.—Editor Forest and Stream: 
I am much interested in the note which | have 
just read in Forest AND STREAM from W. B. M., 
of East Saginaw, Mich., in which he takes to task 
a hunter in the Rocky Mountains, who tells of 
killing an eagle at 300 yards. I am more in- 
terested in this note, because a few years I| 
should have felt and written just as W. B. M., but. 
at the present moment I do not feel at all sure 
that he is right. 
To people in thickly settled countries an eagle 
is a grand bird and ought to be preserved by 
stringent laws, yet many people believe that eagles 
do a vast deal of harm. I do not credit the 
stories of their carrying away children, which so 
frequently appear in the newspapers, nor their 
alleged destruction of lambs, but in the wild and 
mountain country of the west there is no doubt 
that they capture first and last a good many of the 
young of the mountain sheep and mountain goat, 
while it is known also that on the plains they 
capture, or try to capture, young antelope. 
I have an old hunting partner who believes that 
in the present state of things, eagles, like moun- 
tain lions, should be killed on sight, and two or 
three years ago I so far yielded to his persuasion 
as to kill a golden eagle which gave me a shot 
at 125 or 150 yards. 
Again, in districts where eagles are numerous, 
you will find that persons interested in the rear- 
ing of fur-bearing animals regard them as the 
most destructive enemy that they have to con- 
tend with. I have a friend who is interested in 
rearing foxes for fur in Alaska, and if you speak: 
to him of eagles, he at once falls into language 
which, I am sure, it would be useless for me to 
repeat here, for you would not print it. 
Our asscciations and early training have taught 
us to admire and respect the eagle as “the king 
of birds,” but I do not know why he is any more 
entitled to respect than is a big henhawk, which, 
of course, is just what an eagle is. People who 
would not in the least object to the killing of a 
crow or a raven think that an eagle should be 
spared. I doubt it very much. At all events, it 
is evident that in considering whether the eagle 
is useful or noxious, we must be governed by the 
conditions which surround him. I believe that in 
the Rockies and on the west coast eagles do more 
harm than good; but personally I am not disposed 
to interfere with the balance of nature. 
Bic GAME. 
