

JULY 20, 1907.] 
BOR Eo eA: D ) Sic AM. 
93 

The Zoological Park Buffaloes. 
At this moment one of the finest and most 
spectacular features in the New York Zoological 
Park is the herd of American bison.. On last 
Monday afternoon, for example, a view of the 
upper or main range took one back to the buffalo 
plains in midsummer, anywhere in the early 
seventies. The finest bull of the herd, with a 
chin beard fully a foot wide, horned the earth a 
few thrusts, then rolled in a dusty wallow, to 
clear off the remants of his last winter’s hair. 
In the shade of a small clump of trees that cov- 
ered a knoll, a bunch of seven fat cows, with 
seven lusty red calves beside them, moved list- 
lessly about. Over the outlying conor of the 
range wandered a dozen young bulls and heifers, 
the young spike bulls, with big straight horns out 
of proportion to their own size, being particularly 
conspicuous. 
The park herd as a whole now numbers 45 
head, seven of which are calves of this year’s 
birth. They form a series embracing huge old 
bulls of the most commanding size, lusty young 
bulls of four and five years, about fifteen fine 
cows, and young stock of all ages, all fat enough 
to kill for beef. The “cross bull,” which is con- 
fined in the aoe corral nearest to the service 
road has shed all his old hair, and is now im- 
maculately clean; and from nose to tail he is of 
a rich, brown-black color. 
Down in the lower range there is a group of 
bulls of various ages, eight in number; and in 
the rear of the lower shelter is “the cross cow,” 
who is so pugnacious that year in and year out 
she is kept in an inélosure containing only her 
calf and herself. 
The park herd contains five distinct strains of 
blood, and the breeding is being managed very 
carefully to see that there is no in-breeding. In 
October, four or five bulls of various ages and 
origin, and about ten cows, will be selected and 
shipped to the new Wichita buffalo range, which 
the government has just cofmpleted as the home 
of a new national herd. If the animals only 
thrive as well there as they are now doing here, 
the success of the effort is assured. 
The removal of all the old poisonous grasses 
and six inches of the old top soil from the main 
buffalo range in the Zoological Park has had a 
wonderful effect on the health of the herd. The 
former plague of gastro-enteritis almost com- 
pletely disappeared. To-day, save for the shade 
trees in and about it, the range looks as much 
like a section from ‘the. Texas Panhandle, as 
could easily be imagined. 
The European bison have at last become fully 
acclimated, and although they are in fine condi- 
tion they have not b bred. 
Cenedau Ly Lynx and Wildcat. 
Morcantown, W. VA., July 13.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: “Yo” was pleased with Mr. Manly 
Hardy’s recent article on lynx and wildcats, as 
no doubt many of the rest of us were, and he 
has appealed to Forest AND STREAM readers to 
send in accounts of their observations of lynx. 
and wildcat. 
In all my rambles in the woods I have never 
had opportunity to observe a wildcat in its native 
home, but have met with lynx, one of which 
acted so differently from what would be accepted 
that I would record it as an exception, and not 
as a naturai occurrence. 
A fellow worker and myself were traveling 
through the woods in northern Colorado, with 
our axes, hunting for a good “pole patch’ where 
we could get out a lot of fencing poles. The 
woods were nice and open, without any under- 
brush; at the same instant we both saw, about 
40 or 50 yards ahead of us a very large lynx 
standing on a log, broad side to us and looking at 
us. We took a good look at it, expecting every 
second to see it dash away, for we were sure it 
saw us. After watching it as long as we cared 
to we agreed to start walking slowly towards it. 
We did so and to our surprise, after we had 
approached perhaps 20 steps nearer, it started on 
its way in the direction it had been going, at 
right angles with our course—walking slowly and 
deliberately along the log which it was on, turn- ‘ 
ing its big head occasionlly to look at us. Of 
course we stopped to watch its movements. 
When it reached the end of the log it walked 
in a circular course around us, and all the while 
getting nearer to us, until it was certainly not 
more than 20 yards from us, as I can now recall 
it. It was so close I could distinctly see its big 
yellowish eyes and the glare which is peculiar to 
the eyes of the feline family. . 
While it did not show the least sign of fear 
of us, neither did it show any hostile disposition, 
but just looked at us and moved around us as 
fearlessly and unconcerned as if we were cattle. 
As it made no move to leave I picked up a 
stone and proposed that I make a sudden dash 
at it, with a possibility of getting near enough 
to hit it with the stone, but the insant I made 
the break for it, it darted off like a flash and was 
soon safely in a jack pine thicket nearby. 
I have always regretted that I did not keep 
still and encourage its undue familiarity, just to 
see how near it would have come, and how it 
would have acted. Certainly its actions were 
not due to ignorance on account of youth, for it 
was a very large one and surely full grown. 
It just seems to have been one of those un- 
usual and unaccountable actions which we ob- 
serve once in a great while among all wild 
animals. I wish here to express my gratification 
and pleasure at seeing Mr. Hardy’s picture in 
FOREST AND STREAM. “Not one of his numerous 
articles which I have found in various publica- 
tions, has ever been passed by without a careful 
reading and many of them have found a place 
in my scrap book of woods life. 
EMERSON CARNEY. 
[Compare Mr. Robeson L. Lowe’s note on the 
Newfoundland lynx in Forest AND STREAM, of 
July 13.—Eniror. | 
Rottinc Forx, Miss., July 1.—Editor Forest 
and ‘Stream: Your comments and Mr. Hardy’s 
article on the wildcat are quite a surprise to me. 
How a man with bare hands can kill an animal 
that, full grown, weighs 25 to 35 pounds, with 
strength and agility enough to kill small deer, 
hogs, calves and all small animals; hold his own 
and sometimes whip a pack of four to six good 
hounds trained for the fight, is something if for 
one do not understand. Frankly, 1 am wonder- 
fully surprised, both at the articlé and your com- 
ment. I would like very much to furnish a cat 
for such a combat, and I do not believe the man 
lives who can kill him with bare hands, and not 
go into a surgeon’s care 
In the very nature of things all wild animals 
dread man, and fear to come in contact with 
one who hits from afar. I fully understand and 
appreciate the fact that numberless cases can be 
cited where the writer draws on his imagination 
pure and simple for the ‘facts’ as he calls them. 
I recall one interview in which the writer gives 
an account of a monster red deer which had on 
his neck a strap with bell—the clapper lost—with 
an inscription showing that the deer had wan- 
dered from the Maine woods to Washington 
county, Miss., and was killed by the writer of the 
story on Big Sulphur River near Callao, Miss. 
The buck’s weight was given at 340 pounds 
dressed. 
The article was so well written that it was 
copied and commented on all over the country 
and even got into the English sporting papers. 
This was about 1885, I think. Some time after 
when the writer was asked by a friend about 
the buck he responded, ‘“‘Was not that a great 
lie, and so plausible everybody believed it?” 
As to these cats never attacking men, I can give 
you two instances that have come under my 
own observation. Yne is that of a negro in 
Washineton county, the side of whose face still 
shows the scar from a very bad cut; and the 
other, a man named Taylor, who was wild tur- 
key hunting, had on a coon skim cap and was 
seated at the end of a log with back to stump 
from which log had been felled. Not one but 
three large cats evidently wanted turkey for 
breakfast, and but for help Taylor would have 
fared very badly. As it was the cats only gave 
up the fight in death to all and Taylor went 
under a doctor’s care 
I am glad to know they are such harmless 
playthings; but when I go up against one, I wish 
it understood it will not be with bare hands for 
mere fun. R. E. STRATTON. 
Fly-Catching Woodpeckers. 
Mr. SAMUELS’ inquiry in last week’s Forest 
AND STREAM for the names of persons who have 
seen woodpeckers catch insects from a perch after 
the manner of the fly-catcher, remained unan 
swered because of the bimenoe of the person who 
wrote the editorial note to which he referred. 
It should not be difficult for Mr. Samuels to 
get such names. In the western country we 
have often seen the red-headed woodpecker dart 
out from the top of a fence post or telegraph 
pole and catch insects on the wing, and have 
seen Lewis’ woodpecker do the same thing and 
much more commonly than the redhead. If Mr. 
Samuels will refer to Major Bendire’s “Life His- 
tories of North American Birds” he will see that 
in Vol. 2, page 119, it is said of this species that 
it is an excellent fly-catcher and has an ex- 
tremely keen vision, sallying forth frequently 
after some small insect, when this is fully too 
feet from its perch.” he observes 
that it frequently 
We have seen 
Of Melanerpes 
circles for insects. 
the Rocky Mountain form of 
the hairy woodpecker do the same thing from 
the dead branch of a pine tree in the eastern 
foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 
An ornithologist writes us about Mr. 
query: “If he is the Samuels who wrote 
of New England’ he ought to know 
yellow-bellied sapsucker commonly catches in- 
sects.” We recall that this habit for the sap- 
sucker is spoken of in “Birds of Pennsylvania,’ 
Warren, page 129. : 
We fancy that a little search of the books will 
show that the practice has been commonly ob- 
served among certain woodpeckers, though we 
have no recollection of having seen the flicker 
act in this way. ; 
Samuels’ 
‘Birds 
that the 
Death of Doctor W. G. Ralph. 
Dr. Wm. LA GraANGE RALPH, Curator of 
Oology in the National Museum, died in Wash- 
ington, Monday, July 10. He was 56 years old. 
Dr. Ralph was born in Holland Patent, N. Y., 
and was graduated from the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in 1879. He practiced in 
Utica until the failure of his health, when he 
turned his attention to the study of birds, de- 
voting his attention especially to oology. This 
work brought him into correspondence with Capt. 
Charles Bendire and a close friendship grew up 
between the two men. Capt. Bendire quotes Dr. 
Ralph constantly in his great work, “Life His- 
tories of North American Birds.” Prior to 1895 
Dr. Ralph .presented to the United States Na- 
tional Museum at Washington his great collec- 
tion of -7,000 beautifully prepared birds’ eggs, 
which included many rare species never before 
represented in the national collection. 
Not long after the death of Capt. Bendire Dr. 
Ralph’ was appointed—in 1897—curator of the 
oological section of the museum. 

A Tree Book. 
RomMeEyN Beck Hove, B.A., author of “Ameri- 
can Woods,” is preparing a “Handbook of the 
Trees of the Northern States and Canada, East 
of the. Rocky Mountains,” which is designed to 
meet the wants alike of the amateur observer 
of trees, the lumberman and the technical bota- 
nist. Tos accomplish this task, generally con- 
sidered quite impossible, the camera has been 
depended upon to portray characters, and after 
a vast amount of experiment—to obtain not fair 
mut the best results—and of field work, a 
of illustrations has been 
meets the requirements. 
right school child may know the trees without 
reading a word save the name, and yet the tech- 
nical botanist finds in them points of equal in- 
terest. One feels in them the confidence inspired 
yy a photograph, as “the camera does not lie,” 
and no “errors of artist” need be allowed for. 
Information as to the uses, properties, technical 
characters, etc., is given in text, which .also con- 
tains an Analytical Key, Glossary, ete. 
series 
perfected which fully 
By their aid even a 


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