that none of these voyagers have spoken of finding their nests or eggs,
as they do of the eiders and other birds.

Captain Hall's first expedition reached Frobisher's Bay, June 24, 1861,
and a party went ashore for eider ducks' eggs with the following result:
" In ten minutes four of us gathered six dozen, and at another island,
in twenty minutes, sixteen dozen and five." He makes no mention of
brant in this vicinity. Again, July 23, he observes : " Duck were to be
seen in every direction. . . . They were in such numbers that
when above us they almost darkened the air." His second voyage was
through Hudson's Bay, to King William's Land, but he does not speak
of seeing brant. The third expedition the unfortunate " Polaris "
reached 82 29' north latitude, where he pens this sentence : " Seals,
game, geese, ducks, musk cattle, wolves, fowls, bears, partridges, and
lemmings are plenty." Our quotations from the brave men who have
suffered untold hardships to discover a " Northwest passage," or "open
Polar Sea," are, we submit, sufficient to establish the hypothesis that brant
go north of 82 to breed, and that they go in large flocks. Any observer of
the habits of birds knows very well that while they are in " large flocks,"
they are in no condition for breeding. Before nidification takes place,
they " woo and wed," /. e. they pair and retire to solitary nooks for the
seclusion of the little family, and although hugely gregarious at other



368 SUPPLEMENT.

times, during the breeding season we believe all the anserina are strictly
monogamous. Nor do we suppose all the birds go to one island, or
arrive or depart at the same time. It takes from four to six weeks for
all of them to pass a given point at Cape Cod or Prince Edward's Island,
so that the last of the flight does not reach the Arctic Archipelago till
late in June. Then see how brief a period they have to build their nests,
incubate, and carry their young through the various stages of growth,
from the tender days of infancy, to the self-sustaining period of maturity.
It seems almost incredible that all this is accomplished in less than three
months ! It so happens that some years there are no young brant. The
cause of this, we presume, to be the shortness of the season, i. e. when
the spring is backward and winter sets in early. When the young ice
forms rapidly by the 3d of September the parent birds must abandon
their progeny or perish with them. The law of self-preservation is
stronger than the love of offspring, and with sorrowing hearts they bid
adieu to the callow brood and wing their way to more genial climes.
On the following spring the epicure will in vain call at the Parker House
for the coveted morsel.

We have spoken of the Arctic Archipelago as the place of nativity of
these birds. It is possible that Greenland continues to and beyond the
pole. Certain it is that these birds do not go into the middle of the
ocean or "open Polar Sea" to lay their eggs and rear their young.
They are not divers, and must feed on shore or in shoal water. It is
probable that the region north of Greenland and around the pole is
dotted all over with islands. The Austrian "Tegethoff " expedition of
1872, which discovered Francis Joseph's Land, and other islands, has
proved this theory further east, and we think the brant themselves have
westward. The climate must be so warm as to produce marine vege-
tables for food, and also to exempt the eggs from the possibility of
destruction by frost. There is something inexplicable in the temperature
of these unexplored latitudes. The sun's rays fall more obliquely as we
approach the pole, and yet it must be warmer than at 70 of north lati-
tude. Is it not possible nay, probable that, in the wisdom of the
Creator, some law exists whereby the sun's rays, on reaching a
certain degree of obliquity, renew their heating power, which being
intensified as it approaches the pole makes a comparatively warm
climate there ? We know that a similar law exists in regard to water.
Water diminishes in bulk as it cools down to 39 : 80", at which point
it expands down to the freezing point. Let us suppose the law of
solar heat to be cooling as the rays incline up to an angle of 45,
(or any other), and warming beyond that degree, and we are at once
relieved from our brant dilemma. Another feature of the climate
disturbs us. Dr. Kane discovered ice in Smith's Sound forty feet



BRANT GEESE, HABITS, ETC. 369

thick, and Koldeway, on the east coast of Greenland, sixty feet ! The
old navigator, Scoresby, in 1820, undertook to prove that this ice formed
in mid-ocean; but this hypothesis is contrary to our observation. The
first young ice is formed along the shore line, in shoal water, then pushes
itself out into the bay or ocean. We presume, in the Arctic region the
ice forms around the islands, then extends to meet that formed around
other islands until it encases everything in its crystal folds. Then, as
summer approaches, it is disengaged from the land or broken up by
heavy gales, and drifts with the current down through Baffin's Bay, or
between Spitzbergen and the coast of Greenland, where it melts and
disappears. Of course, the ice first melts in spring, where it first froze
in autumn, along the shore line, and is there first disengaged. Were it
not so, the brant would not be able to get on to their feeding ground so
early as the end of June, and consequently would not be able to repro-
duce at all. Then there would seem to be scarcely time for the growth
of marine plants for food. It may be foreordained by Divine wisdom
that the tender herb may be dispensed with. We have observed, more
especially in spring time, the decoys constantly pecking at the boards
and decayed posts of their pen. They seem to hanker after decayed
wood, and we have been led to suspect that this article forms no incon-
siderable portion of their food in their boreal abode. Why should they
eat up their pen? It is a curious way of obtaining their liberty, and
yet we are well assured they devoutly desire this boon. They often try
to fly or jump out of their pens, and when a flock is flying overhead in
sight, they instantly and vociferously utter the call note, "r-r-ronk!
r-r-ronk ! " There is plenty of drift wood in the Arctic region which, in
time, must decay. Captain John Franklin (afterwards Sir John) found,
in 1821, at the mouth of Banks' River, a fine log of drift wood sufficient
to cook a bear. McClure, at Banks' Land, 1851, discovered wood to the
depth of forty feet. McClintock, and the other navigators in that
quarter, speak of great quantities of drift wood along the coast of Green-
land, and Parry finds the same thing at Spitzbergen. All the rivers of
northern Asia, Europe, and America, as well as the swift currents of
Behring's Straits, are constantly discharging their rich freight of drift
wood into the Polar Sea, and if the brant do not feed upon it there, they
act very different from what they do in bondage. Here, then, we may,
in our mind's eye, see the different families isolated and scattered all
over these islands, at the end of August or first of September, gathering
and reuniting into large flocks ready for the long voyage south. Doubt-
less many of the young are too feeble to endure the long journey, and
either do not set out, or fall by the way. Their return is by nearly the
same route they went thither. They make no stop at Cape Cod, unless
compelled to do so by stress of weather, and the time of their passage is



370 SUPPLEMENT.

the latter part of October and whole of November, but at this season
they are poor and not prized, either by sportsmen or epicures. They
spend the winter months along shore from Barnegat to Florida, or, pos-
sibly, the Gulf of Mexico, where they again recuperate, and on their
return north, in spring, are regarded as among the finest fowl on our
coast.

Boston, August 14, 1875. W. HAPGOOD.



GAME BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND.



RECORD OF AN ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE EUROPEAN
QUAIL INTO AMERICA.

[From forest and Stream. ]



FOR several years gentlemen in this vicinity, who are interested in
the preservation and propagation of game, have been discussing the
practicability of introducing some new species of game birds into New
England. When we consider how few we have of really game birds
birds that will lie to and are hunted with dogs and these few growing
fewer and fewer every year, the reason for this solicitude will be obvious.
If we name partridges (Bonasa umbellus}, quail (Ortyx virginianus\
woodcock (Philohela minor), Wilson snipe (Gullinago ivilsoni), we
have enumerated about all that are worthy the attention or consideration
of sportsmen. There are a few other species, some of which will lie
to a dog, that are occasionally admitted to bag ; but to a true sportsman,
who enjoys the manly and invigorating exercise of the field, they offer
very little satisfaction. Among the indifferent birds, the spruce par-
tridge (Canace canadensis\ which inhabits the northern part of New
England, is of good size, and will sometimes lie to a dog, but are not
numerous. Their home is a great way off from sporting centres, in a
region where there are very few other game birds ; are difficult to shoot,
shying about in dense spruce or hemlock forests, and, gastronotnically,
are of no account, nor are they often on sale in our markets.

We have at times several species of the rail family, but they arrive
late and depart early, are here during the hottest weather, are found
only in reedy bogs or filthy sloughs where no sportsman likes to go ; and



GAME BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 371

although most game dogs will point them, they have no dignity of
character, and while the dog honestly thinks he has game, the little
Rallus is running, swimming, diving, flying anything to sneak away
and puzzle his pursuers until he is far over the bog or thick reeds,
beyond reach, or, if reached, is a poor reward to dog and man, and in
this latitude is almost never hunted "per se" Further south they are
more abundant, and one may fill a bag or boat as he pleases.

Along some of the hill-tops or valleys of New England one occasion-
ally meets with a very delicious bird, the upland plover (Actiturus
bartramius); but they will not lie to a dog or anything else, are very wary,
will respond to no call note or decoy, and are hardly to be considered
game birds in the sense we have indicated.

There are a few other birds that are sometimes shot, among them the
meadow \a.r\a(Sturnella magna), which most any bird dog will point;
but the bird will lie as well to a man or cow as to a canine ; nor are they
regarded as very gamy.

Snipe shooting is, we believe, everywhere regarded as very fine sport,
than which, in some sections of the United States, none is better. In
New England more particularly in the northern and eastern parts
none is, however, more uncertain or perplexing. They are here to-day
and there to-morrow, never staying long in a place, and some seasons
scarcely making an appearance at all, though, when found, lie tolerably
well to a dog, and are a nice, palatable bird. We have been unable to
suggest any of the Scolopacidce as a substitute or auxiliary. There are
many species of the snipe in the world, but their habits are so nomadic
as to render hopeless the task of localization or breeding.

The woodcock is, to our mind, the crown jewel, the very ne plus
ultra of all sport. To a man who loves a well-bred, well-trained dog,
and also loves shooting in cover with as dear old Isaak Walton used
to say "a companion that is cheerful and free from swearing," no
bird gives so much pleasure, so much real joy and satisfaction, as this
noble bird the woodcock. They arrive in March, breed early, stay
with us till November,-and would probably be quite plenty if we could
enforce a law making all the year, except September, October, and
November, a close season. But these birds are mercilessly pursued
by old and young, in season and out of season, with all sorts and con-
ditions of arms and animals, until it is almost impossible to make a
respectable bag. It is believed that some of our finest woodcock
sections have been ruined by the birds being killed in June on their
breeding grounds, leaving none to return to the place of their nativity,
as is their wont, on the following spring, to reproduce their young.
Stringent laws have been granted by the legislature, but there seems to
be no disposition on the part of the gunners to observe, or the authori-



372 SUPPLEMENT.

ties to enforce, these laws. Game laws are looked upon by most people
as an infringement of their natural and inherent rights, to be spurned
and trampled upon whenever and wherever encountered. The earlier
settlers of New England had to contend with the savages and savage
beasts for the soil they occupied, and only by the skilful use of the gun
were they frequently saved from destruction. When starvation stood
upon the threshold of the little hut, the gun brought the wished-for
meat, and all were happy again. Hunting was a necessity, and what at
first was a pinching necessity, afterward became a pleasant pastime.
As game grew scarce, the aid of the legislature was invoked for its
preservation, but many short-sighted persons declared that gunning and
fishing had in this country ever been free, and so they must forever
remain. And this is the spirit by which the friends of the protective
system are met. Time, observation, statistics, our sporting literature,
and intelligent sportsmen are doing much to obliterate these prejudices,
and yet he who undertakes to correct or reform the habits or morals of
a people, has before him no light task. But the question before us now
is, Can we introduce any new species of waders that will take the place
of or aid in preserving our woodcock? Would the European wood-
cock (Scolopax rusticold), if once planted here, be successful in its
results? It is a splendid bird, larger than its congener this side the
ocean, and if colonized would probably thrive well. It is, however, no
easy matter to capture them in such numbers as would be required to
stock a continent. It would be a grand enterprise, and we hope some
magnanimous individual or rich club will do itself the honor of the
experiment.

The partridge is the largest of our game birds, and is eagerly sought,
both for table and field. They are hardy, capable of enduring the
severest weather, feeding in winter mostly on buds, and roosting upon
trees, or plunging into soft snow to escape the cold and other enemies. If
while thus encased in flaky folds, a light rain should fall and then
suddenly freeze, so as to form a crust, they would be unable to extricate
themselves, and quite likely in this way many would perish. But the
most destructive enemy of the partridge is the snare or trap. An
expert with these wicked and nefarious contrivances can, in a short
time, "clean out "all the partridges within his reach. No species of
bird can, we presume, be exterminated by the gun, while several may be
with snares.

Then we have the sharp-tailed grovLse(Pedioc<ztesphasianellus) of the
Rocky Mountains, which would undoubtedly thrive well in the moun-
tain regions of New England. They survive the winters there, why not
here? We know that climate, soil, and food have much to do with the
successful planting and propagating new species of plants or animals.



GAME BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 373

Many years ago some benevolent gentlemen undertook to colonize the
pinnated grouse, or heath hens (Cupidonia cupido\ on Cape Cod.
Ample legal protection was thrown around them by the legislature, and
it was believed they would in time spread and populate the whole
commonwealth. But in place of doing this, they gradually dwindled
away, most likely from want of food in that barren region, till none are
left, save possibly a few on the island of Naushon. This may be
another evidence in favor of Darwin's theory of the " Survival of the
Fittest." Phasianellus may be one of these, while Cupido evidently is
not. We hope, before another spring, some liberal-minded individual
will not only stock the Green Mountain range with these noble birds,
but also the heaths of Cape Cod.

In Europe there are several of the partridge family that would
undoubtedly thrive well in this country ; among them the English par-
tridge (Perdix cincered) is very prolific, feeding in corn and turnip fields,
where they persist in staying, and if driven from one part, they
immediately rally in another; but as they roost upon the ground
huddled together, and are not migratory, it is somewhat problematical
whether they would go through our hard winters. The latitude of
Virginia would suit them splendidly, and would, we think, if once
introduced, make a fine addition to their present stock of game birds.

The red-legged partridge (Perdix rubra)oi France, was, about eighty
years ago, introduced into England by the Marquis of Hertford and
others, and has, in some counties, become very abundant. Its flesh is
regarded inferior to Cinerea, but still is a great favorite with most
sportsmen. We do not forget, however, that the winters in Old England
are much milder than in New England.

The boon we devoutly desire is a migratory bird. Our native quail is
a toothsome, prolific, cunning, gamy little fellow, feeding chiefly on seeds
and grains in winter, most of which are within a foot of the ground, all
of which are at any time placed beyond his reach by a fall of two feet
of snow. Nor is he a good traveler upon light snow. But it so happens
that every few years a deep, damp snow falls in the night-time upon the
birds as they are huddled together in a little circle, heads out, and if at
such time a sudden change in the weather takes place, so as to freeze
the surface, they can never escape. The bones of whole bevies have
frequently been found as the snow melts away in the following spring.
Nay, more; whole sections of country have in this way been depopu-
lated, and then the anxious sportsman must wait long years till the few
that escape in some remote corner have time to propagate and spread
over the land so as to make good shooting again. The consumer fares
better, as he can get a supply from the South or West. These con-
siderations have led to the inquiry as to whether there is not some of
the quail family better adapted to our inhospitable climate.



374 SUPPLEMENT.

California quail (Lophortyx californicus)-zxz a very numerous bird
along the Pacific slopes of the mountains, as well as the plains, and at
no distant day will, we trust, be transplanted on the Atlantic shores,
where it is destined to become one of our most popular and interesting
game birds. We understand they are partially migratory, i. e. they
travel from the mountain regions to the plains below, or to the seaboard,
where there is very little snow, and return again in spring. They lay a
great- many eggs ; in some instances as many as twenty-four, and, to
cover them, both parents incubate at the same time. Their food is quite
similar to that of our quail, but they are more gregarious, often assem-
bling in flocks of several hundred each. Another feature in their habits,
and the one most favorable to their propagation here, is that, at the
approach of evening, they run from the open fields to the thick oak
forest trees, upon which they roost at night. If the habit of roosting
on trees is universal, they would escape death by deep snows, and would
certainly be a success here, if they could be supplied with food. By
introducing three or four new species of game birds, we should attract
a portion of the gunners from their old haunts, and thereby make better
shooting for those who remain; and, further, we shall have added some-
thing to our food supply, which is a subject worthy the attention of our
wisest legislators.

Of all the game birds that have come to our notice, the one that has
most good qualities and best adapted to succeed and prosper in this
country, is the common migratory quail of Europe (Coturnix com-
munis\ or, as Mr. Baird prefers, Coturnix dactylisonans. They are
about two-thirds the size of Ortyx -virginianus, generally lighter color
or rufous brown, suffused with fulvous ; bill slim, long and less arched;
legs slender and nearly flesh color; wings larger in proportion than our
quail, and the whole make-up more delicate. Their food is largely
insectivorous, as their bills indicate. They lie well to a dog, and often
do not all spring at once, but get up one or two at a time, and then give
the gun an excellent opportunity to do its work. The bird is very com-
mon all over Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa, going as far north as
Scandinavia in summer to breed, but almost upon the first chill blast of
autumn the warning note is given, and the little bevy is summoned to
depart from the breeding ground to the more genial climate of the
South. In September and October vast numbers of them are setfn
along the northern shores of the Mediterranean preparing for the long
flight across the sea to North Africa, where they pass the winter, and,
it is said, bring out another brood of young. The nearest point at
which they would be likely to cross must be about 100 miles, which is
a long flight for a bird with so large a body and so small a wing.
Whether the two continents were originally more nearly united than at
present, as is assumed by some of our savants, and the birds by the



GAME BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. . 375

constant widening of the channel have been gradually educated to these
long flights, is not a subject for discussion here. Certain it is that many
on their passage are met by storms or adverse winds and perish in the
sea. In April and May they return again in serried columns.

On this continent we have very little conception of the vast numbers,
the multitudinous millions of these birds. They have been the marvel
of all generations from prehistoric periods to the present day. The
language of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and of the writers of ancient
and modern times, would seem to warrant any extravagant expression
we might use. " And it came to pass that even the quails came up and
covered the camp." Exodus xvi. 13. "And there went forth a wind
from the Lord and brought quails from the sea and let them fall by the
camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's
journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two
cubits high upon the face of the earth." Numbers xi. 31. " The peo-
ple asked, and he brought quails and satisfied them." Psalm cv. 40.
Bellonius says : " When we sailed from Rhodes to Alexandria, about
autumn, many quails flying from the north to the south were taken in our
ship ; and sailing at springtime the contrary way, from the south to the
north, I observed them on their return where many of them were taken in
the same manner." Bumstead, in his very useful book for young sports-
men, entitled "On the Wing," uses the following language: "It is
recorded that on one occasion such a quantity of them appeared on the
west coast of the kingdom of Naples that one hundred thousand were
taken in a single day, and all within the space of six miles ; and on the
island of Capri, not far from the city of Naples, so many were annually
captured that they formed the principal source of the revenue of the
bishop of that diocese, who, in consequence, rejoices in the title of the
' Bishop of Quails.' " Quail fighting was one of the amusements of the
Athenians, and in Italy and China at the present time large sums of
money are staked upon the issue of a single combat, the same as with us
upon the success of our game-cocks. They are sold in Naples and
other markets for one or two cents a piece, and their return each season
is hailed with joy by the peasants, as aiding to patch out their slender
revenues. We must say, in view of all this, that we have not been with-
out our fears, lest, if they were introduced into this country, they would
in time become so numerous as to " waste and havoc " our grain fields.
The world is said to be governed by equivalents, and it is possible that,
in the wisdom of Divine Providence, the Fox gun was invented about
the same time that the project of importing these birds was conceived,
by the use of which, and other improved breech-loaders, our agricul-
tural interests may be protected from these devouring hordes. So
thoroughly impressed were we in favor of this prolific little foreigner,
that he would fill a gap and furnish food for millions of our people, we



376 SUPPLEMENT.

set about finding some one who had been in Sicily or southern Italy that