The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-04-05
Cambria County.
CHAPTER w.
General Description.

abundance. These being animals Of prey,
are hunted for sport, and for the bounty,
which is paid out of the county treasury.
The ground-hog ,raccoon, oppOssum, skunk,
weasel and mink are also hunted for sport,
though Aanting the skunk is generally
more agreeable than .Jinding it. The rab-
bit and squirrel are hunted not only for
the excellent rifle sport they furnish, but
as rare delicacies for the table. Some
| thousands Of the latter are annually taken
in the county, and yet there is noapparent
decrease in the number.
| have observed, as singular circum-
stance, that in the counties Immediately
east OF the Allegheny Mountain, the grey
| squirrel preponderates largely over the
black-perhaps in the ratio Of six to one
while here the black and grey squirrel
are equally abundant, perhaps the black
| squirrel the more numerous o" the two
Here is a problem for naturalists to solve,
in whose hands we leave it.
There are three other varieties Of this
| charming little animal: the red squirrel
the pine squirrel, or chicoree, (from its
chirrup or BARK the striped or ground
squirrel, and the flying squirrel, which lat
ter has its legs connected by membrane,
something like a bat, which enables it to
fly for considerable distance.
The kingdom Of ornithology is rich and
varied. The falcon or hawk, the merlin
or chicken-hawl, the owl and the crow
are killed for sport, and to protect our
barn-yard fowls; while the wild turkey,
pheasant, partridge, woodcock, sniPe and
Wild pigeon furnish our tables with a &c
licious luxury.
The wild turkey, which is quite COM
mon, is taken captive by very singular
process a pen of poles or rails is con-
structed on the summit of knoll The
top-of this is covered over. The floor is
strewed with oats, and furrow or hollow
place on one side of the pen is also strewed
with this grain. From thence a trail Of
oats extends some distance down the hill !
The wild turkeys, for they are always !
found in flocks, get on this trail, and 'sfol-
low it to their ruin" They pick away at
the deceptive treasure, never raising their
heads from the ground till they find them
selves within the pale of destruction
1t might be argued that the opening at
which they made their entrance would |
answer equally well for their egress, But
not so. The lure that enticed them in is
gone, and they will not ''stoop to con-
quer." In other words, the moment the
silly bipeds realize their situation, they
direct all their efforts in a vain attempt to
escape from the top of their prison, and
will not take advantage of the opening un-
dcrneath.
The dove, robin, lark, thrush, black
bird, cat-bird, whipporwin, wood-pecker, |
jay, martin, swallow, pee-weet, blue-bird, |
snow-bird, sparrow, hanging bird or Balti-
more oriole, wren, humming- bird, and
multitude Of others, delight the eye with
the beauty and brilliancy of their plu-
mage, and the ear with the melody of
their music, while their innocence should |
protect them from the aim of the sports |
man.
We cannot boast much of an abundance |
Of the finny tribe. However, the Cone |
maugh affords excellent sport for the dis |
ciples of Isaac Walton and the sources
Of this stream, as we'll as the head waters !
of the Chest, Clearfeld, and Blacklick af- ,
ford an exhaustless supply of that most
delicate of fsh--the trout.
Of noxious reptiles, we are almost as
clear as the island of saints. The rattle.
snake, that terror of the forest, is rarely
met with In any portion of the county,
nor have J. ever seen copperhead or viper
ali OF which are inconveniently abun-
dant IN many of the older counties. The
more innocent varieties of serpent, such
as garter, snake, water-snake, black-snake,
etc, are of more frequent occurrence.-
And here, before closing this branch of
my subject, an apology may, perhaps, be
due my readers for introducing much with
which they are already familiar. For in
stance, that portion of my General De
serptlon which describes our forest trees
and forest animals, may be considered IL
able TO censurc on this account. Howev.
er, this was so interviewer with nv nlap