The sun., 1907-08-18
WITHOUT FEAR or MAN.
Tame Birds and Beasts In the Adirondack
WOOds-Camp Fare.


osdooD LAKE. N. Y. Aug. l0.-A thing
that strikes the chance wanderer through
the wilderness Of the Adirondacks 10 the
tamencss Of the birds and beasts. as IL they
had hardly learned to fear men as hunters.
guide who goes daily from this lake to n
neighboring hotel garden has seen morning
after morning within a few yards OF the
place where the gardeners are at work a
mother grouse with her brood OF twelve
or fifteen chicks.
Each time the hen has displayed herself
freely almost at the feet Of the human in
truder. all the while giving little warning
cry TO her brood, at which every chick
disappears as IL by magic. IL is the belief
OF the natives that the grouse chicks actu-
ally cover themselves with dead leaves
Much more probably they melt by reason
Of their color into the general surface ~
last years fallen leaves until they can get
TO cover among the blue berries.
The ruffed grouse, even when unencum-
bered by family. surprises one in these
parts by Its tameness. These birds love
to haunt the edge Of old wood roads, and
they are sometimes 80 indifferent to the
presence Of a man that they will permit
him to approach within few feet.
Spruce grouse. with that pretty red
tassel-like mark close to the ear which dis
tingushes the male. are found in the wilder
ness. chiefly in the hardwood highlands.
but also on the edge Of marshy plains
These birds again are curiously tame and
easily approached.
Aquatic fowls are also oddly Indifferent
TO the presence Of men. Black ducks,
which are found In punches OF four or five
in the streams shat feed or drain this lake,
rise ahead OF a boat within easy gunshot
and often settle again just around the next
turn. A flock used to frequent the lake
within sight Of two camps and conduct
themselves more like barnyard fowl than
wild creatures.
II the black duck is indifferent, the mud
hen is stupid. 1t sits silent and unmoved
as boat passes almost within reach Of
oar or paddle, and rises unwillingly at the
nearer approach Of the human intruder
only 70 settle again at no great distance.
Sometimes a mud hen will repeat this per-
formsnce three or four times.
As tame as any Of the birds is the native
red squirrel: Its ticking chatter is heard
from all the trees all along the lake. through
the neighboring carry and up and down
the streams.
There was a pest Of red squirrels at one
time on an inhabited island in this lake.
The mischievous little creatures ran ia
of all sorts of small articles. When the
island camp was opened one summer a
great number of dry and hard currant buns
were found slowed away i'm a hiding place
selected by the squirrels The buns must
have been snatched from time to time
when set out to cool by the cook. Why
the squirrels had not eaten their carefully
stored provender it is hard to guess.
Although the guides hold small game
in contempt. they put into the larder of
their camps whatever the hunter kills
Such a camp will have deer hanging in the
trees. and squirrels. grouse and perhaps
ducks along with trout awaiting the spit
or the griddle. IL is the improvident way
of the guides to cook at once all they have
on hand in the way Of game. Thus you
may have at the same meal fried trout,
broiled or roast duck partridge and veni-
son steaks cooked to o turn over the GOALS
besides whatever eatables may have been
brought in from civilization.
Any bird below the size of a rlIfed grouse
Is in no danger at the hands OF the hunter
or his guide unless the larder is absolutely
empty. The result is that birds of many
kinds are extremely fearless
The waxwing alights within few feet of
the hunter and grackles are seen standing
on the lily pads in search of worms while
a boat glides by scarcely ten yards away.
Even the hermit thrush, accounted the
shyest of its tuneful family, sings within
a few feet of the carry where human beings
are frequently passing back and forth.
Curiously enough though constantly heard
and often close at hand, the bird is not
easily seen. The larger birds, such as the
blue heron and the fishing eagle, keep well
out of gunshot.