March, 1892.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



45 



Old Squaw (Clangula hiemalis 



This bird is in my opinion tlie most abnn- 

 dant duciv in this locality, during migrations 

 Generally appearing in immeni-e flocks after a 

 blow. Last November these birds were caught 

 in the herring nets on Lake Erie by the 

 thousand. At Dunkirk, N. Y., between five 

 and seven thousand were taken at one haul. 

 At this port (Erie) the largest haul, to my 

 knowledge, was eight hundred. A very few 

 American Black Scoters were also taken, but 

 no other species. Lake Erie is, to be sure, 

 a shallow lake, but the fishermen informed us 

 that most of the ducks uere caught when the 

 nets were set l") fathoms (90 feet) of water, a 

 few being caught in 18 and 20 fathoms. Otic 

 captain told me that he caught three ducks of 

 this species in 27 fathoms, and I do not doubt 

 his word. One of our daily papers printed 

 a long article on this subject, claiming that 

 the fishermen set their nets on purpose to 

 catch ducks, but I had ample proof that such 

 was not the case, for the ducks were invari- 

 ably so badly entangled in the nets, as to 

 cause considerable trouble in getting them 

 out; besides, after the first large haul the 

 markets were glutted in all directions, and 

 many were thrown away. 



This bird is well known to be an expert 

 diver, yet the fact that they can descend to 

 such depths as I have noted seems (juite re- 

 markable to me. Their flesh is very poor, 

 still it seems a pity that they should be 

 slaughtered in this way, and while 1 do not 

 think they are liable to be exterminated, last 

 fall's catch must have made quite a diminu- 

 tion in their ranks. Sdmuel E. Bacon, Jr. 



Erie, Pa. 



Capture of a Mink. 



December 29th I started for the village store. 

 On the way I saw some boys skating and one 

 of them said "Mr. Farmer, do you want a 

 young (?) muskrat ? " Of course I did, and asked 

 them where it w as. They told me, and from the 

 description they gave me of it I knew it was 

 a mink. I concluded to look into the matter 

 when I came back but just as I was going on 

 I happened to glance across the brook and 

 there, sure enough, was some kind of an 

 animal going under a cake of ice near the 

 shore. 



I hurried home, and, loading my gun with 

 o's, Avent back. When I got there, on the 

 other side, the boys said that they had seen it 

 again and that it was under the thin ice near 

 where I stood. I began breaking the ice with 

 my feet and in a moment up popped Mr. Mink's 

 head about fifteen yards away. I moved my 

 foot a little and that scared him, but I took a 

 snapshot at his head just as it disappeared and 

 had the satisfaction of seeing the ice fly all 

 around the hole where he had gone down. 

 Rushing forward I saw that the ice was 

 covered with blood. I kept still a moment 

 and loaded my gun. I had hardly finished 

 and laid the gun down preparatory to breaking 

 the ice when he came up again and made for 

 the shore. I seized my gun, but the confounded 

 shell (a boughten one) missed fire. This was 

 maddening, but I soon came up with it and 

 dealt it two good blows over the head with the 

 gun-barrel. This only served to make him go 

 faster, so I raised the gun by the bari-el, regard- 

 less of the fact that it was loaded, and brought 

 it down on his back. This did the business 

 and I soon had possession of him. 



Fur dealers and sportsmen who have seen 

 it declare it to be one of the finest minks they 

 ever saw. I have it nicelj^ mounted and con- 

 sider it one of the gems of my collection. 



Arthur M. Farmer. 



Anioskeafi', N. H. 



For blowing eggs, when there are a quantity 

 of large ones, the use of a rubber syringe 

 bulb, with two pieces of rubber tube, will be 

 found of great value. A blow-pipe is attached 

 to one end of the tube and the other end is 

 placed in a bowl of water. Filling a small box 

 with sawdust, make a hole through one side 

 at the top and insert the blow-pipe. This 

 holds it in position with the pipe over the saw- 

 dust pointed upwards. Now, instead of blow- 

 ing the egg, force the water by means of the 

 bulb into the hole, and the contents can be 

 quickly and easily emptied, and the shell 

 thoroughly rinsed. This bulb, tubing and 

 pipe can be obtained from the publishers of 

 this magazine, postpaid, for $1.00. This is 

 not a new idea, but is a good one just the 

 same. 



The subscribers to the O. & O., from Halifax 

 to Mount Pleasant, S. C, cry "Down with la 

 grippe." It is a case where the man that cries 

 is down. 



