3(3 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



MUDHENS GOOD FOOD. 



Believing that "conservation" means 

 making use of every valuable food- 

 I)roduct, the California Fish and Game 

 Commission has launched an extensive 

 publicity campaign in behalf of the com- 

 mon coot or "Mudhen," which already 

 has established itself as a valuable bird 

 in the South and parts of the East, but 

 in the presence of so great a supply of 

 more choice wildfowl, thus far has failed 

 to find general recognition in the Golden 

 State. 



This is a time when everything edible 

 should be given careful consideration ; 

 for months the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion urged upon the people the greater 

 use of fish, and in the present phenom- 

 enal increase of demand is seen a con- 

 siderable ripening of the fruit in whose 

 cultivation the commission was a pio- 

 neer on the Pacific coast. 



The using of all perishables, and 

 becoming better acquainted with every 

 novel food product has become a patriotic 

 duty wherein all may render aid of daily 

 value. Realizing that only through wide 

 publicity could the people be made 

 familiar with the many good foods that 

 annually go to waste, the State Board 

 has been stimulating all possible the use 

 of birds that most hunters throw away 

 — a thing for which there can be no 

 excuse, as if not worth using, why kill, 

 or waste costly ammunition that could 

 serve better purpose? 



The worst thing about the "Mudhen" 

 is its name, and the prejudice that this 

 has built up against it. "Give a dog a 

 bad name'' has proved its truth. As a 

 matter of fact, there is nothing new in 

 the use of mudhens on this coast. 

 Leading hotels have served them as 

 "water chicken" in San Diego for years ; 

 and as "tule hen" they appeared on Fred 

 Harvey's celebrated bills of fare regu- 

 larly. Known South as "Poule d' Eau" 

 and served a la Creole, they attained a 

 more than local fame down New Orleans 

 way, great center of bon vivants that it 

 is. 



Mudhens are perhaps better relished 

 by their French name which is more 

 truly descriptive of their habits, as they 

 are a water bird rather than a mud 

 frequenter. Their diet is identical with 

 that of ducks, and in dry seasons when 



there is not much grass the flesh stays 

 hard. In general they are to be handled 

 like rabbits in preparation for the table. 

 Stews are the general method of cook- 

 ing ; but those willing to pluck fat ones 

 can roast them and have a bird little 

 inferior to duck except milder in flavor, 

 hence relished by some to whom the 

 gamy flavor of a duck is not acceptable. 

 They are easy to skin, but the process 

 removes the rich and valuable fat, so is 

 to be condemned, as all such fat should 

 be made useful. To add other fats, such 

 as bacon, is needless extravagance. 



Soaking the birds several days in 

 cheap claret imparts a most delicious 

 flavor, and is a method followed by some 

 of the most celebrated cooks, one of 

 whom has been serving: "mudhens" in 

 his cafe for nearly twenty years in Los 

 Angeles as "Salmi of Duck," delighting 

 thousands who never suspected that they 

 were eating the same mudhen that had 

 been left to lie before their guns as sup- 

 posedly worthless. 



Nowadays, as a result of publicity, 

 one sees strings of the blackish birds, 

 nor are sportsmen ashamed to admit 

 their shooting them either ; for the mak- 

 ing use of anything hitherto wasted is 

 realized to be a most practical form of 

 patriotism, and to be a proper source of 

 personal pride. 



The common ruddy duck or "wiretail" 

 is a delicious bird on the mountain lakes 

 when fed on the rich, sweet aquatic food- 

 plants so relished by the big ducks, and 

 sportsmen are also making wide use of 

 these fat little fowl this season. — Edwin 

 li. IIedderly. 



WILDFOWLERS LUCKY. 



Favored by the wonderful balmy 

 weather of a typical southern Califor- 

 nia winter, sportsmen have played in 

 phenomenal luck throughout the present 

 season until a week before Christmas 

 finds the mountain lakes still open ; the 

 highways and by-ways still easily pass- 

 able everywhere ; a goodly supply of 

 waste grain, weed-seeds and much nat- 

 ural food for wild game still unspoiled 

 by rains. With the greatest duck and 

 goose flight of any recent year reported 

 from the interior valleys along the great 

 rivers, and a good supply of birds on the 

 mountain lakes which remain open to the 



