CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



87 



to recoi-d the names of the women selected. 

 They were as follows : Mesdames Lulu B. 

 Burgi, Ellen Hunter, Eva O. Haltermau, 

 Hattie Luce, Jane E. Bielar, Bell C. 

 Feige, Francis J. Davis, Katherine A. 

 Keim, Annie C. Loh.se, Laura Cummings, 

 Sallie Wood, and Ida Cook. Each prom- 

 ised to support the law on the evidence 

 presented, and the result was a verdict 

 of guilty. Although the atttoi-ney for the 

 defense, charging fraud, petitioned for a 

 new trial, the petition was denied and 

 sentence of $100 each or one hundred 

 days in the county jail was imposed. 



An astonishing plea in behalf of the 

 defense by Attorney Belieu was made. 

 He argued that in view of the fact that 

 the 287 ducks which were confiscated 

 from the hunters and donated to charity 

 were worth between $150 and $200, a 

 lenient fine should be imposed on account 

 of the value of the ducks contributed to 

 the county. This argument was met by 

 Attorney Duke of the Fish and Game 

 Commis.sion in the reply that game 

 illegally killed is not the property of the 

 defendants in any case and can not be 

 used in partial payment of their fine any 

 more than it would appear feasible to 

 allow a convicted chicken thief to pre- 

 sent his booty as part payment of his 

 fine. 



WHALE MEAT NUTRI I lOUS. 



Analyses of whale meat made at the 

 University of California Experiment Sta- 

 tion show that this meat is vei-y nutri- 

 tious. It contains 23.31 per cent protein, 

 a larger percentage than is contained in 

 average beef. Other constituents of whale 

 meat are : water 71.22 per cent, ash 

 1.02 per cent, and undetermined sub- 

 stances .21 per cent. Whale meat is as 

 easily digested as beef and, like other 

 meats, is more readily digested than eggs. 



There are tough cuts as well as tendej- 

 cuts in whale meat. Its preparation 

 should, therefore, vary accordingly. 

 Whereas, tender whale steaks can be 

 broiled, savory stews should be made of 

 the tougher portions. 



LION BOUNTIES IN 1917. 



The complete returns on tne number 

 of mountain lions upon which bounties 

 were paid in 1917 show that the decrease 

 of several years ago has changed to a 

 slight increase. During 1917 a bounty 



was paid on ISS lions as against 179 in 

 191G and 1(12 in 1915. The number for 

 1917 is only about half of the total paid 

 in 1908 when the bounty law first went 

 into effect. If the number of bounties 

 paid is any criterion of the abundance of 

 lions, Humboldt County must be con- 

 sidered the state with the largest lion 

 population, for the total bounties paid to 

 residents of Humboldt County is 534. 

 The nearest competitor for this honor is 

 Siskiyou County with 240. Trinity is a 

 close third with 284. The total number 

 of bounties paid up to the end of 1917 

 was 2,713. 



NEW GOOSE DISCOVERED IN 

 CALIFORNIA. 



In a state where ornithology is so 

 widely studied as California it seems in- 

 credible that so large a bird as a goose 

 should remain unknown to scien-ce until 

 this late date, but such is the case. Two 

 well-defined subspecies of the white- 

 fronted goose (Anscr albifrons), called by 

 the hunters, speckled-bellied goose, occur 

 in California during the winter months, 

 where but a single race has been hereto- 

 fore recognized, according to a paper 

 written by H. S. Swarth and Harold C. 

 Bryant (Univ. of Calif. Publ. Zool., Vol. 

 17. pp. 209-222, October 9, 1917). 



The new "tule goose" or "timber goose" 

 is distinguished from its relative, the 

 common white-fronted goose by its greater 

 size, its call notes, its browner tints, its 

 yellow eye ring, and the possession or a 

 greater number of tail feathers. To any- 

 one handling the birds in the flesh the 

 differences between the two are obvious 

 beyond dispute. 



The specimens of tule goose obtained for 

 study were all taken near West Butte, 

 Sutter County, California, and are all 

 winter birds. No' breeding birds were 

 available for comparison, thereby making 

 it impossible to indicate the summer 

 ranges of the two forms. However, the 

 following theoretical breeding ranges are 

 suggested by the authors. The white- 

 fronted goose is known to breed in west- 

 ern Alaska and it is probable that the 

 breeding grounds of the tule goose are to 

 be found further to the eastward in 

 Arctic America. 



While the tule goose seems to occur 

 regularly in Sutter County during the 

 winter, there is no data demonstrating its 



