° 1918 J General Notes. 4:7 O 



What is the case with wild birds, even of those species that feed very 

 largely upon fishes? William Brewster informs me that he has eaten young 

 of both Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers and found them very good; 

 the old birds he found tough and undesirable but not fishy. Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher has tasted Mergansers of all three of our native species and reports 

 that none of them tasted fishy. E. A. Preble agrees with this, but re- 

 members that an adult Loon he tried was very bad and of a flavor he would 

 call fishy. Vernon Bailey says that in his experience Mergansers have a 

 rank but not fishy taste, and that the Hooded Merganser in fall is as delicious 

 as any duck. Dr. Fisher has eaten both Hell-divers and Eared Grebes and 

 found neither of them fishy. The writer's experience is the same; the 

 latter has tested terns also and found them with a strong flavor like salted 

 and smoked meat but not fishy. Mr. Preble has found young Gulls very 

 palatable. Dr. Fisher gives the same finding for Razor-billed Auks and 

 Murres. Bitterns are reported excellent by Messrs. Bailey and Brewster, 

 the latter stating that one baked in a pit, was the most delicious bird he 

 ever ate. The little Green Heron and Night Heron are favorably reported 

 upon by Dr. Fisher. The Night Herons, or ' Gros-becs ' as they are known 

 in the region are a prized delicacy among the Louisiana Creoles. Mr. 

 Brewster found Kingfishers very good. 



Now all of the birds above mentioned feed more or less extensively upon 

 fishes, the approximate proportion of their diet consisting of fish being 

 indicated in the following list: Grebes 25%, Loons 80%, Razor-billed Auk 

 and Murres 60%, Gulls 50%, Terns 75%, Hooded Merganser 25%, other 

 Mergansers 90%, Bittern 15%, Little Green Heron 40%, Night Heron 40%, 

 and Kingfisher 75%. It is thus perfectly evident that even habitual feed- 

 ing upon fishes to a large proportion of the total subsistence, does not 

 necessarily cause a fishy flavor in the flesh of the predator. 



A fact that has a converse hearing upon the argument is that a definitely 

 fishy flavor exists in various media with which fishes have no connection. 

 For instance water in wells and even in large reservoirs and lakes some- 

 times has a pronounced fishy taste. Public opinion attributes this to the 

 influence of fishes in these bodies of water; the real cause however, is the 

 presence of certain algse in great abundance. 1 The development of a fishy 

 flavor has been observed in milk and butter and seems to be due to chemical 

 or bacterial changes when these products have an abnormally high acidity. 2 ' 

 These cases establish the fact that fishy flavor does not necessarily result 

 from contamination from fishes. 



From the facts adduced it appears that: (1) certain individual birds of 

 species not habitual fish eaters have their flesh tainted by a flavor which 

 popularly is called " fishy," but that, (2) habitual fish-eating birds do not 

 necessarily taste fishy nor do the products of animals fed upon fish-meal, 



i See Bull. 64, U. S. Bur. Plant Industry, 1904, 44 pp. 



2 See Circ. 146, U. S. Bur. Animal Industry, 1909, 20 pp., and Research Bull. 38, Iowa 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. 1917, pp. 235-246. 



