THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 587 
on May 20 was awaiting the arrival of the fish. These probably came 
‘soon after and were put into the pond on or before the morning of the 
Y1ist, for on that day there was a severe storm, the pond was flooded 
and finally broke out at 2 p. m., and all the fish escaped. The lot con- 
sisted of 20 leather and 20 scale carp. Later a large lot of young carp - 
were sent to the club and were liberated in the marshes by Mr. Fitz- 
gerald’s father, and still more were planted by a tug which went up 
the river, putting in carp at various places along the route. To-day 
these fish are extremely abundant in this locality, and have been so for 
a number of years. 
According to Mr. Fitzgerald’s statement, coincident with the increase 
in the carp there has been a great decrease in the amount of wild celery 
(Vallisneria spiralis) growing in the shallower waters. He says that 
formerly, in late summer, the strip of comparatively shallow water 
extending some quarter to one-half mile from the clubhouse to the 
main channel of the river was thickly grown up with this plant. Its 
leaves were so abundant, floating on the surface of the water, that it 
looked almost like a solid bank, and it was only with great difficulty 
that a boat could be paddled through it. To-day this stretch is open 
water; only here and there doa few lily pads come to the surface. 
Much the same thing had been told me the previous summer by a carp 
fisherman, who for many years has acted as guide for hunters in the 
‘region. He affirms that the marsh has changed greatly in the last few 
years, and believes it is due to the carp. He says the carp root up 
principally the wild celery ( Vallisneria), wild rice (Zizania) and deer- 
tongue (probably meaning both Sagdttaria and Pontederia); and that 
the ‘‘ canvasback celery ” ( Vallisneria) has been largely cleared out. 
At the same time the duck shooting is said to have been rapidly on 
the decline. The canvasbacks (Aythya vallisneria) and redheads 
(Aythya americana) especially have been growing scarcer and scarcer. 
The records of the Winnows Point Club, mentioned above, show a very 
marked falling off in the number of canvasbacks killed in about 1893, 
and conspicuously so in the numbers of both species in 1898-99. This 
is ascribed to the ‘‘ absence of food.” Since 1899-1900 not more than 
three or four canvasbacks have been killed by the members of the club 
each year. It is the custom now to sow wild-rice seed in the vicinity, 
but I do not know whether this has yet proved to be beneficial. 
In order to learn something of the conditions and the sentiment of 
the sportsmen in the western part of Michigan, where there are many 
famous duck marshes, I sent a circular letter to the postmasters at 
Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland, Saugatuck, and South Haven, and 
in each case received a reply either from the postmaster himself or 
from some one to whom the letter had been referred by him. The 
verdict from Saugatuck, on the Kalamazoo River, accorded very closely 
with that from Lake Erie. Mr. Charles E. Bird wrote that they have 
