The Canadian Sportsman; and Naturalist. 



NoS. II AND 12. 



MONTREAL, DECEMBER, 1883. 



Vol.. HI. 



WILLIAM COUPER, Editor. 



TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. 



This number terminates the third volume 

 of the Canadian, Sportsman and Naturalist. 

 We regret to inform our subscribers that the 

 publication ends with this issue. For some 

 time past it became necessary to devote more 

 time to our business than heretofore, owing to 

 the large amount of work we have been 

 favoured with ; therefore we could not give the 

 magazine the attention and labour required to 

 continue it. We take this opportunity of 

 thanking our friends who have assisted us. 

 Although the publication will cease, our 

 efforts will not. have been in vain, as many 

 valuable records can be found in its pages. 



To subscribers who have remitted in ad- 

 vance, we will return the money, and those in 

 arrears will oblige us by remitting subscrip- 

 tions now due. 



"THE AUK." 

 We have received the first number of " The 

 Auk," a continuation of " The Bulletin of 

 the Nuttall Ornithological Club," now is- 

 sued as a quarterly journal of ornithology by 

 the American Ornithological Union. It is 

 an 8vo. of 108 pages, beautifully printed and 

 full of interest to the student of North Am- 

 erican birds. We are quite interested in the 

 discussion by Drs. Merriam and Coues on 

 bird nomenclature. It is only by the investi- 

 gations of such talented men that we can 

 ultimately arrive at a proper knowledge of 

 ornithological literature. The writers will 

 doubtless arrive at a proper understanding re- 

 garding " Ornithophilogicalities ;" they have 

 commenced the matter and it must now be 

 ended satisfactorily on one side or the other. 

 In the meantime we think Dr. Coues has 

 found a strong, energetic rival and critic in 



Dr. Merriam. "The Auk** is published ;it 

 $3.00 a year, and it i-; really a cheap, useful 

 and intelligent journal, which we commend t<> 

 all lovers and students of Canadian birds. — C. 



THE ART OF DECEIVING. 



HOW FISH CAN BE INDITED TO NIBBLE ARTIFI- 

 CIAL FLIES. 



The Pall Mall Gazette, in discussing the 



question of artificial flies for piscatorial pur- 

 poses, says : Flies are commonly regarded ae 

 a necessary evil, but apart from this popular 

 prejudice they have a special interest For ti-li 

 and tor fishermen. Though the flies on which 

 fi«h delight to feast are legion in number, the 

 artificial flies employed by the angler, are 

 many more. Walton confines his list to twelve, 

 which he quaintly calls " a jury likely to be- 

 tray and condemn all the fronts in the river." 

 But his knowledge of the subject was very 

 limited, and it is plain from his description 

 that he regarded them rather as fancy crea- 

 tions than as imitations of real insects. Many 

 are the materials and many the devices where- 

 with art seeks to imitate nature. Perhaps 

 the closest approach to a real tiy body is the 

 strip of twisted quill, taken from the opaque 

 part of the feather stem, which is used in the 

 construction of the " blue upright " and some 

 other flies. Here the joints of the real fly's 

 body, and its alternations of color, an- closely 

 imitated by *he windings of the quill along the 

 hook. Woolly bodies, however, are com- 

 moner. A very good body is made by twisting 

 strips of peacock's " harl " (the fibres of the 

 peacock's feather) closely round the book. 

 This is deservedly held in high esteem, but 

 probably not one angler in twenty knows 

 wherein its excellence consists. The artificial 

 fly known as the " governour," intended to re- 

 present the ground bee, as a body of this kind ; 

 yet if the bodies o( the natural and the artifi- 

 cial insects be compared they seems widely 

 different. The one is a sober brown, covered 

 like many other winged insects, with a short 

 crop of very fine hairs ; the other gleams 

 resplendent with all the rainbow hues of the 

 peacock's plumage. But sink both in the 

 water, and each will appear of a si very gray 

 color. The short fluff of the natural bee and 



