FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 203 



Dr. Warren examined the stomachs of twenty-three and found nothing in them 

 but fish remains. Fish-hawks are quite common throughout the Adirondack region. 

 Goldfish ponds are particularly liable to attack from fish-hawks owing to the bright 

 color of their occupants. 



Bald Eagle. The national bird usually plays the role of a fish thief, his victim 

 being the fish-hawk, but occasionally has been seen fishing in shallow parts of small 

 creeks on his own account. 



Audubon states that he saw a bald eagle capture a number of red fins in Perkio- 

 men Creek, Pa., by wading briskly through the water and striking at them with his 

 bill. On the Island of Kadiak, Alaska, according to Dr. Bean, this eagle is actively 

 engaged in fishing, and is most abundant around the salmon lakes and shallow bays. 

 Many of the observing guides of the Adirondacks will tell you how they have seen 

 a bald eagle attack a fish-hawk in the air, and make him drop the fish he had just 

 captured from the lake below, and before the fish could strike the water the eagle 

 would swoop down and catch it in his claws, but the eagle is so very scarce in New 

 York that it hardly seems right to recommend their destruction even if the law would 

 permit it, which it does not. 



Barred Owl. Although this bird is commonly credited with the destruction of 

 fish food, such as snails, caddis larvae and crayfish, it has sometimes been accused of 

 catching fish. An instance of the capture of a large brook trout at the State 

 Hatchery, at Allentown, Pa., by a barred owl was reported several years ago, and 

 Dr. Warren was informed by residents of Florida, in 1885, that the bird frequently 

 caught fish in that State, securing them by dexterous movement of the foot while 

 sitting close to the water's edge. 



The common hoot owl, or screech owl, quite often causes trouble. I have. caught 

 them in traps set for muskrats four inches under water. They were after the fish food 

 of the stream, such as caddis larvae, crayfish, shrimp, etc. I have seen two or three 

 quarts of the caddis larvae cases in a pile that had been collected from the water by a 

 screech owl, the larvae being pulled from the case and devoured by the owl. 



Injurious Insects. The damage to fish eggs and young fish caused by insects and 

 the larvae which pass a portion of their existence in water, is less noticeable than the 

 injury done by birds, but it is much greater than one would suppose with- 

 out investigation. 



The larvae of the dragon flies, and the great water beetles and water bugs are 

 well known enemies of fish. 



Several kinds of water beetles, particularly the rapacious dytiscus, devour fry in 

 enormous numbers, and the great water bug called belostoma by entomologists is also 

 injurious in trout waters. Both the beetles and their larvae completely devour eggs 



