180 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



nghtful picture of a home surrounded by feathered songsters 

 is this; 



Thirty years ago I was a resident of Brooklyn, and the an- 

 noyance of cater] illars was (he chief reason for seeking a 

 home in the country. I chose a spot fifteen miles from Mew 

 York that had one acre of old forest trees, and with a particu- 

 lar -view of making it pleasant for song birds. I had always 

 plenty of all kinds except English sparrows. The first years 

 Were noted for the ravages of insects. My rose-bushes were 

 spoiled by an insect that burrowed in I lie roses, by worms, 

 incipient mollis and caterpillars, that eat up my lloweis, in- 

 fested my vegetables and defied insect powder and slacked lime. 

 I even sprinkled petroleum on them, which did not kill the 

 insects nor improve the appearance or perfume of my garden. 

 Sparrows about that lime were landed from Cunard sUameis 

 in Jersey City, and found their way to my home, taking pos- 

 session of a bluebird's hoVr of which I had ten. From this 

 commencement they have multiplied. I have box room for 

 about thirty each winter— and by autumn have had a flock of 

 aliout two hundred. As thirty is as many as can find comfoit- 

 able winter quarters, I thiuk'the balance, sire eaten up by the 

 owls or find refuge in Newark. But every spring for five 

 years about a dozen of my bird boxes have pairs, who com- 

 mence household duties before the other birds come along. 

 Bluebirds come next, and in two double boxes I have spar- 

 rows in one end and bluebirds in the other end. The wrens 

 are. more conservative, and I have six boxes with a hole so 

 small that no one but Jenny can get in. A lively time she 

 and her mate make when a sparrow looks in. But be rarely 

 intrudes, though Jenny's house is a little the most ornamental, 

 and birds may be envious. The robins come next, aod ihey 

 build all over— in the wisteria and honeysuckle, the pear trees 

 and spruces, so that I have more than I want in strawberry 

 time. Next in numbers are the cat-birds, who build in the 

 darkest recesses of the Norway spruces. Three pairs of ori- 

 oles and two nesls of the thrush, in the deepest recesses of the 

 hawthorn. Kobert of Lincoln, Bryai t's friend, has a meadow 

 lot shared wilh a meadow-lark, and brown linnets or field 

 sparrows are all around. I think the birds aie gratelul, for I 

 am entirely freed from my enemies, ihe insect pests, except 

 the potato-bugs and the c'.rculio. I have more song birds 

 than I had before the sparrows came. Nati-balist. 



FiomiBBBS' Eyks. — According to a paper by Mr. Agassiz 

 in the proceedings of the American Academy of Science, the 

 eyes of ihe young flounder immediately after hatching 

 do not differ from the eyes of other fishes. Very soon, 

 however, the eye on the pale side begins to work its way over 

 toward the dark side, passing over the frontal bone by a pro- 

 O' ss of volulation and translation. Just here comes a curious 

 effect. Ponchet tells us that the want of color on the blind 

 Bidrj of ihe fish is due to the partial atrophy of the great sym- 

 pathetic nerve caused during the passage of the eye from one 

 side to.thc other. In the plaguaia the eye sinks into the head ami 

 works its way across, finally appearing on the other side. 



Aurivals at fraE Pb 

 Park, for Two Weeks. 

 two alligators, A. mist 

 water snake aad twelve 

 _Anrntro-cn , on •oritit , 

 green bittern, Anka lit 



delphia Zoological Garden, Faikmocnt 

 'T. 21.— Two lizards, Seeloperus mululatm; 

 tjiensia; one red fox, VtOpei ful> as ; one 

 mg, Ave coppeilieatl sDaKes and six .young, 



mke. Pm 



:■,::■!: 



: .ppev- 



rat, 



rrlcr pigeon ; on( 

 e golden crowned iluu-h, St 

 c&petit'w subulalutt ; one tiog-noseil 



the'Enstern shore. Receipts, 2,270 bbls. Bay and 1,650 bbls. 

 Shore. Another Greenland halibuler has arrived home the 

 past week, with only a partial fare. Whole number of ar- 

 rivals, 6U. — Cope Ann Adverlixer. Sept. 27. 



New York. — Nat) Tor/,:.— There is just now a fine run of 

 blue fish in the Bay and along the Long Island shore. 



Neie Dorp, Sept. 25. — Fishing yesterday in "Yates' Ilole," 

 in Fishkill Creek, our catch was 9, 1 to 'i\ lbs., weak fish j 4, 

 \ to 1 lb., striped bass, and the 14 blue fish, weighing from ^ 

 to h It', in weight, also simd porgies too numerous to mention. 

 We have had the best of fishing ibis year at all points around 

 the Island. This is my fifth trip, and I have always had a 

 mess of fish. W. A. 6. 



New Jersey — Kimey's Ashley House, Barnegat Inlet, Sept. 

 22,— Only three or four sheepshead taken past week. Blue- 

 fish— No weather for fishing outside, consequently no report 

 to make. Sea-bass and blackfish very plenty. Some good 

 CatcbOS of Striped lass icponed. The following gentlemen 

 made the annexed scores in parts of two flays: lion A. B. 

 Caldwell, of Washington, Pa., 90 hlaekfisll and sca-bass; 

 Gen, B. F. Fisher, Philadelphia, M5-, J. P. Molsecd, Phila- 

 delphia. 173; J. W. Mulbollaiid. Pa., 84. Captain Charles 

 Cox had the parly in charge in bis fine yacht Ehzahtlh. B. 



Forked Rker, Sept. 30.— Tne fishing at this favorite 

 place slid continues good for striped bass, black fish and sea 

 bass. The yscht Belle, Capt. Joel Burka'ow", with Sir. W. 

 M. Leslie, of New Yoi k, and your correspondent, came in to- 

 day with one hundred and twenty sea bass, a few porgies and 

 some black fish. Mr. D. Chamberlain, last Saturday, caught 

 twenty-one striped bass, several of which would weigh over 

 three pounds each; lie also at ihe same lime look lw*o weak- 

 fish that would weigh about five pounds a piece. 



Arteuii. 



Colorado— Hot Sulphur Spring*, Stpt. 22,— Fishing is 

 about over except in the largtr streams. Owing to Ihe very 

 warm Sumiru r trout poshed further np than usual, and were 

 fioin two to tbiee weeks later itarung dowu. W. N. B. 



A New Flofndbb.— Professor Spencer F. Baird, writing 

 from Gloucester, Mass., says : "One of the most important 

 practical results of our operations on this coast is the discovery 

 of a species of flounder, which, although entirely unknown to 

 the fishermen and dealers here, is the most abundant species 

 on the const. It is the Olyptocephxtlm cynoghphus, or Pole 

 Flounder of England. It is only found at about 40 fathoms, 

 in a temperature of 36 to 40 deg. The mouth is so small that 

 it is likely that it would not take a hook. A trawl would 

 capture them, and I am confident that a schooner of 30 to 40 

 tons could easily take a ton or more a day. The fish is re- 

 markable for the great quantity of gelatinous fat along the 

 fcfcs, corresponding to the halibut." Some persona who have 

 eaten this flounder consider it extremely choice, and equal to 



Art. — A very well meaning artistic correspondentsends the 

 rough drawing of a queer fish, which he says is a striped bass. 

 This fact "we take on trust; but when we are requested by 

 our correspondent to touch it up, elongate the body, put the 

 mouth ship-shape, in fine, to make the sketch plausible, we 

 shrink from the taste, We can do most anything with written 

 copy, and slick up the roughest work until it reads like Alfred 

 Tennyson's verses, but when we are called upon to touch up 

 strange and monstrous drawings, then we declare that we are 

 neither Bracketts nor Killbournes. 



Adjusting Disputed Points. — We print the following 

 letters on sundry topics from interested correspondents : 



JJaktfokii, Conn., Sept. 25, 1S7S. 

 My Dear " E. A. K.:" 



I am but yesterday home from a fifteen-days' aojonrn at Moosehead 

 Lake, and having jnst laid hold of the Forest and stream lor Sept. I .', 

 I ttiu moved by " P. X.'u" communication therein to write you, having 

 tlrst hunted up and read for the II rsi time "P. X-V ente in the lg-ue 

 of Aogusc 29. Yrmr note in the issue of Seps. 5 t had already seen, It 

 having i>eeu called lo my notice by " P. X." aiiout three weeks ngo. It 

 feems to me om now reading the three articles together, that he mid 

 yoi arc talking of d 'fferent things, hence the apparent difference of 

 opinion us regards " whipping" of bus. 



" P. X.," iu his letter daltd August 21, reprobated the dragging of 

 n bass through the walcr t>y main strength with a long, stiff pole ; yon, 

 in your letter of August SO, refer t..p:nyliigafi8h with a limber Ilj-iOd 

 wiiicti is an entirely different thing. X doubt :f yon have happened to 

 »ee boss taken in the man ior that " P, X,' refer* to, and t have as ilLle 

 ilontit line If .vou were to ecu It you would consider It crude aod 

 urisp'jrt.-nianllke. 



Wlih reference to the Eo-eaTled '• working" of West mil Pond, i have 

 to say Maul have given the matter tome thought since "P. X." tallied 



wl :■! out it, with the result of elmmtln/, er lather modifying, the 



opinion X then hid. My present opinion— of little value, becanse not 

 founded on sufficient studv— ia that the uraen matter fouad la the water 

 is a plant or ihe (\»>.f>riia variety, which, In quiet ponds, hangs 

 together, end goes commrnfy by the name of "frog spittle;" bat 

 which, In larj>e ponila like the one in question, disturbed ny high winds 

 and chopping waves, sepa-ates into small particles. 1 think. It. li un- 

 derstood that fish do feed on Confervas when It maintains itself In a 

 mass, but it would teem that they cannot do io— at least as readily— 

 when it Bftparatcs inio niiuiite particle*. I ihlnk It Is also we.i settled 

 that .'iff grow Eomttimts in the purest spring water, free from 

 decaying vegetable matter. It would seem, however, that tne presence 

 of such matter would favor the growth. I do not Snow whether Wea 

 Hill Pond ever "worked" before it was ariuiulaly raised, hut I do 

 kn.w that the raL-e made since lust summer wee not the tlrst of the 

 kind. It had been srtlUcia ly raised b;fure that, a fact that perhaps, 

 you were not aware of. Vonrs truly, W. XJ. Simonds. 



A Chicago correspondent who became dissatisfied wilh the 

 performances of shop bass rod?, made some experiments of 

 his own Willi results which seem lo have gratified him, and 

 which he has made us acquainted with. He writes : 



I determined to make a rod that would combine strength wilh 

 elasticity and lightness. Last March I bought a Calcutta bam- 

 boo, cut off from tho top about ti feet. inches, cutting cIobq 

 to the knot, leaving about If) inches to Insert my buit. Al 



snake, H.platiirhmr.*: all presented. 



Two capybaraa, Eyteo h i rvs . api/bara ; two bonnet monkeys, .fc«- 

 eutf radiatun ,- one rhesus, If. rrythraus; one common macaque, M 

 .; ...v.. :V".t / live Guinea baboons. CjfnGeephalus xphinx ; one douron- 

 coal\, Myrtipithf ii.s t< ir-Jr.jahis : one cebus; two ciuerens vultures, V 

 cincrem two griffin vultures, Gyps /uZrus ; four barn owls, i'rrfa 

 Jlammca var. atiu-ricima ; two angora rabbits ; six weeper Capuchin 

 monkeys, Cebus capwinu&j one brown pelican, 1'e'ktmvs fuicus, from 

 Florida; one pig-tailed macaque monkey, Xacaaus nemestriunus; one 

 rnesua, macacu-s erythrmus ; all purchased. 



Akthuh if. BuowN, Gin'l. Snpt. 



— The Manhattan Beach Hotel was closed on Monday, Sep- 

 tember HOth, and trains and boats ceased runuing on that 

 date. U he >,ea«on has been most prosperous. 



|$* and jj$ivei[ 



any of its class. It would, perhaps, require do great effort | the hottom'of my bamboo 1 put a thin brass ring, to prevent 

 to introd ice it to Ihe same place as the turbot ami sole of 

 Great Britain. On examining the fish at Mr. K. G. Black- 

 ford's, itseimvd to us fat her longer and more elongated. 

 One distil guidiing tr lit, we think, was a somewhii i 

 appearance of the bottom side of the flounder. The fluke and 

 fat being srow white by comparison. There can be no doubt 

 as lo the. value of ihe fish, and the United States Fish 

 Commisaoaec is to be thanked for bringing it before the 

 public, 



** FfsH at thkCuioaoo ExrosiTioN. — The exhibition of liv- 

 ing tishesat the ChicagoExpositionisfinc. The building, being 

 near Lake Michigan, can of course command plenty of water. 

 A lofty fountain plays in ihe centre of the building, and near 

 the south end is a real waterfall ; a sheet of water perhaps ten 

 or twelve feet wide and six inches deep falls ten feet into a 

 large tank or basin ; more of a cataract than many of thi 



FISH IN SEASON IN OCTOBER. 



Spanish Mackerel, Cybiwnmacitia- 



Cero, Cijbimn mjale. 

 Bouito, narda pelaw 

 Kingdsh, Mcnticur 



nebutCGKfi. 



Black Bass, Micropten 



M. nigricans. 

 M uskaionge, Esox iwbiliar. 



White Perch, Hoi 

 WeakUsn, f>"«' 

 iiluetlsli, I'vmaloi 



Fish rs Mabkjbt— Eexju, Peices. — Baes, 20 cents ; smelts, 25; 

 bluelish, S; Balmon, 3); mackerel, IS: weak fish, 10; white 

 perch, 15 ; Spanish mackerel, i i ; green turtle, 12; terrapin, per 

 doz, $9 1 halibut, 15; haddock, 8; king flfch, 18; Bfldfiahj 8 j 

 Dlaok fish, 15 ; flounders, b' ; porgies, 8 ; eea baes, IS ; eele, 18 ; 

 lobsters, 10 ; sheepshead, 25 ; scallops per gallon, $1; soft clams, 

 30 to 60 ; white liah, 15 ; pickerel, IS ; salmon trout, 18 ; black 

 baas, 18 ; pompano,40; anchovies, 40 ; dry cod, 7; hard crabs, 

 per 100, 32.50 : [soft orabs, per dozen, $1 j frogs, 3:c. 



Canada— Gananoqu', 

 of a black bass taken by 

 length, l94in.i width a 



1 tin.; weight, 41bs. plm 

 live minnow, and made 

 from a skiff, wilh .-tit! i 



Sept. 25. — Measurements and weight 

 i companion last Saturday : Extreme 

 :ross side, (iiu.; girth around body, 

 lp. Was taken on light rod wiih 

 it fluke lively, rb we were fishing 

 ju'-west wind. G. M. S. 



Ma,b8a.ohmetis— iftsM Bedford, fspfc :2S.— During the past 

 week some good shooi ing has been done in this vicinity, and 

 I have seen quite a number of blue winded teal, plover and 

 lilack ducks brought lo town. Concha. 



Movements of the Fishtxg Fleet.— The receipts of Bank 



codfish have been larger than any previous week this season, 

 L.eiug fully 1,4SC, 000 lbs., Covering 8 fnres. The [eceiplB of 

 bank halibut for the week have been unusually light, viz,, 3 

 liues, 90,000 lbs. The number of maekeicJ arrivals for Ihe 



..Inch attract visitors in European countries. Around the 

 fountain are arranged glass lanks, containing brook trout, 

 from those just, hatched to those of one, two, Ihree and four 

 years old; Mackinaw trout, of the same ages ; California sal- 

 mon, from one to three years old. Anolher tank contains a 

 pair of dogfish, Amia ocdO'cand'i; Uich., an old-fashioned 

 genus said by Agassiz to be extinct save ia North America. 

 Other tanks contain whitefish, hlack and white bass, pike- 

 perch and pickerel, young bullpout, minnows and a splendid 

 collection of goldfish. Iu anolher tank were young alligators 

 and snapping turtles, the latter extending their long necks to 

 that length that they seemed to be snakes crawling out of a 

 turtle shell, the head exactly resembling that of a serpent 

 There was also a curious water lizard, from Arizona, wilh a 

 mine or gills e.xlendiug nil round ihe neck. 



Professor Ward, of Rochester, li.nl there bis reproduction 

 of the mammoth, '.BUphif. priuiigeniiu, made from that in the 

 Museum of Silitgardt. It stands Hi feet high, with a length 

 of 20 feet, in his habit of long, black hair, as when he lived, 

 and is a most awe-inspiring monster. 



One of the most interesting things in the Exposition is the 

 collection of Indian pottery and implements, belonging to Mr. 

 H. N. Rust, of Chicago, which fills two or three large eases, 

 and consists of seven or eight hundred pieces of pottery, in the 

 most remarkable style of preservation, taken from burial 

 mounds iu Missouri. The workmanship of some of these show 

 considerable advance in the ceramic art, more than we have 

 ever seen in the pottery of the North American Indians. 

 There is also an extensive collection of arrow and spear-heads 

 of flint, with the implements of war and the chase, from Da- 

 cotah. This collection ought to belong to the Smithsonian, 

 or to the Peabcdy Museum at Cambridge. We understand 

 that it can be purchased for $5,000. S. 0. C. 



In the Oktuodox "Way. — A Syracuse clergyman. Rev. 

 Mr. Van Slyke, who was fishing from a dock at Geddes last 

 week, espied a large black bass swimming leisurely about. 

 The fish was in perhaps two or three feet of water. The 

 pastor decided to capture the fellow. Leaning over the edge 

 of the dock, lie reached out and succeeded in grappling the 

 fish in both hands, and brought him out of the water. The 

 surprised bass, when out of his element, gave a sudden jump, 

 but agsiiu ihe minister was loo quick for him, and grasping 

 him close to his woolen coat, succeeded by a sudden move- 

 ment in landing him on llie dock. The fi»h was one of ex- 



week has been 13 from the Bay St. Lawrence, and 15 from I traordinary siz.e, tnd weighed just five pounds, 



the possibility of splitting. 



For my butt-pitce I selected a piece of clear maple, put it 

 into a lathe, and turned out a tapering dowel lo lit into the 

 bamboo Until it touched the knot above, fitting it in quite 

 snug. I finished off the lower end of the butt', cutting out 

 reel seat, put on the reel bands and rings, put on a brass 

 thimble piece for the bottom. I lookout trie butt, uud to in- 

 sure its holding fast, put on a coat of glue ; putting in the rod 

 again, found it was jus-, as solid as the. original bamboo. 



The next thing was to whip the upper part of the rod, lo 

 strengthen it ; for this purpose, black silk, waxed with shoe- 

 maker's wax, was used, taking about a dozen turns round the 

 rod, putting them in every three inches, up where the rod is 

 tapering as'a packing-needle, and lessening the number where 

 the rod increased in size. Saving made standing guides of 

 hard brass wire, they were whipped in every ten inches of the 

 rod to within about 2 feet inches of the reel. 1 can nol ad- 

 mire a solid tip, but made the lip of the rod of brass wire. 

 'Ihe reasons for putting the guides so close was to pievenl tho 

 line hanging lo Ihe COO, or c itching over the guides. Expe- 

 rience has proved that, wiie presenls less surface, cous< quenlly 

 less friction for a line to puss over, and guides made of wire 

 will enable any one tn make longer and better casts than tlic 

 Hat guides. Finally, giving the silk whipping a coat of while 

 thellac varnish, putting on a linen braided line for the hand- 

 piece, and giving the rod two coats of coach varnish, my rod 

 was finished ; not a rough place in it, and good looking too. 

 Many old fishermen admited it. It was just as solid us n real 

 bamboo, and ou weighing it found it. would just lip the scales 

 at 1 ounces and measure'! 8 feel 1 inch. 



Now for results: It was used in company wilh rodB costing 

 from $5 to $15, and some of them iu the hands of expert bass 

 fishers ; they have just the same trouble as I have had in other 

 years; baits were flying through the air, their Frank foH 

 reels got caught, or something else caught ; the trouble lay in 

 Ihe rod being too springy j they could" put a line 30 or 35 

 feet, ut most, with a sinker. My little bamboo was singing n 

 lively tune every cast that was made, and laid out from 60 to 

 75 feet every time, putting the bait just where it was wanted, 

 and not a bit of sinker larger than a email buckshot, to it. 



As to its strength, it traveled nearly 1,000 miles this sum- 

 mer, in steamboats, by railroads, iu wagons and iu t 

 and is as sound to-day as the day it was finished. 



They are preferable to a jointed rod every lime for bass and 

 pickerel fishing. NOBMAH, 



A working diagram accompanied this sketch, but we do not 

 think it necessary to an intelligent understanding of the writ- 

 ten description. — Ed. 



THE BLACK BASS AND HIS PLACE 

 AMONG FISHES. 



"Ainla peer, or a vassal?" 

 J- —J. Madison Wells. 



Editob Forest and Stream-. 



Those who have lasted ihe lotus of salmon or trout fishing 

 in that Utopian clime of far iiwuj — while reveling in its 

 aesthetic atmosphere, and surround) d by a misty halo of the 

 spray of the Waterfall, or enveloped by the filmy gauze and 

 iridescent haze of the cascade— have inscribed tomes, sang 

 idyls, chanted pieons and poured out libations in honor and 

 praise of the BUver spangled salmon or theruby studdi 

 while it is left to the vulgar horde of black bass anglers to 

 stand upou the mountain of their owu doubt, and presumption, 



