28 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Febkhab-sIO , 1881. 



fire Raid to "row lo IIic length of sevi n, eight and nine fort, 

 •willi a girth in proportion. And yet, with nil litis deadly 

 power which the rattlesnake possesses, comparatively few 

 persons arc 1 in. .1 by them. In the first, place, it. is not au 

 pggressiYe animal ; ii is usually content to act on Hie defen- 

 sive. Sccouu |y, ii never strikes without throwing itself into 

 a coil: this, though quickly done, yet gives the incautious in- 

 truder some clonic e of escape. Thirdly, this snake almost 

 always gives warning Will) its rattle before it strikes. I 

 think that more persons die. in Hie Southern Stutes from the 

 bite of the nio<v:isir, 6DaUe than from that of the rattlesnake, 

 1 hough the latter is probably the more venomous. The moc- 

 casin is aKgrcsPJve and strikes without giving warning. The 

 rattlesnake, seems to he a chilly creature, and usually keeps 

 in its den in winter During ten winters spent in Florida I 

 have never met with a living rat tlesnake in my walks, though 

 my residence has been in ''an unsettled part of the State, 

 vvherG the animal is comiuon in warm weather. Probably a 

 doxei] are killed c very summer by the family with whom T 

 rrinkc my winter liomc, and eveu"the children seem to have 

 very ijtij.c fear of this deadly reptile. 



There is a very large serpent of the constrictor genus in 

 Florida which makes war on tin: rattlesnake and kills and 

 devours it It is here called I ho "gopher, snake," is black in 

 color, active, and grows to the length of eight feet. Perhaps 

 the r ' king snake " (Ophiliolw gekuius) of North Carolina, de- 

 scribed by Drs. Ooues and Yarrow as a destroyer of rattle- 

 snakes and moccasi(ft Several persons in Florida have de- 

 scribed to me how tliis gopher snake will pursue and attack 

 the rattlesnake, the bite or which seems to be rendered harm- 

 less to the other Lv its thick, scaly covering. It. seizes the 

 rattlesnake by UlC neck, strangles itj and then having bitten 

 oil the betid, swallows the b dy ■-- nearly as long its its own — 

 the wh..!e opemi ion consuming two hours or more. This 

 gopher snake is harmless to man, and is encouraged to live 

 anoni iIh- house, being a gt^fcat rat. catcher. It will also 

 swal ow egg-; and chickens. It becomes so familiar that the 

 children make a pet of it sometimes. G. C. C. 



(JAK THE PINKATED GROUSE BE SUCCESSFULLY 

 PROPAGATED ? 



s 



jJEVERAL of your Eastern correspondents have expressed 



Qadesiretor 

 prairie chickens, for gil 

 others as to the pn babi 

 ing. This problem sec 

 ture and habits of this 

 Increase. This net efisi 

 I have hunted the pi 

 eight years, and from I 

 dian Territory and Km 



epn 



To 



ated grouse, commonly called 

 mve 'requested the opinion of 

 iccess in such an widen nk- 

 Olved ii. : Considering the na- 

 wliat it needs for successful 

 rlial description. 

 ouse more or le3S for thirty- 

 ins northerly through the In- 

 lowa, Illinois" and Wisconsin. 

 In Texas, where the seasons are the most rnild and the ad- 

 ii g( of winter and summer food tire the greatest, we. do 

 not End the game in abundance, but. only here and there 

 -[> -ii.-- h . But in the Indian Territory they increase norther 

 ly in numbers, and still more so in Kansas," Iowa, and South- 

 Bra Minnesota. rXcre they are very numerous, and as much 

 so as they were in Illinois and Missouri forty years ago. 

 1'ini Ihcse facts it, will be seen that the grouse is prominent- 

 ly B Northern bird both by nature as well as by choice, for 

 all. this vast extent of continuous prairie country has been 

 open to its el e Tiee lor ages. And yet. we find it" by nature 

 propagating befit ill a. region of country where the winters are 

 intensely cold and the grounds covered with deep snows sev- 

 eral months in the year. This proves that tl: 



Ea 



ed, 



dure thi- seve 

 have in any of 

 Efooe of these, 1 

 deaQj-deallug w 

 the ther unmet 

 minus thirty tlej 

 ported. And yi 

 out strong iu tin , 



As is well known, they live on or relish about the same 

 kind of food as the Common hen— green plants, wild and 

 cultivated, wild seeds, cultivated grain, insects, grasshop- 

 pers, etc. Hut. in the winter the grouse will live and flourish 

 where the lien would starve to death. 



They arc strong and wideawake foragers, both in summer 



expect to 

 Southern Slates, 

 exposed to those 

 ■ids of the Northern prairie country where 

 r sometimes falls iu a few hours t > 

 rees, and even to forty, as sometimes re- 

 I, the grouse, the most, hardy of birds, comes 



,vu, they liv 



:ver fail l.o 

 ithe 



and winter, and r 



whether they arc 



fields of the fare 



they rill their 



the neighboriioi Ii 



from day l.o dt 



farmer's grain. 



line for the far.i 



duly posted sentinels, as shs 



while there as any bird I kill 



ud living. Tl] 

 live prairies or in the cultivated 



rejoice in the latter, for it is ben; 

 uickest. If left undisturbed in 

 become, constant "tramps," and 

 vay bushels and bushels of the 

 tig, (hey Can strike as straight a 

 of graiu, and keep, by 

 irp a lookout for the farmer 

 (Vtif. It lert. unmolested gen- 

 erally the grouse becomes quite tame and familiar with 

 things around the house and barn, as the garden fences to 

 ligUt on, etc. 



Suitable cover for them is the main requisite. It is their 

 ark of protection. For that kind which th-y like best I 

 would refer you to the open prairies. Here, amid the thick, 

 tall grass and tufts of weeds, we find them. Here they nest, 

 feerfand rear their young. Here, both old and young scam- 

 per away as quick as thought, and bury themselves in the 

 thick grass to avoid the swoop of the hawk which already 

 hovers over them. Here they roost, and here they strive to 

 elude the pursuit, of man. Hut alas! he. comes to the field 

 with his dogs and guns, and there is but little chance for 

 esacpe. We next tear of this "happy family" through 

 Fokest A.vn Si i:k,\;,i. about as follows: "Two great Nim- 

 rods, A. and 13., with their celebrated dogs Snip and Rip, re- 

 cently found ten covies of grouse in one day, and bagged 

 ninety-nine before noon. Only one got away, and it wound- 

 ed." " 



In propagating grouse, an essential to success is cover. 

 They must have this, or they will, like the quail, pass on to 

 other places where they can find it. This cover must also be 

 exclusive, or not disturbed during the nesting season. JVIucI) 



where th 

 grazed close 

 found. Net 

 dentations, I 

 and food all 

 poses, as we 

 The count 

 siderable sp 

 especially w 

 entity o 



ntry affords ample c; 



lands 



:ry rich 



r fo 



■ ally, that th! 



trouse, and it is only 

 irid all cultivated, or 

 isitc cover may not, be 



ich of our ope 



, for the gro 



isle, lands 



equi 



to fly for a retreat, 

 i molested and frightened. The quail is gen- 

 .... .tutu, a ten- acre field, but the grouse wishes to 

 command m uclt more. His flight is much longer and his 

 rover nftarj i.vjrr remote. Neither of these birds will stay in 



any section of our country whore it cannot readily tly to 

 cover. This is always held in view alike by both. 



The following extract from a letter just received from N. 

 D. Merrill, of Oreston, Union County, Iowa, will he read 

 with interest. To him I had written for some information, 

 since he was born and brought up as a farmer in Illinois, 

 where the grouse were very ahund nit. To my several in- 

 quiries he replies as follows : 



"I will answer your questions as well as 1 can in regard to 

 prairie chickens. 



" 1. They do not migrate South in the winter; no matter 

 how cold or snowy the weather may be, they stay around. 



" 2. 1 consider them to he as hardy as the partridge (the 

 woods ruffed grouse), or the blue jay or crow. 



" 3, I never knew one of them to freeze, and never heard 

 it asserted that, they do. I consider them as hardy as any 

 bird I know of. 



"4. 1 have my doubts as to raising them by hand. I have 

 tried to raise young ones that I have caught on the prairies 

 yet I could never get them lo cat, and they would starve to 

 death. 



"There arc quantities of them around here now and in 

 all our corn fields by the hundreds. I have recently heard 

 some farmers complain of them eating a great deal of their 

 corn: they invade the unharvested fields of which there are 

 yet many, and so commit the damage, but I have not hunted 

 them any as the weather has been very cold, and there is 

 about five incheB of snow now." 



The grouse have a strong attachment for the place where 

 they are reared. From year lo year they will cling to it, 

 though most of them be killed off annually by hunters. I 

 now have in view one little (marsh-grass) valley, about half a 

 mile wide and a mile and a half in length, for which they 

 have contended, and thus far successfully for the last forty 

 years though uunmdty hunted. It is but four miles from 

 Waukesha, a large village in Wisconsin, and now celebrated 

 as a fashionable summer resort on account of its " Bethcsdii 

 spring " water. This little valley is entirely surrounded, and 

 has been for twenty-five years with highly cultivated farms. 

 A noisy railroad also intersects it, and yet these birds cling 

 to it, and will continue until the last one "is killed. This nat- 

 ural attachment of theirs to their home is a feature, most fa- 

 vorable to their successful propagation. In my opinion they 

 can be successfully propagated, and all we require to do is 

 to properly place then in regard to cover, food and range, and 

 then let them live quietly until they become plenty, and 

 then to be hunted in September and October only. They are 

 prolific breeders, and if properly placed and well protected 

 they could not fail to soon give us much healthful amuse- 

 ment and well tilled bags of game. H. W. Mekuili.. 



Js'cw HMhtllc, N. Y. 



MINUTE FORMS OF LIFE IN THE WATERS OF 



THE LAKES. 



IT is a common saying that each glass of water we drink 

 may contain thousands of living organisms, but the truth 

 of such a statement, though generally accepted, is not fully 

 appreciated by most people. No one who has not investiga- 

 ted for himself different samples of water, who has not stud- 

 ied with the microscope the minute organisms which abound 

 in so much of our water, can realize how vastis this invisible 

 world, made up of forms belonging to both the vegetable and 

 the animal kingdoms. An extremely interesting paper on 

 this subject was read before the Kirtland Society of Natural 

 Sciences by C. M. Voice, Esq., which we think well doserv- 

 iig of the attention of our readers ami whichwereprint.be. 



low. All those i 



i are i 



.ally 



trncted by this subject 



vill no doubt have seen Prof. J. E. Leidy's superb work on 



North American Rhizopods. Mi. Y 



The waters of the great lakes are \ 

 forms of life, the nvst generally km 

 of the fishing industry, the eneourfflj 

 huh propagation serving to render It 



liliur tO nil Tire 



leh c: 



lusca found ii 

 of people know of the hie mhnbnh 

 exception of a few letteetive minds, 

 the waters of the lakes is popularly 

 ieted iu about the same condition. 

 are the popularly known forms of 1 

 lakes, careful search with adequate 

 abundant and prolific world of mm 

 etable, many of which arc only viei 

 The naturalist knows more or 

 forum of visible life abounding iu t 

 cauce, and, if a micsroscopiat as w cl 

 the hosts of minute lieiugs that pec 



A study of the microscoi i 



veals in their forms and habits of U 

 ative of other evii.lein.es of the torn 

 sea. In pursuing the study of the 

 ■aters, the most convenient plan. 



own to abound in varied 



i of which are the, products 

 lent, bv governmental aid to 

 mdn.-iry audits residta fa- 



;od i !,: vast beds, of uiol- 

 > about all that a great, mass 

 ,. iters, And with the 



present condition of life in 



tohttbiting the waters ,i the 



,,: bib, both animal and ve.g- 



witli rnir-i.'iRcopieai aid. 

 is thoroughly of the varied 

 waters and of their siguifi- 

 B likelv to bo fami" 



o tin: 



-.■itel 



aid. 



takes 



mples 



How 



mis the 



■apply b\ 



. ._ the lake wab 



■u-t Mgnificauce. eorrobor- 



indition of the lakes as a 



innta forms of life in the lake 



merally adopted, 



idt 



fil- 



perhaps many of 

 obtainable iu the 

 process of exams 



vast quantities!! of 



of St 

 laterial thus obtained 

 i the. great body of water is not 

 inliUely that some forms, and 

 waters of the lake that are not 

 o. Cut, proceeding with the 

 we find throughout the year 

 lomrnon to fresh water, such 

 asprotococcua.oscillatoria, and 

 other families of confervoidca, and numerous entomostraca, in- 

 fusoria, rotatoria, rhizopoda and other classes of protozoa. 



Among till these varied forms of teeming life with which the 

 lake water abounds there arc none, so far as I know, which aught 

 not he expected to be found in fresh writer, except among the dia- 

 toms But of the sixty odd species of diatoms which are, found in 

 the filterings of our wider supply, there are at least three, aud per- 

 haps more, which are representatives of marine forms ; these arc 

 ihe I;U:ni:vb ni,, , rirr.s,.*, tt's.i.r.'/i+'s eowui-n: and .\,-{,hn«-oi-n 

 ornaUi, aud to theme should be added, iu my judgment, the Wt- 

 pkemodistms niaqaros. 



Of these forms th., A'fo'iOsu'eioV.' eriVa-'is was first collected by 

 Mr. H. C. Gaylord from the water supply of this city and was de- 

 scribed and named bv Professor IT. L, (smith, of Geneva, N. 1. 

 This is the only Bpeeioa of Rhizosolenia yet ioirud iu fresh water, 



;.]t Othei- SpeeieH ill (he CCOIIS Vet 'lescl'il.Od hl-Ule, IJUIIIW'T luSSll 



and the recent forms mostlv found in the stomachs of salpte and 

 ascidnins. This diatom has so far only been found, to my knowl- 

 edge, m the. waters of the lakes at Cleveland, Buffalo and Chicago. 

 The imphiprora prnwin, found in considerable numbers in the 

 I'-be watci 'U certain seasons bus also been reported from two 

 other localities in Ohio from Now York aud from Florida, but 

 id by Professor H L, 



ith, 



ml del 



Mot 



has not yet, so I 

 eahty than Clev 

 Tine and those of 

 Some other spc 

 fled in form as tu 

 species found elj 



vilinl i 



the 



, 1878, ' 

 ir as 1 can learn, 

 land. The otbe 



■ Amc 



Hit to 1 



I.Tjai-t.rl. 



Mien 



(■enpiieaJ 



lim bv Ml 



* lay 



ord and 



lortedlivi! 



i any 



■ thci-lo- 



of Amphi 





are rna- 



fossd. 







in the hike 



s are 



so modi- 



•I diatoms — 



ercentibly different from the same typical 



„^.e. From these, facts Frof Smith, above 



named, suggested the qnerv whether suit or brackish water might, 



not be found' at the bottom of the lnbca j but from the shallow. 



ness of Lake Erie that is improbable in this case, aud my own con- 

 clusion is that these forms of diatoms arc survivors of the ancient 

 sen, which have, during the subsidence of the foimorsea, survived 

 the change from brackish to fresh water, perhaps not modified in 

 form during the change. As bearing upou this view many faots 

 which have come under my observed ion may be cited. Some three 

 or four vears ago, after repeated desultory examinations of the 

 lake wafer, 1 began a systematic course of taking filterings, and at 

 first supposed that filterings of each of the four seasons of the 

 year would display the species of the year; but during the second 

 year of such observations I became convinced that more frequent 

 tests were.needed, and toolc filterings from twice to three times per 

 mouths, and during the year 187!) 1 saved a filtering of each week 

 of the year, excepting during two short absences. Examination of 

 the filteringR when taken confirmed what, had been deduced from 

 former observations, that the forma of life in the lake water ex- 

 hibit a well marked periodicity, the bruits of which I have not con- 

 tinued the observation far enough to exactly define at present, 

 but which as far as the dmtoniaceic are concerned, can be hi gen- 

 eral terms stated thus : During that part of the year from about 

 the first or middle of February to about the first of May, the va- 

 riety of form is greater ; from thence to about November 1 the. 

 prevalent forms is greatest, and from November 1 to about Feb- 

 ruary 1 the disappearance of warm weather forms and appearance 

 of the cold weather forms goes on; thus producing a periodicity of 

 three seasons in the year. Dnring the winter and the early spring 

 the Stfplianodhvus niagnrte is the prevalent form, giving place to 

 Meloeira crotonensis as the warm weather approaches] which soon 



the 

 predominant form until fall, when the Melusira again appears, aud 

 soon becomes equaUy uumerotls, Loth forms, as cold weather ap- 

 proaches, becoming scarcer, while the Stephi;niog<trv reappeara 

 and rapidly increases in numbers, until at tunes it forma almost 

 the whole 'of some winter gatherings. The Acliwxuchts uiacjcmi', 

 so far as can yet bo judged, appears most frequently in the late 

 winter and early s|iring gatherings ; seldom or never in summer. 

 The ,■! ei ,.,/,! ir./ora .-ir/M-do and i tlti .:■*■-■!■ o;o , sit ■■■.'!.- arc round rava- 

 sionady at all seasons, but in greatest abundance in the winter and 

 early spring gatherings. During some weeks in July and August, 

 ISTli n.-hher'oi these Jeih'.o,- ■-■.vr,. ." ee-,i. III epti .-rings rootl- 

 ing almost exclusively of Tnl.cllarm feneitfaia. The forms of 

 Suriretla and Cymatopleura arc also most abundant in the early 

 spring gatherings. 



The influence" of storms on so shallow a lake might well be sup- 

 posed to have considerable influence upon tbeconteiii s of the water 

 supply, but so far a8 I have been able to observe, no difl'erence iu 

 the forms of diatoms found iu the filterings is caused by storms, 

 but considerable mud is brought with them. 



Tins periodical abundance of the forms before mentioned, the 

 a. '.■„■„ i, ,.',.■-: i;l.;--.:«c!;;;in and An.phlprorn, in the colder seasoD, 

 and their partial disappearance in the hottest season of the year, 

 and the uniform greater abundance of the rterAneo.iVscM.s during 

 the winter, also becoming scarce in the summer, is strong evidence 

 iu my muni that all these banis are survivors of the cold seas, aud 

 were", perhaps, the chief forms then prevalent in those y 

 which reasons tire colder temperature of the present Ink 

 congenial to them and best suited lo their development. 



As^the changes that 1 -" 



.....T, l-,^„, ,.,i..,i ii, tlic 



3 most 



ed. these 

 • habitat, 



■leer spring 

 ng them to 



ratelv small 



forms kept pace, in then modification with tl 



uew formfi appearing aud bcuig introduced by 



til the present condition has been i cached, and 1 entertain no doubt 



that if future changes should replace our lakes with arctic seas 



these peculiar diatoms would then he' round the etnei and perhaps 



It may be of sons, interest fo state that in Urn year 1878, at the 

 suggestion of a gentleman m rhihidciphn. 1 --.e-nl to him repeated 

 gatherings of diatoms from Bake Erie witha*"" 

 the Strplumndiycif nu<ganr into the fresh wat 

 pouds of that locality ; but we diet not succeed 

 live, although they will live for weeks here iu s 



""Another matter sboidd be mentioned, and that is that the eh*T- 

 aeter of" the filterings taken on the same day varies in different 

 parts of the e-itv I have seen forms of the diatoms and mlnsoria 

 quite abuudaut in a filtering made at the store of Ml', llaylord, 

 which forms could not be fouu.l at all in a filtering which was pro- 

 gressing at my own house during the same time, and other striking 

 instances have been noticed ; but as the periodicity o| tonus is a 

 characteristic always observable wherever the filterings are 

 taken, it may be assumed that a continuous sere , of observations 

 made upon filtcnugrt from the same i aire: iv;:>o a ii 1. airly wen 

 the characteristic of the general source of supply. 



It will he or much interest to ..uoph-ment tire examination of the 

 contents of the water supply with that, of dredging* or soundings 

 from the si'eliments of the lake bottom, and I hope eventually to 

 be able to do this. 



Pinb Grosbeaks In Massachusetts.— EilMor /''ores/ and 

 Stream: Flocks of Canada Grosbeaks have visited us this 

 •winter, probably on account of the severity of the snow 

 storms They feed principally on the mountain ash berries, 

 the trees of which grow in orchards. While in search of 

 shrikes for mounting, Dec. 8, 1 shot what I supposed was 

 one but on examining it I found it to be a mocking bird, as 

 was attested by several parties, the distance was one half mile 

 from home, and the bird was feeding on barbery seeds. I 

 have observed several flockB of snow buntings also one Hock 

 of thirteen male bluejays, January 8, also observed two rob- 

 ins A few flocks of quail were shot late m fall ; partridges 

 nearlv extinct- nearly every one that was shot was found to 

 contain the l>>. imbedded in the skull. Please give your 

 opinion in regard to the. mocking bird. Jonff O Lv.akv. 



Amf#bvry,Ma8$., Jan. 21. 



The occurrence of the mocking bird, if such it viis, in 

 Massachusetts at the time mentioned was certainly remarks 

 hie though not without parallel. There are records for ex- 

 ample of the capture of the cardinal grosbeak in JNew York 

 city in the dead of winter. 



Wiife 



fag and 



wn. 



DESTROY THE HAWKS. 



WE have frequently called attention to the good results 

 which are sure to follow the destruction of hawks aud 

 the vermin which prey upon game. There is a special de- 

 mand this year that persistent efforts should be directed to 

 this end. The game has been so largely depleted by the se- 

 vere weather that its preservation from the hawks and ver- 

 min, which have also suffered and are ther. fore the more rav- 

 enous, is all the more imperatively called for. _ 



We have received several communications upon this sub- 

 ject, all of them being of about the same tenor. A Farrjuier 

 Bounty, Virginia, letter says : " I have often expressed the 

 opinion that, the hawks killed more partridges than sports- 

 men. I have never seen in any publication like yours an ar- 

 ticle elucidating this proposition. Allow motoeo 



vou to gather all the information you can about it. It will 

 astonish those who have never given it attention to learn 

 what vast numbers of partridges fall victims lo their cormor- 

 ant appetites, and will stimulate efforts to destroy trie 



P1 0f e tlie good results which followed an effort to decrease 

 the ntiniher of hawk' |] ■ - nitty a BlponiBbnrg, N. J-, 



