THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN'S 



JOURNAL. 



Entered According to Act of Congress, In the year tsst, try the Forest and Stream Publishing Company, In the Office of the Librarian of 'CongTess, at Washington.; 



Term*, %i a Vcar. 10 CI 



row, S4 a Vcar. 10 CI*, a Copy.) 

 Six Sto's, ga. TUree no's, SI. ( 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1881. 



{ivos. ; 



CONTENTS. 



Editorial :— 

 Introducing Skv Larks into America ; Onlv a Tally of Noses; 



H iw the Ichthyophagous Dined ." 343 



TnK Sportsman Tourist :— 

 El ConquiHtador ; Notes of An Augler in the North ; A 

 Michigan Fi«hmg Trip ; On the Sawkatawabet ; That 



Duck Huut on a Steam Launch 314 



Natural History : — 

 What is a Spiko Buck ? Two Bud Books ; Leaves from the 

 Note Book of a School Girl -, Birds that Bat Fish ; About 



Loon* ; It ittloiuakes Chuibing Trees ; Notes ...,.' 31C 



Game Bao and Gun :— 

 The Nehraska Sportsmen's Convention ; The London Soci- 

 ety : Game in Indiana ; The Yellowstone Buffalo Slaugh- 

 ter : Programme of the State Shoot ; Hints About Guns ; 



Hounding vs. Still-Huutiug ; Notes 3J8 



Camp-Pike Flickerisgs , 350 



Sea and River Fishing ;— 

 Hints from An Old Angler ; Fish in Minnesota ; The Sal- 

 mouidie of the Pacific Coast ; How to Cook the Carp : 

 Notes 3D1 



Fish Culture :— 

 Epochs in the History of Fish Culture ; The Codfish ; Re- 



port of the Colorado Commission 853 



The Kennel :— 

 A Hanu fact ured Pedigree ; Measurements of First Prize 



Winners ; Nebraska Bench Show ; Notes 354 



Rifle and Trap Shooting : — 



Range and Gallery : The Trap 356 



Yachting and Canoeing :— 

 The Season Opens ; Southern Yacht Club ; America Cup ; 

 American Canoeiug Aenociation ; Canoeing in New York.. 357 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Forest and Stream Is the recognized medium of entertainment, 

 instruction and Information between American sportsmen. 



Communications upon the subjects to which Its pages are devoted 

 are Invited from every part of the country. 



Anonymous communications will not be regarded. No correspond- 

 ent's name will be published except with his consent. 



The Editors cannot be held responsible for the vtew3 of correspond- 

 ents. 



All communications of whatever nature should be addressed to the 

 Forest and Stream Publishing Company, Nos. 39 and 40 Park How. 

 New Torto 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Thursday, June a. 



INTRODUCTION OF SKY LARKS IN 

 AMERICA. 



THE good influence of tho charming writings of Mr. John 

 Burroughs an- not confined to this country. Many of 

 our readers will remember, in "Notes of a Walker," published 

 not long ago in Scribner's, his description of his feelings on 

 hearing the song of a Stray English skylark which he came 

 upon during one of his walks. In the same paper Mr. Bur- 

 roughs suggested 'hat this species should be introduced into 

 this country, and that it would thrive here as well as in Eu- 

 rope. Acting on this suggestion, Mr. Charles R. Rowe, of 

 Cornwall, England, sent out to Mr. Burroughs a number of 

 the birds, which reached this city April 231 last. The story 

 of their importation and subsequent treatment is told, in an- 

 swer to our inquiries, by the recipient of the birds, in the fol- 

 lowing letter :— 



Esopcs, N. Y., May 34, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



You ask about the skylarks sent me from England. 

 Twelve pairs were procured for me bv Mr. Rowe, but only 

 ten birds lived to be shipped. Of these seven reached me 

 April 34 in good condition. I kept them in confinement 

 about a week, when two of them died from the effects of 

 myriads of small lice. The remaining five I liberated in a 

 wide, low meadow just back from West Park landing on the 

 Hudson. _ Up till a few days since I have daily seen a pair 

 of them in the meadow, and bad hopes that they would breed 

 there, though I could not determine the sex of the birds. I 

 have heard no song from them, but only their call note. On 

 one occasion I saw one so-called meadow-lark drive one of 

 them from the grass. I do not regard the experiment of in- 

 troducing the larks a success, and all similar experiments will 

 doub less fail. The birds become dispersed and lost in our 

 vast territory. A likely way to succeed, I think, would ne 

 to liberate the birds on some island off our coast, where the 

 climale would be more like lhat of Britain, fay on > antucket 

 or Martha's Vineyard. The birds would not be so apt to lose 

 each other, and would probably plant a colony from which 

 in time they would spread to the mainland. 



John Bobeoughs, 



Mr. I. W. England's attempts to acclimatize the skylark 

 have been undertaken on a larger scale, and consequently 

 with a better promise of success. Two hundred birds were 

 shipped to hint in December last, one hundred and seventy- 

 five of which reached New York. During their transporta- 

 tion to Ridgewood, New Jersey, some escaped, and others 

 afterwards died, so that when they were turned out, about 

 Mayl, to shift for themselves, there remained but seventy- 

 four healthy birds. Since, their liberation they seem to have 

 done very well. They have been heard to sing, and some 

 of them have mated, and their nests have been found con- 

 taining eggs, and later, young. No doubt a number of these 

 will reach maturity. 



Will the birds survive the coming winter? Will they 

 migrate in the fall, and thus escape the fate that is sure to 

 overtake them if they remain with us ? We trust that they 

 will. In the mean time, however, they should be protected 

 by every means that can be devised. The professional col- 

 lector is one of the worst enemies that these newly intro- 

 duced birds have to fear, and it is to he hoped that he will 

 spare these little strangers. 



"ONLY A TALLY OF NOSES." 



TN 1878 the National American Kennel Club gave birth to 

 -L its first offspring in the shape of Volume I. of the Stud 

 Hook. It is a production that has never reflected especial 

 honor on its parent, being a complication of inaccurate en- 

 tties. In looking back at the means employed in its creation, 

 we are not surprised at the paucity and defects of its informa- 

 tion as a record. It was a long time, some eighteen months, 

 before it was ready for distribution, even after registers, col- 

 lected from various sources, had been placed in the hands ©f 

 the compiler. At least it came in a lump, and then had to 

 lie taken us a dose. But no sooner had it seen the light than 

 the public was promised Volume II. , and entries were solicited 

 frotn the breeders and owners of dogs for that purpose. 

 Many have responded to the call, but from the outlook at 

 present we are about as far off from having a really accurate 

 and authentic record as ever. For a long time we possessed 

 our soul in patienee. awaiting the action of the club that 

 had the matter in charge ; but at last, worn-out by having 

 to answer numerous correspondents, that we knew no more 

 of the matter than they did, and fearing that several of 

 them might lay violent hands on themselves at the supposed 

 loss of their twenty-five cent pieces, we applied to head- 

 quarters, and at last not in vain, as the following reply 

 from Mr. Dew will show. It reads thus:— 



Columbia, Tknn., May 24, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your favor, making inquiry as to time of closing entries 

 and publishing Volume II of the Stud Book has been received. 

 I regret 1 cannot auswer your questions definitely. The 

 publication depends upon the action of the National Associa- 

 tion and as Secretary I only receive and rile properly the 

 entries forwarded. I think it high time that some acticn 

 looking to the closing of entries and publication should be 

 taken, and it will not be amiss for the sporting papers to ven- 

 tilate the matter. I was much in hopes that some action 

 looking to this end would be the result of the New York 

 called meeting. The correspondence that it necessitates 

 more t tan doubles the duties of the Secretary. I am in al- 

 most daily receipt of letters such as yours and also letters 

 of inquiry as to pedigrees furnished the late Secretary, many 

 of which I am at a loss to answer. Suppose yon ► tart the 

 ball. Joseph H Dew, Secretary N..A. K. Club. 



Now there is much of practical and outspoken sense in Mr. 

 Dew's communication, and at the same time he shows clearly 

 Where the burden of blame should rest. To strike at the 

 root at once, it is clear to us frotn correspondence now in our 

 hands that the National American Kennel Club was not in 

 1877 and 1878, or since, in a financial condition to justify the 

 attempt of the publication of any such important work as an 

 Ameriean Kennel Stud Book. A reference to the letters of 

 Mr. L. H. Smith, chairman of the publishing committee, in 

 1878, justifies us in this opinion, for a delay of mouths was 

 occasioned in higgling over a very paltry sum. We agree 

 fully with Mr. Dew, it is full lime that something should be 

 done, for over a year has elapsed since it was officially an- 

 nounced that the entries had closed. The book was promised 

 early in the summer of last year, then immediately after the 

 November trials, and now the entry is open again for an in- 

 definite period, and every dog in the land may have had his 

 day before the record is in the bonds of the printer. 



It is a certain thing that the entry should Ciose at once 

 and the book be published immediately, or the scheme should 

 be abandoned and the money returned to ihe subscribers. 

 But unless the book is accurate it will be of no possible 

 value. It would be greatly to be deplored if the club should 

 have to give up the publication of the record, for only an 

 organization of the kind should be allowed to take the matter 

 in band. No private enterprise should be considered suf- 

 ficiently responsible. The National American Kennel Club 

 is unquestionably the best of its kind in the country, but still 

 it is not doing itself justice or commanding the position it 

 should occupy. In its long list of members there are many 

 respectable and wealthy men, but they cannot be expected 

 to pay the expenses of the organization. The club must bo 

 put on a sound financial basis ; this is absolutely necessary 

 for its success. The dues should be increased, and a fund 

 provided for contingencies. Guarantee funds and passing 

 the hat around are always means to be avoided, and no man 

 should be allowed to pay more or less than bis neighbor. If 

 members do not pay their dues they should have no quarter, 

 but be dropped from the roll. As a well filled larder is in- 

 dispensable to awell-appointod house, so is a balance in bank 

 necessary for the success of any organization. The meeting 

 called at the New York show was for this express object of 

 devising a plan to raise funds to pay off a long-standing in- 

 debtedness. Those behind the scenes " were conspicuous by 

 their absence." But Mr. C. n. Raymond was there, and he 

 offered to personally assume the club's indebtedness, but the 

 generous offer was most properly declined. Thus the matter 

 stands. 



Camping Outfits.— Now is the time for camping parties 

 to look over our advertising columns to decide on what they 

 want to take in the woods. Rods, reels, lines, flies, boats, 

 clothing, rubber goods, etc., will be found in profusion until 

 the weight of the outfit becomes a serious quesion, and then 

 the subject for discussion will be "what can we do with- 

 out?" No matter what may be decided upon to leave be- 

 hind the party must eat, and here wo would call attention to 

 the canned goods of Thurber & Co. We have long known 

 the firm, and And their good3 of first quality and reliable in 

 every respect. Tney have their vegetables packed on the 

 spot where they are grown, and so secure the highest perfec- 

 tion possible. Sportsmen will do well to follow our advice 

 and ask for Thurber's canned goods. 



To Study American Fishoultube. — Mr. George Eck- 

 ardt, Jr., son of the proprietor of the great carp ponds at 

 Lubbiuchen, near Guben, Germany, arrived by steamer 

 Mosel on Sunday. Mr. Eckhardt will remain in America 

 about a year and study our methods of fisheulture. He will 

 first go to the shad hatchery of Col. McDonald, in Virginia, 

 then on board the Fish Ha vk to see the hatching of Spanish 

 mackerel. In August he will go to the U. S. salmon-breed- 

 ing ranch on the McCloud River, California, with Mr. Stone, 

 and later will visit the salmon works of Mr. C, G. Atkins, in 

 Maine. 



The Lightest Fly Rod.— The first prize in Class C, for 

 amateurs, at the coming fly-casting tournament is, "One 

 Leonard split bamboo Catskill fly-rod, gold-mounted, with 

 Mills & Sons best rubber click reel, filled with their 'stan- 

 dard' enameled water-proof fly-line. Donated by Wni. Mills 

 & Sons, 7 Warren street, New York. Value $60." 



We especially mention this prize because we believe it to 

 be the lightest fly-rod yet made. It weighs less than four 

 and three quarter ounces, and is a nicely-lmluuced little tool. 

 It is ten feet in length, and in expert hands no doubt will do 

 good service. 



Pood and Health is a bright weekly published in this 

 city and edited by Mrs. Amelia Lewis. It is sensible, able 

 and growing in influence. It is not an organ of the long- 

 haired men and short-haired women disciples of any food 

 craze, but is a practical paper for'everyday life. 



Messks. William Read & Sons, of Boston, Mass., inform 

 us that the Scott & Sons gun has been awarded a special gold 

 medal at the Melbourne Exhibition of 188 1. As will be seen 

 by their advertisement elsewhere, the Messrs. Read have in 

 their warerooms a full stock of these guiia. 



