100 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
Helping Handb.—I t is gratifying to find nearly a page 
of editorial comment in the Popular Science Monthly for 
April, commending the effort of this department “to as¬ 
certain the conditions governing the migrations of birds 
and certain other periodical phenomena.” After quoting 
in full our sohedule of suggestions as to the kind of facts 
to be observed, the Editor of the jnagazine remarks as 
follows: 
“ It is desirable that records of this kind should be kept. 
As the writer in Forest and Stream observes, it is through 
such observations as these tlmt the natural history of 
England has become so well known, and so many persons 
there have become interested in it. We may add that 
children might easily be induced to take an interest in this 
kind of natural history observations, and so by degrees 
acquire the faculty of accurately noting what is going on 
around them.” 
Sterna Portlandica, —Mr, Wrn. Brewster has reprinted 
from the annals of the N. Y. Lyc., N. H., his paper en¬ 
titled “Some Additional Light on the so-called Sterna 
Portlandica, Ridgw.” He does not pretend to wholly 
remove the obscurity that lingers about this bird, but con-; 
eludes it to be the Arctic tern (S. macroura) in a transitory 
but regular stage of plumage representing the completion 
of its first year. A similar stage of plumage occurs in the 
growth of the young of the common tern ( S■ Mrundo). It 
is, however, not c ertain that all the young of either species 
assume this plumage; or that they do not sometimes breed 
the first season. 
TWO LETTERS FROM NORTHERN 
VERMONT, 
Montpelier, Yt., March 7tlr, 1876. 
Editor Foiikst and Stream:— 
It was with much pleasure that I read your proposition 
to note the variety of birds resident in different regions, 
and I enclose the following list of those which remain in 
the vicinity of Montpelier the entire year, a3 far as I have 
observed: 
Red-tailed hawk. Common in summer; rare in winter. 
Red-shouldored hawk. Common in summer, but rare in winter. 
Marah hawk. Common in mild winters. 
Crow. Abundant except during severe winters. 
Great horned owl. A few daring the entire year. 
Long-cared owl. Rare, bnt usually to be found. 
Downy woodpecker, bine-jay, chickadee, white bellied nuthatch, red 
bellied nuthatch, and ruffed grouse are common at all times. 
Butcher-bird. A few in winter. 
Snow bird. Common in snmmer; rare in winter. 
Ruffed grouse have been unusually plenty ttiia winter, one man near 
here shooting nearly 300. 
Of winter birds I note the following:— 
Snow-bnnting. Common all winter. 
Pine Grosbeak. Common all winter. 
Lesser red-poll. Common in the laller pari of winter. 
Mealy red poll. Common in the latter part of winter. 
Snowy owl. Rare; one has been in this vicinity all winter. 
Tile Summer birds are those said to be found throughout 
New England. 
Last Summer I obtained a fine specimen of the broad- 
wiuged buzzard (Buteo Penmylnanicuti), the only one I have 
seen here. Of game birds llie ruffed grouse and a few 
woodcocks are all that we have. A few black ducks and 
teals occasionally make their appearance. Blue aud green 
herons are common about a few ponds, as also is the loon; 
and I have seen a few white-headed eagles, but they are 
rare. The season here is usually later than iu llie western 
pait of the Slate, robins and blue-birds not appearing much 
before April 1st, 
I will endeavor to note this spring the time of arrival of 
some of the above-mentioned species, and inform you. 
W. A. Briggs. 
Addison County, Yt., March hill, 1878. 
j Editor Forest and Stream:— 
™ One of vour correspondents says that he was informed that smelts 
were unknown in Lake chatnpiain until within a few years. This is 
certainly a mistake, for Thompson, in Ms IIlBtory of Yermont, pub¬ 
lished iu 1842, mentions the smelt aB being “sometimes taken iu Lake 
Champlain in very considerable numbers.” ■ They are mostly taken 
through tbo Ice in February and March, but I have seen individuals 
caught in tile seine in May, at the mouth of Lewis Crook. In March, 
188S, 1 saw Canadian fishermen catching them on Shelburne Bay for Bur¬ 
lington market. They hud small movable houses, fitted up with stove 
and banks, with a trap door in the floorcovering the fishinghole. These 
fishermen held Ihe eye of the smelt to bo the moat alluring bait, and 
used it In preference to worms. They also caught some perch, and now 
and then, they told me, that they called “ihe molhcrof the eel"—the 
lingl There ia a ttah now caught in Lake Champlain, in winter, wbieh 
waa unknown here until within a few years. It is known, locally, as the 
"blae-fleh," “salmon herring,” and other names. I have never seen 
one, out am trying to obtain a specimen, and if I succeed will send you 
a drawing and description. it is said to be a fine table fish. 
Mention is mnde of the arrival of the blue jay ia Pennsylvania. 
Here he is alwayH with us, and all the year round we hear his various 
discordant noies in wood and field, lie is almost as commonly seeD in 
winter as are the chicadee, the downy woodpecker, and the nuthatch. 
This winter, so remarkable for its mildness, we have seen very few 
flocks of the snow huntings, and those few flying over high in the air; 
none alighting and feeding on tbo seeds of weedB und grasses as is their 
wont in ordinary winters. Last iviuter there were great flocks of pine 
grosbeaks; we bad as many as forty feeding at one time on buckwheat 
thrown out to them near ibe house. This winter we have not seen one. 
Nor of leaser red polls, of which I had a large flock aa pensioners all 
last winter, feeding them on grass seed at un ont barn where I foddered 
a flock of sheep. A few days ago we saw on some weed stalks near the 
bouse, some small birds whose heads and necks were dull yellow, their 
bodies gray, their wlugs dark with two bands of white. What were 
they? Why would quads not ihrive here? In old times tbey were not 
uncommon in this part of Vermont. What lire the probable ehancea of 
sueeeas in Introducing the pinnated grouse Into this region? We are 
thinking strongly of attempting the introduction of both birds. R. 
[The little drab-colored birds were goldfinches or thistle 
yellow-birds (Chrysomitris tristir), in llieir dull winter suit. 
There seems to be no reason why both the quail and pin¬ 
nated grouse could not be introduced successfully into 
Northern Vermont, as even the latter is Baid to ye linger 
in retired portions of New England.—E ds.] 
#4 <j£uHtir L e. 
THE NATURAL AND ECONOMIC HIS¬ 
TORY OF THE SALMON I DjE—GEO¬ 
GRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND 
ARTIFICIAL CULTURE. 
NO. FOUR, 
BY PHILO ICHTHYOS. 
Atlantic salmon —SuImo salar. Linnaeus. 
T HIS species is the representative salmon of Europe, 
the New England coast, the St. Lawrence Basin, 
and the maritime provinces of the Dominion. Form oval, 
moderately elongated, with the head and hack nearly on 
the same line, inclining slightly in the middle third of the 
body, and the greatest depth a little before the dorsal fin; 
head small and well proportioned, and equal to one-sixth 
of length; snout rather sharp; jaws in young fish nearly 
equal, but in old males the lower one longest and curving 
upward; a row of sharp teeth along both sides of each jaw, 
as well as on the palatines, hut those on the vomer confined 
to its anterior extremity, and in some fish obsolete; the eye 
is moderately large, and is nearly circular, and is contained 
four times and a half in the length of the side of the head, 
and once and a half iu advance of its anterior rim; the 
nostrils are moderately large, and situated toward the up¬ 
per surface of the head, slightly nearer the eye than snout. 
The opercle is elevated, and narrower above than below. 
The pre-opercle on its posterior border is nearly vertical; 
the branchinstegals, or gill rays, usually number twelve, 
and occasionally fourteen to sixteen; dorsal, eleven; adi¬ 
pose, rayless; the caudal, sixteen on each Bide; anal, ten: 
the ventrals ten or eleven, and pectorals ten or eleven. 
Bay formula—Hr, 12; P, 11; D, 11; 0; V, 10; A, 10; C, 30. 
The color is slaty blue on the back, darkish on the bead, 
duller and slightly silvery on the sides, and beneath, pearly 
silvery white. There are numerous black spots above the 
lateral line that pass from the upper convexity of the eye 
to the centre of the caudal fin. The dorsal pectorals are 
dusky, and the anal white, and the ventrals white exter¬ 
nally, and dusky internally. The gill covers are rounded 
posteriority, and the tall is nearly square in the adult, but 
furcated in the young; the scales are regular in shape, del¬ 
icate, and Eunk into the thick and fatty skin—the last 
feature a wise provision against the abrasion of scales, 
which usually ends fatally. As viewed upon the market 
tables the S. salar adult size is from two to three feet long, 
and is the delight of all who have a penchant for gastro¬ 
nomic luxuries in the shape of fish. Spawns in November 
and December. 
pacific Salmon —Salmo quinnat. Richardson. 
The 8. quinnat of the Pacific Slope is a type of the eal- 
mon of that coast, and is possessed of similar anatomical 
characteristics, differing but slightly in form, color, aud 
markings from the S. salar of the Atlantic Slope, and of 
the tributaries of the Great St. Lawrence Basin. Descrip¬ 
tion by Richardson, see his “Fauna Boreali Americana.” 
“General tint of hack, bluish-gray, changing after a few 
hours’removal from the water, to mountain green; sides, 
ash-gray, with silvery lustre; belly, white; back above lat¬ 
eral line studded with irregular rliomboidal or star-like 
spols, some of them oceilated, resembling an eye; dorsal 
fin and gill cover slightly reddish; tips of the anal and pec¬ 
torals, blackish-gray; the dorsal and caudal thickly stud¬ 
ded with round and rliomboidal spots; back of the head 
sparingly marked with the same; whole body below the 
latcraUiue, together with the under fins, destitute of spots.” 
“ Bay formula: Br, 30, 20; D, 13; C, 30; A,16; Y, 10; P, 14. 
8 P. OH. Adult—Body fusiform in profile; compressed; 
head forming a little more than one-fourth of the total 
length from snout to the end of scales oil Ihe caudal. Max¬ 
illary bone curved, extending’beyond the orbit; anterior 
margin of the dorsal equidistant between the extremity of 
the snout and the insertion of caudal; dorsal region aliva- 
ceous, flecked with irregular black spots; dorsal aud caudal 
fins similarly spotted. Regiou beneath the lateral line uni¬ 
color, silvery along the middle of the flanks, and yellowish 
on the belly; inferior fins unicolor; head above, bluish-gray; 
sides, bluish-gray.”—Girard. See U. S. Fisli Commis¬ 
sioner’s repot t on Fresh Water Fishes, 1872 and 1873. 
Page 105 et seq. 
The scales are of moderate development aud conspicu¬ 
ously larger on the area constituting the flanks, and which 
is traversed by the lateral line. They are sub-ovoid in 
shape, slightly narrower auleriorily than posteriority, upon 
which margin the concentric siria, or channel-like lines are 
obliterated. Those of the lateral line are more irregular in 
their outline, and proportionally much larger than those on 
the abdominal region, where they are slightly larger than on 
the dorsal region. 
This species inhabits the Pacific coast from San Francis¬ 
co, northward, probably to Bhering Strails, enteriug the 
larger rivers of the coast annually iu vast shoals. \Ve are 
told that in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, they 
ate most abundant, ascending the latter in July and August 
to spawn, when they travel a hundred and fifty miles 
through the hottest valley in California to reach their breed¬ 
ing grounds, where the temperature of the air and water 
reach astonishing figures—where often at noon it is rarely 
less than 80“ Fahrenheit, and where the average tempera¬ 
ture of the water at the bottom of the rivers is 70“, and at 
the surface 80”. These facts we learn from the Report of 
the California Fish Commissioners, for the years 1874 and 
1875. They aver that those salmon which ascend the San 
Joaquin, appear to bo of the same variety as those of the 
Sacramento, but average smaller in size. That they ascend 
this river when the temperature is so high, explodes en¬ 
tirely the theory formed by naturalist’s, that salmon can 
not live be Cow the 43d parallel in the streams of our country. 
This fact renders it probable, as the California Commis¬ 
sioners affirm, that the Pacific salmon will yet be planted 
in ail the waters of the Southern States that take their rise 
in the mountainous regions of that portion of the Union. 
The enterprising and intelligent Commissioners of Fisheries 
of California, are exploding each year antiquated notions 
regarding the salmon. If the salmon of the San Joaquin, 
ascend to the sources of that river to spawn, they go below 
the 37th parallel, many degees below where naturalist have 
declared it to be impossible for them to exist. 
The 8. quinnat spawns, according to the observations of 
Mr. Livingston Stone, Deputy U. S. Commissioner of Fish¬ 
eries, at the sources of the Sacramento iu July; in the Lit¬ 
tle Sacremento, and McCloud rivers in August; at the 
mouth of the McCloud in September; and i lithe smaller 
tributaries of the main river, at, and below Tehama, in 
October and November. The flesh of the 8. quinnat, in 
its best estate, is juicy, rich, and delicious. The heaviest 
fish weigh sixty pounds, while the average weight, accord¬ 
ing to some authorities, is twenty-five pounds. In shape, 
if we judge from photos, this salmon is more stocky than 
the Penobscot salmon. At all events it must be a valuable 
fish, and will eventually people in greater numbers its own 
native streams, through the agency of artificial culture, and 
find congenial abiding places in nearly every Stale of the 
Union, and in nearly every Province of the Dominion, if 
not in many streams and waters of the Old World. Much, 
has been said regarding the comparative merits of the 8. 
salar, and 8. quinnat, gastrouomically. Both salmon are 
full-flavored, and possess every requisite for a high econo¬ 
mical value; and the fact of the superiority of one over 
the other will soon be settled, as they are being cultivated 
together in both extremes of our country, and their gas¬ 
tronomic qualities will soon be settled by gustatory trials, 
and judgment rendered accordingly, 
To be continued. 
For Forest and Stream. 
A TRIP TO THE JOHN BROWN TRACT 
WITH YOUNG SALMON IN MID- 
\ WINTER. ’ _ 
I LEFT Rochesler with favorable weather for a pleasant 
jonrney. Advices from the woods assured me that 
there was just enough snow to make passable sleighing. 
The fish arrived at Rochester on Monday evening from the 
hatching house at Caledonia, aud were inspected by my 
frieud Seth Green, who pronounced them fit for the journey, 
though quite young. They were placed in charge of the 
experienced and competent Mr. Marks, who accompanied 
me to the Fulton lakes. I preceded the fish about, twelve 
hours to Boonville, that I might start at once with them 
on their arrival. Mr. Green was aware of the difficulties 
which we had to encounter, as both he and his brother had 
made similar excursions to these waters. He therefore re¬ 
marked to Mr. Marks, not realizing the full import of his 
words, however, “You have undertaken a hard trip, such a 
one as you have never made.” 
When I stepped aboard the cars at Utica, it. ruined hard; 
the Mohawk was running wild. I thought there would 
be no sleighing to the lakes. It did not stop raining 
during that day and night. The next morning the 
streets of Boonville were covered with ice. The fish ar¬ 
rived on the 10 o’clock train in excellent condition. Mr. 
Phelps, the well known teamster, of>tho John Brown 
Tract, was on hand, the cans were supplied with fresh 
water from the canal, and the famous guide John Briuker- 
Jioof, the man who accompanied Seth and Monroe Green, 
on their winter journeys to the lakes, was there taking a 
look at the fish. All ready, away we went with out babes 
to the woods. Nothing transpired in the first twelve miles 
worthy of note. Three hours drive through the falling 
snow, brought us to the Tannery, Moose River. Here, we 
found a comfortable hotel, the Lawrence House. The 
landlord, Mr. Lawrence, gave us a hearly welcome. No- 
man in all the woods takes a greater interest in preserving- 
the game than the proprietor of the Moose River House. It 
is about a year since lie caused some cruel fellows to he ar¬ 
rested for killing deer in the deep snows, None hut a brave 
man dare advocate the enforcement of game laws iu llie 
wilderness, 
The John Brown Tract has, however, many guides anti 
sportsmen who appreciate llie necessity of stopping the 
killing of game out of season. 
Our fishes refreshed by a new supply of water, horses 
fed, and dinner over, we took our departure front town aud 
men, nnd were swept into llie wilderness by a storm. Four¬ 
teen miles of unbroken road had to he traveled ere the Old 
Forge could be reached, and however great the difficulties 
to be encountered, they must he overcome. The fish must 
reach the Fulton waters or they perish. The woods were 
entered with song and story; night overtook us, however, 
before we readied llieir heart. As we advanced, the depth 
of snow increased remarkably fast, and over and anon the 
horses plunged into mud and mire—the sink holes of llie 
roa d—and the sleighs disappeared, where all remained un¬ 
til levers were cut aud the whole pried out. Stony Creek, 
was reached, the famous slough, poud of the woods. In 
iliis the horses were mired, and the sleigh tongue broken. 
It took but a few minutes, however, to mend the one and 
extricate the other. The road now lei through a swamp 
where the snow lay three feet deep. Thu horses now gave 
uumistakeable signs of fatigue. We concluded to stop at 
a brook and give them an hour 10 rest and feed. As John 
proceeded to light a fire, he expressed his surprise on find¬ 
ing that the bottom had fallen out of the road, Talk 
about genius, patience, and skill, if l ever saw them cen¬ 
tered in one man, it waB in him, who had knelt in the snow 
and essayed to build a fire with everything wet around, 
and in the midst of a snow storm. He plunged into llie 
snow up to his waist, and with the blade of his axe, swept 
the covering off a great pine tree. Striking a few vigor¬ 
ous blows, he hewed out by the moonlight, no, byno light, 
for there was neither moon nor lantern, fuel enough to 
build a fire. Next he scooped a great fire-place in the 
snow, with an immense pine tree as a back-log, then a pile 
of shaving were manufactured, and the process of match- 
lighting began. Not less than twenty were consumed he- 
