132 
FOREST AND STREAM 
DO INLAND FISH MIGRATE? arc needed in order to further the science in which we are 
T _ interested; and we are confident we shall not lack a cou- 
OoLuitniis, Ohio, March 20th, 1836. tinuance of them, and that important results will follow. 
Editor Foiikbt and Stream 
T have been mnchinterested in a correspondence between Mr. T. A. 
Logan, of the Cincinnati Cuvier Club, and Mr. Seth Green, relative to 
the utility of chutes or passage ways for ftsb. TUe correspondence 
grew out of the fact that; Ohio has now, and for some years has had a 
statute compelling owners of mill-dams to Construct chutes or passage 
ways for fish, aud has made special appropriations for the construction 
of chutes around darns owned or controlled by the State. Although tho 
statutes have been in existence for years, no chutes have ever been con¬ 
st,! ucted under them, for the simple reason that no "person or persons" 
could be found in the State willing to construct chutes which they would 
warrant to insure the passage of the fish from below into the dam above. 
A bill is now before the Ohio Senate asking the abolition of these non- 
enforced statutes. Hence, Mr. Logan inquires of Mr. Green if chutes 
are really inutile, or whether any are efficient. Mr. Green Is very con¬ 
fident that the chutes are very essential. 
lu making a report as fish Commissioner, to the Governor of Ohio 
three years ago, I strongly advocated the construction of chutes, and 
read up all the literature I could find on the subject—read of the one at 
Marietta, on the Susquehanna; at Holyoke, on the Connecticut; of the 
one described by Frank Backland and others, and from this evidence 
took II for granted that they were absolutely necessary to enable the fish 
to go up stream. lu April, 1834,1 visited Marietta, Holyoke, and some 
other points, and was very much surprised to learn that no fishes wero 
known to have passed up through these chutes. The citizens of Holy¬ 
oke Beamed somewhat nut of patience with the folly which would ap¬ 
propriate $30,000 in building a chute which, when finished and fish put 
into it, the finny folks declined to ascend. Upon my return home I 
recommended the repeal of the fish chute law. I was met with the ar¬ 
gument t hat, if the law did no good, it at least did no harm, and a day 
might come when its provisions would he called Into requisition. To 
this I replied that when that day came a new and belter law could easily 
be enacted. 
It is a common notion that our inland fishes are as migratory aa the 
eltad or salmon; "in the fall they go down stream, tlieVefore in the fall 
get your setr-ncts with the mouth up stream, aud in the spring the fish 
go up stream, therefore set your net with the month down stream," is 
au old maxim to which ail our fishermen subscribe. 
While X am not prepared to say that inland fishes do not migrate, I 
now have some doubts abont it, and will be glad to have some facts ex¬ 
plained- Between Zanesville and Marietta are ten dams on the Mas- 
ktngnm River. These dams have an average height of ten feet; yet in 
the WnlUCmdmg, Cocosing, Tuscarawas, Counotten, Killbnck, Mohican, 
Hill's Creek, and other streams forming the Muskingum, fishes may be 
found during every month of the year. There are qoite a number of 
dams actoss the Scioto, between Columbns aud Portsmouth, on the 
Ohio; yet here at Columbus, and above the State dam, have been taken 
miring every month of the year three or four species of catfish, red 
hor»e, black sucker, mud-sucker, buffalo, wall-eyed pike, (called salmon 
here), ringed perch, black bass, rock bass, horned chub, shovel fish, gar 
fish, grass pike, and several species of ennfish. if these fish are migra¬ 
tory, when do they migrate? As stated, they have been taken in all 
months of the year. IT they do migrate, and get back again over the 
ten-foot dams of the Muskingum, what is the use of chutes or passage 
ways! 1 Our woodpeckers, robins, utid other birds are migratory, but 
when they leave us in the fall we see nothing of them until their return 
next spring. If the fishes go down stream in tin " Jl, then there ought 
lo be none in our waters during the winter; but .U notorious that all 
the species found in our waters in the summer are also found here in the 
winter. I will he under obligations to Mr. Logan, or to Seth Green, if 
inform me— 
First—What is the use of chutes or passage ways for fish, if oar fishes 
are not migratory? 
Second—Iu the event that they do migrate, why is it that they are ta¬ 
ken in our waters during every month of the year? 
Third—Suppose there are ten dams over the Scioto between Dnblin 
and Portsmouth; a chute at each dam, properly made to resist freshets, 
etc., will cost at least $8,000, each or $30,000 in tho aggregate, the legal 
interest on which, at Ohio rates, eight per cent, will be $2,400 annually. 
Will not Mr, Green enter Into a contract, warranting us to have ten 
times the amount or black bass and muskalonge, if we pay him this in¬ 
terest annually for ten successive years for young fry of the bass and 
maskalonge, and place them iu each uam, than we would have if we 
constructed the chutes, but placed no fry in the waters? 
I am very desirous of having my acts as Commissioner to be promo¬ 
tive of the best interests of the State, and am free to confess my em¬ 
barrassment in relation to the chntes, and therefore beg to be properly 
and correctly advised. John H. KIlippakt, 
Sec. Ohio State Commission of Inland Fisheries. 
'ffatuml gistortj. 
['/Ms Department is now under the charge of a competent Natural}*/,, 
indorsed by the Smithsonian Institution, and will henceforth be made a 
ftmcial feature of this pa/mr. Ait communications> notes, queries , re* 
mar he, and seasonal observations will receive careful attention .] 
FORMULATING FIELD NOTES. 
"We have received from Mr. C. C. Burnett, Cleveland, 
Ohio, an appreciative letter, in which he says:— 
“How would it do for you to improvise a form and pub¬ 
lish the same iu Forest and Stueam— something that 
naturalists could copy from, and which would give uni¬ 
formity to the reports?” 
Untortunatcly we think it would not do at all. It seems 
to us that au attempt to formulate field notes so that from 
alt parts of the country, and all sorts , of circumstances 
they should read precisely alike, would result in a failure 
to gather the information which we seek. Such an at¬ 
tempt would trammel and embarrass observers, tending to 
limit their attention to a few studied or preconceived de¬ 
tails, instead of urging upon all the necessity of open eyes 
always, aud minds eager to grasp whatever facts of nature 
may present themselves. It would not in the least facili¬ 
tate the writer it: watching for the data asked for in the 
recent call of Fokest and Stream, to feel that lie was 
expected to fill out a specified form in making his daily 
field notes. He fears that it would be a very “wooden" set 
of observations that should fill his book when the season 
was over. To some persons of a more methodical turn of 
mind &uch a formula, however, might be an aid; but such 
persons could more easily and satisfactorily devise a form 
than we could do it for them. 
While we cannot recommend the suggestion of Mr. 
Burnett—for which, none the less, we thank him—we are 
able in every one of the issues of this journal, at present, 
to offer models of what a naturalist’s field notes should be, 
The contributions, one and all, which, we have been print- 
tag, and which appear herewith, are precisely those which 
BIRDS OF LOWER MICHIGAN. 
BY A. B. COVERT, OF ANN ARBOR, MICH. 
(Continued from Page 99.) 
FAMILY SYLVICOLID/E. 
. Mniotieta raria. Black-and-white creeper. Common 
during the spring and fall migrations, arriving about the 
1st of May. It is rare during the breeding season, and 
makes its nest about the 20th of May. It departs by Bep 
tember 1st. 
1 Pai’ula americana. Blue yellow-backed warbler. Rare, 
arriving at Ann Arbor by the 20th of May. This bird un¬ 
doubtedly breeds, but I have never taken its nest in this 
locality, although I have seen and shot it during the breed¬ 
ing season. It leaves for the South by September 1st. 
' Jlelminthophaga chrysoptera . Blue golden-winged warbler. 
Rare, arriving about the middle of May, and departing by 
August 20th. I have found one nest, the date being June 
10th. 
, HelmintJwphaga rvficapilla. Nashville warbler. Rare; 
only a few breed in southern Michigan, arriving by the 
middle of May. It breeds about the 10th of June, und 
departs for the South about the first of September. 
> Dendratca mtiva. Yellow warbler. Yery common, ar¬ 
riving by May 1st, breeding about June 1st, and departing 
south September 1st. 
1 Dendrceca virens. Black-tliroated green warbler. Com¬ 
mon in spring and fall, appearing first about May 1st. I 
have never known it to breed in this locality, and have 
neveg taken the bird in the breeding season. It returns in 
its fall migration about October 1st. 
Dendrceca cm'ulescens. Black-throated blue warbler. 
Common in spring and fall migrations with the preceding. 
, Dendrceca coronata. Yellow-rumped warbler. Common 
in migrations, but rare in the breeding season. Several 
nests were found about June 1st. It returns south about 
the middle of October. 
, Dendrceca Blackburnim. Blackburnian warbler. Com¬ 
mon witli the yellow-rumps in migration. One nest was 
found with young on June 14th, 1873. These warblers go 
south by October 15th. 
, Dendrceca striata. Black-poll warbler. A common mi¬ 
grant, arriving here from April 15th to May 15lh. It does 
not breed, but passes quickly to Lite north, returning in the 
fall migrations about October 1st. 
Dendrceca castanea. Bay-breasted warbler; Tare migrant, 
arriving here about the last of April, passing through, and 
returning southward about the middle of October. 
, Dendmca Pennsylvanica. Chestnut-sided warbler. Com¬ 
mon summer sojourner, arriving here by April 15th, breed¬ 
ing from the 22d of May to the XDth of June, und leaving 
here about September 1st. 
Dendmoa maculosa. Biack-and-yellow warbler. This 
beautiful bird is very rare at all seasons of the year, ar¬ 
riving here about May 15th, and remaining about two 
weeks, when it pusses to the north. Its return in the fait 
occurs in September. 
■ Dendmca Kirtlandi. Kirtland’s warbler. Yery rare. 
But few specimens of this bird have ever been taken by 
the naturalists of this country. As near as I can ascertain 
mine is the sovenlh specimen ever secured, It was a 
female, and was obtained May 15tb, 1875. I may at some 
future time give a description of this warbler, and its 
habits as far as I have observed them. 
Dendrceca patmanim. Yellow Ted-poll. Not common 
in migrations, and does not breed. It reaches here in 
spring by the 1st of May, aud passes southward in the fall 
during September aud October. 
Dendrceca pinna. Pine-creeping warbler. Common m 
migrations, arriving here by April 15lb. It seldom breeds; 
but a few have been taken from the 1st to the 10th of June. 
Returning south, the pine creeper appears plentifully during 
llie third week of September. 
. Seiunis aurocapillus. Golden-crowned thrush. Com¬ 
mon, arriving by May 1st. Breeds about May 20th, and 
departs for the south in September. 
Seiurus noveboracensis . Water thrash. Common, arriv¬ 
ing with the preceding. It breeds about the 1st of June, 
and departs about September 15th. 
Geotldypis triehas. Maryland yellow-throat,. Very com¬ 
mon. It is first seen about May 10th, and breeds about 
the 10th of June. During September all move southward. 
Myiodioctes mitratus. Hooded flycatcher. Very rare; 
but one specimen taken in five years, the date being May 
7th, 1875. , „ , 
Myiodioctes pusiilus. Green black-capped flycatcher. 
Also very rare. It comes about the middle of May, and 
has been taken during the breeding season, but I have 
never learned of its nest being found. About tire 1st of 
September this bird starts upon its southern migration. 
Myiodioctes canadensis . Canadian flycatcher. Nut com¬ 
mon, arriving in the latter part of May, and breeding about 
June 10th. In three instances I have found the nest of 
this bird to contain six eggs. 
Setop/wga ruiicil/a. Redstart. Abundant. First appears 
early in May, and breeds about the 25th of the moniU, In 
the fall it lingers until late in September. V- V 
[To be contin ued.] 
- 
Shower of Flies,— A Quebec dispatch of April 3d 
says;—Judge Taschereau has forwarded a bottle of flies to 
Dr. Lorne, of the Laval University, with a letter staling 
that they are samples of a shower of flies that fell with the 
snow at river du Loup during a northeast tempest on Mon¬ 
day, covering several acres. Millions of these insects wore 
walking over the snow without appearing able to fly. In 
shape they resemble the mosquito, but are somewhat 
larger. 
Noteb from our CoRResfondents. —N. B. Covert re¬ 
ports the late capture of an albino robin at Rome, Mich., 
which is in the collection of the Adrian Sporting Club.. . 
C. A. Allen (Nicasio, Cal.) tells us the curious story of an 
albino cuckoo which he saw some years ago at the house of 
James Gatley, the hermit-naturalist of Hyde Park, Mass. 
Tlte child of a citizen of Hyde Park died. The following 
day the mother was in the garden, when this snow white 
bird alighted on a bush near her. The lady took the bird 
in her hand without its attempting to escape, and carried 
it into tlte house when it suddenly expired. Her husband 
then took the bird to Mr. Gatley to be mounted, and finally 
gave it to hint. His wife, however, objected strenuously 
to losing the bird, expressing the firm belief llmt the spirit 
of her little one had come to her in the while bird, and 
nothing would induce her to part with it. The lady was 
of Scotch parentage... .The blue-bird and meadow lark 
are certainly migratory in Louisiana. The meadow lark Is, 
thoroughly absent from here during the summer, and the 
blue-bird seldom ornaments our forests during other months, 
than January and February. His stay with us is short and 
sweet. He comes to us ns fat as butter, and stays unLill 
our dreamy springlike climate Inspires him with love, when 
he leaves for the North to grow poor with domestic cares. 
Our people warmly welcome him with double-barrelled 
shot guns. Their favorite method of studying his charac¬ 
teristics is by broiling. If anything is delicious, digestible, 
and wholesome, that is a fat broiled blue-bird. 
(John E. Leet, Manneville, La.) 
Zooloqical.— Dr, Abbott has for several years noticed! 
Bewick's wrens in considerable numbers at Trenton, IS.. Jl.. 
... .In Wisconsin, bumble-bees have been observed j^erp- 
forating the corollas of the flowers of the golden cvwnanlt, 
to get at the honey, piercing seven flowers a minute, somss- 
times_On Antelope Creek, Nev., Rev. Dr, IIoiY roaalouanl 
Swainson’s buzzards and Bullock’s orioles breeding amica¬ 
bly in the same thicket; and at Big Pines, Owen’s Valley, 
Oal., he found in August a nest of Stellula cal’Jsape upon a 
small cottonwood branch_Dr. Gunther has discovered 
that the young of sword fishes and Ohcetodus possess struc¬ 
tures exceedingly different from the adult; young sword 
fish has no sword_Win. Gouper, of Montreal, has ob- 
seryed the night-hawk nesting on tlte flat roofTs of buildings 
in that cilv... . A. K. Fishe r, last year, found several small! 
birds impaled upon, or entangled in the burrs of the bur¬ 
dock, where they perished, or extricated themselves with, 
many wounds .—Naturalist for April. 
—We doubt very much whether any one man has Deem 
of so much service to the world of science as Mr. Darwin. 
All the world does not agree with some of his deductions. 
It is more than likely Mr. Darwin himself does not ex¬ 
pect litem to do so, but no one has given more faets of im¬ 
portance than he has.—Tnos. Meehan. 
Calendar.— Mr. Allen’s calendar for Massachusetts for 
April 1st to 20tli, is as follows:— 
1 st to 20th.—The pine aud yellow rod poll warblers, ruby-crowned! 
kinglet, the woodcock, kiUdcer, great blue and night herons, the bitterns, 
kingfisher, fish hawk, sharp-shinned, Cooper’s and sparrow hawks com. 
monly begiu to make their appearance. Snow-birds, song, fox-cohwet! 
and tree sparrows are more abundant than at any other poriod of tho 
year. The last of the winter visitors are retiring. Geese and ducks are 
passing in flocks to the northward. 
10th to 20th.—During this time appear the hermit thrush, white bellied 
swallow, and the golden-winged woodpecker. Chipping, field and sa¬ 
vanna sparrows arrive: also thewlllets, the tell-tales, the least semipalma- 
ted, solitary and spotted sand-pipers, Wilson’s or the Kugiisb snipe, 
golden and field plovers. The fox-colored and tree sparrows, snow¬ 
birds, pine finches and shore larks, mostly disappear, passing north¬ 
ward. ltobin8, song-sparrows, Carolina doves, meadow larks, the crow' 
and the smaller hawks pair. 
VIVIPAROUS PERCH. 
>y --- 
The fact that there is a perch found on the Pacific coast? 
which brings forth its young alive, has long been known, 
to scientific men, but is not. familiar lo tho general public- 
east of tlte Rocky Mountains. The following extract from, 
a recent letter written by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, Surgeon and' 
Naturalist of tlte Explorations West of the 100th Meridian,, 
to Mr. Fred Mather, will therefore he of interest. Dr.. 
Yarrow writes:— 
"i am tempted to send yon a few notes from my journal, kept last! 
sntunu-r while sojourning in the vicinity of Santa Barbara, California. 
At that place they abound, and thonsnnda may readily be taken by hoolfr 
and line. I may premise by stating that no less Ilian seventeen specie* 
of these perch are known, all having.beeu noted by Girard, in Vol. X of 
the Pacific Railroad Reports, and since hie time some others have boen 
described, hot we do not; know hot that some of tho species have been 
confounded with those previously described. Any one auxious to 
trace out the literature of the subject will find a paper liv Dr. Gtbbona, 
of Son Francisco, In the Free. Acad, Nat. Sci., Philadelphia. 1851, 
pages 115 10 122, which gives au account of thirteen species, some or 
which are doubtless those of Girard’s. This paper and Girard’s wilt 
fnroish a very good history of the family, which I should mention, called 
EmbietocoUla, orlMconotl, Agassiz. 
I find from my notes that I began fishing for these curious fish from 
the wharf at, Sa nta Barbara , about the latter part, of June, using two 
small hooks baited with lobster, the houlca being allowed to sink only 
four feet bcueath the surface of the water. Such was the voracity of tbe 
fishes that hardly a moment elapsed before one or two were hooked, and 
ui some eases, 1 may say frequently, In simply withdrawing the line from i 
the water specimens were caught by the abdomen. The moat curious 
parts of this fishing, consisted In the fact that nearly every specimen, 
taken was a gravid female containing from eight to flftcon yonng fishes, 
which were readily obtruded from the abdomen by gentle pressure. In 
some cases the whole family appeared, surrounded by their enveloping 
membrane; in others, they came forth Bingly. The little fellows from 
one half to one inch in length were very agile, and when thrown into . 
the water, ewato away in the most lively manner. The mothers also not¬ 
withstanding the Bomewhat rode obstetrical operation they bad been. 
sn limited to, following their offspring, swimmtng away rapidly and eo 
ergetically. I took many hundreds of specimens, Borne or which I care¬ 
fully dissected and found my observation to agree In the main witk- 
those of Girard. It la hardly necessary to give those results here, as I 
now have in oonrse-of preparation a paper npon tho subject The com¬ 
monest species at Hanta Barbara waa BmbMwa mssidii, Girard. 1 be¬ 
lieve, from the size and activity of the fcetal fish, that hud I not hastened 
their birth as I did, Nature woohl have performed the operation for the 
majority, somewhere abont the first or second week lu July. 1 - 
