FOREST AND STREAM, 
251 
We should'like to reprint this article and the others, also, 
iid space allow. With all these excellences, showing a keen 
and discriminating observation of ornithology, it is a pity 
hut the Bulletin should be marred from beginning to end 
with every species of printer’s blunder for which no excuse 
lan be found, with the most, ordinary attention to proof¬ 
reading. The publishers, however, promise better typo¬ 
graphy hereafter. 
We have given unusual space to a notice of this publica- 
;ion because it is a noteworthy circumstance, marking a 
gratifying increase in the intelligent aud eager interest with 
which all objects of natural history ought to be regarded; 
md because it is a courageous and highly creditable effort 
in the part of the club that issues it. We ask for it a 
learty support, and promise interested Tenders an abun- 
iant. return for their subscription of $1.00 a year. Sub¬ 
scriptions maybe sent to H. A. Purdie, State House, 
Boston. 
■ - 
fACK RABBITS AND COTTON-TAILS. 
Montana Territory, April 3d, 1818. 
Suitor Forest and Stream:— 
Your article on conretng, March 16th, last, will ro doubt be of great 
nterest to all true sportsmen. The jack mbbit of the plains must be 
Id excellent substitute for the English bare for coursing purposes, and, 
n my opinion, does not receive justice in being condemned as vastly in- 
erior for the table. I would ask those who thus condemn it, whether 
hey have eaten a jack rabbit that had received the care and preparation 
rom the cook that an English hare receives! Jack rabbits are generally 
laten freshly killed. A hare, with no more care than a jack nanally 
;ets in cooking, would be as dry. Jugged jack rabbit is as good as 
ngeed hare. Let doubters try it If they have a good cook. In my wife 
1 have one—not three years from the old country, ehe, with all her lean¬ 
ing, towards things English, admits their eqnality. When we kept hotol 
wo officers of her Majesty’s mounted police came to this territory to 
nakc purchases, and gave a dinner to a few prominent gentlemen hero, 
tmons the dishes was jogged hare. The dish to the American gentle- 
nen was a novelty; to the two English gentlemen it was a treat, and was 
tcknowledged by all to be excellent. I may also state that the strangers 
o the dish were very much surprised that jack rabbits could be tooLh 
tome. Keep them as long as they will keep sweet, and cook them as 
Snglish hares are cooked, and you will not say they are vastly inferior. 
?rlckly pear wounds, of course, don’t count. You'say we have no rab- 
lits in America. That has been stated before, lmt I have not yet seen 
mbilshed, In this country, what constitutes the difference between a rab- 
)it and a hare. When I was a yoonu boy, I remember reading fn a 
vorlt on natural hiBtory (Cuvier’s, J think), that the young of the hare 
ire born with hair on them, and with their eyes open; the young of the 
abbit are born without hair, and with their eyes closed. I» this the 
lislinctionf The fact that cotton-tails do not congregate in warrens 
tpght not to weigh against the above pbyBical fact, if it Is a fact. (The 
load duck builds and hatches in trees, but sorely it is a dnek.) Tf they 
the cotton tails) are hares, how account for there being no hybrids! It 
ms been proved, to the satisfaction of the Zoological Society of London, 
hat the hare and rabbit will not cross. Some mail, about twenty years 
igo, did “ring in” a litter In that body, hut the fraud was soon dis- 
mvered. 1 have been trying for ten years to obtain a new bora litter of 
ack rabbits with closed eyes, and have not yet succeeded, neither have I 
ret obtained a similar litter of cotton-tails; but this proves nothing. 1 
mly mentioned it hoping that some of yonr readers have been successful, 
md will mention the cate. What constitutes the difference hetwoen a 
laro and rabbit? Cilibili. 
[Our correspondent is correct in his reading, and the 
foung of the hare is born with fur or hair on and with 
.heir eyes open, while rabbits are born without hair and 
with their eyes closed. Moreover, the hare produces but 
’our or five leverets at a birth, while the rabbits are mote 
irolific, producing seven or eight of their young at a time. 
SVe agree, however, with our correspondent on the bur- 
towing question, as, to our certain knowledge, the so-called 
jotton-tail rabbits do burrow, or at least live in burrows, 
ilthough not in communities. However, taking all the 
ividence and the rabbit of Europe as standard, we have no 
ipecies here which conform to their habits, and hence 
nust agree with the naturalists, that there are no rabbits in 
his country. As to hybrids, Wood says that there are 
several instances where rabbits and bares have crossed, and 
a every case the father has been a rabbit and the mother 
i hare. He also alludes to the aulipathy being so great 
jetween the two species that they are seldom, if ever, seen 
together. Now it is notorious that the jack rabbit aud the 
sotton-tails are, in California at least, constantly met with 
together. We have flushed them a hundred times from the 
lame patch of tuna or low-growing prickly pear, aud yet 
heir habits, as far as our casual observation goes, are 
widely different. The cotton-tail, when started, makes for 
the nearest burrow, either his own or that of some ground 
squirrel, and he goes off quietly, with an almost sneaking 
notion, while the “jack” starts off as though the hounds 
were after him, and, finding himself unpursued stops, gen¬ 
erally when he has attained a distance of one or two 
hundred yards, and contemplates the cause of the disturb- 
Itnce.— Ed .] 
Recent Ahiuvals at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.— One 
sommon camel, Cathetus dromedarius. Born in the Garden. One Petra 
irmadillo, Tatusia peba. Purchased. One red fox, Vulpes fulvous. 
Presented byWra. H. Krips, Philadelphia. Three young alligators, A. 
missltsipplenset. Presented by John K. Valentine, Philadelphia. One 
bpossum and young, Bidelphye virgintana. Presented by Robins De- 
bou, Casavllle, N. J. One laughing gull, Lams utt(cilia. Presented by 
sttac M. Cochran, Philadelphia. One mocking-bird, Mimus mlyglottus 
ireeented by Harry P. Mawcon. Philadelphia. One Carolina dove, Zen- 
Mura carolinensU. Presented by Mrs. Sarah Wilson, Woodatown, N. 
[. One black-tailed deer, C'ervue macrotit. Purchased. One brown 
roatl, Nashua nasica. Purchased. 
Recent Arrivals at the Central Park Menagerie.— Five 
Snglish pheasants, Phusianus colchis, presented by Mr. H. N. Mnun, 
4«w York City; one robin, Tardus migratonus, presented by Mr. Her-’ 
nann Goetze, New York City; one yellow bird, ChrysomUris trestis, 
(resented by Miss Mary O’Shea, New York City; one horned owl, Bubo 
tirginiamt, presented by Mr. B. L. Sherman, New York City; one red¬ 
wing blackbird, Agelaius plueniceut. presented by Mr. Thomas Ryan 
Sew York City; one kangaroo, llalmaturus lieimettii; one deer, Curia- 
vlrginlanus, presented by Mr. Thomas Messemer. 
W. A. Conklin, Director. 
—Connecticut sportsmen are asking for a repeal of the 
Tame laws of that State, and an enactment permitting the 
shooting of woodcock during July, as is the law in the ad- 
loining States, making the close season from January 1st 
October 1st, omitting July. 
£ea and giver ^ishitf^. 
FISH IN SEASON IN MAY. 
Trout, Salmo fontinalh. Shad, Atom. 
Salmon, Salmo talar. Land-locked Salmon, Salmo Glomi. 
Salmon Trout, Salmo confinlt. 
For list of seasonable trout flies for May see onr issue of April 87th. 
Eish in Market.— Fish are very plentiful, and as will 
be seen prices are very low. We quoto from the prices 
current of Eugene G. Blackford:— 
Striped bass, 3 to 8 pounds, 15 to 20 cents; bluefisb, 3 to 
8 pounds, 15 cents; salmon, Kenebeo, 75; California, 30 
cents; mackerel, 124 cents each; Connecticut River shad, 
35 centB; weakflsh, 10 cents; white perch, 15 cents; Span¬ 
ish mackerel, 50 cents; green turtle, 18 cents; terrapin, 
$13; halibut, 124 cents; haddock, 8 cents; kingflsh, 25 
cents; codfish, heads off, 8 cents; heads on, 8 cents; black 
fish, 10 to 121 cents; flounders, 10 cents; sea bass, 10 cents; 
eels, 18 cents; lobsters, live, 8cent8;sheepshead, 124 cents; 
scollops, per gallon, $1; soft clams, it to 80 cents; brook 
trout, Canada, 50 cents; Long Island, $1; hard crabs per 
100, $3; soft crabs 50 cents to $1.50. 
—The general law governing the close season for black 
bass in New York State was off on May 20lh. For some 
sections of the country this is very early, for the bass have 
not yet commenced to spawn. 
—There will be no lack of blueflsh this year, by all indi¬ 
cations. Such immense shoals of blueflsh on the coast 
were never known before at this period of the year, and 
the oldest fishermen say they never knew the herring catch¬ 
ers to be interrupted as they have been. Seines in many 
localities have done very poorly. 
—The shad season in the waters about Staten Island has 
closed. Upward of 50,000 shad have been taken by the 
fishermen, one firm taking some 23,000, against 18,000 last 
year. 
—The ice went out of the majority of the Adirondack 
lakes an the 13th of May, which is three weeks late. A 
letter to our friend Frank Bolles from Fenton, at “Number 
Four," says;— 
“I have been to Crooked Lake to-day trout fishing. The 
ice is only just out of the lake, and 1 have to day walked 
on ice in the South Bay sufficiently hard to bear me up. 
Snow sixteen inches deep in the woods in some places. 
Weather unfavorable, raining and snowing a little, but wo 
took fifteen trout weighing thirteen and a quarter pounds; 
largest weighed two and a quarter pounds, and two others 
one and three quarters. He says they beat anything he ever 
saw for being in good condition. They arc all filled up 
with fat inside. Tbespring is very backward, the buds not 
having started yet.” 
WardweLI, who kept the house at Stillwater, on the Bea¬ 
ver River, has rented it to Henry Burke, of Watson. 
Wardwell’s wife has become insane, and been taken to the 
asylum, and he has had to give up the house, which all the 
boys who have stopped with him will be sorry to learn. 
—Last year the spring was very backward, and the Ca¬ 
nadian streams were but torrents of snow water as late as 
June 25th. In addition to the difficulty of ascending the 
swollen streams, th« salmon became gorged with capelin; 
and when the rivers did get down at last they had no time 
to dally with flies, and pushed on Bpeedily to the upper 
pools, and even there they did not rise well. The promise 
for the present year is no better. Snow is very deep north 
of the St. Lawrence; nevertheless, four weeks will create 
a great change. We shall not wet a line before the middle 
of Junel 
Dominion of Canada, ) 
Dep’t @f Marine and Fisheries, y 
Fishery Branch, Ottawa, 13th May, 1876, j 
Sir: Your letter of 8th instant, addressed to Hon. A. 
Mackenzie, having been referred to this department, I am 
desired by the Minister to inform you that Mr. Gilchrist 
has official instructions to grant angling permits on Rice 
Lake to United States citizens at a charge of one dollar 
each. I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
W. F/jWHITCHER. 
J. L. White, of Rice Lake. 
Many Bass. —The Norfolk Virginian says that Captain 
Minter, of the steamer L. G. Cannon, at that place, from 
the fisheries on Albemarle Sound, reports that one of the 
most extensive hauls of rock (striped bass) ever made took 
place Saturday at the fishery of Messrs. Capehart & Son, 
at which time 1,680 rock, of a total weight of 34,525 
pounds, was made. The haul also brought up some 300 
shad and herring. Four huudred and seventy-five of the 
rock averaged sixty-five pounds, many weighing' as much 
as eighty-five to ninety pounds. A second haul was made 
the same day, when 15,000 pounds were caught. 
—Of the Oxford Fishing Club, at the Rangeiy lakes, a 
member writes;— 
“This club controls the fishing in Rapid River from the 
foot of pond of the river to the old piers, near Umbagog, 
and also B pond. We have a nice club house on the carry, 
about half way between the Middle Dam aud Umbagog, 
and expect to make a very nice place of it. We have man¬ 
aged to make the better class of the natives understand 
that it is for their advantage to see that the fish are not 
caught off the spawning beds and through the ice, and 
have just got two fellows indicted by the grand jury for 
having taken some trout through the ice in B pond. Of 
course this was done by the natives, and I consider the 
fnct. of their being willing to testify against poachers as a 
great triumph.” 
Maine — Bangor, May 15f/t.—The ice is not yet out of our 
lakes, About two weeks hence there will be fine land 
locked salmon fishing at Sebec Lake. The water is at pres¬ 
ent unusually high in the PeuobBcot River and tributaries; 
Bftid to be higher than at any period for the last nine years. 
Young salmon in unusual quantities are noticed at Veazie, 
Orono, and Bangor. They are smolts on their way down 
to the ocean. The hoys are catching many of them, and 
mistake them for trout. The river is so very high at pres¬ 
ent that our up river fishermen are taking no salmon. We 
saw two taken in the weirs at Bncksport, this morning, 
that weighed forty pounds, one twenty, the other a little 
leas. We had a letter from one of our wardens at Sebago 
Lake, yesterday, telling us that a few large trout had been 
taken in Crooked River. The land locked salmon had not 
shown in the river, hut would be expected to run up in 
about a week. TkoBe Sebago land locked salmon attain to 
twenty pounds. E. M. Stilwell. 
Pennsylvania. — Philadelphia, May 22d.—The shad fish¬ 
ermen are not encouraged to any great extent by the catch 
of last week. The catch doeB not, bear out the expectations 
of the early pari of the season. The gillers complain that 
the Bhore nets get them all, the shore netters that the gillers 
calcli them; while the real fact is that the rnn in the Dela¬ 
ware has not been good for two weeks past. The fish that 
are caught are of good size, and will average as well as last 
season, which is almost one third larger than previous sea¬ 
sons, for a number of years. 
The anglers at Fairmount caught a number of small rock 
fish last week; some ns high as two pounds. Soulls. 
v’ Blooming Grove, Pike Co., May 20th, 1876.—We spent two 
days, the 15th and 17th, trout fishing at Blooming Grove 
Park. The first day at Lord’s Valley, where we took twenty 
nica fish weighing from quarter to half pound each, at the 
old mill, and in the pool below the bridge. Tiie second 
day we waded the Shohola from Lord's Valley down to the 
"Farms,” and made a good basket, 44 in all, one lady tak¬ 
ing eighteen from the shore. The streams are yet high and 
rather cold for good fishing. We did not try the Blooming 
Grove stream,- but a little later when the water is lower, 
some pound trout may be taken below the falls, which are 
within walking distance of the Club House. 
John Avery. 
New Jersey, May Wh.—Mr. Frank 8tratton and myself 
were at Echo Lake (Charlottesburg, N. J., via New Jersey 
Midland Railroad) last Monday, and in about four and a 
half hours killed forty-two pounds of perch and pickerel, 
running from two to four pounds each. Deeming this a 
good day’s sport within fifty miles of New York, I send 
you this account. If you want to try it, “Uncle Billy” 
Wickham will show you the “best spots." 
A. S. Caswell. 
Movements of the Fishing Fleet.— Fifty-two fishing 
arrivals have been reported at this port the past week— 
forty-nine from Georges, two from the Banks, and one 
from Newfoundland with salt herring. The receipts of 
fresh halibut have been very small (about 300,000 pounds), 
and have found a ready sale, th# quotations being, yester¬ 
day, five and three cents per pound for white and gray. 
Georges fish continue in light receipt, the total for the week 
being about 1,600,000 pounds. Prices are well maintained, 
with an upward tendency. Th$ shore fleet continue to 
have unfavorable weather, and'the receipts of cod and. 
haddock have been light, with last sales at $1.50 per cwt,. 
for cod, and 75c. for haddock. The reports from the 
mackerel fleet show the presence of mackerel in large 
quantities In Southern waters, but the unfavorable weather 
has interfered with fishing operations, and the catch has 
not amounted to anything. With better weather a good 
catch is anticipated .—Cape Ann Advertiser, May 19 th. 
WH1TEFISH THAT TAKE THE FLY. 
Flathead Agency, M. T., April 28th, 1876. 
Editor Forebt and Stream;— 
In your issue of April 6th, publishing my letter in regard 
to the whitefish (Coregonm allms), you ask me, in a note to 
the same, if I have ever caught the fish I speak of with a 
fly, either on the Atlantic or Pacific slope. Yes, repeat¬ 
edly; on both. I should think it strange to fly-fish for 
trout, either in the Yellowstone, on the east side of the 
Rocky Mountains, or the Little Blackfoot on the west side, 
without catching more or less whitefish. 
By the way, in the same number of Forest and Stream, 
the sixth very excellent article by “Philo Ichthyos" con¬ 
tains the following, (last item hut one)-.— 
“C. Coim'i. Ooues’ whitefish. Chief mountain lake, 
eaBleru edge of Iioeky Mountains." 
I strODgly suspect this is the fish I mean; if so, add west¬ 
ern edge of Rocky Mountains, and include the trout 
streams. _ _ Cilibili. 
—A new Massachusetts correspondent sends the follow¬ 
ing bit of fishing gossip, “to please his grandson,” lie says; 
but if he will kindly write more it will equally please the 
readers of Forest and Stream:— 
“The Spindle is a ledge of rocks projected into Massachu¬ 
setts Bay off Swampscott. Nahant and Egg Rock lie 
southwest. It is broken so that there is a passage wide 
and deep enough for fishing vessels to go through in safety. 
There are fissures, diminutive bays, and holes; some of 
these last named are deep. When the tide is out, what¬ 
ever unfortunate fish remains must wait for its return in 
order to escape from his prison. Not long ago a large 
striped bass got pounded, Some one of the fishermen 
happened to see some excitemont-, took a dory and rowed 
out to find what was the matter. Lo! there was a big seal 
fishing in the hole for a very large bass. Of course, Mr. 
Seal left for parts unknown, and as there is no extradition 
treaty with old Neptune the marine police of bony 
Swampscott did not pursue him. It did not help the bass 
any that Mr. Seal jumped overboard. The fisherman had 
an eye to business, and soon the monster bass was cap¬ 
tured and tbe prize turned into greenbacks. One hundred 
years ago striped bass were common in these waters. 
There is a river called Bass, or Saugus sometimes, run¬ 
ning north of Chelsea Beach, in which bass and herring 
found breeding places. Another river on the north of Sa¬ 
lem, bridged, connecting Salem with Beverly, which has 
one branch running west and auothor north by west, ever 
so many years ago the name by which it was known was 
North, or Bass River. In the swift running incoming or 
outgoing tide fish weighing eighty pounds were taken. 
The writer has seen others, and has taken shad himself on 
a hook, with long hand-lines, from the bridge near aud in 
the channel. Mill dams have destroyed these fisheries, It 
