300 
FOREST AND STREAM 
has been gained that will be of incalculable value in future 
operations; doubts have been solved, and it has been 
demonstrated that salmon fry can be procured for restock¬ 
ing at a trifling cost; that shad can bo spawned artificially 
as easy as other fish, and that ova and young fish can be 
transported thousands of miles without difficulty. The 
Commissioners believe that their operations with shad alone, 
have resulted in a grand success which pays the people an¬ 
nually ten fold all that it has cost. 
With regard to the salmon the problem of restoration yet 
Temains in many respects unsolved. It was believed at first 
that the planting of a few thousand fry, for three or four 
years in succession, would surely bring back the salmon. 
JJut this was a great mistake. The small quantity of fry 
planted was wholly inadequate to the purpose. This fact 
was not so clear to the Commissioners in the beginning; 
hut gradually it became the conviction of all the New Eng¬ 
land Commissioners. It is only within the last three years 
that the experiment can be considered as fairly initiated 
and adequately continued, and it will be continued for two 
years longer, or until the. experiment now fairly under way 
becomes a clearly defined failure or success. 
The pound nets have caused the commissioners continual 
trouble. At the beginning of their work it was believed 
that, they were very destructive to the river fisheries, and 
had it not been for the artificial hatchery at Holyoke the 
shad would probably have entirely disappeared. Now it 
is not uulikely that the immense number of fish hatched 
at Holyoke may obviate the necessity of abolishing the 
pounds, that is if they will submit to proper regulations. 
For the past two years both pounds and river nets have 
had good catches of shad, and so long as all fishing inter¬ 
ests are profitable any interference on the part of the Com¬ 
missioners would be impolitic and unjust. The pound 
men appeared in great force before the Legislature last 
year and procured a repeal of the act whereby the pounds 
were prohibited; and now there is little or no restraint im¬ 
posed upon any fishermen except in limiting the season of 
fishing, regulating weekly close time, and limiting the size 
of the mesh of their nets. A law was also enacted last 
year providing for a report of all fish caught in the State. 
Many blanks for such returns have been called for, and it 
is hoped that when they are filled up and returned to the 
Commissioners, as the law provides, they will afford much 
valuable information in regard to the number and kind of 
food fishes caught in the waters of our State. 
The fishway over Greenville dam was completed last 
spring, and an immense number of alewives, trout, black 
bass, eels, and other fish passed through it; but no shad 
were seen in it, although there were rumors that shad had 
been seen aud caught above the dam. 
Everything has been done by the Massachusetts Com¬ 
missioners to make a perfect fishway at Holyoke. That 
shad can ascend its current has been demonstrated beyond 
a doubt; and where shad go the more vigorous salmon can 
easily push his way. The great trouble with the fishway 
was that the shad would not enter it, although the ap¬ 
proaches to it seemed natural and easy. Commissioner 
Brackett, altered the entrance last year, and shad were seen 
passing through it. Since the Report was printed the 
Eisli Commissioners of Connecticut have ascertained 
that numbers of young salmon from four to six in¬ 
ches in length have been seen at the mouth of the Con¬ 
necticut this season. They are on their way to the sea, 
being the product of those placed in the river two years 
ago. They will not return till 1878, when they will seek the 
spawning beds. The Commissioners are encouraged by 
the appearance of these grilse, and feel confident that their 
efforts to restock the river will be successful. 
For Forest and Stream. 
THE WHITEFISH INTEREST OF MICH¬ 
IGAN. 
I P the usual proportion of whilefish spawn comes to 
life, and the ova that will he hatched artificially be 
added, we shall realize an increase of fish so large that we 
shall calch as many next fall as used to be caught twenty 
or thirty years since. With regard to the Hatcheries here, 
one is in this city, put up by the Pish Commissioners of 
this State, aud worked under the superintendence of Mr. 
O. M. Chase, of Caledonia Springs, with boxes made after 
the pattern used by our. old friend Seth Green. Mr. 
Green’s brother was up here to collect fish eggs last fall; 
he worked hard, got them in the house, and all tilings 
working well before he left, for which he deserves great 
credit. I am informed by the Secretary of the Michigan 
Pish Commission that they expect to hatch about eight 
millions. Some of them will he distributed throughout the 
Slate for the inland lakes, and a great many, I think a 
large proportion, will be put in Detroit River. There is a 
Hatchery put up by the Canadian Government oue mile 
below Sandwich, near the hank of the river, which is a 
credit to Mr. L. Wiimot, the designer and superintendent. 
It is being worked under the superintendence of Mr. J. 
Nevin, a party sent thereby Mr. Wiimot. From what I 
can learn equally as good success may be expected as at 
the Hatchery in this ;ity. These are intended for the De¬ 
troit River. We are at a great loss for running streams in 
this part of the country. The water used at the Detroit 
Hatchery is taken from the Water Works. One of the 
Water Works Board (Mr. 0. Hurlbut) was at one time a 
catcher of fish on Stony Island. He has taken a great in¬ 
terest in fish propagation ever since it was first mooted in 
this country. The water used at the Canadian Hatchery 
is furnished by a small pumping engine, which gives a full 
supply. I have no doubt hut that in a few years’ time we 
Will have as many whiteflsh in Detroit River as ever. 
There is at Toledo, in the State of Ohio, a Hatchery— 
one of three put up by the Pish Commission of that Slate, 
Which was very successful last season. The fish were put 
into the Maumee River, which at present has a strong cur¬ 
rent Tunning ihat will take the young fish to the lake, where 
there is clear water. At first 1 had no expectation that 
whilefish could be successfully hatched in the waters of 
the Maumee River, but now I am satisfied they can be. 
Of the other Hatcheries belonging to Ohio, one is at San¬ 
dusky. and I ti ink the other at Put-in-Bay on South Bass 
Island. What success has been attained 1 am unable to 
say. 
With this I give you a small sketch of Detroit River and 
Us fisheries, with the amount of last fall's catch, as neat' 
as I can from memory. I figure it at nearly 206,000. On 
Fighting Island are six fisheries which belong to me. 
YebITAb. 
Is Seining Profitable?— We are pleased to see the 
Gloucester papers beginning to ask this question. When 
the result of several years’ experiment indicates to practical 
fishermen that which the scientific conservators of our 
fisheries have long maintained—namely, that our products 
of the sea and inland waters are being constantly dimin¬ 
ished, and will in time be annihilated, hv the use of the 
contrivances for the wholesale destruction of fish—we may 
take courage. Hope for the future revives. Our protec¬ 
tive clubs may be encouraged to look for co-operation from 
those who depend upon the continued preservation of fish 
for a livelihood. One writer in the Cape Ann Advertiser 
has been brought to a realizing sense of the great error in 
the use of seines, and asks-.— 
“Suppose you annihilate the mode for five years, and 
return to the hook and line; would it not show that the 
latter method netted, on the average, the most money to 
vessels and crew ? The big hauls with the seine intoxicate, 
like the chief prize in a lottery, and we are apt to overlook 
the slow gains, that come little by little, and are in reality 
the only method to success in the end. Of the large num¬ 
ber of vessels engaged in seining, how many have made 
money for their owners? Let us hear their experience.” 
Black Bass Spawnkrs .—Black bass weighing from three 
to six pounds each, are too large for stocking open streams, 
they being liable to wander, while the small ones are more 
likely to remain near where placed. These small fish com¬ 
mence propagating in July, and continue into the month of 
August. The more adult fish commence propagation as 
early as May, and continue through the month of June. 
BLACK BASS IN THE CONNECTICUT. 
JIigganum, June 9th, 1878. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
About a dozen black bass were caught here last week. 
They were taken a few rods up in a cove which runs to the 
river. They are the first ever seen there, and I think it is 
a settled fact that we soon shall have plenty of these gamey 
fish along our river. They weighed from three quarters to 
four pounds. There is a cotton mill at the foot of the falls 
where the brooks empty into the cove, and it was there 
among the rocks, and along the pebbly bottom, also where 
they have free access to and from the river, that they were 
caught. I caught one with a gray fly, at my second or third 
cast, and no doubt would have taken more if they had not 
been frightened by the mill boys, who were there in full 
force, some catching them in their hands after driving them 
into holes worn into the rocks by the constant action of the 
water. Oue hoy caught ope in this way which weighed 
four pounds. Do they come there to spawn or to food? 
They seem to be there all the day, as they can be seen from 
the mill windows. C. O. Gladwin. 
The fish gather around the rocks so as to rub off the par¬ 
asites which have been tormenting them for a long time, 
aud to put themselves into proper condition for the angler’s 
use. It is on account of this habit that by casting near a 
stone pile, one is pretty sure of catching fislt. In prepar¬ 
ing ponds for stocking with bass, piles ot stones should al¬ 
ways be thrown in. 
SALMON IN THE CONNECTICUT. 
Hioaxiura, Ct„ June5th, 1876. 
Emtor Forest and Stbeam-.— 
] Inclose job an article clipped from Hartford Poet Jane 3d, thinking 
that perhaps otherwise it would not come to jour notice:— 
"Salmon Catch . —Robert G.Pike. Esq., Fish Commissioner, received 
a letter Thursday, from Saybroolt, which informed him that on Tuesday 
last fifteen salmon were caualu near Lynne in the folds of the fisher¬ 
men's nets as they were hunting ashore. They (the salmon) measured 
from six to eight inches in length, and were doubtless of the Hatching 
of 187-1, and were on their way to the sea. A specimen salmon has been 
sent to Mr. Fike. The Fish Commission is doing a good work for the 
public.” 
X tbluk the fact contained in It is important, and if the fish taken are. 
really yonng salmon ft is another hopeful sign that, with proper help 
from man, this noble fish will again make this beautiful Connecticut 
ltiver their home, as it was titty years ago. If yon know of any reasons 
why, with a good fishway over the dam at Holyoke, salmon cannot be 
made to inhabit this clear water, we would like to hear them. We have 
some men here who claim that stocking the river with salmon is all 
humbug, and cannot be done, one prominent man in particular, an ex- 
Statu Senator, saying that he don’t believe a word of the article from the 
Poet, and that it is gotten np merely in tho interest of the Fish Commis¬ 
sioners, they wunttug another appruptlalion from the Legislature of 
$5,000. Oue of our fishermen here caught last Friday, 2d, what is called 
by some er our oldest fishermen, a young salmon, while others (old fish¬ 
ermen also) say it Is not, and there is quite a dispute going on about it. 
Will you please give us a description of a young salmon, say about six 
inches long? I think it will settle some of their disputes. I hope to bcb 
in a few years, not only young, but old salmon, taken from onr river, and 
I for one shall be glad to meet any lovers of the rod, and share our sport 
with them In Tho Rise, The Struggle, and Landed of the salmon. 
C. O. G. 
[Six-inch salmon, or paer, are easily mistaken for trout, 
being marked latteraliy by a line of deep scarlet spots, 
seven in number. They lack the blue and silver spots, 
and the dark olive pattern on the back peculiar to trout. 
Besides, their scales are as large as piq-heads, and rub off 
easily when handled, adhering to the hand.— Ed.] 
xNy I)eh Side, Matnpediu, N. B., May 28th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Will some of your savans give ns their ideas of the use of the hook 
or protuberance whicb grows so rapidly on the upper jaw of the male 
salmon? 1 have Been it on large males three inches long. When they 
first come from salt water you can only judge the sex by the length of 
head—’’no bill or hook" to be seen. That they don’t use it for nest 
making is certain; tho male don’t work at that; he lays off watching the 
performance, and will chase trout, or a tmailer male. I never saw a 
fight between males. One always seemed to ran when the other charged. 
The bill also prevents the teeth from touching, and a male at spawning 
lime nnot shut his month by an inch or two. John. 
Thi s singular appendage, which is an ugly deformity, 
appears in the spawning season, and increases in size as 
the period of copulation approaches, and is then used by 
the male to grasp the female just above the shoulders on 
the hack of the .neck. The same peculiarity of habit at- 1 
taches to various kinds of animals and fowls. The salmon , 
is not the only creature that has a distinguishing mark | 
when it reaches ripe maturity. 
JUnturnl %jjistorg. 
[This Department la under the charge of a competent Naturalist, 
Indorsed, by the Smithsonian Institution , and wUl henceforth be made a 
special feature of this paper. AU communications, notes, tnieries, re¬ 
marks, and seasonal observations will receive careful attention^] 
—A correspondent writes us a letter from “Springfield"! 
which we would be glad to use if we knew the name of 
tho State. 
—Every reader who goes to Philadelphia should endeav¬ 
or to Becure copies of the circulars issued by the Smithson¬ 
ian Department. Particularly those scries marked B & QjJ 
which contain valuable lists of the animals of this conti¬ 
nent. 
—The Acclimatization Society of Paris has just received! 
two Secretary birds from the Cape of Good Hope. A 
long feather projecting from behind the ear gives the ap¬ 
pearance of a scrivener, and hence its name. In the 
country from which they are brought they are still called 
Serpent Killer, on account of the perpetual war which 
they wage against such reptiles. They have a slow aud 
majestic gait, a curved beak of great power, and the bodyj 
of a vulture with long talons. 
Notes from our Correspondents. —"Teal” (Salem, 
Mass.) records withiDaweek the death of a robin andra 
woodcock by flying against telegraph wires; also the death 
of a song-sparrow which was hit by a locomotive. Hei 
mentions his knowledge of several other occurrences...fl 
Prof. W. H. B. Thomas (Mt. Holly, N. ,1.,) tells us that 
the southern limit of tho rhododendrons is at Florenoa 
flights near Burlington, N. -T. -. .Dr. Abbott, of Trenton, 
N. J., informs us that the “rusty-headed fisher" which we 
expressed our inability to identify a few weeks ago, is proba-t 
bly the southern name of the female gooseandcr... .j Mur¬ 
ray (New York) writes us that last fall in the AdirondaeltsJ 
his companion shot a dry doe in fine condition, in whose! 
body was found a stick nearly seven inches long, veryi 
hard, with one end against the lungs and the other embeds 
ded in the heart-case. It had entered under the foreleg,- 
and was probably received in jumping on a dead branch.’ 
_Dr. Estes recently captured, not far from Lake Ci'yfl 
Minn., a pure white pocket gopher (Oeomys bursar itts), 
which makes a very pretty pet. 
WARBLERS OF THE WESTERN RE-*- 
SERVE. 
I HAVE been very much interested in your natural his- 1 
lory notes from different parts of the country, and I 
take the liberty of addiug my mite to the general fund of 
knowledge which most result from this extensive compar¬ 
ing of notes. Having been particularly interested in the 
warblers, I give below the results of my observation pS 
them in this locality:— 
Minwtilta. variti. Black-and-white creeper. CotnmoM 
during migrations, arriving about May 1st. 
Parate americana. Blue yellow-hack. An abundant n)i- 
grant. 
Jlelmithems vcrrnivwus. Worm-eating warbler. Very rarfijj 
Shot two May 2d, 1873, which are the only specimens , 
which have been procured near here for years; found them 
in deep, damp woods. 
lldminth&phaga pinus. Blue-winged yellow warbletj 
Rare; procured my only specimenMay 22d, 1875. 
JJ. chrysoptera. Golden-winged warbler. Rare; shofw 
female this year on May 11th. 
E. rtificapillu. Nashville warbler. Rather common S 
aotnelocalities, though irregularly so; arrives first week in^ 
May. 
JL celnta. Orange-crowned warbler. Very rare; my j 
duly specimen was obtained on May 16th, 1876, A female! 
was shot near here about the same time. 
Dendroma (estiva. Yellow warbler. A common sutnmGM 
resident; arriving the first week in May. 
D. virens. Black-tkroatcd green warbler. AhnmlaiitJ 
during migrations; have taken it from May 4th to 24th. 
I). catrulescenB. Black-throated blue warbler. Common 
after the first week in May. Having seen them in June,® 
think a small number may breed here. 
B. mm lea. Blue warbler. Somewhat common tun In® 
two or three sesisoos; arrive about May 5th. Home of them 
probably breed here, as I have taken the male in the muT 
die of June. 
D. eoronata. Yellow-rumped warbler. Common spring 
and autumn visitor; have taken them from April 20lh n 
to May 14th. S 
D. Blackburnim. Blackburnian warbler. Abundant «t 
spring; arrive second week in May. 
B. striata. Black-polled warbler. The last of the war¬ 
blers to arrive, never having taken it earlier than May 24tm 
I never saw many specimens. 
I), emtaneu. Bay-breasted warbler. Not very abundant, 
although on May 23d, 1870, I procured two males and three 
females. May 15th is the earliest arrival recorded in ran 
book. 
j D. pennsylvaniea Chestnut-sided warbler. Common qg 
spring, arriving about May 10th. 
I) . maculosa. Black-and-ycllow warbler. Abundant dur¬ 
ing migrations. Have taken it from May 5th to 22d, 1 
J) , doviinica. Yellow-throated warbler. One of tilt 
ealiest to arrive; have shot them on April 20th. I am con¬ 
vinced that a few bleed here, as I have seen them as lati 
us June. I have only found them in two pieci s of wood! 
on the river bottom, though I have mude special search fiM 
them elsewhere. They are as much of a deeper in habii 
as the black-and-white. All that 1 have shot have been Of 
the variety atbUord. I may succeed iu finding their heat 
this season, though 1 have been unsuccessful so far. 
