FOREST AND STREAM. 



299 



rust red tail spread to Us fullest tension, and Iris heard, a tool 

 in length, dragg I grass at his feet. The 



liitc saiip on tlic top of his head seemed like a ball of 

 Cotton when urought - '-■' the dark mahogany 



plumage of his : be I b mteri and performed his vain- 

 glorious gyrations among the heps, inviting Iris overtures and 

 ! out my 'call' and began a series of 

 yelpings. He would go offal first, then sway forth and back, 

 09 if undecided whether to come to me or to remain with the 

 hens, and kept this up for some time until Within range of 

 my rifle, when, all my endurance failing, I drew a bead upon 

 him, as he stood quartering in full .strut, and tired. He fell 

 to his breast, fluttered along a few feet, then got upon his 

 wings and started in a difficult flight in the direction of Will, 

 Whoby this time had crop.; around the hill and was Opposite 

 me. The gobbler was within fifteen feet of his head, flying 

 with both legs hanging down, when Will tired one barrel and 

 missed. The turkey, already mortally wounded by my rifle, 

 eame to the ground as Will pulled the other barrel and" broke 

 his wing. On examination we found that his back was broken 

 i liinlv in two by my bullet, whieh paralyzed his lower ex- 

 tremities, but he could still get along on I lie wing for a little 

 way. This was a noble bird, and we were greatly pleased 

 with our capture." 



FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OHIO 

 STATE FISH COMMISSION, FOR THE 

 YEAR 1875 AND 1876. 



WE have been in receipt, from as many of our friends in 

 Ohio, of no less than six different copies of this high- 

 ly interesting and valuable report, but have been unable be- 

 fore this week to publish a summary of the same. The re- 

 port, which is a model in its way, makes up au attractively 

 printed pamphlet of nearly one hundred pages, and comprises 

 the report of the Commissioners, which is followed by a sup- 

 plementary paper by 3u.pt. of Hatchery, Mr. E. D. Potter. 

 A History of the Toledo and Sandusky fisheries occupies a 

 dozen pages, and the remainder is devoted to a catalogue and 

 Scientific Description of Ohio Pishes, by J. H. Klippart, 

 The scientific descriptions are taken from the forthcoming 

 Report on the Zoology of Ohio, by Prof. D. S. Jordan, and 

 the letter press is illustrated by admirable wood cuts of each 

 fish described ; thus enabling any person to readily identify 

 any fish caught. The course pursued in the preparation of 

 this report cannot be too highly commended, nor can there 

 be any doubt as to the advisability of thus popularizing scien- 

 tific knowledge by distributing it in an attractive form among 

 rhe masses. The first work of Ihe Commission was to estab- 

 lish four experimental hatcheries, one at Cleveland, one at 

 Castaliu, near Sandusky, one al Kelley's Island, and one at 

 Toledo. There were placed in the Toledo hatchery, in Dec., 

 ■;.,, r,i i! i,000 Whitefish eggs : at Cleveland, r,l 10,000 ; at Casta 



;oi),000 ; and a very considerable number at Kelley's 

 Island. The yield from toese, including 300,000 fry brought 

 from .Northvillu, Mich., was an aggregate of over two mil- 

 lions of young fish, which were Safely planted in the lakes. 

 When large enough to bo captured in pound nets, the esti- 

 mated value of them will be !J20D,0QQ. Prom information, 

 ■ostensibly reliable, though not officially received by the. Com- 

 mission, there were upwards of 10,000,01)0 of whitefish fry 

 deposited in Lake P.rie and Detroit River, early in 1876. Be- 

 sides the very successful culture of whitefish, there were also 

 hatched at Toledo 0,000 eggs of the land-locked salmon from 

 Maine, and OO.OOO eggs of satmomku: Of these 10,000 of 

 the fry were placed in tire Maumec Bay, 10,000 in the San- 

 dusky River, near Fremont, and the remainder in the lake 

 near the islands. 



For the propagation of black bass and other spiny-firmed 

 species, t he use of what Was once a limestone quarry on Kelley's 

 Island is given, where the parent, fish are to be placed, and 

 whence the fry will be shipped to all parts of the State, 

 During Ihe summer of 1870, the Commission, having decided 

 Upon Toledo as i he most soil able place for a permanent hatch- 

 <ay, erected, upon the grounds of Ihe wafer works of that 

 city, a substantial hatching house, after the model of W. W. 



Clark, of Noribtield, Mich., and with a capacity of 30,0 1 



of whiteiish. The .principal other work of the year was the 

 planting of over 500,000 shad eggs ami 75.000 salmon eggs, 

 which had been furnished to the Stale free of charge by the 

 United States Commissioner of Fisheries. These were dis- 

 tributed among the Cuyahoga, Maumee, Ashtabula, Groud, 

 Sandusky, Miami, Huron, Olcutaugg and Sciota Riv- 

 ers, Sandy Creek and Castalia Springs. The. capture 

 of Shad of mature size has been effected in the lakes; 

 and at Cedar Point, near Toledo, in October, 1870, a salmon 

 was caught which was thirteen and a half inches in length, 

 and was presumably one of those planted in the liver Raisin, 

 Mich., in 1871. These facts may go to prove that these spe- 

 cies may become so acclimated as to lose, their auariromous 

 habits. There were, at the time Of the repott '(Jan, 1877), 

 six millions of whitefish eggs in the Toledo hatchery, all of 

 them in healthy condition. 



In the supplementary report of Snpt. Potter, the writer 

 states his belief "that When the waters of Lake Erie are pro- 

 perly farmed, they will lie found as beneficial in the produc- 

 tion of cheap Toed as so much surface of the best agricultural 

 lauds of the Slate." The stocking of Lake Eric with salmon 

 is both feasible, -and, as the wilier thinks, only a question of 

 time. For the interior streams of the State, however, the 

 prospect is not encouraging. " The scarcity of fish in the 

 upper waters of our streams has by many been attributed to 

 the erection of dams which prevent, them from 'running up. : 



There arc causes behind all that for the scarcity of fish in our 

 streams. Many waters have been strengthened and obstruc- 

 tions to the rapid transit of the water removed, destroying the 

 aiding places of the fishes. Drains and ditches 

 have been made all over the Slate, drying up the swamps and 

 small streams, the natural breeding grounds of most of our 

 river fish. * * * It has been found everywhere that the 

 fish as well as game recedes before Ihe march of civilization. 

 Fishes must have cover as well as game, and when the while 

 man destroys this he must not expect either to remain with 

 him long." 



^,**_ 



M'Cl.olD ,1X1) SAfHAMENTO RlVKU TbOCT— Do ELY VaEUEN 



Eggs— A Choice RbsionfOb Spobtsmks.— Mayor Green of 



Lower Soda Springs informs me that he has procured about 

 8,060 eggs this season from the native trout of the Met loud 



River. These trout average in weight about two pounds, and 

 in eggs 1,200 each. The egg is peculiarly transparent. You 

 Can Bee the Shape of the fish from seven to eight days after the 

 egg has been placed in the hatching-trough. After nine days 

 more the eye of the fish can be seen. They arc a very hardy 

 fish, Mr. Green having only lost about three per cent, of the 

 number he has taken. So far as heard from, all the lots ship- 

 ped by him are doing well. Ho has sent some to the Sand- 

 wich Islands, one lot to Professor Baird, and another lot to 

 New Zealand. Mr. Green within the past week has taken a 

 few thousands eggs from Sacramento River trout at Lower 

 Sotla Springs. The Sacramento trout do not average' in size 

 those of the MeOloud River, but they are a very gamy fish. 

 Some of them weigh over two pounds. Mr. Green intends 

 nuking a specialty of taking Dolly Varrien eggs next ( letobcr, 

 and parties wdio would like to try their hands at raising the 

 finest trout in the world can procure the same by communicating 

 wilhMr. Mvron Green, United States Fishery, .Me- Cloud River, 

 Shasta County. He will charge $10 per thousand for the 

 The Dolly Vardens. when fully grown, will weigh from 



pom 



■ach. 



if fish at Berkeley is likely to receive a 



check, 'in consequence of the scarcity of water, many of the 

 streams in the Contra Costa Mountains being perfectly dry. 

 On the 20th ult. men were engaged in removing the young 

 trout from the aquarium, at the, L'ni versitv. to San Leaudro 

 Creek, below Lake Chabot, where water will be supplied from 

 the reservoirs. Among the rare fish which Mr. Throckmorton, 

 the gentleman in charge, lias on band, is a golden trout, found 

 in the streams in Utah, which grows from the spawn, in one 

 3'ear to six inches in length, and is very prolific. These trout 

 will be utilized to replenish the streams throughout the State 

 in which the trout have all been caught out, and will be an 

 important accession to the tine food fishes of California. Mr. 

 Chabot, President of the Contra Costa Water Company, is rais- 

 ins' European carp, which, next season will be placed in Lake 

 Chabot, As these fish feed almost entirely on vegetation, 

 their presence will have the effect of purifying the water. — 

 Son Francisco Pacific Life. 



Laxp-Locked SALMON m Rax»ei.ey Lakes.— Aland-locked 

 salmon weighing five pounds was captured at Rangley Lakes 

 on June 2d below the old dam on the "outlet." it is suppos- 

 ed thai this noble specimen of the salmo family made his ap- 

 pearance in these waters in 187$, When the Couuui.s.- inner of 

 Fisheries, Hon. Henry O. Stanley, first introduced the young 

 fry. His growth has been marvellous. 



New Hamcsiiike.— Land locked salmon have been placed 

 hi Bocky and Long Ponds in Hollis, and in the Penuiehuek 

 Ponds. They were a gift from Mr. Brackett, one of the Fish 

 Commissioners of Massachusetts, to Dr. Edward Spauldiug 

 of Nashua. Smells have been introduced into Mink Pond, 

 Lisbon. 



Wisconsin. — The Fish Commissioners of this State, in com- 

 pliance with the request of Senator Barden, sent to this city, 

 on Friday last, some 40,000 Mackinaw or Lake Trout, 24,000 

 of which were deposited in Silver Lake, aud 10,000 in Swan 

 Lake. They were sent from the Milwaukee branch of the 

 State hatchery ("the main institution being at Nine Springs, 

 near Madison, ) and they arrived here in capital condition, 

 scarcely one having died on the road. Of course the placing 

 of these tish in the lakes named must be regarded in some 

 degree as experimental. That the lakes themselves are ad- 

 mirably adapted to the growth of lake trout need not. be 

 doubted. Their waters are clear, cool, of great depth and 

 perfect purity. But the}' are also tenanted by pike, pickerel, 

 bass, etc., and they will convert just as many of them to their 

 own use as they can possibly dipt ui e. How many of them 

 they can gobble is the unknown problem ; many of them they 

 will surely swallow ; all of them they can hardly expect to 

 capture — indeed, we do not think they can destroy a very 

 large percentage of them, and so we shall expect, to see good 

 lake trout fishing in these lakes in about three years, when 

 they should have attained a weight of four or five pounds 

 Bach. — Mihwmkn StiUincl, Mill/ 20. 



Illinois. — One of the most useful bills which has passed 

 the Illinois legislature is the Pratt bill for the protection and 

 preservation of tish. The bill provides for the restocking of 

 our almost depleted waters, and makes the taking of food fish 

 by any other method than the hook and line a misdemeanor. 

 Such a bill has been wanted for a long time in Illinois. 



—The report of the Canadian Commission of Fisheries for 

 the year ending Dec. 31, 1870, shows that Ihe. gross value of 

 the produce of Ihe, fisheries for 1870 was $11,1 47,500, or 

 $061,917 in excess of that of Ts75. From the Toronto Globe, 

 of May 31, we extract a part of the abstract of the report: 



There are now seven government fish breeding establish- 

 ments in the Dominion, situated as follows : In Ontario, New- 

 castle and Sandwich; in Quebec, Tadousac, Qaspe liasiu and 

 Restigouche ; in Nova Scotia . Bedford, and in New Bruns- 



wick, Miramichi. The deposit oi vivified salmon ej 



ie amounted to 1,500, (HID; at Tadousac to 1,00(1,(11)0; 

 at Bedford to nearly 1,000. 000 ; at Gaspe to 920,000 j at Res- 

 i in he to 720,000 ; and at Miramichi to 040,000. Added to 

 these at Sandwich are 8,000,0(10 of while-fish eggs, while at, 

 Newcastle were 10,000 of California salmon ova and 150,000 

 white-fish. The total distribution of ova that would be 

 hatched in the spring of 1877 would amount to close upon 

 14,000,000. The California salmon are to be placed in the 

 river Escoumain, about twenty miles east of Sagueuay, once 

 ■I i aicd as a salmon river, but which through the want of 

 protection for many years does not contain a single fish. It 

 is there well adapied for the experiment of acclimatizing the 

 salmon of the Pacific to the Atlantic waters. The necessity 

 for further measures beimr taken for the preservation of the 

 03 -i.i' and lobster fisheries is strongly enforced by the 

 Commissioner, meantime the efforts made for some years 

 past by Mr. Wilmot, and persons trained under his direction 

 to replenish the rivers of Canada by means of artificial fish 

 culture have been attended with a very fair measure of suc- 

 cess. The parent establishment, fortius purpose, under the 

 immediate superintendence of Mr. Wilmot, lias uow arrange- 

 ments and appliances of the most complete character. The 

 additional number of grown fish returning to the spawning- 

 beds every year is a proof of the. gradual increase in the sup- 

 ply of fish obtained by Mr. Wilmot's labors. In the fall of 

 1870 no less than 200 salmon entered Grafton Creek at one 

 run. Salmon were also found in the stream at Bowmanv'dle, 

 in DuHin's Creek, and in the number, Rouge and Credit 

 Rivers, formerly favorite resorts for these fish, but for many 

 years entirely depopulated until restocked by the agency pro- 

 vided by the government. Between four and five hundred 

 grown salmon wen. caught in Lake Ontario last, season, the 

 rish being in line condition aud from 8 lbs. to 18 lbs. each in 

 weight. The prospect is held out of the salmon fisheries in 

 British Columbia attaining increased importance, Fresh en- 

 ergy aud capital are being applied to this important branch of 

 industry, for whieh the supply of fish is practically unlimited. 



QntwHl Jjjisforg. 



Natitkausts in Uniform. — We have received, through 

 Dr. Coues, a copy of the Walla Walla Union of April 14, 

 1877, containing the sound and sensible inaugural address of 

 Surgeon George M. Sternberg, U. S. A., delivered on the oc- 

 casion of his election to the presidency of the " Walla Walla. 

 Association for the Advancement of Science." Wc are glad to 

 see that new societies of this character are rapidly increasing 

 in number, as it indicates a healthful spirit of scientific inquiry 

 all over the land. We understand that nearly all the army of- 

 ficers stationed at Fort Walla Walla are members Of the sori 

 ety, and the selection of 'one of them to be its first president 

 shows the esteem in which they arc held for their ability aud 

 interest in such matters. No .other body of men, perhaps, 

 has so much unemployed talent and, we may add, unused op- 

 portunity for scientific inquiry as the officers of the army, w 7 ho, 

 if they will take the proper means, can add largely to the 

 stock of scientific knowledge, and reflect great credit upon the 

 corps to which they belong. There are probably few of them 

 whose official duties do not leave much time at their own dis- 

 posal — time wdiich might be profitably occupied in the investi- 

 gation ^of the fauual and flora of the regions where they are 

 stationed. They may make themselves excellent and trust- 

 worthy observers, and do much toward silencing the re- 

 proaches sometimes thoughtlessly brought against them of 

 their uselessness except as soldiers. Wc believe that the spirit 

 of scientific inquiry is surely, if slowdy, spreading among the 

 gentlemen composing this class, aud trust that it may become 

 the rule rather than the exception. 



NOTES ON MAMMALS OF CANADA. 



BV ItM. i OCCUR, ESQ. 

 [oO.MZMfNIOATED BY DR. coues.] 



07 Bonaventure St., ( 

 Montekai., Canada, May 1, 1877.) 

 Dear Dr. Oouei : 



1 received a circular from the Medical Department V. S, 

 Army, relative to the prcparat i< in of a "1 1 isl ory of Norl h Amer- 



ican Mammals," to be published by y 

 a book on this subject, and the : 

 States deserves the best thanks of' 

 indeed, of Canadians, for iheir libei 

 knowledge in the various branches < 

 In regard tc the mammals occt 

 send you Ihe foil. 



tent. We want 

 au of the United 

 imonwealth, and, 



irivaucing human 

 science, 

 this province. I 



Alee americana). — I have 110 positive knowledge 

 cics ranges north of Ottawa, bill in the wild 

 pts northwest of Ihe latter city they are abun- 

 jceurs north of Montreal, and during a resi- 

 irsin the city of Quebec, I did not see nor 

 having been killed in that part of ihe province. 

 a of the St. Lawrence, that is to say between 



auibou {Hanijifcr caribou). — This deer tip 

 pears to me to replace the tnoOte on the north of the St. Law- 

 rence. It ranges from northeast of Montreal to Labrador and 

 Newfoundland, where it. is more generally replaced b\ a form 

 called, the Barren Ground caribou, and it is said thai an 0C- 

 hot in the Jan/in (fes cai-i- 



Moc 



how far il 

 woodland 



nam. lit 



Wc 



nn 8 





of the 



ast of Quelle. 

 1 Canada, mo 

 .if the deman 



Dur 



ig t 



lideneeof Brit- 

 ire becoming scarce 

 ind snow shoes. The 



the contract to sup- 

 that this demand is 



Indians of 

 ply these J , 



less, Ihe animals have had a chance 10 increase, and in a lew 

 ie.,, re yearf, 1 have no doubt, they will be prolific and abund- 

 ant. In regard to the existence of two distinct species, 1 have 

 some doubts. There is, however, a great difference between 

 the form of their horns— the main branches of the woodland 



being round, while those of the liarrcn Ground are pahoated, 

 and it is said that the latter animal is much smaller in size. 



Viiail.NiAN Ihiiii; 1 Cu/v'i- —This species is 



more abundant in the Province of Ontario. Its northern 



