FOREST AND STREAM 



25 



Trout i: ■•.<■, Feb. 7— Parties wishing 



fish for the public waters of New York Stale will receive 

 attention by addressing the undersigned. Our season tor re- 

 ceiving "' March 10. SBtH GREEK, 



JU&timl §i$targ< 



MORE AROUT THE PARTRIDGE FLY. 



A S might have been supposed, the topic of the insec 

 ii- enemies of the ruffed grbUBfl has excited great interest 

 among sportsmen generally, and we have received many let- 

 ters relating to it. Too mtny of these contain mere expres- 

 sions of opinion on thejsubject, unbacked by any facts of 

 special interest, and are not, therefore, worth printing. Others, 

 however, containing more or less that is of general interest, 

 we print Ibis week. It is somewhat nuforlunate that, owing 

 to the small size and retiring habits of this Uy, it easily es- 

 capes the observation of such sportsmen as are not naturalists as 

 well, and it appears to be a ditficiilt matter to secure BpecL 

 mens of it. We were lucky enough, however, just at the 

 close of the season, to secure one, which has been kiudty iden- 

 tified for us, and of which we shall have more to say further 

 oil. 



It jfl to be observed that no one appears to question the ex- 

 istence of the partridge lly, and that to many gunners both it 

 and the youug seem to be well known. Among the letters 

 which wo have received relating to this jnatler are the fol- 

 lowing : 



Boston, Jan. 14, 1879. 



a to the mortality among 



mi, caused by its insect 



sresl by myself and 



le concerning the part- 



. Cutter, of Weston, who is 



Edwob Forest and Stream: : 



The articles in your paper in 

 the ruffed grouse during the pa: 

 enemies, have been read with 

 friends. The letter iu yum lasl 

 1 submitted to Mr. G. 

 well known iu this vicinity. Few gunners have had a larger 

 experience or billed more land game in this State during the 

 last forty years. I inclo3ea copy of his not?, which may in- 

 terest you. Very truly yours, T. GK Wildman. 



The letter referred to in the above note is as follows : 



Weston, Jan. 13, 1879, 



T. G. WlLDMAW, ESQ : 



Jiair Sir- 1 have read carefully the article in Forest and 



StbBAM on the parasite fly on tlie partridge. The partridge 



1 showed you had two on it in a dried state ; one of them I 



off In a hurry (not thinkiugof them.) and it fell among 



(he dirt and feathers, and I could not find it. It had im- 



bedded itself o.j the body i 



of a quarter of an inch. Tl 

 Shape Y, with point toward 

 iug of the flesh, yellowish f< 



bud dried up or fallen o 

 feathers and akin, but with 

 grub. 1 kept the bird some t 



he hip to the depth 

 incision v, is somewhat in this 

 le vitals. There was a discolor- 

 an inch around it. The Other 

 . There was a bunch of dried 

 y eyes could not discover any 

 weeks before picking, and it 



was slightly frozen. It was the fattest partridge I ever 

 picked. 



I amBorrv I did not find (he. first grub, for I think it was 

 large and fully grown, as I felt it between my thumb and 

 linger. Respectfully yours, Geo. B. Cotter. 



LiAKHVaEE, Mass. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



I was speaking with a friend about the scarcity of ruffed 

 grouse in Eastern Massachusetts, and expressed my doubts as 

 to its being caused by the woodtick which we find on rabbits 

 aud sheep!" My friend gave it as his opinion that the. grub of 

 h partridge fly caused the damage, and not the woodtick. 

 On my asking what he meant by the partridge lly he laughed 

 that he had supposed that all bird-shooters 

 knew about the fly, aud then he explained its habits, aud what 

 he said coincided exactly with " Straight Bore's" observa- 

 tions. As he is a good sportsman and a man that observes 

 the habits of game very closely, an'd those of their enemies, 

 I think be has hit pretty near the mark. .Now there is one 

 thing I would like to knows and 1 wish S. B. would rise and 

 explain, and tell us how he knows that the lly, when the bird 

 is Hushed, leaves the bird and flies alongside. It seems to me 

 it would require a marvelous keenness of vision to watch the 

 flight of such an insect keening pace with such a bird as our 

 : known to be. Lsra Bbohldee. 



Taunton, Mass., Jan. 17, 1879, 

 Editou Forest and Stream : 



t have seen several statements in the Forest and Stream 

 in regard to the Bcarcity of partridges— £ •:., grouse— by ticks, 



or lies i destroy the young birds. Some time in the 



fore part of June my dog sou led a dock of young partridges, 



perhaps one-third grown, one of which seemed to lag, as 



though it was wounded. The dog caught It and brought it 



I noticed several ticks on the side of its head about 



■ ;e as No. -1 shot aud about the same color. I remember 



ig seen them before, and the fly I always called B 



I never killed a hawk but that bad several of those 

 m it, although L have soju them on partridges occa- 

 sionally. 

 Two peart June I took a stroll through what 1 



i i in shot three hawks, all of whose 



nests were within the circle of an acre. They all had more 

 or k)BSbf these Hies on them. In the fall I shot titty-rive 

 partridges on that ground— four old cocks, five old hens, aud 

 all the rest young ones. 



Last June 1. was unable to go down there, so the hawks 

 had bull their own way. This fall I shot hut ten grouse 

 , of which six were old birds, so I accused the hawks of 

 lying my young grouse. It may huve been the fly, or 

 tick, that killed them, but hawks will kill tr ad crows 

 wiLl suck eggs. In this locality iliere are as many hawks as 

 idges, and ten crows to one partrii Now, if the 



sportsman or gunner would hunt hawks in their breeding sea- 

 son, and now and tlu.-u kill a crow, we should have more 

 partridges and quails, c impensate the 



.in his grounds by protecting lbs fowls 

 ,, in-', i .I. .in 'Live to young chickens, and 

 from the sharp-eyed crow that is almost sure to find U 

 ami destroy the eggs o) a hen tl nay chance to steal her 

 ■ line.. 

 1 think if the Stale, county, town or clubs would pay a 



bounty on hawks, or female hawks, and watch the snares and 

 fine a, few trespassers so they could afford to pay a good 

 bounty on hawks, we should have, more partridges and 

 i inails'. There is some wholesale snaring about here, I 

 think. Not long since a man who goes about, the country 

 collecting game told me that be found ten birds thai 

 snared to one that bad been shot. Not long since I passed 

 through a piece of woods and saw a low bush fence live or 

 six rods long, with a snare about every six feet. In the snares 

 I found five partridges and all of them partly destroyed by 

 cats or some other animals. It is worse to set aud then 

 neglect snares than to attend to them. 



Yours respectfully, Charles Bavijes. 



As above remarked, we recently obtained a specimen of the 

 parasite referred to in these communications. We were 

 promised others by several correspondents, none of whom, 

 however, appear to have been able up to this time to secure 

 the flics. The one which we have we handed over to Mr. S. 

 W- Williston, of the Peabotiy Museum of Yale College, who 

 very kindly looked the subject up and identified our capture. 

 The species, as was conjectured by us in our comments on 

 "Straight Bore's" letter, and published some weeks since, 

 belongs to the family JJippoboseida. It appears to have no 

 English name, except as we have given it one, bnt to make up 

 for this want it has a very long Latin one— Olferma (Fewnia) 

 amerieana, Leach. This species appears to be somewhat 

 widely distributed over North America, and it seems prob- 

 able that it may be parasitic on other birds besides the 

 ruffed grouse. It has been found in Massachusetts by Harris 

 and in Georgia and the Hudsons Bay region by Walker. Al- 

 lied species have been found on the great blue heron (Ardea 

 herodiaii) by Say, or tho marsh-hawk (Circus Imdsonius) and 

 the bittern (Botaurus minor) by Mr. 8. W. Williston. 



The young of this insect are produced alive and very far 

 advanced toward the pupa state. They remain for a few days 

 attached to the bird and live by sucking its blood. Their ap- 

 pearance during this stage has already been described. We 

 shall be very glad if any of our readers can contribute further 

 facts in regard to this parasite. We know what it is ; now 

 let us see what can be done to relieve the grouse from its at- 

 tacks. 



For Forest, and Stream and Bod and Gun. 

 ABOUT THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL 

 NEW YORK. 



By J. P. Eutoiiirb. 



ACROSS the cast end of Oneida Lake are five miles of 

 low sandy shore, whereon for centuries the winds aud 

 the sandpipers havo played. 



The waves, too, when the November winds sweep up the 

 lake, hold wild frolics there, dancing many a cold night to 

 their own hoarse music, mingled with the hissing roar of the 

 leafless forest that skirts the shore, till the luckless sportsman 

 awakes to inquire if the wild waves will never cease whisper- 

 ing to those old piperidge trees. But they do have their 

 tranquil periods, when they recede and leave a wide margin ol 

 bright sands, pure aud unruffled, until again 

 Boreas shrieks o'er the naked laud, 



And howls at shivering tree; 

 Eeeorda his freaks on the virgin sand 

 As though it were writ by fairy hand, 

 Then uurries out to sea, 



The shore is from ten to fifteen rods wide, of clean sand, 

 except here and there a few bunches of Scrubby willows, and 

 bordered its whole length, by an almost unbroken line of forest. 



Here is the exciting arena for the sportsman, as well as an 

 interesting field for the naturalist, at times when shore birds 

 are numerous. Some seasons, however, there are few to be 

 seen. 



I think it was iu the latter part of August, 1874, when there 

 was a wonderful flight of these birds. Many sizes, from least 

 sandpiper up to white-rumped godwit, swarmed the shore 

 by thousands, for one day only, .'and then disappeared. 

 From whence they came, or whither went, I know not. 

 I have never heard of a similar occurrence here, although 

 there arc generally birds enough on the shore in the season to 

 give tbe sportsman some fair shooting. I am reminded of a 

 singular incident which happened, I think, in May of the 

 same year above mentioned. 



After one of the lake's turmoils, my friend C. A. Burl and my- 

 self gathered up more than a tnilkpad full of small birds in 

 good state of preservation, which had been drowned in the 

 lake and washed ashore along the land for a mile and a half. 

 There were also many others which were cither buried iu the 

 sand or partially devoured by other birds and animals. 

 Among them was tbe robin (Turdus migratorius), golden- 

 winged woodpecker (Colaples auratus), hairy woodpecker 

 (Picas mUosus), downy woodpecker (P. pubescens), myrtle- 

 bird (Uendrceca ooronata), house wren (Troglodytes ocden), 

 brown creeper (Cerlhio, fcemtKarU), white-bellied nuthatch 

 (Sitta carolinejisis), hm\, 1 think, several other war biers which 

 1 have forgotten. Several of the species mentioned are not 

 residents of the locality in question, but pass in May. If these 

 leen all of one kind the ready inference miglit be 

 that a flock of them was caught in a tornado aud swept into 

 the lake and so washed ashore, all nearly at the same lime. 

 Or, if this was not the first instance recorded of sucl - is 

 being found dead on the shore, we might perhaps attribute 



our phenomenon to the winds. As the case stands - , I ■ 



the solution may be simple enough —I do not see it, and will 

 leave it to others. 



The lake is quite a resort for eagles and other large birds 

 that subsist on the numerous dead fish that are washed ashore. 

 .-■ raven (Voma corax) was taken, the first I 

 have ever Been in this part of the State. Although the eagles 

 teed mainly on what they find along shore, they sometimes 

 attempt to & U IgelTOS. A few years ago one was 



taken in ihe act. He was seen straggling violently on the 

 BUrftee or the water, apparently with a large fish. On ap- 

 proaching the spot a boatman found the eagle's claws firmly 



'. in 'i. :. weighing sixteen 



pOUnds. They were both taken from the water rgcther, and 

 both very much exhausted. It was with great difficulty that 

 the birds claws were removed from the fish. 



While on ihe subject of birds, I will notice several kinds 

 found among the scrub-oaks aDd dwarf-pines iu the poor, 



sandy regions about the head of Oneida Lake, that do not live 

 in the fertile hills and valleys of eight, or ten miles away. As 

 the reasons for this can hardly be in any difference of climate, 

 I am inclined to attribute them to the soil, timber, water, etc. 

 For instance: the brown thrasher (J-larpnHiynrhus) likes to 

 wallow in the warm sand and make himself understood from 

 an oak or chestnut tree. The towbee bunting ( Pipilo try- 

 throplithabnus) will be heard to say " c.hewink " in the lower 

 limbs of a dwarf-pine about three feet above the ground, and 

 well screened from view by one or two intervening cedars. I 

 think it has not been fully determined among naturalists that 

 the olive-sided fly-catcher (Vontopus borealis) docs not secure 

 a harder or more forcible intonation to bis clean cut whistle 

 by delivering it. from the dead top of s tough old piperidge 

 tree, which the lightning has long since given over as a bard 

 case. Moreover, "it seemed good to Dame Nature to instruct 

 the while-throated sparrow (Zonotrkhia albkoliis) to tarry on 

 those dreary heaths and sing five of the sweetest little ca- 

 dences that ever cheered the. heart of traveler— merely for 

 compensation, maybe. Finally, if not settled by naturalists, 

 it has been strongly suspected by the infatuated collector that 

 the water wagtail (Seiurus noveboracensis) shrieks over some 

 inaccessible marsh or dismal fen to lure him on to misery,- and 

 when be finds himself far above his boots among the mud- 

 turtles and other slimy things, the bird drops suddenly down 

 from its high perch into the jungle below, and is not seen or 

 heard from again that day. 



None of the above birds live twelve miles up the Oneida 

 Creek Valley, where we have;hard water, clayey soil, and no 

 scrub oaks or piperidge trees, while on those sandy heaths 

 they seem as happy as the day is long. The white-throated 

 sparrow passes us in great numbers in the migrating seasons, 

 lingering, and now and then dropping snatches of song as 

 though he had half a mind to stay with us. What can wo do 

 to induce him, to add the charm of his pretty song to our lawn ? 

 We have planted a large grove of larch trees by the sand hills, 

 where last spriug I saw, for the first time in this locality, a 

 towbee bunting hopping among the trees and calling.as though 

 he required only a mate to consummate his happiness. 



But let us return to the lake, which is twenty miles long 

 and five or six wide. Iu the fall it is quite a resort for ducks 

 and sportsmen, aud it is not always easy to tell which are the 

 more numerous. The lake abounds in many kinds of fish, 

 such as pike-perch, pickerel, elc, which are taken in large 

 numbers, especially about the mouths of Oneida and Fish 

 creeks. These streams outer the lake only two miles apart, 

 entering wide and deep channels through our sandy shore, 

 aud are very different in character. The former approaches 

 from the south, its sources being among tbe lime-stone bills of 

 Stockbridge and Peterboro. The water is therefore hard and 

 of a milky or muddy appearance. On the other hand, the 

 waters of Fish Creek are soft and very pure. The stream's 

 tributaries are near those of Salmon Kiver in the woody re- 

 gions of Northern New York, where the trout delights to 

 dwell. 



In boyhood I used to wander among those streams, angling 

 for the speckled beauties. There is a strange enchantment 

 connected with those youthful dreams. 1 used to go far 

 into the wilderness, up one of those wild torrents, its noisy 

 waters leaping and dancing through a lovely green, forest tha"t 

 echoed to its clamor like a thousand silver bells. In some 

 places the water glided over smooth slate and anon leaped and 

 writhed among boulders, I have wandered from rock to rock 

 along this stream with my fishing rod, till the unceasing din 

 produced, if possible, more solitude than silence itself, andmy 

 fancies ran wild with the leaping torrent, peopling the sur- 

 rounding forest with screeching elves, and the very water with 

 sylvan shapes and shadows flitting and dancingiu the feathery 

 foam like weird and strange phantoms. 



Iu those days that region was much resorted to by sports- 

 men from both city and country, and it is said that capital 

 sport may still be had. 



. *»4— . . 



An Early Bikd. — WiUiamsport, Pa., Jan. 28. — Mr. 

 Editor : Yesterday (January 37) I noticed a kingfisher 

 (A. alcyon) perched on a tree on the bauks of Lycom- 

 ing Creek. Is it not unusual to find this bird iu our 

 latitude, in mid-winter? The Susquehanna and tributaries 

 at our place have been closed for weeks, excepting 

 where the cm-rent is very swift, and the bird must have lived 

 very precariously at best. His appearance justified this con- 

 clusion, as he looked as tattered and demoralized as a tramp. 

 About a week since my brother aud I noticed a large flock of 

 snow burnings, PtectropJianea nivalis, (the originator of that 

 name ought to be bung). My brother knocked seven out of 

 the flock, one of which was snatched by a sparrow hawk 

 almost as soon as it touched the snow, and, as the second bar- 

 rel missed fire, the bold robber escaped with his booty. Of 

 the remaining six, which my brother skinned, there were five 

 females and one male. With the exception of a flock we saw 

 in the winter of 1876 these are the only birds of this species 

 we have ever seen here. Bobousk. 



Linnean Society. — Iu the absence of the president at the 

 meeting held February 8, Mr. ilerrick occupied the chair, Mr 

 Bicknell acting as secretary, pro tern. Mr. N. T. Lawrence 

 read an interesting communication from Mr. Spencer Totter, 

 on the occurrence of certain rare birds at Philadelphia, Pa., 

 principally collected by Mr. C. D. Wood. Sixteen species 

 from the locality were noticed, all interesting, and some not 

 previously recorded. Among those of especial interest were 

 Protoiwtariaoitra (two specimens) fyranga umtiva, Virco phiia- 

 dclphicus, Pleclrophant:* lapponicu-s, Buspiza a/neriouma, 

 (regularly breeding at one point), three specimens of 

 GoniapJiea mrulea and Hfergului albas, the latter being found 

 exhausted in September lasl sixty miles from the ocean. Mr. 

 C. II. Eagle made some remarks on zoological nomenclature, 

 after which the subject of trinomial nomenclature was dis- 

 cussed. The majority of those present seemed opposed to tho 

 irbitrary fashion of combining varietal and specific names 

 favoring the use of tbe separating abbreviation, var., or Mr. 

 1 ! ' ..ay's system of using the letters of the Greek alphabet 

 to qualify varietal names. Mr. Herrickread from Dr. Cones' 

 " Birds of the Colorado Valley" one of the author's illimit- 

 able peu pictures of bird life, Mr. Bicknell following with 

 several newspaper clippings on scientific subjects, and re- 

 marks on Dr. Gregg's record in the AmerUsan Naturalist of 

 the occurrence of the pied duck (Oamptolarinus labradoriw) 

 —supposed now to be almost extinct— at Elmira, N. Y- 



1 wo Mokb AmiNOBS — Editor /''■■resit ami Stream: My 

 attention was called to a purely white skin purchased among 

 a lot of furs. Upon inquiry 1 found that it, was the skin of 

 a white, or albino, raccoon. The rings on the tail were a 

 cream color aud distinct. The man who caught, it said he 

 could not tell the color ol the eyes as he caught it at uighfc. 



