FOREST AND STREAM. 



ere of this State, probably long before Mr. Mather saw it, were fully 

 aware of, bat with the limited means at our disposal everything cannot 

 be done at once. Shad went over the Holyoke fi&hway during the last 

 season, and it is the only ftshway yet built over a dam of any consider- 

 able height where ihad have positively been known to pass. 



B. A, Bbackbtt, Commissioner of Inland Fisheries. 

 » 



— Iowa's Fish Commissioner, Haynes, states that 300,000 

 salmon have been hatched at Anamosa, and are now ready 

 for distribution. By January 1,500,000 trout will be ready 

 to distribute among the Iowa streams. 



[7hi8 Department is now under the eharge of a competent Naturalist, 

 Indorsed by th& Smithsonian Institution, and will henceforth be made a 

 special feature oj this paper. All communications, notes, queries, re- 

 marks t and seasonal observations will receive careful attention.'] 



" 



ORNITHOLOGY OF 



HILLS. 



THE BLACK 



IH the report of Mr. George Bird Grinnell, of New 

 Haven, upon the birds observed by him during Capt. 

 Ludlow's expedition to the Black Hills in 1874, we have 

 a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the ornithology 

 of the Territories. One hundred and ten species are cata- 

 logued, which is a large number for such a trip, con- 

 sidering the other duties which Mr. Grinnell also 

 had to,, occupy his time; and nearly every species 

 has attached notes of very great interest. The birds 

 about Fort Lincoln have already been well described by 

 Dr. Coues, Prof. J. A. Allen and others, and we shall only 

 have space to review the notes made in the hitherto al- 

 most unknown hill-region which culminates in Harney's 



Peak. 



The robin and Rocky Mountain blue bird, {Sialia arctica) 

 were common throughout the Black Hills. A single speci- 

 men of the dipper was seen on Elk Creek, which is proba- 

 bly the eastern limit of their range. The long-tailed chick- 

 adee and the slender billed nut-hatch were common in 

 the timber, and a single family of the red-bellied nut-hatch 

 was seen. The house wren bred everywhere, but the 

 rock wren {Salpinctes obsoletus) only occurred among the 

 bad-lands along the little Missouri. A single specimen of 

 Audubon's warbler was taken near Harney's Peak, August 

 1st. The purple martin, and the cliff and violet-green 

 swallows, and the lead-colored vireo, (Vireo sohtarius var. 

 plumbeus), were & found abundant in the Hills. A single 

 one of the Vireo gilvus var. Swainsoni was also taken near 

 Bear Butte. The cedar-bird, white-winged shrike {GoUurio 

 ludovicianus var. exeubitorides), and Louisiana tanager — the 

 latter in three stages of plumage — were also collected. Mr. 

 Grinnell's account of the Fringillidae abounds in valuable 

 observations. Thus he says of the chestnut-collared bunt- 

 ing, or longspur, (Plectrophanes ornatus), "the male sings 

 sweetly on the wing;" but McCown's bunting is considered 

 the more melodious songster. "It rises briskly from the 

 ground after the manner of the lark bunting, until it at- 

 tains a height of twenty to thirty feet, and then, with out- 

 stretched wings, and expanded tail it glides slowly to the 

 earth, all the time singing with the utmost vigor. The 

 male and female exhibit an unusual degree of attachment 

 for one another. * * * I noticed that they kept close to 

 one another, generally walking (not hopping) side by side. 

 If one ran a few steps from the other to secure an insect or 

 a seed, it returned to the side of its mate almost immedi 

 ately." The nests and eggs of these two species, and of 

 the lark bunting (Galamospim bicolor), are also described . 

 It is a curious circumstance that only in the nests of the 

 latter bird were cow-bird's eggs ever found. Gotumiculus 

 passerinus var. ' perpallidus, Ghondestes grammaca, Junco 

 hyemalis var. Aikeni, JSpize la socialis var. arizotim, Spizella 

 pallida, Gyanospiza amrnna and Pipilo maculatus var. arcticus 

 •were more or less common west of the Little Missouri. 

 The male of the lazuli finch is represented as sitting 

 all the morning on the topmost limb of a dead tree, at short 

 intervals uttering a screaming little song, much resembling 

 that of G. ciris. It probably raises two broods at Fort 

 Lincoln. The arctic towhee also breeds around the Fort. 

 Its song is a monotonous trill. The nests of the charac- 

 teristic shore larks were found early in July. A few 

 Canada jays, which were seen on Elk Creek, are de- 

 scribed as very shy; a new feature in that bird, which 

 usually shows anything but timidity in finding its way to 

 the scraps about the camp fire. 



Among the flycatchers, the Arkansas, Say's, and the 

 olive-sided are noted; and the western wood pewee (Conto- 

 pus wrens v&t . Biehardsoni) was very common in the pines 

 on the mountains. The black-billed cuckoo, Lewis' and 

 the red-headed woodpeckers, and both the flickers were 

 also observed. The long-eared, short-eared and great- 

 horned owls were common, and many dresses of the Sioux 

 were ornamented-with their feathers. Falco lanarius var. 

 polyagrus was abundant everywhere on the plains, feeding 

 on the buttes, but was not seen in the Black Hills. A 

 most entertaining account of the habits and haunts of this 

 lonely falcon is given, which we wish we had the space to 



Quote. , , ,„-,., 



Other hawks peculiar to the region, and breeding on the 

 buttes were noticed in considerable numbers. The golden 

 and bald eagles occur all through the country between the 

 Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains; The tail feathers 

 of the former are so much prized by the Indians to adorn 

 their war head dresses that two golden eagles are worth a 

 horse, or $40 to $60, among s the Sioux. 



Among the game birds: Dusky grouse (Ganace obscurus) 

 and sage cocks were rare; the sharp-tailed grouse [Pedicecetes 

 phasianellus var. eolumbianus) was found in all the river 

 bottoms and throughout the Hills; and the western ruffed 

 grouse, {Bonasa umbellus var. umbelloides) was also abun- 

 dant among the mountains. Plovers, sandpipers, curlews, 

 cranes and rails in good numbers bring the catalogue down 

 to the geese and ducks, which were numerous late in 

 August on the streams and lakes. The three mergansers, 

 the ring-billed gull, loon and horned grebe complete a 

 valuable and very pleasantly written list of the birds west 

 gi Fort Lincoln. 



Remakkable Success in Taming Woodcocks. — It has 

 heretofore been found extremely difficult, in fact apparent- 

 ly impossible, to keep woodcocks long alive in confine- 

 ment, although they have frequently been captured, and 

 have seemed to become tame. A letter upon this subject 

 from T. R. W., of New Brunswick, K. J., is therefore of 

 great interest. He describes a case where several of these 

 birds had been brought up from the nest by a farmer, and 

 had become well domesticated. These birds (four in num- 

 ber) their owner said he had found in a nest and brought 

 home with him, not expecting that they would live. But 

 he found that by holding worms before their bills they 

 would swallow them, although they would not pick them 

 off the ground. In a few days they became very tame, 

 and as they grew older and acquired their full plumage, 

 they would take short flights about the farm, but always 

 returning to the house and roosting beneath the stone slab 

 forming the kitchen door-step. When the tamer and our 

 informant went into the garden, the birds, attracted by 

 their owner's voice, came hopping out of the brush and 

 flew upon his shoulders, manifesting not the slightest fear, 

 but not permitting his companion to approach them . After 

 taking food from his hand they again flew away. Watch- 

 ing the birds feeding, it was observed that they would rap- 

 idly drive their bill into the soft ground, constantly boring 

 until they found their worm ; they would then give a peculiar 

 twist, draw it out its full length and gulp the worm down. 



Habits op the White Pelican. — Thomas H. Estey 

 sends us some interesting notes from Nicasio, Marin coun- 

 ty, Cal., on the habits of the white pelican (Pelecanus 

 trachyrynehus). These birds are to be seen in immense 

 numbers circling about in long irregular lines, and the 

 question arises as to how they manage to obtain sufficient 

 food, as they do not, like the gray pelican, (P. fuscus) dive 

 for it. In the shallow lakes below Sacremento, after 

 alighting in the centre of the lake they spread out in the 

 form of a half -circle, just as a fishermau would fix his 

 seine. After approaching within ten or fifteen yards of 

 the tule, each bird beats the water with its wings until the 

 line has driven all the fish before it into water only a few 

 inches deep. Then a number swim inside the circle and 

 feed, catching the fish easily in the shallows, until they 

 are satisfied, when they fall back to stand guard and oth- 

 ers take their places, until the whole flock has had its 

 meal. Mr. Estey says he has many times seen them feed 

 in this way on Mead Lake, twenty-two miles south of Sac- 

 ramento, where he shot from 1849 to 1861. 

 ' «♦♦*. 



— The American Naturalist, which has heretofore been 

 published and edited by Prof. F. W . Putnam and Dr. A. 

 S. Packard, Jr., has passed into the hands of H. O. Hough- 

 ton & Co., of Boston, who will continue its publication. 

 Dr. Packard will remain its editor, and the first number 

 under the new arrangement will be issued in January. It 

 is to be hoped that it will not be so heavy a financial bur- 

 den to its owners in the future as it has in the past. There 

 seems little hope of making a strictly scientific periodical 

 even self -supporting in the United States at present. " 'Tis 

 true 'tis pity, and pity 't is 't is true." 



-*♦♦. 



— We shalPbegin publishing in the next, or a following 

 number, a series of occasional papers on North American 

 Oology, embracing the latest facts which have been brought 

 to the notice of ornithologists. 



SCAUPS. 



IS HYBRIDITY IN DUCKS INCREASING? 



♦ 

 Editok Forest and Stream;— 



Some months ago a friend, who is an ardent sportsman and acute ob- 

 server, mentioned to me as a remarkable fact, that hybrids among our 

 species of wild ducks were much more frequently met with now than in 

 former years. If it be so, it is not only a remarkable fact,. but a most 

 important fact, in its philosophical bearings. Although, a prioroi, from 

 the views I have formed from caief ul study in other branches of natural 

 history, I am prepared to believe that at the present time, and in past 

 geological time, certain genera have been addicted to 'miscegenation, a 

 confirmation of such views by careful notice of the progress or the mix- 

 ture of species can hardly be overestimated in the actual condition of 

 speculative science. 



I would, therefore, pray yon to ask your correspondents, many of 

 whom are now in active pursuit of water fowl, to transmit to you any 

 opinions they may have formed upon this subject from their past expe- 

 rience. I would also beg that they may send you, for record in your 

 journal, any instances that they may observe of the occurrence of hy- 

 brids. Very truly yours, John L. Le Conte. 



[We feel assured that the appeal of our 

 distinguished correspondent will be heeded by our 

 naturalists, some of whom we know have made 

 hybridism a special study. The question is most 

 interesting, and the facts of increased hybridism, if 

 ascertained, will help to explain how new species are 

 evolved and how certain genera become extinct, and are 

 succeeded by others analagous in their anatomical struc- 

 ture and habits, but distinct in new characteristics. — Ed.] 

 -4»»*» 



SNOWY OWLS-tt Nyctea. 

 i ,- » 



Harrisburs, Nov. 29, 1875. 

 Editor Forest ani> Stream :— 



Will you please inform me where the species of large snowy owl (strix 

 nyctea) belongs? One or two have been shot here on the ice two years 

 ago, one of which was prepared and mounted, and is still in the collec- 

 tion of an amateur ornithologist. Saturday, Nov. 27th, a large speci- 

 men was again seen on the river front in the vicinity of McClay street, 

 but the siy Nimrod who was after it failed to get a shot at it. It crossed 

 over the Susquehanna Elver to Bunker Hill, on the Cumberland county 

 side of the river. Mr. Beckord, keeper of the toll-gate at Harrisburg 

 Bridge, has a pair of full-grown birds (the common large variety found 

 in all forests in Pennsylvania,) which were captured when very young. 

 They roost among the fowls, but will not attack them. They destroy 

 rats readily. Audubon. 



Answer.— It is exclusively a northern species. It is met 

 with in the United States only in midwinter, and is much 

 more abundant in some years than in others. Individual 

 specimens have been occasionally noticed; as far south as 

 South Carolina, but very rarely. It has been observed in 

 nearly every part of the United States.— Gone*' North Amer- 

 icon Birds, 



Broohline, Mass., November, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream :— 



Speaking of ducks, I am glad to see that one or two of your correi- 

 pondents speak of the blackheads as scaups. Although not a very eu- 

 phonious name, it could and should be used all over the country, so that 

 a Chesapeake Bay man would understand that his black head was spoken 

 of, a Long Islander his broad bill, and a Westerner his bluebill. This ia 

 but one instance out of hundreds which will come before your Interna- 

 tional Committee on Nomenclature. Yours truly, F. W. L 



r aadhnd t <$mm md %ntdm. 



ERGOT. 



— » . 



LETTERS recently received from the regions border^ 

 ing the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, but 

 especially from Idaho, state that a disease has appeared! 

 among some of the indigenous grasses that causes animals; 

 eating them to be taken seriously ill, and in some cases to> 

 lead to their death. It has, in a few instances, attacked fields* 

 of rye and barley also, with destructive effect. Its presence 

 is the cause of much trouble to the farmers, as they do not 

 understand its nature, nor do they know even what it is. 

 Judging from the description given of its results, it seems. 

 to me to be ergot, as the first plants that it attacked were 

 the rye, brome and festucca grasses, the species to 

 which it seems most attached, and these are the most abun- 

 dant in that section. 



If it is ergot, the fact can be readily learned by examin- 

 ing the seeds of the grains and grasses on which it ap- 

 pears, for it is much larger than the normal seed, and more 

 corneous or horn-like in composition. The outer portion 

 is scaly and seamed with cracks that expose the inner sur- 

 face; and it varies in hue from a purplish black on the ex- 

 terior to a whitish or purple on the inside; the latter por- 

 tion being very compact in appearance. It contains a very 

 large proportionate quantity of oil composed of oleic and 

 palmatic acid, with a small quantity of butyric and acetic 

 acid, and some glycerine. This oil has a peculiar odor, 

 and an inky taste; its ordinary color is a brownish-yellow, 

 the coloring being produced by ergotine and ammonia. 

 The origin of ergot has been clearly proved, and it is now 

 known to be a parasitic fungus. In a few days after it at- 

 tacks plants it exudes from between the glumes, and en- 

 veloping the whole seed prevents it from attaining scarcely 

 any size by excluding the air and spreading its penetrating, 

 choking oils over the whole surface. 



As each ergot cell has the power of free germination, it 

 takes only a short time to ergot an entire field, or even 

 a neighborhood, especially if rye or the grasses mentioned 

 above are abundant. It frequently attacks barley and 

 wheat, but the latter is less subject to its attention than any 

 of the cereals, and if. care were used by farmers it might be 

 checked entirely in many instances. Ergot can be propa- 

 gated in two ways, that is, either by the spores of the ma- 

 tured fungus, produced by the ergot, or by the spores of 

 its earlier life when in a sphaceliac condition. When the 

 ergot falls to the ground in the harvest season it lies dor- 

 mant during the Winter, but as soon as the bright, vivify- 

 ing rays of Spring appear, it sends forth its contents, and 

 the result is a large crop of the perfect parasitic fungus. 

 As it does not ripen until the cereals and grasses are in 

 bloom, it can fasten on the flowers immediately through 

 the action of wind and rain, which carry it about in 

 showers large enough to spread over- an extensive area of 

 country. Even if a small portion of the parasite obtained 

 a foothold amongst grain or grass, its power of free ger- 

 mination — for every spore acts as a producing pod— would 

 scatter it over the country in one or two seasons. When 

 the fungus attacks a field of cereals no power can remove 

 it, as it would be an extremely difficult matter to select 

 the grain which it assails, and even if it were found, it 

 would be impossible to pick it, owing to its extensive 

 range . The first effort of the farmer who desires exemp- 

 tion from its pestilential presence should be to secure per- 

 fectly clean seed, if he is planting cereals, and this he can 

 readily tell by its freedom from dark or brownish spots. 

 Although this will not always save his crops, as the ergot 

 may be imbedded in the grasses that skirt the fields, yet it 

 will aid him materially, and he will have the satisfaction 

 of knowing that he exercises proper discrimination in pre- 

 venting its presence. If the grasses bearing it were care- 

 fully cut down, so as not to let it fall on the ground, the 

 grain crop would be assured; but wherever it appears one 

 year, care should be taken that the same field is not culti- 

 vated the following, as it would be only a waste of time 

 and money. By noticing the condition of the graminee anil ^ 

 cereals early in the season, the presence of the fungus will 

 be detected, and by keeping cattle from them the farmer 

 will save his stock, for if they eat of it they will assuredly 

 be attacked by a gangrenous disease that may cause their 

 death. Even persons eating ergotted grain are liable to 

 the same malady, hence prudence would dictate that its 

 appearance among cereals be carefully noted. 



The grasses which it seeks are the brome, festucca, 

 conch, rye, barley, and timothy, and one or two other t 

 varieties; but as few of the higher graminse, which it set- \ 

 dom visits, grow wild in the Rocky Mountain di | t " ct ' 

 especially on its western border, the stock-raisers of that 

 region should note the appearance of their cattle, ana 

 when they find cows and mares suffering from . a ' )or A 10 J| 

 ate births, or gangrenous diseases, they should drive them 

 to some other grazing fields, as it is evident that they aie 

 suffering from the effects of ergot. . . \ 



It may be possible that the disease from which tne 

 cereals in Idaho suffer, is bunt or pepper-brand, but iron 

 its effect on animals, I should deduce that it was me 

 deathly fungus, and to get rid of that, no way is know* ^ 

 except the exercise of the precautions given, 



" 



