, 



FOREST AND STEEAM. 



323 



i^h ^nUn\t. 



THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE HATCH- 

 ING HOUSE. 



K — ' — 



NEARLY A HALF MILLION OF YOUNG SALMON. 



RECEIVING an invitation from the Superintendent, Mr. 

 Jno. P. Creveling, to pay Mm a visit, I reached Marietta 

 on the Susquehanna, a little after 12 M., on the 15th of 

 December. I found him awaiting my arrival, and after an 

 early dinner at the hotel, we jostled over the lumpy, frozen 

 road four miles to Donegal Springs, where the State hatch- 

 ing house has been established. 



This is a substantial wooden building one hundred 

 feet long by thirty wide. The water, drawn by a six inch 

 pipe from a copious spring a hundred yards above, is con- 

 ducted to a tank outside the building, and then through a 

 feed trough running the whole length of the house inside, 

 is distributed by faucets through thirty-three hatching 

 troughs, each of them fourteen feet long, and placed at 

 right angles with the supply trough. In each of the hatch- 

 ing troughs, which are eighteen inches wide, there are six 

 divisions, which receive as many trays just two feet long, 

 the bottoms of which are covered with tarred woven wire, 

 five wires to the inch lengthwise, and three-quarters of an 

 inch apart crosswise, so as to allow the avelings to fall 

 tiirough the screen to the bottom of the trough as soon as 

 ihey are free from the eggs, Mr. Creveling allows five 

 thousand eggs to each screen, and as he can place them in 

 double, i e., one above another, he can hatch sixty thou- 

 sand in a trough. So the hatching capacity of the house 

 is now little short of a million of eggs. By running a 

 supply trough on the opposite side of the house, and 

 doubling the number of troughs, he can hatch two million, 

 and then by putting in tiers of trays three or four deep 

 he can triplicate or quadruple his present hatching capacity. 

 Having ample room and an abundant supply of clear 

 sprint water of uniform temperature, he does not think it 

 expedient to use the Holton or Ferguson apparatus, as he 

 oan remove the fry and attend to them more easily by his 

 jresent method. 



I found his fry, which had absorbed the umbilical sacs a 

 veek before, all thrifty, uniform in size, and feeding 

 teartily. The following is a summing up of his record 

 ;eptfrom day to day: 



Oct. 13. Received from Cali F ornia, ova 480,000 



Loss in transportation, bad eggs 5,131 



474,869 



Oct. 26. Commenced hatching. 



Dec. 8. Sacs absorbed. 



jossin eggs in troughs...... 11,313 



jossin young fish . 4,663— 15,976 



Fry ready for distribution 440,893 



Of the loss in young fish there were about 2,000 mal- 

 formed, some double headed, some joined in pairs at the 

 sac, and some with tails drawn up to the head, all of which 

 nevitably die, and which would reduce Mr. Creveling's 

 oss to 13,976. 



As soon after coming from the eggs as the fry can be 

 noved — say within two or three days — they are brushed 

 Tom the hatching trays into tin pans, the loose shells 

 icreened out, and the young fish placed in vacant troughs 

 o await the absorption of the sac. So careful is Mr. 

 leveling to give his fry plenty of room that he already 

 iad fifteen boxes, 4x2 feet, with wire gauze bottoms and 

 '.nds, floating in a pond outside, each of the boxes contain- 

 ng from three to four thousand. These he feeds as regu- 

 arly, morning and evening, as those under roofs. 



Mr. C. feeds daily to his fry a week old a beef's heart, 

 vhich, with the nerves and veins out, weighs about four 

 >ounds. At two weeks old he doubles the allowance, 

 ;radually increasing the quantity until the fry are all dis- 

 nbuted to the various streams to which they are allotted. 

 Ie prefers the heart to the liver, which, as he justly says, 

 ioes not run so much to liquid. His manner of preparing 

 t is in a revolving upright cylindrical chopper, being care- 

 ul to keep the knives very sharp. After a thorough 

 hopping, the minced meat is mixed with water and 

 trained through a fine wire gauze ; all that will not pass 

 hrough is chopped again. As the fry increase in size, 

 oarser seives are used . The feed, mixed with water, is 

 aken up in a bulb syringe with a wide nozzle, and squirted 

 long the length of the troughs — the persons feeding pass- 

 ag backwards and forwards several times in doing so, that 



glut of food may not be administered instantaneously. 



The cans used in transportation hold each from four t® 

 ve thousand fry. The water is aerated by means of a 

 ylindrical plunger four or five inches in diameter, as long 

 s the depth of the can, and perforated with minute holes. 

 ls the plunger is pressed down, the water in the cans rushes 

 a through the holes, and as it is pulled up the pressure of 

 he air above causes it to rush back into the cans. This is 

 ae best invention I have ever seen for oxygenating the 

 ?atei\ It is an invention of Mr. Creveling's. Mr. C. was 

 )l id in his commendation of Mr. Stone's method of pa^k- 

 a g salmon eggs, by which only one per cent, was lost in 

 unsporting them a day's travel over a rough road in a 

 ? agon, and three thousand miles by rail. Mr. C. practices 

 ' r y impregnation in fecundating his trout eggs, and loses 

 jut a very small per centage. During a cold snap in No- 

 r ember be visited a farmer, four miles or so away, who 

 'ad some trout in his brook that were just beginning to 

 pawn, and having no impregnating pans handy, or any way 

 'f taking the fecundated ova home, by considerable dex- 

 er % he pressed the ova into one bottle, and the milt into 

 mother, and an hour after doing so, put the two together 

 Q his pans, and, mixing them well, placed them in his 

 etching trough. The result was eighty per cent, of per- 

 ectly fecundated eggs, in which the embryos were easily 

 i een, 



I found in a partition in a pond adjoining the hatching 

 louse a number of wall-eyed pike [Lucio perca), twenty-two 

 >i them, Mr. C. informed me, averaging two and a half 

 rounds each. He intends trying to express the ova and 



\l wllea tnev are 1Q the proper condition, which will be 

 <« March or April, and, if successful, hatch the eggs in his 

 ' rou gh8, Thaddeus Norris. 



TO REMOVE OBJECTIONABLE FISH 

 FROM WATERS TO BE RE-STOCKED. 



4 



The question, so often asked, how to rid ponds and 

 streams of pickerel and other objectionable fish, that trout 

 may be substituted, is partly answered in the following 

 letter from Mr. Milner, originally addressed to Hon. J. B. 

 Beck, of Kentucky: 



United States Commission, Fish and Fisheries, ) 

 Watjkegan, III., November, 1875. [ 

 Dear Sir— Your letter of the 9th arrived yesterday, and 

 I gladly send what information I can in the direction you 

 desire. 



To begin, there is an experiment very important and 

 especially desirable to be carried out this season, that I 

 have refrained from proposing to any locality we expect to 

 visit this fall, because, unless it is rightly managed, it will 

 be an unpopular measure. 



The young fishes deposited in the streams of course have 

 to run the gauntlet of the larger fishes of prey in the 

 streams where they are put. The loss is more or less 

 according to the various conditions of different streams. 

 It would be very desirable to test results from a stream in 

 which all the other species had been either removed or 

 destroyed. This would not be impracticable if some small 

 stream of not too much or too little current near the head 

 is selected, and a good wire-screen placed at the proper 

 distance below. 



As destruction of life is a repulsive and rather heartless 

 act, especially on so large a scale, some philanthropic, or 

 philoicthyic citizens might volunteer to see the larger portion 

 of the fishes seined out and the fishes carried below or to 

 other waters. Then, by placing quick lime in the upper 

 head waters, the lurkers that would not permit themselves 

 to be taken with the seine could be destroyed, and the 

 stream in a week or ten days would be clean and clear for 

 a stock of healthy young salmon. These could, as well, be 

 kept under such conditions until they had attained a year's 

 growth. At this time they should be from five to eight 

 inches long, and with the strength and activity of the 

 species would be entirely able to save themselves from any 

 enemies they would be likely to encounter. 



By skillful management in turning the young salmon 

 through the wire-screen at the time they are ready to 

 migrate down the current, the number that had survived 

 would be known precisely. 



It is not alone because of the definite knowledge that 

 would be obtained of the numbers surviving, but because 

 of the survival of so large numbers, more rapid results 

 might be expected in the waters. 



The seeds of coculus indicus would perhaps answer better 

 purpose than the lime. Considerable judgment and care 

 will be necessary in applying either to prevent injuring 

 further dowu the stream than is necessary. 



It is easy to see that this measure would be very unpopu- 

 lar, unless managed by persons capable of explaining 

 satisfactorily the greater advantages to ensue. 



When the salmon descend toward the sea I think we 

 could promise to restock the stream with some of our lately 

 imported fishes, or rather their progeny. 

 . This experiment will be an entirely new and original 

 idea, and would give interest and note at once to the work 

 of your Commission, if the£ carry it out. Though the 

 suggestion is not entirely new, the gentleman who has 

 urged its application in our work is Professor Albert D. 

 Hager, an elderly and active man, and who expects to 

 unite with me in our work this fall. He was formerly 

 Geologist of Vermont, afterward of Missouri, and between 

 times Fish Commissioner of the State of Vermont, 



Yours truly, Jas. W. Milner. 



Hon. James B. Beck, Lexington, Ky. 



-*..♦- — 



Terre Haute, Ind., December 21st, 1815. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



In reading the Report of several different State Fish Commissions, it 

 has occurred to two or three of our fishermen to ask if we have any 

 State Fish Commission in this State. None seem to know here. 

 Can you tell us anything about it, how we should proceed to get one, if 

 there is none, etc.? What we want is a start. Some shad spawn was 

 put in our river (the Wabash) some two years ago, but by whom we here 

 do not know. Crumbs. 



[There is no Fish Commission in Indiana. Efforts 

 have been repeatedly made through the Legislature (the 

 proper source) to establish one. One of the most energetic 

 and prominent workers in this movement is our friend W. 

 H. Holabird, of Valparaiso, to whom our correspondent 

 can apply for aid or information. Should a Fish Commis- 

 sion be established in Indiana, we should be pleased to see 

 Mr. Holabird appointed thereto, as he would render disin- 

 terested and efficient service. — Ed.] 



tntnl j§iMtorg. 



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

 indorsed by the Smithsonian Institution, and will henceforth be made a 

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

 marks, and seasonal observations will receive careful attention.] 



THE NESTING OF AMERICAN BIRDS. 



III. — The Wood Thrush — (Turdus mmtelinus Gmelin, Au- 

 dubon, Nuttall, Baird, Coues; T. mdodus, Wilson.) 

 ♦ ■ 



THE wood or song thrush breeds throughout its range 

 in the United States, where it is distinctively an east- 

 ern bird. It is found north to New England and Canada 

 West; west to Dakota, and south, in Winter, to Central 

 America. Through the central portion of its range all 

 have paired by May 1st, and the nest is usually completed 

 by the 15th of the month, except in New England, where 

 the date is somewhat later. Although very common in 

 wooded and thickety districts, especially in the Ohio Val- 

 ley and northward to the lakes, they are more shy than the 

 robins, and conceal their houses with much greater care, 

 often contriving to have long leaves and trailing vines 

 curtain them. 



The nest of this thrush is nearly as bulky as the robin's, 

 but often has no mud in its composition. It is placed upon 

 the horizontal branch of a forest tree, anywhere from six 



to forty feet above the ground, or in the forks of a sapling. 

 The materials are twigs, coarse grasses, and dried leaves— 

 of which latter, in damp situations, there is often a great 

 thickness underneath— finely combined, and lined with 

 fine roots and grasses. While it is not common to find the 

 wood thrush nesting away from the woods, Dr^ Brewer 

 and Mr. Burroughs both mention instances where It built 

 in gardens close to the house so long as it was left undis- 

 turbed. Whatever its situation, the type is well adhered 

 to, and the foundation of dead beech or oak leaves is a 

 characteristic; but I remember one case in which ribbon- 

 like grass had been used instead. The books say that but 

 one brood is raised in New England, but I am inclined to 

 think otherwise. Mr. Maynard says the usual time of 

 nesting, near Boston, is June 1st, although he has found 

 the young on the 4th. Mr. Samuels places the date as the 

 20th of May. During the Summer of 1873 I spent several 

 weeks at Norwich, Conn., where these thrushes are abun- 

 dant. On June 2d I found one of their nests, containing 

 four eggs, which had been set upon, and on June 4th another 

 similar on^; the following day an unfinished nest was 

 found; from this time constant search met with no wood 

 thrush's nest until the 21st, when another was found, con- 

 taining four fresh eggs, which I then considered a second 

 brood, not seeing why this pair should have delayed their 

 building until all their neighbor's young were hatched. 

 This trip furnished another curious note. On the 5th of the 

 month I found a nest of the wood thrush, nearly finished, 

 on the lower limb of a large oak. Visiting it again on the 

 18th, it contained three eggs only slightly addled. Did 

 these eggs belong to the original builders w T ho were so 

 dilatory; or had the nest been abandoned and afterwards 

 taken possession of by another pair? 



Along Lake Erie, where they breed in great numbers, the 

 eggs are laid by May 15th, and are usually four in number, 

 but sometimes only three. It not unfrequently happens 

 that a cow-bird's eggs is also found with them. The eggs - 

 are uniform deep blue, not inclining to green so much as 

 the robin's, and one-fifth smaller, more slender and pointed. 

 Their behavior when the nest is approached is very differ- 

 ent in different individuals. If the female is sitting she 

 will usually remain upon the nest, watching you intently, 

 until you reach out your hand to touch her, when she will 

 suddenly slip away, and caunot be induced to show herself 

 while you remain in the vicinity; but sometimes, with an. 

 unnatural courage born of her terror, she stands her ground, 

 bristles up, and whistling, screaming and hissing, repeat- 

 edly darts at your head with the utmost fury. 



—Watts T. Loomis, of Little Falls, N. Y., tells us, in 

 answer to "C. S. W.," that a phcebe bird {Contopus mrens) 

 raised two broods of young in the same nest each year, for 

 two successive years, building her nest on the top of a 

 column under a piazza. 



<«♦»» 



A List op Albino Birds.— Mr. W. Russell Robinson, of 

 Richmond, Va., sends us, in a communication which is 

 unfortunately too long for us to print in full, a list of cases 

 of albinism and melanism which have come under his ob- 

 servation. As he says, few persons who have not paid 

 special attention to the subject, know how common the 

 former variation from nature is, and how it may in some 

 degree be accounted for as governed by laws of geographi- 

 cal variation. The only other list of albinoes which we 

 remember was published by Dr. Coues in the American 

 Naturalist for May, 1868. He records only a single instance 

 of melanism, the black guillemot, which had been de- 

 scribed as a distinct species. Mr. J. A. Allen, last year, 

 showed us a striking example of melanism in the red- 

 headed woodpecker. The first on Mr. Robinson's list is 

 the quail (Ortyx Virginianus), many of which have been 

 found pure white, or mottled with white, by hunters in 

 Virginia. Mr. Abbott, a taxidermist in Reading, Pa., had 

 among his specimens a perfect case of melanism in this 

 bird. It was evenlv black everywhere. Two specimens 

 each of the snipe [GaUinago Wihoni), and of the sora rail 

 {Porzana Carolina) and several of the meadow lark (JStur- 

 nella magna) and robin (Turdus migratorius), are also de- 

 scribed. One of the robin was all white except its red 

 breast. "A very beautiful specimen of albinism in my 

 collection," says the writer, "is a cedar bird {Ampelis cedro- 

 rum). It was shot from among a normally colored flock, 

 on one of the islands in the James River, in March, 

 1874. The wing- coverts are rich brown; the bend at each 

 wing has a spot of the same color, and. there is a round 

 spot on the tips of three of the secondary quills on each 

 wing; the abdomen ends of the tail feathers, and a narrow 

 line immediately behind the crest, across the head, are 

 pale yellow and very glossy; the red 'sealing-wax' ap- 

 pendages on the inner quills are very bright; everywhere 

 else the bird is pure white." The snow-bird (Junco hyem- 

 alis), the English sparrow [Pyrgita domestica), and the chim- 

 ney swallow {Clmtura pelasgia), conclude the list. The list 

 has an additional value, as coming from so southern a lo- 

 cality as Richmond. 



Birds with Teeth.— Prof. O. C. Marsh prints in the 

 American Naturalist an account of the fossil birds with 

 teeth (Odontorinthes), which occur in the cretaceous rocks 

 of this country. Among them are figured and described 

 two, probably aquatic, species of birds about the size of a 

 pigeon, with long powerful wings, and many teeth set in 

 sockets in the lower jaw, indicating carnivorous habits. 

 A very interesting one is the Hesperornis, a gigantic diver, 

 first found in Kansas in 1870. Its skull is similar to that 

 of the loon. The jaws are massive, and have through- 

 out their length a deep, inferior groove, which was thickly 

 set with sharp-pointed teeth. These teeth had no true 

 sockets, and in some other respects resemble those of some 

 fossil reptiles. But the jaws were covered with a horny 

 beak. The Hesperornis was larger than any known aquatic 

 bird, the length from the tip of the bill to the ena of the 

 toes being between five and six feet. The habits are 

 clearly indicated. "The rudimentary wings prove that 

 flight was impossible, while the powerful swimming legs 

 and feet were peculiarly adapted to rapid motion through 

 the water. The tail appears to have been much expanded 

 horizontally, as in the beaver, and doubtless was an elS- 

 cient aid in diving, perhaps compensating in part for the 

 want of wings, which the penguins use with so much effect 

 in swimming under water." Its food was probably fishes. 



