34< 



'FOREST'ANMSTREAM. 



—"We learn from Nature oi Dec. 16th that a large new 

 rapacious bird has been recently discovered by the natural- 

 ist E'Albertis in New Guinea, which is described by Count 

 Salvadori under the name of Harpyopsis noveae Guineae. 

 The existence of this bird probably gave rise to the ex- 

 aggerated report of the enormous "eagles" which were 

 seen during the voyage up an unexplored river in New 



Guinea, recently published in several papers, 

 , ^ .». 



THE RED-TAILED HAWK. 



THE red-tailed hawk is generally called the hen-hawk. 

 The adult and young of this species differs so greatly 

 that no one except an experienced naturalist would be apt 

 to recognize them as the same. Its length is from nineteen 

 to twenty inches, and its wings expand from forty-five to 

 fifty inches. The female, as is the case with all our rapa- 

 cious birds, is considerably larger than the male. The 

 head of the adult is large and flat; tip of the bill much in- 

 curved, with the entire upper parts brown, with fulvous 

 edging on the head and neck. The tail is bright rufous, 

 tipped with white, and a little rounded, with the subter- 

 minal band of bUck. The throat is white with longitu- 

 dinal strips of brown, and the under parts yellowish white 

 with longitudinal brown spots; the under tail-covers are 

 yellowish, legs yellow, and the iris hazel. In the young 

 the upper parts are lighter brown than in the adult, with 

 more white and- fulvous spots; the tail has nine or ten 

 transverse brownish black bands, and is tipped with white ; 

 the subterminal band is about an inch wide; the under 

 parts are white with large ovate spots of brownish black; 

 the under tail-coverts are spotted with brown. The smaller 

 wing-coverts are rufous, and similar to the red-shouldered 

 hawks, only not as bright rufous. 



From the above it will be seen that there is very little 

 resemblance between the adult and young. The only dis- 

 tinguishable resemblance is in the general form of the head, 

 bill, legs and claws. Is it, then, any wonder that eminent 

 naturalists have mistaken tkem for some other species? 

 Nuttall took, aad described them as the American buzzard 

 {Falco buteo); Pennant as the great hen hawk (Buteo mil- 

 gario); while Wilson named it Falco leverianus, but says, 

 however, "It is with some doubt and hesitation that I in- 

 troduce the present as a distinct species from the Buteo 

 oorealis. My reason for inclining to consider this a distinct 

 species is the circumstance of having found the present 

 Falco leverianus two or three inches larger than the former, 

 B. borealis." 



Ornithology in those days was not advanced to the exact 

 science of the present day, and its devotees were not gen- 

 erally aware that the young of many of our birds of prey 

 were longer than the adult, which absurdity is explained 

 by the fact that, after moulting, the long feathers never at- 

 tain their former length. This is very marked in the case 

 ef the goshawk and bald eagle . 



The bill ©f fare of the red-tailed hawk is made up of a 

 variety of food, according to the season. In the Spring 

 and Summer months snakes form a prominent item, but in 

 the cold season, the wild game of the woods and the poultry- 

 yard are drawn upon to satisfy the cravings of hunger. 

 From the fact of its making frequent inroads among our 

 domestic fowls the name of "hen-hawk" is derived. The 

 nests of these birda are composed mostly of sticks and 

 twigs, are large ana somewhat flat, and generally located 

 where it is almost impossible for any human being to get 

 at them. In these nests they lay from two to four or five 

 eggs, of a dull white color sparsely covered with dark 

 brown spots. The male assists the female in the duties of 

 incubation. H. W. 



■ ■«»»■ 



REPETITION OF NESTING IN BIRDS. 



THE subject of the repetition of incubation in our 

 birds being under discussion in the Forest and 

 Stream, I will quote irregularly from my field notes of 

 several Summer's back, with reference to this matter, for 

 the benefit of your readers. The birds that I know of as 

 breeding twice in a single season, may be arranged under two 

 headings: First, those that regularly do so; second, those 

 that occasionally do so. Of the species that I have found 

 breeding twice, as a rule, I have the following noted down, 

 with details of circumstances, making it quite certain that 

 such was the case. These details will perhaps be given in 

 a separate article on the subject of the breeding habits of 

 some of our birds. Those usually breeding twice are: — 



1. Hobin. (Turdus migratorius). 



2. Cat-bird. {Galeoscoptes Carolinensis). 

 :i. Blue- bird. (Sialics, sialio) . 



4. House wren. {Troglodytes cedon) . 



5. Yellow warbler, (uendroica cestiva). 



6. English sparrow. (Pyrgita domestica). 



7. isay-winged bunting, (Pooccetes gramineus). 



8. Chipping sparrow. {Spizella socialis). 



9. Song sparrow. (Melospiza melodia) . 



10. Orcnard oriole. (Lcterus spurius). 



Those occasionally breeding twice are: — 



1. White breasted nuthatch. {Sitta Carolinensis) . 

 2." Scarlet tanager. (Pyranga rubra). 



3. Yellow-bird. {Chrysornitris fristis). 

 4' Chewink. {Pipilo erythroplWialmus) . 

 5 " Baltimore oriole. < Icterus Baltimore) . 

 e! Purple grakle . ( Quiscalus purpureus) . 



Of the list of ten species that I believe, at least generally, 

 raise two broods in New Jersey, and more likely habitually 

 do so, I believe all will build new nests, unless they are 

 kept 'in the immediate vicinity of the first nest by an 

 abundance of food, and the nest itself escapes injury from 

 rains and occupation by spiders, etc. Indeed, I have 

 long thought that birds would always build a new nest 

 rather than clean out an old one. Gleaning out and re- 

 fitting an injured nest is not an undertaking for which a 

 bird is physically well adapted; and nest building de novo 

 "comes natural" to them. Any how, it is not a very diffi- 

 cult process, nor half so wonderful as many people think it. 

 The cat-bird I have known, in one instance, to commence 

 laying while the first brood were yet hovering about the 

 parent birds; and the second brood were hatched and ready 

 to fly within a week of the day I last noticed the old and 

 the young of the first brood together. The blue-bird, 

 house wren, English sparrow, and orchard oriole remain 

 about their first nest during the Summer, and simply add a 

 few additional bits of lining of feathers, hair or fine grass, 

 p the ease may be, the latter bird not doing even so much. 



A pair of orchard orioles built in a pine tree in my yard, 

 the past Summer, 1875, raising two broods. The first ap- 

 peared about the 20th of June; the second brood about 

 the 1st of September. The parent birds and both broods 

 remained about the yard and its tall pine trees until No- 

 vember 3d, after which date I have not noticed them. I 

 think there is no doubt but that the Summer warbler raises 

 two broods. If so, the same nest is not used, The more 

 restless habits ©f this bird have made it more difficult te 

 determine. 



Of those birds that I have mentioned as occasionally 

 breeding twice, a word in conclusion. The second brood 

 follows immediately after the first, and seems to have been 

 caused by some unusual excitement of the ovaries, causing 

 a second series of eggs to mature. My attention was 

 called to this subject several times, by observing mai-ked 

 nests of the species mentioned, to note down length of 

 period of incubation, etc., and I was surprised to find that 

 occasionally eggs were laid within a day or two of the 

 departure of the first brood. I occasionally noticed a some- 

 what similar case in the common chicken, where a setting 

 hen will occasionally drop a shelless, but otherwise perfect 

 egg y towards the close of the period. 



Chas. C.Abbott, M.D, 



Prospect HiU y Trenton, New Jersey. 



Habits of Foxes. — We found the following paragraph 

 circulating, and having doubts of its correctness, sought 

 the opinion of one whose familiarity with these creatures 

 enables him to speak with accuracy :— 



"Some one has informed a correspondent that red foxes 

 run out the grays wherever they go, and he writes to us for 

 information on the subject. This is true to a certain ex- 

 tent. The grays seem to live in terror of the reds, and 

 unless hard pushed by dogs never encroach upon the range 

 of the latter. One pair of reds (the species being in some 

 sort migratory) will drive out an entire colony of grays. 

 The reds are slowly going in a westerly direction. The pe- 

 culiarities here mentioned are notorious among fox-hunt- 

 ers." We append our correspondent's letter: — 



Ferrisburgh, Vt., December 23d, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



If the gray fox referred to in the inclosed slip is Vulpes Virginianus, 

 I can tell you nothing about it, as this species, if not quite unknown 

 here, is so rare that Thompson was unable to obtain a specimen when 

 preparing his description of the animals of Vermont. If the silver gray 

 fox is meant, I should say most decidedly that the statement is incorrect. 

 As this fox is only a variety (argeniatus) of the red fox, as is the cross 

 fox (var. decussatus), it is not at all likely tbat any such antipathy exists 

 between them, any more than between horses of different colors. A 

 man— whose word in this instance I have no reason to doubt— told me 

 that he once saw a red and silver gray fox trotting amicably through the 

 fields together. They crossed the road so near him that he could not be 

 mistaken in them. The silver gray fox and the cross fox are both rare 

 here, as I believe they are every-where, but are sometimes seen and 

 killed, the cro?s fox oftenest. R. E. R. 

 ***^- ■ 



THE FOOD OF SALMON-HOW THEY 

 DIGEST. 



KINGLETS AND WARBLERS IN CAP- 

 TIVITY. 



San Francisco, Cal., December 17th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I have read the article headed "On What Do Salmon Feed?" published 

 in your issue of the9thinst. Mr. E. J. Hooper, of this place, states 

 that he has "never found any food in the stomachs of the salmon he has 

 caught. " It seems to me that Mr. Hooper should know that salmon, on 

 the Pacific coast, at least, feed in large part on young fish. In common 

 with myself and others, he caught a great many salmon last season at 

 Oakland Railroad Pier, where the bait most successful was young smelt 

 and belly strips of the adult fish. He has also caught sal- 

 mon in the Nozo River and othar places with the spoon 

 or spinning bait. These, when in motion, resemble a young 

 fish. His own observation at Oakland Pier must have shown sal- 

 mon making rushes at the young fish swimming near the surface, which 

 indicates the latter was the former's food. To settle the question defi- 

 nitely, I will State that Mr. Joseph Perkins, of Oakland, has frequently 

 found young smelt in the stomaens of the salmon he has caught, some 

 being in a partly digested state, and others apparently just swallowed. 

 I have never made a personal examination, so cannot speak of my own 

 knowledge It has also been remarked by many persons catching sal- 

 mon at Oakland, that when schools of young fish were numerous the for- 

 mer could rarely be taken with hook and line. 



As regards salmon vomiting up the contents of their stomachs when 

 hooiced, I believe such is the case where the fi3h hag gorged the hook, 

 and it is fast in some vital place. When hooked in the mouth I think ihey 

 retain their food in their stomachs. That fish digest their food rapidly, 

 I can readily believe, as an instance occurred giving proof within my 

 own knowledge. A few weeks since I was fishing for what is here known 

 as the blue codfish, at Fort Point Wharf. About 10 A. M. I baited my 

 hook with a young live sea trout, about five inches long. In a short 

 time the bait was gone, and I renewed it with another young fish of a 

 different variety. Probably an hour and a half elapsed from my first 

 baiting, when I caught a blue cod weighing about five pounds. While 

 holding it with my foot to disengage my hook from its jaws, it threw up 

 the body of a small fish, which, from its shape, I knew to be a sea trout, 

 and from a hook which was in its body I recognized as the one which I 

 had first baited with. When disgorged, the skin, fins, entrails and head 

 were gone, and the flesh whitened and tender, as if boiled for a long 

 time. I judged that in half an hour the entire mass of flesh would have 

 been dissolved in the cod's stomach. 



As regards what salmon feed on at sea, I believe they live on the young 

 of herring, sardines, smelts, and other small fish, countless millions of 

 which frequent the northern seas during the Summer months. These 

 fish are so abundant in the North Pacific that salmon could have an in- 

 exhaustible supply of food, taken without much exertion or labor. 

 One variety of these small fish that frequents the coast of Alaska is ex- 

 tremely fat, and is known as the candle fish, the Indians in the vicinity 

 of Stickeeu River drying them for use as candles. The salmon of this 

 coast have a horny substanee with small teeth on the tongue, and a sim- 

 ilar substance and teeth on the roof of the mouth, some little distance 

 inside of the jaw teeth proper. The tongue is very muscular, and I can 

 readily believe that tbe salmon has force to crush shrimps and small 

 Crustacea, and, at times, doubtless does use them for food purposes. 



While on the subject I may state that young salmon have been caught 

 at Oakland Pier for nearly a month past. They are not very numerous 

 as yet, from fifteen to twenty beiug caught daily, varying in weight from 

 one and a half to six pounds. Some larger ones have been hooked, but 

 owing to improper tackle, have in every instance escaped. The tackle 

 generally used is a bamboo pole, with a line of some length tied to the 

 tip, the party fishing standing on the pier, from six to ten feet above 

 water, with a four-foot fence in front of him. Under such circumstan- 

 ces nine-tenths of the fishing for salmon is done, and it is no wonder 

 that the largest always escape. H. D. Dunn. 



Jersey City, K. J., December 24th, 1875. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



My husband brought home, at different times, last October, several 

 kinglets, one of which was the ruby-crowned, and the other the golden- 

 crested, that had flown into his office in the top of the building, at mid - 

 night. They were all let loose in the house, and soon became very tame. 

 At one time a gold-cest and a pine-creeping warbler were brought home 

 by him,, which we had for a night and day. For the first five or six hours 

 they kept flying from the top of one door or window «*sing to the top of 

 another; but after that the kinglet became bolder, and began to investi- 

 gate the premises, and later in the day he would alight on the heads of 

 any and every" person entering, and allow himself to be handled even by 

 our little two-year old. For food, he appeared to pick up crumbs, and 

 helped himself to lice on some plants in the window. Catching sight of 

 himself in a hand mirror lying on the table, he immediately hopped 

 upon the glass, and began an energetic flapping of his wings, at the same 

 time chirping loudly, as though to attract the attention of his vis a vis. 

 I remarked it as a curious fact that, while he paid so much attention to 

 his reflection, returning again and again to the mirror, he never noticed 

 the warbler, or attempted to strike up an acquaintance with him. This 

 kinglet, like all the rest, seemed entirely at home, and even when the 

 window was opened and he was pushed out, he came flying back several 

 times before he could make up his mind to leave us. But at last he did, 

 and the last we saw of the gay little chap he was gleaning among the 

 grape vines. Meanwhile the warbler seemed perfectly untamable, and 

 would let no one come near enough to touch him. As night came on he 

 became very restless, and threw himself against the window panes in 

 frantic efforts to get out. This violence was very different from his de- 

 meanor during the day, since, although sad and shy, he made no attempt 

 to escape from the room, and I regarded it as an indication that it was 

 his invariable habit to migrate at night, remaining quiet during the day. 

 Seeing his distress, we opened the window and the captive joyfully 

 darted out, and shot like a roeket up into the southern sky. Two white- 

 throated sparrows were also caught at the office, and are mentioned, 

 among others, in Forest and Stream of Nov ember 4th. They were 

 taken home by a gentleman of our acquaintance and caged. He suc- 

 ceeded in reconciling them to confinement, but one died without any 

 apparent cause, after four or five weeks. The other became so tame 

 that he was given the liberty of the room, and would not leave even when 

 the window was open. At last, only a few days ago, as he was stand- 

 ing on the sill of the open window, a sudden movement frightened him, 

 and he hastily flew away. Mrs. E. I. 



foodfand, f^ntm and %mdm. 



. — «, , , 



ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



— A very graphic description of the Brighton Aquarium 

 from our correspondent Druid, who is now in England, 

 will appear in our next issue. 



FLORIDA oranges are rapidly superseding Havana and 

 Sicilian in New York and Philadelphia. A single retail 

 house in the latter city advertises 15,000 just received from 

 Col, Harts' Grove, Palatka. The large profit connected 

 with the business will probably induce many to embark in 

 it, and for their benefit we append a few general remarks 

 on the culture of the whole Citrus tribe which embraces 

 the orange, lime and lemon, &c. All this family are gross 

 feeders, and therefore their growth and productiveness are 

 greatly promoted by a liberal supply of manure in liquid 

 form, ^or a top dressing of recent horse manure, some 

 three or four inches deep over the roots, or of an inch or 

 two of night soil mixed with an equal part of swamp 

 muck, or rich earth. If wild orange plants can be obtained 

 with stems of say an inch in diameter within two feet of 

 the ground, the lower branches should be carefully re- 

 moved, then the top should be cut off in a slightly slanting 

 direction with a sharp fine-tooth saw ; then with a sharp 

 chisel, make an incision of about half an inch deep, and 

 across the whole stem; then with the same chisel making 

 another incision of the same depth at right angles with 

 the first ; both these incisions should reach from these, and 

 through the bark on one &ide to the other. Then procure 

 four grafting scions, and from one to three inches long, 

 with stems the size of a goose quill. They should be taken 

 from bearing trees of a good variety. The ends should be 

 sharpened with a sharp knife into a wedge shape, and 

 inserted in the clefts made by the chisel so that the bark 

 of the scion shall unite, or join the bark of the stock, then 

 have some good grafting wax made by melting equal parts 

 of rosin,' and beeswax together, heat it so as to be almost 

 in a liquid state, and when the scions are secured in their 

 proper places with a band of soft lamp wick, a small 

 quantity of the grafting wax is poured over them to ex- 

 clude the air; then to prevent the sun from scorching the 

 scions before they begin to grow tie a piece of muslin over 

 all, and let it remain until growth commences. Do not 

 allow any buds or leav.es to grow below the grafts, and rub 

 or cut them off as soon as they appear; they rob the scions 

 of their proper share of the sap of the plant. This is called 

 cleft-grafting, and should only be resorted to when stocks 

 of a large size can be had. By this mode large bearing- 

 trees can be had in a much shorter time than in any other 

 way. 



Another, and much the easiest mode is by grafting by 

 approach, or in-arching. A small stock about a foot high, 

 raised from seed is grown in a small flower pot, and the 

 pot set on a shelf or propped up by a stick so that it is on 

 a level with the bearing tree. Then with a sharp knife 

 make a shallow cut in the side of the bark of the stock, 

 and a cut of exactly the same size in the side of a small 

 shoot of the bearing tree. The cuts should be of an oval 

 shape and deep enough to remove the bark, and a very 

 little of the woody part; then the two cuts are accurately 

 matched together so that the bark of the scion shall join 

 the bark of~the stock. Then bind them together with soft 

 lamp wick, but not too tightly, cover with wax, and in 

 about six weeks they will" unite and commence to grow 

 when the scion should be cut from the bearing tree, and 

 the process is complete. There is a third mode of grafting 

 called budding or inoculation which cannot be described 

 without a woodcut, but the quickest and easiest and most 

 certain is by inarching. Before leaving the subject let me- 

 again urge the importance of enriching the ground in- 

 tended for a orange grove. For without this you are sure 

 to be disappointed in the result. Almost any kind of animal 

 manure is good. If sandy peat can be procured burn it 

 and mix the charred remains with rich soil . Horse or 

 cow manure makes an excellent dressing. 



December, 1875., 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



So much Has been written on this subject, and often with more en- 

 thusiasm than judgment, that many persons come to Florida expecting 

 to grow rich in. a few y ear g from the profits of an orange grove, ana many 



