164 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Natural ^istorg. 



♦ 



Glossary op our Water-Fowl.— "Teal" (R. L. New- 

 comb, Salem, Mass.) suggests to us that he would be glad 

 to collect the local "nicknames" of all the shore-birds, 

 wild fowl and water birds from Florida to Maine; and asks 

 us to invite his brother sportsmen to send him lists. He 

 says it would form a sort of spoitsmen's dictionary, and if 

 enough material was gathered it might be compiled into a 

 small publication which be thinks would be of great value 

 to gunners. This is very well, but we suggested that very 

 thiug sometime ago and have supplied the only means of 

 making such a list of any value, by furnishing the means 

 of identifying with their systematic names the birds which 

 appear under such diffeient appellations in different places. 

 Our "Key to the Shore Birds" (Forest and Stream, Vol. 

 VI., No. 26, and Vol. VII., No. 1), gave each man the 

 means of easily telling precisely what bird he had killed. 

 We asked for a list of the common names of birds thus 

 identified from any and every locality, but thus far have 

 had few answers. If "Teal" can suggest any better or 

 surer way to accomplish the object; or tell us how he is 

 going to gain anything by knowing simply the common 

 names from Florida to Maine without their proper identi- 

 fication we shall gladly help him all we can. It is more 

 important that every gunner should be a well-informed 

 ornithologist than that the ornithologists should be gun- 

 ners. 



^»»» 



Two Lists of Birds. — We conclude this week the List 

 of the Birds of Lower Michigan by Mr. Adolphe B. Co- 

 vert, of the University Museum at Ann Arbor, in that 

 State. He promises us an addendum of those birds which 

 have been overlooked, similar to the appendix to Mr. 

 Fowler's List of the Birds of Central New York, which 

 we will print next week. Each of these lists was among 

 the most valuable results brought out by our "Invitation" to 

 naturalists to study and report upon the characteristics of 

 the faunas of their respective districts. In each case the 

 district covered was comparatively unknown, ornithologo- 

 cally, and thus the limits of our knowledge of the distri- 

 bution of our birds has been so much extended. It only 

 needs enough information of this very sort to enable us to 

 arrive at general laws and relations. Mr. Covert promises 

 us further contributions in the shape of detailed accounts 

 of the rarer birds of Michigan, and also of the animals of 



that very interesting State. 



* «*♦*- 



Notes from our Correspondents. -Considering its 

 slender "egs and weak claws, a remarkable fact is reported 

 of the great northern shrike (Lanius borealis) by a corres- 

 pondent who is an excellent observer of birds. The shrike 

 was seen silting on a lence-post eating a small bird; when, 

 alarmed at the gentleman's approach, it seized its prey 

 with its feet, and holding it straight down like a hawk, 

 flew off, affording an excellent view. . . ."Roamer" writes 

 us that a Carolina or turtle dove {Z caroiinensis) was killed 

 at Machias, Me., on Oct. 9th. It is extremely rare so far 

 north, ana this bird was the only specimen the writer had 



ever seen there Mr. Roberts writes from Minneapolis 



that Harris's and Lincoln's finches are both common there 

 just now — a rare occurrence. 



-*•+. 



BIRDS OF LOWER MICHIGAN. 



[Concluded from page 147.] 



Cjjgnus buccinator. Trumpeter swan. Very rare and ac- 

 cidental; one specimen was taken near Ypsilanti, Mich., 

 March 19ih 1867. 



Anner hyperboreus. Snow goose. An accidental spring 

 and fall migrant. 



Branta beruicla. Brant goose. A rather common mi- 

 grant in spring and autumn. 



Bra i da canadensis. Canada goose; common wild goose. 

 A very common spring and fall migrant, passing herefrom 

 March luih to the middle of April. 



Anas boschas. Mallard duck. Very common, arriving 

 about April l«.t. Many breed in this vicinity. The eggs 

 are laid from April 25ih to May 10' h. 



Anas obxcura. Dusky or black duck. Common, breed- 

 ing about May 10th. 



Dafila acuta. Pintail or sprigtail. Not very common. 



JVeiUon caroiinensis. Green- winged teal. Common, ar 

 riving by April 1st; the eggs are laid by the middle of 

 May. 



Querquedula discors. Blue-winged teal. Very common 

 witli the preceding, arriving and breeding about ,the same 

 time. 



Spatula clypeaia. Shoveller. Very rare and included in 

 this list on the authority of gunners. 



Aix sponsa. Wood duck. Very common. The eggs are 

 laid about (he middle of May. Sometimes it remains all 

 winter, oue such instance being recorded. 



ffulix mari/a. Scaup or big blackhead. Common. in 

 spring ami tall migrations. 



rulix affims. Scaup or little black head. Veiy common 

 in spring and fall. 



Aythya americana. Red-head. Is ot common. 



Aythya vallisneria. Canvas-back. Exceedingly rare. 



Bucephala clanyula. Golden-eye or garret. Common in 

 migrations. 



Bucephala albeola. Butter-ball; spirit duck. Very com- 

 mon in migrations. I think this duck undoubtedly breeds, 

 as I have ofien found them in the season. 



Oamptolcvmus labradorius. Labrador duck One speci- 

 men taken at Delphi Mills, Mich., April 17ih, 1872. 



Eiismalura ruoida. Ruddy duck. Not rare in spring 

 an. tall migrations. 



Mergus merganser. Goosander or fish duck. Very com- 

 muti iu migrations. 



Mergus serrator. Red-breasted merganser. Not com- 

 nion. A few taken every spring and fall. 



Mergus cucuVatus. Hooded merganser. Rarely taken; 

 have never found it in the markets. 



Larus argentatus. Herring gull. Sometimes taken in 

 the spring migrations. 



Larus tridactylus. Kittiwake gull. One specimen taken 

 April 9th, 1875. 



Larus atriciUa. Laughing gull. Rarely taken. 



Larus philade'phia Bonaparte's gull. Very common in 

 spring and fall migrations. 



Sterna hirundo. Common or Wilson's tern. Not rare in 

 spring migrations. 



Sterna macroura. Arctic tern. Rare in migrations. 



Coymbus torquatus. Great northern diver or loon. Very 

 common, arriving by the middle of April. The eggs are 

 laid from May I5ih to June 10th. 



Podiceps cristatus. Crested grebe. Very rare; one speci- 

 men taken September 12th, 1873. 



Podiceps auritus var. californicus. Eared grebe. One 

 specimen taken September i5th, 1876. 



Podilymbus podiceps. Pied billed grebe. Very common, 

 arriving aoout the middle of April, and breeding about 

 May 10th. A. B. Covert. 

 -»«■♦- 



A Pet Quail in New York.— Seeing a small article 

 upon tame quail in your journal, I will state that I have 

 a quail that I caught in Riverhead nine years ago and 

 brought home. My mother has tamed her so she will sing 

 for anyone that comes in the house. You can hear her all 

 over the house. She laid 37 eggs last year. She is so tame 

 that if you ask her if she wants her dinner she will follow 

 you all over the house in expectation of it. She eats almost 

 anything you can mention, and will fight like a game 

 rooster. If anybody would like to see this bird they can 

 call at No. 06 Ridge street, New York City. 



J. E. Youngs. 

 •»•<•» 



House Flies in Virginia City — The Enterprise says : 

 — Previous to the change of weather which we experienced, 

 the swarms of house flies which congregated in certain 

 portions of our city, and especially the lower portions, 

 were enormous. In fact, the like has never been seen in 

 this vicinity. Even some of the hoisting works of the 

 mines around the city were literally covered with them so 

 as to present a blackened appearance. In some localities 

 fly paper, and the various preparations of fly poison killed 

 them in incredible quantities. Oue house showed a nail 

 keg filled with their dead bodies. But, however trouble- 

 some these little pests are, their presence is a harbinger of 

 health. They are generally found to leave or are lying dead 

 at the approach of any prevailing epidemic. 



It has been maintained by many writers of distinction 

 that these insects, especially in out of-the-way places, where 

 no prepared food is found, subsist upon a sort of ethereal 

 infusoria of so minute an organization as to be invisible 

 except by the aid of the most powerful microscopes. These 

 floating atoms of life the flies gather up on their wings 

 while playing about, then rub them '-ff with their feet and 

 leed upon them, and this is their occupation, as frequently 

 seen alter having alighted, and when rubbing off dieir 

 wings with their feet. The same powers which enable 

 these flies to run up and down a pane of glass, or to crawl, 

 back down, upon the ceiling, enable them also to retain 

 this kind of food upon the feet till transferred to their pro- 

 boscides and consumed. 



-*..-*. 



Alligators. — A correspondent in Florida sends us a let- 

 ter about alligators and alligator hunting from which we 

 extract the following: — 



The average size is frum four to six feet, and yoa see one that will 

 measure ten feet very beldom. The largest oue 1 ever caw was twelve 

 and one-hall feet. I believe there are larger ones, but as they grow old 

 er they are wiser in proportion, and live far in the deuse swamps where 

 men cannot gel. i coaid not rind this year, nor in >ear« past, any ac 

 count with the slightest foundation of trutn where a person has ever 

 been attacked by an alligator, except when it vvas wounded and forced to 

 furbt; then the tail is the dangerous weapon, not the mouth, and it is 

 certain deaih to dogs, and broken legs io men. For a rifle to shuot ttiem 

 1 prefer a Wincnester, but as for ehooring ailiga.ors iu the e>e I caunot 

 do it. We wereaule to shoot wild geese on ihe wing, a fox on tue run, 

 or a deer on a jump, or make 35 to 4b at 200 yards off hand, Creedmoor 

 targe : b t hitting an alligator in the eye at 10J yards (vvuicti is as clo-e 

 a* .you can get in the day time) I have yet to see done. The be^t time to 

 hunt them is on a moonlight nu.hu aud tbe best o.ai a live kid tied anout 

 six feet from ihe water witli a string to his leg to make him bleat. Yuur 

 position must be at an angle, so «s to gel a good sigut ai the fore shoulu- 

 er. Stout istitkes should »e put around the uoat, or the beast will kill 

 him if he gets one snap a; him. In one night we shot three, the largest 

 one oeing aoout niue feet long, aud it took thir een bullets before he 

 stopped his tail. It is not sport to hanker af^er, as you have too many 

 companions, such as snakes, mosquitoes, etc., to make it lively for you 

 qui ing the long hours of wati.hi.ig. Their eggs are very queer. They 

 wi.l not roll off a taule, aud will always turn feet-sine up, as the young 

 always lie on their back* witu feet aud tail curled up, so tnnt the body 

 side being much heavier the shell will always turn to that sde. On 

 hatching they are almost all eaten by the old males, only a few being left 

 to grow up. Heron*, pelicans and snakes also take their share. The 

 ejjgs are four inches long and very tender, so much so that the rats killed 

 a number belong to me in the city of New Orleans, when ttiey were 

 about six weeks old. 8. K., Jr. 



. ■*»-♦»- 



SPIDER FROM NEWFOUNDLAND. 



Arrivals at the Central Park Menagerie Sept. 30 to Oct. h -.- 

 One rhesus monkey (M'icucu» rhesus)} one hedae hog (E/inaceus eui upfau* 

 presented by James Dyche, New Yoik city; one elk (Cervus canaaemm 

 bred in the menagerie; < ne Coope-'s hawk (Nisus Coopeii) prestiiied 

 by James W. Jenkins, Siamford, Conn.; one yellow-bellied woodpecker 

 (Hphyiopic>JSV<irivs), presented by Angel Martin, New York sity one 

 yellow-shafted woodpecker {Coioptes uu. aim) presented by Messrs. Fay 

 Brother?, New York city; one zenaida dove (Ztnaida amabilis) bredim 

 the menagerie. W. A. Conklin, Director. 



Harbor Grace, N. P., Sept. 25th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Nature has great curiosities. In the jewelry of the heavens, the 

 w ouders of atino>pher«', eanh and sea, how vast are the themes to in- 

 struct and humble u? all Job's treatise on Natural History is f 11 of 

 thought, liut to the spider. 1 saw one the other uiy nearly as large as 

 a boy's small marble. Lo! on the back was a beautiful form of a cross 

 which we duly, as thoughtful philosophers, examined wiiti my lens. 

 It was very visible to the naked eye. 1 am not an entomologist, but this 

 was wonderful. Some persons call this spider one name, others another. 

 What class dues it belong to? We have had a lovely summer here, but a 

 cold stormy September, with seas rolling at night like sheets of fire from 

 the phosphorous. Is the atmosphere as well as the sea phosphorescent? 

 Why thatsky covered with luminous green (not auroral) patches? Come, 

 New York, enlighten cur darkness. Our beautiful bay is safe and would 

 make k fine place for American yachts aud ^irls (there ate two here now.) 

 to cruise in during the summer months. 



[Your spider was perhaps one of the "garden" spiders of 

 the genus Epeira which have some such markings on the 

 back as you describe. The atmosphere is not known to be 

 phosphorescent, and the greenish appearance you describe 

 m due to the reflection from the lambent glow of the ocean. 

 —Ed.] 



\$& md ifuer 



FISH IN SEASON IN OCTOBER. 



» 



Black Bass, Micropterus salmoidet,; Weakfish Cynoscion regalis. 



M. nigricans. Bluetish, Pomatomua mltatrix. 



Mascalonge, Es'/x nobilior. Spanisb Mackerel, Cybium macula. 



Pike or Pickerel. Esoxlucius. turn. 



Yellow Perch, Ferca fi ivesceas. Cero. Cybium regale. 

 Sea Ba^s, Scicenops ooellatus. Bonito, tiarda pelamys. 



S'riped Bas*, Roccus lineatus. Kmgtish, Meidicirrus ntbulosus. 



White Perch, Morons americana. 



Fish in Market.— Fish are in fair supply, aud prices 

 rather lower. We quote: — Striped bass 20 to 25 cents per 

 pound; smelts, 20 cents; bluefihh, 10 cents; salmon, (fro- 

 zen), 40 cents; mackerel, 15 to 25 cents each; we&kfish, 15 

 cents per pound; white perch, 15 cenis; Spanish mackerel 

 75 cents; green turtle, 13 cents; terrapin, $12 per dozm- 

 halibut, 20 cents per pound; haddock, Scents; kingh>h 

 25 cents; codfish, 10 cents; black fish, 15 cents; flounders 

 12 cents; sea bass, 20 cents; eels, 18 cents; sturgeon, 8 

 cents; lobsters, 10 cents; sheepshead, 20 cents; scollops 

 $2.00 per gallon; soft clams, 30 fo 60 cents per hundred; 

 whitefish, 15 cents per pound; pickerel, 20 cents; sunfish 

 10 cents; yellow perch, 10 cents; salmon trout, 20 cents- 

 hard shell crabs, $3 00 per 100; soft do., $1.50 per dozen. 

 — When our friends Abbey & Imbrie, or Andrew Clerk, 

 Esq , of the old Maiden Lane firm, go down the bay, tliier 

 departure means business. It is porteniious of success; for 

 these old anglers never go fishing where there are no fi>h. 

 Last Saturday they took a tuin among the striped bass, and 

 report says "caught plenty." This is the month for this 

 festive fish, on which drawn butter never was wasted. 

 Baked bass is also good. Bv the way, did we ever tell of 

 the big bass sent to us from Noman's Land by our friend 

 "Concha" of New Bedford? We did not weigh it, but it 

 measured 52 inches in length, and was divided inio eight 

 parts by the married employes of Forest and .Stream of- 

 fice, and no doubt made a delicious square meal for forty 

 or more persons. That was a bass. Forty appetites ap- 

 peased—forty stomachs made content. If the apostles 

 caught fish of that size no wonder their nets brake with 

 "two hundred and fifty and three." 



— The first two weeks of this month were very satisfac- 

 tory to the striped bass fishermen. In fact, during October 

 almost any one can, at Martha's Vinejard, Cuttyhunk, or 

 Noman's Land, catch his fill of this fine fish. A party com- 

 posed of gentlemen from Mew York aud New Bedford, 

 chartered the steam tug Nellie, early in the month, and 

 went to Noman's Land on a sort of competition fishing 

 cruise, the "smallest catch" to pay for a fish dinner, which 

 was paid on the 8tn instant. Mr. Thomas E. Trpletr, of 

 this city, whose fish "kicked" the balance at 54 pounds, 

 did not have to pay for it. 



— A school of mackerel a mile long and a fourth of a 

 mile wide was struck by fishing smacks off New London, 

 Conn., Saturday week, and although many t f the nets hud 

 to be cut because of the weight, 300,000 fish, worth $10,- 

 000, were taken. 



nn— Our regular correspondent at Kinsey's Asl^cy House 

 at Barnegat Inlet, reports bluetish as having been plenty off 

 the coast during the latter half of last week, running from 

 four to six pounds in weight — 10 to 20 boats out each day, 

 averaging 40 to 80 per boat. 



— Smelts bit splendidly at Swamps&ott, Massachusetts, 

 last week. 



—The n>hing at Rangeley Lakes has been much better 

 than common this autumn — better than for several } ear3, 

 a lact partly due, perhaps, to the absence of many liabitu- 

 ees at the Centennial. 



Black Bass — Some fine black bass were taken last week 

 in the neigh boriiood of Turner's* station on the Erie Rail- 

 way. One geullemau took two weighing together eight 

 pounds at the same cast, and on the same d iy captured in 

 all nine fish ranging as high as two and a half pounds. Mr. 

 Mallison caught a number in the same water on Friday, 

 one of which weighed three pounds and five ounces. 



Accident while Blue Fishing —Frank White, Wesley 

 Halse, and Frank Wells, of Good Ground, were setting a 

 bluetish net on Tuesday of last wetk, the wind blowing a 

 gale. There was a line attached to the ret leading to the 

 shore, by which to haul in. The boat ran on the top of a 

 sea for some distance, and the line snatched White over- 

 board. One of the men left in the boat I ell on an oar and 

 broke it, so that they could not row back to White; but he 

 caught the net, cut off a powder keg used for a togg>e. and 

 started for the shore When about half way he was heard 

 to scream, and suddenly disappeared. It is supposed that 

 he was caught by a shark, as his body, at last accounts, had 

 not been recovered. 



Whales in Virginia.— Last week a large black whale 

 grounded on Occohannock bar, Northampton county, Va., 

 about 40 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake, and was 

 killed next day. The leviathan grounded about 7 a. m. in 

 six feet of water, wbere he remained all day, and crowds 

 of people came from ail sections to get a look at the unu- 

 sual visitor. Tne whale at Intervals spouted up the w ^;^ 

 and made great exertions to get oil, but each succeeding 

 effort sent it further into shallow water. On Monday" 

 was attacked with axes, guns and haipoons, and kiheu, 

 when lines were attached to the carcass, which was take 

 ashore at high tide. The whale was 37i feet long, weigw 

 about two tons, length of tail, six feet; mouth, three leeu 



