FOREST AND STREAM. 



1181 



ing cry, often repeated at short intervals. One of the birds 

 held pendant from his talons an enormous eel, which the 

 other bird was endeavoring to gain possession of. The 

 bird possessing the eel was taken at a great disadvantage, 

 as it required the use of his talons to hold his prey, which 

 left him but his beak with which to ward off the assaults 

 of his foe. The attacking bird, realizing his advantage, 

 swooped upon his enemy, tearing the feathers and flesh 

 from the back and breast of his opponent. Long and 

 fierce the struggle waged. Each of the birds was of enor- 

 mous size, yet one of them, taken at so great a disadvan- 

 tage, at la.it perceived that resistance was in vain, and af- 

 ter one despairing wail, released its prey. As the eel de- 

 scended and had nearly reached the water, the triumphant 

 bird, with victorious cry, swooped upon it, and firmly 

 closing it in his talons, bore it away to the distant sand 

 shoals. The struggle lasted about fifteen minutes. 



If it is true that both of these were bald eagles the oc- 

 currence is a noteworthy one, for it is very unusual for 

 them to attempt highway robbery upon each other in this 

 fashion. If, on the other hand, the one with the eel was a 

 fish hawk, it loses a portion of its interest, since it is a 

 common practice for the eagle to follow the osprey and 

 rob it of the prey which the eagle is not adroit enough, or 



too indolent, to catch for himself. — Ed. F. & S. 

 ■**♦♦■ 



On Toads. — The Irishman's definition of a toad was "a 

 round-shouldered, square-sided bug, who sits down behind 

 and stands up before, and when he walks he goes with a 

 tam jerk." Toads are a regular marketable commodity in 

 England, not for table purpose, but for keeping gardens 

 free from insects. Market gardeners pay as high as a 

 shilling or eighteen pence for a fine imported specimen. 

 Of the uses to which they are put, and regarding toads in 

 general, the Practical Farmer has the following.— 



"There is a very common prejudice against the toad. 

 By many he is looked on with loathing and disgust. He is 

 regarded as an ugly, uncouth and worthless nuisance, that 

 should be abated a*t sight. But this prejudice is ill-founded 

 and unjust, as the toad is not only harmless but quite use- 

 ful to farmers and gardeners. They should therefore be 

 regarded as friends instead of being treated as enemies. 

 The eggs of the toad are usually laid in the water, but at 

 times^vvhen this is not accessible, they are laid in damp dark 

 places, and in such cases they do not pass through the tad- 

 pole state. While in the tadpole state they live on vegeta- 

 ble food, but as toads they live on insects, spiders, etc. 

 They are exceedingly well adapted to catching insects, 

 having a tongue of marvelous construction. It is quite 

 long, and may be projected six or eight inches, the tip of 

 it being so directed as to just reach the Object, and being 

 covered wiih a viscid, gummy substance, that causes the 

 insect to adhere to it, it is thus quickly conveyed to the 

 mouth of the load and buried aiive. The movements of 

 the longue in thus taking in a fly or a bug are so rapid that 

 they cannot be followed by the eye. The number of in- 

 sects that a toad will eat is almost incredible. A few of 

 them in a garden will keep it well rid of bugs, plant-lice, 

 etc. They generally speud the day in some dark, secluded 

 spot, often a hole under a sod or eld or the side of a rock, 

 aud in the evening they come out and hop about in search 

 of a supper of live insects. They may be induced to take 

 up their residence in the garden by confining them for 

 two or three days to the place, when they will become 

 quite well contented. A board laid about two inches from 

 the ground is just the kind of hidiug place that suits them. 

 They are long lived, being often known 12 io 16 years old, 

 and it id said that one lived to be 36 years old. On account 

 of their propensity for destroying insects, toads should be 

 encouraged to become permanent residents of our fields 



and gardens. 



.».♦. 



Training Canakies. — A geutleman named Wall, resid- 

 ing at Phceuixville, says the Reading Eagle, Queensland, 

 has several very fine canary birds, to which he has given 

 much attention. One of the birds he has taught to sing 

 "Home, Sweet Home" clearly and distinctly. His mode 

 of instruction is aa follows: He placed the canary in a 

 room where it could not hear the singing of other birds, 

 suspending its cage from the ceiling, so that the bird could 

 see its reflection iu a mirror. Beneath the glass he placed 

 a musical box that was regulated to play no other tune but 

 "Home, Sweet Home." Hearing no other sounds but this, 

 and believing the music proceeded from the bird it saw in 

 the mirror, the young canary soon began to catch the notes, 

 and finally accomplished what its owner had been laboring 

 to attain, that of singing the song perfectly. Mr. Wall 

 has been offered and refused $20 for this yellow-throated 

 soprano. ^^ 



—Fifty thousand elephants are killed every year to furn- 

 ish the ivory worked up iu England alone. The best ivory 

 comes from Zanzibar, the silver gray from regions south of 

 the equator, and the favorite ornamental material from 



Siam. 



"♦♦♦■ 



The Barnacle Goose. — A city correspondent writes, 

 Oct. 20th, saying:— 



"Yesterday a very tine specimen of the barnacle goose was discovered 

 by Mr. J. K. Kendall in th« city, represented to have been shot on Long 

 Island, aud was immediately purchased hy hira and sent to a taxidermist 

 for setting up. Audubon states that he never saw a specimen of this 

 bird in the flesh, but that he had seen a number of fine mounted skins. 

 Further, that he had no knowledge of their habits. Nut: all says that 

 they are ''mere stragglers 1 ' in the United States. As a great advance has 

 been made in ornithology since the days of Nuttall and Audubon, you 

 will confer a favor on some of your readers by printing any further 

 facts that may have been gathered relative to this fine bird within the 

 past quarter century. The skin can be seen for a few days at Con- 

 way's, 55 Carmine street, city. C. G. Kendall. 

 -•-♦♦- 



Arrivals at the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens Oct. 17th. 

 —Two Virginia deer ( Cervus virginianus), presented by Dr. Givin, Thil- 

 delphia; one red fox (Viilpes fulvus), presented by Andrew Rudolph, 

 Philadelphia; one macaque monkey (Macacus eynomolgus) ; four beavers 

 (Ctutor canadensis); one alligator (A. misisitsippiemis); two tree boas 

 (JEpiciule*), from Cuba; two common boas (Boa constrictor), purchased; 



one sniped snake (Eutainia ), presented by Jas. P. Stabler. Sandy 



Spring, Montgomery County, Pa.; one Javau porcupine (Hysttix javani- 

 ca). and two Fonrnier's capromjts (Capromys pilorides), born in the 

 garden; one brown capuchin ( Veb'rs fatuellus). presented by John W. 

 Beebe, Philadelphia; 1 wo copperhead snakes (Agklslrodon contorMx), 

 presentea by Kiik Brown, Pleasant Grove, Pa.; one area', horned owl 

 (Bubo vuginiumrs),j>iet-etited by I hilip Hobl, Philadelphia; one large 

 water snake {Nirodia fi, sciata), presided by Theo. Eoberts, Philadel- 

 phia: three alligators {A. mt^mtppunns), presented by Wm. Yewdall, 

 Philadelphia-. Arthur &„ Bbown, General Superintendent, 



b# and Mivtt J& 



FISH IN SEASON IN OCTOBER. 



Black Bass, Mcropterus salmoldes; Weakflsh. Cynoscltm regalis . 



M. nigricans. Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix. 

 Mascalonge, Esox nobUior. Spanish Mackerel, Cybium macula- 

 Pike or Pickerel, Esoxlucius. turn. 

 Yellow Perch, Perca Jlavescens. Cero, Cybium regale. 

 Sea Bass, Sciwnops ocettatus. Bonito, Bar da pelamys. 

 Striped Bass, Roccus lineatus. Kingfish, Menticirrus nebuloeus. 

 White Perch, Morone americana. 



Fish in Market.— The mild weather of the past week 

 has enabled fishermen to pursue their avocation without 

 interruption, and the result is a more abundant supply, 

 with correspondingly low prices. We quote: — Striped bass, 

 20 cents per pound; smelts, 20 cents; bluefish, 10 cents; 

 salmon, 40 cents; mackerel, 12£ to 25 cents each; weakfish, 

 15 cents per pound; white perch, 15 cents; green turtle, 10 

 cents; terrapin, $12 per dozen; frost fish, 10 cents per 

 pound; halibut, 18 cents; haddock, 8 cents; kingfish, 25 

 cents; codfish, 10 cents; blackfish, 15 cents; flounders, 12i 

 cents; sea bass, 18 cents; eels, 18 cents; lobsters, 10 cents; 

 sheepshead, 20 cents; scollops, $1.50 per gallon; soft 

 clams, 40 to 60 cents per hundred; whitefish, 15 cents per 

 pound; pickerel, 15 cents; yellow perch, 10 cents; salmon 

 trout, 20 cents; hard-shell crabs, $3.00 per 100; bill fish, 10 

 cents. 



Porpoises in the Great South Bay. — A lady passenger 

 once asked a fastidious second mate what those creatures 

 were called who were gamboling so joyously under the 

 vessel's bow. "Well Marm," said he, "sailors call them 

 purpuses, but we matrs call them porporpoisies ." A school 

 of the afore mentioned porporpoisies on Friday last came 

 into the Great South Bay near Babylon. According to the 

 World, Edward Udall, while looking after his oyster-beds 

 near Oak Island, discovered that a number of porpoises had 

 come in on a full tide and were locked in between the 

 island and the beach. A crew was organized in the village, 

 consisting of Supervisor Charles A. Duryea, acting captain; 

 Arden Weeks, harpoonsist; Walker Smith, musketeer; 

 Alanson Weeks, boat-steerer; Andrew J. Sammis, mate; 

 Edward Udall, pilot, and John Baylis, general director, 

 with the purpose of inspecting the visitors more closely. 

 Upon arrival at the cove the sport at once began and con- 

 tinued several hours. The iron was quickly driven into 

 one big fellow, and a charge of buckshot from the mus 

 keteer rolled him over. He measured eight feet in length, 

 weighed 880 pounds and yielded eight gallons of oil. 



A Cockney Trick. — Nothing so delights the heart of the 

 average John Bull aa the detection of what he terras a 

 "Yankee trick." The "cuteness" of Brother Jonathan is a 

 bye- word with him, and he cautions his friends to beware 

 of the ""smartness" of his trans-Atlantic cousins. And yet 

 John himself is not always so virtuous as he would have 

 the world believe. Of course one looks for trickery in a 

 Tyne sculler, but one would suppose that among fishermen, 

 if anywhere, one could look for honesty and candor. Aud 

 yet, if the story we find in the London Field be true, even 

 a Cockney Waltonian is not above reproach. In London 

 there are a number of angling clubs, the members of which 

 meet one evening in the week to compare and show their 

 catches, and to award prizes for the best. They take unto 

 themselves euphonious names, such as the "Amicable 

 Brothers," " Walton ians," "Reform Anglers," etc. This 

 is the latest piece of "euleness" practiced on one of them. 

 Some suspicion having existed for a length of time that a very suc- 

 cescful prize-holder of fish at ene of the local cluos used the '-silver 

 hook" in his captures, and that such hook wa* perfectly guiltless of 

 having entered anything more fishy than a fisherman's pocket, the cru- 

 cial test of the microscope was applied the other night to the mouths of 

 a iray of handsome, roacn laid upon the table for competit on. The re- 

 sult was that no orifice could be seen by the most acute observer, while 

 all the other catches more or less exhibited the laceraiion of the hook, 

 mostly to the naked eye, and invariably under the glass. It is to be 

 hoped that it will not be necessary to resort to such extraordinary re- 

 search in future, particularly after this warning of the tell-tale nature of 

 scientific apparatus; anu that all such exponents will not prick their fish 

 bt fore weighing in aud set the examiners to use other devices to deter- 

 mine whelfier a fish had been caught by net or line.— G. F. 



—The close season for salmon expires in California on 

 the 31st of October. Probably there is no land on earth 

 where this noble fish exists in greater perfection than in the 

 northern part of the State. And the farther north the 

 ardent angler travels to indulge in the exciting sport of tak- 

 ing this king of fishes, either with the fly, the spoon, or the 

 roe bait, the better is the catch. In the swift streams of 

 the Oregon, and even in the far northern shores of Alaska, 

 the estuaries and courses of those rivers which pour into 

 the Pacific, can boast not only of the true salmon (Salmo 

 quinnat), but of several, nay many fine distinct varieties. 

 And now the adventurers on the Pacific coast, as well as 

 the dwellers of the Atlantic and even the European cities, 

 make their trips to the salmon rivers of the Pacific with 

 less trouble and in less time than it took their European 

 forefathers to visit Scotland, or their American sturdy 

 Dutch sires to visit Albany in the State of New York. The 

 Pacific Life says :— 



"In nearly all the rivers of our coast and, in those most 

 convenient to us from this city, and in Mendocino county in 

 this State, several species of the salmon family run into 

 the mouths and up the rivers from the sea, some early in 

 the spring, some in the fall, aud some in winter. In the 

 spring or late in the winter a few, no doubt, with proper 

 skill can be taken with the fly, but most persons know, as 

 has occurred for the last two seasons in our bay at Oak- 

 land, Long Wharf, and other places there, that they are 

 caught with mussel, worms, and small fishes or pieces of 

 fish; and in the more northern rivers with the spoon bait, 

 trolling from a boat, and also from the banks in the swilt 

 waters of MeCloud, Sacramento, Pitt, and other streams, 

 with roe bait. It is true that most of the anglers of our 

 coast, both white lumbermen for the most pait, and agri- 

 cultural settlers* and even some of our most skillful sports- 



men, resort to this roe bait, the only method by which, in 

 the autumn, at any rate, much success can be expected or 

 obtained, and about which more anon. Of course to take 

 trout or salmon with the fly is the ne plus ultra of the 

 science, and few comparatively have thoroughly attained 

 to it, and that may probably be one of the causes, and per- 

 haps the chief one, that so few salmon are caught by that 

 method on this slope. Yet we have seen a friend of ours 

 (to be sure, a first-rate caster) with that oft-time tempting 

 lure at the junction of the Butano and Pescadero creeks 

 near the ocean, basket as many as seventy-eight grilse, rang- 

 ing from one-halt to four and a-half pounds in weight, m 

 seven days. Frank Forester says:— 'In order to become a 

 fly-fisher, I think that something of an especial genius is 

 necessary — I mean a fly-fisher in the highest sense of the 

 word, and regarded in the same light as the sportsman 

 whom we can deservedly term a crack shot.' 



"The spoon-bait with a piece of red flannel or small red 

 feather near the triangle of hooks, and a rather stiffer rod 

 than that used for fly-fishing, is often very effective in the 

 mouth of rivers near the sea. We have caught in the Noyo 

 river in this way by the use of a boat seventy-three salmon 

 averaging eight pounds and a quarter each, in eight days, 

 two persons fishing and rowing alternately. When neither 

 the fly nor the spoon bait are successful with fresh-run sal- 

 mon, although rather unsportsmanlike and inartistic, when 

 parties have come a long distance for the recreation, it does 

 not appear to us that we are such 'Gothic savages' as some 

 would have us, should we resort to the worm or roe-paste 

 to make a respectable creel of fish for the table, or for sport 

 either. This will be found as effective for brook trout as 

 for salmon; and it may not be unworthy of remark that 

 some anglers have said tha*. the roe of the melter will most 

 surely take the female, and that of the spawner of the male 

 fish. Lastly, the minnow, the shiner, the smelt, and above 

 all, the young parr, are very killing baits — especially when 

 there is a freshet in the stream— for the salmon, upon spin- 

 ning tackle. A powerful rod, especially in a strong cur- 

 rent, should be used for this mode of fi&hing; the line and 

 reel of course, and a small funnel shaped piece of lead. 



With any of these baits, with the art to boot, and a clear 

 eye, a steady nerve and true hand, almost anywhere in Cal 

 ifornia where salmon abound, the adventurous fisherman 

 is certain of such sport, as, once tried, makes all other fish- 

 ing forever stale, weary, flat and unprofitable." 



Fishermen in Trouble. — Our coast fishermen are in 

 considerable trouble and perplexity just now on account 

 of the fact that the beach was so badly torn up by the great 

 September storm that they arc unable to find a suitable lo- 

 cality for hauling their seines. They say that by the vio- 

 lent commotion into which the sea was thrown the beach 

 all a'ong the coast has been washed into holes and gullies 

 to such ah extent as to render the catching of fish, by 

 means of seines, almosi an impossibility. This is a great 

 drawback to the fishermen, who, at this particular season 

 of the year, have been doing quite an extensive business 

 at seining on our immediate coast. — Wilmington (N. C.) 

 Star. 



— A London journal, in noticing the voracity of the 

 pike, vouches for the statement that in a certaiu instance 

 the same fish simultaneously took the hooks of two gen- 

 tlemen who were fishing together. On another occasion, 

 as some boys were bathing in one of the ponds in Windsor 

 Park, a jack seized hold of the arm of one of them and 

 bit hira severely. The late Prince Consort had the pond 

 dragged, and all they found was about twenty large jack 

 and"nothing else — they had eaten up everything. 



Movements of the Fishing Fleet.— The week hrd 

 shown a little more activity in fishing circles, the numb<r 

 of arrivals being 61, against 12 last week. Six have re- 

 turned from the Banks, 51 from Georges, 1 from the Bay < f 

 St. Lawrence, and 3 from mackereling trips to the south 

 em shores of the State. The receipts have been aboct 

 220,000 pounds Bank cod, 714,000 pounds Georges cod, 75, 

 000 pounds halibut, and 900 barrels mackerel.— Gape A tin 

 Advertiser, Oet. 20th. 



— The red fish of Wallows Lake, Cal., is described as 

 being blood red in colur, very fat, and weighing abo\ t 

 eight pounds, and are preferred, when taken, to salmon 

 It is said there are only four lakes known in which this 

 fish is found, Payette in Idaho, a lake in Maine, one in 

 Scotland, and Wallows Lake. A company engaged in 

 commercial fishery on the latter frequently bring in a ten 

 of red fish at a haul, with a seine of medium lengtl 

 Lake Wallows is 2,000 feet deep, and the fish suddenly ap- 

 pear on the surface in August and disappear in December 

 — Exchange. _»_^__^_____ 



Theodore Morris Brown, a fine musician and eminert 

 chess player aud problemist, died at his horns, in Penn 

 Yan, N. Y., on Monday, Sept. 25ih, after a long aud pair- 

 ful illness. He was an old and muclrestemed contributcr 

 to chess literature. He has passed from among us, and 

 we have lost a strong player, a brilliant problemist, a musi- 

 cian of mark, and a wholesouled gentleman, whose pre, 

 sence will be sadly missed. 



—Quite a funny thing happened at Jerry Thomas's pof 1 

 room the other night. It appears that some person in the 

 room had lost a pocketbook containing about $400, and 

 the loser went to the auctioneer to state his case. The 

 auctioneer (George) at once responded in his usual bland 

 style: "Gentlemen, there has been a pocketbook lost in 

 this place containing $400," and then turning to the loser 

 he asked: "How much reward?" "One hundred dollars," 

 says the loser. "Gentlemen, the owner offers a reward f 

 $100." 



u One hundred and ten!" shouted an enthusiastic buyer 

 at the lower end of the room, and the thing being appre- 

 ciated by all present, the laugh "went around." 



—The Inter-collegiate contest this year will attract com 

 petitors from Princeton, Hamilton, the Universitv of Ne* 

 York, Cornell, Lafayette, Williams, Syracuse University 

 St. John's New York College, Rutgers, and the Northwest 

 ern University. Mrs. Astor has coniributed $500 toward 

 the prize fund. Examination will commence Decembe 

 6th in mathematics, Greek, Latin and mental science. The 

 oratorical contest will be held at the Academy of Music 

 on January 3d. In oratory there will be two prizes of $76 

 and $50; for essays two prizes of $150, and in all other 

 branches prizes of $300 and $100. 



—In the Black Hills, or what is known as Castle creek 

 is a large pyramid of elk horns, some seventy or eighty feet 

 in height, and probably a hundred feet in diameter.fnd 

 must have been there for many years as none of the Indians 

 in that section of the country know who put th.em there 



