388 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



The demand for black bass has so increased that the 

 Commissioners have been unable to supply the demand. 

 This fish seems to hold its own against all comers, and it 

 is hoped that every pond in the State into which the 

 pickerel have been introduced will be stocked with them. 

 Several parties have been provided with fish. At Mon- 

 mouth, Mr. G. H. Prescott is ready at all times to furnish 

 bass, or to go out with visitors and assist in catching the 

 fish. In all these cases, the Commissioners furnish the 

 applicants with cans, which are kept at Mr. Philips', in 

 Dedham, Penobscot county, and at Mr. G. H. Prescott's, 

 Monmouth, Kennebec county. The law relating to the 

 catching of black bass having been most injudiciously 

 altered last winter by the Legislature, from July 1st to 

 June 1st, the Commissioners urge that it shall be again 

 changed to July 1st, as this fish spawns in Maine from the 

 middle of May to the middle of July. It is hoped also 

 that white perch will be included in the same close season. 



Surveys were made last summer for two fishways on the 

 Mattawamkeag; the one at Gordon's Falls, and the other 

 at Sluegundy, and they will be built at a favorable stage 

 of water next summer or autumn. A fishway is petitioned 

 for at Sebec Village, and should be made. Sebec Village 

 would become a favorite resort for anglers, and a popular- 

 place of summer residence for city families, if the salmon 

 of the lake were enabled by a fishway to obtain access to 

 the river below the dam. A fishway is also required at 

 Milo, to give access to the salmon from the Piscataquis to 

 Sebec river. All these streams are capable of being made 

 favorite runs for trout, lake salmon, etc. , by furnishing 

 fishways by which they can go and come to lake and 

 stream, back and forth, at will, and would fill all those 

 pretty little river towns with summer boarders. The 

 Kennebec river is still in a state of blockade, by the in- 

 difference to the wishes of the citizens of Maine of the 

 alien owners of the Augusta dam. The Grand Jury of 

 Kennebec county found bills of indictment against the 

 putative owners, but as they are not citizens of our State, 

 and the offense with which they are charged is not indict- 

 able in Rhode Island, a requisition upon the Governor of 

 the latter State would not be of any effect in causing the 

 surrender of the offenders . The residents on the Kennebec 

 must continue to bear that "Old Man of the Mountain," as 

 did Sinbad, upon their shoulders, until the Legislature 

 grants them relief by the passage of a law that will allow 

 them to proceed against the estate of non-residents. The 

 Commissioners desire to state, that they have in no one 

 instance ever from their personal desire, enforced a fish- 

 way upon any mill owner, and to force them upon a com- 

 munity would require an army of Fish Wardens. Nor 

 have the Commissioners such powers as they should have. 

 In cases of infractions of the fish laws, they can only act 

 as any other citizens, and call upon the Fish Wardens to 

 prosecute. 



In concluding their Report the Commissioners speak 

 thus pertinently on the subject of protection:— 



"Let us take hold of this matter in earnest. Let the 

 worthless lout who now nets our ponds and streams to ob- 

 tain the means to prolong a drunken, dishonest, worthless 

 life, be consigned to the shoe pegging or broom depart- 

 ment of our county prisons. A severe penalty should be 

 inflicted for netting our fresh water ponds and streams. 

 The carrier should be severely punished, as well as the 

 purchaser, for they incite ana instigate the poacher. The 

 carrier makes a double profit, for he speculates on the con- 

 traband rum with which he pays for the fish. Let it be 

 an element in all our fishing laws that the possession of 

 any fish during the close-time of that fish, shall be prima 

 facie evidence that the possessor killed the fish, without 

 regard to the place where killed. This will prevent poach- 

 ing and stealing in the neighboring States and Provinces, 

 and tend to destroy the wandering class of vagabonds, 

 who vary their occupation by horse stealing and robbery." 



The Report contains a valuable appendix, showing the 

 operations of Mr. Atkins at Grand Lake Stream. From 

 it we gather that one million eight hundred and twenty- 

 five thousand eggs of the Penobscot salmon were for- 

 warded to various places in the States of Maine, Massa- 

 chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. 

 In every instance the eggs reached their destination in good 

 condition, and better than ordinary success attended their 

 hatching. Of the eggs of the Schoodic or Land-locked 

 salmon there were taken, and to be divided nine hundred 

 and thirty-three thousand five hundred. Of these the 

 streams quota of one-fourth, or something in excess of that 

 number, were hatched, and about two hundred and fifty 

 thousand young fish were placed in the stream and in 

 Grand Lake near its outlet. Under the patronage of the 

 United States CommissiOLer, and those of Massachusetts 

 ,aud Connecticut, another seasons work has been begun at 

 Grand Lake stream, with a new hatching house and proper 

 .appliances. 



We are indebted to Commissioner E. M. Stilwell for an 

 ■early copy of the Report . 



for the purpose. Here every appliance is at hand; the 

 fish themselves are present, and any question as to species 

 or distribution can be decided at)once. By the bye, the 

 Aquarium has just received a fresh consignment of brook 

 trout, among them one monster which, judging from his 

 length, must exceed six pounds in weight. It is rather un- 

 fortunate that the position of the salmo tank is such as to 

 deprive it of some measure of attention. The fish it con- 

 tains are not surpassed in the interest they should receive 

 by any in the building. There is the magnificent Maine 

 salmon, and his brother from the Pacific coast; the beauti- 

 fully mottled trout of the great lakes, and the salmo fonti- 

 nalis of the brooks. Much, regarding distinction, is to 

 be learned at the trout tank. 



Illinois Fish Commissioners' Repobt.— Chicago, Jan. 15. 

 — We have had the pleasure of examining the first report 

 of W. A. Pratt, State Fish Commissioner for Illinois. 

 The report gives much general information. It shows that 

 during 1875-6 young fish and spawn of salmon breed have 

 been procured from California, from the Penobscot, and 

 other waters, and distributed within our borders, 210,000 

 in 1875 and 145,000 in 1876, leaving a balance not distri- 

 buted, 125,000. These fish were mostly distributed in the 

 Fox, Illinois and Rock rivers. There were also in addi- 

 tion to the above, 175,000 spawn given to the Fish Culture 

 Association for various public waters during the past two 

 jears. In May, 1875, the State Fish Culture Association 

 asked the Governor to appoint W. A. Pratt a Commissioner 

 to receive in behalf of the General Government the pro- 

 portion of fish spawn to which Illinois is entitled by Act 

 of Congress, and to hatch and distribute the same, author- 

 izing him also to dispose of enough of the same to defray 

 attendant expenses. This request was granted. Mr. Pratt 

 at once went to work and completed his arrangements; his 

 work has given general satisfaction. 



Illinois has 500,000 acres of public waters, every acre, 

 properly stocked, will yield more food than an acre of 

 cultivated land. As yet the Legislature has made no pro- 

 vision for the expense of receiving, hatching and distribut- 

 ing the allotment of Illinois. 



A stringent enactment is also needed for the protection 

 of fish in our waters. The laws for the protection of fish 

 in this State are worse than those of game. We are glad 

 to see that people are becoming alive to the necessity of a 

 proper Legislative action in regard to fish culture. Decisive 

 work is needed, as many of our streams are being fast de- 

 populated. Rover. 



w ■***■ 



v Fish Distribution for State Waters.— Mr. Seth Green 



in the following card notifies the public of another oppor- 

 tunity to obtain fish for propagating the waters of the 

 State:— 



Rochester, January 13th, 1877. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Parties desiring to procure Brook Trout and Salmon 

 Trout for stocking the waters of this, New York State, can 

 do so by addressing the undersigned, who will send them 

 on, the applicants paying the traveling expenses of a mes- 

 senger and giving full directions, the route to come, and 

 who to call on for a settlement. Seth Grsen. 



AN AVIAN POET OF THE SEVENTEENTH 

 CENTURY. 



American' Fish Culturists Association.— The sixth 

 annual meeting of the American Fish Culturists' Associa- 

 tion will take place at the New York Aquarium, corner 

 Thirty-fifth street and Broadway, on Wednesday and 

 Thursday, February 14th and 15th,"' A. D. 1877. The place 

 chosen to hold the meeting is propitious, as affording each 

 member of the Association an opportunity of witnessing 

 the finest collection of fishes in America, besides seeing the 

 artificial propagation of fish as practiced by our most 

 eminent fish culturists. It is hoped that each member will 

 be present on this occasion, contributing in all ways to 

 make the Association a success. 



M. C. Edmunds, Secretary. 



The Fish Culturists' Association is to be congratulated 

 upon having a place for its meetings so admirably adapted i 



Editor Forest and Stream : — 



I have copied from my Or-nithological Journal, for the 

 edification of your readers, the following curious lines, 

 taken from "A Description of America," written in 1671, 

 by Ogilby, an Englishman. It is a poetic enumeration of 

 the birds of the new continent. Here are 33 species men- 

 tioned, and all, with two exceptions (namely the "Stare," 

 our blackbird, and the "Madge," probably our whippoor- 

 will) by names familiar to our ears at the present day. It 

 is especially interesting to find some of the gunners names 

 of to day dating back upwards of 200 years! Notably the 

 Oldwife (H. glacialis), the Sheldrake, {M. serrator), the 

 "Dipper" (#. albeola), and the "Humility," (probably 8. 

 semipalmata, willel). Then how aptly descriptive his ad- 

 jectives are! Quaint and correct. F. C. Bkowne. 

 The princely Eagle and the Soaring Hawk 

 Whom in their unknown ways there's none can chalk, 

 The Humbird, for some Queen's cage more fit 

 Than in the vacant wilderness to sit — 

 The swift winged Swallow, sweeping to and fro 

 As swift as arrow from Tartarean bowe— 

 The harmonious Thrush, swift Pigeon, Turtledove 

 Who to her mate doth ever constant prove— 

 Turkey, Pheasant, Heathcock, Partridge rare, 

 The Carrion-tearing Crow, and hurtful Stare— 

 The long-lived Raven, the ominous Screech Owl, 

 Who tells, as Old Wives eay, disasters fowl— 

 The drowsy Madge, that leaves Uer day-loved nest 

 And loves to roam when day-birds be at rest— 

 The eel-murthering Heron, greedy Cormorant 

 That near the creeks in moorish marshes haunt — 

 The bellowing Bittern, with the long legg'd crane, 

 Presaging winters hard and dearth of grain— 

 The silver Swan that tunes her mournful breath 

 To sing the Dirge of her approaching death— 

 The tattering Oldwives, and, the oackling Geese, 

 The fearful Gull, that shuns the murthering piece— 

 The strong wing'd Mallard, and the nimble Teal, 

 And ill-shap'd Loone with his harsh notes doth squeal- 

 There Widgins, Sheldrakes and Humilities, 

 Snipes, Dippers, Sea larks, in whole millions flees. 

 ^++. 



Scientific Notes. — The celebrated Paleontolgist, Prof. 

 L. de Koninck, of Liege, Belgium, has received a pension 

 from his government after forty-five years of devoted ser- 

 vice to science. He has just completed an important 

 memoir on the Carboniferous fossils of Australia, and is 

 about to commence his last great work on the coal measure 

 fossils of Belgium, which is to be illustrated with one 

 hundred and fifty 4to plates. Dr. de Koninck received 

 the Wallaston Medal from the Geological Society of 

 London, about two years ago, and a medal at the Philadel- 

 phia Exposition during the past summer, for his valuable 

 contributions to Science. 



Prof. Valerien de Moeller, one of the most eminent 

 Geologists of the Russian Empire, and now of the School 

 of Mines, St. Petersburg, is now engaged in preparing a 

 monograph of the Fusulinas, a genus of minute foraminif- 

 erous shells, occuring in great numbers in our Carbonifer- 

 ous limestones in the west. He desires all the aid he can 

 get from American collectors. 



Mr. J. Schoetteo, Secretary of the Congress International 

 des Americanistes, which will hold its second session at 

 Luxembourg, 10th and 13th September, 1877, very earn • 

 estly desires all our countrymen who feel an interest in 

 the subject of American history, to forward their re- 

 spective communications at the earliest possible moment, 

 in order to give the Committee time to prepare a short 

 analysis before laying them before the said Congress. 

 The Committee hope America will be largely represented, 

 and that the savants of the New World will furnish at 

 least matter enough for one volume of the Comptes rendus. 



A Handsome Present.— W. W. Judy, a prominent 

 sportsman of St. Louis, Missouri, who it may be remem- 

 bered had on exhibition in the Maine Building of the late 

 Exposition, a very handsome Kiosk of stuffed birds indi- 

 genous to the West, and for whieh he received the first 

 premium and gold medal, last week formally presented the 

 same to the St. Louis Fair Association. The following ex- 

 tracts from the correspondence will show the purpose of 

 both parties. Mr. Judy states that: — 



"In making this present to your already attractive and 

 extensive exhibition, I desire that you furnish suitable 

 quarters for a permanent exhibition, and that I may be al- 

 lowed to add from time to time any specimens I may want 

 to contribute." 



Mr. Judy promises that he will make this collection "the 

 most complete in the country." 



Mr. Walsh, the President of the Association, in his ac- 

 knowledgement of the "magnifficent donation of game 

 birds," states that: — 



"Suitable quarters on our grounds will be allotted the 

 collection, the cases will be properly labelled with the name 

 of the donor, and it will afford us pleasure to receive such 

 further contributions as your generosity may dictate. This 

 Association has with your contribution the nucleus of a 

 grand museum, which will form an additional unfailing at- 

 traction. It has been our policy in purchasing animals and 

 birds, to purchase only such as we would be compelled to 

 buy under any circumstances, from the fact that they came 

 from foreign countries, and to rely in a great measure for 

 American wild birds and animals upon, the generosity of 

 public spirited citizens." 



This Association expended for improvements and in ad 

 ding to their collections, for the year ending December 1st, 

 1876, about $160,000. 



■#»»■ 



The Little Auk.— Mr. Thomas J. Farron, of Newport, 

 R. L, sends us a bird which he says was shot on the 

 Scaconet river. It was a very swift flying bird. Has never 

 seen or heard of anything similar in those parts before. 

 Requests its name, and if it is found in the locality named. 

 We reply that the bird is the Little Auk or Doykie, Mer- 

 gulus alle, a northern species, which in winter is not un- 

 common along the coast as far south as New Jersey. It 

 has even been reported from Florida by Mr. Maynard. 



THE SHRIKE. 



Indianapolis, Dec. 30th, 1876. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



In your issue of 21st Dec. "Buckshot," of Tiffin, Ohio, 

 inquires the name of the bird that visited his corn shocks 

 and caried away the mice. You thought it a blue jay, but 

 your "Ornithological friend at your elbow" was right in 

 supposing it a shrike. This latter bird is also known in 

 the northwest as the "meat hawk." I have known him to 

 come right into camp and take bits of fresh meat lying 

 about the fire. He is often called a jay by the unobserv- 

 ing in the pineries. I have met with him at Selkirk Settle- 

 ment on the north, and in Brevard county, Florida, where 

 he helps himself to young birds. In the tail feathers of 

 this bird a casual observer might think there was a resem- 

 blance to the jay, but he is marked more like the southern 

 mocking bird. In his flight no one need be mistaken; for 

 it is with the same ricochet motion of the yellow hammer or 

 the thistle bird — a rapid bounding billow sort of style. 



In the winter of 1860 one of those fellows perched him- 

 self upon an elm tree three hundred yards away from 

 where I was husking corn. When the shock was torn 

 down and a mouse started out the shrike was upon it with 

 the swiftness of an arrow, bearing it away to the elm tree 

 where the victim was stuck into a fork of the limb. In 

 this manner the butcher bore off and stuck away several 

 morsels for a future meal. When relating this to a friend 

 he said that he had seen "the work of a more scientific 

 shrike, which carried its mice to a honey locust tree and 

 pinned them to the thorns." J. F. 



[Of course our identification of the bird was doubtful as 

 we had nothing to go by but Buckshot's very meagre de- 

 scription. There is no question about the fact that the 

 shrike puts away his food, not only mice but birds and in- 

 sects, in the manner described. It would be interesting to 

 know what species of mouse the bird mentioned preyed 

 upon. They might get off with a Mesperomys but we 

 should think that an Armcola would be too heavy to be 

 carried far. 



Since writing the above we have heard from our Tiffin 

 correspondent, who^says that the^bird to which he referred 

 was not a blue jay. It is quite certain that the mouser was 

 a shrike, probably Collurio borealis. Apropos of the bold- 

 ness of this bird in coming into camp as instanced by our 

 correspondent above, is the startling impudence displayed 

 by the Canada jay Perisoreus canadensis and his Rocky 

 Mountain cousin var. capitalis . While in camp among the 

 mountains of Montana we have always had our attention 

 called to these birds, which take their station in the trees a. 



