FOREST AND STREAM. 



rays, I placed among the shingles, with the ready and skill- 

 ful help of the Maoris, (the aboriginals of this country,) 

 about 86,000 ova, which, though 1 had transported tkem a 

 long distance over a somewhat rough road, were in excellent 

 condition. A few ova near the edge of the original packages 

 were just hatching out as I placed them in the river. This 

 location has been most successful. Two clays after I depos- 

 ited them, three eels insinuated themselves into the en- 

 closure; but my Maori friends, faithfully carrying out the 

 promise they made me to watch closely for every enemy, 

 whether eel, duck, shag, or kingfisher, caught them at once, 

 but not before they had swallowed some of the ova. For, 

 on cutting them open they took out some ova which they 

 put again in the enclosure, and which have since hatched 

 out. And byway of "utu" or payment as they term it, the 

 Maoris immediately cooked and ate the enemy, since when 

 the place has not been molested. Every duck or shag that 

 made his appearance was at once shot by these watchful 

 guardians. You will be glad to learn that in this location 

 the success has been complete. As they absorbed the "sac," 

 batches of bright, strong young fish worked their way 

 through the shingle barrier and went up stream, and so on 

 day after day, till now, nearly all have migrated from the 

 hatching ground . 



The great success of this third location leads me to the 

 conclusion, that, where you can find a suitable and safe 

 spot in the small shingle streams forming the headwaters 

 of the main rivers, it is much more advantageous to place 

 the ova there, than in any more artificial hatching ground. 



Pardon this long account, with which 1 should not have 

 presumed to trouble you, unless Mr. Creighton had con- 

 veyed your request to me. 



I believe the localization both this year and last, of the 

 salmon in this colony to be completely successful, and for 

 this great boon, filling as it will, our beautiful but barren 

 rivers with this most valuable fish, and providing abund- 

 ance of wholesome food for the present aud comijtg gener- 

 ations—we have to thank the noble and disinterested gen- 

 erosity of the United States people, who by means of tneir 

 Fish Commission, directed with so much success by your 

 earnest and unwearied efforts, are conferring so great a 

 blessing upon people who are strangers to them, in the 

 coming times it will be a grateful thing for us to remember, 

 and a proud memory for you to know, that to the United 

 States this colony will owe the "King of fish." 



J. C. Firth. 



President of the Acclimatization Society, Auckland JSf.Z. 

 . «»♦-»■ 



Commissioners IIeports. — We have received and will 

 publish abstracts thereof as rapidly as we can, the annual 

 Reports of the Fish Commissioners of the States of Michi- 

 gan, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Minnesota. 



. -*-•-*» ; 



Connecticut. — The Senate has just referred in concur- 

 rence a bill "exempting breeders of fish from the laws reg- 

 ulating the taking and selling of fish." 



-•*••- — 



Pennsylvania. — The special committee of the Pennsyl- 

 vania Legislature appointed to investigate matters pertain- 

 ing to the fish interests of the State desire to receive com- 

 munications from all persons interested in fish culture, 

 containing recommendations, suggestions, etc. They also 

 invite such persons to meet with the committee in Com- 

 mittee Room JNfo. 10, on January 80th, at 10 a. m. 

 , -♦•-•- ■ 



CURIOUS FEATURES OF FISH OVA. 



Milwaukee, Jan. 13th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream-.— 



^,ln my last letter to your valuable journal a description 

 of the State Hatchery establishment was given. In this 

 letter I wish to lay before you and the readers of your 

 journal (those interested in the science of fish culture) 

 some curious features of fish ova. Last fall another gen- 

 tleman and myself were employed in the procurement of 

 fish ova for the State Hatching establishment here. In 

 our mode of handling and impregnating the ova, we 

 endeavored to follow what we supposed ana believed to be 

 the manner in which it is performed by the fishes them- 

 selves. A pan about liU inches in diameter by 4 inches 

 deep, with sufficient water in it to float and counteract 

 concussion with the bottom by the egg was the receptacle 

 in which they were taken. The male and female were 

 stripped at the same moment into the pan, by this means 

 bringing the fecundating liquid of the male fish in contact 

 with the ova of the female. As it is claimed by many 

 writers on fish culture that there is an expansion of the 

 egg when it comes in contact with water, jou will perceive 

 that the simultaneous evacuations of the male and female 

 prevented Such an action on the part of the egg. Again, 

 no pressure of the hand was allowed in stripping the 

 fishes, no eggs being taken except those running perfectly 

 .tree. Many "a female white-fish with considerable ova in 

 their ovaries was thrown aside which might have been 

 taken by a slight pressure of the hand upon ihe abdominal 

 cavity. This action was taken on our part the better to 

 comply with nature's manner. The water stood about 44° 

 Fahrenheit, and the contents of pans thoroughly shaken to 

 .prevent sticking, and after an interval of twenty- minutes 

 wtre thoroughly washed and placed in a large tub free from 

 paint, grease, oil or any other deleterious substances. My 

 reason forgoing into details is simply to show the care which 

 we exerted in the procurement of the ova. When we had 

 the ova safely landed in the hatching-house and on the 

 trays, we took some of them and placed them under the 

 microscope, and an apparent confervoid growth wa8 

 noticeable upon the top oi the globules in the inner sphe- 

 roid; having never seen the like before became alarmed 

 and thought it a blemish. We knew it was not the effect 

 of a concussion, as the outer shell was perfectly clear, 

 and possessed an unbroken outline. What, it was or is is 

 the cause of the writing of this letter. Many claim it 

 frost, but on the contrary we have now in the house here 

 <some 25,000 eggs which we know to have been frozen 

 &Oiid, and they also possessed this growth I mention, and 

 to-day are in a thoroughly good condition, the formation 

 ox the embryo being plainly discernable. This fact places 

 a quietus on the frost question. Can any of your readers 

 explain the phenomena? In view of all the details herein 

 described, and the manner in which the ova has progressed, 

 we have come to the conclusion that it requires, to insure 

 positive success in taking spawn, that two persons should 

 be employed in taking, and both in same pan. One to tend 

 the female fish and the other the male. In proof of the above 



I will say of the great number of eggs procured here, those 

 taken by one operator have the most signally failed of being 

 impregnated, while those taken by two operators have 98 to 

 100 per cent, been impregnated. Another peculiarity of which 

 I wish to mention is this the ova procured at other places 

 remote from fishery where ova which possessed that pecu- 

 liar growth was taken, did not possess the same; they 

 were also different in color both exteriorly and interiorly ; 

 the one being of a light color; the other a bright golden 

 color; the yolk of the egg resembling that of the salmon, 

 the ova in question possessing the golden color. Some of 

 the ova in question were of a deep red color, and where 

 they mingled with others looked like a streak of blood. As 

 we have much to learn yet in the science of pisciculture, 

 I hope that some one will explain the phenomena herein 

 described, and its cause and effect. Coregonus. 



■#»» 



FEEDING GOLD FISH. 



^ Pottsville, Pa., Jan. 22d, 1877. 



Editor Forest and Stream.— 



I had occasion the other day to call on a friend on busi- 

 ness, and as I entered a spacious and gorgeously furnished 

 and decorated hall leading off into an apartment situated 

 on the southwestern end of the mansion, bright with airy 

 comfort, my attention was immediately directed to an 

 aquaria, which contained some half dozen variegated 

 specimens of gold fish. Having forgotten the object of 

 my visit, quite a lengthy conversation ensued, discussing 

 the nature and habits of the fish, and the best possible 

 means for prolonging their lives. He related his theory of 

 feeding, and the essential means of supplying clean, pure 

 water, etc. But notwithstanding his seemingly skillful 

 treatment, a fish now and then would die. I think it is a 

 great mistake to suppose that gold fish in aquaria do not 

 want feeding. They may live some months on what they 

 can gain from the water, but they evidently die of starva- 

 tion . I have a friend who has quite a large aquarium full 

 of gold fish, sunfish, etc. He feeds them with pulverized 

 calf's liver. A small amount of this spiinkled on the wa- 

 ter is very greedily consumed by the fish. He also stated 

 that he has kept fish for years without loss, except by 

 some mishap, giving them nothing but farina in small 

 quantities. Though by experience I have found that they 

 like cornmeal much better, I object to feeding fish much 

 when they are kept in aquaria with plants, and when the 

 water cannot be changed often. The water is very apt to 

 become defiled, more or less, regardless of precautionary 

 means. 1 prefer a clean tank, in which I refuse to keep 

 plants, but change the water once a week, unless a supply- 

 ing aud washing pipe is attached, washing the tank, shells, 

 pebbles, and sand thoroughly. It is not much trouble, 

 and it is a great satisfaction to have the glass clean and wa- 

 ter pure. Fish are much more lively and interesting than 

 those in tanks where the water is not changed so often, 

 and is poorly furnished with oxygen by the plants. With 

 such treatment they are always healthy, and active, all of 

 which I think makes great headway in taming fish. 



Dom Pedro. 



intnl !§i8tatQ. 



NESTING OF THE HOODED ORIOLE IN 

 COOKE CO., TEXAS. 



A Colossal Aquarium.— M. Toseili, the inventor of 

 ingenious grappling irons and other marine apparatus, has 

 devised an ingenious and novel plan for exhibiting his in- 

 vention under conditions of actual use, and in connection 

 with a mammoth aquarium to be erected at the French 

 International Exposition of 1878. He proposes to erect a 

 circular iron edifice, Ssonie 32 feet in height by 60 feet in 

 diameter. In this will be a huge tank, which will be fur- 

 nished with rocks and marine vegetation, and will contain 

 a large number of fish or all kinds. On the sides of the 

 tauk, arc to be inserted powerful lenses, and the annular 

 space between tank and building will be divided into gal 

 lei ies, so that visitors in each gallery may look through 

 lenses and thus view submarine life at various depths. 

 In the tank will also be placed M. Toselli's submarine 

 mole, a curious invention somewhat annalogous to the 

 diving bell, but which carries its own air suppiy and is 

 capable of locomotion and also of illuminating ihe water 

 in its? viciuity by means of the electric light. After view- 

 ing the descent of this apparatus from the upper gallery, 

 the visitor is to be couducted to the gallery next below. 

 This corresponds to a descent of about 10 feet below the 

 surface, at which point the water still retains its blue color. 

 On the next floor below, a depth of 22 feet is reached, and 

 here the water becomes green, the summits of the rocks 

 on the bottom become visible, and the motions of the 

 huge fish can plainly be followed. On the lowest floor, 

 the visitor will be able to see the interior of the submarine 

 mole as it rests on the bottom, and at the same time will 

 view the sponges, corals and other inhabitants of the 

 ocean bed illuminated by ihe electric light. 



M, Toseili will occasionally wreck a small vessel loaded 

 with ien tons or so of stone, allow her to sink and then 

 will raise her again by a new automatic apparatus, which 

 he calls the air-hydric chain. Visitors will also be carried 

 down in the submarine mole, which is large enough to ac- 

 commodate four persons. 



A Tradition op Plum Island Bar.— That part of 

 Plum Island which reaches at low tide nearly across to the 

 Ipswich side, and known (locally) as Bar Island, has a 

 legend connected with its ever-changing shape that rather 

 knocks science. According to the "oldest inhabitant" it 

 is as follows: Many, many years ago, a fellow named 

 Harry Manis was hiied to do a job of work in "Ipswich 

 town," and when finished he not getting, as he thought, 

 his full dues, so blasphemed the Almighty that he was con- 

 demned to shovel sand for a thousand years. There is at 

 times a sort of singing sound heard here and said to be 

 Harry grunting over his labors; and whenever the bar 

 changes its general shape, owing to the currents of the 

 river, these people say Harry Manis has shoveled his pile 

 over again. There is also a tradition connected with this 

 old town of Ipswich. In the olden time a certain Parson 

 Whitefield caught the devil in his meetinghouse, und 

 chased him up the steeple, from whence the devil jumped 

 to a roek near by. It is said that when the people are bad 

 the footprints of the devil in the rock are plainly seen, but 

 when the inhabitants are good they are invisible. 



Teal. 



WE take the following very valuable note on the 

 breeding of a little known species, from a recent 

 number of the Oologist. It was written by Mr. G. H. 

 Ragsdale, of Gainesville, Texas, well known to the readers 

 of Forest and Stream as one of our most valued corres- 

 pondents : — 



"During the season of '76 I secured four nests and com- 

 plete sets of the Hooded Oriole, each nest containing five 

 eggs. The eggs of set No. 1 average .79 by .58£ inch, 

 and the nest was placed at the extremity of a branch in a 

 large red oak, fifteen feet high. The nest was placed 

 above the crotch of several twigs, so that its sides im- 

 pinged upon the twigs, and to those twigs it was fastened 

 by a long, tough grass, which grows in flat or wet prairies, 

 and is called here "wire grass." The nest is composed al- 

 most wholly of this long grass, and as it is placed 

 in a clump of leaves and remains green for sev- 

 eral days, the nest is hard to discover. The outside diam- 

 eter is 4 inches, inside (at top) 2 inches; depth, outside, 4 

 inches, inside 2£ inches. The eggs are of a pale bluish 

 ground, with a wreath of dark brown blotches about trie 

 large end, somewhat resembling the eggs of the Crow 

 blackbird {Q. versicolor). This nest is lined with feathers. 



The second nest was suspended from the extremity of a 

 post oak limb, seven feet high, and measures 3£ inches out- 

 side and 2£ inside in diameter; depth, outside, 3| inches; 

 inside, 2^. It is lined with wool and cotton, not a single 

 feather being visible. The eggs average .83 Dy .58 inch. 



The third nest was attached to the end of a poison vine, 

 over a stream of water, and is lined entirely with cotton. 

 Average size of eggs, .79£ by .55£ inch. 



The last nest was placed in a position similar to that of 

 the first, in the twigs of a cherry tree, twenty feet above 

 the ground, and measures a fraction larger. The eggs 

 measure .78 by .55 inch. The nest differs from the others 

 in having no lining except the grass with which it is built. 



I have seen no record of this oriole nesting north of the 

 Hio Grande, or even of being seen this far north. Cooke 

 county is located at the head of Trinity river, five hun- 

 dred miles north of the mouth of the liio Grande. 



The first was taken May 24th and the last June 3d. The 

 habits of this bird are the same as those of the Texas va- 

 riety of the Orchard Oriole." 



THE BIRDS OF WYOMING. 



.KST COL. A. S. BRACKETT, U. S. A. 



Gloucester Fishing Fleet.— A statement of the 

 number of vessels comprising the fishing fleet of Glou- 

 cester is as follows: Total number of vessels December 

 31, 1875, 504; new vessels, 30; old vessels bought, 20; ves- 

 sels lost, 19; vessels sold, foreign, 12; sold to other ports, 

 15; tonnage, 32,260 tons. 



Concluded. 



May 19th— Shoveller Duck, Spatula clypeata. 



May 19th.— King bird; bee Martin, Tyr annus earolinensis . 



May 19th— House Wreu, Troglodytes aidon. 



May 20th— Say's Flycatcher, tiayomis tayus. 



May 20th— White-winged Blackbird or Lark Bunting, Calamospiza 

 bicolor. 



May 21st— Mourning Dove, Zenasdura earolinensis. 



May 21st— Cow-bird or Cow Blackbird, Molothrus pecoris. 



May 21st— Hairy Woodpecker, Picus vdlosus. 



May 2 1st— Rocky Mountain Bluebird, Salia arctica. 



May 24th— Mountain Titmouse or Mountain Chicadee, Parus montanus. 



May 24th— Chipping Sparrow, Spizella socialis. 



May 24th— Green-tailed or Blanding's Finch, Pipilo clilorurus. 



May 26ih— Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Einpidonax flavi venter. 



June 6th— Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysatus. 



July 2&th— Red-breasted Snipe, MacrorhampJius griseus, Killed by 

 Posey S. Wilson, Esq., at Hutton'e Lake. 



July 25th— Coot or Mud Hen, Fulica americana. 



July 31st— Arkansas Flycatctier, Tyrannus verticilis. 



August 1st— Clarke's Crow. Picicorvus columbiunus. 



August 1st— Lewis's Woodpecker, Asyndesmus torquaius . 



August llth— Red shafted Woodpecker, Colapies mexicanus. 



August 1st— Blue Grouse, Dusky Grouse, Tttrao obscurus . 



August 3d— Night Hawk, Bull bat, Chordeiles mrgmianus . 



September 11— Sage Hens. Centrocercus urophasianus . 



September 13th— Yellow Headed Blackbird, Xantlwcephalus icUroceph- 

 alus. 



September 23d— A wild duck flying over discovered some tame oneg 

 in the creek running through the fort and joined them. The wild duck 

 appeared perfectly satisfied, and remained until forcibly driven off by 

 some meddlesome fellows who had nothing bett.tr to do 



September 3d— Broad Tailed Humming-bird, Selasphorus platycercus, 



September 3d— Magpie, Pica hudsonica. Seen near Chugwater creek, 

 fifty miles from Sanders. 



September 3d— Mexican or Prairie Falcon; also named Lanier Falcon, 

 Falco mexicanus. Killedon the Chugwater by Colonel Brackett. 



October 10th— Ring Billed Gull, Larus delatoareiisis. 



October 10th— Sharp Tailed Grouse, Pedioicetes phasianellus. 



November 10th— California Grebe, Podiceps calif omianus . 



April 18th, 1876— American Dipper, Water Ouzel, Cinclus mexicanus. 



May 9th— White Pelican, Pelecanus trachyihymhus. Killed on Hat- 

 ton's Lake. Envergure 88 inches. 



May 15th— Horned Grebe, Podiceps cornutus. 



May 23d— Black Headed Grosbeak, Goniaphia melan-ocephola. 



May 22d— White Crowned Sparrow, Zonolrichia leucophry*. 



July llth— Bullock's Oriole, Icterus Bullockii. 



April 12th— Cassin's Purple Finch, Carpodocus Cassinii. 



May 25th— Belted Kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon, on the Chugwater. • 



May 22d— Robin, Turdus migratorius. 



June 1st— Bank Swallow or Sand Martin, Cotyle riparia, on Laramie 

 river, near Hutton's bridge. 



July 30th— Cliff Swallows which had been at Sander's all summer and 

 reared their young, disappeared. 



Nov. 28th— A Hairy Woodpecker, Picus vhllosus, which has been here 

 all summer, getting a good living by finding worms in the logs of the 

 houses of which the fort is made, is still at work, and seems determined 

 to put in his winter here. The weather has been very cold, and why 

 this bird does not go South with his fellows is something I cannot un- 

 derstand. 



May 26th- -While traveling with several officers, just before sunset, 

 near the banks of the Chugwater, a mile or two above Philips' s Ranche, 

 we saw an immense Golden Eagle near the banks of the stream. It was 

 the la-gest bird I have ever seen outside of a museum or menagerie, and 

 so thought several of the gentlemen who were with me. 



[The Prairie or Lanier Falcon mentioned by Col. Brack- 

 ett above is at present regarded by most ornithologists as 

 a variety of European Falco laniarius, represented in the 

 South by var. Mexicanus, and in the North by var. poly 

 agrus. The latter is, no doubt, the form noticed. It may 

 be said, however, that an eminent authority on matter* 



