186 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



OnTonan 7. 133Q 



THE UNICNOWK BRAZILIAN EDENTATJ:. 



[Note.— The account given below by our corresijondent, 



Mr. Liudeu, Is exlremely imeresliug when taken in connection 

 with (lie accounts given bv Mr. F. >riillor in Naiurc lust year. 

 It IB true tbat tbe two sloiieH do not seetu to agree very well 

 and it is possible that they may refer to two different animals. 

 It should be remembered, however, that the statements of 

 the German naturalist were based merely upon the statements 

 of the country peuple and on rumor.? more or lees vague and 

 not alwajg traceable to auy reliable sotirce, while the trual- 

 wortluness of this accoiml is vouched for by ovu- coiTe- 

 spondent. 



It is hardly necessary to say that further and more detailed 

 partic'i!: -^ '.' oirniig this Hiipposed huge edentate arc eager- 

 ly ICHi'l- .' : . I / ii:iiixi;ili>is. and tliat the first specimen which 

 falls lui.u ;,ciLuutic bands will be a prize of the greatest value.] 



It is about a year ago since the scientific world was startled 

 by the report of a Gerinau naturalist traveling in southern 

 Brazil, whence, mali.ii-ili , ^ iiujiunicatiou to iVate-jr, he sub- 

 BtantialedtheocciuTC!.: li n -i- mii hitliertounknown quad- 

 ruped inhabiting tho- !., I riip animal itself had not 

 been seen b^^'him, bui iis narks mui diggings, aa manifested 

 in huge furrows channcleil om in the soil of its primeval 

 forest, .supported the suii).iiisition that it was a creature of gi- 

 gantic size. NotwitlLsianding tlic somewhat sensational 

 character of the coninninicaiiun, it. was, liowcvcr, generally 

 credited on iiccount of the authenticity of its .source'. 



By inatitutins iuquiiicH in rcijard to this matter in the cen- 

 tral valley of the Aujuzoh.s. where I had spent in former 

 yeai-s several months in cnllectiug specimens of natm-al his- 

 tory, I have come lately in reccij>t of some facts communi- 

 cated to me hj one of my 15raziliau friends residing there 

 still, which tend to throw some liglu upon this mysterious 

 creature. My informant, who lia.s squatted downi twelve 

 years ago in the very lieart of the Amazouiau forest, has 

 come to know, in thecom-se of time, all its notable animals, 

 birds and reptiles, and gives the following points of informa- 

 tion: 



There are, he says, among many curious animals, three 

 distiuci ami well marked :ijiecies of the anteater living there. 

 The suiallcst has, like inauy other quadrupeds of that inter- 

 esting region, a prehensile tail, and is the most common spe- 

 cies. The luiddle-si/ed one, which, in the most nunute do- 

 tails, corresponds by designatiou with tbe great anteater, 

 Myriaetyiphafin jn/'Hi'-r, is ralied by the Indian hunters in 

 their ni:!'. '' (ii:!'i'i i-: iln- [iir^r:-, i^Y-ral, the Tamandua ban- 

 deirii, i: i ' i , 1 1 i n , : inmt of its shy and retired 



liahiir, il' .!.. i , " ' - ,u:,ii. is utterly unknown to the 

 white senilis I I lijai icyiiju, tiiuiigh the Indians, who have 

 au exact nomenclatm-e tor i-veiy large beast, bird, tish, lizard, 

 or beKile, know it well Ity the name of Tamandua assu, 

 which last adjective signilies large. 



It will serve the piescut jnupose best to give a rough ex- 

 tract of the [lersonai ex]iijrii_aiee of my informant respecting 

 a hand-to-hand encoiiiiier lie liad himself several years ago 

 with one of till . ii s n n! singtdar animals. Our dogs, he 

 says, while \^< iii out bunting for peccaris, came 



upou the ttM'/i I iug scented beast, as evidenced by 



their excited s - I'ud barkings. Following closely 



uj»on their In j i i i' "f a creature larger, though less 



buiky> tbaii ill i ■ I ,1. it here in the Indian dialect the 



anta. Ihi 1 1 !■ s. 'vas needed to come up with it, as 



it mil ' ' l.>, andallowe<:l myself and luy brother 



tog'- i short time. AVe were armed ^vith single 



ban.: - , luadetl with course shot, and tm efficient 



breecii-iiaiin^ : i •■■■■ My brother fired tirst when about twenty 

 yards from the aiuuial, but ttlthiaigh the ball upon later ex- 

 amination was fuiiud to have passed throughout the whole 

 length of its lioily, it never slackened its speed, and only 

 stopped running when ;it last cornered closely by tbe dogs. 



It then raised itscli', alter the manner of the bear, upon its 

 Uind legs, using i(s great fore-paws, armed with formidable 

 long claws, as a means of making an obstinate resistance. 

 We had been frightened first by its singular aspect and great 

 size, but now perceived that we had to deal only with a com- 

 paratively iuoifensive creature, hardly able to hold its own 

 against itie attacks of the dogs. To end this singitlar contest 

 I advanced within a few yards in front of it and discharged 

 the full contents of my aljot ^mt into its well exposed chest, 

 killing it alu>ost instantly. Ujton closer exainination of our 

 prize we found it in respect to structure to cotTCspond with 

 the common great anteater, and only diUering from it by its 

 color and greater size. Its .snout was much elong.aled and 

 the front teeth were laekiag. The claws of its fore -feet were 

 at least from four to five inches in length and about one and 

 a half inches in \\idth at the base. Tiie body exceeded in 

 point of heiglit that of llic lajiir, though it was less bulky and 

 would havepi-olialily weighed less. Its fur was rather short, 

 not la-Jally, and of a" dasky hue, while the tail was long and 

 bush3'. Not knowing the scientific value of ibs .skin or the 

 skeleton, we loft the" creature to rot where we shot it, as the 

 scene of the encounter was more than eight miles from liome. 

 Qn describing the aninta! to tbe natives about oar plantation 

 we ascertained tbat it had been seen by old hunters on rare 

 occasions though always far away from the vicinity of auy 

 sttlements. It is easy to nee tlail such an animal, armed with 

 such great and stout claws, used in t he digging up of the nests 

 of the bipim and mounara ants, would be very likely to make 

 . great havoc in tiny soft soil in which the subterranean gullies 

 of these insects are located. Diggings and furrows on such a 

 big scale might naturally mislead persons unacquainted with 

 the animal itself iu respect to its true size, which bad been 

 theoretically exaggerated when its occurrence was first re- 

 ported. Chas, Linden. 



Buffalo Society of Natural Sdenees. 



Tame Quail.— St Joseph, Mich., Aug. 30.— A few days 

 ago I went into the country a few miles and slopped with a^ 

 - friend over nisrbt. As we stood at the gate talking in the 

 edge of the cvcniiig, lie .said to me, "I wtuit yon in tlie 

 morning to stcij over in that field and see isoiuc lame 

 quail (Orii/x nirr/ifiiann.^)." 1 did not see them tlic next 

 morning, but went out agaiu in a few days, and getting 

 there just at nighc, went to look for them. They are 

 domesticated with a flock of tame turkeys of about twen- 

 ty—two hens and about eighteen yotmg. The yomig are 

 about half growm 1 found the turkeys at roost up in some 

 apple trees and the quail on the groimd near the trees. The 

 latter ran oil as I approached with my dog. They soon, 

 howevei^ relumed. On making inquiiiea, I learned that the 



tvu-keys hatched their yomig out in a field near the house. 

 They came up at night aitd morning and were fed at the 

 house, and rambled off dm-ing the day. One night, when 

 the young turkeys were two or tlrree weeks old, three little 

 young quail came up among them. They hiive been with the 

 tin-keys ever since, and sue now full grown. For the first 

 two or three days the)' wcic somewhat shy, but since then 

 they come aroujid and feed and arc as gentle as the turkeys. 



Wlien first seen the yjtmg quail were not larger than chip- 

 ping sparrows. The}- brooded with the young turkeys under 

 the'hens till the young turkeys went into the'trees to roost. 

 The o^vIler told me he had not watched where the quail roost- 

 but one titne saw them on the fence, and saw one fly up inti 

 the tree. In foUowiitg the Im-keys, if lost in the grass or 

 weeds, they call, and the hen tm'keys answer them, and g(i 

 to them iust as they do for their o^v^l young. The next 

 i-nori-iing I went out ajid saw them all together in the road. 

 At my close approach -with dog theyrvm in tbe thickest group 

 of young turkeys near the old ones. How they come'-with 

 the" ttu'kcys is" not loaown. My theory is that the old hen 

 quail gi;it killed, and the young ones came across the brood 

 of young turkeys in the field Tthey being two or three weeks 

 okl" reseuibled the licit quail in size, and they followed and 

 remained with them. Do any of the readers of the Forest 

 AND Stream know of an instance like this f 



The owner of the turkeys told me that some years ago, 

 when the country was new and little settled, a neighbor of 

 bis had a hen come up with five yomig quail with her brood 

 of chickens, and that they grew up wt'th them. They stayed 

 all winter, and three of them layed next spring and remained 

 till fall, and then two of llie coveys stayed away more or 

 less, but one covey remained entirely domesticated. I shall 

 keep posted to see if they get through the winter wdthout be- 

 ing caught. "^ Ltitron. 



I shall not assert it for a fact until I know, but I -will :issert 

 my fe?('t/in it now. 



I do not believe that salt enters into, or is any essential an 

 element in the problem. I believe that with clear', deep 

 water, and plenty of food and room, the salmon will propa- 

 gate in fresh water. 



N. K. Faiebank. 



Geneva Lake, Wis. 



Tre European I'l 

 of Brookline, Mass. , 

 European ruff (_/'.' 

 Mass., Sept. 11, 18-iJ Ji 

 the ninth speciiiiCti f'lr Nm 

 land and second 



— >It-. Gordon Pluminer, 



.1 a fine specimen of the 



I'ii;. taken in Chathau-i, 



a } c-i-ing male, and is recorded as 



I America, tliird for New Eng- 



chusetts. The other two Nc^ 



^Ew Hampshike. — A friend informs us that the .Fi 



t iiiiiiiis-i.jners of New Hampshire have been busy for il 

 -I .11 -locking the waters -with land-locked salmou m 



I 1.1 aiiiJ are now beginning to hear of the growth and si i 

 rcHs (jf the I'lnner in mnn^."---* -"- "^'i- i'.ike-perch planti-: 

 in IKT.'i in Sniiai.C'' mid T'.r i i ^-e reappeared 



their pmar-yiv, iiiariv i.t •I'.in. ' iiptttred in tbn- 



waters after'Uuvin-'b,-.;ii Liii 1 . ,- - '- Mr. Samuel \V.' 



her, one of the commissioiicrs, ivmk nineteen line salmon n 

 tbe hatching house at Plymouth previous to July 9, sim 

 which time low wanir has prevented Ibeir ascent, but thf 

 iire hopes that i)ii; fall ii'iir- 'II' 'jn-ible another run to go ni' 

 as many moi'i: i.;. .' i a n ■ ■ i. 1. .w during (he summer I 



various" placrs a., il.ii.- .- and Peinigcwas.set in .1.. 



deep holes lit. i... ... .'. ■''.; hr.,okB. Thedrou,eli 



in the State ' ny of the smalln 



trout broo'-i.-: is fortunate tha 



the commissi. . u raise 100,000 j 



more from whr-reliy I'l r.jiii'j.-.-k ilii- -n v.,.|ii|.,:.. 



Oitt informant says that black I'sss tisliing in Sunapce Lul 

 has been excellent all summer and many large fish have be,:. 

 taken. 



Nebraska. ^Tlie Nebraska Commission is working ban I 

 with tbe exceedingly limited means nt their disposal, arid 

 have 130 German carp wllich they are keeping for liroetl, 

 to raise fry for distribution. They are preparing to lini. 

 .500. 1)00 eggs of the quinuafsalmnn this fall, having jjlaim 

 190,000 of them last spring from the halchuig of the previm 

 year. 



England si^ecimens were liikcn, one female at Newburyport, 

 Mais., 1871, and the other female at Upton, Me., 1874, and 

 are in the collection of Mr. William Brewster, Cambridge. 



TrrE Strs asb Full Moon .SiMcxTAKEonsLT Visiblk. — 

 Sir Henry Holland in his ■' Recollections of a Busy Life," 

 notes with special interest the fact that on one occasion, while 

 sailing upon the Mediterranean, 1 think (the book is not by 

 me), be saw tbe sun and full moon at the stime moment above 

 the horizon. This occurrenei' I have frequently witnessed 

 smce having attention called to it, iiiid notably on y-esterday 

 and this afternoon. The repetition of the phenomenon oii 



pH Htid ^iver ^iMiQ. 



— Address all communieaUons fe> 

 Ihhing Company, New York." 



' ir&reit and Stream P-W' 



FISH IN SEASON IIV OCTOBER. 



PUKSft -W-ATETC. 



Oraylin.;-, Thmnn'hii /;-(. o/../ 



I this heir 



lOll,.! 



- the hn 



siveh- 



ITWO successive day 

 Your readers will doubtless r 

 the moon when full during 

 rise for sevural nights sticces 

 between the ppriods, from w 

 the harvest and the liunl.crs' : 

 spectivcly. If yom- reialer 



month when the moiui ia at. her full, provided the weather is 

 clear, they may see iu some localities the nccurrence tlial 

 Sir Henry- deemed of suineient rarity and importance to note 

 iu his vei-v agreeable and readable book. Yours respectfully, 

 Cambridge, Md., Sept. 18, 1880. E. G. W." 



ion for the 

 ivill obs 



.nths re- 

 refully next 





EI.ul: Bass, Microplfrvn. ('I " '-' 

 AiiMojUltea. (Tn 



Li.vij,.,... , ,^i//.H ii|-ji-oii«(«wto(. . 



Bacliulor, J-umoXj/e anmitaHo. 

 I Chub, Seniotilis atr/xiraliii. 



SALT WATEE. 



The ODOKTonKiTHEs.- a few advance copies of Prof. 

 Marsh's IMemoir on the Odontoniithes, or toothed birds, from 

 the Cretaceous of West. irn Kaiisas, laiTo been distributed by 

 the author. The volnmi- is i.r ih.;- very hialn'st scientific im- 

 portance, and the mechanical part is done in superb style, 

 making it really a livrc dc luxe. We shall take occasion to 

 speak at length of its contents at a future day. 



How TUB First Shad AVere Hatched.— ifftif'tor Forest 

 and Stream: I am ciuite sm-e that Mr. Milton P. Pierce, 

 wbo.se letter was published in the Forest and Stream of 

 \ns. 30, is imder a wrong impression iu regard to some of 

 tliel,lii;jgs he wi.ile about."" 



I was with 3Ir. Green at Holyoke a part of the time when 

 he began bis experiment there of hatching shad, and know 

 from personal obseruation what his methods were. Mr. 

 Pierce says that he began to hatch shad in the river, and, not 

 siKM. 11 'j .' . . I ' ■ l.ase of operations to a tribntary 

 havii lie succeeded. 



:; . inverse of the actual facts. Mr. 



(iJn.. I 1 1 eh shad eags as trout ctfo-s had 



been : ■ ■.■ .k with trout In ..-a.. 



thai la . iiatthing fish tin ' 



priiiiliiar ,■..., I . .asult was that a' ■ . . .■ ■ a as 



cainc discom-aged and wag about ready to |jar-k up Ids things 

 and return hoine. w]icu the idea occurred to him (liow sug- 

 gested I do not elaiiu to laiow) of hatching the eggs in the 

 river. The very first experiment in the river water succeeded, 

 and was followed tty a continuance of succes,ses, which had 

 their cro-wuing triumph in the invention of the shad hatcli- 

 iug boxes. 



"Without baving any desire to enter into any conteovcrsy 

 on the subject, I feel as if 1 ought to say what I have in 

 justice to tbe originat.-ir of sliad hatchmg, who, through his 

 tribulations at Holyoke, succeeded at last in confering a vast 

 benefit upon the sliad-eatmg people of Ihe world. 



LtvrNGSTON Stone. 



IT. 8. Fishery, McCloud River, Cal., Sept. 23, 1880. 



mrops. 

 .alius. 



. ,.i(r)l)MUf Ob- 



Sijoi, ainnel Bass, 



Taiila„, ' ... . . .'.- 



POltOCk, J'l'llai-hiu.i carOiinarHli. 



Sea " Trottt," C^;ioiicj/»n e 



Weairflsh, Cvnoea'mi reim' 

 Share Will ting, j/wiiiw. , 



alis. 

 Crtm[-:er, }rirrnj-,r,ti.vn aa 



BliifH-!-' ''-■ ' 



Upani-.. .... ■ 



(«'. 

 Cere, ' 



BolUl.a 



KtUgHsll, Mi'iUicinuf jM'br 



SPRING SPAWNING SALMON— THE GRILSE. 



the salmon's egg. 



THE spring sj 

 tcrest to fia! 

 made to propniiaic f i 

 istence i-jf spring ■■ 

 cognized, although 

 men. The nests I s; 

 seven in numbe 



ning aalun™ ought to be an olijcct of li 



liurists. JdilheTto no atteuipt has br-i 



roui this varety, pos.aibly because the t- 



snat\-iiers in America has not been a 



g kuo-wu to Indians and backwoci'i 



in .July, 1864, on the Miraniichi wia 



small shoal. The eggs, deposited 



Qutnnat Salmon Lanb-Lockbd.— The following note from 

 Mr. N. K. Fairbank, Commissioner of Fisheries for Illinois, 

 tells its own story of the ripening of <;!aUfornia salmon eggs 

 in Geneva Lake, W^ia., wliere the flab have been planted. 

 Under date of Sept. 23 lie says ^ 



1 have sent to-diiy to Prof. Baird, a very fine specimen of 

 a California salmon", v.-ei-alit 84 pounds, a female, full of well- 

 developed, ripe eggs. She was taken by Mr. Welsher, who 

 liaa charge of my h.alching and ponds here, on Monday last, 

 in the sinall creek which empties into the lake. The day be- 

 fore he saw seven or eight together, which he judged would 

 weigh from eight to twelve pounds each, but had no means 

 of capturing them at that time. 



It begins to look like breeding salmon in fresh water, but 



March or April, woidd hai.eh about the first week in Augii; 

 or later, according to the depth of the suoyN'f all, and the lea 

 perature of the water in May or early in Jitne. Wc do a. . 

 kuow that the eggs are deposited in Miu'ch under i i 

 is probable that this is the case. 



A curious quest ion arises aa to the present main a 

 the supply of salmon In oiu- rivers. To which cU 

 to attribute the keeping up of the supply with a 

 civilization, and all the "changes it brings into tln- 

 cliaracters of the streams ? Is it due lo the fall 

 which every one bus patronized, or to tbe spring 

 which few' even recoirnize ? In some cases, Iilii 

 can he no doubt we an- indehtt-d lo the Rpiing siia-.i n 



tictdurly inNewfocii.ii . .r 



rivers in the suuiui' ' 



the rivers show a tan ■ .. 



oriiriuat wealth. 



It is not remarkable that fish ctdtiuist-s have failed to ret-o- 

 uize and use the spring spawning eolliion for propagaljn; 

 because the time for capturuig the fish is the worst pjssiiili 

 The woods are exceedingly uncomfort.able in >! i 

 April from melting snows, the rivers often choked 

 and fidl. The whole surroundings of camp life, 

 beautiful skies, the breath of spritig and tia 

 are unpleasant. But, considering tlie poor a 

 outlay, it is worth while asking tlie que-ai 

 fi_sh cultnrists have ""' ■-." ''■-''' ■"*' t'le wtod- a. .. 

 the season for dep.a-l '" halchiug and 



teiiance and proleaa. . a liy, at-e not .. 



congenial for irmii i .- . . .lie spring spa'.. 



with those wa . ae fall f This is a v. -i. 



ant question bow much we have t. 



spectiu" the I I -tdmon, for we do not '. 



bly kncfw wliettier a lau spayvning salmou may uoa a... 

 certain conditions of temperatirre and food, become :i spring 

 spawner, and r/iv; cemi-. 



TFTE GRrtSE. 



The great majority of grilse do not ascend rivers for Ibi' 

 sole purpose of maturing spawn. Male gi'ilse are known tn 

 mature milt, but female grilse, as a general rule, are not 

 spawnmg fish. Like the heiTing in its third year, only 6 

 very small proportion of grilse are ready to breed. Ibcy 

 ascend the rivers as grilse, and retm-n as grilse or immftttu* 

 salmon. This being the case, we ought to catch a greater 



