286 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



pToYT-MBKBll, 188©. 



kills it) a legitimate way. But to Itill game when it cannot 

 be eaten simply for its hide or its feathers is neither more nor 

 less than pot liunting of the worst tjiJe, and is entirely unjus- 

 tiflable from any point of view. Happily, such opportunities 

 do not ol'len present themselves, for, in the East at least, 

 birds are seldom found in sufficient numbers to make such 

 butcher's work profita'ilc. 



Tlmse memliors of the duck tribe found witliin our borders 

 are readily distiuguisUuble one from another, and there is no 

 reason why nil oiii- r.'adiTS should not be familiar with them 

 all. There are, il, is true, a few cases in which the young of 

 one species bcai' a Bouiewhut close resemblance to tlie younij 

 of auollier, liul iu miwl cases Ihey are so different that even 

 the least observant gunner can distinguish the different spe- 

 cies. Years ago we fi-equeutly used to have the question 

 asked us. How does a red-licad differ from a canvas-back ? 

 and after answei-in^- il fur years, we are now led to believe 

 that all om' reader:; arc nbie in tell (he two .species apart. 



We shall publish ucxr week some remarks on our swans 

 aud geese, and shall follow these up with others on the ducks, 

 trusting that the information thus given may t)e of real prac- 

 tical value to sportsmen. 



[to bb oontinfed.] 



G-TJLI.S IN Centkal Park.— Visitors to Central Park during 

 the fall heforc freezing weather comes will do well to observe 



the gidls which lU-e to be seen in great numbers about the 

 reservoir, either resting: nn the water or Hying over il. At a 

 distance they appear to be .snow-white, mid wlic11u-r winging 

 Ihoir way with graceful fliglit from one end of tlie reservoir 

 to the other or floatuig lightly on ihe water's surface, they are 

 beautiful objcf'ts. 



We liave as yet observed but two species among them, 

 Lariii argr-nttitjij: and L. delawarmnh, though others no doubt 

 are sometimes to lie seen. 



•Oeaih Ob- TtrB Woodcock Dick. — EAItor Ftrrent and 

 Sti-mm : From tlie time I read3'om' article entitled ' 'A Captive 

 Woodcock " i decided lliat I would if possible prociure one, 

 aud also lliat i would see Mr. Morri.s' bird as soon as possi- 

 ble. When I did see hiui 1 was very mu('h pleased, aud de- 

 cided to ]:ii!i(iuisc him, which I did, and kept him at fn-st in a 

 box about 40 iiirlK's liy 20 inches by 18 indies, wth small 

 wooden bar.^. in front, but tlic back, top and ends solid. I 

 placed mii.s.s J inches deep over the bottom, except in a brea<l 

 pan 9 inches liy 5 inches by 8 inches deep, whore I made a 

 soft wet place for him to bore in. He did very well, and was 

 healthy, and T decided to have a new cmie built for him. If 

 was 4 feet long. -2 feet wide, and 28 incbea high in idl. I had 

 made a pan 4 iiH hep deep, lilliiig the entire bottom. Tliis I 



lall hemlock tree in the cage. Hi 

 rliange a.s well as 1 had hoped he 

 iieiiever any one approached his 

 lie'd il eiirefully he wa.s quiet. 1 

 d nftenioon withahB.ndful of earth 



filled with moss and put 

 did not seem to like ih 

 would, and acted wilil 

 cage, but when 1 apjtro 

 always fed him nioming 

 worms. 



One afternoon when 1 came home I wont up stairs to see 

 him and found the maid sweeping the room. This of course 

 had frightened him very badly, and all the feathers were 

 knocked off his poor liciid and the joints of his wings, and 

 there was blooil on the w ires. This made me feel pretty bad- 

 ly, but I put him in his old cage and proceeded to tack .some 

 green cambric on the lop and .sides of the large cage to darken 

 it, as 1 thought it must lie the light which made hiui wild, as 

 he was much more quiet in his old place and gentle, tine 

 morning two days after his accident he did not look well, and 

 .Stood vrith all his feathers milled np, and eat only a few 

 worms. I placed him in his new cage and gave him plenty 

 of worms, and in the afternoon he looked better, but Ihene.xl 

 morning he was dead. I never fell so badly about; anything 

 before. 



I think the trouble must have been partly the banging he 

 gave himself, and partly his food, as he was pretty poor at 

 tJie time eif his death. I think the worms given him crawled 

 away among the roots of the moss and thus n great many es- 

 caped him. 



~A woodcock should be fed each day his full weight in 

 worms, say .six ounces, three in the morning and tlirec in the 

 afternoon." He should have a place to bathe in, and one to 

 lude in, such as some ferns. P. P. Magoun. 



No. 10 East 37th street. 



has been up to this time, we believe, no record of a dog's 

 becoming rabid from skunk bite. We shall hope to receive 

 further particulars of this most interesting case. 



Bats Still Plttng. — A correspondent wliowritesusfrom 

 Tonliers, N. Y., under date Nov. 5, says: 



" While I was riding home one evening last week I .saw 

 what I took to be a hat. T called the allenliim of my friend 

 who was in Ihe wagon with me io it. I said it was a'liat, hut 

 he didn't believe that bats showed themselves late in the fall. 

 Could it possibly have been a liat? It was quite warm that 

 evening." 



It was no doubt what you took il to be. We saw on the 



afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 6, two hats busily engaged in 



catching insects. 



— *•»— 



Skitnk Bite.— Bditjv Fm-i'M n.nd Strmm : I read with 

 much interest the articles in your iiaper upon tlie effects of 

 the bile of the skunk upon tlie plains of the great West. It 

 seems to be a ca.se clearly made out that a very ccanmon, if 

 not invariable, sequence of skmik bile there was "hydrophobia. 

 I have heard of no such result east of the Jlississippi, nor 

 have I lieen alilc to learn of any after considerable inquiiy 

 among my friends iu various parts of the country. The 

 following case of ii dog in Cheslei' f'nunly. Pa., has recently 

 come to my notice, fhave not been able to collect so many 

 facts in the case as are desiraljle, IjuUhose that I could gather 

 make the case an interesting one. 1 submit them to you and 

 to your readers uitlionl eoinrai,-nt, hoping that others may 

 follow them up by careful personal oliservation when oppor- 

 tunity offers. The dog attacked a skunk and killed him. In 

 the sculile the dog was liitien. Between one and l.ivo weeks 

 afterw^ard he was taken sick, refused all food, his jaws were 

 set about an inch apart, he lapped water l)ut could not swal- 

 low it. Saliva constantly flowed from his mouth. After 

 some days he died. C. B. 



This is a peculiarly Interesting note, as the symptoms ob- 

 served in the dog seem to point towards true rabies. There 



Habits of the Bkavek. — Recent items concerning the ex- 



tinctieat of the beaver which have appeared in your paper 

 would ahiiosi, convey to the casual reader the inipression of 

 their non-existence east of the Mississippi River. True, like 

 the red man, tlicy have fast disapiieared before the advance of 

 civilization, but from our extended trapping excursions car- 

 ried ou for the past eight years we know of "their existence in 

 four of the Southern States east of I hat river, and think they 

 can yet lie found within a limited territory iu some of the more 

 Northern States. It would be almost impoa,sible to get a true 

 aud loyal trapper to write to Foijest a.sh Stream or any 

 other good paper the exact whereabouts of a colony of bea- 

 vers. Such wholesale informal ion is but rarely o-iven, anil 

 we would be very sorry to throw broadcast such valnable in- 

 formation to amateurs of the trap, who would frighten away 

 more than they w-ould catch. The beaver seldom takes \iphis 

 abode so near a white settlement as to seriously ineonveni- 

 encethe farmer by the daunning of tlie creeks or the destruc- 

 tion of his crop of corn. Although we have seen instances 

 of their destructiveness which caused a great desire among 

 the farmers to gel rid of them as a continual nuisance. The 

 beaver is the most mdustrioiLS of all the fur aniimds. In fact 

 most of the other fur-x^roducing quadrupeds ai-e prowling 

 thieves tliat under cover of darkness ro; 

 swamp and forest in quest of food, and soi 

 skunk and opossum, will not hesitate to raid 

 or a nest of eggs. The very old saying, ' 

 vers," has lieen well founded, as they a 

 and industi-ious race, livinf e 

 :iustry. Tf 



■ed liy i^reat 

 •epaira'tireak 

 them ill place, i 



through the 

 e. as the mink, 

 in the hen roost 

 Work like bea- 

 most innocent 

 irelT upon vegetable food pro- 

 jl work the whole night to 



tlieir'dain, fejiiiig small trees and drag.ging 

 ,nd .aflerward drawing up a great quantity of 

 mud and leaves, which are firmly settled into place by the 

 vigorous use of tlieir broad, flat tail. In our trapping cam- 

 paia:ns wo always felt om- conscience a little louclied when 

 we "had to kill these very innocenl unimals. Unlike all other 

 wild fur imimals of the'tra].i, they are perfectly harmless. 

 Their oven-shaped house's are very eomrortahly conslrncted. 

 We have stood u]joii their top without causing the least de- 

 pression, and, after cutting tluough the twelve or fourteen 

 inches solid roof, have went inside, wddch aljove water was 

 amply large to admit of an erect silting posture, the floor 

 being thickly covered with lieavy layers of soft inner bai-k. 

 " ' ' " "T " J Lj.g .Smedi.et. 



DtigdaU, Pmn., Jfov. 9. 



More I'k.use i 

 23, 1880.— In yo 



spaiTow f 

 another, 

 of .sparrn 

 Forest ,' 

 terest in 

 of their i 

 Severa 

 joying 



Flini 

 We have 

 rs, and aim 

 iu Sti;e.\m 

 ■alching thi 



■e the 



the 

 ago I have had 



mtri 



OiiL, on. 

 vord for Ihe 



me to .add 

 ■ lliousaneLs 

 columns of 



special in- 

 ' full.y convinced 



lighting ou a tree or 

 I wo or three times, 

 nearly an lionr, and 



a, and have 

 labits. 

 eeks ago a couple of friends aud myself were en- 



el smiikc in the g,arden when our attention was 

 ttracted b\ the peculiar darting flight of a en-;' r iinei : i;" 

 sparrows. Upon a closer serutiny v."o fori;i.:'i: ■ - i 



busy ctitching a winged insert of lame' .-i/'- , '.;' 



dart up into the air and secure it in r.^aeilv ilie :..u,., .u.iii.aa 

 as does the kingbird, woodpecker, etc., ; 

 tlie fence, aud pound it on the br.inel 

 then swallow il. We watched I hem for 

 in all (hat time they were ^'ery busy. 



I notiend subsequiaitly that they seemed to enjoy this kind 

 of food, particuliirly jusi on the eve of a shower of rain. 

 They were not driven" to seek this kind of food from lack of 

 other. On the contrary, the men (convicts) feed Ihem daily 

 on bread which tlicy .strew all over llic place, and tlicy have 

 access to all kinds "of giain and fniit.s. I have also not ieed 

 them busy among the flower lieds and plants, hopping aliout 

 iu quest of the insects wlio infect them. As " l*1int" says, 

 llie cocks do have battles royal among themselves, (tethers 

 than cock sparrows raise "ructions" for a preference with 

 the gentle sex.) Swallows, martins, robins and tcrass birds 

 are "numerous here, but the sparrows live amicably with 

 them. The much petted and vaunted robin is ihe greatest 

 robber and fruit destroyer among them all. 



Allow me to tender you my thanks also for your exposm-e 

 of that villianous compound, 'Ditlniar powder. Al. 



Will it Lite THBoron tub Wi^TKR^l—ffanodaburg, Ky., 

 October, 1880.— A humming-bird was captmcd in a room by 

 Miss Ada Huff, whither it was attracted by a flower. It has 

 been thoroughly domesticated, aud is fond of !a:!ing caressed. 

 Takes food from hand, and returns from lis wanderings to 

 the room in which il was canght. When shown us by lamp- 

 light it was perched upon a flower. Its accustomed perch at 

 night is the top of a canary cage. tt^kt 



k-r,. 



SSAKBS IN Kestitoky — JW/ Spiings, Ky., Jfov. 1.— 



Snakes are numerous and 



led in vicinity of our new 



mountain home you'll readily credit when assured that five 



i;ier, within a few paces. 

 N-ii Stream led me to in- 

 natives, and the miiversal assur- 

 Ijer aud a species of black snake — 



of different kinds were k 



in half a mile of the 1 



The subject of his.siug in Fi 



tervicw several r'f tin 



ance was that only il 



the racer, I think- have been known to hiss. 



A friend not long atro "set out "a line and hook baited 

 with a lively eliuli-niinnow. ou which, next morruiig. he was 

 chagrined tij find a huge water snake instead of a toothsome 

 bass as the lively motion of the swinging limb led him to an- 

 ticipate. Wasn't it a rare catch ? KESTroKiAN. 



than tlie next largest from a string of fifty. Much the larges 

 I ever bagged in twenty years' shooting. Kestuoioas, 



WeIOUT flF RtTFFED Qp.OTTSE. — ADkfeld. Mius., JYov. 5.r~ 

 1 lulled yesterday the largest ruffled grouse that I eVei 

 weighed. It turned the scale at 1 lb. 13 oz. He was oue o. 

 a bag of eight made that day. The .seven others averaged les: 

 than 1 lb. 4 oz. each and were about average Liiida. I havi 

 been shooting constantly since September 1, and rarely bug v 

 grouse that weighs over 1 lb. 8 oz. liuiFEU GwouiiE. 



BeoEST AnBrVALS at THE PHILADELPHIA ZoOLOOTOAL GaSIKH, 



—Thi-ee black Bpifler-iiionkeyfi, AMe^ ater ; four brown capnciUB, 

 Cebus fatuellus .- live rliesus niorJieys, 3/ncfic".- <T,/il,r,n,x ,■ twcly. 

 oonimon macaques, ilacavus cij/ioniobjii.'! : two ijonuet irioiikeya, 

 Macacus ra'.dat'i.'^ : oue yeUow-oruvvaed ingtit-heruu, Sj/ciiinki. 

 riolauni : two weeper napucius, CfhiiscapvKimis ; one priiu-ia woh" 

 Cams lalrav.i ; oue enteUus monkey, Si-nmopitlncu.'! eitldlus- 

 oue Chuva spider monlioy, Atek.i marrrhialns : oue herring gull. 

 Laru.f ar(jenkilit.s : one merlin, Falco (t-i/r//,,) .- aud two yellow ba- 

 biiOiih, CynoivphaJus Imhimin, all purchased. One great-horneu, 

 on-i, Jltibo virghiicDius : thi'ee raeeooiia, Procmn lolor ; one hpg- 

 nosed snake, Ilil^-rodon plati/rhinoir : four marah har'iers, Cim'-- 

 cyaneus hwlwjnlus ; oue rud-wiiigod hlackhirCt, Jgelaeus phmn- 

 ceus ; two nlliijulora, ,'l'/(i/rtMr niissh.^ippien.^-ix : one blaek-annke, 

 Baaccmioti ron Hrirtor ; two spaiTow-hawLs, Falm .-■pf!cm-oi.s- .■ nnr 

 yellow-shafted woodpecker, Cokirlps nin-uliix ; two red salaman 

 ders, S/wiVT/.r.v riihfr : tyvo piue «iakes. I'llwyphix nukimihiirini : 

 oue water siialic, Tropiduivitnn sijn-doii ; one common hittern. Ho- 

 laurus iinnor ; ouo Northern loon, r'lilymbii.'i loninahtx ; one dip- 

 jierduck, Fudilt/mbU!! pndiap.-- : one .jommoti crow, Cnrnis iirneii- 

 oanus; oue ratOeaimke, Cro'n!'i!' JiofT/rf'.'.s, nil preHcul.-'i -. nne 

 one mazame deer, Cervvs rampf.^iria .- Imrn in Hie eijiiilfii. 



A Heavy MALLAan.— Baltimore, Oi-t. 3S.— In the fall of 



1877 1 shot a mallard on Ihe Arkansas River which appeared 

 so unusually large to me tliat I had him weighed at the vil- 

 lage store. ' He tipped the beam at 4 lbs. 3 oz., aud was con- 

 sidered by those who saw him as the largest in their experi- 

 ence, aud truly he was immense. Pbedekujk. 



WEionrs OF QtTAU.— .Vo'' ."rrr,-?-, Kt/.. ^-M.~A few 

 seasons smcc Capt. G. H. M- lo, T M. & I. R. R, 



and the writer were quail slj. ii i 1: Castle County, 



\yhere wing shooting was coiiii,,,::!i r.ih iiriknown, when the 

 estraoreUnarv weight of a hen quail prompted me to weigh 

 it on our return home, thirty-sLs hours after it had been 

 drawn. Its head was pulled off in detaching it from the 

 string, and without head and entrails it weighed 8^ oz. on a. 

 pair of druggists' balances. It was fifty per cent, heavier 



E ZOOI 



L 0,y 



, CI^ 



Arbival.. . , 



Two Bidtimoro or;ole.-i {Icli^nix biMiiiiore], three orchard 

 (Tclivus .tpurius), one yoifow \viut>ler ( runrh-oiem a.flm 

 black-billed cuckoo ( C'oec.v:/«.s fr!it}irtrimiinh.,„f\ two i,„li, 

 {CuanciSTjna c-i/anea), ono black autl •.^iio . ,. -,r : ii 

 €aria\oaecAu-vnnk(PapiUoerplkroph!!,r . ■ .. 

 cocliatoos ((;acatua leadlM'nltri), two -: , ! i : 



{lAcmcti:? tcnuiroxlris), all purdia j. 1 , ' i i 



mias striatas). oae coot (>'id'"; i i: :, 



{Oreorlyx picius), hix\a\l(iy quai. 



aented ; one hog deer {Cercv.i ,...'■'::, i i i i:i in i- 

 hermit thniBlies (Turdiis palru 



)V. h- 

 ciridlor 

 [■), one 



Fn, 



c J. THOJirpwiN, 



ACCLIMATIZATION OF BLACK BASS IN ENGL.VNI) 



MR. SILK, fish culliuist to the Marquis of Exeter, linr- 

 leigh Hou.se, Stamford, y\TilcB me the followiiin- /.rati- 

 fying intelligence. FrankBuoki A .0. 



"All of the black baas that I brought from the United Siati.« 

 of America were takeu from the Delaware River. ' 'iiil 

 -liVM, .-i:jlii and placed in boxfts, floating ill ill' -, ly 



. . , , nvay wiien wanted. On tire .h, 

 .:Jm , iliesteamer for Kiigland [ had tin 



luuk.^ i l,.id prepared for them by the rive; -.,1 :jI 



fhem to the Iraiu without any loss, and on arming m. ^ew 

 York had them placed on the main deck of the steamer ; it 

 was then 11 v. M., we having left the Delaware River at 3 v 

 M. Up to this time I had iio loss ; luj' greatest trouble n-as 

 the high temperatvne it st'Jod at— 78 deg. all night. I l;ept 

 the water as cold aa possible with ice, which I had plac.rd on 

 the ship before going for the flsh. I stayed by the tMiiks a.ll 

 night pumping air every few minutes, and keeping people 

 from medelling with them. When daylight came 1 examined 

 the tanks and foimd five dead fiali, which I removed at once. 

 It was now 5 a. m., and the shijt svas to sail at 6 .k. .\i. 1 got 

 some men to assist inc in changing ihe water in the timks. I 

 had one spare tank, which I filled first, then reduced the tem- 

 perature from 7.5 deg. as it came out of the hydrant to 58 deg., 

 then placed the bass in if, and so on until 1 had given them 

 all fresh water. We sailed at fi a. m. sharp. When we gol 

 out to sea a few miles, I made arrangements with two of t 

 steerage passengers to assist me on the voyage. It was tl 

 9 A. M. I gave them both instructions what to do, and s 

 that they understood their work. I had then been twei 

 hours with the fish; and wanted a rest. After this I ai'rang 

 with my men to keep watch iwo hours each, and to rdlle 

 each otiier at meal times. T alw ays t'jok four hours' watch 

 the night, from 12 until 4 a. lm. 1 ihcn roused oue of i 

 men and gave over the fisl) in good order. If there were a 

 dead I always took tlicin out at once. 1 lay down out 

 hatchway in a rag, wiih orders to call me if anything we 

 WTOD2-. " I made it"a point never to go to mj- cabiu at nigl 

 in case 013 aa.sistant should go to sleep, then gorsi-bye to % 

 bass. We got on verj' well the first day, as it was cooler, 1 

 after this we got into the Gulf Stream : both the air and t 

 sea were vcry'hot, the atmosphere SO deg., aud the water 

 the .sea 78 de'g- It was during these five da>-s we lost the u 

 fish. We cleared the water every day by straining it throuj 

 flannel, all thick and dirty water we threw aw.iy and add 

 some fresh water made by melting ice. The sixth day a 

 we got into cooler weather, and the fish commenced to 1 

 better. The temperature of the atmosphere dropped to 57 diS 

 We used very little ice unless to malse fresh water with. 'V 

 kept on like this until we reached Liverpool, after ten da; 

 piissage. I now got fresh water and changed all the tanl 

 The fish did not object in the least, but were quite lively. , 

 did not hmt them changing the water from American ; 

 British. I got them conveyed to the railway statiou aj 

 placed on a truck. We arrived at Stamford in due coiu-i 

 and on counting the fish I found we had 153. I left tl 

 Delaware with 350, so that I had lost 93 fish in twelve daj 



Id 1879 I went again, and started fmm America with 1,81 

 black bass, and on arriving home I had 813, having doi 

 better than I did on the previous occasion. AH the hla 

 b.asa were for the Marquis of Exeter, he having borne all t 

 expense of Ihe experiment. Most of the flsh were placed; 

 a lake lielonging lo his lordship called Whitewater, tte 

 Stamford. :^ot any of them have been caught yet, but t^ 

 of them were found dead in a pipe, where they had got ,ia™ 

 med. The pipe supplied a filteier, and they had got in aj 

 could not get out again. From what I could learn they won 

 be about half-.a-pouud each in weight, so that they had doi 

 very well. The first lot ihat were put in will be three yea 

 old in Aprd, when they are expected to commence breeding 



We take the above fi-om Land and Water of a recent dfll 

 Some one has said, and it appears to be the general toipB 



