December 16, 1880. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



385 



OUR WATERFOWL. 



FnuatJUNJE. 



THE Sea Ducks present many difEerenccs in structure from 

 their fresli water cousins and constitute a subfamily 

 of the Anatidte, One of the most obvious distinctions is the 

 constant presence in this 2;roup of n lobe or flap of skin de- 

 pending from the liiiid toij wliich is never seen in IheAnatido!, 

 so that the two t;roups may always be distinguished by an 

 inspection of Ihe fett. In habits tlie two subfamilies differ 

 widely, althmiL'-h there are not wanting species of eaclv which 

 approach iu their mode of life, that of the other. The Sea 

 Ducks, as their name implies, are maritime in their distribu- 

 tion, though by no means exclusively so, yet many of them 

 retire to fresh water lakes or streams for the purpose of 

 breeding. There are others like the Eider duck for instance, 

 that even din-iiig the breeding season remain on the salt water, 

 and are only found occasionally dtiring the migrations OJi our 

 rivers and lakes. All the FtiUffuUn-m dive for their food, and 

 thus are enabled to feed in deep water where iha Ana it nm, 

 which have not this habit could not get a living. Those 

 species which confine themselves to the sea feel almost ex- 

 clusively on shellfish and are, therefore, very little esteemed 

 for food, the flesh being rank and flshy. On the other hand, 

 species which pass a considerable portion of the year on our 

 inland waters .ire excellent eating, and some of them are the 

 most fought after of idl our ducks. Such arc the Canvasback, 

 the Redliead, the Broadbill and others. The legs in this 

 group are placed farther behind than in the Anatinm, and its 

 members are thus less at home on dry laud than are the fresh 

 water ducks, while, on the other hand, tlie power of swim- 

 ming and diving is increased. It is from the FuUgulinm that 

 much of the eider down of commerce is taken. The eider 

 duck of course furnishes a portion of this, but other genera 

 such as Ilarelda and ^-Edeima supply a down which, for all 

 practical pur|)0ses, is just about as valuable. The genus 

 FuUgula, which is sometimes farther divided into the sub- 

 genera Fulix and Aythi/n, contains some of the most im- 

 portant of our Sea Ducks. 



FuUgula marila. Greater Scaup Duck, Big Rlaekhead, 

 Broadbill, Blucbill, Raft Duck, Flocking Fowl. 



Male, head neck and fore part of body black, the former 

 with green and purple reflections ; below white ; sides and 

 fore back darker, Avaved with black ; speculum, wlute ; lower 

 back, tail aud wing tips dull black; bill blue, feet diu-ker. 

 The female has the face white, and the black of the male 

 generally replaced by brownish. Length about twenty in- 

 ches. 



The broadbill, or blackhead, is an abundant species found 

 altuost everywhere throughout the country. It is extremely 

 abvuidant during the late fall, winter aud early spring al mg 

 the Atlantic coast, and is everywhere sought after. In the 

 interior it is plenty from the last of September up to the ad- 

 vent of cold weather, and under the naiiie of scaup or blue 

 bill is known to all Western gimners. We have found it very 

 numerous between the Missouri River and the Rocky 

 Mojmtains, and equally so during the vrinter in California. 

 The flesh of tliis species is excellent. 



On the Atlantic Coast broadbills are killed principally from 

 batteries, or when flying across points, though in winter they 

 are sometimes sculled up to during the night, when the dis- 

 charge of Iv.Ti Iiiu-rels inio the thick flock will sometimes kill 

 and cripi^le forty or fifty birds. They come well to decoys 

 and furnish excellent sport. 



Fuligula affiftU. Lesser Scaup Duck, Little Blackhead, 

 Bivor Broadbill. 



Exactly similar in coloration to the foregoing, but smaller. 

 Length about si.xteen inches. 



This species, long a doubtful one, aud by many authors 

 considered identical with F. nianl<i, seems to be a perfectly 

 distinct form. We have never found any difficulty in distin- 

 guishing the two ^vhen in the flesh, though it must be ac- 

 knowledged that siz.e !;■■ the iirincipal if not the onlychiuracter 

 which separates them. Dr. ('ones says: " There appears 

 \a be something diffleJent iu tlieir range, the F. affinis being 

 the more Southerly. Not that it does not in the breeding 

 season reach as high latitudes as the other, hut that its 

 autumnal movement is pushed to the West Indies and Cen- 

 tral America, where the true F. man'la is not recorded a.s oc- 

 curring." 



The little Broadbill is not tmcommou on the Atlantic 

 Coast, but appears to be most abundant in the interior. We 

 have seen them iu great numbers on the Upper Jlissouri, and 

 have found them breeding iu Alkidine lakes in the mountains 

 of Wyoming- They are shot by the same methods as broad- 

 bills. 



FuUguta romrtx. liing-ueslted duck; Tufted Duct. 

 Male, head puily. licad, neck, except a chestnut ring around 

 il : breast, back wijig.s aud tail, binck : chin and under parts, 

 white; speculum, gray; waved with bhick. Bill black, 

 with a spring plumage, a white ring near tip, feet bluish. Fe- 

 male, head and brownish: face, throat and ring about the eye 

 whitish. Length about eighteen inches. 



The tufted duck is not very abtmdant along the Atlantic 

 coast, altliough every year a few are killed. They associate 

 freely with the bruadbilla. fioui whioli, however, tbe males 

 may be distinguished a gmi shot away liy the puffy crest 

 which they eiect when suspicuous and just before taking 



wing. On our Western waters they appear to be much more 

 8-btmdant. Many breed in the marshes of Blinois, though, 

 no doubt, by far the greater number proceed the high lati- 

 tudes for the purpose of reproduotio)]. 



FuUgula ferirui ammcana. Red Head, Pochard. Male with 

 head puffy; head and upper neck rich chestnut, lower neck, 

 breast and upper tail coverts black, belly white, speculum 

 gray ; back and sides gray, thickly waved with black; iris yel- 

 low : bill rather short and wide like that of the broadbill, 

 crossed by a black band near the tip ; feet as in the preced- 

 ing. The female has the black and chestnut of the male re- 

 placed by dark broT\'n, and the waving on back and sides less 

 distinct. Length about twenty inches. 



The red head of North America differs from the European 

 bird so slightly that it is classed by ornithologists as merely a 

 variety of that species. Its range includes almost the whole 

 of the United States, and it is especially abundant along the 

 Atlantic seaboard and iu the Western States. West of the 

 Mississippi it appears to bo less abundant, although we have 

 taken it during the migrations in the Rocky Mountains and 

 in California. There seems to be no record of this species 

 breeding within our borders. 



The flesh of the redhead fully equals in excellence that of 

 the canvas back when the two species have fed on the same 

 grounds, and we fail to see any reason for the very strong 

 bias in favor of the last named bird. AVe wovdd defy the 

 most accomplished gonrmand to tell one from the other when 

 they appear on the table. The red head is shot by the same 

 methods employed to bring to bag the black head. 



FuUgula, i)alli*n«r{n. Canvas-back Duck. Male, head and 

 neck dark chestnut, the former washed on chin and about the 

 base of the bill with blackisli brown, neck and breast black; 

 otherwise as in Fuliguln fenna amerimna, except that the 

 black wavings on back and sides are much narrower and 

 fainter, so that the general cast of the plumage is verj' pale- 

 nearly white, in fact ; iris red, bill longer than head and nar- 

 row, the nostrils iu the middle, black. Feet dark. Female 

 colored much as in the preceding species, but always to be 

 known by the hill and head. 



A question very frequently asked is. What is the difference 

 between a red head and a canvas back ? but we feel sure that 

 no one who has ever had the distinguishing characters of the 

 two once pointed out to him would ever have any trouble in 

 sejiarating them. Setting aside the differences of color, 

 which in the nudes mark the two species unmistakably, the 

 shape of the head and bill are so unlike as to be perfectly 

 characteristic. The head and bill of the red head resemble 

 very closely in shape that of the ring-necked duck. The out. 

 line from the tip of the bill to the crown of the head is quite 

 deeply concave. The bill itself is shorter than the head and 

 is comparatively wide. The profile of the canvas back on the 

 other hand is but very slightly concave ; the bill is very nar- 

 row and decidedly longer than the head, and lias the nostrils 

 in the middle instead of, as in the red head, in tlie basal half. 

 The color of the eye is another distinguishing character, as is 

 that of the back. 



Tlie canvas back is well known throughout the eastern half 

 of North America, but is le.ss abundant west of the Missouri 

 River. It has been found, however, breeding at Turtle 

 Motmtains and iri the Rockies by Dr. Cones and others. It 

 isabrmdant iu California in winter, where it associates more 

 or less freely vrith maUard, broadbiUs and red heads. It is 

 perhaps held in more esteem as a food bird on the Atlantic 

 coast than anywhere else in the country. 



[to JJB OOtmNTJED.] 



THE SENSES OP BIRDS. 



EVER smce reading an account of the experiments of 

 the veteran Audubon regarding the senses that guide 

 the vulture lo ilK food I had taken it for granted that sight 

 was the sole agent used by this or other flesh-eaiing birds; 

 imd my own observations had strengthened me in the belief. 

 An incident that occurred a few days .since, however, has 

 convinced me that one bird at least has a set of olfactories 

 even more delicatelj' fashioned than his optics, though his 

 eye is little less than a telescope in pow( r. A liorse belong- 

 ing lo a neighbor died one night last week, and the followiitg 

 morning the body was dragged to some distance and left un- 

 interred. About noon cf the same day 1 noticed a eoinpunv 

 of perhaps twenty crows, flying low, heading directly tor Ibe 

 Ciircaao, Arrived at the spot where the object of their semcli 

 lay, they circled about a few limes in the air, and Ihea, ob- 

 Hvious to the fact that all over the land distant relatives of 

 theu-s were being served at Th;nik,sgiviDg dumers, they 

 gathered round the carca.ss and ban(iueted right royally. 



This morning I visited the scene of liie ietiat. The birds 

 had, I found, torn a hole through the hide of the ab lomen 

 and devoured a portion of the viscera I was .surprised to 

 see that the can-as! lav in n ah.allow rreek lied, from whiiii 

 the land ro;^i: -.adually, bm Iu a eousideraltle height, in the 

 direclioii iV.iu, wXm-'w ihe errAvsliad been seen to come. The 

 nearest w.uiris, and the ones from which the erows undoubt- 

 edly came, are four mUes away, and it immediately occurred 

 to me that at such a distance the bird or birds tnust have 

 lieen al a vast height if sight discovered the carcass to them. 

 With the aid of a stick and a ruler I made a rough calcula- 

 lion, find antisfied myself that even at a distance of only two 

 miles the liody of the horse could not be seen at much less 

 than 1,000 feet above the earth's surface. Of course, crows 

 sometimes ascend to this heiglii \ nx\ 

 hawk directly upward till both birds we 

 but this was during rhe breediiiL' si 

 Icnows that ordinarily this bird is co 

 lofty flights.' SueJi being the ease, one 

 the birds were guided entuely by llie 

 how marveUously delicate must be tilt 

 tect at such a distance, even with a favorable wind, so slight 

 a taint as woidd arise from an animal not in the least de- 

 cayed! 



A few weeks ago, while in Southwestern Minnesota, I re- 

 collect noticing an instance of this same bird's acutenesB of 

 perception, which was probably no less remarkable than that 

 just narrated. On the open prairie, many miles from any 

 timber, a crow was seen by the body of a grouse which lay 

 upon the snow. As usual he had commenced his meal by 

 picking out the eyes of the "chicken." Crows were by no 

 means abundant (at this season, at any rale) in the vicinity 

 where this individual was seen; in fact, I saw only one other 

 while in the State. It would be useless to attempt to sur- 

 mise how far this bird may have seen or scented the frozen 

 grouse. The latter doubtless perished dming the recent un- 

 precedented October storm, as did quail, coots aud, I am 

 told, even ducks. 



If the senses of the crow are wonderfufly acute, those of 

 the hawk are no less so. It is to be questioned whethersome 

 of these, as the harriers, may not be aided in finding their 

 prey by the sense of smell, and T am inclined to think that 

 the ear guides them to many a fine meal. Who that has 

 hmited waterfowl has not, after firing into a flock of ducks, 

 seen a hawk Imrrying toward the spot, evidently attracted 

 by the report, and intent on securing a bird at the expense 

 of the sportsman? A popular notion attributes to the larger 

 game birds a sense of smell so delicate as lo warn them of 

 the approach of man or any other enemy at a distance, pro- 

 vided they have the wind iu their favor. I am 

 inclined to'think that this opinion is not well founded, but 

 certainly no birds are possessed of better eyes and ears than 

 the geese and cranes. The superior height of the latter gives 

 them a \vide range of vision, and they are, perhaps, the most 

 imapproachable of all our birds. Every one who has paid any 

 attention to the subject must have noticed ihatthe shyness of 

 birds is somewhat in proportion to their size. This is largely, 

 no doubt, the result of experience or of inherited " instinct," 

 those birds that have been long persecuted by man having 

 learned to ie,ar his presence, but partly I think, more especi- 

 ally in the case of the very smallest species, to defective 

 vision. I have known .sn,all birds to be killed by flying 

 against buildings, which of course they must have seen, but 

 not imlil it was' too late to alter their com'se. Aud I have seen 

 a kinglet taken with the hand, to the great surprise and fright 

 of the bu'd itself. I would by no means be tmderstood as 

 saying that any bird cannot distinguish a house or a man as 

 such, at a considerable or even a great distance ; the 

 fact that they sometimes fail to do so is doubtless owing to a 

 too close attention to business (insect catching) and to a lack 

 of observation. The eye of the small bird is as well adapted 

 to the work it has to perform as is that of the larger one ; 

 but it may be called "near-sighted" — it is not a telescope, but 

 a microscope, and as such it is all that its possessor could de- 

 sire. Observe a small flycatcher seated on a dead limb in the 

 shady woods, or a warbler or kinglet darting about among the 

 branches of an oak or elm ; then see him dart here and there, 

 pm-suing in zig-zag course, and with marveUous rapidity, in- 

 sects so small that we can scarcely detect their presence, and 

 we cannot but observe that its eye is wonderfully acute. 

 Contrast this tiny bead with the long-ranged optics of the 

 crow I Truly, Dame Nature has adapted everything to the 

 place which it is destined to occupy. H. S. W. 



" Homo " has some interesting notes on this subject in his 

 letter published elsewhere. 



Habits of Snakes — Taunton, Mass., Oct. — As I was walk- 

 ing along the brook about 150 yards below my fish pond, I 

 saw a pair of water snakes fastened together. The female 

 was two and one-half feet long and the male about two. The 

 former, being the stronger of the two. dragged the male up ■ 

 stream, tail foremost atalively rate. I killed them and pulled 

 them apart, but was obliged to exert considerable force— at 

 least ten pounds — ^to do it. Now it will be nine months be- 

 fore snakes lay their eggs. Will some natiu-alist explain ? 

 C. B^ 



S^ff gnlime. 



' one pursue a 

 ilmostlost to view; 

 n, and every one 

 111 with much less 

 1 hardly doubt that 

 use of smell ; but 

 irgans that could de- 



8TRIPED BASS WANTED. 



WE ttte permitted to publish the following letter from 

 One of the California Fish Commission to Professor 

 Baird. The lish wanted are the striped ba.ss or rocMsh, 

 Roccus line^iOii.;<. the fish iifi to exceed .six inches in length. 

 Will those of unr readers ^v•ho know where they can be ob- 

 tained in quantity please communicate the facts to Prof. 

 Baird, as he requests -. 

 HoK. Spenokk F. Baird, U. 8. Commissioner Fish and 



Fisheries ; 



Smithsonian iNSTiTCTioN, Washington, D. C. 



Dear Sir — I have from unavoidable causes been com- 

 pelled until now to defer .addressing you upon the subject 

 of transporting to and aeclimatizing in our waters the 

 " striped bass" of yo\:r coast. 



I have long had the impression that the '.a-eafc Bay of San 

 Francisco together \n\.\i the bays of --Sau Pabln" and 

 ".Suisun" connecting with it and the nunjbcr of creeks run- 

 ning into them, affording a variety of qualities and conditions 

 regai'ding temperature aud saUne properties together with 

 feeding material, would be well adapted to the propagation 

 and growth of the "striped bass," ° 



Having this in view I hist year opened a correspondence 

 with SL. Livingston Stone upon the subject of attempting 

 the transfer of .some small fish at the time of the bringin^T on 

 of the lobsters. j^Ianv difliculties presented them.selves in 

 the matter of ubtaiuing tiie small fry of llic ^tripped bass 

 which resulted in my suggesting lo ]\1r. Slune the proiiabiliiv 

 of obtaining in the extreme head-waters of the •' Navesink" 

 or Shrewsbury River in New Jersey. Mr, Stone succeeded 

 in obtaining a small number at the pla.re des:;.';ied bj^me, 

 and, with his usual skill, brouglit ihem >aiVlv to this coast 

 and deposited them at the hear; i ,," i]f Oarquinez, 



the turning point of the fresh 



Some six or seven months ,,,« of placing in 



the water I heard that oneoi ei-ui m. h, s m length had been 

 taken in the bay of Monterey, wliieh is about one hundred 

 miles south of this and is an open loadsted on the Pacific 

 Ocean. All of the circumstances were of so donbtfn! a 

 character that I gave the riunor but little atimiidi,. ,ntil 

 about tiie tirst of July, eleven months after tia- [.lainliir ,,f 

 the yoimg f rj-— at the time about one and a Jiair iiaiiHS in 

 length— in the straits of Carquiiiez, there was Iirr.ua-ht to me 

 a very handstme striped bass taken iu this harbor, measuring 

 twelve and one-half inches in length and weighing one pouna 

 The fish was in tlie highest condition ; the milt full and ripe, 



