t)BCBMBEES0?1880.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



425 



bou, innumerable bears, tliousauds of ruSed grouse (fifty 

 is only a fair bag for one man in a day here), spruce par- 

 tridges, -wiM riuoks, are tUc game of the "region. 



Tor-' l'; :":1i ill I'^toiifroui New York, go to Bangor, Me., 

 thenci ' :l.;. New Brunswick, and thiiice to Ed- 



munsii ■- -I! " . :1. 



Peoi^lu '..U,/aru getting tired of tbe Maine woods and the 

 Adiroudack.s, will find it worth their while another summer 

 to try a "trip " from Edmunston. W. D. Edmonds. 



Edinumion, New Brunnwick, 1 880. 



%ntmal §i^torp 



OUR 'WATERFOWL. 



Sistrionious torquatua. Harlequin Duck. Bill in this 

 species very small and short, the whole tip occupied by the 

 nail; the tertiarii'S arc curly. Male in color deep lead blue, 

 fading into browner below; sides of head chestnut, as are 

 also the sides of the body posteriorly ; a lengthwise stripe on 

 erowu of head, and the tail black. Patches of white are 

 present on the head at base of bill, on the side of the occiput 

 and of the breast and of the tail. Two on the neck, one on 

 eachsidc, almost meet, forming a nearly complete ring. There 

 are other patches of white on the wing, and a collai- of the same 

 color about the throat. The speculum is violet and purple. 

 Female less strikingly marked ; bluish brown, paler below, 

 and changing to white on belly. A white patch before and 

 one behind the eye. Length sixteen inches. 



The little Harlequin is one of the most curiously marked, 

 and one of the most beautiful of our ducks. It is a Northern 

 species and is rarely even in winter taken as far south as 

 New York. Although during its migrations it is found only 

 on the salt water we know that it occurs in the Northern 

 Rocky Mountain region where it breeds. Dr. Coues states 

 that iu August, 1874, he found broods still unable to fly on 

 Streams flowing into Chief Mountain Lake. 



The Harlequin is said to be quite abundant on the North- 

 em coast of Maine and thence northward. On the north- 

 west coast, especially in Alaska, it is also reported as very 

 abundant. 



This species is still rare iu private collections. It is a 

 somewhat difficult bird tcf seciure, as it is a most expert diver, 

 sometimes diving from the wiug at the flash, and being so 

 quick in its movements that when on the water it will often 

 disappear beneath the surface before the shot reaches the 

 spot. On the North Atlantic coast the males of Qm species 

 are called lords and the females ladies. 



Boimtei-iastelleri. Steller's Eider Duck. " Head white 

 with a pearly gray tinge, a green occipital band, 

 and a black chin patch and eye ring; collar round 

 neck and upper parts, lustrous velvety black, the 

 lengthened curly scapulars and tertiaries silvery white on the 

 inner webs, the lesser and middle wing coverts white, tlie 

 greater coverts and secondaries white-tipped, inclosing the vio- 

 let speculum ; under parts rich' reddish brown, blackening on 

 the belly and crissum, fading through buffi to white on the 

 breast and sides, where there are black spots. Female red- 

 dish brown, blackening below, varied with darker on the 

 head, neck and fore parts ; tips of greater coverts and sec- 

 ondaries alone white, inclosing the speculum. Length about 

 18 inches" (Key to N. A. Birds, pp. 301-3). 



Steller's eider duck is a b'lrd of our northwest coast, about 

 which but little appears to be known. Although ornitholo- 

 gists have long known of its e.\i8teuce, comparatively little 

 appears to have been written about its habits, though these 

 perhaps do not differ markedly from those of the common 

 8. moUimma. The present species is not likely to come un- 

 der the notice of any of om- readers, except those who reside 

 in British Columbia or Alaska. Any sportsmen, however, 

 who may meet with it would do well lo make a note of the 

 fact, and to cuntribule wliat additions they can to om' slender 

 Stock of knowledge of the habits of the species. 



Somaterhi Fijicheiii. Spectacled Eider. "Male black or 

 blackish, the throat, most of the neck, loreback, wing cov- 

 erts, scapulars, lertials and flank patch white ; nape and oc- 

 ciput green ; a whitish space aroimd the eye, bounded by 

 black. Female said lo be brown, varied with darker, the 

 chin and throat whitish, the eye-patch obscurely indi- 

 cated ; atter the summer moult the male is said to be like the 

 female. Length about two feet." (Key to N. A. Buds, p. 

 293.) 



The Spectacled Eider is another Northwest Coast bird, 

 which is not likely to come under the notice of sportsmen. 

 It is said to be common about St. Michael's in Alaska. 



Somateria moUissima Dressm. Eider Duck. BiU with 

 two long processes extending up on the forehead from each 

 side of tlie upper surface of tlie bill, the broad feathered sm-- 

 f ace extending down between them. Male in spring dress 

 white, creamy on breast and t'mged with green on the head. 

 Lower breast, belly, back, tail, quills and a forked patch on 

 c^o^vn black. Female has bill smaller, and is bro^vnish or 

 chestnut, barred and speckled with black. Length about two 

 feet. 



The eider duck is known to every one producing the 

 famous cider down of commerce. It is not particularly 

 abundant with us though occurring iu -winter as far South as 

 New York, but not in any great numbers. They are usually 

 found associated with the species of (Edemia, called on the 

 New England coast coots, which in their manner of flight and 

 iu iomo of their habits they closely teeemble. On the Mas- 



sachusetts coast they are more abundant, and from there 

 northward may even be called common from October to 

 April. Specimens are found occasionally Ln the New York 

 markets. 



The down for which this species is so famed, and which 

 has led to its being semi-domesticated in some localities, is 

 plucked from the breast of the parent birds to cover and 

 keep warm the eggs during the absence of the mother. The 

 American bird was for a long time regarded as identical with 

 the European, but was separated from it a few years since by 

 Sharpe, and this decision appears to have received the ap- 

 proval of our best American ornithologists. 



Sdmateri-a V— nigra. Pacific Eider Duck. Exactly like 

 the last except for the presence of a V-shaped black mark 

 on the chin. 



This species, if such it be, is only found in the North 

 Pacific. It may require to be regarded only as a variety of 

 the common eider duck. 



SovuUeria spectaUblis. King Eider. Bill with a squarish 

 knob on its upper surface near the base. Male in full plu- 

 mage black, including a V-shaped mark on chin, a frontal 

 band and space about the ej'e; neck, anterior portion of 

 body, part of interscapulars, partof wing coverts and linings 

 and patch on the flank, white ; throat washed with creamy, 

 sides of head with green, crown and nape with bluish ash. 

 The female resembles that of S. inoUissima Dressen, but may 

 be distinguished by the peculiarities of its bill. 



The range of the King Eider is about identical with that 

 of its plainer cousin, and it occurs in winter as far south as 

 New York. Both this and the common eider are sometimes 

 taken on the inland waters of this State and on the St. Law- 

 rence River, and there are several records, we believe, of their 

 capture on the great lakes. 



^ CEclania amencana.. American Scoter, Coppemose. In 

 the male the bill is shorter than the head and swollen on its 

 upper side toward the base. It is black at tip, the swelling 

 being of a bright orange color. Plumage of male, black 

 throughout. Female has bill wholly black, general color 

 sooty gray, much paler on belly and sides; feet browiiish 

 with black webs. Length about two feet. 



The genus (Edemia, to which this and the next two species 

 belong, includes those black sea ducks,' knovm alon<'- our 

 Atlantic coast as Coots. In this genus the males have the 

 plumage black, with or without white spaces, and the bills 

 of all are wide at the tip and curiously swollen toward the 

 base, and in the males are highly colored. They are provid- 

 ed with very thick heavy plumage, are good divers, and feed 

 almost wholly upon shell fish. As might be imagined their 

 flesh is not especially delicate, but nevertheless they are shot 

 in great numbers on the coast during spring and fall by gun- 

 ners, who make more or less use both of the flesh and the 

 feathers. Birds of this group are sometimes found on fresh 

 water. 



The Scoter is perhaps the leaat abundant of the three 

 species of this genus, although it occurs in considerable num- 

 bers all along our shores. The fuU plumaged male is quite 

 a striking bird, but the female is the very reverse. The term 

 Coppernose is strikingly applicable to the male, as any one 

 who has ever seen the living or dead bird can testify. The 

 Scoter occurs occasionally on our inland waters. 



(Edemia fusca. Velvet duck, white-winged Coot. Bill 

 swollen above toward base, the feathers in the middle line 

 reaching nearly or quite to the nostrils, those on the side not 

 so far; bill black at base with a broad orange or pink tip, 

 shorter than head. Male, black with a spot of white beneath 

 the eye, and a large white wing patch. Female, sooty-brown, 

 paler below and on sides of head and neck, with small white 

 wing patch. Bill, black, rather larger than the preceding 

 species. 



The white winged coot is with us decidedly the most abun- 

 dant representative of its genus. It usually reaches New 

 York and Connecticut waters early in October, and remains 

 until the middle or last of November when it proceeds fur- 

 ther southward. On its return journey it does not become 

 abundant imtil the first of May, and early iu June the 

 flocks may still be seen passing to the northward. On the 

 Connecticut shore these birds are called Bell tongue, or Bell 

 tong, coots, for what reason we are unable to say unless from 

 some fancied resemblance of the thick, fleshy tongue lo a 

 bell in its shape. 



(Edemki per»pkiHata. Surf Duck, Sea Coot, Skunkhead. 

 Snufltaker. Bill swollen on sides as well as above toward 

 base. A narrow sirip of feathers in the middle line reaching 

 nearly to the nostrils, but no feathers encroaching on the bill 

 at sides. Bill about as long as head ; in the male in life or- 

 ange red, pure while on sides with a large circular black spot 

 on each side at base. Plumage of male black with a triangu- 

 lar white space on the forehead and another on the nape. 

 Female has bill black, the feathers in the middle line not 

 reaching as far as nostrils; plumage sooty brown, fading to 

 pale gray below, with patches of dull while before and be- 

 hind the eye. Size of the Scoter. Variety irowbridgei, of the 

 Pacific coast is slightly different with a smaller bill and the 

 frontal white patch smaller. 



Two of the local names of this bird are quite striking, and 

 somewhat interesting as showing how readily even the most 

 unobservant people seize on the salient points in a bu-d's ap- 

 pearance, and from these points give it a local name. Skunk- 

 head, of course, refers to the contrast of colors on the head 

 of the bird, and is precisely paraUoledin the name skunk bird, 

 Bometmies applisdto the bobolink, Doii^Jionpx oryiwonui, 



while Snufltaker as evidently points to the bright orange red 

 of the bu'd's bill about the nostrils. 



The surf duck is almost as numerous in our waters as the 

 velvet duck and arrives a little earlier in the fall. On their 

 first coming they pass most of their time far from the shore 

 but later draw into more shallow water where food is more 

 abmidant and to be had with less exertion. At this time 

 they are shot iu great numbers as tliey come up well to stools, 

 and fly low over the water so as to afiEotd good shots to the 

 gunners In line. 



[to be oontintted.] 



-i^ EFFECT OF COLD AND HEAT ON PISHES. 



THE following quotations, taken from Dr. Ividder's Report 

 on Experiments upon the Animal Heat of Fishes, vsill 

 be found very interesting. It had been assumed up to within 

 a short timo that the temperature of a fish's blood wa.s that of 

 the water in which it lived, but Dr. Kidder has shown, as al- 

 ready stated in these columns, that this assumption is erro- 

 neousand that the temperatm-e of the bodyis higher than that 

 of the surrounding medium. In his report, published in the 

 Proceedings of the U. S. Natl. Museum for 1879, he quotes 

 freely from different authors to show the different conditions 

 of heat and cold under wlucli a fish may live, and some of 

 these we give below. 



Sir. Jesse tells of a friend who saw a gold fish which had 

 been frozen into a block of ice and afterward thawed into 

 lite. 



Dr. Richardson relates that the gray sucking carp, common 

 in the fur countries of Arctic America, may be frozen and 

 thawed out again without injury. 



Perch have been frozen and transported for miles, retum- 

 ing to life when thawed, and John Hunter says, " that these 

 (fishes) after been frozen still retain so much of life as when 

 thawed to resume their vital actions, is a fact so well attested 

 that we are bound to believe it." 



Mr. J. W. Milner (Assistant Fish Commissioner) had a mud 

 miimow (^Umbria Umi [Kirt.] Gunther) which was frozen 

 withm solid ice in an aquarium globe, thi-ee or four times, 

 and each time regained its vitality upon being thawed out. 

 Instances similaii to the foregoing can be be adduced indefi- 

 nitely. 



The only hybernaiion which is definitely known to occm 

 among fishes, says Professor Goode, takes place in the fresh 

 water lakes and streams of cold regions. The fishes are 

 driven by cold into the deeper waters and there remain in a 

 state of torpor, proportional in degree to the amount of cold 

 which they experience. Hybernation does not appear to be 

 in any case a voluntary act. The fishes do not become tor- 

 pid of their own accord. They avoid it as long as they can 

 and only succumb when they are deprived of the means of 

 escape. They never become torpid when there are greater 

 depths to which they can retreat. 



Dr. C. C. Abbott reports of the fresh water mullet {Myxoa- 

 toma oblongum): "No degree of cold seems to affect tlie 

 movements of this species, and hundreds can frequently be 

 seen under the ice, moving slowly along the bed of the stream, 

 feeding upon the wilted remnants of pond lily and si^latf er- 

 dock, plants. * * * « This applies also to our common 

 roach (Stilbe amerieana) vrhich, to a less extent, braves the 

 chilling waters of our streams thi-oughout the winter and, in 

 consequence, suffers from the persecution of the three species 

 of pike {Eso-j; reticulatus, fasciatus, paromn) inhabiting our 

 streams." 



See also Mr. Rudolph Hessel's observations upon the win- 

 ter torpor of the carp. This appears to be a true hybernation, 

 during which, although the fish takes no food in some climates 

 from October until March, there is no diminution in weieht. 



On the other hand fishes are reported as lining and thriv- 

 ing in water at an exceedingly high temperature ; high enough 

 to produce death by coagulation of the albumen in their blood 

 and tissues, unless there is some provision by which then- in- 

 terior parts are maintained at a temperatm-e lower than that 

 of the surrounding water. As the existence of any protection 

 analogous to that afforded to mammals by the function of 

 perspiration and evaporation seems obviously impossible to 

 animals living in the water, it is dlfiicult to understand in 

 what way such a reduction in temperature can be produced 

 and kept up. 



Thus Humboldt and Boupland observed livmg fishes in hot 

 water thrown up from a volcano and showing a, temperature 

 of 210 deg. P. 



Desfontaines found a Chromis in the hot springs of Cafsa, 

 in Bombay, the water in which showed 80 deg. R. (97.5 dee.), 

 and Shaw afterward saw small mullet and perch in the same 

 springs. 



Saussure saw eels, rotifera and inf usioria in hot springs at 

 Aise, in Saxony, in 1790, at a temperature of 113 deg. P. 



Bruce says that at Feriana, the ancient Thala, ai-e springs 

 of warm water without the town, where he saw small fishes, 

 four inches long, not unlike gudgeons. The temperature is 

 not noted, but he says : ' ' Upon trying the heat by the ther- 

 mometer 1 remember to have been much surprised that they 

 could have existed, and even not been boiled, by continuing 

 so long iu the lieat of this medimn." 



Facts mentioned by Somei-set induced Bronconnet to make 

 some experiments on the degree of heat which river fish !U-e 

 capable of enduring. Details of the degrees of heal are not 

 stated, but many species lived several days in water too hot 

 for the hand. • • * • 



Prof. Goode writes i "In wann countries an analogous 



