Jaitcart 30, 1881.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



485 



permitted lis to haul it to U9 when we saw it; dip, aud bring 

 up a ten or fifteen pound salmon whirh iKid swallowed tlie 

 herring and the hook. TUeee lieniiig were cauglit by two 

 Small boys, who -were ciigaged about one hundred yards 

 from the shore (wo were about five hun<ired) iu jerking 

 through ihe crowded sdjnols, which their canoe was floating 

 flBiong, sticks armed With projecting Bhnr\> nails. Kearly 

 every jerk brought from one to a dozen lierring to basket. 

 I Irought of tliese boys a basketful, perhaj's a couiilu of 

 dozen, for a cod fleh hook, and when tbrough li.sliing our re- 

 turn for tliut penny spent for bait, and a dollar to the Indian 

 who showed us to the bank, was nearly a ton of fine halibut, 

 six or seven salmon and a dozen or more herring. 



The water was chilly, the work soon btcame "hard, and we 

 were all glad whun our hour was up aiKl wc could slart for 

 home. The Indians assured us that all the 3'eai the fish were 

 eqna.ll3r abuiidaMt. 



Tliat evening, after a comfortable supjier, a,a I sat smoking 

 my pipe, I couldbnt fall to musiugand conlrasi ing my position 

 with that of other men, who hiut spoilt all of the same d.ay, 

 pei-haps, inlaborof tbeaniH- 1, 1 1:1 i ii 1., liied ine thoroughly 

 in an hour. I in tla.- rds, -!i t (hcFavoriia,''and 



she moored safely in a iai,,! ' : . : ., ji.i-, not over a mile 

 from the fishing banks, wlieKj I ima im mere sport caught 

 tialibul at .such a rate, that were I able to withstand the 

 phy.sicttl .strain of eight hours .-i day of .;u.st such lalior, a single 

 month would suffice for me, single handed, to give a hundred 

 ton schooner her fare. Eight of us, woj-kiiig together, at the 

 same rate aud within two weeks of her leaving Portland, the 

 schoorier could have her calch in the market. 



And whil ■ i :i . l,"i!-- 1,1 ■■- li 'i T underwent no more hard- 

 ship, nor as n I. I I !. i m| trout has often cost me, 

 andhadex]!!' 1 n-ers than had I been still 



flabimr f-r ii i ,:,, ■,,■.■!, re nrOntnrio. ./Vnd mr 



expp' ^ ■ • •,, , ., ,. ;,,„! Willi (hat Pail ph/iitv of full 

 throv, , o. - ., , . . , . !• .J',, I hair a '(^yen line salinmi is iKjt 



anaiirir,..!, o. 1,0 .Ij-pifed;, and my dollar to the Siwash — 



■was but slight interest on the money I have paid to guides 

 for far leas services. 



r contrasted all this with the cost to our Gloucester men, 

 ■with far Ics.s les,s results iu proportion. I thought of the he- 

 grimed and lilood stained decks, aud close, grea,sy and foul 

 smchiog calling, where Ihe captain aud the niates and the 

 cooking stove aud the bunks crowd each other; of tlic pitch- 

 ing and toa.sing to (he gromul swell on the banks, 

 the drifting and dragging and fouling in icy north- 

 easters, and of the fate of those who through gales or ice- 

 bergs, [ - iiii I ,ii. over liy steamers, failed evel- again to glide 

 in P'o ' '■ i'liind Island" light, and for whom wives 

 aud 0! i.s: -01 .aiidy until they are sure that thev have 



becoiiii: >vido\-.:H :,ijd iiriihans. 



Of the tive Inmdre.l '/essels whieh conipofic the tishing fleet 

 of Glouce.sier, and ilii- hvY- (liousand of tlieir crews, every 

 year takes from them a large [lereentagi.', and, if 1 reraemlip'r 

 correctly, oneyear thhty ol the fleet ami over two hundred and 

 forty of the crew were lost. In one single gale one hundred 

 and forty- three men perish<,'d and thirteen vessels were lost. 



These five hundi-ed vessels bring to market over thr-ee mill- 

 ion dollars worth of fish yearly, but these fl.sh cost heavily in 

 life and properly. 



Iu Alitska the yield, if an equal number of vessels were em- 

 ployed, would he nearly as great, and the expense ami danger 



From 1873 10 lHT(i inclusive, an average of eight vessels 

 yearly, with tonnage from forty to one hundred and forty, 

 averagmg eighty f(,ins, iiave fished upon the Shumagin banks! 

 Their calch in the seven ye.ars was over four milliou pounds of 

 fish, worthin San Fr.aneiseo foureenls per pound or iSlGO.OUO. 



The ves.sels la-long to tlie Paeiiic I'-ish Co., have a .stalion 

 on Popolt Island and a curing establishment opposite to Sau- 

 oellte in ban rraucisco IJay, obtaining salt at Itedwood City. 



The above results arc from summer iisliiug alone, and on 

 this coast, thanks to the wisdom of of Mr. Seward, there is 

 no heavy bill to pay for bait and privileges. 



But while the mass of our people adhere to the prevalent 

 helief than in Alaska we have obtained a sterile, barren. 

 ■worthless, ice bound land, too poor to even be entitled to a 

 government or the pro' ection of law, the Hoomdis will remain 

 in unmolested possession of then' banks, and draw from them 

 their yearly tithe, and at home their women and children 

 •will continue to gather undisturbed all that thev wish of 

 splendid herring, wluch are m myriads, and to collect the 

 spawn on bushes planted at low tide, encrusted an inch deep 

 after a few overflowings with a most esculent food. 



When the fishing season has ended, by the Indians having 

 taken all that they wish, it is followed by the first season of 

 Sea^otter hunting. 



I will not do this noble animal the injustice of more than 

 introduction at this end of my letter. 



In my next I will tell you about him, his habits and the 

 mode of capture, as told to me by " Iloouah Dick." Pi.«roo. 



THE OLD "SPIRIT" COTERIE. 



rthe excellent articles of Col. Thos. Pictnn, Gen. Sib- 

 ley ("Hal, a Dacotah,") and Isaac JleLellan, referring 

 to the old Sprit of the Tinm, its tall editor and ciftcd iiorps 

 of contributors, a few notable ones, still survivin;^ who wrote 

 for the columns of that rare old .journal, received no mention. 

 Among the mo.st conspicuous is "Ned Buntliue," the hero of 

 three wars, and still one of the popular writers of the day. 

 Whose contributions adorned the old Hjihit in its palmiest 

 days, and later of the Fokkst a»d 8'n:i;AM. As an angler 

 "i«red Buntlino" is nv fait, and bis adventures with gun and 

 rod in all parts of th.^ Lfniou would fill a lar^o vnlnnie. Mia 

 picturesque home, the " Eagle's Nest," near t-iamlord, I-T. \'.. 

 is a spot of romantic interest. The name, ii is .stati-d. is tlie 



wherein 



he oiH-H 



Iwelt in 



he was r 



ne of th! 



earliest 



slreams 



, many e 



f Ihcm, 



same as that of a little hermiu 

 the Adirondack w)ldcrnes.s, wl 

 campaigners, and whose lakes 

 bear the names he gave. 



AJioiher notable, then known imder the nom dr jibi.mf of 

 "Young America," is Col. Alban S. Payne, the identical 

 man who "struck Billy Patterson." CoL Payne, or "Nich- 

 olas Spicer," as he is now more familiarly known, is an emi- 

 nent physician, oae of the professors at the Southern Medical 

 College and a capital writer, whose coutributiojis to various 

 sporting journiils have rendered his name famous. 



Hon. K. B. Roosevelt, author of "Superior Fishiua-," 

 " Game Birds eif the North," and other works of rare inter- 

 est, was also one of the "_free lannes" who wr.ite lor the old 

 /Spw'iY in his youth, and in later years has written volumi- 

 nously for the journals devoted to sports of field and stream. 

 Mr. Roosevelt is known as an enthusiastic sportsman, who 

 has assisted iu the organization of several societies for the 

 protection of tish and game, as nearly all the older readers of 

 F0KE8T AUD SiKiM are aware. 



Francis A. Dwivage (" The Old 'Un ") and Geo. P. Bm-n- 

 ham (" The Young 'Un "), joint authors of that humorous 

 work 'I Stray Subjects," and both popular contribulora to the 

 old Spirit, arc still living— the former in New York, the lat- 

 ter at Jleb-ose, Mass. 



Amemg those who have recently passed to the "shadow 

 lajid," aud who formerly belonged to the brotherhood alluded 

 to, memory recalls several distinguished gentlemen, notably 

 James Oakes, (" Acorn "), the warm friend of l''raiik Forest- 

 er, Edwin Forrest and Hawthorne : Tlios. B. Thorpe, the fa- 

 mous autlior and artist ; Geuio C. Scott, author of " Pishing 

 in American Waters;" E. E. Jones, one of the proprietors of 

 the fS'/'/cf'i during the later years of its existence; and C. A. 

 Bristed (" Carl licnson "), the classical writer. 



Of the earlier wi'iters, whose names are familiar as house- 

 hold words among the sportsmen of the land, sufllce it to say 

 that they were the peers of the leadiug sporting authors of 

 England and that, as Herbert once truly staled, Nimrod, 

 Toifrey, Berlsford and other popiflar writers upon firld sports 

 ui Britain, would lose none of their laurels to be comparetl to 

 their iraus-Atlanlic brothers of the quill. W. W. 



PROTECTION OF SONG AND INSECTIVOROUS 

 BIRDS. 



I HAVE read Mr. N. Pike's letter to farmers in F(njKST 

 ASD Stiikam of December 30 with much interest imd 

 fully agree with him that some of our smaller birds should be 

 carefully protected aud cherished ; yes, I will say all birds, 

 imtil they are proven conclusively by scientific research to be 

 noxious. Birds, especialy such as are singers or lieautiful, 

 even if they are strictly neutral so far as we are concerned, 

 neither doing us harm nor good, .should be protected by strin- 

 gent laws and by tlie sense of decency and common consent 

 of all. But birds that are proven very noxious to one or 

 more classes of our rural people should have no protection, 

 any more than rats or mice. 



I write this to say that I find Mr. Pike advocating the same 

 error that the great majority of people do who lia"vc uot in- 

 vestigated the suljject, to wit, that because a bird is strictly 

 insectivorous in its food habits, therefore it is most certainly 

 beneficial and should have protection. Now, there cannot", 

 in my opinion, be a greater mistake than tis. It is true the 

 martins, swallows, swifts, whip-poor-wills and night-hawks 

 feed entirely on insects, but the quesiiou verj' naturally oc- 

 curs to the scientific man, What species of insects? For the 

 entomologist kuows full well, to a certainty, that the great 

 enemy of noxious insects, their great destroyers, are otiier 

 insects — parasitic and caimibal insects ; and he also knows it 

 to be an absolute fact that bird.s do not eat, and therefore de- 

 stroy, the insects generally known as the most noxious. For 

 instance, what birds are Itnown to destroy the five, promi- 

 nent potato beetles, or the chinch bug, the canker worm, the 

 tent caterpillar, the squash bug, the cucumber beetles,' the 

 croton bug, the cotton wornis, Ihe codling moth, the plum 

 cm-culio, etc., etc., etc., to any appreciable extent '? Aud it 

 is also a fact that many of these above named most destructive 

 insects have very few effective insect enemies. But there are 

 hundreds of oilier equally or more destrueiive insects that are 

 only kept in check by their insect enemies, and not by birds. 



Now, if Mr. Pike's society will only teach the birds to de- 

 stroy our insect enemies, and not our insect friends in the 

 shape of cannibal beetles, ichneumon wasps, chalets, and 

 other parasitic flies, ladybug.s, etc, etc., we will all go to 

 breeding and protecting the birds. But we know that 

 this cannot be done; therefore, until it is definitely set- 

 tled by scientific research into the food of inscctivormisbirds, 

 and in this way decided conclusively whether a certain siieeies 

 of bird does or does not destroy more of our fiiemls among 

 the insects than it does of our enemies, we cannot .safely rec- 

 ommend theconservationorthe destruction of any of our birds. 

 And I will here boldly say that it is my belief that the .strict- 

 ly insectivorous birds named above, which feed on the wing, 

 entirel}' ou insects, are the most noxious birds we have. 

 Their "lood will be found to be made up in ^reat pari eif our 

 best friends without which we could uot proliahly exist, to 

 wit, gnats. Hies and ichneumons, which in their love flights 

 fill the upper air in myriads. And 1 am happy to state that 

 the subject of the food of birds is being carefully and .scien- 

 liflcally investigated by Prof. S. A. Forbes, of the Illinois 

 State Normal University, at Normal, 111., under the auspices 

 of the lUiuoia State Horticultural Society. He is u most com- 

 petent person, aud has taken hold of this herculean task 

 with all the ardor of a true young scientist. And I would 

 recommend Mr. Nicolas Pike's most commendable society 

 to procure his reports so far as published, and read them. 



D. B. Wbu!. 



fMeon, Ml. 



A review and abstract of Prof. Forbes' important paper on 

 " The Food of oiu- Thrushes" will be found in Forest and 

 Stream, Vol. xv., p. 344. 



IN THE PHILADELPIA ZOO. 



THE Zoological Society of our city has a very rare and ex- 

 tremely interesting animal in Ibcu- coUee'lion, a lemur, 

 which has been caged in the monkej' house for thr(,'i: ^■ears. 

 I am told that there is no other in this comitry. Mr. A. E. 

 Brown, the superintendent of thesTfU^deii, states that the group 

 of lemurs IS remarkable for its'eomljiuation of forms, and 

 it is very dillieult to place satisfaetorii^- as it has alliauees in 

 three directions with Pri,,,^.-.-. ..i. lo : ys 1. with llnfJuiUa 



fly most'of the recent sysi.;ii, ,1 -, ;.j. ^ne cemsidered as a 

 subdivisi.in of the highest order of mammalia as follows: 



(Jrder, Primal es, Sub-order — Anthrujmlm, man; Si/iliadati, 

 apes; L'uviri,la<:, lemurs. 



This little auimal is about the size of a large squirrel, and 

 remains quielly sleeping most of the day, becoming very ac- 

 tive toward evening ami during the night. Much resemblLug 

 the moukey in form of body there is still a marked similari- 

 ty to our flying squirrel iu shaije of head and texture of rout. 

 I'l is earuivorousaTid po.ssesses canine teelli, and is very difil- 

 eult to keep in conlinement. Anxious to know how I fie ani- 

 mal was fed I asked Rolling, the kr.pt'r, the question, and 

 learned that it was given a variety eif foo.d, sweet pLitatoeS- 

 bananas, and now and then an insect. 



I noticed in the lno^ke_^ house iu a separate cage a beauti- 

 ful specimen of the moon-eyed monkey, one of a genus of 

 nocturnal moukej's found in the Brazilian forests. It re- 

 sembles the lemurs, and is similar in habits as is usual with 



night feeding animals, and both the specimens I mention 



have large eyes. 



Philadelphians who take an interest in zoological mattens 

 are pleased with the prospect of the successful rearing of the 

 young ora,ng-outang at the zoo. Tlds will be the second win- 

 ter it has passed in this country, and it appears to be in the 

 best of health, great care being taken to keep the apart- 

 ivicnt where it is confined at the proper temperature. Last 

 summer it had at times the full range of the garden, and 

 amazed tlie visitors by the rapid manner in which it made 

 its way fr<->ni limb to "limb of the forest trees iu the inelosnre, 

 swinging itself from branch to branch so tjuickly that it re- 

 quired some elfort to keep up with it. The orang-outang is 

 now about four years old. 



The two chim"panzee8 purchased by the Philadelphia Zoo- 

 logictil Society arc dead, having succumbed to tlie change of 

 climate they underwent in being brought to this country. 

 Tliey had furnished great amusement for nineteen months, 

 which is, I believe, the longest time a chimpanzee has been 

 kept iu the United States. 



During the present month the specimen of female gorilla — 

 adult size — which was sent to Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia, 

 in a barrel of rum from Africa will be dissected in the pres- 

 ence of a number of scientists. It is the in'eution of the 

 missionary who shippcfl this specimen to Dr. Morton to for- 

 ward on his arrival at his station in Africa, which is in the 

 heart of the gorilla country, a full grown male in good con- 

 dition. Decomposition havingtaken place before the female 

 referred to was put in spirits, caused the falling out of almost 

 the entire coat of hair, a small patch on the breast being all 

 that remains. 



A few days .since a hawk was observed sailing in circles 

 over the centre of oiu city, and finally to swoop down and 

 dexterously pick n pigeon from a flock that were resting on a 

 housetop. This is an illustration of what a himgry bird will 

 do when forced by stress of weather and dearth of ordinary 

 provender. Snow falls stiU continue, and last night rain, 

 which hits caused a crust to form on top of the snow, render- 

 ing it more difllciflt for the quail to glean a scanty livelihood. 



Homo. 



THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 



Bemllehem, Pa. 

 "TT'OUR correspondent, S. H. C.,,of St. Joe, Mich., wants 

 J_ to know "all about the California quail— both kinds." 

 To use his own expression I "have been there." They would 

 do well "to divide the burden of ' can-ying off shot ' with 

 their cousin Bob White." Both kinds afford good sport ; 

 both are good eating. For my own part I never was able to 

 di.scover much dilfcrenco between the flavor of Bob White 

 and the quail of California. lamawai'e, though, tha"^ some, 

 whose judgment is perhaps better than my own, aav that the 

 flavor of the California bird is inferior. But if these birds 

 could be raised here I tliinlt that most sportsmen would find 

 great pleasure in hunting them, and would fiud little fault 

 with them upon the score of flavor. 



But the winter, " there's the rub." The mountain quail 

 might, and probably would, survive moderate winters, his 

 habitat being the mountains, at an elevation of about four 

 thousand feet. In such localities there is snow in Califoinia, 

 and of course severe cold too at times. But the fact hBl his 

 home is in the momitains and at such an elevation introduces 

 I think an element of difficulty into his introduction into the 

 Eastern States. Would he be content -svith the lesser alti- 

 tude in which he must live if he is to bo of any use to the 

 Eastern sportsman ? Might he not he disposed to leave tihe 

 rolling lands of the Eastern and the prairies of the Western 

 States and take up his abode in the highest parts of our moun- 

 tain ranges ? If so he would be of no use to us, and in addi- 

 tion would probably be killed by the rigors of ihe winter. 

 And yet spite of all these difiictdt'C'S I should certainly advise 

 that the experiment be made. It would cost but little either 

 in monej' or Iroub'e for some sportsman's association or game 

 protective society to import and set free a number of them 

 and observe the results. If their Western habitat is any indi- 

 cation as to where the experiment should be made here", there 

 can be no doubt that it should be done in the near vicinity to 

 mountains. By aU means let the matter be tried. I should 

 have great hope of its success. 



As to the valley quail I think nothing could be done with 

 it in any e.f our Northern States. Its habitat ou the Pacific 

 slope is the valleys. It is true i' is sometimes found at an 

 elevation of two thousand feet, but I think this is always in 

 the warm weather. I am not aware that it is ever found out 

 of the valleys when snow falls on the mountains. I am 

 quite certatn that, the snow and cold of our long, hard East- 

 ern wiiUers would kill every vaUey quail brought here. I 

 feel especially sorry for this for I am indebted to them for 

 many an hom 's rare sport in their native haunts, ,and I would 

 find great pleasure in renewing my acquaintance with them 

 in my native h>iunts. They are beautiful, bright, cunning 

 Uttlc fellows, who by their tricks and habits wotdd give a 

 deal of enjoymeut to sportsmen who enjoy anewexpenence. 



Should any one attempt the introduction of the mountain 

 quail I woifld advise that it would be done in the early sum- 

 mer. C. B. 



Watkr Bus.— I am sending you by this day's mail an ani- 

 mal I call a water beetle, for want of the true name. It waB' 

 handed me by a lad of more than usual intelligence who says 

 he saw it catch young trout two inches long, aud carry them 

 into his hole. The boy dug it out, fish and nil. The boy tells 

 me he has seen others like it, but of dull brick color. He 

 says also that he has seen (and will bring me one) a bun- 

 much siuiiUcr, with four legs and a pair of stout ai'nis, that, 

 catches little flsb like fun. Will Fobest Am) Stream please 

 tell lis tlie name of the one forwarded? And have they any 

 knov.dedge of their habits? b 



D(Cfmher %l, 1880. 



The bug has been received. It belongs to the genius Bel- 

 oisloma., and is very destructive to young fish. It is found 

 everywhere throughout the country in more or less abuu- 

 dance. The specimen sent belongs to a different species 

 from our Ea'teru Bel/mUnna granditi. See Forest and 

 Stbbam, Vol. XII, pp. 125 and 205. 



Br.AOK AND Gray Sqotrrei.s. — Denver, Colorado, Jmi. 9. 



—Bill!"/- Fori-ntnnd Strmm. : There are two or three q'uestiians' 

 before the FeuiKsr .;v:<o .S-ritE.vM debating club upon which I 

 feel eiiDipetent to oiler u few remarks. 



My youthful days weie speut in the Buckeye State and 

 upon a farm. Squirrels were a great pest in the corn-planting 

 season and plemiful at idl times to afford the best field sport 

 we had. Seemingly every hollow tree in the woods sheltered 



