March 11, 1880,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



105 



Geveeai, Anatomy. -Owen, " Anatomy of Vertebralies,'' 

 Lnugmans, Green & Co., London, 1 siiS. Huxley-, " An- 

 alomy Of Vertebrated Animals," London, 1871. Hux- 

 ley, "The Anatomy of Invertebrated Animal*," Lon- 

 don, 1877 ; J. A. Churchill, New Burlington street. 

 Ostei j i, OG T. -flower, "Osteology of the Mammalia," 

 Macmillan & Co,, Loudon. Ibid, i Also ' Huxley and 

 Owen on vertebrates above cited). 

 Insects. — Packard, "Guide to the Study of Insects," 

 Salem Naturalist's Agency. 

 ♦ 

 Notes. — In an interesting article published in the 

 Auburn Daily Advertiser, Mr, Frank R. Rathburn, well 

 known to our ornithological readers as one of the authors 

 of a most valuable list of the birdsof Central New York, 

 mates a very vigorous attack on the English sparrow. 

 The paper alluded to is in two chapters and is entitled 

 "An Exotic Tramp." In his denunciation of the bird 

 the writer makes use of some rather vigorous English, but 

 it cannot be denied that the subject is one which calls for 

 emphatic language. An interesting feature of the paper 

 is the testimony from the various countries of Europe 

 .lis to the grain-devouring proclivities of Passer do- 

 ■Mesticus, cited by the writer. Speaking of Algeria, he 

 says :— 



The reports from this country are alarming. In 1S77, 

 it is stated, that on one estate alone 200 acres of rye were 

 so completely devoured by the sparrows before it was 

 ripe, that not a single corn was harvested ; and it was 

 calculated that in a neighboring wood, some 150 acres in 

 •extent, there were 284,000 nests, 



.... TheYonkers Gazette of February 14th contains 

 a paper on the same subject by E. P. B., whose initials 

 fcre so well known to our readers that we presume it is 

 not necessary to fill out the name. The article is written 

 In a very temperate and convincing style, and deals prin- 

 cipally with the utter failure of the sparrow to accom- 

 plish what was claimed for him on his introduction, that 

 is, the reduction of our insect pests, and with its quar- 

 relsomo and noisy habits and the attacks which it makes 

 tjrpon our native birds. Tho writer refers at length to Dr. 

 Coues' admirable paper ontheBtatus of Passer domesticus 

 ia America, and concludes by demanding that the bird 

 be left to shift for himself and no longer be protected by 

 special legislation or fed and petted above our native 

 birds by kind-hearted and well-meaning but injudicious 

 people. ... Of quite another sort is an appeal printed 

 in the Quebec Morning Chronicle and appropriately 

 Bgbed " Cock Sparrow." The writer takes occasion to 

 warn the numerous friends of our innocent little fellow 

 citizens, the sparrows, that the dangerous shrike or 

 butcher-bird is "around" and is already committing 

 havoc in their feathered ranks. This very "afternoon the 

 writer and another gentleman, while standing near the 

 City Hall, were eye-witnesses to a. butcher-bird carrying 

 I off a poor little sparrow T in its talons, high over the houses 

 jinSt. Louis street, having, it is presumed, pounced upon 

 jits prey among the trees between the City Hall and No. 1 

 JFue Station. Extermination should he the order of the 

 I day as regards the entire race of these feathered maraud- 

 jers. . . Dr. Paul B. Barringer, in a letter to Dr, Coues 

 Kilted in the March Naturalist, and dated Dallas, N. C, 

 'amiouii! es tho advent of Passer domesticus in that State. 

 , . , In tho February number of the Naturalist appeared 

 a most valuable article on The Convolution of the Trachea 

 in the sandhill and whooping cranes, from the pen of 

 our valued correspondent, Mr. T. S. Roberts. The writer 

 gives an admirable description of the course of the 

 trachea in Cms canadensis, that of O. amcricuna 

 having been already described by Dr. Coues in FOREST 

 and Stream and in "Birds of the Northwest," and gives 

 excellent figures of the sterna of the two species with the 

 wide removed so as to show the course of the. trachea in 

 ; jjaeh, Mr. Roberts' descriptions and figures are so ex- 

 ceedingly suggestive that we cannot but hope that fur- 

 ther investigation may give him results which will prove 

 ; laost interesting, if not startling. 



J* Signs of Spring. — Mr. John H. Sage writes us from 

 Portland, Conn., that Quiscalus purpureas appeared there 

 J?eb. 20th, and that this is the earliest date of which col- 

 ,, | ectors there have any record. . . . From Perth Amboy, 

 (*T. J„ J. L. K. writes, under date of Fob. 27th : " Crow- 

 ..ulilaokbirds made their first appearance here to-day." . . . 

 (•From Baraboo, Wis., comes the following note, dated 

 ,A3b. 26th: "A few bluebirds have made their appear- 

 ance, and also a few flocks of mallards have found 

 i' way to tho Baraboo River, which is now free from 

 . . . We take the following extract from the 

 It. John (N. B.) Daily Telegraph of Feb. 27th : " An am- 

 tour naturalist informs us that a night or two ago 

 ./'lie heard the notes of a woodcock in a rural portion 

 ;f Portland. This bird usually returns to us in the spring, 

 not before, and his presence here now is most re- 

 table. It is also noteworthy that we have bad robins 

 - every mor nin g during tho present winter, which 

 fcve also been heard singing. The red-berries, of which 

 ' Jhey are so fond, have been very plentiful. ... A 

 hiort walk in the woods on Saturday, Feb. 28th, re- 

 galed the fact that the catkins of the alders arc about 

 fcsady to open, and that the skunk cabbage (Syiuplo- 

 pus) is in hloom. The song sparrows, bluebirds and 

 tsdwiug-blackbirds are apparently getting ready to go 

 • housekeeping; the buds on the elms are swelling and 

 tvarm wee spots the grass is becoming green 

 hrabt we shall have some cold and stormy weather yet, 

 ■ Hy spring seems very uear at hand, 



il 



id that, to 

 U upon 

 right as i 

 . had ev 



fresh and 1: 



bird.-:, whicl 



winter, and imagined spring was at hand. 



II" you deem l. his worthy of notice, you may make an 

 item of it. Foresight, 



Our correspondent's observations are well worthy of 

 record, and we are glad to print them. That tho snake 

 should have been ad 10 ill at sneh adatewas certainly re- 

 markable. TbeK WilS nothing very surprising, how- 

 ever, in finding it in the water. 



The dandelion was scarcely less out of season. It was 

 tire last of its race, no doubt. We plucked one in full 

 bloom Feb. 15th, in a hard snow-storm, 



Albinos in California.— Nature seems to have played 

 some strange freaks among the feathered tribes this season. 

 Naturalists and dealers note the arrival of many game 

 birds and other species that have exchanged their origi- 

 nal plumage for one of white. Atone naturalist's several 

 curious birds may be seeu. Perhaps the most uncommon 

 is a little green-winged teal which came in a few days 

 ago among a shipment of other birds from up the Sacra- 

 mento, It is of an ashy color on the back and has a white 

 breast. The green spot on the wing is changed to a dark 

 color. A female widgeon that came in recently from up 

 the San Joaquin River is of a bright chocolate color on 

 the. breast, white the back is of an ashen hue. A mud- 

 hen shot at Borden Island about two months ago is mot- 

 tled on the back, having while spots scattered through 

 the usual coat of black. The breast is of a blueish cast, 

 with small white feathers intermixed, The crown and 

 sides of the head are blue and white. A pair of valley 

 quail were recently shot by George Elkerenkatter, of 

 Searsville, San Meteo County, that were white all over the 

 body, with the exception of the markings on the breast, 

 which retained their wonted color. A. brown and •white 

 salt marsh rail, killed at Alviso a few months ago by a 

 sportsman of this city, is another freak of nature never 

 before heard of, naturalists say. Another is a white robin 

 which came in some time ago. This bird is nearly all 

 white with an occasional black feather, — San Francisco 

 Chronicle, Fell. 1th. 



Ralli 



£879, 1 sirnn 

 killed here b 

 shooting the 

 As the exa 

 many, we th 



Eur.o 



til. 



XKeTieur.— On Sept. 17th, 



Ballus elegans, which was 



shes by a gentleman who was 



lies of this bird in Now England are not 

 k tho above worthy of record. 



Jno. H. Sage. 

 Portland, Conn., Feb. 28th. 



Wintil!-: WnvniKi:!- Brooklyn, N. Ye, Feb. 83d.— spaces b 

 Editor Potest u/td tttreanu :— 1 have reoently taken great the intei 



in rifle shoot big. and therefore have become a "' 

 reader of your valuable and interesting paper, feeling I 

 cannot, become a skillful rillemnii without availing my- 

 self ol'its useful ami instructive articles upon all sports 

 a gi [sraland gun- in particular, 



In your last issue I noticed an item relating to the 

 mildness of the winter in Iowa. I think t can tell of 

 in thi tg more remarkable, On tho 30lh of last De- 

 cember 1 was out shooting crows along the -Shrewsbury 

 River, New Jersey, in order to test a new double rifle I 

 bad just purchased. On crossing a swampy hollow, 

 through which ran a small brook, 1 came upon a large 

 garter snake swimming iu the water. It remained 

 when it saw me, so I shot and killed it. This 

 3 1 have known of a land snake taking 

 in the middle of winter. On my 

 it tie yellow dandelion, growing 

 mmer, and also saw several blue- 

 ilently been deceived by our mild 



itween being packed closely with sawdust. All 

 stiees between the small boxes and the sides of the 

 ere picked with ice, thus preserving the same 

 empeiatnre thonghout the journey. Further protection 

 va.s given by means of thick felt at the top and bottom 

 if the chest. The small percentage of loss was due to the 

 noss falling through in some places, which occasioned 

 pressure on some of the eggs. No time was lost in plac- 

 ing the ova into the hatching boxes, the water, by means 

 of ice being brought to a temperature of 62 degrees. All 

 the damaged eggs were picked out. Dr, Hector visited 

 the gardens and took great interest in the proceedings. He 

 expressed himself warmly to Mr. Fair on the excellent ar- 

 rangements generally, wdiieb he said he would commu- 

 nicate to the Government, So far there is no room for 

 doubt as to the ultimate success of the experiment, at 

 least in Canterbury, audit the other societies Who share 

 in the general distribution of the ova are equally careful, 

 the colony generally will be enriched by a most valuable 

 addition to their varieties of lish. Under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances two months would probably elapse before the 

 eggs would he hatched out, but this lime will in all likeli- 

 hood be. considerably shortened the water in the hatching 

 boxes being at a higher temperature than thosetn which 

 the ova wore brought from America, the conditions are 

 more favorable for an early development of the young 

 fish. The greater proportion, when sufficiently matured 

 for distribution, will bo placed in Lake Coleridge. Mr. 

 Johnson, of Opawa, also received a case of the ova, which 

 arrived in equally good condition. This parcel was 

 brought through by the 6.50 train from Lyttelton, thick 

 india-rubber blocks being placed under the chest, to lessen 

 the injury from vibration. An additional box of ova ar- 

 rived in "the same chest, to Mr. Jolmson's private order 

 from America. 



The colony, in the first place, is greatly indebted to the 

 knowledge and experience of Mr. Clark, of Northville, 

 Mich., w r ho collected and packed the ova, for their 

 safe arrival in New Zealand, and secondly to Mr. R.J. 

 Creighton, of San Francisco, who from the first has 

 shown a keen interest in the success of tho experiment. 



LIVER-FED FISH. 



ACCLIMATIZATION OF WHTTEFlSH IN NEW ZEA- 

 LAND. 



U, S. Commission, Fish and Fisheries, ) 

 Washington, D. C. , March ith. J 

 Editor Forest and Stream ;. — 



Isendyou for publication in Forest and Stream, if yon 

 think best, the following slip from The Press, of Christ 

 Church, New Zealand, of January 10th. This details a 

 very successful experiment in the transmission of white- 

 fish eggs, by Mr, Frank N. Clark, of Northville Mich., and 

 as such should be permanently recorded. 



Sfencee F. Baird. 



The history of the first attempt and failure to intro- 

 duce American whitcfish into New Zealand is well known; 

 but undaunted by the loss of the first consignment, fresh 

 negotiations were entered into by the Government through 

 Mr. R. J, Creighton, of San Francisco, the result being a 

 complete success — that is to say, up to the landing in 

 prime condition of the ova, which arrived by the last 

 California mail. The boxes containing the ova arrived 



ieh M: 



the llfh inst. They were 

 id into the Hinemoaby Mr. Firth of that 



n Lyttelton early on Saturday morning, 

 lis places m the colony and the quantity 

 o each, lias already been published, and 

 . S. C. Fair received on behalf of the 

 mati/.ation Society, contained approxi- 

 tt the number will" be diminished from 

 js, to the extent of about five per cent. 

 By the kindness of Mr. Conyers, Mr. Fare went down to 

 Lyttelton on Saturday morning by special train, accompa- 

 nied by the Society's curator and game-keeper, and 

 brought the consignment up to the, gardens. No time was 

 then lost in unpacking them. Thanks to the careful 

 manner in which they were packed by Mr. Clark, the ova 



Aw 



at once I 

 ditj cm 

 A list of 



of eggs i 



the box 

 Ganterb 

 niately 300,000, 

 unavoidable 



idid 



■ ..I pi 



They" were contained 

 ked in two layers, each box 

 of soft moss, and over the moss 

 wen. Upon this tho eggs were 

 . to prevent the eggs 

 Over the lower layer of eggs 

 I' screen, and over that another 

 The outer chest into which the live smaller 

 boxes were fitted, and which was made expressly for the 

 purpose, was constructed with false sides and bottom, the 



arrived in spl 

 live smaller I 

 having at the 

 was laid a pie 



laid, the giea 



was placed al- 

 lied of 



I I" 



WE scarcely find a paper in which something is not 

 said of liver-fed fish : and from the general tenor 

 of numerous contributions one would be led to suppose 

 that fish fed on this aliment were not only inferior in 

 quality, but that they were actually flavored with the 

 essence of liver. How frequently we read of the glo- 

 rious trouting tours by which the participants were en- 

 abled to regale themselves on the wild, toothsome 

 brook trout, taken fresh from the limpid waters of the 

 purling brook. So far, very good. Undoubtedly this 

 magnificent little fish can be eaten with relish at all 

 times, and more especially so after exercise in the pure, 

 free, open air. But when, added to all this, I am in- 

 formed that these native denizens are superior to their 

 cultivated brethren on account of their freeness from 

 the taste of the everlasting liver on which the latter 

 are continually fed, I ask to be permitted to enter my 

 protest. And right here the thought suggests itself, Is 

 not all this assumed difference in the taste of the wild 

 and cultivated fish a mere matter of imagination, sug- 

 gested from the fact that it is generally known that 

 pisciculturists usually feed their fish on liver? Who. is 

 there actually engaged in practical pisciculture that has 

 not, by reason of their frequent handling of liver in 

 feeding, learned to abhor it as an article of food for 

 themselves, no matter how fond they have been of it 

 in the past ? Certainly the actual taste of liver has not 

 changed, but the change is only mental. As illustrative 

 of the imagination in producing liver tastes, 1 will give 

 an incident related to me by Mr. B. F. Shaw, our State 

 Fish Commissioner. It is as follows ; — 



A valetudinarian and her daughter were staying at 

 the resort of Mr. H. F. Dousman, a trout culturist, at 

 Waterville, Wis., where she hoped to regain her health 

 by obtaining the pure country air and feasting on brook 

 trout. For some time the trout were eaten with a keen 

 relish, and the lady was in no way sparing of her praise 

 of then- excellent flavor. But unfortunately, after the 

 lapse of some little time, she chanced to read some 

 newspaper, stating how cultivated fish were fed on liver 

 to such an extent that they actually tasted of it. This 

 was too much ; she began at once to see that the fish 

 which she formerly relished so much had a liver taste, 

 and began to long for the native trout, which had not 

 thus bocome contaminated by the akill of man. She 

 made her wants known to Mr, Dousman, who informed 

 her that native trout in that vicinity were quite abun- 

 dant, and if she wished he would take pleasure in substi- 

 tuting them for the cultivated, for which the lady ex- 

 pressed many thanks, and at once relieved her niind"froni 

 all further thoughts of liver. The native trout were 

 promptly furnished and in course of preparation for the 

 table, when the daughter laughingly entered the kitchen 

 with some of those horrid liver-fed trout, declaring that 

 the cultivated fish were excellent, that she never tasted 

 any liver about them, and that she was determined to 

 ascertain if it was not a mere whim of her mother's. 

 She accordingly prepared both lands of fish for the table, 

 bringing her mother first the cultivated fish, saying, 

 "Here, mother, are some of your native fish," The 

 mother, after tasting them, said, "There, that tastes like 

 fish ; there is no liver taste about this." After finishing 

 these fish with a keen relish, the daughter brought in the 

 native fish, saying, "Here, mother, are some of the liver- 

 fed fish ; taste" them, and see if you can really discover 

 any difference." Tho mother, after lasting them, said, 

 "O dear, take them away ; I can't bear them ; they do 

 taste bo of liver." I presume it is unnecessary to state 

 that the old lady left the place soon after discovering her 

 mistake. 



In the writer's opinion, many of those persons who 

 can so readily discern the taste of liver, would also dis- 

 cover some disagreeable taste in Lanicl'librn.itehs, such as 

 oysters, clams, etc., did they know that these were or- 

 ganized creatures, with alimentary canals, stomach, etc., 

 as would also ho the case with the native fish, were these 

 parties intimately acquainted with the food consumed by 

 them in their native waters. But let us inquire why 

 should fish fed on livertastc any more of their food than 

 those which feed on the slimy worm or any other sub- 

 stance? There is nothing in good, fresh liver which, 

 when taken into the stomach, generates deleterious gases, 



