166 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 1, 1880. 



Spring in Nouthern New York. — The last winter in 

 Buffalo has been one of unprecedented mildness. En 

 consequence of this curious subversion of the. laws of 

 nature, the movements of the migratory birds have been 

 several weeks in advance of their ordinary dates of arri- 

 val. A killdeer was killed within the city limit on the 

 26th day of February; and a pintail duck was shot on the 

 Niagara the following day. The latter species has never 

 before been observed to remain here during the winter 

 months, as happens occasionally in ease of the bluehili 

 and redhead, and must therefore be regarded as a fresh 

 arrival. Robins, bluebirds and meadow larks arrived On 

 Feb, -.Tiili. and Cully two weeks ahead of the earliest 

 comers on record during the past twenty-live years. A 

 red-headed woodpecker was seen on the 37tl) of Febru- 

 ary, although this species has sometimes been known tn 

 remain the winter in this vicinity. The red-winged star- 

 ling and crow-blackbird arrived a little later, during the 

 Brst days-is March, and only abotrf ten days ahead of the 

 first coiners during ordinary early springs. There are no 

 signs of any Wilson's snipe, although some sanguine sporte- 

 inen have beaten along carefully over some of their favor- 

 ite spring haunts. The vegetation is also keeping pace 

 with this extraordinarx development. The white maple 

 shows here ami there, whenever protected against cold 

 winds, an occasional open blossom, and if the mild 

 weather continues, il promises to be in lull bloom on the 

 12th of March, mover tliree weeks ahead of last year. 

 There is no ire anywhere on Lake Erie, and, in fact, no- 

 where as far as reported along the chain of the great 

 lakes, the Straits of Mackinaw included, which have 

 been known to he ice- locked as late as the 15th of May, 



Facts of this nature soem to militate against the the- 

 ory of fixed arrivals of our earlier migratory birds, al- 

 though the latest, including the chimney-swallow, the 

 night-hawk and the Baltimore oriole have thus far al- 

 ways made their appearance here within the close time 

 of a few days, Chas. Linden. 



Buffalo, New York. 



Signs of Spring.— Charles City, la„ Marcli lOtft — 

 The weather hat? been "variable and unpleasant for some 

 weeks back. Several times sining was thought to have 

 fairly opened, but asoften the return of cold weather has 

 put an end to OUT anticipations for the time being. The. 

 birds seem to be no better weather prophets than we 

 featherless bipeds. is early as thfe 15th of February J 

 saw a pair of robins in the woods, although I h&\ e never 

 previously seen this species before the 1st of March. 



made its appearance ou tbeSdof March, uttered b few 



notes of greeting, or possibly of warning, although they 

 wiir noj so interpreted, and retired to the woods, if not 

 to the '■ sunny South." 



Wild geese (white fronts, I believe) passed over, north- 

 ward bound, on she 25th of February, and ring-billed and 

 bume-heailed ducks came into the river about the same 

 time, but not in any considerable numbers. 



None of the above, however, are considered such cer- 

 tain .prognosticators of fail tveathi ras the bluebird. This 

 hardiest of the gamly-phimaged migrants arrived on the 

 morning of the 6 th ; not merely a single straggler, but 

 five or six individuals were seen at different limes during 

 the forenoon, all at a considerable height, moving north- 

 ward, and uttering their plaintive notes of welcome. The 

 rusty grackle appeared on the same day with the last— a 

 single small flock, just before dusk, dying toward the 

 imi-th. All this seemed toportend the near approach of 

 spring, in the usually accepted sense of the word, but 

 for once the bird- themselves were duped by the bright- 

 ness of the sun, fori lie weather ever since has been cold 

 and wintry, and the harbingers ot fair weather have failed 

 to show themselves. 



It was reported a week or two since that the meadow 

 lark had arrived, but 1 think the shore lark has been mis- 

 taken for thai bird. The latter species is quite common 

 here, and resident, or nearly so. Jt ismir earliest songster, 

 being beard tin- year on bright days, even in January, 



and it ts earlier than any other bird with which I am 



acquainted, except, perhaps, the crow and one or two of 

 our owls. Byen now they are mating, as 1 saw two rival 

 males pursuing a female in rapid zig-zag course through 

 tiie air. some time since. 1 have known a pair of these 

 larks to nest SO early in the season that, their voting were 

 destroyed by a storm of Bnow.whioh covered them to the 

 .depth of two Or three inches. Some birds would have 

 "perished with I lieir young rather than leave them, Inn. in 

 ihe present case only the numerous tracks on thaanow 

 above the nest gave evidence of tbe mothers solicitude. 



J hav en no snow-birds this spring. This l.inl hardly 



deserves its name, as a rarely remains here during the 

 winter; arrives in the spring' but. little earlier than the 

 bluebird and robin, and sometimes, although only tn rare 

 instances, stays with us throughout the .summer. A bird 

 much more deserving of the title is the tree sparrow -a 

 species as fearless of cold as the little titmouse himself. 

 But I started to write of spring birds, and it L begin to 

 discuss our winter visitants I shall not know when to 

 stop. H.S.W. 



From Hudson, Ohio, under date of March 14th, our 

 correspondent ' M. 0. E."sonds us the following notes. 

 We suggest that the occurrence of the bobolink at the 

 date mentioned is certainly very remarkable, if quite 

 an then tic :— , , , 



Jan. 25th— Saw a robin to-day and two yesterday ; 

 both days warm ; no frost on the ground or ice in the 

 ponds, " „ , 



Fell. 1st— Day cold; wind blowing hard all day ; saw 

 a number of 'downy woodpeokers, bhiejqys, tree spar- 

 rows and robins. 



Feb. loth— Saw a (lock of wild geese to-day flying low 

 from west to east ; ground covered with snow, and 

 weather cold. 



Feb. 10th— I saw a number of Bohemian waxwmgs 

 (Amnrfi* i/rirmhin) to-day in a Hock of cedar birds; day 

 cold and blowing hard. 



Fell. 35th— I have seen a number of robins and blue- 

 birds to-day; BawtWO flocks Ol pigeons living high; did 

 not stop : heard a killdeer Hying over to-night, 



Feb.^6th— Sav ■ ..-■■' .■-- ■■ flying high 



this A..M.: two docks of geese were seen Hying from south 

 to north to-day : one dock lit in a wheat Held oue-<piarter 

 mile oast from town. 



ti— Saw a few purple graekleSj a few crows and 



flock of pigeons to-day, 



Feb. 28th— A flock of wild ducks was seen on Twin 

 Lakes today : saw a killdeer to-day. 



March 1st— 1. saw a meadow lark to-dav. 



March 2d Saw a bobolink to-dav [?]. 



March 3d— Saw a redwing blackbird to-day. 



March 5th— Saw some turtle dovesto-day. 



March (!th— I saw a few ducks on Twin Lakes to-day, 

 but they were wild : saw a number of grackles, redwing 

 blackbirds, turtle doves and killdeer. 



March 8th— Abrantg,oose was shot on a small pond 

 to-day by a farmer near town. 



March" I Oth —Saw a crane flying over to-day. 



The pigeons have not stopped with us at all tliisspriug, 

 but have been living hard and high, though the woods 

 an full of mast. By referring lomv notes of pa3t years 

 1 find pigeons thick in 1870, nonein 1877, a few in 1878, 

 none in 1879, and none bavestopped as yet in 1880. 



I have heard thai, a snips or two have been seen, but 

 have not found any as yet. 



• Flint," writing from Warrenton, Va., dated March 

 18th, 1880, gives us tbese dates, which are interesting :— 



Feb. 27th— First appearance of peweo. 



March 2nd— Heard of "Wilson snipe to-day ; first of the 

 season. 



March 7th— House sparrow singing nesting song, al- 

 though the ground is covered with snow. 



March 17 — Sun shone out first time in nine days ; heavy 

 fall of snow, succeeded by copious rains, goncrally at 

 night. 



March 18th— Snow gone ; little ice ; fresh and braoing ; 

 three flocks of wild geese passed over this morning, 

 pointing due north. 



FISH IN SEASON IN APRIL. 



GAME AND FISH DIRECTORY. 



In sending- reports for the Foiirsv anu &TUEAM Bireotc 

 Game and i'ish Resorts, ear correspondents nre requested U 

 the following particulars, with such other info 

 may deem of value: State, Town, County ; means 

 and other accommodations; Game and its Seas. 

 season ; Boats, Guides, etc.: Name of person to address; 



"NEW DISCOVERIES IN NATURAL HISTORY." 



Editor Forest and Stream .'— 

 The valuable "oTishial"' contribution of your oorra 



a; Hotel 

 hand its 



spondent, " Fish and Furs, 

 February, toward "NewD 

 induces 'me to send vet s, 

 that end. Knowing that v _ .. 

 thoroughly reliable, and being iurtl 



. _ the 26th of 

 buxal Sistorv." 

 idents to 



. Theoretically, In 



...s mistaken an otter 

 rs of Scotland th 



. -rc.borath e test 

 for one am disposed to g 

 of the male Saiiuosoior 

 •ative" of the beaver so 

 the unassisted efforts of 



not ele 



md Kn 



lalmon 



miation "f lish 



' otter." This 

 the rivers Spoy 

 must look for M 



Leaving for the p 

 natural history that 



prepared at short not 

 •ntific world. I begt. 

 thatd 



? full < 



ishio 



edenc 



tidal 



takes i 



Dee, Tv 

 Setb (i 



...spondent is 

 onvinced by the 

 s - ' man Coffin, I 

 to his discovery 

 ie caudal " nar- 

 atei,. into whioh 



..' I thin* •• Fiah 

 for a beaver, In the 

 e ig known a cotn- 

 that goes by tbe name of an 

 i' think that perhaps il. is in 

 >ed and Klaekwatct thai we 

 sen's scaly hybrids. 

 .,,. the many new discoveries in 

 Fish and Furs " and myself are 

 to present to an astonished sca- 

 ring to vour notice a discovery 

 the testimony of 



.. real 'l 

 •cation, at present a clerk 

 nent, and therefore ihor- 



•alled Coffin, but on t 



lai'onet. ol'Coorge the lYlh's e 

 .n tbe Public Nuisances Depart 

 ongbly reliable. 



It was on the Danube. The time, the year 1879, whioh 

 has bo recently drifted into the abyss of the ages Not 

 "the beautiful blue Danube" of soi'g, because the 

 Danube tit the locality to which 1 refer is as yellow as the 

 Tiber or as Bass' XXX " pol-lol." My baronet frit ml was 

 Ashing for huro (query, sahnol) with a Jock Scott and a 

 brown hackle for a dropper. Above were the gaunt and 

 gray ruins of a castle of the early Byzantine era, grim 

 and weird in the Sclavonian moonlight. Th< silent- 

 sailing white owl floated in -and out ol' the ruined towels. 

 Frogs, with their melancholy squawk, hymned to the 

 evening star : and alar off in a copse of piny ozone sang 

 the nightingale. 



At a'certaiu bend of the bank a kind or a beaten track 

 led up the steep from the. river to the ruined vaults of the 

 deoaying stronghold. The angler of whom I speak was 

 astonished to notice that this track was strewn with ftsh 

 boin-s. Following il. up to tin! heights he found it led to 

 an excavation, den or cave under the old ruins. My friend 

 the baronet (of George IV. 's creation) is a man at once 

 i, ill practical, Lighting bis pocket lantern he- 

 peered into the hole. He has since assuied me that the 

 odor that emanated therefrom was powerful— not even 

 to l.e excelled by a kingfisher's nest. In fact, being not 

 only a baronet but a great trav ler. he characterized the 

 perfume as " a most fatal stint ;" but then you see from 

 his position in the Public Nuisances he was a Judge of 

 tin- article and had beeu, aforetime, conversant with Ihe 

 five-and-fortv smells of the citv of Cologne. Cautiously 

 advancing h'is lantern on the point of his fishing-rod as 

 far as he could intothecave.be there sawahuge mon- 

 ster in the act of devouring a SUTO danvhxd,*. The 

 creature, somewhat in the Bhaipeof S scalene triangle, 

 bore a rough resemblance to a sea-horse [2-40 mai-nrnx] of 

 most colossal dimensions, which appeared to have im- 

 mense fluttering wings or vans on its shoulders, whore 

 the pectoral rays usuallv come in. The fact at once 

 dawned on my friend that he saw before him one of the 

 supposed-extinct Saurians— one of that kind that was 

 slain in the pleasant legend of St. George and the Dra- 

 gon a representation of which forms ihe symbol ot the 

 illustrious Order of St. Michael and St. George, which 

 most of us Canadians vainly spend our lives in trying to 

 be decorated with Overpowered by tbe magnitude ot 

 Jus " New Discovery in Natural History." my I 

 Simeon Sillibnb hurried down hill to the host. 



village of St, Itchen. where the landlord and the boots 

 and all the boatmen and peasants agreed with him that 

 a Saurian had its noisome haunt m tbe vaults of the 

 ruined castle of Blunderbuggsteiner. Can this be a sur- 

 viving specimen of the Drago wantleyii? But that is a 

 matter for Professor Baird. 

 The new field of scientific record opened by your tal- 

 lted correspondent, "Fish and Furs," presents a vast. 

 •ea of research. The number of risk stories that might 

 ■ subjected to analysis are really multitudinous, and a 

 ^ K.d deal mighl also" be done m 'beaver and other tails. 

 For what saith the oriental poet Saadi: 



Fisb and fur tales narrated bv u traveler 

 Require the Stream and Forest tor unraveler. 



Tiercel Gentle. 



" SALMON ROE" IN TROUBLE. 



Jacksonpoht, Ark., March 22d. 

 Editor Forest nnd Slream :— 



One ot the first bonks placed in mj youthful hands by an anx- 

 ious tetiehcr was " The Pursuit, of Knowledge Under Difficulties." 

 I remember not uing of that book but the title; that accurately 

 expresses my predicament ever since. I have counted tbe fin rays 

 of a strange specimen bare-headed in the hot sun, and have barely 

 sucooee.led in finding out how many there were of them, In time 

 to oatoh the lust glimpse of uiy bat as it sank to rise no more. 1 

 have tried the fishing- in a strange lake, to find my last hook in the 

 tough Jaws Of a "grindle," cavort tag around, with chances ninety- 

 nine to nothing in his favor. But. now f am in the worst scrape 

 of all. 



Some time ago I ventured to Inquire who John A. Grindle. was 

 and what lie bad done that 80 scaly a fellow as the cmiri calva 

 should bear Iris name. In an editorial comment you intimated 

 thai 1 was "up "in BSD lore, ond Unit my real object. donbllesH 

 TOU to bestow a little invective upon the fish. In an unlucky 

 moment I conied the soft impeachmoni in writ ins over my own 



signature, and now you "«et after " me in an ed ml, in which 



you inform your readers that "Salmon Roe "-a name hitherto 

 untarnished— is a lawyer, and not the unpretending angler he 

 assumes to bo— a wolf in sheep's clothing as it were. If this 

 nearly took my breath away, Imagine, if yen can, my mortifi- 

 cation when in I he very next line 1 found myself charged with 

 having committed a very grave offense! And that offense con- 

 sists of having conjectured mat >tr. Grindle was a member ot the 

 legal profession, and thus placing myself under obligation to vin- 



'tto his profession to prove either that Mr. Orlndlo was 



an honorable mini, or else that he did not belong to the liar-" 

 That won't do for the lawyers. The utmoM they can do is to 

 "weed out " unworthy members when found out, and they are 

 not always quite sucCessfulwen In that, why it is us much as 

 -prlnklingnt tiie "salt of the earth," the brethren of 

 the angle, can do to vindicate their entire membership. As well 

 mightyou say that, being an American, I must either prove that 

 Benedict Arnold wasnot aroemoer of the Revolutionary army, 

 or give him a character. Veu have probably erred in n. bj 

 cribing to the profession of the law a code of ethics based upon 

 r i.,w"' oi the- editorial fraternity. 

 in oil seriousness, I did not conjecture that Mr. Grindle was a 

 lawyer because 7 deem it a bad thing to be a lawyer, but 

 from Ihe fact that the uame of lawyer Ualway- given to thrush 

 in connection with that of GUnd] i 

 called" Lawyer Grinaie ' to I Ie 



that this name was not bestowed l.y way ..I oompUmflnl to either 

 lish or man. as in the ease of Nubao- OTarWif Or instance, or the 



,rerec. H ouaof TMzamt btocy --. i 



uuite the reverse. Thus I deduce my conjecture iib n- the Chat 

 acter of the man— a reasonable, and fair conjecture, based upon 

 an impression that it will " take evidence to remove." 



NOWif I iv ere only clear of the second count in your indict- 

 ment, I could once again be happy and a quiet man. ttui I can- 

 not rest under the imputation of having played have.' with tho 

 rights Of the sovereign States of Mississippi, Illinois and "pOSstDly 

 Indiana." NOW, Mr. Editor, it is not necessarily any discredit, to a 

 State that, indifferent fish or bad men have found asylums or even 

 had nativity within her borders. The reason upon which I base 

 my conjecture as to locality is I his . Mr, Grindle in est have lived 

 where the fish abounds, or II would not have been named after 

 him. This fish is most plentiful in small lakes in low alluvial bot- 

 toms, such as those of Mississippi, this State, Louisiana, Illinois 

 and a part of Indiana. Now had he lived in this Stale or Louisi- 

 ana, or in any other locality where the fish is common except 

 those named,! should have found it out in all probability. To 



narrow down the Inquiry, therefore, 1 named those I 



,j ray Of-opproprium, I assure you. That a very bad, greedy, 



g rasping ?< litjot B man COight live in locality is really no reproach 

 mil, when yon reflect that such a man would make vers poor 

 i, ,,!,■ ii In a community, 'all or a majority of whom were, it his 

 own soii. So far. 1 Think, my defense IS " reasonable and |US< ."' 

 ami ought to prevail. But I fear the worst Is to come. I .should 

 not be astonished if In your very next number some gentleman 

 were to call mo to account, for intimating that Mr. Grim 

 " possibly a politician." Then- woe's mc I— some of M i 

 friends might want to ltnnw why 1 made 1 he remark; what de- 

 fense should I make or what reason could i give? This is the- 

 weak point in the whole business. 1 am sony I said il. 



Salmon ttor. 

 p. s— Please keep up tbe Inquiry till we find out who Mr. 

 Grtndle was. , 



K Wicc-'Ssee sporii.w Association.— FisbkiU Landing, 

 X, Y Mnrvh 2Sd. — Through the enthusiastic efforts of 

 virssrs. Walcofct and Kent (attorneys, and hoth ardent 

 sportsmen), a Spotting club has been organized here 

 under the name of the Wiccoasee Sportang Association. 

 The first annual meeting was held March 9th at the 



office of Wblcotfc & Kent, when the following officers 

 ■ id and a constitution and by-laws adopted: 

 President, W.A.Baxter; Vice-President, G. F. Aklen ; 

 Secretary' and Treasurer, E. C. Kent; Directors, John 

 Place, Dr. O. M. Kittredge and John Barrows. About 

 three and a half miles of the stream known aa the Water- 

 kill Creek, and lands adjacent, have been secured 

 through the kindness of the land owners, and are to be 

 srocked with fish and game. The stream has furniahed 

 good trout fishing for years, and the lands near and 

 about it fine woodcock Bhooting. Ten thousand young 

 trout have been ordered for the stream, and the associa- 

 tion are to construct hatching houses and breeding ponds 

 which will produce an annual supply of about 30,000 

 young fish. (; - 



♦ 



" — The Duke of Beaufort and Mr, Sothern, the actor, 

 oured a Canadian ualfuon river for next June. 



