204 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 15, 1880. 



fgn that never f ails : 11' a fisherman leaves the 

 carson the depot side, goodluck ; if on the other side, bad 

 hick. And with us the question is not "Did you catch 



anything?" but "On which side of the train did you get 

 off?" The next day we balanced accounts with the follow- 

 ing result :— 



Cuxls.—Yurc for ten persona to Lake Richmond and return. .$14 00 

 Tune rone da; each, at $8 per day) 20 00 



Gain.— Uno toiir-eimee pcrcli. 



$34 00 



Hix. 



The 'inly trouble with the astrological genius of 

 11 Hix s ' story is that he is by several centuries out of his 

 place in history, He should have lived and fished in the 

 days of the Roman Empire, the times of augurs and aus- 

 pices, when the citizens of the City of the Seven Hills 

 feared to appear in public, to eat their dinners, or even to 

 bathe, without having first carefully consulted the alma- 

 nac to ascertain the position of the planet Mercury, or 

 how far the moou was Irotu the Crab. 



^itimil W^ or U' 



Ox, . 

 feed upon 

 feedthemse 

 birds protec 



had live, clu 

 birds. The 

 a.idria (Va.) 

 thinning out th 



LETTERS ON THE SPARROWS, 



Smithsonian Institution, / 

 "Washington, D. C, March 29th. J 

 Editor F- earn-— 



At an. early period in the sparrow controversy I ven- 

 tured to play the dangerous part of prophet to the 

 extent of predicting that the time would soon come when 

 ; {could be found advisable to offer a reward for killing 

 the obnoxious birds. 



The following paragraph appeared in the Washington 

 Evening Star of March 2-Uh. I do not know the author, 

 nor the circumstances of the case, and therefore cannot 

 be suspected of having anything to do with fulfilling my 

 own prediction : — 



"War on Ite 8pcn rotes.' —English sparrows are be- 

 r.omncr a ereat nuisance, and citizens are complaining of 

 drive all the singing birds away that 

 ■ \ I tig worms and insects, and 

 m i!c very fruit buds that the other 

 gr< ' a! was covered with snow 

 i gentlemen living in the First Ward 

 i ripped of their buds by these 

 1 be delighted to know that the Alex- 

 n teeth e Association, with a viewto 

 ,__jed, has ofleted a reward of $1.50 per 

 hundred for the heads of the birds complained of, — 

 Gazette. 



Allow me to add that every position I have taken and 

 maintained during this controversy has been fully eetah- 

 lished, VVith regards, yours truly, Elliott Co lies. 



Which can we best dispense with, our delicious fruits 

 or the English sparrows? It must be one or the other. 

 Owners of fruit trees in this locality are beginning to 

 have their eyes opened by the depredations of Passer do- 

 inestiws, and there's " blood on the face of the moon" that 

 forbodes ill for the prolific imported nuisance. The action 

 i. ,,i Joxandria Game Protective Association, which has 

 offered a reward of §1.50 per hundred for the heads of 

 the birds, is the first step in the right direction that has 

 come to my notice, and no doubt will be good news for a 

 majority of your readers. 



If the horticultural ami agricultural societies— whose 



tei'ei appear to me to be more directly affected than 

 the sports nan hronghout the States infested by the 

 sparrow can be induced to put a premium on the heads 

 i ; , i the Alexandria Game Protective Associa- 

 tion has done, great good will be accomplished in a short 

 time. Of course, in localities where the bird is protected 

 by law, hostilities cannot commence till the law is 

 changed. 



1 have another, though similar, plan to suggest, which 

 1 think will work admirably. It is that in towns or 

 counties several prizes be offered to the boys. First 

 prize to I »oy bringing in the greatest I lumber of heads in 

 a stated i : i next largest number, etc, 



Nearly every hoy is familiar with devices for capturing 

 small bill!, i (VOuld enter the contest spiritedly. 



Now that the ball is started in earnest, let it be kept 

 i ; ll indeed he a tara avis. 



Washington, D. C'„ March &1Vi. W r . F. R. 



Which is placed upon the 

 English spaU'OW in Germany, where it is most plentiful, 

 1 quote ! i ■ S a prominent official of Saxony, 



Here vmi Langsdoi if. He says : " A scientific invostiga- 

 i m d tumerous sparrows' stomachs has shown that 

 those plebeians of the feathered tribe live exclusively on 

 grain during a time of eight or nine months; not to en- 



pon the further i'aei that; the sparrows byt" 

 raids on seeds and growing vegetables, cherries, gra 



c i' taxable dam- 

 age," The Board of Agriculture for the Kingdom of 

 .anient to abolish the laws pro- 

 tecting sparrows. 



A high scientific authority, A. E, Brehrn, who formerly 

 had etch ji was a bird rather useful than 



,i m i laai I his opinion lately upon convinc- 



ing eviU; that "this parasite, which 



liver, at i 1 ' viaii, does not ueseive protection." 



Other writers state the sparrow is driving away the 

 most useful birds, and place the damage caused by a pair 

 at from fifty- to seventy -five cents annually. 



It will be seen from the opinions quoted, that " the in- 

 nocent little fellow " (see Forest and Stream, p. 105) is 

 looked upon as a little pest by the Germans, and, from my 

 personal knowledge, I cannot but share that opinion. 

 Richard W. (Texas.) 



Smithsonian Institution, > 

 WASHINGTON, D. C, April 2d. ) 

 Editor Forest and Stream: — 



A private letter, recently addressed to me by Sir Ferdi- 

 nand von Mueller, K. C. M, G., the Government Botanist 

 at Victoria, Australia, shows that the European sparrow 

 is regarded with as little favor there as here, by those 

 competent to judge. The publication of the communica- 

 tion may interest your readers, and be of use in showing 

 that the sparrow becomes a pest wherever introduced, 

 The history of the nuisance in this country repeats itself 

 in every quarter of the globe. Saya the Baron : — 



It may be of some interest to you, dear Dr. Coues, to 

 learn what my Australian experiences are, regarding the 

 introduction of the Passer clomesticus; hence these few 

 lines of a stranger to you. Nothing can be more regretted 

 than the introduction of these intrusive birds into this 

 part of the globe, where it has not to cope with cold 

 winters, where it breeds all the year round, and drives 

 away from our domiciles the native insectivorous birds. 

 One* swallow will, I think, do a thousand times more 

 good than a sparrow in destroying insects, though every- 

 one is aware that this bird will carry lots of small grubs 

 to its young in the nest. But that does not compensate 

 for the mischief done to the buds of our trees, the fruits 

 of our gardens, and the harvest of our fields, by the 

 sparrow. Nearly all kinds of orchard fruits are destroyed 

 or damaged through the sparrows preying upon them, 

 more particularly in centers of population, where they 

 are more safe against larger carnivorous birds. I was 

 personally against the introduction of the sparrow into 

 Australia, having noticed that in Denmark and Germany, 

 during my boyhood, agriculturists endeavored to keep 

 down the sparrow ; and anticipating the disproportionate 

 multiplication of this irrepressible bird in a clime like 

 ours in the warm, temperate zone, I should regard it a 

 favor if you could inform me of any advisable measures, 

 which, in your part of the world, have been adopted to 

 check the inordinate increase of these birds ; and whether 

 the old observation of Bradley is there borne out, accord- 

 ig to which a single pair of sparrows will destroy 3,300 

 grubs in one week while feeding their young ? Would 

 :ai advise to introduce Oolturio borealis into Australia, 

 ith the view of waging war with the sparrow V 

 With every feeling of respect, I remain, dear Dr. Coues, 

 Yours, 



Feed von Mueller. 



I regret to add, that I shall be obliged to inform the 

 Baron that in this country, in spite of the. warnings and 

 protests of thoso competent to judge, maudlin sentimnt 

 and pig-headed stupidity have fostered and encouraged 

 instead of exterminating the pests. Your truly, 



Elliott Coues. 



While standing in the front part of the store the other 

 day, looking across the street, my attention was called to 

 the action of a large rat, which stole out from under the 

 curbstone across the way. Slowly and stealthily he crept 

 along, and I soon saw that his attention was fixed or 

 flock of English sparrows that were regaling themselves 

 with much vociferation on the sweepings from a restau- 

 rant, which had lodged themselves in the gut ter. Arriving 

 within leaping distance, the rodent made a sudden 

 spring, seized a fat hen sparrow, and disappeared under 

 thewaU. It strikes me that a consummation devoutly 

 to be hoped for has been reached, when vermin prey on 

 vermin. EDW. M. SCHtTCHART. 



Dansville, N. Y., March 23d. 



Editor Forest and Stream : — 



I never have known a question pertaining to the ani- 

 nal kingdom that has perplexed me as that relative to 

 the English sparrows has. I believe in giving the broad- 

 est liberty and amplest protection to all the birds of the 

 air and all the beasts of the field, consistent with human 

 affairs. I feel that naturally the Passer domesticus is 

 entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but 

 he certainly gives us as little in return for care and pro- 

 tection as any living tiling. He never sings, never utters 

 a note that is not annoying, is fighting half his time, and 

 when compared with his lovely congener, the song- 

 sparrow, is an unmitigated nuisance. However, in this 

 note I only want to refer to things, not discuss them, 

 With Dr. Coues here in striking distance, so to speak, 

 one has to be very careful how he talks ornithology, 

 and .specially how he touches upon the sparrow ques- 

 tion. J- C. B. 



The following extract from a letter to Col. RhodeSj of 

 Quebec, takes the other side of the question :— 



Quebec, l'eb. 21st. 



My Dear Colonel— I have given orders to one of the 

 men to keep a sharp lookout, and to shoot the shrike. 

 The poor sparrows had a. rough time of it during the last 

 cold snap. We picked up several frozen stiff and stark. 

 However, the flock that frequents this part of the city- 

 has increased greatly in numbers during the last two 

 years. I put up a house for them outside my window 

 some years ago, but the swallows drove them away from 

 it every summer, and took possession, and now they 

 won't come near it, I always thought a sparrow could 

 lick any bird of its own weight until I saw the masterly 

 manner they were handled by the swallows, A. H. 



Falco Sacer near Montreal.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: — I have three specimens of Falcn saeer which 

 were brought into our market at Montreal, and must un- 

 doubtedly have been killed within a few miles of the 

 city. These specimens are very tine and are of both 

 sexes. The habitant who sold me the specimens had not 

 himself killed the birds, but had purchased them along 



ith some wild ducks from another party. 



A typical F. saeer (determined by Mr. Robert Ridgeway 

 from a photograph sent to him) was also killed by Mr, E. 

 O. Damon, of Northampton, Mass., in the early part of 

 February last, 1880. According to this gentleman the 

 bird sat or perched very erect, and when alarmed 

 "dropped like a bolt." It was shot while thus stooping. 

 It is my belief that this species is less rare than is gener- 

 ally supposed. The resemblance between the F. saeer 

 and the race designated F. labradora, is very close ; but 

 in the case of the latter, F. obsoletits, is the name under 

 which the first specimen procured was described and 

 which consequently should henceforth be recognized. 



Montreal, March 21st. H. O. V. 



See in this connection Forest and Stream, Vol. xiv., 

 No. 3, p. 44. 



New Testimony on the Mink Question.— Your corre- 

 spondent's yarn about a mink remaining ten hours under 

 Water reminds me of a tale I heard on board ship, A (ape 

 Codfisherman, with hiswifeand boy, were out in the boat 

 one day, when the old man and woman disagreed about 

 something. The old fellow, enraged at her abuse, ina it 

 at her with his oar ; in endeavoring to avoid the blow, she 

 fell overboard. The fisherman, now thoroughly alarmed, 

 called to the boy to catch hold of her when she came up ; 

 but after waiting a short lime, she didn't make her ap- 

 pearance. 



"Dern her obstinate pic tor!" said the old man, "she 

 won't come up if she thinks We are waiting for her ; let's 

 row away a spell." 



"Wall," said the boy, "hor'll have to come up to blow 

 before long, any way\" Peucgiune. 



FISH AS FOOD. 



BY PROF, W. 0. ATWATEH, OF WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, 

 MIDDLETOWN, conn. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the American Fish Cul- 

 tural Association : — 



The subject to which your attention is invited this 

 morning is the study of the food values of some of our 

 different sorts of fish, as shown by chemical analysis. 

 The field of investigation is comparatively new, and, as 

 respects American fishes, hitherto almost untrodden. It 

 is, nevertheless, important. 



At the instance of Prof. Baird, Secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution and United States Fish ( 'ommisi ioncr. 

 through whose interest in the matter an appropriation 

 for the purpose has been secured, I have been engaged, 

 with my assistants, (or some time past in the analysis of 

 Samples of our more common food fishes. From a pre- 

 liminary report of this work, soon to appear, the follow- 

 ing figures are taken. Before giving the results, how- 

 ever, permit me si few words L\ way of introduction', 



Fish constitute one of our most valuable sources of. 

 nourishment. They r live upon matter dissolved or sus- 

 pended in the water or found on the bottom of streams, 

 lakes and the ocean, and thus gather for us nutritive ma- 

 terial, which without them we could not have. And I 

 since cheap and wholesome food is fundamental to the! 

 material prosperity, culture and even the morality of a 

 people, it follows that fish culture may be made an im- 

 portant factor of our national welfare. " 



I deem myself particularly fortunate in the opportu- 

 nity of presenting this topic to an Association which has 

 don. ■, and is doing, so much to further the good cause 

 of fish culture, 



THE TASTE FOR FISH, 

 I think, is a thing that advances with the advanci 

 ilization. The tastes of different civilizations vary, how- 

 ever. We read of Roman nobles who were in the way 

 of paying twenty-five hundred sesterces (one bundle! 



dollars) for a single lamprey, and twelve thousand an 



even twenty-five thousand testcrces for a six-pound mul- 

 let, and considered only the livers and gills of these fish 

 fit to set before an emperor. We are told that they 

 sent ships to foreign lands for fish; that they bnil 

 reservoirs for breeding them at home ; that they fei 

 them with veal soaked in human blood, and 'even 

 with the flesh of slaves sacrificed for the purpose] 

 But this was part of an imperial shoddyisro that would 

 devote lour hundred thousand m -:iniv f in a single ban 

 quet whose guests were content king an c 



grosser accompaniments if they could be regaled will 

 peacocks' brains and singing birds' tongues. 



The fish to please the taste of the members of this As 

 sociation would be served with less splendor and mor 

 wholesome sauce. We or* to-day- ask for palatable aiu 

 nutritious food, and, with the increasing culture of our 

 palates and consequent call for variety, we demand mor 

 and more kinds, and larger and larger quantities of fish 

 THE FLESH OF FISH, 



The flesh of fish does not differ essentially from that & 

 mammals. To the epicure it is more dainty, while the 

 poor man can purchase nutritive materials in dried " 

 salt fish for only a fraction of their cost in ordinal 

 meats. 



In general, fish has somewhat more water and lei 

 solids than the beef, pork, mutton and other conunoi 

 meats. Like the latter, the fatter it is the less water 1 

 contains. The amount of fat in the flesh of differen 

 species of fish, and in the same fish at different times 

 varies widely. Cod, bass and bluelisb have usually bu 

 little fat, while the flesh of eels, shad, trout and salmon 

 in their season, is very fat. With the leaner fish we r 

 butter or oil to make up the deficiency of fat. 



For the best apprehension of our Subject, it will ) 

 well to devote a few minutes to 



THE CHEMISTRY OF POOD 



We eat meat and fish, milk and bread, to build up om 

 bodies, to repair their wastes, to supply heat to keep on 

 selves warm, and strength with which to work, This 



