408 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



TJONE 24, 1880, 



red as that of the reddest fleshed brook trout. Frying 

 for breakfast and boiling for dinner took from it every 

 vestige of red tinge, leaving it almost as white as halibut. 

 Three of the five were females, with well developed 

 ovum. 



I would Beek that stream, and would capture some of 

 these fish, but for a reason : Among my curios I have a 

 necklace, not very pretty, but, to say the least, unique ; it 

 is composed of, alternately, the incisors and molars of 

 bears and beavers. The latter I should not object to 

 watching build their dams, but I do not care to observe too 

 Closely, when armed but with a fish-rod, any of the re- 

 lations of those who furnished the larger portion of my 

 necklace, and lot3 of them live in the immediate vicinity 

 of this stream. It may be true that " bears when not 

 molested or irritated are harmless," but I am the owner 

 of a bear, a small one, who in some respects resembles 

 Aitemus Ward's kangaroo ; he is " an amooging little 

 kuss," but he gets irritated mighty easy, and when he- 

 does it is only because his teeth are as yet not more than 

 one-twentieth the size of those on my necklace, that I 

 don't have considerable cause for irritation myself. 



This cub, by the way, must have been born about the 

 1st of March. Wasn't that rather early ? What to do 

 with this brute when he grows up is a. puzzle to me. Some 

 of my friends propose that some day we shall take him 

 ashore, let him run, and several of us provide a founda- 

 fcion uf truth for the killing-of-a-bear-in-Alaska-story, 

 wluek we shall have to tell when we get home — viz,, 

 utilising ' ' Joe" with our rifles. I'iseco. 



— Address all communications to 

 Publisliing Company, New York," 



ntnml ^istor^ 



Forest and Stream 



< the 

 nany 



FRASER K1VER SALMON. 

 by mowitch— no, in. 



Concluded. 



SALMON spawning in different places may be fairly 

 accounted for in this way : About the same time 

 each season, salmon seem to lie actuated by the common 

 desire to proceed to the spawning beds, and (lie ova are 

 developed to a greater degree in some individuals than 

 others, although each variety of salmon starts from the 

 sea at or about the same time. As the ova become fully 

 developed and matured they branch off to the various 

 tributaries then at hand and perform the act of spawn- 

 ing, while those not ready to deposit their spawn keep on 

 till such time as they are ready, and so on till all hi 

 completed their allotted task. This, when viewec 

 proper light, shows the wise provision of nature i 

 ways, but more especially in this respect. Did sal 

 leave the sea at the same" time, with the ova in the same 

 condition, they would necessarily be compelled to resort 

 to the same place, which would not afford the necessary 

 room for the countless thousands — millions would per- 

 haps bo the best term— ind overcrowding would frustrate 

 and render nugatory the purpose sought to be accom- 

 plished. 



That grilse spawn, I fully believe, not of my own 

 knowledge, but from the testimony of many intelligent 

 fishermen who are confident on this point ; and certainly 

 if they do not, and these supposed grilse are mature sal- 

 mon, the different sorts of salmon frequenting these 

 waters must be many more than commonly believed. 

 There can be no doubt that fish of a small size, in every 

 respect resembling grilse, are frequently caught full of 

 spawn. 



There is but one mode of capture of salmon by the 

 whites, that is by drift nets varying in mesh from five 

 and three-quarter to eight inches. Traps and weirs have 

 been tried without any great success, and, financially 

 speaking, proved a failure. The principal modes of cap- 

 ture practiced by the Indians, are by means of scoop 

 nets, used at the heads of eddies ; traps of various con- 

 struction. Spears, some of which are exceedingly inge- 

 nious in their construction, and always detachable from 

 the spear-pole, are made, by different tribes in various 

 forms and shapes, often very primitive in character, but 

 very effective in use. Both day and night are turned to 

 account in the salmon season. In spearing, a pitch-pine 

 fire is used at night, as is the case in other parts of the 

 world, The Indians of Babine Lake (lat. 55 Q north, long. 

 126° west), have a most ingenious way of capturing them 

 with as little trouble as can well be imagined : A dam is 

 built across a suitable stream, on the upper side of which, 

 from bank to bank, a canoe or canoes, as the case may 

 he, are placed lengthwise across the stream. The gun- 

 wales are depressed slightly and allowed to catch under 

 projections of the upper side of the dam, so as to keep 

 the canoe in position and prevent it from being carried 

 over the dam. The Indians sit leisurely down on the 

 banks of the stream and smoke the pipe of tobacco or 

 kinnikinic, whichever they may have the most of, confi- 

 dent of a rich return for their scanty labors. The results 

 are as follows : Salmon arrive at the foot of the dam 

 over which they leap, depositing themselves in the canoe 

 instead of the water, and when the canoe is sufficiently full 

 for the noble red man's purpose he tows it ashore, empties 

 it of its live and kicking cargo, and replaces it for an- 

 other supply. Then comes his patient squaw, who pro- 

 ceeds, with considerable skill, to split, dress and dry the 

 fish for their common support during the next long and 

 dreary winter. No salt is used in the drying process, 

 and the fish usually keep remarkably well. The salmon 

 storehouses are usually placed throughout British Colum- 

 bia in the branches of trees, thirty to forty feet and even 

 higher from the ground, and are reached by means of a 

 notched pole, which makes an admirable substitute for 

 a ladder. Many of these houses are very large, capable 

 of storing many tons of salmon, and appear to be joint 

 stock affairs held by several families in common. In- 

 dians inform me that the reason of placing these houses 

 so high is that by this means the dried fish is kept free 

 from the ravages of blow and other flies, and assign no 

 other reason for this custom. Many persons allege that 

 it is to protect the salmon from dogs and other animals j 

 this is an evident error, because ten' feet is as ample a pro- 

 tection from dogs as one hundred feet would be, and as 

 for climbing a nim als — such as coons, martens, weasels, 

 etc. — a moment's consideration will convince any one 

 that eoona, martens and the like are generally as "proft- 1 



cient in climbing notched or other poles as are Indians. 

 All the salmon of this river are perfectly harmless as re- 

 gards poisonous effects to any animal. I have known of 

 no injurious results arising through the flesh being eaten 

 raw, boiled, fried, roasted or dried, and it is eaten with 

 avidity by dogs and all other carnivorous animals when 

 obtainable. In its dried state it is sometimes fed to In- 

 dian ponies, in seasons of much snow and scarcity of 

 their usual fodder, with no noxious effects or objection- 

 able results. On the other hand, from the most authen- 

 tic and reliable information, the result of long experience 

 and repeated experiments, it appears that Salmu quinnat, 

 the Chinook or Columbia salmon, when eaten by dogs, 

 under some circumstances, is as deadly to Canis donies- 

 ticus as would be a dose of strychnine, although not as 

 speedy in its results. This feature I do not attempt to 

 account for, but leave it to others with the matter under 

 their immediate observation. Now, as regards the tak- 

 ing or non-taking of a fly, I do not think that sufficient 

 data are at hand to charge the noble Sahno paci/lcus — to 

 use a generic term coined for the occasion, intended to 

 include varieties peculiar to the Pacific Coast— with an 

 offense of such magnitude. PerhapB it will be well to re- 

 late the story told respecting the scion of nobility 

 who, sent out for the special purpose of reporting on 

 the natural resources of Oregon, at the time of 

 joint occupancy of said territory by the. British and 

 American nations, condemned "the whole country as 

 comparatively worthless — not worth the trouble of set- 

 ting up or having a fuss made about, and perhaps more 

 graphically than elegantly expressed Iris disgust by the 

 statement " that the whole country was not worth a 



d n; even the salmon would not take a fly." Without 



touching the Columbia, of which river I confess to be 

 comparatively ignorant, I am willing to admit that sal- 

 mon will not'tako a fly in Fraser River ; but this, if from 

 no other cause,might "fairly be attributed to the extremely 

 muddy character of the water of the stream. A salmon 

 could not see a fly, at least in the lower part of the river, 

 were it within six inches of his nose ; but I do not be- 

 lieve that they have been fished for enough to let us 

 know whether they will or will not take a fly in the trib- 

 utaries or clear water streams. One gentleman of my 

 acquaintance (a Nova Scotia and New Brunswick fly 

 fisher) showed me a salmon which he stated lie caught in 

 the Coquitlam River with a fly, and I have the f idlest 

 confidence in the veracity of his statement. You may 

 ask how it is that in a country so long known as this that 

 such a question has not been" fully tested and set at rest, 

 pro or con. I will endeavor to explain : In the first place 

 every stranger of fly-fishing proclivities is usually met 

 upon his first inquiry by the assertion of some wiseacre 

 or another who perhaps never saw a salmon II y or rod, 

 that "the salmon will not take a fly, and there is no use 

 in trying." This rather dampens the ardor of the fisher- 

 man, and perhapa he accepts the situation and never at- 

 tempts to prove or disprove the correctness of the state- 

 ment. Again, if anv one does try he probably does so 

 uaingthe Hies and selecting the season in accordance with 

 his former experience, derived in other countries, and 

 after a few failures gives it up ; but the principal or main 

 reason is probably this : The little value attached to the 

 salmon here prevents continued trial. The fish lias no 

 monetary or intrinsic value ; and although I wctuld not 

 by any means charge salmon fishers with being mercen- 

 ary wretches, still I may be pardoned for the belief that 

 if salmon could be purchased on the Resligouche, Cod- 

 bout or similar rivers for five cents a piece, Messrs. Abbey 

 & Imbrie would Bell less six-strip bamboo rods for use 

 in those localities. Anything loses its prestige when 

 cheap or easy of capture. People ns a rule do not amuse 

 themselves by shooting chickens in their own poultry 

 yard, while I can readily imagine wild jungle fowl 

 shooting to be an agreeable pastime. I was fond of jack 

 fishing when a boy in Ontario, and many a night nave 

 I spent at it, robbing myself of the sleep I ought 

 to have taken, to enable me to do my work properly 

 next day. But never have 1 lifted a spear in this coun- 

 try, although having every opportunity of doing so 

 had I been inclined, and seeing scores of salmon taken 

 nightly by the Indians within a gunshot of my door, 

 I was also fond of trolling with a spoon, and I practiced 

 it to some extent in salt water here, catching as many 

 sometimes as a dozen fine salmon in an afternoon, but 

 the sport to me became worthless, and I gave it up in 

 disgust when after bringing ray catch home, one suf- 

 ficing for my use, I had to boil the others for my dogs or 

 throw them away. The pleasure of being able to send a 

 valued friend a present of a fine salmon, which is ac- 

 corded to you in the East, is denied us in the West. Un- 

 der any circumstances here, such a gift would not be 

 appreciated ; would by some be thought to be a huge 

 joke ; while others would feel that an insult or slight 

 was offered and intended at being the recipient of such a 

 present. So strangely do circumstances change cases 

 in this world of ours. These reasons may account in a 

 great measure for the apathy existing in respect to a 

 sport so highly valued under a different state of affairs. 

 Fearing that, if extended any further, this paper may get 

 tedious, I will close by saying that, to a student of ich- 

 thyology, the salmon of the North Pacific present a field 

 perhapa not equalled, certainty notjexcelled, by any other 

 part of the world; while to the Canadian Department 

 of Fisheries the establishment of proper hatcheries is 

 a subject worthy of its most serious consideration, as 

 not alone applicable to Fraser River, but to almost 

 every stream emptying into the ocean on the seaboard of 

 "The Pacific Province of the Dominion." 

 New Westminster, British Columbia. 



Winter Pelage or Lepus Campestris.— Editor For- 

 est and Stream .-—Statements respecting the color of Le- 

 pus campestris in your recent issues are getting so de- 

 cidedly "mixed "that I beg a little space in your col- 

 umns for an explanation of some of the apparently con- 

 tradictory reports. As often happens in such oases, the 

 truth is not all on one side. The "jack rabbit" of the 

 plains does turn white in winter, and it does not, accord- 

 ing to the latitude of the locality. From the plains of 

 the Yellowstone to these of the Saskatchewan, or to the 

 northern limit of the habitat of the species, Lepus cam- 

 pestris turns white in winter, while in Kansas, in South- 

 em Nebraska and Southern Wycming it, as a rule, doei 



not, or undergoes only partial change, as is the case gen- 

 erally over the belt of territory between the areas 

 named, Mr, Guild's statement (see Forest and Stream 

 of June 10th) is unquestionably correct for the portion of 

 country to which it relates, as is, of course, your own for 

 the region further northward. In perhaps most species 

 of mammals in which the pelage turns white in winter, 

 the amount of change varies at different localities, the 

 whiteness increasing in purity from the South north- 

 ward, as is well illustrated in our common varying hare, 

 or "white rabbit" (Lepus americanus), and in the er- 

 mines. In these species the change at the extreme south- 

 ward is often only partial, while many mdividuals do not 

 undergo the change at all. In Lepus campestris the 

 winter pelage, even at the northward, never becomes so 

 intensely white as in L. americanus and the Arctic hare, 

 the brown of the under fur being visible on the slightest 

 disarrangement of the pelage, while there is ttsually a 

 more or less brownish area on tho middle of the back in 

 even the whitest examples. As these points are noticed 

 in some detail in my " Monograph of North American 

 Lepcn'nW (North Am, Rod., Coues and Allen, pp. 2117, 

 30 / ), it is unnecessary to devote further space to the sub- 

 ject here. J. A. Allen, 

 Cambridge, Mass., June 11th. 



THE SNAKE KILLER. 



THERE is a bird, I know not if it has been described 

 by naturalists, inhabiting the southern portions of 

 California and Arizona, popularly known as the " Road- 

 runner." This bird is a little less in size than the eastern 

 partridge or drumming grouse, and of the same general 

 appearance, but withalong slim tail like the magpie : 

 bill, black ami straight and about one-half longer than 

 that of the common jay: solitary in its habits and rarely 

 two are found together. Its ordinary way of escape 

 from its enemies is by running, using its wings to aid it 

 after the manner of the ostrich. A horse must be put to 

 its speed to drive one of these birds from the road, when 

 it chooses to use the road ahead of it, instead of stepping 

 out to one side to let tho horse or team go by. It largely 

 affects the arid plateaus or mesas of the region named, 

 where the largest number of the species of cacti 

 abound, and where, lying in the sun asleep, or watching 

 for its: prey, is foutld Hie large yellow rattlesnake, quite 

 too plenty for the nerves of" the eastern traveller. One 

 of the varieties of cactus, pronounced by the native 

 Mexicans as if spelled " chayer," drops every year a burr, 

 — egged shaped, and armed all over with long sharp 

 needles. When this burr becomes dried by the fierce 

 rays Of the sun the needles pierce the flesh on coming 

 En contact with it. Indeed it is stated by many who 

 have tried the experiment that the burr with its hundreds 

 of barbs is so attracted by the moisture from the hand, 

 when placed near it, that" it will of itself mo\e and fasten 

 in the flesh. In the region where these burrs are scat- 

 tered over the plain, our bird finds a rattlesnake asleep, 

 perhaps, or coiled and at rest. He runs silently and with 

 speed and seizes these burrs, and quickly makes a circle 

 of this impassable material around the snake. This done 

 he seizes a burr and tosses upon the reptile. The sharp 

 barbs pierce, the now writhing body of the unfortunate 

 sleeper. Flinging its body about it strikes everywhere 

 upon the wall of burrs and becomes literally covered 

 with the horrid thorns. Thus tormented, maddened, too 

 much loaded down with the burrs for flight, the snake 

 bites itself repeatedly and soon is dead. And our bird 

 approaches and with no danger to itself, tears and eats 

 from the body of its victim at pleasure. The circles of 

 bum made by this bird are seen everywhere in the cacti 

 districts of Arizona. I have named the bird the " snake 

 killer " from its habit of hunting the rattlesnake. 



It was a matter of surprise to me on shooting one of 

 these birds, to find that it belonged to the flesh-eating 

 class, instead of being seed and grain eaters, as its general 

 appearance would indicate. I have seen many of these 

 birdB, but have never yet heard from it any cry. It 

 seems to be silent and solitary, as I have never discovered 

 more than two in the same neighborhood. 



Geo H. Wtman. 

 The bird referred to is the ground cockoo chapparal 

 cock, Paisano or Faisanox (Qeococcy calif ornianus), a 

 not very distant ally of the cockoo. Its habits of feed- 

 ing on snakes is well known to naturalists, and the sup- 

 posed practice of surrounding its sleeping prey with the 

 fruit of the cactus has already been described. But is it 

 certain that these circles of cactus fruit are made by the 

 bird, and for the purpose mentioned ? 



♦ 



Swallows, Bats and Bedbugs.— The explanation 

 offered by Mr. R. M. Conway in regard to bedbugs on 

 swallows is very interesting, but rather misleading, inas- 

 much as he seems to take for granted that he has solved 

 the problem, whereas he has thrown but a very feeble 

 light on the subject. The object of all inquiry is,I suppose, 

 to come to as near a true knowledge of the subject in 

 hand as possible. 



Mr. C. may not be aware of the fact, but bedbugs 

 do occur on swallows, as will be testified by any close ob- 

 server. 



As for this parasite on bats, I think no one would deny 

 their presence. I have found them frequently, but on 

 quite a number of little brown bats (V. subulatus) ex- 

 amined last summer I did not find a single bedbug. As 

 I have had no experience at the South, I know nothing 

 of the habits of the bats there. But as no bat was ever 

 seen or known to hang in the bouse or barn referred to 

 in my article of May 6th I am led to conclude that they 

 were'not the conveyers of the bedbugs. And if they 

 had been, this would not explain why the bugs are found 

 on the barn and swallow* only after the young swallows 

 were hatched. The bats were seen for a'month or more 

 prior to the time. 



Bats are not very numerous in that locality, so I can- 

 not think that they hang from the trees, and thus infest 

 them with bedeugs, which afterward get on the swal- 

 low*, Every year, swallowB, bats and bedbugs are as 

 numerous ae ever, in their ««a«on : but the parasite in no 



