JULY 22, 1880.] 



POM ST AND STREAM. 



489 



Qnhirui ^jistorii. 



—A,hj,<. it iccttuinstv " Forest ami St rcatib 



Publishing Company, New York." 



HAUNTS AND HABITS OF BEAIiS. 



A MAP of New Brtinswids will show on its westerly 

 boundary, near the line of Maine, a railroad con- 

 necting St. Andrews and St, Stephens on the south with 

 Hamilton, Maine and Woodstock north. For nearly one- 

 half the. distance, some forty miles, the road traverses an 

 unbroken wilderness whose' barrenness and desolation is 

 beyond the power of pen to describe. Originally, it 

 was heavily timbered, mostly pine, spruce, hemlock" and 

 cedar, which now lies prostrate like crinkled grain in a 

 field after a heavy storm, la September, 1872, fl fearful 

 gale swept inland from the Atlantic some eighty miles 

 in breadth, extending fifty miles or more ere its fury 

 abated. It had been predicted three months in advance 

 by Lieut. Saxby, of the Royal Navy. Nearly all the 

 shipping at that time on the coast was' lost, together with 

 the crews. The event is now referred to in that section 

 as " Sax by 's Gale." The year following fires swept over 

 the country, burning and destroying what few trees the 

 wind had spared, except here and there some low swamp 

 where timber was small, aud an occasional hard wood 

 ridge which seemed not to offer so much obstruction to 

 the fury of the gale as did the green timber. The lay 

 of the land is generally levol. The "horsebacks," so 

 called, are plentiful, but of slight elevation, In addition 

 to the dowu timber, granite boulders are strewn in great- 

 est profusion, so much so that, now they are t in full 

 view one wonders that the heavy forest ever found a 

 foothold. On either side of the railroad is the same mo- 

 notonous, dreary waste, to penetrate which requires an 

 amount of pluck and vigor more than men oidiuarily 

 possess. 



Here the black bear roams in comparative safety, envi- 

 roned as are his haunts with such protective agencies that 

 few hunters, and none but the most inveterate, will in- 

 vade them, and but few people would care to make a 

 stop in the heart of this desert for any purpose. Between 

 McAlam Junction and the verge of Canterbury Station, 

 ove.- twenty miles, there are no human habitations ex- 

 cept the shanties of three gangs of section hands and of 

 two saw-mill crews. With so small population there is 

 little danger to Bruin from the natives. 



In a season of plenty, bears remain almost wholly on 

 the hard wood ridges, feeding upon beech nuts in the' fall 

 and in spring after coming out of winter quarters. At 

 such times, to trap them, one needs to set ui their vicin- 

 ity, as, being so fond of that food, they care little for the 

 bait offered. WTien there are no nuts they r forage around 

 deserted logging camps, devouring every morsel of offal 

 and carrion. It is at such seasons anil places that the 

 hunter is most successful. On the advent of very warm 

 weather (this year the 20th of May) all, as one, strike for 

 the swamps and water-courses. Here, in their travels, 

 they invariably form well defined roads, often as deep 

 and hard as those made by domestic stock in a pasture. 

 Every one, too, will step exactly in the track of its pre- 

 decessor, so that large indentations in the path are the 

 result, and but little skill is required to sink a trap where 

 the pari will rest in the center of a stepping place and 

 thus secure the game. When they first visit the swamps, 

 each bear will invariably uprear against trees, and with 

 tusks and claws tear out the wood and bark. Often a 

 doxen or more trees in close proximity are thus found, 

 many of which are killed by annual mutilation. One 

 can readily judge the size of the bear by the work and 

 its height from the ground. So, too, "in their first 

 rounds, they have a habit of striking the ground outside 

 of, and sometimes in, the road, thus tearing out lar«-e 

 masses of moss or dirt. Their food on the streams Is 

 fish, frogs, angle worui3 aud the early growth of wild 

 grass and lilies. Until the close of the rutting season, 

 about the middle of June, they seldom leave the low- 

 lands, where food is plenty and wallow holes afford their 

 cooling bath. At the end of this period they have al- 

 ready commenced to shed their fur, and, being in light 

 marching condition— better prepared to stand the heat- 

 start forth among the down timber hunting for ants. 

 Every stump or log that harbors a nest of these insects is 

 surely detected, when with claws and tusks the spot is 

 soon laid open and its contents eagerly lapped out. Their 

 course over the burnt ground can be unerringly traced 

 by a novice, so great is the amount of work they do. As 

 the blueberries ripen later along, they live almost wholly 

 upon them, not slighting, however, the other berries, or 

 ants. In September the bearberries, then especial de- 

 light, are ripe and continue to improve by the frosts of 

 autumn. Next in course are cranberries, which last till 

 beeeh nut time arrives. It is seldom, however, that there 

 is a crop of nuts two years in succession. When these 

 are laoking they eke out a living with roots and grasses, 

 and, of course, go into then- dens in poorer condition. 



This same region is also well diversified with lakes and 

 streams, swarming with speckled trout. Inclosed as 

 they are within the same barrier that protects the bears, 

 they, too, will never be depleted. I am aware that this 

 is foreign to the subject in hand at commencement, but 

 as my time, while in this region, is divided between 

 fishing and hunting, it seems ee.sy to drift on to it. The 

 approach to this is not alone the difficulty. There are no 

 guides, no boats and no chance for shore fishing ; the 

 borders of all the waters are bogs, overgrown with brush, 

 with tussocks and treacherous mire holes. Then, too, the 

 insect pests are enough to kill one. About the iOth of 

 May black flies appear- in countless swarms, and go for 

 your last drop of blood. A couple of weeks later the 

 mosquito puts in his claim for anything left, and in Teg- 

 ular order come moose-flies and "midges ; the latter the 

 worst of all, as the flies cease tormenting at dark. The 

 mosquito can be baffled by shields at night, so that one 

 can sleep ; hut the "no see urns" are worse by night than 

 by dayj so that to sleep one must he enveloped in a heavy 

 fog of smudge to get the regulation forty winks. I wiil 

 not tantalize the reader with the scores of trout and 

 bears : it would be an aggravation under the circum- 

 stances. I will say this much : I kill in a few minutes at 

 the camp door, as it were, all that can be eaten, and fully 

 enjoy killing each individual fish, and kill none to waste. 



The foregoing is the result of experience during the 



past four consecutive years at Sugar Brook, York 

 County, midway of the 'most barren section described i 



While ii 





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sma hours ayant (he 

 g achievements of the 



past and anticipating those to come, the most delightful 

 enjoyment vouchsafed to those who love the sports of 

 forest and strpam. Corporal Lot Warfield. 



JliUsboni Bfidge, N. H. 



Breeding op the Shorelark in Winter.— The shore 

 lark (Ereniophila eornuta) breeds during winter near 

 Buffalo. A pair of these birds had fixed their nest or 

 nesting place within hail of the railroad station of Tan- 

 awauda. In the middle of February four half fledged 

 birds were discovered without any nests and only pro- 

 tected by 1 he care of the parent bird, who reared them 

 successfully, although snow covered the ground to a depth 

 of several inches. In the beginning of June 1 saw near- 

 by that spot a full grown bird of that species in immature 

 plumage, which may hav; possibly been one of the brood. 

 The bird is thus a resident of our vicinity hi summer as 

 well as in winter. Chas. Linden, 



Disappearance ok Larks in Scotland.— A letter to 

 the Edinburgh Scotsman notices the destruction of the 

 nest of the skylarks in the following terms: — 



I am not aware whether the fact has been specially' or 

 publicly noticed that the lark, one of the most charming 

 of our singing birds, has, within the last two or three 



years, been rapidly dil 

 Scotland where it ub< 

 spring and early sui 

 during the last v\eek i 

 of North Esk, in Forf 

 was heard fron 



ippearingfi 

 i to be foune 

 mer. From 

 r two, while 1 

 rshire. when 

 for 



•al districts of 

 in great numbers in 

 ny own observation, 

 ?siding in the Valley 

 the song of this bird 

 r years, I failed to 



its delightful song or see a single specimen of the 

 bird. Changing my temporary quarters to this locality in 

 Perthshire, I And" the same observation entirely ap- 

 plicable, and matter of observation by those residing 

 in these localities, the current explanation of the disap- 

 perance of the lark being the prodigious increase in the 

 numbers of the starling, which swarm in droves of from 

 half a dozen to scores, which, prowling over the fields, 

 have plundered the nests and devoured the eggs of 

 the lark in the Spring and early Summer of the last 

 few years, and thus effectually demonstrated Darwin's 

 theory of the disappearance of the weaker before the 

 stronger species and the survival of the strongest, if not 

 otherwise the fittest. It would be interesting to know 

 from other parts of the country, whether the same process 

 has been producing similar results in respect of the in- 

 crease of the starling and the decadence of the lark. 



Lactation in Virgin Animals.— Apropos of a recent 

 letter of Mr. Tegetmeier to the London Field, a corres- 

 pondent of that journal sends to it the following inter- 

 esting account of an incident which came under his own 

 observation. He says : — 



A Pomeranian bitch of six years old, which has never 

 had pups, belonging to the coachman here, has for the 

 last two years been regularly sucked by the stable cats. 

 She began by suckling thorn when they were kittens, and 

 they have ever since continued to suck her, and now that 

 one of them has kittens herself, the curious sight may 

 bo witnessed of the kitten sucking her mother, and the 

 old cat sucking the bitch. The other day a black poodle 

 found its way into the loft where the kitten was, and 

 both the old cat and the Pomeranian together rushed 

 at the intruder. Nor are the maternal attentions of the 

 Pomeranian confined alone to the feline tribe ; she en- 

 deavors to suckle the young both of pigs and sheep. 

 When there are young pigs, she gets into the stye aud 

 forces her maternal attentions upon them — a course the 

 old sow promptly resents ; and about three weeks ago she 

 carried en the same tactics with a lamb, but so wroth 

 was the old yew that she pursued the would-be foster 

 mother across the field, and followed her even into the 

 open stable among the horses, where she testified her 

 wrath at this somewhat unnatural proceeding by several 

 well-delivered butts, much to the discomfiture of the 

 poor Pomeranian,— C. Fullerton Smith, 



ARHIVALS AT THE ZoiiLOQICAL QAHDKN, CINCINNATI, WTO 



July 1st— One opossum and eight young [Didelpliys virginiana) 

 five striped prairie squirrels (S, trtcteecm-Unealus) ; one Passerine 

 parrakeet (Pti!i'->.cu!a. pa>,;^rina); one wild goose {Dernicla vana- 

 deiiHi'*) ; thirty-two European quail i.Curtiotir rummum-*) ; ono rat- 

 tlesnake [Crotalus durimis) ; all presented. One buffalo (B. aiiicri- 

 eamui) ; two Virginia deer (G. viroinianus) ; one fallow deer (.Damn 

 vulgaris) one ditto, white (D. vulgaris, var. Alba.)-, all born iu the 

 garden. One passenger pigeon (SelopfetotJ rilipratonus) ; halehed 

 in garden. One verve! monkey (CeTOoplthBCW lalamdii); one bon- 

 net monkey (Macactts radialim) ; five macaque monkeys {M. cytte- 

 mnlytm; two pig-tailed monkeys <4f. iismestriniis] ; "no Arabian 

 baboon iCynucciJuilus hnmadryw?) ; one gray wolf a::occiCiaitalis> ; 

 two mule deer (V. maerntlx); seven orchard orioles (UUias spu- 

 ritis): two cow birds (AfoZdtfc'rus ptcorts); two eat birds i.Vi»ms 

 Caroline imis) ; four indigo birds (O/nnoo-ptoi cyanca) ; eight Savan- 

 nah sparrows (V. savanna) ; all purchased. 



Shank .1. Thompson, Superintendent. 



— A Rochester, N. Y., bird fancier has, after much 

 difficulty, succeeded in securing three birds which will 

 live in one cage, and whose colors represent the national 

 red, white and blue. The red bird is a species known as 

 the Napoleon, from South America ; the blue, an indigo 

 bird from the same country; aud the white, a sparrow 

 from the. isle of Java. The three birds are alike in size, 

 eat the same food, and five together in becoming har- 

 mony. Now, if they can be taught to sing " America " 

 and " Yankee Doodle," the happy and patriotic owner 

 may, with pardonable pride, rest from his labors. 



gisJf gitltitn. 



■Address aM communications to f "J>arAst and Stream 

 l-'nblinhing Company, New York." 



H vrtJIIl.NO THE .SPANISH MACKEREL, 



HIXE Col. McDonald and Mr.Earle, of the United 

 States Fish Commission, were gathering statistic;-; 

 if the fisheries for the census in Mobjack Boy, Md., they 

 discovered some ripe fish among the "Spanish" or Bay 

 mackerel, Cybium macidatum, and took their eggs and 

 impregnated them. These facts were reported to Prof. 

 Baird, and Major Ferguson immediately put himself in 

 communication with Mr. Bosman, Superintendent of tho 

 guano works of O. E. Maltby, at New Point Comfort. Mr. 

 Bosman has had charge of the. pound nets where the mack- 

 erel were found, and was satisfied that the spawning 

 time of this fish extended from July 1st to the 1st of 

 August. Major Ferguson went to the Bay about tho 1st 

 of July, taking his shad-hatching apparatus with him, as 

 the eggs were reported to be of the same specific gravity 

 as those of the shad; a report which proved untrue, as he 

 found them much fighter than shad eggs, owing to an 

 oil globule which caused them to float. He was accom- 

 panied by Prof. Ryder, a raicroscopist of ability, in order 

 to make a report upon their development, and it was 

 found that when the embryo is freed from the eggs tho 

 changes are very rapid. At seven hours it begins to as- 

 sume a fishy shape, at seventeen hours the head and eyes 

 are visible, and at twenty hours tho fish is hatched. The 

 drawings made at this stage show an oilglobule attached 

 to the lower of the umbilicus. This globule is a point of 

 decided difference between the mackerel and other fish, 

 the embryology of which have been described in the 

 Maryland fishery reports. The globule causes the fish to 

 turn over and swim on its back, with its head down, and 

 deprives it of the power of righting itself until it breaks 

 up and disperses, which it does in a short time, and its ap- 

 parent use is to buoy the young fish and prevent it from 

 seeking lower water, where it might be devoured. The 

 drawings show the fish until four days, or when the sac 

 is absorbed and food is found it its stomach. 



Major Ferguson feels satisfied that the propagation of 

 this delicacy can be carried out on a large scale, as has 

 been done iu shad culture, and hopes in a few years to be 

 able to do so, as we have no doubt he will, for the fish 

 are reported as plenty and spawning freely in that locality. 



THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY EXHIBITION AT 

 BERLIN. 



AMERICAN FISH CULTURE. 



PERHAPS the best way to give a list of what is 

 shown by the United States in tho way of fish 

 culture will lie. to take it directly from the well "arranged 

 catalogue*, where the articles are as well arranged and 

 classified as it would seem possible to have them. The 

 fish ways having been treated of in a former letter are 

 omitted now. 



DEVICES USED IN OBTAINING AND TMRREGXATING OVA. 



Model of natural spawning race, invented by Stephen 

 H. Aiusworlh, West Bloomfield, N. Y. Not patented. 

 This device consists of two sets of frames covered with 

 wire-cloth, placed in two layers ; the upper one has 

 meshes coarse enough to allow the eggs to pass through, 

 and is covered with coarse gravel in which the fish make 

 nests and spawn. The upper screens are then lifted and 

 the ova taken from the lower ones. S. H, Ainsworth. 



Pans used in catching the eggs of fish when taken by 

 hand. They remain in theBe until impregnation has 

 taken place. 



Dipper used for supplying water to the impregnating 

 pans and in the transfer of fry. 



HATCHING HOUSES. 



Model of hatching-house at United States salmon-breed- 

 ing station at Bucksport. Me, Scale, i inch to the foot 

 (1-48). C. G. Atkins. 



The hatching troughs are arranged in sets of four 

 across the building, and fitted with Brackett trays. The 

 water enters them from a feed-trough along the side of 

 the room and escapes by pipes through the floor. 



Model of Druid Hill hatching-house, Druid Hill Park, 

 Baltimore. Built in 1875, by the City of Baltimore, under 

 the direction of Major T. B. Ferguson, State Commissioner 

 of Fisheries, at a cost of $7,000. The building is of blue 

 stone, with white granite trimmings ; the center, 18| by 

 83 feet, is two stories high, and on either side are octa- 

 gonal wings iik by 20 feet, whose Bides are almost en- 

 tirely of glass. The greatest amount of light and air is 

 admitted through these and two large windows in the 

 gable end of the main buildings ; the inner door of the 

 vestibule is also of glass. The windows are all furnished 

 with dark green water-proof curtains, to exclude the sua 

 and light when desirable. The water is supplied from a 

 strong spring on the side of the hill nearby, and is pipeo 

 into the filtering tank which is just below the oeiling if 

 the hatching-room, which occupies the first floor oh the 

 building. The supply pipe is so arranged with valves 

 that the water can be conducted into the ponds below 

 the house without entering the filtering tank should it bo 

 desirable. The water, after passing through a serieB of 

 flannel filters, is discharged from the filtering tank into a 

 reservoir tank of the capacity of about twelve hundred 

 gallons. From this tank the water is piped under the 

 floor, which is a Schillenger pavement, to the sevaial 



Kxhibit I of | the fisheries and fishcultui-e | of the | United 

 Slates of America, | at. the I Internationale Eisherci -AiisieUung, 

 held at Berlin, April 20th, 1880, and form I tar a purr of the out- 1 

 lections of the National Museum, : made by the I Unm ' , 

 Fish Commission. I Pru pared under the direction of . S. Itruwnn 

 Goods, I Deputy Commissioner. I — I Washington ; l Government. 

 Printing Oilleu; 1 1880. 



