FOREST AND STREAM, 
664 
hour It Igh.wo ooncluded to try our hand at once, and give our dog s 
a mil after their long confinement in the baggage car. Wo hud 
not to go very far, for within a quarter of a mile from the village 
we found a small covoy of sharplails of which wo brought down 
six in half nn hour's time. Our dogs behaved well. I had with me 
old Hover,well known to you, Mr. Editor,and Mr. G. brought with 
him from Boston a young thoroughbred English setter bitch, 
Zelpn, who did admirably, considering that this was her first ex¬ 
perience on the prairies. 
The day following we were induced to start for a pond, some 
ten miles away on the prairies, whered ucks and geese were said to 
befound in great numbers, but reaching the house of a farmer, who 
was to be our guide to the place, we found to our disappointment 
that tho man was not at home,and after luncheon and a vain attempt 
on our part to find the pond, we started reluctantly homeward 
about 3 o'clock p. m. A little later we passed a newly broken field, 
where Mr. G. noticed o whole covey of sharptalls sitting in full 
view, aud to get down from the wagon with dogs and guns was only 
the work of a moment. Approaching the birds within twonty 
yards, they commenced running up tho plowed field, and we had 
to step out pretty lively to follow them. This continued for at. 
loast 200 yards, our dogs at times crawling, at times pointing be¬ 
hind us. It was u very protty and rather exciting sight to behold 
those beautiful birds,-some fourteen In number, skipping along 
almostat onr feet, beads and tails erect and apparently unaware 
of any threatening danger. Your correspondents often indulge 
in expressions about tho "speckled beauties" of the mountain 
brook, but.these lino gome birds of the northwest might with 
equal right bo called the “speckled beauties of the prairie.” They 
are now in full plumage, almost white underneath and the arrow¬ 
heads distinctly marked on their breast. 
At lost one took to flight, and Mr. G. brought it down. Thi 
was the signal for tbo whole family to take their departure, and 
would you believe It, Jlr. Editor, looking at the birds I, for one, 
forgot to shoot. Incredible, but true. The covey settled on the 
prairie not more thuu 100 yards olf, and in half an hour or less we 
had nine of them bngged. Left the balance for increase. Oon- 
tinulcg our Journey homewurd, we found no scarcity of birds, und 
we arrived at the village by Bupper-timo. Our bag contained 
twenty-two grouse aud a blue-winged teal. 
The day following was Btormy and rainy and we stayed at home 
but Saturday was fine, although the wind was rather high. We 
employed that day to explore the country on the Peninsula 
between the North and South Forks of Two Kivers. Here, on a 
stubble-field we found quite a number of birds, and on our way 
home we found them still more plenty; so much so, that wo did 
not touch several conveys our dogs pointed within a mile or two 
of the village, for tho reason that, if killed, we did not know how 
to use them. This day also our hag contained something over 
twenty birds. 
Since then wo have been out several times, killing all the 
birds we wanted and sending soiuo big bunches to our Mends in 
St. Paul. 
Y'esierday, for a change, we went duck-shooting. Within from 
one-half a mile to seven miles, there are several smaller sloughs 
where ducks and geese abound. But the two great resorts for 
these.blrds, where you may find them by the tens of thousands, 
are situated eighteen and twenty-five miles, respectively, by wag- 
on-roud from here. The latter resort is also the home of the 
•Ik, deer and moose. 
The sloughs wo hunted yesterday are four and seven miles oil. 
From noon till * o’clock p. m. we killed twenty-three mallards, aud 
on the way home a few grouse. A large blaek hear passed through 
the outskirts of Bollock two days ago, swam tho river, and went 
into tho woods towards the east, seen by several persons. 
To-raorrow we return to St. Paul. Addio. J. S. 
#4 §nltmt. 
Results of Fish Cum. u in Iowa.— Delhi, Iowa, Sept, 
nth —I notice in the issu uf the Fobest and Stream of 
cheSSchult., a letter fron M. G. Ellzey, of Blacksburg, 
Ya., stating that trout two years old had been taken 
weighing one pound. We in .Delaware County beat that 
along way. Uu the 6th day of June, 1677, Hon. B. L. 
Shaw, the Fish Commissioner at Anamoosa, placed fry in 
a spring branch, in this county, a stream only two miles 
long, composed of two springs, and the hi st one caught 
in tue April following weighed one and a half pounds ; 
and but iew have been caught weig hi ng less. In August 
one was taken weighing one and three-quarter pounds. 
It seems to me if old Virginia is a good place for trout, 
they tind a better home in Iowa. B. L. Snaw is making 
great effort to increase the fish. More than two millions 
were taken with seines last year from the sloughs which 
were about run dry, and placed back in the rivers. The 
Commissioner, has filled the JMapsiepenieo river, running 
north and south through the State, with bass and crop¬ 
pies. 
There never has been such an abundance of black bass 
in our rivers before. The Maquakito, miming tlirough 
Dcluce County, its source being only a few miles above 
the line of the county, is literally full. I see by the same 
issue that in Kentucky a bass weighing one and a half 
pounds is taken. We have caught them here weighing 
eight pounds, and in a string of fifty, twenty will weigh 
over tour pounds. A party of four of us yesterday at tile 
rniil pond, the best on the’ stream and three miles from 
its source, caught seventy-five ; the average weight being 
two and a bail pounds, but many of them weighed three, 
four and live pounds. The great trouble we have here is 
to compel the building of darns and fish ways. If we 
had a McDonald fish way it would ba worth a great- deal 
to the people of Iowa. 
The State Commissioner will in the spring put in the 
head waters of the Maqunaketa, which is made, of the cold¬ 
est and purest springs, forty thousand trout, which we 
believe will soon fill all the streams emptying into the 
river. Spring Branch, where all the large trout are found 
has had placed in it from Commissioner Shaw ten thous¬ 
and California salmon. They are thirteen months old, 
and seven inches long, and will take a fly beautifully. 
Gratifying Results of Fish Culture in Virginia.— 
21 r. Editor :—I have tried the Greenbill River in the last 
few days for basB. The W. Va. Fish Commission has been 
stocking the stream in the last two years. I used a fly 
and found I could take plenty of small bass, which I put 
back into the stream. Friday evening late I fished a deep 
pool and took some seven or eight from a third to half 
a pound each. Once I had two at once, the smaller one- 
half nound the other, one and a half pounds. In a year 
or two there will be fine fishing here, C, Clay, 
<fjflinrnl ^jistorn* 
Vitality of Snails.— The vitality of some species of 
land and fresh water molliisca is remarkable, and, espe¬ 
cially when considered with relation to their distribution 
over the earth, most interesting. It is a well-known fact 
that most of these organisms are exceedingly sensitive to 
the influence of sea water, and that I mm ersion in it at 
once kills the eggs and in most cases the adults. It ap¬ 
pears, however, from experiments made by Darwin that 
those shells which are provided with an operculum, or 
front door to their shells, or even a membranous dia¬ 
phragm covering the opening, are less susceptible to the 
influence of sea water than those in which this is want¬ 
ing. This naturalist found that several species in this 
state were uninjured after an immersion in sea water of 
seven days. A specimen of Helix pomatia, which had 
been thus treated and again became dormant, recovered 
after an immersion of twenty days. Baron Aucapitaine 
tried similar experiments. He immersed 100 land shells, 
representing 10 species, in sea water, and found that 27 
recovered after having been in the water for a fortnight. 
Speaking of this subject Darwin says : “Thepresence of 
an operculum seems to have been of importance, as out 
of twelve species of Cyclostoma elegans, which is thus 
furnished, eleven survived.” Not only do these shells 
have the power of resisting the injurious effects of sea 
water, but they can remain dormant for a very great 
length of time. Wallace instances some which have 
lived two years and a half shut up in pill-boxes,-and 
speaks of a snail from the Egyptian desert which came to 
life after having been glued down to a tablet in the 
British Museum for four years ! 
Mr. James Ward has contributed to Nature an observa¬ 
tion on this subject which is worthy of mention. Writing 
from Trinity College, Dublin, under date of Aug. 7, he 
says:— 
At the beginning of July last year I placed a couple of 
the Helix aspera in a, closed pot of earth immediately 
after copulation. They soon sealed themselves up, and 
so remained until the middle of May of this year, when 
it was discovered that of one of them that had died not a 
vestige was left except the empty shell. The other had 
shrunk to about a third its former bulk, but on being 
moistened and supplied with food soon began to eat and 
to thrive. It had to trust largely to chance for its prov¬ 
ender ; but notwithstanding this, by the end of two months 
it was as big as its present quartern would allow it to be. 
The natural thing would have been to secrete more shell, 
for the animal was not full grown. Instead of this, how¬ 
ever, it burrowed in. the ground and fell to laying eggs, 
the greater part of which hatched out a little colony of 
vigorous young snails. Had their parents been supplied 
with food and water after impregnation they would, of 
course, have begun life a year ago. I wonder how high 
up in the animal scale such temporary suspension of the 
earliest stages of development is possible ? 
Japan and Bermuda Fishes— The Aquarium has 
again been successful in transporting Kve specimens of 
delicate tropical fishes from Bermuda, Florida, and Japan. 
Among those which arrived from Bermuda are squirrel 
fishes, grey and silky snappers, breams, turtle, flat and 
spiney lobsters, flying fish, land hermit crabs, granny 
whales, and several varieties of anemones, From the 
Florida coast are red snappers, marble groupers, shark 
pilots, yellow caranx, spotted bass, and from the neigh¬ 
boring coast are tuherlarians, balloon and swell fishes, 
sea robins, naked molluscs, aud from Japan there are 
seven gold fishes of the celebrated long-tailed kingkiyo va¬ 
riety. There is also a very large collection of marine and 
fresh water algae, which Mr. A. IV. Roberts, the curator, 
has so arranged that the tanks look like marine pictures. 
Mr. Henry Reiche, the proprietor, guarantees to the pub¬ 
lic that at present the Aquarium possesses a finer collection 
than any other place of its kind in the. world, 
A Balloon Fish.— E. R. Wilbur, Esq,, of Wilbur & 
Hastings, Stationers in Fulton street, has left with ns a 
very fine specimen in alcohol of'the spotted ballon fish 
(Diodors fuliginosiis), taken off the shore of Long Island. 
It is of a dark olive green, and covered with spirals. 
This fish is not rare in these waters, and is most frequently 
taken at this season of the year. It belongs to the family 
Oymnodontidce, of which there are some sixty known 
species, all of which are covered with prickles or spirals, 
and have the power of inflating themselves into a globu¬ 
lar ball, and in this state float on the surface. These con¬ 
ditions serve as their means of defence. The flesh of 
several species is poisonous. One species, the common 
puffer or blower, iB abundant in this latitude, and affords 
a cruel diversion to fishermen, who scratch it on the 
belly to make it inflate itself, and then burst it with a 
loud pop. 
Elephants for Africa. —The prolonged discussion over 
the advisability of employing the Indian elephant for ex¬ 
ploration in Africa has at last brought forth fruit, and the 
experiment is about to he tried. The Indian Government 
has presented to the King of the Belgians four elephants 
to he used by his expedition, and they have arrived safely 
at Zanzibar and been landed near Dar-es-Salaam. 
Our London contemporary, Nature, prints an extract 
from a private letter, written by an eye witness of the op- 
eration of landing these huge creatures, which shows 
that the scene was a very exciting one. The writer says: 
We never thought the first elephant could get alive to 
shore. It swam more than a mile in distance, and was in 
the water for more than an hour. Long after it was half 
way it would keep turning round and trying to come 
back to the ship. I cannot describe to you the excite¬ 
ment there was on board. I fairly cried once with anx¬ 
iety and excitement; it would have been too horrible to 
see it drowned. It tried to climb up the ship's side once. 
It was pouring with rain, which made things seem more 
dismal; we were all wet through, hut nobody cared. We 
bad to get our experience as we went on, as no one knew 
anything about elephants ou landing. We managed the 
other three much better, and made the Captain take the 
ship nearer in shore. 
The syntactical construction of the above quotation is 
Bomewliat peculiar, but we presume that our readers will 
be able to make out its meaning after a little study. 
What is it ?—A correspondent sends us the clipping' 
found below, taken from the Boston Herald of August 
21, and asks his “what the writer is giving us?” The 
description is too meagre for us to venture an opinion as 
to what the fish may be, though if we were disposed to 
hazard a guess, we should say perhaps a goose fish (Lo- 
phius ). The extract is as follows :— 
Frank Blaney of Swampscott and an assistant, fishing 
in a dory off that place yesterday, caught a monstrosity 
in the shape of a fish, the name of which none can tell, 
not even the oldest fisherman of that town, it being de¬ 
cidedly unlike any other rare specimen ever captured in 
that section. It is flat, of a dark brown color, the great¬ 
est thickness of its body being about eight inches. It 
weighs 300 pounds, the length to the tip of the tail being 
five feet one inch, with the greatest width at four feet, 
the nose being three feet two inches across. The width 
varies but little at any point of the fish, with the excep¬ 
tion of the tail, which appendage is shaped like that of a 
shark, and gradually tapered from the end of the body 
for about a foot. The eyes are very small, and are about 
four inches apart, the mouth being about eight or ten in¬ 
ches across. The belly is white, the fins are rather small, 
and altogether it is the most curious piscatorial specimen 
ever caught around these parts. 
Death of a Naturalist. —Last spring or summer we 
printed a brief description of the collection of animals, 
birds and curiosities belonging to Mr. M. W. Clark, of 
Danville Junction, Me., who also kept a hotel near by, 
the chief attractions of which were mineral springs. 
Very many visitors have occasion to remember the place 
with pleasure. Well, the poor gentleman has gone 
where good naturalists go. He died recently, and the 
fact may be interesting to some of our readers who may 
at some time have been his guests. 
—A black bass was discovered in the centre of a cake 
of ice at Rondout on Monday. It had been locked up 
there for eight months and was frozen stiff when cut out. 
It was placed in a sprinkling pot cotaining cistern water 
and in half an hour showed signs of life. Now, accord¬ 
ing to the Albany Knickerbocker, it occupies a place in a 
globe on the counter at a drag store and is as lively as it 
ever was. ^ 
More Parasitic Flies.— Andover, Sussex Co., N. J., 
Sept. Isf—Allow me, a stranger, to intrude on your time 
and patience sufficient to introduce to you three speci¬ 
mens of the partridge louse, or fly. During the limiting 
season of the fall of 18781 first discovered this fly on the 
partridge. These three subjects were taken from a large 
owl on Saturday last, Aug. 30tli. (Would that they would 
all take to the owl for their subjects for torment!) You 
should be very careful in opening the enclosure, or they 
may escape. They are like Paddy's flea. They are all 
lively this morning. They may not be new to you, but 
there are many sportingmen who don't believe there is 
any such thing. H. C. Cock. 
The specimens enclosed by our correspondent are the 
true partridge fly ( Olfersia Arnericema— Leach), aud we 
are glad to receive them. As we .have heretofore stated, 
they are found on owls, hawks, herons and raffed 
grouse. 
Animals Received at Central Park Menagerie for Week: 
ending Sept. 13th,1879.—1 Yellow faced Amazon (Chnisotis «li- 
Ihn JJS), presented by Dr. J. W. Clowes, N. Y City ; 1 English Phens- 
imr ll'hcu-iantis coichfcuS), presented by Mr. J 13. Brice, N Y. City. 
2 Flying Squirrels (Seiuropleras vnlureUa), presen red by Master H. 
S. Cbatfleld, Elizabeth, N. J. ; 2 Japanese ling Dogs iCavUsdun;- 
esl. icus); I Magpie (Pica candata); 1 Jay (Garrulus mndoriw); 2 
Love-hird Parralceets (Agapomis pullavin) ; habitat, West Africa; 
4 striated Finohes (Mania striata) ; habitat, India; 1 Alexan¬ 
drine Parrakcet (Falamrnta alczanrlri), habitat, India; all pur¬ 
chased ; 1 Chamleon (titanmeleon vulgaris), habitat, Africa ; pre¬ 
sented by Mr. Joint Lowry, N. Y City. 
A. Conklin, Director. 
—A new Bttrvey of the Catskills, by Prof. Guyot, re¬ 
veals mountains that were not known to exist. A largo 
part of the region, especially the southwestern, is an un- 
tracked forest, and in several cases the only chance for 
making triangulation was by climbing to the tops of high 
trees. He found higher points than were before record¬ 
ed. His table of altitudes contains three peaks over 4,000 
feet, thirteen over 3,800 feet, and thirty-six over 3,500 
feet. The highest point is one of the previously un¬ 
known, Slide Mountain, in the southern Catskills, 4,205 
feet above tide. 
Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa is a general favorite. Medi¬ 
cal men recommend it as preferable to tea or coffee for 
nervous or delica te constitutions, Sold by leading grocers 
everywhere.—[Adv,] 
