FOREST AND STREAM 
985 
45. Chactum pelasgia; chimney swift—common aroundCwood- 
luml, where they probably were nesting in hollow trees, from the 
entire absence of chimneys in that section of the country. 
46. Traehilus tolubris ; ruby-throated hummer—common. 
47. Coccyyus crythrophthalruus: black-billed cuckoo—one of the 
most common birds in the timber. 
— 48. Ficus vdlosus; hairy woodpecker; several specimens taken. 
49. Picus pubescent:; downy woodpecker—common. 
50. Sphi/rupicus variin:; yellow-bellied woodpecker—two speci¬ 
mens taken, one of them a young one just out of the shell, 
July 17th. 
61. Cotaples mi-blus ; flicker—common. 
52. Fdleo Npcwi'wt'us; sparrow-hawk—a female taken July 10th. 
53. Circus cp (metis, var. JTiwisontns,'marsh-hawk—very common 
on the prairies everywhere. 
51. Bute) borealis, var. Krideri (?); white-breasted hawk—abuz- 
zat-d with while breast and head flow over out of gunshot, at St. 
Vincent. Slneo that time, during the latter part of August, we 
found this hawk quite abundant in Northern Iowa, where we 
took several specimens. 
55. Ectoplstcs mtgnttorius; wild pigeon—one small flock met 
With. 
66. Zenacdura caroltiwnsis; Carolina dove—a single individual 
met with July 10th. 
57. PediaMes columbtanm; sharp-tailed grouse—common, saw 
several coviesjnst able to fly July 18th. They wore generally on 
the edges of the prairie, iimoug bushes and scattered trees. 
58. A&jiaMUs vnriferus: kildeer—common. 
5'J. TrinaamimUiUa; least sandpiper ; a pair seen July 17th. 
60. Tetanus flavipes: lesser yeliowshanks—saw four individuals 
of this species on Red River. 
Gi. Tntanas snlUartws,: solitary sandpiper—not very common. 
61. Ariilurus hartranritis; upland plover; one of the most fre¬ 
quent birds on the prairie. 
63. Botaurus minor; bittern, ‘‘slough^pump"—a very common 
Inhabitant of the sloughs. 
Gi. Gnts americanus; whooping crane—a flook of three mot 
with July 6th. 
65. Porzana Carolina ; common rafl—very numerous in the 
Sloughs. The notes of the Virginia rail were also frequently 
heard, but it was impossible to cateh sight of them. 
66. Anas boschas; mallard—breeding in large numbers, together 
with other ducks whose species were not determined. 
67. Bydrocbelidon larlformis; black tern—breeding in great 
numbers in some sloughs about a mile from Pembina. 
Wm. L. Abbott. 
Littorina Litorea on the American Coast.— We 
have received from our correspondent, Mr. Arthur F. 
Gray, of Danversporfc, Mass, a short paper with this title, 
which originally appeared in the Science News. The ac. 
count of the importation of this species from Europe and 
of its gradual extension along the American coast from 
Halifax, south to Long Island Sound, is very interesting. 
Tenacity op Life in a Beetle.— A corrrespondentof 
Notes and Queries gives the following instance of a 
Beetle’s tenacity of lift? : A relative of mine, while re¬ 
cently cutting a loaf of bread, found embedded in it a 
beetle. A small portion of the loaf with the insect in it 
■was cut out entire, and after the lapse of about five min¬ 
utes the beetle began to crawl out, apparently none the 
worse for its incarceration. It is, of course, well known 
that beetles are fond of warmth, but I should not have 
thought that one would have so comfortably survived 
some hours spent in a living tomb, escaping the danger 
of being crushed to death in the making of the bread, and 
subsequently the risk of being killed either by suffocation 
or the heat of the oven. 
Further Notes on the Northern Waxwings in 
Minnesota. — Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 27 th, 1879.—In a 
communication dated Dec. 3d, I reported the northern 
waxwings (Ampelis garrulus) as abundant ac this place, 
and so they were at that time and up to the end of the 
first week in December. About that date the greater 
part of the birds disappeared from the city, and since then 
only occasional pairs or stray Hocks have been seen. 
We have been having intensely cold weather and much 
snow, but I do not attribute their disappearance so much 
to this, as to the fact that nearly, if not all, of the berries 
(mountain ash, highbush cranberry, etc.) have been 
stripped from the trees throughout the city, where they 
are much cultivated for ornament. Whether the birds 
have really gone farther south, or whether they have 
merely settled down in some locality near by where food 
has been found, I cannot at present say. They are very 
fond of the wild grapes that remain hanging on the vines, 
and as the valley of the Minn osota River, and several 
other places not far distant, abound in grape vines, they 
may liave left the town, which the berries at first induced 
them to frequent, and retired to feed where food has been 
found in sufficient quantity. If so, we shall find them 
again shortly. At all events we shall probably see more 
of them towards spring now that they are in this part of 
the country. 
I neglected to mention in my former note that the 
majority of the birds that appeared here wore what we 
took to be young birds. They were not highly plumaged, 
almost lacking tiie waxy appendages, and the markings 
of the wings were white instead of yellow. 
In a letter dated Martin sdale, Montana Territory, re¬ 
cently received from my friend, Mr. Robt, S. Wiliams, 
is the following in regard to the waxwings which will 
be of interest as a report from another locality : “ The 
waxwings put in an appearance here about the same time 
as in Minnesota. They are said to be very common some 
sixty miles down stream (Musselshell River) among the 
pines.” T, 8. Roberts, 
Showers of Spiders’ Webs ,—Waterbury, Conn., Dec. 
9 th. 1879.—In your issue of last week, you reply to Mr. 
Boardman’s article, entitled “ Showers of Spiders’Webs,” 
and say: “Gan any of our readers assist,” etc. Your im¬ 
pression as to Darwin are correct; in his journal of the 
voyage of the Beagle, he says: “While anchored in the 
River Plata, sixty miles from shore, I saw the rigging 
covered with cobwebs and the air full of floating webs. 
The spiders, however, when they struck the ship, were 
always hanging from single threads.” Mr. Darwin does 
not undertake to give any explanation of the phenome¬ 
non ; indeed, I do not know of any naturalists'who have 
given an intelligent solution of such appearances as your 
correspondent describes. 
Your readers may be interested in the recital of my own 
observation on the subject. Several varieties of the 
Spider family, particularly the young of several species 
of Ljjcosa, are leronauts ; they are more sensible, how¬ 
ever, than human seronauts, for the spider always selects 
a clear, warm, and comparatively still day in the 
autumn months in which to take his'flight-, and after the 
dew has disappeared, he chooses with great care the high¬ 
est weed or shrub in his immediate neighborhood, and 
climbing to its topmost leaf or twig, he at once proceeds 
to anchor himself by a web cable of considerable strength, 
by attaching it first to the leaf or twig and then to his 
body. Then, standing on tiptoe, he elevates the hind part 
of his body and from his web reservoir (spinnerets) lie 
spins out numerous gossamer threads or streamers, which 
seem lighter than the atmospheric air, as they rise and 
float above ; presently you may see the spider rise also, 
and the anchor cable straighten, when, with a sudden 
stroke of the leg, he cuts loose and sails gracefully away 
high above the earth. When one of these spider holidays 
occur, in the middle of the day by lying on the back and 
looking up, one can see myriads of these silver threads 
floating slowly along. In Germany, these flights of gos¬ 
samer are called Der Jlvgeu dev Sommer, (the flying or 
departing summer.) 
The intelligence (reasoning?) evinced by these little in¬ 
sects in their descent to the earth is as marvelous as in 
their ascent. When they get tired of their aorial flight, 
they begin to pull in the long threads or streamers with 
their fore feet and form the web into a tangled mass be¬ 
neath them, and so gradually lessen the floating capacity 
of their balloon until they quietly alight, as I have often 
seen them with but a single streamer out. The number of 
these floating spiders in an 'autumnday is prodigious, 
and no wonder their webs resemble a “shower,” and are 
spread as a net over the earth. I have, myself, seen up¬ 
on the prairie, the ground so covered as to have the ap¬ 
pearance of a web attached to every blade of grass. 
Will some one explain why those streamers, or threads 
of web apparently thrown out by the spider, never con¬ 
verge towards, but always diverge from each other ; is 
it caused by a subtle electrical current, emanating from 
the insect, or a current passing up and off the point of 
the weed, or—what is it ? W. 
egisff §ultnr f 
THE CALIFORNIA SALMON CONTROVERSY. 
T HE California salmon controversy, carried on in these 
columns by Messrs. Livingston Stone, and E. A, 
Brackett, has not been as to whether or not these fish 
all die after spawning, but as to whether or not Mr. 
Livingston Stone said that they all died, and whether Mr. 
E. A. Brackett said that Mr. Stone said that they all died. 
The interests of fish culture and of soience invite a full, 
free and exhaustive discussion of the original question, hut 
neither the interests of fish culture nor of science warrant 
us in continuing further the controversy as to what any 
one man did or did not say. We take it for granted that 
both Mr. Brackett and Mr. Stone desire rather to arrive 
at the truth in regard to this fact of natural history, and 
that they hold their own individual and personal inter¬ 
ests subservient thereto. It is due to each, however, and 
to the Massachusetts Fish Commission, which Mr. Brack¬ 
ett represents, that what appears to us to be a mutual 
misunderstanding, should here be rectified ; and we have 
accordingly taken some pains to review the dispute, 
which began over a year ago 
1. The Massachusetts Report (year ending Jan 1st, 1876), under 
subject, “California Salmon,” details the hatching and distribu¬ 
tion of 200,000 spawn, and adds: “ We do not profess to know the 
habits of these fish. * * * Mr. Livingstone Slone, in his report 
to the Uuited States Commissioners of Fisheries, asserts that they 
spawn but onuo, and then die.’’ The writer then goes on to give 
the reasons adduced by Mr. Stone regarding the McCloud River 
tlsb. 
2. In the Forest and Stream of May 15th, 1879, Mr. Livingston 
Stone complains that “in several newspaper articles and State 
reports I hare been quoted as saying that: ‘ All California salmon 
die after spawning,' ” and he asks to be told where he has made 
such statements. 
3. In the Forest and Stream, May 29th, 1879, in connection 
with a letter from Mr. B. B. Redding, California State Fish Com¬ 
missioner, addressed to Prof. Spencer F. Baird, adducing “positive 
evidence that 5 per cent, of Sacramento salmon do not die the 
year they reproduce,” is published, a communication from Mr. 
E. A. Brackett, Massachusetts Commissioner, in which the writer 
explains to Mr.Btone that “theCaliforniasalmon of the Sacramento 
and its tributaries are the fish that have interested the State Com¬ 
missioners as well ns the public,and whatever criticisms or remarks 
have been made in the State reports have reference to these sal¬ 
mon and to no other.” Mr. Brackett then quotes Mr. Stone's 
testimony as given in the United States Commissioner’s Report, 
1872-73, that “ the salmon of the MeCJoud and Little Sacramento 
do not spawn bat onoe in these rivers, for they ail die at'lor 
spawning.” 
Replies and counter-replies have since been published, 
but they have consisted, mainly, of reiterations of former 
statements, and we need not repeat them here. The 
merits Of the case lie in the correspondence already 
quoted, and are substantially as follows : 
a. The assertion quoted by Sir. Stone above : — “ All Cal¬ 
ifornia salmon die after spawning”—is not contained in 
the Massachusetts Report, The language, “Mr. Liv¬ 
ingston Stone * * * asserts that they spawn but once, 
and ihen die,” might have been legi tima tely interpreted 
by that gentleman as applying to “California Salmon,” 
the subject then bring discussed by the writer. 
b, Mr. Brackett’s explanation > in his communication 
to the Forest and Stream, that “ whatever criticisms or 
remarks have been made in the State reports have re¬ 
ferred to these salmon | /. e., of the Sacramento and its 
tributaries], and to no other,” was an ample and entirely 
satisfactory one. and, so far as the Massachusetts Report 
was concerned, should have been accepted by Mr. Stone. 
With this review of the matter, which we have at¬ 
tempted to make a just one to both parties, we must 
close the Bubject. 
The United States Report,— The Report of the United 
States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, by Spencer F. 
Baii-d, Commissioner, is a large volume of something over 
a thousand pages, embracing, besides the report proper, 
an exhaustive history of the Menhaden, by Prof. G. Brown 
Good, anil a variety of original and foreign essays on 
fisheries and fishing methods. The Report will afford 
ample material for two or three papers, the first of which 
will appear next week. 
—The Thompson Brothers have a lot of yearling trout 
for sale at their Aquetong Pond, New Hope, Penn, See 
their advertisement elsewhere. 
Shrimp Trout Food.— Rochester, Jan. 8£fe—The N. Y. 
State Fishery Commission will furnish a supply of fresh 
water shrimp from Caledonia Creek for the purpose of 
stocking any streams or ponds in this State to any parties 
who will pay the express charges on cans from the N. 
Y. State hatchery to place of destination and return. 
There is no better food for brook trout and other small 
fish, and they breed very rapidly, Address 
Seth Green, Rochester, N. Y. 
I began the use of gas tar in 1864 instead of 1854, a3 
published last week. 
gm mid §ivei[ igishing. 
FISH IN SEASON IN JANUARY. 
SOUTHERN WATERS. 
Pompano, TraeMnntus carolimis. 
Drum (two species). Family 
ScUenidie. 
KingflBli, Menttoirrus nebiilosus. 
Sea Bass, Sclmnnps ocetlatm. 
Sheepshead, Archumrtjus pivha- 
t ocephalus. 
Supper, Dutjanus blacltfordii. 
Grouper, Epineplielpvs niyHtuS. 
Trout (black bass), Centrorpriis- 
ti* atraHust. 
Striped Bass, or Roekfish, Hoc- 
cits Uneatus. 
Tailorflsh, Pomatomus saltntrtx. 
Black Bass, Micrppterus salmoi- 
\ des; 
Fisnrao Resorts.— Attention is Invited to Hie notice at llie head 
of Game Bag and Gun columns. 
Fisk in Market—Retail Prices.— Bass, 25o.; smelts, largo, 
15c,; smelts, green, 15e.; blueflsli,12!c.; salmon, frozen, 30c.; mack¬ 
erel, large, 25c.; shad, Southern, each 50c.: green turtle, 15c.; ter¬ 
rapin, ©20 per dozen; frost fish, 6c.; halibut, 20c.; haddock, Gc.; 
codfish, heads off, 8c.; heads on, Oe.; blaekfish, large, 15c.; floun¬ 
ders, large, 10c.; sea bass,. 18c.; eels, large, dressed, 18c.; lobsters, 
live, 10c.; boiled, 12c.; scollops, per gallon, ©1.; soft clams, per 
100, 80c.; large, 60c.; whitefish. IHc.; pickerel, 15e.; salmon trout, 
18c.; black bass, 18c.; hard crabs, per dozen, 40c 1 ,; soft crabs, per 
dozen, SI; red snappers, 10c. 
On Friday last E. G . Blackford, Fulton Market, New Y »rk, i-e- 
roeoeivedaBhad, caught at Dobh’sFetry in the Hudson, weighing 
.5 lbs, Sold for $5. A few shad are coining in frpm Florida. 
FISH SWALLOWING FISH. 
The last of what have already become famous as the 
Forest and Stream .fish stories are published to-day. 
The publication of several other manuscripts has been 
necessarily deferred until a future date, when they will 
appear. We must crave the indulgence of all contribu¬ 
tors whose favors have been delayed, as we have been 
sadly pressed for room. Much trepidation has been felt 
in this office lest the columns of the paper devoted to Sea 
and River Fishing should absorb all the other pages, and 
the Forest and Stream thus afford a melancholy exam¬ 
ple of the phenomena under discussion, An unflinching 
use of the excising pen has been found effective, and, 
being plied as ruthlessly as the jack-knife of the man 
swallowed by tbe whale, has brought us out upon dry 
land again. 
It is unnecessary and it would he unbecoming to 
plume ourselves upon the extraordinary character of 
the narratives submitted in competition for the big hook. 
The startling character of some of them, the impressive 
tone of others, and the bewildering, mystifying and com¬ 
pletely staggering intricacies of still others, have proved 
entirely too much for the Civil Engineer, the Scientific 
Professor, the Fish Commissioner, the Logician, and the 
Cabinet Officer, who were appointed a committee of five 
to make the award. They have released themselves from 
the dilemma of awarding the big hook by giving to 
every competitor a little hook, which we hope may 
serve for each as a pleasant memento of their angling in 
Forest and Stream. 
Washington, D. C., Dec. 20th, 1879. 
Editor Forest and Stream 
That authentic narrative of the fish, which swallowed itself tail 
first, is very good; but before you send the hook, please hear ine. 
It is useless for any one else to compete, if the prize is to be given 
for the truest story of the biggest fish ever swallowed. Professor 
Gill, of the Smithsonian, whs missed a few days ago, and his ab¬ 
sence remnined a mystery until explained, He was examining a 
small specimen, known ns the (Jiiifohthj/s, when that flsh, enraged 
to the Professor’s avowed Intention to classify it under a new 
mime, leaped at nim, open-jawed, and swallowed him, boots and 
all. now he ever got out was the question. Some thought, not 
unnaturally, that the Professor disagreed with the flsh, and was 
disgorged on that account. The fact Is, however, that the. learned 
eiohthyologist took advantage of tho situation to investigate th 
auotomical arrangements and other family secrets of the fish, and 
began to lecture the poor creature on the subject; and that 
scarcely had he begun to speak, when the CHUtchthi/s gave such a 
