Forest and Stream 



A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 



NEW YORK, DECEMBER 28, 1882. 



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CONTENTS, 



Editorial. 



The McDonald Flshway. 



Adirondack Survey Kotes.— xv. 



The Chase in Homeric Tunes. 

 The Sportsman Tourist. 



Tramping about South Fork. 



Crusoes of the Antarctic. 

 Natural History. 



Bears Once More. 



The Sparrows Must Go! 



The Birds of Maine. 

 Camp Fihe Flickerings. 

 Game Bag and Gun. 



The Young Man una his Uncle. 



NoU s u . i ii il sh .oting. 



"Wild Rice in the Adirondacks. 



Our Chicago Letter. 



Philadelphia Notes. 



Up in tne Rockies. 



Protection for Quail. 



Deer in Pike County. 

 Sea and River Fishing. 



Winter l'allcs on Summer Pas- 

 times.— Til* 



Sea and River Fishing. 



•'Mill Brook." 



The "Herring" of Central Lake, 



Position of the Reel. 



New York Angling Notes. 

 ::;■;. 



Water Plants for Carp Ponds. 

 The Kennel. 



The Louisiana Field Trials. 



Birmingham Dog Show. 



Kennel Notes. t 



Rifle and Trap Shooting. 



Range and Gallerv. 



The Trap. 

 Yachting and Canoeing. 



More New Cutters. 



Oswego Y. C. 



Cruising on Lake Ontario. 



Masthead Iron Work. 



Working up in a Northwester. 



Cruise in the Snow. 



Annual Trip to the Lower Bay. 



The Horizon Clearing. 

 Answers to Correspondents. 



the McDonald flshway. 



r¥THIB fish-way, which is constructed upon principles en- 

 -*- tireJy new, has been before the public for a few years, 

 and is rapidly growing in favor. Its mode of action is so 

 singular, retarding the flow of water down a straight shute 

 by means of jets of water which make a gentle ripple all 

 along the trough, that at first sight it seems a puzzle. We 

 thought at first that it was possible that it might work well 

 at a very small inclination, but on careful examination find 

 that it can be successfully used at a greater angle than any 

 other known form; even with a fall of one foot in five the 

 ripple is a gentle one. This, together with its cheapness of 

 construction, will, no doubt, cause it to supersede all other 

 forms of flab, ladder. 



A McDonald flshway is to be built at the Great Falls of 

 the Potomac. One is built at Fredericksburg, on the Rap- 

 pahannock. The Maryland Fish Commission has con- 

 tracted for four of them for the canal dams on the Potomac, 

 and these will be ready for the spring run of fish. The 

 Charter Oak Company, of Hartford, Conn., have ordered 

 one for their dam at Clifton Forge, Va. In Germany 

 several of these flshways are to be erected on the tributaries 

 of the Rhine, in "Westphalia; and the McDonald plan has 

 been recommended for dams in Brittany by the Societe 

 d'Acclimatation. 



The flshway at Fredericksburg, though not completed 

 until May last, during the season of its operation passed 

 large numbers of fish. Many young striped bass, from one- 

 quarter to three-quarters of a pound in weight, were ob- 

 served to pass, as well as other specie's. For a long time we 

 have watched the workings this plan in model; and even. 

 so late as the International Fisheries Exhibition in Berlin, 

 1880, we were not wholly convinced as to its merits. Cor- 

 respondence with those near the flshways has, however, 

 convinced us that this is the best form of flshway known, 

 and, therefore, we do not hesitate to say so. 



We learn that a company has been formed to manufacture 

 these flshways in cast iron, made in sections, so that they 

 can be shipped and put up in any part of the country at a 

 comparatively small expense. If this latter report is true, 

 then we should have flshways put upon all dams that stop 

 the ascent of fisli to the spawning or feeding grounds above. 



Brain Food. — Warranted to stimtilate,the fancy, wake up 

 the imagination, loosen the tongue and develop latent and 

 undreamed of capacity of romancing. Not for sale b} r all 

 druggists, but sent C. O. D. with privilege of examination by 

 the "Miraculous Repeating Arms Co. It costs fifteen dollars 

 and the manufacturers are overwhelmed with flattering testi- 

 monials from Michigan and Colorado hunters. ' 'Our picture, " 

 says the advertisement, "represents the modern hunter 

 dropping a deer at 900 yards with the ballet cartridge, and 

 having made a selection from a flock of geese at 500 yards 

 witli the buckshot cartridge, is in the act of shooting a pigeon 

 at 50 yards with the fine shot cartridge. No other gun in 

 the world does it." But this is not "by a long chalk" any 

 fair sample of what the gun can really do. It can inspire 

 ten times bigger yarns than this, as fifteen minute's conver- 

 sation with the agent of the company in this city the other 

 day demonstrated. Tfcey call it the "Hunter combination 

 repeating rifle and shotgun." A Texas correspondent wants 

 to know what we think of it ; well, if he needs brain food, 

 we can recommend for this the "Hunter;" but if he wishes 

 a gun for service in the field, let him put his fifteen dollars 

 into a weapon that will bring to bag the pigeon, goose and 

 buck at one shot, for three shots in a case like this are clear- 

 ly a waste of ammunition. 



A Neglected Game Fisii.— Our wealth of game fishes 

 causes us to neglect many that are really fine ones, and as a 

 people we look with little favor on any fresh water fishes 

 except salmon, trout, grayling and black bass. Even the 

 pike and his big brother the maskinonge we think have not 

 enough fishing stuff in them to be worth serious attention. 

 Another fish which is sadly neglected is the pike-perch, 

 called "wall-eyed pike" in New York, "pickerel" in Canada, 

 and alas, that it should be so, "salmon" on the Susquehanna, 

 Ohio and Msssissippi rivers. This fish is a good gamy fish, 

 a gcod table fish, and one well worth cultivating. If our 

 English friends had this fish, the king of the perches, they 

 would sing its praises far and wide, but we hardly notice it. 

 There are places where the fish abounds, and where it is 

 taken with hook and line, but no writer has yet arisen to 

 sing its praises; invent a rod just suitable for its capture, 

 or a hook with the right bend for its jaw. No treatise has 

 been written on its favorite baits, nor its valiant death slrug, 

 gles. Here is a new field. 



The Birds of Maine. — In our Natural History columns, 

 this week, will be found the initial installment of an anno- 

 tated Catalogue of the Birds of the State of Maine. Mr. 

 Everett Smith, who is the author of this list, has devoted 

 many years to the study of the avifauna of his native State, 

 and being thus constantly in correspondence with ornitholo- 

 gists and collectors, has had very full opportunities to make 

 the present paper as nearly complete as such an one can 

 ever hope to be. The catalogue contains the names of over 

 300 species of birds, and the notes on their habits and char- 

 acteristics — in some cases very full— will be found of very 

 great interest to ornithologists, and, indeed, to all who have 

 any love for natural history. The geographical position of 

 the State of Maine gives to this list an unusual interest, for 

 through it is drawn an imaginary boundary line, across 

 which the birds from the South do not pass. Its varied 

 topographical character offers attractions also to birds of 

 widely differing habits. Mr. Smith's field is therefore a 

 broad one, and his contribution to the bird literature of the 

 New England States will be gladly received. 



Peddling Game on the Long Island Railhoad.— 

 We are informed that there has been an extensive sale of 

 snared birds on the passenger cars of the Long Island Rail- 

 road. We called attention to this matter a year or two ago, 

 at which time measures were taken to put a stop to it. Per- 

 haps a few arrests would have a salutary influence. We 

 commend the matter to tho attention of the Long Island 

 Sportsmen's Association. 



The Welch Case.— Wo are informed that the appeal in 

 the Welch case was dismissed because "no notice was given 

 within the time prescribed by law. " In this case, it will be 

 remembered, was involved a test of the constitutionality of 

 the New Jersey non-resident game law; and it was hoped 

 that the case would not be dropped. 



BaklkV, Dozens of Waltons and Foresters.— There 

 are in this country to-day a baker's dozen each of writers 

 just as pleasing as Izaak Walton and "Frank Forester." 

 To find out what they have written within the past year 

 look through the files of the Forest and Stream 



ADIRONDACK SURVEY NOTES. 



SO. XT. — the black fly. 



T^Oyouknow the black fly of thewoods? Hcreitmight bo 

 -*-' a point of etiqutte to await a reply before saying more, 

 but this will take weeks and then only bring in a variety of 

 answers, mostly "yes," or "no," the variety being in the 

 different ink used, so 1 will ask another question. Do you 

 know all about him, her, or them? If you do, then tell me 

 so that I may also know ; but on the supposition that some 

 one has answered my first question by asking "what are 

 black flies'?" I will proceed to tell him a few things that 

 I have noticed about them and a few theories that I have 

 formed concerning them. These may be all wrong, and 

 if so the sooner they are discarded the better, and a new set 

 framed that are warranted to stand the strain. 



Are you listening? You man who don't know whata black 

 fly is, I mean; for if you don't know and don't care to then 

 this ink might as well be saved. Now, here goes for it, A 

 black fly is a small sort of thing, not bigger than two small 

 pin-heads placed one behind the other. He, she, or it, has 

 six legs and two or more wings; am not so sure of the num- 

 ber of wings but you'll find the legs all right. What partic- 

 ular Greek or Latin cognomens the bug-sharps have seen fit 

 to adorn him with is more than I know, but if these names 

 do not translate into English to mean something with a 

 chronic hunger for a fisherman's blood, then is science a de- 

 lusion and a snare. When it is added that the legs of this 

 fly are sometimes speckled and that the guides can tell by 

 the spots how long they are likely to remain, then all 

 the knowledge that the guides have of them, and a little 

 more beside, is given, Did you ask why such an insignificant 

 being should play the leading character in the drama of 

 wood-life, that it should become the leading question when 

 to go to the woods? If you did ask this then there is but 

 one answer. It is not that the fly of himself is so pestilent 

 but because he makes himself so numerous. The mosquito 

 may also become numcrous,but hisnumerousness is as uaught 

 to the multitudinous black fly. Swarais is the only word 

 that gives one an idea of the numbers of the fly, and when 

 you add that no amount of fighting, or threshing around, 

 disturbs the flock in the least, each individual of which is 

 as brave as a goat (which is my beau ideal of a courageous 

 animal) then you get a fair idea of the little pest. A net is 

 merely a hive for them to get under and to keep them from 

 getting out, and the only protection is in some of those conv 

 pounds of oil, tar, or other substances, which are smeared 

 on the face and hands. Even these do not prevent the 

 insects from flying against your face and tickling it in a 

 manner almost as bad as their bite, nor does it prevent an 

 occasional one from exploring the region covered by clotliing, 

 and an itching, inflamed spot tells where one has penetrated 

 to a region supposed to be perfectly protected. During the 

 season of them the only time that they are quiet is during 

 the night, or while a breeze is blowing. 



Why does this fly exist? That is just what I tried to find 

 out. All things have their uses in the economy of nature, 

 and if you heard one black fly ask another why you existed, 

 the answer might be, "to feed the black fly." But this fly 

 undoubtedly plays a more important part in life than taking 

 an infinitessimal portion of blood from a man, a dog, a deer, 

 or a panther, and leaving a smaller portion of poison 

 in its place, which, while not worth as much to you 

 as the blood, is, without doubt, poison of the first 

 quality and might be useful in materia media.!- if experi- 

 mented with. While, we know that it is only the female 

 mosquito which carols her exquisite little song and takes the. 

 blood from your sleeping nose, while her liege lord goes 

 hungry forever, I do not remember to have heard whether 

 the husband of the black fly has an inclination to lunch at 

 the same table with his partner, assuming that she bites 

 also, or not. Iu fact you will have perceived before this 

 that I do not know a great deal about the insect which wo 

 are discussing together, but having told you all that I think 

 I know positively, we will go on to the theory of the benefits 

 which accrue to mankind from the aforesaid little black fly, 

 The trout arc thickest where the fly is most numerous 

 and yet few or no flies of the kind we are talking about are- 

 found in the stomachs of the trout. The further north we 

 go, even into the Arctic circle, the more of both trout and 

 black flies do the waters produce, and when the wild 

 lands are cleared both the trout and the black fly 

 either disappear together or the fly goes first and the 

 trout lingers in diminished numbers. The food of the 

 infant trout is gone. The little worm-like larva of the fly is 

 the best possible food for a troutlet, and where the black fly 

 abounds, the waters during the fall, winter, and spring 



