January 5, 1882.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



451 



ture having been Salmofo-iUinaliso! Mitchell, a name -which 

 hue become so popular that it will be regretfully laid aside. 

 Our crimson-spoiif-M trout belong to that group of the salmon 

 family known in England as " chars," characterized bylhe 

 minute sizeef their Scales, and by the arrangement of the 

 teeth on. the vomer, a small bone in the roof of the mouth. 

 The name of the genus (8a ■■■ formed by Wil- 



louehby, in J646, from Salblmg, the German name of the 

 ombre chevuUa-, a European species wy like our blue-backed 

 trout, and has since been used as the specific title of this fish, 

 the Hiiim-i .vo, :,';,, us of Linnaeus. The exact range ana 

 boundary of the Habitat of this trout has not been well de- 

 fined, No man has had better facilities for determining this 

 than Prof. Goode, from his connection with the United 

 Slates Pish Commission and his position as curator of the 

 national museum. It is. however, a boundary that has been 

 extended, and will be further widened by the efforts of fisk- 

 cnlturists. Prof. Goode gives its range as between the lati- 

 tudes BSJ and 55 degrees, in the lakes and streams of the At- 

 lantic water-shed in the mountain sources of a few rivers 

 flowing into the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico and in 

 some of the southern affluents of Hudson's Bay. Its range 

 is limited by the western foot-hills of the Alleghanies, and 

 nowhere exl ends more than three hundred miles from the 

 coast, except aboul the great lakes, in the northern tribu- 

 taries or which trout abound. At the South they inhabit the 

 head-waters <Jf the Chaltaboochie, in the southern spurs of 

 the Georgia Alleghanics and tributaries of the Catawba in 

 North Carolina. They also occur in the great islands in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, Anticosti, Prince Edward's, Cape 

 Breton and Newfoundland, temperature being the chief 

 factor in determining their range. Prof. Goode regards the 

 question of the identity of the brook trout and the Canadian 

 sea trout a3 settled in the affirmative by competent authori- 

 ties, and we are*lnclined to believe that no oue who has fol- 

 lowed the discussions of this subject in Forest and Stream 

 and other more scientific papers will dispute him. The au- 

 thor gives much valuable information on the temperature at 

 which trout thrive, their coloration, etc, and drawn from 

 sources which show that he has attentively studied the litera- 

 ture of the foidinalia as well as the fish itself. The picture 

 is one of the gems of the wort?, and one that despite the copy- 

 right has been followed by many who wished to illustrate" a 

 leaping trout when fast hooked. No words can express its 

 beauty. 



THE SPANISH MACKEREL AND THE BLAOK BASSES, 



Part two opens with the Spanish mackerel, Uybium macu- 

 laturn, snd its congeners. Up to a few years ago this was 

 considered a most mysterious fish, and at the time when 

 Prof. Cloode wrote in this work," No one has yet discovered 

 their breeding grounds," it was true. During the past year. 

 however, Messrs. Earl! and McDonald have not only made 

 this discovery, but have hutched the young. When Mitchell 

 described the fish, sixty-live years ago, he summed up all 

 that, was known of it in these words: " Comes in July." 

 " The, Spanish mackerel visit the North only as marauders," 

 writes Prof. Goode, but he would probably qualify that 

 statement now ju the light of the investigations of the past 

 year, for now that we know I hat they breed in the Chesa- 

 peake we may suspect them of doing so as far north as Mon- 

 tauk. Mr. Goode has dissected them in the waters of Mar- 

 tha's Vineyard Sound, in July aud August, only to find that 

 the spawning season was past. This fully accords with the 

 fact that Earil found ripe fish in Chesapeake Bay in Juuc and 

 July, 1880. In addition to Kilbourne's fine plate Mr. Goode 

 gives a drawing in the text, and also of two allied form?. 



The black basses were written of when their scientific no- 

 menclature was in dispute, if indeed if can be said to be set- 

 tled now, and we are given Microptervs pallidum (Raf.), Gill 

 and Jordan, for the big month ; and M, w.higan, (Raf.) Gill, 

 for the small mouth. The different local names of these fishes 

 are given in full, together with their distribution. According 

 to Prof. Goode both species are widely distributed over the 

 Atlantic slope of the continent, and dwell together in the 

 great lakes and in the upper part of the St, Lawrence and 

 Mississippi basins. The small-mouth is found as far north 

 as lalitude 47, and west to the Wisconsin ; while southward 

 it ranges to latitude U'd, where it is found in the head-waters 

 of the Ghaltahoochie and Ocmulgee rivers, the latter being 

 the only instance of its presence in a stream emptying east 

 of the Alleghauies, into which it is not known to have been 

 introduced. The large-mouth ranges further to the West 

 and North, occurring in the Red River of the North, in lati- 

 tude 50. It abounds in all the rivers of the South from the 

 James to the St. Johns, aud in the lower reaches of I he 

 streams and bayous of Texas in latitude 27. The small-mouth 

 found its way into the Hudson in 1825, or soon after, through 

 the newly opened Erie canal, and has since been introduced 

 by man into hundreds of lakes and rivers. Their habits of 

 spawning are described ; and it is stated that a large-mouth 

 was caught in a lake at Gainesville, Fla., which weighed 

 nineteen "and one-half pounds. Mr. Kllhourne's picture is of 

 the latter species, but ni turned on its side so that the distin- 

 guishing character of its dorsal fins is not readily seen, and 

 the printer has brought out stripes on the side which were 

 not in the original. Two correct figures, drawn by Mr. H. 

 L, Todd, of the SuiithsouLun institution, which are approved 

 by Prof. Gill, show the specific characters of each fish. 



THE STRIPED BASS AND THE BED SNAPPER, 



Part three opens with the fish called striped bass in the 

 North and rocklish in the South, Poae.ua lineat.us, Itwould 

 be difficult to give anylhing new with regard to this well 

 known and familiar fish, but ils kindred of the great lakes, 

 ten.* cry nop*, and of ihe Lower Mississippi Raver, Morons 

 intermpta, are illustrated. Kilbourne's plate is evidently 

 taken from a small specimen, but is truthful. 



The red snapper, Luljani/s bbxekfordii, is a new fish to 

 Northern angle-is, whose range, as now understood, is limited 

 to the coasts of Georgia, East and West Florida and Ala- 

 bama. They bite at a white rag, and according to Norris 

 take a silver or pearl sq,uid. It has long been a favorite fish 

 in the South, and Dr. C. J. Kenworthy is quoted as furnish- 

 ing valuable memoranda of a trip on which many were 

 caught. Strangely enough this fish bad no scientific desig- 

 nation until 1876, when it was found by Goode and Bean to 

 belong to a well known genus, and was described by tdem 

 and given its specific name •' in compliment to Mr. Eugene 

 G, Blackford, of New York oily, whose enthusiastic labors 

 have greatly aided all stndeutsof American ichthyology, and 

 who has added at least ten species to ihe fauna of the United 

 States." The red snapper frequents coral reefs and feeds on 

 corals, prawns, squids, and the shoals of small fisheB, such as 

 mullets, etc Kilbourne's plate shows this highly-colored 

 fish 'O the life, in I ig a baited hook. 



Part four gives these well known fishes. The bluefisb, 

 Pomatomus saiUxrix, is the "Taylor" of Southern waters. 



THE BI/UEFI8H AND THE YELLOW PERCH. 



It is found all along our coast, when the temperature per- 

 mits, but strangely it docs not occur in the Bermudas. Their 

 history, as first appearance on our coast some fifty years 

 ago ; and subsequent increase to their present numbers, is a 

 curious one and is given in detail, as well as instances of 

 (he rapacity of this ravenous fish which may be said to be 

 shark like in its destructiveness. Kilbourne has a life-like 

 portrait. 



The yellow perch, Per ox Jluvialitis, is too well known in 

 all our Eastern ponds to | need description. It is the com- 

 mon perch of England. We would here call Prof. Goode's 

 attention to his statement : "Three species of fresh water— 

 the pike the perch and the turbot— are common to North 

 America and Europe," We have not the slightest doubt 

 that he wrote burbot [Lota], which would be correct, and 

 this is of course a printer's error. The yellow perch is one 

 of the first trophies of the juvenile angler, and the fish here 

 is represented by Kilbourne as taking a " red ibis," cast by 

 an unseen fisherman. 



THE MACKEREL AND THE WBAKl'lSU. 



Part five is devoted to these fishes. The history and com- 

 mercial value of the mackerel form an interesting chapter, 

 while Kilbourne's superb pictureof a freshly-caught fLh is 

 one of the finest bits of painting in the work. The iridescent 

 tints arc strikingly beautiful. 



The weak fish" is called sea trout in tne South, and sque- 

 teague, or shortened into " squit," in the East. There are 

 two species, Cynoscyon regalis and G. mroUnenm, which are 

 common, and another, ft nothui, which has been observed at 

 Charleston and about Florida. The range of the first is 

 from Cape Ann to the mouth of the St. John's River, and 

 possibly to the Guff of Mexico ; that of the second from the 

 Chesapeake to the Gulf and Lake Ponchartrain, Like many 

 other fishes it is known by many local names, among which 

 is that of the "bluefish" from Southern New Jersey to Vir- 

 ginia, while the Indian names of chickwit, squcteague and 

 snc.coteague prevail in New Eogland. Its natural history is 

 not well understood. Kilbourne's plate is of its Northern 

 form, and is excellent. 



THE POMPANO AND THE SEA BASS. 



Part six gives a description of the Pompano, a fish but 

 little known in the North ; and of the sea-bass or Southern 

 blackfish. The pompano, Trachynotus carolinw, has grad- 

 ually acquired favor among New York epicures within a few 

 years. It has been a deserved favorite at New Orleans for a 

 long time, where it is usually called " pompeynose." It is a 

 lover of warm waters, and only visits Northern shores in 

 mid-summer, appearing on the southern coast of Massachu- 

 setts in June and July, and departing in September. Prof. 

 Baird, in a report on the fishes of New Jersey, records their 

 capture by thousands in the sandy coves of the outer beach 

 near Beesely's Point. Mr. S. C. Clarke states that that they 

 spawn in March, in the open sea, near the inlet to Indian 

 River, Florida. Kilbourne's bright golden pompano makes 

 a handsome plate. 



The sea-bass, UeniroprMis atrarius, is called "blackfish " 

 in Southern waters and is a very common species. In the 

 North they sometimes grow to six pounds' weight, but in 

 vbe South seldom exceed one pound. It does not make a 

 handsome picture, but Kilbourne has given a good one of 

 an extraordinarily large specimen. 



THE KtNGl'ISH AND THE SHEEPSHBAD. 



Part seven opens with the kiugfish, or barb, Mentiarruh 

 nebulouus, and its relative, the whiting. The kingfish is 

 found about oyster beds, where it feeds upon the worms and 

 crustaceans which lodge among the shells. It has a barbel 

 on its lower jaw which is very sensitive, and which assists it 

 to find its food on the bottom. It bites readily at a bait of 

 shrimp or soft clam. The Southern limit of the kingfish and 

 the Northern limit of the whiting are not yet defined, but 

 both species w T ere collected by Dr. Yarrow and Prof. Jordan 

 at G <po Hatteras. Kilbourne has caught their peculiar ex- 

 pression, as well as the color of freshly-caught fish. Those 

 who have ouly seen this fish ou the market slabs might con- 

 sider Kilbourne's color too light. 



The sbeepshead, Arohosargus probatoce.phalux, must not be 

 confounded by our inland friends with their worthless fish of 

 the same popular name in the grea' lakes. It is one of the 

 finest of marine table fishes, and is often sought by the 

 angler. Its common name is appropriately given on account 

 of its sheep-like dentition. It is common to the coast in sum- 

 mer, south of Cape Cod. " It feeds with a grazing motion 

 upon barnacles aud shells, particularly young oysters, as they 

 grow, attached to stones and the piles of wharves. With its 

 incisoral teeth, reinforced by heavy jaws and strong 

 muscles, it can easily nip off thick clusters of mollusks, anil 

 the process of grinding them is little more troublesome than 

 that of gathering." Kilbourne's sheepshead is contemplating 

 a group of mussels, and the broken shells below show how 

 they are crushed. 



THE LAKE TROUT AND THE BONITO. 



Part eight begins with the great lake trout, C'ristiwmer 

 namaycush, a fish that sometimes reaches a weight of one hun- 

 dred and twenty pounds. They are usually found in the 

 same lakes with one or more kinds of whitefish, whose slow, 

 helpless movements render them an easy prey. Prof. Goode 

 considers it probable that Ibis fish may have been developed 

 from the brook trout, as its affinities are with the latter 

 more than with the salmons. Its dentition is similar, and its 

 being peculiarto the lakes of North America which were sur- 

 rounded by streams inhabited by trout make it appear pos- 

 sible. The lake trout, like the brook trout, showB a tendency 

 to variations in form and color, bo much so that each lake 

 has ils fish with distinctive marks, and which the local angler 

 stoutly maintains to be a distinct species. The late James W. 

 Milnn- was inclined to combat the theory that this fish fed 

 largely upon young whitefish, and Prof. Goode quotes him 

 at length. Kilbourne presents to our view a line specimen 

 lying upon a bank. 



The boBito, Stirda pdannys, and the tunnies, form the ac- 

 companying chapter. We do not know why Mr. Goode se- 

 lected this fish, which is as uninteresting as a fish can be, 

 unless it was because Kilbourne had made a good picture 

 of it. 



THE RED FISU AND THE GRAYLING. 



Number nine is full of interest to both the salt and fresh 

 water angler, containing accounts of noble fish in both sea 

 and stream The redfish, branded drum, red drum or 

 bass of the South Seimnops ocdhiiiu, is an important gameand 

 food fish from the Che-speak e to the Mexican boundary. 

 The fish is sadly in need of a characteristic name of its own, 

 for although ii lias one for each locality they are generally pre- 

 occupied. In the Chesapeake and south to below Hatteras 

 it is called " drum " and is not distinguished by the fisher- 



men from the large fish called by that name over a wider 

 range. In the Carolinas and Florida we meet the name 

 "bass" and its variations, "spotted bass," "red bass," 

 "sea bass," "reef bass" and " channel bass." The latter 

 name only refers to large specimens taken in the channels, 

 to distinguish from small "school bass" in shallower waters, 

 and has been mistaken for a distinctive name. The redfish 

 grows to forty pounds or more, and their food and habits are 

 much like those of the striped bass. Kilbourne shows a 

 freshly-caught specimen in all ils beauty. 



The grayling of Michigan, Tftymallw 1/rkolm, is a fruitful 

 theme on account of the few years since this fish was discov- 

 ered in the United States. Dr. Parker, of Grand Rapids, 

 Mich., described them as Thymallus rnichiganenus, at an 

 early day, but neglected to properly publish the name, and 

 so it has been supplanted by one given later by Cope. We 

 do not quote the date given, knowing it to be an error of the 

 printer. There are two other species; one in Montana, 

 named T.montanuz, byMilner, and Richardson's 1\ xignifer, 

 of the Arctic region, about Mackenzie's River. A pen draw- 

 ing of the latter is given and its enormous dorsal fin flares out 

 like a comet and is eyed like a peacock's tail. Of the Mich- 

 igan species Prof. Goode writes: "There has been much 

 discussion over the claims of the grayling as a game fish, and 

 also its excellence for food. It has many admirers and de- 

 tractors. The enthusiasm with which it was greeted ten 

 years ago has somewhat subsided, and it seems doubtful 

 whether a vote of the guild of American anglers would now 

 place it in the first rank of noble fishes." We very much 

 dislike to believe this, and are disposed to attribute the sub- 

 sidence of the enthusiasm to the scarcity of the fish, now 

 nearly extinct, and the distance to i's habitat. We certainly 

 have not abated in our worship (that's the word for it in our 

 case) of this graceful fish. As for Kilbourne's picture we 

 think it fully equals his trout in beauty nnd truthfulness. 

 We expected to be'disappoioted in this picture, and were pre- 

 pared to be severely critical, but we do not know where to 

 begin to find fault with it. 



THE CALIFORNIA SALMON AND THB MFSKEt.r.UKGK. 



Part ten, and last, opens with an essay on the quinnat sal- 

 mon, by Livingston Stone. Mr. Stone's long experience in 

 gathering the eggs of this fish entitles him to be 

 considered very high authority upon its habits. 

 Mr. Stone tells us that the fish is restricted 

 in its distribution to the North Pacific, and its 

 range extends fromtheBay of Monterey to the Arctic Ocean, 

 and the coasts of Northeastern Siberia. It is taken in the 

 largest quantities in the Sacramento and the Columbia, 

 being the largest rivers on the coast, but is also found in the 

 smaller streams from California to British Columbia. The 

 largest known specimen was taken in Ihe Columbia River, 

 and weighed eighty-three pounds. It readily takes a hook 

 in fresh water, but does not so readily take the fly. Nothing 

 is known of its ocean history ; it goes to sea at cer'tafn tinj< -s 

 and returns, but where they go, how they fare, or what mo- 

 tives guide their course no one can tell. When they first 

 appear in the rivers they have deep-sea fish in their stom- 

 achs, and often have tooth marks of seals nnd sea lions upon 

 them. Mr. Stone gives a most interesting account of the life 

 history of this salmon in fresh water, which is unfortunately 

 too long for our space. He has qualified his former state- 

 ment, that they all died after spawning, which was so severely 

 criticised some years ago when made, by saying : " Under 

 this head I will only say that it is probably true that those 

 ■nvn near the ocean return to the ocean and recover 

 tneir vitality ; but. those that pass the United Stales stalion 

 on the McCloud River in the summer never do." In investi- 

 gating this subject Mr. Stone took testimony of all the white 

 men who have lived or worked on the river, aud all the In- 

 dians he could reach. Kilbourne's picture is a fair one, rep- 

 resenting a salmon with a hook in his jaw, and head and tail 

 out of water. The tail is somewhat foreshortened. 



The muskellunge (as Prof. Goode chooses to spell it), 

 Msoz-hobilior, and its relatives the pike and pickerel form a 

 short chapter. These fishes have been generally decried in 

 America, although the maskinonge (as we prefer to spell it) 

 has some friends and supporters. In Europe the common 

 pike, which is identical with our lake pike, or " great north- 

 ern pickerel," E. lucius, is thought to be game of the high- 

 est character. We do not like Kilbourne's picture; the BsB 

 was evidently a small, slim one, and he has exaggerated ils 

 snaky character by curving it in a singular manner. 



A " Catalogue of the Game Fishes of North America " fol- 

 lows. In this are placed the fishes which are usually angled 

 lor, in the order of their relationships. This is followed by 

 a "Provisional Map, showing the Geographical Distribution 

 of the Game Fishes of Eastern North America" In this 

 Prof. Goode, by a system of differently colored lines, shows 

 on the map the distribution of each fish treated of in the 

 work, according to the latest authorities. This map exhibits 

 at a glance the limits occupied by each fish, and one gets a 

 comprehensive view of the ranges of each epecies. 



We have before spoken of the " Game Fishes of the United 

 States "as a great work which will take rank in future with 

 Audubon's " Birds of North America," Wolfe's " Wild Ani- 

 mals," and Gould's "Humming Birds," in point of artistic 

 and scientific value, and will add that it is one that will in 

 crease in value with time. As only a limited number were 

 printed and the stones destroyed, the present edition will be 

 the only one. It is not only an article of luxury but a ne- 

 cessity to the angler who hopes to keep up with the intelli- 

 gence of the age. 



The Route to Newfoundland.- — The following informa- 

 tion is kindly furnished by a gentleman who has recently re- 

 turned from Newfoundland: Steamers of the Allan line run 

 fortnightly from Baltimore to Halifax, N. B., and to St. 

 Johns, N. F. FromHalifax, steamers go frequently through 

 the Bras d'Or lakes to Sydney, C. B., and from Sydney the 

 tourist can reach St. Pierre de Miquelon in the Geerge Shal- 

 tuck, which leaves Halifax once a month for that port. The 

 steamer Curlew makes fortnightly trips between St. Pierre 

 and St. Johns, and once a month she calls at Sydney, C. B, 

 From St. Johns the northern ports of Newfoundland can be 

 Teached fortnightly by the Plover, Which during the months 

 of July, August and "September goes as far as Battle Haibor, 

 Labrador, connecting with another steamer •(this year the 

 Kite) which touches at very many of the fishing p'orts of 

 Labrador, as far north as Cape Harrigan. A small st< atner, 

 the Neptune, makes irregular trips during the summer 

 months between St. Johns aud Ihe northern ports of New- 

 foundland. Information should be obiained early in spring 

 from the agents of the various lines to enable the tourist to 

 make his plans. 



Queen Victoria's birthday present to the Crown PrincesB 

 of Germany was a marble statuette of the do- of the late 

 Prince Waldemar, by Mr. Bohm. 



