140 



THE GAME BREEDER 



route from the station, but the cans 

 should be protected from the sun. 

 . 2. If the temperature of the water is 

 kept substantially as when received, and 

 the wagon kept moving, the fry will 

 require nothing more while in transit, 

 but if a stop exceeding ten minutes is 

 made the attendant (having provided 

 himself with a dipper) should every few 

 minutes dip water from the cans and 

 pour it back into the cans, from a height 

 of one foot, to thoroughly re-aerate the 

 water. This is better than to change the 

 water and substitute some water pos- 

 sibly unsuitable for fish life. 



3. At time of planting there should 

 be not more than three degrees differ- 

 ence in the temperature of the water in 

 the cans and that in which the fry are 

 planted. This equalization can be ac- 

 complished by dipping up the water 

 from the stream or lake in which it is 



proposed to plant them, and pouring it 

 into the cans, until the temperature is 

 about the same in both, as the water 

 being poured into the cans, and permit- 

 ted to run over for a few minutes, will 

 practically substitute the stream or lake 

 water for that in the cans, and do it so 

 gradually that the trout will feel no ill 

 effects. A thermometer is desirable, but 

 not necessary as the equalization can be 

 tested by the hand. 



4. In planting, pour out the fry and 

 water from the cans gently, and not too 

 near together, and if possible in small 

 channels or bayous of gently running 

 water, where there is grass and willows, 

 as the fry will there be in less danger 

 from larger fish, get feed and shade and 

 stay until they have strength to tackle 

 the current in the rriain stream ; otherwise 

 plant in shallow places near the shore 

 where there is shade. 



ance. They ripen in July and August 

 and are available to ducks throughout 



ELEVEN IMPORTANT WILD DUCK FOODS. 



Third Paper. 

 By W. L. McAtee. 



IThis valuable paper about the natural food of wild ducks is printed from a bulletin 

 issued by the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture.] 



Thalia. 

 Value as Duck Food. 



The writer's only experience with 

 thalia (species divaricata) as a wild-duck 

 food was on St. Vincent Island, Florida. 

 Here a slough filled with a tall growth 

 of these elegant plants was a favorite 

 resort of ducks, especially mallards, 

 which could always be flushed from this 

 place. However, at the time of the 

 writer's visit only one bird was obtained 

 and its stomach contained a few thalia 

 seeds. Another mallard collected at a 

 later date in the same place, by the late 

 Dr. R. V. Pierce, had fed almost exclu- 

 sively on these large seeds, and its gullet 

 and gizzard were well filled by 144 entire 

 seeds and fragments of others. 



The evidence is sufficient to show that 

 thalia has great possibilities as a wild- 

 duck food. The seeds are large and 

 nutritious and are borne in great abund- 



;Fig. 5— Thalia divaricata. 



the winter, if the water is not frozen 

 over. 



A single plant of Thalia divaricata is 



