NATURAL HISTORY. 



55 



investigate. Moving a little nearer the 

 spot whence the sound seemed to come I 

 soon located it in a mass of sticks and 

 leaves collected by the current about a 

 half submerged log. The water being 

 clear I soon discovered fish. Going home 

 I rigged up a small spear and returned. 

 Stepping out on the log and waiting some 

 time I secured 2 or 3 small fishes and then 

 tried another place, with the same result. 

 Just what kind they were I am not prepared 

 to say, but I remember they all had sucker 

 mouths and I am inclined to think they 

 were feeding. I have heard them many 

 times since. Anyone who will quietly ap- 

 proach a drift in a stream any day in 

 summer and remain still a short time will 

 be rewarded by hearing that sound. 



F. F. Mottelen, Primghar, Iowa. 



Some years ago, while fishing in the 

 Iowa river, I noticed the peculiar noise 

 mentioned by Mr. Covert, in a drift imme- 

 diately above a fallen tree. On investigat- 

 ing I found that every time the noise was 

 made a stick or a small piece of bark could 

 be seen to rise and fall at intervals. I 

 decided that the disturbance was made by a 

 sucker. Wishing to be positive I placed a 

 small hook on my line, baited it with an 

 angle worm, placed a small sinker above 

 the hook and lowered it into the drift 4 

 to 6 inches below .the surface of the water, 

 where it was in motion. In a few seconds 

 I landed the fish, which proved to be a 

 sucker. It is a question in my mind 

 whether these fish feed on the decaying 

 wood or the insects found therein, or 

 whether they simply make the noise for pas- 

 time. I have been fortunate enough, once or 

 twice, to see these fish sucking on the un- 

 der side of a drift and their body is almost 

 perpendicular in the water. If Mr. Covert 

 will take time to investigate this matter, I 

 feel confident he will have a counterpart of 

 my experience. 



C. L. Bowen, Fort Dodge, Iowa. 



I read many magazines and newspapers, 

 but none is more welcome than Recrea- 

 tion. I may be able to throw light on Mr. 

 T. F. Covert's perplexity. I have heard 

 sounds such as he describes, and several 

 times have traced them to what I think is 

 the source. If Mr. Covert had thrust a 

 fish spear through the debris he would 

 most likely have impaled a fish of the 

 sucker variety. These fish feed largely on 

 the low vegetable and animal life that ac- 

 cumulates on submerged logs and drift 

 material. I do not know just how they 

 produce the sound. I have watched them 

 while feeding and they seemed to attach 

 the circular rim of their mouth to an object 

 and then with a quick movement remove 

 it. I am of the opinion that they attach their 

 mouth to the object, and by producing a 



partial vacuum by suction remove the 

 food and at the same time produce the 

 sound referred to. 



Ira Lamb, Atkinson, Neb. 



The drumming or thumping noise heard 

 by Mr. Covert was made by fish, sucking. 

 A number of fishes make this noise, name- 

 ly: the buffalo fish, the quillback or bony 

 carp, the German carp, the redhorse and 

 the different varieties of suckers. While 

 buffalo fish and German carp suck almost 

 exclusively in foam and drifted sediment, 

 the redhorse, quillback or bony carp, and 

 all the various tribes of the sucker species 

 suck on logs, fallen trees, etc. ; in fact, on 

 any bulky article suspended in the water, 

 on the bottoms of boats, etc. The sounds 

 are easily distinguishable, the foam suckers 

 making a nois somewhat, resembling that 

 made by a hog drinking swill, while the log 

 or timber suckers make a distinct crack- 

 ing, or thumping, noise. The redhorse 

 makes a great deal more noise than any 

 other kind of fish. He can be heard on 

 still nights a distance of 200 to 300 yards 

 along the river. 



T. H. McKinley, Wheatland, Ind. 



Say to Mr. T. F. Covert that the mysteri- 

 ous sound he heard was a sucker, feeding. 

 Some years ago I was fishing in the Au- 

 glaize river, near where a log had lodged, 

 above which a lot of drift had gathered, 

 consisting of small pieces of bark, sticks, 

 rotten wood, leaves and foam. Hearing 

 that peculiar sound I soon located it and 

 noticed that small particles of drift and 

 foam about 2 or 3 inches square, rose each 

 time. While I was watching, a neighbor 

 came along with a gun and I called his at- 

 tention to the disturbance. He was as 

 much puzzled as I was. After watching it 

 for some time he concluded he would try 

 his rifle. He took careful aim and fired. 

 In a few moments a large sucker floated 

 out, with part of his head gone. If the 

 listener is close he will notice a peculiar 

 sucking sound accompaning the tapping Mr. 

 Covert describes. 



D. W., Delphos, Ohio. 



I have often heard the sound described 

 by Mr. Covert, when fishing for bass, 

 which, by the way, is usually after dark, 

 when the water is smooth and no noise is 

 heard except what is made in the canoe. 

 In paddling along by a lily bed I once heard 

 the sucking, or picking, sound he said came 

 from the drift stuff under the uprooted 

 tree, and on investigating with a lantern I 

 found that the noise was made by a black 

 bass, with his nose just out of water, suck- 

 ing flies off the edge of the leaves. When 

 I hear that "gnashing of teeth" I forthwith 

 send my white miller on its mission of al- 

 lurement and am usually rewarded by a 

 click, click, that sends a thrill along my 



