THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 587 



on May 20 was awaiting the arrival of the tish. These probably came 

 soon after and were put into the pond on or before the morning of the 

 iJlst, for on that day there was a .severe storm, the pond was flooded 

 and finally broke out at 2 p. m., and all the fish escaped. The lot con- 

 sisted of 20 leather and 20 scale carp. Later a large lot of j'^oung carp 

 were sent to the club and were liberated in the marshes by Mr. Fitz- 

 gerald's father, and still more were planted by a tug which went up 

 the river, putting in carp at various places along the route. To-day 

 these fish are extremely abundant in this locality, and have been so for 

 a number of years. 



According to Mr. Fitzgerald's statement, coincident with the increase 

 in the carp there has been a great decrease in the amount of wild celery 

 ( Yalllsneria spirah's) growing in the shallower waters. He says that 

 formerly, in late summer, the strip of comparatively shallow water 

 extending some quarter to one-half mile from the clubhouse to the 

 main channel of the river was thickl}^ grown up with this plant. Its 

 leaves were so abundant, floating on. the surface of the water, that it 

 looked almost like a solid bank, and it was only with great difficulty 

 that a boat could be paddled through it. To-day this stretch is open 

 water; only here and there do a few lil^ pads come to the surface. 

 Much the same thing had been told me the previous summer by a carp 

 fisherman, who for many years has acted as guide for hunters in the 

 region. He affirms that the marsh has changed greatly in the last few 

 years, and believes it is due to the carp. ' He says the carp root up 

 principally the wild celery ( ValUsneria)^ wild rice {Zizania) and deer- 

 tongue (probably meaning both Sagittaria and Pontederia)\ and that 

 the " canvasback celery " ( Vallwneria) has been largely cleared out. 



At the same time the duck shooting is said to have been rapidly on 

 the decline. The canvasbacks {Aythya vallisneria) and redheads 

 {Aythya arnericana) especially have been growing scarcer and scarcer. 

 The records of the Winnows Point Club, mentioned above, show a very 

 marked falling off in the number of canvasbacks killed in about 1893, 

 and conspicuously so in the numbers of both species in 1898-99. This 

 is ascribed to the " absence of food." Since 1899-1900 not more than 

 three or four canvasbacks have been killed by the members of the club 

 each year. It is the custom now to sow wild-rice seed in the vicinity, 

 but I do not know whether this has yet proved to be beneficial. 



In order to learn something of the conditions and the sentiment of 

 the sportsmen in the western part of Michigan, where there are many 

 famous duck marshes, I sent a circular letter to the postmasters at 

 Muskegon, Grand Haven, Holland, Saugatuck, and South Haven, and 

 in each case received a reply either from the postmaster himself or 

 from some one to whom the letter had been referred by him. The 

 verdict from Saugatuck, on the Kalamazoo River, accorded very closely 

 with that from Lake Erie. Mr. Charles E. Bird wrote that they have 



