NATURAL HISTORY. 



179 



der Depot, near Dover, N. J., last fall, and 

 one afternoon, to amuse one of the young- 

 sters, I fished below the dam with a light 

 fly rod for sunfish, using one of the small- 

 est fly hooks. The last sunfish I caught I 

 left on the hook. The fish was fairly well 

 hooked through the upper lip. and was 

 about 4^2 inches long. The boy had gone 

 up the bank and with a minnow had hooked 

 a small pickerel. When I went up to see 

 the fish he had caught I carried with me 

 my rod and line, with the sunfish still alive 

 on the hook. While watching the boy fish 

 I dropped the sunfish into the water and 

 let him swim away with the line until about 

 25 yards were off the reel. I then had a 

 strike that made me think I had a whale 

 on the hook. I worked the fish slowly and 

 got him where I could see what it was. It 

 proved to be a pickerel that would have 

 weighed about 3V2 pounds. He had the 

 sunfish crosswise in his mouth and tugged 

 hard to get his bait loose. When I tried to 

 work the pickerel into shallow water at the 

 side of the boat landing he let go and swam 

 away. I let the sunfish swim away again, 

 and 4 or 5 times the pickerel struck him. 

 holding on hard. Finally he gave up and 

 left in disgust because he could not get the 

 fish off the hook. When I examined the 

 sunfish I found that the scales had been 

 scraped off by the pickerel's teeth. 



My point of difference with Mr. Wrighter 

 is that a fish that could bite a 4 foot snake 

 in half should certainly have strength 

 enough in his jaws to tear the slight hold 

 of a small fly hook such as I had on the 

 sunfish. I should like to hear through Rec- 

 reation where Mr. Wrighter witnessed 

 that wonderful sight. I have seen lots of 

 snakes in the water but never yet have I 

 seen a 4 foot snake swim with *4 oi his 

 length out of the water. My opinion is 

 that Mr. Wrighter and his brother both 

 had snakes before they went fishing. 



Geo. R. Mansley, Newark, N. J. 



WANTOX CRUELTY. 



I am much interested in your magazine 

 as it pleads the care of the helpless and 

 persecuted. I am also desirous of seeing 

 our gentle neighbors protected from the 

 violence and greed of cruel, thoughtless, 

 selfish men. 



The town where I live has a stream run- 

 ning through it, dividing it into 2 parts, 

 and on either side are flats, subject to over- 

 flow in spring, autumn and winter. These 

 flats are not built on, and in some parts 

 large trees overhang the stream, spreading 

 into a grove or park. In this seclusion 

 wild birds and animals are sometimes seen, 

 and often killed. 



One summer day an old lady came into 

 my house saying, 



"Get your sun-hat quick ! and come with 



me. Mr. Dumanois has taken his gun and 

 gone down to the water to kill our king- 

 fisher." 



I went after the man with the gun, but 

 we were too late. As we got near 'him, 

 the report of the gun rang out and the 

 lovely bird fell dead, all his bright plum- 

 age stained with his blood. My friend be- 

 gan to upbraid the gunner. I said nothing, 

 but I looked first at the beautiful bird, then 

 at the killer. I presume my eyes said a 

 good deal, for he began to explain, 



"I shot it for my ferret.'' 

 ^ The ferret was to have something to eat! 

 There are 4 or 5 meat markets in town, 

 one not half a mile from that man's house, 

 and a bit of fresh meat was as good for 

 his ferret as the bird was. I did not an- 

 swer him. He took up the bird, cut off the 

 wings, and gave them to me, saying, 



"You can wear them in your hat;" but 

 those wings were never worn in a hat. 



I remember the joy I had as a child in 

 seeing a kingfisher haunting a shady stream 

 where I played. I pinned the wings on the 

 wall of my snuggery and often looked at 

 them in sorrow for the owner's fate. 



I went to see the man's terret, and as 

 the cruel little beast snuffed and gloated 

 over the dead bird, I looked from it to its 

 owner. There seemed to me a resemblance 

 between the 2 — something bloodthirsty and 

 vile. I think the man was grlaa to take the 

 life of that rare bird. It was the only one 

 ever seen here. I think he felt a joy 

 in slaying. I did not speak. I let my 

 friend do all the talking, but the man was 

 even more uneasy under my silent reproach. 

 Nothing could undo the deed, and bring 

 life to the slaughtered bird. 



Last winter was hard for the birds. 

 After January tnere was little bird life 

 to be seen. The stores ot suet and seed 

 were almost unvisited, and only a blue jay 

 now and then was in sight. I think the 

 birds went farther South. I can not see 

 how they got any food otherwise, as storm 

 after storm covered all the food provided 

 for them, and the cold was most bitter. 

 Even the English sparrows stayed away, 

 and I felt lonely without my bird friends 

 and neighbors. I trust they all went South 

 and did not perish in the storm-ridden 

 woods and fields. 



Two weeks ago there were many robins 

 here. Mrs. H. P. Pyer, Lapeer, Mich. 



FEEDS THE ROBINS. 

 I am a constant reader of Recreation, 

 and take great pleasure in noting the num- 

 ber of people who express themselves 

 in sympathy with your views. I see in 

 your Natural History department something 

 not to my taste, where Mr. J. A. Krunkel 

 says "kill the robins and sparrows." That 

 is the most absurd thing I ever heard of. 

 A person who would kill a robin here in 



