24 



FOREST AND STEEAM. 



from reading of them, one thousand people would lose their 

 lives at our watering places along our coast each season, since 

 our shores swarm with these mouaters every summer; and if 

 one of them attempted to catch a man in the water and he 

 were a hundred feet from him, the man could not turn 

 around before the shark would devour him, for when fully 

 under way for an Object, a shark excels in speed. lie catches 

 the dolphin in a fair race, moves around a ship under full sail 

 as though she was motionless, and he can glide past a boat 

 within a rod, when the water is clear, with that rapidity that 

 the eye cannot trace him ; a man would stand a small chance 

 if a sbark went for him. I have been in the water among 

 sharks where half a dozen large ones could see me at onetime, 

 and never especially regarded myself in danger from them, 

 from simply swimming around where they were ; but in a few 

 nstances when fishing for them and other fish, I have been a 

 ittle alarmed. On one occasion 1 mounted the bow of the 

 boat to strike a large blue shark with a small harpoon, and on 

 planting the, iron hi the fish I lost my balance and fell over- 

 board, and in striking out to swim caught a turn of the line 

 around my ancle, and I reckon if the iron had not torn loose, 

 I should have gone to "Davy Jones' locker" — as it was, I got 

 pretty well choked with salt-water. On another occasion, 

 while fishing for cod, I picked up a bunker, mashed it with 

 my heel, and commenced to wash it overboard to bait the fish 

 I was seeking. All at once the water began to boil under my 

 hands, and what should I behold but no less than five large 

 switch-tails, and one of them, as large around as a barrel, made 

 a grab at the bunker in my hands, and they had the water boil- 

 ing like a caldron for the space of two rods around. You 

 can imagine I was not long in taking my hands from the 

 water. The stories told about sharks eating people have been 

 mainly circulated by officers of vessels. An old pet shark is 

 a Godsend to a ship in port to prevent sailors swimming on 

 shore for rum and other purposes. Currency has been given 

 to the fierceness of these fish, until the danger has been so 

 wonderfully magnified that even those who circulated the 

 stories have frightened themselves. I cannot believe a shark ever 

 bit a man while in the water, knowing it was a man, but from 

 mistaken identity there may have been a very few cases of un- 

 doubted reality. Sharks are accustomed to follow vessels and 

 attach themselves to them for what they can pick up to eat, 

 fcnd always when the cook empties the refuse of the galley, 

 and as it splashes in the water, the old sentinel is on hand for 

 his share. Straight Bobe. 

 , — •♦• 



Song of the Mocking Bxed.— Last night, at 11 o'clock, a 

 mocking bird commenced his song from the top of a tree that 

 overshadows my house. At first I was inclined to believe 

 that there was some fixed order or stated repetition in his 

 mimiciy of the songs of other birds, and to find out if there 

 was I jotted down with a pencil his notes as repeated. After 

 a prelude he dashed off into the_songs and notes of other birds, 

 repeating them over, from four to six times, with a distinct- 

 ness and deliberation seldom heard. 



Wbippoorwill, house-wren, sparrow-hawk, house wren, 

 tufted titmouse (" keep it "), summer red bird, brown thrush, 

 house-wren, bluebird, king bird, bluebird, blacksmith's ham- 

 mer, or anvil, young mocking bird, Guinea-fowl ("po- 

 track"), house-wren, "keep it," blue bird, king bird, mar- 

 tin, house-wren, cat bird, young chicken, sapsucker, 

 young mocking bird, fly catcher, house-wren, golden- 

 wing woodpecker, Baltimore oriole, pewee., youug mocking 

 bird, " Poll's a good weaver Dick," jay, "keep it," house- 

 wren, song thrush, killdeer, young mocking bird, king bird, 

 note of alarm of brown thrush, cardinal grosbeak, sparrow- 

 hawk, house-wren, young rooster, tufted titmouse, wbippoor- 

 will. 



After getting back to the wbippoorwill he did not go 

 through in the same order as before, but varied his repetitions 

 Of the song of the wren with the notes of the sparrow-hawk. 

 The next time the notes of the bluejay seemed to strike his 

 fancy, and the sharp " jay, jay, jay," and the softer " kalip, 

 kalip, kalip," were repeated over and over again. The song 

 was interspersed with trills and catches and notes of his own. 

 The family duties of JMrs. Polly Glottus being over lor the 

 year, and food being abundant, her better half has nothing to 

 do but serenade her, which he does with a vim, singing— as 

 "darkey Dixon" played the fiddle— " pretty much ab the 

 time." 



Corinth, Mm.*Jime 18, 1877. 



GtYON. 



pKKsn "Water Fisn Is Salt Wateb.— In Fokest and 

 Stream of May 17, we mentioned fifteen different varieties 

 of fishes, included in nine different families, that live equally 

 well in fresh and salt water, as they were debarred from 

 either. The following from the Scientific American virtually 

 sustains our position, though the writer starts with the con- 

 trary assumption : 



It is well known that fresh water fish cannot live in salt 

 water and vice versa, and it has been supposed that the reason 

 existed in some poisonous effect which the inappropriate 

 water exerted. M. Paul Bert has recently been investigat- 

 ing this subject, and his conclusion is that the death of the 

 creature is not due to any toxic action, but is simply a phe- 

 nomenon of osmosis or transmission of fluids through the 

 membranes; In order to prove this it is only necessary to 

 weigh the animal before and after the experiment. A frog, 

 for example, plunged in sea-water loses one-third its weight. 

 If only the loot of the frog be introduced the blood globules 

 can be seen to leave the vessels and distribute themselves un- 

 der the skin. If an animal be taken, the skin of winch is not 

 entirety osmotic, the same phenomena occur in the bronchial 

 system. 



There are certain fish, however, which exist sometimes in 

 gait sometimes in fresh water, changing their habitat in differ- 

 ent periods of life or of the year. It, therefore, in view Of 

 tae above, becomes interesting to see how M. Bert applies his 

 discovery to such apparent exceptions to the general rule. A 

 fresh water salmon, for instance, plunged abruptly 

 resists the effects longer than any other fresh 



but he dies within live or six hours. This shows, ac- 

 cording to M. Bert, that the fish never proceed suddenly from 

 fresh to salt water, but enter brackish water where the tide 

 ebl is and flows, and live there a sufficient time to habituate 

 themselves to the change. Tins accounts for the frequent 

 discovery of large numbers of such migratory fish in the vi- 

 cinity of the mouths of the rivers which they ascend. 



The converse experiment of inserting sea fish in fresh water 

 produced anal&goua results. The gills were the seat of alter- 

 ations, the same as those noted in fresh water fish placed in 

 salt water. M. Bert also observed that the life of the sea, fish 

 could be prolonged by adding salt to the fresh water, thus 

 adding further confirmation to his theory. 



*~* 



Tame Fish.— Pliney Jewell has a great deal of satisfaction 

 every evening in feeding the crowd of gold-fish which swarm 

 in the lake on Ms premises. The fish have learned to look for 

 his daily visits. He first places a quantity of crackers in the 

 water near the edge of the lake. The fish will not touch 

 these, as fchey are for the birds who come flying down.in flocks 

 to get their evening meal. Then Mr. Jewell goes to the other 

 side of the lake, and ringing a small bell, the water is seen to 

 bubble and boil with the fishes which come hastily to the edge 

 and grab at the bits of cracker and bread thrown into the 

 water for them. Even the frogs and turtles come up for then 

 share, and so tame have some of the frogs become that they 

 will come out of the water and hop to Mr. Jewell's feet to pick 

 up the crumbs that are dropped. The turtles eat ravenously 

 and do not show the slightest sign of fear. One and all, 

 birds, frogs, fish and turtles, seem to heartily enjoy then even- 

 ing meal. — Hartford Times. 



•& The Ribbon Fish.— In a letter to Land and Water, Frank 

 Buckland gives this description of this singular fish : 



I have received, through the kindness of a correspondent at 

 Nice, a very interesting and remarkable specimen of a ribbon 

 fish. I make him out to be a regalicus. I have never before 

 seen one of these most curious fish in the flesh. It measures 

 five feet, is about a quarter of an inch thick, and is of a silvery 

 hue, not unlike the color of the silver-hair tail. Upon the top 

 of the head there are filaments, which, when stretched to their 

 full, are about eight inches long. The head is very remarka- 

 ble ; altogether it is not unlike the shortened head of a horse. 

 The mouth is prehensile, and so peculiarly formed that it is 

 quite worthy of a figure; the eyes are very large and circular ; 

 the iris of a lustrous silver color. Behind the head the body 

 is two inches and a half deep, in the middle two inches, at the 

 tail a quarter of an inch. When held up to the light it is al- 

 most transparent ; the vertebrae can with difficulty be seen, 

 but with the movement of the fingers each vertebra; will give 

 a slight crack at the junction with its neighbor. The verte- 

 brae ate longest and thickest toward the tail end, at which 

 there are sharp spines. It is covered everywhere with a fine 

 silvery powder, which readily comes off in the hand. It has a 

 crest of about an inch in height, which runs down the whole 

 of the back. The rays forming the crest are united to double 

 pillars of very slender bone. In substance it is very delicate, 

 and begins to dry and harden almost immediately on exposure 

 to the air. 



1 cannot find much about this fish in any of my books. 

 This family of ribbon-shape form consists of seven genera, 

 and twenty-six species. Mr. Swainson remarks of it as fol- 

 lows: 



" It contains the most singular and extraordinary fishes in 

 creation. The form of the body, when compared to fishes 

 better known, is much like that of an eel, the length of the 

 body being in the same proportion to the breadth ; but then 

 it is generally so much compressed that these creatures have 

 acquired the popular name of ribbon fish, lath, or deal fish. 

 The body, indeed, is often not thicker, except in the middle, 

 than is a sword, and being covered with the richest silver, 

 and of great length, the undulating motions of these fishes in 

 the sea must be resplendent and beautiful beyond measure. 

 But the wonders of the mighty deep are almost hidden from 

 the eye of man. These meteoric, silver-coated fishes appear 

 to live in the greatest depths, and it is only at long intervals, 

 and after a succession of tempests, that a solitary individual 

 is cast upon the shore with its delicate body torn and mutilat- 

 ed by the elements on the rocks, so that with few exceptions 

 they are scarcely to be regarded as edible fish." 



According to this authority, the Mediterranean has hitherto 

 produced the largest proportion of the family, but it is dis- 

 tributed from the arctic regions to the sunny shores of India, 

 so that probably a tithe have not yet been discovered. 

 — »♦, — « 



Habits of Ants.— Last week as I was coming in the gate 

 my attention was attracted by seeing a stream of ants moving 

 across the walk, going in different directions. They were 

 traveling in a belt about four inches wide, and moving very 

 rapidly. Of those going in one direction each had a large ant 

 egg in its mouth. I followed theempty "mouthed" ones, and 

 found they were robbing a nest of red ants. The nest was 

 about one foot across, and was covered with red and black 

 ants engaged in a most desperate battle, the reds trying to de- 

 fend their home from their thievish enemies. At times the 

 ants would form in little balls sliding and rolling over the 

 ground. I observed that the black ants that were engaged 

 in stealing took no part in the fight : but w r ould seize the 

 eggs and make for their own hill, leaving the fighting to be 

 done by the rest of the band. The black ants, "in making 

 these depredations! had to cross one carriage drive, two plank 

 walks, and climb up a terrace two feet in height, the distance 

 between the two hills being one hundred and fifty-two feet 

 through the grass of an ordinary lawn. Gut of curiosity I 

 killed one of the black ants and took it to a jeweler and laid 

 it put in the balance with the egg it was carrying, when the 

 egg was the heaviest, which shows the remarkable strength 

 and endurance of these interesting insects. I once noticed a 

 small red ant trying to carry a worm several times as heavy 

 as itself up a small mound, on the top of which was its nest. 

 After trying several time without success, it run ap the bill 

 and disappeared in its hole, and presently returned with quite 

 a number of companions, who easily carried their captive into 

 the nest in spite of his struggles. " J. 8. S. 



Why Exes Shine in the Dark.— It is often asked why 

 the eyes of many animals exhibit a peculiar brilliancy which 

 is remarkable in the dark. When darkness is absolute, no 

 light is emitted, a fact which has boon established by careful 

 experiment: but a very small amount of light is sufficient to 

 cause the luminous appr optics. This brilliancy 



is due to a carpet of glittering fibres, known as the tnpebum, 

 but a carpet of gliUe n "g fibres found in the retina of 



CAPTURE OF BUTEO HARLANI (AUD.) 

 IN TEXAS. 



Gainesville, Texas, March 18, lSfT. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Ab I have never seen any record of the eaptnrejof Butea hm-laai la 

 Texas, I anbnrit the following description of one I sliot on November 

 16,1876: 



Size-Length. 21 %; extent, 49; wing, 16; tail, 10; tarsus, 3J£ ; green- 

 ish yellow, it, .75 ltd 1.S5 (chord of cl.) 3tcl '1% ; bill, blue at bn 

 The "lobing" of the upper mandible approaches nearer to a tooth than In 

 any of the Buteoncs I have examined, in fact grading close up to soma 

 of the accipeters, ia this respect. The cere is greenish yellow, 4th trail 

 longest out decidedly -'sinuate, tapering,-' first three, quilts eyourjinate ; 

 first quill is equal to the 8th in length. The black bars on the tail are 

 definite, and run in waves, or rattier form arrow heads on each feather 

 with the point toward the base of the quill; tibial feathers long, eyes 

 yellowish ash, 



The plumage is in general blackish with a decided purple lustre, and 

 ttruch white spotting on many of the feathers. Throat, wtiii.-, \yitli Hue 

 black pencilings. The "marbling" of the tall is not bo definite as I 

 expected to find it, and upon this character Mr. Ridgway places con- 

 siderable emphasis. 



I find those birds much more wary than any of the Bnteonea that, 

 winter here, and in fact, it was rather an accidental capture of this one. 

 I was standing on the bank of a creek in an open field with a few bushes 

 surrounding me, when I observed this bird coming down the orei 

 ward me. Screened by the bushes, I awaited his arrival, then rose up 

 and fired. My gun being charged with small shot, I did not taring him 

 flown, but could see that my shot had taken effect. At the report of 

 my gun he dropped a quail, which, upon examination, appeared to have 

 been killed some time, as the muscles were relaxed, and the feathers 



damp from the dew of the morning. 1 examtl il HOI holes 



thinking it must have been crippled, but could iind none. Four hon ra 

 after the first shot I shot the same hawk from Its perch, and identified 

 it by the driedhlood upon the feet and feathers. I would like to know 

 if the "lolling "of the upper mandible and the color of the eyes has 

 been noted by other observers? 



From some cause I failed to note the sex of this bird, which 1 regret, 

 very much. It is now in the possession of Mr. R. M. W. Gibbs, Kala- 

 mazoo, Mich. G. H. Ra.gsi.ale. 



[The specimen above described has been sent to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and is pronounced by Mr. It. Eidgway a 

 true Buteo liarlani. — Ed.] 



BIRDS KILLED BY TELEGRAPH 

 WIRES. 



Pottsvillk, Pa., July 80, 1st;. 

 Editor Forest and Stream ; 



A small party of us left town last week on a fishing excursion, wtiie.h 

 was limited to Schuylkill county waters only. After spending three days 

 iu very successful angling, we returned home feeling much better and 

 wiser. During our rambling we noticed that game of every kind is 

 very abundant, and, if not molested, the field and finest, in this section 

 promises unusual charms for our sportsmen during the coming fail 

 and winter season. 



Notwithstanding the frequent charges hurled at the illegitimate ac- 

 tion of the destroyer of game birds by means of trapping, snafing, 

 etc., and those disregarding the season for propagation, yet we feel 

 there Is pardon for him when we seriously contemplate the many hun- 

 dred thousand birds killed annually by Hying against the telegraph 

 wires, which form a murderous network over the greater parr, of the 

 country. In support of this assertion it is only necessary to give some 

 facts observed during the few days of our rusticating, the moat note- 

 worthy of which was the finding of uearly one hundred dead birds in 

 close proximity to the telegraph wire iu a distance of four miles. 

 Several of the birds we saw strike the wire and fall, aud the appear- 

 ance of those found dead was, in all respects, similar to Unit oi 

 seen to strike and fall. Among them were a few young quails, flickers 

 and robins; but the majority of the birds were larks, whose (light is 

 singularly wayward and impulsive, which may account in a m 

 for their inability to clear the wire. 



Have any of your numerous intelligent contributors made similar 

 observations? Don PejibO. 



[Dr. Cottes, in a recent number of the American Naturalist, 

 has discussed this matter at considerable length, and we re- 

 commend his article to our readers' notice— To. | 



Animals Received at Central Park Menagerie for week ending 

 auo. 11, 1S7T.— One least bittern (ArJetta exili*); three gold en-naped 

 arnazous {Chrysotis auripalliata) ; one gray parrot (Paittacv* erUhaeun), 

 presented by Or. 3, W. Clowes, N. Y I 



The gray parrot or iaco is a native of West. Afrie-a; has a plmna 

 an elegant ash-gray color, which is beautifully Set. off l>J a tail of the 

 brightest crimson, it is remarkable for its tenacious memory, being 

 able to repeat whole sentences with facility, and is vei'y easily taught 

 The interesting aud amusing auecdotes we read of the parrots (•( I. 

 the most part to this species. It is extremely long lived, several well 

 authenticated instances being recorded of its having attained the age 

 of CO or Til years. In the wild state il builds its nests in the hollow trees, 

 and Button mentious a certain pair that bred and hatched in captivity a 

 brood for live or six consecutive years. It was among the earliest 

 species imported from Africa, and nearly every vessel now that, leaves 

 the west coast brings a number of these birds, which are the property 

 of the sailors. W. A. Conklln, Director. 



Armvals at Philadelphia Zoological Garden during week end- 

 ing Tuesday, Aug. T, 1S77.— One. great homea owl {Bubo Virginia w$), 

 presented; one alligator (A. viisxisxiji/ju-nHh), presented; one snowy 

 owl (Xietea idem), presented! two pigeon hawks (Aca'petur fi, 

 purchased. ArtbcbE. Brown, Gen'l.Snpt. 



— English scientific circles are just now enjoying the ran- 

 treat of interviewing a real live young gorilla, which 

 first one ever successfully brought into Europe. Prank Buck- 

 land in a letter to Land and Water says the younestn 

 may prove an unwelcome witness against the Darwinian 

 theory. 



— A Mr. Tominetto, of Hamburg, Germany, lias invented a 

 method of preserving natural history specimens, by means of 



an injected gas. which absorbs the moisture of the tissues, and 

 drives it out through the pores. Prepared thus, specimens 

 preserve perfectly their form and color. 



— The peculiarity of the fly is that he always returns to the 

 pot; but, it is 1 1 the mosquito that he 



always returns to aiiofti i differs from the 



d, which does not change his spots. This is an 



