FOREST AND STREAM. 



THE GULL RIVER WATERS. 



BALSAM LAKE lies at the terminus of the Toronto and 

 Nepissing Raihvay, and is about ninety mileB distant 

 from the City of Toronto, in Canada. It is surrounded by 

 land of poor quality, in places scarcely cultivable, but on 

 the shores of the hike are several farms that, by energy and 

 persistent hard work, have been cleared and brought to a 

 higher state of perfection than one might think possible at 

 first sight of the virgin land in the locality. 



Balsam Lake is at the head of a chain of waters— small 

 lakes— of, approximately, from four to fourteen miles in 

 - and short links of river that extend as far east as 

 Lake, including in the chain Lakes Cameron, Sturgeon, 

 m, Buckbom, Stony and Clear. Out of Rice Lake these 

 waters find their exit by way of the Eiver Trent into the Bay 

 of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Early in the history of Canada 

 these lakes formed one of the by-ways used by H. B. voya- 

 gers on their return from Montreal with stores for their posts 

 in the Northwest. To-day these hardy adventurers have 

 given place to the fisherman and tourist whose summer camp- 

 tire lights tip by night a scene of comfort and ease that would 

 contrast strongly with the old-time bivouac of swarthy voy- 

 agers, whose camp appointments were very simple — an over- 

 turned canoe the usual shelter. The fishing in these lakes 

 of bass and mnscalonge, and, of course, the dozen 

 other varieties found in like waters— perch, sunfish, cattish, 

 suckers, etc. 



The country about Rice Lake to the south and north has 

 been settled for many years. This lake is twenty -two miles 

 iu length, and from two to four miles wide. It is famous for 

 its muscalonge aud bass fishing, which even at this late date 

 is probably better than in any of the lakes more remote from 

 settlement. Its wild rice attracts many duck, and in October 

 and the early part of November every available point aud 

 every island, at all favorably situated, is occupied by a san- 

 guine sportsman. Decoying is the method of capture usually 

 employed, but for ten years past the number of ducks visiting 

 the lake has been rapidly diminishing ; and although ten or fif- 

 teen years ago, with less destructive weapons than are in vogue 

 to-day, our sportsmen were able easily to bag from 30 to 100 

 ducks. From five to ten is now considered a good average 

 number. 



Rice Lake is probably the most beautiful of our back lakes 

 m the Province of Ontario. It is connected with the town of 

 Cfbourg, on Lake Ontario, by the C. P. & M. Railway, four- 

 teen miles in length. In the vicinity of most of the lakes 

 above-named deer are still to be found, but only in some lo- 

 calities is the hunting really good, notably at Deer Bay, 

 Buckhorn Lake, aud north of Balsam Lake. Of course 

 there are fifty localities within the province that afford capi- 

 tal sport and" deer in plenty, but I am confining myself just 

 flow to a meagre description of what are commonly kuown as 

 Hie Gull River Waters. Many a town- weary Cannuek finds 

 full enjoyment in canoeing down the chain, making it a two 

 weeks'' journey, which allows plenty of time to insure com- 

 fort. If the weather is wet or stormy he need not pursue his 

 iway, but may employ himself "within doors" in arranging 

 fishimr tackle, in reading or in companionable talk. 



Buckhorn Lake has some very beautiful scenery, and at the 

 Narrows, between it and Pigeon Lake, the country ou either 

 side, as you enter Buckhorn, has the appearance of a grand 

 park, oak, beech, maple and balsam trees lending their varied 

 tints to the landscape. The lower part of Buckhorn Lake, 

 after the rapids are passed, is full of beautiful little rocky 

 islets, covered with bright vegetation, very similar to those 

 on the north shore of the Georgian Bay. There is very little 

 settlement about Buckhorn ; the land is poor close to the 

 lake, and deer, partridge and ducks abound during Septem- 

 ber and October. R. A. R. 



S$\[ ftdfof*. 



FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 

 COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES OF 

 WISCONSIN. 



THE Fish Commissioners of the State of Wisconsin— this 

 board consisting of the Governor of the State and 

 Messrs. Wm. Welsher A. Palmer, P. R. Hoy and H. F. 

 Donsman— in presenting their report for the last year,_ ending 

 September, 1877, follow in the wake of many other com- 

 missioners by calling attention to the necessity of taking steps 

 to compel the making of fishways around dams constructed 

 across Wisconsin rivers and streams. Cases are cited of fish 

 always caught at the foot of dams precisely in the season 

 when their instincts led them to ascend for the purpose of 

 spawning. Accordingly, the commissioners, in compliance 

 with the = request of numerous citizens, will call the attention 

 of the Legislature to this subject. 



In a former report an account of operations at Milwaukee 

 and Madison was published. The jprocess of fish breeding 

 has apparently been carried out quite successfully in regard to 

 trout, not, as the commissioners very wisely state, " while the 

 cultivation of the whitefish must ever constitute our leading 

 purpose, and the lake trout next, we are nevertheless assured 

 that the public want requires that the speckled trout shall 



have a place." 



From Milwaukee over 1,736,000 lake trout fry and 6,300,- 

 000 young whitefish have been distributed. This distribution 

 of 8 000,000 young fish is quite remarkable in itself for an 

 establishment not more than a year old. When one learns 

 that the cost of the young fish was only fifty cents a thou- 

 sand, and that the expenses of distribution only amounted to 

 $227.15, we may safely state that the commissioners have 

 managed the business intrusted to their care with great good 

 judgment and economy. Mr. Donsman, the commissioner in 

 charge, thinks that with new appliances some twelve to fif- 

 teen millions of whitefish spawn can be collected this year 

 with the same outlay as last. year. Mr. Welsher furnishes an 



interesting contribution to the report in his special paper on 

 fish hatching. Mr. Welsher states that about 182 days is 

 the time it takes the eggs of the lake trout to incubate, 

 but that 140 to 165 days were necessary for whitefish. Mr. 

 Welsher further adds, "Now what I claim is this— that lake 

 waters are the only proper waters for hatching lake fish, and 

 that along period of incubation is most essential and neces- 

 sary to produce good, healthy fish. Also, by hatching the ova 

 in water at a low temperature, and the consequent duration 

 of incubation, it brings out the young fish in the spring 

 months when the bright, warm daj-s of April and May have 

 removed the icy coat from the likes and streams," and ac- 

 cordingly that young fish have a better chance. The report 

 of the Wisconsin commissioners is an exceedingly able one, 

 and bears many evidences of genuine interest in the labor 

 undertaken. 



American Fisn Culttjeists Association.— The regular 

 meeting of the American Fish Culturists Association will 

 take place on February the 27th and 28th at the room of the 

 Directors of the Fishmongers' Society of New York, over the 

 wholesale market, foot of Beekman street, New York. A 

 large attendance of the leading fish culturists in the United 

 Slates and the Provinces is expected. The officers of the as- 

 sociation are : The Hon, R. B. Roosevelt, President; E. G. 

 Blackford, Treasurer; B. Phillips, Secretary. Besides numer- 

 ous papers of interest on leading topics the sections organized 

 at the last meeting will report as follows : On Methods of 

 Fish Culture, Messrs. Green, Porter and Wilrnot; on Fishing 

 Laws and Fishways, Messrs. Evarts, Stone and Ferguson ; on 

 Natural History, Messrs. Miluer, Mather and Hallock ; on 

 Fisheries, Messrs. Blackford, Phillips and Edmunds. 



The Western Iowa Fish Association. — The Western 

 Iowa Fish Association have been doiDg a great work for this 

 section of country, and the results of its labor are now be- 

 coming apparent. The members have worked with great 

 zeal and without a cent's worth of expense to the people to 

 stock the streams in this part of Iowa with the best varieties 

 of good fish that could be obtained from the State hatching- 

 house at Anamosa. The first fisb received was on the 7th of 

 June, 1875, and consisted of ten thousand Penobscot salmon, 

 which were distributed by Mr. D. W. Crawford and Mr. A. 

 C. Graham as follows : three thousand in the Boyer River and 

 two thousand in one of its tributaries. Three thousand were 

 planted in the Mosquito and two thousand in Willow Creek 

 in Shelby County, which is a small stream that flows in the 

 West 'Botna. Some of these fish have already grown to a 

 very fair size, and occasionally one is caught. In February, 

 1876, the association received 85,000 land-locked salmon and 

 15,000 Mackinaw trout. Messrs. Crawford and Graham, as- 

 sisted by State Fish Commissioner Shaw, put 5,000 of salmon 

 m the Little Mosquito, 5,000 in Keg Creek, and 5,000 in 

 Spring Creek. They also placed 14,000 of the Mackinaw 

 trout in the same streams. Mr. Cooper and S. C. Bowman 

 took 15,000 of the salmon to Big Lake, 5,000 to Hauthorn's 

 Lake, 5,000 to Pigeon Creek, 5,000 to iloney Lake, and the 

 remaining 30,000 to small streams tributary to the Pigeon. 

 The remaining 1,000 Mackinaw trout were placed in Mynas- 

 ter's Spring. On June 29, 1876, 2,000 eels were received'from 

 the State Fish Commissioner, 500 of which were put in Big 

 Lake by the late S. C. Bowman, 500 in the Mosquito at Park's 

 Mill by George Parks, and 500 in Keg Creek by A. C. Gra- 

 ham and D. W. Crawford. The remaining 500 were put in 

 smaller streams. In October, of the same year, Mr. Shaw de- 

 livered a lot of striped, rock, black and white bass, wall-eyed 

 pike, croppies, sunfisb, perch and a few other varieties, all 

 taken from the Mississippi River. There were about 10,000 

 in all, and the varieties were all new to our waters, and some 

 of them were large enough to breed. S. C. Bowman took 

 part of them to Mosquito Creek, and Mr. Campbell the bal- 

 ance to Keg Creek. Later in the month Mr. Shaw made the 

 association another shipment of a few large bass and perch, 

 some of which weighed two pounds. These were planted by 

 Mr. A. C. Graham in the Mosquito at Parks' Mill. Thus it 

 will be seen that about 125,000 eels have been procured by the 

 association from abroad and distributed. But this is not all 

 they have done. Mr. Graham made application to the Board 

 of Supervisors last fall for funds to enable him to seine the 

 sloughs on the bottoms, in which there are hatched millions 

 of young fish every summer, and distribute the same in the 

 running streams further inland, and he was granted $50. 

 With this sum men were hired and about 50,000 bass, crop- 

 pies and wall-eyed pike were caught and placed in Keg and 

 Mosquito Creeks. This was the only assistance the associa- 

 tion has had, and we think they are deserving of great credit 

 and should be encouraged. — Council Bluffs (Iowa) Nonpareil. 



MINK INFESTING TROUT PONDS. 



Seth Green, Esq., has favored us with the following letter 

 in reply to a correspondent who asks him how to get rid of 

 mink which infest his trout ponds : 



Eochksteb, Dec. 2T, 1S7T. 



Ms. Laud : Dear Sir— Yours of the 20tli is received. T n answer I will 

 say that I have been troubled with minks, and the way I got rid of them 

 was to set traps and catch them. The chances are that there are not 

 more than one or two minks which visit your ponds, and if you do not 

 kiil them they will kill every trout in them. One or two mosquitoes 

 will bother you all night if you keep brushing them off, but if you let 

 them light and then take sight and kill them sure you will not be 

 troubled any more. It is the same with mink or rats. I keep traps 

 set about the State ponds all the time, and when any vermin visit them 

 they get caught. Mink are. great travelers. A number of years ago I 

 was Ashing through the ice in the North Woods for salmon trout. I 

 had a pond that I kept live bait in. A mink with one fore fool; gone 

 got in my pond one niitht and killed neaily all my bait, The next day 

 1 saw his track twenty miles from the pond, and the next night after t 

 caught him In a Bteel trap in my pond. I have caught four mink this 

 winter in the neighborhood of the State ponds. No tish preserves are 

 safe witheut traps. A good rat dog is a good thing to have about your 

 premises, and all kind of vermin— including burglars— know every 

 houBe that keeps a good watch dog. Yours, Skth Gkebn. 



[Perhaps minks are the cause of many depleted ponds which 

 are supposed to have been poached. — Ed.] 



A FIGHT FOR LIFE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I once witnessed a etagoTat contest iu strategy between a duck and an 

 eagle, which may interest your readers. My friend and T were dunk 

 shoot ng upon the lakes in Northern Wisconsin; We were snooting 

 from a railroad Bridge tlitft eiossee the northern end of Lake Beau de 

 Mart, throtigh which Hows tile Fox River onits way to Green Bay. Our 

 method was to conceal ourselves as much as possible by cronoblug 

 low upon the stringers ard lower timbers of the bridge, and drop our 

 game as it flew over ns within easy range. It was a beautiful autumn 

 morning, and 1 had just tired my d, i shot, winging a blue Oil', which 

 dropped in the water a few rods above the bridge. Iws Jnat abont 

 to complete my imperfect work by giving the cluck the contents of my 

 remaining barrel, when I was startled by a most unusual sound. The 

 air quivered with the rush of lordly wings, and, almost with the rapid- 

 ity of lightning, a msgniii.'ent bald eagle, swooping from Ms night, 

 darted for my wounded duck. But with an equal celerity the duck 

 disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Aud then began one 

 of the most Inter, sting displays of sagacity, and determined contests 

 tor food on the one hand snd lifs on the other, that it has eyec been my 

 fortune to witueas. It lasted for over an hour aud a naif, and although 

 my friend and myself could have killed both the eagle and Ihe duck at 

 pleasure any time dnrJrng the contest, we seated ourselves on the 

 bridge and watched with peeuliar interest the most • ringular scene 

 which followed. The instinct (shall we not call it reasm?) manifested 

 by both parties was most remarkable. 



It Is a. well-known fact that when you essay to capture a winged 

 duck from a boat that it will seek to preserve itself by diving; and in 

 such cases will remain under the water for a very ion-' time, and when 

 coming to the surface will be far away from your boat, aud that fre- 

 quently in the rear, having passed under you ; so that It requires a 

 skilled boatman, as well aa very watchful hunter, to capture a duck 

 even when wing' d. 



In this case the duck apparently reasoned that the tactics adopted 

 when pursued by a hunter in a boat would not be suitable, since In 

 that case it might, come to the surface immediately beseath I he talons 

 of 1ti deadly foe. Itfurlher seemed to conclude that there was hat 

 one spot absolutely safe, aud that was the one on the surface which it 

 had just left, since the momentum of tile eagle In his flight would not 

 suffer h in to pause at that spot, but would necessarily enrry him be- 

 yond, so that if the duck should return almost immediately to that 

 spot he might replenish his wasted breath in safety. Whether so rea- 

 soning or not, such, at all events, was the course pursued, and no 

 sooner had the eagle darted over the spot than the du?k- would imme- 

 diately reappear in almost the exact locality. Nor was the sagacity 

 displayecfby the eagl« any the less interesting. Ho adopted a great 

 variety of tactics and method 1 , and pursued them with unflagging 

 zeal. At, times he would place himself so near the surface that his 

 great out-stretched wings would almost dip) the wafer, and, moving 

 slowly, noiselessly and stealthily along, precisely like a cat, would try 

 to steal upon his prey When he thought he had approached as near 

 as he could in this way, he would dart like a flash, with his great claws 

 distended ready to seize his victim. Then, again, he would place him- 

 self In the zenith of the duc*aud fall, rather than datt, but still with 

 astonishing celerity. Sometimes he would fly listlessly about, as if he 

 had given up the chase, and as much as to say he did not care much 

 for duck anyhow. Then, suddenly from this listless mood he would 

 bound with electric rapidity. Then he would make a succession of 

 darts, one following tlte other with the greatest celerity, wheeling and 

 bounding as if be would not allow his duckship a moment, to recover 

 breath, and so tire him out. .After something over an hour of this 

 manoeuvering he seemed to tire of the contest, and perching himself 

 upon a neighboring tree sat perfectly motionless. Supposing he had 

 given up in despair, we Tesumed our sport. But scarcely had we be- 

 gun, when the same ''whirr "filled our ears a? at the first, and the 

 contest was renewed with ten-fold vigor. He used loss strategy now, 

 but more hull-dog pertinacity. He seemed to have determined to 

 " tight it out on that line if it took all summer." 



And now another singular fact appeared. The duck, which at the 

 beginning appeared to have a mortal dread of his foe, gradually grew 

 quite bold and reckless. Alas ! how danger, like vice, " seen too oft," 

 makes us lose our caution. Many a poor life and soul is lost because 

 ol this. This it was that proved the ruin of my poor duck. Instead 

 of seeking safety early, as he had done, he grew reck:ess, and would 

 wait the quite near approach of his foe before he made his plunge. 

 At last— there always has to be an at last— he waited just a moment 

 too long, and the sharp claws pierced his back ere he bad gotteu suffi- 

 ciently beneath the surface, and he was borne off in triumph. 



It was with a feeling of regret that we noted the issue. For although 

 we ourselves were taking duck life without compunction, and although 

 this one had his organ of flight broken, so that never again could he 

 sail with companions over forest or stream, yet we felt that such a 

 noble struggle for life deserved a better fate than the furnishing ot a 

 breakfast, even though that breakfast was for the lordly eagle. 



o J. H. Walker. 



For Forest and Stream anil Rod and Gun 

 A.CCIPITRICIDE. 



Quails are the natural food of hawks, and a hawk which is large 

 enough to catch a quail will lose no oppormnity to do so. For this we 

 Should not blame him. We can simply pity the unf irtunate quail. But 

 the latter is also the natural food of man, and since the hawk respects 

 no close season he has come to be looked upon as a lawless poacher ami 

 marauder, to destroy whom at any time is to deserve well of one's 

 country. But this is not eo easy. No bird of prey in this part of the 

 country, in the enjoyment of freedom and reasonable self-respect, will 

 permit an armed pedestrian to cultivate a closer acquaintance than that 

 which may be formed at the distance of one hundred and thirty-seven 

 yards at the very least; and since that range is one to which the ordinary 

 shot gun does not attain, even the most careful and cautious of ap- 

 proaching sportsmen is Tolley-rably certain to see the Fbx-v rascal get 

 away Scott free. There's nothing Greener 'bout him. c r 



But there is a way to secure him, and thus preserve the lives of the 

 survivors of those splendid coveys which afforded you'such sport last 

 November, most of whom will fall victims, one by one, to his active, ra- 

 pacity. 



In driving along a couutry r iad at this season, one frequently sees a 

 large hawk sitting upon a tree, either at the edge of the woods, or iu 

 the middle of a field, but often quite Close to the roafy T.nioonehe 

 is not at all alarmed at the approach of the buggy^ and "still Keeps on 

 continuing to remain staying in the same place, without moving 

 after it has passed. "By jingo I" you Say to ynurselr, "if 1 only had 

 my guu !" So the next time you have occasion to drive out yon take it, 

 along, and maybe you don't see any hawks, but you expect every mo- 

 ment to do so, which mild excitement relieves the monotony wonder- 

 fully. 



The following day you forget your gin, and pass within thiity yards 

 of three or four big fellows. But the next time, with, your No". JO by 

 your side and half a dozen cartridges (No. i shot) iu yorir* pocket, you 



