60 
FOREST AND STREAM 
REMARKABLE POWER OF MARKING 
BIRDS. 
Washington, D. C., February 28, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Last fail, while rail shooting on the Magazine Flats, my pusher con¬ 
vinced me of the truth of his reputation that he could mark a bird keener 
than a dog. After several, to me extraordinary finds among the wild 
oats, two birds (reed birds) got up and 1 killed one with each barrel, they 
falling forty or fifty yards apart. Bailey undertook to push for the first 
and nearest, and I to keep my eye on the spot where the second fell. 
He got his bird all right and then, he not having looked in the direction 
since his first glance, I undertook to pilot to the second. When satisfied 
that it was lost bird—“eels had got it”—Bailey laughingly pushed a few 
yards to right and ahead, and picked up the bird as though he had seen 
it from the first moment. 
With regard to the rail found on the Potomac marshes, there is a rail 
considerably larger than the rest, called the king rail, and another of the 
same size.as the king rail, differing only that on the wing joint there is 
a horny prong with a claw, which will hardly be noticed but by a close 
observer. Piseco. 
New Craig, Monmouth Co., February 20, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
My brother sportsman “Camden” wishes me to give you the reason 
I used No. 10 shot last season, when I made the “good shots,” a descrip¬ 
tion of which you were pleased to notice in your issue of last week. It 
will give me pleasure to do so, and will I be happy to hear from him or 
others in reference to their experience in such matters. I will be per¬ 
mitted to say just here I do not wish to convey the impression that these 
shots are a common occurrence with me. By no means, but the con¬ 
trary, many of my double shots are not very brilliant or successful. Last 
summer I obtained the gun in question of my friend II. W. Abbott, Esq. 
of New Brunswick, whose long, practical and successful sporting career 
gives his judgment in such matters much influence with me. With the 
gun I received a number of cartridges, loaded with No. 10 shot, and in- 
structions to load others just as they were loaded for the early part of 
the season. This was my first experience with this kind of a gun, and 
anticipating fine sport I purchased two bags of shot (50 pounds) of No. 10 
shot for the approaching fall season. I loaded a large number of shells 
with these shot, and not having much shooting they lasted me the entire 
season, not only in this State, but in Delaware and Virginia, where I 
made one of the shots alluded to. Like -Camden,” I had never used for 
quail shooting this size shot before,always using No. 8, and thought there 
must be something wrong about it; but after my experience the past sea¬ 
son I am inclined to try them again, at least in the early part of the sea¬ 
son. Mr, Abbott is an advocate of a greater number of pellets of a small¬ 
er size, as your chances of killing are thereby increased with a thicker 
and more even delivery of the charge and greater penetration and not 
mutilation, of the game as at short range, which often occurs with 
larger shot, especially when small game is young and tame. I don’t 
know that I can give a satisfactory or more scientific explanation to the 
matter than this, but will give you the actual result of one day’s shooting 
in Delaware the 12th of last January with this shot and gun, aud will 
leave your correspondent to form his own conclusions. Here yon have 
it, late in the season at that: I made a hag of twenty quail, and when I 
missed, which was quite often, I am satisfied it was not the fault of the 
shot so much as my inaccuracy of aim, which I guess is generally the 
trouble with myself and others. My friend of 120 Entaw street,Philadel¬ 
phia, was present when the shot was made in Virginia, and if “Camden” 
will call upon him he may be able to give more interesting particulars 
about it and kindred matters, as he is an accompl.shed sportsman. 
“Monmouth.” 
Men Mill Miver 
FISH IN SEASON IN MARCH. 
Speck led Trout. Land-locked salmon 
Salmon Trout or Teague. 
Exception is made in the State of Pennsylvania, where the close sea¬ 
son does not end until April. In New York, the season begins on the 
15th of March and in Massachusetts on the 20th March. 
Pompano. 
Snapper. 
Grouper. 
Rockfisli. 
SOUTHERN WATERS. 
Trout, (Black Bass.) 
Drum, (two species.) 
Kingfish. 
Striped Bass, 
Sheepshead 
Tailorfish. 
Sea Bass. 
—Our regular Boston correspondent says that a splendid 
salmon, one of the first of the season from the Penobscot 
River, weighing twenty-two pounds, was on exhibition at 
the stall of Wm. Prior, Jr. & Go’s., 127 & 129 Fanueil Hall 
Market, Boston, Wednesday, February 25tli. It was a 
plump, fine-looking fish, well marked, and when seen by 
the writer, was being admired by a well-known angler and 
artist who lias made the salmon a study, and successfully 
reproduced them on canvas. 
—A Calais, (Maine,) paper publishes some interesting 
facts relative to the Passamaquoddy Indians. These num¬ 
ber some 471 souls, and are located in two villages, one at 
Pleasant Point, and the other near Princeton, on a point of 
land projecting into the third of the chain of Sclioodic 
Lakes, and known as Peter Danna’s Point. It is from the 
village last named that guides, canoes, etc., are obtained by 
anglers for their trips to Grand Lake Stream and the 
Schoodics, and those who may contemplate a visit there 
this spring will be gratified to learn that these Indians are 
noted for their temperance and sobriety, there being but 
four of the number who occasionally get drunk. The 
females are remarkable for their chastity, there not having 
been an illegitimate birth among them for twenty years. 
Many of the Indians can read and write, and the tribe have 
a representative in the Maine Legislature. 
—The Seaside Press, of Sandwich, Mass., says that Prof 
Yinal N. Edwards, of Woods Hole, who is collecting speci' 
mens for the Smithsonian Institution, and National Museum,* 
Washington, D. C., has the last year collected the follow¬ 
ing fish and sent to Washington in ice, (consisting of 
seventy-five different varieties.) Small spotted skate, 
peaked nose skate, sand shark, blue shark, leopard shark, 
makerel shark, trasher shark, hammer head shark, sleeper 
shark, (never before found in these waters;) horned dog 
fish, no horned dog fish, common mackerel, spotted mack¬ 
erel, tallow mackerel, mackerel scare, white mackerel, (not 
before found here;) sea herring, English herring, brown sea 
robin, large red sea robin, long finned sea robin, flying fish, 
tautog, senp, sea bass, menhaden, shad, hickory slxad, com 
mon butter fish, square headed butter fish, (or silver fish;) 
common eel, lamper eel, striped bass, squiteague, squid, 
king fish, • Vom cod, sea perch, aculpin, common large 
flounder, four spotted flounder, small mouth flat fish, large 
mouth flat fish, (very rare;) talbut, pollock, smelt, toad fish, 
swell fisli, blue fish, haddock, hake, sturgeon, goose fish, 
boneta, sucker, cramp fish, red sculpin, (orpork in barrel;) 
large black stingray, bill fish, (seven feet long;) pilot fish, 
rudder fish, horned swell fish, (or egg fish;) puffin pig, file 
fish, moon fish, pompano, cero, Spanish mackerel, dinner, 
leather jacket, (never before caught in these waters;) cod 
fish, whiting, (or frost fish;) mullet, ling, and three other 
fish that he does not know the name of.” 
—We are very anxious to serve the interests of a Mr. 
Frederick Senieur, of Mount Sterling, Ky., who has applied 
for “a New and Improved Mode of Holding and Support¬ 
ing Fishing Poles while Fishing,” the nature of which in¬ 
vention “consists in providing a substantial support for the 
pole, thereby preventing the same from being stuck in the 
mud or held in the hand.” 
No one can fail to appreciate the ingenuity of this labor- 
saving contrivance. All that is required to make the ang¬ 
ler’s outfit complete is an alarm bell attachment to the reel 
to sound the instant a fish strikes, so that the fisherman, 
seeking rest and recreation, may be able to take his quiet 
nap between times. We recommend this patent for all de¬ 
scriptions of fly fishing. 
—In the Maine Legislature the committee on fisheries 
have voted to report a resolve calling for $5,000 to be ex¬ 
pended by the Fish Commissioners for the propagation of 
fish. 
—We publish below the estimate of the products of the 
fisheries of the District of Gloucester for 1873, as prepared 
at the custom house under directions of the Treasury De¬ 
partment : 
86,544 bis. mackerel, valued at.$1,125,000 
460,000 qtls. codfish, “ “ 2,070.000 
5,000 brls. herring, “ “ 23,000 
25,000 qtls. other fish, “ “ .. . 50,000 
9,000,000 lbs. fresh fish, “ “ 310,000 
275,000 gals, oil, “ “ 165,000 
Shellfish, “ “ 18,000 
7,000 tons fish manure, “ 25,000 
Miscellaneous, “ “ 15,000 
Estimated value of fishing products in 1872. 
13,801,000 
3,437,000 
Increase. $364,000 
Number of vessels employed, 1873, 385; tonnage, 21,082; 
number of men employed as crews, 5,000. 
—Dr. James If. Richardson, of Toronto, whose interest¬ 
ing article upon salmon fishing in the River Margaree, 
Cape Breton, which appeared recently in this journal, has 
sent us some particulars as regards the illegal and whole® 
sale destruction of fish in that river, which he wishes to 
bring to the attention of the Canadian officials. He says: 
“I ascertained beyond doubt that the law is utterly disre¬ 
garded, There is not, I believe, an overseer or warden 
who endeavors to do his duty, indeed, I was informed that 
they are as culpable as any other of the inhabitants. Two 
years ago, a gentleman at the Forks lodged a complaint 
and the consequence was that his horse’s tail was shaven, 
and one of the wheels of his conveyance stolen, and actu¬ 
ally sold back to him before lie could leave. 
The usual course pursued was to cart a boat to the river, 
launch it, spear all the pools for miles down, and then hav¬ 
ing sent the cart down the road to a spot opposite Eth¬ 
ridge’s, where it came close to the bank, put the boat upon 
the cart and go home. The morning after the first spear¬ 
ing I observed, I bad occasion to go up the river, and as I 
passed the house of a justice of the peace, which is situated 
about half a mile from the river, two miles from Ethridge’s, 
I saw the cart with the boat on still it. I was sare it was the 
boat I saw the night before* and my suspicions were veri¬ 
fied by information subsequently received.” 
—A member of the Niagara Falls Shooting Club sends 
us tlie following account of bass fishing in the Niagara 
River, which will add a new chapter to the book of knowl¬ 
edge of many of our readers:— 
a Niagara Falls, February 18,1873. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
With the first breath of spring, we dwellers along Niagara get ready 
our fishing tackle, and, when April showers aud April sun have thawed 
the ice from the creeks, and while yet the river is carrying its burden of 
ice from the upper to the lower lake, we cast onr lines m the creeks for 
rock bass. Quite gamey, too, are the little fellows, and with a slender 
pole give quite as much sport as their larger brothers ihe black bass. In 
May and June they are taken in the river along its edge m great quan¬ 
tities. Last spring a pleasure party from Buffalo took from my favorite 
ground one afternoon seven hundred. I also succeeded in three hours in 
swinging into my boat one hundred and fifty. While yet this sport is at 
its height, the black bass begins tugging at the line, and from this time 
until winter sets in, there is as fine sport as one could wish, only one 
must follow them out as the season advances farther and farther into the 
river. In July and August they swarm in the channels and on the reefs. 
A few years ago black bass were a rariety here, but now, thanks to the 
special law passed for Niagara, they are plenty, and anywhere a fine 
day’s sport is found in the river. The Game Club at Niagara Fails have 
slightly protected the fish, but if they had fully done their duty, there 
would be no finer fishing ground in America. A great many of the Buf¬ 
falo people float from Black Rock along the bars to Navy Island, fishing 
all the way. A friend of mine, with three others, succeeded in this way 
in landing forty-four in one trip. It is nothing, only a good forenoon’s 
work for two to capture from twenty to twenty-five. I could take you, 
Mr. Editor, where to land a black bass would thrill your every nerve with 
pleasure. I took with me one day last summer an old fisherman, we an¬ 
chored on a reef where there was not over twe feet of water, and the bass 
were sporting around us on every side, here and there breaking the 
water, six, seven, eight at a time; the nerves were all excited before we 
had wet our lines, gradually our reels unwound, and onr lines floated out 
on the swift water. Forty, fifty, sixty feet, and the reels still running, 
when, “Ah ! I have hooked him,” came from my companion, and after a 
struggle of ten minutes he was landed, with the exclamation of, “By 
Jove that is the first bass I really ever caught. How he did fight! every 
inch of the way he made a battle ground, and he is a beauty too, full 
three and one half pounds.” We scarcely find them of less weight here 
in this spot, Now my line tightens, the pole is making a beautiful curve 
-steady there, my beautv ! and out he goes, breaking the water seventy 
feet below, and rising at least eight feet in the air, the top of the pole is 
waving like a sapling In a storm, but tuo veal is slowly drawing turn in, 
h, there he goes again ! Another leap for life, hut the hook won’t slip 
follows him into the air, and I am down in the water. I am quite sum 
Ah, 
it follows mm into tne air, ana i am aown in me water, i am quite sure 
my beauty that your days are numbered. What, again ! that was an ex- 
traordinarv leap, the pole straightens out, and as he goes beneath the 
water resumes its arch. Now my friend has hooked another, and so the 
sport goes on! We string eigteen fine fellows and sigh as we look in the 
pail for bait in vain, which, by the by, is either chub or soft-shell crabs 
Not once last summer did I miss a good catch, and each year promises 
better, so it has been growing. Bass have been caught off the Three 
Sister Islands in the middle of the rapids, and almost at the foot of the 
Falls they are plenty. We also have fine perch fishing in the spring and 
fall, and seven miles below, at Lewiston; we find in the season plenty of 
herring, and when trolling for bass we are not astonished to find we are 
struggling with a pike or mascallonge. Come some day next summer 
Mr. Editor, and see for yourself what sport we have. 
Hiram E. Griffith. 
New York, February 27,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
Many anglers are glad to learn that the subject of pot fishing and fran¬ 
tic desire for big scores has been taken in hand by so competent a writer 
as Mr. Whitcher, who as an addition to the undoubted strength of his ar¬ 
guments, has the official power to enforce them in the country under his 
control. 
While he is endeavoring to correct the evil habits of both American 
and Canadian fishermen, I wish he would devote his attention to the 
great damage to salmon rivers in Canada, arising from the taking of 
grilse. In some streams quite a large proportion of the salmon captured 
by fly are young fish or “grilse” weighing 1J to 4 or 5 pounds. I am 
aware that the Canadian fishery laws prohibit the taking of any "rilse 
under three pounds weight; hut there should be a provision against kill¬ 
ing more grilse than are needed for food. I have heard of 5 to 20 grilse 
killed daily in some streams, when the fishermen already had plenty in 
camp, and were obliged to salt down the “take.” which after all they 
probably will give to their canoemen. It seems a shame to thus kill 
small fish, which would return to the rivers the next season adult salmon 
weighing 8 to 15 pounds. Of course no angler can prevent grilse rising 
to his fly: hut with a powerful salmon rod it is a speedy matter to brim* 
the plucky little fellow to the landing net, where he can easily be mu 
hooked and set free quite unharmed. 
Ill the absence of law in the matter, I think discussion on this subject 
would result in the spread of more correct and sportsmanlike ideas, and 
thus result in some good. 
Cannot you also ventilate some good, rigorous maledictions on the 
minnow fishermen, who take every trout they can hook—infants, babies, 
fingerlings, from an inch to a hand long? This piggishness is fairly scoop¬ 
ing out our trout streams, leaving no trace of the former speckled beau¬ 
ties. I know some anglers who never take a trout shorter than one’s 
ban d. 
Do see if you cant rub a little decency into the minds of some who call 
themselves anglers. Fly Rod. 
--■ 
New York, February 6,1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
If the salmon is as game and as powerful as he is reputed, I would like 
to know how Mr. Nicholson could kill the number credited to him for 
one day’s work in the score published in this week's Forestand 
Stream. Twenty-seven salmon averaging fifteen pounds, and five grilse 
averaging four and a half are set down as one day’s catch. A brief calcu¬ 
lation shows that a day divided among this number of fish would allow 
but a few minutes for the killing of each. Mr. Gilmour’s day’s work on 
the Godbout, as noticed in your issue of January 15, is not more aston¬ 
ishing, for his forty-six fish weighed but four hundred and twenty-six 
pounds, an average of only nine and a quarter pounds. It seems to me 
that either the reports of the fighting qualities of the salmon are 
greatly exaggerated, or there must be some mistake in these large scores. 
I should suppose some time must be consumed in casting, preliminary to 
hooking the fish; some fish must have broken away after running for a 
while. A fresh fly must have been needed now and then, and probably 
a new casting ime, allowing for which contingencies, you will find that 
what is left of even a long summer day gives but an exceedingly short 
time for the killing of each fish. Don’t you think it would take longer 
to kill a striped bass of the same weight, on the same tackle? The point 
with me is, is the salmon really as game a fish as he is called? and thess 
immense scores seem to prove that he is not. An opinion “as is an 
opinion” from you will greatly oblige your constant reader, Littell. 
uptimes. 
Will our University correspondents kindly send us their most recent 
catalogues, 
CRICKET—REVIEW OF TIIE UNITED ST. LOUIS ELEVEN’S JOUR¬ 
NEY EAST—SUCCESS OF ST. LOUIS MEN. 
Although this club made its debut last season only, 
its name must he familiar to many of the readers of 
Forest and Stream as that of the club which last Sep¬ 
tember sent forth a team unknown to fame, and unheralded 
by the tongue of good report, hut which in fifteen days 
travelled 2,691 miles, played seven matches in eleven days, 
and won five out of the seven, and discomfited the old es¬ 
tablished clubs of Detroit, Toronto, Boston, and Saint 
George. 
Last season two cricket clubs were organized in St. Louis, 
ycelpt respectively the St. Louis and the St. George, tlie 
latter being under the patronage of the St. George’s Soci¬ 
ety. Towards the close of the season it became apparent 
to some of the enthusiasts that St. Louis could gather to¬ 
gether an eleven which would at any rate make a tolerably 
fair fight against the old clubs in Canada and the east. 
On the 28th of July the St. Louis Club instructed their 
secretary to communicate to the St. George Club a propo¬ 
sal for the formation of a united club, with the object of 
combining the strength of the two clubs for the purpose of 
pit ying matches with other cities. St. George agreed, and 
by the middle of August the officers of the united club had 
been elected, and challenges sent to Chicago, Detroit, Ham¬ 
ilton, Toronto, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The 
officers elected were:—President, Joseph Branch, (also 
President of St. George’s Club and of St. George’s Society); 
Vice President, Harry E. Sharp, (Secretary and Treasurer 
St. Louis Club); Secretary, Ben. Williams, (Vice President 
St. George’s); Treasurer, Cyrus Day, M. D., (chairman ex¬ 
ecutive committee St. Louis); Council, W. B. Davenport, 
(Vice President St. Louis); T. M. Caddick, (executive com¬ 
mittee St. Louis); and John Tildesley and A. C. Bagshave 
of the St. George. The eleven chosen for the forlorn hope 
were:— 
ST. GEORGE’S QUOTA. 
Henry Temple, captain, (Rugby); a fine bat, hard hitter, 
with good defence, but almost useless in the field and sadly 
crippled at the bat from an affection of the thigh muscles. 
