188 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 3, 1884. 



Northern Minnesota Notes.— As may be imagined, 

 bird life in this bore;)] clime is not very abundant, it being 

 not uncommon for the thermometer to be 30 and 40 decrees 

 below zero, and once, this winter it has registered 52 degrees 

 below. Prairie cbickens, or pinnated grouse, aud sharp- 

 tails, stand the cold well here and are abundant. They roost 

 in tbe snow, and also remain there during a blizzard. The 

 bluejay can be heard utteriDg his chatterings on most fine 

 days, that is, with the thermometer about zero in the shade. 

 The chickadee endures the severest cold bravely, and is as 

 pert and merry as though it were forty degrees above. The 

 red-headed woodpecker is found tapping tbe trees, in tbe bush 

 which borders ou the rivers, during "the severest storms. 

 Snow buntings are to be seen here every day now, they are 

 becoming rather mottled in color. A 'month or six weeks 

 ago, the markings were confined to a very slight blotch on 

 the nape of the neck and shoulders, and some were so slightly 

 marked that they appeared to be pure white. These birds 

 before a storm are particularly active, and flock around the 

 homesteads, uttering a sharp, twittering note. Only last 

 December a bear of the red nose species was killed, eight miles 

 east of here. It was found in its winter den, weieht 300 pounds ; 

 exactly the same appearance as the common black except 

 two or three inches of the muzzle, which was a rich chest- 

 nut brown color. They arc said not to be uncommon, but 

 are more tierce than the common blacks. Perhaps some of 

 the readers of Forest and Stream can tell me whether 

 this is a distinct species or merely a variety of the common 

 black; if the latter, what originally produced the variation? 

 Question for Darwiuian devotees. At least twelve species 

 of birds, and possibly more birds winter here, but I cannot 

 positively identify more than I mentioned in these notes till 

 1 get "Coucs's Birds of Northwest."— Boreo Minneso. 

 (Hallock, Kittson county, Minn., March Is). [The "red 

 nosed" bear is the common black bear. Almost all black 

 bears have tan or chestnut muzzles. Those without these 

 markings are the exception to tbe rule] 



A Kentucky Game Bill.— By a vote of 42 to 32 the 

 Kentucky Legislature has passed a game bill, of which the 

 following is a synopsis: It provides a penalty for bunting 

 or having in possession any fawn or deer between March 

 and September; turkeys between February and September; 

 ducks, geese and teal between May and August; woodcock 

 between February and July; quail, pheasants, etc., between 

 Feb. 1 and Oct. 15; doves between February and August. 

 Hunting song or insectivorous birds is prohibited, except 

 where they are destructive of fruit or grain crops. Rabbits 

 and squirrels are protected, except when they are destroy- 

 ing crops. An amendment forbidding the selling of game 

 from other States during the close time was passed, as were 

 other amendments excepting certain mountain counties from 

 the provisions of the act. "it is stated that this game bill 

 was prepared after careful consideration by the Louisville 

 Sportsman's Club, tbe Newport Club, the Daviess County 

 Hunting Club and the SheTbyville Gun Club, and embraces 

 the best provisions of similar bills in other States. 



Spring in Kentucky. — I have inquired carefully of the 

 farmers concerning the partridges (Ortyz virginianus), and 

 have not received a single bad report. They have wintered 

 well and many fine coveys exist throughout this country, 

 although we have had one of the severest winters known in 

 this latitude for.over thirty years. Ducks have passed, with 

 good shooting on water courses. Snipe (S. mhonii), in fair 

 numbers; two of our club basged, in half a day, thirty-two 

 last week, and two others did not bag so many is the writer's 

 recollection. Our legislators have passed a good game bill. 

 Inclosed is synopsis. I hope they may make a lair appro- 

 priation for our fish work. Spring is here, grass green, and 

 a certain something in the air that causes a careful inspec- 

 tion of fishing tackle and inquiring after the stage of water 

 in adjacent streams, and all the small boys of a Saturday 

 and little niggers every day are sneaking to some pond or 

 stream with pole and string. To follow soon is the intention 

 of — Vox (Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, March 24). 



""" Spring Shooting in Jersey. —I was out for snipe 

 Tuesday, and considered myself lucky; 1 bagged three En- 

 glish 6uipe and one gray duck. Snipe were quite plentiful, 

 but the meadows were* overrun with poor shots and still 

 poorer dogs, flushing everything in the neighborhood. In 

 the. evening I thought 1 would try for ducks, supposing I 

 would be tbe only one oh the meadows, but, bless you, there 

 were three hunters for every duck I saw, and still worse, they 

 would shoot at ducks three miles up, frightening them so 

 that I don't suppose they returned, at least I did not see 

 them. Coming from the meadows after dark, I flushed two 

 English snipe, but I could not see to shoot. Heard a few 

 woodcock "squeaking" last night,— 16-Bore (Madison, N. 

 J. . March 27). 



Long Island Protection. — I am heartily glad to find 

 in your issue of March 10 another letter bearing upon game 

 and game protection, and being one of the many who enjoy 

 a few weeks of fall shooting, and who are opposed to the de- 

 struction of our birds, am very happy to hear from our friends 

 Messrs. Lane and "C." (Manorville). In the issue of March 

 27, I see that Mr. Whitaker attempts an explanation why 

 the offenders are not brought to justice. I would suggest to 

 that gentleman that inasmuch as his jurisdiction is so large 

 that he canuot attend to the vast amount of miles at one 

 time, let him, while there is no land shooting, attend to our 

 bays.— Dick (Brooklyn, March 29, 1884). 



Florida Shooting. — The fishing in Lake Monroe is very 

 fine. Mr. Benson, of Brooklyn, N, T., caught seventy- 

 eight bass in the lake several days ago. Hunting is also 

 good ; deer are found in the scrubs, which tire three miles 

 from here. Ducks are not as plenty now as they were in 

 December, but enough can be found for a day's shoot. A 

 flock of over seventy geese passed over the lake Wednesday 

 on their way north. Any person wishing good duck shoot- 

 ing should come here "in October. — G. G. J. (Enterprise, 

 Fla., March 24). 



Minnesota.— The ducks have already arrived. Though 

 there are but few just yet. in three or four days we will 

 have them down on us by thousands if the weather continues 

 warm, as the river is just breaking up. — A. W. 8. (Long 

 Prairie, Minn., March 28).. 



Maryland. — Fair Hill.— First 'snipe here March 26. 

 They are more plentiful this year than for several years. 



\m mid Bivet 



Th& Next Man to die is just as likely to be yourself as any ot' your 

 neighbors, and unexpected 'dea-ch is coutiaually happeniite, iVke a 

 combined life and accident policy in the Travelers, of Hartford. Conn. 



OPENING THE TROUT SEASON. 



THE opening of the season for trout on Tuesday last sent 

 many anglers from the city to Long Island, but does 

 not seem to have disturbed the even flow of events in other 

 parts of the State. The evening before the opening we 

 stood in the station of the Long Island Railroad at Hunter's 

 Point, which the road has tried to deodorize by calling 

 "Long Island City." and at 4:30, when the trains were about 

 to depart for the South Side, the North Shore, Port Jeffer- 

 son branch and the main line, we counted seventy-eight rods 

 passing the wicket-keeper. Besides this, we nodded to a 

 score or more of anglers without rods, who were going 

 down to the clubs, where their tools were kept. How many 

 went by the way of the Brooklyn station, or by earlier or 

 later trains, we do not know. 



On Wednesday morning, we came in on the Port Jeffer- 

 son branch, and examined several fine baskets of trout, taken 

 along the North Shore. We saw a fine specimen of two and 

 a half pounds, which was taken by Mr. Henry Smith from 

 the ponds at Glen Cove. Mr. John Cashow had a good creel 

 taken from Shoe Swamp brook, one of which weighed one 

 and a quarter pounds. The day was cold and blustery, and 

 not at all a desirable one for trouting. The South Side Club 

 was well represented on the road the evening previous, and 

 the waters gave up some exceedingly fine specimens. 



In the city the display iu Fulton Market brought a crowd 

 of visitors, as usual. Among those we recognized at Black- 

 ford's were : Henry Ward Beecher, Henry Irving and Miss 

 Terry, Prof. Bickmore, of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History; Prof. Rice, of the Fulton Market Laboratory; 

 Monroe A. Green, of the State hatchery at Caledonia, 

 Hubert O. Thompson, Prof. A. M. Mayer, Dr. Kingsbury, 

 Francis Endicott, John Oakey, William Mitchell, Erastus 

 Corning, Jr.. John J. BloomfieM, James "Vallotton, George 

 Shepard Page, Thomas Jones, and many others. 



Mr. Blackford's slabs and tanks were given up entirely to 

 trout, and the display, while not so great perhaps in point of 

 numbers of trout, exceeded that of any previous year in 

 the variety of species. The decorations" were very tasteful. 

 Over tbe doorhung a great floral bass, with a body of red roses, 

 fins of white daisies, aud a stripe of yellow buttercups. All the 

 woodwork and railings of the various stalls were twined with 

 smilax, and between the loops hung dainty little Japanese 

 glass acquariums in which tiny minnows wriggled merrily 

 about. The larger glass boxes' were banked in ferns. The 

 white axolotls were quite lively, and were always the center 

 of a curious crowd. If the two alleged white elephants now 

 in the country are "sacred," then certainly these animals, 

 which are really white, are entitled to some consideration. 

 One of them stood on his tail in a corner of the tank all the 

 morning, with his hand folded over his breast and an ex- 

 pression of sanctified grief upon his countenance, which ex- 

 cited much pity and sympathy from the ladies. 



Among the fish the post of honor was awarded to some 

 Irish trout from Lough Ncagh, sent by Mr. T. J. Moore, of 

 tbe Liverpool Museum, one of which weighed eight pounds. 

 A fine salmon from the same place was also shown. The Cold 

 Spring hatchery of the N. Y. F. C, F. Mather, Superin- 

 tendent, sent live German trout one year old, which were 

 greatly admired, and also fry of the same ten days old, 

 rainbow trout of one year, and salmon fry. The Caledonia 

 hatchery of the N. Y. F. C., S. Green, Superintendent, sent 

 dead brook trout, rainbow trout aud hybrids, all fine speci- 

 mens, of two to four years old. 



The best display was made by James Annin, Jr., of Cale- 

 donia, N. Y., who exhibited silver trout, brook trout, lake 

 trout and rainbow trout, all alive, and of large size, as well 

 as trout eggs in a package to show the mode of transporta- 

 tion. The United States Fish Commission exhibited live 

 Rangeley trout and rainbows. Other exhibitors were: G. H. 

 Dickerman, New Hampton, N. H. ; Myron Green, TJ. S. 

 F. C, Baird, Cab; E. B. Sutton, Babylon, L. I.; South Side 

 Club, L. I.,' and J. B. Hewlett, Hewlett's Station, L. I. 

 Wild Canada trout were on hand, aud could easily be told 

 by their dark color. They had evidently been frozen. 



Mr. Blackford sent duplicates of everything to Prof. 

 Baird, who made an exhibition of trout in the National 

 Museum at Washington, on Wednesday. Specimens of each 

 kind were also-sent to Lauber's -restaurant in Philadelphia, 

 where a display was also made. Taking all things in con- 

 sideration, we regard the trout show of this year as equal to, 

 if not superior, to any former one. 



MICHIGAN LAKES. 



I^HE Michigan fish law says: "From now until June 15 

 next it is unlawful to catch any black, green, silver, 

 rock, or white bass, pickerel, pike, salmon, grass bass, sun- 

 fish, perch, or any food fish. Parties fishing through holes 

 in the ice please take notice, as the State Fish Commission- 

 ers are determined to prosecute any one so doing." 



How well the law is enforced I will not say; of the open 

 and flagrant violations I can speak from personal knowledge. 

 The labors of the Fish Commission are bearing fruit. 

 Scarcely a day last summer that the crew of the United 

 States Life Saving Station did not haul shore seines of one 

 and a half and two inch meshes that caught hundreds of 

 small whitefish from one-half to one pound weight, herring, 

 perch and any and all that came into the net. Swedes, 

 Polacks and other foreigners likewise are seiners. 



Ausauble Lake, twelve miles long, and one of the largest 

 inland lakes in the States, is alive with fish, which will soon 

 be cleaned out. A lumber company some years since dammed 

 the outlet, and no fish that comes out of Lake Michigan can 

 get above the dam. Last spring the outlet was literally 

 jammed with fish trying to get up to spawn. They were 

 speared, clubbed and netted by the wagon load. The past 

 winter the lake has been covered with the shanties of the 

 spearing and netting gangs. Gill and trap nets are all over 

 the lake. The daily catch averages two tons of fish, which 

 are shipped to Chicago, Detroit, etc. Very few are sold to 

 local marketmen. 



Birch Lake is now being raided by the advance corps of 

 the Detroit fish monopoly. This Jlake is the one alluded to 

 by the Detroit dailies as being the recent discovery of a Buf- 

 falo firm, which had given the Detroit fish firm the agency 

 of handling the enormous catch of fish the lake was satd-to 

 contain. We are of the opinion that the Buffalo firm is a 

 myth."" and as for the lake being away in the Northwest, • 1 

 think that Ed. Gillmau, of Detroit, will say that Birch Lake 

 is in Michigan. I may be mistaken in regard to Mr. Gill- 

 man's knowledge, but am inclined to think he has fished 

 those same waters. Perhaps "Delta" could throw some 



light upon the location of the lake. To satisfy the insatiable 

 maws of fish dealers one by one, all of our Northern lakes 

 are cleaned out by persons either directly or indirectly con- 

 nected with some firm of fish dealers. One of our Commis- 

 sioners, Mr. Kellog, resides in Detroit, perhaps he could en- 

 lighten the readers of Forhst and Stream why Ibis slaugh- 

 ter from year to year goes on without an effort 'being made 

 to stop it. Not till tlie sale of fish is stopped during the 

 close season for Michigan fish will the end come. A few 

 prosecutions aimed at the heads of the fish dealers will check 

 the slaughter. ' g, j^ 13 



Manistee, Mich. 



TROUTING ON THE BIGOSH. 



THE DOCTOR'S STORY. 



r pHE Doctor and I had exchanged our wet clothing for 

 JL more comfortable garments, while listening to the Col- 

 onel's chaff, and were snuffing the odors of our trout which 

 Jack had dressed, while Uncle Ben was making the bread 

 aud coffee, which were sending savory odors from the frying 

 pan, making hungry fishers impatient of not only minutes, 

 but seconds. The Doctor sententiously remarked that eating 

 was a duty that we owed to our grosser natures, and that he 

 was ready to meet his liabilities in this line at the earliest 

 possible moment, and he had no sooner declared his readi- 

 ness than Uncle Ben gave him the opportunity. How many 

 trout and hot biscuits were eaten 1 will not say, because I 

 did not keep count. The Colonel, next morning, pretended 

 that he had kept tally, and produced a stick notched on two 

 sides; one side of which he declared was the Doctor's record, 

 while mine was on the other. If he ever publishes this record 

 I ask that judgment be suspended until mitigating circum- 

 stances on our side can be shown, and besides it. will not do 

 to tie too fast to the Colonel's statements, or his stick. 



After supper we stretched ourselves on the hemlock 

 boughs and smoked, one of the party declaring himself "too 

 full for utterance." The sun had gone down, and the strange 

 call of the whippoorwiH on the hillside seemed to rejoice at 

 its disappearance. 



"Doctor," said Jack, "tell us how you fish a stream." 



"My son, beware," exclaimed the, Colonel, "you do not 

 know" what an infliction you may bring on us. If tue 

 Doctor gets started on that subject there is no telling when 

 he will stop." 



"That's so," said I, "there is no end to the Doctor's stock 

 of fishing lore. He is chock full of information now, and 

 you can'make it flow by tapping him with a question, but 

 the trouble is that you caunot turn the stream off as easily as 

 you turn it on, I think we will have to let it flow and 

 listen to it, or hoop him to keep him from bursting." 



"Gentlemen," calmly answered the Doctor, "my youn» 

 friend has asked me a question about stream fishing, My 

 answer may be of use to the boy, if not to any confirmed 

 boat-fishers and grovelling bait-fishers who might be near. 

 He is young in angling and should be allowed to learn that 

 the highest form of angling to wade a stream." 



The Colonel repeated, "boat-fisher," and pointed at me; 

 "grovelling bait-fisher," and said: "That rubs us both hard. 

 doesn't it? But, Doctor, spare us, please, all the hackneyed 

 mush about the 'indescribable turn of the wrist which can- 

 not be explained, but which the born angler instinctively 

 knows,' and we will listen and try to profit by your talk to 

 Jack." 



The Doctor looked up in surprise, and asked; "Do you 

 deny that a turn of the wrist will hook a fish?" 



"No," replied the old soldier, "I don't deny anything you 

 may state about fishing, only that striking a fish by an up- 

 ward and backward tm n of the wrist has been magnified 

 into an art that only few can attain, if not born with it, and 

 against that nonsense I wish to enter a demurrer, The facts 

 are, as 1 believe, that nine fish out of ten hook themselves, and 

 the tenth one gets away, The mysterious 'turn of the wiist' 

 is easy enough to explain, or to perform, but the stroke is 

 too late to be of service; a fish seen to break water has the 

 hook in his jaw or has cast it out before the motion of the 

 wrist has obeyed the command of the eye and has com- 

 municated its action to rod, slack line and hook." 



"We differ so radically on this point," said the Doctor, 

 "that there is no use in arguing it by the camp-fire. Come 

 with me on the stream to-morrow and we will try it tliere." 



"No stream-fishing for me, with my rheumatic leg," re- 

 plied the man of war, "but don't let 'me interrupt your talk 

 with Jack, his mind is a blank on stream-fishing* and you 

 can give him-page after page of whatever you wish to print 

 on it, and he will never be as critical as his parent." 



"Well, Jack!" began the Doctor, "these two companions 

 of ours are wedded to their idols aud it would be time wasted 

 to try to convert them. To you, however, I will say that 

 fishing for lake trout is about as much sport as dredging for 

 oysters, and boat-fishing for brook trout is merely a refine- 

 ment of sittiug on the corner of the dock and bobbing for 

 eels. In wading a stream all the muscles are called into 

 play and the mind is strung so tightly with anticipation of a 

 rise, new views and surprises, care where the feet are planted, 

 and watchfulness that the bushes do not capture the flies, 

 that there is a sense of generalship iu steering clear of ail 

 dangers and in capturing your game. Perhaps the best way 

 to illustrate this is to tell you how I fished the stream to-day. 

 from its mouth to its head, where I met our friend, the boat 

 fisher, who, unfortunately, thought the stream longer, and 

 had aimed to strike it higher up and missed it. 



"To begin with, the day was favorable; the light night 

 before had kept the fish quiet by the bright moonshine, and 

 the cloudiness of the day raised their courage to seek for food. 

 I started in from the mouth of the stream and took a few fish 

 in the first pool without much trouble from trees, as the 

 pool was deep and wide, but taking the bank around this 

 pool, I came to a smaller, shallow pool over hung with bushes. 

 Here I could not cast over twenty feet, and as my rod was 

 nearly half that in length, it was done in this way: 1 took 

 my fly, for I used but one in such a thicket, in my left hand, 

 and holding my line with the forefinger of the right hand, 1 

 held the rod parallel with the surface of the water, and draw- 

 ing back the fly until the arch of the rod woidd throw the 

 fly by its springing to the natural position, I let go. Several 

 casts of this sort brought a trout out of this pool. Passing 

 on up stream a cedar log was found with one end in the 

 water and the other end on the bank. A bend in the brook 

 threw the current under the end that lay in the water, and 

 consequently a hole must be washed out under it; taking the 

 opposite bank I stepped ashore, and advancing cautiously so 

 that no jar -.should alarm the fish, the fly was dropped above 

 the log and played on the sArfacc, aud two fish captured by 

 keeping a taut line uud not allowing them to get under the 

 log. A third fish succeeded iu reaching the timber and 

 escaped with the fly and half of the leader. 



