68 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 16, 1888. 



The Trotjting Season. — As a whole, the trouting sea- 

 son, which is now near its close, has not been up to the 

 average of the past few years, according to the reports 

 from the trout regions east of the Mississippi. There may 

 have been a few exceptional localities where it was good, 

 but it is generally conceded to have been a poor year for 

 trout. In conversa tion with anglers in eastern New York 

 and the adjacent territory Ave find that many of them 

 somehow connect the scarcity of trout with the famous 

 "blizzard" of last March, although in what way is not 

 clear, especially as the same lack of trout has been noticed 

 in a large portion of the country which lies west of the 

 track of the blizzard. In talking with many observant 

 anglers we find a difference of opinion concerning the 

 past season, some of them claiming that the trout are as 

 plenty as ever, but refuse to be taken, while others believe 

 that there are fewer fish than usual. If this state of the 

 fishing was not spread over so large a country it might be 

 easer to formulate a theory to fit the fact thau it is at 

 present. In the streams an angler can often judge of the 

 frequency of trout by the number that he sees, but in the 

 lakes and deep pools there is no way of judging of their 

 numbers. We do not fear that the crop of trout would 

 so suddenly fail in so many places at once, and would not 

 be surprised if the nest season make up for this poor one. 



^tBhtttltnm 



FOOD OF THE FISHES OF THE MISSISSIPPI 

 VALLEY. 



liT PROF. S. A. FORBES. 

 [Read before the American Fisheries Society.] 

 (Continued f rum page ltd.) 



THE two species of black bass differ, according to my 

 observation!?, in the character of their food, the large- 

 mouthed species citing more fishes, and small-mouthed 

 more crayfishes. Here^ also, the gizzard shad made more 

 than half the food. 



The common suulishes are readily divisible into four 

 groups, based on their feeding structures and their food: one 

 characterized especially by the wide mouth, including the 

 black warrior and the blue-cheeked suufisb, took a noticeable 

 amount of fishes, the ratio varying from a third to a half, the 

 remaiuder of the food being chiefly insects, crayfishes, and 

 smaller crustaceans. Those with small mouths, pointed 

 teeth in the throat, and short gill-rakers, like the most 

 abundant of the river species, took scarcely any fishes, but 

 fed chiefly on insects and crustaceans, the latter principally 

 the forms of medium size (amphipods and isopods). Some 

 of this group likewise took a large amount of vegetation, 

 amouufing to a third or fourth of the whole. 



A group with small mouths, and blunt conical teeth, illus- 

 trated by the common bream or pumpkin seed, was distin- 

 guished especially by the number of small snail-like mollusks 

 eaten, these making, in my specimens, more than a third of 

 the food. The remainder was chietiy aquatic insect larva?, 

 the medium-sized Crustacea and water plants. 



The fourth group, illustrated by the croppies, have the 

 mouth long but narrow, and the gill-rakers numerous and 

 long. By these a few fishes are. taken, but the food is chiefly 

 insects and the smallest crustaceaus— those commonly re- 

 ferred to as Entomostraca, a food resource which they are 

 enabled to draw upon by the straining apparatus in the 

 gills. ' ' 



Passing to the pike or pickerel of our western rivers, 1 find 

 that the common large river pike, Esox Indus, is almost 

 wholly piscivorous, a single specimen only out of the thirty- 

 seven examined, having taken a number of dragon flies. 

 About a fifth of the fishes were sunflshes (half of them 

 croppies) and black bass. Twenty of these thirty-seven pike 

 had taken gizzard shad, which made, in fact, nearly half of 

 the food of the entire group. Minnows were found in only 

 two, and three had eaten buffalo fish. 



The striking features of this record are the importance of 

 the gizzard shad, the abundance of the spiny-fiimed fishes, 

 including some of the most valuable kinds, and the insig- 

 nificant number of minnows and suckers taken. 



The "grass pickerel," a species which rarely reaches a foot 

 in length, hail eaten tadpoles of frogs, and fishes, and in- 

 sects, the latter making more than a third of the food, and 

 consisting chiefly of larva?, of dragon flies. 



The gizzard shad, mentioned above as an especially valu- 

 able element of the food of the higher fishes, feeds itself 

 almost wholly upon mud, with which the long and coiled 

 intestine of every specimen was fdled from end to end. This 

 mud contained, on an average, about twenty per cent, of 

 minute vegetable debris, with occasional ly a little animal 

 matter. 



The great minnow family I can scarcely pass by. since it 

 contributes so largely to the food of other fishes, although 

 itself of little or no direct advantage to mankind. I found 

 this family dividing into several groups based upon the 

 length of the intestine and the form of the pharyngeal 

 teeth. In the first of these groups, containing several of the 

 more abundant sorts, about three fourths of the food con- 

 sisted of soft black mud, the remainder beiug both animal 

 and vegetable matter, chiefly the latter. These fishes all 

 had very long intestines and smooth grinding teeth in the 

 throat. In auother group quantities of mud are also taken, 

 but with this many Entomostraca; while in groups three 

 and four, containing by far the greater portion of the family, 

 the food is essentially different, about three-fourths of it 

 being insects and small crustaceans, and the remaiuder 

 vegetation. I note especially here the value of the mud-eating 

 minnows as food for larger fishes, since while abundant and 

 easily maintained, they do not compete with the young of 

 the larger fishes to whose sustenance they may be applied. 



One of the most striking characteristics of the fish fauna 

 of the Mississippi Valley is the prominence of the sucker 

 family, several of which are among the most abundant of 

 our larger fishes. About one-tenth the food of this family 

 taken as a whole consisted of vegetation, eaten chiefly by 

 the buffalo fishes, and in them composed largely of distillery 

 slops. The family is, however, essentially carnivorous, mol- 

 lusks and insect appearing in nearly equal ratio in the 

 food. The former are taken much the more generally by the 

 cylindrical suckers, and the latter about equally by all ex- 

 cept the stone roller, which collects great quantities of insect 

 food by pushing about the stones in running water. A large 

 proportion of the insects eaten are small larvae of gnats 

 (Cbironomus). Some of the deeper-bodied species with long 

 gill-rakers, especially the river carp, feed largely on Ento- 

 mostraca, this latter species swallowing also considerable 

 quantities of mud. 



The catfishes, taken together, are nearly omnivorous in 

 habit, and their feeding structures have a correspondingly 

 general character. The capacious, wide gullet, and short, 

 broad stomach admit objects of large size and nearly every 

 shape. The jaws, each armed with a broad pad of fine, sharp 

 teeth, are well calculated to grasp and hold soft bodies as 

 well as hard. The gill-rakers are of average number and 

 development, and crushing jaws in the throat, broad, stout 

 arches below, and oval pads above, covered with minute 

 pointed teeth, serve fairly well to break the crusts of insects 

 and the shells of the smaller mollusks, and to squeeze and 



grind the vegetable objects which occur in the food. The 

 most peculiar feeding habit relates to the larger bivalve 

 mollusks, the bodies of which are frequently found almost 

 entire in the stomachs of these fishes and always without a 

 fragment of a shell. I have been repeatedly assured by fish- 

 ermen that the catfish seizes the foot of the mollusk while 

 the latter is extended from the shell, and tears the animal 

 1 nose by vigorously jerking and rubbing it about. One i ntel- 

 ligent fisherman informed me that he was often first notified 

 of the presence of catfishes in his seine, in making a haul, 

 by seeing flu- fragments of clams floating on the surface, dis- 

 gorged by the struggling captives. Finally, these are the 

 only habitual scavengers among our common fishes. The 

 larger deep-water species from the great rivers are strictly 

 piscivorous, so far as known, Very small stone-cats feed on 

 the smaller insect larva? and the medium-sized Crustacea. 

 T1k> spotted cat, blue Fulton, or fiddler, feeds largely on 

 mollusks, but is, nevertheless, chiefly insectivorous. It dif- 

 fers from most of the river catfishes by eating wa,ter plants 

 to a considerable extent. The common bullhead is more 

 strictly omnivorous than any other kind, its food being com- 

 posed about equally of fishes, mollusks, aquatic insects and 

 vegetable structures, with a very considerable ratio of crus- 

 taceans added. The great mud-cat, or Morgan cat, reaching 

 a weight of over lOOlbs., seems to feed entirely upon fishes. 



The abundant and peculiar dogfish, or "grindle," is strictly 

 carnivorous, about one-third of the food being fishes, a 

 fourth of it small mollusks. and nearly half crustaceans, 

 chiefly crayfish. 



The gars are strictly piscivorous, feeding especially upon 

 the gizzard shad. 



The most remarkable of our fishes, in structure and feed- 

 ing hain't, is the shovel -fish, or "spoonbill," of the Mississippi 

 and its larger tributaries. It is a large species, reaching a 

 weight of thirty pounds and upward, and a length of six 

 feet or more, including the paddle-like snout. Although so 

 large, the greater part of its food consists of the smallest 

 aquatic Crustacea and insect larvro, strained from the water 

 by means of an extraordinary apparatus in the gills, com- 

 posed of long and slender gill-rakers, a double series on eaeh 

 arch, and over five hundred in a series. Interlocking as 

 these do when the gill apparatus is extended, they form a 

 strainer sufficient to arrest the smallest living forms above 

 the Protozoa, and with the immense opening of the mouth 

 and equally free, provision for the exit of water from the 

 gill chamber, enable this fish to strain out enormous quan- 

 tities of these minute animal forms, especially those most 

 commonly reserved for young fishes. It takes also, in mid- 

 summer, insect larva? of medium size, but evidently avoids 

 vegetation, and never swallows mud. 



FOOD OF THE YOUNG. 



By an examination of three hundred and one specimens, 

 representing twenty-seven species, twenty-six genera, and 

 twelve families of "Illinois fishes, I learn that the food of 

 many species of fishes differs greatly according to age; and 

 that, in fact, the life of most of our fishes divides into at 

 least two periods, and that of many into three, with respect 

 to the kinds of food chiefly taken. Further, in the first of 

 these periods a remarkable similarity of food was noticed 

 among species whose later feeding habits are widely dif- 

 ferent. The full-grown black bass, for example, feeds prin- 

 cipally on fishes and crayfishes, the sheepshead on mollusks, 

 and the gizzard-shad on mud and Alga?, while the catfishes 

 are ueariy omnivorous; yet all these agree so closely in food 

 when very small, that "one could not possibly tell "from the 

 contents of the stomachs which group he was dealing with. 



In the earliest stage, all the fishes studied, except suckers 

 and minnows, depeud for food on the smallest crustaceans, 

 commouly called Entomostraca, and on certain small worm- 

 like larva? of gnats or gnat-like flies scarcely larger than 

 these crustaceans, and usually occurring with them. By 

 far the most abundant of these insect larva? was that known 

 as Cbironomus. The suckers and minnows differ from our 

 other fishes by being toothless while very young, as well 

 as when adult, while our other toothless fishes, gizzard shad, 

 whitefish, etc., have in youth a set of evanescent teeth. 

 These toothless young I found feeding in part on still 

 smaller prey than the others, taking the smallest animal 

 forms (wheel animalcules) various Protozoa, and Alga? so 

 minute that the whole plant consists of a single vegetable 

 cell. The food of the whitefish fry was determined by keep- 

 ing several hundred of them in a large aquarium kept con- 

 stantly supplied with all the living objects which a fine 

 gauze net would separate from the Avaters of Lake Michigan.* 



While small fishes of all sorts are evidently competitors 

 for food, this competition is relieved to some extent by dif- 

 ferences of breeding season, the species dropping in succes- 

 sively to the banquet, some commencing in very early spring, 

 or even, like the whitefish, depositing their eggs in fall, that 

 their young may be first at the board, while others delay 

 until '.June or July. The most active breeding period coin- 

 cides, hoAvever, Avith that of the greatest evolution of Ento- 

 mostraca in the back waters of our stream; that is, the early 

 spring. That large adult fishes Avith fine and numerous 

 rakers on the gills — like the shovel fish and the river carp — 

 may compete directly with the young of all other species, 

 ana tend to keep their numbers down by diminishing then- 

 food supply — especially in times of scarcity— is very probable, 

 but is not certainly true as a general thing; for these larger 

 fishes have other food resources, also, and may resort to 

 Entomostraca only when these are super-abundant, thus ap- 

 propriating the mere excess above what are required for the 

 youug of other groups. Of the fishes Avbicb emerge from 

 their earliest stage through increase in size with failure to 

 develop alimentary structures especially fitted to the appro- 

 priation of minute animal forms, some become mud-eaters, 

 like the Campostoma and the gizzard shad; a few apparently 

 become vegetarians at once; but most pass into or through 

 an insectivorous stage. After this a feAv become nearly om- 

 nivorous, like the bullheads; others learn to depend chiefly 

 on molluscan food— the sheepshead and the red horse 

 species; but many become essentially carnivorous. In fact, 

 unless the gars are an exception, as they now seem to be 

 (attacking young fishes as soon as they can swallow), all 

 our specially carnivorous fishes make a progress of three 

 steps, marked, respectively, by the predominance of Ento- 

 mostraca, insects and fish"es in their food; and the same is 

 true of those strictly fitted for a molluscan diet. 



♦See note following this paper. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



A Dining Car Line to the Pacific Coast.— The completion of the all rail 

 line between Portland, Ore., and San Francisco gives the Pacific coast trav- 

 eler an opportunity to patronize the famous Dining Car and Yellowstone 

 Park Line, the Northern Pacific Railroad. The sportsman traveling in the 

 West, Avhether a lover of the rod or gun, naturally seeks this road, pene- 

 trating as it does the lake park region of Minnesota, and running through 

 the valleys of such trout streams as the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Hell Gate, 

 Clark's Fork, Spokane, Yakima and Green Rivers, for a distance of fully 

 1,500 miles, as Avell as lying immediately contiguous to the finest hunting 

 grounds in the United States, viz., The Big Horn, SnoAvy Belt, Bitter Root, 

 Coeur D'Alene and Cascade Mountains. Information in regard to this 

 region can be obtained by addressing Charles S. Fee, General Passenger 

 and Ticket Agent, N.R. R„ P. Sc. Paul, Minn.— Adv. 



TouitiSTS seeking rest and recreation during the hot summer 

 months can obtain valuable information from the illustrated guide 

 books entitled "A Summer Jaunt" and "Summer of 1888" issued by 

 the Wisconsin Central Line. These books are descriptive of the sum- 

 mer resorts in Wisconsin and Minnesota, reached by the Wisconsin 

 Central Line, and will be sent free to any address upon applica- 

 tion to James Barker, General Passenger and Ticket Agent, 

 Milwaukee Wis,— Adv. 



jjPu* fennel 



Dogs: Their Management and Treatment in Disease. By 

 Ashmont. Price $2. Kennel Record and Account Book. 

 Price $3. Training vs. Breaking. By 8. T. Hammond, 

 Price fl. First Lessons in Dog Training, with Points of 

 all Breeds. Price 35 cents. 



F I XT URES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



Aug. 32 to 34.— Third Annual ShoAv of the American Fox- 

 Terrier Club, at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. (including all terriers.) 

 Entries close Aug. 15. II. P. Frothinghani, Secretary, 3 Wall 

 street. New York. 



Aug. 37 to 31.— Toledo Dog Show. Toledo, O. John Farley, Sec'y. 



Sept. 11 to 14.— First Dog Show of the Buffalo International Fair 

 Association, at Buffalo, N. Y. Entries cl jse teept. 1. C. W. Rob- 

 inson, Secreta.ry. 



Sept. 18 to 31.— First Annual Dog Show of the Syracuse Kennel 

 Club, at Syracuse, N. Y. Howard B. Ratnbone, Secretary. 



Sept. 24 to 37 —Filth Dog Show at London, Ont. C. A. Stono 

 Superi ntendent. 



Sept. 25 to 38.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Bristol Park 

 Agricultural Society, Bristol, Conn. Entries close Sept. 23. C. 

 F. Barnes, Secretary. 



Oct. 9 to 12.— First Dog Show of the Virginia Field Sports Asso- 

 ciation, at Richmond, Va. B. H. Grundy, Secretary, Room 26, 

 Shafer Building. Entries close. Oct. 1. 



Oct. 23 to 26.— Second Annual Show of the St. Paul and Minne- 

 sota Kennel Club, at St. Paul, Minn. J. E. Stryker, Secretary, 

 Room 98 Globe Building. 



Nov. 6 to 10.— Dog Show of the Richmond County Poultry and 

 Pet Stock Association, in connection with Augusta National Ex- 

 position at Augusta. Ga. H. Madden, Superintendent. 



Feb. 12 to 15, 1889.— Fifth Dog Show of the Ncav Jersey Kennel 

 Club, at Jersey City, N, J, Geo. L.Wilms, Secretary, 143 Monti- 

 cello avenue, Jersey Citv, N. J. 



Feb. 19 to 22, 1889.— Thirteenth Annual Show of the Westminster 

 Kennel Club. NeAV York. James Mortimer, Superintendent. 



Feb. 36 to March 1, 1889.— Second Animal Show of the Renssalaer 

 Kennel Club, Troy, N. Y. Alba M. Ide. Secretary. 



March 5 to 8, 1889.— Second Annual Dog Show of the Albany 

 Kennel Club, at Albanv, N. Y. Ceo. B. Gallup, Secretary. 



March 13 to 15, 1880.— Second Annual Show of the Fort Schuyler 

 Kennel Club, Utica, N. Y. James W. Dnnlop, President. 



March 19 to 22, 1889.— First Annual Dog Show of the Maryland 

 Kennel (Tub, at Baltimore, Md. W. S. Diffenderffer, Secretary. 



March 36 to 39, 1889.— First Annual Dog Show of the Massachu- 

 setts Kennel Club, at Lynn, Mass. D. A. Williams, Secretary. 



April 2 to 5. 1889.— First Annual Show of the Rochester Kenutl 

 Club, at Rochester, N. Y. Harry Yates, secretary. 



April 9 to 13, 188!).— First Annual Dos: Show of the Masr-outah 

 Kennel Club, at Chicago, 111. John L. Lincoln, Jr., Secretary. 

 FIELD TRIALS. 



Sept. 11.— Third Annual Field Trials of the Manitoba Field 

 Trials Club. Derby entries close July 1. All-Aged en tries Aug. 1. 

 Thos. Johnson, Secretary, Winnipeg, Manitoba. 



Nov. 1.— Second Annual Field Trials of the Indiana Kennel 

 Club, at BickneU, Ind. P. T. Madison, Secretary, Indianapolis, 

 Ind. 



Noa% 19.— Tenth Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field Trials 

 Club, at High Point, N. C. (Members' Stake, Nov. 15.) W. A. 

 Coster, Secretary, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 



Dec. 3.— First Annual Field Trials of the Southern Field Trial 

 Club, at Amory, Miss. T. M. Brumby, Secretary, Chattanooga, 

 Tenn. 



Dec. 10.— Second Annual Field Trials of the American Field 

 Trials Club, at West Point, Miss. C. W. Paris, Secretary, Cincin- 

 nati. O. 



Jan. 14, 1S89.— Sixth Annual Field Trials of the Paci9c Coast 

 Field Trial Club, at Bakersfield. Cal. N. P. Sheldon, Secretary, 

 320 Sansome street, San Francisco, Cal. 



COURSING. 



Oct. 15.— Third Annual Meeting of the. American Coursing Club 

 at Great Bend, Kan. F. K. Doan, Secretary, 1310 Olive street, St 

 Louis, Mo. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpTTK AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shOAVs and trials), is 

 puhbshed every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in 

 early. Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed 

 envelope. Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. 

 No entries inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription 

 $1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2833, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 6435. 



THE NATIONAL DOG CLUB OF AMERICA. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



At a meeting of the executive committee of the National 

 Dog Club, recently held, it Avas voted that the club give at 

 the coming Buffalo show fifteen bronzed medals, as special 

 prizes, for the best American bred dog or bitch of the folloAv- 

 ing breeds: Mastiffs, St. Beruards, deerhounds, English 

 setters, Irish setters, Gordon setters, pointers, toy dogs, 

 sporting spaniels, pugs, collies, fox-terriers, greyhounds, 

 bulldogs, terriers (except fox). 



The secretary of the Buffalo show has been advised of the 

 intent and rendition of Rule XXIEE. of the National Dog 

 Club rules, and it will be enforced by him as follows: "Any 

 person guilty of misconduct of any kind in connection with 

 dogs, dog shoAvs or field trials, who has been disqualified by 

 any reputable club, will be held as disqualified by the 

 National Dog Club. If the person so disqualified desires to 

 haA r e the disqualification removed the executive committee 

 of the National Dog Club will duly consider his case, but 

 only when supported by affidavits." 



Dr. J. H. Meyer was elected to fill the vacancy in the ex- 

 ecutive committee caused by resignation of Mr. Harrison. 



H. W. Huntington, Secretary. 



Brooklyn, N. Y., Aug. 11. 



The National Dog Club through its executive committee 

 has sent out this appeal in behalf of fair play to Buffalo: 

 To the Breeders and Exhibitors of America: 



If a constant reader of the sporting press you are doubt- 

 less iully informed of the inviduous attacks which have 

 recently been made upon the National Dog Club of America. 

 To these attacks, however, it is our purpose to allude, only 

 inasmuch as they bear on the. management of the Buffalo 

 shoAV, innocently drayvu into discussion and threatened Avith 

 injury thereby. 



Among the* accompanying reprints which we send you is 

 one of an editorial from the Turf, Field and Farm, which 

 appeared July 20. Therein yoivwill learn why the Buffalo 

 management, after consulting Avith Dr. Perry, the president 

 of our club, -who advised them to join the American Ken- 

 nel Club, decided to recognize the National Dog Club, and 

 elected to show under its rules. They believed they had no 

 honorable alternative. Their decision once known, every 

 possible influence Avas brought to bear to induce them to re- 

 verse it and show under the rules of the American Kennel 

 Club, v)hich had, already declined, to perm it them to do so 

 unless they formed a "paper corporation," a course 

 winch they rightly assumed to he a dishonorable subterfuge. 

 The management Avere notified by that club, both by letter 

 and through a delegate, that unless they threw over the 

 National Dog Club, the American Kennel Club would ruin 

 their shoAV, by Avithholding their dogs and in other Avays. 



The Buffalo management has resisted the pressure brought 

 to bear on them, and declined to make any change, practi- 

 cally on the eve of their show. And yet the deluge of letters 

 from the American Kennel Club and its supporters, threat- 

 ening destruction, has continued unabated. 



The National Dog Club Avas declared to be uuable to sur 

 vive the opposition of the American Kennel Club, and it 

 members were denounced in no measured terms, while th 



