6 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 33, 1891. 



The Mysterious Tenant op a Tree. — Within the 

 limits of the city of New York is a great swamp dense 

 and treachei-oTia the year round. It Jies in a tract of 

 country lately set aside by the city and called Van Cort- 

 landt Park. One afternoon in the early spring of 1887, I 

 was poking about among the trees and bushes on the out- 

 skirts of this swamp watching a wary hawk and some 

 restless noisy crows that were perhaps beginning to build 

 their nests in the tops of the swamp oaks. Several old 

 crows' nests were found: also one composed of large sticks 

 high among the upper hmbs of a swamp oak. I carefully 

 scrutinized the latter through my field glass, and I saw 

 that it was not a new one, yet it was occupied, and the 

 occupant's feathers or fur seemed to wave in the light 

 breeze, I threw sticks at it, but could not see signs of 

 life. A bird would surely have left. Then I pounded 

 the trunk of the tree, thrashed a,bout the tops of saplings 

 and boat the bushes, but still there was no movement. 

 Then I cut a stout stick, a yard long, and determined to 

 climb the tree and find out its tenant. The tree was one 

 of a bunch of four or five that sprung from a common 

 base, and the group was surrounded by water. Small 

 limbs had gi-own pretty thickly from butt to top, so that 

 climbing could not be difficult. The platform of sticks, 

 evidently a deserted crows' nest, was supported close to 

 the main stem by several limbs and many others grew 

 above and around it. My fir^t impulse was to strike the 

 bunch of red fur with my stick, but the limbs prevented 

 that. All the while it had not stirred. If I could only 

 make it move, perhaps I could deal an effective blow at 

 it. So, reaching out at arm's length, I gave a strong poke 

 into the mass of fur. It instantly arose upon its forelegs, 

 stared a moment in bewildmen't and surprise, and the 

 very next instant, with a wild leap, went tumbling over 

 the side of the nest into a pool of water fully 40ft. Ijelow. 

 Then, slowly dragging its tail, it crawled away, wet and 

 forlorn, into a dense growth of brambles out of sight. 

 The mysterious creature was a red fox. Not 40yds. from 

 this very tree was a railroad track upon which many 

 ti-ains a day had been passing. The home had not been 

 hard for him to reach on account of the numerous limbs 

 which served as roimds to his ladder. Here, he had, 

 doubtless, slept day after day in the midst of civilization, 

 with a feeling of such security that he would not deign 

 to move until a stick was thrust rudely against his ribs. 

 It is commonly believed that foxes resort only to burrows 

 in the ground or holes among rocks. But this individual, 

 with danger on so many sides, was, no doubt, driven by 

 some great necessity to attempt the almost incredible 

 feat of sleeping in a tree-top. — S. T. Adney in Indepen- 

 dent. 



KENTtJCKy.— Spencer Co., Ky., Jan. 12.— The shooting 

 season ,iu8t past has been a very good one. Quail have 

 abounded, and a pheasant has been picked up in the 

 eastern portion of the county, in the hills of Beech and 

 Crooked Creeks, where there is still vast, almost unbroken, 

 forest. Hares have been plentiful, but the sport is so 

 little appreciated that only market hunters have enjoyed 

 it. There is not a beagle in the county. If their merits 

 were known it would be but a short time before hare- 

 hunting would be the most popular of sports. There can 

 be few amusements more interesting than that of having 

 the little trailers drive the hares out of cover where a good 

 shot could pick them off ad libitum. The big fish-pond 

 and game-preserve scheme has not materialized. Senator 

 Grilbert has gone hunting a State office, and no one seems 

 now to be pushing the enterprise. I am certain the plan 

 was practieable, and would pay stockholders big interest 

 on their money. — J. S. M. 



Forest and Stream Powder Tests.— New York, 

 Jan. 19. — Editor Forest and Stream: In reply to the 

 letter of Messrs. Von Lengerke & Detmold in last week's 

 issue, and also to the complaint of the manager of the 

 American Wood Powder Co., that my Colt gun, which 

 was used in the powder tests at Claremont under your 

 management, was a large 13-gauge, I beg to state that 

 the gun was tested by Mr. J. Dannef elser, No. 9 Chambers 

 street, and myself, and it was found a very small 13-bore. 

 A No. 12 wad required considerable pressure to go from 

 chamber to choke. I hope this will satisfy those inter- 

 ested in that test as being fair to all concerned, as I did 

 the shooting with my gun on that day without any inter- 

 est other than a record for my gun. — Edwin A. Susimers. 



Snow and Rifle Sights. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 A couple of items, one by "Hunter" and the other by Mr. 

 Lyman, remind me that I have also been troubled when 

 hunting deer in the timber, when the snow adheres to the 

 branches and underbrush, by having the sights of my 

 rifle, both front, open and the Lyman, choked with fall- 

 ing snow, or the view of the front sight obstructed by 

 snow lodging on the barrel, especially so if the snow be 

 damp. I overcome the difficulty by reversing the usual 

 method of carrying the gun; that is to say, by carrying it 

 bottom side upward, — H. L. 



A Sight Attachment,— Let "Ahmeek" (issue Jan. 8) 

 take a small rubber ball, such as is used by children as a 

 plaything, cut it in half, or allow two-thirds in one posi- 

 tion. In the part used make a small hole to tightly fit 

 over projection in sight. Place in position, and the larger 

 portion being toward face will serve to obviate the trouble 

 complained of. The mode of application, etc., will sug- 

 gest itself applicable to all peej) sights. 



At Hagen, in Prussian Westphalia, the attention of an 

 official was aroused by the barking of a dog on the railway. 

 Thinking there was something amiss the man followed the 

 animal, and found that its master, a sportsman, while 

 walking homeward on a low railway embankment, bad been 

 seized with a giddiness and had fallen in a state of insensi- 

 bility on to the metals. Guided by the dog the man soon 

 reached the spot where its master lay and succeeded in re- 

 moving him. A few minutes later a train passed. — London 

 Daily News. 



A Book Aboui Indians.— The Forest and Stream will mail 

 free on application a descriptive circular of Mr. Grinnell's book, 

 "Pawaee Hero Stories and Folk-Tales," givlns? a table of content? 

 and Bpeclmen illnstratlonia from the voinme.— .4dB. 



Forest and Stream, Box 3,832, N. Y. city, has desoriptlve Illus- 

 trated circulars of W. B. LefflngweU's l>ook, "Wild Fowl Shoot- 

 ing," wMch will be mailed free on request. The book Is pro- 

 nounced by "Naixit." "Q-loan." "Dick Swiveller," '*Sybillene" and 

 other competent authorities to be the beet treailee on the BBbJeot 

 extaat. 



'^m mid ^iv^f fishing. 



The full texts of the game flsh laws of all the States, 

 Territories and British Provinces are given in the Booh of 

 tJic (Jame Laws, 



THE SUNAPEE TROUT. 



Salvelinus alpimis OAireolus, 



FOR some time past ichthyologists and anglers alike 

 have been deeply interested in the question of the 

 name and origin of the splendid trout of Sunapee Lake. 

 Is it a distinct and peculiar species which has always been 

 with us, or is it simply the Em-opeati charr or saibling 

 which has been lately brought over from Em'ope? Two 

 of om- highest ichthyological authorities have expressed 

 themselves with some j)03itiveness in regard to this matter. 

 Dr. Tarleton H, Bean, of the U. S. Fihh Commission, has 

 described the fish in question as a distinct species, under 

 the name of Salvelinus aureolus, while Mr. Samuel Gar- 

 man, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, has de- 

 clared it to be fully identical with the European SaZyeZmws 

 alpinus, the charr, saibling, ealbling or ombre chevalier o{ 

 the rivers and lakes of northern Europe. On the supposi- 

 tion of the identity of the Sunapee trout with the 

 European form, its occurrence in the lakes of Maine has 

 been attributed to a recent plfi ntof saibling eggs brought 

 from Germany by the U. S. Fish Commission. The pos- 

 sibility that this trout is a hybrid between the saibling 

 and the European trout or "brown trout" (Salmo fario), 

 has been also suggested. 



The study of the species of charr is a very difficult one. 

 The specific differences are slight and the individual 

 variations surprisingly great. The presence of a large 

 amount of material is necessary in order to reach any 

 conclusion. Those conclusions which now seem to me 

 probable I wish to' present in the most modest manner 

 possible, for they are liable to be wholly overturned when 

 the waters between Maine and Greenland are more fully 

 explored. 



For the purposes of the present study. Dr. Bean has 

 very kindly lent me a considerable amount of material, 

 from the National Museum, by consent of Dr. Goode. 

 This consists of the following specimens; 



Salvelinus alpinus — 10.249. from Europe; 17,456 (two 

 speciinens), Bergen; 39,924, Sterling Lake, N. J. (intro- 

 duced). 



Salvelimis atireohis—Yrom Sunapee Lake, 37,408, 

 37,409, 37,410, 39,334, 39,335, 39,900. 



Salvelinus— A hybrid of Salvelinus alpinus, male, with 

 Salmo fario, female, 2 years old, received from Norway, 

 17,451. 



Salvelinus {nitidus)—M,QSi, Disco, Greenland. 



Salvelimis (arc^wrus)— 36,097, mouth of St, Lawrence 

 River; 37,670, lake near Quebec. 



Besides these specimens I have received several speci- 

 mens of Salvelinus atireolus from Sunapee Lake and 

 Dan Hole Pond through the kindness of Mr. A. N. 

 Cheney and others. From Dr. Bean I have also speci- 

 mens of S. oquassa from Rangeley Lake, and at S. fon- 

 tinalis agassizii from Monadnock Lake. There is, how- 

 ever, no present question of the distinctness of the Suna- 

 l^ee trout from either fontinalis or oqtiassa, though its 

 relations to the latter are very close. 



From the material in hand the following conclusions 

 seem justifiable, and I am pleased to find that these 

 results agree in the main with the observations both of 

 Dr. Bean and of Mr. Garman. 



1. In comparing the specimens of aureolus with, those 

 of alpinus I find a very close agreement in all external 

 respects, some of the specimens in hand coinciding, as 

 Mr. Garman has noticed, in almost every detail with one 

 of Dr. F. A. Smitt's colored figures of alpinus from 

 Sweden. I find, however, the following distinctions con- 

 stant in these specimens, these differences being sub- 

 stantially those already pointed out by Dr. Bean. 



In aureolus the gill rakers, 6-^11 or 6+13 in number, 

 are quite short, less than one-third diameter of eye, and 

 angularly bent outward, the oldest specimens "having 

 them shortest in i)roportion and most curved. 



In alpinus the gill rakers are 7+15 or 7+14 in number, 

 longer and straighter than in aureolus, two-fifths length 

 of eye in specimens of the same length as those of 

 aureolus measured. In form of gill rakers and in all 

 other respects the specimen from Sterling Lake intro- 

 duced (from Germany) agrees fully with the Norwe- 

 gian saiblings. 



In aureohis the pectorals are shorter (If in head) and 

 the dorsal lower than in alpinus. In the latter the pec- 

 toral is li to li in head. 



Other apparent differences, which may depend wholly 

 or in part on the condition of the specimens are these: 

 The hyoid (hypobranchial) teeth in aureolus are smaller 

 and in a broader series than in alpinus, the stomach a 

 little thicker and the pyloric coaca smaller. I doubt the 

 constancy of these characters. The specimens of aureo- 

 lus are al.?o a little more robust in form, a character of 

 trifling value among trout. 



Dr. Day has recently maintained, and he has shown 

 good cause for his opinion, that the six or eight nominal 

 species of charr ascribed to the waters of Great Britain 

 are all forms of one — Salvelimis alpinus. Recent conti- 

 nental writers seem to share this view, long ago advanced 

 by Agassiz, who placed all the charrs of Europe, includ- 

 ing Iceland, in a single species, alpinus. Dr. Day has 

 shown that the species is subject to great variation in the 

 development of the pectorals. None of the European 

 writers have paid much attention to the gill rakers. Dr. 

 Gihither has counted in English specimens 9 and 11 gill 

 rakers on the lower limb. If these counts are correct, 

 the number would vary from 6+9 to 9+15. But this 

 count may be questioned , as it is not unlikely that some 

 of the smaller ones have been omitted in Dr. Giinther's 

 enumeration. When all these facts are taken into con- 

 sideration, the only character left to distinguish the Sun- 

 apee charr from the saibling is the curved form and per- 

 haps lesser number of its gill rakers. 



This problem is complicated by the existence of other 

 saibling-like charrs in lakes of Canada and Greenland. 

 It is evident, too, that some of these are even more like 

 the saibling than the Sunapee trout is, a fact which Dr. 

 Bean has already pointed out in a letter to me. 



The specimen above mentioned from Disco, Greenland, 

 is a fine trout, 15in. long, wholly silvery in color, a fact 

 which shows that it was taken in the sea. This specimen 



has the gill rakers slender and straightish, 9+15 in num- 

 ber, the longest 2^ in eye. In this respect it agrees per- 

 fectly with the saibling, but in the form of the body and 

 the shortish fins (the pectoral If in head) it more resembles 

 the Sunapee trout. This Greenland flsh represents the 

 species called Salvelimis nitidus (Richardson). This has 

 been thought to be simply th^- female of a long-hnned 

 Greenland trout called Salvelinus staqnalis (Fabricius). 

 Perhaps nitidus is the female and stagnalis the male, or 

 perhaps stagnalis is based on river and nitidus on eea-run 

 specimens. Apparently the two are not distinct fpecies 

 and I do not see how either can be separated from alpinus. 

 Apparently, also, nitidus only differs from aureolus in 

 having the gill rakers of the alpinus. An unpublished 

 engraving of another Greenland trout (nitidtis) agrees 

 perfectly in form and color with aureolus, but the gill 

 rakers are not shown. 



In view of all these fact?, I have no hesitation in re- 

 garding these Greenland charrs as forms of the saibling. 

 That the saibling should extend its range af ross to Green- 

 land need not surprise us. It is found in all the mountain 

 lakes of Europe from Austria to Spitzbergen. It enters 

 the northern seas and swarms in the ponds of Iceland. In 

 late autumn, in the North Pacific, black-spotted trout 

 (Salmo inyMss) and the Dolly Varden cliarr [Salvelinus 

 maZma) freely enter the ocean, and they inhabit aUke both 

 sides of Behring's Sea. The saibhng could as easily reach 

 Greenland from Iceland as to cross to Iceland from the 

 Scottish coasts. 



Two other specimens before us are also of interest in. 

 this connection. One of these, a young trout, lOiHn. in 

 length, with parr marks and without red pputs, is from a 

 lake near Quebec. The other, 9fin. long, was taken in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This specimen is very dark in 

 color, almost like a blueback. It has no red spots and its 

 scales have the silvery lustre which is acquired on enter- 

 ing the sea. 



These two specimens seem to agree with each other in- 

 essentials. They have straightish gill rakers like the 

 saibling, but their number of these appendages (7+12 

 and 7+14) is intermediate between the saibling and the 

 Sunapee trout. The pectoral fins are also intermtdiatein 

 length, 1| in head in one specimen. If in the other. The 

 opercular bones seem more straight than in any other 

 specimens examined, but this appearance may be due to 

 the fact of the partial drying of the skin over the bones 

 before the fish was put into alcohol. These specimens are 

 apparently intermediate between the saibling and the 

 Sunapee trout, and again intermediate between the Green- 

 land nitidus and the Sunapee fish. The specimen from 

 Quebec agrees in allrespects, waiving non-essentials, with 

 Dr. Giinther's figure of Salvelinus arciurus, the ":iorthern- 

 most Salmonoid known," from the northern limit of British 

 America. Dr. Bean has suggested to me that this speci- 

 men may be the unrecognized Salvelinus rossi of Rich- 

 ardson, This view may be correct, but Richardson's 

 description is so vague that we can only be sure that his 

 fish was some one of the alpimis set. with red spots and a 

 red belly, perhaps a nitidus or stagnalis. 



The Sunapee charr is certainly not a hybrid between, 

 the saibling and any other species, European or Ameri- ' 

 can. The hybrid alpinus fario, examined by me, has 

 the scales adherent as in 'alpimis, but almost as large 

 (135 series) as in Salmo fario. Its gill rakers, 6+11 or 18, 

 are stiffish and nearly straight; there are a few teeth on 

 the shaft of the vomer [fano has m.any, the species of 

 Salvelinus none at all) and the color is very eccentric. 

 The body is dark and is clouded all over with sharply 

 defined yellowish reticulations, which extend on the head 

 and fins. Its coloration somewhat resembles that of a 

 pike. It has neither the red spots of alpinus nor the 

 black spots of fario. 



In this connection we may briefly notice the other 

 nominal species of charr described from British America 

 and Greenland. Salvelinus arcturus seems to be a form 

 or variety of alpinus as already noticed. The same 

 is true of Salvelimis nitidus and of Salvelinus stagnalis. 

 Salvelimis alipes is the same as stagnalis and rossi prob- 

 ably identical with nitidus, as is also Salvelinus hearnii. 

 Salvelinus hoodi was based on a mixed lot of Salvelimis 

 fontinalis and S. namaycush. Salvelinus hudsonicus, 

 canadensis and immaculatus are fontinalis, the latter 

 name given to sea-run specimens. But for all we know 

 the alpinu'i may run out to sea as well and become im- 

 maculatus too. Salvelinus naresi, from the Arctic re- 

 gions, seems to be the same as oquassa. 



If these views be correct we have in America five 

 species of charr, each highly variable and running into 

 many local varieties. 



1. Salvelimis namaycush.— The Great Lake trout, from 

 Maine to "Wisconsin, and Idaho, northwestward to 

 Alaska. 



f. Salvelinus malma.—The Dolly Varden trout, frotn 

 the Sacramento Basin to Siberia, west of the Cascade 

 Mountains. 



S. Salvelinus alpinus. — The charr or saibling or omhre 

 chevalier of Europe, from Maine to Boothia and across to 

 Greenland, Iceland and all Europe; a well marked variety 

 being the Sunapee charr (Salvelinus alpinus aureolus). 

 Other varieties of doubtful standing are alipes, nitidus 

 and arcturus. 



4. Salvelinus oquassa. — The blueback, Rangeley Lakes 

 to Boothia. 



o. Salvelinus fontinalis— The brook trout or speckled 

 trout, from the Saskatchawan country to Labrador, and 

 south in the mountains to Georgia; its range more south- 

 erly than that of the others and not crossing the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



As for the Sunapee charr itself we may say that it 

 seems to be distinguished from all the other forms of 

 charr by its gill rakers. It is probably not a distinct 

 species, and it is probably native to the waters in which 

 it is now found, and not an importation from Europe. 

 Should it appear, however, that the saibling in that part 

 of Germany from which specimens have been brought to 

 America have gill rakers like these of the Sunapee trotit, 

 this opinion would be reconsidered. Other lakes of 

 Maine, Quebec, Labrador and Boothia must be explored.' 

 before these questions can be definitely settled. 



It is interesting to notice that just as the right of the 

 saibling to be regarded as a native American has been 

 questioned in this cormtry, so has its citizenship in Eng- 

 land been also denied, 



Dr, Day tells us that in olden times the people were 

 "taught that three sons of the church introduced these 

 fishes into Wales from Rome, and placed two in each of 

 th« lakes of Llanberriee, Llynumber and Trevennyn," 



