64 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 26, 1895. 
feet from the float. Bites were numerous enough. 
Occasionally one of the fish gave a fine run, but that 
was all the sport we got."" 
When we went down to Naples we found people there 
who taught us how to catch sheepshead properly. Mr. 
Conroy had supplied me with two or three kinds of 
suitable hooks, some attached to double gut, some to 
gimp, others to wire. The wire seemed to frighten the 
fish, and we stuck to gimp. 1 One afternoon, tired out 
with fly-fishing, we came back to the hotel, and after a 
siesta went out to the end of the pier at Naples, where 
we found that people were catching sheepshead at a tre- 
mendous rate. 
For some reason or other the sheepshead were as 
madly on the feed as trout are supposed to be at Mayfly 
time. Three kinds of bait were in use. tiny crabs, 
known as "fiddlers." in those parts, a small silver fish, 
like a bream, called a "minnow," and the legs of large 
crabs. This, of course, is salt water fishing, but, as I 
pointed out, many game fish in the southern parts of the 
United States inhabit the sea and the mouths of the 
rivers. The sheepshead cannot be called a game fish, but 
it is a very strong one. As one peered down the tur- 
quoise blue water one could plainly see myriads of 
these large grey fish wandering about. Then was the 
time to drop one's hook carefully over them and strike 
at the first indications of a bite. It was most tantaliz- 
ing. Time after time I missed fish, while an American 
lady by my side whipped them out every minute, but 
presently I learned that it was necessary to strike at the 
actual instant of a nibble. From that time all went 
smoothly. There were a number of barrels at the end 
of the pier, and as we caught our fish we threw them 
into them until we had enough to last the hotel several 
days, when we desisted. 
It is by no means always possible to catcli sheepshead. 
We tried on another occasion for a couple of hours with- 
out any success. Split open and grilled, our friends 
in the barrels proved most excellent eating. Catching 
sea trout with a live bait was by no means bad sport, 
terrible as it sounds. There were days when these fish 
absolutely refused to take a fly. In cold weather I 
imagine them to go to the bottom, and then one's only 
chance of capture is to fish deep with a float or 
"bobber, " as they call it in Florida, The best trout 
killed during our visit to Florida was taken by my wife 
in this way. 
Among the natives of Florida fishing is merely 
regarded as a means of filling the pot, and they have no 
delicate scruples on the subject. The Seminole Indians 
fish with a handline passed through a hole in a sunk 
stone. I saw some of these stone sinkers that had been 
found in a disused canal, a canal believed to date back 
to the Egpytian Pharaohs. The Indians were adroit in 
casting small nets. 
It struck me as being curious that in a land where'a 
man can catch as many fish as he wants for a day's sup- 
ply in an hour 'or two fish diets should not be more 
popular. 
We have a great many faddists on this 'side of the 
water who believe there is as much nourishment in fish 
as in meat, but I was assured by Englishmen who have 
lived long in Florida that they had grown utterly weary 
of fish food. The inhabitants of Florida, who certainly 
eat more fish than any other people I have encountered, 
are not healthy specimens of humanity. Thin and 
attenuated, the "crackers" are despised even by the 
negroes. I write this statement considerably more 
safely here in London than I should down in Florida, 
Where firearms are used ou the slightest provocation. 
We regard the Buffalo Bill style of life as a thing of the 
past ; many of us doubt whether it exists at all. Down 
in Florida, and especially in Southern Florida, human 
life is held at a discount. A "shooting" is an almost 
everyday occurrence. With that extraordinary capacity 
for humbug, which the Anglo-Saxon in Florida shares 
with his brothers in Great Britain, the lawlessness was 
absolutely denied by many Floridians to whom I spoke 
on the subject, yet almost every village has its tale of a 
recent "shooting" and always a cowardly one. This is 
not a pleasant thought for the Englishman who goes to 
the remoter parts on a sporting expedition, and for this 
reason I would advise any Britisher, or man from the 
Northern States, to take a revolver with him, and have 
it in his pocket at all times. 
It is easy to point out the swift and sure methods of 
British justice, but on the other hand, I do not think 
that even our detective force would be able to do much 
in a country like that we were visiting; The fugitive 
from justice, armed with a repeating Winchester rifle, 
hides himself on a small island, some four or five miles 
from the nearest civilization, and as soon as the sheriff 
comes along with his warrant, tells him plainly that his 
magazine contains fourteen rounds, and that he will 
"pump lead" at the first man who moves forward 
another yard. 
Under the circumstances it is natural that a large 
number of villains escape, and even when brought to 
trial, juries dare not return a verdict against them, for 
fear of revenge on the part of their comrades. This 
state of affairs I consider to be a great drawback to 
Southern Florida as a health resort, but, doubtless, as 
civilization advances and population increases, we shall 
hear of fewer of /these dreadful tragedies which are now 
a blot upon this fair land. 
Fishing with a float has one sterling advantage in hot 
climates. Whipping a stream with even a four ounce 
rod is no joke with the temperature at 100 degrees, and, 
added to the physical discomforts and fatigue, there is 
the chance of sunstroke. When I next go to Florida I 
shall take a large white umbrella and plenty of tackle 
for float and ledger fishing. For a couple of hours in 
the evening several 'species of fish rise splendidly to the 
fly. At the time of sunset one could kill, on the five 
evenings out of seven, fish of many kinds and consider- 
able size on a big Jock Scott. 
I fear I have already tried the patience of your 
readers, so ]I will wind up mv line, put away my rod. 
and go hom3, remarking as I ero that more' frequent 
exchange of visits bstween English and American 
anglers would do a great d^al to remove a little of the 
vast amount of international ignapanss which app33,rs 
ft^he a W to mare friendly retefciQuu, 
OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 
Auburn, Cal.— In The Forest and Stream columns, 
under date of January 5, there is an article by Arthur 
F. Bice, which I have found great pleasure in reading. 
Anything about birds captivates mv attention at once, 
and this writer shows such sympathy with the subject 
as to prove that he is a genuine fellow lover of ' ' God's 
earthly angels. ' ' 
With some of his conclusions, however, I hold friendly 
difference, and with all due deference will attempt to 
show where we are at variance. I will first quote his 
passages wherefrom I differ and then give examples to 
sustain my opinions. 
"These feathered messengers are always on time, and 
there are no delays nor mistakes in the train service 
which conveys them to their destination. " Ob, yes, 
there a great'many mistakes in this train service ! Birds, 
from their own experience, and, for want of a better 
term, from what is termed inherited memory, make 
their migrations at a time when the seasonal average 
calls for the arrival of spring or winter. If the season 
is not an average one, but is either hastened or delayed, 
their plans, like those of mice and men, "gang aft 
agley. " Did you never hear the old song about the pair 
of birds that arrived ahead of time, and without'proper 
foresight. 
. . . "too soon in life they started. 
Their nest was filled with ice and snow; 
Thpy had a tiff, and parted !" 
I have on more than one occasion found song sparrows 
dead that undoubtedly perished from a premature arrival 
in spring. On one occasion, many years ago, a pair of 
robins made a nest in a corner of a post and rail fence, 
and began the raising of a family too early in the year. 
A cold term came on, and one morning I found the 
female cold and stiff upon the nest, a victim to her 
maternal instinct, and a misplaced confidence in the 
weather. 
I am speaking now of my eastern exnerience, of many 
years ago, near the northern borders of Vermont, on the 
Canadian side. Of course, the season is later there than 
in New Jersey, but as I have lived in both places I know 
that the season is as liable to befool the birds in one 
latitude as in the other wim 
In the locality I speak of the crows do not winter, but 
leave for the seashore, and more southern parts, in the 
late autumn, returning about the first days in February. 
One day when I was a lad my father observed a crow 
picking up dead bees from the surface of the snow near 
the bee house, and going out caught him in his hand 
and brought him in. There had been some warm, sunny 
days, which had brought the crows and enticed the bees 
from their frosty slumbers. Many of the bees fell and 
perished in the snow. The weather changed and a long 
cold term ensued, and even that sagacious bird the crow 
got fooled and no doubt many of his kind perished. The 
one in question was almost starved, and so reduced in 
strength by cold and hunger that he stupidly allowed 
himself to be captured rather than to desert the feast he 
had providentially found. 
Again, when a season is abnormally early, we miss 
our feathered friends for a time, but at the average time 
their train arrives and our eyes and ears are once again 
gladdened with the sight and [sound of our longed-for 
harbingers of spring. 
* That is the one. sensation of the year that one misses 
in California. Here the seasons vary so little, one from 
another, and merge so gradually into each other that the 
absence of one friend is scarcely missed, as his place is 
supplied by another. 
w Again I quote: "Nature is consistent in all that she 
does, and to put a sweet song into the throat of a bird 
of prey would not coincide with the eternal fitness of 
things. " This is in the main correct, but not altogether 
so. Show me a fiercer, a more rapacious or insatiable 
fiend than the shrike, and yet how innocent and. en- 
gaging is his song? you would think, while listening to 
him, that according to the old saying, ' ' butter would not 
melt in his mouth. ' ' But let him spy some innocent 
warbler, and he will drop his song to slay the victim 
and to impale it upon some neighboring thorn — not be- 
cause he wants or needs it, but simply to gratify his cruel 
appetite for slaughter. 
Did my friend ever hear a mother owl talking to her 
babies? _ If not, he has yet something to live for. I 
believe it to be a maternal lullaby, although by some it 
is believed to be a love song uttered by the male. I 
have heard it in the depths of the forest, in the still 
night hours, when my nerves fairly quivered with 
delight at the soft and pleasing notes. And perhaps 
the jade . had a poor field mouse grasped in her ugly 
crooked talons at the moment. 
* Aaginlquote: " Sweetness of song, however, is rarely 
accompanied by brilliancy of plumage. ' ' Not so rarely. 
Many exceptions come to mind. What about our burion. 
or house finch/ so conspicuous in his scarlet head, and 
neck? Our orioles, with their gaudy uniforms? Our 
cardinal birds, especially the Texas cardinals that are 
poems in color? The bob-o-link in his nuptial dress is 
a brilliant looking fellow and very showy with his 
marked contrasts of color ! The nonpareil is quite a 
little dude, and even the common robin is no incon- 
spicuous object, while his western brother, the Oregon 
robin, is a perfect dandy. The blackheaded grosbeak is 
a gaudy bird, with a whistle that entrances. 
A far larger number of plain and inconspicuous birds 
have harsh or unmusical voices than do those of brilliant 
plumage, because the number of soberly dressed birds 
greatly preponderate in numbers of species. 
I heartily argee with Mr. Rice as to the educational 
abilities of birds. They can put two and two together 
and find that four is the result, just as well as their 
haughty neighbor— man ! 
k ' In these oolunms, some months ago, I noted the fact 
that I had never observed the nest of an Arkansaw 
tyrant flycatcher without finding several nests of more 
inoffensive birds in its near vicinity. These latter 
undoubtedly reasoned that they would receive incidental 
protection by building in the neighborhood of this 
courageous spaoieg of kiAgbiEd, and that the jays and 
other predacious birds would be made to keep their dis- 
tance. I have thus observed this bird's nest, with 
orioles, chipping sparrows, Arkansaw gold finches and 
tits, all living in security around it in the same tree. 
If you will notice any small island in a lake or river 
you will find it populated with birds to a greater excess 
than ten times the same amount of ground on the main- 
land. What but its freedom from the presence of 
predatory animals and snakes leads the birds to choose 
such a nesting place? They have to seek all their food 
upon the mainland. Then, why not nest there? Because 
they reason that the island is the more secure place. 
Take note of this. You will find it true. 
The observation of birds and their ways is the most 
charming occupation in the world, and I delight to 
greet a congenial spirit in Mr. Rice. Aeefak. 
Some Big Moose Heads. 
St. John, N. B. — I had the pleasure of an interview 
with Mr. J. H. Carnall, the well-known taxidermist, 
on the subject of moose heads. Mr. Carnall stated that 
he mounted every year about fifty moose heads. Last 
year he handled sixty-eight heads, and he thought the 
total this season would run up to seventy-five. He is 
of the opinion that the supply of moose and caribou in 
these eastern provinces is on the increase. The widest 
spread of moose horns of which he has any knowledge 
belonged to the head of an animal shot by Sir Harry 
Burrard, at Canaan River, in this province fifteen years 
ago. They measured 5 feet 4 inches. After being taken 
to England they were presented by Sir Harry to the 
Prince of Wales. Last year Mr. Carnall mounted a pair 
of antlers for Mr. F. H. Hale of Woodstock, N. B. , that 
measured just 5 feet. This moose was shot on the 
Tobique River. He has never mounted a head, whether 
of bull or cow moose, thatjdid not carry the bell at the 
neck. A moose shot in Maine by Captain Sears, an 
English sportsman, had a bell 18 inches long. He has 
mounted one cow moose head that is adorned with two 
perfectly developed bells. He claims that all caribou 
cows have horns, which statement, in view of his largo 
experience, ought to just about settle this disputed 
question. At all events, it drives the hornless cow into a 
hopeless minority. ' Prowler. 
_ A Blue Jay Pet. 
I think that few people know what a nice pet a blue 
jay makes. One summer while walking through a 
swamp I found a young jay. which evidently had left 
his nest but a day or two before. After quite a chase I 
caught him, and bringing him home, put him in a 
large cage. At first I fed him from my hand with corn 
meal, bread and insects of all kinds, but he soon began 
to eat for himself. 
* In about a month he was fully feathered, and I found 
he had become so tame that I could let him go out of 
doors, and he did not attempt to leave. He would sit 
on my hand while I walked through the grass, and as 
soon as I started up a grasshopper would chase it and 
catch it, then return with it in his beak to my hand to 
eat it. All the small birds around the place hated him, 
and he would often be surrounded by half a dozen 
different kinds, all threatening, but none of them hav- 
ing the courage to really touch him. He occasionally 
came in my bedroom window, and would sit on the 
bureau and amuse himself by picking up pins or any- 
thing bright which caught his eye. Toward winter I 
caged him again, and left him to the care of another 
person, but to my sorrow he died in a few months. I 
would be interested to hear through this paper from 
others who have had blue jays as pets. Mac. 
Lake Champlain Ducks and Gulls. 
Essex, N. Y., January 14 — Lake Champlain is still 
open at Essex, and, in fact, seldom closes until Feb- 
ruary. The lake here is 399 feet in the deepest part. 
Many ducks and gulls, driven to the open water by the 
ice both north and south, are every day seen, sometimes 
alone sometimes sporting in company among the white- 
caps, from which the gulls can hardly be distinguished, 
when the sun strikes them fairly, making them seem as 
white as foam, but in fact they are more grey than 
white. They are much more wary than the ducks, 
seldom being seen less than half a mile from shore. C. 
"That reminds me." 
Another Turkey That Got Away. 
The interesting article of P. O. S. in your issue of the 
12th inst. , entitled, ' ' The Turkey I Didn't Get, ' ' reminds 
me of a turkey I didn't get. It is sometimes even 
pleasant to be reminded of any unpleasant event that 
has happened to us so long ago, that, like the uncut 
diamond, the sharp edges have worn off revealing the 
light and laughter. 
The years of 1848-9 found me down on the White 
Mountains in Greene County, Ind. , helping to build the 
Wabash and Erie canal, built to connect the water of 
Lake Erie with the Ohio River, but which was never 
completed, and I think the section (101) which my 
brother and I built was never used at all, though the 
upper portion down as far as Terre Haute was used for 
a time. But what a country that was for game in those 
days — and what a paradise for the sportsmen would it 
be now if it only remained as then ! I wrote the post- 
master at Bloomfield a few years ago inquiring for some 
of the old settlers who were there then, and also about 
the game. The answer was, Gone, gone, all gone ! No 
deer and turkey left ; and the old settler's whom I knew 
had crossed the river one by one and others had taken 
their places in the moving ranks of progress. 
But to return to the turkey I didn't get. I did not 
get much spare time for hunting, for with looking after 
the 100 or so men we worked and the stock, carts, tools, 
etc. , I was pretty well tied up, for we did our own 
bossing. One day it had rained too hard for work, but 
when it cleared tip toward evening I took my gun and 
started for the bluff skirting the bottom landa. I had 
followed along about half way up the bluff, and 'just 
t>elQw_vfhere TJsole Zed Adams lived (I hope BQEaejane 
