70 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 23, 1898. 
Crane. When they uncovered the big bird and dragged 
it out of the briers, we have been told, the whole crowd 
could have been bought for ten cents. Mr. Lester had 
a very quiet family for same time, and his wife had very 
little to sav to her husband for many months after. 
Capt. E. B. Gallup. 
The Working of Ponds. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
May I be allowed to ask through your columns a few 
questions concerning the working of ponds, and the 
method of fishing the ponds when in that condition?- I 
very much desire to solve the problem of the whys and 
wherefores of a pond's working. What is the cause of 
a pond's working? What good does it accomplish? How 
does it affect the habits of trout or any fish? What is 
the best method of fishing during the pond's working? 
I have been for the last three years on Lake Twitchell, 
near Big Moose, in the Adirondacks, during the latter 
part of August and the first part of September. Last 
year the condition of the lake was exceedingly bad; 
an old guide saying he had never seen any lake in such 
a condition. What I term the workings we're all over 
the bars and were from 3 to 5 or 6ft. tall, growing to 
within a few inches of the top of the water. They were of 
a substance somewhat yellowish in color, and of a thick, 
slimy nature. After a heavy wind the shores would be 
covered with a lot of black stuff washed ashore. 
The trout in this water were slow and sluggish, and 
not particularly anxious to please, the fisherman with a 
rise to his cast. When opened they had no visible traces 
of the food they were feeding upon, and they were 
very fat and in a good condition. It was their custom 
to break water at sunset, but this year they would even 
forego that sport. What caused this inactivity? 
A. L. Jordan. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
There seems to be a great difference of opinion in 
regard to the cause of specks seen all through the water 
in nearly all the lakes and ponds during July and Aug- 
ust, and it is commonly said that when the water is 
in such a condition the fishing is poor, as is usually the 
case. We would like to learn through the Forest and 
Stream the cause of these specks, and if they do have 
any influence on trout taking any kind of a lure. Some 
say the specks are caused by the lakes fermenting; others 
say they are caused by a plant blooming in the bottom 
of the lakes, and others by the blow fromtrees coming 
into the lake. Please set us all right on this point that I 
have heard discussed so long. L. O. Crane. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I find in Bulletin U. S. F. C, Vol. VI., p. 341, a pap- 
graph upon the "water bloom" of ponds, from which 
I quote: 
"Lower forms of algae, of the varieties Nostochaceae, 
Oscillariae and Chroococcacetie, occasionally produce by 
their astonishingly rapid growth the so-called 'water 
bloom' (Wasscrbluetc), and transform the water into a 
blue-green mass resembling oil. Sometimes this 'water 
bloom' causes the death of all the fish in a pond; in other 
cases only certain varieties die, and frequently the fish are 
not at all affected by it. So far no experiments have 
been made with the view to ascertain which of the algae 
forming the 'water bloom' exercise an injurious in- 
fluence on fish. It is therefore very desirable that care- 
ful observation should be made in this respect." 
In the United States no doubt similar effects are pro- 
duced by related forms of algae. It is usually stated that 
the seeds of certain water plants float at the surface 
of ponds and make the water cloudy until fertilization 
increases their specific gravity, when they sink to the 
bottom and continue their development. 
The German authority quoted is Dr. Berthold Ben- 
ecke, formerly living at Konigsberg. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I think that I can answer quite fully your question in 
regard to what you call the "blooming" of ponds, but 
which is more commonly called "working or clouding." 
This condition of the water does not always result from 
the same cause, but I am satisfied that it results from 
one single cause in the pure water lakes of the moun- 
tain regions of the Catskills. 
In the Bay of Quinte the blooming of the water evi- 
dently comes from the spores of an aquatic weed or 
plant which abounds in all the shallow waters of that 
bay. 
So far as I have had the opportunity for observation 
almost every lake, pond or water abounds in aquatic 
weeds peculiar to itself. Where the water is not over 
about 4ft. in depth these plants abound in a lame amount 
of insect life, and where the water is deeper there is, as 
a rule, an entire absence of animal life. 
In the waters of the Catskills, with which I am quite 
familiar, I have never known of a single case where 
these weeds or plants throw out spores of any kind 
which cloud the water. 
Mr. Cornelius Van Brunt, who is quite an eminent 
microscopist, and I, some twenty years ago or more, took 
particular pains to find out what caused the clouding 
of the waters in two of the lakes of the Catskills, Balsam 
Lake and Willewemoc Lake, and in both cases we found 
that this clouding was caused by the spores of the fresh- 
water sponge, which abounded in both lakes. 
The waters of these two lakes, like most of the lakes 
of the Catskills, were very pure, being spring water, and 
on the bottom of the lakes, at a depth of about 2ft. or 
2%ft., this fresh-water sponge existed in considerable 
abundance, each sponge being not over 2 or 2^in. in 
length bv 1 or 2in. in width, and when taken in the 
hand and squeezed there seemed to be nothing of them. 
The clouding of the lakes was found to extend down 
from 6 to I2in., and to be produced by millions of spores 
thrown out by the fresh-water sponge; and as I under- 
stand it, they are thrown out with very great rapidity, 
and the lakes where these sponges exist remain clouded 
until there comes a decided storm, when the spores are 
precipitated to the bottom of the lake and the water 
becomes perfectly clear again in two or three days. 
In my testimony in regard to Forest Lake, near Hud- 
son, N. Y., I referred to the fact that this lake was free 
from cloud, and that from a personal inspection of' the 
lake I had failed to find any fresh-water sponges. In re- 
gard to . this examination I can only add that the ex- 
amination of the waters of these lakes was made under 
a microscope of the highest magnifying power suitable 
for such a purpose, and that no spores were found ex- 
cept those produced by the fresh-water sponge. 
J. S. Van Cleef. 
The Grayling. 
( Tkymallus leivist) . 
The grayling of Montana exists only in the three 
forks of the Missouri River — the Jefferson, Madison 
and Gallatin rivers and their tributaries. The first real 
effort toward its artificial culture was inaugurated by 
the U. S. Fish Commission during the past spring at 
Red Rock Lake, the headwaters of the Jefferson, an 
auxiliary station connected with the Bozeman (Montana) 
station. This sub-station is situated in Montana at 
the foot of the Continental Divide, while on the opposite 
side of the Divide, in Idaho, an auxiliary station for the 
collection of eggs of the cut-throat or Rocky Moun- 
tain trout was operated at the same time at Henry's 
Lake, the headwaters of Snake River. 
As these sub-stations were under my supervision, my 
attention was naturally directed to the history of the 
grayling in Montana, and especially to its occurrence 
in the Jefferson and its tributaries, where it is especially 
abundant. Knowing that Lewis and Clark ascended 
the Jefferson to its source in the Rocky Mountains in 
1805, I thought it extremely probable that those remark- 
ably close observers had mentioned the existence of 
this beautiful and well-marked species. Upon inves- 
tigation I found my surmise to be correct. 
On page 545 of Dr. Elliot Cones' edition (1893) of the 
"Lewis and Clark Expedition," and page 411 of the 
original BiddLe edition of 1814, I found the following: 
"Toward evening we formed a drag of bushes, and in 
about two hours caught 528 very good fish, most of 
them large trout. Among them we observed for the 
first time ten or twelve trout of a white or silvery 
color, except on the back and head, where they are 
of a bluish cast; in appearance and shape they resemble 
exactly the speckled trout, except that they are not so 
large, though the scales are much larger; the flavor 
is equally good." 
A foot note of Dr. Coues to this paragraph reads as 
follows: 
"This species remains to be identified. The descrip- 
tion indicates the Oncorhynchus nerka, the common blue- 
backed salmon of the Columbia and its tributaries, ex- 
tensively used for canning, and ranking in commercial 
value, next to the qui mi at or king salmon, 0. chouicha 
or 0. quinnat. It attains a weight of 4 to 81bs., and is 
usually of the color said; but the males, in the fall be- 
come tinged with red. This salmon is also called 
0. lycaodon, and is one of the five well-established 
species of its genus; they are collectively known as 
Pacific salmon. But the genus Oncorhynchus is not 
represented in any Atlantic waters." 
The locality where these fish Avere taken was near 
the headwaters of the Jefferson, where Lewis and Clark 
abandoned their canoes and crossed the Continental 
Divide on horses. At this point the grayling is abundant 
and coexists with the cut-throat trout almost to the 
exclusion of any other species. 
There is not the least doubt in my mind that the 
foregoing description was intended for the grayling. 
As Dr. Coues truly says: "The genus Ohcorhynchus 
is not represented in any Atlantic, waters." Then the 
size, "not so large" as the trout, shows that some other 
species was meant. The description could not well 
apply to any other fish than the grayling, not even to 
the Rocky Mountain whitefish (C. ivilliamsom), for 
Lewis explicitly says: "In appearance and shape they 
exactly resemble the speckled trout, except that they are 
not so large, though the scales are larger." All of 
which is "exactly" true. Moreover he calls them "trout," 
and "white trout" they are called by some to this day. 
Furthermore he says: "The flavor is equally good." 
"He might truly have said the flavor is much better — and 
both are superior to the mountain whitefish. Species 
have been predicated, and rightful names restored, on 
far less evidence than this. As a simple act of justice 
then, and in accordance with the law of priority, the 
name Thymallus lewisi should be substituted for the 
grayling of the United States, instead of T. ontariensis 
(Cuvier) and T. ontariensis montanus (Milner), for there 
is no real difference between the Michigan and Montana 
graylings. 
It is not known where Cuvier's specimen came from, 
certainly not from Lake Ontario, to which locality it is 
attributed. The arctic form, T. signifcr, seems to be 
distinct from that of Montana and Michigan, which I 
hold to be identical. 
Lewis and Clark were both remarkable for clear, con- 
cise and correct descriptions of the animals and plants 
met with during their wonderful journey, many of which 
were new to science; but unfortunately others have 
reaped the honors of their discovery and description. 
In the matter of the grayling there is presented an op- 
portunity to restore to those intrepid explorers one 
small tributevof justice and esteem; and at the same time 
to supplant the name of a foreign naturalist given to 
an American fish of doubtful locality, half a century 
after its discovery and description, from its native waters, 
by the pioneers who blazed the way for the course of 
empire. James A. Henshall. 
Bozeman, Mont., July 4. 
The Forest and Stream is put to press each week on 
Tuesday. Correspondence intended for publication 
should reach us at the latest by Monday, and ds much 
mrlier as practicable, 
Wild Fishers I Have Fished With. 
BV FRED MATHER. 
(Continued from j>age 48,) 
Ducks. 
All ducks eat fish, frogs and other aquatic life to some 
extent, but there are birds which in popular parlance are 
called ducks which live exclusively upon fish. These I 
will not include with the ducks, but will refer to under 
another head. 
The mallard and black duck are essentially puddle 
ducks and not divers for fish. They love to pass the 
ooze through their bills and sift out the snails and 
other life, as well as to eat grains of various kinds, seeds 
of water plants and other vegetation. The mallard be- 
ing the original stock from which our domestic ducks 
are derived will give the reader an idea of its omniv- 
orous feeding. All tame ducks will eat fish, if fed to 
them, raw or cooked, and every tame drake which has 
two curled feathers on its tail has mallard blood in it, 
for no other wild duck has this mark. The so-called 
"Cayuga black ducks" of the poultry shows, which claim 
to be "improved" wild black ducks, have the green head 
and curly tail feathers of the mallard, two marks of inter- 
breeding. They are good" birds, but are fraudulent in 
pedigree. 
As one who for years bred wild ducks as a fad, and 
would like a chance to continue it, I can say that teals, 
pintails and wood ducks dearly love fish, frogs and 
tadpoles when they can get them. There is no duck or 
other bird, wild or domestic, which does not only relish, 
but require, some animal food in its menu and what is 
more natural than that all water fowl should eat fish if 
they can get them? 
Yet the mallard, black duck, teal, wood duck, canvas- 
back, redhead, pintail and others eat but a little quan- 
tity of fish. They may be classed with the Omnivora of 
the mammals, the hog, bear, raccoon and opossum, of 
which man is fond. There arc no strict vegetarians 
among the ducks. When I brought out a few quarts of 
tadpoles to a brood of young wood ducks and let the 
"tittlebats" loos* in the water, it was fun to see the little 
woodies go for them. They didn't mind my watching 
them if I didn't come too close, but a great, fat polly- 
wog was just the thing they needed to fill out their 
menu, and I loved to see the little woodies dive for 
them. 
Once, after turning loose a quantity of tadpoles among 
broods of different ducks, and enjoying their pleasure 
of gobbling them, I thought what a temptation the smell 
of a broiling steak must be to a vegetarian, for these 
little ducks had been on a diet of bread and milk, lettuce 
and water cress, with an occasional boiled egg. The 
adult wood duck will eat small fish once in a while, but 
eats more of other things, acorns, chestnuts, snails, seeds, 
duck weed, water cress and such food. 
The food of the old squaw, "south southerly," is main- 
ly a little clam with a brittle, limy shell known as the 
"duck clam," but they also take fish. 
The Fish Ducks, 
The true fish-eating ducks are the mergansers, called 
also sheldrakes in America, but the sheldrake of Europe 
is a different bird. There are three of these: the big 
species, in which the male is black and white above and 
creamy below, while the female is gray (this bird is also 
called "goosander); the red-breasted merganser, and 
the little hooded merganser, called also "little saw-bill" 
and. "crested sheldrake." This last is a little bird about 
the side of a wood duck, and like that duck nests in hol- 
low trees high from the ground; the male has a hand- 
some black and white semi-circular crest, which it can 
raise at will. 
These ducks have long, narrow bills which are so 
strongly serrated on the edges as to resemble teeth; they 
are good divers and live on fish as their main diet. All 
the mergansers, the whistler or golden eye, and the 
buffle-head or butter-ball nest in hollow trees. 
Once, while fishing near the junction of the Neosho and 
Cottonwood rivers, in Kansas, I laid down my pole — it 
was a pole and not a rod — to step back into the bushes 
to cut a switch to catch more minnows with, and was 
absent perhaps ten minutes, when there was a great com- 
motion at the place I had left. Running back I saw the 
pole flopping about as though a whale had hold of the 
line. The river was low and at this place there were 
alternate pools a few feet deep, and then a riffle where 
there was but a few inches of rapid water. My game 
would expose itself if it went up or down over a riffle 
and I could afford to let it have time. All this was 
thought out in a second, and then a large bird came to 
the surface and tried to fly, but the heavy pole brought 
it down and it again dove. The pole drifted down near 
the shallows, and I rushed in and seized it. Again the 
bird tried to fly, and I saw that it was a red-breasted 
sheldrake, but it had to drop to the water and go 
under. I pulled in on the line and the now tired bird 
resisted. Then came the question why I had tried to 
capture it, and if the beating I would get from its wings 
would be worth while? All this had happened before I 
had time to think much, but a knife severed the line 
within about ioft. of the bird and left the hook in its 
mouth. The bird was exhausted and sat on the surface 
to gets its breath, but with an eye on the man with the 
pole. It slowly paddled to the other end of the pool, 
always looking back, and after resting awhile took 
wing, with the line dangling below. 
Loons, Grebes and Hell-Divers. 
I have seen trout and other fish which had holes in y 
their bodies that looked as if speared by the sharp bill 
of a loon. Perhaps a loon may seize a fish in its bill, as 
ducks do, but the holes were grounds for suspicion. 
Often has the loon been a fishing companion, and an 
interesting one. I never killed but one, and that was 
in Kansas, and over forty years ago. It was flying and 
came down a creek too suddenly for a gunner to hail 
the stranger, ask his name and where bound, so I 
dropped him. The fact is I was out for meat; turkeys 
and prairie chickens were nesting, deer and antelope 
were out of season, rabbits were plenty, but poor and 
full of fleas and wood ticks, and I was meandering Coal 
