S68 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 4, 1899. 
locity, and his muscles obey his mind. Ask him what cal- 
culating process he goes through when he stops a rabbit 
flashmg across a loft. ride 30yds. away. He cannot tell 
you. He shoots by instinct, by unconscious calculation — ■ 
and kills. H '4 
I belive I am right in saying that every first-class shot 
is also a very quick shot. If this is not strictly accurate, 
at all eyems the rule holds good in most cases. The 
necessarily limited experience or observation of a single 
individual is never of much worth as a basis for forming 
general conclusions ; but I may say that never yet have I 
met with an instance of a good shot being otherwise than 
a quick shot, or of a slow shot being a good shot. The 
slow shot uses conscious calculation; so long as he re- 
mains on the wrong side of the line dividing conscious 
from unconscious calculation he will never shoot anything 
but badly. If he has been shooting for some seasons and 
has failed to develop the power of unconscious calcula- 
tion, nothing can ever transform him into a good shot, 
any more than a man born without an ear for music can 
ever b? transformed into a good musician. In both cases 
Nature withholds a certain facidty without which the at- 
tainment of efficiency is impossible. When once one has 
come to shoot instinctively, which means also quickly — 
killing one's birds almost at the moment ^they rise, and 
rnaking every shot practically a snap shot— a return to de- 
liberation and conscious calculation — shooting slowly, that 
is— would mean a large falling off in the proportion of 
kills to misses if systematically pursued. In the case of 
a good shot the first, the instinctive aim, is the aim most 
likely to kill. Every foot he follows a bird will decrease 
his chances of killing it ; the longer he pauses the less in- 
stinctively will his mind act, for conscious calculation 
must, to a certain extent, make itself felt with delay. 
Who has not, let us say. kicked up a rabbit, raised the gun 
deliberately, followed the rabbit for 20yds. or 25yds., felt 
dead sure of the shot, pulled the trigger, and, to his as- 
^ tonishment, missed ? The easy shots, the shots one takes 
one's time about and feels certain of, are often the shots 
one misses most easily. And let me say in a concluding 
sentence that I am fully aware both of the controversial 
nature of what I liave Avritten, and also of its weak points 
when put to the test of argument. It is merely the opin- 
ion of an individual.— London Field, 
Jersey Ways Just Like Some Others, 
Paterson, N. J., Oct. 26. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Kindly permit me to take exception to the statement 
made in your last issue by Mr. H. N. Munn that the 
sportsmen of New Jersey have anything whatever to do 
^ith the framing of the fish and game laws of the State. 
It is true that sportsmen annually go to Trenton anl 
submit their views, to which the committee listens with 
more or less patience. After this useless formula has been 
gone through with, Mr. Hayseed from Wayback county 
goes to the committee and delivers himself as follows; 
"There is a whole lot of game and fish and a whole lot 
of different seasons, I have a blacksmith, a good friend 
of mine, who wants to shoot snipe in September and only 
in that month, and if you will conform to his views I will 
vote for your bill. That is all I ask, and because it is so little 
I think I ought -to have it." Mr. Hayseed is followed 
by a dozen or more others each demanding something 
particular, and the result is the kaleidoscopic variety of 
fish and game laws to which people point when they argue 
that New Jersey is not in the Union. The Senate of New 
Jersey some years ago passed a bill permitting the use of 
nets at all times of the year in all the fresh waters of the 
State for tlie taking of pike, the reason therefor being 
that a nephew of one of the Senators had a small pond 
from which he wanted to take pike for breakfast once in 
a while. Charles A. Shriner. 
Tricks. 
St. James. Minn. — There is a column in Forest and 
Stream called "That Reminds Me." I have often 
, thought a good one could be started on "Tricks." So 
many little things are known by certain readers that are 
not known by others, that an exchange might be made 
with profit to all. I have learned one lately I consider 
good. If not new to all, at least it was to me and may 
be useful. Skunk odor is hard to get off, but it can be 
done almost instantly with the common carbolic acid 
sold in the drug stores. Also two teaspoonfuls in half a 
pail of water will Icill the fleas on a dog instantly and 
without harm to the dog. I have been frozen out in 
Assinaboia and have run down here to catch a few ducks 
before winter sets in. Pink Edge. 
Remembrance and Appreciation. 
IrontoNj Ohio, Oct. 24. — We are having glorious 
autumn weather, and report comes of a fair game crop. 
The law is fairly enforced here, and a sooner is very sly. 
Giving the right to kill rabbits at all times causes the 
untimely death of some quail. » 
I was sick and confined to my home. A brother 
sportsman rang the bell and asked to see me at the door. 
He handed me a small package, saying, "Jim, put that 
where it will do you the most good." "That" had a 
bealutifully mixed plumage, white and brown an(J gold; 
and on a slice of toast was fine. The gift pleased the 
eye and afterward the palate. James Dotuy. 
Southwest Florida* 
Fort Myers; Fla., Oct. 23, — A bear and two cubs passed 
within a mile of Fort Myers to-day. One cub was cap- 
tured by a school teacher — Sellers, by name. 
Quail are more plentiful than for years. Turkey are 
being killed within three miles of town, although the 
closed season is not yet off. Deer very plentiful. 
- The prospect is that this will be the best season for 
shooting that Lee county has known for many years. 
English snipe coming in thick. Duck shooting good at 
Lake Flirt. W. F. M. 
What He Cannot Understand, 
, A SHOOTING . friend says he can't understand why it is 
that l^e can stand on the shore and pump lead into a block 
of wood floating 200yds. away until his arm gets tired, but 
can't' hit ^ hnm'U 9i f eese s,t the same distance, ^, 
Game in"Pennsylvania, 
The gunning season this year in Pennsylvania opened 
with good prospects for Nimrod's disciples, especially in 
Monroe and Pike counties. Pheasants are numerous, and 
a number of deer and a few bear have been kicked up 
by sportsmen in their tramp over the barrens and swails 
in pursuit of game. 
Good reports come from Spruce Cabin, located on the 
well-known "BroadAvater" Canadensis, reached via Cresco 
on D., L. & W. Ry.. and a number of sportsmen, some 
with their families, have already arrived to enjoy the fine 
facilities of this mountain resort. 
Among recent arrivals Avho bagged considerable game 
were Eugene Smith, Hoboken ; Prof. T. H. McCoal, 
Philadelphia, and T. F. Rose, Camden, N. J. 
Reader of Forest and Stream. 
head just above the eyes. This spine is capable of an i 
and down trigger movement and is used for defensive at 
offensive purposes. 
The surgeon fish is similar in color and general aj 
pearance to the trigger fish, but it has two spines, lane 
like in forto, and placed one on each side of the boc 
near the root of the tail. These spines are folded 
sheaths when the fish is in a peaceful mood, but in 1 
contest are raised at right angles to the body and use 
Longf Island Dtick Shooting, 
Duck shooting is reported at its height on the Great 
South Bay of Long Island. Almost all the varieties found 
in these waters are now there— black ducks, redheads and 
woodbills. 
Bermuda Fish in ithe Aquarium. 
In the New York Aquarium the fish that are admired 
most and excite most interest on the part of the public 
are the brilliantly hued and curiously shaped denizens of 
the tropical waters of Bermuda. Here are pictures and 
descriptions of the most characteristic of these species 
now to be seen in the Aquarium tanks. 
First in point of attractiveness of color and in general 
interest is the angel fish. It is of a flattish shape. The 
hack and the ventral fins are each prolonged into a grace- 
ful winglike appendage; hence, of course, the name. Any 
attempt to give a definite description of the colors of the 
gaudy angel fish would be futile, as its constant move- 
ments, together with the peculiar effects of the down- 
ward falling light, give rapid changes in hue, making an 
exact delineation of its colors difficult. However, the 
predominating colors are a bright green and a cobalt 
four-eyed fish, 
to slash about and cut the opponent. The erect spine! 
also preclude any possibility of their owner going dow 
the throat of a bigger fish, as they will catch in the mout 
or the throat of the eater. 1 
The grouper is a sad looking fish, with its large dowi! 
ward sloping mouth. They have a fondness for groupih, 
themselves in rows, military fashion, heads all facing th 
same way. The grouper has the power of suddeni 
changing color; but the usual markings are brown an 
dull white in irregular broad vertical bands. It is d\ 
excellent food fish. 
The trunk fish has an angular body, with quick-movin 
paddlelike fins and a rudderlike tail. This fish, with it 
odd shape, its unfishlike outer covering, and wit 
COMMON parrot FISH. 
blue, the green on the body running off into blue patches 
around the head and gills, and the blue on the tail and 
wmgs blending in places to a deHcate purple and pink. 
The tips of the wings and the fringe of the tail are a bright 
yellow. The angel fish is considered fine eating. Its 
name certainly would look well on a menu. 
The first thing that strikes one on seeing a school of 
four-eyed fish is that a lot of animated peacock feathers 
are passing before our vision. This fish has the usual, 
although small, pair of normal eyes. The so-called third 
and fourth eyes are merely two large spots of shiny black 
and are on that part of the body just back of and oppo- 
the mechanical movements of the fins and tail, look 
like a miniature submarine boat. 
The cow fish gets its name from the possession of tvf^ 
horns, projecting forward, at the top of the head. Witl 
fhe_ exception of these horns, it resembles in appearance 
as it does somewhat in habits and manners, the trunk fisl 
The blue parrot fish is a small fish beautifully marked' 
On the back are four bars of pure white alternating witlt 
bars of intense black. _ The ground color of the rest o 
the body is orange, which is besprinkled and marked witl 
dots and wavy lines of a bright blue. 
The common parrot fish has scales of the tints o 
GROUPER. 
site to where the real e>cs are placed. The eye-spot, or 
ocellus, as it is technically called, of the four-eyed fish 
resembles the eye-spot of a peacock's feather, arid the 
markings of the fish consist of lines of color branching 
from a central shaft and running gracefully backward like 
the barbs of a feather. 
The_ squirrel fish is of a uniform bright pink, with a 
metallic sheen. The eyes are large and red and surround- 
ed with blood-red rings — deep blood red; the eyes seem 
to be suffused and ever on the point of shedding tears 
of blood. This fish has long, stiffly set, erect and pointed 
fins and a two-forked tail. \ , 
.The trigger fish is of a duirb'rown color, but is of .in- 
terest on account of a shfirp spine on t^ie top of the 
mother-of-pearl. Each scale is bordered with black. Th< 
tail and fins are of a brilliant orange. The edge of the tai' 
is fringed with black. Similar in shape, but very mucl 
larger, is the green parrot fish, of which kind there an 
two fine specimens on view. The color of these is o 
a uniform green, with a suggestion of cobalt blue, a colo> 
that sometimes goes under the name of Nile green. 
The silver bream's charm Is in Its sober tone of silverj 
gray, with a few delicate stripes of a darker color. A 
dark spot near the root of the tail is a characteristic anc 
distinguishing mark. 
While ' the artist was sketching the sergeant-major 
among tHe people passing by .two made similar observa- 
tions regartiin?' fi^b, 'Ope gnlled'it prison ftsh, th? other 
