FORESir AND_STREAM. 
428 
getting, I believe, a couple of "pheasatits" on our way. 
At Bellvvood we had the bird Weighed; and if ,1 re- 
member right, it weighed just a fraction less than 22 
pounds, Jake of course said it weighed "ever so much 
more." 
That night the bird was viewed by all the boys who 
cared to talk gun and call in and see Bill. There was 
rather a mystery about how we got it, for we didn't say 
much about that at the time. In fact, it was some three 
years before the boys got the story just as it was. 
Anyway, the next day I took the skin off the turkey, 
and it was sent to a taxidermist in WilHamsport to be 
set up. There was not a single shot mark on the body, 
at least not a fresh one; but I left the head and neck in 
the skin, and the taxidermist found that just one small 
pellet had hit it in the head about the region of a large 
vein near the throat. It had bled internally, because our 
post-mortem showed its lungs to be full of blood. 
The turkey made our Thanksgiving Day dinner at 
Bill Clark's, but it was rather a tough old bird. That it 
had had a narrow escape or two previous to its 
iiual undoing v^as evidenced by some old calloused shot 
marks, that showed where its right leg had been pretty 
nearly smashed in days gone by. 
Its skin, mounted most artistically, in a thoroughly 
natural position, still graces Bill's pet room in his 
hostelry at Ellwood City, Pa. Perhaps Bill has not told 
all his friends how he got that turkey. If he hasn't, some 
of them will appreciate my little story of how we got our 
Thanksgiving turkey. It may cost Bill something, too! 
Edward Banks. 
An Outing in Acadia.~IL 
BY EDWARD A. SAMUELS. 
There is another species of aquatic larvae, which have 
sometimes been taken for the larva; of the Dytiscus, but 
they are quite different. These are found in still water 
generally where there is a sandy or muddy bottom. They 
are of a blackish color and have numerous joints to their 
bodies, which have points protruding from them Jike 
little bones. 
This is the larva of the horned corydalis, and is the 
largest of our ncuroptous insects. 
In this form it preys on various aquatic insects and 
their larvJe, and destroys great numbers of them; these 
larvae are excellent bait for black bass, and will attract 
those fish sometimes when all other baits fail. 
In the adult form its wings extend from five to six 
LARVA OF HORNED CORYDALIS HELGRAMITE. 
inches from tip to tip, and the body is about three inches 
from the tip of the jaws to the end of the abdomen. 
It flies by night, and like all the other Neuroptera or 
nerve-winged insects, is beneficial in that it captures great 
immbers of noxious species. 
In addition to the whirligig beetles there were a great 
number of '"water skaters" or "water measurers" moving 
nimbly about on the surface of the pool. 
They occasionally would glide quickly in a stated direc- 
tion as if they were in a hurry or in pursuit of prey, but 
generally they skated about in a leisurely manner. 
Their food consists principally of insects that have 
fallen into the water, although they at times seize small 
aquatic species. By many they are called "water spiders," 
WATER SKATER. 
but they do not belong in that class, for they are a species 
of bug, and are classed in the suborder Heteroptera of 
the great order Hemiptera. There is another member 
of this order a most singular appearing insect, the water 
scorpion, called by entomologists the Fuscous ranata; 
it s long and slender, light brown in color, and its long 
and curved forefeet, which seem well fitted for seizing- 
its prey, are raised and brandished in a threatening man- 
ner before its head. 
It preys upon other insects and their larvae. 
Its form is not as peculiar, however, as is that of the 
walking-stick, which is found in the woods clinging :o 
the leaves and twigs of trees. 
This species belongs in the Orthoptera, in which are 
included the crickets, locusts, grasshoppers, etc. It sub- 
sists on the leaves and tender shoots of trees, but is not 
sufficiently numerous to be of much importance. It is 
a sluggish, slow-moving creature, and is interesting 
chiefly because of its peculiar form, which resembles 
almost exactly a small slender stick, its legs on both 
sides answering for twigs. 
Another most interesting insect is the "caddise fly"" 
or "water moth." The larv^, which are aquatic, have the 
curious habit of protecting themselves by constructing- a 
covering for their bodies, composed of sticks, sand, pi«:es 
of grass or other substances. 
HORNED CORYDALIS. ADULT HELGRAMITE. 
At the bottom of almost every pool or brook these 
curious structures may be seen apparently moving about 
without cause; but on examination of one we find at one 
end a small, brownish head, and six legs, which are 
quicklj' retracted at being touched. The larvae move these 
protecting cases with ease, feeding principally on aquatic 
WATER SCORPION. 
plants, but occasionally on weaker insects; there are a 
great many species of these flies, and the adult insect 
resembles a moth very closely, but its wings are covered 
with hairs instead of scales, as is the case with the true 
lepidoptera. Before transforming to the pupa form the 
larva is said to close the mouth of its cell with a grating 
cornposed of silken threads, which, while it allows suf- 
ficient water to pass for the respiration of the insect, pre- 
vents the entrance of an enemy. The grub or larva is 
white and plump, and is an acceptable morsel for fishes. 
In fact, English anglers use them very extensively, and 
they are considered to be among the most successful 
■of baits. 
"I reckon we've rested the pool long enough," said 
John, after he had finished his work. "We might try 'em. 
a little longer here, and if we find no good ones we'd 
better go to the outlet of the other brook. There's 'most 
always a few big fish there." 
"All right," I replied. "There ought to be largaa- fish 
at these outlets than we've taken." 
We shoved the canoe out into the broad expanse of 
water, and I began casting over the deepest portion of 
the pool, but with the exception of hooking a few small 
fish my efforts were unrewarded, and in a short time we 
resumed the paddles ^and started for the other pool, a 
half mile or so distant. In a few minutes the desired 
spot was reached, the killisk was dropped and the canoe 
CADDICE FLY. 
was allowed to swing into a position which would enable 
me to cover all the best water. I had not begun casting 
when a small moth hovered for a few seconds over the 
reeds on the shore, and then began to wing its way across 
the river, fluttering low over the water. Its wings at last 
grazed the surface, when the swirl of a large fish was 
seen and the insect instantly disappeared. 
"There's a big trout out there," exclaimed the guide, 
pointing to the rings on the water that the fish had made. 
"Tie came up and seized an insect just now!" 
"I saw him," I replied, "and we will soon know if he 
Avill take one of my flies as greedily as he did the moth." 
Gradually lengthening my line, I cast further and further 
out on the pool until at last my lures dropped upon 
the spot where the trout had seized its prey and at the 
second trial a swirl was seen which was followed by a 
plunge, and then the singing of the reel indicated that a 
heavy fish was hooked. 
"Good!" exclaimed the guide, as the fish darted down 
the river and sank deeper and deeper in the water, "I'll 
lift the killick. You're fast to a large trout and it mav 
take out a good share of your line before it stops." 
The fish for a minute or two darted about with all the 
speed of a grilse, and then it began to circle around the 
canoe deep in the water, and evidently trying to reach 
the bottom. 
"Look out, or the fish will get the leader among the 
weeds and drift stuff," said John, forcing the canoe 
farther from the shore. 
"I'm doing my best," I replied, plying the reel as 
LARV.^: OF CADDICE ELY IN THEIR CASES. 
rapidly as possible, and causing the pliant rod to bend 
almost double. "He is surely a monster." 
"Aye, and gamy," added John, as the trout again darted 
down the river. 
With all an angler's anxiety I followed every move- 
ment of the fish, yielding when the strain was too great 
and recovering the line when the trout paused in its 
dashes for liberty. 
The lift of the little rod at length proved too strong for 
the fish; its runs grew shorter and shorter and its Strug- 
WALKING STICK. 
gles less energetic; the reel recovered more ancf more 
of the line, and finally the trout lying on its side, per- 
mitted the landing net to be passed beneath it, and in a 
few moments it was lifted into the canoe. 
"It's a beauty, and no mistake," exclaimed the guide 
as he tapped the fish on its head and then held it up for 
my inspection. "It's a four pounder, sure." 
