March 9, 1901.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
189 
Breeding of Wild Ducks in 
New York 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In 1899 ducks bred sixty miles from here at Patterson, 
in Putnam county, this State, on the marshes of the 
Croton River, within 500 rods of my home. In the par- 
ticular place referred to one pair had a brood which were 
more than once seen sneaking along in the tall grass and 
among the branches of the trees that hang over the water. 
At that time they were not full feathered./ Besides the 
pair mentioned other broods were raised further down 
the marshes. 
Last year (1900) the birds were disturbed by gunners 
and did not remain with us to breed. I am convinced 
that if not shot in the spring these birds would nest and 
rear broods with us regularly. 
I inclose wing of one of these birds. 
.Jacob Alvarez. 
New York City, March 1. 
[The wing of the bird inclosed is that of the male wood 
duck.] 
Orient, Suffolk County, N. Y., March 2.— Editor 
Forest and Stream: For sixty years I have traversed the 
marshes along the bays and creeks which belonged to my 
great-grandfather, grandfather, father and now myself. 
During this time I have never seen a nest of duck's eggs. 
I did, about forty years ago, find two or three little black 
ducks, six or eight inches long, which, of course, must 
have come from a nest on the main land. Nine miles south 
of us is Gardiner's Island — a preserve, a wild, undeveloped 
place. Occasionally each summer the fishermen who 
camp upon the beach find a nest of black duck eggs. I 
have never heard of any other species of duck eggs being 
found until my son read of it in your paper to-day in my 
hearing. It is stated there that wood duck eggs were 
found at Saj^alie. 
We think it too bad for the people up State to restrict 
us in our shooting, as we have little but the riff raff of 
the ducks — coots and old squaws. We have very few 
black ducks and broadbills, and a few sheldrakes sand- 
wiched in. I never killed but one wood duck in my life. 
Up State they have canvas ducks, mallards and black 
ducks which are fit for a king's table. Here we are 
isolated from the State, and we feel it is not neighborly 
for them to shut down on us. Daniel T. Tuthill. 
Utica, N. Y., March 4. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your editorial of March 2 you call for information 
from "ornithologists and older readers of the Forest and 
Stream-" as to the breeding of wild ducks in this State. 
While I cannot claim the honor of the first title, I 
certainly can the second, and I therefore venture to send 
my little, hoping that it may help to swell a considerable 
amount of testimony. 
The black duck is a common summer resident through- 
out the Adirondack region of Herkimer and Hamilton 
counties. Wherever there are not too many cottagers 
there is a brood on every piece of water, more especially 
on the smaller ones. My journal shows that I found 
nests containing eggs on June 21, 1874, in Hamilton 
county, and on June 4, 1878, in Herkimer county, and I 
have seen some other nests. 
The Blue- Winged Teal— I have seen broods of this bird 
at Utica, at Oneida Lake and at the Montezuma Marshes, 
which seemed too young to have migrated from the north, 
but I have never found a nest nor seen birds which could 
not fly. You will, I think, have more positive information 
from the Seneca River country. 
The wood duck is a common summer resident through 
the central part of the State. In the Montezuma Marshes, 
down the Seneca River, up the Oneida and in the swamps 
bordering Oneida Lake, I have observed these birds, and 
though I have no record of a nest found, there is no 
doubt as to their breeding. I saw a brood there the first 
of last September, which had evidently been raised there. 
The American Golden-Eye— Perhaps the most valuable 
information which I have is of this bird. For several 
.summers in the seventies I spent the month of June in 
Hamilton county wilderness and found the whistlers 
breeding on two little lakes for several years in succes- 
sion. My journal records that on June 5, 1877, I found 
broods of young just hatched, not over two or three days 
old, on two different lakes, and that I captured one of 
the little fellows alive. Well do I remember what a 
beauty he was, covered with soft down, "all black and 
white, just like his pa." He was so beautiful and cun- 
ning that much as I wanted him as a specimen, I had not 
the heart to put him to death, but released him and 
watched him scuttle away to join his mother and his 
brothers, who were waiting for him out in the lake. 
This is all my personal knowledge, but without looking 
far I find this additional information: 
The blue-winged teal is given as breeding on Long 
Island by Giraud. 
The gadwall is given as breeding, in the State by De- 
Kay. 
The bald-pate as probably breeding, by the same 
authority. 
The American swan is given as breeding at Tupper 
Lake, in Hamilton county, by the same authority, 
Egbert Bagg. 
The West Virginia Warden, 
Eddor Forest and Stream: 
I inclose in this letter a clipping from a paper in ref- 
erence to the pollution of South Branch River and think 
it is good enough for a place in your columns. Our last 
Legislature gave to our State game warden a salary of 
$1,200 per year and $300 for expenses. It also gave 'him 
the power to appoint deputy game wardens for each 
county, and refused to repeal the non-resident license 
tax, so that law now stands as it w^as before, namely, a 
fee of $25 for each non-resident hunter, the license good 
only in the county where issued and for one year from 
the time of the license is issued, and the Legislature 
refused to put a license on fishermen. I think we will noAV 
have suiBcient orotection on the game and fish in this 
State, as_ the State game warden, Capt. E. F. Smith, of 
Hinton, is a j^oung and active man, and will get around 
among his deputies to see that they f^jfprce the law. 
Wrhi7_ - _ , 1^. /• B. Brady. 
100 Sportsmen's finds. 
Some of the Qtieer Discoveries Made by Those Who Are 
Looking for Game of Fish. 
45 
A beautiful grotto, 300 yards deep by 130 yards wide, 
has been discovered near Tapotitlan, Oaxaca. Mexico. 
The walls are of a brilliant quartz and the stalactites are 
very large and beautiful, most of them of the form of 
giant pillars supporting the roof 90 feet above the floor. 
The. grotto was discovered by a couple of hunters, who 
found several skulls, evidences of human sacrifices, and 
obsidian figures within, showing that the cave was known 
to the Aztecs. The cave has in its center two pools of 
beautiful, clear, cold water, which never vary in height 
and have no visible supply or discharge places, 
46 
Some hunters in the forest of Drommling made a very 
strange discoveiy. They began -to fell a venerable oak, 
which they soon found to be quite hollow. Being half- 
decayed, it speedily came to the ground with a crash, 
disclosing^ a skeleton in excellent preservation ; even the 
boots, which came above the knees, were perfect. By its 
side were a powder horn, a porcelain pipe bowl and a 
silver watch. The teeth were perfect. It would seem to 
be the skeleton of a man between thirty and forty years 
of age. It is conjectured that, while engaged in hunting, 
he climbed the tree for some purpose and slipped into the 
hollow trunk, from which there was no release, and he 
probably died of starvation. 
47 
The members of a fishing party during a week's camp 
on a portion of the battlefield of Antietam. on the spot 
where_ the Philadelphia Corn Exchange Regiment met 
with its heavy loss in the battle, found the complete 
skeleton of a man, and bv its side the scabbard and blade 
of an officers sword. The body was in the midst of a 
thicket of j^oung ti-ees, which probably accounts for its 
being overlooked for so long a time. There being no 
clue as to the identity of the remains, the bones were 
interred by the anglers near where they were found. 
Notice. 
All communications intended for Forsst ahd Stkiav should 
alway? be addressed to the Forest and Stream PubUshinR Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
Fishing Up and Down the Potomac^ 
Washington's Diary. 
In giving some extracts from Washington's diary some 
time ago,* it was, of course, in ignorance of the late 
*FoREST AND Stream, Feb. 23. 
George H. Moore's little book on "Washington as an 
Angler," and due acknowledgments are cheerfully made 
to the author's memory and to the Woodcraft Magazine 
for April, 1900, kindly sent by the editor, and which con- 
tains Mr. Moore's entire paper. 
On continuing the examination of the diary, Mr. 
Moore's book was found inserted as an annotation, pre- 
sumably by Dr. Toner, in a later volume at July, 1787. 
It turns out that there are two private diaries of Wash- 
ington covering the period from which Mr. Moore quoted. 
One of these volumes is in the Congressional Library, and 
part of this has been printed, and another volume for 
the same date in the custody of the State Department at 
Washington. The two do not always correspond in 
form, and the State Department copy is particularly in- 
teresting, in that on at least two occasions it mentions 
the kind of fish which the celebrated angler was after. 
The citations in the book were from the copy in the 
Congressional Library and the entries for corresponding 
dates from both diaries are here given for comparison. 
July, 1787. Monday, 30th, 
(Library copy.) 
"Tn companj^ with Mr. Gouverneur Morris went into 
the neighborhood of the valley Forge to a Widow Moore's 
fishing at whose house we lodged." 
estate Department copy.) 
"In company with Mr. Gov'r Morris and in his Phaeton 
with my horses went up to one Jane Moore's in the 
vicinity of Valley Forge to get Trout." 
Tuesday, 31st. 
(Library copy.) 
"Before Breakfast I rode to the Valley Forge and over 
the whole Cantonment & works of the American Army in 
the winter of 1777-8 and on my return to the Widow 
Moore's found Mr. and Mrs. Rob't Morris. Spent the 
day there fishing &c. lodged at the same place." 
(State Department copy.) 
"While Mr. Morris was fishing I rid over the old 
Cantonment of the American Army of the Winter 1777-8. 
Visited all the works which were in Ruins ; and the in- 
campments in woods where the grounds had not been 
cultivated." 
August, 1787. Friday, 3d. 
(Library copy.) 
"Went up to Trenton on a Fishing party with Mr. and 
Mrs. Rob't Morris & Mr, Gov'r Morris. Dined and lodged 
at Col. SamI Ogden's. In the evening fished." 
(State Department copy.) 
"In company with Mr. Rob't Morris and his Lady and 
Mr. Gov'r Morris I went up to Trenton on another Fish- 
ing party. Lodged at Col. Sam Ogden's at the Trenton 
Works. In the Evening fished, not very successfully." 
Saturday, 4th. 
(Library copy.) 
"In the morning and between breakfast and 4itiner 
fished." " ' 
(State Department copy.) ^ ^ ^ _ ^ 
"In the morning and between breakfast & dinner fished 
again with more success (for Perch) than yesterday." 
1788 was an unlucky year for his fishing landing. The 
entries are as follows : 
April 28. "Few fish were caught in the forenoon of this 
April 29. "No fish caught to-day of any consequence." 
April 30. ; "Few or no fish caught to-day at the time I 
was at the landing." 
May 3, "FcAv or no fish being caught to-day I ordered 
them to discontinue drawing the Sein after Monday un- 
less they were more successful on that day," 
May 5. "No fish being caught to-day I ordered the 
hogsheads and everything else to be secured and the 
people to repair to their respective places and businesses." 
In 1794 he went up about Harrisburg, and Oct. 3 has 
this entry: "The Susquehanna at this place abounds in 
the Rockfish of 12 or 15 inches in length & a fish which 
they call Salmon." The latter was the wall-eyed pike or 
yellow pike perch or jack-salmon. 
This completes the references to fishing in his diary so 
far as examined. 
In November, 1789, he was making a tour of New Eng- 
land, and the following entry is of interest in connection 
with a former paper : Sunday, 8th, "It veing contrary to 
law and disagreeable to the People of this State (Con- 
necticut) to travel on the Sabbath day — and my horses, 
after passing through such intolerable roads wanting 
rest, I stayed at Perkin's tavern (which by the bye is not a 
good one) all day — and a meeting house being within a 
few rods of the door, I attended morning and evening 
service, and heard very lame discourses from a Mr. 
Pond." 
He gives a vivid description of a storm at Mt, Vernon, 
July 24, 1788 : "Thermometer at 70 in the morning, 71 at 
noon and 74 at night. A very high N.E. wind all night 
which this morning being accompanied with rain became a 
hurricane driving the miniature ship Federalist from her 
moorings and sinking her; blowing down some trees in 
the groA'-es and about the houses, loosning the roots & 
forcing many others to yield and dismantling most in a 
greater or lesser degree of their Bows, and doing other 
and great mischief to the grain, grass &c. and not a 
little to my mill race; in a word it was violent and severe 
more so than has happened for many years. About noon 
the wind suddenly shifted from N.E. to S.W. and blew 
the remaining part of the day as violently from that 
quarter. The tide about this time rose near or quite 4 
feet higher than it was ever known to do driving Boats 
&c. into fields where no tide had ever been heard of be- 
fore, and must it is apprehended have done infinite 
damage on their Wharves at Alexandria, Norfolk, Balti- 
more &c." 
This century-old record is wonderfully interesting, and 
voluminous as it is one cannot help hoping other frag- 
ments of the journal may yet be unearthed. 
Henry Talbott. 
Winter Fishing atif Lafce ^Winni- 
pesaukee* 
Boston^ Feb. 27. — Editor Forest and Stream: Early in 
the month I received notice from my friend, Mr. Warren. 
D. Huse, of Laconia, to be ready for a fishing trip to Lake 
Winnipesaukee. Mr, Huse is a pretty business busy man 
in the thriving city of Laconia, where, with his two sons, 
Walter and Leon, he is engaged in the manufacture of 
knitting and other machines. They are all more or less 
addicted to the use of the rod and gun, and when either 
of them wants to go fishing or shooting, why he simply 
goes. On the i8th came word from Mr. Huse that he and 
Mr. Edwin Stone were going to his cottage at the lake 
that day and for me to join them as soon as possible. The 
next day at 12:15 Conductor John Catneron pulled the 
signal and I stepped from the train at the little flag station 
of Spring Haven, where Mr. Huse gave me a cordial 
greeting. I could not help contrasting the difference in 
the aspect of the surroundiiigs from what they were in 
August last when I closed the Seaver cottage, where Mrs. 
Smart and myself had passed that month in good, solid 
enjoyment. Then the wild flowers lined the highways and 
were seen everywhere in the fields and pastures, while 
berries abounded in all directions. Now how different 
Plenty of snow, packed hard, making excellent sleighing;, 
the lake frozen with from 16 to 18 inches of ice, with 
excellent going over its smooth surface, the wind having 
swept the snow in piles along the shores. A few minutes' 
walk brought us to the cottage where a big coal fire 
made the whole house warm and comfortable. The fish 
house was out a short distance from the shore and a few 
holes had been put in. After lunch I got into my fishing 
rig and we went out to the house. Here was a good 
fire, and 4 feet from the stove was a well hole in the floor, 
into which a trout line was set in 40 feet of water. The wind 
was blowing a moderate gale, and it was pretty cold work 
bobbing the lines outside. Mr. Stone was over near the 
Rattlesnake Island shore, and I walked over to fish with 
him for a \vhile. He got one handsome trout over there. 
It was a short afternoon, and before 5 o'clock we were 
back in the cottage, where we were joined by Mr. William 
Wallace, of Lacania. Among other things Stone knows 
about is how to cook, and it was not long before he had a 
smashing hot supper on the table. That over and the 
necessary chores done, pipes were in order, and the short 
evening was devoted to various topics, Mr. Huse told of 
his early experiences with the gun — how he got his first 
fox and how he blew his first partridge all to pieces, not 
finding a piece big enough to pick up. Mr. Stone gave 
us a very entertaining account of his eight months' so- 
journ in Paris during the Exposition, where he was in 
charge of an exhibit of machinery for making wire cork- 
screws. He made them by the thousands every day. sell- 
ing them almost as fast as they could be turned out. 
Wallace and I told a few fish stories and the evening 
passed quickly. 
After breakfast next morning, farmer Batchelder vns 
brought into the game, and we hitched the boh-hoii-,e be- 
hind his horse step and toward it over to the broads be- 
tween Rattlesnake Island and the Tuftanborough shoi-e, 
where it remained two days. The wind blew straight 
down the lake both days, strong and cold, and it was cx- 
tretnely \i^r^ fis}iing, bwt Jsept at it, and occ^io?\-j 
