>8 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
For Forest and Stream and Rod and Oun. 
SCENES IN THE SIERRAS. 
T HE scenery of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is the most 
picturesque of any of the Rocky Mountain chains. 
Approaching from the plains, the dark outlines of the hog- 
backs and foot-hills are seen, and behind those the Alpine 
snow-capped peaks of the first snow-range rise high toward 
the sky. On the crests of the hills as you enter them, a few 
scraggling, stnntcd cedars appear, and the bottoms are dotted 
with straggling sage and grease bdshes, with an occasional 
“Spanish bayonet.” The hills are rigged with ragged granite 
rocks, and loose boulders are seen on every side. On these 
ridges and amon^the boulders are the winter feeding-grounds 
of the autelope and big horn sheep. Farther into the moun- 
tains are groves of spruce and pine trees, and the bottoms are 
covered with dwarf willows and quaking aspens, better 
known in the mountains as “quakin’ ash." The spruce and 
a few fir trees grow up the mountain sides to an altitude of 
twelve thousand feet, and above timber line there is a rich 
growth of short grass and flowers, forming thousands of acres 
of beautiful pastures, where countless bands of antelope, 
mountain sheep, elk and mule deer graze. 
These verdant slopes are nourished by numerous rivulets, 
fed by the slowly melting of the perpetual snow banks on the 
sharp rock summits. Going still further into the larger 
ranges, deep, rocky gullies and dark canyons are traversed, 
miles in length. Their vertical sides are dressed with spruce 
trees and vines, which grow from the crevices of the rocks, 
hanging pendant or meeting from opposite sides, thick arches 
of foliage are thus formed which the sun's rays never pene- 
trate. In these shady passes the long-crested jays and nut- 
crackers resort, and their harsh notes reverberate in noisy 
chorus. 
After traveling for several hours through a dark canyon, it 
is a pleasant change to turn a sharp angle in the trail and 
come out into the bright sunlight of the bottoms. When ex- 
pionng the Rocky Mountains, one never knows how soon he 
will have to take the back trail. Oftentimes several days are 
spent in useless travel when trying to reach a mountain peak 
which appears to be but a few miles away. Rivers can usu- 
ally be forded successfully, but heavy fallen timber, and the 
vertical sides of high rocks are barriers often met with which 
defy progression. 
^Tien viewing the many ranges from a high peak, the as- 
pect is strange and wild. When looking back over a month’s 
trail, which can only be located by mountain peaks, the many 
beautiful valleys which have been crossed are lost from view 
and on every side the numerous ranges appear to be packed 
closely together, resembling in the distance huge waves out 
at sea. 1 he general surface is occasionally broken by the 
larger mountains, whose peaks tower far above the ranges 
their snowy caps making conspicuous landmarks, which are 
discernible at great distances. One of the most noticeable of 
these peaks is the Mountain of the Holy Cross. Near its 
summit are two large fissures in the rock which cross at nearly 
right angles. They are filled with snow nearly the whole year 
and some seasons the snow cross is plainly seen during the 
enure summer. When visiting it in the latter part of August 
end 1116 Cr0SS somewbatwasled and shortened at ite lower 
The Eagle River is the first one met after crossing the “di- 
vide, and its waters reach the Pacific Ocean. It is one of 
T? h n°,w C M ar ’ ! u . rbuIe ° t > refreshing streams peculiar to the 
ItS walers were teeming with salmon 
fnCndly tra PP er aad the writer packed two po- 
U)ree bours ’ fisbiD g- 'n exploring th£e 
vast mountain chains one may wander for months without 
fifonnf Tn I ? ?imfl | n b , eiDg- ^SS^og prospectors and an occa- 
hZ d d ? hu “ ter . are the only people who have the hardi- 
hood to venture far into the mountains. J. H. Batty. 
interesting of all reports issued by the association, as it con 
tains information of the most valuable character. We must 
compliment the association on the excellent stylo in which 
their transactions have been printed. We call particular atten- 
tion to the seventh annua meeting of the association, which 
will take place on the 27th and 28th of February. A general 
invitation is extended to all who may take an interest in the 
subject of fish aud fisheries. 
American Fish Cultuiusts’ Association. — The annual 
meeting of the American Fish Oulturists’ Association will take 
place on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 27th and 28th, 1878, 
at eleven o’clock, in the rooms of the Directors of the Fulton 
Market Fishmongers’ Association, foot of Beckman street, New 
York. The place where the meeting will be held is particu- 
larly suited to the requirements of the association, as it is in 
the midst of the wholesale fish business of the metropolis. It 
fulfills exactly the aim of the association in popularizing the 
study of fish. Papers of interest will be presented by the 
various sections appointed at the last meeting. There will be 
an exhibition during the meeting— a particularly fine display 
of fish, which collection will be furnished by the principal 
wholesale fish dealers of New York. 
— 
Ludlow Trout Ponds. — This well-known fish nursery in 
McKean county, Pa., will have plenty of brook trout eggs to 
dispose of this season. Brook trout eggs will be ready for 
shipment from Nov. 10th to Dec. 20th ; salmon trout from 
Dec. 20th to Jan. 20th. Brook trout fry can be sent by Jan. 
20th and salmon trout try by Feb. 20th. The prices are as 
follows : Brook trout eggs, $3.50 per thousand ; salmon trout 
eggs, $3 ; brook trout fry, $4.50 per thousand, and salmon 
trout fry $5 per thousand. For large quantities of eggs or fry 
a reduction of prices is allowed. 
§jdtur L c. 
Beneficial Results of Salmon Hatching on the Sac- 
ramento River. — The Sacramento River furnishes one of the 
. best illustrations in this country of the beneficial results of 
fish culture. Not only have the Sacramento salmon been 
captured by every possible device, in season and out of season, 
but nine-tenths of the spawning-grounds— in fact nearly all 
but those of the McCloud River— have been wholly destroyed 
by the hydraulic operations of the miners, and yet in spite of 
all these calamities the salmon of the Sacramento have actu- 
ally largely increased in number through the instrumentality 
of the Salmon Hatching Station of the United States Fish 
Commissioner on the McCloud River. This fact -becomes the 
more impressive when it is remembered that the young 
salmon which have been returned to the river have been only 
the surplus that Professor Baird could spare after furnishing 
all the States of the Union aud several foreign countries with 
as maoy California salmon eggs as they wanted. This appears 
to furnish pretty good evidence of the possible efficiency of 
fish cultural operations. The last year, it is true, the applica- 
tions were for over ten million eggs (10,000,000), while the 
supply was only seven million (7,000,000), so that some appli- 
cants were disappointed; but this was owing to a combination 
of adverse circumstances, among which was the secret fishing 
conducted out of season by the salmon canning establishments 
before they could be reached by the law. As this is not likely 
to occur again, it is confidently hoped that in the future the 
McCloud Station will be able to furnish all the California 
salmon eggs that are wanted in the United States, and in all 
pirts of the world, besides being able to put enough salmon 
back into the Sacramento to keep up and to materially in- 
crease the stock of that river. J 
Transacts of t^Am’er.oan Fish Colthbists’ Associa- 
tion. W e ,a receipt of a copy of the transactions -of the 
associa ion for 187a and 1877. In this publication may be found 
n ' ‘ hC t0P ‘ CS h d ' eCUS f d by tbe association, with copies of the 
papers read before them. This pampldet is certainly the most 
New York.— The first shipment from Caledonia, for 1878, 
was of 45,000 brook trout eggs and 54,000 youDg salmon trout, 
which were last week sent to be distributed in tbe lakes and 
brooks in Essex county, owned by the Addison Duck Club. 
— Twenty-five thousand California salmon were recently de- 
posited in Cayuga Lake. 
*— — 
Pennsylvania. — Twenty thousand California salmon fry 
have been planted at Sinnemahoning. A lot of 37,500 salmon 
eggs from the Scnoodic salmon breeding establishment, at Labe 
Stream, Me., were received at Marietta, and au invoice of 
100,000 brook trout, from Corry, Pa., are to be placed in the 
streams about Marietta. 
A SINGULAR COMBAT. 
Ohio— Lancaster, 11.— The State Fish Commissioners 
recently deposited in the waters of the Big Reservoir twenty- 
five thousand Columbia River salmon minnows. The attempt 
at restocking these waters, [however, can only prove an unavail- 
ing expense, until the unlawful, wholesale netting which 
is practiced there the year round, is prohibited. If tbe Legis- 
lature has any idea of pisiculture their attention should be im- 
mediately turned to this matter. S. G. V. G. 
— ■•>— * — 
Miohigan.— Twenty-five thousand salmon ova from the 
Government Hatcheries were received at the Michigan State 
Hatchery, at Niles, January 25. 
California.— Mr. Stephens, of Sebastopol, is engaged in 
carp culture. He has extensive hatcheries in Caulder Creek. 
distort), 
Icthyo logical News.— We have received from Prof. D S 
Jordan the weH known ichthyologist, three papers relating 
to the fish fauna of several of tne Western and Southern 
States, which constitute a very valuable addition to our knowl- 
edge of the ichthyology of this country. In his Contribu- 
tions to North American Ichthyology, published as one of the 
Bulletins of the U. S. Nat’l Museum, Prof. Jordan gives us a 
Review of Rafinesque’s Memoirs on North American Fishes 
The author has endeavored, by means of careful comparison 
of specimens of all the species known to exist in the region 
worked over by Rafinesque, with the latter’s descriptions, to 
identify beyond a doubt all the names given by this early 
author. By this means many of the vexed questions relative 
ini n , 0ra f“ Clatureof ,be Ichthyologia Shioensis and Ra- 
finesque s other papers on fish, are finally set at rest. A com- 
len s ffi the 0gUe ° f 7 RafinCSquian & nen » with their equiva- 
ind wV m r D " ° f t0 ' day ’ is added 10 tWs paper, 
and will prove of vast service to the student 
nrll e , SeCO n dpaper ° D the Fi8bes of Northern Indiana was 
printed m the proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy and 
is based on material “collected, in the summer of 1875 the 
in a communication to the N v 
the trained bronrhr T altracti0DS at the Aquarium are 
remarkable teZ ^ZT' f thMUgh of very 
formers consist nf l h complishmenUj of tbese equine per- 
on a single plank \ br ° Ueb hoops of Hame8 . see-sawing 
ing overVad 0 ,tr 7 ° D “ 8aW ' b ° rSC - of cour8C >< J“»P- 
rels up an inclined nlai ° V * ** 7 fCCt bigb ’ rolling bai ‘ 
i inclined plain, a military drill, etc. 
SPRUCE PARTRIDGE Vfl. SPANISH ROOSTER. 
Dornald, Cap Range Road, St. Foye i 
Near Quebec, Jan. 2, 1878. 1 { 
Editor Forest and Strbam : 
As a sportsman and an ardent admirer of the feathered trkbo gonr-r. 
ally, I 8lioulo\leem myself remiss were I to omit to record so singular j 
combat as the one hero referred to. The incident alluded to occurred 
some years ago In presence of myself aud several members of my f an) 
lly, and would, perhaps, have been forgotten, had I not, while looklnt 
over odd memoranda anent birdB, found tho following description o* 
this battle, the like of which probably few, if any, have had the g 0 < )q 
fortune to witness. I copy the description as I find It, written shortly 
after being an eye- witness to the occurrence, trusting that. In Justice io 
our plucky little Canada grouse, you will record his valor In the png c , 
Of FORB8T and Htkeam : 
“ On this balmy, cloudless May morning, the cry of 1 Your gun, quick 1 
roused me from au unusually prolonged nap. After a very hasty toilet 
I found myself, gun la hand, on tbe kitchen stoop. From the alarmed 
cry of tho person who called, I concluded that I was about to confront 
some very unusual denizen of the forest— a bear, a loup-corvler, or per. 
baps, tbe dreaded cat-a-wampus (Fells concolor), which, It Is said, hn, 
for some time haunted the ontsklrt of the settlement at Valcarticr 
Qreat was my surprise, Indeed, when, Instead of any of the above f or ! 
mldablo gentry, I beheld a male spruce partridge (Tetrao canadensi,) 
engaged In mortal duello with the Spanish knight-errant of our poultry 
yard. The combatants fought lu the manner common to the Qallinacra 
—eyeing each other with outstretched necks aud drooping wings. 
each attempt to strike on the part of tberooster, Tetrao.with the rapidity 
of a flash, would hop, or rather fly, over the head of his unlucky oppo. 
nent, and passing, would use, as weapons of offence, both wing ami 
claw with astouishlug effect. At each onset, this passing was repeated 
several ttmfs without Intermission; when, as before, the posture of 
attack would be resumed. In this manner the duello was carried on 
round after round, but It soon became evident that, owing to his activity' 
and strange and superior mode of attack, the smaller of the two opp 0 . 
nents must eventually become the.vlctor. Feeling his advantage, tii 0 
little hero’s fury knew no bounds. Striking from all sides, he punished 
the unlncky Chevalier ties poulcs till his crest and wattles were torn to 
shreds, and, half blind, bleeding and stunned, he became utterly demor- 
alized, and took to his heels. Little, however, did his flight avail him 
Tetrao, bent on carrying hostilities to the bitter end, followed tho/ui. 
ard, knocking him down repeatedly by the violence of tho blows till 
vanquished beyond hopa, lying flat on the sod, hiding his bruised and 
bleeding head under a tuft of grass. Callus surrendered at discretion. 
" Victory complete, our forest hero, alter briefly eyeing the prostrate 
chanticleer, giving way to the tender emotions of love, flew towards 
the hens ; and in his flight, by a tremulous motion of his wings, pro- 
duced that singular sound known as drumming. Alighting in the mldM 
of poulets ;aud matronly Brahmaa, the commotion waa general ; yet 
they manifested none of 1 hat sauce qu* pent, as when the dreaded hawk 
attempts a foray . A nervous hop aside, a mistrusting side glance, ami 
cackle expressive of surprise, was all the fear evinced, on reaching 
the ground, our little erouse paid court with outspread tall aud trailing 
wings, by strutting about, displaying his graceful form and delicate!? 
pencilled livery; anon slightly oscillating his body from side to side I 
then, with a few rapid forward steps, curving his neck, would emit a 
short, sharp sound, like spiff, spiff. Thus parading and drumming 
(produced by this species while flying downward from a iree) <• 
gallant aooght for several days to win favor. All to no purpose h 
ever. Disgusted at the marked want of appreciation on the par 
Met, lames les poules, onr brave inhabitant of the aombre swamps to* 
flight toward hlB native wilderness, there to seek, And and win a lore 
bride worthy of hla chivalry." 
The Canada grouse, or swamp partridge, as this prettl'- 
specles Is sailed, is, except when driven from its haunts by some ‘r 
dental cause, rarely met with In the woods and groves which, like dark ’• 
green Islands, dot the gradual declivity, from tho base of the Laurentl. 
des, to the ancient Stadacona and the banks of the St. Lawrence. \ 
few, I ain Informed, still linger about the swampy strip which with I 
more or less Interruption, stretches westward from the Chaudiere Fall* 
to the famous Cariboo hunting grounds In tbe rear of Chantilly From 
this locality, owing to large flres which at the time raged about Chau- I 
dlere, the Individual above alluded to came. 
In the district of Quebec, the favorite home of the spruce partridge 
is amid the vast extent of gently undnlating hills that diversify the I 
divide, or watershed, between the Sagueney country, St. Maurice, and H 
‘ hy P ' aC “ 1 laheB an(l Jlm P ld steams, it flnda ample I 
f P UnilergT0 ' vt ' 1 of «««** spruce and balsam, I 
SMdon. dZrh 8 T T m ‘ eS ’ Varl0U, au<1 ama11 Carnivora, i 
of , t T, eXCept8tdl8tanl lntcmU9 a wandering famllr 
of Montagnals Indians, a Canadian humer, or passing explorer-mid 
tolog several epede, or Jvan ZTr ,,Z 
thrushes, and other migratory song birds, the Canada grouse propagate 
i; 
presented by tbe King of Wurtembcrg; one European blacked J ! 
dus merula, presented by Mr. Anton Deneke, City ; one red fox Corns 
SrCln’ 8lX fl U " ,lala,ed gra88 Parrakeets, ilelopeUtaevs undu- 
8CVe “ PUg <1 ° 88 ’ CanU ^xesticus, horn in I 
nmia door 7 ’ 7^^’ dep08lted 8el] s Uros.; one Vlr- i 
glnla deer, Cervus vxrgmmnus, presented by Mr.*U. Caldwell - tw 
SeZsT 8 ' bora garden; on^ hIS inTh. I 
keel TZ1Z', ’ T," C " lD garden: tW0 un,,n| ated grass parra- 
I ’ J "'r r Mdulatus, hatched In garden ; one wild cat, Feli, ,1 
purchased. 
,™77 Ii !‘2 V l D AT CBNTRA ' • P AR * Mbnaokrib for week End 
bv Mr V’ a r T flylng ,flU,rr0lB ' pter ™v» lohuclla, presented 
by Mr. W. A. Lyon, Irondlqnolt, N. T. One Virginia deer, Cariaew, 1 
mrgtruanvs, presented by Mrs. Sage, N. Y. Two ring doves, Tartu, 
ruonus, presented by Mrs. Webber, N. Y. Two green monkeys, dr- 
copUhecu, ealUtricus; Uab. West Africa. One mouetacho monkn. 
Crrcopitherus eephus; Uab. West Africi. Four sooty raangabeys, Cn- 
carebus / ul.ginotue ; Uab. West Africa. Thlrty-seven small Rhesn< 'l- 
monkeys, Macaeus rhesxu, ; Hob. India. One markboor, Capra „u 0 ,< 
ctros; Uab. Punjab. W. A. Conklin, Director. 
Notice to Sportsmen.— Uaving received so many communications f 
asking us for information In icgard to our Blx-aectlon bamboo irotii, 
black bass, grilse aud salmon rods, we have prepared a circular on the 
subject, which wo shall tako pleasure In forwarding to any address. 
Wekeep on hand all grades, the prices of which range from $loto$16i'. 
We put our stamp only on the best, in order to protect our customers 
and our reputation, for we are unwilling to sell a poor rod with a false 
enamel (made by burning and staining to Imitate the genuine article) 
without letting onr customers know Just what they are getting. 
P. O. Box l,39i.-[AoV AtiBBV .v IM DBIC, 33 Maiden-Lane 
Roubing the Dead Fathers.— As n precaution against 
gbouls, the Regents of the Mount Vernon Association have 
connected Washington's tomb with the Mansion l»y an electric 
burglar alarm. 
