196 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
lilS fifiv Ifnnnri 0 / V* 3 * oId » ™igha about one hundred 
in pmffi J «, P nud 18 ft vcry good s P ecin >e°. although 
m confinement he seems to lose none of the characteristics of 
his race, having killed last fall no less than six of his com- 
panions during beptember and October. When once his rein, 
tious were established with one of the flock, his iealousv and 
rage were unbounded at the approach of any other whether 
buck or doe. Being confined in such close quartern thev 
were unable to protect themselves by flight, and if they once 
lost their footing they seldom got up under his & on- 
slaught. In this condition, one doe, two years old, was liter- 
ally disemboweled by him. 
Bromfield House, Boston, April 3, 1878. 
,, _ _ 0 Danville, Quebec, March 83, 1S78. 
LDITOR t OREST AND STREAM AND RoD AND GUN : 
My three year old cow caribou has just dropped her horns. Her six 
months old buck call still carries his two little pegs. It seems they do 
not shed their horns as early as deer. Yours truly, M. W. olAkk. 
PROF. JORDAN ON CHARACTERISTICS 
OF TROUT. 
Butler University, Irvington, Ind . , Aprils, 1878. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
I thank you heartily for the suggestion to your Western 
correspondents to send on specimens of the Idaho redfish to 
Prof. Gill and myself for identification, and to enlarge on the 
suggestion. I hope that whoever catches, not only a red 
trout, but any singular trout, or any common trout in a singu- 
lar place, or any “ spearing ” in Canada or speckled trout in 
Texas, or, in general, aDy fish anywhere, will thiuk it as im- 
portant to send a specimen to the Smithsonian as to send an 
account of it to the Forest and Stream, and will attend, 
with equal faithfulness, to both duties. I have some time 
suspected that the Idaho and Oregon redfish were Salmo ken- 
nerlgi (Suckley), Hypsifario kennerlyi (Gill), but I do not 
know May not the Texas speckled trout be Salmo pleuriticus 
(Cope).- 1 That species ranges from the headwaters of the 
Arkansas and Snake rivers to the San Joaquin. By the way 
the silver trout of Dublin Pond or Monadnock Lake, New 
Hampshire, sonic what noted among anglers, seems to be a 
silver-gray variety of the common fonlinalis , not visibly dif- 
ferent except in color. The statement in the report of the U 
S. Fish Commissioner for 1873-73 (p. 373), that it belongs to 
the group of lake trout, probably closely related to what Dr 
Prescott called Salmo symmetrica, is erroneous The so’ 
called species of lake trout, namaycush, amrthyslus, pallidus , 
GOJtftnts, adarondacus, symmetries and toma are, beyond any 
reasonable doubt, forms or varieties of Salmo namaycush, dif- 
fering in some trifling respects in the different waters 
Very truly yours, D. S. Jordan. 
[We have a full length portrait of the Rio Grande trout, to 
which scientists have assigned the name of Salmo spilurus 
(Cope) ; but it may prove to be a well-marked variety of S. 
pleuriticus, both being found in the same streams. It has a 
blood-red band on each side of the chin.— Ed,] 
before coming out. They seem to have the power to disen- 
cumber themselves of their young on the first scare. They 
naturally carry their young seven or eight months, and while 
the cubs are small the mother is very dangerous to iutruders. 
bhe will defend her young with her life. They have from one 
to three at a birth, aud sometimes four, but not often; the 
more common number is two. 
."The cry of the bear varies according to the circumstances 
which occasion it. If in a trap, the adult will make a grunt 
squeal or coarse noise, very loud and long ; if calling their 
cubs from some distant point where they have left them, the 
sound is like the voice of a woman calling loudly, and if they 
are merely giving notice to each other while feeding or in 
company and not far opart, they whistle quite sharp and loud, 
and if suddenly startled by man or beast, they usually make a 
loud snort, which is like three or four coarse whistles to- 
gether. j. g. Rioii.” 
Bethel, Me., March 13. 
Scientific Expedition and Summer Tramp.— The Butler 
University expedition, which was so successful last year, as 
may be read in Harper's for March, will make another trip 
this summer, lenvrng Indianapolis June 20, going by rail to 
Livingston, Ky., then on foot via Rock Castle River, Wild 
Cat Mountain, Cumberland Gap and Clinch Gap to Morris- 
town, Tenn., exploring the caves and seining the rivers ; 
thence up the Big Pigeon River, over the Great Smoky and 
Great Balsam Mountains, summits higher than the White 
Mountains and far moro beautiful and wild : thence over the 
mountains of Chilowee and Nautahala (see Christian Reed's 
“Land of the Sky"), up the Little Tennessee River to Estatoah 
Falls, through Rabun Gap to Tollulah Falls, the wildst 
and most beautiful series of cascades east of the Rocky 
Mountains. At Toccoa Falls, Georgia (about July 17), 
the party will divide, a portion “ marching through 
Georgia ” to collect fishes, the others remaining in the mount- 
ains, returning as they please. The directors are Professor 
D. S. Jordan and Messrs. A. W. Brayton, and C. H. Gilbert, 
of Irvington, Ind. 
glided softly down the side of the fence and across the yard 
until she confronted a rat ; with their heads not more than 
eight inches apart both cat aod rat stood motionless and coolly 
surveyed each for a minute or two when the rat started for 
its hole unpursued. The rat showed sigDS of sickness by its 
ruffled coat, and there is no doubt but that the feline's instinct 
was sufficient to warn her of the danger of takiDg the poisoned 
rat. 
Black Bear Habits. — The following interesting record of 
personal observation adds more testimony to the curious fact 
noted by a correspondent, Corp. Lot Warfield, in our issue of 
Feb. 7 : 
“ These hot days remind old hunters that the bears are 
about awakening out of their long winter sleep. They go 
into den at different times in different years, according to the 
abundance or scarcity of berries. In years of plenty, they 
prowl about until the last of December, aud even the first of 
January ; at other times they have been known to den up in 
November. Sometimes they make their quarters in a nice 
snug room in a ledge ; at others, in hollow logs, in hollow 
standing trees, under the bottoms of trees partly turned up by 
the roots, and even under large brush heaps, after the snow 
gets deep. They often come out in mid-winter, in a heavy 
thaw, and take a round turn of a mile or more and return to 
their old quarters again, thus showing that it is the warm 
weather which brings them out, and not because they have 
got their Dap out. I have often seen where the bear bas 
camped on the snow crust by breaking bows of evergreen or 
tearing dry-rotten logs to pieces for a nice, warm bed. They 
sometimes leave their winter quarters early in March, and 
make some other place a temporary abode until spring opens. 
I have known them to lay themselves away for six months at 
a time in a cave in a ledge in the deep recesses of the forest 
in utter solitude, where the dampness of the rocks only added 
to the dismal surroundings. They are supposed by many to 
suck their claws during their long isolation, but they do not • 
neither do they require any nourishment, for the exhaustion 
of the system is so little, that they usually come out in the 
spring in as good condition as they enter their dens in the fall 
— generally fat. 
“ Before goihg into den, they eat but very little for some 
time, and so prepare themselves by degrees for their loDg fast- 
ing ; and, when they come out in the spring, they are very 
dainty for a long time. They first eat spears of green grass 
then frogs and fish as soon as the little brooklets open. 
After the 6now is gone and fish work up the little streams 
in the woods and herbage begins to spring up, the bears begin 
to follow the shore of ponds and streams in search of food and 
other bears. At this season they rub their feet deep into the 
ground and make deep steppings, and all other bears that hap- 
pen aloDg in these paths will step in the same foot-marks. So 
hunters set their traps in one of these deep tracks and cover 
it so that they all look alike, and they are Bure of the first 
bear that comes along. At this time, which is about the first 
of June in Northern Maine, the bears will stretch up against 
a fir tree and bite large strips of bark and wood from the tree 
Some people suppose this is to obtain balsam to heal their toes 
which they have 6ucked all winter, and so made tender. I 
suppose it is done because they feel savage and want to try 
their teeth. Others suppose it is done to let other bears know 
that they have been there. The next move they make, after 
a week or two of this tramping, is to traverse second-growth 
land, or where a few years before extensive forest fires have 
destroyed the original trees, and much down timber is the re- 
sult. Here they finish up the summer tearing rotten logs to 
pieces for the ants and grubs they can find, until berries begin 
to riDen. 
‘ ‘ The female bears naturally drop their youDg in the month of 
March, but they never leave their den before they drop them. 
If they are disturbed in mid-winter they will then drop them 
The English Sparrow.— Prof. Baird has kindly called 
our attention to a published letter from Mr. John Akhurst, of 
Brooklyn, which is the strongest bit of evidence lately brought 
forward in support of this bird’s usefulness. It is suggested 
that preoisely the same diversity of opinion, in regard to the 
value of the sparrow s services, has existed in Europe, but at 
present, on the whole, the sentiment is in his favor. Mr. 
Akhurst is well known to all ornithologists and entomologists 
of New York as a careful and painstaking observer. He dis- 
likes the sparrows because they destroy insects and he cannot 
procure specimens of the larva; of Lepidoptcra to rear for his 
cabinet. At present we think the case hardly proven against 
the sparrows, although the weight of evidence is certainly 
against them. Mr. Akhurst, as will be seen by his letter, an 
extract from which we print below, evidently dissents from 
the verdict of the Nuttal Ornithological Club. He says : 
“In regard to the sparrows destroying insects and lame I 
am surprised that any one claiming to be a student of orni- 
thology should deny that the English house sparrow feeds on 
insects and caterpillars. Especially in the breeding season in- 
I sects are its principal food, and when it has young almost any 
caterpillar is greedily sought after, except those thickly cov- 
ered with hair. Spiders they are very fond of, and during the 
last few warm days every nook and corner has been explored 
m search of them around my two-story workshop 
“In a large Ailanthus tree in my yard I have a number of 
boxes, each having a tenant; I therefore have a large number 
constantly under my observation ; many species of Lenidon- 
tera, formerly plenty in Brooklyn, have very nearly dhao- 
peared, among these the ones which feed on the Ailanthus 
and which nearly destroyed the foliage of that fine shade 
tree, have been nearly exterminated by the sparrows 
“ I believe the sparrow to be a very useful little bird, and I 
should be very sorry to see him destroyed. I am now speak- 
ing only of the city. If it should become very abundant in 
the country it may do some damage to the grain crops. But 
that is the only harm it will do. v 
“ In regard to its driving away native birds from the city 
we never had any remain in it except a few chipping snarl 
rows, martins and swallows, and these are all as plenty now 
as ever. A chippy built its nest last summer in my tree 
■within two feet of a sparrow house. John Akhurst.” 
Another friend of this much-talked of bird, writiDg from 
Houston, Texas, over the signature “ Noranside," asks us: 
“ Wifi some of your naturalists please explain why the 
English sparrows do not drive away small British birds as 
they do American ones (or are said to) ? I must confess to 
being a little skeptical. I was raised where there were hun- 
dreds of sparrows, and certainly there were more small birds 
of other sorts than I have seen close to dwellings anywhere 
m America. They are destructive to small grain also to 
green peas, as I have no doubt some of the dwellere in your 
suburbs have found out. Fruit buds they did not trouble 7 at 
least if so, I never found it out, and I made my living by 
fruit. Bullfinches were very destructive to fruit buds mid 
the thrush family to fruits.” ' 
Domesticated Wood Ducks. — Acorrespondent, “Tonic,” 
of Berlin Heights, Ohio, takes exception to a statement made 
by “ B.,” of Shakopee, Minnesota, to the effect that wild 
ducks will not live long in confinement, and then adduces as 
evidence to the contrary two wood ducks, which he says he 
has kept in confinement for two years. Without entering into 
the merits of the question here, wo will say that wood ducks 
are very unlike most wild ducks, their habits being entirely 
different, and their habitat local. Strictly they do not migrate 
in our latitude. What our correspondent states with regard 
to his own experience in raising wood ducks is very interest- 
ing. We know of parties who raise wood ducks for sale. 
He writes : 
This pair came into my possession when quite small, and 
were raised iu a broad pen about 20 feet square. W. H. 
Todd, the noted breeder of land and water fowl of this vicinil 
ty, amputated the right wing of each at first joint when about 
two-tlnrds grown. I have them in a park about 50 feet in 
diameter with a pond in the center supplied by a spring and 
though migratory in habit they stand the severest weather 
without shelter. Last year one pair nested in a hollow log 
which was provided for them and let to project a couple of 
feet over the water, and hatched four young, which, however 
soon died, I think from eating or beingstung by bees. When 
but two days old they would leave the park and wander in 
search of insects in the field adjoining. I consider the wood 
drake one of the most beautiful of birds, and I shall be proud 
indeed if I succeed In raising them. Have any of the readers 
of Forest and Stream had aDy experience with them ? 
Tonio. 
Feline Instinot.— A correspondent who writes from 
Northern New York sends us the following interesting note- 
A few days ago some corn meal mixed with arsenic was 
set in my yard to exterminate the many rodents which wera 
lnfestiDg it. 1 he plate of poison was soon surrounded with 
rats each one eager to obtain its full share. At length one 
much larger and apparently much older than the rest made 
his appearance, walked cautiously around the festive group 
snuffed the air then advanced closely, tasted the rnorsfl, and 
by a s'gniflcant wave of the nose caused the other members of 
the party to withdraw to a respectful distance until his ap- 
petite was satisfied. 1 
,lnnnn n .f^i- uei f bb0riDg u Catt00k her accustomed posi- 
tion on the dividing fence, where she had been frequently 
seen to pounce upon the unwary vermin and carrv them 
across the fence to her family. She was not RtntinnJ,! 
eve^musH U be i ean l ° f wir ^ nervo ’ ls| y from aide to side, an! 
every muscle in her system seemed to be in motion. She 
The Fur Seam of the Islands of Juan Fernandez.— 
Prof. Baird has kindly brought to our notice a loDg published 
account of the seals of Juan Fernandez, which is very interest- 
ing and certainly seems worth calling attention to again. The 
splendid animals of this family, once abundant almost every- 
where on the west coast of America, have been so persecuted 
by man that at present they are nowhere found in consider- 
able numbers, except in Alaska, where they are carefully 
preserved. They belong to the Otariidce, or eared seals, which 
differ widely from the common hair seal of the Atlantic, and 
include, besides the fur seals, the sea lion, sea elephant, etc. 
The note is as follows : 
“Mr. Selkirk says that, in November, the seals come 
ashore to whelp and engender, when the shore i»so full of 
them that it is impossible to pass through them, and they are 
so surly that they will not move out of the way, but, like an 
angry dog, run at a man, though he have a good stick to beat 
them. So that at this and their whelping seasons it is danger- 
ous to come near them ; but at other times they will make 
way for a man, and if they did not it would be impossible to 
get from the water's side. They lined the shore very thick 
for above half a mile of ground all round the hay. When 
we came in they kept a continual noise day and night, some 
bleating like lambs, some howling like dogs or wolves, others 
making hideous noises of various sorts, so that we heard them 
aboard, though a mile from the shore. Their fur is the finest 
that ever I saw of the kind, aud exceeds that of our otters.' 
An account of the sea lion follows. All that is said of birds 
is this : ‘We found no laud bird on the island but a sort of 
blackbird, with a red breast, not unlike our English blackbird 
and the humming bird, of various colors, and no bigger than 
a large bumble-bee .’— Harleian Miscellany, Vol. II., p. 44 45 
8vo edition, London, 1810." 
It is most interesting to compare this account with those of 
recent writers on the same subject and to note their close 
agreement. See especially Captain Scammon’s Marine Mam- 
malia and Mr. H. W. Elliott’s Monograph of the Pribylov 
Islands. 
Inability of American Quail to Fly Across Wide 
Rivers.— A correspondent of the Scientific American, writing 
from a town in Louisiana, situate on the Mississippi, where 
the river is about 1,200 yards wide and about fifty feet above 
tidal water-mark, says that he has seen whole coveys of quail 
(or partridges as they are termed in some of the States) go 
down into the water at 600 yards, though while shooting he 
remarks that he has seen single birds go nearly as far to wind- 
ward, until they rose to the height of forty feet, and then fol- 
low the wind to cover. In one instance he observed a covey 
starting from immediately below Natches, Miss, (an altitude 
of 260 feet) to fly across the river, at that point 1,000 yards 
wide. They came “ like a shot," almost describing a “bee 
line" from the altitude to the bed. They were unable to perch, 
and what were not killed by striking the houses were picked 
up exhausted. This was in month of October, and the birds 
were of the May hatch. The writer adds that he has seen 
coveys fly from drift pile to drift pile, and accomplish their 
migrations in that manner. 
[We are very much disposed to doubt the accuracy of the 
above statement, but if it is true that a quail cannot fly 1,000 
yards from an elevation of a tenth of the distance, the fact is 
certainly worth knowing. Have any of our correspondents 
anything to offer on this point ?] 
We Mourn His Loss.— Obaysch, the hippopotamus at the 
London Zoo-, is dead. This fine beast made his first plunge 
into the White Nile in the spring of 1849, and was caught as 
a gentle suckling by a party of hunters sent out by Abbas 
Pasha, then the Viceroy of Egypt. Obaysch first smiled on 
an English audience in 1850, when he was the lion of London. 
In 1853 the pretty Adhcla was brought to him as a spouse, 
and several young hippos was the result of this happy union. 
But the majority or part of them could not stand British in- 
stitutions, so but one hippo, born in November, 1872, is now 
living. 
