FOREST AND STREAM* 
32 <P 
reduced in a similar ratio. The sturgeon is valuable as 
food for the poor on account of its cheapness, while the 
spawn is used as caviare, an epicurean delicacy, large 
quantities of which are annually exported to Europe.— 
Itoch&tcr Express. 
palatal §istory. 
Natural History of Oregon and Arizona.— An offi- 
cer of the First Cavalry, now stationed at Camp Har- 
ney, Oregon, in the Pah-ute country, is a naturalist of 
no small repute, and i9 at present collecting specimens of 
the different kinds of trout found in Oregon for the Smith- 
sonian Institution. We take pleasure in quoting from a 
recent letter to the editor of Forest and Stream some 
facts relative to the fauna of Oregon and Arizona. The 
Captain says of the game of Oregon: 
B"So far as flue fishing is concerned, amau could scarcely 
go amiss by pitching his line in the first stream he came to. 
I think that you can find fine trout in every brook in the 
State- I would not recommend the vicinity of Camp Har- 
ney for hunting and fishing purposes, although game of 
both kinds is extremely plenty. The great trouble is get- 
ting here. It is in the heart of the ludian country, Palt- 
utes, about 260 miles from the railroad in a southerly di- 
rection, and the same distance to the Dalles, on the Colum- 
bia River. Accommodations, you might say there are 
none, or of the rudest kind, and the expenses would not be 
light either. The roads are bad and blocked by snow dur- 
ing five months in the year. For pleasure-seekers this 
would not do, as there must bo any amount of better places 
nearer to civilization and easier of access. Geese, ducks, 
and swan are extremely abundant on all the lakes about 
here, some of which are of quite good size. We have just 
finished a fine sail boat, and 1 hope to have a chance to ex- 
plore Lake Harney and Malheur Lake thoroughly both for 
fish and birds. I consider Southern Arizona one of the 
finest game countries in the United States, but it is rather 
inaccessible also, and not safe for a small party. Deer are 
extremely abundant (two or three species;) antelope also; 
bear, if any one has lost any, pumas and such like; wild 
turkeys (Mdiagris Manama,) from which the domestic race 
is supposed to have sprung. It differs from the Eastern 
species (Mcliugris gallopato) in the coloration of the tips of 
the upper and lower tail coverts and tail feathers, these 
being white in the former while they are fulvous or chest- 
nut red in the latter. Of quail you can find three species, 
viz.: Loplwrtyse Oambehi (Gambel’s quail,) which is very 
common throughout the whole territory. CaUipepla squa- 
mata, the blue or scaled partridge. This is somewhat rarer, 
and does not extend further westward than Tucson. I no- 
ticed it oftener about the San Pedro River than anywhere 
else, but always some distance away from wnter, preferring 
the most sterile districts to any others. Cyrtonyx Maintain, 
the Massena partridge (black partridge,) is the last and 
rarest, and more of a mountain-loving bird than the other 
two. I noticed it only on two occasions; it is, however, 
not rare in some portions of Western Texas. Several spe- 
cies of pigeons, ducks, and other water fowls are also 
found abundantly In proper season. The Mexican turkey, 
however, is the best game of the lot, and attains a weight 
of thirty pounds sometimes. C. B.” 
ARTIFICES OF WOODCOCK. 
Rocuester, N. Y., June 12th, 1876. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
la n recent number of your paper a correspondent described the action 
and efforts at concealment practiced by a woodcock that once came un- 
der Ins observation. The relation of sneb incidents is interesting to 
sportsmen and naturalists, who are ever glad to learn of some peculiarity 
iu the subjects of their respective researches. An incident somewhat 
similar to that alluded to took place in rny experience a few years ago. 
Ad ardent spurting friend and I were after ducks ou Black Creek in this 
county about the middle of October, 1868. Ducks were scarce, but in 
crossing a piece of marsh we came on a very large swarm of snipe that 
lay like stones, and bad to be kicked np. I marked down one bird, and 
walking up thought to get him to rise at a suitable dlsiance. He didu't 
show himself ou the wing, and us I got to the edge of a pool in the 
marsh 1 saw ihe bird run quickly along the mud and nestle close down 
behind a stick. I watched him for several minutes, and he would stretch 
out hie heud and peer at me with the air of a gamin watching a blue coat 
around the corner. The code of the field sportsman to be sure pre- 
vented me from taking a pot-hunter’s advantage of Seolopax Wilton i, 
but when, after throwing a sod or two at him, be started on lively wing 
I did as is usual on such occasions, and closed up his account, terminat- 
ing one of the best day s snipe shooting I ever enjoyed. Should my 
wandering friend Will F. see tins ho wi 1 remember the occuslon. 
E. n. 

COCK GROUSE PROTECTING NESTS. 
Macuias, Me., June 2let, 1875. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
While driving in this vicinity a few days since, a ruffed grouse ran out 
into the road, aud with ruffled plumage und lowered head attacked us. 
hot the rapid pace soon discouraged It, although keeping close to the 
wheels for several rods. To my surprise 1 saw that it was a matt. We 
returned a few hours later with u tat mo fontlnalU of three pounds and 
an ounce weight aud a number of his brethren of lesser note. 
ItOAMKR. 
[The incident referred to is unusual, as it is the belief 
that the cock birds do not assist the hens in taking care of 
their young. — E d ] 
STRANGE FREAKS IN DEER NATURE. 
Nicabio, Marin county. Cal. , Jane 14th, 1875. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
In hunting deer In the county of San Luis Obispo some years ago, I 
'ouna quite a number of wethers among thu bucks shot, and os it was 
isused by disease, I give It to the readers of your paper. At the time I 
first shot them, In July, their horns were in the velvet, and remained tile 
same in September when I left that county Reluming the following 
Spring, I found some with full head of horns still Iu the velvet hut much 
faded. Among those I killed some hud imperfect horn* und some large 
spikes covered with knots from base to lip; many were In good condi- 
tion, more very poor. The cause I did not know, though some iiunters 
said it was from u disease brought in from Texas cattle. I huve heard 
of wethers being killed in Monterey county within two years, but huve 
never beard of one north of Suu Francisco. Thomas 11 . Estey. 
— A while gopher, a rate freak of nature, was recently 
Captured iu Oregon aud evut to the Oregon Museum. 
— The Philadelphia Zoological Society is mourning the 
loss of a bull moose, which died June 24th. The Editor 
of this journal is aiding this society to obtain a pair, and 
hopes for success. 
CENTRAL PARK MENAGERIE. 
Department op Pimuo Parks, I 
New York, June 27, 1875. t 
Animals received at Central Park Menagerie for the week ending June 
Sfitli, 1875:— 
One Pino Grosbeak, Pinlcoia tnucltalor Received In exchange. 
One small Alligator. Presented by Mr. W T. Coale. 
One great Horned Owl, Bubo Vlrglniamu. Presented by Mr. A. II. 
Ellis. 
One Sparrow Hawk, Fatco rparwriui. Presented by Rev. Isaac Riley. 
Four Horse-shoe Crabs, Llmulus />olyp/ieinu.x. Presented by Mr. 
Samuel Smith. 
BRED IN THE MENAGERIE . 
Three Panthers, Felit eon color. 
Four Fawns, Cariacu * Vtrginianus. 
Five Pea fowl, Pa to cristatu*. 
BRED ON THE PARK. 
Five Rollins, Tardus migralorlm. Three Cat Birds, Oaltoseoples 
CarotlnemU. One Crow Black Bird, QuUcaius purpureas. 
W. A. Conklin. Director, 
The following arc recent arrivals at the Philadelphia 
Zoological Garden : — 
Garden op the Zoological Society - , I 
Fairmodnt Park, Philadelphia, June 19th, 1875. ) 
One Mocking Bird, Mm, us jiolygloUus. Presented by P. Johnson, of 
Philadelphia. 
Three Prairie Dogs, Arctomys ludmHcianvs. Bom in Garden. 
Two Red-bellied Terrapin, Emys rubri ten Iris. Presented by Smithso- 
nian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
Three Black Swans, Cygnus atratus. Received in exchange. 
One Red-bellied Wallaby, Ifalmaturus BUlordleri. Presented by Lt. 
Forsyth. U. S. N. 
Six Belted Kingfishers, C. Alcyon. Presented by L. Snyder, Phila. 
One Leopard Spermophilc, Arctomys tredecim-lineatus . Presented by 
A. J. Lambom, Philadelphia. 
Two Chequered Tortoises, Em ys picta. Preseuted by Smithsonian 
Institution, Washington, D. C. 
Four Ruddy Flamingoes, P/ioenicopelorus ruber. Presented by Capt. 
Monday, Philadelphia. 
Three Soft shelled Tortoise, Tryonix muticus; One Speckled Tortoise, 
Emys guttata; Five Yellow-bellied Terrapin, Einys serrata; Two young 
Coders, Chetonura serpentina. Preseuted by Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington. D. C. 
One Squirrel Monkey, Siamaris tdurea. Presented by W. L. Welch, 
Philadelphia. 
Woodbind, Jfjnrm mid (garden. 
For Forest and Stream. 
THE CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 
O NE of the most surprising things I have seen lately i9 
a letter from a person signing himself “Forty*niner" 
in the New York Spirit of the Times, and entitled “Gossip 
from San Francisco." The main subject in the letter is a 
talk about horses, and I have no fault to find with that, and 
besides, I will not occupy your columns with a subject 
foreign to them. But when the writer speaks of the cli- 
mate of California and says: 
"If Tennessee be like this, and the climate such as ‘Hark 
Comstock’ describes, I can only say that I want to leave 
this humbug California, and migrate backward to a place 
where there is a decent climate of seasonable weather, and 
where the men who call themselves horsemen &c. * * * 
I would like, however, to get a little ltonesl information iu 
your columns from ‘Hark Comstock’ or any other man in 
respect to the climate of Kentucky and Tennessee, and in 
return I will give you what you don’t often gel— a little 
plain truth about California. I am perfectly sick of the 
falsehoods disseminated about our eternal Spring, our un- 
seasonable bad strawberries, our monster beets, which have 
been two or three years growing, and various oilier Califor- 
nia staple clap traps. Now, California may be the para- 
dise of the whole Union, but if so, your country is simply 
unfit for human occupation during a considerable portion 
of the year. California can be lived in, and by contrast lo 
t ho people of Vermont and New England all over, is con- 
sidered delightful, because instead of suow we have mud, 
and instead of sunstroke, liver complaint and rheumatism. 
Now, a word of truth, which I bet you won’t see in any 
San Francisco newspaper, regarding weather within say 
twenty miles of our delightful metropolis. During the 
week last past— on Saturday, 3d, Sunday, 4th, Monday, 
5th of April of this year, 1875— we have had a series of 
Ihe most horrible and most utterly abominable hurricanes 
of cold winds, accompanied by cold rain, hail, and sleet, 
and snow on the hills, productive of more misery and dis- 
comfort to man and best than uuything l ever saw out of 
California. In exposed places in my neighborhood the 
crops— barley, oats, potatoes — are blown bodily out of the 
ground, and there are piles of sand, three feet high, blown 
from the plowed fields into the pasture fields. This is in 
San Mateo county, Cal., a portion of paradise— I am not 
describing Alaska. From thefroom where I write the hills 
above Sait Jose and Gilroy are visible; they are white with 
snow. Therefore, I would very much like to hear a little 
more from ‘Hark Comstock’ about those pleasant May 
days, going down to Tennessee. I have been in Kentucky 
myself, but in the month of May, and assuredly then ihe 
country and climate seemed superior to this boasted Cali- 
fornia. Let us have a little truthful comparison, for the ben- 
efit of horse and cattle breeders, aud, if acceptable, I will 
give you a few more local items on these subjects at an 
early day.” 
First let me state that I own neither land nor lot in Cali- 
fornia, and never expect to. I have no interest iu praising 
her. Well, now, Mr. Editor, will you be patient enough 
lo hear a few words from one who, it is irue, is not a 
“Forty-niner," but has lived in California five years, and 
ought therefore lo know something of what lie speaks. 
But I will first observe that nearly every person in Califor- 
nia, and I. might almost say out of it, bus a totally oppo- 
site opinion from “Forty-niner" concerning his state- 
ment about California and its climate, or, I should rather 
suy climates, for it has many. I will, however, confess 
that its general climate, or its particular ones, are not per- 
fect or faultless, but I will maintain that they are not sur- 
passed, if equaled, in the whole world. The climate of 
San Francisco in Winter is the best mean climate of (in- 
state— probably the best in the world. Upon Unit point 
there is no difference of opinion either among residents or 
visitors. Its general character in Ihe whole Stale, as com- 
pared with other climes in the Eastern States, is that it 9 
Winters are warmer; the Summers, especially at night 
cooler; the changes from heat to cold not so great or so 
frequent; the quantities of rain less, and confined princi- 
pally to ihe Winter and Spring months; the atmosphere 
drier, the cloudy clays fewer; thunder, lightning, hail, 
snow, and ice rarer; the winds more regular, ami liurii- 
canes or tornados almost never occurring. Of course there 
is some mud in many places in the country (luring the rainy 
season or Winter. I do think, and it is generally con- 
sidered, that it is one of the most healthy countries in the 
world. I do not believe at all, according to “Forty-niner,’’ 
that either dyspepsia or rheumatism au- prevalent; on the 
contrary, I t hi nk they are less common Ilian in most obiter 
parts of America. Compared with the Eastern States and 
most parts of Europe we have here "an eternal Spring," 
and as to “Forty-niner" objecting to unseasonable bad 
strawberries, I cannot sec mu- lt to complain of because we 
have four or five crops of that delicious fruii a year, last- 
ing in plenty for four or five months, and to be obtained 
for at least eight months in the year. And as to t he qual- 
ity, that fruit is nearly all of the Longwortli Prolific sort, 
so highly prized at Cincinnati, and next only in flavor (o 
McAvoy’s Superior. Everybody who knows anything tit 
all of South California knows that we have all the fruits of 
the temperate and semi-tropical regions in perfection, and 
as lo both them and vegetables growing lo mammoth size 
and lastiu" longer than in any other country, it is but tut 
oft-told and veritable tale. “Forty-niner" says: “I have 
been in Kentucky myself, but in the month of May, and 
assuredly then the country and climate seemed superior to 
this boasted California; let us havoa truthful comparison." 
Well, no doubt there are many days there, especially u few 
days after a thunder storm, when ihe atmosphere is simply 
delicious, but in California the pure and bracing air of 
these days continue for months together. No, “Forty- 
niner is all wrong about California. He must be one of 
Ibis world’s many grumblers. E. J. H. 
San Francisco, May 28 tli, 1875. 
— The potato bug, which has recently appeared for the 
first time in many sections of the country, is ahard-shcilcd, 
striped insect, nearly twice ns large as the “lady bug," with 
a yellow aud black spotted head, six legs, and a yellow and 
black striped armor. It is a native of Colorado, whence 
its name of Colorado beetle. It was first seen in 1820, feed 
ing on a wild potato, but when the settlers introduced the 
domestic potato the bug attacked it at once. It breeds pro- 
digiously, the female laying from 700 to 1,200 eggs, which 
hatch in about six days, and immediately begin work, 
lasts for nineteen days. Paris green is ihe accepted remedy 
for this pest. 
Profitable Cow. — 1 The Jacksonville (Fla.) News of the 
Nth inst., tells of a cow in that town, belonging to A. J. 
jPrevott, which is nine years old and gives twelve quarts of 
milk per day. It costs but twenty-five cents a day to keep 
her, and the net profits on milk alone for eight years past 
have amounted to $4,526. The cow lias had several fine 
calves besides, which have brought good prices when sold. 
Pretty good for a Florida cow! 
—The climate of South Devon, England, must be enti 
tied to all the praises bestowed upon it. A con-respondent 
of the Field, writing from thence, states that as early as 
the 18th of April, while returning from church, a hen 
pheasant started from the roudsidc and fluttered before 
him. While watching her movements he discovered eleven 
young pheasants, apparently newly hatched, in the hedge 
near by. It is further stated that such early nidification of 
the pheasant is not uuusual in Devon. 
— A Texas correspondent writes under date of June Gilt 
“We have plenty of vegetables now. We are harvesting 
our wheat and laying by corn. Our wheat is very fine, 
and the prospects for a fruitful season are Haltering. Out- 
cows are fat und our bees are rich, and well it may lie said 
that Texas is a land of milk and honey. Our prairies are 
like unto beautiful gardens. If you were here we could 
have some pleasant hours killing old bucks and eating 
honey." 
Death of a Valuable House.— Our correspondent T 
W., writing from Leesburg, Va., June 17Mt, says: — 
“Messrs. Bellman and Fadeley of this town lost quite a 
valuuble stallion to-day, called Woodhridge. lie fell dead 
back of Dr. Moriarty’s stables on the new track for train- 
ing horses near the county fair grounds. One of ltis own- 
ers, present at thu time, thinks Woodbiidgc ruptured n 
blood vessel, us lie was rearing in excitement, etc. Dr. M. 
thinks he fell and struck the occipital bone, causing instant 
death. His season ended June 30th, and horse fanciers 
think his death a loss lo the county. He was from A . J 
Alexander’s stables, Woodford county, Ky. , and had the 
blood of Messenger, Mambrino, Abdallah, and Ilatnble- 
tonian." 
—Fifty families, principally from the New England 
States and New York, have settled during the past Winter 
on Fruitland Peninsula, in Putnam county, Fla. Water 
fronts on Drayton Island, Lake George, which were offered 
two years ago for less than $3, are now bringing $100 per 
acre. 
Sewage Grown Crops.— I t is certain that all kinds of 
crops may be grown with sewage, so that the farmer cun 
grow such as he can best sell. Nevertheless, the staple 
crops must be cattle food, with occasional crops of corn , 
and it is also certain, from the analysis of the soil, that it 
Inis become very much richer, and Unit the* manorial con- 
stituents of the sewage accumulate iu it Cattle should he 
fetl on the farm, which lends to a vast increase in the pro- 
duction of meat ami milk, the great desiderata of the pop- 
ulation producing the sewage. Tims the system of farm- 
ing must In- specialized and capital concentrated, the ab- 
sence of which conditions lias proved a great barrier to the 
satisfaetory practical solution of the sewage question.— 
Popular Science Monthly for February. 
