| SEPT. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
-— i l 
473 
AMERICAN GAME BIRDS. - XII. 
THE BRENT QOOSE (ANAS BER HICLA.) ’ 
True Brent Goose, or, ns it in commonly ( 
called, the “ Brant,” is a bird well known 
upon both continents, and is highly esteemed 1 
for its edible qualities. * 
Of my own knowledge, T can say but 
little of this connecting link between the 
Goose and the Duck families. Home natural¬ 
ists say, and it is probably true ns a rule in 
the East, that the Brant is never found in 
inland waters ; but I am almost certain that. 
I have seen them in Lake Champlain, and I 
have heard of birds being shot in this neigh¬ 
borhood, which, from the description given 
of them, must have been Brants. Gulls are ! 
by no moans uncommon In these waters ; 
wild swans are its occasional visitants, and 
seals have been killed here more than once 
so that it is not unreasonable to suppose that, 
Brant should now and then find their way 
here, as they arc no more exclusively in 
habitants of the sea, or seaboard, than t he 
birds and mammal just mentioned. But as 
I have never hod an opportunity of examin 
lug any of the supposed Brant, 1 cannot pos¬ 
itively aasert that they are ever found here, 
Brunt are common in the West, I am told, 
ami frequently make great havoc: in the 
extensive Helds of corn of that region, A 
pleasant writer on 11 Western Field Sports,” 
In Scribner’s Magazine for October, 1872, 
mentions the Brunt repeatedly as common 
there, and designates it as his favorite among 
prairie game. The fact that it over is found 
inland, in this country, was probably un¬ 
known to some of our early naturalists, who 
assert that Brant are only found on the sea 
coast. 
Its bill is black ; head and neck, rich 
velvety black, excepting a white patch on 
each side of the throat ; upper parts, brown 
ish-gray feathers, margined with a lighter 
sliado ; forepart of breast, light brownish 
gray feathers margined with grayish white ; 
sides, gray feathers tipped with white ; 
abdomen and lower tail coverts, white ; legs, 
dusky ; length, 2 feet. The female is rather 
smaller, but is not distinguished from the 
male by a difference in color. The wings of 
the young arc broadly tipped with white. 
The breeding placo of the Brant is proba¬ 
bly not so far North as that of the Wild 
Goose, as its nests were found by ACDUHON 
in Labrador. 
On the coast., Brant feed upon a marine 
plant that adheres to the stones, commonly 
called hjvi cabbage, and upon col grass, of 
which they are very fond. At low water 
they are seen industriously tearing up their 
favorite plant, not stopping to eat at the 
time, but when the tide rises and floats their 
food away, they float with it, and feed 
sumptuously. They are very fond of sand¬ 
ing themselves, and are often shot on the 
Band bars which they frequent for the pur¬ 
pose. Wll.NON says they are quarrelsome 
among themselves, and with ducks, which 
they drive from their feeding grounds. 
The Brant makes its appearance on our 
coast, on its Northward journey about the 
middle of May—seldom tarrying long, un¬ 
less detained by rough weather, and returns 
again in October, when its stay is more 
prolonged. Those birds uniformly travel 
over the sea in making their migrations, and 
frequently make wide detours to avoid 
crossing points of land. Their order of 
movement much resembles t hat of the Cana¬ 
da Goose, that is, the V or harrow form, 
except that several frequently crowd to the 
front as if striving for the leadership. Their 
cry, when in largo flocks, is said to resemble 
that of a pack of hounds, and is much more 
difficult to imitate than the “hawking” of 
the Wild Goose. 
When aroused from their feeding places 
they rise slowly, and more sluggishly, often 
returning to the same place in a short time. 
They are killed in numbers on their feeding 
places from “batteries,” tun they are called. 
These are “shallow, coffin like boxes, sup¬ 
ported by wide horizontal brims lying level 
on the surface of the water, covered with 
sand and shells, exactly resembling a bit of 
bare shoal, upon the shallows whereon the 
fowl feed. Decoys are placed around, and 
an attendant watts in a skiff to secure the 
cripples and drive up fresh flocks, while the 
gunner lies perdu , literally under water, till 
he starts up to do bloody execution.” Great 
numbers of these birds are also killed by 
hunters who lie in wait, in hiding places 
that command the sand bars where they 
delight to wallow and dust themselves. But 
method. “The hunter moves his skiff near 
some island or point of hassock, covering its 
decks with seaweeds. Then he lies on his 
hack therein with his guns ready and his 
decoys scattered around. Then If a flock 
chance that way, and observing his decoys, 
wheel down to thorn, he is sure of good 
sport.” While feeding as they drift about at 
high water they may he driven down upon 
decoys by rowing round and after thorn 
slowly. 
As Wilson thinks the Brant and Barnacle 
Goose the same, it may be well to mention 
hero a singular notion that prevailed in former 
bottles, nor does he. neglect the waifs and 
strays of his native stream, its varied jetsam 
and flotsam, the caterpillars and tree insects 
that are shaken by the wind off the tree 
branches on the bank, anil the worms and 
slugs that are swept down in flood-time from 
the meadows. From his hiding place his 
keen glance catches sight of every Insect 
swept, past him in the eddy, of the tiniest 
minnow swimming through the broken 
water ; and ho darts with a rush too quick 
sometimes for the human eye to follow, 
often through several yards of water, to 
seize his prey. His rush is Impetuous, and 
■ 
sm 
times concerning the origin of the Unninolo 
Goose, that is, that, they were hatched Tr m 
the barnacle shells which are found adhering 
to wood wliieh lias been long in the sea. 
One writer, GerahD, gives In his Herbal, 
published in 155)7, a detailed account of this 
wonderful transformation. He dragged a 
rotten tree out of the sea between Dover and 
itomnoy, England, and in some shells that, 
udhored to it he found living things without 
form ; in others which were nearer come to 
ripeness, living things “that wore very 
naked in shape like a bird; in others the 
birdes covered with soft, dowito, the shell half 
open, and t he birdes ready to fall out, which 
no doubt were the fowls called Barnacles.” 
This Is no more ridiculous than the way in 
which l recently hoard a man of ordinary 
Intelligence settle forever the vexed question 
of the manner of breeding of cels. He 
maintained that eels were brought forth 
from the common fresh water olam or mus¬ 
sel I In proof whc.rof he averred that he had 
seen l.ho young eels adhering to the mussels 
Within i In’ shell. B. rc. B. 
THE HABITS OF THE TROUT. 
The trout is, compared to every other En¬ 
glish river fish, exceedingly swift and keen 
sighted, and this peculiarity is shown in its 
mode of seizing its prey. The so-aullod 
coarse llsh, (lie dace, roach and chub, hang 
about, in shoals in mid-water, or noarer 
the top than the bottom of the river, and 
when they feed on flies, they lift themselves 
in a somewhat, leisurely, and as it were, 
meditative way to the surface, and suck in 
the insect in a particularly sure and deadly 
way. if that fly happens to he artlflcial and 
to conceal a barbed hook, the very determin 
ed manner in which it, is seized, and in which 
the llsh slowly turns and sinks below tliunur 
face, ensures its being .firmly implanted in 
the leathery jaws of the dace, chub or roach. 
It is hardly necessary for the “angler" to 
strike -to give that slight turn of the wrist 
TH Iff B 1 1. Id N r J ’ O O O H Iff. 
of the Barnacle his haste will sometimes cause him, when ho 
ire hatched (r m has detected the artlflcial nature of the halt,, 
e found adhering to strike against it and become pierced with 
long in the sea. the hook—to he “hooked foul,” as anglers 
s in his Herbal, say. Of toner lie stops in time, and refuses 
tl account of this to take the bait. This keen sight of the 
He dragged a trout, and the distance from which his rush 
tween Dover and is often made, are one of the ilrst, lessons the 
some shells that angler has to learn.— The New Quarterly 
g things without Magazine, 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT FISHING. 
A Rochester, N. Y., “ fisherman ” writes 
as follows in “The Field : 
Your “ Advice to Fishermen ” is good, but 
you omit to tell fly fishermen to hook their 
llsh. The most difficult, thing to learn and 
very important to know. 
At the very Ilrst indication of a rise, strike 
hard and quick as lightning. If you do not 
touch him, cast in same place, for lie will 
“come again.” If you have “ pricked him,” 
“move on.” After he is hooked (no matter 
how large), do not give him an Inch of lino 
unless he pulls your rod to a horizontal posi¬ 
tion or down Into the water, and then only 
line enough to allow your rod to come up to 
a perpendicular, and never lot your rod drop 
below that point ; if you do the “ spring of 
you rod ” is lost and lie tears away, but al 
wayH keep a taught line with rod in position 
to npriug. 
Small flies are best ; fourteen seasons with 
fly amongst trout, land locked salmon and 
boss teach me that no fly should be tied on 
a hook larger than No. 8, and for small trout 
down to No. 12. Never use poor tackle, the 
best Is the cheapest ami captures most fish 
when well used. As an illustration and to 
show the endurance of trout, Olio of our 
party at MooHehead Lake,on the 6th of July, 
while. IHhing from a boat, left his landing bet 
on shore, struggled a full hour with one he 
fore it was possible to secure him. Several 
times he was thought subdued ami tried to 
take him with his hands but down lie would 
go, and only by the arrival of a friend with 
a landing net was he relieved. Said he was 
provoked that it took so long to catch one 
on which so much depends In fly fishing for \ jiuk t for others were rising all around him 
there in another 
considered 
sportsmanlike ami certainly a less destructive 
trout. Very different Is it with the trout, 
lie seldom disports himself In nud-wator. He 
is serious, and not like the so-called "coarse 
fish,” a gregarious animal. He loves con¬ 
cealment, and he loves solitude, lie lurks 
al, the bottom in the shelter of some tree- 
root or great, stone, or hides in the deep 
shadow of a hollow hank. He loves the rush 
and swirl of a Htrong current; and his 
strength will hold him poised with hardly a 
movement of his muscular tail-tin in a mo¬ 
ment. In such haunts he waits and watches 
for his prey as it, comes hurrying past him in 
the running water. He is not particular as 
t,o what it is, provided only it be animal 
food ; ho prefers it if it. have life and move¬ 
ment in it, he find# his prey among the teem¬ 
ing insect life of the river itself, among the 
larva* of the Inumerublo kinds of Ephetner idie 
and Phryganidm, the creepers and water 
crickets, and among the May flies and stone 
flies into which these creatures develop. He 
devours the loach, ami the bullhead, and the 
minnow, the young of every fish that swims, 
the fresh water shrimps, and even the wata 
(luring this time, It measured 20 inches and 
weighed but 2 lbs. 14 ox.- -was very poor, but 
large enough to weigh 4 pounds. Bix trout 
were taken that day, weighing 1 pounds, 
and 35 that weighed over 70 pounds all 
Speckled trout. " Lakers ” are taken with 
bait, weighing from I pound to 20 pounds in 
that lake and lets of them, and from the 
Provinces to the Mississippi there is the place, 
above all others, for speckled trout. 
Connecticut River Biiao. -The Hartford 
Times of the 0th uIt., says:—The last shad 
shipments this season from the hatching 
grounds at Holyoke, some 00,000 was made 
to-day, and it wont to the Rhode Island fish 
commissioners. The shad will probably be 
putin the Blaekstono river. A shipment of 
10,000 was made a few days since to Rock 
river, Illinois, a tributary of the Mississippi. 
Tiie total shipment from the Connecticut 
rivers to other waters than its own amount 
to 1,370,000. This enormous total includes 
the 40,000 sent to Germany. 
Sho (Smtctyt. 
RAISING CELERY. 
The successful raising of celery Is ona of 
the most difficult tilings to achieve in garden- 
culture. it requires nearly as much atten¬ 
tion as hot-house grapes. The failure in 
raising this vegetable, which is the rule, is 
mainly from neglect of certain conditions. 
These are : I. Trenches should be dug from 
eight to ten inches in depth, In rich soil. 2. 
The trenches should bo half tilled with half- 
rotted manure, mixed with the soil, in wldeh 
the plants should bu well set down. 3. 
There should lie only a single row of plants, 
instead of two or more, as is commonly the 
case. 4. The plants should tie set out from 
ton days to two weeks earlier than is cus¬ 
tomary ; that is to may, for the first, crop the 
last, week in June, and the rest or the bulk of 
the crop in the Ilrst theca weeks m July. 
Boards should be placed over the rows to 
protect the plants against the seorchlngs of 
the sun from 1.0 to I o’clock, until they have 
taken a firm grasp of the earth and com 
ruancusl growing ; they should he watered 
for some time, in the absence of rain, twice 
a day, afterwards once a day. After grow¬ 
ing about eight, inches the earth should lie 
carefully drawn to the rows and continued 
gradually as the growth progresses. Manure 
water Is excellent and should be applied at 
least twice a week until the middle of Octo¬ 
ber. Gimuo-water is the best,, 
lu drawing the earth to the plants care 
must ho taken not to cover the leaders and 
stunt the growth. Use the hand altogether 
in distributing t he soli about, the plants and 
releasing the leaves when covered. Celery 
can ho produced four feet in length from 
the root to the tap of the leaves, by good 
management,, and we have so grown it m or 
tbun once upon our own promises. 
Many persons cultivate celery In double 
and triple rows. This does well enough 
where ground is scarce ; hut where there is 
plenty of room single rows are decidedly to 
be preferred, evan though the plants are set 
closer together than usual. — Germantown 
Telegraph. 
-»-»» ■■ ■ - 
HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS. 
Mushrooms maybe cultivated simply by 
taking manure from the stable in small heaps, 
as little broken as possible, and laying them 
about three inches thick on a hot-bed made 
of alternate layers of tanner’s hark and 
horse-dung, the uppermost layer consisting 
of tanner’s hark about two inches thick. 
Cover the bed then with a little manure and 
about three inches of good soil, and over al I 
a thick coat, of straw. The manure contain¬ 
ing the germs may be known by the appear 
anno of white threads running through the 
little heaps, and those lumps on breaking 
will give forth a mushroom smell. The shed 
behind a hot house, or stable, or cow-house, 
is a goo'l place for a mushroom bod, as no 
light, is required, but only warmth and 
moisture. Calcareous earth of any kind 
will greatly help the production of mush¬ 
rooms. In l’aris there are extensive under¬ 
ground mushroom gardens, several proprlu 
tors of some of the French mushroom farms 
having many miles of mushroom hods, culti¬ 
vated entirely by lamp light. In all moist, 
climates they ought to be produced in great 
abundance an 1 variety. Being rich in nitro¬ 
gen and phosphorus, and constituting, as 
old Erasmus Darwin said, “an isthmus 
between the two great continents of nature, 
the vegetable and animal kingdoms,” they 
supply a wholesome, delicious and nutritive 
food, and would amply repay the trouble of 
^ cultivating. 
i - —+•*■+■ • — 
* STRIPED OR CUCUMBER BUG. 
A WRITER in the Garden Manual says that 
after trying many methods, ho lliids nothing 
so cheap and effective as to keep a close 
watch, and as soon as the bugs appear, 
scatter wood ashes over the vinos, either by 
hand or with a dredging box made for the 
purpose. To the Hubbard and other winter 
squashes it should be applied both on the 
upper and under surface of the leaves. It is 
important to begin hostilities as soon as the 
bugs seem to determine upon a point of 
attack, and in order to confuse them and it 
does assist greatly to distract their attention , 
and sometimes they quit in divinity even at, 
this. Whenever crossing the field if I llnd 
they have begun operations, I at once scatter 
over them fine pulverized dirt, to answer 
until seme ashes and a dredging box can be 
brought to the front. EmpTo' ing lima: 
moans with promptness, 1 have rarely lost 
an acre of vines from their ravages, though 
l can boast of as many lull o is of bugs to the 
acre as unj .man on this cont n nt. 
