ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
87 
in objection to uncomfortable approach, whilst 
occasionally a stately great blue passes high 
over head. Further upstream where the force 
of the current increases and the banks draw 
closer together these birds give way to the up¬ 
land types, along with an increasing number of 
the basking painted turtles which crowd emerg¬ 
ing stumps and crags. Bob-whites call in¬ 
cessantly from every open space and several 
silent flights of four or five mourning doves 
almost escape notice as they wing their quiet 
ways. Tire red-winged blackbirds, abundant 
below, become fewer and finally disappear alto¬ 
gether with the increasing density of the stream- 
side foliage accompanied by an increasing 
number of the typical sylvan birds such as 
numerous small warblers, chewinks, pheobes, 
ovenbirds, red-eyed vireos and others. While 
the observation of birds was not the object of 
the trip and not even a pair of field glasses was 
taken along, nevertheless thirty-five species in¬ 
sisted on thrusting themselves upon the atten¬ 
tion. The successful attacks of crows and 
red-wings upon the more formidable appearing 
ospreys with their always attendant racket could 
not be overlooked, nor could the stealthy descent 
of an old red-tailed hawk and its successful 
capture of a doomed chick from a nearby barn 
yard escape passing attention. Thus the old but 
ever new drama of out doors enacting an encore 
each spring, with its mingled pathos and humor 
fascinates and instructs those of us who have 
learned to receive real pleasure and profit from 
such commonplace but stimulating spectacles. 
On arriving at the dam it is necessary to 
await nightfall before a glimpse may be had of 
the migrating lampreys, for not before it is 
thoroughly dark, do these eel-shaped creatures 
begin their struggles to attempt the ascent of 
the dam; their totally impassable barrier. While 
their outline roughly resembles that of an eel 
it is no indication of any relation, as these 
curious animals are near the base of the “stem” 
which gave rise to all vertebrate forms, while 
the eel is a member of a much more recent off¬ 
shoot. Properly, they are to be considered as 
a very specialized branch of the primitive 
vertebrate stock although a few naturalists have 
suggested that they may be degenerate fishes 
which were once further advanced. However, 
they are not to be considered as fishes at all, 
according to the modern definition of that term, 
and are simply ordinarily discussed with them 
as they are more nearly related to that hetero¬ 
genous group than to any other. The most 
obvious difference between the lamprey and any 
fish is the absence of true jaws in the former. 
A suctorial disc and a movable tongue, both of 
which are covered with a series of rasp-like 
points resembling teeth, are present in place 
of it. 
It is this disc that enables the lamprey to do 
its far famed destructive work of boring into 
the bodies of living fishes and slowly drawing 
their life juices from them. The powerful 
suction they are able to exert also makes it 
possible for them to scale walls of some height, 
even in the presence of a strong adverse flow, 
by hitching along with the mouth attached to 
some solid surface, although the dam spoken 
of proved to be altogether too much for them. 
Certain species of the Pacific coast lamprey 
are much more proficient in this method of 
locomotion than our local forms. 
Preparatory to spawning, when the lampreys 
have attained a place sufficiently far from the 
ocean with a suitable bottom, they clear a nest¬ 
ing site by removing the top layer of rocks of 
the stream bed. Even those of considerable 
size, these curious brutes are able to move. 
Their method is to attach themselves to a 
stone by means of their suction disc and then 
go through the motions of swimming vigorously. 
Thus by the combined force of the moving 
stream and their own muscular efforts large 
rocks are moved about. Those specimens shown 
in the photograph on the spawning beds are in 
the act of so clearing a nest. To test the power 
of this suction, I was so indiscreet as to allow 
one to attach itself to my arm (out of water) 
in the belief that the “teeth” would not be 
brought into play, thinking that the fleshy lips 
forming the edge of the sucking disc were used 
for attachment and that the “teeth” were only 
employed in feeding. Be that as it may, the 
creature planted his “teeth” so forcibly against 
the skin that, if I had not flung it off almost 
immediately it would have drawn blood. Even 
at that, for the ensuing half hour, the area on 
which it was attached was sore and red, and 
the depressions made by the “teeth” remained 
for some time. 
The migration up-stream and the production 
of great quantities of eggs and sperm is such a 
drain on their vitality that it is generally con¬ 
ceded that they die after a single spawning 
season. In addition to the above, they suffer 
many physical injuries from abrasions on rocks 
and lacerations from their over-energetic com¬ 
panions and become so infected with disease 
that those taken near the end of the season are 
covered with raw patches and are so lean that 
they present a most repulsive spectacle. 
