FOREST AND STREAM 
107 
I have always lost them where they were crowded 
among ducks, and so starved of their favorite 
food. 
In his chapter on refuges the blue-wing teal, 
gadwall, black duck, and mallard are stated to 
be breeding with Mr. Mcllhenny at Avery Isle 
in a wild state. There must be some mistake 
here, for I am very certain that the mallard and 
gadwall do not breed in this region, which I 
have visited myself. Neither does the black 
duck, as we know him, only the local Southern 
race— anas fulvigula maculosa —and he has 
always bred there, though perhaps not so plenti¬ 
fully as now. The blue-wing has always bred 
in the South, even to Cuba, but not commonly 
except here and there. I am specific about this 
as showing the wrong impressions which easily 
find their way into print. 
The last part, devoted to encouraging small 
birds, is extremely sensible—representing a host 
of information well digested. The part about 
bird boxes should be read with care by those 
who are now engaged in indiscriminately nailing 
up the Berlepsch type of nest box. Mr. Job’s 
conclusions are that in general the bluebirds 
and swallows and the few other common species 
which take kindly to man’s aid in nesting, do 
just as well in the old-fashioned board boxes as 
in the Berlepsch type of tree-nest box. After 
all, the placing of boxes for the tree nesters is 
only a small part of the work—planting and 
trapping should be given more emphasis. The 
Berlepsch box seemed to be a short cut for bird 
lovers, but it has not come up to expectations 
in this country. 
In conclusion I wish to express my heartiest 
thanks to Mr. Job for his successful work in 
getting out a really good and useful book. It is 
easy to criticize, but hard to fare forth in 
new field. This Mr. Job has done, and done well 
The large and steady gain in circulation and ad¬ 
vertising space is most convincing proof of 
Forest and Stream’s supremacy in the great field 
of outdoor advertising. 
When Sport is Good 
By Theodore Gordon 
When the Erown trout Fairio have fairly estab¬ 
lished themselves in one of the old streams which 
have run down until they are not worth fishing, 
sport is apt to be excellent for several years, at 
least. 
I have noticed this in nearly all the old streams 
in Ulster and Sullivan counties. Then a few 
brown trout are supposed to have escaped from a 
little pond in Vermont, into the fine brook near 
it, although the feat seemed impossible, but any¬ 
how, extraordinary big fish are now taken every 
season, and these are brown trout. There is a 
large stock of fine native trout in this stream as 
no lumbering has been done for a great many 
years, it is fed by many cold springs and little 
brooks, so that the water maintains a sufficiently 
low temperature for our fontinalis to thrive. 
The stock of Brown trout in the Willowemoc 
in 1906 and later was very large, and a consider¬ 
able number of fine rainbows appeared, some 
of which weighed one pound each. These were 
said to have been introduced in one lot about the 
year 1900. The brown trout probably arrived 
from below as two dams had been allowed to get 
into a bad state of repair. For many years re¬ 
stocking of the upper Willowemoc was restricted 
to native trout. 
For my part I must admit that I like the brown 
and rainbow trout, and considered the fishing 
much improved. One did not have to work 
all day for a few fish, a morning or late after¬ 
noon and early evening would give a moderate 
angler all the sport he required. 
Sometimes we think that we prefer the lower 
reaches of the big streams because of the possi¬ 
bilities of very large trout; again we love the 
upper waters or smaller streams, where there is 
great variety and the wading and tramping are 
not so fatiguing. One sees so much on a well 
stocked water of moderate size. We are nearer 
the sources and the water remains cooler during 
the summer months. Whenever a cool change in 
the weather sets in, or we have a shower to 
freshen things up, the sport improves at once. 
Then one can watch and study the trout to such 
advantage during the season of low water, and 
become quite intimate with a few big fish that 
only come out to take the air occasionally. They 
are “devilish sly,” as old Joey B. used to say, 
these beggars, and usually, one’s only chance with 
them is just after a good rise in the stream 
when the water first comes into fly fishing condi¬ 
tion. That is, unless one perseveres at night, 
and of late we have had a feeling this is hardly 
fair to the trout, as they can not see their enemy. 
Yet there is a great charm in being out on a 
wild stream on a perfect summer night, when the 
air is full of sweet scents and occasional weird 
sounds strike the ear. At times I have seen the 
fire-flies rise in untold millions, until they 
seemed to' fill the whole valley with their tiny 
electric flashes. 
I spent an interesting evening with a power¬ 
ful reflecting lamp on the Esopus. The lamp was 
too heavy for comfort, but the light could be 
shut off and turned on suddenly, if anything at¬ 
tracted one’s attention. I saw muskrats, two 
minks, and one (skunk) mephitis, and great 
numbers of insects with which I was not familiar. 
There seemed to be a great deal of life on 
the stream that night, and the air was soft and 
balmy. I did not try to fish much, as the lamp 
hampered me, but I was reluctant to return to 
my quarters before 12 o’clock. 
Altogether it was a very profitable evening. I 
caught only half a dozen small trout, but I no¬ 
ticed that summer that if the little chaps rose 
after dark the big fish never moved at all. If 
I caught large trout I rarely killed more than 
two, and these were usually taken after being 
spotted and specially fished for. 
