532 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. 2, 1909. 
tree ducks and the teal at the margin of the 
pond. Among these there is a handsome 
Japanese specimen whose plumage is almost as 
gaudy as that of a parrot, and the little fellow 
seemed to be fond of displaying it among his 
pond mates, but was averse to being photo¬ 
graphed at short range. 
The wild ducks which have bred so far in 
his preserve are the black, the mallard, the 
Australian and the Gargany teal. The Canada 
geese are prolific breeders, and the pond and 
inclosure in which they are confined are en¬ 
livened with large numbers of half-grown 
Canadas that are in the pink of condition. 
The brant keep together and mingle with the 
geese and ducks only at feeding time, but they 
have not bred as yet. Though they have not 
seen salt water for several years, they thrive 
on the food supplied all of the wildfowl, are 
plump and contented, and fairly tame. In 
photographing them it was noticed that they 
were more restless than the geese, and we 
could not entice them into favorable places, so 
that they would remain long, but they made no 
haste to get away, rather walking sedately 
back to the pond in company. On the other 
hand, we succeeded in getting into position 
among the geese near the margin of the large 
pond, with old and young all about us, both 
ashore and on the water, the adults displaying 
some curiosity as to the nature of the shiny 
lens confronting them. In this, however, the 
youngsters did not share, though they merely 
parted ranks as the intruder passed among 
them, and resumed sunning and feeding when 
he had gone his way. The swans have not 
bred but seem to be contented in the large 
inclosure which they share with the geese, 
brant and larger ducks. When, now and then, 
a ripple of excitement or a desire for play en¬ 
livens the geese, and they scuttle across the 
pond, flapping, paddling and honking, the 
swans are affected and take part, after a fashion, 
in the fun. There is much of this at times, and 
the water fairly boils when a score of geese 
are in action. It is the nearest attempt of 
which they are capable at group flying, for 
clipped wings are poor substitutes for whole 
ones. 
Mr. Cook was asked whether the wildfowl 
would leave their new home, and return to it, 
if their wing feathers were permitted to grow. 
He said many of them unquestionably would 
leave in the seasons of migration, if permitted, 
but that he thought some if not all of them 
would return, and would probably bring strange 
wild ducks with them; indeed, a few of his 
wildfowl had escaped, while migrants, in pass¬ 
ing over, had been called down by his ducks, 
and had remained for a time or permanently, 
depending on how tame they had grown. It is 
only possible to be sure of keeping them, how¬ 
ever, by clipping the wing feathers. 
“ Fragile ! ” 
Gunner: “You can’t get the best of those 
infernal baggage-smashers. I labelled my 
trunks ‘China,’ and thought they would handle 
them with unusual care.” Friend: “And 
didn’t they?” Gunner: “No; but I’m hanged 
if they didn’t ship the trunks all the way to 
Shanghai, and I haven’t seen them since.”— 
Fishing Gazette. 
Birds and Fishes Compared. 
Concluded from page 518. 
The following extracts are from a paper on 
“Some Points of Similarity of Birds and 
Fishes,” recently read by A. H. E. Mattingley, 
G.M.Z.S., before the Victorian Fish Protection 
Society and Anglers’ Club, at Melbourne, Aus¬ 
tralia: 
With some fishes the young are perfectly 
transparent, and therefore invisible. In some 
cases, particularly as regards fish, owing to 
their life histories not being so well known as 
that of birds, it is extremely difficult to ac¬ 
count for their coloration. For a long time 
that remarkable brilliantly colored fish, the 
amphiprion, found along the Great Barrier 
coral reef, puzzled naturalists, since this small 
wrasse like form, with its vividly colored skin, 
banded with vermilion-red, and cross-banded 
with white, was usually found swimming about 
away from material that would harmonize with 
its coloration. At last it was discovered that 
this fish plays the part of a decoy for the 
mutual benefit of itself and a gigantic sea 
anemone. It was found that this cunning 
little fish resided within the body of the ane¬ 
mone. When hungry it emerges, swims about 
till it attracts the attention of some predatory 
and cannibalistic species of fish, and as soon 
as it is chased it rushes back and plunges in¬ 
side the gaping mouth of its obliging host. 
This brings the would-be captor within reach 
of the tentacles of the anemone which im¬ 
mediately paralyse it, and so bring about its 
destruction. The amphriprion and anemone 
apparently then share the capture. 
There is a marked resemblance between the 
feathers of some birds and the scales of fishes, 
For instance, the feathers of the scaled par¬ 
tridge and the scales of a carp have a marvel¬ 
ous likeness. Although the color of most birds 
and fishes is for either love displays or mainly 
for protective purposes, yet sometimes the 
coloration is adapted as a screen for ag¬ 
gressive action, the more readily to enable the 
creature to pounce upon its prey, and take it 
unawares. 
Both birds and fish, apart from their methods 
of communicating with one another by sound, 
are endowed with a vocal apparatus by which 
they are able to sing and pour forth their 
melody. The soul stirring harmony of birds 
is too well known to need any comment. The 
singing fish of North Queensland stands out as 
a marvelous enigma. This creature produces 
a beautifully melodious note or series of notes 
as if a person was playing an ZEolian harp. I 
feel convinced that many other fish are musical 
also, but aqueous environment prevents the 
dispersal of their vocables with sufficient clear¬ 
ness to be distinguished as the music of fishes. 
Both fishes and birds feed much after the 
same manner. Some obtain their food in mid¬ 
air or mid-water, some delve beneath the earth, 
some feed on vegetable substance, others on 
insects—some on parasites, some on worms, 
others on crustacea. Some are cannibals, 
others live on suction—such as the snipe and 
lamprey. Sometimes birds live on fishes, and 
fishes on birds. Each has its own special ap¬ 
paratus for obtaining food, and each has its 
o.wn contrivance for pounding or masticating 
it. Some birds and fishes also live by the ex¬ 
ertions of others, as for instance, the skua gull 
and the aforesaid amphriprion fish. The sword¬ 
fish, a creature armed with a great sword-like 
weapon, a tapering development of the upper 
jaw, attacks its victims and kills them by the 
thrusts of its sword. The plotus or snake-bird 
of Australia occasionally adopts a similar mode 
of getting its food, and spears fish with its 
long stiletto-like bill. Herons also sometimes 
adopt similar tactics. It is exceedingly inter 
esting to note that these special adaptations 
for obtaining their prey are nearly always 
absent in young of both fish and of birds Fo: 
instance, the garfish in its adult stage has : 
long stiletto-like development of the lower jav 
which is absent in the young. Many instance 
of this peculiarity are to be found among fishes 
especially among the long-beaked varieties 
These special adaptations undergo metamor 
phoses in birds equally as well as with fisi 
For instance the long spatulate bill of th 
adult spoonbill is not to be found in the youn 
of this species. Likewise the rule applies t 
such birds as the cross-bill, the wry-bill, th 
humming birds, and so on. Of all the app< 
ratus and methods used, perhaps the one the, 
stands out most prominently is that of tlj 
shooting fish of Northern Australia. This fisi 
a species of perch, upon observing an inse< 
on some foliage overhanging the stream, takj 
a drop of water in its mouth, and ejects it at 1 
prey, and so knocks it into the stream. Evt 
though the insect be six feet away, so accura 
is its aim, that it rarely ever misses the mar 
Of all the instances of special adaptation 
the environment, perchance the flat fishes suj 
as the flounder arrests our own attention fir: 
This fish begins its existence as a perfect 
symmetrical creature, and gradually changt 
and becomes lopsided, as it were, to enable 
to obtain its food more readily. Fish, ho 
ever, are more voracious feeders than bin. 
Some species of birds and fishes kill just I' 
killing’s sake. The skip-jack has developed til 
faculty, likewise the butcher-bird. 
That curious tree-climbing perch of Northo 
Australia, has, under the outer wall of the |1 
chamber, a cavity which contains, below, : 
true gills, and above, a more or less roset- 
like structure. This rosette lies in a special :■ 
chamber, and is well supplied with blood-ves;: 
for the aeration of the blood while the fish: 
out of water. Breathing by gills may be ai<< 
by breathing through the skin, and even : 
the intestines. Thus, in that wonderful li' 
mud-hopper or periopthalmus of Queenslai 
which passes the greater part of its time 1 
of, the water skipping about on the mud, * 
hopping from rock to rock in the search oft 
prey, such as crustacea, we have a gill-cham: 
somewhat lenlarged, and, while the fish is J 
of the water the chamber is kept filled with 1 
Its gill breathing is also supplemented by re>: 
ration through the skin of the tail. We H 
seen that the perch has a simple air-bag, 1 
periopthalmus, a more complex structure, 11 
now in the ceratodus, or mud fish of Q ue ' ! 
land, we have a combination of gills and a hi 
An African representative of this strai 
creature is enabled to live equally as well3 
land as in the water. The possession of B 
gills and a lung is a special adaptation to 1 
able the mud-fish of Australia to live in mG 
(Continued on page 556.) 
