900 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June io, 1911. 
hiding to escape the victor—in other words 
carrying out the mimic warfare to the end. If 
this inference was just, it is conceivable that 
the woodchuck described by our correspondent 
was influenced by the same motive and pretended 
to hide. We often see something like this, when 
two puppies are playing and the defeated one 
runs away. At the end of its race it may throw 
itself flat on the ground, as if hiding, or it may 
drop down behind a bush. An inspection of 
the hole which the woodchuck left to meet her 
death might have given some suggestion of an 
explanation of her conduct. Was the hole a 
new one and how deep?— Editor.] 
Albino Gray Squirrels. 
Minneapolis, Minn., May 29 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: About two years ago our park 
superintendent imported a number of the com¬ 
mon gray squirrels into one of our city parks. 
These animals have thrived and increased. To 
one of these squirrel families this spring three 
young ones were born, and of these three, two 
were albinos, the third being of normal color. 
The albinos are snow white; the color of the 
iris pinkish white, and pupil light red. Both are 
males. As Mr. White, the superintendent, has 
promised to do all in his power to protect these 
little sports from vandals, we shall hope that 
they will live and prosper. 
J. W. Franzen. 
Elephant Seal in London. 
In the Zoological Gardens in London there is 
a young elephant seal from the Crozets Islands 
on the borders of the Antartic, a little larger 
and presumably a little older than those now on 
exhibition in the New York Aquarium. 
This animal, like those here in New \ ork, 
was on its arrival at the gardens offered squid 
to eat, following out the belief that these ani¬ 
mals feed largely on cephalo.pods. It declined 
to eat the morsel. Mr. Pocock, of the Zoolog¬ 
ical Society’s Gardens, adds also that one of 
three California sea lions in the garden, after 
swallowing with some misgiving a piece of squid 
that had been tossed to him, refused a further 
supply. The other sea lions and the common 
seals would not taste the squid. The elephant 
seals of the southern seas are regarded by 
American naturalists as a different species from 
the form from Guadalupe Islands, which Dr. 
Gill years ago described as Machrorhinus angus- 
iirostis. 
Zoological Park’s Sportsman’s Day. 
Sportsman’s day at the New York Zoological 
Society’s Park in the Bronx, June 2, was at¬ 
tended by a large assemblage of sportsmen. The 
occasion was a brilliant one. Under the guid¬ 
ance of Madison Grant, the chairman of the so¬ 
ciety’s executive committee, the sportsmen made 
the rounds of the park, bringing up finally at 
the Administration Building where the National 
Collection of Heads and Horns was inspected 
by the gathering of hunters. 
The young animals recently born in the park, 
tottering buffalo calves, a young Rocky Moun¬ 
tain goat and many deer 1 and antelope, were 
looked at with especial interest. 
Important to Every Angler. 
Tupelo, Miss., May 29 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: In your issue of Jan. 2, 1909, there 
appeared a communication from my pen with 
the above caption, which embodied a resolution 
and memorial from the American Fisheries So¬ 
ciety to Congress, calling attention to the im¬ 
portance of the conservation and protection of 
fish in connection with the work of the United 
States Reclamation Service. The awful destruc¬ 
tion of fish through the operation of irrigating 
canals and ditches is well known wherever irri¬ 
gation is practiced. 
I am now much gratified to state that through 
the interest of Senator Dixon, chairman of the 
Committee on Conservation of National Re¬ 
sources, the following bill has been prepared by 
him and introduced in the United States Senate 
and referred to the Committee on Irrigation and 
Reclamation of Arid Lands. 
It is now up to every angler, and for that 
matter to every philanthropist, to communicate 
with his United States Senators, requesting them 
to advocate and vote for this bill. As to its im¬ 
portance I can only repeat what I said in my 
former article: “As the system of reclamation 
of arid lands contemplated by the Government 
is of great magnitude and will affect most of 
the streams of the West and Northwest, it is 
certainly evident that some provision should be 
made to conserve the fish life now existing in 
them, otherwise it will be a question of but 
few years before these waters become barren.” 
James A. Henshall, 
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 
A Bill to authorize the construction of fishways, 
screens and paddle wheels at the intake of 
canals constructed in connection with irriga¬ 
tion projects. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep¬ 
resentatives of the United States of America in 
Congress assembled, that in the construction of 
all irrigation dams, canals and ditches under the 
provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 
17, 1902, and in the construction of all projects 
for the irrigation of Indian lands, authorized by 
any Act of Congress, the Secretary of the In¬ 
terior is hereby authorized and directed to cause 
to be erected, constructed and maintained fish¬ 
ways, wherever practicable, in all dams, and 
some effective paddle wheel, screen or other de¬ 
vice at the intake of all canals and ditches in 
connection with said irrigation projects that will 
effectively prevent fish from entering the same. 
Rainbow Trout. 
Linvili.e Falls, N. C., May 31.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: This is the best rainbow trout sea¬ 
son Linville River and gorge have known. The 
protection and stocking of the past three years 
have resulted in more and larger fish than have 
ever been known here. All the local and visit¬ 
ing fishermen report large numbers of small fish, 
as well as plenty of good ones, and several have 
been taken from twenty-two to twenty-four 
inches, weighing from three pounds to three 
pounds ten ounces. 
The weather has been warm for two weeks 
now, so the fish are active, as they were not be¬ 
fore. They are taking flies and bait with appar¬ 
ently equal appetite. The river is low and very 
clear, the best condition for fishing here. The 
season lasts from May 1 to Oct. 1, and often 
the fishing is good into November. It is always 
fairly good all summer, except perhaps a few 
weeks from the last of July to the first of Sep¬ 
tember, when the vegetable food is so plentiful 
that the fish are not so eager for the angler’s 
offering. The people here say the fish are 
“mossin’ ” then. F. W. Bicknell. 
A Michigan Trout Stream. 
Saginaw, Mich., May 31. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have had some very good trout fish¬ 
ing this spring, but water conditions lately have 
been against us. I have just come in from the 
Black River where I spent four days. The water 
was high when we got there. The second day 
it fell about four inches, so that we could wade 
parts of the stream, and the trout came good 
and were a fine size. 
It was very hot and I never saw the mos¬ 
quitoes so bad. We simply could not keep them 
out of the car, although it was screened and we 
smudged it out before bed time. The thermo¬ 
meter stood at 88 during the day. Heavy thunder 
showers followed, and the river rose again, so 
we had to give up wading except in a very few 
shallows. The river is literally alive with trout 
and many of them are of fine size. The stream 
is isolated in about the wildest part of Michi-. 
gan. 
Our guide, who traps in the winter and had 
his winter camp near by, told of the killing of 
a big buck some time in February by four 
wolves. He said he did not see the killing, but 
he traced it on the snow. Two of the wolves 
headed the deer off before it could get to the 
river and the fight took place in the jack pines 
within 200 yards of the water. When he found 
the deer it was about two-thirds eaten. The deer 
was hampered by the crust on the snow that 
held the wolves. 
This was the last of our southern peninsula 
grayling streams. Only a few years ago when 
I was camping there in August our helper was 
picking huckleberries within a hundred yards 
of the camp. He suddenly let out a yell and 
came running to the camp and explained that 
a big bear had risen from the opposite side of 
a log alongside of which he was picking berries 
and made a sudden remark and he started for 
camp. We saw two bears on that trip. 
The thickets along the river were filled with 
various kinds of warblers. It has been a favorite 
p’ace for the redstart. I never was up there, but 
I saw quantities of them. 
W. B. Mershon. 
All the fish laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and nozv in force, are 
given in the Game Lazvs in Brief. See adv. 
