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diff --git a/38032.txt b/38032.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..575ac66 --- /dev/null +++ b/38032.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6245 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific +Coast, by Harry Thom Payne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast + +Author: Harry Thom Payne + +Release Date: November 16, 2011 [EBook #38032] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GAME BIRDS AND GAME FISHES *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Tom Cosmas, Joseph Cooper and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + GAME BIRDS + + AND + + GAME FISHES + + OF THE + + PACIFIC COAST + + + _BY_ + + H. T. PAYNE + + + [Illustration: shell] + + + Illustrated with Half-tones from Photographs of + Live and Carefully Mounted + Birds and Fishes. + + With Ready Reference Diagrams of Each Family, + Giving the Scientific and Common Names + of Each Genus and Species, Their + Relationship, Breeding Grounds + and General Range. + + NEWS PUBLISHING CO., Los Angeles. + + + + + Copyrighted 1913, Under Act of Congress, + By H. T. Payne + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Laws recently enacted by most of the states for the better protection +of the game, imposing a nominal license for the privilege of hunting +it, have enabled us to take a census, as it were, of that vast number +of the American people who enjoy the health-giving sports of the +field. This census reveals the fact, that, of the whole population of +the Pacific Coast, nearly twenty per cent of all those over fifteen +years of age are licensed sportsmen. Add to these the large number of +anglers, not counted in this enumeration, and the rapidly increasing +number of young ladies who are learning to enjoy the exhilarating +sports of the field and stream, and this percentage will be +appreciably increased. It is, therefore, obvious that a study of the +game birds and game fishes must be one of interest to a very large +portion of our people, and especially to the younger generation whose +knowledge of the game they bring to bag is still in the formative +state. + +Unlike all other works treating of the birds and fishes, this one is +written from the standpoint of the practical sportsman and angler, +rather than for the student of ornithology or ichthyology. I have, +therefore avoided the use of technical names as much as possible, and +employed in the description of the various species the plainest +language consistent with a clear understanding of their distinguishing +features. I have, however, for the benefit of those who wish to learn +their scientific names and genetic relationship, added after the +description of the members of each family, a tabulated form, giving +the Order, Family, Subfamily and Genus to which the several species +belong; together with their common names, general range and breeding +grounds. A new and convenient feature of ready reference. + +The numerous illustrations, which are from photographs of the actual +birds, is a new feature of great importance to the student, as they +give the perfect markings of every feather, and the true gradation of +color as appearing in nature. + +That, by placing within the reach of the younger generation of +sportsmen, such knowledge of the game birds and game fishes as I have +gained through more than half a century spent in their pursuit, may, +in a measure, liquidate the deep debt I owe for the many happy hours +and excellent health drawn from the exhilarating sports of the field +and stream, is the earnest wish of + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + + [Illustration: Taxonomy of Birds] + + + + +THE GAME BIRDS OF THE PACIFIC COAST + + +In describing the game birds of the Pacific Coast, I have included all +those found in any considerable numbers from the British Columbia +line, south to and including the state of Arizona, the Mexican states +of Sonora and Chihuahua and the peninsula of Lower California, for in +some of these less frequented places, game birds are found in great +numbers and great variety. This is especially true in these southern +sections with the quail, for here its voice is heard in all the notes +of the gamut, from the soft, turkey-like call of the mountain species, +the soul-stirring whistle of the bobwhite, or the sharp, decisive +"can't see me" of the valley quail, through all the varied changes of +the blue quail family, to the low plaintive note of the massena quail +of Mexico. + +While it is not the purpose of this work to give a scientific +classification of the game birds of which it treats, a brief statement +of the manner in which they are grouped and classified by the +ornithologist will materially assist the reader in the study of those +species herein mentioned. + +The ornithologist groups all the birds of North America into seventeen +"Orders"; each of these including all birds of a similar nature. Some +of these orders are divided into two or more suborders, where, while +clearly belonging to the order, there is yet a sufficient difference +in certain groups of families to justify this further separation. The +next division is the "family," which is again divided into "genera," +and each "genus" into "species." + +Of the seventeen orders of American birds, the scope of this work +includes only six; for all of the birds, commonly called game birds, +belong to one or the other of the following orders: + +The =Gallinae=--All gallinaceous, or chicken-like birds. Of this order +we only have to consider two families: The =Tetraonidae=, composed of +the quail and grouse, and the =Phasianidae=, composed of the turkeys +and pheasants. + +The =Anseres=--Lamellirostral, or soft-billed swimmers, such as the +ducks, geese, swans and mergansers, comprising the one family, +=Anatidae=, which is divided into five subfamilies, with four of which +we are concerned, viz.: The =Anatinae=, the fresh-water ducks; the +=Fuligulinae=, the salt-water ducks; the =Anserinae=, the geese and +brant; and the =Cygninae=, the swans. + +The =Columbae=--This order has but one family, the =Columbidae=, +composed of the pigeons and doves. + +The =Limicolae=--This order has seven families, only three of which I +have mentioned as being of sufficient interest to the sportsmen of the +Pacific Coast to justify a description of them. These are the +=Recurvirostridae=, composed of the stilts and avocets; the +=Scolopacidae=, the snipes, curlews, yellow-legs, willits, marlins, +sandpipers, etc.; and the =Charadridae=, the plovers. + +The other two orders, the =Herodiones= and the =Paludicolae=, the first +composed largely of the herons, storks, ibises, and egrets, and the +latter of the cranes, rails gallinules and coots, afford more pleasure +to the sportsman through their stately appearance on his hunting +grounds than as game birds. The coots, however, are not considered +game by our sportsmen. + +It is well to state here also, that ornithologists do not always agree +in the classification and nomenclature of birds. One claiming that a +certain species or genus should be separated, while others insist that +there is no reason for such separation. With the one exception of the +California valley quail, I have followed the plan of the American +Ornithologists' Union. In this exception I have followed such good +authorities as Bonapart, Elliott, Ridgeway and Gambel, and given the +California valley quail the generic name of =Lophortyx=, instead of +classing them with the Callipepla, to which belong the scaled quail, a +species with no distinction between the sexes. + + +THE QUAIL + +While the eastern half of the continent has but one genus of quail, +the Pacific Coast, including Mexico, is well supplied with five genera +and eighteen species, to which may be added four subspecies. Nine +species of the genus, =Colinus=, however, and two of the genus, +=Callipepla=, do not come into the United States. + +Properly speaking we have no quail in America, all of our so-called +quail being partridges, but the use of the word "quail" has become so +common that these birds will, in all probability, be known as quail +for all time. But whatever the name, they are resourceful beyond +comparison, and gamy to the fullest degree; affording with dog and +gun the most enjoyable of all out-door sport. + + + [Illustration: MOUNTAIN QUAIL PLUMED QUAIL + (Oreortyx pictus) (Oreortyx pictus plumiferus)] + + +THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL + +(Oreortyx pictus) + +The mountain quails are the largest and most beautiful of all the +American quails, though the least hunted and the least gamy. There is +but one genus, with one species and two subspecies. Two of these +inhabit the mountains of California and Oregon, and the third, the +high ranges of the peninsula of Lower California. While most of the +sportsmen of the Pacific Coast are conversant with the general +character and coloration of the mountain quail, I believe but few of +them have ever seen the more beautiful species that inhabit the San +Pedro Martir mountains of Lower California. + +The present species, given the English name of mountain partridge, by +the ornithologists, and which he has taken for his type, is a small +race found only on the Coast Range from the Bay of San Francisco north +into Oregon, and, therefore, never reaches the high altitudes reached +by its near relatives, the =Oreortyx pictus plumiferus=, to which the +English name, plumed partridge, has been given. In fact, both of these +varieties are plumed, though that of the latter is a trifle the +longer. The fact that the plumed quail ascends the mountains each +spring to heights of from five to eight thousand feet for nesting +purposes, gives it a better claim to the name, mountain, than has the +other variety. + +The present species, the mountain quail, is generally found in the +canyons and on the damp hill-sides where ferns are abundant. They have +very little of the migratory habits of the other species, except when +driven down in the winter by the snows. Their habits and general plan +of coloration are so much like those of the other two species that I +shall describe them all together, with the proper mention of wherein +they differ. + + +THE PLUMED QUAIL + +(Oreortyx pictus plumiferus) + +The range of the plumed partridge is throughout the entire length of the +Sierra Nevadas and of the coast range south of San Francisco bay into +Lower California, where it intergrades with the San Pedro partridge, +but it does not cross the Colorado river and enter Arizona or the +mainland of Mexico. This species begins its migrations early in the +spring, keeping close to the snow line until they reach altitudes as +high as 7000 to 8000 feet, where they nest and rear their young. In the +fall, just before the winter rains begin, they commence their migrations +down again to the foothills, where they remain until the following +spring. Unless driven by unusually heavy snows, they rarely descend +lower than 2000 to 3000 feet above sea level. + + +SAN PEDRO MARTIR MOUNTAIN QUAIL + +(Oreortyx pictus confinis) + +The San Pedro partridge, so named by the ornithologist, is a resident +of the San Pedro Martir mountains of Lower California, and ascends to +a height of ten thousand feet, and is rarely seen lower than five +thousand feet above the sea. + +I want to say here that no work on ornithology that I have seen, +describes the San Pedro partridge properly. Most likely this is the +result of an examination of the intergrades only, for they do +intergrade with the California species to the northward. The two +species first mentioned have the plume from one and a half to two and +a half inches long and nearly round in form. The plume of the San +Pedro partridge is flat, about three-sixteenths of an inch wide and +from three and a half to four and a half inches long. The plume of the +other varieties is erectile, but that of the San Pedro denizen is soft +and falls down the side. In all species both sexes are alike, with the +exception that the plume of the female is generally a trifle the +shorter; but this can not always be relied upon to distinguish the +sex. + +Generally speaking there is not much sport in hunting the mountain +quail, but I have at times had a bevy scattered in ferns, and in such +cases had very good sport with them with a dog, and found them to lie +very well. They are about a half larger than the valley quail, and as +a table bird much more succulent. + +=Color=--Top of head, back of neck and breast, an ashy blue, darker on +the back of the neck than the breast; back and wings, inclining to +olive brown, in the Coast species with a slight reddish tinge; abdomen +and flanks, rich chestnut barred with black and white; under tail +feathers, black; entire throat, reaching well down onto the breast, +rich chestnut, bordered with white; chin, white; bill, black. The two +California species have two round, black plumes falling gracefully +over the back of the neck, but erectile when excited. These plumes +will vary from one and a half to two and a half inches in length. The +Lower California species have two flat, black plumes about +three-sixteenths of an inch in width and from three and a half to five +inches long. Both sexes are alike in all species. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest, like that of all gallinaceous birds, is a +depression on the ground, hidden among a bunch of bushes or under a +log, surrounded by a few dry leaves. The number of eggs will average +about a dozen, rather oval in shape and of a light ochreous color. + +=Measurements=--Length (see diagram), will average about 10 inches; +wing 5-1/2, bill about 5/8 of an inch. + + + [Illustration: CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL + (Lophortyx californicus vallicola)] + + +THE CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL + +(Lophortyx californicus vallicola) + +There are two varieties of the California valley quail. They are +distinguished not so much by the slight difference in color as in the +very marked difference in their habits. + +As with the mountain quail the ornithologist has taken the wrong bird +for the type, making the larger race the subspecies. To the species +(=Lophortyx californicus=) inhabiting the foothills of the Coast range +north of the bay of San Francisco and into western Oregon, the +ornithologist has given the English name California partridge. This +species is a lover of damp places and rank growths of underbrush and +ferns. The subspecies (=Lophortyx californicus vallicola=), to which +has been given the name valley partridge, ranges from central Oregon +throughout the great valleys of California, the foothills of the +western slope of the Sierras, both sides of the Coast range south from +San Francisco bay and throughout the peninsula of Lower California. +Like the mountain quail it does not cross the Colorado desert into +Arizona or the mainland of Mexico. Nevertheless it has a wider range +than any other one species of game bird. + +Of all the game birds of America the California valley quail is the +most resourceful and characterized by the greatest cunning. Having +hunted these birds for upward of fifty years and practically +throughout their entire range, I freely give them credit for knowing +more tricks and being able to concoct more schemes of deception than +all the rest of the =tetraonidae= combined, and this resourcefulness +has led to most of the false statements regarding their behavior and +gameness. It has been said by writers, who should know better, that a +dog is no use in hunting them because of their disposition to run. Any +bird with more game than a fool-hen will either flush or run where +there is no undercover in which to hide, and the valley quail being so +often found in dry, open places or chaparral devoid of undercover, +will either flush or run until it finds suitable hiding grounds. + +But give the valley quail cover in which to hide and it can and will +out-hide any game bird except the Montezuma quail of Mexico. In fact it +is this remarkable faculty of hugging the ground until it is almost +stepped upon that has led, more than anything else, to its false +reputation as a runner. The man who hunts the valley quail without a +dog--and most of its detractors do--can walk through a patch of good +cover with a hundred birds scattered in it for an hour or more and not +get up a half dozen. Unlike the bobwhite or the Montezuma quail of +Mexico, the valley quail bunches in the fall. These bunches will +contain anywhere from two or three broods to two or three hundred +individuals, and sometimes even thousands, and they seem to understand +that the larger the bunch the greater the necessity for avoiding +pursuit. They are fond of the open places and the bare hill-tops and +when driven from these, being a brush bird, they very naturally seek +the brush. If there is no grass or suitable undercover in which to +hide they will continue to work their way through it or double back on +their pursuers until hiding places are found, when they will hug the +ground so closely that even a good dog must pass reasonably near to +them before he will detect their scent. The man who hunts without a +dog generally passes through the cover into which his bevy has +settled, continues his walk for a mile or more, then sits down, +filling the air with a sulphurous streak of strong sounding words as +he curses the game little birds for running, while the resourceful +little fellows, closely hid, laugh over the security a false +reputation has given them. + +There has been a great deal written about the ability of quail to +withhold their scent, and many theories have been advanced. That all +game birds do lose their scent temporarily while passing rapidly +through the air I believe to be true, and the valley quail has this +faculty strongly added to its other resources. This too often deceives +the inexperienced man even when hunting with a dog. Where birds have +been flushed into good cover and can not be raised, sit down and take +a smoke, if you like, for twenty minutes or half an hour, then cast in +your dog and you will be rewarded with point after point, where before +your dog failed to detect the slightest scent. After years of +experience with all of the upland birds of the United States and half +of Mexico, I do not hesitate to pronounce the California quail the +chief of them all in gameness, in resourcefulness, and in its general +adaptability to furnish the highest form of upland shooting. But +California quail can not be hunted successfully without a good dog. + +The food of the adult California quail, according to an investigation +made by the United States Agricultural Department, through the +examination of the stomachs of 619 birds, taken during every month of +the year, except May, consists of 97 per cent vegetable and 3 per cent +animal matter, the vegetable varying according to the seasons. During +the rainy season, when green vegetation is abundant, grasses and +foliage of various kinds form fully 80 per cent of the entire food, +while in the dry season it forms barely one per cent. In the dry +season weed seeds form as high as 85 per cent of the food; one stomach +examined containing 2144 seeds of various kinds. During the harvesting +season when there is a good deal of grain on the ground, and during +the sowing season, grains form about 6 per cent of the diet. During +the season when wild blackberries, elder and other wild berries are +ripe, these, with a few grapes and a little of some other fruits, form +23 per cent of the food. + +During the first week of the life of the young birds, insects of +various kinds make up 75 per cent of their food, but by the time they +are a month old their animal food is no greater than that of the old +birds. + +=Color=--Male--Forehead, gray; top and back of head, sooty black, +bordered with white running around from one eye to the other, and this +again has a faint edging of black; throat, black, margined with white; +plume, narrow at the base and wide at the top, consisting of six +black, V-shaped feathers, each folded within the other and curved +forward; back and sides of the neck to the shoulders, deep ashy blue +with the feathers margined with black. Back and wings, bluish brown; +primaries, or longest wing feathers, dark brown; breast, deep ashy +blue, shading into a dirty buff at the lower part of the abdomen; +flanks, dirty brown with white markings. + +The northern coast species are darker with more of an olive tinge. +But all the markings are the same. + +Female--The female resembles the male in general color, but without +the black head and throat. The plume is dirty brown, about half the +length of the male's and nearly straight. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest consists of a depression in the ground +carefully hid away in some bunch of grass or brush, and usually +contains from fifteen to twenty very light buff or white eggs, often +faintly speckled. + +=Measurements=--Length, eight to nine inches; wing, 4-1/2; tail, 4; +bill, 1/2. + + + [Illustration: GAMBEL QUAIL OR ARIZONA QUAIL (Lophortyx gambeli)] + + +THE GAMBEL QUAIL + +(Lophortyx gambeli) + +The gambel partridge occupies a unique position in its common +nomenclature. In California it is known as the Arizona quail, while +the sportsmen of Arizona refer to it as the California quail. In this, +too, they both have good reasons for the names used, for these birds +are found on both sides of the Colorado river, that is in both Arizona +and California. Commencing in the Mexican state of Sonora, where they +are found from the western slope of the Sierra Madre mountains to the +Gulf of California, the range of the species extends northward and +eastward through western Arizona, and, crossing the Colorado river +onto the desert of the same name, passes through southeastern +California into southern and central Nevada and Utah. The gambel quail +belongs to the same genus as the two species of the California valley +quail and in general appearance resembles them. + +The gambel quail is emphatically a desert bird, able to live through +the long, dry seasons without water. If there are any trees in its +neighborhood it will seek them for roosting purposes, but it is found +distributed over vast sections where even the smallest brush is very +scattering and under cover nearly quite if not entirely absent, yet in +such places this member of the resourceful blue quail family protects +itself from hawks and predatory animals with an astonishing success. +The gambel quail is a true runner and can develop an astonishing speed +for so small a bird. A very large part of the unwarranted reputation +of the California valley quail as a runner is derived from confounding +it with the gambel and the habit of the Arizona sportsmen of calling +the gambel the California quail, but even as great runners as the +gambel quail are, I have found them to lie well to the dog in the +heavy bunch-grass sections of southeastern California and southern +Nevada. I have also had fine sport with them along the bottoms of the +Colorado river, where they are to be found in abundance. + +The food is practically the same as the California valley quail. + +=Color=--The general color of the upper parts and the breast is +lighter and more of an ashy blue than the valley quail, but in its +markings the gambel is the more conspicuous and more brilliant. The +black throat, bordered with white, the gray forehead and the forward +turned plume are common to both, but the top of the head of the gambel +is a bright cinnamon red, while that of the valley quail is a sooty +brown. The flanks of the gambel are conspicuously marked with bright +chestnut brown with each feather with a narrow central stripe of +white. + +=Nest and Eggs=--Are the same in this species as in the valley quail. + +=Measurements=--Same as the valley quail. + + + [Illustration: SCALED QUAIL (Callipepla squamata)] + + +THE SCALED QUAIL + +(Callipepla squamata) + +Next in geographical order is the scaled quail of Arizona and northern +Mexico generally. This, too, is a desert bird which I have seen in +great numbers at least twenty-five miles from the nearest water. It is +the only member of the quail family where there is no difference in +the markings of the sexes, except the mountain quail. In the open +country it, too, is a runner, though it can not begin to develop the +speed of the gambel nor will it continue to run for such long +distances. + +During a residence of a year in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, where +I was developing some mining property, I found the scaled quail in +great numbers all around me. Very few of the Mexican people are wing +shots and few hunt except for the resulting meat. Little attention, +therefore, is paid to the quail, and in the section where I was +located I do not believe that even the "oldest inhabitant" of the +quail settlement had ever heard the report of a shotgun. I had with me +a brace of English setters, and these birds, though found among chino +grama grass and low maguey plant, which offered splendid opportunities +for hiding, not only tried my patience to the limit, but that of my +dogs as well, by deliberately walking about twenty-five to thirty +paces in front of me without the least thought of either hiding or +taking to wing. By firing a couple of shots over them each morning I +soon educated them to flush at the sight of me. In a couple of weeks +they behaved very well and furnished me with good sport, hiding +readily and lying good for the dogs. + +Most of the game birds need more or less educating before they fully +meet the requirements of the sportsmen. Most, too, of the complaints +that sportsmen make regarding the bad behavior of certain species of +game or birds of certain sections should be charged to the lack on the +part of the hunter of a knowledge of their habits rather than to the +ill manners of the birds. One will often hear it said that certain men +are lucky hunters and can not help staggering onto their game. Such +men are lucky because they make a close study of the ways of the birds +of each separate character of country. Knowing the places in which +they will most likely be found feeding, they approach them from such +directions as will have a tendency to drive them into the desired +cover. A great deal of the annoyance of running birds, I have found, +can be avoided by a careful study of their habits and proper +management in handling them, and this is especially true of the scaled +quail. + +=Color=--The back, the wings and tail coverts are a +light, ashy blue, but the feathers of the shoulders, breast and +abdomen are margined with dark brown, with a yellowish arrow-shaped +central spot which gives them the appearance of scales. Its throat is +a very faint buff, and instead of the plume of the genus Lophortyx it +has a broad erectile crest with the feathers tipped with white. Both +sexes are alike. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nesting habits are the same as those of the other +species of the blue quail family, but the eggs are more of a buff and +generally more speckled with brown. + +=Measurements=--About the same as the valley quail. + + +THE CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALE QUAIL + +(Callipepla squamata castaneigastra) + +The chestnut-bellied scaled quail is a subspecies of the scaled quail +just described. They are not numerous and hardly enter the territory +covered by this work. Intergrades of the two species are occasionally +found in northern Mexico and possibly in southeastern Arizona. In +general appearance they resemble the former species, being, however, a +little darker and with a strong chestnut blotch on the belly. + + + [Illustration: ELEGANT QUAIL (Callipepla elegans)] + + +THE ELEGANT QUAIL + +(Callipepla elegans) + +Along the western slope of the Sierra Madre range in the state of +Sonora, Mexico, is to be found another member of the blue quail family +whose habits appeal strongly to the sportsman. This species, known as +the elegant quail, is one of the most handsomely marked of the group. +From the blending of the white throat of the bobwhite with the black +one of the gambel, and the brown of the back of the one with the blue +of the other, together with a marked resemblance in its call to that +of the bobwhite, suggests the possibility of its origin having +resulted from a cross of the two genera. I may add that both the +gambel and a species of the =Collinus=, bobwhite, are found in this +same section. + +The elegant quail is generally found in and around the cultivated +fields which they seem to prefer to the open country. While the +elegant quail will walk leisurely in front of their pursuer until too +closely approached, they can in no sense be termed runners. When +flushed they take to cover and lie closely. Like all the quail of +Mexico they have been hunted but little and need to be well scared +before they become properly educated to the gun. After a few days' +hunting I found them a very satisfactory game bird. Being found around +the fields, the grounds and cover were all that could be desired for +excellent sport. + +=Color=--Male--Plume straight, upright feathers about an inch and a +quarter to an inch and a half in length, varying in color--possibly on +account of age--from a light lemon to a dark reddish orange. The +throat is finely mottled with small black and white dots, giving it a +dark gray appearance. The general color of the back and the wing and +tail coverts is a dark blue with about half of the exposed portion of +each feather tipped with a bright, rich brown. The breast and abdomen +is a light, ashy blue, profusely flecked with large, circular white +spots. + +Female--The plume is about two-thirds the length of that of the male, +brown in color and barred with black. The breast and abdomen are +spotted like the male but the back is much the color of the English +snipe. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the other species of the blue quail. + +=Measurements=--Same as the valley quail. + + + [Illustration: MASSENA QUAIL (Cyrtonyx montezuma)] + + +THE MASSENA OR MONTEZUMA QUAIL + +(Cyrtonyx Montezuma) + +The Massena, or Montezuma quail, is a distinct genus from the blue +quail family. In many respects it resembles the bobwhite in color, +though far more fancifully marked. It is also nearly one-half larger, +though in some parts of Arizona and in New Mexico there is a smaller +species of the same genus known as fool quail. The Mexican bird is far +from a fool, and although it roosts on the ground like the bobwhite, +it is resourceful enough to take care of itself in a country where +vermin of all kinds are very plentiful. Its range is from near the +northern boundary south through the larger portion of Mexico. + +The Montezuma quail is emphatically a grass bird and inhabits the +grassy foothills and the cultivated fields, where it affords fine +sport with a dog. It is very cosmopolitan as to climate, for it is +found at altitudes of from five to six thousand feet, where +considerable snow falls, as well as in the foothills of the hot, +tropical valleys of the lowlands, and thrives equally well in all +sections. It is a bird of peculiar habits. When startled by the +approach of an enemy the bevy at once huddles together, where the +birds remain motionless until they are approached to within from one +to four feet, according to the cover they are in. If they think that +they have not been seen or that the object of their alarm is going to +pass by, there is not the slightest motion made by any one of them, +but when they decide to take wing for safety every bird in perfect +unison springs into the air to a height of about six feet and darts +rapidly away. They are quick on the wing and seem able to carry away a +good deal of shot. The flight generally is not more than one hundred +yards, and when they alight they scatter well and will then out-hide +any bird that lives. I have both ridden and walked, without a dog, for +hours through a country where they were plentiful without seeing a +bird, except where I chanced to nearly step upon them, yet with a dog +I have found on the same grounds probably an average of fifteen bevies +to the square mile. For work with a dog I prefer them to any bird I +have ever hunted. They give out a strong scent, for points on bevies +of from six to fifteen birds, made thirty to forty yards away are no +uncommon occurrence. Then when you walk in front of your dog they +never flush until you have almost stepped upon them. A scattered bevy +will lie securely hid until each individual is flushed. Unlike the +blue quail they never gather in large flocks, but always remain in +single broods until broken up in the spring for nesting purposes. + +=Color=--Male--The head of these birds have a very bizarre appearance +whose strange black and white markings seem to have no more purpose or +design than the black and white chalk marks on a clown's face. The +head of the male is crested with semi-erectile feathers in the shape +of a broad hood of dark yellowish brown color, falling about half way +down the neck; groundwork of the back and of the wing and tail coverts +is a dark ocher barred with a deep rich brown; breast and flanks are +nearly black, dotted with large white spots, and from the throat to +the vent is a stripe about five-eighths of an inch wide of a dark rich +chestnut. + +=Female=--The female, with the exception of the white dots on the +breast and flanks is much the color of the female bobwhite. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is like that of the quail generally, simply +a depression in the ground, carefully hidden away in some thick matted +grass or bunch of brush, and generally higher up the hill-sides than +they are found at other times. Eggs, white, and of a china appearance, +and from ten to fifteen in number. + +=Measurements=--While these birds are fully one-half larger than the +blue quail, the very short tail makes their total length not over 8 to +9 inches; wing, 5 inches, and bill, 5/8. + + + [Illustration: BOBWHITE (Colinus virginianus)] + + +THE BOBWHITE + +(Colinus virginianus) + +I have said that the voice of the bobwhite is heard in the land. This +is true, for the clear notes of his little throat awaken the morning +echoes from eastern Oregon to the islands of Puget Sound. This great +little game bird, whose praise has been recounted in volumes of prose +and sung in the rhythmic measures of countless lines of verse, is not +a native of the coast, but he knew a good thing when he saw it. When +he was turned loose in the Pacific Northwest he cast his bright little +eyes about him and remarked to himself: + + "This looks good to me. Bobwhite, get busy at once in raising big + families and settle up your new domain." + +And he has done it, for now the sportsmen of the Pacific Northwest +have better bobwhite shooting than is to be found in any part of the +eastern states. + +The bobwhite roosts on the ground and always remains in single broods. +When startled they huddle together and flush in a bunch. They are good +hiders and lie well to the dog. They are seldom found far from water +and rarely in heavy brush. They are fond of stubble or corn fields and +the grassy nooks along the fences. Many efforts have been made to +acclimatize this species farther south in California but they have all +proved failures on account of the dryer climate and the lack of +insects during the rearing season of their young. They must have a +damp climate where the vegetation remains green, thus furnishing an +abundance of insects during the early summer on which to feed their +young. For until a bobwhite is nearly grown it lives almost entirely +upon insects. + +=Color=--Male--General color of the upper parts, light buff, marked +with triangular blotches of brown; head and back of the neck, dark +chestnut; forehead, gray; light stripe from above the eye passing down +the side of the neck; throat, white or very light buff, faintly +bordered with dark brown or black; breast, light buff with the +feathers tipped with brown; flanks chestnut mixed with black and +white. + +Female--Generally lighter, and without the white throat and light +breast. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are rude depressions on the ground beneath +a fence rail or fallen limb, or in a bunch of thick grass or brush. +The eggs number anywhere from fifteen to twenty and of a pure white +color. + +=Measurements=--Total length about nine inches; wing, 4-1/2 inches; +bill, 5/8. + + +THE MASKED BOBWHITE + +(Colinus ridgewayi) + +A smaller species of the bobwhite, known as the masked bobwhite, were +reasonably plentiful along the border of southern Arizona and south +through the state of Sonora, Mexico. Like the typical bobwhite they +were strictly a field and grass bird. But through the heavy pasturing +of that section, together with a series of dry seasons denuding the +whole country of such cover as would be necessary for their protection +from hawks and vermin, they have become nearly if not quite extinct. +They differed from the eastern bobwhite in that the male had a black +throat instead of a white one and a bright cinnamon breast. The +female differed also in having a light buff throat, and generally of a +lighter color. + + + + + Order, GALLINAE + + Family, TETRAONIDAE + + Subfamily, PERDICINAE + + + Genus Species Common Names Range + ---------- ------------------ ----------------- --------------------- + {Coast Range of + {pictus Mountain quail {California from + { {Monterey Bay north + { {into Western Oregon. + { + { {Both sides of the + Oreortyx {pictus plumiferus Mountain quail {Sierra Nevadas from + { {Central Oregon south. + { {Coast range of + { {California from + { {Monterey Bay south. + { + { {Peninsula of Lower + { {California, + {pictus confinis {Lower California {inter-grading in the + {mountain quail {northern part with the + {pictus plumiferus. + + {Coast Range valleys + {californicus Valley quail {of California from + { {San Francisco Bay + { {north into Oregon. + { + { {Both sides of the + { {Sierra Nevadas from + Lophortyx {californicus Valley quail {Central Oregon south. + {vallicola {Coast range valleys + { {south from San + { {Francisco Bay into + { {Lower California. + { + { {Gambel quail {Southern Nevada, + {gambeli { {Southeastern + { {California, Western + {Arizona quail {Arizona and Northern + {Mexico. + + {squamata Scaled quail {Southern Arizona + { {and Northern Mexico. + Callipepla { + {elegans Elegant quail {Southern Sonora, + {Mexico. + + {Montezuma quail {Southwestern Arizona + Cyrtonyx {montezuma { {and south into + {Messena quail {Mexico. + + {ridgewayi Masked Bobwhite {Northwestern Sonora, + { {Mexico. + { + Colinus { {Introduced and + { {acclimated in + {virginianus Bobwhite {Washington and Oregon + {and the islands + {of Puget Sound. + + + + +THE WILD TURKEY + + +If there is any member of the feathered tribe entitled +to the designation of royal game bird, it is the wild turkey. This +magnificent bird, whose size and cunning challenges at once the +admiration and the skill of the sportsman, is a native of North and +Central America, and found in its wild state in no other part of the +globe. The ocellated turkey, the Central American species, is even +more gaudy in plumage than the peacock, but as it is not found within +the territorial scope of these articles, I shall leave its resplendent +colors to scintillate in its own tropic sun, undescribed. + +Of the North American turkeys the scientist recognizes four varieties. +The =Meleagris sylvestris= of the eastern states, except Florida, the +=Meleagris sylvestris osceola= of Florida, the =Meleagris sylvestris +elliotti= of the Rio Grande district of southern Texas and +northeastern Mexico, and the =Meleagris gallopavo= of Arizona, New +Mexico, part of Colorado, and west and south through the larger +portion of old Mexico. It is of this last species that I shall write. + + + [Illustration: WILD TURKEY (Meleagris gallopavo)] + + +THE MEXICAN WILD TURKEY + +(Meleagris gallopavo) + +Outside of the progenitors of our common barnyard fowl, there is no +wild bird that mankind has domesticated whose distribution in its +domestic state has become so wide as that of the wild turkey, and none +have been so highly prized as an article of food. It is from the +Mexican wild turkey, =Meleagris gallopavo=, that all of our domestic +turkeys have descended. First captured in Mexico by the early settlers +of that country, they were taken to the West Indies and there +domesticated as early as 1527, for Oviedo, in his "Natural History of +the Indias," speaks of the wild turkey having been taken from Mexico +to the islands and there being bred in a domestic state. From the West +Indies they were taken to Spain, France and England, and again brought +back to America as domestic fowls. In 1541 they must have been scarce +yet in England, for in an edict promulgated by Cranmer in that year, +the "turkey cocke" was named as one of "the greater fowles," and which +"an ecclesiastic was to have but one in a dishe." By 1573, however, +they must have become quite plentiful, for in that year Tusser +mentions them as the most approved "Christmas husbandlie fare." + +Inasmuch as there were no settlements of either English, French or +Spanish in America north of Mexico until 1584, or in that section of +the country inhabited by the eastern species of wild turkey until +sixty years after the turkey is known to have been introduced into +England, the common belief that the eastern species (=Meleagris +sylvestris=) was the foundation of the domestic turkey is clearly an +error; but the ornithologist does not find it necessary to consult +history to determine the origin of the domestic turkey. That +distinguishing feature of the Mexican wild turkey (=Meleagris +gallopavo=), the broad, light sub-terminal of the rump feathers, is so +strong that even after three and a half centuries of domestication, +changes in color through selection in breeding, and possibly crossing +to some extent with the eastern and Florida species, those markings, +peculiar to it alone, are unmistakably present even in the +lightest-colored varieties. + +As a game bird the turkey has but few equals. Like most of game birds +they are comparatively tame and unsuspicious until after they have +been hunted, and learned that of all animals man is their greatest foe +and most to be dreaded, for whenever he is within sight he is within +the range of his instruments of destruction. I have seen the Mexican +wild turkey constantly running or flushing in front of us from morning +till night as we traveled through their country for days. They showed +but little fear, for while we killed all we could eat, we were +constantly traveling, so that those that had been introduced to the +white man's methods of destroying were left behind us, and those in +front of us had yet the lesson to learn; but when the wild turkey has +been hunted a little it becomes about as wary, cunning and resourceful +as any bird that flies. + +The Mexican wild turkey is the largest of the race, and has been, and is +yet, the most plentiful. They are strictly mountain dwellers, not often +found in altitudes of less than twenty-five hundred to three thousand +feet, and more frequently from four to six thousand, and even up to +eight thousand feet or more. They are strictly timber dwellers, usually, +if not always, living in the pine forests, for I can not call to mind a +single instance where I have found them except where pines of some +variety were the principal trees. In size, individuals vary a good deal. +So, also, will the general average be found to vary as much as ten +pounds in different localities. Generally the higher their habitat the +larger the birds, some of the old gobblers reaching forty pounds if not +more. I remember killing one in the Sierra Madres of northern Mexico +that I carried about three miles into camp over a very rough country. By +the time I got him there I was willing to bet my last "silver 'dobe" +that he weighed a ton. I have also killed some very large ones in the +San Francisco mountains of Arizona. + +The wild turkey, like the mountain quail, has an up and down mountain +migration. In the early spring the hens begin to work up the mountains +and seek the densest jungles, and of course the gobblers follow them. +The gobblers are polygamous, and have but little respect for their +families. They will not only destroy the nests, but even the young +birds. For this reason the hens are very secretive in nesting, taking +as much care in hiding them away from the gobblers as from their other +enemies. As soon as the hens begin setting the gobblers gather in +flocks and remain by themselves until joined in the early fall by the +hens and their half-grown broods. After this the flocks soon begin +their migration to the lower hills and mountain openings, and +congregate into immense roosts. Places were once to be seen where they +had filled the trees for acres in such numbers as to break the limbs +in many instances. In those times and localities they were too tame +and too plentiful to afford much amusement to the man who hunted them +for sport, but with the exception of some places in Mexico that day +has passed, and the sportsman who hunts these grand game birds now +will find a quarry worthy of his skill and affording him sufficient +exertion to whet his appetite for the delicious feast they furnish +him. + +Both the habits and the habitat of the wild turkey make the sport of +hunting them especially enjoyable. As soon as the gobblers are +deserted by the hens they become more wary, and the crack of a twig or +the sight of a man, be he ever so far away, and they at once seek +cover. Then the keen eye and the noiseless tread of the still hunter +is called upon for his best and most careful efforts, for the eyes of +these gobblers are quick to catch the slightest move and their ears +acute to the faintest sound. The curiosity of a deer often makes him +hesitate long enough for the opportunity of a shot, but the gobbler, +after the hens have left him, is no longer lured by curiosity. His +business is to keep out of sight, and he can do it, after he has once +learned the destructiveness of man, just a little more successfully +than any other bird or animal that I have ever hunted. + +There are no wild turkeys west of the Colorado river, nor on the +peninsula of Lower California; but there can be no reason to doubt +that, had the mountains of Arizona connected with the pines of the +Coast range in San Bernardino county or with the Sierras of Inyo or +Kern, the mountains of California would have been as well supplied +with turkey as are its valleys with quail. + +=Color=--The color of the wild turkey varies very much except in those +that are found in the higher mountains and far away from civilization. +Domestication of over three hundred and fifty years has not yet robbed +the turkey of its love for the wild and they are often seen long +distances away from the farms feeding contentedly. In countries where +the wild turkey still existed these tame varieties of various colors +have mixed with them, often to such an extent as to change the color +very materially. I have seen flocks in Mexico ranging close to ranch +houses with turkeys among them so light-colored that they were no +doubt tame birds that had wandered away with their wild progenitors. + +The wild turkey of Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado is a dark +bronze bird with a light-colored rump, caused by the upper tail +coverts being tipped with a broad subterminal band of white, narrowly +tipped with black. The tail feathers are dark brown, spotted with +black and tipped with white. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest of the wild turkey is generally in a +depression in the ground, high up on the mountains, and carefully +hidden away in some dense thicket. I cannot call to mind ever seeing +but two nests. One of these had but seven eggs while the other had +seventeen. The markings are the same as those of the tame turkey. + +=Measurements=--The total length varies from three to four and a half +feet; wing 18 to 24 inches. + + + [Illustration: MONGOLIAN PHEASANT (Phasianus torquatus)] + + +THE MONGOLIAN PHEASANT + +(Phasianus torquatus) + +While the wild turkey is the only representative of the =Phasianidae= +found native to the American continent, the Mongolian pheasant has +been so successfully acclimatized in Oregon and Washington that it +must now be recognized as an established resident species. + +After it became an established fact that these pheasants were proving +a success in Oregon, there became a demand for their introduction into +California, and thousands of dollars were spent for a number of years +in an unsuccessful effort to acclimatize them. The pheasant, like the +grouse, is a cold country bird, and the mild and dry climate of +California does not appeal to their peculiar tastes or the +requirements of their physical being. Oregon, however, possesses the +climatic, floral and entomic conditions for which nature has fitted +them. Green vegetation lasts during the whole season in which they +rear their young, thus furnishing them with that abundance of insects +necessary to the health and nourishment of the young chicks. They are +endowed with certain physical attributes for which the cold of winter +is necessary to preserve a continued healthful condition, and this, +too, they find in Oregon. In fact this constitutional demand for the +cold of winter has been by nature so strongly implanted within them +that the rearing of thirty generations in the comparatively mild +climate of Oregon has not effaced it, and obeying this primal instinct +they have migrated through Washington and into the better-loved and +colder winters of British Columbia. + +Therefore, while California undoubtedly may have an abundance of wild +turkeys, quail in unlimited numbers and of two or three more species +than we have at present, the timber and the plain tinamus of South +America, and possibly the sand grouse of southern Europe, she will +never have pheasants unless they be of the extreme southern varieties, +and never have more than a limited supply of grouse. + +North of the mountains of southern Oregon and through Washington into +British Columbia pheasants are plentiful and furnish the principal +sport of the lovers of upland shooting of that section of the Pacific +Coast. The Mongolian pheasant as a game bird has his merits and +demerits. As a large, beautiful plumaged bird to grace the game bag +the pheasant stands without a rival. As a table bird the pheasant is +only surpassed in delicacy of flavor by the wild turkey. As an +aggravating runner from the dog the pheasant is in a class by itself, +and as an evader of all pursuit when wounded, "the Chinaman," as they +are generally called in Oregon, can give odds to the gambel quail. +Though the pheasant is a large bird and able to carry off a good deal +of shot, it starts so slow to one accustomed to the rapid flight of +the California quail that a reasonably fair shot will find no +difficulty in getting the limit with a sixteen gauge. + +They are slow starters, caused by their habit of rising at an angle of +forty-five to fifty degrees until they reach a height of about ten +feet before their rapid flight begins, but when once on the wing they +are quite swift flyers. + +While I have said that the pheasants are aggravating runners, this is +principally so in the latter part of the season. In the earlier parts +they are commonly found in the stubble fields, potato and other +vegetable patches, and usually in single broods. At such times I have +found them to lie quite well to the dog, not flushing until closely +approached, and running but little except when winged. They are then +easy shooting, but the fine size of the bird and the beautiful plumage +of the cocks give a zest to the sport and a pleasant distinctiveness +which every sportsman will be pleased to add to the list of upland +shooting he has engaged in. + +To those who wish to spend a season on these handsome birds, Oregon, +especially, offers an attraction which goes far beyond its good supply +of pheasants. During the open pheasant season the climate of Oregon is +as near perfect as one can ask. That season of the eastern states that +has been idealized in verse, and is known as Indian summer, finds its +superlative in the early fall of Oregon. The sun shines brightly, but +with its rays softened by its sub-equinoctial position; the air is +mild, clear and invigorating, and the golden hues of the stubble +field, the yet bright green of the grassy pastures, the rich tints of +the dying autumn leaves, all framed in the blue-green fringe of the +near-by pines and firs, produce a picture strikingly beautiful and +always enjoyed. It is in this delightful season with such a picture on +every side, heightened by an occasional glimpse of some towering +mountain peak with its crown of eternal snows, that the sportsman of +Oregon lays aside the cares of life and lives in an elysium during his +pheasant-shooting days. The setting of the stage is as much to the +play as the acting. So with our days after game. The invigorating air +we breathe, the beauty of the landscape, the stateliness of the +forest, the rugged grandeur of the mountains, the soul-inspiring +picture of our dogs on point and back, lends more to the real +enjoyment of the day than does the size of the bag we carry home. + +=Color=--Male--The male of the Mongolian pheasant can not be +confounded with any other game bird in America. Its very long tail +feathers--from fifteen to twenty inches--will always prove a +distinguishing mark. Its rich metallic colors of black, cinnamon, +chestnut and ocher give it a combination of hues surpassing that of +any other of our game birds. + +Female--Nor should the female ever be mistaken for any other bird. It +partakes much of the general colors of the male, but much subdued and +more of a general ochreous hue, the plumage being buff mottled with +brown. The tail, however, is not more than one-fourth the length of +that of the male. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is generally a depression on the ground, but +often in the hollow of some log. The eggs number from 12 to 18 and are +of a dark ochre in color. + +=Measurements=--The measurements of a Mongolian pheasant are +practically useless on account of the larger portion of it being the +tail, which greatly varies in length. + + + + +THE PIGEONS AND DOVES + + +The family =Columbidae= is represented on the Pacific Coast by three +genera which are considered, to more or less extent, legitimate game, +though they can not be termed game birds in the generally accepted use +of the term. Still as they are hunted to a very considerable extent by +the sportsmen of the Coast, they rightfully belong in a work of this +kind. I shall, therefore, give them a place, and briefly treat each +species that is pursued as game within the territory under +consideration. + + + [Illustration: + MOURNING DOVE BANDED PIGEON WHITE-WINGED DOVE + (Zenaidura macroura) (Columba faciata) (Melopelia leucoptera)] + + +THE WILD PIGEON + +(Columba faciata) + +The wild, or banded pigeon, is a mountain dweller, found principally +in the southern half of the territory covered by this work. They visit +the valleys in the fall and winter months to feed on the oak mast, and +at such times they are seen in large flocks in the Sacramento, San +Joaquin and coast valleys of California. They are found in good +numbers in parts of Arizona, and are common along both sides of the +Sierra Madres of Mexico. When visiting the valleys they afford good +sport, as they are swift flyers and capable of carrying off a good +deal of shot. They have no migrations like the passenger pigeon once +so plentiful in the eastern states, nor do they congregate in such +immense flocks. + +=Color=--About the same as the darker colored tame pigeon; the tail is +a trifle longer than the tame bird and a little lighter than the rest +of the plumage with a dark band across the middle of it; a small patch +of white feathers at the back of the head. Both sexes are alike. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is built in the trees of small twigs and +grass. Two eggs are layed at a time, and a pair of young birds are +produced about every six weeks from April to August. + +=Measurements=--A trifle more than the tame pigeon. + + +THE MOURNING DOVE + +(Zenaidura macroura) + +The mourning dove is a cosmopolitan species found in greater or less +numbers in all sections. They have a slight migratory movement from +the higher to the lower altitudes, but they cannot be called a +migratory bird. A large number of these birds begin their nesting +season in the mountains at altitudes of from 2000 to 4000 feet, +raising one brood at that height, then moving down and nesting again, +and moving again until they reach the lower valleys, where they remain +all winter, congregating in certain places in flocks of hundreds. +Many, however, remain in the valleys all the year and nest around the +fields and along the streams. + +The mourning dove is so well known in every country that a description +of it is unnecessary. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is generally built in the small trees and +lined with any soft article that they can find. The eggs number two +and a pair of the young birds are hatched about every six weeks from +May to September. + + +THE WHITE-WINGED DOVE + +(Melopelia leucoptera) + +The white-winged dove is nearly one-half larger than the common +mourning dove. They range from Mexico through southern Arizona to the +Colorado desert in southeastern California. In some parts of Arizona +and in Mexico they are found in large numbers, and afford good +shooting. Their habits are the same as the common dove, both as to +food and nesting, though in parts of Mexico it nests in the pitahaya +plants--a species of cactus--of whose fruit it is very fond. + +This species can easily be distinguished from any other member of the +dove family by the broad patch of white on the wings. + + + + + Order, GALLINAE + + Family, TETRAONIDAE + + Subfamily, TETRAONINAE. (Grouse) + + + Genus Species Common Names Range + ------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + {umbellus sabini Oregon ruffed {Western Oregon and Washington + { grouse {and Northwestern California. + { + Bonasa { {Eastern sides of Cascade + {umbellus togata Canada ruffed {Mountains in Oregon and + { grouse {Washington, thence East. + + {Northeastern California, + Centrocercus urophasianus Sage hen {Nevada and the sage lands + {of Oregon and Washington. + + {Western slope of the + {franklini Spruce grouse {Cascade Mountains. + { + { {Northeastern Arizona and + Dendragapus {obscurus Dusky grouse {Eastern Nevada. + { + { {Coast Range and Sierras from + {obscurus Sooty grouse {Southern California to + { fuliginosus {British Columbia. + + {Eastern Oregon and Washington + Pediocaetes phasianellus Sharp-tail {and a few in Northeastern + columbianus grouse {California. + + + + +THE GROUSE + + +Within the territorial scope of this work there are seven species of +the grouse family, though only four of these are in any way common. As +the wild turkey is confined to the southern extremity of the Pacific +Coast hunting grounds, so are the grouse principally found in the +northern sections. I have met with a few dusky grouse (=Dendragapus +obscurus=) in the mountains of Arizona, but they are by no means +plentiful. There were a few and possibly is yet an occasional sooty +grouse (=Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus=) in the mountains of +southern California, but grouse in sufficient numbers to furnish any +kind of sport are not found much south of Yosemite valley in the +Sierras, or south of Humboldt county in the Coast range. An occasional +pair or small flock, however, may be met with considerable south of +the points named. + +The grouse is a northern bird, extending into far colder regions than +any other subfamily of the gallinaceous group. The ptarmigan, of +course, are grouse. + + + [Illustration: SOOTY GROUSE (Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus)] + + +THE SOOTY GROUSE + +(Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus) + +The sooty grouse, commonly called blue grouse by the sportsmen of +California, are reasonably plentiful in the Sierras from the Yosemite +north into Oregon, where they are quite plentiful, and from there +through Washington into Alaska. It is a mountain dweller, being found +at altitudes fully 9000 feet above the sea. In the winter it descends +to lower latitudes, but seldom below 3000 feet. It is naturally a +confiding bird where it has not been hunted much, and for this reason +has been given the name, "fool hen," in many localities. But like +most of the feathered tribe, it soon learns the destructiveness of +man, and after gaining this knowledge it is quite able to take care of +itself. When flushed it flies with a cackling sound, generally taking +refuge in the tall pines, where it is an expert hider. In the nesting +season it produces a drumming sound and struts like a turkey. This +drumming is produced by inflating an air sack on each side of the +neck. Later in the season these sacks dry up and nearly disappear. +It's only migrations are ascending and descending the mountains with +the seasons. + +According to a published statement of the Section of Biological Survey +of the United States Department of Agriculture, the food of the sooty +grouse consists of buds, seeds, leaves and insects, of which 68 per cent +is leaves, buds and the tender ends of young twigs; 6.73 per cent +insects and the balance seeds, berries and the like. The flesh is +generally of a fine flavor, though at times it will be found to be +tainted a little strongly with the flavor of the pine. + +=Color=--Male--Back of head, back of neck and all upper parts, a sooty +brown; light streak over the eye and a light throat; breast, a dead or +sooty black; the rest of the under parts a slaty gray; tail tipped +with gray. + +Female--Generally lighter in color but otherwise resembling the male. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually nothing more than a depression in +the ground among dried leaves or grass, well concealed from view. The +eggs, which average about a dozen, are of a cream color, spotted with +brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, from 18 to 22 inches; wing, 9 to 9-1/2. The +weight will vary from 2-1/2 to 4 pounds. + + + [Illustration: OREGON RUFFED GROUSE (Bonasa umbellus sabini)] + + +THE OREGON RUFFED GROUSE + +(Bonasa umbellus sabini) + +The Oregon ruffed grouse is the handsomest species of the ruffed +grouse genus, and is truly a beautiful bird with its deep, rich +browns, orange and black. The eastern species of this genus is wrongly +known in the north Atlantic states by the name of partridge, and as +wrongly called pheasant in Virginia and some other of the southern +states. The Pacific Coast species ranges from northern California +along the Coast range through Oregon, Washington and far into British +Columbia. It is a wary bird, full of cunning and gamy qualities. The +male of this genus is, I believe, the only member of the grouse family +that drums all the year; all others confining their drumming to the +nesting season. This drumming is made with the wings and not by the +inflation of an air sack as with other species. The sound, also, is +much different, having more of a rolling reverberation. In the spring +they will take their position on some rock or dead log and strut back +and forth with their heads thrown back and their tails spread out to +show the beautiful hues of the feathers and drum for hours to attract +the hens or challenge the other males to an almost life and death +combat, in which they fight in the same manner as the game cock. They +live among the pines, usually near some little opening where they are +fond of feeding. When startled they take at once to the timber and are +quickly lost to view. For this reason dogs are almost useless in +hunting them. They are never found in numbers greater than a single +brood, even though the brood may be decimated by the gun of the +sportsman or the cunning of the vermin to no more than two or three. + +The flesh of the ruffed grouse is white and generally tender and of +fine flavor, although in the late fall or winter when its food +consists almost wholly of fir buds it tastes quite strong of +turpentine. Its food generally is about the same as the sooty grouse +and in about the same percentages. + +=Color=--Head, light chestnut, the feathers on the top being long and +capable of erection when excited; a tuft of long, rich brown feathers +will be found on each side of the neck; back, reddish chestnut mottled +with black; rump and tail-coverts, more of a cinnamon color blotched +with dark brown; flanks, lighter and barred with black; tail, rusty +brown barred with deep brown and tipped with two bands of gray, +separated by a streak of black; under tail-coverts, orange, barred +with black and tipped with white; wing feathers, brown with a central +stripe of light yellow. + +The female is marked the same but somewhat lighter in coloring. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest, like that of all the gallinaceous birds, is +made on the ground and hidden away in some thick cluster of brush or +beneath some log. The eggs are of a buff color spotted with dark +brown, and number from ten to fifteen. + +=Measurements=--Total length from 16 to 19 inches; wing about 7 or 8 +inches. Weight about 2 pounds. + + +THE CANADIAN RUFFED GROUSE + +(Bonasa umbellus togata) + +The Canadian ruffed grouse ranges through the eastern side of the +Cascade mountains of Oregon and Washington, but does not pass over to +the Pacific side. It resembles the Oregon ruffed grouse very closely +except that it is much lighter in color, and the female either lacks +the tufts of feathers on the neck entirely, or where present, they are +very small. Like the Oregon species it is a dweller in the heavy +timber, and follow the same habits in most all respects. It is of a +more confiding nature, however, often sitting unconcerned upon a tree +while several of its companions are being shot, making no effort to +get away or save itself from the same fate. + +=Color=--The color of this species is more of a grayish brown than the +Oregon species, and lacking that rich chestnut that adds so much to +the beauty of the latter. The brown markings, however, are possibly a +little more conspicuous. The upper tail feathers are more of a blue, +mottled and barred with a blackish brown. A large tuft of feathers on +each side of the neck of a smoky brown, edged with metallic green. +Unlike the Oregon species these feathers are entirely absent or very +small on the female. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest and eggs are the same as the Oregon grouse. + +=Measurements=--In size the two species do not vary to any +considerable extent. + + +THE SPRUCE GROUSE + +(Dendragapus franklini) + +The spruce or Franklin grouse of Oregon and Washington is a species of +the Canadian spruce grouse, and ranges diagonally through the +mountains of eastern Oregon and Washington, and thence to the coast of +British Columbia. It confines its habitat to the higher mountains, +being seldom found below an elevation of four to five thousand feet. +This is another of the grouse family that has been given the name of +"fool hen," on account of its naturally tame nature. When sitting on +the limb of a tree, but a few feet above the ground, it considers +itself safe from all harm and makes little effort to escape, and may +often be killed with a stick. There is little sport in shooting this +variety. The food of this species, like all other mountain dwelling +grouse, is buds, tender shoots and seeds, berries and insects when +obtainable. + +=Color=--Male--Upper parts gray, the central back and the wings having +a brownish hue; the tail-coverts, which are tipped with broad +splashes of white is a distinguishing feature of this species; +feathers, on the flanks tipped broadly with white, throat, black, +imperfectly edged with white; tail, nearly square at the end and of a +brownish color. + +Female--Considerably more of an ochreous cast. It has the same +characteristic broad white tips on the feathers of the flanks; tail, +dirty ochre, mottled with black and narrowly tipped with white. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a depression in the ground in some +secluded place and lined with leaves or grass. The eggs, averaging +about a dozen, are of a reddish buff mottled with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length about 15 inches; wing about 7 inches. +Weight from one and a half to two pounds. + + + [Illustration: SAGE COCK (Centrocercus europhasianus)] + + +THE SAGE HEN + +(Centrocercus urophasianus) + +The sage grouse, or sage hen is the largest of the grouse of America, +some of the males weighing as much as seven pounds. Its range, so far +as the geographical scope of this work is concerned, is northeastern +California, Nevada, and eastern Oregon and Washington, but it extends +much farther east. It is only found in the sage brush districts of the +high altitudes. They usually remain in single broods, though they are +sometimes found in much larger flocks. They often travel for +considerable distances, "following the leader" in single file. They +strut in the nesting season, but in a peculiar way, pushing their +breasts on the ground until the feathers are worn off and even the +skin abraded. + +A peculiarity of the sage grouse is that it has no gizzard, but +instead it has a stomach more like that of an animal. The young birds +lie quite well to a dog and furnish very good sport, and until they +are about half grown the flesh is quite good, but the older birds are +very unsavory and in fact almost unpalatable. This is caused by their +feeding almost entirely upon the leaves of the sage. + +=Color=--Male--Upper parts, gray, barred with brown; tail, very long, +the longer feathers being quite narrow and stiff and barred also with +brown; a dark line over the eye and a light one from the eye down the +side of the neck; throat and cheeks, nearly white, mottled with black; +a few long hairy like feathers grow from the side of the neck of the +male birds. + +Female--The female is colored and marked like the male but +considerably darker, is much smaller, with shorter tail and without +the hairy feathers on the side of the neck. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is nothing more than a hollow in the midst +of some bunch of brush, possibly lined with a few leaves. The eggs are +from twelve to eighteen in number and of a greenish shade, mottled +with bright brown, but these spots are easily rubbed off. + +=Measurements=--Male--Total length from 24 to 28 inches; wing, +12 to 14. Weight, from four to seven pounds. + +Female--Total length, from 20 to 22 inches; wing, 10 to 12. Weight, +from three to five pounds. + + + [Illustration: SHARP-TAIL GROUSE + (Pediocaetes phasianellus columbianus)] + + +COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILED GROUSE + +(Pediocaetes phasianellus columbianus) + +The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is the "prairie chicken" of eastern +Washington. It is far different from the pinated grouse +(=Tympanuchus=) of the middle states, commonly called prairie chicken. +Its habitat is much the same, however, being the open plains and +untimbered foothills east of the Cascade mountains in Washington and +through eastern Oregon into northern Nevada, and the extreme +northeastern corner of California. The sharp-tail grouse has the same +habit of strutting in large groups like the prairie chicken at the +beginning of the nesting season. They do not drum, however, like the +eastern bird, but make a noise more like an attempt to crow. They also +take refuge in the timber for protection from the storms of winter. + +During the hunting season they lie well to a dog and afford fine +shooting. The food of the sharp-tailed grouse consists of about ten +per cent insects, the balance being made up of seeds, grains and +berries, with a good percentage of "brouse" in the winter. + +=Color=--Male--Side of head and throat, pale buff with mottlings of +brown on the cheeks; back and wings, gray, mottled with black; +breast, light buff. Under parts, white with lines of dark brown; +central tail feathers long and pointed; no long feathers on the neck. + +Female--Resembles the male with the exception that the tail feathers +are not so long. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a rude affair on the ground, lined with a +little dead grass and generally contains from ten to fifteen eggs of a +greenish buff speckled with fine dots of brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length from 14 to 16 inches, with the wing about +eight; the central tail feathers are about five inches in length. The +average bird will weigh about two pounds. + + + + + Order ANSERES + + Family, ANATIDAE + + + Range. (All + Genus Species Common Names breed far north.) + ------------ ------------------ ------------------- ------------------- + + Subfamily, ANSERENAE + + {hyperborea {White goose {From Southern + Chen { {(large) {California north. + { + {rossi {Ross' goose {From Mexico + {Small white goose {north. + + Anser albifrons gambeli {White-fronted {From Mexico + {goose {north. + {Gray goose { + + {Fulvous tree duck {From Central + Dendrocygna fulva {Mexican tree duck {California south + {Cavalier {through Mexico. + {Breeds from Central + {California to + {Central Mexico. + + {canadensis {Canada goose {From central + { {Honker {Mexico north. + { + {canadensis Hutchins' goose From Southern + {hutchinsii California north. + { + {canadensis White-cheeked {Inland plains from + Branta {occidentalis goose {Central California + { {north. + { + {canadensis {Black brant {From Southern + {minima {Cackling goose {California north. + { + {nigricans Black sea brant {On certain bays + {from Magdalena, + {Lower California + {north. + + Philacte canagica Emperor goose {A rare visitor + {south of Humboldt + {Bay, California + + Subfamily, CYGNINAE + + {columbianus Whistling swan {From Oregon north. + Olor { {Rarely as far + { {south as Central + { {California. + { + {buccinator Trumpeter swan From Southern + { California north. + + + + +THE WATERFOWL + + +The great variety of the waterfowl of the Pacific Coast, the wonderful +numbers in which they are found and the excellent shooting they +afford, forms a subject, which, to do it justice, would require the +space of an ordinary volume. + +With the exception of the Gulf tier of the Southern states, waterfowl +on the Atlantic Coast are but birds of passage, tarrying for a time on +their way to milder winter quarters; tourists loitering for a day or +two at attractive by-stations as they wing their way south in the fall +and again on their return north in the spring. They are leaving the +isolation of the far north or the mountain lakes and marshes where +they spent the summer rearing their young and they are seeking more +favorable feeding grounds in the milder climate of the South, where +animal and vegetable life is not in the state of hibernation which +prevents it from furnishing them with an abundance of food during +their southern sojourn. + +Over the larger portion of our hunting grounds what is the beginning +of the calendar year is in fact the beginning of our spring. When the +frost king lays his hand upon all vegetable and insect life in the +East, spreading his white shroud over field and pasture and breaking +with his icy sleet from the vine and the brush their clinging leaves; +when from the trees have fallen the last vestige of their autumnal +crowns of gold and crimson; when the last flower has shed its petals; +when the last hum of insect is heard and the last song of bird has +died away on the southern horizon--'tis then the early rains of the +Coast start the new sown grain in the fields, give life again to the +grasses of the plains, carpet the foothills and the valleys with the +gold and purple and crimson of innumerable flowers, and our veritable +spring commences. + +With us, therefore, waterfowl are not passing pilgrims, tarrying for a +few days only as they rest and feed on their way to the open waters +and green pastures in which they intend to pass those months marked +winter on the calendar of the year. They are not mere hurrying flocks +alighting now and again as they wing their way back to their breeding +grounds in the spring But ours is the Mecca to which they journey; +ours the feeding grounds on which they assemble from the lakes and +marshes of the Arctic; from the whole chain of the Aleutian Islands; +from the inland seas of British Columbia and from the mountain lakes +of our own Sierras from Washington to Mexico. Here on the bays, +estuaries and marshes of the coast and the lakes and ponds of the +valleys, throughout the whole length of these hunting grounds, +countless millions of these birds have found their winter feeding +grounds for unnumbered ages. No cold, no ice, no snow, no howling +blizzards to stop them in their search for food or disturb their +midday rest upon our quiet waters. In warmth they feed upon the tender +shoots of the young grasses that fringe their watery haunts or bask in +sunshine on the sandy shores. + +It is the popular impression that all ducks breed in the far north and +migrate from there south. One has only to shoot on the lakes of Mexico +to learn how erroneous this impression is, for one will meet varieties +quite common there that rarely if ever reach the southern boundaries +of the United States. + +The masked duck (=Nomonyx dominicus=) is a purely southern species +reaching Mexico only in its breeding season. The three species of the +Mexican tree duck, quite common in that country, come but little into +the United States. One of these, the black-bellied tree duck +(=Dendrocygna autumnalis=) migrates to some little extent into Texas +and to less extent into New Mexico and Arizona. The fulvous tree duck +(=Dendrocygna fulva=) extends its migrations still farther north, +breeding to considerable extent in Arizona and southern California, +but rarely seen as far north as the center of the state. The other +species of the genus (=Dendrocygna elegans=), for which I know no +English name, is even rare as far south as southern Jalisco. The +cinnamon teal is a southern duck, breeding in Arizona, Texas and +southern California but so rarely seen north of San Francisco that a +gentleman who had killed a straggler near Marysville, when showing it +to me, said that he couldn't find a man in the town who could tell him +what it was. Yet the cinnamon teal is very common in Mexico and +Arizona and quite plentiful in southern California in the spring, +before the flocks break up and the birds seek their nesting places. + +Northern bred ducks and purely northern species visit us in great +numbers during the winter months, and to these must be added the vast +number of these birds that breed in the mountains throughout our +hunting grounds. + +The ornithologist divides the ducks into two subfamilies; the +fresh-water ducks forming the subfamily, =Anatinae=, and the salt-water +ducks the subfamily, =Fullgilinae=. These two families can easily be +distinguished by their feet. If a salt-water duck, the hind toe will +be found to have a small web or flap on the under side, but if the +bird belongs to the fresh-water group, the toe will be as clean as any +land bird. + + + [Illustration: MALLARD (Anas boschas)] + + +THE MALLARD + +(Anas boschas) + +The mallard is possibly the best known duck in America, it being found +in greater or less numbers everywhere from the Arctic to Central +America. It is a resident species throughout the Pacific Coast, +breeding on the mountain lakes and streams from Mexico to Alaska, and +even to a considerable extent on the lower marshes of California, +Oregon and Washington. On the fresh water ponds and overflows they +congregate in great numbers during the winter months and a bag limit +of twenty is no uncommon thing. Like all of the fresh-water ducks of +this Coast, they, too, are often found in considerable numbers on the +tide lands and salt marshes. + +The mallard of the Pacific Coast can hardly be said to be a migratory +duck, for it breeds from Mexico north. Its migrations consisting more +of altitudinal movements than of longitudinal. While it breeds on the +mountain lakes of Mexico, it is rarely seen in the higher altitudes +during the winter months. + +Hybrids between the mallard and the pin-tail and the mallard and the +widgeon have been occasionally met with on the marshes of the Coast. +This is most likely caused by the mating of cripples that had not the +strength to make the flight to their usual breeding grounds. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, dark green with a metallic luster; +white ring around the neck at the bottom of the green; back, gray; +breast, chestnut brown; under parts dirty white; tail, black with two +feathers curled upwards; speculum, (see diagram) purple, bordered with +black and white. + +Female--Head, dark buff; breast, lighter buff with brown mottlings; +legs, orange colored; speculum same as the male; bill, yellow, +blotched with brown. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is placed on the ground and lined with +grass, feathers and down. The eggs number eight to a dozen and are of +a greenish tinge. + +=Measurements=--Male--Total length, from 20 to 25 inches; wing, 10 to +12 inches; bill, 2-1/2 inches. + +Female--Total length, from 18 to 20 inches; wing, 9 to 10 inches; +bill, 2 to 2-1/4 inches. + + + [Illustration: GADWALL (Anas strepera)] + + +THE GADWALL + +(Anas strepera) + +The gadwall was at one time quite plentiful on the shooting grounds of +California, south of San Francisco; but, on account of our season +opening later and closing earlier than in years past, few are killed +now. The gadwall is really a southern duck, coming into the United +States to breed. When the California season opened on the first of +September and closed the first of April, there were plenty of gadwall +found on its ponds in the early fall and late in the spring. Now, but +few are killed except in the southern part of the state. Such as are +killed are generally found on the mountain lakes and ponds of the +higher valleys. On the waters of Mexico and Lower California, however, +they are met with in good numbers. + +The gadwall, however, migrates as far north as British Columbia for +breeding purposes as well as breeding on the mountain lakes of all the +territory through which it ranges. + +=Color=--Male--Head, light brown, finely mottled with dark brown and +black; neck and breast, finely streaked with wavy black and white; +under parts, grayish white; rump and tail, black; speculum, black and +white, with the lesser wing-coverts chestnut; feet, orange, and bill +nearly white. + +Female--Closely resembling the male but with very little chestnut on +the wings. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest which is usually made a little way back +from the water is lined with dead grass, and contains from ten to +twelve eggs of a light buff color. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 19 inches; wing, 10, and bill, +1.60. + + +[Illustration: WIDGEON (Anas americana)] + + +THE WIDGEON + +(Anas Americana) + +The widgeon is one of the most common ducks of the Coast, both north +and south. As well as being one of the most plentiful of the interior +lakes and ponds, they are found in great numbers on the salt marshes +and tide overflows, and even form great dark patches on the ocean as +they take their midday rest on its bosom a mile or so beyond the surf. +They breed on the mountain lakes and streams all along the Coast from +Mexico north. + +The widgeon begins its migrations early in the fall and great numbers +find their way as far south as the Coast marshes and lower lakes of +Mexico. They feed largely on the plains and frequent the fields in +search of grain. In migrating or flying from pond to pond they usually +go in quite large flocks. + +=Color=--Male--Head, pinkish white on top, with a greenish streak from +the eye back to the ociput; below this the head and neck are speckled +with black and white; back and wing-coverts, gray with fine markings +of black; breast, a light brick red with a purplish cast; speculum, +black and green. Axillars, white with dark shafts. + +Female--The female resembles the male in all but the green on the head +and the reddish color of the breast. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is generally built in some tuft of grass or +thick weeds near some water's edge. The eggs average about a dozen and +are of very light brownish white. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 18 inches; wing 9-1/2, and bill, 1-1/2. + + + [Illustration: GREEN-WINGED TEAL (Anas carolinensis)] + + +GREEN-WINGED TEAL + +(Anas carolinensis) + +The green-winged teal is another variety that is very plentiful on the +Coast, breeding in great numbers on our mountain lakes and along the +streams from Mexico to Alaska, and even to considerable extent on the +lower marshes, especially from central California north. While many of +these are killed on the salt marshes and tide lands, they are more +generally frequenters of the inland ponds and overflows. Nesting late +and maturing early, they are both a late and early duck on our +shooting grounds, and remain constantly with us during the whole +winter. Shooting on a pass over which the teal are flying from one +pond to another furnishes about the finest sport of the duck shooter's +life. In such cases they come in small flocks, and single birds must +be selected; being a small mark and very rapid flyers they require a +good lead and quick work. In fact, a brace of green-winged teal with a +pressing engagement at the next pond makes about as pretty a target as +the sportsman often fires at. + +The green-winged teal, like the widgeon, feeds a great deal on the +plains and in the fields. + +=Color=--Male--Top of head and neck, brown of a chestnut tinge, the +feathers forming almost a crest; a broad stripe of green runs back +from the eye to the neck; back and sides, mottled gray; breast, buff, +shaded to white on the abdomen and spotted with black; speculum, +green. + +Female--The top of the head of the female is a rusty brown, and with a +very faint stripe on the sides; upper parts, gray, spotted with black; +speculum, green. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest of the green-winged teal is generally a +little more carefully made than most of the ground nesting ducks. The +eggs average about ten and are of a light brownish buff. + +=Measurements=--The green-winged teal is the smallest of the +fresh-water ducks. Total length, about 14 inches; wing, 7-1/4; bill, +1-1/4 inches. + + + [Illustration: CINNAMON TEAL (Anas cyanoptera)] + + +THE CINNAMON TEAL + +(Anas cyanoptera) + +The cinnamon teal, very commonly called the blue-winged teal by the +sportsmen of the Coast, is only a late fall and early spring bird on +our shooting grounds north of Lower California and Mexico. While the +cinnamon teal has a blue wing there is no resemblance between the +male cinnamon and the male blue-winged. The females of the two +species, however, have a marked resemblance in color but a wide +difference in shape of body. The female cinnamon teal is much darker +on the throat than the blue-winged female, and generally shows a +considerable of the cinnamon color of the male. The male of the +blue-winged teal partakes more of the grayish color of the +green-winged variety and has a white crescent in front of the eye. The +northern limit of the cinnamon teal is about the latitude of San +Francisco so far as their appearance on our shooting grounds is +concerned. A few, however, go farther north for breeding purposes. +They are quite common in the southern part of California, where they +come to breed. They winter in Mexico, Lower California and Arizona in +great numbers. They nest on the mountain lakes and along the mountain +streams of California and even as far north as Oregon. In southern +California they nest along the salt-water marshes, especially those of +Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. + +=Color=--Male--The male bird cannot well be mistaken for that of any +other species. The general color being a dark cinnamon, or in fact +much nearer a chestnut in color; the head being somewhat darker than +the rest of the bird; the upper wing-coverts being blue, form a large +patch of blue at the shoulders when the wing is at rest; the speculum, +like that of all the teal is green. + +Female--The female resembles the female of the blue-winged teal, but +is a little larger with a longer and slimmer body; the chin is dusky +and the throat is speckled; the breast also has a slight tinge of the +cinnamon color of the male. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are built generally in long grass patches +of the low grounds bordering the streams and lakes and even the salt +marshes. The eggs which average about a dozen are of a peculiar light +creamy color with a faint bluish tinge. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 16 inches; wing, 7-1/2; bill, 1-3/4. + + + [Illustration: BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Anas discors)] + + +THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL + +(Anas discors) + +The blue-winged teal is only a straggler north of Lower California, +Arizona and Mexico. In Mexico and Lower California I know them to be +quite common, and reasonably plentiful in some parts of Arizona. + +The blue-winged teal is a plumper bird than either of the other +species, and not near so handsomely marked. It is a rapid flyer and +affords good shooting in those sections where it is plentiful. + +=Color=--Male--Head, a glossy purplish gray, darker on top; between +the eye and the bill is a white crescent-shaped mark about one-fourth +wider in its center than the eye; the wing-coverts are blue like those +of the cinnamon teal; back, dark gray; under parts, gray, spotted with +black; speculum, rich green; bill, black, and legs and feet, yellow. + +Female--The female resembles the female of the cinnamon teal; but +unlike the cinnamon it has no dark markings under the chin, or any of +the cinnamon color faintly seen on the cinnamon female. The bill also +is much shorter, and the legs are of a yellowish tinge. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are much the same as the other members of +the teal family. The eggs about a dozen in number are pale buff. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 15 inches; wing, about 7, and bill, +1-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: SHOVELLER OR SPOON-BILL + (Spatula clypeata)] + + +THE SPOON-BILL OR SHOVELLER + +(Spatula clypeata) + +The shoveler, or spoonbill, as they are commonly called, is also an +early duck upon our ponds; they, too, breed throughout the mountains +of our hunting grounds. When they first arrive on our ponds they are +very fat and finely flavored, but they soon become poor of flesh and +lose the flavor brought with them from their mountain homes. And then +they are generally let pass undisturbed by the discriminating +sportsman. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, green; breast, white, shading into rusty +chestnut toward the abdomen; lesser wing-coverts, blue; speculum, +green, with white border; legs, orange red. + +Female--The female is much smaller than the male and lacks all its +high coloring. The general color is buff, mottled with brown; +wing-coverts and speculum, same as the male. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest, which is a rude affair, generally contains +from seven to ten eggs of a light buff color. + +=Measurements=--Total length of the male, about 20 and the female, 18 +inches; wing, 9 to 9-1/2; bill, about 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 inches, and very +broad at the end. + + + [Illustration: PIN-TAIL OR SPRIG (Spatula acuta)] + + +THE PIN-TAIL + +(Dafila acuta) + +The pin-tail, or sprig is another very common duck of the Coast. Great +numbers of this species breed on our mountain lakes and, maturing +early, they are about the first to appear upon our shooting grounds, +great flocks reaching as far south as San Diego county, the mouth of +the Colorado river and the lakes and marshes of Lower California, +Arizona and northern Mexico as early as the middle of August or the +first of September. They come from the mountains plump and fat, and as +soon as the shooting season is open prove quite acceptable to the +epicure. + +The pin-tail ranges throughout the territory covered by this work and +far to the north of it, and the fact that they breed around the +mountain lakes for the whole distance accounts for their early +appearance on the shooting grounds of the Coast. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, rich brown, with a white stripe running +from the ociput down the sides of the neck to the breast; bill, lead +color, with a black stripe along the top; back, gray; breast, white; +central tail feathers, very long and pointed; speculum, light smoky +brown, edged with white. + +Female--The female is much more of an ocher brown than the male, and +without the stripe on the neck or the lead color of the bill. The top +of the head and the sides of the neck are streaked with brown; breast, +spotted with dark brown; under parts, white. While it somewhat +resembles the female mallard, the much narrower bill and difference of +the speculum should prevent any error in identification. Besides the +tail is pointed and the axillars are white, barred with dark brown. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually back a little distance from the +water's edge and contains from eight to twelve bluish-white eggs. + +=Measurements=--Total length, male, 28 and female, 22 inches; +wing, 9-1/2; bill, 2 inches. + + + [Illustration: WOOD DUCK (Aix sponsa)] + + +THE WOOD DUCK + +(Aix sponsa) + +The wood duck, the handsomest of all the American ducks, is not +plentiful anywhere, and seems to be growing fewer in numbers. +Ornithologists class them as resident ducks, breeding throughout their +range. From my personal experience I believe that they are migratory, +at least to a considerable extent, for while many flocks of from half +a dozen to twenty birds can be seen along the timbered portions of the +Sacramento river during the summer months and the early fall, as well +as along other wooded streams of the Coast, few are to be seen during +the shooting season. From this fact I can draw but one conclusion; +they migrate south in the winter. A few are killed each winter but +they can only be considered a rare duck whose beauty lends an +occasional charm to the game bag. + +=Color=--Male--The male has a long crest falling down the back of the +neck and showing a green and purple luster; the bill is red with a +dark stripe on top; a broad stripe of white commences under the bill +and passes down the neck, meeting another stripe of white that nearly +encompasses the neck; sides and front of lower neck, brownish purple, +dotted with white; back, a bronze green; speculum, bluish purple, +bordered with black and white. + +Female--The general plan of the markings of the female is the same as +that of the male, but the colors are not so bright, nor the crest so +long. The crest is more of a brown, and the breast a pale brown, +mottled with dark spots. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is built in the hollow of a tree or stump, +and occasionally a considerable distance above the ground. The eggs, +which average about eight, are of a pale brownish white. The young are +taken from the nest in the bill of the mother, and are often seen +perched on her back while she is swimming around in search of food. + +=Measurements=--Total length of the male, about 18 inches, with the +female about an inch less; wing, 9-1/4 to 9-1/2; bill 1 3/8 inches. + + +THE FULVOUS TREE DUCK + +(Dendrocygna fulva) + +The fulvous tree-duck, commonly called the Mexican tree-duck, and +cavalier, as well as the black-bellied tree-duck (=Dendrocygna +autumnalis=), according to the classification of the ornithologist, +belong to the subfamily, =Anserinae=, the same family as the geese. The +fact that they have a bill more like that of the goose than any other +duck, a goose neck also, and that there is no difference in the sexes +will show the reason for such classification. Their generic name, +however, signifies tree-swan. The fulvous tree-duck ranges on our +hunting grounds as far north as Sacramento, where occasionally one is +killed. They come here only to breed and, therefore, late in the +season. Quite a few are killed in southern California, and from +Arizona and Lower California south they are very plentiful. The +black-bellied tree-duck is only met with as a straggler north of +Chihuahua, Mexico. Another species of the same genus (=Dendrocygna +elegans=) is a still more southern bird, seldom seen north of the +state of Guerrero. + +=Color=--Sides of head and neck and lower parts, buff; top of head, +back of neck and back, dark brown; wings, dark brown; neck, long and +slim; bill, resembles that of a goose very much. Both sexes alike. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are generally built in a hollow tree or +stump. The eggs number from ten to fifteen and are of an ochreous +white. + +=Measurements=--Wing, about 9-1/2; bill, 1-3/4 inches. + + + + + Order, ANSERES + + Family, ANATIDAE Subfamily, ANATINAE + + (Fresh water ducks) + + Genus Species Common Names Breeding Grounds and Range. + --------- ------------- ----------------- ------------------------------ + + {boschas Mallard {Throughout the scope of + { {this work. Breeds wherever + { {found. + { + {strepera Gadwall {From Central California + { {south. Breeds wherever + { {found. + { + { {From British America south. + { {Breeds on the mountain + {americana Widgeon Baldpate {lakes from California + Anas { {south. + { + { {From British America south. + {carolinensis Green-winged teal {Breeds throughout its range. + { + { {From Central California + {cyanoptera Cinnamon teal {south. Breeds from Central + { {California to Central Mexico. + { + { + {discors Blue-winged teal {From Arizona south into + { {Mexico. Breeds throughout + { {its range. + + Spatula clypeata {Shoveller or {From British America south. + {Spoon-bill {Breeds on the mountain + {lakes from Mexico north. + + Dafila acuta {Pin-tail or {From British America south. + {Sprig {Breeds from Central + {California north. + + {Along the wooded streams + {from Central California + Aix sponsa Wood duck {north. Breeds wherever + {found. + + + + +THE BAY and SEA DUCKS + + +As I have already stated the ducks are divided into two subfamilies, +the one the =Anatinae=, commonly called fresh-water ducks, the other +the =Fuligulinae=, commonly known as the salt-water ducks. A +distinguishing feature of the salt-water ducks is the little flap or +web on the hind toe, which is not seen in the fresh-water varieties. + +On our shooting grounds, however, whether the blind is on the +salt-water marsh or the fresh-water pond, both kinds are sure to fall +to the gun in almost equal numbers. Of the more common of the +fresh-water varieties the gadwall and the mallard are seen the least +on the salt marshes and the tide overflows, yet even these are quite +often met with in these places. So it is with the salt-water species. +All except the scoters are frequenters of the mountain lakes, +fresh-water ponds and overflows. The red-head, both species of the +scaups, the canvasback and the ruddy are commonly found on the +fresh-waters. The ring-neck, and, in fact, the red-head are much more +common on these waters than on the salt or brackish marshes. + +With the exception, therefore, that certain species always predominate +at a given place at certain times of the season, the sportsman's aim +brings down a well-assorted bag, let him shoot where he may, on marsh, +pond or overflow, from Washington to Mexico. + + + [Illustration: CANVASBACK (Aythya vallisnaria)] + + +THE CANVASBACK + +(Aythya vallisneria) + +The canvasback, the duck par excellence of the Eastern states, is very +plentiful in the more northern portions of the territorial scope of +these articles, though I have seen them in good numbers on the lakes +of Mexico. It is the general supposition that the canvasback breeds in +the far north, but from the fact that they are found on the lakes of +Mexico as early as October, they must also breed on the higher lakes +of our mountains. On our lower marshes they are a late duck, but they +appear on our mountain lakes quite early in the season. Canvasback +shooting on our waters affords the finest of sport, as it does not +partake so much of flock shooting as it does on the Chesapeake and the +Delaware rivers. While I certainly prefer our shooting, by no means do +I prefer our ducks. When killed on the mountain lakes, our canvasback +possesses nearly if not quite as fine flavor as do those of the +Eastern states, but when killed on the bays and salt marshes of +California they are fishy and barely palatable. This is caused by the +absence of the so-called wild celery, properly tape grass +(=Vallisneria spiralis=), the common food of the Eastern canvasback. +Our birds have the habit of feeding largely on the shallow waters of +the tide lands and marshes and of consuming large quantities of +crustaceans, such as clams, crabs, mussels and the like, and it takes +but a few days' diet of this kind to make the canvasback about the +poorest of ducks. I have killed these ducks on the high lakes and +ponds of Mexico, when, on account of something they fed upon, they +were really unfit to eat. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, nearly black; back, light gray; bill, +black, and forming nearly a straight line from the tip to the crown of +the head; belly and flanks, nearly white. + +Female--Head and neck, cinnamon brown, paler on the throat; back, dark +gray. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest of the canvasback is generally found on some +little knoll in the marsh, and is lined with dead grass and feathers, +and often with considerable down. The eggs, which are about ten in +number, are of a dark creamy white. + +=Measurements=--Total length, from 18 to 22 inches; the more northern +birds within the territory here covered will always be found +considerably larger than those of the more southern latitudes. Wing, 8 +to 9-1/2 inches, and bill about 2-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: RED-HEAD (Aythya americana)] + + +THE RED-HEAD + +(Aythya americana) + +The red-head is quite a common duck in the southern sections of the +Coast hunting grounds. Though purely a bay or salt-water duck, that +is, belonging to the subfamily =Fuligulinae=, it is not found to any +great extent on the salt-water marshes, preferring the higher lakes, +ponds and reservoirs of the mountain valleys and foothills. I found +them one season in great numbers on the San Rafael marshes, high up in +the mountains of Lower California, and all the shooting two friends +and myself wished to do had no effect in driving them away, although +the ponds of the marsh were few and small. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, reddish chestnut; lower neck and upper +breast, sooty brown, a mixture of finely penciled lines of gray and +brown; speculum, gray; back, gray; feathers on the top of the head +almost form a crest; bill, lead color. + +Female--Head and neck, light cinnamon brown, very pale on the sides of +the head near the bill, and throat nearly white; breast and shoulders, +dirty light brown, and back a darker dirty brown. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest, like that of the canvasback, is generally +built in the marsh or on the low banks of a lake, usually lined with +down and contains about ten eggs of a brownish buff color. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 20 inches; wing, 8-1/4 to 8-1/2; bill +barely 2-1/4 inches. + + + [Illustration: AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK OR BLUE-BILL + (Aythya marila neartica)] + + +THE AMERICAN SCAUP, OR BLUE-BILL + +(Aythya marila neartica) + +The American scaup, or blue-bill, the lesser scaup (=Aythya affinis=) +and the ring-neck (=Aythya collaris=) are very plentiful from +Washington to Mexico. These three species are generally grouped +together by the sportsmen of the Coast under the name of black jacks, +black ducks, black-heads or blue-bills; all three species being +considered as belonging to the one variety, and the lesser scaup +(=Aythya affinis=) as the younger birds. With the males, at least, +there should be no excuse for this error, for they can be easily +distinguished by the color of the speculum, or bright band on the +wings, and by the color of the metallic sheen of the head and neck. +The speculum of the American scaup, or larger blue-bill, is white, the +head and neck showing a greenish sheen, quite pronounced in the +sunlight. The lesser scaup, or little blue-bill (=Aythya affinis=) has +a white speculum also, but the sheen of the head and neck is purple. +The ring-neck (=Aythya collaris=), has a gray speculum, which, though +quite light in color, can easily be distinguished from the pure white +of the other two. The metallic sheen of the head of the ring-neck is a +dark indigo blue. The bill of the ring-neck is quite different from +that of the scaups, being much darker in color and more of a sooty +tinge and with a faint bluish band across it about half an inch from +the end. The females of all three species resemble each other very +closely, but the difference in size will generally determine to which +species they belong. The two blue-bills can be told from the female +ring-neck by their white speculums. The female ring-neck has the gray +of the male, but this does not distinguish it from the female +red-head. The smaller size of the ring-neck and darker appearance of +the head and neck will always indicate to which species the female +belongs. The bill of the female red-head meets the skull in quite an +abrupt manner, while hat of the ring-neck has more of the sloping +character of the canvasback. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, black, showing a green luster in the +sun; back, gray, finely lined with black; under parts, white; +speculum, white. + +Female--Head, dead brown, with a light gray patch at the base of the +bill blending into the brown of the head; breast and back, dirty +brown; under parts, white; speculum, white; bill, bluish. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a crude affair near the water's edge, +containing about ten pale olive-buff eggs. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 18 inches; wing, 8-1/2, and +bill, 1 7/8 inches. The females are but a trifle smaller. + + +THE LESSER SCAUP, OR LITTLE BLUE-BILL + +(Aythya affinis) + +The little blue-bill, or lesser scaup, like its larger relative, is a +cosmopolitan species, and commonly met with in flocks of the other, +which has led to the common error of classing the two together, the +one as the elder and the other as the younger birds. + +While in general color and markings they are very similar, there is +so much difference in their size that they should be easily +distinguished. With the males this is very easy for the head of the +larger species has a green sheen, the head of the lesser has a purple +sheen as shown in the sun. The bill of this species is more of a blue +and much smaller, being not over 1-1/2 inches in length. + +=Color=--The color and markings are the same as the American scaup, +with the exception that the metallic sheen of the head, as already +mentioned, is purple. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the American scaup. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 16-1/2 inches; wing, 7-1/2, +and bill 1-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: RING-NECK (Aythya collaris)] + + +THE RING-NECK + +(Aythya collaris) + +In the breeding season the ring-neck male has a dirty orange ring +around the neck which disappears wholly, or nearly so, before the +beginning of the hunting season. The ring-neck is generally more +plentiful on the fresh waters. I have seen great numbers of them at +the mouth of the Colorado river. In fact, both the ring-neck and the +lesser scaup range much farther south than do the larger species, for +while few of the larger scaup are seen in Mexico, great quantities of +the little blue-bills are found throughout the republic, especially on +the salt marshes of the two coasts. All of these three species breed +along the mountain lakes from California north. + +=Color=--Male--Head and neck, black, with an indigo sheen when turned +in the sun. This will always distinguish it from the larger blue-bill +whose sheen is green and the lesser blue-bill whose sheen is purple. +The speculum is gray; bill, bluish with a pale blue band across it +about a half inch from the end. + +Female--The female of this species resembles the female of the +red-head very closely. It is considerable darker, however, and the +bill joins the head without the marked indentation seen in the +red-head. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest and eggs are the same as the scaups. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 17-1/2 inches; wing, 8, and bill, 2 inches. + + + [Illustration: RUDDY DUCK (Erismatura rubida)] + + +THE RUDDY DUCK, OR WIRE-TAIL + +(Erismatura rubida) + +The ruddy duck is a very common duck on our shooting grounds, from one +end to the other, though as a rule it is not much sought after by our +sportsmen. When feeding on the salt marshes they are not very +palatable, it is true, but when killed on fresh waters they are one of +our finest flavored ducks, if properly cooked. After refusing many +shots at these little ducks and even many times failing to carry home +those I did kill, it remained for Mr. Babcock, then of the Coronado +Hotel, of San Diego, California, to demonstrate to me the real value +of the ruddy duck. I was one of the party shooting with him on his +preserve at Otay dam. When we came into the house after our morning's +shoot, a most enjoyable one, he asked each member of the party what +kind of duck he wished for his dinner. Mallards, canvasbacks, sprigs +and widgeons had been named, so when he came to me I answered that any +kind would do me. To this he replied: "Then you shall have one of my +favorites." When dinner was ready, before each plate was a beautifully +roasted duck of the species chosen by the member of the party for whom +that plate was laid, but the plates in front of Mr. Babcock and myself +each contained two plump little birds that I did not recognize in +their undress uniform. After I had tasted of one, Mr. Babcock asked: +"How do you like my selection?" "Very much," I answered, "but what are +they? I never ate anything better." "The much despised ruddy," was his +reply, "the superior of the canvasback when properly handled." The +best evidence that I fully endorsed all that he claimed for the ruddy +duck is the fact that there was nothing left of my two birds but +well-picked bones. The ruddy duck may well be called a resident +species over the whole of the Pacific Coast shooting grounds, for they +breed not only on the lakes and streams, but on the lower marshes as +well, throughout the whole territory. + +The ruddy duck is known by a number of names such as "wire tail," +"dipper," "bullet-head," "buffle-head," etc. + +=Color=--Male--Top of head, dark brown; sides of head below the eye, +dirty white; upper parts, brown; no speculum on the wing; axillars, +very light gray with light brown shafts; tail, broad and stiff with +the feathers pointed; under parts, dirty white. + +Female--Much the color of the male, but more of a dirty brown. Side of +the head and throat, dirty gray. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are usually built on little hillocks in the +marshes, and contain from six to eight dirty white eggs. + +=Measurements=--The ruddy is a small duck with a very rounded body. +Total length, about 15 inches; wing, 6, and bill, 1-1/2 inches, strongly +depressed in the center. + + + [Illustration: AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE (Glaucionetta clangula americana)] + + +THE AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE + +(Glaucionetta clangula americana) + +The American golden-eye is a visitor from the far north to the +northern portions of the territory covered by this work. An occasional +straggler is killed as far south as San Francisco, but they are a cold +country bird. They are more common in the interior of Washington and +Oregon than along the coast. + +=Color=--Male--Head and upper half of neck, dark green with a metallic +sheen; a nearly round patch of white between the eye and the base of +the bill; lower part of neck, most of the back and the under parts, +white; upper part of the back, rump and tail, black; wings, mostly +white. + +Female--Head and upper neck, brown; gray spot at the base of the bill; +breast and under parts, gray; back and most of the wings, brownish +black. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually built in a hollow tree or stump +and contains about ten eggs of a bluish white color. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 19 inches; wing, 9, and +bill, 1 7/8. Female about one-tenth smaller. + + + [Illustration: BARROW'S GOLDEN-EYE (Glaucionetta ilandica)] + + +BARROW'S GOLDEN-EYE + +(Glaucionetta ilandica) + +Barrow's golden-eye is another duck that is seen, but little within +the Pacific Coast hunting grounds, and only then near the coast +sections of the northern part. They are found more plentiful on the +islands along the north Pacific coast. + +=Color=--The male resembles the American golden-eye very closely, +except that the head of the Barrow's is more of a purple, or greenish +purple. The white at the base of the bill is also different, it being +a crescent shape instead of round. + +The female differs in the head being more of a cinnamon brown, and the +back more of a gray and slightly mottled with brown. + +=Nest, Eggs and Measurements=--The same as the American golden-eye. + + + [Illustration: BUTTER-BALL (Charitonetta albeola)] + + +THE BUTTER-BALL + +(Charitonetta albeola) + +The butter-ball, or buffle-head, is another common duck all over the +country. But where we have so many larger and better ducks they are +little sought for, and are generally considered poor shooting. Yet I +recall one occasion when with a friend I was shooting on a couple of +foothill ponds where many of these little ducks had congregated, they +furnished us with fine sport. The larger ducks were soon scared away, +but the little butter-balls would not leave. One of us was stationed +at each pond and we soon had them all in the air. + +=Color=--Male--Head, greenish purple, with a strong metallic luster; +white patch running from the eye to the back of the head; feathers of +the head long, forming a crest; back, black; under parts white and a +broad white patch on the wing. + +Female--The female is a very modestly colored bird to have so gaudy a +mate. Head and upper parts, a dark, dead brown; under parts, white; +speculum, white; a small, elongated white spot on the side of the +head. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually built on some elevation such as a +stump or log; some times in a tree. The eggs, numbering eight to ten, +are of a pale buff color. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 11 to 12-1/2 inches; wing, about 6, and +bill, 1 inch. + + +THE OLD SQUAW, OR LONG-TAILED DUCK + +(Clangula hyemalis) + +The old squaw, or long-tailed duck, comes but little into California, +though a few are killed each year in Washington and Oregon. I killed +one several years ago as far south as Los Angeles county, California, +the only one I have ever known to get that far away from his northern +home. + +=Color=--Male--As the winter plumage is the only garb that one of this +species will be seen in on these hunting grounds, I will only mention +it. Head, white, with a patch of brownish black on the side of the +head and side of the neck; breast, black, continuing over the back; +belly, white; wings, white; a band of yellow across the bill; central +tail feathers, black and very long. + +Female--Head, white, with a dark patch on the top and on the side; +breast and back, smoky black; under parts, white; no long feathers in +the tail. + + + [Illustration: HARLEQUIN DUCK (Histrionicus histrionicus)] + + +THE HARLEQUIN DUCK + +(Histrionicus histrionicus) + +The harlequin duck is a northern bird that comes but little into the +United States on either coast. A few stragglers are met with in Oregon +and Washington, and an occasional one is killed in California. These +and the old squaw add a pleasing variety to our mounted collections, +but nothing to our sport. + +=Color=--The accompanying illustration is the best description of this +duck that can be given, as the colors are white and a brownish black. +It is about the size of the widgeon. + + + [Illustration: WHITE-WINGED SCOTER (Oidemia deglandi)] + + +THE SCOTERS + +(Oidemia deglandi--Oidemia americana) + +The scoters, or coots, as they are called on the Atlantic coast, are +all found on this coast southward to Mexico. Of these the white-winged +scoter (=Oidemia deglandi=) is the most common, being found in large +numbers on all the bays and inlets of the coast as far south as the +Magdalena bay, Lower California. + + + + + Order, ANSERES + + Family, ANATIDAE Subfamily, FULIGULINAE. + + (Bay and sea ducks) + + Genus Species Common Names Range and Breeding Grounds + ------------ ------------ ---------------- ---------------------------- + + {From Northern Mexico north. + {vallisneria Canvasback {Breeds on the higher lakes + { {from Eastern Oregon to the + { {Arctic. + { + { {From Central Mexico north. + {americana Red-head {Breeds on the interior lakes + { {from Eastern Oregon north. + { + { {American scaup {From Central California + {neartica {Blue-bill {north. Breeds on the + Aythya { {Black-jack {interior lakes from + { {Washington north. + { + { {Lesser scaup {From northern Mexico north. + {affinis {Blue-bill {Breeds on the interior lakes + { {Black-jack {from Washington north to the + { {Arctic. + { + { {From Central California north. + {collaris {Ring-neck {More common on fresh waters. + { {Black-jack {Breeds on the interior lakes + { {from Oregon to the Arctic. + + {americana American {Rare south of Oregon. Breeds + { golden-eye {from northern Washington + { {north. + { + Glaucionetta { {Very rare south of Puget + {islandica Barrows {Sound. Found only along the + golden-eye {coast. Breed on the + {Aleutian Islands and Alaska + {coast. + + {From Central Mexican coast + Charitonetta albeola {Buffle-head {north. Breeds along the + {Butter-ball {coast from Washington north. + + {From Central Mexico north. + Erismatura rubida {Ruddy duck {Breeds on the mountain lakes + {Wire-tail {throughout its range. + + {From the Lower California + {americana {Americas scoter {coast north. Breeds on the + { {Black coot {Aleutian Islands and the + { {Alaska coast. + Oidemia { + {deglandi {White-winged {From the Lower California + {scoter {coast north. Breeds on the + {White-winged {Aleutian Islands and the + {coot {Alaska coast. + + + + +THE GEESE OF THE PACIFIC COAST + + +The hunting grounds of the Pacific Coast have a greater variety of +geese than any other section of America. Here are to be found every +species known to the Eastern states, except the barnacle brant of the +Atlantic. But in return for the absence of this species of sea brant +we have the black sea brant, the white-cheeked goose, the ross goose, +the emperor goose (none of which are found east of the Rocky +Mountains) and the hutchins goose, the lesser snow goose, the +white-fronted goose and the little brown brant, which are only +stragglers east of the Mississippi valley, and only sparingly seen +that far east. Thus it will be seen that within the Pacific Coast +hunting grounds there are four genera and nine species of the goose +family. All of these are found in the northern parts of these hunting +grounds, but only about one-half of them visit the southern parts. +Increased areas of cultivation, the drainage of vast sections of +marshy lands and the absence of laws for their protection have greatly +reduced the once wonderful supply. + +Acres of geese sounds fabulous, yet miles of geese is the only +expression which conveys an adequate idea of the wonderful numbers in +which these birds were seen on the Coast half a century ago. The great +majority of the geese of the Coast at that time were of the white +varieties, and it is a veritable fact that in California, and +especially in the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Los Angeles valleys, +these geese congregated during the winter months in such numbers as to +whiten the plains for miles. Many flocks of honkers were mixed with +them, as well as some of the other darker varieties. These darker +species of the family, however, were far more plentiful in the +northern parts of the State than in the southern. That part of the +Sacramento valley known as the Maine Prairies has always been a +favorite feeding place for the Canada goose and its subspecies. + + + [Illustration: CANADA GOOSE BROWN BRANT + (Branta canadensis) (Branta minima)] + + +THE CANADA GOOSE, OR HONKER + +(Branta canadensis) + +The Canada goose, or honker as it is commonly called, was and is quite +common on the Coast. This goose, the largest of the Americans, has a +wide distribution, ranging from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from +the Arctic to Central America. They breed as far south as southern ern +Oregon, at any rate, and possibly on the higher mountain lakes as far +south as Mexico, for they seem to make their appearance on the Coast +shooting grounds of Mexico nearly, if not quite, as early as they do +here. + +The flesh of the Canada goose is the equal if not the superior of the +tame goose. Its flight, except when migrating long distances, is +generally low, and in such cases it can be called by the hunter to +within shooting distance. + +=Color=--Head and neck, black, with a white stripe running from the +chin back of the eye to near the top of the head; upper parts, dark +brownish gray; breast, dull, light gray, grading into white at the +abdomen; tail and wings, black. Both sexes alike. + +=Eggs and Nest=--The nest is generally built of sticks and grass, +lined with feathers, and either in the marshes or on the banks of a +stream, and rarely if ever contain more than six or seven, and often +not more than four, eggs of a very light brownish white. + +=Measurements=--Wing, about 19 inches; bill, about 1-3/4 inches. + + + [Illustration: WHITE-CHEEKED GOOSE (Branta canadensis occidentalis)] + + +THE WHITE-CHEEKED GOOSE + +(Branta canadensis occidentalis) + +The white-cheeked goose, known also as Mexican goose, is found only on +the Pacific Coast and never east of the Cascades in Washington and +Oregon, or the Sierra Nevadas in California. In fact, they are +generally confined to localities not far from the ocean. While both +the honker and the Hutchins goose have a white cheek, the white of the +honker meets under the chin or blends into a gray, but the white of +the white-cheeked variety is separated either with a distinct black +stripe under the chin or a mottled black and white one. Also the black +of the neck of the white-cheeked goose and the brownish gray of the +breast is very generally separated by a white collar, though sometimes +this is so faint as to be almost indistinguishable. + +The white-cheeked goose is rarely seen south of Monterey Bay, +California. + +=Color=--Same as the Canada goose, except that the white on the cheeks +is either separated under the chin by a black stripe or by only a very +few white feathers in the black. Between the neck and the dull gray of +the breast is a narrow white stripe, or collar. This some times is +very faint, and, in fact, some times, though very rarely, absent. This +absence of the collar is quite likely caused by its inter-grading with +the Hutchins goose. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the Canada goose. + +=Measurements=--Wing, never more than 16 inches; bill, not more +than 1-1/4 inches. + + +THE HUTCHINS GOOSE + +(Branta canadensis hutchinsii) + +We have on the Pacific Coast four varieties of the =Branta +canadensis=, or that species to which belongs the Canada goose, all +resembling each other closely except in size. Two of these species are +generally considered honkers by most of our sportsmen, while others +have two or three local names for them, among which are Mexican goose +and Lower California goose. The fact is that while the Canada goose is +quite common on the coasts of Mexico, neither the Hutchins goose nor +the white-cheeked goose migrate that far south. + +The Hutchins goose so closely resembles the Canada goose, or honker as +it is popularly called, that it is principally distinguished by its +smaller size and a considerable difference in the call. The Hutchins +goose ranges as far east as the Mississippi valley, and on the Pacific +Coast south only to about Santa Barbara county, California. This is +one of the two varieties that is given the local names of Mexican and +Lower California goose. + +=Color=--Same as the Canada goose, from which it is only distinguished +by its smaller size and a considerable difference in its call. + +=Nest and Eggs=--Same as the Canada goose. + +=Measurements=--Wing, not more than 17 inches; bill, 1-1/2 inches. + + +THE CACKLING GOOSE, OR BROWN BRANT + +(Branta canadensis minima) + +The cackling goose, known also as brown brant and gray brant, is the +most common of the four varieties and much the smallest. (See +illustration.) Its markings are the same as the Canada goose, but its +under parts are somewhat darker. While in total length it is fully +half that of the honker, in weight it is not more than one-third. The +cackling geese are commonly found in flocks of the white geese, both +in their feeding and their migrations. This species ranges east as far +as the Mississippi valley and south on the Coast as far as the mouth +of the Colorado river and to some extent into Lower California. It is +more numerous than any other of the dark colored geese of the Pacific +Coast. + +=Color=--The same as the Canada goose, with the exception that it is a +little darker on the under parts. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the Canada goose, but the eggs number as +high as ten. + +=Measurements=--Wing, 13 to 14-1/2 inches; bill, from one to one and +one-eighth. + + + [Illustration: LESSER SNOW GOOSE ROSS GOOSE + (Chen hyperborea) (Chen rossi)] + + +THE SNOW GOOSE, OR WHITE GOOSE + +(Chen hyperborea) + +The lesser snow geese, commonly called white geese, are the larger of +the two species of white geese so numerous on the Coast. They not only +feed, but migrate in great flocks, and these migrations often take +place at night when their sharp cries will be heard high in the air. +The lesser snow goose is found as far east as the Mississippi valley +and south on the Pacific Coast to San Diego. Occasionally a few are +seen at Ensenada and the valley of the Palms in Lower California. The +meat is tough and poor in flavor and, therefore, they are hunted but +little except by the market hunters, who, somehow, succeed in selling +a good number of them to the uninitiated. + +=Color=--Pure white, with black bill and legs; the primaries, or long +feathers of the wings, are black. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are made close to the water's edge and +contain about ten dirty white eggs. + +=Measurements=--Wing, about 16 inches; bill, 2-1/4 inches. + + +THE ROSS GOOSE LITTLE WHITE GOOSE + +(Chen rossii) + +The Ross goose has been given the name of China goose by many who +wanted some distinguishing nomenclature for them, when in fact the +Ross goose is purely an American Pacific Coast bird. Like the snow +goose it is pure white with black primary plumes. Young birds of both +species are occasionally seen in the early part of the season more or +less mottled on the breast with yellowish gray feathers. The Ross +goose is only about half the size of the snow goose. Aside from this +it can always be known by the warty appearance of the upper half of +the bill. They are commonly seen, both in feeding and in their +migrations, mixed in the flocks of the snow geese. Occasionally they +are seen as far east as Utah and Montana, but only in small numbers. +The Ross goose migrates as far south as Central Mexico, great numbers +of them congregating on Lake Chapala, in the state of Jalisco. + +=Color=--Same as the snow goose. + +=Measurements=--Wing, about 14 inches; bill, 2-1/4, with warty +excresences on the upper part. + + + [Illustration: WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, OR SPECKLE-BREAST + (Anser albifrons gambeli)] + + +WHITE FRONTED GOOSE + +(Anser albifrons gambeli) + +The white-fronted goose, or speckle-breast as it is commonly called, +is quite common on the Coast south to Mexico, where great numbers +congregate on Lake Chapala, Jalisco. This is another western species, +though ranging to some extent as far east as the Mississippi valley +and an occasional flock wanders even to the Atlantic coast. The +breasts of the old birds are commonly profusely speckled with black +feathers. The white-fronted goose is a little more exclusive in its +habits than any of the others named, being generally found in flocks +by themselves. As a table bird the meat is quite palatable, and large +numbers are sold in the markets. + +=Color=--Head, grayish brown, with a white spot at the junction of the +bill, but this is absent from the young birds; neck, lighter, shading +into white or dull white on the breast, mottled with black; back, ashy +gray, edged with brown; shafts of the quills, white; bill and legs, +light pink. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually well made and lined with feathers +and down. The eggs number about seven or eight, and are of a pale +greenish white. + +=Measurements=--Wing, 16 inches; bill, 2 inches. + + + [Illustration: EMPEROR GOOSE (Philacte canagica)] + + +THE EMPEROR GOOSE + +(Philacte canagica) + +The Emperor goose is a north Pacific species, breeding principally on +the islands of the Alaska coast. The great majority of these birds +winter well to the north of us, though a number venture southward into +California to Humboldt bay and even south of that. A small flock or +two is seen almost every winter on the marshes near San Francisco. A +close watch of the markets will reveal one or two offered for sale +almost every winter. + +=Color=--Head and back of neck, white; throat, brownish gray, shading +into light gray on the breast and abdomen; back, a little darker; the +feathers being gray, tipped with lighter gray, with a subterminal band +of brownish gray; legs, flesh color. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are usually found on the small islands of +the salt marshes, and contain eight to ten eggs of a dull white color. + +=Measurements=--Wing, about 15-1/2 inches; bill, 1-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: BLACK SEA BRANT (Branta nigricans)] + + +THE BLACK SEA BRANT + +(Branta nigricans) + +The black sea brant is another purely Pacific Coast species, found +nowhere else except as a straggler. They resemble the barnacle brant +of the Atlantic (=Branta barnicla=) except in the shape of the head +and bill. A differing characteristic, however, is that the white +speckling on the sides of the neck of the barnacle brant extends all +around the front of the neck in the case of the black sea brant. As +their name implies, these are purely seabirds, rarely flying over the +land even, and only found in such bays as produce the eel grass on +which they feed almost exclusively. I only know of the following +places within the Pacific Coast shooting grounds where the black sea +brant is found. These are: Puget sound, Washington; Coos bay, Oregon; +Humboldt, Tomales, Moro and San Diego bays, California, and Magdalena +bay, Lower California. In most of these places they ate plentiful +during the winter season. Of all birds that fall to the aim of the +sportsman, the black sea brant is the most difficult to get within +range of. This is only accomplished by great caution and a good deal +of strategy, but when they are brought to bag the reward is a full +compensation, for of all the waterfowl their flesh is the most +delicious. The sea brant is rarely found away from the haunts +mentioned, yet the bird from which the accompanying illustration was +made was killed from a small flock that had strayed into the lower end +of San Francisco bay, near Redwood City, and was mounted by that +accomplished sportsman and taxidermist, Chase Littlejohn, of that +place. + +=Color=--General color, black; throat, with a white or speckled ring +all around the neck, except a small portion of the back; flanks, +mottled white and black; under tail feathers, white. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is only a depression on the ground, but +nicely lined with down. The eggs, numbering six to eight, are of a +dull white. + +=Measurements=--Wing, 13 inches; bill, 1-1/2 inches. + + +THE SWANS + +(Olor columbianus) and (Olor buccinator) + +(Subfamily, CYGNINAE) + +Both the whistling swan (=Olor columbianus=) and the trumpeter swan +(=Olor buccinator=) were once very plentiful on the Pacific Coast +hunting grounds, as far south as central California, and especially so +on the Columbia river and the lakes of Oregon and Washington. A few +were met with also as far south as San Diego county, California. + +I shall never forget the first two swans I ever killed and my +experience with them. It was the first winter after I came to +California and I was living in Los Angeles, then a little Mexican +village, and three of us were doing our own housekeeping. Whatever the +reason--most likely from some hallucination of boyhood--I entertained +the belief that swans must be exceedingly fine eating. As I prided +myself then, just after crossing the plains, upon being a good cook, +great preparations were made for an extra fine feast on what I fancied +would be a delicious bird. We had a good stove and the first of the +two swans was carefully "stuffed" with the choicest dressing, +consisting of the combined suggestions of the three of us. It was +placed in the oven, the fire carefully tended and the magnificent bird +repeatedly "basted." When it was ready and placed on the table it fell +to my lot to do the carving. Having drawn my knife across the +hunger-producing carcass without making any perceptible impression, I +decided that it must be the fault of a dull knife. Among our table +furnishings we had no sharpening steel, a scythe stone doing service +in its stead. I hunted this up and began on the knife with the +"mower's challenge" stroke and soon had an edge that would have cut +through anything less than an eighty-pound rail. With no little effort +I amputated the legs and the wings, and cutting a generous piece from +one side of the breast passed it to one of my companions, who at once +began on it with his knife. A few attempts to sever it and he reached +for the scythe stone. Then when he began chewing on the segregated +piece he declared that it was not cooked enough. A dispute followed as +to whether it is over-cooking or under-cooking that makes a bird +tough. With this momentous question still unsettled we decided that +some of the many ingredients that we had put into the "stuffing" must +have given the meat its sole-leather consistency. We had a couple of +hounds, whose teeth had been well tested in many a coyote kill, and we +passed this first swan up to them. + +The next day the other bird was worked into a fine stew and well +cooked. When served the stew was fine. The dumplings were light and +fairly melted in our mouths; the red peppers were hot; the aroma of +onions was just of that degree to suggest the ambrosia of the gods; +but the swan! Well, the hounds ate it through the compulsion of +hunger. + +A half-grown swan, however, is very good eating. + +There is very little difference in the two varieties. The whistling +swan being more of a northern bird, rarely migrating as far south as +central California. About the only noticeable difference is that the +whistling swan has a small yellow spot at the V-shaped point of the +bill where it meets the eye. + + + + +THE WADERS AND SHORE BIRDS + + +The Pacific Coast is especially rich in waders and shore birds, there +being upwards of forty species that are more or less common, with some +ten or more that are occasional visitors. Of these few can be +considered game birds, while others are so small that they are rarely +shot by our sportsmen. Many of both the waders and the shore birds are +constant residents. Others come from still farther south for breeding +purposes, while still others breed north of us and migrate throughout +the territorial scope of these articles to spend their winters. + +The shore birds, while very common, are hunted but little by the +sportsmen of this region, and many of the smaller species that are +considered quite a delicacy by our eastern brethren are passed by +entirely by our lovers of the gun. The reasons for this will be +obvious to all who have read the preceding pages and noted the +abundance and great variety of larger and better game. By better game +I mean birds that furnish better sport by requiring more skill in +approaching them and better marksmanship in bringing them to bag. The +little mountain plover, of the southern part of the Coast, while not +surpassed even by the jack snipe as a table delicacy, are hunted but +little, even where they are very abundant, because there is little +sport to be had in shooting them. And the same is true, in a great +measure, of several other species. Sportsmen, therefore, are little +acquainted with these birds either as to their names, gastronomic +merits or means of identification. + + + [Illustration: WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis gaurauna)] + + +THE HERONS and IBISES + +(Order, HERODIONES) + + +While none of the order =Herodiones=, which includes the storks, +herons, ibises and bitterns, can be considered game birds, they are so +common about our waters, and some of them add such a charm to the +scene by their beautiful plumage and graceful movement, that mention +of some of them here will not be out of place. + +The great blue heron (=Ardea herodias=) is the most common of these +waders. With his long, gracefully curved neck and slender legs he +wades with stately mien along the shallow waters of the lakes, +marshes and streams, both summer and winter, for he is to the manner +born and has no desire to seek other lands or other climes. The herons +are said to be destructive to fish. This can be to a limited extent +only, for they subsist very largely on the enemies of the fish, +destroying hundreds of snakes, water lizards and other fish +destroyers. + +The snowy heron, or white crane as it is commonly called (=Ardea +candidissima=), is another handsome wader that lends a charm to the +lakes, ponds and streams from Oregon south through Mexico. Built on +the same graceful lines as its blue relative, and with a plumage as +white as the purest snow, it never fails to attract attention. + +Three representatives of the family =Ibididae= are found here and +present a pleasing and interesting group. + +The white-faced glossy ibis (=Plegadis guarauna=) ranges over the +larger portion of the Coast, but from Lower California north only for +breeding purposes. Its long curved bill, slim, gracefully bent neck, +shapely body, tall legs and irridescent reflections of its plumage in +the sunlight, place it among the most attractive of North American +birds. Unlike the herons they are gregarious and are, therefore, seen +in flocks of varying size. The glossy ibis is often called bronze +curlew, but this is a bad misnomer, as they are in no way related to +the curlew. + +Another of the family is the white ibis (=Guara alba=). These are +quite common in Lower California and Mexico. They rarely migrate into +California, though they venture much to the north of us in a +northeastern direction, reaching the shores of the Great Salt Lake, +during the breeding season. The scarlet ibis (=Guara rubra=), the +other member of the family, is confined to Mexico, so far as these +articles are concerned. + +The American egret (=Ardea egretta=) ranges from Oregon south to South +America. It was at one time quite plentiful in California, but its +handsome plumes attracted the eye of the milliner, which in turn +aroused the cupidity of the market hunter, and these beautiful birds +are now rare north of Lower California and Mexico, and are rapidly +decreasing even there. The reddish egret (=Ardea rufescens=) is an +inhabitant of Lower California and Mexico, not coming north of these +places. Though not as handsome as the white egret, it is also being +exterminated for the same purposes. + +The birds that I have so far mentioned, while not game birds, are so +constantly before the eyes of the sportsmen who engage in waterfowl +shooting that they can not help but be interested in them. They add a +variety and a beauty to the scene, and many an hour's wait, that +otherwise would have been tedious, has passed away pleasantly in +watching the graceful movements of some one or more of these stately +waders. + + + + +THE CRANES, RAILS, GALLINULES + + +To the order, =Paludicolae=, belong the cranes, rails, gallinules and +coots, or mudhens, as they are commonly called. Of the members of this +order we are concerned only with the cranes, rails and coots. The +sandhill crane (=Grus canadensis) is a common visitor to all parts of +the Coast, but more plentiful in the interior valleys than near the +seashore. They are generally hard to approach and for that reason they +are but little hunted by our sportsmen. The whooping crane (=Grus +americana) once common throughout the middle states, is still met with +to considerable extent in Mexico, but it is by no means a common +visitor. + +The California clapper rail, known also as the San Mateo rail (=Rallus +obsoletus=), is the largest as well as the most important of the rail +family in this section. At one time the clapper rail was very +plentiful in certain localities in California and furnished abundant +sport, though rather of a tame nature, to those who hunted them. Being +an easy bird to kill and unsuspicious, they have been rapidly reduced +in numbers until now they are in danger of extinction unless laws are +enacted giving them better protection. The clapper is only a straggler +south of San Francisco bay. + +The Virginia rail (=Rallus virginianus=), a species not more than half +the size of the clapper rail, is found sparingly over the Coast, but +principally on the fresh water marshes. + +The little yellow rail (=Porzana noveboracensis=) is found on the +fresh waters from central California south, but it is nowhere +abundant. + +The black rail (=Porzana jamaicensis=) is another of the smaller rails +that are found on the fresh waters to a limited extent. Both this and +the last preceding one are so small that they are seldom shot, though +as an article of food they are very delicate. + + + + +THE SHORE BIRDS + +(Order, LIMICOLAE) + + +The order =Limicolae=, which is composed of the shore birds proper, +is abundantly represented. They are seen wading in the shallow waters, +carefully watching for worms, insects and other species of food upon +which they live, boring in the soft mud, scurrying in flocks from +place to place, or running along the beach as the surf recedes, +picking up the jetsam of the sea, then taking wing or running back +like a playful child to the higher ground as the foaming crest of the +next breaker rushes up the sandy shingle. Or, as is the case of the +phalaropes and some others, they may be seen riding lightly upon the +restless billows far out at sea. Modest in coloring and plain in +plumage, the shore birds seem to belong to the plebeians of the +avafauna, for they are constant workers, always busy, always plying +their slender legs rapidly as they hurry from one spot to another, +never idle, never resting for a moment. + +Of the shore birds there are six families and twenty genera +represented on the Coast. Most of them are quite abundant from +Washington to Mexico on their respective feeding grounds. + + + [Illustration: + WILSON SNIPE, OR JACK-SNIPE DOWITCHER + (Gallinago delicata) (Macrorhamphus scolopaceus)] + + +THE WILSON, OR JACK SNIPE + +(Gallinago delicata) + +Of all the shore birds the jack snipe, English snipe or Wilson snipe +as it is variously called, is the most highly prized as a table +delicacy and furnishes the best sport with the dog and gun. Usually +lying well for the dog, erratic in its flight and quick on the wing, +the Wilson snipe is one of the most difficult birds to bring to bag. +It is not only erratic in its flight, but it is erratic in its nature +as well. One day it will be found on a given feeding ground in +abundance and on the next not one is to be seen, while possibly the +day following they are there again in great numbers. To this +uncertainty and the corkscrew flight, peculiar to it alone, is due +much of the charm that jack snipe shooting affords. While these birds +are commonly called jack snipe or English snipe, their proper name is +Wilson snipe, but like the rose, no matter what the name, they are +just as gamy and just as delicious. The Wilson snipe migrates here to +but little extent, and these migrations are altitudinal rather than +latitudinal. They breed commonly in all the mountain valleys and even +as low down as on the Sacramento marshes south of the city of the same +name. I found a pair breeding a few years ago in the low hills of San +Luis Obispo county not half a mile from the ocean beach. + +=Color=--Head, black, with a central stripe of brown; back, a mixture +of dark brown, pale brown, yellow and dull white; greater +wing-coverts, dark brown, tipped with white; throat, dull white, +barred with brown; a dark stripe running from the base of the bill +across the eye to the occiput; under parts of the wings, dull white, +barred with black; tail feathers, dark brown, tipped with white, and +with a sub-terminal bar of black. No web between the toes. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a very crude affair made on the ground +and with but little lining of any kind. It contains from three to four +grayish eggs, blotched with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 11 inches; wing, 5-1/2; bill, 3 inches. + + +THE DOWITCHER, OR RED-BREASTED SNIPE + +(Macrorhampus scolopaceus) + +Though not of the same genus, the closet relative to the Wilson snipe +is the dowitcher or red-breasted snipe. By many who are not accustomed +to the Wilson snipe and its many vagaries, the red-breasted snipe is +often mistaken for the former. The red-breasted snipe may easily be +distinguished by the small web between the outer and middle toes. This +species of the dowitcher is a western bird, breeding well to the north +and migrating south to Mexico. + +=Color=--Head and back, more of a gray than the Wilson snipe, with the +feathers edged with a pale buff; light gray stripe running from the +base of the bill over the eye to the occiput; chin, dull white; +breast, gray, with a tinge of cinnamon red; tail, banded with dark +brown; a small web between the outer and middle toes, extending about +one-fourth down the outer toe. + +=Eggs and Nest=--Nest made on the ground and containing from three to +four dull white eggs. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 10-1/2 inches; wing, 5-3/4; bill, about 2-1/2 +inches, and with a considerable swelling at the end. + + + [Illustration: GREATER YELLOW-LEGS (Totanus melanoleucus)] + + +THE GREATER YELLOW-LEGS + +(Totanus melanoleucus) + +The greater yellow-legs migrates throughout the entire region, being +common on the beaches of Washington, Oregon and California during the +fall and early winter as it works its way to Lower California and +Mexico. It somewhat resembles the godwit in coloring, but it is more +of a grayish tinge. Its shorter bill--not over two and a half inches +in length--will always distinguish it from the godwit. So, also, will +its sharp whistling note. It is nearly as delicate a table bird as the +Wilson snipe. + +=Color=--Top of head and neck, brown, with whitish streaks; back, +brown, with the feathers edged with white; chin, white; breast, white, +lined with narrow streaks of brown; bill, black, and legs, yellow. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are built close to the water's edge, +containing four light buff eggs, spotted with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 14 inches; wing, 7-3/4; bill, 2-1/4, to +2-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: MARLIN OR GODWIT (Limosa fedoa)] + + +THE MARLIN, OR MARBLED GODWIT + +(Limosa fedoa) + +The marbled godwit, or marlin as it is also called, is one of the +largest birds of the =Scolopacidae= family. It ranges from Alaska to +Central America. This species is seen in large numbers in the early +fall along the sea beaches of California as they are working their way +south. They spend the winter in great quantities in Lower California +and Mexico. There should be no difficulty in distinguishing the godwit +from any of the other shore birds, its long upward curved bill and +brownish-barred back being features by which it may always be known. + +=Color=--Top of head and back of neck, brown, streaked with paler +brown; feathers of the back, brown, with ochreous edges; throat and +forehead, pale buff, with faint markings of brown; bill slightly +turned upward. + +=Nest and Eggs=--Nest a crude affair on the ground, containing four +eggs of an ash color, mottled with a dead brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 19 inches; wing, 8-3/4; bill, about 4 +inches. + + +THE RED-BACKED SANDPIPER + +(Tringa alpina pacifica) + +The red-backed sandpiper, or American dunlin, is one of the larger +members of the genus and quite plentiful on the Coast marshes, but it +is seldom seen in the interior valleys except during its migrations. +In its winter plumage, in which our sportsmen see it, it is of a dull +light gray color. A diagnostic feature of this species is the slightly +downward curved bill. + +=Color=--Head and upper parts, light gray, with a white stripe over +the eye; shafts of the feathers are dark brown, producing a streaky +appearance. In its summer plumage the head and back are reddish brown, +wings brownish and abdomen black. + +=Nest and Eggs=--Nests on the ground without lining. Eggs, bluish +white, with brown spots. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 8-1/2 inches; wing, 4-3/4; bill, 1 5/8. + + +THE WILLET + +(Symphemia Semipalmata inornata) + +The willet, or stone curlew as it is sometimes called, is a resident +species, breeding from Washington to Mexico. It is a western bird, +ranging eastward to the Mississippi valley, where it is but a +straggler. In size it is nearly as large as the marlin. Its black +wings, with broad, white patches, and feet webbed for about half the +length of the toes, are distinguishing features, easily recognized. It +is generally found on the salt marshes. + +=Color=--The general color of the plumage is ashy white or light gray, +usually with some light buff markings on the breast. When flying it +shows a broad, white patch on the wings, caused by the upper part of +the primaries and part of the secondaries being white. Its smoky black +axillars will always distinguish it. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is any place on the ground where it can +deposit three or four pale buff eggs, spotted with dark brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 15-1/2 inches; wing, 8-1/2; bill, 2-1/2 +to 2-3/4 inches. + + + + + Order, LIMICOLAE + + Family SCOLOPACIDAE. + + Genus Species Common Names Range and Breeding + Grounds + ------------- --------------- ----------------- ------------------- + + {Wilson snipe {Throughout the + { {marshes of the coast. + Gallinago delicata {Jack snipe {Breeds in the + { {mountain valleys. + + {Dowitcher {Along the fresh waters + { {of the interior + Macrorhamphus scolopaceus {Red-breasted {valleys. Breeds in + { snipe {British Columbia + { {and Alaska. + + { {From the Central + {Red-backed {Mexican coast north. + Tringa pacifica {sandpiper {Breeds from + { {Washington north. + + {Marble godwit {Early and late + { {migrant along the + Limosa fedoa {Marlin {coast from Mexico + {north. Breeds in + {the far north. + + {Early and late + {migrant along the + {coast, passing the + Totanus melanoleucus Yellow-legs {winter in Southern + {California and Mexico. + {Breeds in the mountain + {valleys. + + {semipalmata {From Mexico north. + Symphemia {inornata {Western Willet {Breeds throughout + {its range. + + {Early and late migrant. + {longirostris {Jack curlew {Winters in Southern + { {California and Mexico. + { {Breeds throughout its + { {range. + { + Numenius { {Long-billed {Same habits as the + { { curlew {long-billed and + { { {usually found with it. + {hudsonicus { {But breeds farther + {Hudsonian curlew {north. + + + [Illustration: HUDSONIAN CURLEW LONG-BILLED CURLEW + (Numenius hudsonicus) (Numenius longirostris)] + + +THE LONG-BILLED CURLEW + +(Numenius longirostris) + +The long-billed curlew, or sickle bill as it is often called, is a +plentiful resident in all suitable localities. The young birds mature +early and find their way to the marshes during August, when the season +for their killing should begin. At this time and even during the month +of September they are quite palatable, but later they become strong in +flavor. In these months they feed largely upon the seeds and insects +to be found on the plains, but later they confine themselves +principally to the marshes. They breed near the mountain lakes and +streams and even to considerable extent on the lower grounds. A glance +at the accompanying illustration will be sufficient to enable the +uninitiated to always know a curlew. + +=Color=--Head, back of neck and back, dark brown, mottled with buff; +throat and under parts, pale buff, the feathers on the breast being +streaked with brown; axillars, reddish brown. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually made on the ground in tall grass +and back some distance from the marsh. The eggs are about four and of +an olive gray, spotted with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, without the bill, which varies very +much, about 20 inches; wing, 9 to 11; bill, from four to eight inches, +and bent downwards, with nearly as much curve as a sickle; in most +specimens the bill will be about six inches in length. + + +THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW + +(Numenius hudsonicus) + +The Hudsonian curlew, or jack curlew, by which name it is also known, +is also a common visitor to our hunting grounds. It is often seen +mixed with flocks of the preceding species, which leads many to +suppose that they are the younger birds of that species. Unlike the +long-billed, the Hudsonian curlew is not a resident species, or, at +least, not to so great an extent, although it makes its appearance on +our marshes quite early in the season, even as far south as central +California. In markings the two species are almost identical, with the +exception that the Hudsonian is somewhat paler in shade. Any doubt +arising as to which species a specimen may belong can easily be +settled by an examination of the axillar plumes. If a long-bill, these +feathers will be a solid reddish-brown, but if a Hudsonian, they will +be of a pale buff color barred with a dull-brown, the buff and brown +being nearly of the same width. Both species become less common north +of southern California during the late winter months. + +=Color=--Same as the long-billed curlew, except that it is a little +paler on the under parts, and the mottling shows more distinctly on +the back. The axillars are pale buff, distinctly barred with light +brown. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the long-billed curlew. + +=Measurements=--Total length, including bill, which varies but little +in this species, about 17 inches; wing, 9, and bill about 3-1/2 inches. + + + [Illustration: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Charadrius squatarola)] + + +BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER + +(Charadrous squaterola) + +The largest of the family =Charadridae= is the black-bellied plover. In +its plumage, both summer and winter, it closely resembles the golden +plover, as the black on the sides of the head, front of neck, breast +and abdomen disappear from both species in their winter plumage. But, +notwithstanding this, they can easily be distinguished by the small +rudimentary hind toe of the black-bellied species, the other having +but three toes. A few specimens of the golden plover have been taken +on the Coast, but it is of rare occurrence. The black-bellied plover +is reasonably common along the coast line, but it is not seen to any +great extent in the interior valleys. + +=Color=--Upper plumage, dull brown, mottled with gray, the top of the +head being somewhat darker; under parts, nearly white and the sides +and breast streaked with brown. In the summer the throat and belly are +black. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is usually made on the uplands, where four +eggs are deposited of a pale olive, spotted with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 11 inches; wing, 7-1/2, and bill, +1-1/4 inches. + + + [Illustration: + SNOWY PLOVER MOUNTAIN PLOVER RING-NECK PLOVER + (AEgialitis nivosa) (AEgialitis montana) (AEgialitis semipalmata)] + + +THE MOUNTAIN PLOVER + +(AEgialitis montana) + +The mountain plover is very plentiful on the plains of southern +California during the winter months. This little bird as a table +delicacy is not surpassed by any of the long list of shore birds. In +fact it is preferred by many to the far-famed jack snipe. It is an +upland bird, feeding largely on insects, and rarely found near the +marshes whether salt or fresh-water. In its winter plumage, as seen +here, its underparts are white with the breast and upper parts of a +brownish gray. + +=Color=--Throat, breast and under parts, white; the rest of the +plumage, light buffish gray; sometimes the breast will show a slight +tinge of buff; axillars, white; bill, black. Three toes without web. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are placed on the uplands and contain three +grayish eggs, spotted with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 8-3/4 inches; wing, 6, and +bill, 9/10 of an inch. + + +THE SNOWY PLOVER + +(AEgialitis nivosa) + +The snowy plover is quite common from northern California to Mexico. +It is a small bird and, while it is hunted but little, its flesh is +quite delicate. In its winter plumage it is much lighter in color +than any of the others named. + +=Color=--Top of head, back of neck and back, buffish gray; forehead +and under parts, white; a patch of dull brown just above the white of +the forehead, and another of the same color on each side of the +throat. Three toes without web. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nests are found throughout its range; they are +nothing more than a depression in the sand and contain four grayish +buff eggs, spotted with black. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 6-3/4 inches; wing, 4-1/4, and bill +5/8 of an inch. + + +THE RING-NECKED PLOVER + +(AEgialitis semipalmata) + +The ring-neck plover is a fairly common visitor during the winter +months. It is usually seen on the coast or on other sandy shores. It +may be known by its partially webbed feet. + +=Color=--Forehead, chin and neck, white, with a faint streak of dull +brown from the bill under the eye to the back of the neck; a band of +dull, brownish gray on the breast; back and wings, ashy gray; under +parts, white; bill, black with a spot of orange at the base. Three +toes which are webbed for about half their length. + +=Nest and Eggs=--Nests are made in the sand and contain from three to +four dirty white eggs, spotted with brown. =Measurements=--Total +length, 6-3/4 inches; wing, 4-3/4, and bill, 1/2 inch. + + +WILSON'S PLOVER + +(AEgialitis wilsonia) + +While the Wilson plover is found to some extent on the southern +Atlantic Coast, it may properly be said to be a Pacific species. Here +it is seen on the beaches in large numbers, just beyond the reach of +the surf, picking the insects and minute shellfish as they are washed +on the sand, or flying in flocks just above the breakers. + +=Color=--Forehead and stripe over the eye, white; black stripe in +front of crown; top of head and stripe from the eye to the bill, +black; black band just below the throat; back, gray; under parts, +white; bill black, and legs and feet, light pink. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a mere depression in the ground, with +three to four eggs of a pale olive, spotted with dark brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, 7 to 8 inches; wing, 4 to 5; bill, about +3/4 of an inch. Three toes with a small + +[Note: Unfinished sentence in original printed version.] + +There are a number of other plovers on the hunting grounds of the +Pacific Coast, but they are either too small or the flesh too poor to +interest the sportsman. Of these the killdeer plover is the most +common and the best known. A description of these would be of no +interest to the sportsman and therefore add nothing to the purposes of +this work. + + + [Illustration: AMERICAN AVOCET (Recurvirostra americana)] + + +THE AVOCET + +(Recurvirostra americana) + +The family =Recurvirostridae= has but two representatives on the Coast. +The American avocet breeds from Washington southward and spends its +winters from central California south. They are quite plentiful in +southern California during the winter months, increasing in numbers in +Lower California and Mexico. Its webbed feet and long upward turned +bill are features by which it may always be known. It is generally +found in flocks and frequents both fresh and salt-waters. + +=Color=--Head and neck, ashy gray; back and under parts, white; the +primaries and upper half of the secondaries, black, making the wing +about half black; bill, very slender and curved upward; legs, very +long and of a lead color; feet, webbed. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest contains three to four eggs of a pale olive, +spotted with brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 19 inches; wing, 8, and bill, +3-1/2 inches. + + +THE BLACK-NECKED STILT + +(Himantopus mexicanus) + +The black-necked stilt is the other representative of the family. The +stilt breeds as far north as eastern Oregon, but is little seen north +of southern California in the winter. From there south it is +plentiful. It may be easily known by the back of its head and neck, +its back being black and the rest of the plumage nearly pure white. +Its legs are a dark pink. + +=Color=--Wings, back, back of neck and top of head, black; balance of +the plumage, white; legs, dark pink and very long. Toes, three and +partly webbed. + +=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is rarely anything but bare ground on which +is deposited three to four eggs of a pale brown, spotted with dark +brown. + +=Measurements=--Total length, about 15-1/2 inches; wing, 9, and +bill 2-3/4 inches. + + + + + Order, LIMICOLAE + + Family, CHARADRIDAE - Plovers + + Genus Species Common Names Range and Breeding Grounds + -------------- -------------- ---------------- -------------------------- + + {squatarola Black-bellied {From Mexico north. + { plover {Breeds from Oregon + { . {north to Alaska. + Charadrius { + {dominicus Golden plover Only an occasional + migrant. + + {From Alaska south to + {semipalmata Ring-necked {Lower California. Breeds + { plover {in its northern range. + { + { {From Central California + {nivosa Snowy plover {south to Lower California + AEgialitis { {and Mexico. Breeds + { {throughout its range. + { + {montana Mountain plover {Interior plains of + { {California and Arizona. + { {Breeds in the mountain + { {valleys. + { + {wilsonia Wilson's plover {From Oregon south to + {Mexico. Breeds + {throughout its range. + + + Order, LIMICOLAE + + Family, RECURVIROSTRIDAE - Avocets and Stilts + + Genus Species Common Names Range and Breeding Grounds + -------------- -------------- ---------------- -------------------------- + + Recurvirostra americana Avocet { From Mexico north to + { California. Breeds from + { Eastern Oregon south. + + Himantopus Mexicanus Black-necked { From Mexico to Southern + stilt { California. Breeds near + { the mountain lakes. + + + + + [Illustration: Morphology of Fishes] + + + + +THE GAME FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST + + +Like in that portion of this work devoted to the game birds, this also +is written in popular language, avoiding, as far as possible, all +technical words and phrases, with the intention of furnishing a plain +description of the game fishes of the Coast which anyone, unlearned in +the science of ichthyology, may understand, and by which be able to +identify any of the fishes he may capture. + +With fishes, like with birds, there are certain parts that must be +referred to in order to show wherein one species differs from +another. Wherever these parts have a common English name, that name +has been used. But as there are a few parts that can only be referred +to by their scientific names, a diagram has been added showing the +location of all parts referred to in the text. + +In scope it treats only of such varieties as rise to the fly or are +caught by trolling with rod and reel, whether from the stream, lake, +bay or ocean, and furnish sport to the angler who fishes for the +exhilarating pleasure their capture affords. + +The Pacific Coast is rich in game fishes, not only in the varieties +found in its lakes and streams, but as well in its bays and estuaries, +while the broad ocean furnishes varieties whose size and fighting +qualities are not surpassed, even if equaled, in any other part of the +world. To place in the hands of the young angler, and others who may +not have given the subject the necessary attention, a convenient +handbook by the aid of which even the novice may readily recognize the +species of fish he has landed, is the object of these pages. + + * * * * * * * + +All of the salmon, the trout, the chars, the white-fish and the lake +herring have been classed by the naturalist in one family and given +the name, =Salmonidae=; but it is only with three genera of the +subfamily, =Salmoninae= that we are concerned. These are the Pacific +salmon (=Oncorhynchus=), the true trout (=Salmo=) and the Eastern +trout and the dolly varden trout (=Salvelinus=). The Atlantic salmon +belong to the genus Salmo, the same as the true trout, and have but +one species (=Salmo salar=), which partake more of the habits of the +trout than do their Pacific cousins. + + +THE PACIFIC SALMON + +(Oncorhynchus) + +Notwithstanding the fact that the salmon is one of the most valuable +of all the food fishes, but little is known of its habits after it +leaves the stream in which it is hatched until it returns to spawn, +supposed to be from three to four years afterward. Whether they remain +near the mouths of the streams, or whether they migrate to distant +feeding grounds are questions that have never been solved. All of the +five species are caught with seins in Puget Sound in greater or less +numbers all the year round. From the action of those that spawn in the +Sacramento river it would seem that they migrate southward and far out +to sea, for on their return to spawn they enter Monterey Bay only on +its southern side, and following around it at no great distance from +the shore, leave it at the northern headlands and skirt the shore +northward until they reach the entrance to San Francisco Bay on their +way up the Sacramento river. Where the young fish make their habitat +from the time they drift down the stream in which they were spawned +until they return again to spawn has never been determined. They spawn +but once and die soon afterward. As I know that this last statement +will be disputed by some, for reasons best known to themselves, I will +quote from that excellent work by Evermann and Jordan, "American Food +and Game Fishes." "We have carefully," say these gentlemen, "examined +the spawning habits of both forms of the red fish and chinook salmon +in the head waters of Salmon river, Idaho, during two entire seasons, +from the time the fish arrived in July until the end of September, by +which time all the fish had disappeared. A number of important +questions were settled by these investigations. In the first place it +was found that all of the fish arrived upon the spawning grounds in +perfect physical condition, so far as external appearances indicated; +no sores, bruises or other mutilations showing on any of more than +4000 fish examined. During the spawning, however, the majority became +more or less injured by rubbing against the gravel of the +spawning-beds, or by fighting with one another. Soon after done +spawning every one of them died, not only both forms of the red fish +but the chinook salmon as well. The dying is not due to the injuries +the fish received on the spawning-grounds; many were seen dying or +dead which showed no external or other injuries whatever. The dying of +the West Coast salmon is in no manner determined by distance from the +sea. Observations made by us and others elsewhere show that the +individuals of all species of the =Oncorhynchus= die after one +spawning, whether the spawning-beds are remote from the sea or only a +short distance from salt-water." + +The angler's concern, however, is not so much with the procreative +habits of the salmon as it is with their behavior while feeding and +after being hooked. + +Salmon are rarely caught by still fishing, but they will take the +spoon or a sardine or other small fish impaled upon the hook. They +take the bait generally with some hesitation, though at times they +strike it with all the impetuosity of the trout. Then the singing reel +calls for careful and immediate action on the part of the angler, for +the ten to forty pound fish on his light tackle is going to put up a +fight worthy of his skill. In his mad rush for liberty the gamy fish +gradually rises to the surface, and when at last checked by the skill +of the angler, he will often leap out of the water to a height of from +four to eight feet, his beautiful sides scintillating in the rays of +the sun, forming a picture to gladden the heart of the angler, for if +he be a true sportsman he will fish with such tackle only as will give +his adversary a fair chance in the fight and require the fullest +exercise of his own knowledge and skill to bring his fish to gaff. The +salmon is a strong fighter but his rushes do not last long for a fish +of its size. For this reason much of the sport of salmon fishing is +lost through the use of too heavy tackle. The writer landed one +without difficulty weighing 33-1/2 pounds on a nine thread, Cuttyhunk +line and a 5-1/2 foot steel rod weighing less than six ounces, and I +believe that a fifty pound fish can be landed with the same tackle. +Trolling with hand lines for salmon is practiced by some, but such is +not angling. Hauling in an impaled fish hand over hand with a small +cable is neither sport nor sportsmanlike. + + + [Illustration: CHINOOK SALMON (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha)] + + +THE CHINOOK, OR KING SALMON + +(Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) + +This species has a multiplicity of names, being known in different +localities as chinook, quinnat, king, Sacramento river and Columbia +river salmon, besides half a dozen or more Indian names. Its +distribution is the widest of any of the Pacific salmon, ranging on +both sides of the ocean from the latitude of Monterey Bay to Behring +Straits. The run begins on the Columbia river as early as the latter +part of February, many of the fish going up its tributaries 1000 miles +or more to spawn. Farther south the run becomes gradually later. + +The spawning season also varies with the locality, and ranges from the +latter part of July to the middle of November. The date of spawning +seems to be determined by the temperature of the water, for it is said +that the salmon will not spawn, even if on the spawning grounds, until +the water has fallen to a temperature of 54 degrees Fahrenheit. + +The chinook salmon is the largest of the family, specimens having been +taken in Alaska waters that have weighed 100 pounds, while 50 to 60 +pound fish are common. Those taken in the Columbia river are said to +average 22 pounds, while the average of the Sacramento river catch is +16. + +Head, rather pointed; eye, small and situated a little in front of the +back of the mouth; body, rounded and full, the deepest part being +about midway of its length; pectoral fins, short and situated low and +just behind the gills; dorsal fin, nearly midway of the back; ventral +fins, a little behind the center of the dorsal; anal fin about half +way between the ventral and the tail; adipose fin, a little in front +of the rear of the ventrals; caudal fin, or tail, slightly forked. + +The back, dorsal fin and tail are generally well covered with dark +brownish black spots. There are few spots as a rule on the head, and +those are of a slaty color. + +There is always some variation in color, but usually the back is quite +dark, turning to bluish on the sides and light silver below. As the +spawning season approaches, the jaws of the males become lengthened +and badly distorted and the color changes to more of a pinkish hue and +blotched in appearance. The gills are never alike on both sides, +varying from 15 to 19 in number. (See plate giving names of all parts +mentioned.) + + +BLUEBACK, OR SOCK-EYE SALMON, REDFISH + +(Oncorhynchus nerka) + +This species is next in commercial value to the chinook. It has been +taken occasionally in the Sacramento river but it is not common south +of the Columbia river. The run of this species begins about the first +of April and the fish go as far as Salmon river, Idaho, fully 1000 +miles from the sea to spawn. By a peculiar instinct this species only +run up such rivers as have lakes at their heads, and spawn in the +lakes or at the mouths of little streams emptying into them, in many +of the lakes of Oregon and Washington are found the young of the +blue-back salmon which are commonly called redfish. These fish never +leave these lakes and therefore never attain a size of more than five +to seven pounds. + +Head, short and pointed and light olive in color; under jaw, white; +body, long, slim and rather flattened; back, blue; sides, silver; +belly, dull white; dorsal fin, dark; others flesh color; tail, rather +narrow and well forked; gills, 13 to 15. As the spawning season +approaches the whole fish takes on a decided reddish cast, which +sometimes becomes as dark as a brick-red. The jaw becomes very much +hooked, and a few spots appear. + + +THE SILVER SALMON + +(Oncorhynchus kisutch) + +In line of importance the silver salmon occupies the next place. It is +also known by a number of names, among which are koho, skowitz and +kisutch. It is a small fish, rarely exceeding 16 inches in length and +never reaching more than ten pounds in weight. Its range is from +Alaska south to Monterey Bay, where it has recently been planted and +seems to flourish. It spawns in the smaller coast streams, never going +far from the salt water. Its run begins about the first of September, +spawning in October and November. + +Head, short with blunt snout; opercles or gill covers, very convex; +body, shaped very much like the chinook; back, bluish green; sides, +silver white. It has but few spots and these are confined pretty much +to the head, upper fins and tail. Gills, 13 or 14. + + +THE HUMP-BACK SALMON + +(Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) + +This is another small species, rarely exceeding six pounds in weight +but more commonly from three to four. Its range is from the Sacramento +river, where it appears in limited numbers, north to Alaska. + +Body, slim, scales very small; back, blue and sides silvery white. +Profusely spotted on the after part of the back, with large oval spots +on the tail. Gills, 11 to 13. + + +THE DOG SALMON + +(Oncorhynchus keta) + +The dog salmon rarely exceeds ten pounds in weight. Its range is from +the Sacramento river north, and its spawning-grounds the small streams +up which it never extends any great distance from the salt water. + +Head, quite pike-like in shape and therefore much longer and slimmer +than the chinook. Back, dirty brown, with the sides of much the same +color, but of a lighter tint; fins, very dark; very few distinct +spots, with those showing very small; gills, 13 or 14. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The Pacific salmon are only caught by trolling. +They will take a spoon, or any live bait. The most successful lure, +however, is a sardine, or other small fish of six to eight inches in +length. Pass the hook through both eyes, take a half hitch around the +head, insert the point of the hook in the gill and by bending the fish +in the shape of the hook bring the point out about an inch and a half +or two inches from the tail. This allows the fish to remain curved, +and gives it a revolving motion while trolling, resembling a live, +though disabled fish. + +A salmon rod should consist of a butt 14 to 16 inches in length, with +a hand piece in front of the reel; tip, 6 feet long and not to weigh +more than 7 ounces; line not to exceed standard 12-thread. With fishes +weighing from 40 pounds and upward, 300 feet of line can be used to +advantage. + + + [Illustration: RAINBOW TROUT (Salmo irideus)] + + +THE RAINBOW TROUT + +(Salmo irideus) + +There are at least four distinct species of trout; that is, trout +proper and chars, now common to the coast. One of these, the Eastern +brook trout, is the result of artificial hatching and distribution. +These, as well as the rainbow, and to lesser extent the cutthroat, +have been so widely distributed by the state fish commission and +private hatcheries that to attempt to give the present habitat of the +several species would be sure to result in many errors which might be +confounding. The Eastern brook trout has taken kindly to our waters +and seem to be doing well in all suitable streams. Several other +foreign species of trout have been introduced into our waters as well +as these, among which are the Loch Leven, the German brown trout and +the Mackinaw, but the success of their acclimatization has yet to be +fully determined, though the Loch Leven and German brown seem to be +doing well in the higher streams. + +The Eastern brook trout and the native species, known as dolly varden, +are chars and belong to the genus =Salvelinus=, but the rainbow and +the cutthroat are true trout belonging to the genus =Salmo=. The +rainbow and the cutthroat present a variety of forms in different +localities and these have been given separate specific names by the +naturalist. With many of these species(?) the only difference seems to +be too slight to entitle them to specific or even sub-specific +separation; the variation being no more than that found in the color +and markings of the same fishes in the same stream, caused by the +depth of the water, the food, or other local conditions. + +The rainbow trout is now a resident, either through natural or +artificial distribution, of nearly all the streams of the Coast from +Washington to Lower California. They vary in size, color and number of +scales in different localities and have been given distinct specific +names in the various sections, those of the Coast streams of +California being used as the typical form. These several varieties, +even in their natural condition, showed very little, if any positive +line of demarkation, but since the establishment of the many +hatcheries on the Coast and the wide distribution of the fry hatched +from the spawn of the rainbow of the Sacramento and its tributaries, +of the steelhead of the Eel river, and of the typical form of the +Coast streams, there seems but one course now left, and that is to +group them all as one species under the original name of rainbow. + +The rainbow is a very handsome trout, varying in size from adults of +but a few inches in the smaller Coast streams, to 25 and 30 inches +long in the larger rivers and lakes. Its dark spotted back and silvery +sides with the rich metallic colors of the rainbow streak gives it a +coloration that is at once brilliant and pleasing. As a game fish it +has no superior, if indeed an equal. It takes the fly with a rush, +often leaping out of the water to seize it as it is descending. Then +it fights with a determination, often breaking three or four feet into +the air, shaking its head to free the hook like a terrier shakes a +rat. It seldom sounds and never sulks. The rainbow trout goes to the +sea at varying ages, the same as all other trout that can get there +without passing through long stretches of warm and sluggish water. In +the salt water it attains a greater size, changes its color in +accordance with the length of time it has been there, but on returning +again to the stream it soon assumes its original plan of coloring. + +Head, about one-fourth of the whole length from the snout to the base +of the caudal fin, varying much with age and size. Generally the +greatest depth is about one fourth of the length of the fish, but this +also varies very much with the character of the waters it inhabits. In +rapid running streams the fish are always slimmer than in more +sluggish ones. I have known them 20 inches or more in length, when +confined in large reservoirs, to become so heavy that they would weigh +one pound to every two inches in length. The lateral line, or rainbow +varies, in intensity of color, but always showing in varying shades of +red, pink, and sometimes blue of a metallic luster. The vertical black +blotches seen on the sides are the marks of immature fish. + +The snout of the rainbow is considerably more rounding than that of +the salmon, and the head larger in proportion. The eye also is much +larger and fuller. The shape and position of the fins are almost +identical with those of the salmon, but a little larger in proportion +to the size of the fish. The tail, however, varies considerably, being +more rounded, and showing only a slight indentation in the center. + + +THE GOLDEN TROUT + +(Salmo irideus agua bonita) + +If there is any variety of the rainbow trout found on the Coast that +is entitled to a sub-specific name it is the golden trout of Mt. +Whitney. They were originally found in only a short portion of two +little streams fed by the snows of Mt. Whitney, and vary but little +from each other. In one stream they have been given the name of =Salmo +irideus agua bonita=, and in the other that of =Salmo irideus +rooseveltii=, after ex-president Roosevelt. They are of a beautiful +color with scarlet markings at the base of the fins and with a lateral +stripe of bright scarlet blending into a rich orange. One peculiarity +of these fish is that the par marks or vertical blotches on the sides +of other young fish still show on the adults of these. This form of +the rainbow has changed its color through the process of natural +selection, caused no doubt, by the color of the rocks in the shallow +streams it inhabits. Below on these same streams where the rocks are +of a darker color the fish assume the natural color of the rainbow. + +The writer is possibly the first white man to ever catch one of the +golden trout. They were taken in 1865 with a small piece of the flank of +a deer skin slipped over the hook, with the hair clipped to about half +an inch in length. No sooner was this improvised fly cast upon the water +than it was eagerly seized by one of these beautiful fish. When it was +landed the color astonished me, and knowing that it was a trout, I +thought it must be a diseased one and threw it back. Making another cast +I secured another one as promptly as the first, and it being the same +objectionable color and of the same size--about eight inches--I +concluded that it was the same fish and this time threw it on the bank. +As fast as my deer skin fly would strike the water it would be eagerly +seized by one of these game little fellows and all of the same size and +color. I was puzzled and called to my companion, who was cooking our +supper but a few yards away, to "come and see what was the matter with +these fish." Professing some scientific knowledge, he cut one of them +open, examined the meat and the intestines and finally pronounced it in +a healthy condition, finishing with: + +"The coffee is boiling and the bacon is fried; hurry up, and as soon +as you get a mess I'll fry them and take all chances." + +I soon had a mess for supper and while he was frying them I caught +enough for breakfast, for the game little fellows would race for the +fly as fast as it struck the water. We ate them with a relish, for we +had had nothing but bacon, venison and frying-pan bread for a month. +As we found ourselves alive in the morning we increased the +prescription to a good alapathic dose for breakfast. + +The golden trout are small, rarely reaching a length of more than +fifteen inches. The back is olive, sides and belly light orange or +golden yellow with a scarlet stripe along the center of the belly and +at the base of the pectoral, ventral and anal fins, which are of +themselves more or less of a golden color. Tail, olive, grading into +orange on the lower part. Few spots in front of the dorsal fin but +abundant behind it. + +While the rainbow trout of the Coast have been given several +sub-specific names, such as =masoni= for the Coast streams of Oregon +and Washington, =shasta= and =stonei= for those of the upper +Sacramento basin, and =gilberti= for those of Kern river, there seems +to be so very little reason for this distinction beyond the usual +variations of color in all trout, spots and size with the changing +conditions of water and feed, that I shall make no mention of the very +slight variations upon which the ichthyologist has based the claim to +a sub-specific nomenclature. + + +THE STEELHEAD TROUT + +(Salmo rivularis) + +The history of the so-called steelhead trout and the efforts to class +these sea-run fishes as a species separate from the rainbow and the +cutthroat, is interesting, if not amusing. No one questioned that they +were other than the sea-run of the rainbow or the cutthroat, according +to the locality, until Dr. Richardson, mistaking a young blue-back +salmon for a so-called steelhead gave it the scientific name of =Salmo +gairdneri=, and the description of this young salmon was recognized as +that of the steelhead for years, and under this name it appears in +the statutes of California, with a separate season for its protection. +In other words the =Salmo gairdneri= of the laws of California is a +young blue-back salmon and not a sea-run trout of any kind. Recently +Dr. Ayers to correct the mistake, examined a fish taken from the +Sacramento river and said to be a steelhead, gave it the name of +=Salmo rivularis=, and this now stands as the scientific name of the +so-called steelhead. Dr. Jordan, in an article recently published in +the Pacific Monthly, says: "There has been much discussion as to +whether the steelhead is a species really distinct from the rainbow +trout, and on this subject the writer (Jordan) has at different times +held different opinions." + +If one authority bases his reasons for a belief in a specific +difference between the rainbow and the steelhead on the fact that he +did find a difference between a blue-back salmon and a rainbow, and +another authority finds so little difference that he holds different +opinions at different times, can there be any wonder that the +practical angler, who catches these sea-run fish at the mouths of our +rivers in every stage of transition, or gradation, if you please, from +the typical rainbow to the Simon pure steelhead, refuses to believe +that there is a specific difference? + +Then again, Messrs. Jordan and Evermann in bulletin 47 of the United +States National Museum, "The Fishes of North and Middle America," say: +"In the lower course of the Columbia they (the steelhead) are entirely +distinct from the cutthroat or clarki series, and no one would +question the validity of the two species. In the lower Snake river and +other waters east of the Cascade range, the two forms or species are +indistinguishable, being either undifferentiated or else inextricably +mixed." + +From this it would seem clear that the steelhead of the Columbia, +where the cutthroat abounds, are cutthroats that have gone to the sea, +grown larger in the larger body of water--a natural condition of all +fishes--and changed in color and appearance. That while they are yet +in the lower Columbia and only recently from the salt water, they +still maintain a sufficient difference to be easily distinguished from +the cutthroat; but by the time that they have reached the "Snake river +and other waters east of the Cascade range," their long residence in +the fresh water has again restored them to their former appearance. +The same changes are found with the rainbow and the steelhead of +farther south. All trout are anadromous to greater or less extent, +unless actually landlocked or living in streams so distant from the +sea that they would be compelled to pass through long stretches of +warm and sluggish water to reach it. The small trout of the coast +streams are compelled to go to the ocean quite early in the season by +the falling of the water to such an extent that in many cases the +streams go dry before the beginning of the winter rains, and in the +larger body of water they rapidly increase in size. The steelhead of +the Columbia river always retains the cutthroat sing-manual, to +greater or less extent, while the steelhead of the lower coast has no +red on the jaw. The claim that the smaller head of the steelhead is a +distinguishing mark, fails in effect, for it is an undisputable fact +that the older and larger the trout the smaller becomes the relative +size of the head. The other claim that the larger scales of the +rainbow is a distinguishing feature from the steelhead is not founded +on facts. For while the scales of the rainbow counted along the +lateral line vary from as low as 120 in the coast streams, they run as +high as 150 in the same streams, as high as 160 in the McCloud and 185 +in the Kern. The average being 135 in the smaller coast streams, 150 +in the Sacramento basin, and 170 in the Kern. The steelhead's scales +run from 130 to 155. An average of 145; or exactly an average of those +of the coast streams and the Sacramento. Were it possible for the Kern +river trout to enter the ocean no doubt we would find steelhead +running as high as 185 to the section. + +Whatever may be the origin of the large sea-running trout called +steelheads, the fact remains that it is a grand fish both in size and +fighting qualities. In the ocean it eagerly takes the spoon and fights +with a vigor not even surpassed by the rainbow of the streams. After a +short sojourn in the fresh waters it rises to a fly just as readily. + +Since the above was written Dr. Jordan has made the statement +publicly, that he is thoroughly convinced that the rainbow trout and +the so-called steelhead are one and the same fish; the only difference +being that the latter has grown larger and changed its color during +its life in the salt water, this variation of color returning again +after a short sojourn in the fresh water streams, giving it all the +original appearance of the rainbow, or of the cutthroat, as the case +may be. + + +THE CUTTHROAT TROUT + +(Salmo clarki) + +The cutthroat trout very largely take the place of the rainbow in the +waters of northern California and in Washington and Oregon, and its +various forms are more common to the lakes. Like the rainbow they +have been artificially distributed to such an extent that they are +now found in many of the streams of California and nearly all of +Washington and Oregon. As a general rule they are not as keen fighters +as the rainbow, but in the cold streams of Oregon and Washington they +put up a fight worthy of the most gamy fish. In the lakes of +Washington and Oregon, and such as Tahoe, Donner and other large +bodies of water in California, they reach a large size; fishes of ten +and twelve pounds being not uncommon. When not landlocked they go to +the sea the same as the rainbow and return as the steelhead of the +Columbia and other northern streams. Like the rainbow the cutthroat +has been divided into several subspecies. + +General appearance like that of the rainbow. The color on the back is +a lighter olive or dark steel color. The upper parts are generally +thickly covered with dark spots, varying in color and shape, and the +lower fins are also spotted with smaller spots. The inner edge of the +lower jaw is strongly marked with deep red and it is from this red +mark on the throat that the species takes its name. The sides are +generally of a marked pinkish hue or coppery brown. The red mark of +the throat will always prove a distinguishing feature. + + +SILVER TROUT + +(Salmo tahoensis) + +In Lake Tahoe there are two varieties of trout that have been given +separate specific names. They both belong to the cutthroat series, but +vary considerable from the typical form. The one commonly called silver +trout is a resident of the deep waters of the lake and grows to a large +size, specimens having been taken fully 30 inches long. + +Back, dark green; side and sides of head, coppery; lower jaw, yellow. +The spots are so profuse that many of them run into each other and +form long blotches in many instances. All of the fins are spotted, +those on the dorsal and the tail being oblong in shape. The belly also +is covered with many small spots. + + +LAKE TAHOE TROUT + +(Salmo henshawi) + +The other variety of trout found in Lake Tahoe, and the most common +one, is a very handsome fish. Its native habitat is the lakes of +Tahoe, Donner, Independence, Webber, Pyramid and others of the high +mountains, and the Truckee, Carson and Humboldt rivers. Specimens of +this trout have been taken that weighed fully six pounds. + +Back, green, varying in depth of color with the water; sides, light, +with a strong coppery tinge. The spots on this variety are generally +quite large above, but growing smaller below and reaching well onto +the belly. Its coppery sides and larger spots should prove a +distinguishing feature. Like all the cutthroats it has the red +markings below the jaws. + + +LAKE SOUTHERLAND TROUT + +(Salmo jordani) + +Another peculiar variety of the cutthroat trout is found in Lake +Southerland of Eastern Washington. Its distinguishing features are its +orange-red fins and intensely black spots which are very profuse. It +is a gamy fish and full of fight to the finish. + +In several of the lakes of Washington there are varieties of trout +differing in coloration and location of their spots that have been +given specific names by the naturalist, such as crescent trout, +beardslee trout and bathaecetor trout, all residents of Crescent lake. +But as they all belong to the cutthroats and vary each from the other +but little, further mention is unnecessary. + + +RIO GRANDE TROUT + +(Salmo spilurus) + +The Rio Grande trout, which is also a cutthroat, has a very limited +distribution within the territorial scope of this work. It is found in +the streams of the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Mountains of +Chihuahua, Mexico. Its head is shorter and more rounded than the other +species of the cutthroat, with a mouth also very large. The spots are +principally confined to the latter half of the body and most profuse on +the tail. + + +COLORADO RIVER TROUT + +(Salmo pleuriticus) + +The Colorado river trout, also a cutthroat, is the common trout of +Arizona, where it is found in nearly all the mountain streams of the +territory which flow to the Colorado river. It differs only from the +typical cutthroat by having its spots mostly on that part of the body +behind the dorsal fin; and the lower fins strongly marked with red. + + +DOLLY VARDEN TROUT + +(Salvelinus parki) + +The dolly varden is the only char native to the Pacific Coast, and +like the Eastern brook trout is not properly a trout. They both are +chars and belong to the genus =Salvelinus=--not to the =Salmo=. The +dolly varden often reaches a length of thirty to thirty-six inches, +and a weight of twelve pounds. It is a more slender fish than the +rainbow and not so rounded on the back. It is very largely a bottom +feeder and, therefore, rather of a sluggish nature. It rises but +little to the fly and makes a poor fight. + +Back, olive green but without the marble markings of the Eastern brook +trout. Spots on the back and sides are red, not very close together +and about the size of three-fourths of the diameter of the eye. The +lower fins have a reddish tinge, of varying hue in different waters. +It is a native of the McCloud river and has been little distributed. + + + [Illustration: EASTERN BROOK TROUT (Salvalinus fontinalis)] + + +EASTERN BROOK TROUT + +(Salvelinus fontinalis) + +The Eastern brook trout--properly a char--was introduced into the +coast waters several years ago and found our waters so congenial that +it must now be considered a resident species, for it is to be met with +in many of our streams, and thrives well in any of the higher +localities. The brook trout is a handsome fish with its brown and +olive marbled back, scarlet spots and salmon-colored sides. Its beauty +has challenged the cunning of the painter, and been immortalized by +the genius of the poet. Its gamy qualities stood for centuries as +beyond comparison until the bended rod and singing reel announced the +impalement of the native of the Golden West, with its mad rushes and +terrier-like fights; then the rosy beauty of the East had to yield the +palm to the rainbow-colored, fighting pirate of the Pacific. + +The brook trout may easily be distinguished from any of the other +trout of the coast by its marbled back and red spotted sides. Besides +this the whole fish is more of a pinkish color. It varies in size like +the others of the family, according to the waters it inhabits, +attaining about the same size as the rainbow in the same waters. + +=Tackle and Lure=--On account of over fishing the streams, and the +very bad habit of killing so many small fish, the majority of the +trout caught on the Pacific Coast are small. If there were more +sportsmen and less fishermen on our streams this condition would not +exist. For the sportsman will throw back all the little babies that +are not over six inches in length and allow them another year to grow. +And in this connection I want to say to the young boys and girls: be +true sportsmen and sportswomen and never fish for trout with anything +but artificial flies. You may not catch as many fish while you are +learning, but you will soon find that you are having ten times more +sport. As to the rod and line, you will never get it too light. The +longer you have been a flycaster, the lighter you will want them; and +the lighter they are the more sport you will have. + + + + + THE SALMON AND TROUT + + Order, ISOSPONDYLI + + Family, SALMONIDAE Subfamily, SALMONINAE + + Genus Species Common Names Range and Breeding Grounds + ------------- ------------- ----------------- --------------------------- + {Quinant + {tschawytscha {Chinook {From Monterey Bay north. + { + { {Blue-back + Oncorhynchus {nerka {Redfish {Sacramento river north. + { + {kisutch {Silver salmon From Monterey Bay north. + {keta {Dog salmon From Sacramento river + { { north. + {gorbuscha {Hump-back salmon From Sacramento river + { { north. + + {irideus {Rainbow trout From Lower California + { { north. + { + {irideus auga Golden trout Western slope of + {bonito Mt. Whitney. + { + {irideus Golden trout Western slope of + {rooseveltii Mt. Whitney. + { + {rivularis Steel-head trout From Ventura river + { north. + { + Salmo {clarki Cutthroat trout Central California + { north. + { + {tahoensis Silver trout Lake Tahoe. + { + {henshawi Tahoe trout {Lakes Tahoe, Donner, + { {Independence, Webber; + { {Truckee and Carson + { {rivers. + { + {jordani Lake Southerland Lake Southerland, + { Oregon. + { + {spilurus Rio Grande trout Tributaries of the + { Rio Grande river. + { + {plueriticus Colorado trout Tributaries of the + { Colorado river. + + {parki Dolly Varden McCloud river north. + Salvelinus { trout + { + {fontinalis Eastern brook {Acclimatized in + { trout {many streams of + { {the coast. + + + [Illustration: SMALL-MOUTHED BLACK BASS (Micropterus dolomieu)] + + +SMALL-MOUTHED BLACK BASS + +(Micropterus dolomieu) + +The black bass is not a native of the coast, but both species are now +so well established in our waters that they must now be classed as +permanent residents, for whether it is the crystal lake, the flowing +stream, the little pond, the artesian-fed reservoir or the brackish +slough, they thrive equally well and take any lure from the artificial +fly to the plebeian angleworm. + +Black bass are prolific breeders and rapid growers. A case is on +record where eight males and seven females were planted in a pond in +May and during the November following over 37,000 young fish were +taken from the same pond, each from three to four inches long. + +The black bass is a short, deep fish with a double dorsal fin; the +front half being stiff and spiney and the latter half soft and rayed. +The color is variable, but always dark and from a dirty green to a +blackish brown on the back, shading to a dirty white on the belly. The +gill covers are pointed at the back, with a darker spot on the point. +In the small-mouthed variety the end of the upper bone of the mouth +does not quite reach to the back edge of the eye, this with the scales +on the cheek numbering from 16 to 18, can always be relied upon as a +distinguishing diagnosis from the large-mouthed variety. + + +LARGE-MOUTHED BLACK BASS + +(Micropterus salmoides) + +There is but little difference in the habits of the large and +small-mouthed black bass, and but little difference in their +appearance, but the distinguishing features may easily be known. The +end of the upper bone of the mouth of the large-mouthed variety +extends behind the eye, and the rows of scales on the cheek number +only 10 or 12. + +While both species seem to do well any place, the large-mouthed are +better adapted to muddy bottomed ponds and sloughs and brackish +waters. The average weight of the adults of either species is about +three pounds, though individuals are often taken weighing from six to +seven. It is reported that specimens have been taken in the state of +California that have weighed eight and three-quarters and nine pounds. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The black bass will take any lure from the +artificial fly to the plebeian angleworm. In trolling, a medium sized, +Kewell spoon is to be preferred. I have always found, however, that +the best sport is to be had by casting with a large trout fly--the +color varying with the season--close to the edge of lily pads or +tules. The tackle for fly-fishing should be the same as for trout. +For trolling the rod should be shorter and stiffer. + + +SACRAMENTO PIKE + +(Ptychocheilus oregonensis) + +The Sacramento pike, known also by the names chappaul and squawfish, +and as lake trout in the San Joaquin Valley, while but little sought +after by the angler, can rightfully be classed as a game fish, for it +rises to the fly as readily as a trout and often gets cursed for doing +so. It is a very common fish in many of the lakes and streams from +Washington south to the San Joaquin Valley. Like nearly all fish its +size depends very much upon the waters in which it is found. In +Washington it has been known to reach a length of four feet, but it is +more commonly met with from eight to twenty inches. In shape it +resembles a trout, but with a slimmer and more pointed head. The +dorsal fin is large and located about midway between the snout and the +end of the tail; ventral fins, slightly in front of the dorsal and not +as large as the anal which is set about its length from the ventrals; +tail, strongly forked. + + + [Illustration: STRIPED BASS (Roccus lineatus)] + + +STRIPED BASS + +(Roccus lineatus) + +The striped bass, like many people who have crossed the continent to +California, readily appreciated the many advantages of a life on the +Pacific Coast. From a couple of shipments brought from the East in +1879 and 1882 they have grown to be one of the most important food +fishes of the state, about 3,000,000 pounds being annually marketed. +They were at first liberated in the Bay of San Francisco, but later +some effort has been made to distribute them, with the result that +they are now found in small quantities along the coast from Los +Angeles to Humboldt. + +From their fine size--three to forty pounds--they stand well with the +angler as a game fish and furnish good sport if the tackle is light +enough. Their rushes are not equal to those of the steelhead or the +salmon or the yellow-tail, nor do they fight with the same vigor or +with the same persistency. + +The striped bass is unlike any other coast fish. Its back is light +olive; sides, nearly white with seven or eight longitudinal stripes +running the whole length of the body, the dorsal fin is double, but +not joined like that of the black bass. The first half is spiny with +the after division rayed and soft. It is a salt water fish, making its +habitat in and near the mouths of rivers, and often running up them +for 100 miles or more. Use the same rod and line as for salmon. + + + + +THE GAME FISH OF THE SEA + + +There certainly is no better sport to be had any place with the trout, +salmon and bass than that furnished by the rivers, lakes and bays of +the Pacific Coast. To this excellent sport must be added another of +the most exciting character, and one distinctly Californian, and that +is the capture with rod and reel of the large sea fishes found in the +waters of the Santa Barbara Channel, and more especially of Catalina +Island. The great variety, gamy qualities and massive size of these +fishes furnish a sport at once exciting and exhilarating, and +challenging the keenest exercise of the ability of the sportsman. + +The world-wide fame of these waters, and the grand sport they furnish +have resulted in the establishment on Catalina Island of one of the +finest, if not the most perfect and best equipped angler's resort in +the world, from its launches and boatmen to its clubhouses and hotels, +and made it the Mecca of the expert anglers of the civilized nations +of the earth. + + + [Illustration: LEAPING TUNA (Thunnus thynnus)] + + +THE TUNA + +(Thunnus thynnus) + +The leaping tuna is the largest of the great game fishes of the +Pacific. It ranges from Monterey Bay, where it is sparingly met with, +south to Mexico. About Catalina Island they are found in great numbers +and of great size. The excellent sport their capture with rod and reel +furnishes, has drawn to the island the expert anglers of the world, +and resulted in the formation of the now famous "Tuna Club of +Catalina," with its members residing in all parts of the world; and of +which no one can become a member until he has landed a tuna of 100 +pounds or more with rod and reel and with a line not larger than a +24-thread Cuttyhunk. + +Professor Charles F. Holder, an expert angler with a national +reputation, and who has angled for all fishes and in all waters, says, +"The most sensational fish of these waters is the leaping tuna. It is +the tiger of the California seas, a living meteor, which strikes like +a whirlwind, and played with a rod that is not a billiard cue or a +club in stiffness, will give the average man the contest of his life." + +The record for the largest tuna caught with a rod and reel is held at +this writing by Col. C. P. Morehouse of Pasadena, who brought to gaff +a 251 pound tuna after a six-and-a-half-hours' fight, during which it +had towed his boat over ten miles. But even a greater fight than this +is recorded, but the fish was not landed. This fish fought for +seventeen hours and thirty minutes before its wonderful endurance and +splendid courage mastered the skill of the angler. Mr. C. B. Stockton +has to his credit a fight which not only shows the great endurance of +this angler but the remarkable vitality of these fish. This fight +lasted for sixteen hours and fifty-five minutes before the fish was +brought to gaff. It weighed 170 pounds and was taken on the regulation +tackle. + +Body, round and sloping rapidly from the middle to the caudal fin, and +very small and round at the base of the tail; tail divided into two +long forks; two dorsal fins, the first beginning just behind the +gill-covers with the pectoral and ventral fins a trifle farther back; +second dorsal fin smaller than the first and located nearly half way +between it and the caudal; anal fin midway between the ventral and the +caudal; bony, saw-like projections from the second dorsal fin, and +from the anal fin to the tail; color, blue on the back and silvery +white on the sides. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The flyingfish is about the only bait with which +the tuna can be caught. The hook, which must be attached to about 3-1/2 +or 4 inches or light chain and with a wire snell, is passed into the +mouth and down the belly of the flyingfish, the barb projecting about +midway of the fish. A small string is passed through the nose and +under lip and tied through a link of the chain to keep the mouth shut. +The speed of the boat should be from two to four miles an hour. In the +middle of the day, when the tunas are feeding in schools, the sinker +should be removed, and the lure skipped along the surface of the +water. This effect can be helped by the motion of the rod. + +The Catalina Tuna Club has adopted the following tackle +specifications: + + For Tuna and Swordfish--Rod to be of wood, consisting of a + butt and tip, and to be not shorter than 6 feet, 9 inches + over all. Tip not less than 5 feet in length, and to weigh + not more than 16 ounces. Line not to exceed standard + 24-thread. + + + [Illustration: ALBACORE (Germo alalunga)] + + +THE ALBACORE + +(Germo alalunga) + +The albacore is another genus of the same family, and reaches a weight +of 40 to 80 pounds; averaging 25 pounds. It is seldom seen as far +north as San Francisco, but is abundant from Santa Barbara south to +Central America. Like all of the family it is a gamy fish, and affords +good sport to the angler. In general shape and appearance it resembles +the tuna, but will always be distinguished by its long, sword-like +pectoral fins that start from near the gills, and a trifle lower than +the eye, and reach beyond the second dorsal fin. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The albacore will take almost any lure from a +sardine to a white rag. The speed of the boat can also be varied very +much. I have known them to be caught on a hand line trolled behind a +coast steamer. About three miles an hour, however, will give the best +results. The following light tackle specifications of the Tuna Club +will be found quite satisfactory for the average albacore: + + Rod to be of wood, consisting of a butt and tip, and to be + not shorter than 6 feet, over all. Butt to be not over 14 + inches in length. Tip not less than 5 feet in length, and to + weigh not more than 6 ounces. Line not to exceed standard + 9-thread. + + +THE YELLOW-FIN ALBACORE + +(Germo microptera) + +Another of the =Scrombridae= family, and very closely allied to the +albacore, is the yellow-fin albacore. This fish has erroneously been +called "yellow-fin tuna." It does not belong to the genus =Thunnus= +any more than does the albacore or the bonito. It is only a visitor to +the California waters, and often does not make its appearance for one +or two seasons at a time. They are common to the coasts of Japan and +the Hawaiian Islands, and are supposed to migrate with the Japanese +current. This species fights altogether on the surface, but lacks the +sterling gamy qualities of the tuna. + +In shape it is built very much on the lines of the albacore, but with +its pectoral fins only extending back to about half way between the +anal and ventral, the other fins are placed the same as the albacore, +and all except the pectoral strongly tinged with bright lemon; +pectoral fin is more of a bright brown; eye, large and prominent. + +A few have been taken weighing as much as 40 pounds and one even 65 +pounds. The average, however, is about 30 pounds. + + + [Illustration: BONITO (Sarda chilensis)] + + +THE BONITO, OR SKIPJACK + +(Sarda chilensis) + +To the angler who is not looking for the largest of game, the +bonito--known as skipjack to the Catalina anglers--is possibly the +most interesting of the ocean game fishes. Its beautiful metallic +colors, its rapid movements, and pleasing habit of always fighting on +the surface, and rarely, if ever sulking, makes it a most attractive +game to the discriminating angler. + +The bonito also belongs to the =Scrombidae= family, and ranges from +Point Conception to Mexico and south through the tropics. + +Body, rounded, tapering rapidly to the tail, which is strongly forked, +but not so much as the albacore; pectoral fins, short and placed +opposite the eye; dorsal fin, double, with saw-like ridges from the +second dorsal and the anal fins to the tail, the same as in all of +this family. Color, dark blue on the back, with a metallic luster; +sides, silvery white, with dark longitudinal lines. Weight, from six +to twelve pounds. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The light tackle specifications of the Tuna Club, +given for albacore cannot be improved upon for these fish. + + + [Illustration: SPANISH MACKEREL (Scomberomorus concolor)] + + +SPANISH MACKEREL + +(Scomberomorus concolor) + +This is another of the =Scrombidae= family. It ranges north to Monterey +Bay, where it makes its appearance in September, remaining until +November, when it goes south to the Santa Barbara channel; remaining +in these waters and about Catalina Island during most of the winter. +This fish is called bonito by many of the Catalina anglers, which is a +misnomer, as it is a much slimmer fish than the bonito. + +The pectoral fins are small and located a little above the center of +the body and close to the gill covers; front dorsal starts just above +the base of the pectorals and extend along the back for a distance a +little more than the length of the head, and nearly meeting the second +dorsal, which is about the same width as its heighth; ventral fins, a +little in front of the pectorals and rather small; front of the anal +fin under the back of the second dorsal. Back, steel blue; sides, +silvery. Oblique lines, of the darker color of the back, running +forward and downward to a little below the lateral line. + +Weight, usually from nine to twelve pounds, though they occasionally +attain a weight of eighteen pounds. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The same as for the bonito. + + + [Illustration: CHUB MACKEREL OR GREEN-BACK (Scomber japonicus)] + + +THE CHUB MACKEREL + +(Scomber japonicus) + +The chub mackerel, the smallest of the =Scombridae= family, approaches +very closely the true mackerel of the East. It is hard to find a fish +of any variety more delicious than a chub mackerel, caught from the +yacht and placed on the broiler as soon as it quits flapping. They are +occasionally found as far north as Monterey bay, but their real range +is from the Santa Barbara channel south. With reasonably light trout +tackle they put up a gamy and interesting fight. + +Back, bluish green, mottled with irregular darker streaks, some of +which pass below the lateral line; first dorsal fin quite high, and +about the distance of its height in front of the second dorsal; second +dorsal and anal about the same size and nearly opposite each other; +tail forked, but not so broadly as the bonito. Weight, from one-half +to three pounds. + +=Tackle and Lure=--Trout tackle and spoon will furnish interesting +sport. But they will take any lure. + + + [Illustration: YELLOW-TAIL (Seriola dorsalis)] + + +THE YELLOW-TAIL + +(Seriola dorsalis) + +The yellow-tail belongs to the family =Carangidae=, the same to which +belong the pompanos, and is one of the gamiest of sea fishes. In fact, +it is generally said by experts who have fished for all varieties and +in all waters, both salt and fresh, that the yellow-tail of Catalina +is the gamiest fish, pound for pound, that swims. Whether this be true +or not, it is certainly one of the hardest and most persistent +fighters found anywhere and furnishes the angler with rod and reel +from an hour to two hours of lively sport before he can bring it to +gaff. One well-known writer on angling subjects says: "It never knows +when it is dead." While the average catch will run from ten to thirty +pounds, specimens have been taken weighing sixty-five pounds. It is +occasionally met with in Monterey bay, but its range is from the Santa +Barbara channel south, where it is caught the larger portion of the +year. + +Grayish blue on the back; sides, a dull silver, with a yellowish buff +stripe along the lateral line; fins, green, with a strong yellowish +tinge; tail, yellowish buff. Scales small, with the head bare, except +a small patch on the cheeks. Pectoral fin on a level with the eye and +small; ventral under the center of the pectoral; caudal, slim and +forked. The dorsal fin is double, the front being very small with +spines and the second half more than twice as high; dorsal and anal +fins continue in a low membrane to very near the tail. Body, +elliptical and very small at the base of the caudal fin. + +=Tackle and Lure=--Same as for salmon or albacore. + + + + + Order, ACANTHROPTERI. + + Family, SCROMBIDAE + + Genus Species Common Names Range + ------------- ------------- ----------------- -------------------------- + + Thunnus thynnus Leaping tuna {From Coronado Islands + {to Monterey Bay. + + {microptera Yellow-fin {Irregular visitors to the + { albacore {waters of Catalina Island + Germo { {and adjacent mainland. + { + {alalunga Albacore From Point Conception + south. + + Sarda chilensis Bonito From Santa Barbara south. + + Scomberomorus concolor Spanish mackerel From Monterey Bay south. + + Scomber japonicus Chub mackerel From Point Conception + south. + + + [Illustration: CALIFORNIA SWORDFISH (Tetrapturus mitsukuri)] + + +THE CALIFORNIA SWORDFISH + +(Tetrapturus mitsukuri) + +By many anglers for large and exciting game, the California swordfish +is pronounced the king of all game fishes. Certainly they put up a +very determined and exciting fight. In size they average about 180 +pounds, though one has been taken at Catalina by W. C. Boschen that +weighed 355 pounds. When a swordfish is hooked its rushes are +desperate, even reckless, and at times dangerous to the angler. In its +determined efforts to free itself from the impaling hook, it threshes +the waters into foam, repeatedly leaping into the air, where the +sunlight scintillating upon the purple of its back and silvery sides +adds the charm of color to the excitement of the contest. It is safe +to say that there is no fish, either in the salt or fresh waters, that +is so constantly on the surface and in the air during its struggles +for freedom as is the California swordfish. Thirty, forty and even +fifty clean leaps into the sunlight by the one fish have been recorded +in its desperate struggle to baffle the skill of the angler. + +The snout of the swordfish is continued into a long, sharp bone, which +measured from the back of the mouth is about one-fourth of the length +of the fish from the mouth to the base of the tail. The under jaw is +also a sharp projecting bone about half the length of the sword. The +dorsal fin rises sharply from the top of the head to a height nearly +equaling the depth of the body, the latter part curving downward and +continuing along the back to nearly the center of the body; tail +divided into two long, slim forks; second dorsal and anal near the +tail and nearly opposite each other; ventral fin below the terminal of +the first dorsal; pectoral fins rather long and located close to the +gill-covers; two long, slender feelers projecting from the center of +the throat just below the base of the pectorals; eye very large and +bright dark blue. + +Purplish green on the back, with blue perpendicular stripes fading +into the silvery sides; fins, dark purple. + +=Tackle and Lure=--Same as for tuna. + + +THE BLACK SEA BASS, OR JEW-FISH + +(Stereolepis gigas) + +This monster of the ocean, commonly called jew-fish, seems to be in +all respects a gigantic black bass, closely resembling the +small-mouthed of the fresh waters, and no further description will be +necessary for anyone who may be fortunate enough to land one to know +to what species it belongs. In fact, he will know just what he has +hooked long before the monster shows himself on the top of the water. +This huge black sea bass seems to have a very restricted range, for it +is only known from the Coronado Islands to the Farallones. They are +very plentiful around Catalina Island, where they are usually taken +with hand lines. They can not be called a game fish, though they are +now being taken with rod and reel at Catalina and furnish a kind of +"heavy-weight" sport for those who like it. One weighing over 436 +pounds has been taken on a tuna rod and twenty-one thread line. The +writer saw one several years ago that was taken on a hand line that +weighed 720 pounds and was over seven feet in length. They are fish of +great strength and will tow a boat with ease at a considerable speed. + +=Tackle=--The same as for tuna, with fish bait. + + +THE BARACUDA + +(Sphyraena argentea) + +The baracuda is a common fish from San Francisco south to Mexico. In +the Santa Barbara channel and about Catalina and San Diego it is +largely taken by trolling with light tackle, when it affords really +good sport. It is a long, slim fish, reaching three and even three and +a half feet in length, the usual catch being from two to two and a +half feet in length. + +Head long and slender; eye high up on the head and nearly half way +between the snout and the back of the gill covers. Pectoral fin just +below the lateral line; first dorsal spinous and nearly opposite the +ventral; second dorsal about midway between the first and the tail; +anal almost directly under the second dorsal. + +Bluish brown on the back, grading into white on the belly. + +=Tackle and Lure=--Same as for bonito. + + + + +WHITING and CROAKERS + + +There are three other species of fish which inhabit the surf of the +Pacific from Point Conception, south to Mexico, that, while they can +not be properly termed game fishes, furnish the angler fine sport +because of the gamy fight they make on light tackle. These are the +whiting (=Menticirrhus undulatus=), the spot-fin croaker (=Roncador +stearnsi=) and the yellow-fin croaker (=Umbrina roncador=). The first +of these is known locally by the names of corbina and surf-fish, +which are bad misnomers. The name, surf-fish, is given by the +ichthyologist to a species of perch, and the courbina belongs to the +genus =Pogonias= and is not found as far north as the California +coast. These names should be abandoned by the anglers and the proper +English name of whiting used. The word courbina is Italian and means +croaker, from the Latin, corvus, crow. + + + [Illustration: WHITE SEA BASS (Cygonoscion nobilis)] + + +THE WHITE SEA BASS + +(Cygonoscion nobilis) + +The white sea bass is purely a California species, ranging from the +Coronado Islands to about the latitude of San Francisco. They are +caught trolling and make a gamy fight on rod and reel. Twenty to forty +pound fish are common and they have been caught weighing seventy-five +pounds. + +Light bluish on the back and white on the sides, with many small +specks; dark spot at the base of the pectoral fins. Head, long, with +pointed snout, and with the scales of the head running nearly to its +end. Dorsal fin double, the first half having ten spines and the +latter twenty-one or twenty-two soft rays. Anal with two spines and +nine rays. Tail but little forked. + +=Tackle=--The same as for salmon or yellow-tail. + + + [Illustration: CALIFORNIA WHITING OR SAND SUCKER + (Menticirrhus undulatus)] + + +CALIFORNIA WHITING OR SAND-SUCKER + +(Menticirrhus undulatus) + +This species is common to the sand beaches of the Pacific, from Point +Conception south to Guaymas, Mexico. It feeds during the larger part +of the year in the surf, and is caught from the wharfs or by long +casts with heavy sinkers from the beach. The whiting appears on the +California coast in two varieties, the =undulatus= proper and a +subspecies which I think has never been classified. At any rate, the +difference seems sufficient to entitle it to a subspecifies +classification, for the mouth curves strongly downward, and, +therefore, does not extend so far back as the undulatus proper. The +tail also differs, in having both upper and lower lobes rounded, +instead of the upper being square as in the =undulatus=. + +Head, about one-fifth of the entire length; snout, rather pointed, and +projecting beyond the mouth; mouth reaching to the center of the eye; +small barbel on the lower lip. Dorsal fin, double, the first with from +seven to nine spines, the second soft and reaching from the first to +within about the length of the head from the tail; pectoral fins near +the gills and about the width of the eye below the center of the body; +ventral fins, a little behind the pectoral; anal fin under the center +of the second dorsal; dorsal fins dark; pectoral, ventral and anal +fins, light with darker tips; tail of the =undulatus= proper, upper +lobe square and lower lobe rounded. Back, bluish brown, shading to +white on the belly; scales, small. Below the lateral line are a number +of small spots forming irregular lines running backward and upward. +Size, rarely exceeding eight pounds. + +The illustration is of the variety that I have referred to as a +subspecies. + +=Tackle and Lure=--The three-six tackle. Rod to be of wood, consisting +of a butt and tip, and to be not shorter than six feet over all; +weight of entire rod not to exceed six ounces; butt not to be over +twelve inches in length. Line not to exceed standard 6-thread. Lure, +sandflies, mussels or clams. + + + [Illustration: YELLOW-FIN CROAKER (Umbrina roncador)] + + +YELLOW-FIN CROKER + +(Umbrina roncador) + +The yellow-fin croaker is found in the surf or near it along the sandy +beaches from some distance north of Point Conception south to +Manzanillo, Mexico, where it is known by the name "corvina con aletas +amarillas," or "croaker with yellow fins." + +Head, about one-fifth the whole length; snout, very blunt, with a +small barbel on the lower lip. Dorsal fin double, the first half with +seven or eight spines, the longest about two-thirds the length of the +head; second half rayed and about two-thirds the height of the first, +and reaching to about half the length of the head from the tail; +pectoral fins short, and placed close to the gills and a little below +the center of the body; ventral fins just below the pectoral and a +trifle longer; anal fin, below the center of the second dorsal; tail, +nearly square. Back, greenish brown, with a metallic luster and giving +a pinkish tinge in some lights; sides, shading to white on the belly. +A few irregular spots on the sides forming faint lines. + + +SPOT-FIN CROAKER + +(Roncador stearnsi) + +The spot-fin croaker appears in and near the surf of the Pacific Coast +from Point Conception south to Mexico. =Roncador= is Spanish and +signifies snorer. This species resembles the yellow-fin very closely, +but is usually lighter in color and more metallic in appearance. It +can always be distinguished from the yellow-fin by the distinct black +spots at the base of the pectoral fins. + +=Tackle and Lure=--Same as for whiting. + + + + +THE TUNA CLUB OF CATALINA ISLAND + + +I cannot close these articles on fish and fishing without a few words +of commendation of the Tuna Club of Catalina Island. From the very +inception of this organization it has striven to encourage the use of +light tackle by all anglers. To this end, it has adopted three classes +of tackle specifications for the taking of the several kinds of fish +found in the waters surrounding its island home, and provided a number +of cups and buttons to be awarded each year to anglers who land fishes +of certain weights, with such tackle as is prescribed therefore by its +rules. This campaign, which it has so energetically urged in behalf of +scientific angling, has worked wonders in its section of the Coast. +The old methods of landing fish, even of the gamiest quality, by the +employment of nothing more than brute force at the end of an +unbreakable cable, has almost disappeared in its section, and +scientific angling with the lightest possible tackle has taken its +place. But the good work of the Tuna Club has not been confined to the +boundaries of its own section. Anglers from other sections of the +country visiting Catalina, and seeing the additional pleasure derived +from the use of light tackle, have become enthusiastic advocates of +this more scientific means, and returning to their homes have spread +the propaganda there. + +To the stiff pole and chalk-line fishermen of confirmed habits I have +nothing to say. But to the younger generation who have not yet grown +grey in the practice of bad habits, I wish to urge upon them the use +of the lightest tackle possible, as a means of developing greater +skill and deriving greater pleasure from their favorite sport. And +this is equally true whether it be a tuna or a trout. + + + + + Order, ACANTHROPTERI + + Family, SCIAENIDAE + + Genus Species Common Names Range + ------------ ---------- ------------------- -------------------------- + {California whiting {From Point Conception + Menticirrhus undulatus {or sand sucker {south to Guaymas, Mexico. + + {From Point Conception + Roncador stearnsi Spot-fin croaker {south to Manzanillo, + {Mexico. + + {From Point Conception + Umbrina roncador Yellow-fin croaker {south to Manzanillo, + {Mexico. + + {From San Francisco south + Cygonoscion nobilis White sea bass {to Coronado Islands. + + + + +ATTRACTIVE FISHING RESORTS + + +It is possible that the day may come when man will be so engrossed +with the pursuit of the dollar that the call of the wild will no +longer quicken the pulsations of his heart. But until that time does +come, the wild creatures of nature, whose pursuit affords the most +healthful and exhilarating pastime, will continue to lure him to their +haunts. + + "To sit on rocks and gaze o'er flood and fell; + To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, + Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, + And mortal feet hath ne'er, or rarely, been," + +will long continue to present a charm to all who love the sublimity of +the mountains, the beauty of the flower-decked fields, or the +awe-inspiring grandeur of the ocean. + +To draw a bead on the antlered buck; to stop the flight of the gamy +quail; to land the denizen of the mountain stream, or troll the +ocean's depth for the tuna, the salmon or the yellow-tail, furnishes a +pastime whose recollection draws one back again and again to sit on +nature's lap and listen to her teachings. The recollection of these +pleasures are locked in the treasure vaults of the memory, where the +wearings of time can never erase them; for when the once firm step +that carried him proudly up the mountain's side shall falter and +become a palsied wreck of time, and the eye, dimmed by the accumulated +mists of years, shall see clearly, only in retrospect, he will sit by +his fire-side in slippered feet, and, gazing down the long vistas of +the past, live over and over again in his reveries the pleasures +furnished by the forest, the field, the stream and the ocean. + +Nothing would please me better than to describe herein the many places +where, during a residence on the Pacific Coast of more than half a +century, I have enjoyed these sports in the fullest degree. But even +the merest mention of the almost innumerable hunting grounds and +trout streams, and the hundreds of mountain and sea-side resorts, from +Washington to Mexico, would, of itself, make a volume of no mean size. +I am, therefore, restricted to the mention of only a few of the more +attractive places where good sea fishing can be found, coupled with +such accommodations and surroundings as appeal to the discriminating +pleasure seeker. + + +CATALINA ISLAND. + +Almost due south of Los Angeles, and about twenty miles from the +mainland, is the far-famed island of Catalina. + +It is still a debatable question whether it was the leaping tuna that +made Catalina famous, or whether it was its many attractions, its +facilities for sea fishing and its splendid accommodations, that gave +the sport of tuna fishing a world-wide reputation. + +This beautiful island, with its diversified amusements; its grand +scenery; its wonderful drives; its surf less sea bathing; its marine +views; its perfect equipment for sea fighting, and its splendidly +appointed hotel, has made it the Mecca to which the enthusiastic +anglers of the world make their regular pilgrimages, for it seems to +be the favored habitat of all the game fishes of the ocean, except the +salmon and the striped bass. + +Catalina is the home of the Tuna Club, the greatest fishing +organization of the world, with its international membership pledged +to the promotion of scientific angling. It is here where the world's +records are made, and the greatest feats in landing the fighting +monsters of the sea have been achieved. + +In its variety of game fishes I know of no place to equal it. The +leaping tuna, the albacore, the Spanish mackerel, the bonito, the chub +mackerel, the white sea bass, the yellow-tail, and the California +swordfish, the sensational fighter of the ocean, are all here and +ready to give the light tackle angler the most exciting contest of his +life. + +When the angler waits for the tides, he wants some other divertisement +to occupy his mind. At Catalina he finds a pastime suitable to every +hour, to every fancy, to every mood. He can bathe in its crystal +waters; he can stroll along its pebbly beaches or climb its hills in +search of wild goats; he can ride through its charming valleys, over +its lofty peaks and around the dizzy heights that overlook the ocean; +he can increase the elasticity of his step on its tennis courts, or +exercise his muscle on its golf links. He can view the ancient relics +of a departed people, study the strange and curious forms of ocean +life in the extensive aquariums, or comfortably seated in a +glass-bottomed boat, marvel at the extravagant splendor of the marine +gardens, hundreds of feet below the surface, where sirens sing and +mermaids are said to dwell. And, when he has gone the rounds, and +longs again for more exciting sport, well--then he can go fishing. + + + [Illustration: HOTEL DEL MONTE] + + +DEL MONTE + +Monterey Bay is pre-eminently the fishing ground for the Pacific +salmon. As these gamy fish seek their spawning grounds, after their +four-years' sojourn in unknown waters, they enter Monterey Bay at its +southern headland and follow around it at varying distances from the +shore. During this season the Hotel Del Monte, with its splendid +appointments and scenic beauty, is the favored Mecca of the salmon +anglers. Here boats with experienced boatmen, and a good supply of +tackle and bait are always to be had. The contour of the peninsula, +with its high mountain crest, forming the southern shore of the bay, +is such that the strong winds of the open ocean is cut off from the +Del Monte side, allowing the waters of this side of the bay to retain +that smoothness that makes either boating or fishing a delight. This, +too, may have something to do with the feeding habits of the salmon, +thereby accounting for the usually large catches made by the guests of +the hotel. + +While the Pacific Coast furnishes fine sport for the angler, both in +its fresh and salt waters, with an infinite variety of gamy fishes, +salmon fishing must be classed as one of the most satisfying. An +angler likes to see his adversary and know with what he is contending. +The salmon is a surface fighter, leaping high into the air when he +finds himself impaled; and this sight of his beautiful sides, +scintillating in the sunlight, quickens the pulsations of the heart of +the angler and gives zest to the sport. + +Each section of the coast has its fish and fishing peculiar to itself; +but I care not from what section the expert angler may come, he will +enjoy the salmon fishing of Monterey Bay. He will do more; for the +Hotel Del Monte is one of the delightful show places of the Pacific +Coast. Space will not admit of an enumeration of the many interesting +sights here to be seen. There are glimpses of California life a +hundred years ago by the side of picturesque golf links and tennis +courts. A modern hostelry hid away in the center of a primeval park. A +seventeen-mile drive through shady mountain dells and along weirdly +beautiful ocean coves and rocky crags. The marine gardens as seen at +the bottom of the ocean through glass-bottomed boats. These, and many +other interesting relics and inspiring scenes are the side attractions +for the salmon angler who visits Del Monte. + + + [Illustration: FISHING PIER, DEL MAR] + + +DEL MAR. + +Del Mar is one of the few beach resorts where the pleasure-seeker can +divide his time among the whole range of out-door amusements. The long +pleasure wharf and the miles of just that character of beach where the +whiting, the croaker, the chub mackerel and the young sea bass love to +feed, offer the finest of still fishing. If he is ambitious for a +contest with the big fighting fishes of the deeper waters, he can take +a boat and soon be floating over the haunts of the yellow-tail, the +albacore and the bonito. If he prefers the report of the gun to the +music of the reel, a short walk back from the hotel brings him into +the country of the game little quail. + +Again, he can, by a short ride to the ponds and lagoons, change from +upland to waterfowl shooting. + +But the gamut is not yet run; for within easy reach are several +mountain streams where he can cast his flies on their waters with good +returns. And, if he seeks to pit his cunning and his skill against the +watchful deer, a pleasant and interesting ride over a good motor road, +takes him into the wilds of the Cuyamaca mountains. + +But the sportsman in his outings will always think of his comforts as +well as his sports, and for those Del Mar has planned with a lavish +hand. + +It is not all of the enjoyment of a good meal to have a choice +selection of viands, admirably cooked by an experienced chef, and +served in the most approved manner. It is not all of a good night's +rest, after the fatigue of a day's sport, to have lain on a downy bed +in a richly appointed room. Agreeable service; the affability of the +management; the pervading air of welcome; the society of congenial +companions; the beauty of the situation; the inspiring views; the +charm of the many scenes that each day photographs upon the memory, +adds a relish to the menu which no chef can compound, and a +restfulness to one's slumber that the ingenuity of no upholsterer can +supply. For a part of these delightful adjuncts to one's enjoyment, I +am willing to give credit to the excellent taste of the founders of +Del Mar. But the beauty of its surroundings, the possibility of its +charming individuality, must be credited to those exclusive gifts +which nature first bestowed upon it. + +Del Mar is twenty-two miles from San Diego and 111 from Los Angeles, +and can be reached from either of these cities by the Santa Fe +railroad, or by a good motor road, distinguished for its many +interesting views. + + + [Illustration: AQUARIUM, VENICE] + + +VENICE + +That there is but one Venice in America is the verdict of all who have +visited this charming sea-side resort. Its oriental architecture, and +its numerous canals, on whose surface floats in Italian ease, real +Venetian gondolas, give it an atmosphere suggestive of the +Mediterranean. But it is not of its Venetian aspect, nor its endless +chain of amusements, from its surf and plunge bathing to its +rollicking scenic railroad and hair-raising dash through its cavernous +rapids, or its hundred or more interesting pastimes for the pleasure +seeker, that the attention of the reader is herein directed. + +It is to those forms of sea life that contribute to his pleasure that +his attention is called, for the waters of Venice furnish a wonderful +variety of these, as will be seen by a visit to the large aquarium +maintained on the pier by the University of Southern California. From +the wharfs he can angle for smelt, mackerel and perch, as well as for +halibut and other bottom fishes. From the beach, by bait-casting into +the surf, he is rewarded with croaker, whiting (erroneously called +corbina), and young sea bass, locally known as sea trout. + +By taking a launch and going out into the open water, his ambition to +bring to gaff the larger species of the deeper sea can be gratified +with strikes from the tuna, the albacore, the bonito, the mackerel and +the yellow-tail that will give him a contest worthy of his metal. + +These launch trips upon the bosom of the open ocean, are among the +chiefest pleasures of our beach resorts, for the angler not only finds +keen sport in the landing of these larger fishes, but an exhilarating +recreation, restful to the mind and healthful to the body. + +Then, when his day's sport is over, whether his outing is only for a +day, or for the several weeks of his vacation, His comforts are to be +considered. In these Venice offers as wide a range as it does in its +amusements. At the splendidly appointed Hotel St. Marks he can find +the most luxurious accommodations; he can dine at one of its +deservedly popular cafes; or, if he wants to spend his vacation in +restful quietude with his family, he can take a furnished villa on the +bank of one of the canals, hidden away in a wealth of flowers and +forest trees, with the sea breeze tempered to a balmy zephyr. To this +sequestered home he can bring his fish, fresh from the sea, and +broiling them to his particular taste, enjoy the last delight of the +angler's day of sport. + + + + + INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS + + + DOVES-- + Mourning Dove, 40 + White-winged Dove, 40 + + DUCKS-- + American Golden-eye, 84 + American Scaup, 78 + Barrow's Golden-eye, 90 + Blue-bill, 78 + Butter-ball, 86 + Canvasback, 74 + Gadwall, 56 + Harlequin, 86 + Mallard, 54 + Pin-tail, 66 + Red-head, 76 + Ring-neck, 80 + Ruddy, 82 + Scoter, White-winged, 91 + Shoveler, 68 + Spoon-bill, 68 + Sprig, 66 + Teal, Blue-winged, 64 + Teal, Cinnamon, 62 + Teal, Green-winged, 60 + Widgeon, 58 + Wire-tail, 82 + Wood Duck, 70 + + FISHES-- + Albacore, 155 + Bass, Small-mouthed, Black, 149 + Bass, Striped, 151 + Bass, White Sea, 167 + Bonito, 157 + Croaker, Yellow-fin, 171 + Mackerel, Chub, 161 + Mackerel, Spanish, 159 + Salmon, Chinook, 130 + Sand-sucker, 169 + Skip-jack, 157 + Swordfish, 165 + Trout, Eastern Brook, 145 + Trout, Rainbow, 135 + Tuna, Leaping, 153 + Whiting, California, 169 + Yellow-tail, 163 + + GEESE-- + Black Brant, 104 + Brown Brant, 94 + Cackling Goose, 94 + Canada Goose, 94 + Emperor Goose, 102 + Honker, 94 + Little White Goose, 98 + Ross Goose, 98 + Speckle-breast, 100 + Snow Goose, 98 + White-cheeked Goose, 96 + White-fronted Goose, 100 + + GROUSE-- + Oregon Ruffed, 46 + Sage Hen, 48 + Sharp-tail, 50 + Sooty, 42 + + PHEASANT, Mongolian, 36 + + PIGEON, Band-tailed, 40 + + QUAIL-- + Arizona, 18 + Bobwhite, Virginia, 28 + California Valley, 14 + Elegant, 22 + Gambel, 18 + Massena, 26 + Montezuma, 26 + Mountain, 10 + Plumed, 10 + Scaled, 20 + + SHORE BIRDS-- + Avocet, 124 + Curlew, Sickle-bill, 117 + Curlew, Hudsonian, 117 + Dowitcher, 111 + Godwit, 115 + Ibis, White-fronted, Glossy, 107 + Marlin, 115 + Plover, Black-bellied, 120 + Plover, Mountain, 122 + Plover, Ring-neck, 122 + Plover, Snowy, 122 + Snipe, Jack or Wilson, 111 + Snipe, Red-Breasted, 111 + Yellow-legs, 113 + + TURKEY, Mexican Wild, 32 + + + + + INDEX + + + ANATIDAE, family, 9 + + ANATINAE, subfamily, 73 + + ANSERENAE, subfamily, 53 + + ANSERES, order, 9 + + + BAY AND SEA DUCKS, 75 + + + CHARADRIDAE, family, 11 + + COLUMBIDAE, family, 11 + + CYGNINAE, subfamily, 11 + + + DOVES-- + Mourning Dove, 41 + White-winged Dove, 41 + + DUCKS-- + American Golden-eye, 85 + American Scaup, 79 + Barrow's Golden-eye, 87 + Blue-bill, 79 + Butter-ball, 87 + Canvasback, 75 + FulvOus Tree Duck, 72 + Gadwall, 61 + Harlequin Duck, 89 + Lesser Scaup Duck, 81 + Little Blue-bill, 81 + Long-tailed Duck, 59 + Mallard, 59 + Old Squaw, 89 + Pin-tail, 69 + Red-head, 77 + Ring-neck, 81 + Ruddy Duck, 83 + Scoters, 89 + Shoveler, 69 + Spoon-bill, 69 + Sprig, 69 + Subfamily, genus & species, fresh-water ducks, 73 + Subfamily, genus & species, salt-water ducks, 92 + Teal-- + Blue-wing, 67 + Cinnamon, 65 + Green-wing, 63 + Widgeon, 61 + Wire-tail, 83 + Wood Duck, 71 + + FISHES-- + Albacore, 156 + Yellow-fin, 156 + Bass-- + Black, Large-mouth, 148 + Black, Small-mouth, 148 + Striped, 150 + White Sea, 168 + Baracuda, 166 + Bonito, 158 + Croaker--family, genus and species, 173 + Spot-fin, 172 + Yellow-fin, 170 + Jewfish, 166 + Mackerel--family, genus and species, 162 + Chub, 160 + Green-back, 160 + Spanish, 158 + Sacramento Pike, 150 + Salmon, 131 + Salmon--family, genus and species, 162 + Blue-back, 133 + Chinook, 132 + Dog, 134 + Hump-back, 134 + King, 132 + Redfish, 133 + Silver, 134 + Sock-eye, 133 + Sand-sucker, 168 + Skip-jack, 158 + Swordfish, 164 + Trout--family, genus and species, 147 + Colorado River, 144 + Cutthroat, 142 + Dolly Varden, 144 + Eastern Brook, 144 + Golden, 138 + Lake Tahoe, 143 + Lake Southerland, 143 + Rainbow, 136 + Rio Grande, 143 + Silver, 142 + Steel-head, 140 + Tuna, 152 + Whiting, California, 168 + Yellow-tail, 160 + + FISHING RESORTS, 174 + Catalina Island, 175 + Del Mar, 179 + Del Monte, 177 + Venice, 181 + + + GAME BIRDS OF THE PACIFIC COAST, 9 + + GAME FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST, 129 + + GAME FISHES OF THE SEA, 152 + + GEESE OF THE PACIFIC COAST, 93 + + GEESE, FAMILY, GENUS AND SPECIES, 53 + Black Sea Brant, 103 + Brown Brant, 97 + Cackling Goose, 97 + Canada Goose, 93 + Emperor Goose, 101 + Honker, 93 + Hutchins Goose, 97 + Little White Goose, 99 + Ross Goose, 99 + Speckle-breast, 101 + Snow Goose, 99 + White Goose, 99 + White-cheeked Goose, 95 + White-fronted Goose, 101 + + GROUSE--Family, genus and species, 43 + Canadian Ruffed, 47 + Oregon Ruffed, 45 + Sage Hen, 51 + Sharp-tail, 52 + Sooty, 44 + Spruce, 49 + + + PHEASANT, Mongolian, 35 + + PIGEON, Wild, 39 + + PIGEONS AND DOVES, 39 + + + QUAIL--Family, genus and species, 11, 30 + Arizona, 19 + Bobwhite, 27 + Bobwhite, Masked, 29 + California Valley, 15 + Elegant, 24 + Gambel, 19 + Massena, 25 + Montezuma, 25 + Mountain, 12 + Lower California, 13 + Plumed, 12 + San Pedro Mountain, 13 + Scaled, 21 + Chestnut-bellied, 23 + + + SHORE BIRDS--Family, genus and species, 110, 118 + Avocet, 125 + Cranes, Rails and Gallinules, 109 + Curlew, Sickle-bill, 119 + Hudsonian, 119 + Dowitcher, 112 + Godwit, 114 + Herons and Ibises, 108 + Marlin, 114 + Plover, family, genus and species, 126 + Black-bellied, 121 + Mountain, 121 + Ring-neck, 123 + Snowy, 123 + Wilson, 125 + Rails, 109 + Sandpiper, Red-backed, 116 + Snipe, family, genus and species, 118 + Jacksnipe, 110 + Red-breasted, 112 + Wilson, 110 + Stilt, Black-necked, 127 + Willet, 116 + Yellow-legs, 114 + + SWANS, 105 + + + TUNA CLUB, 172 + + TURKEYS, Wild, 31 + Mexican, Wild, 31 + + + WATERFOWL, 55 + + WADERS AND SHORE BIRDS, 106 + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | FISHING TACKLE | + | | + | Chas. H. Kewell Co. | + | 436-438 Market St. | + | San Francisco, Cal. | + | | + | Manufacturers and Patentees | + | | + | Trout Flies-Dry & Wet | + | | + | KEWELL-STEWART SPOON Kewart | + | Reg. U. S. Patent Office | + | KEWELL-LAFORGE SPINNER | + | | + | Write for Catalogue P | + | | + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | [Illustration: Man in boat fishing]| + | | + | | + | Tufts-Lyon Arms Co. | + | | + | Sporting Goods | + | GOOD SHOOTING GOODS | + | Special Tuna and Swordfish Tackle | + | | + | Los Angeles, California | + | | + | | + |[Illustration: Men in rowboat fishing] | + | | + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + ++==========================================================++ + || A FULL LINE OF || + || || + || Sporting Goods || + || || + || SHOTGUNS RIFLES || + || =Parker, Ithaca=, =Hopkins & Allen= || + || =Remington, Stevens=, =Winchester= || + || =Winchester, Marlin=, =Remington= || + || =Hopkins & Allen=, =Stevens= || + || =Ainsley H. Fox=, =Savage= || + || =L. C. Smith= =Marlin= || + || Marble's Game-Getter Gun || + || || + || REVOLVERS AUTOMATIC PISTOLS || + || =Harrington & Richardson= =Smith & Wesson= || + || =Hopkins & Allen= =Savage= || + || =Smith & Wesson= =Mouser= || + || =Iver-Johnson= =Loger= || + || =Colts= =Colts= || + || Stevens Target Pistols || + || || + || AMMUNITION || + || || + || U. M. C., Winchester, Selby--Field and Trap Shells || + || Dupont, Ballistite, New E. C., Schultz Powders || + || || + || =Blue Rock Traps and Pigeons= || + || || + || HUNTING CLOTHING || + || Our Own Make of Khaki, Canvas, Corduroy Suits || + || Hats and Leggins. || + || || + || Shaw-duck Ulsters, Coltskin Reafers, Duluth Mackinaws, || + || Knit Jackets, Webber-stitch Coats, Roughneck || + || Sweaters, Flannel Shirts, Knit Caps, || + || Woolen Socks. || + || || + || Laced Boots and Hunting Shoes. || + || Oiled Clothing, Rubber Suits and Boots. Sleeping || + || Bags, Oregon Blankets, Comforts, Bedding Rolls, || + || Carryall Bags, Ponchos and Knapsacks, Packsaddles, || + || Kyaks, Water Bottles and Canteens. || + || || + || ====================================================== || + || The Wm. H. Hoegee, Inc. || + || || + || 138-40.42 South Park || + || LOS ANGELES, CAL. || + ++==========================================================++= + + + + + +--------------------------------------------------+ + | I Mounted The | + | [Illustration] African Collection | + | OF | + | Stewart Edward White | + | | + | ------------------------------------------ | + | If You want high grade taxidermy send | + | me your trophies | + | | + | Albert E. Colburn | + | 806 South Broadway | + | LOS ANGELES, CALIF. | + +--------------------------------------------------+ + + +--------------------------------------------------+ + | A KODAK | + | | + | is as necessary to your hunting outfit as your | + | gun, and a shot with it often far more | + | satisfactory because it is | + | | + | A LASTING PLEASURE | + | | + | Everything you need in the Kodak Line will | + | be found at the | + | | + | Earl V. Lewis Company | + | | + | Two Stores 226 West Fourth St. | + | 306 West Seventh St. | + | | + | Bring your films for developing and printing | + +--------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + Transcriber's Notes + + The text presented here is that contained in the original printed + version. Other than the typographical corrections listed below and + a number of minor corrections, the following changes were introduced: + + 1) Paragraphs split by illustrations or tables were rejoined. + + 2) The illustration captions were placed above the section describing + the species illustrated. + + 3) The following errata notes displayed on the bottom of pages 112, + 114 and 116 have been applied: + + "In the make-up of a few pages on the shore birds, the + scientific names have become transposed. They should read: + Page 112: Dowitcher (Macrohampus scolopaceus). + Page 114: Yellow-legs (Totanus melanoleucus). + " " : Marlin (Limosa fedora). + Page 116: Red-backed sandpiper (Tringa alpina pacifica). + " " : Willet (Symphemia Semipalmata inornata)." + + 4) There appears to be text missing under the description of + "WILSON'S PLOVER" in the "Measurements" section on page 125. + A note was inserted to that effect + + 5) The AE ligature which was used in the caption of the image on + page 122 has been changed to the letters "AE" for consistancy + with the way those names are displayed elsewhere in the book. + + + Typographical Corrections + + Page Correction + ==== ==================== + 11 Banapart => Bonapart + 61 "Male" added for consistancy + 66 Spatula acuta => Dafila acuta + 77 Aythya amaricana => Aythya americana + 98 Chen rossi => Chen rossii + 108 Plegadis gaurauna => Plegadis guarauna + 108 Gaura alba => Guara alba + 109 Grus mericana => Grus canadensis + 109 GALLINUL => GALLINULES + 109 Grus mericana => Grus americana + 121 Charadrous squaterola => Charadrius squatarola + 125 AVOSET => AVOCET + 136 Loch Loven => Loch Leven + 167 Cygnocian nobilis => Cygonoscion nobilis + 172 SPOT-FIN CRAOKER => SPOT-FIN CROAKER + + + Emphasis Notation + + _Text_ - Italics + + =Text= - Bold + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Game Birds and Game Fishes of the +Pacific Coast, by Harry Thom Payne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GAME BIRDS AND GAME FISHES *** + +***** This file should be named 38032.txt or 38032.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/0/3/38032/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Tom Cosmas, Joseph Cooper and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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