AND
GAME FISHES
OF THE
PACIFIC COAST
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.
By H. T. Payne
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
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 Gallinæ—All gallinaceous, or chicken-like birds.
Of this order we only have to consider two families:
The Tetraonidæ, composed of the quail and grouse, and
the Phasianidæ, 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, Anatidæ, which is divided into
five subfamilies, with four of which we are concerned,
viz.: The Anatinæ, the fresh-water ducks; the Fuligulinæ,
the salt-water ducks; the Anserinæ, the geese and
brant; and the Cygninæ, the swans.
The Columbæ—This order has but one family, the
Columbidæ, composed of the pigeons and doves.
The Limicolæ—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 Recurvirostridæ,
composed of the stilts and avocets; the Scolopacidæ,
the snipes, curlews, yellow-legs, willits, marlins, sandpipers,
etc.; and the Charadridæ, the plovers.
The other two orders, the Herodiones and the Paludicolæ,
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.
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.
 | |
| MOUNTAIN QUAIL (Oreortyx pictus) | PLUMED QUAIL (Oreortyx pictus plumiferus) |
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 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
[Pg 13]
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.
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.
[Pg 15]
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.
 |
| 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 tetraonidæ 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
[Pg 16]
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
[Pg 17]
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
lume is dirty brown, about half the length of the male’s
and nearly straight.
[Pg 19]
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.
 |
| GAMBEL QUAIL OR ARIZONA 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.
[Pg 21]
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.
 |
| 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 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| MASSENA 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.
 |
| 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.
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.
Family, TETRAONIDAE
Subfamily, PERDICINAE
Family, TETRAONIDAE
Subfamily, PERDICINAE
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Oreortyx |  | pictus | Mountain quail |  | Coast Range of California from Monterey Bay north into Western Oregon. | |
| pictus plumiferus | Mountain quail | | Both sides of the Sierra Nevadas from Central Oregon south. Coast range valleys south from San Francisco Bay into Lower California. | |||
| pictus confinis | | Lower California mountain quail | | Peninsula of Lower California, inter-grading in the northern part with the pictus plumiferus. | ||
| Lophortyx | | californicus | Valley quail | | Coast Range valleys of California from San Francisco Bay north into Oregon. | |
| californicus vallicola | Valley quail | | Both sides of the Sierra Nevadas from Central Oregon south. Coast range valleys south from San Francisco Bay into Lower California. | |||
| gambeli | | Gambel quail Arizona quail | | Southern Nevada, Southeastern California, Western Arizona and Northern Mexico. | ||
| Callipepla | | squamata | Scaled quail | | Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. | |
| elegans | Elegant quail | | Southern Sonora, Mexico. | |||
| Cyrtonyx | | montezuma | | Montezuma quail Messena quail | | Southwestern Arizona and south into Mexico. |
| Colinus | | ridgewayi | Masked Bobwhite | | Northwestern Sonora, Mexico. | |
| virginianus | Bobwhite | | Introduced and acclimated in Washington and Oregon and the islands of Puget Sound. |
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.
 |
| 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
[Pg 34]
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,
[Pg 35]
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 sub-terminal 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.
 |
| MONGOLIAN PHEASANT (Phasianus torquatus) |
While the wild turkey is the only representative of
the Phasianidæ 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,
[Pg 38]
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 family Columbidæ 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.
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.
[Pg 41]
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 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 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.
Family, TETRAONIDAE
Subfamily, TETRAONINAE. (Grouse)
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | ||
| Bonasa | | umbellus sabini | Oregon ruffed grouse | | Western Oregon and Washington and Northwestern California. |
| umbellus togata | Canada ruffed grouse | | Eastern sides of Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington, thence East. | ||
| Centrocercus | urophasianus | Sage hen | | Northeastern California, Nevada and the sage lands of Oregon and Washington. | |
| Dendragapus | | franklini | Spruce grouse | | Western slope of the Cascade Mountains. |
| obscurus | Dusky grouse | | Northeastern Arizona and Eastern Nevada. | ||
| obscurus fuliginosus | Sooty grouse | | Coast Range and Sierras from Southern California to British Columbia. | ||
| Pediocaetes | phasianellus columbianus | Sharp-tail hen | | Eastern Oregon and Washington and a few in Northeastern California. |
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.
 |
| 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
[Pg 45]
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.
 |
| 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 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 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.
 |
| SAGE COCK (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
[Pg 52]
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.
 |
| SHARP-TAIL GROUSE (Pediocætes 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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range. (All breed far north.) | |||
| Chen | | hyperborea | | White goose (large) | | From Southern California north. |
| rossi | | Ross’ goose Small white goose | | From Mexico north. | ||
| Anser | albifrons gambeli | | White-fronted goose Gray goose | | From Mexico north. | |
| Dendrocygna | fulva | | Fulvous tree duck Mexican tree duck Cavalier | | From Central California south through Mexico. Breeds from Central California to Central Mexico. | |
| Branta | | canadensis | Canada goose Honker | | From central Mexico north. | |
| canadensis hutchinsii | Hutchins’ goose | | From Southern California north. | |||
| canadensis occidentalis | White-cheeked goose | | Inland plains from Central California north. | |||
| canadensis minima | Black brant Cackling goose | | From Southern 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. | ||
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range. (All breed far north.) | |||
| Olor | | columbianus | Whistling swan | | From Oregon north. Rarely as far south as Central California. | |
| buccinator | Trumpeter swan | | From Southern California north. | |||
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
(Dendrosygna autumnalis) migrates to some little extent
into Texas and to less extent into New Mexico and
Arizona. The fulvous tree duck (Dendrosygna 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 (Dendrosygna 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,
Anatinæ, and the salt-water ducks the subfamily,
Fullgilinæ. 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.
 |
| 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 fres-hwater
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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| SHOVELLER OR SPOON-BILL (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.
 |
| PIN-TAIL OR SPRIG (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.
 |
| 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,
[Pg 72]
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, commonly called the Mexican
tree-duck, and cavalier, as well as the black-bellied tree-duck
(Dendrosygna autumnalis), according to the classification
of the ornithologist, belong to the subfamily,
Anserinæ, 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
(Dendrosygna 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.
Family, ANATIDAE Subfamily, ANATINAE
(Fresh water ducks)
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Anas | | boschas | Mallard | | Throughout the scope of this work. Breeds wherever found. | |
| strepera | Gadwall | | From Central California south. Breeds wherever found. | |||
| americana | Widgeon Baldpate | | From British America south. Breeds on the mountain lakes from California south. | |||
| carolinensis | Green-winged teal | | From British America south. Breeds throughout its range. | |||
| cyanoptera | Cinnamon teal | | From Central California south. Breeds from Central California to Central Mexico. | |||
| discors | Blue-winged teal | | From Arizona south into Mexico. Breeds throughout lakes from Mexico north. | |||
| Spatula | clypeata | | Shoveller or Spoon-bill | | From British America south. Breeds on the mountain lakes from Mexico north. | |
| Dafila | acuta | | Pin-tail or Sprig | | From British America south. Breeds from Central California north. | |
| Aix | sponsa | Wood duck | | Along the wooded streams from Central California north. Breeds wherever found. | ||
As I have already stated the ducks are divided into
two subfamilies, the one the Anatinæ, commonly called
fresh-water ducks, the other the Fuligulinæ, 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.
 |
| CANVASBACK (Aythya vallisnaria) |
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.
 |
| 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
Fuligulinæ, 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.
 |
| AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK 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 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.
 |
| 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.
[Pg 83]
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.
 |
| RUDDY DUCK (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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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, 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| WHITE-WINGED SCOTER (Oidemia deglandi) |
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.
Family, ANATIDAE Subfamily, FULIGULINAE.
(Bay and sea ducks)
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Aythya | | vallisneria | Canvasback | | From Northern Mexico north. Breeds on the higher lakes from Eastern Oregon to the Arctic. | |
| americana | Red-head | | From Central Mexico north. Breeds on the interior lakes from Eastern Oregon north. | |||
| neartica | American scaup Blue-bill Black-jack | | From Central California north. Breeds on the interior lakes from Washington north. | |||
| affinis | Lesser scaup Blue-bill Black-jack | | From northern Mexico north. Breeds on the interior lakes from Washington north to the Arctic. | |||
| collaris | Ring-neck Black-jack | | From Central California north. More common on fresh waters. Breeds on the interior lakes from Oregon to the Arctic. | |||
| Glaucionetta | | americana | American golden-eye | | Rare south of Oregon. Breeds from northern Washington north. | |
| islandica | Barrows golden-eye | | Very rare south of Puget Sound. Found only along the coast. Breed on the Aleutian Islands and Alaska north. | |||
| Charitonetta | albeola | | Buffle-head Butter-ball | | From Central Mexican coast north. Breeds along the coast from Washington north. | |
| Erismatura | rubida | | Ruddy duck Wire-tail | | From Central Mexico north. Breeds on the mountain lakes throughout its range. | |
| Oidemia | | americana | | Americas scoter Black coot | | From the Lower California coast north. Breeds on the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska coast. |
| deglandi | | White-winged scoter White-winged coot | | From the Lower California coast north. Breeds on the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska 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.
 | ||
|
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
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.
 |
| 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.
[Pg 97]
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.
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, 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.
[Pg 99]
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.
 | ||
|
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 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.
[Pg 101]
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.
 |
| WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, OR SPECKLE-BREAST (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.
 |
| 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.
[Pg 103]
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 sub-terminal 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.
 |
| 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.
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 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.
 |
| WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis gaurauna) |
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 Ibididæ 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
[Pg 109]
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.
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
[Pg 110]
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 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.
 | ||
|
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
[Pg 112]
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.
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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| MARLIN OR GODWIT (Limosa fedoa) |
The marbled godwit, or marlin as it is also called,
is one of the largest birds of the Scolopacidæ 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, 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, 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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Gallinago | delicata | | Wilson snipe Jack snipe | | Throughout the marshes of the coast. Breeds in the mountain valleys. | |
| Macrorhamphus | scolopaceus | | Dowitcher Red-breasted snipe | | Along the fresh waters of the interior valleys. Breeds in British Columbia and Alaska. | |
| Tringa | pacifica | | Red-backed sandpiper | | From the Central Mexican coast north. Breeds from Washington north. | |
| Limosa | fedoa | | Marble godwit Marlin | | Early and late migrant along the coast from Mexico north. Breeds in the far north. | |
| Totanus | melanoleucus | Yellow-legs | | Early and late migrant along the coast, passing the winter in Southern California and Mexico. Breeds in the mountain valleys. | ||
| Symphemia | | semipalmata inornata | | Western Willet | | From Mexico north. Breeds throughout its range. |
| Numenius | | longirostris | | Jack curlew | | Early and late migrant. Winters in Southern California and Mexico. Breeds throughout its range. |
| hudsonicus | | Long-billed curlew Hudsonian curlew | | Same habits as the long-billed and usually found with it. But breeds farther north. | ||
 | ||
|
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, 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
[Pg 121]
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.
 |
| BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Charadrius squatarola) |
The largest of the family Charadridæ 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.
 | |||
|
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
[Pg 123]
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 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-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, 3/2 inch.
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
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.
 |
| AMERICAN AVOCET (Recurvirostra americana) |
The family Recurvirostridæ 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;
[Pg 127]
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 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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Charadrius | | squatarola | Black-bellied plover | | From Mexico north. Breeds from Oregon north to Alaska. | |
| dominicus | Golden plover | Only an occasional migrant. | ||||
| Aegialitis | | semipalmata | Ring-necked plover | | From Alaska south to Lower California. Breeds in its northern range. | |
| nivosa | Snowy plover | | From Central California south to Lower California 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. | |||
| 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 stilt | | From Mexico to Southern California. Breeds near the mountain lakes. | ||
 |
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, Salmonidæ;
but it is only with three genera of the subfamily,
Salmoninæ 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.
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
[Pg 132]
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.
 |
| CHINOOK 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.
[Pg 133]
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.)
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
[Pg 134]
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.
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.
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 rarely exceeds ten pounds in weight
[Pg 136]
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.
 |
| 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
[Pg 137]
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
[Pg 138]
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.
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
[Pg 139]
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 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
[Pg 141]
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
[Pg 142]
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 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.
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
[Pg 143]
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.
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.
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.
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,
[Pg 144]
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.
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.
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.
 |
| EASTERN BROOK TROUT (Salvalinus 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
[Pg 146]
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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range and Breeding Grounds | |||
| Oncorhynchus | | tschawytscha | | Quinant Chinook | | From Monterey Bay north. |
| nerka | | Blue-back Redfish | | Sacramento river north. | ||
| kisutch | | Silver salmon | | From Monterey Bay north. Sacramento river north. | ||
| keta gorbuscha | Dog salmon Hump-back salmon | From Sacramento river north. From Sacramento river north. | ||||
| Salmo | | irideus | Rainbow trout | From Lower California north. | ||
| irideus auga bonito | | Golden trout | Western slope of Mt. Whitney. | |||
| irideus roosevelti | | Golden trout | Western slope of Mt. Whitney. | |||
| rivularis | Steel-head trout | From Ventura river north. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
| Salvelinus | | parki | Dolly Varden trout | McCloud river north. | ||
| fontinalis | Eastern brook trout | | Acclimatized in many streams of the coast. | |||
 |
| 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.
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
[Pg 150]
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.
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.
 |
| 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
[Pg 152]
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.
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.
 |
| LEAPING 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
[Pg 154]
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.
 |
| 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.
Another of the Scrombridæ 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
[Pg 158]
pounds and one even 65 pounds. The average, however,
is about 30 pounds.
 |
| BONITO (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 Scrombidæ 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.
 |
| SPANISH MACKEREL (Scomberomorus concolor) |
This is another of the Scrombidæ 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
[Pg 160]
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.
 |
| CHUB MACKEREL OR GREEN-BACK (Scomber japonicus) |
The chub mackerel, the smallest of the Scombridæ
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.
 |
| YELLOW-TAIL (Seriola dorsalis) |
The yellow-tail belongs to the family Carangidæ, 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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range | |||
| Thunnus | thynnus | Leaping tuna | | From Coronado Islands to Monterey Bay. | ||
| Germo | | microptera | Yellow-fin albacore | | Irregular visitors to the waters of Catalina Island 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. | |||
Grayish blue on the back; sides, a dull silver, with
a yellowish buff stripe along the lateral line; fins, green,
[Pg 164]
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.
 |
| 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.
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 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.
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 courbina 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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 subspecies classification, for the
[Pg 170]
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.
 |
| YELLOW-FIN CROAKER (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
[Pg 172]
to white on the belly. A few irregular spots on
the sides forming faint lines.
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.
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.
| Genus | Species | Common Names | Range | |||
| Menticirrhus | undulatus | | California whiting or sand sucker | | From Point Conception south to Guaymas, Mexico. | |
| Roncador | stearnsi | Spot-fin croaker | From Point Conception south to Manzanillo, Mexico. | |||
| Umbrina | roncador | Yellow-fin croaker | From Point Conception south to Manzanillo, Mexico. | |||
| Cygonoscion | nobilis | White sea bass | From San Francisco south to Coronado Islands. | |||
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 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.
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.
 |
| HOTEL 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.
 |
| FISHING PIER, 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.
 |
| AQUARIUM, 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.
| 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 |
| 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, | 9 |
| 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 |
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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 illustrations were placed above the section describing the species illustrated. | |
| 3) The following errata notes displayed on the bottom of pages 112, 114 and 116 in the original publication 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 Æ 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. | |
| 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 |