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LOUISIANA STATE COMMISSION

& OF

LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION

ST. LOUIS, MO.

Governor WILLIAM WRIGRT HEARD, President.
Major JORDAN GRAY LEE, Baton Rouge, La.

Col. CHARLES SCHULER, - - - Keachie, La.
Gen, ].B. LEVERT, - - New Orleans, La.
‘ Hon.“ HENRY L. GUEYDAN, Gueydan, La.
Dr. WILLIAM CARTER STUBBS, ROBERT GLENK,
State Commissioner. Assistant to State Commissioner.

Don’t fail to see the Louisiana State Building, a replica of the Cabildo, in which the
transfer of Louisiana took place in 1803.

See also Louisiana’s exhibit in the following buildings: Agriculture, Horticulture,
Education, Forestry, Fish and Game, Mines and Minerals, Liberal Arts,
Transportation and Anthropology.

THE STATE OF LOUISIANA IS MAKING THE FOLLOWING DISPLAY
AT THE WORLD’S FAIR, ST. LOUIS:

Ist. Louisiana State Building—An
exact reproduction of the ‘Cabildo” of
New Orleans in which the actual trans-
fer @f Louisiana from France to the
United States on December 20th, 1803,
took place. It is furnished throughout
with furniture of the Empire and Colo-
nial styles. Cae

2nd. A grand display of agriculture
in the Agricultural Palace, showing the
products of the field and the machinery
by which they are wrought into mer-
chantable forms. A complete sugar house,
a rice mill, an irrigation plant, cotton
gins and presses, cotton seed oil mill,
etc., are shown in perfect forms on a
reduced scale. Forage and garden crops;
tobacco (yellow leaf, cigar leaf and
cigars, and the famous Perique in all of
its forms); fibre plants and products ;
grains, grasses, clovers, alfalfa, ete., are
shown in profusion.

3rd. A fine display of fruits and
plants In the Horticultural Building—

on the floor of the main building and in
the conservatory. In this display wiil
be found the best collection of the finest
pecans grown.

4th. In the Forestry Building will be
found all the trees of her forest, and the
products manufactured from them.

5th. In the Forestry Building, but on
a different space, will also be found all
of the birds, fishes and wild animals of
the State.

6th. In the Education Building will
be found the school exhibits of the
State, from the kindergarten to the uni-
versities. Yi

7th. In the Mines and Minerals Build-
ing, the ‘Devil in sulphur,” a “Pyramid
in sulphur,’ Lot's Wife in salt, crud®
and refined petroleums, marbles, ‘coal,
ete., fresh from the mines of Louisiana,
are exhibited.

8th. In the Liberal Arts Building will
be found topographic maps of the levees
of the State (35 ft. by 4 ft.), New Or-

leans of 1803 (2 ft. by 2 ft.), and New
Orleans of 1903 (15 ft. by 15 ft.). Two
hundred maps of the Gulf Coast from
1500 to the present time, some rare old
books, and a working model of the great
United States Dock in New Orleans.

9th. In the Transportation Building
are illustrations of transportation on the
Mississippi River, past and present, be-
ginning with the Indian canoe and end-
ing with the monster ocean liner of to-
day.

10th. In the Anthropological Build-
ing is a fine collection of Indian relies,
including a number of baskets of rare
and beautiful types.

Descriptiv? pamphlets of each exhibit
may be had on application. For fuller
information of the State, apply at the
Louisiana State Building for ‘Handbook
of Louisiana.’ Louisiana has a fully
equipped Department of Agriculture and
Immigration, which will cheerfully sup-
ply any information desired.

Apply to MAJOR J. G. LEE, Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration, Baton Rouge, La.

and your wants will be filled.

Birds and Fishes

fe af of ef of
oft sfeefe

By H. H. KOPMAN

NOV 30 1907
Us Ut D.

Birds and Fishes.

HUNTING AND FISHING IN LOUISIANA.
By H. H. Kopman.

HE sport of hunting and fishing in Louisiana is
A’ most mixed with other affairs of life among the
people who live near the coast, where the Mis-
Sissippi and lesser streams have built marshes that rank
with the most extensive and the most animated of any
in the world. Gunners and anglers’ sport there, every
element considered, is an unusually attractive recrea-
tion. It is brilliant at times, it is always sociable, and
the guarantee of its perpetuation is in the area of the
feeding grounds to which snipe, ducks. and other game
birds of the lowlands are attracted by thousands, and
to which they are destined to be attracted indefinitely
in the future if the prudent sportsmen are able to se-
cure and hold the position towards which they are work-
ing.

If from month to month, one follows the opportuni-
ties for using gun and rod, he will find a delightful con-
tinuity, and a grading of all the phases of those pleas-
ures. The variety of such outdoor life, the usually equa-
ble conditions under which it is pursued, the fact that
it need have no abrupt ending as in other parts of the

country because of sharp turns in the year, are perpet-
ual sources of satisfaction to the inveterate sportsman.
The absence of interruptions develops in him an attach-
ment that can never fail because so many-sided. Fa-
miliarity with conditions may be cultivated to a high
degree by the Louisiana sportsman, and a feeling of
confidence and establishment that is most attractive.
The sport permits of a placidity that is the chief thing,
after all, that the sportsman, away from cares of all
kinds, seeks to find. Yet one can make the character of
his sport. It can be as arduous or as gentle as he likes.
But whichever it be, hunting and fishing in the right
places in Louisiana are seldom flat. Further than the
fact that the open winters make the hunting season
itself very pleasant, it is to be recollected how nearly
perfectly the hunting and fishing seasons overlap in
Louisiana. While the less hasty migratory ducks and
waders are even in the midst of their exodus, the salt
water fishing season is already opening, and while it is
not in full swing until June, even by the end of March
it offers inducements well worth consideration. Once it
is under way, it is a season of splendid sport. It holds
its votaries by a variety of ties. The pleasant life of
the Louisiana fishing camps, the camaraderie, the Cre-
ole cooking, the “redfish court-bouillons,” the fine

breezes, the bright colors, and the peaceful scenes of
the marshes, get a lasting hold upon the fisherman.

Moreover, to the sportsman who is heart and soul in
his favorite pastime, it is a great satisfaction to look
out upon the marshes and realize that they are always
to be places for the man who carries a gun or whips a
rod. Though other kinds of country in Louisiana afford
excellent fishing and hunting, the marshes of the coast
surpass all other spots where the wily fish swim, or
where birds and other game gather. It is the extent of
the marshes, the innumerable ramifications of water
courses and inlets, the often swampy and little settled
country that commonly borders them inland, that make
the marshes so congenial a resort for the game. The
whole coast of Louisiana is made up to a large extent
of these marshes, which, in some instances, are slightly
elevated, making them more like prairies, subject to
tidal inundation. This is the case in southwestern Lou-
isiana. This difference in the coast marshes splits the
hunting country into two centres of abundance, one the
lands adjacent to the mouth of the Mississippi, and
northeastward, and the other, the great flats stretching
between the rivers in the southwestern part of the State,
making the district from the Sabine to the Mermentau,
and even farther eastward, one of the greatest duck and
geese regions in the United States. It is about Lake
Arthur, in this corner of the State, that the glossy ibis,
the roseate spoonbill, and other birds of rare occur-

rence now along most parts of the Gulf Coast north of
Florida, are still to be found in comparative abundance.
On these marsh-prairies of the southwestern section,
the curlews, snipe, willets and innumerable smaller
waders are to be found in the greatest abundance during
both spring and fall migration.

The marshes of the southeastern parts of Louisiana.
are visited chiefly by ducks and snipe, though, of course,
almost any of the birds found in the southwestern sec-
tion may be found here also, though seldom if ever in
numbers so great. The marshes-of the southeastern
section, however, are the most available as fishing
grounds. The deep passes that connect the gulf and the
several inlets east and north of New Orleans, as Lakes
Pontchartrain, Borgne, and Catherine, are frequented
by the game fish of the Gulf, and under conditions sim-
ilar to those experienced in fresh-water fishing, one may
catch the full variety of choice salt-water fish, sheeps-
head, Spanish mackerel, and red sea-bass, or “redfish,”
as the Louisiana fishermen call it, being the most abund-
ant of the highly esteemed game fish. Still water nearly
always prevails in these passes, though a current of
almost incredible velocity is the rule when the tides are
running. Such are the times, of course, when the fisher-
men endeavor to be on hand. Hungry redfish and
sheepshead, following the incoming tide, often furnish
a sport unsurpassed for the frequency of action. Over
forty “redfish,” with an average weight of ten pounds,

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have been caught in about three hours at the most
famous of these passes, the Rigolets, about thirty miles
east of New Orleans on the Louisville and Nashville
railroad. The excellence of these marshes as fishing
grounds is readily conceived when one considers that
while the devotee can fish in these streams and other
bodies of water with the same ease as would be found in
angling in a river or far inland lake, the source of the
supply of fish is the wide sea, the fish that are most
prized by the sportsmen coming up only in the warmer
seasons from the lower strata of the deep parts of the
Gulf, or from its more Southern waters. Thus, the
stock of fish can never be in danger of sensible diminu-
tion, if of any whatever. A still further advantage is
that several of the fresh-water fish visit the brackish
waters of the marsh bayous in great numbers, such
streams being equally attractive to the large-mouthed
black bass, or “green trout,’ primarily a fresh-water
fish, of course, and to the spotted squeteague, or “speck-
led trout,’ whose principal habitat is sea-water.

In good weather, the fishing on the outside Gulf water
is extremely attractive. ‘That kind of fishing is done
more easily towards the Mississippi coast. There it is
that the finest Spanish mackerel fishing is to be had,
in the almost breezeless forenoons that often occur
during the latter part of summer, and in the early fall.
Most of the fishermen’s experience with tarpon in Lou-
isiana waters is limited to outside water, or at least to

bays, though occasions are not infrequent when these
remarkable fish have been seen and hooked, and even
sometimes caught, in the passes. The Gulf islands
about the mouth of the Mississippi or to the eastward,
are most interesting points for the energetic fisherman.
The finest are Chandeleur Islands, along whose shores
and in whose sand-bound lagoons is to be found a most
remarkable assortment of sea-creatures. Cat and Ship
Islands, also off the coast of Mississippi, are not difficult
of access from the fishing points in Louisiana. Ship
Island is a noted place for the interesting little spade-
fish, great bait-stealers, but repaying for their annoy-
ances when well hooked, for they make excellent fight.
A day spent about the piling in this kind of sport gives
one an experience full of its own peculiar circumstances.
The fishermen find battles with sharks a form of excite-
ment that may be had at the islands in summer almost
any time one seeks it. There, as well as at all other
points along the coast, the common jack-fish (Caranx
hippos) sports at will throughout warm weather, and is
the object of interest in more anglers’ struggles than
any other fish not a good fish; which the jack-fish fails
to be on account of the oiliness and rankness of its
flesh.

It is the most unusual variety possible in Louisiana
sport that makes it certain of never palling. Except
that the State contains no mountains, there is no im-
portant kind of topography lacking in Louisiana. And

some of the central and northern sections of the State
are decidedly hilly, elevations of 400 feet or more oc:
curring. Encroached upon to the west by the prairies,
Louisiana still has prairie chickens towards the Texas
border, and the prairie lands are widely famous for the
character of their duck and goose shooting. All through
the central and northern sections, and in fact anywhere
except upon the immediate coast, and even, in some
cases, there, quail and turkey shooting is as good as any-
where these days. The birds that abound in the south-
eastern lowlands have been referred to before. The
flat pinewoods that extend from southern Mississippi
into Louisiana somewhat north of the coast, and which
become hilly but little farther north, delight the sports-
man for the pure air and the-exhilirating freedom which
permeates them. He is delighted even if he does not
bag game every time. But properly hunted, these pine
lands should rarly fail to give one some luck with quails
or turkeys. The trip through them is one of pure de-
light, and gives a rest and gratification hard to acquire
more thoroughly anywhere else. The life through these
woods is for the most part primitive. The hunter may
walk half a day with little sign of life beside the game
he seeks and smaller birds and other creatures that
move this way and that. The calis of bluebirds, the
sight of a flicker now and then, the quaint complaints
of the little brown-headed nuthatches that move unac-
countably about the pines, the occasional butterfly that

strays out upon a warn day in winter, force him out of
whatever state of mind has been robbing him of the
joy of natural living, and he fancies himself at the
threshold of life again. The relaxation is perfect, the
stimulation is nature’s and so it demands no tax.
Hunting in the marsh, also, when arranged under the
proper conditions and with good company, is ideal sport.
The salt marshes east of New Orleans and stretching
along past the Mississippi line, are most beautiful sights.
A slender rush is the principal thing in their composi-
tion, though cat tails, grasses, and sedges also are gen-
erously interspersed. But the marshes do not offer an
unbroken skyline. Woods edge them in many directions
along their irregular borders. Bayous and coulées the
most meandering are marked by the little oak and
bayberry hedges. A large lagoon may lie here in clear
view, or the marsh may be cut by a pass from the Gulf
waters to one of the several inlets. What the hunter
unacquainted with the country at once wishes to do is
to follow one of the little streams, and wind with its
many turns in hope of running in shot of game. Even
if experience elsewhere had taught him better, he would
probably be so dominated by this desire as to refuse the
suggestions of his wiser ideas. The impulse of the
sportsman on the marshes is to go on and on. But, of
course, it is not the way to kill game. The abundance
of the ducks does not obviate the necessity of “blinds,”
and the disposal of oneself therein at such hours as to

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be accommodated to the habits of the birds. The fisher-
man, however, may indulge the desire for motion, ex-
ploration. To this spirit is due the discovery of some
of the finest black bass holes in the Louisiana marshes.
The geography of the little bayous in that region is to
this day a subject awaiting the energetic investigations
of even more enthusiasts. There may yet come a man
who will find the spot for black bass that will top all
records, though six ard even seven pounders have al-
ready been brought from their lairs in triumph.

An expedition through the heaviest of the swamps
and cypress fastnesses close to the coast is a feature
of sport in Louisiana that shouid by no means be over-
looked by the visiting lover of hunting and fishing. It
is apt to resuit not in the destruction of much game,
but in the possession of an experience most singularly
absorbing and indescribably unique. One probably goes
with some guide of nondescript nationality, but nowise
repugnant, who has spent his days in precarious hunting
and fishing, logging, woodchopping and trapping. The
things one sees in the way of life hardly fall within the
category of game, but the guide has some use to suggest
for many of them. He values a “grosbec,” or night-
heron, about as much as the “correct” sportsman does
a pintail, or a snipe in the pink of condition. The fact
that he can bring down the handsome “beccroche,” or
white ibis, with considerable ease does not cut the edge
from his real hunter’s gusto. Possession is his creed,

and he does not consider very closely the ways in
which it comes about. Other birds there are, of course,
for which he can find no use. Having the woodsman’s
interest in almost everything of the outdoors, he would
probably cast more than one glance at the curious water-
turkey, or snake bird, that festoons its incoherent mem-
bers from the upper branch of the tallest of a cluster
of dead cypresses. So would the tourist be interested.
it makes him feel certain that whenever he wants to
work his mind entirely off his business or cares, he
should plunge into the depths of a Louisiana swamp.
There is no place more odd, or more thoroughly sepa-
1ated from the average notions we hold of things. The
genius of the swamps is a thing alone in nature.

Everywhere that one goes in the swamps he will not
see its prominent pictures, but from point to point, as
they tie scattered over the landscape, the strength of
their individuality dominates the entire country. They
are finest where swamp borders marsh, worked out by
streams that look as though their surface had never
been troubled by storm or cloudy shadows, but that
seem to have been spread motionless for centuries in
mirroring the bright Louisiana skies. Then cypress and
live oak, overhanging shadows soft and deep, if it be
not mid-winter, set the marks of infinite repose by the
banks of the lowland stream. The course of the heron,
the day-long sailing of the vulture across the wide-vault-
ed sky, the languid voice of the blue yellow-back, and

the quicker sound of a large fish that swirls in the wa-
ter, give the mind just the strain of life and movement
that perfects the environment.

The chances for the hunter-naturalist in Louisiana are
very inviting, as will be found the case both on account
of the character of material for study, and of the con-
ditions that govern its composition. There are no ver-
tebrate animals in Louisiana peculiar to the State, but
many forms highly interesting occur there, and the
groups of life display aspects many of which are not
observable elsewhere. Scme species occurring in the
neighboring States are not to be found in so large num-
bers in parts of Louisiana, while other species are
abundant to an extent impossible to find elsewhere in
this country. The peculiar mixed nature of the cli-
mate, combined with a topography not duplicated, cre-
ales many interesting studies in distribution and in
habits.

The development of higher animal life in the unique
part of the State is greatest in the case of salt-water
fish, reptiles, chiefly turtles and harmless snakes, and
water-birds. Fresh-water fish and mammals are found
in reasonably large numbers within the State, but there
is a distinct lack of abundance in these creatures in
many sections. Reference is had, of course, to species,
and not to individuals, as some fresh-water fish, such as
buffaloes, gars, and catfishes, black basses and sunfiishes
are exceedingly abundant. The same is true of a few

10

mammals. There is no dearth of upland birds in many
parts of the State, but the securely established kinds
of upland birds are not many more in number than the
winter visitors and the transients.

A LIST OF THE MOST ABUNDANT AND MOST GHAR-
ACTERISTIC FISH, REPTILES, BIRDS AND MAM-
MALS FOUND IN LOUISIANA.

Southern Stingray (Dasyatis sabina).

Short-nosed Gar-pike (Lepisosteus platostomus).

Alligator Gar-pike (L. tristoechus).

Mud-fish, or Shoupique (Amia calva).

Mississippi Cat (Ictalurius furecatus).

Mud Cat, Goujon, or Yellow Cat (Leptops olivaris).

Sea Cat (Hexanematichthys felis).

Gaff Topsail (Felichthys marinus).

Small-mouthed Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus).

Tarpon, or Silver-fish (Tarpon atlanticus).

Gulf Menhadden (Brevoortia patronus).

Common Mullet (Mugil cephalus).

Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus).

Jack-fish (Caranx hippos). A splendid fighter.

Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus).

Sac-a-lait, white, or chinquapin, perch (Pomoxis amu-
laris).

Warmouth Bass (Chaenobryttus gulosus).

Sunfishes, or “perches” (Apomotis cyanellus, A. sym-
metricus, Lepomis auritus, L. miniatus, and L. pallidus).

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= rs,

Large-mouthed Black Bass (Micropterus salmoides).

Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus).

Spotted Squeteague, or “Speckled Trout” (Cynoscion
nebulosus).

Silver Squeteague, or “White Trout” (C. nothus).

Red Sea-bass, or “Redfish” (Sciaenous ocellatus).

Croaker (Micropogon undulatus).

American Whiting, or “Ground Mullet” (Menticirrhus
Americanus).

Southern Flounder (Paralichthys lethostigmus).

BATRACHIOUS AND REPTILES.

“Blind Eel,” or “Conger Snake” (Amphiuma means).

Bull Frog (Rana catesbiana).

Horned Snake (Farancia abacura).

Black Runner (Zamenis constrictor).

Live Oak Snake (Coluber confinis).

Long's Garter Snake (Eutaenia sirtalis).

Graham’s Water Snake (Natrix grahamii).

Banded Water Snake (Natrix fasciata fasciata).

Holbrook’s Water Snake (Natrix rhombifera).

Diamond Rattle Snake (Crotalus adamanteus).

Banded Rattle Snake (Crotalus horridus).

Copperhead (Ancistrodon contertrix).

Water Moccasin (A. piscivorus).

Green Lizard, or “Chamelon” (Anolis principalis).

Soft-shelled Turtle (Aspidonectes asper).

Alligator Snapping Turtle, Loggerhead, or Caouane
: (Macrochelys lacertina).

|

11

Mudbox (Cinosterum Louisianae).

Florida Cootcr (Pseudemys concinna).

Troost’s Mobilian (Pseudemys troostii).

Cumberland Terrapin (Pseudemys elegans).

Diamondback (Malaclemmys centrata).

Box Turtle (Terrapene major).

Gopher (Xerobates polyphemus).

Alligator (Aliigator Mississippiensis).

The day of the extremely large alligator in Louisiana
seems to have passed. The hunters, guides and fisher-
men seldom report larger than ten-footers, and it has
been as long as twenty years since the report of a 15-
foot alligator in Louisiana has been verified. This is
due, of course, to the settlement of all except the
marshes and swamps of the State, so that the hunters
and professional woodsmen have found bases of opera-
tions to reach every marsh and swamp in the State, and
the large alligators have fallen victims to the rifles.
Smaller alligators appear to be as abundant as ever.
The last hundred miles of the Mississippi form, of
course, the center of abundance of the alligator in
Louisiana.

BIRDS.

Most important of all birds found in Louisiana, from
the hunter's standpoint, are the ducks. Ducks are found
in the State chiefly in winter, of course, or, to be more
accurate, they are found in greatest numbers at the
beginning of winter and at its close. The heavy flights

are in October and November, and in the latter part of
January and the early part of February. At those two
seasons, respectively, the ducks bound South, and the
ducks bound North, pass through the State in myriads.
Taking all seasons together, they are found regularly
in Louisiana, or there have been found from time to
time, all but six of the 83 species of ducks occurring
regularly in North America. The six exceptions are
Barrow’s Golden Eye, the Harlequin Duck, and the four
American species of eiders. Thus the ducks of Louis-
iana include the Cinnamon, Teal, the Long-tailed Duck,
and the several species of Scoters, or Surf-Ducks. Aside
from the true ducks, both species of Tree-Ducks are
found in the State, the Fulvous and the Autumnal, the
former the commoner. All the principal geese, with
the possible exception of the true Brants, not such as
are called “brants’’ by the hunters, visit parts of Louis-
jana in abundance, and the two American species of
Swans, the Trumpeter and the Whistling, are visitors
to the Gulf.

Game birds among the waders are secondary only to
the ducks. Snipe and woodcocks, tattlers, curlews,
plovers, red-breasted snipe. and the larger sandpipers
sometimes classified as game, occur in abundance in the
extended feeding grounds of the coast. Rails abound
as well, and even one of the herons, the Yellow-crowned
Night Heron, is sometimes shot, being known as the
“Grosbec.”

12

Characteristic birds of the State, and all its ducks,
and many of its waders, given in the order of their
natural classification, are found in the following list:

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla).

Royal Tern (Sterna caspia).

Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri).

Least Tern (Sterna antillarum).

Black Tern (Sterna nigra surinamensis).
teristic migrant.

Black Skimmer (Rynchops migra).

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), Water-turkey; Snake-
bird; Bec-a-lancette. Swamps on the edges of lakes,
large ponds, sloughs, or sluggish streams, are frequented
by the astonishing water-turkey. It is a resident in the
State, and in the proper localities is as common towards
the northern part of Louisiana as near the Gulf. The
summit of a tall, water-side cypress is a favorite post
for the water-turkey. Its dark, slender, curiously shaped
form includes so many characteristic points that a
water-turkey, once seen, will never be forgotten. From
its elevated position it will often dive directly to the
water, and at other times, when it sees one approach-
ing, it will mount from its perch and will soar in widen-
ing circles over the swamp. The water-turkey nests in
trees or bushes over the water, and the young usually
drop from the nest to the water for their first experi-
ence of the world.

Florida Cormorant (Phalacrocorax dilophus florida-

A charac-

j

nus). Called “Nigger Goose” in Louisiana, and rather
common. :

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus fuscus). The Brown Peli-
can, though not the bird selected as the original of the
State seal, is the common pelican in Louisiana. It is
never found far from the coast, and when it does move
away from the actual coast line, the bodies of water
selected are the salt inlets of the Gulf. In summer
the Brown Pelican is very common on many parts of the
coast. The view usually obtained of the pelicans con-
sists of well-drilled, single-file flocks that fly close to
the water short distances from the beach, always hunt-
ing for schools of small fish. into which they dive to
secure their prey.

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynh-
cus). The White Pelican occurs in Louisiana only in
winter, being found in either salt or fresh water.

Man-o’-war bird (Fregata aquila); Frigate-bird; Storm-
bird. The flight of the slender but powerful Man-o’-war
bird is one of the finest sights of the Louisiana coast
in summer. The soaring of the Man-o’-war excels even
the gracefulness of the Turkey-buzzard. In strong
winds sometimes as many as a score of them will be
seen in various directions high overhead set on differ-
ent “tacks,’’ and pointing truer and statelier than any
ship that ever sailed. Though they often fly at a high
speed, repose is never lacking in their movements, and
there is always a fixedness and a sureness in their

13

course that shows their power to cope with any wind but
a raging tempest. The force of the Gulf storms, how-
ever, sometimes drives them a considerable distance
inland, and during very heavy summer storms, Man-o’-
war birds have been seen in New Orleans.

THE DUCKS OF LOUISIANA.

American Merganser (Merganser Americanus Cass).

Red-breasted Merganser (Merganser Serrator Linn).

Bee-scie de Mer. These two diving ducks, or “saw-
bills,” are not among the well-known ducks of the State.
They are usually found on the coast during the severest
spells of winter weather. The name applied by the
Creoles to the Red-breasted Merganser, bec-scie de mer,
indicates the difference between these salt water loving
birds and the following species, the common bec-scie of
Louisiana.

Hooded Merganser
Bee-scie; Saw-bill.

The Hooded Merganser, one of the handsomest of
American ducks, is a common winter resident of Lou-
isiana, where it is considered practically unfit for food,
but noted for the high rate of speed it attains in flight.
It is occasionally killed by expert shots who are anxious
to test their skill.

Mallard (Anas boschas Linn); French Duck. On the
lakes and bayous of Louisiana, in Winter, the Mallard
becomes probably as abundant as in any part of the

(Lophodytes Cucullatus Linn);

world. Owing to its strong flight and fine size, it is a
favorite game bird and a good seller in the markets,
despite the fact that the flesh at times proves “fishy.”
Mallards are found in Southern Louisiana in greatest
numbers from the early part of October until about the
beginning of February. .

Dusky Duck (Anas Obscura Gmel); Black Duck;,

Black Mallard. Neither particularly well known in Lou-
isiana, nor recognized by its correct name, “Black Duck”
being a term reserved for the Ring-necked Duck in Lou-
isiana, a favorite table duck.

Florida Black Duck (Anas obscura fulvigula Ridg);
Canard des Isles. This is one of the two species of
ducks that breed regularly in Louisiana, the other being
the Wood Duck.

Gadwall (Anas strepera Linn), Gray Duck; Canard
Gris. The Gadwall is one of the customary ducks shot by
hunters in the winter. It is present in greater ‘or less
abundance from October until March, and is associated
with Mallards, Pintails, Widgeons, Scaups and Green-
winged Teals.

Bald-pate (Anas Americana Gmel):
geon; Zin-zin.

This duck is not as common as-the Gadwall, but is
naturally associated with it.

Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis Gmel);
celee d’Hiver; Cognotte.

The green-winged Teal is one of the commonest of the

American Wid-

Sar-

14

ducks of Louisiana. The first arrive in the State about
October first, with the van of the great flights of ducks
that settle upon the marshes after the first cool days
of real fall. While the species is probably commoner in
Louisiana at that time than at any other, a great num-
ber remain throughout the winter. The return passage
of Green-winged Teals through the State, and the de-
parture of those that have remained in Louisiana all
winter takes place before spring is very well advanced.

Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors Linn); Sarcelle print-
anniere; Printanniere; Spring Teal.

The migratory movements of the Blue-winged Teal in
Louisiana furnish one of the liveliest chapters in the
hunter’s book. Probably no one kind of game comes
so near attracting the undivided attention of the sports-
men at one particular time as do the “Printanmieres”
when passing through Louisiana in late spring from
the Mexican and Central American waters, in which
the bulk of them winter. The spring flight of Blue-
winged Teals reaches Louisiana the middle or latter
part of March, and continues in great proportions until
the early part of May, some of the birds lingering even
until after the middle of that month.

Besides being the last duck to leave in spring, the
Blue-winged Teal is the first to appear in the fall, some-
times arriving before the middle of September. By the
time the winter ducks of Louisiana have become most
abundant, the majority of the Blue-winged Teals have

passed southward. A few remain in Louisiana all
winter, however.

Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera Vieil).

This uncommonly handsome duck, made so striking
by its generally bright reddish brown body and the light
electric blue of the wing specula, is a bird of decided
rarity in Louisiana. Specimens have been taken in the
State from time to time, however, and a male collected
in Lake Borgne, January, 1900, is now in the museum of
Tulane University.

Shoveller (Spatula clypeata Linn);
coine.

The male Shoveller is sometimes killed in Louisiana
in that beautiful plumage that makes it one of the mosi
beautiful ducks. This, of course, is most apt to be in
the early fall, or late in spring, especially the latter,
as Shovellers often linger very long in Louisiana, even
appearing among the heavy spring flights of Blue.
winged Teals. They are least common in mid-winter.
Practically the only English name for them in Louisiana
is Spoonbill.”

Pintail (Dafila acuta Linn); Sprig-tail; Paille-en-queue.
The hunter in Louisiana has few favorite ducks on which
he lavishes as much praise as upon the Pintail. It isa
reliable duck there, in every sense, and with the “Black
Duck” ranks after the Canvasback. It is one of the
ducks that continue moderately abundant all winter,
though, of course, large numbers winter south of Lou-

Spoonbill; Mi-

15

isiana, and it is their passage in fall and at the close of
winter that makes such splendid sport.

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa Linn); Brancheur.

Wood duck hunting is a thing apart from other duck-
hunting, as the haunts of the bird are quite different, and
the seasons of abundance not the same as in the case
of the river and bay ducks. The law framed by the
General Assembly of Louisiana in 1902 permits the kill-
ing of this species in August and September. The

| French name of “Francheur” is given to this duck on

account of its habit of perching and nesting in trees.

Red-head (Aythya Americana Eyt); Violon.

About the mouth of the Mississippi is the district for
Red-heads, as well as for the Canvasbacks. There they
are decidedly common.

Canvasback (Aythya
Cheval.

The reputation of the Canvasback is by no means di-
minished in Louisiana by its feeding habits there, which
are practically the same as in the case of the famous
Chesapeake Bay birds. The Canvasback in Louisiana,
as in other sections, is not as plentiful as some bon
vivants would have it, but it is certainly not on the
wane, and in the past few years more than a usual num-
ber appear to have been seen and killed by the hunters,
especially about the Delta of the Mississippi.

American Scaup (Aythya Marila Stejn); Blue-bill; Dos
Gris de Mer.

Vallisneria Wils); Canard

The larger of the two scaups is not the commoner,
and is more of a coast bird than the following common
species, as the French name in Louisiana indicates.

Lesser Scaup (Aythya Affinis Eyt); Little Blue-bill;
Dos Gris.

This duck probably outnumbers all others in Louis- .

jana in winter. It is positively useless as an article of
food to any one with normal development of the gusta-
tory faculties. Notwithstanding, negroes and other un-
discriminating persons kill and eat a good many, and
shooters, who would not eat them, sometimes kill the
birds on the general principle of bringing down some-
thing.

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya Collaris Donov); Black
Duck; Canard Noir. There is probably more to say in
favor of “Black Ducks” than of any species killed in

Louisiana, except the Canvasback. Their flesh is usu- |

ally delicious. But they are not as abundant as some
Jess choice kinds. They generally remain in fair num-
bers in midwinter, but are commonest in the middle
fall, and again at the breaking up of winter.

American Golden Eye (Clangula, Clangula Americana
Bonap).

A fairly common duck in Louisiana, but not shot very
frequently. J

Buffle-head (Charitonetta Albeola); Butter-ball, Mari-
onette.

Butter-balls are shot usually more as objects of curi-

16

osity, or to test cleverness with shotgun, than as birds me
of which use can be made as food, as they are practi-
cally inedible. .

Long-tailed Duck (Clangula Hyemalis Linn.) This
curious duck of the North was taken in Louisiana the
very cold winter of 1898-1899, during a severe blizzard
and snowstorm.

Surf Scoter (Oidemia perspisillata Linn). This bird
is only a rare winter visitor, as are the two following —
species:

Black Scoter (Oidemia Americana Sw. and Rich.)

White-winged Scoter (Oidemia Deglandi Bonap).

Ruddy Duck (Hrismatura Jamaicensis Gmel). This is
a common but worthless duck that visits Louisiana in
rather large numbers. It is called “Marteau” by the
French.

Blue Goose (Chen Caerulescens Linn). A coast bird
in winter.

_ Lesser Snow Goose (Chen hyperborea Pall). Common
on the coast in winter. Called ‘““White Brant.”

Greater Snow Goose (Chen Hyperborea Nivalis Forst).
Not as common as the preceding.

American White-Fronted Goose, or Speckle-Belly
(Anser albifrons gambeli Hartl). Common in winter
in the localities haunted by other geese.

Canada Goose (Branta Canadensis Linn).
common in Louisiana than elsewhere.

Fulvous Tree Duck (Dendroecygna Fulva Gmel). Fairly

No less

7

common for awhile in the fall, and even at other
seasons, but not in very cold weather.

Autumnal Tree Duck (Dendrocygna Autumnalis Linn).
Rare in southwestern parts of the State.

Whistling Swan (Olor Columbianus Ord.).
ular occurrence on the Gulf in winter.

Trumpeter Swan (Olor Buccinator Rich)
about the same as those of preceding.

Roseate Spoon-bill (Aiaia Aiaia). Now confined chiefly
to heavy and well-watered swamps of the southwestern
section.

White Ibis (Guara Alba); Beccroche; Spanish Curlew.
Abundant in nearly all wet sections.
Wood Ibis (Tantalus Loculator).

but abundant in several sections.

Least Bittern (Ardetta Exilis). This curious diminu-
tive bird of the heron tribe is common in all marshy
sections of the State, but disappears in winter.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias). Abundant in
Louisiana as elsewhere.

American Egret (Herodias Egretta).
cially in summer.

Snowy Heron (Egretta Candidissima). Has become
very rare, but is protected at Avery’s Island, and is
found even in other localities.

Louisiana Heron (Hydranassa Tricolor Ruficollis).
Not as common as several other species, but well dis-
tributed throughout the southern part of the State.

Of irreg-

Movements

Locally distributed,

Common, espe-

-T Sandhill Crane (Grus Mexicana).

aye

Little Blue Heron (Florida Coerulea). Abundant in
summer, but strictly migratory, as is the preceding.

Green Heron (Butorides Virescens). Common in
summer.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctinassa Violacea).
Abundant in summer.

More common in
the western parts of the State.

King Rail (Rallus Hlegans). Abundant, chiefly in
fresh marshes. It is a good table bird, but too easily
brought down to be of much interest to the sportsman.

Purple Gallinule (Ionornis Martinica); Blue Rail; Ral
Bleu. One of the most beautiful of all Louisiana birds,
and one that should be safe from the gunner.

Florida Gallinule (Gallinula Galleata). A characteris-
tie marsh bird in Louisiana, and distinguished from the
coot, or “poule d’eau,”’ by the Creole hunter’s name of
“ral poule d’deau.”

Woodcock (Philophela Minor). There are many good
woodcock grounds in the State, but the birds are com-
monest in the coldest weather. Nevertheless, the spe-
cies have been found breeding in the State.

Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago Delicata). Louisiana has
some incomparable snipe grounds, and in the fall, in
October, and in November before it grows too cool, and
again in March and April, the snipe-shooting is the very
finest. The famous German shot, Pringle, made his in-
excusable but astounding record of 365 birds in one day

on the prairies about Cypremort, in South Central Lou-
isiana.

Red-breasted Snipe, or Long-billed Dowitcher (Mac-
rorhamphus Scolopadceus). This bird is known by Cre-
oles as “Dormeur,” and is often common in migrations.

Bartram’s Sandpiper (Bartramia Longieauda); Upland
Plover; Papabotte. In its biennial migrations, the fa-
mous papabotte visits Louisiana in large numbers, and
is considered cone of the greatest of game delicacies.

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius Longirostris). In the
Ti°-re remote parts of the coast, Long-billed Curlews
are often plentiful, and the other species occur as well,
as do the Golden Plovers. The Kildeer Plover is, of
course, a common bird everywhere in winter.

Bob-White, or Virginia Quail. Normally plentiful in

all sections.

Wild Turkey (Meleagris Galapavo Silvestris). Pine
woods districts, as a rule, are the best for turkeys,
though the birds are found in nearly every kind of coun-
try, including the little oak and bayberry thickets that
run out from the woods into the coast marshes of the
southeast.

Mourning, or Carolina, Dove (Zenaidura macroura).
The Dove is very common in many parts of the State.

Turkey Buzzard (Cathartes aura).

Black Vulture, or Carrion Crow (Catharista Urubu).

Swallow-Tailed Kite (Elanoides' Forficatus). A
splendid hawk, commonest near the coast.

18

Mississippi Kite (Ictinia Mississippiensis).

White-Headed Hagle (Haliaetus Leucocephalus).
enest seen near the coast.

Barn Owl (Strix pratincola). Particularly fond df de-
serted sugar houses in the southern section.

Barred Owl (Syrnium varium). The commonest of
all Louisiana owls.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus).

Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis). Re-
stricted to the pine barrens, and in that kind of country
found pretty well distributed over the State.

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Centrurus carolinus). A
characteristic woodpecker of the swampy sections.

Oit-

Chuck-will’s-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis). A
summer resident, and commonest in the pine sections.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Milvulus forficatus). This
characteristic bird of the Southwest invades Louisiana
from Texas, and is fairly common in the western part of
the State, but is rare at New Orleans.

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Ricebird; Reed-
hird; Ortalon. Compared to the Red-winged Blackbird,
ithe Bobolink is a stranger in Louisiana, the Red-wing
being the recognized “Ricebird” of Louisiana. In the
middle of the fall, however, the Bobolinks are very com-
mon for a while.

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Rice-
bird. Red-wings occur in myriads in the marshes of the

—— . fo ..

“a

Southern part of the State. In winter they desert the
marshes for the shelter of the swamps and wet woods.

Boat-tailed Grackle (Megaquiscalus major). This
large blackbird, or “Chock,” as natives call it, is charac-
teristic of the coast marshes. In winter the species re-
tires somewhat inland to feed in bare fields.

Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Redbird. Whether
Cardinals were formerly more abundant in Louisiana,
they are at the present writing among the most numer-
cus birds of the State. In the height of spring, when the
nesting season is beginning to have full swing, hun-
dreds upon hundreds may be seen in a single day’s walk
in the low woods of the Southern part of the State.
They are proiected by law except against those who
eatch them for “domesticating purposes.”

Painted Bunting (Cyanospiza ciris). Nonpareil; Pape;
Red Pop. The favorite cage-bird of Louisiana, the beau-
tiful crimson, green, and Prussian blue creature, is still
abundant in all southern sections of the State, especially
on plantations, and in tree-dotted pastures and prairies.

White-bellied Swallow (Tachycinetta bicolor). No
swallow is.ever so abundant in Louisiana as this glisten-
ing bird. It does not breed in the State but is present
by thousands in spring and fall.

White-eyed Vireo (Vireo noveboracensis). This cheer-
ful little warbler and whistler is one of the most con-
stant and noticeable songsters of the swamps and moist
woods of the State. Its sharp, eccentric notes are cer-

19

tain to hold the aitention. It is common only from
spring to fall.

Prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea). The
slaty blue and golden Prothonotary is one of the gayest

of the birds of the swamps, and is abundant from the

end of March until the end of September. It nests in
the stubs and rotten trees in the swamps.
Swainson’s Warbler (Helinaia swainsonii). A species

until the past twenty years considered almost the rarest
of North American birds is now proved to summer in
fairly large and regular numbers in the river bottoms ot
the State where wild cane grows.

Parula Warbler (Compsothlypis americana). The
Blue Yellow-back is a summer bird of great abundance
about New Orleans, but less common as a breeder in
other sections.

Hooded Warbler (Sylvania mitrata). This warbler is
essentially a bird of the swamps and moist woods of
Louisiana. Its favorite haunts in the southeastern sec-
tions are spots to which the Swainson’s Warbler is at-
tracted.

Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottus). Still the pride of
the State, and about as abundant as ever in most sec-
tions, though not seen so frequently in New Orleans.
The Mockingbird is a species with which every stranger
wishes to become acquainted at once, and in the accom-
plishment of that purpose, he will find little difficulty.

Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). Probably

-—

the oftenest heard bird in the State is the Carolina
Wren, as it is at home both in the woods and in gardens.

Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). This is one
of the species common to the pinewoods sections, where
it is abundant.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila coerulea). A _ di-
minutive bird of great interest is the Gnatcatcher,
which is common in spring and until the middle of sum-
mer. It is a characteristic bird in live oaks.

American Robin (merula migratoria). The stranger
from the North will be surprised to find the Robin con-
sidered a game bird in Louisiana, a condition of affairs

20

to be attributed to the French settlers, who brought
with them the European custom of eating many small
birds that became fat and well flavored. Efforts are
being made to exclude the Robin from the list of game
birds. Despite the number of Robins killed every year,
the species comes South in apparently equal abundance
every winter.

Other small birds shot in Louisiana in fall, when they
become fat on magnolia seeds, are Woodthrushes and
Catbirds, known as “Cailles,”’ and Kingbirds and Red-
eyed Vireos, known as “Grassets.” Efforts are being
made to protect all these small birds.

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