Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-03-05
FISHES AS BIRD cATcHERs.

AshNNA1-SAheAKA6t
Horse Macxerel, Pickerel and Pike.
Keep your eye on that bird, y said
the Indian, who was rowing the boat
and had stopped, pointing to big
brown pelican while resting on his oars.
/ kept my eye, on the bird as directed,
and at the same time saw the familiar
scythe-lilke dorsal fin of shark NOV
ing swiftly up behind. The pelican was
apparently taking siesta, as it did not
appear to move. The fin drew nearer
and nearer, then disappeared. Ascend
later the broad bosom of the Pacific
was undisturbed by bird or fin. The
Indian threw up his eyes expressively,
as if to intimate that the life chances of
the bird had gone up while its body had
gone down.
THAT was a hammerhead," he said.
''They come in here half starved, and
will take any thing in sight, and some
times they get fooled. Two or three
years ago an Englishman came here for
few months fishing. He had all kinds
of toys, and among them some wooden
ducks that he anchored out in the little
bay, expecting that some wild ducks
would come down. 1 was working for
him, and we laid back behind a sand
heap waiting for them. 1 knew there
were no ducks, but 1 said nothing, as
the boss told me he would do the talk
ing and to say nothing unless spoken
to. We had been there an hour, think,
when, looking out over the little bay,
saw the fin of a hammerhead slowly
coming in, cutting it's way through the
water. 1t beat up just like n boat
beating to wind'ard; first on the star
board tack, then to port, then going
around in a circle, and in little while
it was within foot or so of the wooden
duck.
THE Englishman had not seen it,
having his eyes up looking for ducks;
but all at once there came a splash, and
the wood duck went out'of sight. The
boss looked around suddenly, and, see
ing the wood-ducb a-diving, said:
THAT'S extraordinary now; dow dye
explain it?' said it was on account of
the naturalness of the duck, and just
then up it popped again way out of the
water with its head gone. put off in
the boat and brought it in, and it was
as ragged as though it had been cut
with saw. The shark had grabbed it,
taking it for a live bird, but had let it
go, breaking off the head. The English
man made up his mind that that was
poor place for ducking, so turned and
went shark fishing with better luck.
you often hear it said," continued
the Indian, "that birds go a-fishing; but
there's just as much to be said on the
other side where fish go a-birding.
When the tuna set in here birds of all
kinds came around, especially gulls
and looms, and then the sharks
have a feast. 1 have seen a
big tuna shoot out of water and
take gull that was flying low and
carry it off. He thought it was flying
fish, and probably never found out his
mistake. Up near the Farralon Islands
in the summer the killers come around
the rocks after seals, and carry off the
birds wherever they can find them,
often dashing out of water to get them. ="
The Pacific coast is not the only place
! where the game of turnabout is played
and fishes attack birds. Some years
ago, while putting in a seasons fishing
on the st. Lawrence, saw a piclzerel
leap after a swallow. The place was a
quiet little bay among the Thousand
Islands, where all day long hardly a
ripple disturbed the water, and during
the afternoon, or especially just before
shutdown, countless insects covered
the surface, attracting many swallows.
The latter would dash along near the
water, apparently just skimming it,
and a more peaceful scene could hardly
be realized. But on this occasion it
was suddenly disturbed by a dash OF
the long, slender form of a picl1erel
that thinking, perhaps, that the swal-
low was legitimate game threw itself
in pursuit, falling heavily after the
fruitless effort. My boatman told me
that the fish were not always so unfort-
innate, las he had seen them catch swal-
lows on the wing, and had taken the
birds from the stomach of the pickerel
In England the pickerel is famous fol-
its attacks upon the birds, small duck
lings especially being considered It'd
bits, while in many flocks ducks with
one leg are common, the big, sharp
toothed fishes having nipped off les
in default of better game.
The birds that habitually dive under
water, as the looms, divers, petrels ant
others, are all more or less the victim.
of rapacious fishes. Sharks capture
some, while dolpins and toothed ceta
ceans occasionally dine upon bird
feathers and all. A naval officer re
ported a chase which he observed il
southern waters between a large fish
probably shark, and school of pen
gums. The latter are nearly wingless
and rely entirely upon their powers o
swimming to enable them to escape
The birds shot by the vessels, divin,