Fowls are in great numbers. Wild guinea hens and turkeys are found in flocks of from 25 to 100. The whistle of the quail and the flutter of the perdiz, or pheasant, are heard on all sides in the rural and mountain regions. Ducks in abundance come over from Florida in the winter and return with the spring. Wild pigeons, with their white tops and bodies of blue, larger somewhat than the domestic bird, offer, in hunting, the greatest sport to gentlemen who will be restrained within reason. In the early morning the pigeons generally go to feed on the mangle berries when ripe, and which grow by the sea or near some swampy place. I have known a party of three persons to kill 1,500 of the pigeons within a few hours. Robiches, tojosas, and guanaros are found in the thick woods.
Mockingbirds and blue-birds, orioles, turpials, negritos, parrots, and a thousand kinds of songsters and birds of brilliant plumage flit from tree to tree.
The naturalist Poey says there are 641 distinct species of fish in the Cuban waters. Among those that delight the sportsman are the red snapper, lista, manta, gallego, cubera, surela, and garfish. The sierra, which weighs from forty to sixty pounds, is extremely game, as is the ronco, so called because it snores when brought out of the water. For heavy sport, fishing for sharks, which are good for nothing, or the gusa, which weighs from 400 to 600 pounds and is excellent eating, offers abundant exercise. It is a daily occurrence to see schools of fish numbering from hundreds to many thousands, each fish weighing from one to four pounds, swimming around the bays and harbors waiting for a bait. Any American who enjoys good fishing can find his fondest dreams more than satisfied in Cuba.
Delicious shrimps, crabs, lobsters, oysters, and clams abound. The lobsters have no claws and weigh from two to eight pounds. They are caught at night in shallow places along the sandy beach, a torch, harpoon, and net being the necessary outfit. Some of the rivers abound in alligators, but few hunt them.—Field and Stream.
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| 280. | NIAGARA FALLS. | CHICAGO, A. W. MUMFORD, PUBLISHER. |
NIAGARA FALLS.
