HARVARD UNIVERSITY. LIBRARY OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE. ZOOLOGY BE SHS 7 ™ ? ‘ fi is Lv: ‘ 1 4 ‘ ‘ ; aia, at ; Nea re ’ , pl . y \ + . : 1 } +} - < a = x ‘ d 7 i / ' = A i i e ; \ i +5 ets f nex ¥ H ee : re 2 = f . . u ot 7 f } : rt ae $ b (oe a ay Wa y - a eS iF & { = : ~ , ‘ a w i aay , = is + i ri \ tr nm ) ; i _ 1 f F t ( » 7 ‘ ~ . - :) X = { \ ° \ / A \ 5 z j 1 ; A . = oe CSS FEB 12 7 FX = a VOL. XXXIX, No. 1 JANUARY, 1925 \ hi 4 fiz | { fs } a ae Soe ——_ = S— — S_= MP =I vy 4 | E S P a Pee: ; é i f \. ee vin rt ; ip i OTTAWA AE ELS BLISHRD ST 1 gan CLUB ISSUED esas 9, 1925 ¥ oy # ; Feileg at the Ottawa Post Office as second-class matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- ELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB ~ ‘Satrons: 2 THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG OF VIMY | : President: Hoyes LLoyp. Ist Vice-P resident: G. A. MILLER. 2nd Vice-President: NoRMAN CRIDDLE. - ‘i Secretary: ; - Hon. Treasurer: . F. WRIGHT, ah aay B.A. FAUVEL, (Geological Survey, Ottawa), i ee 321 “McLeod St. Ottawa, Ont. Additional Members of Council: W: At MACOUN;/ Miss M. E. Cowan; CG. M. SterNserc; H. I. SMITH; F. W. WaucH; P. A. TAVERNER; E. SApiR; E. M. KINDLE; W. J. WINTEMBERG; R.E. DeELury; ARTHUR GIBSON; M.O. Matte; R. M. ANDERSON; H. GROH: Miss F.. FYLES; C. B. HUTCHINGS; H. M. Ami; CLYDE L. PATCH; D. JENNESS; V. W. JACKSON; R. O. MERRIMAN; W.N. KELLY; C. H. SNELL; J. R. McLEeop; JoHN Davipson; L. MclI. TERRILL; R. MEREDITH; FRANCIS Boe -KERMODE; Pror. R. B. THOMSON; THE EDITOR. Editor: ; Bos ~ HARRISON F. LEWIS, eee Canadian National Parks Praaew Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa. Associate Editors: SAPIRG cf ou hoe hee Mase ..... Anthropology EAC NG EDLUND SMAIN 3 25 Saas Marine Biology E. MeO: WALTER ose ta ees ces Botany PAS TAVERNEIR Gg .o.. Seee Ornithology — BRL ATGHRORD. rcs eee cone Conchology E. M. KINDLE....... ah eae .. ..Palaeontology WEY? WILLIAMS) sca byecmeeaeraen Geology R. M. ANDERSON....... see cere .Zoology — ARTHUR GIBSON............-+.- Entomology CLYDE Li:PATCH: /3) 22/4, eee eee Bah a CONTENTS oe 9 PAGE The ic periniental Farm as a Bird Sanctuary. By Ralph E. DeLury . BERR Ee ARN Ne ion ae is ae ie Bite Trilobites of the Beekmantown in the Philipsburg Region of Quebec. By J. H. Bradley, Jr. = 6 ay Some Notes on “‘Resident”’ Bird-Banding on Vancouver Island, B.C. By G. D. Sprot.. a5 An Exploration into the Northern Plains North and Hast of Great Slave ‘Lake, including: the Source of the Coppermine River. By G. H. Blanchet, F.R.G.S., of the Topo. Sur. of Can.. . 12:25) The Birds of Ottawa—Addenda to October 2, 1924. By Hoyes Toya alii Se DER are cnc ft 1B) Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns. Continued from December Issue, 1924. 18°23 In: Memoriam—Montague Chamberlain... ose. ee A oe ee OR Esl Statement of the Financial Standing of the Giaws Field-Naturalists’ Club at the Claas of tlle en Year 1923-1924—-November 27, 1924............. Pe toes martina Tare ome ne A. dig 2s Oe Statement of Trust Funds Committee: - = 00.) 2) 3476 ed oie ee Pe ita See ae oe ae aa ee eae Notes and Observations:— peated ye (ig ae Christmas Bird Censuses; 19240503 i. eee eee ee er ree ert eet bay: A Large Gorgonian from "Alaska. By As ie Vier bre ih see 2 sso Ae oe ope en cosa cl eames Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii at Toronto. By L. L. Snyder....................... ee 25 Mr: Rodney Wood: . By Hoyes: Lloyds ny fe ee ee 26. Report of the Council, Ottawa Bicli_-Naturatiets: Club, 1923-24. By J. F Wright, Sec EAs - Annual Meeting of Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. By J. F. Wright, Sec... .. ee Spe ste 26 Book Review:— Le The Auk 1908) Bye Eon eos eee We Recs, Meare een nC TEIB Conc 6 onarune oo rrr Palaeontology of the Silurian eo of Arisaig, Nova Scotia, By P. H. MeLearn—A. 1} thirty-seven years ago, ‘‘to publish the results of ‘original each or tee anda in ei ments of natural history,” is issued monthly, excepting for the months of June, July and Papers, notes and photographs should be addressed to the Hditor. Manuscript shoul be typewritten. ie Subscriptions cover the current year, except those taken out during last quarter #: they will be applied on the following year, the remaining numbers of current year being ## free. Payments should be made to the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel, 821 McLe Ottawa. Price of this bieaca $1.50; single copies 20c each. Zi aa || ever been placed upon the market—reproduced by a European pro- |} cess that brings out the most minute detail—all the softness of a || THE GRAPHIC ADVERTISERS, 175 Nepean Street, Ottawa Set ae ee AR EN Ca a, FA ee ate : S Se Pe, - a Sate a _ - . t 1 : eee FEB Te 940 BIRD HOUSES The Habits and Requirements of the Birds have been care- fully studied in the making of our Bird Houses i They are made right in every detail—and consequently they are effec- tive in attracting tenants. Every golf club or person having a large garden or grounds should have one of our Purple Martin Houses. SEND FOR PAMPHLET Early Orders for Spring Delivery Are Advised _ The Master Mfg. Co., Ltd. Toronto, ONTARIO A Panoramic View of Jsmateornce’s Niagara Falls Beautifully Reproduced in Four Colors—24 inches long This is one of the most beautiful views of Niagara Falls that has _ photograph—with the colors faithfully reproduced.. The view is taken from the entrance of Queen Victoria Park and shows the American as well as the Horseshoe Falls A Reproduction that every Nature Lover will appreetate U Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers ee s Limited MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS Importers and Dealers in CHEMICAL AND ASSAY APPARATUS 344 St. Paul St. West, Montreal | SEEDS PLANTS BULBS | Our rigorous system of testing eliminates loss HH and disappointment from your garden # Kenneth McDonald & Sons, Limited # Seed and Bulb Merchants FES Ottawa, Ont i? Market Square NATURAL SCIENCE ESTABLISHMENT Rochester, New York, U.S.A. Manufacturers of the genuine Schmitt boxes exhibition cases and cabinets, also of the American ¥ Entomological Company’s insect pins. Riker Mounts and botanical mounts always on hand, also Riker botanical presses. Send for our supply catalogue and other lists of interest to collectors. 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Pee efoele eho efeelecge ofe ofe afo ale oe oe ae ae 0% So eGo ae se oFe oSe 80 050 eLe- eS of0 a2 oso ece: Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers foes ee | Mea aa ee CT nM nt id cc | Siniiialra bel aitiiatin SO TT TL TT TI =i o Po at e, °, eG I te afe ao oS0-e$e of oS0 of oS ofe-a2e oe ooo ae 00 20 ogo ok esa: td. + 410-412 Bank Street, Ottawa : “ Phones—Queen 1023-1024 Pe we hy ee The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. XXXIX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, JANUARY, 1925 No. 1 THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM AS A BIRD SANCTUARY IN EXPERIMENTAL FARM, concerned as it is with all of the factors relating to agriculture, finds in its bird life an in- = teresting and important subject for observation. The necessity of birds for the most successful operation of various branches of farm- ing has so often been demonstrated that, for utilitarian reasons alone, the policy of protecting birds, which has always been maintained by the Directors of the Experimental Farms, is fully justified. Though the Act respecting Experiment- al Farm Stations* makes no explicit reference to ornithological investigations, yet provision is made Birds Convention Act. to “conduct any other experiments and researches bearing upon the agricultural industry of Canada”’; and now, it is understood, consideration is being given to the advisability of formulating definitely this protective policy by constituting the Experi- mental Farms sanctuaries under the Migratory Bird-students and nature- lovers throughout America will welcome such procedure as a direct contribution to the cause of bird protection, as well as a stimulant to a sympa- _ thetic interest in this cause throughout the agri- cultural districts. The Central Experimental Farm, on the border of the city of Ottawa, possesses a great variety of the natural and artificial conditions most desirable in a sanctuary for birds. An examination of the aerial photograph{, which pictures the easterly end of the Experimental Farm and about 500 feet of the city along the Carling Avenue bound- ary, reveals some of these attractions: the open water of Dow’s Lake and the Rideau Canal with their edgings along the Farm of marsh and swamp; - clumps of woods, deciduous and evergreen; mea- dows and hillsides; lawns, shrubberies and hedges; areas devoted to the cultivation of fruits, flowers, grains and vegetables. In such surroundings, _ many birds linger for days on their journies north _ this glorious place. and south, and many elect to make their homes in There is plenty of food at all seasons of the year for migrants and resident birds, *Revised Statutes of Canada, 1906, c. 73. {My thanks are due to Secretary J. A. Wilson of the Air _ Board for this photograph and for permission to publish it here: The photograph was taken at an elevation of 10,000 feet. _ Mr. C. R. Westland, who has surveyed this locality, has kindly marked in the 1000-foot lines, N, E, S, and W from the Dominion Observatory, the Geodetic zero point for Cana- a. { By RALPH E. DELURY and good shelter from enemies and from the chill winds of winter. As previous numbers of the publications of the Field-Naturalists’ Club testify, Ottawa bird- students have taken advantage of the proximity of this bird paradise to record many interesting observations. Excursions of the Club have been held to the Farm, and to ‘“‘Dow’s-Swamp”’ (4000 ft. East, 500 ft. South of the Observatory); while “Clark’s Woods’, as it was formerly called, near the Observatory (500 N., 200 W.), has yielded some valuable records. The swamp and woods are not so large and unfrequented as when the earliest records were made, but they still attract many birds. The small marsh below tht woods along Carling Avenue (700 N., 400 E.) has been filled in partly and is nearly dry in the summer, so that it has been practically deserted as a nest- ing site by the Red-winged Blackbirds. On the other hand the planted trees on the Farm, espec- ially the wide strip all along its Carling and Fisher Avenue boundaries, have grown into attractive bits of woods, and so the increasing attractions of the Farm have almost compensated for modifica- tions in the surroundings. Also, the new hospital (8000 W., 1000 S.) will soon have its large grounds laid out, and it is hoped that a great number of trees of various kinds will be planted there. On the whole, the boundaries of the Farm will con- tinue to be attractive to the birds, and the Farm will doubtless become more so. The ideal nesting places in marsh, tree and meadow, as well as‘the nesting boxes which have been put up, especially in the arboretum, are taken advantage of by so many pairs of birds that an accurate count of their numbers is almost impossible. It is the practice among the men at the Farm to guard carefully the nests they dis- cover on the ground and in shrubs, indicating their presence by a stake or other means, lest they be injured in the usual processes of cultivating, grass- cutting and shrub-trimming. It is inevitable, however, in spite of these highly commendable precautions, that many nests are molested; but the timing of such operations as the ploughing in of certain crops for their fertilising value could smoetimes be arranged to the best advantage of the birds nesting in the field. : THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX 4 PLATE 1. Above: Baby Killdeer, one day old. Old Killdeer on nest of four eggs. Middle: Eastern end of Experimental Farm photographed from 10,000 feet in the air. : Below: Mother Black Duck and six young. Spotted Sandpiper on nest of four eggs, being moved by the hand after a short acquaintance. : _ January, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST PLATE 2. Above: Pair of Downy Woodpeckers and nest. Meadowlark approaching nest with food for her four young. Middle: Ruby-throated Hummingbird sipping nectar from Cytisus Capitatus. Female Cape May Warbler on spruce tree. Below: Female Pine Grosbeak eating weed seeds. Bohemian Waxwing on crabapple tree. 4 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST The bird photographs reproduced herewith were taken at the Farm and are representative of its bird life. On the top of Plate 1 is shown a Kill- deer on the nest in a pea-field (1200 E., 300 S.). When the young were one day out of the shell the parents led them across the road, one of the young being detained long enough to be photographed as shown. Three or four pairs of Killdeers nest ‘ on the eastern half of the Farm each year, and Spotted Sandpipers in greater numbers. The picture of the latter was taken in a plot of ‘“Duch- ess’? wheat after a very short acquaintance, the old bird coming back quickly to her four eggs when called by a low whistled Leet, Leet, Leet-tee. The Black Duck shown leading her brood nested in the enclosed marsh of the Poultry Division (2300 E., 200 N.). When the young were larger she brought them to the feeding-trough, after first chasing away the domestic fowl. In this marsh the Canada Geese which have been domesticated find natural nesting places, and usually a Bittern, two or three Florida Gallinules and many Red- winged Blackbirds nest there. At the top of Plate 2 a pair of Downy Woodpeckers are shown at their nest in the swamp beyond the Arboretum (3100 E., 1600 S.); one parent is waiting to enter with insect food for the young, while the other, having taken in food and cleaned the nest, is about to come out. The old Meadowlark pictured is striding towards her nest on the hillside (2400E., 1400 S.), after the usual ten-minute search for moths, cutworms, etc. When her four young were banded they scurried away into the long grass and were found with difficulty. The Hum- mingbird is shown sucking nectar from flowers of one of the many shrubs in the Arboretum (1800 E., 1200 S.); at this point as many as 30 Ruby- throats have been seen at a Siberian Pea Tree. The female Cape May Warbler pictured is repre- sentative of the host of Warblers which loiter for days at the Arboretum (2200 E., 600 S.). At one time, ten species of Warblers were observed at the edge of a clump of evergreens where some haw- thorn trees were in bloom (2600 E., 1000 S.). Pine Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings and occa- sionally Robins find plenty of food in the winter, as many of the shrubs and trees retain their fruit. The Bohemian Waxwing is shown seated in a laden crabapple tree; while the Pine Grosbeak, having eaten apple seeds, has gone to the weeds to vary her diet (2600 E., 1200 S.). Ninety-three species of birds have been observed at the writer’s residence near the Farm (800 W., 285 N.) during the last 14 years, and these, together with others seen about the Observatory grounds and the Experimental Farm, or within a stone’s throw of it, total 136. It may be noted that several additional species were observed but ‘Migrant Shrike, not positively identified; additional species have been previously recorded by other observers. © of the Farm birds is desirable, it may be worth while at present to append the writer’s list of those observed from 1911 to the end of 1924. In this list those seen in the writer’s garden. ; _will be indicated by an asterisk. e Horned Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Herring Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Hooded Merganser, Black Duck, Green-winged Teal, Canvas-back, Canada Goose, Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Black-- crowned Night Heron, Florida Gallinule, Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer, Ruffed Grouse, Marsh Hawk, *Sharp-shinned Hawk, Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk, *Pigeon Hawk, *Sparrow Hawk, Barred Owl, Saw-whet Owl, *Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, *Yellow-billed Cuckoo, *Black-. billed Cuckoo, *Belted Kingfisher, *Hairy Wood- pecker, *Downy Woodpecker, Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, *Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, headed Woodpecker, *Flicker, *Nighthawk, *Chimney Swift, Hummingbird, *Kingbird, *Phoebe, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, *Whip-poor-will, *Wood Pewee, *Least Flycatcher, Horned Lark, *Blue Jay, Canada Jay, *Bobolink, *Cowbird, *Meadowlark, bird, *Bronzed Grackle, *Evening Grosbeak, *Pine Grosbeak, *Purple Finch, *Crossbill, *White-winged Crossbill, *Redpoll, *Goldfinch, *Pine Siskin, Snow Bunting, *Vesper- Sparrow, *Savannah Sparrow, *White-crowned Sparrow, *White-throated Sparrow, *Tree Spar- — row, *Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, *Slate- colored Junco, *Song Sparrow, *Lincoln’s Sparrow, Red- *Ruby-throated *Crested Flycatcher, — Prairie — *Crow, — *Red-winged Blackbird, — *Baltimore Oriole, Rusty Black-- [VOL. XXXIX y and at least ten While a thorough list. - *House Sparrow,. Swamp Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, *Towhee, *Rose-~ breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Tanager, *Purple Martin, Cliff Swallow, *Barn Swallow, *Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, *Bohem-. — ian Waxwing, *Cedar Waxwing, *Northern Shrike, *Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo, *Blue-headed Vireo, Warbler, *Nashville Warbler, *Tennessee Warbler, Parula Warbler, *Cape May Warbler, Warbler, Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, *Chestnut-sided Warbler, *Bay-breasted Warbler, = Warbler, *Blackburnian Warbler, *Black-throated Green Warbler, *Pine Warbler, *Ovenbird, *Water-Thrush, *Morning Warbler, ler, *Redstart, *Catbird, *Brown Thrasher, +House Wren, "*Winter Wren, *White-breasted Nuthatch, hatch, *Chickadee, *Ruby-crowned Kinglet, *Wood Thrush, *Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, *Hermit Thrush, *Robin, *Bluebird. *Scarlet. “Warbling — *Black and White: *Yellow *Black-throated Blue Warbler, *Myrtle- *Black-poll. Maryland. Yellow-throat, *Wilson’ s Warbler, *Canada Warb-- *Brown Creeper, *Red-breasted Nut- *Golden-crowned Kinglet,. ¢ *Olive-backed Thrush, — January, 1925] T THE suggestion of Professor P. E. Ray- mond, the writer spent eleven weeks in the vicinity of Philipsburg, Quebec, dur- : ing the summer of 1922. The time was _ devoted mainly to a thorough search for fossils in _ the Beekmantown rocks of this region. Although the great bulk of the rocks was barren, determin- able fossils were found in seven separate and distinet horizons. The general results of this study were published in the Journal of Geology* and correlations within the Beekmantown of the Champlain valley were suggested. The present __ paper will concern itself with the trilobites of the Philipsburg section. In the Middle and Upper _ Beekmantown localities of this area, brachiopods, gastropods, and cephalopods occur in some abun- dance, but because of the light shed upon very poorly understood genera, the trilobite fauna has received the bulk of attention. Certain of these forms will undoubtedly be of value to future investigations concerning the stratigraphy of the 4 “Quebec Group,” and in the interpretation of P. ¥ Beekmantown faunas in general. 3 Ea, x : ORDER OPISTHOPARIA BEECHER __ FAMILY BATHYURIDAE WALCOTT : Bathyurellus Billings at - Bathyurellus flabellus sp. nov. , Plate 1, fig. 7. DESCRIPTION Pygidium semicircular; width not quite twice - the length. Axial lobe strongly convex, conical, expanding a little anteriorly, almost half the whole _ length; apex obtusely rounded. There are three indistinct rings, crossed by a slightly raised medial line; last ring as wide as both the others. The 4 axial lobe, although well-defined, is small and in- significant in comparison with the rest of the pygidium. The lateral lobes have a small triangu- lar area adjacent to the axis that stands up in sharp contrast to the general concavity of the broad border of the pygidium. The raised area around the axial lobe is marked by seven ribs on _ each side. These are reduced to five pairs on the concave portion. The distinctive feature of this species is that the ribs on the lateral lobes are *Vol. 31, No. 4, May-June, 1923. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 5 en ie TRILOBITES OF THE BEEKMANTOWN IN THE PHILIPSBURG REGION OF \e QUEBEC ; By J. H. BRADLEY, JR. equally distributed over the entire expanse of pygidium, giving a fan-like appearance. No other member of the genus has ribs directly behind the axial lobe. Ribs gently convex; grooves between them gently concave. Surface apparently smooth. Head and thorax unknown. The pygidium of Bathyurellus flabellus has the same general proportions as that of B. expansus, but differs from it in having three poorly marked axial rings instead of four well-marked rings; in having five instead of four pairs of ribs on the lateral lobes; but chiefly in not being smooth behind the axial lobe. B. marginatus differs from B. flabellus in having nearly flat lateral lobes; B. fraternus in possessing a wider axial lobe which is not elevated at the apex; B. validus in having the whole of the lateral lobes of the pygidium concave, and the axial lobe not elevated at the apex. In 1854, Angelin in his Palaeontolgia Scandin- avica published a drawing of the pygidium of Niobe explanata from the Orthoceras limestone (Fagelsang limestone) of Scania. This fossil closely resembles Bathyurellus flabellus in having a similar fan-like pygidium with ribs directly back from the axial lobe. It is also gently concave near the posterior margin as in Bathyurellus. The axial lobe of Niobe explanata differs, however, from that of Bathyurellus flabellus in being larger and in possessing eight well-defined annulations. MEASUREMENT OF PYGIDIUM Length of Width of Length Width Axial Lobe Axial Lobe 7mm. 12.5.mm. 3mm. 2mm. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Upper Beekmantown at Philipsburg, Quebec. Holotype No. 1736 in Museum of Comp. Zodlogy, Cambridge, Mass., collected by J. Marcou. Petigurus Raymond Petigurus subrectus sp. nov. Plate 1, fig. 3. Cf. Bathyurus Nero Billings, Pal. Foss., 1 , Geol. Surv. Canada, 1865, p. 260, fig. 243a-d. Cf. Petigurus nero Raymond, Bull. Victoria Memorial Mus., 1, 1918, p. 59, pl. 7, fig. 8. 6 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST DESCRIPTION Glabella oblong as in Petigurus nero, but differs from that form in lacking anterior enlargement. Sides of glabella quite parallel from neck furrow forward to a point about 2 mm. from tip where sides converge rather abruptly. Dorsal furrows well defined all round glabella. Glabella not as convex as that of Petigurus nero. Neck segment rounded and conspicuous. Surface covered by tubercles. Known only from a single cranidium. “HORIZON AND LOCALITY . Middle Beekmantown, St. Armand, P.Q. Holo- type collected by A. Hyatt from Division Bd in syncline west of St. Armand station, and now No. 1737 in the M. C. Z. FAMILY LEIOSTEGIDAE NOV. Genus Leiosteguim Raymond Bull. Victoria Mem. Mus., 1, 1918, p. 68. Genotype, Bathyurus quadratus Billings. Leiostegium cannot be placed in any family so far described. The total absence of glabellar furrows and the general smoothness of craniduim and pygidium suggest that Leiostegium is a term- inal genus. Its possible ancestry is uncertain, however, because Cambrian forms possessing quadrate glabellae do not as a rule correspond in other important details. Symphysurus elongatus possesses a subquadrate glabella, lacks glabellar furrows, and has a well defined axial lobe similar direct ancestor. Illaenurus quadratus Hall re- -sembles Leiostegium in shape of glabella, but va differs in having eyes close to the glabella and a se pygidium totally lacking an axial lobe. ‘to that of Leiostegium. The eyes of the former — ] are much nearer the glabella than in the latter, ay and it therefore cannot be looked to as a possible — Leiostegium is apparently unique in possessing aoe quadrate glabella, wide fixed cheeks, small eyes far from the glabella, the pygidium almost semi- _ circular,with axial lobe extending nearly the whole _ length. For trilobites of this type the family Leiostegiidae is proposed. It is possible that in the future, the ancestors of Leiostegium will be © made known. fo At present, however, it is clear — that Leiostegium cannot be included in the Asa- a phidae, Illaenidae or Bathyuridae, largely because In any case the family | of the position of the eye. Leiostegiidae is necessary until something more is | - learned of the genesis of this distinctive form. Leiostegium quadratum (Billings) Plate 1, fig. 5. Bathyurus quadratus Billings, Geol., Canadian Nat. 5, 1860, fig. 27; Geol. Canada, Geol. Surv. Canada, 1863, p. 238, fig. 272; Pal. Foss., 1, Geol. 1 Surv. Canada, 1865, p. 412, fig. 396. quadratum Raymond, Bull. Victoria Mem. Mus., 1 ATS. p 268% ple; Tesh ead ts a “% A few specimens of the cranidium of this species were found in a collection of gastropods and — Leiostegium ~ chase 4 ‘| \ pe the conglomerate beds at Stanbridge. ie Se stopnds made by A. Hyatt from the upper 3 _ members of Logan’s series B at St. Armand, P.Q. The writer finds this trilobite in his pallecnon from Heretofore = my quadratum has been known only from the con- glomerate at Point Lévis, and the exact age of the horizon could only be inferred. It is now quite _ certain that it is a middle and upper Beekmantown ss! ‘\ \ form. Figured specimen No. 1738 in Museum of a as ;, 5 =H 4 \ _ Comp. Zodlogy. FAMILY ASAPHIDAE BURMEISTER SUBFAMILY ASAPHINAE RAYMOND Genus Isoteloides Raymond Tsoteloides whitfielai Raymond Asaphus canalis Whitfield (not Hall), Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1, 1886, p. 336, pl. 34, - figs. 1-8; ibid., 2, 1889, p. 64, pl. 11, 12—Seely, cron Siate Geol., Rep. 7, 1910, pl. 58. _ Isotelus canalis ‘Cuba and Shimer, N. A. Tales Fossils, 2, 1910, p. 291, fig. 1600. Isoteloides areas Pose! Ann. Carnegie Mus., 7, 1910, p. 36, pl. 14, figs. 1-4; fig. 4; 7th oes pene fs ey | / in i i =’: the Beekmantown. _ Rep. Vermont State Geol., 1910, p. 223.—Walcott, Smithson. Miscl. Colls., 1924, Vol. 75, No. 2, p. 58, pi. 13, fig. 6. This species is-found associated with Lloydia Gord: 3 in the red-weathering beds of Division B. ‘Two pygidia, an hypostoma and a free cheek, were found in a collection made by J. Marcou from this rezion. The writer does not find Isoteloides whit- fieldi in his collection from Stanbridge, and evi- dence elsewhere indicates a possible upper limit to this type in the Fort Cassin horizon. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Fort Cassin beds of the Beekmantown: Crown Point, New York; Fort Cassin, Vermont. Isoteloides convexus sp. nov. Qnly a fragment of a pygidium is known, but ‘it shows pronounced differences from Isoteloides _whitfieldi and suggests the possibility of the presence of more than one species of this genus in As the name indicates, I. con- vexus differs from J. whitfieldi in possessing a greater convexity and a greater particular convex- ity of axial and pleural lobes of the pygidium. _ This produces deep depressions between the axial and pleural lobes so that this trilobite lacks the smoothness of I. whitfieldi. | ean ieee | } HORIZON AND LOCALITY Middle Beekmantown, Division B, Philipsburg, z P.Q. Holotype No. 1739 in the M. C. Z. - FAMILY ASAPHISCIDAE RAYMOND Lloydia saffordi (Billings) Plate 1, figs. 9, 10. Bathyurus saffordi Billings, Canadian Nat. Geol. 5, 1860, p. 320, fig. 24; ibid., 6, 1861, p. 313, forward considerably. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST q figs. 1, 2; Geol. Canada, Geol. Surv. Canada, 1863, p. 239, figs. 274a, b.—Billings, Pal. Foss., 1, Geol. Surv. Canada, 1865, p. 259, figs. 241a, b; p. 411, fig. 393. Lloydia saffordi Raymond, Bull. Victoria Mem. Mus., 1, 1918, p. 66, pl. 7, fig. 16. Lloydia saffordi occurs in abundance associated with Macluites ponderosus and other gastropods in the upper B series at Philipsburg. ° This associa- tion obtains also at Cow Head in boulders in Division P. It is likewise the most common conspicuous trilobite at Point Lévis. The writer has several specimens from the conglomerate at Stanbridge. The occurrence of this form at Stan- bridge and Philipsburg marks it as a Beekmantown species. It is interesting to find L. saffordi in a collection recently made by Schuchert in the Williston limestone southeast of Burlington, Vermont. This is the first discovery of this arctic type in the United States. Figured specimens Nos. 1745 and 1746 in the M. C. Z. Lloydia amplimarginata sp. nov. Plate 1, fig. 8. Axial lobe narrow and almost parallel sided. Rings distinct and appear to be six in number. Pleural lobes smooth and convex, separated by sharp furrows from the axis. Slight furrows separate pleural lobes from border which encircles the entire pygidium. Lloydia amplimarginata differs markedly from L. saffordi, with which it is associated, in the width of this margin. In the former, the margin is conspicuously wide, almost as wide as the axial lobe. The widest part of the margin in L. saffordi, directly behind the axial lobe, is never quite half as wide as the widest part of the anterior end of the axial lobe. Another striking difference between these two related forms is that the axial lobe of the present species enlarges very little, whereas that of L. saffordi expands MEASUREMENTS OF PYGIDIUM Greatest Length of Greatest Length Width Width of Axial Width of Border Lobe Axial Lobe 10mm. 10.5mm. 2.25mm. 8.75 mm. 2.5 mm. From these measurements, it can be seen that Lloydia amplimarginata is almost as long as wide. L. saffordi is always wider than long. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Middle Beekmantown, Philipsburg, P.Q. : Described from a pygidium collected by J. Marcou from Division B at Philipsburg. The holotype is No. 1740 in the M. C. Z. 8 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ~— Lloydia pinguis sp. nov. Plate 1, fig. 11. DESCRIPTION Known from cranidia only. Glabella very convex, much elevated above the general surface of the head, anterior angles slightly rounded, sides straight and divergent a little back- ward; posterior margin slightly less rounded than anterior. Neck furrow deep and broad; neck segment about twice as broad as rim which forms frontal margin. Dorsal furrows shallow. Pal- pebral lobes large, close to dorsal furrows, and situated half way to the front. This form differs from Lloydia saffordi in its more convex glabella, which lacks the curve on the lateral margins, and the well rounded frontal angles. The glabella of L. pinguis is almost oblong, whereas that of L. saffordt narrows con- siderably toward the front. The entire cranidium of Lloydia pinguis has a more plump appearance than has that of L. saffordi. MEASUREMENTS OF CRANIDIA Length Greatest Smallest Length Width of Width of Width of Glabella Glabella Glabella Jimm. 115mm. 8mm. 6.5mm. 6mm. 12mm. 125mm. 9mm. 65mm. 6mm. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Middle Beekmantown, Division B, at Philips- burg, P.Q. Holotype collected by J. Marcou, and now No. 1747 in the M. C. Z. Lloydia obscura sp. nov. Plate 1, fig. 6. Lloydia sp. ind. Raymond. Bull. Mem. Mus., 1, 1918, pl. 7, fig. 19. DESCRIPTION Known from pygidia and thorax only. Among trilobites attributed to Lloydia saffordi are forms with the axial lobe of the pygidium narrow, expanding forward but slightly, pygidium considerably wider than long, margin narrow. In the general proportions of the pygidium, and the lack of a conspicuous margin, Lloydia obscura agrees with L. saffordi. In the almost parallel- sided axial lobe, it is similar to L. amplimarginata but differs from that form in lacking the nearly equidimensional pygidivum and the broad border. The thorax is yet too little known for exact des- cription. Victoria Length Greatest Length Width of Width of Axial Lobe Axial Lobe 12 mm. 18 mm. 10 mm. 5 mm. 10 mm. 14 mm. 8 mm. 4 mm. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Upper Beekmantown from Point Lévis and Lot LF (VoL. XXXIX 21, Range 6, Division D, Stanbridge, P.Q. The holotype is in the Museum of the Geological Survey of Canada. Paratype No. 1748 in the Museum of Comp. Zodélogy. FAMILY ENCRINURIDAE ANGELIN Cybele Kutorga Cybele? pervetusta sp. nov. Plate 1, fig. 4. Known from a single pygidium. In the absence of associated cranidia of En= crinurus, Cybele, or Cybeloides, the pygidium in question can only be provisionally referred to { Cybele. Axial lobe an elongate spherical tienes lacking annulation. In place of rings, five pairs: | of pit-like depressions occur on the anterior part. These represent either vestigial or rudimentary furrows. Pleural lobes apparently with five ribs: which turn back sharply, parallel to the axial lobe. The pair of ribs nearest axial lobe meet posteriorly. This pygidium is quite unlike any of the related. forms in its large size and smooth axial and lateral lobes. MEASUREMENTS - Length of Width of Length Width Axial Lobe Axial Lobe | 13 mm. 15 mm. 11 mm. 5 mm. HoRIZON AND LOCALITY Middle Beekmantown from Division B5 at St. Armand, P.Q. Collected by A. Hyatt, and No. 1749 in the M. C. Z. FAMILY CHEIRURIDAE SALTER SUBFAMILY CHEIRURINAE RAYMOND Strotactinus genus novum. Plate 1, figs. 1, 2. j Amphion salieri Billings, Canadian Nat. Goal 1861, p. 322, fig. 6.; Geol. Canada, Geol. es Canada, 1863, p. 278, fig. 248a, b.; Pal. Foss., 1, Geol. Surv. Canada, 1865, p. 352, fig. 339. ef. Ceraurinus Barton, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 54, 1913, p. 547. ef. Pliomerops Raymond, Amer. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., 19, 1905, p. 878; Zittel-Eastman Textb. Pal.,. 1913, p. 725. The most common trilobite in the Beekman- town limestone at Philipsburg, exclusive of the ubiquitous Lloydia saffordi, is the Amphion saltert of Billings. Although free cheeks and thorax are unknown, cranidia and pygidia of this type are constantly associated on the same slab of rock. No other similar form is sufficiently common to: establish any doubt that the parts under discus- sion belong to the same species. The cranidium. resembles in general that of Ceraurinus marginatus. Barton, with certain important differences. The pygidium resembles in general that of Pliomerops canadensis Raymond. For trilobites of this type the writer proposes the name Strotactinus. | —— January, 1925] - 9 DESCRIPTION In the only specimen at the writer’s command _ which shows a complete fixed cheek, the width of | the cephalon at the neck furrow measures 12mm., while the length is 6 mm. In other specimens _ studied, the width appears less in comparison with the length. This ratio was given by Billings as 3:5 in his original description of the type, and the present writer is inclined to accept this as the probable ratio for the average specimen. The importance of this ratio is seen in a comparison with the cranidia of Ceraurinus, in which the width is typically more than twice the length. This narrower and longer appearance of the cranidium of Strotactinus is due to the fact that in this genus the intramarginal furrow .at the anterior margin of the fixed cheek meets the glabella at or a trifle below the point of origin of the first glabellar furrow. In Ceraurinus, the intramarginal furrow always meets the glabella anterior to the_ first glabellar furrow. The glabella, therefore, appears to sit higher with reference to the cheeks in Strotactinus than in Ceraurinus. Glabella weakly convex, subrectangular, straight-sided, never expanding anteriorly as in Ceraurinus ornatus and C. trentonensis. Three pairs of glabellar furrows gently curving back- wards. Neck furrows straight, lacking forward flexure on the axial region of the glabella. Eye apparently long, narrow, opposite second lobe of glabella anterior to neck furrow. Fixed cheek pustulose as in Ceraurinus. Pygidium resembles that of Pliomerops cana- densis in having five or six segments on the conicai axial lobe and five ribs on each of the lateral lobes. Axial lobe in Strotactinus relatively smaller than that of Pliomerops. Average size of Strotactinus considerably less than that of Pliomerops so that typical pygidia of the latter show wider furrows between the ribs and a greater general convexity of parts. - Pliomerinae. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 9 CLASSIFICATION Strotactinus appears to be a transition genus from trilobites with pygidia containing five seg- ments’ to those with pygidia of four segments and a tendency to develop highly the first pair of spines. The pygidium is very similar to that of The head, on the other hand, is clearly that of the Cheirurinae, and entitles Stro- tactinus to be classed with that sub-family. The glabella of the Pliomerinae shows a deviation from the normal, whereas the pygidium lacks any particular specialization. Since the most striking characteristic of the Pliomerinae is this specialized glabella, Strotactinus, whose glabella is not special- ized, must be included in the Cheirurinae. On the other hand, since Strotactinus has a pygidium much like the Pliomerinae and very likely much © like the ancestors of the entire family, it must be classed as a primitive genus of the Cheirurinae. The tendency in the Cheiruridae was to reduce the pygidial segments until the pygidium was very small, with the first pair of spines very long, the others short or absent as in Ceraurus. Cheirurus is intermediate between Strotactinus and Ceraurus. HORIZON AND LOCALITY Middle and Upper Beekmantown, Philipsburg and Stanbridge, P.Q. Figured specimens Nos. 1750 and 1751 in the Museum of Comp. Zoélogy. EXPLANATION OF PLATE Figs. 1, 2—Strotactinus salteri (Billings). X2. 3—FPetigurus subrectus Bradley. X1. 4—Cypbele? pervetusta Bradley. The faint depressions on the axial lobe are not shown on the figure. X11. 5—Letostegium quadratum (Billings.) X1. 6—Lloydia obscura Bradley. X2. 7—Bathyurellus flabellus Bradley. X2. 8—Lloydia amplimarginata Bradley. X2. 9, 10—Lloydia saffordi (Billings). A small pygidium and an hyposyoma. X1. 11—Lloydia pinguis Bradley. X2. 10 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST SOME NOTES ON “‘RESIDENT”’ BIRD-BANDING ON VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA By G. D. SPROT TE SMALL acreage owned by me—some nine acres in all—is situated on the west- etn shores of Saanich Inlet in an open bay, known locally as Mill Bay, but, correctly, as Creek Bay. The land slopes fairly steeply down to the shore and is covered by a dense growth of fifteen-year-old Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Balsam, and Cedar, with a sprinkling of Arbutus, Maple, Dogwood, Alder, and Willow. The aspect is north-east and the Peninsula, about five miles across the Inlet, lies low, giving little shelter from the prevailing winds of north to south-east. I feel safe in saying that the south-east coast of ~ the Island, at least that portion from Victoria to Nanaimo, is well out of the lines of flight of most land birds of passage, other than those wintering or nesting upon the Island. It will, therefore, be easily understood that, except among the Anatide, little in the way of extensive migrant banding can be carried on in this area. Consequently, I have given most of my spare time to a closer study of the resident species th: oughout the year, a branch of banding that at present seems rather neglected by many, in favour of spring migrant trapping and of nestling banding during summer. It has been mentioned both in America and in Evrope that - there is little satisfaction to be got out of the banding of “residents’’, for the movements of such are too easily: controlled by regular feeding. Undoubtedly this may be the case, but are its movements the only points of interest that we desire to trace in the life history of a bird? I find the interest in “resident”? banding never dulls. With a careful system of keeping notes on the plumage, growth, movements, etc., of each species, many interesting as well as surprising facts are revealed, which one could never discover through . field-glass observation or the study of skins alone. To me there is no more fascinating hobby than that of “‘resident”’ banding throughout the year, but to get the most out of it, one must be pre- pared to stay with it. This, of course, is possible only with those who have a permanent home. It matters little whether one lives at home all day or only returns home to sleep and eat, so to speak. An hour or two a day or twice a week for trapping, as long as the birds are fed daily, is all that is required to get results. In fact, I find better results are obtained in this way than if one stands at the end of a pull string all day and every day. Migrants who remain but a week or two around the traps will stand a lot of bullying and may be caught three or four times a day during their stay, but with residents it does not pay to pull con- stantly over them, and for this reason it is better (vou. XXXIX ae to feed every day under the open detachable ~ ae: funnel trap, as described by me at an earlier date — ae in The Canadian Field-Naturalist, and merely replace the funnel for an hour or two when the ne time can be spared. One of the most interesting movement among “residents’”” that I have learned through heidi 8 is their late winter or early spring wanderings. ~— I had previously suspected a somewhat sluggish northerly movement in early spring along this — *% coast among such species as Juncos, Robins, Blue- birds, Meadowlarks and Red-winged Blackbirds, — and when a large flock of Juncos, unbanded, sud- — denly arrived at the latter end of January, 1924, I thought for some time that the northerly migra- — tion had started. This idea was strengthened by Ai the sudden absence of “repeats” from those birds — banded in November, December and early Jan-— uary, causing me to imagine that they had moved Again was it strengthened still — on northwards. + Ci further by the appearance of Robins and Blue __ birds, Blackbirds. Bluebirds remain all winter as far north as the 49th parallel but on our west coast — only. Robins seldom remain north of 48°31’, except during such mild winters as that just past, when single individuals are sometimes to be found — However, the whole as far north as Cowichan. and, on February 19th, of Red-winged idea of a probable northerly movement “crashed” is fs when the late January flock of new arrivals, after _ being for the most part banded, suddenly dis- appeared and the December banded birds as suddenly reappeared. Another “theory” I had in reserve to account for such irregular arrivals and departures of some species usually termed “‘mig- rants” on this Island, but of which many indivi- duals remain all winter, was then tried out and was greatly strengthened by the downfall of my former idea. This was that many birds commonly recorded in spring as “‘early arrivals of migrants” are really only “wandering winter residents” on the search for food, and because at this season it is usual for the food supply to be suddenly cut off through warm wet weather causing wild seeds to germinate, etc., these wanderers are found and noted far to the north of their winter homes and — consequently get recorded as “first arrivals in the general northerly migration” when actually they for some time to come. ta ae rs. have, as yet, no intention of seeking nesting sites In connection with the J ery 1925] above remarks on “wandering winter residents” % - Position A. it appears that when a large flock of some species arrives in a particular locality already frequented by ‘another flock of the same species, as was the case with the Juncos, the stronger unit often ejects the weaker to the outskirts and when, as is the ease in steady trapping, the stronger have been mostly caught and banded, they become “stale” and desert the station for a short time, allowing the weaker to close in again upon the traps. In the ase of the Californian Partridges or Quail, as they are called locally, one covey only was present from November, 1923, and fed continually at In January, 1924, a stronger unit arrived and for some time the November birds disappeared, re-appearing however, a few weeks later, having discovered my other feeding station and trap at Position B. (See under Californian Partridges.) f _ As each bird is caught it is carefully handled and examined and, at certain times of the year, I _ found such birds as Jays and Juncos extremely lousy and consequently ill-conditioned, but, after feeding for several days in and around the traps they appeared stronger, weighing heavier, and in this condition seemed to be able to shake off these pests. Ticks were also found on these two species and in every case noted these were found in the _ angles of the eyes on the lids, four or five in a cluster, like small black beads, though never much larger than a small pin head. In one case, how- ever, a well-grown tick was found hanging to the upper eyelid of a Junco, but with too secure a hold to be removed. I thotyht of applying a hot needle, thereby causing it to back out, but was _ afraid of the heat injuring the bird’s sight and _ therefore was unable to forward the tick in a whole condition to headquarters to he identified. - Curiously enough, I never re-caught, to my know- ledge, any birds so afflicted, so was unable to note the effect of this pest on its host or study its growth. Question: Is it possible that these pests in the early pin-head stage had proved fatal to their hosts? A few notes here on the species proving the most interesting might not come amiss. These were - Californian Partridges, Steller’s Jays, Juncos and Towhees. A good many other species were handled, but not in sufficient numbers to become really interesting material.~ CALIFORNIAN PARTRIDGES (OR, LOCALLY, QUAIL). My work with this species has been somewhat disappointing, owing to a shortage of bands, but some notes of interest were made. A fresh covey of these birds arrived in January, 1924, numbering from 16 to 20 ,and several were banded. They remained in the vicinity of the ' trap THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 11 (Position A.) Those birds banded in November had been present in the vicinity of Position A every day up to this date. They, however, left it on the arrival of the stronger unit (the November birds, at the close. of the shooting season, numbering only from 8 to 9). A week or so after this, however, the November birds re- appeared at Position B on the opposite side of the dwelling house, where they remained. An in- teresting fact in connection with the above is that neither covey ever associated with the other nor did they, to my knowledge, ever poach on each other’s preserves. The road leading from my house to the main road seemed the boundary line between the two positions. On either side of this road are thick groups of young firs and in these trees both coveys roosted but each covey on its own side of the road. I was constantly putting the birds up and it was fairly easy to recognize them, owing to their num- bers, but I do not remember on any single occasion putting up the larger covey on Position B side of the road nor the smaller on Position A side from early January to the last week in February, when the bands arrived but the birds had scattered. The manner of roosting of these birds was. easily observed, as the trees are only some 15 or 20 yards from the front of my house. These birds ‘had been allowed to feed under the traps without being molested in any way during this time so it is natural that they would stick to these separate feeding grounds. Under such conditions we can- not therefore say that the above notes show what Quail may do under other or more natural con- ditions, but they may at least prove a guide to future observations along this line. An experiment to the results of which I do not attach much importance was a speed test with these birds. I could catch very few birds just at the time I wanted them, but tried 7 birds over a 55-yard course, using a stop watchgiving 1-5 secs. The results gave an average with two birds of 25 miles an hour, but they glided perhaps 1-3 of the course. To test the rate of gliding, one bird was thrown lightly forward, it glided the entire course from this send off, crossing at the rate of 221 miles per hour. Owing to having little cleared land, the distance was too short; it should be about 110 yards, I should say, for a fair trial with this species, but the course must be measured accurately (aerial measure) and a stop watch giving 1-5 secs. is essential. Birds should be headed in the direction of their daily “‘stamping grounds” or they will swerve or break back, and the finishing line must be well back from the bushes or any other likely landing or the birds will apply the brakes before crossing the line. Four out of my seven birds were disqualified for 12 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST swerving or checking the flight or breaking back before I discovered and corrected my mistakes. STELLER’S JAY This species proved the most interesting, re- peating steadily. It was always easy to tell an unbanded bird from a repeat when in the trap as the unbanded birds kept springing up and down until, when finally driven into the collecting box, they would reel and fall upon their sides. A “repeat” seldom, if ever, did this, but merely ran back and forth in the trap. I found these birds the quietest of all to handle and the most interest- ing to study. Two out of some twenty banded last winter nested close by. I fancy both were males. The young of the two families were also banded. Their domestic affairs proved interest- ing, but would make too long a story here, as would also the notes on the variation in plumage of this species. All Jays deserted the traps during December, 1923, for the depths of the woods, a cedar grove about a mile away, but after this very wet month was over and drier but colder weather took the place of the heavy rains, they returned, remaining until March Ist, when, with other birds, the majority moved off. OREGON TOWHEE Towhees proved to be great “‘scrappers’ and never failed to bite, squeal, and in some cases, even before being touched, lie upon their backs like a Hawk and squeal with rage. They were ‘Vou. XXXIX also quick to find an opening and would slip: through the smallest hole in quick time if given the chance. They were hardly sky but extremely — cunning, visiting the traps just at daybreak or at. — night when it was almost too dark for me to see them at thirty yards distance. When nesting, the — males were hard to catch but the females would repeat fairly regularly. The young birds are easily caught and repeat freely and the change of plumage and eye-colour makes an interesting study in birds so easily taken. OREGON JUNCOS Although these birds were plentiful in autumn ~ it was not until January ,1924, that they came to — ? the traps in any numbers, but from then on until March 1st ninety-eight were banded. In this species the difference in plumage of the several flocks was also especially noted, as was also the fact that these different flocks seldom associated until the last week before leaving for the nesting sites. : Contrary to the experiences of most banders, I find the summer months, commencing about June 1st, to be the best time of year for trapping seed eaters, although February by a very small margin was actually my best month. I have used whole wheat and cracked corn only, through the summer _ ~ months, as proving the most attractive bait to the birds in my area. AN EXPLORATION INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS NORTH AND EAST OF s GREAT SLAVE LAKE, INCLUDING THE SOURCE OF THE one COPPERMINE RIVER By G. H. BLANCHET, F.R.G.S. of the Topographical Survey of Canada (Continued from page 187, Vol. XX XVIII, December, 1924) THE INTERIOR WATERWAYS. Pike’s Portage route brings you to Artillery Lake, the start of a connected series of large lakes. These waterways occupy a strategic position in giving access to a stretch of country appealing to the imagination in its vastness and from the mists of obscurity that veil much of it. The three great rivers of the north, Coppermine, Back’s and Thelon, with over a thousand miles of intercepted seacoast, may be reached by short portages over the height of land, and by them bases may be established at advanced points from which the great unknown country off the waterways may be explored. The lake series comprises five large lakes, con- nected by narrows or rivers, remarkable from the fact that in their total length of three hundred miles there are only two stretches where nagiva- tion is interrupted and also, in that, by their situation, lying in a great arc, they nearly close a circle with Great Slave Lake. By them, one leaves the rough country of the border of the plateau, passes beyond the forests far into the nocthern plains, then, swinging to the southwest, returns to the woods. ; In travelling these waters one can observe thoroughly the conditions existing at the edge of the forests and one phase of the so-called Barren Lands—the country of the height of land. One finds himself constantly correcting early impres- sions and forced to disconnect accidental con- ditions of living from actual conditions of the country itself. The following remarks on the waterways and the country including them are © 1 a ale Wig US A * te Phy Nr Nene 7a 3 yy en Sa ‘, ee) et southwest and southeast. _ mn S ae. + Pe ee ; based on observations made in the course of a =: - survey and exploration during the past season — (1924). Proceeding up Artillery Lake we soon passed a . the edge of the straggling forests and entered “Barren Land” conditions. Should the traveller be anticipating an increasing ruggedness and pbleakness, as the name suggests, he would find himself much mistaken, for the rough topography, -__- associated with the bordering zone of the plateau, gradually subsides to long low hills and wide, flat valleys, rock exposures become increasingly rare, and the boulders which, in the rocky border of the plateau, lies cattered in every direction, com- pletely exposed and in the situation in which the ~ ice deposited them, become more and more im- _ bedded in the drift. The trees disappear, it is true, but a healthy growth of shrubbery, moss and grass replaces them. One passes from rocky broken hills with scattered and stunted trees to open rolling plains covered with a fairly abundant vegetation, though of a restricted type. Artillery Lake occupies a well defined valley and is of simple shape, consequently it has been fairly accurately mapped from the earliest times and it offers little difficulty for travel. miles up the lake on the south side a lofty dolomite hill, with a sheer water face, and a high isolated drift hill at the end of a long low point across the lake have been connected with the supernatural by Indian legend. The former is known as the Beaver Lodge and the latter as the Rat Lodge, and the natives still dread the place, believing that the spirits of the dead monsters still control the winds and waves here and must be propitiated by the gift of some article of value to the lake. Near the north end of the lake a sandy plain of considerable width stretches across the country in an east and west direction, by which, according to Indian reports, one may travel westerly to Fort _ Rae on Great Slave Lake and to the east to Thelon River. There is a slight revival of the forests in this sandy country in clumps of very stunted Ses pruce.. On leaving Artillery Lake, a stretch of 12 miles of lake-like expansions, connected by narrows with swift water or rapids, brings you to Casba, or Ptarmigan Lake. Disconnected areas of sand, wind-blown into hills and buttes, are features of 3 _\ this part of the country. Casba Lake lies in a shallow depression spreading to deep bays to the The latter approaches very nearly to waters draining, by Hanbury and _ Thelon Rivers, to Hudson Bay; in fact, at two ‘points low morainic ridges have been accidents of _ topography diverting the waters of the upper lakes : to Great Slave Lake and the Arctic instead of to - Hudson Bay. A bold range of hills, largely ex- Some 20 - THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 13 posed granite, closes the north end of the lake, with a narrow channel passing around its east end, giving access to Clinton-Colden Lake. | To this point the lakes have been fairly free -from islands and of regular shape, and, with Back’s map, corrected by Tyrrell’s survey of 1900, there has been comparatively little difficulty in travel. Tyrrell’s course left this route for Hanbury and Thelon Rivers from the south-east bay of Clinton- Colden Lake, and Back’s track from here furnishes only the roughest sketches of the lakes. More- over, the topography of the country in which Clinton-Colden and Aylmer Lakes lie is entirely lacking i in continuity; the hills are irregular, both in disposition and in extent, and the intervening water-filled valleys, which unite to form the lakes, present a bewildering succession of bays and channels and islands and headlands with little to distinguish one from the other. Little may be taken from Back’s map except the approximate distance and direction from one another of the three points at which his track touched known mainland, the entrance to Clinton-Colden Lake, the narrows of Tha-na-koei joining it to Aylmer Lake, and the northern extremity of this lake, from which the portage is made to Back’s River. Stewart and Anderson, in 1855, travelling from Great Slave Lake to the coast, searching for the lost Franklin expedition, entered. Aylmer Lake from the west by a portage route from Great Slave Lake to Outram River and by it to Aylmer Lake. Their record did little more than establish the existence of Outram River. About these points, fixed in position with some accuracy, the map of Aylmer and Clinton-Colden Lakes was built up. It was bound to be in- accurate on account of the difficult topography, and also from Back’s tendency to overestimate distances not checked by observation. Actually the map of the lakes was almost useless for travel, and it was necessary to resort to the expedient ee examining each bay for the outlet. In proceeding northwesterly the country changes from an undulating plain to one of a more rolling character, which may be compared to the condi- tion of the waves of the sea after a storm—short and rounded hills stretching in an endless succes- sion to the horizon. One’s view from a hill top is usually of several repetitions of the hill he is on, with the bays of the lake continued in the valleys in disconnected small lakes. The impression of vastness, which the constant repetition of a familiar type produces, is at times almost overpowering as the mind carries on beyond the visible horizon with nothing to fix a limit to its range. After leaving Aylmer Lake, we had not proceed- ed far up Outram River when we passed the point at which Stewart and Anderson had entered it. 14 Ahead lay a country mapped largely by tradition. The Indians with Back had given him a sketch of a large lake to the west. Its existence was proved fifty years later, when Warburton Pike, in the course of a private expedition from Great Slave Lake to the musk-ox country, crossed this lake, which he named Lake MacKay. He also made a sketch map of the country to the north, including the headwaters of Coppermine River, until then unknown. Although these features were accepted and shown on the maps, they were unsupported by observation. Moreover, it did not appear reasonable that Coppermine River could rise close to the Arctic, as it has been shown, and the form given to the lakes, great open bodies of water, is hardly to be expected in the country of the height ‘of land. It was, therefore, with keen interest that these unknown waters were entered and each new view included possible discoveries. The Indians had reported that there were no rapids between Aylmer Lake and Lake MacKay, and also that no ~ eanoe route existed by which the Coppermine could be reached. We had scarcely left the last recognizable point of Stewart and Anderson when we opened up a view of a heavy rapid. Above it the parallel lines of high, rocky hills, with a well defined valley between them, suggested a large lake, and the waters entered on approaching them justified this expectation. It was assumed that this was Lake MacKay and that consequently Outram River was comparatively short. Acting on this assumption, it was decided to attempt to reach the Coppermine from this point, striking out in a northwesterly direction as far as possible. A short exploration to the north showed the coun- try to be well supplied with small lakes for some distance, while the northern horizon was closed by a blue range of hills, broken at one point by a decided notch. Outfit was cut down to a small canoe, a silk tent and pole, a rifle and ammunition, tea, sugar, and salt and several roasting sticks. We were prepared to make long portages and to live off the country. We travelled more by the hills than by the country immediately before us, and usually had a problematic range closing our horizon. Later on, after reaching the Coppermine, we found ourselves repeatedly blocked to the north by a persistent range of hills that forms the northern boundary of its watershed, but in the earlier part of the trip we were fortunate in finding a good water route. In fact, as we afterwards found, we had by chance hit the only route practicable for summer travel with an outfit. However, this was not at once apparent. Again and again the hills appeared to close off the north and west, but each time a break would open up by which we passed from the head- waters of one stream to that of another. The THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST streams were small but the lakes in which they took their rise were numerous and of fair size. Our first chain of lakes brought us to the notch in the hills; these drain to Outram River. portage led to some irregular water draining easterly to Aylmer Lake, and another divide, crossed by a chain of small lakes, opened into a large lake of very irregular form with high rocky country to the south, while to the north were sandy areas, hills and ridges. This was assumed to be the Lac de Gras of the map. The various ~ features appeared to be represented—to the east it was joined, by some rapids, which we could hear but did not investigate, to another lake supposed to be Lac du Savage, and the east bay opened out to an expansion with a large northerly bay and with a further extension to the west. © To establish the identity of the lake we set out confidently to its southwest corner where the Coppermine should flow out. After several days of disappointing searching, when each bay closed or received a small stream, we were forced to the conclusion, later verified, that the rapids noted at the east end carried the water out of instead of into the lake, and that the lake was one of which no record existed. From its situation it appears most reasonable that this is the main headwaters of Back’s River, and that it joins the Sussex Lake branch by Icy River. We had observed a lake or a series of lakes to the westward from a high hill, and now proceeded to investigate it. A portage of eight miles, using some small lakes, brought us to the easterly extremity of these new waters, and it was again necessary to work our way westward by the southerly shore. After clearing some complicated bays we opened up an extensive view to the west- ward with a water horizon. As we proceeded a = (Vor: SCX Ler A short — slow swing of the coast kept revealing new distant — views with the lake stretching beyond the horizon. Finally, as we approached the west end, the high rugged country which composed it closed in with no apparent break, and it was only when examin- ing the last possible bay that the distant roar of heavy water led us to an unexpected break in the hills, of a gorge-like nature, through which a heavy discharge of water broke in a series of rapids. ~ In addition to this being the successful con- clusion of a long and difficult trip, featured by many disappointments, the scene was one of con-— siderable natural charm. The great open stretch of the lake discharged tumultuously through the barrier ridge into a pleasant open valley, with the harshness of the enclosing hills softened by the blue haze of distance. valley flowed the Coppermine, inseparably con- nected with the story of the exploration of the Winding through the . X (aan Or ~s x —. 3 rs af . “¥F ar, ‘ t = a. x ~ ee = January, 1925] _ white man. - Coppermine at Lake Providence. North. Animation was given to the scene by the ~_eonstant and rather aimless travel of band after band of caribou, crossing and recrossing the river, _ feeding in the valley, and disappearing over the hills.. Perhaps the view afforded unusual gratifica- tion in being the one considerable feature of the - Coppermine—its discharge from its headwaters lake—that had never before been viewed by a We built a cairn on a commanding rocky hill and left a record in it. There is a gap of perhaps thirty miles between this poiat and Franklin’s farthest upstream exploration of the Time did not permit of an investigation of this stretch, as we proposed on the return to attempt to work our way to the north or northeast into the musk-ox country. _ Returning by the north shore, each stream and connected water was examined, to complete the _ exploration of the Coppermine headwaters and in order to find a route to the north if such existed.. All the features of the map of this coast, the north bay, Lake Paul, Lac du Savage and the stream flowing into it (considered to be the Upper Copper- mine), proved to have been much exaggerated, and a high rough range enclosing the lake on the north precluded the possibility of a water route in this direction. A return was therefore made to - Outram River and the exploration continued west- ward to Lake MacKay. FicurE 4— COPPERMINE RIVER NEAR THE POINT OF DISCHARGE FROM LAC DE GRAS The series of rapids here are favorite crossing places for the caribou. They think nothing of entering the roughest water. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST - 15 We-had not proceeded far from the point from which the Coppermine route branches off when the hills closed in, and we were confronted by a formid- able cascade with over fifty feet of a fall, which - disproved our assumed Lake MacKay. Above the cascade the hills fell away on either side, and the country has the appearance of a series of shallow ridges. Through this plain the river meanders, here deflected by the ridges and else- where enclosed by them to form shallow lakes of irregular shape with rapids where they discharge. The trip upstream was tedious, with the succession of riffles and rapids, up which the canoe had to be hauled or poled, and the lack of any commanding “hills made it impossible to judge the country ahead. Finally, after skirting the border of some high rocky country, we ascended by a heavy boulder rapid and the river opened out. into a broad ex- panse with a water horizon, which proved to be Lake MacKay. We had climbed nearly 200 feet above Aylmer Lake. To the north Lac de Gras lay 100 feet below this level, while to the south and west Great Slave Lake was at 900 feet lower elevation. No hills of any prominence were within range of us, though we later found the southwest end of the lake enclosed by rugged country somewhat similar to that at the south end of Artillery Lake. MacKay Lake apparently occupies a flat tableland at the extreme summit level of this part of the country, with nothing eo ss 16 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST FicuRE 5.—THE TRIP TO LAC DE GRAS, < the headwaters of Coppermine River, included over 50 miles of small lakes and the intervening portages. eonstraining it to discharge in any particular direction, so that it spilled in an uncertain manner across the low morainic plain already described. The exploration of Lake MacKay revealed it to be considerably misplaced on the map, on which its size has been greatly exaggerated. It lies parallel to Artillery Lake, and is similar in charac- ter to it in the nature of the lake itself and of the country in which it lies. In the rugged country of its south end the edge of the forest is again _ reached. As all the country travelled between the — last woods of Artillery Lake and this point was. destitute of trees, where fuel was limited to small appreciated how great a pleasure it was to see the a mii oe : at willows and a certain variety of moss, it may be trees again and to have the benefit of their shelter oy and the comfort of a cheerful fire. (Continued in the February issue) THE BIRDS OF OTTAWA—ADDENDA TO OCTOBER 2, 1924 By HOYES LLOYD INCE the publication of The Birds of Ottawa, 1923, which paper was revised to March 20, 1923, a number of items relat- ing to the birds of the district have come to my attention in various ways. These addenda to the 1923 list do not include reference to articles published since that list which deal with the birds of the district, because those interested may consult these articles in recent numbers of our publication. 1. Moris bassana. GANNET.—On November 21, 1923, Mr. C. H. Young saw, flying over the city, a Gannet which, to judge from its dull gray 1. C.F. N. XXXVII, eee pp. 101-105, 125-127, 151-156, XXXVIII, 1924, pp. 10-1 colour, was a juvenile. | with the bird in life. 1923 Messrs. N. H. H. Lett and J. A. Armstrong reported a strange bird to G. R. White and me. They described it as being of the size of a Goose, . and stated that it had been observed near Cum- mings Island in the Rideau River. The descrip- tions did not identify it, but it is quite possible that it was this Gannet or another. It is signi- ficant that about a week after this account of the — strange bird in the Rideau was heard, Mr. E. G. White was informed that a Gannet had been shot at Rideau Lake, Ontario. . 2. Phleotomus pileatus abieticola. NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER.—Perhaps as the result of He is thoroughly familiar Some time in the fall of © better protection, this striking bird of the forests ____ is again being found near the city. I located one a few miles back of Hull, Quebec, on November 12, 1923, and Mr. D. Blakely found one at the Rifle Ranges, Rockcliffe, on October 2, 1924. 3. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. | RED-HEADED WooDPECKER.—I am indebted to Miss Edith -__ Morrow, of Montreal, for a definite breeding date / of this species. From her account it appears that one was feeding young in the nest at Rockcliffe in June, 1920. ea 4. Sturnus vulgaris. STARLING.—Mr. Rodney -~ ©. Wood believes that he saw one alight on the fence of the railway near South Indian, Russell County, Ontario, while he was travelling by train, January 8, 1924. At the time there was snow Ss on the ground and a heavy snow storm was rag- ing. Two days later, January 5th, Philip Foran and I saw two Starlings flying eastward, down the _ Ottawa, when we were snow-shoeing near the Rifle Ranges, just below Rockcliffe. Each fall for some years there has been a roost of Grackles, Red- winged Blackbirds, and Cowbirds near the village of Britannia, although this year it seems to be _~ across the Deschenes Rapids in Quebec. On a several occasions late in August, 1924, I watched the birds flying to the roost, and while suspicious of the identity of some small groups among the masses, did not definitely suspect that these were Starlings until August 30th. Determining to solve _ the question for certain, I set out for Britannia on the evening of September 5th. The sun was setting when the first important companies began to arrive, circle hesitatingly about the old-time roost, swing low over the field near the river, and then cross the Ottawa. A quarter of a mile away a flock of a thousand birds, more or less, gathered in some corn. From this assembly about five hundred birds, all alike, broke away and passed to the roost. I thought them Cowbirds, but the 3 Ee: ____ light was poor, and they flew close to the ground. | _._ Another flock passed, and when the third came near me a shot brought down three Starlings. Probably this last flock of two hundred birds ; consisted entirely of Starlings, and it is quite ____ possible that the entire group from the corn were ; - Starlings. Presumably the-Starling then has a : a > : ‘ THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 17 strong hold in this vicinity already, although it is just over two years since the first example was noticed. Incidentally, it is thought that these are the first specimens of the species to be taken at Ottawa. E. G. White tells me that there were at least one hundred Starlings at the duck marsh, Locha- ber, Quebec, on September 20th. 5. Spizella pusilla pusilla. FInRLD SPARROW.— While the recorded occurrences of the species in our district in summer offer presumptive evidence of its breeding, it was not till the past summer that more definite testimony was secured, so far as the records show. On September 1, 1924 I collected a juvenile Field Sparrow at Constance Lake, Ontario, 14 miles west of the city. Both the plumage and the action of the bird make me think that it was taken at the place where the nesting - occurred, although the bird could fly, and perhaps this last assumption is not absolutely warranted by. the facts. 6. Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus. TOWHEE.—On May 10, 1918, Mr. J. Philip Bill, with his wife, and Dr. E. Gordon Bill, saw a female Towhee near his residence, at that time 90 James Street, Ottawa. Dr. Bill was familiar with the species from observations madé elswhere. 7. Dendroica coronata. MYRTLE WARBLER.—In the course of a Christmas bird census walk, on December 22, 1923, Mr. Harrison F. Lewis found a Myrtle Warbler in a grove of red pines near Wychwood, some seven miles west of Hull, Que- bee. The bird was in the company of a flock of Chickadees. Identification is based upon careful observation with X6 binoculars, and the charac- teristic chip note was heard. This is the first occurrence of the species in the Ottawa district in winter. 8. Dendroica vigorsit. PINE WARBLER.—At an excursion to Fairy Lake, near Hull, Quebec, on May 19, 1923, this species was found in song, and on July 15th of that year a specimen was taken. This tends to confirm the belief that the Pine Warbler is a rare summer resident. I found the species again in the same general locality on May 18, 1924, and on the 21st Mr. P. A. Taverner secured a specimen there for the National Museum. 18 THe CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST OFFICIAL CANADIAN RECORD OF BIRD-BANDING RETURNS* (Continued from page 191, Vol. XX XVIII, December, 1924) MALLARD, No. 205,656, female, banded by Le Vie Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 9, 1923, was shot at a place forty miles north-east of Winnipeg, WU, on September 15, 1923: MALLARD, No. 205, 678, female, banded by NE Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 9, 1923, was shot at Smooth Stone Lake, Saskatchewan, aie 65, R. 6, W. 3rd M., during the spring of 1923. MALLARD, No. 205,703, banded by Jos. Pulitzer, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 10, 1923, was shot at Kelliher, Saskatchewan, on November 1, 1928. MALLARD, No. 102,183, banded by Allen Green, at Oakville, Iowa, on March 18, 19238, was shot near Moline, Manitoba, on November 6, 1923. MALLARD, No. 205,802, female, banded by Jos. Pulitzer, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 19, 1923, was killed at Lampman, Saskat- chewan, on November 4, 1923. MALLARD, No. 203,642, male, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on March 21, 1923, was taken in a muskrat trap, at Kirby, Saskatchewan, N.W. 4 of Sec. 28,-Tp. 39, Rge. 15, W. of 2nd M. , on April 28, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205, 890, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 22, foes. was shot at Long Lake, Alberta, on May 6, MALLARD, No. 2038, 659, female, banded by John Broeker, ‘at Portage des Sioux, ‘Missouri, on March 23, 1923, was killed at a place about two hundred miles north of The Pas, Manitoba, on the Churchill River, on May 5, 1923.. MALLARD, No. 205,921, "panded sony iby AG Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 23, 1923, was shot at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, shortly before November 8, 1923. MALLARD, No. 208,683, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on March 24, 1923, was killed at Fish River, Saskatchewan, on May alg: 1923. MALLARD, No. 208,738, banded by Jos. Pulitzer, at Portage des Sioux, "Missouri, on March 30, 1923, was shot at Chauvin, Alberta, on Octo- ber 25, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 200,284, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, ‘Missouri, on January 10, 1923, was killed in the vicinity of Ogoki Post of Hudson’s Bay Company which is on Ogoki payed a tributary of the Albany River, on May 4, BLACK DUCK, No. 101,811, banded by A. A. Allen, at Ithaca, New York, on ‘January 19, 1928, was taken at a ‘place sixteen miles east of Parry Sound, Georgian Bay, Ontario, on April 28, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 203,310, banded by Jos. Pulitzer, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on Jan- uary 22, 1923, was shot near the mouth of the Michipicoten River, one hundred and twenty miles nora of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on May 8, *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department Of the Interior, Canada. BLACK DUCK, No. 101,841, banded by D. Beyea, at Union Springs, New York, on February 1, 1923, was shot at Mud Lake, twenty-five moe north-west of Kingston, Ontario, on October 5, BLACK DUCK, No. 204,220, parca by Doug- las H. Beyea, at Union Springs, New York, on March 9, 1923, was killed in a mink trap at South River, Ontario, on April 15, 1924. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 232,575, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on April 18, 1923, was killed at Partridge Crop Lake, Saskatchewan, on May 22, 19238. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 232,632, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on April 26, 1923, was shot at Niverville, Man- toba, twenty miles south of Winnipeg, about October 1, 19238. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 210,958, adult, male, banded by Herman Battersby, at Oak Lake, Manitoba, on May 29, 1923, was shot on a river four miles south of Adams, Kansas, on November 10, 1923. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 232, ats handed 4 by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 21, 1923, was re-caught in the same trap on “aa July 29, 1923, and was shot at Ellingson, South Dakota, on October 9, 19238. ‘PINTAIL, No. 101,858, female, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on January 14, 1923, was killed at Churchill Post of the - Hudson’s Bay Company, Manitoba, on July 15, 1923. CANVAS-BACK DUCK, No. 211,119, fledge- ling, banded by Adolf L. Holm, at Otto, Manitoba, [Vou. XX XIX on July 20, 1923, was shot at ‘Canterbury, Mani- toba, at the south-east end of Lake Winnipeg, on October 18, 1923. GREATER SCAUP DUCK, No. 204,277, banded by A. A. Allen, at Cayuga Lake, ‘New York, on March 6, 1923, was killed on the St. Lawrence River, twenty-five miles above Ogdens- burg, in Canadian waters, during the month of April, 1924. GREATER SCAUP DUCK, No. 204,248, banded by D. H. Beyea, at Union Springs, New York, on March 15, 1923, was shot in the Province of Ontario, near the Quebec boundary, on the St. - Lawrence River, on September 29, 1923. CANADA GOOSE, No. 282,045, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Last Mountain Lake, Saskat- chewan, on July 30, 1923, was killed in the same vicinity—no date given, but reported on October 30, 1923. CANADA GOOSE, No. -232,085, captivity by Reuben Lloyd, was banded and released by him at Last Mountain Lake, Saskat- chewan, on July 30, 1923, and died of injuries on June’ 30, 1924, after being captured at Markham, Texas. AMERICAN BITTERN, No. 204,802, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on July 1, 1923, was captured at Burr Oak, Kansas, about September 14, 1923. raised in. 7 - r ~ ne January, 1925] s ~ __ BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. _ «233,847 banded by W. F. Fogg, at Barnstable, _ + Massachusetts, on June 16, 1923, was killed on ___ the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, within Bae za ae ules of the City of Quebec, on September BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 233,871, banded by L. B. Fletcher, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, on: June 16, 1923, was found dead on Amherst Island, Lake Ontario, on November 1, 1923. Apparently the bird had died shortly before it was found. : COOT, No. 210,951, adult female, banded by _ May 26, 1923, was killed in Lake Jefferson County, Minnesota, on October 26, 1923. RED-TAILED HAWKE, No. 204,807, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- _ chewan, on July 1, 1923, was killed at Randall, Iowa, on Octobe 31, 1923. : NORTHERN FLICKER, No 110,921, banded Ul by R. H. Carter, Jr. at Muscow, Saskatchewan, be on May 23, 1923, was killed near Terrill, Texas, ie about October 20, 1923. 3 ~ CROW, No. 209,658, nestling, banded by Theed ae Pearse, at Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on June 17, 1923, was shot at Parks- oe ville, British Columbia, on November 38, 1923. ow CROW, No. 211,165, nestling, banded by R. H. _ Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on June 24, 1923, was shot at Warner, South Dakota, on ee April 18,1924. : Bess CROW, No. 208,705, fledgeling, banded by Adolf L. Holm, at Otto, Manitoba, on July 8, _ . 1923, was caught in a wolf trap near Bronson, Minnesota, on May 22, 1924. CROW, No. 208,665, banded by Philip F. Foran, at Banff, Alberta, on July 18, 1923, was picked up dead in the same locality about August 5, 1923. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 108,966, adult male, banded by Hoyes Lloyd, at 406 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on April 29, 1923, was found -_ injured at the corner of Laurier Avenue and Percy Street, Ottawa, on September 11, 1923. The bird afterwards died. __ __ BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 108,976, fledge- __- ling, banded by Hoyes Lloyd, at Ottawa, Ontario, ~ on June 18, 1923, is believed to have been eaten -_by a cat in the same vicinity shortly after it was banded. a BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 109,874, banded by H.C. Arnold, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on _ ___ June 19, 1923, was found dead at a place six miles oe of the banding station, on May 22, 924. GRACKLE, -No. 109,878, banded by H. C. ~ Arnold, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on June 19, ve 1923, waskilled at a place one mile north of Orton- _ ville, Minnesota, on May 24, 1924. VESPER SPARROW, No. 43,682, banded by _ &R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on _ May 20, 1923, was badly injured by the trap and —— Be found dead in the same locality on June 2, Herman Battersby, at Oak Lake, Manitoba, on THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 19 CHIPPING SPARROW, No. 59,449, banded by Wilfrid Scott, at Guelph, Ontario, on June Doe 1923, was found dead in the same locality, on June 24, 1923. SONG SPARROW, No. 44,541, banded by Edward C. Knechtel, at Long Branch Park, Ontario, on April 15, 1923, built its nest in a vacant lot near the place where it was banded, and was seen several times until June 14, 1923, when its nest was found broken up. It is believed that this bird and its young were eaten by a cat. SONG SPARROW, No. 52,399, immature, banded by Ralph E. DeLury, at Ottawa, Ontario, on July 29, 1923, was re-caught in another trap at the same station, on August 11, 1923, and, on August 12, 1923, while it was repeating in another trap at the same station, it was killed in the trap. BARN SWALLOW, No. 36,588, adult; banded by Adolf L. Holm, at Otto, Manitoba, on July 2, 1923, was found dead at Ashby, Minnesota, during the latter part of May,- 1924. CEDAR WAXWING, No. 78,376, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on July 24, 1923, was found dead in the nest in which it was banded, on July 29, 1923. CEDAR WAXWING, No. 78,377, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on July 24, 1923, was found dead in the nest in which it was banded on July 29, 1923. CEDAR WAXWING, No. 78,378, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on July 24, 1923, was found dead in the nest in which it was banded on July 29, 1923. CEDAR WAXWING, No. 78,379, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on July 24, 1923, was found dead in the nest in which it was banded on July 29, 1923. ROBIN, No. 16,114, juvenile, banded by Philip F. Foran, at Ottawa, Ontario, on May 26, 1923, was found dead at Hull, Quebec, on or about August 10, 1923. ROBIN, No. 16,115, nestling, banded by Philip F. Foran, at Ottawa, Ontario, on May 26, 1923, died in the same locality, on June 14, 1923. ROBIN, No. 18,937, immature, banded by Ralph E. DeLury, at 330 Fairmont Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, on June 12, 1923, was found dead on Golden Street, Highland Park, Ottawa, Ontario, during the month of May, 1924. ROBIN, No. 71,831, banded by Philip F. Foran, — at- Ottawa, Ontario, on June 14, 1928, was found dead at the same station, on June 17, 1923. ROBIN, No. 71,850, banded by Philip F. Foran, at Banff Alberta, on July 28, 1923, was found dead at a place fifty yards from where it was banded, on July 31, 19238. (Continued in February issue) 20 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST IN MEMORIAM ae MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN Died at Boston, Mass., December, 1924 ‘A little while ago (The Canadian Field-Natur- alist, XX XVII, 1923, p. 40) we had occasion to call attention to Montague Chamberlain, one of our distinguished predecessors in Canadian ornith- ology. It is now our sad duty to record his final passing. Mr. Chamberlain was born in St. John, New Brunswick, April 5, 1844, received his education in the private schools of that city, and remained in business there until 1887. In 1889 he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Harvard Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., Later and until 1900 he was Secretary to the Lawrence Scientific School. In 1907 he married Miss Anna Sartoris Prout of Petersburg, Virginia, who died in 1913. After this he turned back to his old New Bruns- wick home for a while, but his last years were spent in the Boston vicinity again, engaged in the recreation of horticulture, especially in the cultiva- tion of gladiolas. Mr. Chamberlain was one of the leading ornith- ologists of his earlier days. He became Corres- ponding Member of the Nuttall Club in 1881 and [Vou. XXXIX a Resident Member in 1885. He was one of the Founders of the American Ornithologists’ Union. — He was also interested in Anthropology and in 1889 published a Maliseet Vocabulary and The Penobscot Indians. In 1904 he established a li- brary of over a thousand volumes for the Indians at Old Town, Maine. His ornithological publications relate mainly to Canada. The Nuttall Bulletin and the early numbers of The Auk contain many notes from his pen. His major ornithological works are: A Cata- logue of the Birds of New Brunswick, Bull. Nat. Hist Soc. of N.B., 1882, A Catalogue of Canadian Birds, 1887; Birds of Greenland, 1891; an edition of Nuttall’s Manual that went through three editions, 1891, 1896, and 1903; and a brief account of Some Canadian Birds, 1895. It is unfortunate for us that Mr. Chamberlain did not continue his ornithological activity to the end; we had much to expect from him. However, he was one of the pioneers of Canadian ornithology and it is owing largely to his work that many of our paths are smooth and straight, as he and his generation prepared the way for us as we are doing — for those of the future.—P. A. T. STATEMENT OF THE FINANCIAL STANDING OF THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1923-1924 November 27, 1924 LIABILITIES Ottawa Composition Co. Ltd.................0. $398.40 398.40 RECEIPTS 1 Jan., 1924— Byeb alance on hander. sas sierra cies ie eens $26.10 MEMBERSHIP DUES— (OST) Rena eect) MEMOS CuicEn ore oe cs cae ONES OD 682.12 LSA So Hit OF OG DoD OUD O ODOM OO An Goto 000.0 70.50 PATA VATICE efi cas 2 pave suooaay ae co Hake Se eon oe eee 30.00 Afiliated Societies: nicer cane shale chee eionene 60.40 Advertisements in magazine................ 105.01 Back Numbers and Volumes sold... ses 71.06 Reprints and Illustrations.......... ASS 172.84 Grant from Government of Ontario.......... 200.00 PV ONATIONG tee nevsy cts. B selene stabs oiarelenene wien Cae iti eae 201.05 Interestion, Bond.) 7. vine eck oi diken ceptors 13.75 Province of Saskatchewan (for Special Edition) 350.00 $2033.53 OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB, B. A. FAUVEL, Treasurer ASSETS Cashsonvhand soe. Ses tersoce coo ace ee $9.98 Unpaid Membership Dues, 1928....,............ 16.50 Unpaid Membership Dues, 1924................. 76.50 Bills; Receivables. 2256 eke acces sce ese - 288.88 Dehetre sists espe cies Lists aoe ea eiece Aa ps teeta 6.54 $398.40 DISBURSEMENTS ; To Ottawa Composition Co. Ltd................ $1188.20 Ottawa Composition Co. Ltd., Reprints...... 90.53 Ottawa Composition Co. Ltd., Illustrations... 188.90 Job Printing and Stationery, etc............. fo 57.37 Postage so Faen cge ie oe lo alone ae a ERO °. 38.65 Exchange ote cate ne tie cee abana ee on eee 9.90 Editors’ Honoraria, 1921 and 1924........... 100.00 Ottawa Composition Co. Ltd. (for Special Edition, Saskatchewan).................. 50.00 Balance iba dese hate ee ea eee 9.98 $2088.53 Audited and found correct, December 27, 1924. A. E. BATEMAN. Gash on hand, Dee. 31, 1923... $497.51 ; Received from R. B. Whyte Est. Seer interest.on Bond 2-222. .f. 2... Purchase of Victory Bond, 1934 BestOkeragess oc el: _ Interest on Bond from May Ist Ottawa, Ontario. _ Aleutian Sandpiper, 3; STATEMENT TRUST FUNDS COMMITTEE tures | 100.00 Interest from Bank........... rSl0S 5020s: $517.50 1.25 pA Conde eek 8.44 Receipts Haxpendi- . THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 21 Receipts Hxpendi- tures Interest payment to general club funds, 1923-24....... 13.75. Interest payment to general club funds, 1924-25....... 10.45 Cash in Bank, Jan. 9, 1925. ... 70.32. $621.71 $621.71 W. T. MAcown, Chairman Audited and found correct, A. EK. BATEMAN NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Subscriptions for 1925 are now due; by pay- ing promptly you will aid greatly in the efficient publishing of the magazine. The subscription for the year is $1.50; payment should be made to the Treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel, 321 McLeod St., If paying by personal cheque, please include exchange. CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUSES, 1924 VICTORIA DISTRICT, BRITISH COLUMBIA— (Date?—Ed.).—42 miles by automobile, 6 miles on foot. District covered—Shoal Bay, Oak Bay, Cedar Hill, Colquitz Creek, Beaver Lake, Portage Inlet, Victoria Harbour. Weather clear and frosty, bright sunshine and light north breeze all day. There has been hard frost since December 16, but no snow has fallen. All lakes, winter ponds, and sheltered portions of salt-water inlets are frozen. Such common species of landbirds as Brewer’s Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird and Screech Owl were not encountered, although these had been seen during the preceding week. All the _water-birds listed, with the exception of Wilson’s Snipe, were found on the Victoria Harbour Bird Sanctuary. Western Grebe, 1; Holboell’s Grebe, 1; Horned ; Grebe, 13; Pied-billed Grebe, 2; Pacific Loon, 1; Glaucous-winged Gull, 365; Herring Gull, 1; Short-billed Gull, 240; Brandt’s Cormorant, 2; Pelagic Cormorant, 6; Red-breasted Merganser, 6; Mallard, 1; Baldpate, 18; Pintail, 2; Canvas- - back, 150; Scaup Duck, 540; Golden-eye, 50; Buffle-head, 36; Harlequin Duck, 6; White- winged Scoter, 25; Surf Scoter, 50; Northwestern Coast Heron, 1; Coot, 40; Wilson’s Snipe, 2; Red-backed Sandpiper, 40; Ruddy Turnstone, 1; Black Turnstone, 16; _ California Quail, 47; Chinese Pheasant, 6; Sharp- shinned Hawk, 1; Belted Kingfisher, 2; Harris’s Woodpecker, 1; Gairdner’s Woodpecker, 4; Red- shafted Flicker, 3; Steller’s Jay, 10; Northwestern _ Crow, 9; Western Meadowlark, 16; Oregon Junco, 21; Rusty Song Sparrow, 44; Fox Spar- row, 7; Oregon Towhee, 5; Anthony’s Vireo, 2; Seattle Wren, 3; Western Winter Wren, 7; Red- breasted Nuthatch, 2; Chestnut-backed Chick- adee, 13; Western Golden-crowned Kinglet, 29; Western Robin, 1; Varied Thrush, 8. Total, 50 species, 1850 individuals.—J. A. MUNRO. LAKE COWICHAN, V.I., B.C., DECEMBER 24, 1924.—Tenth day of an abnormal cold period. High easterly winds most of the time. Fewer birds seen than in former years at the same time. Food supply poor; berry crops and coniferous seed crop both a failure in 1924. In the following list the approximate numbers sighted are given. Western Grebe, 2; Horned Grebe, 5; Pied- billed Grebe, 8; Loon, 2; Marbled Murrelet, 8; Glaucous-winged Gull, 25; Merganser, 5; Mal- lard, 3; Scaup Duck, 10; Ring-necked Duck, 8; Golden-eye, 50; Buffie-head, 20; Surf Scoter, 5; Northwestern Coast Heron, 1; Coot, 30; Oregon Ruffed Grouse, 2; Ring-necked Pheasant, 8; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Bald Eagle, 2; Pygmy Owl, 2; Belted Kingfisher, 2; Steller’s Jay, 12; Oregon Jay, 8; Oregon Junco, 10; Rusty Song Sparrow, 8; Oregon Towhee, 2; Dipper, 1; Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 50; Western Golden- crowned Kinglet, 20; Varied Thrush, 10. Total, 30 species, 820 individuals —G. BUCHANAN SIMP- SON. CoMox VALLEY, VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C., DECEMBER 24, 1924, 9.45 a.m. to 4.80 p.m. (with break 2 to 2.30).—From Courtenay to Comox (along river one mile, seashore 3 miles to Comox, inland and round to seashore and back same way 3 miles). Seven miles, on foot. Bright sun all day, no wind, freezing in shade all day. Obser- vers together. Holboell’s Grebe, 1; Horned Grebe, 12+; Loon, 9; Pacific Loon, heard; Red-throated Loon, 2; Marbled Murrelet,.5; Glaucous-winged Gull, 1350+; Short-billed Gull, 14; Cormorant (Vio- / 22 | _ THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [Vou KXXIX — = let-Green?), 2; American Merganser, 2; Red-breasted Merganser, 4; Mallard, 450+; Baldpate, 420; Pintail, 2; Scaup, 1200+; Ameri- can Golden-eye, 250+; Buffle-head, 50+; Ameri- can Scoter, 29+; White-winged Scoter, 200+; Surf Scoter, 200+; Black Brant, 6; Heron, 5; Coot, 15; Snipe, 2; Red-backed Sandpiper, 2; Killdeer, 8; Chinese Pheasant, 18; Goshawk, 1; Hawk (most likely dark phase of Red-tail, other- wise Rough-leg), 1; Peregrine Falcon, 1; Screech Owl, 1; Kingfisher, 4; Harris’s Woodpecker, 1; Red-breasted Sapsucker, 1; Flicker, 7; Stellar’s Jay, 6; Crow, 158+; Meadowlark, 4; Brewer’s Blackbird, 1; Purple Finch, 30; English Sparrow, heard; Oregon Junco, 60+; Rusty Song Sparrow, 24: Fox Sparrow, 8; Oregon Towhee, 10; Seattle Wren, 2; Winter Wren, 6; Chickadee, 7; Kinglet, 6; Hermit Thrush, 2; Robin, 3; Varied Thrush, 19. Total, 52 species, 4623+ individuals. The number of ducks seen was far more than shown above, but the bright glare prevented identification; there might very well have been a thousand each of the American and White-winged Scoters. The Hermit Thrushes were seen three miles apart and another was seen a few days previously. The Glaucous-winged Gulls were nearly all counted on the river, feeding on dead dog salmon. On the 25th of December, and again on the 27th, a Golden-crowned Sparrow was feeding at feeding-station at Courtenay.—R. M. STEWART AND THEED PEARSE. : N.B.—Compared with a census taken two years ago (but not published), the conspicuous absence is the Bald Eagle, three then; and Western Grebe, then 1000; but this number was seen a few days before in 1924. The greater number of Glaucous- wings, accounted for by the salmon. Fewer Golden-eyes, but more Mallards. Song Sparrows, 24, as against 9. 10 Towhees against none and 19 Varied Thrushes (very numerous this year) against none. One Brewer’s Blackbird and no Redwings as against 200 and 30, which is the usual number that winter here. This year we have had an unusually long spell — of cold weather for these parts with low tempera- tures —THEED PEARSE. LONDON, ONTARIO.—Our Christmas Census this year was taken under weather conditions very different from those that prevailed in 1928. it was very open and mild, whilst these year the thermometer had been hovering around zero for about a week. The day decided upon was Satur- day, the 27th, and as usual a number of parties were sent out, each working independently, the results being combined into one list at the close of the day. Fewer observers took part and a Then, rae smaller territory was covered than in 1923, but the total number of species was approximately the same. a number of very unusual records were made, as will be seen from the account published in The Canadian Field-Naturalist. The day was rather cold, the thermomete The number does not vary greatly from - year to year, the only exception being 1922, when — registering 19° at 8.00 a.m., rising to 23° at 1.00 se p.m., and falling again to 10° at 6.00 p.m., but a very strong north-west wind made it seem a great - — | deal colder when one was crossing the open fields, and few, if any, birds were found in such situations, nearly all having sought shelter in the woods and thickets. One party started out in the morning, but a heavy snow storm made observations almost — impossible, and apart from visiting the “Dump”, where the Starlings and Sparrows board, and eall- ing at a few feeding stations maintained by mem-- bers of the Club, they did not have much luck. The afternoon parties, three in number, were more ~ fortunate in regard to weather, although it started to snow again about 4.30 p.m. and was soon too dark to see many birds. The course followed in the afternoon was, roughly speaking, the valley of — the Thames River for a distance of eight milesorso. This year we have included in our list the — English Sparrow, something we have never done heretofore, but an increasing number of observers report it to Bird-Lore each year and there seemed no good reason for omitting it when we were showing two other aliens, the Starling and the : Pheasant: The list which follows contains practically all the regular winter birds, and is rather remarkable for two things, first, the absence of all northern species (Crossbills, Grosbeaks, etc., including even Snowbirds) and, secondly, the absence of summer left-overs (Grackles, Meadowlarks, etc.), the Song Sparrows hardly being classed in this category, as there are always some of them here each winter. — American Golden-eye, 12; Ruffed Grouse, 1; Pheasant, 1; Red-tailed Hawk, 1 (calling loudly); Screech Owl, 1; Kingfisher, 2; Hairy Wood- pecker, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 8; Blue Jay, 8; Crow, 597; Starling 12; Goldfinch, 5; English ~ Slate-colored — Junco, 2; Song Sparrow, 38; Cardinal, 11; Brown Sparrow, 500; Tree Sparrow, 3; Creeper, 6; White-breasted Nuthatch, 9; Black- capped Chickadee, 70; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 33. Total, 21 species, 1287 individuals—Mc- ILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CuuB, KE. M.S. DALE, Secretary. HAMILTON, ONTARIO.—The Protection Society Inc. made its annual count of the winter birds on Saturday, December 27, when seven members went out in four parties, one in Hamilton Bird ieee __-wings were seen. { oa falling during p.m.; PE ee he Jan Beaty: 1925] Gael the morning and three in the afternoon. The territory covered was much the same as that - eovered a year ago, except that this year none went east of Wentworth Street and one party made a short excursion back from the “Mountain Brow” (the Niagara Escarpment), where the Wax- The winter season so far has been disappointing in the number of birds seen, even regular visitors to feeding stations being searce. The previous two weeks were unusually cold for the time of year and the locality, zero temperatures being experienced on several nights; but birds were scarce before this cold weather set in. In addition to the species seen on the census walk, the following have been reported from the same territory: Screech Owl, about December 24; -Black-capped Chickadee, December 27; Purple Sandpiper, 1; White-winged Scoter, 1; Crow, all on December 28. The census returns follow: HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA—(South and west limits of city, park, garden, and waste land, among trees and in open, and south shore of Dundas Marsh.)—December 27, 10—11.45 a.m. and 1—5 pm. Snowing a.m., clear pm.; 2 in. to 6 in. of snow; wind west, strong at first, but temp. 21° at start, 15° at return. Eleven miles on foot. Observers in four parties, one a.m. and threein p.m. Herring Gull, 19; Ring-billed Gull, 2; Red-shouldered (?) Hawk 2; Unidentified Hawk, 2; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 8; Blue Jay, 2; European - Starling, 1; Tree Sparrow, 44 (flocks of 2, 10, 12, and 20); Slate-coloured Junco, 5; Song Sparrow, 5; Cedar Waxwing, 15 (two flocks); Golden- crowned Kinglet, 8 (one flock). Total, 12 species, 114 individuals. The Song Sparrows were along the banks of a small, open stream, blotch on centre of breast noted on two, G. O. McM.—Missss R. R. Mitts, E. O. SmituH, M. Hewson, Dr. G. O. McMILLAN, Massrs. H. C. NUNN, ROGER NUNN, D. A. BAXTER, ROLAND BROWN. TORONTO, ONTARIO.—Christmas Day of 1924 dawned at Toronto a typical Canadian winter day. The thermometer stood a few degrees above zero, _ but a fresh wind made it seem a few degrees below. The cold winter sun shone brightly on a few inches - of freshly fallen snow. Three parties ventured out to represent the Toronto Field-Naturalists’ Club and report on birds seen for the Christmas census. Officially these started from their respective meeting points _ at 9.30 a.m., but two members of one group had already tramped a couple of hours before joining _ the main party. With a view to covering as many | _ kinds of country as.possible the parties were _ arranged so that one traversed the lake front east _ from the mouth of the Humber River and part of THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 23 High Park, another the northern part of High Park, taking in the upland woods and the valleys of frozen marshes and thickets, while a third party met and observed in the wooded ravines of the Don and its tributaries and in open fields and weed patches in the vicinity. The strong, cold wind made the observations in the open country very meagre, but strangely enough did not seem to reduce the bird life of the open water, where many water birds were ob- served. In the sheltered woods and particularly in the wooded ravines there were, of course, the regular winter_residents to be found, as well as one or two surprises. The party assigned to the Wateciout was by far the most successful, both in number of species and in numbers of individuals. Perhaps this was the just reward of the enthusiasm that prompted a start two hours earlier than the time agreed upon. The observations of all parties combined are as follows: Loon, 5; Great Black-backed Gull, 2; Herring Gull, 44; Ring-billed Gull, 10; American Merganser, 200; Hooded Merganser, 4; Golden- eye, 18; Old-squaw, 6; Hawk (Sharp-shinned?), 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Tree Sparrow, 15; Slate-colored Junco, 4; Song Sparrow, 3; White-breasted Nuthatch, 3; Chick- adee, 3; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 5; American Robin, 1. Total, 18 species, 328 individuals. Two English Starlings were seen at close range in the northern part of the city on December 26. Two other observers in the city report Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 6; Slate- colored Junco, 11; Brown Creeper, 2; White- - breasted Nuthatch, 4; Chickadee, 10; and American Robin, 1; all seen on Christmas Day.— STuART L. THOMPSON, Chairman of Bird Group, Toronto Field-Naturalists? Club. THE SNAKE RIVER (Osceola to Lake Doré) AND MICKSBURG REGION, ONTARIO.—December 24; 7.15 a.m. to 5.20 p.m. Overcast and partially bright, snowing from 4 to 5 p.m. Four inches of snow; wind southwest to west, moderate; tem- perature 31° to 35°; about 30 miles on foot. Canada Ruffed Grouse, 5; Cooper’s Hawk, 1 (also 21st and 28th); Goshawk, 1 (ad.); Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Northern Pileated Woodpecker, 1; Horned Lark (subsp.?), 1; Northern Raven, 1; Redpoll, about 30; Goldfinch, 1; Snow Bunting, several; Northern Shrike, 1; Brown Creeper, 4; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 6; Chickadee, about 50; Brown-capped Chickadee, 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2. Total, 16 species, about 112 indivi- duals. Also seen during previous month: Novem- ber 80, Crow; December 4, Pine Siskin; Decem- ber 7, Tree Sparrow; December 7, 14 and 21, Blue Jay. A White-breasted Nuthatch was seen on 24 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST December 28. Goshawk seen at only a few yards’ distance, revealing the black crown and the vermi- culations on the lower parts to excellent advantage. —E. W. CALVERT. OTTAWA, ONTARIO.—On December 28, eighteen Ottawa bird observers set out in twos and fours on seven different routes, as follows, in order from the North line, in direction NESW: First Party, C. L. Patch and R. S. Finnie, #. along the south bank of the Ottawa River; 12 miles; 10.15 a.m. to 3.10 pm. Second Party, C. EK. Johnson and C. M. Sternberg, SSE. from Billings Bridge along the Metcalfe Road; 9 miles; 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Third Party, D. B. DeLury, R. E. DeLury, J. H. Magee and G. L. Smith, S. through the Experimental Farm along the Rideau Canal and River to Black Rapids; 16 miles; 8.00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fourth Party, D. Blakely and C. B. Hutchings, SW. along the south bank of the Ottawa River, Holland Avenue to Shirley’s Bay; 12 miles; 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 pm. Fifth Party, H. F. Lewis, B. A. Fauvel, R. Lockwood and H. Wright, S.W. by W. along the north bank of the Ottawa River, Val Tetreau, P.Q., to Aylmer, P.Q. and beyond; 15 miles; 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Sixth Party, P. Foran and W. H. Lancely, NW.., Old Chelsea to Fairy Lake vicinity and Royal Ottawa Golf Club; 16 miles; 9.45. a.m. to 3.15 p.m. Seventh Party, H. Lloyd and H. I. Smith, NNW., Kirk’s Ferry, P.Q. to Gatineau Point, P.Q., E. side of Gatineau River, 13 miles; 9.40 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. The day was cold, being 18°F. below zero when the first observers started out at 8 am., and 7°F. when the last returned at 6.30 p.m. The cloudiness varied from one-tenth to eight-tenths overcast; the winds were light, shifting northwesterly to northeasterly at both high and low altitudes; the ground was almost bare in some places and several feet deep in snow in others due to drifting; but on the average the snow was about 6 inches deep. As the routes taken are now quite definitely established, it seems advisable to give in the following table the records for each route, in order that bird students in the years to come may make more definite use of the comparisons from year to year: LOG a 8 eds Lip DM TBs dy dels SOs Mimi (Ox SPECIES tals Merganser (sp.?) .. .. I) NaS ey 2 PME CROLCENEV CG, 2779-54. 5)): a) a cen ue ia a 14 INSP) os Foo cee ion 1 1 iumed (Grouse... 22.,"'2,..°3" : 5 Goshawk....... aE Le oie 1 Hairy Wood- MACKEN ack Lee Ibe! 6 Downy Wood- WECCHODEA nua ss, 238 Tt Anes be Bese val aes l() Blaeway...7 2: ear Salma ies va le as 10 SOA bee eae pA lelbe Wil A 171 Starling 9.7220); ean Ge sales 86. Purple-Minchs S27 Ge Sra. Notas 8 8 Redpoll. ....... Rear aban prs 74 5 Goldfineh....... ape lesser a. ALT Pine Siskin. .... I ecrcaaal Utes Cohen acre CAD (340) snow Bunting 2.379 ence Tree Sparrow. 22°. 1b > ae ee SONS Sparrow, 2.0 ss. oe ee eee Ds Northern Shrike. .... 5 epaezs ce. teal Brown Creeper.. .. UDOiRearre RCS Ae Wh.Br.Nuthatch .. 3° 62225 5 oe OL ely ene Red. Br. Nut- hatch) 2 e- pn ware ati aac oe IU)! Chickadee...... 9° 9.11 oy AS see Roping ere RARE odes") 1 Totals of Species (Species seen recently but not included in the census: Bluebird, for the week ending December 21st, on which date it was banded by R. E. De- Lury; and Golden-crowned Kinglet, seen on De- cember 25th at Fairy Lake, H.L.) It may be noted that this is the first time the Starling has appeared on the Ottawa Christmas - Census. The one seen by the Third Party was flying from the neighborhood of a barnyard; while the 85 recorded by the Second Party were observed feeding at the Bronson Avenue garbage dump, along with House Sparrows and Crows. The Starling has evidently come to stay with us — in Ottawa. (The Starlings seem to withstand easily the intense cold, and some 30 of them are — feeding at the “dump” at the time of writing, — January 18.).—RALPH E. DeLuRY. LANCASTER, ONTARIO (54 miles west of Mont- — real).—December 25th, 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., temperature 20°, partly clear; 8 inches of snow on ground. Ruffed Grouse, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Pine Siskin, 15; White-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Black-capped Chickadee, 12; Total, 5 species, 31 individuals. Also seen at Montreal: December 24, Mergan-. ser, 3; Crow, 5; Snow Bunting, 10; Robin 1; December 28, Starling, 3—L. McI. TERRILL. _ St. STEPHEN, N.B., TO DEER ISLAND, N.B., AND RETURN.—On December 24 went from St. Stephen to Deer Island, 30 miles by automobile and 7 miles by motorboat. Returned by same route on December 26. The following birds were seen dur- ing the three days, December 24-25-26. Pied- billed Grebe, 1; Common Loon, 4; Black Guille- mot, several; Murre (sp.?), several; Jaeger (sp.?), 1; Glaucous Gull, 1; Herring Gull, hundreds; Terns (sp.?) (?—Ed.), many; Cormorant (sp.?) several; Merganser (sp.?), 8; Black Duck, several; Green-winged Teal, 2; Blue-winged Teal, 2; American Golden-eye, several; Barrow’s [VoL. XXXIX 2: 10 18-440 4 Oe January, 1925] _ Golden-eye, 1; Buffie-head, several; Old-squaw, several; Harlequin Duck, 4; Eider Duck, 2; ~ American Scoter, several; White-winged Scoter, several; Surf Scoter, several; Short-eared Owl, 1; ~ Richardson’s Owl, 1; Saw-whet Owl, 1; Great Horned Owl, 1; Hairy Woodpecker, 1; Crow, 25; Pine Grosbeak, 12; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 15; _ Black-capped Chickadee, 25; Kinglet (sp.?), _ several; Robin, 500. A total of 33 species. On my arrival at Deer Island, N.B., I saw about 200 Robins feeding on the berries of the Rowan tree and then-they went to the mud-flats and were feeding about the seaweed and mud and were bathing i in the cold water that ran from freshwater BG cams. About two miles from this point 200 more were seen and a quarter of a mile in another direction were seen about 100—a total of 500 in a distance of two and a quarter miles. These birds _ were still on the island on December 26 and in the morning were singing from the tree tops. I have the following records of Canada Geese in December, 1924: _ December 7. Several flocks at St. Stephen, N.B. December 8. Several flocks at St. Stephen, N.B. December 14. Some stayed to feed on the St. John River. December 17. Two flocks at St. Stephen. December 18. One flock. Some staying in St. _ Croix River to feed.—J. S. Lorp. A LARGE GORGONIAN FROM ALASKA.—Recently a branchlet of the tree-shaped arctic gorgonian (Primnoa lepadifera) was submitted .to me for identification by the United States National Museum officers, with the statement that it was from a magnificent specimen seven feet high! It lacked the base and may have been only a branch of a much larger example. This, however, is - larger than any known to me from the North Atlantic. In life the color is bright pink or light searlet.—A. E. VERRILL. Professor -A. E. Verrill, emeritus professor of zoology of Yale University, writes to the Natur- alist enclosing a note on a large Gorgonian from Alaska. Dr. Verrill is well known to Canadian marine biologists for his extensive monographs on the marine life of our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and more recently for his reports on the Alcyonaria and Actinaria of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, _. 1913-18, 170 pages, 32 plates, published in 1922. Bec ile. 1s still actively interested in field work at the age of eighty-five, and was sailing in October for a protracted stay in the Hawaiian Islands, where he expects to make collections for some museums. _ His address is given as Lihue, Kauai Island, - Hawaiian Territory.—R.M.A. - Peromyscus maniculatus bairdit AT TORONTO.— _ The capture of several specimens of Baird’s White- _ footed Mouse at Toronto makes a further north- _easterly extension to its known range (See Soper, _ busy year for 1923-24. _ THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ; 25 Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 247- 248), and adds a new form to the Toronto list. The first specimen, No. 24.2.2.3 in the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, was taken on Feb- ruary 2, 1924, in open ground near Eglinton Avenue W., by W. J. LeRay. Mr. LeRay also took specimens of this mouse at Ashbridge’s Bay, which would indicate that bairdii is to be found in favorable localities throughout the Toronto region. —L. L. SNYDER. Mr. RODNEY Woop, who has been located in Canada with headquarters at Ottawa for about three years, has left for Nyassaland. While in Canada, Mr. Wood was Dominion Camp Chief of the Boy Scouts Association. He is familiar with several fields of natural history, perhaps more particularly with entomology, and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity of helping to introduce him to Canadian birds. He needed little help, however, and mastered the field identification of new species in surprisingly short time. The Dominion Headquarters of the Boy Scouts Association recently published Animal Tracking for Boy Scouts, which was prepared under Mr. Wood’s personal direction. Canada’s loss is Africa’s gain, and the members of the Club wish Mr. Wood success in his return to his estate in that distant part of the empire. It is believed that he is the only member of the Club who resides in Africa. Those members who may wish to communicate with Mr. Wood — should address him at Magombwa Estate, P.O. Cholo, Nyassaland, via Cape Town, Africa.— Hoyes LLoybD. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB, 1923-24.—Council reports a In all, eight meetings were held, with an average attendance of fifteen mem- bers. Many of these meetings were held at councillors’ homes and pleasant social chats followed the business session. It certainly would — be amiss not to express in this report sincere thanks to those members who so kindly enter- tained us in their homes, and to the various com- ~ mittees and councillors for their interest in the work. After the appointment of the various committees for the year, one of the first problems investigated was the financial standing of the club and its source of revenue. It was found that the club started the year with a deficit of $146.00. Through the energy of the President in selling back sets of the Naturalist, this deficit has been reduced to about $6.00. Use of the Trust Funds of the club was given consideration and the interest was offered as prizes for the best plant, insect, and 26 nature photograph collections. Other prizes were donated by Dr. Ami for the best archzological and palzontological collections, and by Dr. Malte for the best botany collections. A Publication Fund was established, to which the Province of Quebec Society for the Protection of Birds contributed $125.00. Many other important contributions have been received and acknowledged in the Naturalist. A serious shock to Council was the announce- ment that the Ontario Government had cancelled the $200.00 grant, which had been paid annually to the Club since 1898. The importance of the continuance of this grant was emphasized to the Premier of the Province, and it was urged that the grant be increased from $200.00 to $500.00. The Canadian Field-Naturalist, the official publication of the club and.its affiliated societies, has completed a successful year, and Volume 38 contains much important scientific information, together with many illustrations. A special number on the “Birds of Saskatchewan” was published last May in cooperation with the Government of Saskatchewan. The Toronto Field-Naturalists’ Club was added last March as a new and important affiliated Society. Negotiations are in progress and it is hoped in the near future to affiliate with several other Natural History Societies. We now have ten affiliated societies. Many other items of business were transacted and the above are only a few of the items of general interest.—J.F. WRIGHT, Secretary. ANNUAL MEETING OF OTTAWA FIELD-NATUR- ALISTS’ CLUB.—The forty-sixth Annual Meeting of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club was held Tuesday evening, December 2nd, 1924, in the auditorium of the Victoria Memorial Museum. President Hoyes Lloyd, in opening the meeting, told of some of the ways in which the Club was attempting to spread interest in natural history throughout Canada, and emphasized the most recent method, namely, by radio. The Minutes of the previous Annual Meeting, the Report of the Secretary of Council and the Treasurer’s Report BOOK REVIEW aS In the General Notes for January, pp. 135-137, ; THE AUK, 1923 Articles pertaining directly to Canadian ornith- ology. A BREEDING STATION OF THE HORNED LARK AND PIPIT ON THE GASPE PENINSULA.—By Charles W. Townsend, pp. 85-87. This paper extends the breeding range of the Eastern Horned Lark and the Pipit south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST | d ee were then read and adopted. The election of officers followed. The slate presented by Council was elected and the officers and additional council President, Mr. Hoyes Lloyd; first vice-president, Mr. G. A. members for 1924-25 are as follows: Miller; second vice-president, Mr. Norman Criddle; treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel; secretary, Dr. J. F. Wright; additional members of council, Miss M. E. Cowan, Miss Faith Fyles, and Messrs. W. T. Macoun, A. Halkett, C. E. Johnson, Frits — Johansen, C. M. Sternberg, H. I. Smith, F. W. Waugh, P. A. Taverner, E. Sapir, E. M. Kindle, W. J. Wintemberg, R. E. DeLury, Arthur Gibson, [Vous x Xe ae M. O. Malte, R. M. Anderson, H. Groh,-C. B. Hutchings, H. M. Ami, C. L. Patch, D. Jenness, The Auditors elected for and H. F. Lewis. 1924-25 are A. E. Bateman and C. W. Twinn. Following the brief business session Mr. Harri- son F. Lewis of the Canadian National Parks staff and Editor-in-Chief of The Canadian Field-Natur-- alist gave a highly educational lecture on ‘‘Sea — Birds” and showed, for the first time in Canada, 6 reels of moving pictures of the sea birds of the ~ . north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence or the _ Canadian Labrador coast. and Mr. P. A. Taverner. Many excellent close- up and general scenes of these rare and interesting — These mov- birds and bird colonies were shown. ing pictures are interesting and at the same time are of highly educational value, and therefore, it — is hoped that, in the near future, they will be chow in many of our Canadian cities. In closing the meeting President Lloyd conveyed to Mr. Lewis the appreciation of the-Club for his These moving pictures __ were taken by the Department of Trade and Com- merce under the direct supervision of Mr. Lewis splendid address, and also thanked the National ~ Parks Branch for the loan of the films, and the _ Victoria Museum for the use of their lecture hall. About 300 members and their friends were present. —J. F. WRIGHT, Secretary. For the illustrations in this issue The Canadian Field-Naturalist is indebted to Dr. R. E. DeLury, © Mr. J. H. Bradley, Jr., and the Topographical — Survey of Canada. en ITOn, Harrison F. Lewis reports a number of notes on, t and additions to, the list of birds of the Labrador | Peninsula. Under Recent Literature we observe ‘Besoaiee Note on the Birds Observed at the Biological Station of the University of Manitoba, by Wm. Rowan— Ecology, Vol. III, 1922, pp. 255-260. An ecological — study of the locality at Shoal Lake, eastern Mani- -toba. A list of the birds of this station was oxy published by the same author in The Auk in 1922. a A photograph of a young Whooping Crane, ae taken in Saskatchewan in the summer of 1913 and _ published in Bird-Lore for September-October, _~ 1922, is noted. Under Correspondence, P. A. Taverner: presents ae a circular, The Genus Debased, protesting against b the too fine splitting of genera. The stand is taken that the genus is a division of expediency rather than a hard and fast unit of-fact and that excessive multiplication of genera complicates - rather than simplifies classification. Any scienti- fie refinement in relationship can be expressed as well in subgenera, which, not being used as terms ‘in the names of the species, will render unnecessary many aggravating changes in nomenclature and _ make for a simpler nomenclatural system. This ‘circular is signed by the majority of systematic ornithologists of the United States and Canada. , __ NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF PORCHER ISLAND, B.C.— By Allan Brooks, pp. 217-224. Porcher Island is on the British Columbia coast opposite the Queen Charlotte Islands. These notes consist of annotations on fifty species, based on a nine-day visit in September, 1920, and on “specimens and reports made by C. de B. Green as a result of a two months’ stay there in June and July, 1921. The most notable things in this list are the Steller’s Jay, Song Sparrow, and _ Ptarmigan. The first-named proves to be annec- tens, the Black-headed Jay of the interior, without a tendency towards carlottae, as would be expected. - Major Brooks regards caurina as the breeding form of the Song Sparrow and rufina as a migrant, though this is not finally demonstrated. Ptarmi- gan taken prove to be Alexander’s Ptarmigan, the first of the subspecies recorded from Canada. THE MouRNING Dove (Zenaidura macroura ---~——s carolinensis) AT PANoRA, Iowa.—By L. L. . _Snyder, of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ae pp. 240-244, with an excellent plate. : A good account of occurrence and habits of a oe nesting pair in the locality named. _ BLUE FEATHERS.—By Wilder D. Bancroft, Emile ae M. Chamot, Ernest Merritt, and Clyde W. Mason, pp. 275-300. - _ - This is a report of an investigation of the source ss of color in blue feathers, conducted under a grant _ from the Hekscher Foundation for the Advance- ment of Research at Cornell University. It is an abstract of a fuller account published in the Jour- pe _are summed up as follows: i Non-metallic blues of feathers are due to the Wega _ nal of Physical Chemistry. The final conclusions THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 27 feather. This is the blue described by Tyndall, which is commonly observed in turbid media. 2. No blue pigments, and no other structural causes of blue color have been observed in non- - metallic blue feathers. 3. Green feathers are essentially the same as blue feathers, except that the blue cells are over- laid by a transparent yellow layer. NESTING OF THE EVENING GROSBEAK IN NORTH- ERN MICHIGAN. —By Ji. Stokley Ligon, pp. 314-316. This paper describes nests discovered on White- fish Point, Michigan, in July, 1922. Whitefish Point is within twenty miles of the Canadian shore. The paper is accompanied by two photo- graphs, one of nesting habitat and one of nestling bird. — TURKEY VULTURES IN ALBERTA.—By James E. Horning, pp. 324-325. A report of the occurrence of Turkey Vultures at Ministick Lake, Alberta, July 2, 1922. THE MyNAH.—A STUDY IN ADAPTATION. met Dayton Stoner, pp. 328-330. This is a note that should make interesting reading for bird lovers in Vancouver and adjacent localities, where the closely related Japanese Starling has gained a footing. Mr. Stoner’s report of the effect of this species in the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand, and Fiji is not reassuring. It has not made good in the destruction of noxious insects, it is dirty and unsightly in nesting habits, and it is supplanting native species. Under Recent Literature is a review, on pp. 346- 348, of A Natural History of the Ducks, Volume I, by John C. Phillips, Houghton Mifflin Co. This is a monumental work, sumptuously produced, which, when completed, will include all the Ducks of the world. Colored plates from the brushes of. the best bird artists are reproduced by the finest processes. Maps represent the distribution of each species and the highest type of printing and book-making art is presented. ‘The only criticism that the present reviewer, who has personally examined the work, would make, is that it is too fine and expensive for such an important work. ~ The substance of the letter press is thoroughly in keeping with the appearance and shows an as- tounding amount of personal experience and research. Probably more of value regarding the Ducks will be found within its covers than in any other dozen works previously published—yet, instead of being available to every one interested, it is issued in a form that makes it obtainable only by a few wealthy bibliophiles or by large institutions. Most of the species treated of in this volume are extralimital to Canada. Our fellow countryman, Major Allan Brooks, is repre- 28 sented in it by one colored plate from his brush. In succeeding volumes there will be many more examples of his beautiful work. Under Correspondence, Robert Ridgway, on pp. 371-375, counters the protesting circular, The Genus Debased, presented by P. A. Taverner as above noted. He urges the necessity of splitting genera wherever a split seems taxonomically neces- sary, yet, according to the present reviewer, who is not, however, a disinterested party to the dis- pute, it does not seem that he has shown any good reason why the desired results cannot be obtained through use of the subgenus, without loss of scientific accuracy and with a great increase of convenience to the general worker.—P. A. T. (Concluded in the February issue.) PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE SILURIAN ROCKS OF ARISAIG, NovA Scotia, by F. H. McLearn. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 137, pp. 179, pls. 30, Ottawa, 1924. This memoir is 2 valuable addition to Canadian Palaeontology. Ina brief introduction the author states that the Arisaig section was chosen because of the good preservation of the Silurian faunas at Arisaig, on the northeast coast of Nova Scotia. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 2 boundaries of the Ordovician below and the Devonian above, followed by the five formations into which the Arisaig series is divided. The formations are subdivided into zones based upon lithological differences or upon the prevalence of certain designatory fossils, with the exception of the Beechhill, the lowest formation, which is con- siderably thinner than the others. The descrip- tion of each formation and each zone is accom-— panied by a bulwark of fossils. Then follows a marshalled array of fossils, giving in comprehensive detail the range of the species in zones as well as formations, with the comparative rarity or fre- quence of their occurrence. A glance at the long list in this finely worked out table is enough to suggest the picture of the thickly populated, moving, not to say squirming, sea-bottom in Arisaig days. Of the 214 species given, there are 9 new mutations, 17 new varieties, and 79 new species—that is, 105 new fossils, almost fifty per cent. : The remainder of this portion of the text is devoted to the very important question of corre- — lation of the fauna. The author shows a very slight basis of comparison existing between one of the Arisaig divisions and one of the Anticosti [Vou. XXXIX e4 5 o divisions, and a stronger resemblance to some of the fauna at Eastport, Maine, but a much more definite and more interesting correlation is made The reader is especially invited to note that the correlations and “conclusions are based primarily on Brachiopoda and Pelecypoda, to some extent on Trilobita, and subordinately on Graptolitoidea and Gastropoda”. The introduction is accom- panied by a sketch map making clear the geo- graphic position of the region and the geological relationship of the formations to be discussed. There follows a resumé of previous work on these faunas and the development of opinion with regard to their correlation with the Devonian or Silurian rocks of New York, with the evidence given for the final decision of the early writers that they represent a Silurian sea—a decision based on the fossil content correlated in a general way both with New York and English fossils. The relationship is shown between the strati- graphical divisions of the early investigators and the more clearly defined and finely distinguished divisions of the more recent workers. A short description is given of the location of the more detailed sections, and the limiting with the fauna of England, Scotland, and Wales. There is a less definite comparison with the Silur- ian of Norway. These correlations on the eastern _ and western borders of the Atlantic raise some — interesting possibilities as to the migration and a distribution of species, particularly as the lowest — member, the Beechhill, seems to have more in common with the eastern side of the Atlantic ms than with the Silurian of the interior of North America. The same can be said, though in a less degree, of the other formations. The second part of the Memoir is devoted to a detailed description of species very minutely worked out, followed by a complete bibliography. Special emphasis should be laid upon the character ~ Theyer es of the thirty plates illustrating the species. are not only very clear and well defined, but the soft tone is exceedingly restful and pleasing to the “as eye.—A. Fi. W. bi Pa <5 Sweet Canada 4 _ — Eleven Bird Songs and a Round : oe Louise Murphy Author of *‘A Little Book of Bird Songs, Rhymes and Tunes for Tiny Tots’’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto Pee. LL. C. Smith & Bro. Typewriter: 2 Ball bearings in every frictional part of > the L. C. Smith insure long life, light & touch and easy operation Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited = 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Scions for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes ~ & Lowe-Martin Ltd. ee OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A ee ee on Mie The Crabtree Co. Artists and Designers ENGRAVERS COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS >: PHOTO i | BLUEPRINTERS LITHOGRAPHERS | 228 Albert Street Ottawa, Ont. i SE EE O46 0 ES 0) a O-PS ee DO. Ee ee ee S—S2_ OO SS CO AL C.-C. Ray Company | [a BEST QUALITY _ LOWEST PRICES | El [5 ————— [on] 46 Sparks St.—Phone Q. 461 & OTTAWA | ea ESS OS Geo. E. Preston & Sons MERCHANT TAILORS We make everything we sell and guarantee everything we sell 217-219 Rideau Street, Ottawa ee en Br. Mark G. McElhinney Dentist to certain of the cognoscenti iN : i 5 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA Telephone Queen 2438 StrapaeaPavaraParabaPayaPaPAPaPaPaPAPAPAPAPaPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPS Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers SS SSR EXPLORATIONS | in Western Canada Canada The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club has just published an interesting vol- ume of over 300 pages, entitled: Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A. Canadian Explorer and Naturalist, Assistant Director and Naturalist to the Geological Survey of Canada—1831-1920. This volume is an account of the life of this vetcran naturalist. Agriculturists generally, in fact all interested in the development of Canada, will find this book of much interest and value. The edition is limited. The price is $3.00 with 15c added for bank exchange, if remittance is forwarded by personal cheque. Applications for the volume should be made to Mr. Arthur Gibson Birks Building Ottawa, Ont, ee | | | | | Le _ Rubber Stamps FOR | Listing Your Specimens | ——————— — —— SS SSS ze The more consistent use of rubber stamps will materially assist you in cataloguing the collection of specumens you have spent so much time and trouble in securing. Let us help you. | CAPITAL RUBBER STAMP | WORKS 175 NEPEAN STREET OTTAWA, CANADA orererri rer rrr rrr ier rrr rir SsSeneGneeSnGGsSescUSeccsUeccccscsececGutcSonestueuSuscescncusscccsecseseceCucccsueuuescesnsou® cri eee eeencseananenseRSSSeneSeSSSSSCeSGRGSSSSSSSCSSSSEGRGOSSESGRGSESSSESE DOR GSSSCRGROBSSEERODRS Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers Many More are Wanted on the Subscription Lists The Membership Committee of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ | Club is making a special effort to increase the subscription list of The Canadian Field- Naturalist and we are asking every reader to assistin making the campaign the success it should be. ‘We would particularly urge the Secretary of each Affiliated So- ciety to bring this matter up at EVERY meeting and secure as many subscribers as they pos- | sibly can to a Canadian Pub- lication devoted to the study of | Natural History in all its phases. Use-the blank below and forward ; it to the Treasurer. . CUT OFF HERE Mr. B. A. FAUVEL, Honorary Treasurer, Ottawa Field- Naturalists’ Club, 321 McLeod Street, Ottawa, Canada. I enclose One Dollar and Fifty Cents as my subscription to The Canadian Field-Naturalist for one year. __ NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF ces _-s MANITOBA ve fra se: -~ 1924 Hon. President: V. W. JACKSON; President: J. J. GOLDEN; Vice-Presidenits: H. M. SpEmcHLY, A. M. Davipson, A. G. WRENCE, NORMAN CRIDDLE; Mrs. C. E. BAsTIN, Mrs. ANDERSON; General Secretary: A. A. MCCOUBREY, 307 -THomas; Treasurer: Miss HELEN R. CANNoM; ORNITH- _ OLOGICAL SECTION:—Chairman: B. W. CARTWRIGHT; Secretary: C. L. BROLEY. ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION: _ Chairman: A. V. MITCHENER; Secretary: A. SHIRLEY _ Brooxs. BOTANICAL SECTION:—Chairman: C. W. Lows; BS. Secretary: Miss GRACE CAMERON. GEOLOGICAL SEC- -TION:—Chairman: _ BENSON. Pt es A. A. McCousrey; Secretary: J. M. ‘THE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION ee SOCIETY: poh fa (Incorporated) — Hon. President: Mr. ADAM BROWN; President: Mr. R. O MERRIMAN; 1st Vice-President: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- President: Mr. C. D. Coox; Secretary-Treasurer: Miss RUBY _ R. Mitts, Public Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. _ ARNoTT; C. D. Coox; Dr. J. A. Dickson; Miss M. E. Gra- HAM; Miss Rupy R. Minis; M. Hotton; M. JOHNSTON; Mrs. F. E. MACLOGHLIN; R. O. MERRIMAN. ~ ¢ _ NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH : - COLUMBIA, VICTORIA, B.C. - March 3ist, 1923, are as follows:— _ President: W.N. KELLY; ist Vice-President: A. R. SHERWOOD; 2nd Vice-President: C. C. PEMBERTON; Secretary: H. T. NATION 2380 Windsor Road, Victoria, B.C. _ Treasurer: Miss _ §.M. THORNTON; Committee:—Miss C. G. Fox, Miss A. F. _ GARDINER, Miss I. CATHCART, WM. DOWNES, A. HALKETT. _ Auditors:—J. KmITH WILSON AND F. W. GopsAL. Trustees:— Rev. R. CONNELL, Dr. C. F.NEWCOMBE AND G. HARVEY. ALBERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY _ President: Mr. J. J. GAETZ, Red Deer; President: Mr. C. H. _ SNELL, Red Deer; ist Vice-President: Mr. G. C. S. Crossy, Red Deer; 2nd Vice-President: Mrs. W. A. CASSELS, Red _ Deer; Hon. Sec.-Treas.: Mrs. S. PAMELY, Red Deer; Direc- os tors: Mrs. G. C. S. Crossy, Miss E. C. Irvine; Mr. W. A. _ CASSELS AND Mr. S. PAMELy, Red Deer, Mrs. G. F. Root, _ Wetaskiwin, Mr. K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Mr. B. LAwrTon, Edmonton, Mr. T. RANDALL, Castor, Mr. F. L. FARLEY, Camrose, Mr. W. C. McCatua, Bremner, and Mr. D. M. -Srvciair, Peace River. he ‘The meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the Bis | a last Friday of each month except during July and August and _ perhaps September. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer ° on the last Friday in November. : ' McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, “Sage _ FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: PROFESSOR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidenis: PROFESSOR E. M. WALKER, Dr. A. CosENS, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. F. Grecory, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH; Librarian: Dr. Lyman B. Jackes. BIRD GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIR. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B.Sirton; Secretary; Miss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: MisS NORMA ForpD, PH.D. MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. Dymonpb; Secretary: L. SNYDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: —Chairman: SHILLEY LOGIER; Secretary: T. B. KURATA. PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- ENS. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:— Chairman: RUSSELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL COM- MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. ; THE TORONTO We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of — this magazine. By securing every member as a subscriber we can truly make this magazine into one of the leading Natural History publications of America. ine : FOR SALE inion ~The Ou ae of i Sterling Silver, F ine taste aa na Cut Glass, Electro- The Club has for sale complete sets of its ee publications. Enquiries regarding price : Plated Be a should be addressed to the Secretary of the TUR Club, Dr. J. F. Wright, Geological ue o Ottawa, ee | The Store ne 3 Moderate Prices ? LEPRRVRB Fit ee = oe] ys | om oe | oe wot | mes | les | oak | eae Poche = the oe a op ei it Ti ra Es =a Cot Cot Por ee yneniber having copies of the March, 1896, January, February, March and August, 1898, and December, 1900, issues of The Ottawa Naturalist. sted Son | and who desires to dispose of the same, is request- ed to communicate with the Secretary. Hil fae srs Opticians, Watchmakers ana nt is 4 Engravers naan 4 g 1 208 Bias Street, Ottawa -| SSSESSSSESSSS ELSES SESE SS ES ty is i. ‘ i it Prices of Separates | £- H | d Notes to Contributors, Etc. ae Me r a n 0 e n ne ; Papers for publication should be addresead! to the : Mr. Harrison F. Lewis, Parks Branch, Ottawa, or appropriate Associate Editor. \ ol - Manuscript should be plainly written, typ po: Y Ya am Wm] e on one side of the paper only, with wide spaces between ‘the. s _ lines and ample margins. It is urged that special care be | use that scientific names are legible, properly formed, and ¢ bane tl e Outfitters to spelled and capitalized. Surveyors & Engineers Galley proof will be submitted to authane: resident iw Ottawa and proof of leading articles to any other | aut! ft requested when manuscript submitted. It is Bee it be corrected and\returned to the Editor as quickl ly as | Authors of leading articles are entitled to twenty-five copies of the number in which they appear, free of charge | on - application. Separates of articles as they appear on the page, without. Manufacturers of any change of make-up will be Sure at the Fidel atl: rates:— High-Grade Tents | Tarpaulins & Sleeping Bags 8.25 3.75 4.75 4.75] 6.25| 6.501 | 6.25] 6.5 TEE WRITE FOR CATALOGUES WOO IRE One 10 +1 47 “Alber t Str eet f If removal of matter on the pages non-pertinent to the # article or changes of make-up are desired, or if insets or other OTT AW. A extra work are necessary, special rates ‘will be furnished o application to the Editor. ; ; aa for tate seta ‘to Ba and must reach him not later than with the re ura ty) e co trrtereereterererrereerrertr en aoe proof. — sat FEBRUARY, 1925 ISTS’ CLUB ISSUED FEBRUARY 28, 1925 Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as been oles matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- ELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB ¥ ~~ ‘Batrons: THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG OF VI President: HOYES Luoyp. ° « eile 1st Vice-President: G. A. MILLER. A ond Vie Picea: NORMAN Crip Seeretary: VOTE) 4 Hon. Treasurers’ \~ J. F. WRIGHT, RENE IS B.A. FAUVEL, __ Geological Survey, Ottawa), BOURGAS ae vans - ~ 321 McLeod St. ite ( £ al {) sae \ C RS Ot )al ie { } ny Ottawa, Ont. co) ee Additional Members of Coukelts W1'E. Midcoux; Miss M. EB. Cowan; C. M. SteRNBERG; H. I. SMITH; F. W. WaucH; P. A. TAVERNER; E. Sapir; E. M. KINDLE; W. oie WINTEMBERG; R E. DELUuRY:; ARTHUR GIBSON; M.O. Maur; R.M. ANDERSON; H. Grow; Miss F. FYLES; C. B. Hurcuines; H. M. Ami; CLYDE L. PATCH; D. JENNESS; V. W. JACKSON; R. O. ee W. Be ee KERMODE: Buon R. B. THOMSON; THE EDITOR, Editor: oe esi, <.: HaRRISON F. LEwIs, Reig: Canadian National Parks Branch, Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa. | Associate Editors: E. SAPIR..... Pci es ma a ee aan Anthropology 5A Gi ERUINTSMAN Go yea eee M arine Bie PIES Os IVCAG DR 5 Ee eS ING Botany P. A. TAVERNER...... oon ve a oe Ornithology: HOR GwATCHRORD: 32st ee '...Conchology o WOME KONDIB ef es ..... .-Palaeontology MIE YALE LTAMS: Gaccd. ein ne Ge oabot Ors Geology R. M. ANDERSON Beko” oan ARTHUR GIBSON................ Entomology _ CLYDE L. PATCH...... ee eo oi) ~ CONTENTS Oregon Jays. By G. Buchanan Simpson.......... pc ae ine Wrath EN Hee Ia OS ee ke Bs 99 An Exploration into the Northern Plains, North and East of Great Slave Lake, Incuding the > cs : Source of the Coppermine River. By G. H. Blanchet, F.R.G.S Beaks 30 Prosecutions—Migratory Birds: Convention Actas 205 22 pce see cee eee Beier css « Coes we oh a 85 Further Notes of the Orchids, Ferns and Butterflies of Hatley, Stanstead County, Guebes, 1924, ua By Henry Mousley ent Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns. Manat a Sa a BRE garam = : Editorial—The Wilderness. . .... BT ERR es SO aio Na Xo ae paen a Ae A . Ue Notes and Observations:— y are (AA a Bythinia tentaculata Linn. By F. R. Latehford. ee PUD eke Oat DER eka See eee ea Mystery Bands. By Hoyes Lloyd...................... sac ae sod ua (ie a ieee et Gahran An Unusual Nest of the Mallard. By A. D. Henderson. Faire Ors OF ea chee Renee Migration. Incidents: «, By, .Harrison K, Gewis. 34s ee Pietra iia Oe igs | Canadian Field-Naturalist Publication Fund—Statement of Receipts ot gee aCe SA a 08 : Mditor’s Notesevts4 a. 3) swe eaten ioe 0) ney eeu ea FRE otis a og? amet adie: rece tei ae Correspondence. 2a ee Nn SO fe SS a eae a Neen ae re ccm etal Seer waa Pana Ress Book Review:— Some Remarks on Birds. The Auk, 1928. By P.A.T Publications Received 646.4: te ans ws oe cy ae ee OnnD een ye en eter s/c) Ne Na "Se THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST, lately THE Orrawa NATURALIST, established # thirty-seven years ago, “‘to publish the results of original research or investigation in all depart- _ #{ ments of natural history,” i is issued monthly, excepting for the months of June, July and August. if Papers, notes and photographs should be addressed to the Editor. 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XXXIX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, FEBRUARY, 1925 No. 2 OREGON JAYS By G. BUCHANAN SIMPSON SHORT account of an eight-years’ friend- ship with a band of Oregon Jays may be of interest. In this district (Lake Cowichan, B.C.), these birds are usually to be found in the wilder mountainous regions. In winter, however, they often come down to within a few hundred feet of Lake level in the dense forest. During the severe winter of 1915-16 my wife and I noticed four Whiskey Jacks picking up crumbs near the house. After the manner of their kind, they would feed undisturbed quite close to us from the beginning; but it was only after patient coaxing that we got the birds tame enough to perch and eat on our hands. By spring they were quite friendly and would swoop down from the tall trees in the vicinity whenever we held out a hand. Some- times when we were working in the garden they would settle on one’s head or shoulders. If, perchance, they alighted on an empty hand, they would emphatically call for food by pecking at one’s fingers most heartily. Instead of going back to higher levels when the severe weather ceased, the Jays remained with us and nested at Lake level. Both pairs brought their young to us when the Jatter could barely fly, and it was quite a surprise to see such sooty offspring. The young birds came to our hands without any fear at first sight. They perched on our heads and shoulders, and covered us with bread and milk in a frantic endeavour to eat their first meal in the company of man. In early autumn the young ceased to look like faded little Crows, and acquired the general white appearance of adult Oregon Jays. Tame Whiskey Jacks, in numbers from four to twelve, have been with us since 1916, but, as none of these were ever banded, we have no means of knowing whether any of the original four are still with us. We have tried the birds with all kinds of food and their undoubted favourite is cheese, of which they are passionately fond. (We had a tame Carrion Crow in England, and a morsel of cheese was always his favourite tit-bit.) The Whiskey Jacks eat bread, porridge, un- cooked rolled oats, cake, farinaceous food in general, and, of course, meat, raw or cooked. They have taken an occasional bite of apple or pear. Sometimes one will catch and eat an insect, but they will not look at an earth-worm. Fish, either raw or cooked, they dislike. The birds each had their morning morsel of cheese to-day. They hold it in their mouths for a long time, turning it over and over with their tongues, as if the taste were most pleasing to them. The cheese is often shifted to the “pouch” under the chin and held there for some time. Then it may be deposited carefully on some safe perch, licked and mouthed again with intense satisfac- tion, then finally eaten. They do this with no other food. ; In February the male makes very pretty love to his spouse. The latter sits on a nearby perch, ignoring any food that is thrown out. She flaps her wings in a coy way, after the manner of a nestling being fed by its mother, making plaintive little cries. The male bird scrambles for the most pleasing bit of food which is to be found, and gallantly carries it to his wife, who receives it in her beak and eats it with a great show of satis- faction. On some balmy fragrant afternoon in the spring sunshine, when all the Whiskey Jacks are sitting in a row, contentedly fluffed out, may be heard their soft, lisping song, one to the other, most gentle and loving, like the notes of a company of Waxwings. Vocally, our bird seems to be as versatile as the Perisoreus canadensis and is often fond of imitating the Pigmy Owl call. On the approach of a Hawk, whose presence is usually detected by these birds from afar, they at once become perfectly motionless in the thickest part of a bush, uttering a low, plaintive, warning ery. When hard pressed, they will successfully fight off a Cooper’s or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. After all these years on the Lake shore, they continue to take a Gull or a Heron for a Hawk, and display the same symptoms of fear. Unlike some of our race, they have a passion for soap! We cannot leave a piece of soap out- side the house for a short time without it being 30 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST carried off by the Jays. The camp soap suffers the same fate at 5000 ft. level in summer. When carrying anything beyond the capacity of their beaks, they use both feet with which to hold the object, the legs hanging straight down beneath the body as they fly. As far as we have observed, these birds are a gentle, most loveable company, minding their own [VoL. XXXIX business in bird-land, and never robbing a small bird’s nest (of which there are always several nearby of Song Sparrow, Yellow-throat, etc.). The Jays make free with our small garden, in which we find them admirable companions, res- pecting all our cherished alpine plants as well as salads, tomatoes, berries and the like. AN EXPLORATION INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS NORTH AND EAST OF GREAT SLAVE LAKE, INCLUDING THE SOURCE OF THE COPPERMINE RIVER By G. H. BLANCHET, F.R.G.S. of the Topographical Survey of Canada (Continued from Page 16) GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL No detailed study has been given to the geology of the interior country. It forms part of the great archean plateau of Northern Canada, which is probably best known in the country north of Lake Superior. It can be generalized as a subdued plateau, which was swept over by the ice fields of glacial times, when its soil and softer surface rocks were for the most part swept off. The harder rocks, chiefly pre-Cambrian, were ground down, rounded and polished, and over all, on the retreat of the ice by the melting back of its face, a mantle of drift was deposited. This was largely composed of sand, gravel and boulders. Since glacial times the action of the forces of nature has only slightly modified the surface of the country on account of the coarse nature of the materials and the short season it is released from frost. The conditions found in the country become clear and logical in the light of its history. The great plains of irregularly deposited drift are features of much of the country, and through the thin cover the rounded and polished hills outcrop in some places, while in others the hills are formed of the drift material itself. The occurrences of sand mark episodes in the retreat of the glacier— its spillways and temporary lakes. The finer materials have usually been carried into the valleys and the lower country. In the height of land district the rock formations are chiefly granites and gneisses outcropping in the hills, cut and overflown by intrusives, and great areas of rocks of a schistose character in the valleys and often underlying the plains. The schists fracture, in weathering, into great slabs and the fracture plane is usually vertical, which facts are to a large extent accountable for the rugged appearance of the country. However, in spite of the ragged appearance given to the valleys and plains by the low irregular ridges of the outcrop- ping schist and the freakish disposition of the slabs weathered from them, these areas are usually well watered, contain fair soil and produce a good growth of grass. It may be said that both the schist country and the intruded granites are favorable for the occur- rence of minerals. To the north and east from the height of land sedimentary rocks have been reported, the drift cover becomes heavier and of finer materials, and the country is more uniformly watered and there is consequently an improvement in the vegetation. VEGETATION AND CLIMATE. The vegetation of a country is determined by the soil, topography, and the prevailing climatic conditions. Where vegetation is struggling against adverse conditions the topography becomes an increasingly important factor in the shelter it affords, and also in providing places for the accu- mulation of the finer drift soil. This fact is clearly demonstrated in the case of a high mountain, and will be found to assist considerably in explaining the location of the line between the forests and the Barren Lands. Two questions present them- selves in connection with the last woods. “‘Does the timber become gradually more stunted and more scattered till it disappears?” and “How final is the cessation of forest growth?” It is difficult to conceive of a line drawn across a plain on one side of which trees grow while on the other they cannot. However, such a line does exist, modified by variations of soil and shelter and the passage of this line remains an event of the trip of out- standing interest. It is true that on the forest side of the line areas of barrenness exist, but these are local; the great open stretches beyond normally February, 1925] do not produce trees. Exceptions on this particu- lar line of travel are so rare that they may be noted. At Thelon overland portage there are several clumps of scrub spruce a foot and a half high, at Musk Ox cascade on Casba River an ancient dwarf spruce and some high willows grow, and near the same point there are some clumps of the shrub type four feet high. These have all existed within the memory of the older Indians. There may be other similar occurrences of timber back from the waterways, but the line of the last woods may be taken as definitely established and maintained through the period during which knowledge of the country has existed. Again, the nature of the trees at the last woods is found to be surprising. In sheltered spots, where protection is obtained from the winds, spruce and tamarack attain good development, but where exposed to the heavy driving winds from the northeast the spruce, which alone represents the forest, has been dwarfed and flattened against the ground in an almost unbelievable manner. Their hardihood is attested by the great age reached by these wind-blown dwarfs, exceeding 300 years in some cases, with the annual rings of growth almost microscopic and widest on the southwest side. It is probable that many seedlings engage in the war with the elements but few sur- vive. The dwarfs of the hills and the well- developed trees of the sheltered valleys practically end together. The situation at the last woods gives the clue by which the timber line is explained. Given the THE CANADIAN FIBELD-NATURALIST 31 climate and soil which obtain here, trees can develop only with a certain amount of shelter, and of the seedlings produced by them few sur- vive in the open country and these only in a very stunted form. Back of the timber line rugged topography affords sufficient shelter to maintain the straggling forests, but beyond, the low hills, with their rounded outlines, offer no protection from the weather. This appears to be a satis- factory explanation for this part of the country, but should either of the factors assumed as con- stant, soil and climate, change, timber might reach development in spite of exposure to the winds. It is probable that isolated areas of timber beyond the normal timber line would be found to have modifying conditions; better soil, such as in the boulder clay areas, or climatic conditions locally tempered by low elevation or in some other way. A traveller visiting the northern plains in late summer will carry away with him several impres- sions as to the color of vegetation. Of these only one will warrant the name so often applied to it of “barren”. This effect is produced by the stretches of boulder moraines in which the predominating colours are the grey of the boulders and the black of the ‘‘tripe des roches’’, relieved only by the green of its swampy valleys. A more usual view is a pleasing one of gently undulating to moderate- ly rolling country, well covered with shrubs and moss on the slopes and grass in the bottoms, coloring it a vivid green. A little later in the season, after the first frosts have come, a still FIGURE 6.—BARREN LANDS CARIBOU AT HOME The Caribou gives life to the somewhat monotonous plains of the North and in travelling in the country one finds himself most of the time watching a caribou or looking for one to appear. 32 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST more striking effect is produced by great splashes of crimson and yellow of the saxifrage, labrador tea, and blueberry bush. The question of grass growth in these northern regions has been somewhat misrepresented. Any broad generalizations covering such a huge area will almost of necessity be unreliable. The reason- able supposition that grass will grow in this coun- try where soil and moisture favour it will, I think, always be found to be the case. Coarse drift soil and exposed rocky country will not produce grass, while in the swampy bottom lands and on the lake margins certain grasses grow well. In the portion of the country traversed last season the occur- rences of grass accorded absolutely with these conditions. It was observed that the caribou held to the grassy valleys, and the Indians reported that they feed on grass and the leaves of the shrubs entirely in summer, eating the mosses and lichens only in winter. So assured were they of this that wher- ever the lichens were observed to have been dis- turbed they took it as a sign of the caribou having passed in winter. If it may be assumed that grass is largely their summer food, there must be large areas in their summer ranges on the lower steppes of the plateau where it is abundant. The muskoxen also are grass eaters, which further supports this argument. Another line of argu- ment might be that if grass grows in any quantity in the area under observation, which may be con- sidered one of the highest, most rugged, and poorest watered portions of the country, it would be reasonable to suppose that it would be more abundant where these conditions are modified. A consideration of the vegetation brings up the question of fuel. Beyond the timber line nothing of firewood size grows, except a very small willow, which is found along the water’s edge in certain places. While this, and a form of coarse black moss, which grows on the rock ridges, offer a pre- carious supply for a small party travelling rapidly through the country, it is not advisable to depend on them, as they make the fuel question too much of a controlling factor and hamper operations. Travel and work here would be much simplified by carrying some form of oil fuel. The climate in this portion of the country has been largely determined by the fact that the pre- vailing winds are from the northeast, blowing without obstruction from Hudson Bay and the Arctic. Add to this the long winter and the continuous daylight of its summer season, due to its latitude, and exaggerated extremes are to be expected. If the effects of the winds are ignored, the season might be described as a short but intense [VoL. XX XIX growing season including June, July and August, a brief autumn merging into winter about the beginning of October, a cold winter with com- paratively little snow, and spring starting in March. The winds, however, complicate each season, intensifying the winter and bringing un- seasonable weather into each of the other seasons. Due to the cold winter and the light snowfall, ice forms to a great thickness on the lakes, and, unless there is the lifting action of considerable spring waters, the break-up may be late in July. In this connection it is interesting to note that during the past season the water level of Great Slave Lake was nearly two feet higher than normal, while the rivers flowing into it from the south were not high and the southern lakes were exceptionally low. The explanation of this, that conditions of un- usually high water existed in the Barren Lands in the spring, was verified by observations made on the trip. On all the lakes visited evidences of great spring floods were noted, and even in the late summer grass and shrubs along the margins were flooded. THE FAUNA OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS — The fauna of the Northern Plains is to a large extent peculiar to it. First in importance is the species of caribou, known as the Barren Ground Caribou, (Rangifer arcticus). It has always been one of the most important factors of life and travel in this portion of the country. When caribou were obtained, food was abund- ant and their skins supplied clothing and leather; “no earibou’’ was almost synonymous with starva- tion. Consequently, their movements and hab- its have been anxiously studied. But the caribou is a migratory animal, and the people in the various parts of its great range have little or no contact with one another, so it is necessary to piece together the fragmentary accounts of the people living in the various parts of its range in order to have a clear idea of its wanderings. Like all migratory species, it responds to two main instincts—to obtain less rigorous winter conditions and to produce its young in a favored locality. The working of these two instincts has given the caribou of the sub-Arctic regions the greatest range of any land animal. In fact, its life is almost entirely occupied in migrations, backward and forward between the timber in the south where it winters and the coast and islands of the Arctic, where its young are born. The bulls and the cows seldom travel together, which further complicates the study of their movements. Piecing together the various accounts and observations, the story of the caribou is somewhat as follows. The cows, with the young of the previous season, leave the shelter of the woods February, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 33 FicurRE 7—THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, LAKE MacKAY Wherever the edge of the forest was observed, it was found the last stragglers occurred in the valleys of rough, broken country, proving that the factor of “‘shelter” is a very important one. some time in February and work their way north- ward, travelling in large bands, with the objective of reaching the Arctic coast for the calving season in June. They follow routes that take advantage of lake crossings that may be made on the ice, thereby avoiding rough country. Another very important consideration determining their travel at this season of the year is that their food is almost entirely the lichens which grow on the hills. The winter and spring trails will usually be found to be more direct, and, though they are deeply worn, the moss is not usually broken, as they are travelled at a time when the frost is still in the ground. The bulls do not leave the woods till much later, and travel northward more slowly, following the retreating snow. As the season advances, they lose their herding instinct and scatter widely throughout the Barren Lands. Their horns are discarded in December, and their life in the spring and summer is a leisurely one, as they search for the best supply of food—moss, grass and later the leaves of the small willows and the scrub black birch. The fly season in the Barren Lands in- cludes late June, July and early August and, in order to avoid this torment, the caribou have only one resource—to travel against the wind. Their gait is a swift trot and their feeding at this time consists of a series of snatches. This swift travel and the varying winds of summer account partly for the wide and erratic travel of the sum- mer season. It is probable that very few of the old bulls reach the Arctic coast. The heavy storms of early August start the southerly migration of the cows, the yearlings and the young. Their food at this season is chiefly grass and leaves, and the good summer feeding grounds are differently situated from their winter and spring ranges, the former being found in the wide low valleys and the latter chiefly on the hiils. Consequently the southerly migrations, seeking country of this nature and avoiding wide crossings of the lakes, take different routes from those of the spring. The last of the heavy greyish winter coat should be shed before the end of July, and they become a sleek brown, with white on the neck and chest of the bulls and on the belly and rump of the cows. Their wonderful horn growth begins in the spring and matures in September. The Barren Lands caribou bull is transformed by his horns from a small, rather insignificant animal to one with an imposing presence in repose and of striking appearance in animation. Late August and September is the easy time of the caribou year cycle, food is abundant, the flies disappearing and the weather not severe. They are travelling in bands of varying size with little cohesion, and may be observed to break and re- form when meeting other bands. While the general drift towards the woods is maintained, it is erratic. Pauses are made in good feeding 34 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST grounds, and there is a certain amount of aimless wandering. As the bands move southward they meet the bulls in their summer range, and a few old bulls will usually be found with each band, leading the way when travelling and mounting guard when resting and feeding. The caribou have remarkable sight, hearing and scent. They are almost impossible to approach in open country without detection; in fact, in order to do so it is necessary to play on their curiosity, which will only be successful till they get the human scent, when they are off in the wildest panic. When disturbed near water their instinet is to take to the water and they are capable of swimming incredible distances. In the interior they generally make for a hill top. It is in September that the Indians who live outside the caribou range journey to meet them. The skins are prime at this time, those of the bulls for leather and those of the cows and calves for winter clothing. They also put up dry meat, seek- ing the old bulls, who have most fat at this season. October sees the final massing of the herds and the advance of the “foule’ towards the woods. This is a sight seldom seen by white men, when for days continuous bands pass a given point and when estimates can be made only in acres or square miles. The country east and north of Great Slave Lake includes part of one of the great trunk lines of the migration. It is probable that most of the caribou ranging the country between Great Bear Lake and Backs River gather into the route deflected around the east end of the lake and many winter there; for that reason it makes an excellent point for observation and tor experi- mental work toward protection and domestication. The musk-ox (Cvibos moschratus), even more than the caribou, is a species distinctive of the northern plains. It is to be feared that the musk- oxen are approaching extinction. In the past their greatest: enemy was the wolf, and inorder to meet this danger they adopted certain tactics which later contributed to their destruction. At the approach of danger they halted and formed a circle, heads outwards. This kept the- wolves at bay. The Indians and Eskimos took advantage of this custom when hunting them, sending their dogs in advance to halt and hold the herds to- gether. They would then come with their rifles and easily exterminate the band. It is many years since the Great Slave Lake Indians hunted the musk-ox, but the old men still remember the hunts, which entailed great hardships and offered little profit, as the trip was of necessity a dash made under the severe conditions of winter far from the woods. Two routes were followed, one leay- ing Great Slave Lake at Talthelei (the former Fond du Lac post) and striking northward, by which [VoL. XX XIX they crossed Mackay Lake at the last woods and would meet the musk-ox on the upper Coppermine. The other route brought them to Thelon River and the upper lakes. Both these routes carried them to the hunting grounds of the Eskimos from the Arctic and Hudson Bay, who also hunted the musk-ox. The latter has been saved from extinc- tion by the fact that both the Indians of the interior and the Eskimos of the coasts have in the last forty years shortened their hunting expeditions and there is now an area of country, including the headwaters of Coppermine, Backs and Thelon Rivers, where they probably survive unmolested. Fresh signs were cbserved at one point last season on Clinton-Colden Lake, but, though ridges were investigated which were reported by the Indians to have been frequented formerly by musk-oxen, no other tracks were seen. The only other large animal native to this country is the Barren Grounds grizzly, (Ursus richardsoni), or, as the Indians speak of it, the white bear. lt is not numerous, but it may be traced by the places where it has been digging for ground squirrels and its great strength is evidenced by the boulders pulled out. The wolverines (Gulo luscus) are of interest chiefly on account of their destructiveness. It is almost impossible to protect a cache from them, as they can climb and dig and have great strength. The Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus canus) was fairly abundant in the district traversed. The hares are looked on as a reserve food supply by both the natives and the wolves and foxes. They keep to the stony hills. ae The wolves and foxes are at present receiving considerable attention in the country east of Great Slave Lake, the wolves (Canis tundrarum) as a conservation measure in protecting the caribou and the white foxes (Alopex lagopus) on account of the increasing value of their pelts. Both these animals in adapting themselves to their habitat have developed qualities peculiar to this part of the country. Both have the protective whiteness given to most animals of the Barren Lands; in their case to assist them when hunting. The white wolf remains white in summer, while the fox turns to a peculiar mixture of dark colours, best described as a brindle. The wolf usually dens and produces its young near the edge of the forest, while the fox rears his far out on the plains. Both subsist mainly off the caribou, and at all seasons may be found in the vicinity of the herds. The Indians claim that the wolf can kill almost at will, and there is no doubt he takes a heavy toll; evidence of his kills are seen in all directions. The foxes follow the wolves and clean up what they leave. (To be concluded.) . _—— . see ne a February, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 35 PROSECUTIONS—MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION ACT By OFFICERS OF THE CANADIAN NATIONAL PARKS AND ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE. Reported during the period January 18, 1924, to November 13, 1924 GOULDING, G. C., Oyama, B.C. Having in possession a Loon in the closed season. Charge withdrawn. Forfeitures: One mounted Loon. RYAN, J., Glenn Valley, B.C. Killing a Swan. Fine: $10.00. WILLIS, J. W., Port Mouton, Queens Co., N.S. Attempting to kill Black Ducks in close season. Case dismissed. SIDENER, James, South Ferraby, Alberta. Having in possession portions of protected birds in close season—skins of three Loons. Fine: $10.00. BECKER, Herman W., Riverside, Essex Co., Ont. Violation of Section (2), possessing Duck, and decoys out in close season. Forfeitures: One wild Duck, one pump gun, ammunition and three deccys. Fine: $10.00. CossABoon, Allen, Grand Harbor, Grand Manan, N.B. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Sentence suspended. Wooster, Albert, Grand Harbor, Grand Man- an, N.B. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Sentence suspended. MiTTON, EF. Roy, Baie Verte, N.B. Hunting Geese and Brant in close season. Case dismissed. MELOCHE, Raymond, Anderton Tp., Essex Co., Ont. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Forfeitures: 438 decoys. Fine: $20.00. MELOCHE, Ernest, Anderton Tp., Essex Co., Ont. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $20.00. CUNNINGHAM, Rudolph, Cape Sable Island, Shelburne Co., N.S. Having in possession migra- tory game birds in close season—Kider Duck. Forfeitures: One dead Duck. Fine: $25.00. CUNNINGHAM, Eugene, Cape Sable Island, Shelburne Co., N.S. Having in possession migra- tory game birds in close season—Kider Duck. Fine: $25.00. FAULKNER, Robert, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. MosHER, Stephen E., Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. Mosumr, John S., Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. MosHerR, Wm., Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., NS. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. Kent, Archibald, Pleasant Point, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession wild Ducks in close season. Forfeitures: One single barrelled shot-gun and bag of ammunition. Fine: $10.00. Kent, Archibald, Pleasant Point, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. YOUNG, Vincent, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. YOUNG, Vincent, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Forfeitures: One double barrelled shot-gun and bag of ammuni- tion. Fine $10.00. Bowser, Isaac, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. Forfeitures: One double barrelled shot-gun and bag of ammuni- tion. Fine $10.00. Bowser, Isaac, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. Bowser, Reuben, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession a wild Duck in close season. Fine: $10.00. WILLIAMS, James, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. WILLIAMS, James, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Exceeding the bag limit. Case dismissed. WILLIAMS, James, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. For- feitures: One double barrelled shot-gun and bag of ammunition. Fine: $10.00. WiLLiAMs, Leonard, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. WILLIAMS, Leonard, Ostrea Lake, Halifax Co., N.S. Hunting wild Ducks in close season. For- feitures: One double barrelled shot-gun and bag of ammunition. Fine: $10.00. Levy, Amos, Cross Island, Lunenburg Co., N.S. Having in possession portions of wild Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. Masson, Damas, Onion Lake, Sask. Having in possession portions of a Loon. Fine: $10.00. Dogson, Arthur R., Cape Tormentine, N.B. ~ Hunting wild Geese and Brant in close season. Fine: $20.00. Mitts, Cecil, Mills Point, P.E.I. Hunting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $10.00. Mis, Walter, Mills Point, P.E.I. Hunting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $10.00. KELLY, Thomas, Mills Point, P.E.I. Hunting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $10.00. 36 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST CHAPPELL, John, Mills Point, P.E.I. Hunting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $10.00. DRISCOLL, Brenden, Mills Point, P.E.I. Hunt- ing Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $10.00. Mis, Harold, Mills Point, P.E.I. Having in possession Canada Geese during close season. Forfeiture: One Canada Goose. Fine: $10.00. MILLS, Ernest, Mills Point, P.E.I. Having in possession three Canada Geese in close season. Forfeitures: Three Canada Geese. Fine: $10.00. PorRIER, Thaddius, Cape Egmont, P.E.I. Having in possession portions of Mergansers which were taken in close season. Forfeitures: Three glass sealers of meat—Merganser. Sentence suspended. POIRIER, Thaddius, Cape Egmont, P.E.I. Having in possession Canada Geese in close season. Sentence suspended. STANLEY, Austin, 50 King St., Charlottetown, P.E.I. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. TAYLOR, James, St. Peter’s Island, P.E.I. Having in possession Brant in close season. For- feitures: Gun and Brant. Sentence suspended. TAYLOR, James, St. Peter’s Island, P.E.I. Hunting Brant in close season. Sentence sus- pended. CossABoon, Albert, White Head, Grand Manan, N.B. Having in possession Gulls’ eggs. For- feitures: Five eggs. Fine: $10.00. COSSABOON, Ross, White Head, Grand Manan, N.B. Having in possession Gulls’ eggs. For- feitures: Five eggs. Fine: $10.00. JUVENILE, Truro, N.S. Molesting and de- stroying the nest and young of a migratory insectivorous bird—a Flicker. Sentence suspend- ed. JUVENILE, Truro, N.S. Molesting and de- stroying the nest and young of a migratory in- sectivorous bird—a Flicker. Sentence suspended. RICHARD, Adelard, Esquimaux Point (Havre St. Pierre), P.Q. Having in possession one egg of a Herring Gull. Fine: $10.00. MAUuGER, Thomas, Whale Head, Saguenay Co., P.Q. Having in possession eggs of Common Murres and Razor-billed Auks. Forfeitures: 593 eggs of Common Murres and Razor-billed Auks. Fine: $15.00. MAuGER, Ernest, Point au Maurier, Saguenay Co., P.Q. Taking eggs of common Murres and Razor-billed Auks. Fine: $10.00. MAuGER, Ernest, Point au Maurier, Saguenay Co., P.Q. Furnishing false information to a game officer. Fine: $10.00. DAUPHINEE, Harvey, Glen Haven, Halifax Co., N.S. Molesting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $20.00. [VoL. XX XIX GREGOIRE, Michel, Romaine, P.Q. Having in possession Eider Ducks. Forfeiture: One shot- gun. Sentence suspended. CARTOUCHE, Pierre, Romaine, P.Q. Having in possession Eider Ducks. Forfeiture: One shot- gun. Sentence suspended. DAouLT, A. S., Val Tetreau, P.Q. Shooting wild Ducks in close season. One month in jail, sentence suspended upon defendant furnishing bond in sum $100.00 and being bound over to keep the Migratory Bird Law for one year. Forfeitures: Two Ducks. SMITH, Walter, Lourdes de Blane Sablon, Saguenay Co., P.Q. Possession of migratory non- game birds—seven Puffins. Sentence suspended. BUCKLE, Isaac, Lourdes de Blane Sablon, P.Q. Having in possession migratory non-game birds— seven Puffins. Sentence suspended. Du Bois, Art., Seven Islands, P.Q. Killing a Herring Gull. Forfeitures:; One Herring Gull. Sentence suspended. THERIAULT, Edgar, Esquimaux Point, P.Q. Having had in his possession five Great Black- backed Gulls. Fine: $10.00. INGERSOLL, Earl, Grand Harbor, Grand Manan, N.B. Killing a Herring Gull. Sentence sus- pended. LA FOLLEy, Edward, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, N.B. Hunting Canada Geese in close season. Sentence suspended. McDonatp, Alexander, Covedell, Northumber- land Co., N.B. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $25.00. McEACHERN, John, Covedell, Northumberland Co., N.B. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $25.00. GRATTON, Fred, Covedell, Northumberland Co., N.B. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $25.00. CURRIE, Paul, Fredericton, N.B. Killing a Black Duck in close season. Fine: $10.00. PRITCHARD, Valentine, Lakeside, N.B. Having in possession three Spotted Sandpipers. For- feitures: ‘Three Spotted Sandpipers. Sentence suspended. PRITCHARD, Valentine, Lakeside, N.B. Hunt- ing Spotted Sandpipers. Fine: $10.00. PorRIER, Prosper, Mizonette, Gloucester Co., N.B. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. GRAVES, George, Lower Canard, N.S. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Forfeitures: One gun. Fine: $10.00. CANVIN, James, New York, U.S.A. Killing one or more Semi-palmated Sandpipers. Forfeitures: Several Sandpipers. Fine: $10.00. February, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Sil FURTHER NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS, FERNS AND BUTTERFLIES OF HATLEY, STANSTEAD COUNTY, QUEBEC, 1924 By HENRY MOUSLEY N PREVIOUS years, I have generally al treated the orchids, ferns, and butterflies separately, but having done very little work on the two last during the past year (1924), I have thought it best to incorporate all three in one paper. If, as I remarked in the April number of The Canadian Field-Naturalist for 1924, the spring of 1923 was a disappointing one, what can be said of the present one, which was even worse, if anything, not only as regards the lateness of the blooming of the wild flowers, but also of the arrival of the birds from their winter quarters. I have added no new species of orchids to my list, nor yet ferns, but, nevertheless, the season cannot be said to have been an entire blank, as several new wild flowers have been met with, as well as many new stations for some of the orchids. This latter fact has been as interesting to me, almost, as actually finding new species, as it has given me a still better idea of the distribu- tion of some species, which, hitherto, I had found only in very limited numbers. In the early part of the spring, I devoted most of my time to the further elucidation of the underground develop- ment of the Hooded and Nodding Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes Romanzoffiana and S. cernua), the former of which I touched upon in my previous paper, Canadian Field-Naiuralist, Vol. XX XVIII, 1924, No. 4, p. 62, intimating that the subject would no doubt be fully dealt with in the Orchid Review, which has since been done, in the March, October, and November numbers of the present year (1924), the latter number also containing an account of the fertilization of S. Romanzoffiana— by the small bee Chloralictus smilacini Rob.—a thing hitherto unknown. The lovely little Calypso, I am pleased to say, was found growing in two new stations, but these were only small ones, in one case consisting of nine, and in the other of five plants only, one of which, however, bore a snow- white bloom, an unusual thing in Calypso. As regards its underground development, I imagined I had fully described this in the Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, Vol. XXV, 1924, pp. 25-80, but so many new facts have come to my notice during the present season that it has necessitated another paper, which will no doubt appear later on — in Torreya, or in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. I am afraid the introduced Small White Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium passerinum)-—-al- though doing so well last year—is now dying out, only two plants out of the five appearing this year, which were very small and bore no blooms. Of the three other introduced species, Serapias Helle- borine or the Broad-leaved EHipipactis—now known as Amesia latifolia—I am afraid is dead, whilst the two others, the Crane-fly Orchis (Tipularia discolor), and the Putty-root (Aplectrum hyemale), did not bloom at all, but they were preparing to send up new leaf buds when I left Hatley to spend the winter in Montreal, towards the end of Sep- tember. The rare little Ram’s Head Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum) again evaded all my efforts to locate it, and I am beginning to think it is not to be found in the immediate vicinity of Hatley. I visited only once the great swamp at Beebe, on June 28, in company with Mr. C. H. Knowlton, when two interesting plants were found, one, the Swamp Fly Honey- suckle (Lonicera oblongifolia), and the other, the One-flowered Cancer-root (Orobanche uniflora), a curious little parasitic plant, which, if I remember rightly, was growing on the roots of the Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera). Both these plants were new to my list Amongst other interesting things, several white examples of the Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule) were found, one being an exceptionally fine specimen, measuring 40 cm. in height, thus exceeding the extreme given in Gray’s Manual by 2 em. On July 21, I visited Lake Park, Quebec, where Mr. Knowlton had found a small colony of the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Epipactis pubescens) in 1923—as pre- viously reported—-but I failed unfortunately to locate the exact spot, finding only the so-called Loddige’s Rattlesnake Plantain (Hpipactis tesse- lata)—in which I have not much faith—and a few other common species. Until the present season, I had found the Slender Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes gracilis) only in three stations, and in two of these only one plant had been found, but now these stations have been increased to seven, the largest containing twenty-seven plants, all in bloom. The Early Coral Root (Corallorrhiza trifida) is another orchid which, although very generally distributed, had not many plants in the stations found previously, but I was fortunate in finding a new one this season, on July 23, which contained eighty-four plants in fruit. The Large Coral Root (C. maculata) is another species which has interested me very much this season, owing to the fact of my having found a new colony, con- taining quite a different colour phase of the plant, i.e., a beautiful pink, probably the var. punicea, instead of the usual brown one, var. intermedia, which I have hitherto found to be the prevailing 388 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST colour here. It has been said that to him who waits all things come in time; certainly I have waited a long time before finding the Ragged Fringed Orchis (Habenaria lacera) at Hatley, but it has come at last, for I found the species—one plant only—growing within two miles of the village on July 31. It was indeed a red letter day, only one other example having been found, and that on July 29, 1922, in the great swamp at Beebe, Quebec, which is fifteen miles from Hatley, as the crow flies. This find well illustrates the ironies of orchid hunting, for only last year I had worked very carefully over this ground, when looking for the var. echroleuca of Spiranthes cernua —in fact had taken a photograph of the site, which actually included the very tree under which H. lacera was eventually found—but this was on September 7, when lacera would hardly be recog- nizable, although in a very exposed position. Can it once have been plentiful here and hybridized with the Small Purple Fringed Orchis (H. psy- codes), and since died out? Certainly, I find quite a large number of white examples of the latter every season, far in excess of what one might expect, seeing that none of the text books even mention the fact of white blooms ever occurring in this species, although we all know that magenta- coloured flowers are subject to this change occa- sionally, as in Arethusa, Calopogon, and Calypso, etc., but it is usually not of common occurrence. However, my white forms are not typical x H. Andrewsti, although some of the labellums are certainly not typical H. psycodes, and at that I leave it. Although, as I have previously men- tioned, the Broad-leaved Epipactis (Amesia lati- folia) did not survive its removal from Toronto, and transplanting at Hatley, still I had the satis- faction of seeing it growing in its natural surround- ings on Mount Royal, on my arrival in Montreal, towards the end of September. There I found it growing all over the mountain, in some cases as many as 150 plants in a very small area, some of which exceeded 80 cm. in height, the tallest being 89 em., which is 29 cm. in excess of the maximum height given in Gray’s Manual! The raceme of this latter was 26.5 cm. in length, and bore 77 dehisced capsules, but another much smaller plant actually had 54 capsules on a raceme only 15 cm. long! The plants were invariably found growing under the shade of trees, and very often in quite stony ground. Naturally, I am looking forward to next year, when I hope to see it at flowering time and make an exhaustive study of all its other interesting peculiarities, which are many but which, so far as I know, have not yet been critic- © ally examined or reported upon in this country. Of the ferns I can say very little, having paid but cursory attention to them this year; still, I [VoL. XXXIX found two rare things that many a collector does not meet with in a life time, i.e., a plant of the Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum) with four fruiting panicles, and one of the form onon- dagense of the Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria), which—apparently—is a case of true dichotomous branching, i.e., the stem divides or forks into two branches, each of which bears a fertile and a sterile frond, a thing quite rare in the Botrychiums. Beyond this, which I suppose would satisfy most collectors, I have nothing remarkable to add except that I received a thrill one morning on opening a parcel from the National Herbarium of Canada, to find that it contained a few lovely specimens of the rare little Dense Cliff Brake (Cryptogramma densa)—or, as some prefer to eall it, Peliza densa—collected in 1921 by Mr. Rebert Harvie, Ottawa, near Black Lake, Megantic County, Quebec, only the second station known for it in the Province of Quebec, the other being Mt. Albert in the Gaspé Peninsula. As regards the butterflies, I practically drew a blank, nothing unusual being found. The Mon- arch (Danaus archippus) was very scarce, after being so plentiful last year, only a very few speci- mens being seen, and no larvae found. I came across just one example of the Acadian Hair- streak (Strymon acadica), which I have not seen since 1921, and then only one example was met with. The rare little Arctic Skipper (Cariero- cephalus palaemon) was seen in perfect condition in the big swamp at Beebe, which I visited on June 28 in company with Mr. C. H. Knowlton, as already mentioned. Perhaps the only out- standing feature of the season was the comparative abundance of the Pearly Eye (Hnodia portlandia), and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). Of the former, which is a scarce butterfly here, I saw eight examples, which is more than double what I generally meet with, and of the latter, which I have not seen for three years, I saw five examples, besides finding many larvae feeding on thistles, which I collected and reared, most of which, how- ever, were unfortunately ichneumoned, so that the results were very few imagos, the last—a fine one—emerging on October 8. Like the Monarch, the Painted Lady is a great migrant, its proper home probably being northern Africa, where at times it becomes so numerous that emigration no doubt becomes a necessity, almost any part of the world becoming the dumping-ground of this surplus stock. Of the smaller Fritillaries, I can- not help noticing the growing scarcity of the Baltimore (EHuphydryas phaeton), which, like Harris’ Checker-spot (Melitza harrisi), is becom- ing extinct in the places where I have hitherto been accustomed to find them. It is now three years since I have seen either of them. February, 1925] - Before closing, I would like to say that the birds have not been entirely forgotten, especially the Warblers, in fact, the intensive study of their home-life swallows up no end of my time, and many things go by the board in consequence. As a further contribution to my paper on this subject in The Auk, Vol. XLI, 1924, No. 2, pp. OFFICIAL CANADIAN RECORD (Continued from page 19) COMMON MURRE, No. 204,727, downy young, banded by Harrison F. Lewis, on a small island near Cove Island, between Pointe au Maurier and Harrington, Saguenay County, Que- bec, (Canadian Labrador), on August 12, 1923, was shot at a place three miles south-east of Swain’s Island, situated on the north side of Bona- vista Bay, Newfoundland, on June 2, 1924. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, No. 232,821, nestling, banded by Theed Pearse, at Mittlenach, Gulf of Georgia, British Columbia, on August 12, 1923, was killed at “Hama Hama Boom” on Hood’s Canal, Washington—no date given, but reported on April 25, 1924. HERRING GULL, No. 204,694, fledgling, banded by Harrison F. Lewis, on a small island near Cove Island, between Pointe au Maurier and Harrington, Saguenay County, Quebec, (Canadian Labrador), on August 12, 1923, was shot near Aspey Cove, Fogo District, Newfoundland, on September 19, 1924. HERRING GULL, No. 204,762, partly fledged young, banded by Harrison F. Lewis, on a small island near Cove Island, between Pointe au Maur- ier and Harrington, Saguenay County, Quebec, (Canadian Labrador), on August 12, 1923, was captured in a fox trap, at Pointe aux Esquimaux, Quebec, (180 miles south and west of the place where the bird was banded), on October 13, 1923. RING-BILLED GULL, No. 210,471, partly fledged young, banded by Harrison F. Lewis, at Pointe au Maurier, Saguenay County, Quebec, (Canadian Labrador), on August 12, 1923, was taken at Red Point near Domino Run. Labrador, on the north-east coast and 100 miles north of Belle Isle, on September 14, 1923. RING-BILLED GULL, No. 210,488, partly fledged young, banded by Harrison F. Lewis, at Pointe au Maurier, Saguenay County, Quebec, (Canadian Labrador), on August 12, 1923, was picked up on the beach at Hull, Massachusetts, on October 2, 19238. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, No. 232,122, young, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan, on July 1, 1923, was killed at Long Lake, Saskatchewan, on Sep- tember 15, 1924. MALLARD, No. 101,873, male, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on January 14, 1923, was shot near Viscount, Sask- atchewan, about September 20, 1924. MALLARD, No. 203,747, female, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, ‘Missouri, on April 1, 1923, was shot on the Owl River, which empties into Lac la Biche, Alberta, in Tp. 68, *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Canada. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 39 263-88, I have this year added a further study of the Northern Parula, as well as one of the Yellow Warbler, and Ovenbird, the two last being espec- ially interesting, perhaps the most interesting I have so far made, the publication of which will no doubt take place later on. OF BIRD-BANDING RETURNS* Rge. 13, W. 4th M., shortly before September 23, 1924 MALLARD, No. 232,003, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on October e923: MALLARD, No. 232,083, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed on the Little River, Grant Parish, Louisiana, on January 5, 1924. MALLARD, No. 232,093, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed at Lake Arthur, Louisiana, on December 19, 1928. MALLARD, No. 232,097, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was shot at Little Lake, Louisiana, on De- cember 2, 1923. , MALLARD, No. 232,107, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on October 28, 1923. MALLARD, No. 232,123, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed at Liberty, Missouri, on Novem- ber 6, 1928. MALLARD, No. 232,147, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was killed at Towner, North Dakota, on September 28, 1923. MALLARD, No. 202,579, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, ‘Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Lake Scugog, Ontario, during the week of September 4, 1923. MALLARD, No. 202, 582, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Seugog, ‘Ontario, on August 25, 1923, was shot about two miles from Caesarea, Ontario, on Lake Scugog, on October 18, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 203,467, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on Feb- ruary 8, 1923, was killed on "the Severn River, Hudson’s Bay, Ontario, on June 24, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,541, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Oakfield, New York, on October 25, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,544, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Port Clinton, Ohio, on Novem- ber 6, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,545, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Rotten Lake, north of Norwood, Ontario, on September 3, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202, 558, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, ‘was killed at Paul’s Channel, ‘Broadwater Bay, Machipongo, Virginia, on November Dam oZSe 40 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST BLACK DUCK, No. 202,560, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot in Hay Bay, Bay of Quinte, Lennox and ‘Addington County, Ontario, on October 8, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,561, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Cardinal, Ontario, on September 22, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,590, banded by H. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August - 1923, was shot on Cranberry Bay, at the north- west end of Cameron Lake, Victoria County, Ontario, on September 1, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202, 606,. banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 27, 1923, was shot at Brown Hill, Ontario, on October 18, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,608, banded by H. 8S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 27, 1923, was killed on Cross Lake, Onondaga County, New York, on December 29, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,609, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scuzgog, Ontario, on August 27, 1923, was killed at Santee, South Carolina, on January 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,613, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 27, 1923, was killed near Oak Grove, Virginia, on December 25, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,614, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 27, 1923, was killed in Quitman County, Mississippi, about 10 miles east of Marks, January 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,623, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 28, 1923, was found dead in a trap, in a shallow marsh about 7 miles west of Algonquin Park, near Ravensworth, Ontario, on May 2, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,625, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Seugog, Ontario, on August 28, 1923, was shot at Whitby, Ontario, on September 1, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,687, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 29, 1928, was shot on a small marsh pond near Inger- soll, Ontario, on September 8, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,638, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 29, 1923, was shot at Long Point, Ontario, 10 miles from the border, on September 22, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,639, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 29, 1923, was killed at Saluda, Virginia, on November 19, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,652, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was killed at Broadwater Bay, Virginia, on December 24, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,660, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was killed in Salem Cove, at Salem, New Jersey—no date given, but reported on October 13, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,662, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot about 4 miles south of Belleville, Ontario, on November 24, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,664, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, Mississippi, on [VoL. XX XIX 1923, was killed at Onancock, Virginia, on Jan- uary 15; 1924: BLACK DUCK, No. 202,668, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot at the Big Point Club, on Lake St. Clair, Ontario, on October 12, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,674, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot at Zion, on the Otonabee River, Camis from Peterboro, Ontario, on September 3, BLACK DUCK, No. 202,676, banded by H. S.. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot a few miles from Fenelon Falls, Ontario, on September 29, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202 ,677, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot near Fort Mott, New Jersey, on November 29, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,685, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot on the Bradford River, Ontario, on September 3, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,686, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot about 20 miles east of Orillia, Ontario, on September 3, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,691, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was shot in Wicomico Marsh, Wicomico County, Maryland, on December 8, 1923. GREEN-WINGED TEAL, No. 202 ,583, band- ed by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 25, 1923, was shot at Frenchman’s Bay, 22 miles east of Toronto, Ontario, on September 1, 1923. GREEN-WINGED TEAL, No. 202,619, band- ed by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 28, 1923, was shot in Pelee Park, Leaming- ton, Ontario, on November 15, 1923. PINTAIL, No. 232,018, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was shot at a place on the north edge of Kern County, California, on October 21, 1928. CANADA GOOSE, No. 232,095, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Last Mountain Lake, Saskat- chewan, on July 30, 1923, was killed at Watertown, Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan—date un- known, but reported on October 30, 1923. SPOTTED SANDPIPER, No. 44,549, banded by Edward C. Knechtel, at Grand Bend (on Lake Huron), Ontario, on July 7, 1923, repeated several times at the same station until July 12, 1923. SPOTTED SANDPIPER, No. 44,550, banded by Edward C. Knechtel, at Grand Bend, Ontario, on July 7, 1923, repeated several times at the same station until July 12, 1923. FLICKER, No. 219 927, immature, banded by R. H. Carter J r., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on June 24, 1923, was found dead in the nest in which it was banded, on May 10, 1924. It apparently died shortly after it was banded. CROW, No. 236,618, banded by Ernest Joy, at Wood Island, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, on August 25, 1923, was shot at a place not one-half mile from where it was banded, on August 6, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 108,984, adult male, banded by Hoyes Lloyd, at 406 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on August 7, 1923, was found dead at 297 Gloucester Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on August 23, 1923. (Continued in March issue)’ February, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 41. EDITORIAL The Wilderness The wilderness, or the unaltered face of Nature, possesses a powerful influence in human affairs. This influence is felt in a variety of ways, but chiefly in its effect upon the character and the thought of the human individual. Since the earliest times great leaders whose lives and ideas have moulded human opinion and guided human- ity’s destiny have realized the value of the wilder- ness to them and have deliberately sought to permit its influence to work freely upon them. Biblical instances cf this are numerous; while more recent notable examples are those of Goethe, Charles Darwin, and Theodore Roosevelt. The wilderness affects humanity not only through such leaders, but also by direct influence upon a multi- tude of individuals of smaller note. The sturdi- ness and ability of those who come much into contact with it is a matter of common knowledge. At the present day many a person whom civiliza- tion has weakened and well-nigh destroyed is soothed and strengthened and brought back to a valuable and capable existence by the inbreathing of Nature at first hand. Even to those who are denied personal experiences in the wilderness, the benefits of that wilderness are great and numerous, though often unrealized. The mere contemplation of the scantily marked areas on a map may be a source of real pleasure and inspiration. Canada is particularly fortunate in the fact that a large part of its area is still unmarred wilderness. Such country, for example, as that so well des- cribed by Mr. G. H. Blanchet in the current volume of The Canadian Field-Naturalist, is a splendid possession and one of which, for the present, there is no lack in cur Dominion. The nation whose boundaries include large tracts of wild Nature is sure to benefit from it in brain and body and spirit, and to possess great advantage over thickly settled nations. More than anything else, it is the fact that Canada possesses an abun- dance of wilderness that renders it desirable, above countries less fortunate in this respect, as a place of residence. The sad condition to which some parts of this continent, once desirable and attractive, have been reduced by modern civilization is briefly described in the following paragraph from the pen of Richard Lieber, Director of the Department of Conserva- tion of the State of Indiana: “A little over a century of civilization in In- diana has consumed ninety-five per cent of her forest wealth; reduced her soil fertility; converted sparkling rivers into muddy streams; lowered her lakes, greatly impairing their value; drained her marshes that teemed with aquatic life; and initiated many other changes to which much of her native plant and animal life can not adjust themselves. New environments have driven many of our animals and birds away forever; and some of our trees and shrubs have also dis- appeared or become so rare that in a few years they will be only a memory.” It is at once the privilege and the duty of Cana- dians, not only to derive present enjoyment and benefit in the fullest possible measure from their wilderness areas, but to be ever vigilant in the protection of these great possessions and in the prevention in their country of anything like a repetition of the fate which has befallen Indiana. Happily, the soil and the climate of much of the Canadian wilderness are such that its destruction will assuredly be retarded, but we ought not to permit this fact to give us a false sense of security. The progress of mechanical invention, the increase of the world’s human population, and the lust for money are constantly at work to destroy our wilderness, as those of other nations have been destroyed in the past. While natural obstacles to change might suffice to preserve primeval con- ditions in at least some areas during our day, yet a right and proper interest in posterity requires that we do all in our power to maintain the best of our wilderness as a priceless heritage for all time. NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Subscriptions for 1925 are now due; by pay- ing promptly you will aid greatly in the effi- The sub- scription for the year is $1.50; payment should cient publishing of the magazine. be made to the Treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel, 321 McLeod St., Ottawa, Ontario. by personal cheque, please include exchange. If paying Bythinia tentaculata Linn.—Nothing is of greater interest to the student of zoological geography than the occurrence of introduced species, especially when the foreigners firmly establish themselves, spread, multiply and become pernicious. In their native habitats they are held in check by that mysterious balancing of forces on which even man’s tenure of life seems to rest. Removed from such influences, they increase inordinately 42 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST and often develop into a pest. Many instances might be cited. It is sufficient to mention a few that are but too familiar: the English Sparrow, the San Jose scale, the Gypsy moth and the larch saw-fly. Excepting the grey European slug, Limax agrestis Lu., which sometimes causes damage in gardens, the molluses which have invaded Canada rarely cause any economic disturbance. Recently, however, there arrived in the Ottawa a small uni- valve which, if carried above the Chaudiére Falls, would be likely seriously to interfere with our water services. In September, 1921, on my last visit in that year to the shoals of Duck Island, I was quite astonished to find in my dredge a few examples of a European shell, known as Bythinia teniaculata L., never before observed in the Ottawa. As it is a very prolific species, I think the inference may be drawn that its advent is recent, especially as these shoals have been my most favored collecting grounds, visited almost annually for more than forty years. The first occurrence of this mollusc in Canada so far as known was in the canal at Cornwall about fifteen years ago, and I published a note regard- ing it in The Ottawa Naturalist. Later I found it in great numbers on the inner shores of Centre Island, Toronto. There, as in the Ottawa, it was in my opinion a comparatively recent arrival. Had it occurred anywhere in the vicinity of Toronto in Dr. Brodie’s lifetime, it would in all probability have been discovered by that indefatigable naturalist. In 1922 I found the shell to be common in the Bay of Quinte at the Belleville Wharf, a locality from which it was absent in 1918. No introduced mollusc has spread so rapidly over so wide an area. Its diffusion in the United States is little short of marvellous. It was first found there in 1879, in Lake Ontario, at Oswego, by the late W. M. Beauchamp, who published notes of its occurrence in The American Naturalist for September, 1881, and March, 1882, and in his Land and Fresh Water Shells of Onondaga County, 1886. In a memorandum attached to a copy of his paper presented to Dr. Bryant Walker the author remarks: “‘B. tentaculata has done well at Mohawk, and is spreading eastward in the Erie Canal from Syracuse; but it does not seem to be making much progress west of that city. It is now (1886?) reported from Lake Champlain. It was very abundant at Oswego, where I first found ree Later it spread westward with great rapidity. It was recorded by Streator from Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1889, and by Daniels from Indiana in 1901. At Erie, Pa., it multiplied to such an extent that [VoL. XXXIX it interfered with the water supply, especially at the intake wells, several miles out in Lake Erie. According to Dr. Sterki (Nautilus XXIV, Jan- uary, 1911), it was removed from the wells “in wagon loads’’. Dr. Walker informs me that it is found at Niagara Falls in incredible numbers. It occurs at several places in Michigan, notably at Harbor Beach, Lake Huron. In Illinois it blocked the water pipes at Lake View, a suburb of Chicago, and frequently issued from the service taps in thousands. The civic authorities invited Professor Frank Collins Baker to investigate the cause of the troublesome conditions. At his instance divers examined the intake tunnel and found its sides coated with millions of the little shell, its eggs and young. By carefully scraping the tunnel and providing a smaller meshed screen for the intake, the nuisance was abated*. B. tentaculata does not seem to have become established in Lake Superior, or in the upper reaches of St. Mary’s River, opposite Sault Ste. Marie, with which I am familiar, though doubtless it has been carried into the river and lake adhering to the hulls of boats from ports on the lower lakes. The shells probably become weak and lose attach- ment to their carriers as soon as affected by the intensely cold waters of Lake Superior and its outlet. This undesirable alien was probably brought to the American continent in the marsh grass used in packing crockery or similar commodities. Once established it would multiply rapidly and be car- ried from place to place adhering to boats and barges. Wherever a few individuals were dropped would become a new focus of dissemination. To the Ottawa it must have been carried from Lake Champlain or the St. Lawrence by vessels engaged in transporting coal or lumber. The shell is thin, concentrically operculated, semi-transparent, smooth and shining, and of a yellowish horn color. It has about five whorls and is a little less than half an inch in length. Its ordinary range is throughout central Europe. It is worthy of remark that the only other molluse which has seriously interfered with a supply of water is also an intruder into England from continental Europe. The mains in London have frequently been clogged with Dreissena polymorpha, commonly known as the zebra mussel, imported, as is supposed, in ballast, and now widely distributed in England, Ireland and south- ern Scotland. A French naturalist, Bouchard-Chantereaux, has described the proceedings of B. ltentaculata when laying its eggs. They are from thirty to * Mollusca of the Chicago Area, Baker, 1902. February, 1925] seventy in number, united together in a narrow band. When it desires to lay it selects a smooth stone, or water plant and cleans the surface with its mouth. That done, it contracts its foot, rendering it a third shorter and broader; then, raising the centre of the anterior extremity of the foot so as to form a little canal intended to receive the egg, it withdraws its head within the shell, and directs its muzzle towards the branchial orifice, where an egg appears, which it seizes and guides into the canal to be fixed in its destined place. The sedulous mother then cleans anew the body to which it adheres and deposits a second egg, repeating the operation until all the eggs are expelled and arranged in ribbon fashion, each band when laid by an adult consisting of three rows. The whole process proceeds slowly, time being left between each effort sufficient for the agglutination of the eggs to one another and to the surface on which they are deposited. The young emerge in from twenty to twenty-five days and attain matur- ity at the end of their second yearf. Fortunately for the Capital, the Chaudiére Falls present an almost impassible barrier to the pro- gress up the Ottawa of this little shell and its interference in that unlikely event with our domestic water supply. Apart from a few racing and pleasure craft—to none of which this shell is likely to become adherent—hoats are seldom transferred from below the Falls to any point above the intake. In every case the transfer is overland and any shells that might be clinging to a hull would be almost certain to be jolted off dur- ing the journey. While B. tentaculata may never become a public nuisance at Ottawa, the advent of a species new to the district which has proved to be a pest elsewhere is not without interest, at least to students of the geographical distribution of animal life. I wish to express my indebtedness for informa- tion regarding the spread of this species in the United States to Dr. Bryant Walker and Mr. C. Goodrich, of Detroit, and to Professor Baker, of the University of Illinois —F. R. LATCHFORD. MystEeRY BANDS.—A great many persons throughout the continent are carrying on a very interesting plan of work in connection with wild birds. They are capturing these birds either fully grown, or when young, and placing a small numbered aluminium band on the leg of each bird captured. To avoid confusion, only one set of numbers for the continent is in use, and these numbers are allotted by the Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, at Washington. The TAbridged from Forbes & Hanley’s British Mollusca, Vol. III, p. 13. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 43 Biological Survey supplies the numbered bands to persons who are co-operating in bird-banding work on this continent. Persons who wish to trap pro- tected birds for the purpose of banding them, require a permit under the Migratory Birds Con- vention Act before they trap any protected birds, and these permits do not allow birds to be killed. Applications for permits of this nature should be made to the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Ottawa, and should be accompanied by two reliable testimonials in writing. Very valuable information has been obtained by banding birds and very much can be learned in this way. It can be found approximately how long each kind of bird will live, whether it will return to the same place year after year, or not, how fast it travels in migration, and many other problems can be solved. Bird protectors are much interested in this work because it gives them a method of carrying on useful scientific investiga- tions without destroying bird life. The desirability has been recognized of having all bird-banding records, as well as all returns (1) upon birds banded in Canada and captured away from the original banding station, or at the original banding station at a considerably later date, and (2) upon birds banded outside of Canada and captured anywhere in Canada, filed at one central point in Canada, where they will be available for all persons interested. Therefore, the Canadian National Parks Branch is keening the file of Cana- dian Bird-Banding Records. From time to time unofficial bands without traceable marks of identification are sent to the Branch by sportsmen and others who know about the bird-banding investigations being carried on to trace more definitely the migrations of our wild- fowl. Two such bands are described below, and an endeavour is being made to trace their origin. Any information that can be furnished in connec- tion with them will be greatly appreciated by the Branch. One of the bands was sent in to the Branch with the leg of the Duck on which it was found, and addressed to ‘“‘The Bird Banding Official’. The envelope which contained it is post-marked Ottawa, Canada, March 5, 1924, but no informa- tion was given with regard to the sender. The band is made of aluminium about one-half inch wide and has nicked turned-in edges. The in- scription ““PAT. APPLIED FoR’’ on the outside is almost worn off. The band will be lent to respon- sible persons who consider that they may be able to furnish information concerning it. Mr. C. H. Young, of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa, reports that on September 15, 1923, Mr. Arthur Harwood, Postmaster of Water- 44 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST ton Park Post Office, Alberta, shot a Mallard drake at Mountain View, Alberta. A pale blue celluloid poultry ring was found on the leg of this drake, but it is not known who placed the ring, as it had no identification mark on it.—HoyEs LLoyp. AN UNUSUAL NEST OF THE MALLARD.—Late in May, 1924, a boy who knew I was interested in birds informed me that he had seen a Duck sitting in an open nest in a tree. On May 27th he took me to the place and showed me the nest, which proved to be that of a Mallard. The female was sitting and left the nest at our near approach. The nest was an old nest of the .Crow which had been partly filled with shredded bark by a squirrel and the Mallard had added down. It was about fifteen feet up in a willow at the edge of an open field and beside a small dry slough. The nest contained ten eggs. I am informed that the Mallard occasionally nests in this manner, but this is the first instance of it to come under my notice in the vicinity of Belvedere, where the Duck is an abundant breeder.—A. D. HENDERSON. MIGRATION INCIDENTS.—On May 14, 1924, I sailed on a small steamer from Souris, P.E.I., at 5.00 a.m., and arrived at Amherst Harbor, Mag- dalen Islands, P.Q., at 4.00 p.m. The entire distance from Souris to Amherst Harbor is about sixty miles. On this occasion the first two-thirds or so of the voyage were made through pack ice, composed of floes and pans four or five feet thick, so closely jammed together that navigation was barely possible and progress was very slow. During the final third of the voyage almost no ice was encountered. The day was fine and the sky was clear until after noon, but a haze filled the air near the ice and water, rendering visibility poor. On our little steamer we could not see more than eight or ten miles in any horizontal direction. Consequently, we could see no land from about 8.00 a.m., when we lost sight of East Point, P.E.I., until about 2.00 p.m., when we sighted Entry Island, Magdalen Islands, P.Q. Water birds seen during this crossing were only Black Guillemots (18), Loon (sp.?) (3), Gannet (1), Murre (sp.?) (2), Cormorant (sp.?) (10), Old- Squaw (11), and a few Herring Gulls. The Gulls were seen, one or two at a time, at rather long intervals. I was surprised to see no Ducks except the Old-Squaws. Only two land birds were seen during this voyage. About 8.30 a.m., a Barn Swallow came up from astern, passed low over the steamer, and continued without pausing, heading straight through the haze for the unseen Magdalen Islands. A male Myrtle Warbler, in very high plumage, [VoL. XXXIX came aboard the steamer about 11.30 am. It flitted about the ship for about half an hour, apparently looking for insects or other food. It did not seem to be particularly tired. It was observed on one occasion to alight on a cake of ice in the sea where it remained for a minute or so. This suggests that floating ice may more or less regularly provide perching or resting places for migrant birds passing over the Gulf of St. Law- rence and similar waters in the spring. At any rate, waters in which such ice is plentiful are probably much less dangerous to migrant land birds than they would be if they were free of ice. Mr. Hoyes Lloyd has suggested to me that melt- ing drift ice in the spring may also serve migrant land birds by furnishing fresh water, suitable for drinking, in its hollows. About 12.00 m. the Myrtle Warbler left us and flew on straight ahead of us, a few yards above the water, toward the Magdalen Islands, which we did not make out until some two hours later.—HARRISON F. LEWIS. CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST PUBLICATION FUND Statement of Receipts Previously Acknowledged.............. $260 .00 Muss AG Re Sherman. 92) == ee 20.00 Col. Wim-*Wood- 3). 0). ee eee 20.00 Dr. George T. McKeough............. 10.00 Total... $310.00 THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS has again rendered splendid assistance to The Canadian Field-Naturalist. The Society purchased at regular rates 300 extra copies of the issue of the magazine for January, 1925, and distributed them among its membership. Each copy thus distributed was accompanied by a form letter which pointed out the desirability of supporting The Naturalist by subscribing for it. This form of assistance is not only of immediate financial value but contributes materially to the building-up of that large body of subscribers which is necessary for ultimate relief from financial troubles. Our publishers rose to the occasion and once more displayed their genuine interest in the magazine by printing eight extra pages of text without any extra charge. The Canadian Field- Naturalist expresses its appreciation of the aid which it has thus received and hopes that other affiliated organizations may follow the excellent example set by The Province of Quebec Society for the Protection of Birds —EDITOR. The cuts for the illustrations in this issue were kindly furnished by the Topographical Survey of Canada.—EDITOR. February, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 45 ‘ CORRESPONDENCE Epitor oF The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Radford had a femur five inches longer than that Ottawa, Can. of the largest bull in the Wainwright herd. Must Dear Sir: the huge and vigorous Wood Buffalo be doomed The Wood Buffalo (Bison bison athabascz) is too important an animal to be subjected to experi- mentation that may result in decided harm to the entire subspecies. The proposal outlined in a recent number of this journal!, for introducing large numbers of the Plains Buffalo into the range of the Wood Buffalo, raises anew the old question of man’s interference with nature, which, in too many cases, is alike unnecessary and unjustifiable. The establishment in 1922 of a sanctuary for the Wood Buffalo west of the Slave River was one of the most important and far-sighted conserva- tion measures ever adopted by the Dominion Government. Are the good results of this measure to be endangered by the hasty carrying out of the proposal in question? In 1907 the total number of Wood Buffaloes was estimated at 300 individuals”. In 1914 the estimate had gone up to 500°. While I was at Peace Point in 1920, the buffalo guardians gave me their estimate as 1,000 or more. Mr. Gra- ham’s own estimate (1924) is 1,500. Apparently, then, with the good protection afforded in recent years, the Wood Buffaloes have materially in- creased in number. And so, in due course of time, without experimentation or interference, there is every reason to believe that their numbers will practically reach the maximum that their range can support. Why, then, attempt to force this natural process by introducing overwhelming numbers of a smaller and presumably less hardy stock, reared in enclosures, and not so well fitted as the Wood Buffalo is to survive deep winter snows or to cope with wolves? For countless ages nature has been molding Plains Buffalo to its particular environment, and the Wood Buffalo to its particular and distinct environment. How can it be imagined that the one will suddenly fit harmoniously into the environment of the other? Interbreeding will undoubtedly take place, and with the introduced Plains Buffalo vastly in the majority, the descendants a few generations hence will naturally have more of the characteristics of the latter than of the Wood Buffalo. Some years ago Mr. Barnum Brown, of the American Museum of Natural History, remarked to the writer, if memory serves him correctly, that the Wood Buffalo specimen collected by the late Harry V. 1Graham, Maxwell, Finding Range for Canada’s joutalo- Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. 38, Dec., 1924, p. 189 2Seton, Ernest Thompson, The Arctic Prairies, 1911, p. 320. ’Harper, Francis, The Athabaska-Great Slave Lake Exped;- gon 214. 4 Summary Rept. Geol. Surv., Canada, for 1914 (191 5) p.- : to deterioration through unnatural interbreeding with its smaller cousin of the Plains? Mr. Graham intimates that at least the northern herd of Wood Buffalo will be safe from contamina- tion, because of the supposed gap between the ranges of the northern and southern herds. This gap can hardly yet be accepted as a proven fact, or as a necessarily permanent condition. There is evidently no physical barrier that would prevent the two herds from mixing. In 1914 the buffalo guardian, Peter McCallum, described this inter- vening territory to me as jack-pine country. The possible transmission of disease through the introduced Plains Buffaloes is another factor to be considered. _ If the surplus stock of the Wainwright herd can not be turned out in some of the thinly settled districts of central Alberta, to be hunted under suitable restrictions, would it not be wiser to send them to the slaughter-house at once, rather than to undertake the enormously expensive and diffi- cult job of transporting them to northern Alberta, and leaving them there to work slow but sure havoe through interbreeding with the superb Wood Buffalo? If a single importation of Plains Buffaloes is made, could the effect ever be undone? Could it mean anything less than an unnatural change in the characteristics of practically the only representatives of the genus Bison that are left in a perfectly wild and free state? This whole question is one for competent zoologists to pass upon. Too many serious mis- takes have been made in the past through failure on the part of legislators and other government officials to consult zoological authorities in con- servation matters. Let the question be submitted to the American Society of Mammalogists at its annual meeting, to be held April 8-10, 1925. Very truly yours, FRANCIS HARPER. Cornell University. Zoological Laboratory. Ithaca, New York. February 14, 1925. Epitor, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Ottawa, Ont. Dear Sir: I read with interest Mr. F. Farley’s account of the occurrence of Horned Larks in winter in the Camrose district. I have now spent four winters in the Castor, Alta., district, and would like to record the fact 46 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST that at no time of the year are we without Horned Larks. At any time of the winter one can find them, sometimes around the farm buildings, often on the bare summer-fallow and more often on the roads, usually from five to twelve in the flock. By the third week of February they are mostly paired off and nesting begins about the middle of [VoL. XX XIX March. I have seen young birds strong on the wing before the end of April. Yours truly, THos. E. RANDALL. Box 239, Castor, Alberta, December 2, 1924. BOOK REVIEW Some REMARKS ON BIRDS, by Dr. George T. Mc- Keough, with A List OF THE BIRDS OF THE - County oF KENT, by Dr. G. T. McKeough and J. H. Smith, I.P.S. Kent Historical Society, Papers and Addresses, Vol. 6, 1924, pp. 49-74. Published by the Society, Chatham, Ontario. From the standpoint of the student of zoological literature it is regrettable to find such a list tucked away in a publication that is not generally known or available to the ornithological public. There can be no doubt as to the real value of such lists in the present, and they become historical docu- ments in the future, but at any time they attain their greatest usefulness in publications where they are more naturally expected. In reviewing faunal lists that of necessity become part of the zoological record, a critical (to the layman it may seem hypercritical) scientific standpoint is necessary. There is scarcely a settled region in this country where an ornith- ologist can not, from known distributions and probabilities, correctly list ninety per cent of the birds. A local list must be correct in the last ten per cent or it loses its reason for being. It is therefore in these refinements of distributional ornithology that a contemporary critic must criticise most closely in order to judge the scienti- fic reliability of new work for the benefit of stu- dents of the future when means of verification are past and gone. In this light one finds a number of things in these two papers that make it evident that no experienced ornithological eye scanned them before publication. These shake the readers’ confidence in other statements where confidence is necessary for full acceptance. Dr. McKeough shows a certain familiarity with current ornithological literature but it is strange to find him, on page 50, stating that his collabor- ator was the first to note the deep influence the glacial epochs had on bird life past and present. The bearing of the glaciers on distribution and present migration routes of birds is an old story and has been noted ever since the glacial theory was first advanced. On page 32 he speaks of the “Crimson Phala- rope’ in southern Alberta and the Northwest. This new name may possibly refer to the Red Phalarope, which is, however, almost confined to the sea coasts and only of accidental occurrence in the interior. Wilson’s Phalarope is the common Phalarope of the region in question and the one probably intended. On page 53 it is stated that the Snowy Owl changes color in winter and then becomes ‘‘almost pure white’. This species has no seasonal change in color, but a considerable one with age. Young birds are heavily barred with brown. Fully adult ones are nearly immaculate. Western Ontario is not the only Canadian area favored by the presence of the Turkey Buzzard, asis stated on page 57. From Manitoba westward to the Pacific coast it is a regular and more or less common summer resident and nests as far north as Lake Winnipegosis and near Vermilion, Alberta. Vide JWloyd, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, XXXVI, 1922, pp. 178-179. Nor is the Cormorant of Ontario a particularly oceanic species as indicated on page 57. It does nest commonly on the sea coasts, but it also breeds in immense colonies across the prairie provinces. In the annotated list are a number of interesting records, many of which are probably correct, but in view of collateral evidence they cannot be accepted without further verification. The inclu- sion of Franklin’s Gull as “‘An occasional one seen in migration’; the substitution of the Mexican Cormorant, Phalacrocorax vigua meaicanus, for the Double-crested; the statement that the Avo- cet “was at one time a fairly common migrant”’ and the record of the Yellow-throated Vireo as only a passing migrant shake our confidence in other statements where confidence is essential. There are a large number of typographical errors throughout. No consistent rule of capital- ization has been followed, in places type faces have been mixed, and the number of misspellings indicate that the proof of the publication was not carefully read. The list in general follows the order of the current Check-List, but the nomen- clature has not been brought up to date and so many of the species are misplaced that the reader cannot find them or be certain of the absence — February, 1925] of any without searching the complete list. 230 species are enumerated, but we miss the names of a number more that most certainly occur within the county.—P. A. T. THE AUK 1923 (Continued from p. 28.) ARRIVAL OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO SUNSPOTS.— By Ralph E. De Lury, pp. 414-419. The author, an officer in the Dominion Observa- tory, Ottawa, has obtained some very interesting data on the subject, viz., the records of arrival of the Cuckoo, Lark and Swallow at Montdidier, France, for the years between 1784 and 1869. These he charts and compares with the sunspot and attendant rainfall cycle for the same interval and the similarity of the curves produced is re- markable. In brief, the arrivals are later in the season during the maximum sunspot periods and vice versa. This is probably not a direct result of sunspot activity on the sun’s disc but a second- ary one dependent upon the weather produced. THE BiRDS OF WELLINGTON AND WATERLOO COUNTIES, ONTARIO.—By J. Dewey Soper, pp. 489-513. An annotated faunal list of 206 species. An interesting list from one of the richest ornitholo- gical fields in eastern Canada. EIGHTEENTH SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION CHECK-LIST OF NortH AMERICAN BirDs.—By the Committee on Nomenclature, pp. 513-525. Among the authorized changes in the Check-List of direct interest to Canadian ornithologists are the following: Larus thayeri, Thayer’s Gull, a new species added from Buchanan Bay, Hllesmere Land. In winter south to southern British Columbia. Sterna caspia, Caspian Tern, becomes Sterna caspia imperator. Priocelia glacialoides becomes Priocella ant- arctica. — Oceanodroma kaedingi, Kaeding’s Petrel, is re- duced to a subspecies of Leach’s Petrel as Oceano- droma leuccrhoa kaedingi. Dafila acuta, Pintail Duck, becomes Dafila acuta tzitzthoa. ji Histrionicus histrionicus pacificus, Western Harlequin Duck, is recognized as a subspecies. Somateria dressert, American-Hider, becomes a subspecies of co-ordinate rank with the Northern Eider as Somateria mollissima dressert. Oidemia deglandi dixoni, Dixon’s White-winged Scoter, is recognized as a north-western subspecies. Olor becomes Cygnus, hence our Swans will be- come: , THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 47 Cygnus columbianus, Whistling Swan. Cygnus buccinator, Trumpeter Swan. Philohela becomes Rubicola, hence our Wood- cock will be Rubicola minor. Gallinula galeata, Florida Gallinule, becomes Gallinula chloropus cachinnans. Tringa becomes Calidris, hence the Knot will be Calidris canutus. Machetes hecomes Philomachus, hence the Ruff will be Philomachus pugnazx. The Black-bellied Plover in America becomes the American Black-bellied Plover, Squatarola squatarola cynosurae. Dendragapus obscurus flemingi, Fleming’s Grouse; Bonasa umbellus thayeri, Nova Scotia Ruffed Grouse; Bonasa umbellus yukonensis, Yukon Rufted Grouse; and Zenaidura macroura caurina, Dusky Mourning Dove, are accepted as subspecies. Aluco pratincola, Barn Owl, becomes Tyto alba pratincola. Falco sparveria, Sparrow Hawk, becomes Cerch- neis sparveria. Cryptoglaux acadica brooksi, Island Saw-whet Owl; Bubo virginianus lagophonus, Northwestern Horned Owl; Bubo virginianus occidentalis, Pale Horned Owl; Bubo virginianus neochorus, New- foundland Horned Owl, Glaucidium gnoma swarthi, Vancouver Pygmy Owl; Glaucidium gnoma grin- nelli, Coast Pygmy Owl; Pryobates villosus sitken- sis, Sitka Hairy Woodpecker; Dryobates pubescens microleucus, Newfoundland Downy Woodpecker; Dryobates pubescens glacialis, Valdez Downy Woodpecker; Phiwotomus pileatus picinus, West- ern Pileated Woodpecker; and Colaptes auratus borealis, Boreal Flicker, are accepted as subspecies. Colaptes cafer saturatior, Northwestern Flicker, becomes Colaptes cafer cafer. Perisoreus canadensis sanfordi, Newfoundland Jay, is accepted as a subspecies. Corvus caurinus, Northwestern Crow, is reduced to’a subspecies of the American Crow as Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus. Pinicola enucleator eschatosus, Newfoundland Pine Grosbeak, and Loxia curvirostra percna, New- foundland Crossbill, are accepted as subspecies. Zamelodia becomes Hedymeles, so that we have: Hedymeles ludovicianus, Rose-breasted Gros- beak. _ Hedymeles Grosbeak. Dendroica coronata hooveri, Hoover’s Warbler, is accepted as a subspecies. Ixobrychus neoxenus, Cory’s Least Bittern, and Cryptoglaux acadica scotza, Northwestern Saw- whet Owl, are eliminated. melanocephalus, Black-headed 48 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST NOTES ON THE DIVING OF LOONS AND DucKs.— By Nap. A. Comeau, p. 525. This is an addition to a current discussion on the under-water use of wings by diving birds. MourNING DovE AT CAP ROUGE, QUEBEC.—By Gus. A. Langelier, p. 532. This is an interesting record of a species rare near Quebec. THE STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris) BREEDING AT HATLEY, QUEBEC.—By Henry Mousley, p. He) The first breeding record for this species in Canada. WHEATEAR AT GODBOUT, QUEBEC.—By Nap. A. Comeau, pp. 544-545. A summary of all his records of the species at Godbout from 1884 to 1922. This is the last published work of this veteran naturalist of the “North Shore’’, whose obituary has previously appeared in these pages. FuRTHER NOTES ON LAKE COUNTY, MINNESOTA, Birps.—By Charles E. Johnson, pp. 547-548. Adding four species to the list of birds of this locality, which closely adjoins a part of Ontario that is ornithologically almost unknown. Under Correspondence, p. 571, is a letter by Hoyes Lloyd presenting a resolution of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, which urges that exact information regarding the locality of occurrence of the nesting places of certain rare birds be placed in the private records of responsible institutions but withheld from publication. -at Mahone Bay, N.S., September 12, 1841. [VoL. XX XIX On pp. 572-573 is reported the death at Forest Glen, Maryland, on April 9, 1923, of the Rev. James Hibbert Langille. Mr. Langille was born He is best known as the author of Our Birds in Their Haunts, a book that has had wide circulation and has guided many budding ornithologists. ON THE NESTING GROUNDS OF THE SOLITARY SANDPIPER AND THE LESSER YELLOWLEGS.— By J. Fletcher Street, pp. 577-583. This paper, accompanied by 4 interesting photo- graphs, reports and describes the nesting of these species near Bowden, Alberta, in the summer of 1923. FURTHER NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE STAR- LING (Sturnus vulgaris) AT HATLEY, QUE.— By Henry Mousley, pp. 694-695. Further report on the nest previously reported, and announcement of another one. SOME RECENT RECORDS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA.— By Allan Brooks, pp. 700-701. Recording the taking of Wilson’s Phalarope, adult male Black Merlin, and Dickcissel, as well as a sight record of the Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk in British Columbia. On page 722 is announced the death of James Stirton Wallace, a nature lover whom many naturalists will miss. He was born in Southamp- ton, Bruce County, Ontario, in 1868, and died at Smith’s Falls, Ontario, July 24, 1922, as the result of an accident. He was a member of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club.—P. A. T. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Vol. Xi. Nos.1land2. August, 1924. Chapel Hill, N.C., U.S.A. The Mascoutens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians. Part I, Social Life and Ceremonies, by Alanson Skinner. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee. Vol. 6, No. 1, Pp. 1-262, Plates 1-8, Figs. 1-2. November 10, 1924. Mil- waukee, Wis., U.S.A. Monthly Weather Map, Service, Dominion of Canada. Bulletin de la Ligue Francaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux. Treiziéme Année. No.9. September, 1924. Paris. Bulletin de la Ligue Francaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux, Treiziéme Année. No.10. Octobre, 1924. Paris. _Prace Zoologiczne. Polskiego Panstivowego Muzeum Przyrd- niczego. Toml. Zeszyt 1, 1921. Zeszyt 2-3, 1922. Zeszyt 4,1923. Warszawa. Monthly Record of Meteorological Observations, May, 1924. Tesued by the Meteorological Service of Canada. Ottawa, October, 1924. Meteorological Bulletin de la Ligue Francaise pour la Protection des Oiseaux. Paris. Treiziéme Année. No. 11, Novembre, 1924. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1924. Washington, 1924. ’ Report of Chief of Bureau of Biological Survey. Washington, 1924. Notes on West American Whale Barnacles, by Ira E. Cornwall. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., 4th Ser., Vol. XIII, No. 26, pp. 421-431, plate 18. November 29, 1924. Shrubs of Indiana, by Charles C. Deam. Dept. of Conserva- tion, State of Indiana. Publication No. 44. 1924. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Vol. XL. Nos. 3 and 4. December, 1924. Chapel Hill, N.C., U.S.A. Monthly Weather Map, December, 1924. Meterological Service, Dominion of Canada. Recovery cf Marked Birds. Reprints from British Birds, Vol. XVIII, No. 7, December 1, 1924. Le Gerfaut, 14e Année, 1924, Fascicule III. Beigique. Le Gerfaut, Belgique. The Audubon Bulletin. Spring and Summer, 1924. lished by The Illinois Audubon Society. Chicago. Bruxelles, 14e Année, 1924, Fascicule IV. Bruxelles: Pub Sweet Canada Eleven Bird Songs and a Round by Louise Murphy Author of *‘A Little Bock of Bird Sones, Khymes and Tunes fer Tiny Tcts’’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto L. C. Smith & Bro. Typewriter the L. C. Smith insure long life, light touch and easy operation Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Systems for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes Lowe-Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A 2 > 0-4-0) GD 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0) a 0 ae) , The Crabtree Co. 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Applications for the volume should be made to Mr. Arthur Gibson Birks Building Ottawa, Ont. | | | John Macoun, M.A. | | | | FOR 7 : Listing Your Specimens The more consistent use of rubber stamps will materially assist you in cataloguing the collection of specimens you have spent so much time and trouble in securing. Let us help you. | CAPITAL RUBBER STAMP | WORKS 175 NEPEAN STREET OTTAWA, CANADA Kindly mention The Canad ian Field-Naturalist to advertisers Many More are ||_ Wanted on the|| ‘Subscription Lists The Membership Committee of |] The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ | Club is making a special effort || — to increase the subscription list |} of The Canadian Field-Naturalist | and we are asking every reader | to assist in making the campaign | the success it should be. We would particularly urge the | Secretary of each Affiliated So- |} many subscribers as they pos- } sibly can to a Canadian Pub- | lication devoted to the study of |] Natural History in all its phases. | | Use the blank below and forward | it to the Treasurer. | CUT OFF HERE Mr. B. A. FAvuvEL, Honorary Treasurer, Ottawa Field- Naturalists’ Club, 321 McLeod Street, Ottawa, Canada. I enclose One Dollar and Fifty Cents | as my subscription to The Canadian |} Field-Naturalist for one year. Address 1 On EO a 3 City and Province ...sncciks 5 = eee | ope Affiliated Societies STORY SOCIETY OF = PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE yO MANITOBA. ¢ > _ PROTECTION OF BIRDS 1924 : H 5 9 ‘ soee el 5 on. President: 1. GAMMEL; Hon. Vice-President: W.H. e _ JACKSON; President: J. J. GOLDEN; President: LL. Mcl. Terri; 1st. Vic Pree Nee M. SpEecHiy, A. M. Davipson, A. G. SMITH; 2nd. Vice-President: EH. ARNOLD; $rd. Vice-President AN CRIDDLE; Mrs. C. E. BasTIN, MRS. and Curator: Miss E.G. LuKE; Recording Secretary: Miss H. _General Secretary: A. A. MCCouBREY, 307 SronE; Corresponding Secretary: W. S. Hart, P.O. Box 1185, innipeg, Man.; Hxecutive Secretary: R. M. Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY MousLEy; Committee: surer: Miss HELEN R. CANNOM; ORNITH- Muss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C. F. SECTION:—Chairman: B. W. CARTWRIGHT; Dats; H. A. C. JACKSON; Miss. Morrow: MissL. MuRPHY: _Brotey. ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION: A, MAcSWEEN; G.S. Mooney; W. A. OSWALD; L. McI. V. MircHENER; Secretary: A. SHIRLEY SpacKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER: DR. ARTHUR WILLEY: ICAL SECTION :—Chairman: C.W. LOWE; Members qualified to answer questions: L. Mcl. TERRILL, | GRACE CAMERON. GEOLOGICAL SEC- 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, A. A. McCousrey; Secretary: J. M. Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., : Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; yee nes Bi : < C. N, ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis ae Sa pee meer gi ‘ : , sae ae John Pree a Que.; uae ARTHUR WILLEY, = Cissy Lease ¢c niversity, Montreal; HENRY Moustny, 274 Girouard HE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EDITH Morrow AND 2 Det so CIETY _ Miss EMity ‘LUKE, ¢-o Secretary. - (Incorporated) ee Bxows Eresident: Me. HO SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE est a . Oo. u&. > y tCe- .Gob: LE ee eee Miss RUBY NATURELLE DU CANADA blic Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. Bureau de direction pour 1923 Cc Cook; Dr. J. A. Dickson; Miss M. E. Gra- ss RuBy R. Minis; M. HouTon; M. JOHNSTON; Président: DoctHuR S. GAUDREAU; ler vice-président: ABBE MACLOGHLIN; R. O. MERRIMAN. A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. BOULTON; en Gp itiees cH ; Secrétaire-trésorier: Loulis-B. LAvoIr; Chef de ‘la section Pe aoe scientifique: A.-A. GODBOUT; Chef de la section de propaganda BS, SMe ete aerate A 8 éducationelle: DocTEUR A. Dery; Chef de la section de pro- ; HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section Dintorieion eseeme ICTORIA, Boe. ete preieees, Doerr ig pees Peeters for the above Society for the year ending i fs 923, are asfollows:— = : : KELLY; 1st Vice-President: A.R.SHERWwooD; THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO- C. C. .PEMBERTON; Secretary: H. T. ; a 5 x a Road, a ies we GISTS’ UNION ‘HO. IN; Commitiee:—Muiss C. G. Fox, Miss A. F. P DINER Miss I. CaTHcarr, Wa. Downes, A. ARE REIT. _ Officers for 1923 —J. KEITH WILSON AND F’. W. GODSAL. T'rustees:— Fon. President: HON. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria: » DR. C, F.NEWCOMBE AND G. HARVEY. President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria: aes a s Vice-President: T. L. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasurer: Se RE _J. W. Winson, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- -BERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Agsaic: Ki Racey, Vancouver; T- Peanse, Courtenay; on. President: DR. Hy. GEORGE, Victoria B.C.; Hon. Vice. -N- KELLY, Victoria. ; pcaure, Hed eee a preeiiiont: ae CoH 5 t Vice-President: Mr. G. C. S. CrosBy, : ; = ce-President: Mrs. W. A. CASSELS, Red THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ | CLUB pretulens en R. a pee ies eens mR. T. RANDALL, Castor, Mr. F. L. FARLEY, eteaice, LS SES re Ei ea eile gel Po ee pearee pa 3 y: W. F. Grecory, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; ue Cc. McCaLta, Bremner, and Mr. D. M. Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH; ie wae Pills eae ea Librarian: Dr. LyMan B. Jackes. BIRD GROUP:— ings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. each month except during July and August and ~ FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B.SirTon; Secretary: mber. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer Muss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: day in November. enh eon: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: Miss NORMA ForD, Pa.D. y By eee hy a j MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DyMOND; Secretary: Rishi en car cme he Vea Ame Aas -.L. Snyper. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: ive 2 : eaepee i se —Chairman: SHILLEY LoGiER; Secretary: T, B. KURATA. ITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- sae . é reek ae ENS. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:— Chairman: RUSSELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL COM- MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. — er stions: W. Ei. SAUNDERS, 240 5 ATSON, 201 Ridout St. South; J. R. ley Road; J. F. CALVERT, 461 Tecumseh , 297 Hyman St. ceaaee . We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the AN Cars fo : EMER ite tC Affiliated Societies to assist us in our is =R NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ' task of building up the circulation of L. S. Kuincx, L.L.D., Pres. University of B. C.; 3 . . : DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University eee Vice- this magazine. ay securing every Pues Hon. Secretary: C. F. CONNoR, M.A., member as a subscriber we can truly © St. Reenter asc. Pace? AS make this magazine into one of the igs in the University Buildings from leading Natural History publications oe inane excursions from Re Anericd: ie eee eB FOR SALE Back Numbers of The Ottawa Naturalist The Club has for sale complete sets of its publications. Enquiries regarding price should be addressed to the Secretary of the Club, Dr. J. F. Wright, Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada. The Store s Moderate is ae Any member having copies of the March, 1896, January, February, March and August, 1898, and December, 1900, issues of The Ottawa Naturalist. and who desires to dispose of the same, is request- ed to communicate with the Secretary. peaeeset: Grant-Holden=t Graham Limited ¢ Outfitters to — Surveyors & Engineers - ng pS els Getic Watchmakers an eine Papers for publication should ‘be nade oO Mr. ere . Lewis, Eee Branch, OF WA, requested when manuscript submitted. It | it be corrected and returned to the Editor as quickly s i Authors of leading articles are entitled to t ve - copies of the number in which they ‘Bppear, free of ch rge on spplication. Separates of articles as they a appear on the page, wil ut Manufacturers of any change of make-up will be supplied at eS soleus ra High-Grade Tents Tarpaulins & Sleeping Bags WRITE FOR CATALOGUES If renipyal of panther on the pages non-pertinent to the 147 Albert Street article or changes of make-up are desired, or if insets or oth OTT AW A extra work are necessary, special rates will be furnished application to the LHditor. Applications for separates should he ‘made to ital Edit and must reach him not later than with the fctarn of the 0) Sererrrrerrerereeresrreerreere rt rected proof. le mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers ~ MARCH, 1925 \\ i\\ Mi ATORALISTS’ CL ISSUED MARCH 23, 1925 _ Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second clace matter . FLL DsN rag ¥ THE OTTAWA FIELD- ELD-NATURALISTS’ cw Patrons: ME a sk) THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE No GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG F IM F B : President: Hoves loovns 1st Vice-President: G. A. MILLER. 2nd Vico Presrdene Nowe Crimp. 1. ele : ee ae RIGHT, V7 4G ue AUVEL, (Geological Survey, aa Vn & lJ : - 821 McLeod St. Vp J00 \ Ges Ottawa, ‘Ont. uu C ay Additional Members of Counc i x ee MOET ay E. Cowan; ¢. M. Sonne ae I. Suir; F. W. WAuGH; P. A. T: VE ERS E PIR: M. Kinpie; W. J. WINTEMBERG; ee E. DeLury; ARTHUR ee ‘M. O. Matte; R. M. ANDERSON; H. Grou; Miss F. FYLES; C.B. ‘HUTCHINGS; i: HH. M. Amt; CLYDE L. PATCH; D. JENNESS; V. WwW. JACKSON; R. O. MERRIMAN; W.N. KELLY; CAST J6ls SNELL; J. R. McLxop; JOHN DAVIDSON; L. MclI. TERRILL; R. MEREDITH; FRANCIS ; ~ KERMODE; PRor. R. B. THOMSON; THE EDITOR. te ee: a Editor: HARRISON F. LEWwISs, Canadian National Parks Branch, Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa. Associate Editors: IGS SAPIR ee Aes Urs Anthropology AiG.) HUNTSMAN: = % eo ee Biolog MO MATER oS econ le ein Botany Py Aj TAVERNER 0 _.Ornithology — PUR ATCHUORD. < fa.02eu Ou e Conchology He MOAKSINDER, Ge aaa, "Palaeontology — WON WALLIAMS ee ee ....Geology _ R.M. ANDERSON... .....°. bate Ne eee OG ARTHUR GIBSON....... men Mees Entomology CLYDE L. PATCH...:...... me || Herpetology CONTENTS A Prelinniaary et of the Birds of the Lindsay District, Ontario. By E. W. Calvert: ; hon a - os 49 An Exploration into the Northern Plains North and Bast of Great Slave Lake, Bee the Source hae of the Coppermine River. By G. H. Blanchet, F.R.G.S:...........-. tae oa dae nae Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns.............. eteitnee ei acne iat eee aes) ie eat The Hibernation of the Columbian Ground Squirrel. By William Abe Shaw. . ster aus eae att In Memoriam: (Charles Wusebe Dionne... 0. ee ee pie aie. oe Notes and Observations:— ~- a) is eae A Distributional Record for Brewer’s Blackbird (Huphagus Esaioniahins By L. ay Snyder = Oars The Recording of Acclimatization Experiments. By Hoyes Lloyd’.... Sina ee Me oe BEAL 63 Record of the Sooty Tern for Nova Scotia. By R. W. Tufts....................... Sat, An Observation of Winter Crows. By Pearl McGahey....... ne ARs x: Bye Tee) Ae ee Book Review:— wo Sa ae Aer: Museum Guides By He Meo es iss iain iNebigs Mae emai nT. ec The Cultivation of New Zealand Plants. By R.B.T........ arn Re Nae The Mascoutens or Prairie Potawatomi Indians. By G.E.R................ Pero ei Be aPhe vAqiks, 1924. Baye ALS ee Ne ere aie a Ses ont AAS pas Onur earns eet ; Whale. Barnacles: «By Av G. oe. nove oe BARC st Dee Ret, Mean Ar 5 ee Se THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST, lately Tae OTrawa NATURALIST, established = thirty-seven years ago, ‘“‘to publish the results of ‘original research or investigation in alldepart- i ments of natural history,” i is issued monthly, excepting for the months of June, J uly and August. — # Papers, notes and photographs should be addressed to the Editor. Manuscript should be typewritten. ; Subscriptions cover the current year, except those taken out during last quarter, when # they will be applied on the following year, the remaining numbers of current year being sent i # free. Payments should be made to the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel, 321 asett Spies ces # Ottawa. Price of this volume, $1.50; single copies 20c each. ae ee MAT gw bold HOUSES The Habits and Requirements of the Birds have been care- fully studied in the making of our Bird Houses They are made right in every detail—and consequently they are effec- tive in attracting tenants. Every golf club or person having a large garden or grounds should have one of our Purple Martin Houses. SEND FOR PAMPHLET Early Orders for Spring Delivery Are Advised The Master Mfg. Co., Ltd. T0RGNTO, ONTARIO A Panoramic View of lnnnastrevncar'os Miqgara Falls $1.00 Beautifully Reproduced in Four Colors—24 inches long This is one of the most beautiful views of Niagara Falls that has ever been placed upon the market—reproduced by a European pro- cess that: brings out the most minute detail—all the softness of a photograph—with the colors faithfully reproduced. 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Photographic Material Scientific Apparatus Eastman Kodaks 132 Sparks Street OTTAWA 0 Wee ee 1 TTT Tg THE Bank of Nova Scotia Capital) oe eee $ 10,000,000 R . 19,500,000 Total Assets over...... a emma FIFTEEN BRANCHES IN OTTAWA AND HULL A ee RRR 4 001060 ee Re Tn nn mn in MM mn mn 3050 050 050 050 050 050 05 020 af0 a20 a20 elo Le ore O00 00 050 O50 Oe 0F0 020 00 40 000 450 020 O50 50 020 OL OF ? W. A. Rankin, Ltd. : % ose 70 050 oiSe o, 30 08 : BUILDERS’ : é AND ¢ ¢ HOME [HARDWARE 3? > = * 410-412’ Bank Street, Ottawa = "phene Queen 1024 : 2, % Se ee > a%s ole oe ote ote om o, 0 0% 0% whe ate Me etons, Peele ho aSe of oSe of0 o%e o50 Fe 080 o50 050 O50 oho 050 05 050 020 a 050 456 050 #50 056 050 00 0% 0 050 50a, Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers | VOL. XXXIX The Canadian Field-Naturalist OTTAWA, ONTARIO, MARCH, 1925 No. 3 A PRELIMINARY LIST OF THE BIRDS OF THE LINDSAY DISTRICT, ONTARIO By E. W. CALVERT HE DATA in the following preliminary list have been obtained from many localities within an approximate radius of twenty miles of Lindsay, including portions of some three counties and fifteen town- ships. Four prominent lakes and some dozen smaller ones or portions of others, four rivers and many small streams serve to attract large numbers of water birds, particularly those frequenting marshy areas. The territory here considered is chiefiy rolling or undulating in character, but some localities are rugged. These reach, in the extreme northern and southern regions, an elevation of over 1000 feet above sea level. The lowest eleva- tion (some 800 feet) is found in the eastern extrem- ity and the average for the district is under 900 feet. The timber remaining consists, in the uplands, chiefly of patches of hardwood, with sugar maple, beech and basswood usually predominating, but often replaced by hemlock, white pine or other species on lighter soils. The swampy areas originally contained arbor-vitz, balsam fir, white and black spruce, white elm, silver maple and lareh. The “second growth” on burned-over areas is usually composed of poplars and willows, but white birch and larch also occur. The coniferous growth serves to attract many species of Warblers which are typical of the Canadian zone; members of other groups occur in like manner. The deple- tion has, however, caused many species to become less frequent in recent years. The water-fre- quenting groups are exceptionally well favored, but shore birds as a class are not numerous. The fauna of the district is fairly typical Alle- ghanian in the vicinity of Lindsay to an elevation of about 900 feet, but northward from about the latitude of Sturgeon Lake, and possibly in Durham County, a Canadian influence is_ perceptible. Such species as the Myrtle Warbler, Winter Wren, Junco, and Red-breasted Nuthatch are present in large numbers within these areas, while the Olive-sided Flycatcher is evenly distributed throughout, where local conditions permit, Dur- ham County excepted. The writer wishes to acknowledge the use made of notes in the list of summer birds of Pleasant Point, by Mr. E. M.S Dale, published in The Naturalist for March, 1915. Thanks are also due to Mr. W. G. Brooks, taxi- dermist, of Lindsay, Mr. Charles Parkin, former Game Overseer, of Valentia, and others. 1. Colymbus auritus. HORNED GREBE.—Fre- quent migrant on Scugog Lake and River. 2. Podilymbus podiceps. PIED-BILLED GREBE. —Common summer resident on all the larger lakes and streams; abundant in fall migrations. 3. Gavia immer. Loon.—Frequent migrant lo- cally. Breeds on Scugog and possibly Sturgeon Lake. 4. Larus argentatus. HERRING GULL.—Com- mon migrant, abundant locally, occasional throughout the summer. Many non-breeding birds spend the summer on Scugog Lake. 5. Larus delawarensis. RING-BILLED GULL.—A common migrant on Sturgeon Lake (Dale). 6. Larus philadelphia. BONAPARTE GULL.— Frequent fall migrant on Sturgeon and Scugog Lakes. 7. Sterna caspia imperator. COUE’S CASPIAN TERN.—Frequent fall migrant on Sturgeon Lake (Dale). 8. Sterna hirundo. COMMON ‘'TERN.—Scarce migrant. A flock of fourteen observed at Scugog Lake, near Port Perry, May 27, 1924. 9. Chlidonias nigra surinamensis. BLACK TERN. —Common summer resident on the marshes where there are stumps. 10. Mergus americanus. AMERICAN MERGAN- SER.—Frequent migrant in early spring on Scugog Lake. Several wintered at Fenelon Falls in 1919- 20. 11. Mergus serrator. RED-BREASTED MERGAN- SER.—Tolerably common migrant on Sturgeon and Scugog Lakes. 12. Lophodytes cucullatus. HOODED MERGAN- SER.—Tolerably common locally. Observed in summer in Ops and Mariposa townships and may breed. : 18. Anas platyrhynchos. MALLARD.—A_ not common migrant. Two males mounted by Mr. W. G. Brooks were taken near Lindsay in the fall of 1919. A pair observed April 6 and one April 13, 1924, near Port Perry. 50 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 14. Anas rubripes. BLACK DucK.—A tolerably common breeder, common locally; some young hatched by June 1. Abundant migrant on the lakes and larger streams. Occasional in winter; one near Reaboro, December 22, 1919. 15. Nettion carolinense. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. —Tolerably common migrant locally. One taken near Reaboro in the fall of 1919. Several seen in early April, 1924, near Port Perry. 16. Querquedula discors. BLUE-WINGED TRAL. —Tolerably common in summer at Port Perry, probably breeds. 17. Dafila acuta tzitzthoa. AMERICAN PINTAIL. —Migrant in the Scugog region, not common. Seen in April and May, 1924, in Cartwright town- ship, chiefly in pairs. 18. Aix sponsa. Wood Duck.—Summer resi- dent along the Scugog River, now searce. Several that had been taken there were mounted by Mr. W. G. Brooks in the fall of 1919. Reported near Port Perry in April, 1924. 19. Marila americana. REDHEAD.—A not com- mon migrant; most numerous on Seugog Lake. 20. Marila marila. ScAup Duck.—Common migrant on the lakes. 21. Marila affinis. LESSER SCAUP Duck.— Common migrant on Scugog Lake. 22. Marila collaris. RING-NECKED DucK.— Common migrant at Port Perry; frequents the marsh. ; 23. Glaucionetie clangula americana. AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE.—Common migrant on the lakes and rivers. Several wintered at Fenelon Falls in 1919-20. we 24. Charitonetia albeola. BUFFLE-HEAD.—Mig- rant; frequent on Scugog Lake and River. 25. Clangula hyemalis. OLD-SQUAW.—Spring migrant on Scugog Lake, not common. 26. Oidemia deglandi. WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. —QOne mounted by Mr. W. G. Brooks was taken on Sturgeon Lake. Reported at Scugog Lake but not common there. 27. Branta canadensis canadensis. GoosE.—A frequent migrant. 28..Cygnus columbianus. WHISTLING SWAN.— One seen April 10, 1924, near Port Perry; also reported there previously. 29. Botaurus lentiginosus. BITTERN.—Common summer resident; abundant locally. 30. Inobrychus exilis. LEAST BITTERN.—Scarce summer resident, more numerous in early fall. 31. Ardea herodias herodias. GREAT BLUE HERON.—Common summer resident, very com- mon locally. Formerly a colony of some fifty pairs bred in south Ops. 32. Butorides virescens virescens. GREEN HERON.—Scarce summer resident along Scugog River and its tributaries. CANADA {VoL. XX XIX 33. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius. BLACK- CROWNED NicHt HgErRoN.—Young frequently observed in July, 1924, near Port Perry. A bird in immature plumage taken along the Scugog River in 1919. 34. Rallus virginianus. VIRGINIA RAIL.—A tolerably common summer resident on Scugog and Pigeon waters. 35. Porzana carolina. SoRA.—Common sum- mer resident along the lakes and rivers locally. 36. Gallinula chloropus cachinnans. FLORIDA GALLINULE.—Very common summer resident along the rivers and lakes locally. 37. Fulica americana. AMERICAN COOT.— Tolerably common summer resident on Scugog River and Scugog Lake. 38. Rubicola minor. Woopcock.—Tolerably common summer resident locally. 39. Gallinago delicata. WILSON’S SNIPE.— Common migrant and summer resident on larger marshes; abundant migrant at Scugog Lake. 40. Pelidna alpina sakhalina. RED-BACKED SANDPIPER.—Migrant on Scugog Lake, not com- mon. 41. Totanus melanoleucus. GREATER YELLOW- LEGS.—Migrant of varying abundance; often common in spring. : 42. Totanus flavipes. common spring migrant. 43. Tringa solitaria solitaria. PIPER.—Tolerably common; every summer. 44, Actitis macularia. SPOTTED SANDPIPER.— Common summer resident; breeds. YELLOW-LEGS.—A_ not SOLITARY SAND- observed almost 45. Squatarola squatarola cynosurae. AMERICAN BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.—Two records. Observ- ed near Sturgeon Lake (Dale). An immature bird taken near Sturgeon Lake in 1919 was mounted by Mr. W. G. Brooks. : 46. Oxyechus vociferus. KILLDEER.—Common summer resident; young hatched the last week of May. 47. Charadrius semipalmatus. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER.—Migrant; probably not common. _ 48. Bonasa umbellus togata. CANADA RUFFED GROUSE.—Common resident; was becoming less common previous to legislation for its protection. Some young hatched about May 25 in Cartwright township. hind 49. Zenaidura macroura carolinensis. MOURN- ING DovE.—Tolerably common summer resident, preferring swamps. Breeds;. common at Port Perry. Apparently on the increase. One ob- served December 14, 1919, south of Reaboro. 50. Circus hudsonius. Marsa .HAwk.—Com- mon summer resident on large marshes, tolerably common elsewhere; common migrant, abundant 2 March, 1925] locally. Some young hatched by Junel. Several individuals observed with snakes; birds also taken. 51. Accipiter velox. SHARP-SHINNED HAwK.— A not common summer resident; more numerous in migrations. 52. Accipiter coopert. CooPER’s HAwk.— Searce; possibly a summer and sometimes a winter resident. 53. Astur atricapillus atricapillus. GOSHAWK. —Searce fall and winter visitor. A young bird taken, in November, 1919, near Lindsay. 54. Buteo borealis borealis. RED-TAILED HAWK. —Searce summer resident; tolerably common locally in large woods (Blackstock). 55. Buteo linéatus lineatus. RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.—Freauent summer resident in Ops and Cartwright; not recorded in Fenelon. 56. Buteo platypterus. BROAD-WINGED HAWK. —Rather scarce migrant in Ops; tolerably com- mon in summer in Cartwright. 57. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis. ROUGH- LEGGED HAwk.—A scarce fall migrant. 58. Halizetus leucocephalus alascanus. NORTH- ERN BALD EAGLE.—Rare migrant at Scugog Lake. 59. Cerchneis sparveria sparveria. SPARROW Hawk.—Tolerably common summer resident. 60. Pandion haliaétus carolinensis. OSPREY.— Searce migrant at Sturgeon Lake, frequent at Scugog Lake. 61. Asio flammeus. SHORT-EARED OwL—One observed and frequently heard during June and July, 1924, near Port Perry. 62. Strix varia varia. BARRED Ow.L.—One taken near Bethany in winter of 1917-18 and one at Fenelon Falls on December 29, 1919. 63. Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa. GREAT GREY Owt.—Rare. Two taken near Reaboro many years ago, and one in the winter of 1918; the latter mounted by Mr. Brooks. 64. Cryptoglaux funerea richardsonit. RICHARD- SON’S OwL.—Near Reaboro seen February 8 and March 16, 1914; one taken January 14, 1915. 65. Cryptoglaux acadica acadica. SAW-WHET Ow.L.—Searce. One taken in 1919. One found dead near Reaboro in 1903. Seen near Port Perry, March 25 and 26, 1924. 66. Otus asio asio. SCREECH Ow.L.—Tolerably common resident locally, the gray phase apparent- ly predominating. 67. Bubo virginianus. GREAT HORNED OWL.— A tolerably common resident in large swamps. Great variation in late fall, the colors indicating an influx from the northwest and northeast. 68. Nyctea nyctea. SNowy OwL.—Scarce winter visitor; irregular. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 51 69. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. BLACK-BILLED Cuckoo.—Frequent summer resident. 70. Ceryle alcyon alcyon. BELTED KINGFISHER. —Common summer resident; very common locally along the lakes and rivers. 71. Dryobates villosus villosus. Harry Woop- PECKER.—Common resident where woods obtain. 72. Dryobates pubescens medianus. DOWNY W 0OODPECKER.—Common resident. 73. Picoides arcticus. ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.—Frequently observed singly from October, 1904, to January, 1905. 74. Sphyrapicus varius varius. YELLOW- BELLIED SAPSUCKER.—Common migrant; fre- quent summer resident; rare in winter (1919-20). 75. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. ~ RED-HEADED WooDPECKER.—A rather common summer resi- dent locally. 76. Colaptes auratus borealis. BOREAL FLICKER. —Very common summer resident. Apparently more numerous fifteen years ago. 77. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus. WHIP- POOR-WILL.—Frequent summer resident, common locally. 78. Chordeiles virginianus virginianus. NIGHT- HAWK.—Common summer resident, very common at Bobcaygeon. 79. Chaetura pelagica. CHIMNEY SWIFT.— Common summer resident, rather local. Former- ly abundant in Lindsay, where frequently hun- dreds of birds were observed circling around a certain high chimney. 80. Archilochus colubris. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.—Tolerably common summer resi- dent, local. 81. Tyrannus tyrannus. common summer resident. KINGBIRD.—A very 82. Myiarchus crinitus. CRESTED FLYCATCHER. —Common summer resident. 83. Sayornis phoebe. PHOEBE.—Common summer resident. First brood hatches about the -last week of May. 84. Nuttallornis borealis. OLIVE-SIDED FLy- CATCHER.—Frequent summer resident. Have ob- served it during summer in about twenty pieces of coniferous timber in southern Victoria. Not observed in Cartwright or Scugog townships. 85. Myiochanes virens. Wood PEWEE.—Com- mon summer resident. 86. Empidonax trailli alnorwm. ALDER FLY- CATCHER.—Frequent summer resident in small swampy growth; very common locally. 87. Empidonax minimus. LEAST FLYCATCHER. —Frequent summer resident, common migrant. (To be concluded.) 52 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX AN EXPLORATION INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS NORTH AND EAST OF GREAT SLAVE LAKE, INCLUDING THE SOURCE OF THE COPPERMINE RIVER By G. H. BLANCHET, F.R.G.S. of the Topographical Survey of Canada (Concluded from Page 34) BirD LIFE OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS The birds of the woodlands generally range to the limit of the trees and as these have been studied at many points they need not be con- sidered here. In the open plains, however, observations have not been so complete and a list of those birds observed to be breeding there is attached. Bird life is not abundant and songsters are almost lacking. The loud, ringing cry of the Loon the harsh notes of the Gull and the Raven, the burr of the Ptarmigan and the rather plaintive eall of the Lapland Longspur are almost the only bird notes heard. The question of food controls the habits of the various species. Forthoseliving on berriesand leaves the country offers an abundant supply. In the case of insect-eaters the situation is not so favor- able. While the mosquitoes and flies are in season in July and early August, the supply is abundant, but, lacking these, insect-eating birds have little other resource. There are no ants in the open plains and very few insects other than those of the air and water. The flies disappear abruptly with the cold storms of August and the Lapland Longspurs and others depending on them suffer great hardship till the fledglings are suffi- ciently grown for the southerly migration about the middle of August. The Hawks and Jaegers that feed on the smaller birds, mice, etc., and the Gulls which eat fish and carrion indiscriminately appear to thrive. Many young were breaking from the shell in early July. The following is a list of the birds noted in the open plains. Of them the Yellow-billed Loon is the most interesting, for, though he has often been seen along the Arctic Coast, he has seldom been observed on his breeding grounds. Some hundreds were seen during the season, each pair with two young. List OF BIRDS OBSERVED 1. Gavia immer. LOON.—Very scarce. This species was seen on Artillery and Clinton-Colden Lakes. 2. Gavia adamsi. YELLOW-BILLED LOON.—This is the common Loon of the Barren Lands and its loud, ringing calls may be heard at any time. 3. Gavia pacifica. PActric LOON.—This species was not at any time as plentiful as the Red- throated Loon, but was noted through the whole district. 4. Gavia stellata. RED-THROATED LOON.— Quite common through the entire district. Red- throated Loons prefer the small ponds during the summer and there they nest among the reeds. 5. Stercorarius parasiticus. PARASITIC JAEGER. —This species becomes very plentiful to the north and west of the west end of Aylmer Lake. It lives almost entirely on Longspurs and waders which it captures on the wing. 6 Stercorarius longicaudus. LLONG-TAILED JAE- GER.—Very plentiful from the north end of Artil- lery Lake, northwards and to the west. These birds prefer the low, swampy country and live mainly on small birds and mice. 7. Larus californicus. CALIFORNIA GULL.—- Odd pairs were seen throughout the whole area. 8. Sterna paradisea. ARCTIC TERN.—A few small colonies were noted on all the larger lakes of the district. : 9. Mergus serrator. RED-BREASTED MERGAN- SER.—These Ducks are not plentiful but a few were seen on most of the lakes and rivers. 10. Anas platyrhynchos. birds were seen on the Outram River. 11. Nettion carolinense. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. —A number were seen on the Outram River and . on the east end of McKay Lake. 12. Dafila acuta tzitzihoa. AMERICAN PINTAIL. —One flock of young were seen on a small pond on the south shore of Clinton-Colden Lake. 18. Clangula hyemalis. _ OLD-sQquAW.—Old- squaw Ducks are common throughout the entire district and were noted breeding in many places. They prefer the small grassy sloughs for breeding but collect in large flocks on the large lakes when the young are able to fly. 14. Oidemia perspicillata. SuRF SCOTER.—Surf Scoters were not seen past Artillery Lake. 15. Anser albifrons (subsp.?). GoosE.—This is the only species of Goose noted in this area. Numerous flocks of young were seen on the Outram River and on the east end of Mc- Kay Lake. The young were beginning to fly about August 12th. 16. Lobipes lobatus. Very common throughout the whole area. ing around the small grassy ponds. NORTHERN PHALAROPE.— Breed- MALLARD.—A few WHITE-FRONTED | a al Alin Rein, mit Sin March, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 53 FIGURE 8—THE MEETING WITH THE INDIANS AT THE LAST WOODS, ARTILLERY LAKE The stocking up with dry meat and caribou skins in the fall during the caribou migration rivals in importance the fall whitefish fishery, when the winter’s supply of dog feed is collected. The first question of the Indians was “‘had we seen the - Eskimos’’, their dreaded enemies. 17. Micropalama himantopus. STILT SAND- PIPER.—Very plentiful along the Casba River and around Clinton-Colden. 18. Pisobia maculata. PECTORAL SANDPIPER.— Not very plentiful. Found breeding on Clinton- Colden Lake and in the country east of Lac de Gras. 19. Pisobia bairdi. BAIRD’S SANDPIPER.—Very plentiful over the entire area. 20. Ereunetes pusillus. SEMIPALMATED SAND- PIPER.—Not so plentiful as Baird’s Sandpiper, but found over the whole area. 21. Totanus flavipes. YELLOW-LEGS.—One pair seen July 15th on Artillery Lake. The young were half-grown at this time. 22. Pluvialis dominica dominica. GOLDEN PLOVER.—Quite numerous along Casba River and in the country east of Lac de Gras. Breeding wherever seen. é 23. Charadrius semipalmatus. SEMIPALMATED 'PLOvVER.—Rather rare, but a few may be found at any point. 24. Lagopus lagopus lagopus. WILLOW PTAR- MIGAN.—These birds are very plentiful and may be found from the sparsely wooded country out onto the Barren Lands. They were found through the entire district covered during the trip. 25. Lagopus rupestris rupestris. ROCK PTAR- MIGAN.—Not so plentiful as the Willow Ptarmigan and generally frequents the high, rocky country. Found in the same range. 26. Circus hudsonius. MARSH HAwK.—A few noted around Artillery Lake and McKay Lake. 27. Accipiler velox. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.— One pair noted near the west end of McKay Lake, in the last woods. 28. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis. ROUGH- LEGGED HAWK.—One pair noted on Artillery Lake, but the species became quite plentiful around Lac de Gras. 29. Falco peregrinus anatum. Very rare. Odd pairs may be found at any place. 30. Asio flammeus. SHORT-EARED OWwL.—A few individuals seen around McKay Lake and to the north near Lac de Gras. 31. Otocoris alpestris (subsp.?). HORNED LARK.—A few birds scattered over the whole area. 32. Acanthis linaria linaria. REDPOLL.—Dis- tributed like the Tree Sparrow, but the Redpolls are more plentiful near the tree-line. Duck HAwkK.— 33. Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. SNOW BUNT- ING.—Very plentiful around Clinton-Colden and Aylmer Lakes and Lac de Gras. A few birds seen on Artillery and McKay Lakes. 54 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 34. Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus. LAPLAND LONGSPUR.—Very plentiful over the entire area. Breeds from the tree-line east and north. 35. Calcarius pictus. SMITH’S LONGSPUR.— Quite numerous on Artillery Lake. 36. Passerculus sandwichensis (subsp.?). SAv- ANNAH SPARROW.—Fairly common throughout the whole area. 37. Zonotrichia querula. HARRIS’S SPARROW.— The breeding range of this Sparrow is not definitely known but in the past summer it was found to be very abundant in the country along the edge of the Barren Lands. It nests on the ground, usually under a small bush, and the nests resemble those of the White-crowned Sparrow, 38. Spizella monticola monticola. TREE SPAR- ROW.—May be found anywhere in the district and is very abundant wherever any scrub appears. 39. Anthus rubescens. Pripit.—A few birds may be found at any point, but they were nowhere plentiful. FISHERIES The fisheries of the northern lakes are an asset of importance. Certain species reach a develop- ment in these northern waters that is probably unequalled elsewhere. The water is so clear that a white object may be seen down to a depth of fifty feet. The two chief varieties are the white- fish and the trout. The whitefish averages about three pounds, but reaches as high as ten, and is unrivalled in any other part of the country for quality. The lake trout is also a native of these waters of outstanding excellence. There is a considerable range in the characteristics of the trout, especially in the colour and markings, but there has never been sufficient study given to them to determine whether these are accidental or the distinguishing marks of subspecies. They were seen as heavy as forty pounds, but in the more northerly waters a more usual weight would be about six to ten pounds. [VoL. XX XIX GENERAL OBSERVATIONS The unfavorable impression which the name generally applied to the treeless country of the North, the Barren Lands, creates, should be cor- rected by a more truly descriptive name, one which will unite the different districts under some com- mon characteristic and leave them open to be interpreted as they are found. Perhaps we cannot do better than follow the analogy of the plains of Western Canada. These are given location and character by the name, the “Western Plains” and the open plains of the North might similarly be described as the “Northern Plains’. From the observations made on the trip, the information gathered from the natives, and that contained in narratives and reports, it is neither safe to predict a great future for the north country nor to dismiss it as valueless. It should be con- sidered of potential value for present day econo- mics and as one of the great reserve areas for the future. It supports only the primitive nomadic form of human life and a strongly migratory fauna, its vegetation is restricted and its climate severe, but these conditions have been met and overcome in other parts of the world where resources of sufficient value have been found. Its lack of soil in some places may be compensated for by the resulting exposure of its rock formations with their minerals in others, excellent water-powers are numerous, and it is one of the few great areas where fur and wild life have been little disturbed. Its ranges have demonstrated their possibilities in supporting abundant life. Viewing the so- ealled ‘‘Barren Lands’? in August, with their plains and undulating hills stretching on all sides to the horizon, enlivened by the colours of its vegetation and animated by the roving bands of caribou, it seems incredible that the country is destined to remain an unproductive waste. OFFICIAL CANADIAN RECORD OF BIRD-BANDING RETURNS* (Continued from page 1,0) WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, No. 28,153, banded by Eric Kiteley, at Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 27, 1923, repeated at the same place until September 12, 1923. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, No. 28,154, banded by Eric Kiteley, at Winnipeg, Manitoba, ~ on August 27, 1923, repeated at the same place until September 5, 1923. BARN SWALLOW, No. 59,452, banded by Wilfrid Scott, at Guelph, Ontario, on June 26, aoee) repeated at the same station on July 11, BARN SWALLOW, No. 59,455, banded by *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Canada. Wilfrid Scott, at Guelph, Ontario, on June 26 1923, repeated at the same station on July 11, 1923. BARN SWALLOW, No. 36,899, banded by Ernest Joy, at Wood Island, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, on August 16, 1923, was caught in a wire fence and found dead at Seal Cove, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, on September 11, 1923. CEDAR WAXWING, No. 46,212, young, banded by W. A. Oswald, at Pointe Claire, Quebec, on August 26, 1928, died in its nest shortly after it was banded. TENNESSEE WARBLER, No. 74,615, banded by Hoyes Lloyd, at Ottawa, Ontario, on August 29, 1923, died in the same vicinity the following day. March, 1925] HOUSE WREN, No. 83,524, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter Jr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on August 7, 1928, was found dead under its nest on September 2D, 1923. HOUSE WREN, No. 83,534, nestling, banded by R. H. Carter Jr. Pat Muscow, Saskatchewan, on August 7, 1923, was found dead in its nest, on April 20, 1924. It had probably died soon after it was banded. ROBIN, No. 109,902, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 1, 1928, was found dead at a place five miles south of the banding station, on September 6, 1923. MALLARD, No. 222,330, female, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on Sep- tember 6, 1923, was killed at a place ten miles east of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on December 8, 1923. MALLARD, No. 297,151, male, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, ‘Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was shot at a place seventy ‘miles north- east of Toronto, in Township of Manverson, Durham County, Ontario, on October 6, 1923. MALLARD, No. 297,152, male banded by H. §S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was killed on the Scugog River, four miles - north of Lindsay, Ontario, on November 2, 1923. MALLARD, No. 297,154, female, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was killed at Morattico, Virginia, on January 21, 1924. MALLARD, No. 297,345, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 4, 1923, was killed at a place about twelve miles south of Georgetown, South Carolina, on Decem- ber 26, 1923. MALLARD, No. 297,376, banded by H. S. ‘Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 6, 1923, was killed at Richmond Dale, Ohio, on December 24, 1923. MALLARD, No. 297,422, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 9, 1923, was shot at North Branch, Michigan, on November 14, 1923. MALLARD, No. 1,405, female, banded by Miss Gussie Innes, at Headingly, Manitoba, on Novem- ber 6, 1923, was killed at a place thirty miles south of Stuttgart, Arkansas—no date given, but reported on November 24, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 202 ,697, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 1, 1923, was captured at a place between Sandusky and Toledo, Ohio—no date given, but reported on October 17, 1923; BLACK DUCK, No. 202,700, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 1, _ 1923, was killed at St. Clair Flats, Michigan, on October 19, 1928. ~- BLACK ‘DUCK, No. 296,006, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Seugog, Ontario, on September 1, 1923, was killed at the Crane Lake Club, Saidora, Illinois, on December 7, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,010, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 1, 1923, was killed in the rice fields of Jehossee Island, South Carolina, about thirty miles south- west of Charleston, about November ZA0) Ale 28}. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,023, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 2, 1923, was shot on the Rideau Canal, between Kingston and Ottawa—no date given, but reported on September 5, 1923. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 55 BLACK DUCK, No. 296,035, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 3, 1923, was found dead at a place seven miles west of Wedowee, Randolph County, Alabama, on December sik L923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,042, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 3, 1923, was shot at Allison’s Bay, Prince Edward County, Ontario, on September 8, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,046, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 3, 1923, was killed in the same vicinity, during the fall of 1924, before November 26th. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,054, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was shot in the cove of Salmon Island, on the Bay of Quinte, Ontario, on September 7, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,059, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was shot on Sand Bank Beach, dividing Lake Ontario and West Lake, Prince Edward County, Ontario, on September 5, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,065, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was killed near Chestertown, Maryland, on December He WBS) BLACK DUCK, No. 296,069, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was wounded and died at Cave Spring, Georgia—no date given, but reported on February lig NO 2A" BLACK DUCK, No. 296,070, banded by H. §S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was shot near Port Deposit, Maryland, on December 28, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,073, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was shot in the Long Point Marsh, Lake Erie, on October 30, 19238. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,079, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 19238, was killed on the Ohio River, near Tolu, Kentucky—no date given, but reported on February 18, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,083, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 6, 1923, was shot at a place two miles east of Wooler, Ontario, on October 22, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,086, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 6, 1923, was killed in the Ocmulgee River, about two miles north of Hawkinsville, Georgia, on December 151923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,088, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 6, 1923, was shot at Golden Gate, Illinois, on De cember 28, 1928. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,091, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 8, 1923, was shot in the County of Durham, Ontario, on September 21, 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,108, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 11, 1923, was shot on a marsh on the Grand River, Ontario—no date given, but reported on October 1923. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,113, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 11, 1928, was killed in the Cameron Marsh, Louisiana, on December IAS 923" (Continued in the April issue) 56 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX THE HIBERNATION OF THE COLUMBIAN GROUND SQUIRREL By WILLIAM T. SHAW Washington Experiment Station State College of Washington (Copyright, 1925, by William T. Shaw) ERHAPS the most arduous task of any mammalian life study is that connected with the search for information regarding the comatose periods of aestivation and hibernation, if such are involved in the life cycle. Well do I remember with what impatience we awaited the summer’s disappearance of the Columbian ground squirrels, Citellus columbianus columbianus, eager for the chance to go with pick and shovel to search for the facts of aestivation and hibernation. Yet tired, thirsty, and un- successful was our return at the end of the day’s effort. Where, but a few days past, scores of squirrels literally swarmed the fields, now we found none. Where had they gone? Again they were sought for, and again, and all that autumn and even on into the winter, yet without success. In the spring following they still seemed very abundant. True, we were working against odds, for the badger, the squirrel’s natural enemy, was also abroad and where he dug it was too late and where he did not work there seemed to be a good reason for our not trying. We were learning, however, and long before reward came in finding a wild squirrel in aestivation we had formed what proved to be a correct idea of where and how he would likely be when eventually found. Here and there throughout the summer dens we were running across certain moisture-proof jug-shaped cells of surprisingly uniform dimensions which we rightly judged had formerly been used as hiberna- tion cells. So cleverly did they hide themselves away that it was not until we were beginning the excavation of the twenty-sixth den in the early part of the second season that we found a squirrel in semi- aestivation. This was in early August. They had been in aestivation scarcely ten days and our prize was not quite dormant—only drowsy; yet in this discovery we established the truth of our surmise regarding the hibernation cell. This was a beginning at least. Again we persevered for more data and were partially successful in the third season, but it was not until the winter of 1913-14 that we really achieved results of conclu- sive value, results told by the accompanying series of pictures. Fortunately for the completeness of our work, we were not content with these first discoveries but determined to push on with the investigation in search of further data on lines suggested as we worked and also to secure more photographic material. So it was, with varying success, that we followed the quest of hibernation data for the next five years, digging in all 136 dens and taking careful data on 54 of them. One wintry morning we started out on our quest. It was almost the last day of the year. The late December sunrise was wintry. About six inches of snow lay upon the ground, more on the north slopes, less on the south. Wild Horse Butte rose up coldly in front of the distant mountains, its black patches of scrub showing sharply against the white. About its dome rested a fleecy fleck of frozen foam-like cloud. The fore landscape bristled with the umbel-stocks of the past sum- mer’s yarrow. Beneath the snow, somewhere, we believed, were sleeping squirrels. These were the objects of our quest. Selecting one of the dens that had been staked out in the summer, we began digging. Soon snow was being scooped away and the thwack of the pick was heard, black earth soon replacing pure snow drifts. This den seemed not to be very fresh, giving signs of associated pocket gopher work. When it was nearly dug out one of the shovels broke through the end of a cell, and with the touches of loose dirt, some age-brown grass collapsed, lightly as breath, from the ceiling of the cell. This being gently lifted there was revealed the mummy form of a little Citellus body. True to the instinct of his race, he had gone into the long sleep to pass uninterruptedly into the longer sleep from which no Citellus returns. Though he may have been there several years, all was undisturbed, the cell, the galleries, all were as he had left them, even to nose prints in the soft summer earth door of his winter home, pressed clearly and distinctly as if it had been yesterday, and not moldy ages ago, that he had gone to sleep. Failing in this first attempt, we now turned towards the yellow sunlit south, to a large den with many entrances, on a snow-covered knoll just above the rimrock. The ground was shallow, though it seemed a good four feet through to the out-cropping lava as revealed down the slope, so we began work. The usual east, south, and west trenches, admitting better photographic lighting were being sunk, when, about half an hour after work had begun, we found a squirrel. This one, a female, was in an old, rather decayed nest, of March, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 57 SURFACE OF GROUND » SMSO OTe bey EXIT SHAFT DRAIN 3- re HIBERNATION CELL BOTTOM - SLOPE BOTH WAYS SEALED HIBERNATION DEN OF ADULT COLUMBIAN GROUND SQUIRREL (CITELLUS COLUMBIANUS) FicurE 1—SKETCH OF A HIBERNATION DEN, SEALED FOR HIBERNATION. This is a sketch of the den shown in the photograph of Figure 2. Measure- ments and depths are here clearly shown. wild grass and considerable fine dirt. She lay in the usual position, with the head and tail towards the entrance of the cell. At once the camera was aimed and a series of photographs was taken, showing her coming out of the hibernating condi- tion. The wind was now high and it was with difficulty that a fire was started in the first excava- tion, so that dinner might be had and coffee made to add a little comfort to the situation. At two o’clock we returned to the second den to photo- graph the now awakened squirrel for a final exposure. Examination of the den showed it to be necessary to excavate out its main body in (Original). order to reach the line of focus for the hibernating cell and galleries. In order to. do this two of the men began work and had gone only a short dis- - tance when Engvyall’s shovel struck into a cell and pulled out a large amount of dried, rather new- looking grass. Then, to our great surprise, we saw the fur of a second squirrel. The two squir- rels were not more than six feet apart; the second was a young female weighing only 275 grams. At first it was feared that she was seriously injured by the shovel but this proved not to be so. Strange to say, she had been a little to one side, 58 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST and only a short distance from the fire, yet she was not awakened by it. A brisk storm of large snow-flakes now blew up from the south-east, with a temperature of about 32 degrees F. and, owing to the failing light, it was decided to remove this second squirrel to the laboratory, a mile or so away. The find that gave the best results of all was made on one mid-December day. It happened in this way: At 2.15, Richardson, who was working near the surface, about the center of the den, suddenly cut cleanly through the moist earth with his shovel and uncovered or rather sliced off the top of a large open burrow. The freshness of the newly opened shaft at once attracted our attention. It was smooth-walled and fresh looking and bore no traces of fuzzy sprouting rootlets of wild seeds as seen in most burrows at this time of year, when the earth is moist. The hole was dropping at a sharp angle. It was followed carefully, being opened in sections and was always large and fresh looking. Finally it struck a horizontal burrow almost at right angles. To the left this new shaft was plugged coneavely with what appeared to be black soil, which may have come from the vertical shaft. To the right it continued a short distance and branched into a drain running down the main shaft:* (Figs.)1 and 2:) This work of discovery is most fascinating. One feels as a prospector must feel who is looking for gold. Up until the very instant of discovery no one knows for a certainty, yet the signs are extremely inviting. Now, logically, to the right of these shafts should lie the hibernating cell. The strained length of fore arm permitted my extending finger tips to touch, rather uncertainly, a little bit of dry nest material. Would this be the strike? But, the greatest care must be taken to preserve the hibernation den for photographic purposes. One misuse of the shovel might ruin the integrity of the structure. Carefully the workmen shaved away the heavy soil from the location of the cell. At length its upper side wall shelled in, and there, in the little round hole in the nest material lay the fuzzy, gray tail-tip of a soundly hibernating Citellus columbianus colum- - bianus. The nest was dry and snugly arched over, though much more matted in the saucer than in the ceiling. The bottom of the nest was made of rather fine grass and some dirt, in which were over one hundred bulbs of the wild onion. This squirrel lay in the nest flatly on his sacrum, as is shown in a photograph taken of him, in situ, with his nose tight against his diaphragm and the top of his skull flat in his lap. His tail was to- wards the entrance of the cell, as is invariably the rule, for in awakening the head is soon drawn out [VOL. XX XIX of the lap, to face the entrance and a possible enemy. Failing light ona cloudy midwinter day made photographing difficult, but we were for- tunate in securing one good picture of this squirrel in the hibernation position. (Fig. 3.) This squirrel was an old male and weighed 594 grams. The following day, at our leisure, we went back to study and photograph this hibernation den. We had discovered it by striking into the exit shaft, a tunnel sometimes constructed at the time of going into estivation for the purpose of reach- ing the outer world in the following spring. On awakening for good the animal digs through to the surface of the ground and, when light begins to dawn, pushes his way out, leaving the exit as small as possible, in order that it may be a guard against inclement weather and a possible enemy (Fig. 4), or he may even have to penetrate many inches or even feet of snow. (Fig. 5.) THE Exit SHAFT.—The exit shaft is the burrow of the hibernation den leading from the exit to the nest cell. It is sometimes started towards the surface in the previous summer, as will be shown by examining the up-running holes in (Fig. 2, C). It is generally of the same diameter as an ordinary burrow (3.5 inches) and is common- ly found to drop at an angle of 45 degrees and, unlike a pocket gopher burrow, is free.and open to an average depth of 2 feet, to which depth a long stick or cane may be run freely. The shaft of an open den is usually paved with black surface dirt to a depth of 1 inch, which earth, dug down as the animal came through to the-surface, often extends as far as the nest, 4 or 5 feet, and some- times into and filling the drains. The sides and top of the shaft are rubbed smooth and waxy, especially if the soil is moist. It was found that the average length of this shaft, from the exit to the hibernation cell, for 21 dens measured, was 7 feet, 9 inches. The shortest exit shaft was 1 foot 10 inches and the longest 19 feet 9 inches. The diameter of the burrows of the hibernation den was determined at 3.3 inches. These burrows, comprising the exit shaft and closing-in shaft, often expand into greater diameters where they unite, as is shown in Fig. 2. ; Very curiously, on sloping ground they almost always opened the den with the exit shaft pointing down-hill. This would seem to be a precautionary measure against flooding. These shafts were noted coming out on the side of an old potato ridge, to avoid digging through the extra amount of dirt. That this was premeditated would seem true, as shown in the spring of 1914, when nine of these exits were observed in one small tract of land of about six acres, sloping gently to the south- west. All pointed down-hill. Five of them came TOP FicurE 2.—_THE TYPICAL HIBERNATION DEN. A hibernation den is frequently a part of an ordinary den shut or sealed off from the main den by having all connecting burrows very effectually plugged. It may, however, be quite remotely hidden away from the large summer den. It is securely sealed for the purpose of eluding such natural enemies as the badger and the coyote, and excluding such guests of the den as crickets, mice, pocket gophers, salamanders, toads and tree toads; which are also found in the burrows of the big dens during winter. The hibernation den contains a few feet of open burrow. The illustration shows—on the right, the nest, A; running down from the centre, the drain, B; to the left of C, the closing in plug; running up from C, a burrow, which is probably used as an exit in the spring upon awakening, at which time it is complete through to the surface of the ground. BOTTOM Photo by William T. Shaw TOP BOTTOM FIGURE 3.—A HIBERNATING SQUIRREL. On December 13, 1913, we discovered a squirrel in absolute torpor. A sectional view of the nest was secured, showing him in the actual position maintained in hibernation. He was photographed exactly as he lay. He was found sitting flatly on his sacrum, tightly curled vertically, not horizontally as in the case of a cat or a dog; with the top of his skull flat in his lap. This would seem to be a most uncomfortable position. The animal is able to maintain it on account of the great quantity of firmly packed nest material in which he lies. He is beginning to revive and has raised himself up a little. Photo from life by William T. Shaw mys 3, wom 9 ojoyd ‘Iwodde 0} UOSBES BY} UL ISI oy} SVM OFT “MOUS OY} UL SJULId oof OFUT pezfe peYy syULId-j09} sty se ‘oUITy g[qeiopIsuod B ynNO SUIUIVIUEL SsoT}qnop ‘YZequns Areniqey B@ uexe, pey AH ‘Q[OY a4} WOT, 10 0} poy SyoRs] ON ‘poivedde ysnf{ ATJUeptAe pey jeddinbs oy,], “LIXH MONS V—§ Sano MOYS “L WoyILM fq o10yYd "MOLING JIX9 94} JO sdUBIYU 9Y} 4B I9ABOS}VYM YATP YSOOT OU SI dO} JVYY JOVJ OYA OF SJUNOdIB [IOS ay} Jo [esodsip SIU ‘“UleIp dy} UT 4I Jo Jued eB SoUMTJEWIOS puB ‘MOLING 4Ix9 BY} JO W040q ayy UL pede]d SI peAOUWLI [IOS ey, “e[OY ey Jo espe AxeM 9yy Aq UMOYS SI se “ynoO AVM StIy Surysnd ATjBuy ‘1011e4X9 oY} 04 [IOS voejAIns yoRlq ey} Ysnosyy AVM SITY 4 Ssip ‘Sulids 04} Ul [Jed UOTJVUIEqIY GY} AVE] OF SOYSIM oY USYM ‘JelINbs oy], ‘\LIXd AHL? Yano TOP BOTTOM FicurE 6.—THE HIBERNATION NEST (Vertical Section). The hibernation nest is made of straw or grass; usually the material nearest at hand, although preference seems to be given to wild bunch grass, ‘The nest in the photograph is as it was left by the squirrel when he came out of hibernation, the earth being carefully cut away from one side. Photo by William T. Shaw March, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 59 SEALED HIBERNATION DEN (CITELL DS COLUMBIANUS) FIGURE 7.—THE CLOSING-IN PLUG. This structure placed in the hibernation den as a last act before going into exstivation is tamped in, layer after layer —in this case for over two feet—until the den is (Original). securely sealed. up either between ridges or on the side of a potato ridge. THE HIBERNATING CELL.—The hibernation cell itself is the circular cavity in the hibernation den in which the nest is placed and in which the squir- rel remains during the time of his comatose condi- tion. In shape it is almost a perfect sphere (Fig. 8). The average size in inches of 42 of these hiber- nation cells was: Height, 8.4; front to back, 8.8; width, 8.3. The smallest hibernation cell measured: Height, 5.5; front to back, 6.25; width, 5.25. This den contained a small female weighing 275 grams. The largest hibernation cell measured: Height, 11; front to back, 10.5; width 11 inches. : From this den a large male weighing 615 grams was taken. THE NECK OF THE HIBERNATION CELL.—The neck of the hibernation cell is the short burrow connecting the cell with. the other burrows of the den. It is usually of the same diameter as the other burrows, 3.5 inches, and of varying lengths. DRAIN S It generally leads up towards the cell, which would seem a provision against flooding (Figs. 1, 8). During the entire study twenty-one measure- ments were taken of the necks of hibernation cells, resulting in giving, as the average length of the neck of the cell, 4.3 inches. The shortest being practically no neck, and the longest being 21 inches. THE SAUCER.—In the bottom of each cell was a dish or saucer of varying depths. This depression, which was simply the lower part of the curved surface of the cell, holds a dust mulch upon which the soft inner material of the nest rests. This mulch protects the animal from moisture (Fig. 1). In the saucers of 17 hibernation cells measured the average depth was 2 inches, the shallowest .7 inches and the deepest 3.5 inches. THE DRAIN.—One of the most remarkable structures of the hibernation den is the drain, shown typically in Fig. 1, 6. It is undoubtedly constructed for the purpose of keeping water from entering the nest, and is frequently omitted, as a special structure, when the den is on a side hill where drainage is met in another way. 60 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST The average length of the drain of 21 hiberna- tion dens measured was 3 feet 5 inches, the short- est 7 inches and the longest 7 feet 9 inches. The average depth from the surface of the ground to the deepest point of the drain of 24 dens measured was 4 feet 1 inch. The deepest drain was 5 feet 6 inches and the shallowest, 2 feet 4 inches. In this latter case, the den was on thin soil, only 35 inches to rock. The diameter of the burrow was 3.5 inches to expansions of 5, 7, and 9 inches. Another function for the drain, aside from the protection afforded against moisture, is in the use to which it is sometimes put as a place into which the dirt from the exit shaft is packed. Frequently we find this earth in the drain after the squirrel has opened his den. It is also found in the bottom of the exit shaft. 4-2" josbahe I SURFACE OF GROUND [VoL. XX XIX THE CLOSING-IN PLUG.—By the closing-in plug we mean a plug of earth several inches long placed in the burrow leading to the outside at the time of going into estivation. The plug is made of earth probably taken from the drain and tamped firmly into place by the squirrel, using his nose in the operation. When ready for estivation the squirrel closed its den against all intruders found inhabiting its summer den during the winter, such as crickets, spiders, salamanders, toads, pocket gophers and cottontails. This is done with the closing-in plug and must of necessity be done from the in- side of the hibernation den, as a last act. This plug was first noted in the closed hibernation den, as in Fig. 7. It was noticed then that it was made of new dry earth, of late summer, the nose CLOSING-IN PLUG SEALED HIBERNATION DEN (CITELLUS COLUM BIANUS) FIGURE 8.—A CLOSED HIBERNATION DEN. This is the den shown in photograph in Figure 9, showing the relative depths of the cell and drain. (Original). March, 1925] prints being much less. distinct than they were in plugs made of moist earth of spring. An interesting speculation has suggested itself as to how and where the squirrel gets the earth with which to plug the hole after it is inside the hibernation den. In the first place the hole is plugged from the inside, as is shown by the curves in the saucers, concave inside. Then the squirrel must have the nest inside before it closes the hole. The only place for it to come from is the drain or the beginning of the exit shaft. In the drain it gets damper soil than it would by digging higher up, and this soil would pack better. In the majority of cases of dens examined we have found that the earth found in the closing-in plug had been taken from the drain, as the soil was the same. The question naturally arises, do they inhabit the same cell year after year? If so, they must enlarge the length of the drain or dig new branches CHARLES EUSEBE DIONNE Born July 11, 1845 Died January 25, 1925 In the death of C. E. Dionne, which occurred on January 25, 1925, the world of natural science lost one of its finest personalities. Almost un- known, and humble as all true scientists are, he progressed and became, by dint of effort, persever- ance and courage, one of the leading ornithologists of his country. His death is a severe loss to scientific societies and to sportsmen, but especially to Laval Univer- sity, where his place will be difficult to fill. Charles Eusebe Dionne, son of Pascal Eusebe Dionne and Emilie (Lavoie) Dionne, was born on July 11, 1845, at St. Denis, Kamouraska County, Quebec. His father was a farmer of limited means. As a boy he attended, not too regularly, the parochial school at St. Denis, until he reached the age of 11. When very young, he loved to wander through woods and fields and along the shores; his interest in things relating to natural history, such as plants, insects, and birds, was being developed through contact with nature itself. He was especially attracted by groves and by a certain swamp behind his father’s house, in which he used to see the Maryland Yellow-throat, a bird which particularly attracted his attention as a beginner. When he left school, he remained on the paternal farm till he reached the age of 15. A little later he went to school again for two different periods, THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 61 in the drain or else resort to plugging in some form, or use the black dirt thrown in the drain from the exit burrow. This would give us a vague idea as to the age of the den. Of course, in the case of a young squirrel’s den, in which the drain is already provided, the earth for closing the entrance must be taken from some other part of the old reconstructed summer den. On July 24, a large squirrel which had been trapped recently and enclosed in one of the cages of the hibernation cellar in the hibernation cabin showed indications of following his wild instinct by stopping up the cracks in his box as if getting ready to go into estivation. This was commonly done by the Townsend squirrels in captivity. Not only would they close the entrance and all cracks for hibernation, but very frequently they would close the door to their box each night, during the periods of activity. (To be concluded) totalling thirteen months. The teacher, Mr. Guillaume Robichaud, taught a special class of two pupils, to which, as a favor, young Dionne was admitted, but as a listener only, he not being given the right to put any questions. Soon, how- ever, the teacher noticed his application as well as his eager desire for learning, so that he treated him just as he did the other pupils. His progress was so remarkable that one day Mr. Robichaud, referring to him, said, “See young Dionne; he has learned in thirteen months what most of the others require four years to learn.” This special class furnished him an opportunity of seeing for the first time a treatise on natural history. Having seen the coveted book on a shelf and being too timid to ask for it, he had recourse to a stratagem to snatch it, study it, and replace it as it was. Shortly afterward, the teacher, hav- ing discovered his doings, amicably reproached him for his timidity and placed the book at his disposal. Dionne read and reread the volume and copied all the figures therefrom. One of his brothers was an employee at the Quebec Seminary and Charles decided to join him and on January 19, 1865, he was appointed a campus employee at a salary of $4.00 per month plus room and board with the students. But after the fire of March, 1865, he was given work in the kitchen. There was then a museum at Laval University (closely associated with the Seminary), but rigid 62 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST rules forbade all employees to enter it. Young Dionne did not even know that it existed. In September, 1866, he was appointed apparitor in the Faculty of Law of Laval University and was also given work in the library. In such proximity to the museum Dionne became aware of its exist- tence. He also began his botanical studies by means of books from the library. His first author was Buffon. The following year saw the begin- ning of his collection of birds. His collection of insects was also commenced about that time, with the encouragement and advice of Mgr. Hamel. The only time which he could devote to his study and the work of forming his collections was that after the close of his day’s work as an em- ployee and what he could spare at lunch time and he almost had to hide to use even these hours in his favorite way, for fear of ridicule from his fellow-employees. The Rector, Mgr. Hamel, took much interest in his studies and would periodically come and chat with him, observe his progress and encourage him. Abbé Laverdiere, just before he died, strongly recommended that the authorities of the Seminary should help young Dionne and facilitate his studies by giving him the necessary freedom of action. About 1867, he attended an evening course of instruction given by Mr. Cloutier at the old Normal School. He found it difficult at first to obtain permission, as this class ended too late in the evening to allow him to return to the Seminary building before the closing of the doors at 8.45 p.m. Far from being discouraged by the Proctor’s refusals, he submitted his request to the Rector, Abbé (later Cardinal) Taschereau, who not only granted his-wish, but gave orders that a door should be left open every night until his return. The following year he was able to continue his evening course at the Brothers’ Academy, under the direction of Abbé (later Mgr.) Gauvreau. On May 6, 1876, he married Marie Emilie Pelletier. In 1882 he was appointed Curator of the Mu- seum of Laval University. At that date the Museum contained but a small fraction of its present wealth, and most of the specmens in it were neither named nor classified. Mr. Dionne’s first ambition was to establish order. Single- handed, he accomplished this task so well that it will always remain the most worthy monument to his memory; a monument full of precious lessons for the information of generations to come. The board of directors of that period had truly made a happy choice in appointing Mr. Dionne as Curator. All of Mr. Dionne’s outings were devoted to collecting; he would visit the woods in the vicinity [VoL. XX XIX of Quebec, such as those at Sillery, Charlesbourg, and around Chateau Bigot, as well as the shores at St. Denis, Riviere Ouelle, and Chateau Richer. Unfortunately, the time at his disposal was very limited and holidays were few. A determination such as his, coupled with a decided love of his work, alone explains his persistence in following his favorite studies notwithstanding the difficulties imposed by chance and circumstances. “In spite of that’’, he would say, a short time before his death, “‘if I were to start all over again, and if I saw in advance all the obstacles which I had to conquer, I would not hesitate to choose the same path.” ‘In 1889 he collected at St. Denis specimens of the Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Passerherbulus nelsoni subvirgatus), which had recently been des- cribed by Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., of New York, from specimens obtained in the Maritime Pro- vinees. Soon afterward Mr. Dionne published his records of this bird in his Catalogue annoté des oiseaux de la Province de Québec. Some time later Dr. Dwight, who had read this publication, sought for the Sparrow in question in various marshes along the St. Lawrence (but not at St. Denis) but without success.* So he went incognito to see Mr. Dionneand questioned himconeerning the bird. This disclosed his identity, since no one but Dr. Dwight could put such questions. Mr. Dionne’s specimens were therefore shown and his identifi- cation confirmed. Dr. Dwight has keld him in high esteem ever since. Mr. Dionne learned taxidermy from books, but, as a result of his constant striving for improve- ment and his observation of nature itself, he found methods that were often more efficient and prac- tical than those previously employed. In spite of a great loss sustained in a fire in 1917, Mr. Dionne’s private collections are very valuable. Space does not permit of mentioning them in detail here, but they include, besides birds and mammals, butterflies and other insects, as well as a herbarium. Mr. Dionne’s main travels are the following: In 1882 he was invited to take part in an expedi- tion to the lower St. Lawrence on board the Druid in company with Mr. J. U. Gregory, an agent for the Canadian Department of Marine. The object of the excursion was to make certain studies and observations on game. He went to Chicago in 1893 and attended the opening of the Field Museum. In 1900 he visited the American Museum of Natural History, at New York. During a trip to Europe in 1912 he visited the Jardin des Plantes, the Musée d’His- toire Naturelle and the Musée d’Anatomie, at Paris, and the British Museum, at London. *Dr. Dwight states that he obtained specimens at Riviére- du-Loup, about 31 miles down stream from St. Denis.—Hditor. March, 1925] Besides various scattered notes and articles in scientific periodicals he published the following works: Les Oiseaux du Canada, Catalogue Annoté des Oiseaux de la Province de Québec, Les Mammi- féres de la Province de Québec, Les Oiseaux de la Province de Québec, Les Araignées. All of these works are recognized authorities in their respective fields. A Master of Arts, he was made a Doctor of Science a few days before his death, at the com- pletion of sixty years spent by him in the service of Laval University. He was a member of the National Geographic Society and had been an Associate of the American Ornithologists’ Union since 1893. He was one of the founders of. the Provancher Society of Natural History. His field of action was not limited to the fauna THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 63 of his own country; in fact, he made, with scien- tists of all countries, thousands of exchanges of specimens of insects, bird skins, and plants, thus helping greatly to make our national treasures of natural history known in foreign lands. An amateur inquiring for information or bring- ing specimens for his inspection was sure to receive every possible assistance, given in the kindest and most gracious manner. In this excellent fashion Mr. Dionne popularized natural history among the people of his province. Dr. C. E. Dionne was assuredly not a closet- naturalist and his knowledge was not merely book knowledge, for he studied from nature’s great open book.—D. A. D. , (The above memorial notice was furnished by the Provancher Society of Natural History.) NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS A DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORD FOR BREWER’S BLACKBIRD (Euphagus cyanocephalus).—Recently ‘a specimen of Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) was presented to the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology by Mrs. Mundy, formerly of Toronto, who had recently returned from the north, where her husband was stationed with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The specimen was shot at Baker Lake, Provisional District of Keewatin. Baker Lake lies about at the intersection of 64° N. latitude and 96° W. longitude, up Chesterfield Inlet from Hudson Bay. The northern and northeastern boundaries of the range of Huphagus cyanocephalus are des- cribed in the 1910 edition of the A.O.U. Check-List as follows: Western North America. Breeds from British Columbia, Athabasca Landing, Alberta, and southwestern Keewatin. . The present record is about 600 miles north by east of this delineation. The information accompanying the specimen states that the bird was shot in November, 1923. The natives, speaking in a way to suggest that they knew the species, informed Mrs. Mundy that this bird was a female. The coloration, however, is that of a male. From the information at hand it is impossible to judge as to the frequency of occurrence of Brewer’s Blackbird in this area.—L. L. SNYDER. THE RECORDING OF ACCLIMATIZALION E:XPERI- MENTS.—For many years individuals, associations of one kind or another, and Departments of Gey- ernments have brought into Canada from else- where, or transferred from one part of Canada to another, various kinds of mammals, birds, and other living things, thus making possible perma- nent changes in fauna and flora should the newly- placed living creature happen to succeed in its new environment. The history of such accli- matization experiments is well known in some instances, as, for example, those of the House Sparrow and the Starling, and the recording of the effects of these birds on other iife, and of their success in this continent still goes on. More often than not the details of experiments of this kind have not been published at all, or else they have been recorded in such a way that they are not permanently available to naturalists and others who might be interested in them, and who might profit by the experience gained in each such experiment. In addition to publicity that is given to acclimatization experiments through the daily press and through Government reports it is thought to be desirable to have a brief report of each experiment, whether successful or otherwise, published in a Natural History Periodical, where the account will be permanently available to naturalists who are concerned, or who may be concerned in the future. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club gave attention to this subject recently and, as a result, each Provincial Game Department received a communication from the Club in which the im- portance of such records of acclimatization was discussed, and in which attention was called to the publication of the Club as being available for recording important acclimatization incidents. For those who may not be familiar with reporting items of this kind I would suggest that Mr. F. Bradshaw’s article entitled The Hungarian or European Grey Partridge which will be found in The Canadian Field-Naturalist for May, 1922, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 91-2 be used as a model. In report- ing each introduction the date should be recorded as being of very special importance. 64 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST For my part I propose recording at once as many of these acclimatization experiments relating to mammals and birds as possible. If anyone has unpublished data on the subject, I would suggest that they be prepared for publication in The Naturalist. The history of some species which may become acclimated in the country, or in some new part of it, may be incomplete without the data that may be available now, but lost to- morrow. The question of recording acclimatization data in other fields is worthy of the attention of botan- ists, ichthyologists, herpetologists, entomologists, foresters, and others, in my humble opinion, although, naturally, they may have done much more along these lines than I know.—HoyEs LLoyD. RECORD OF THE SOOTY TERN FOR NOVA SCOTIA. —The hurricane of the 26th of August, 1924, was responsible for a number of rare and unusual occurrences along the coast of Nova Scotia. On the 28th, at a point several miles inland from the Bay of Fundy and near the town of Wolfville, [VoL. XX XIX King’s County, a beautiful specimen of the Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata) was picked up dead and brought to the writer, in the flesh. On examina- tion this proved to be a female and was much emaciated, apparently having died from starva- tion. The bird was mounted and subsequently pre- sented to the Curator of the Provincial Museum at Halifax. As far as can be determined this is the first record of the Sooty Tern for Canada.— R. W. TurtTs. AN OBSERVATION OF WINTER CROwWS.—While skiing on the Rideau Canal near Hog’s Back, in the vicinity of Ottawa, on January 18, 1925, I witnessed what I considered to be a very unusual sight at that season—a long flight of Crows. This flight passed in a westerly direction for at least an hour and consisted, I judged, of many hundreds of birds. The Crows flew in an irregu- lar, straggling line, containing groups, large and small, as well as single birds. One group con- sisted of 47 birds —PEARL MCGAHEY. BOOK REVIEW MUSEUM GUIDES GENERALGUIDE TO THE HALL OF PALAEONTOLOGY, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CANADA, Ottawa, 1924. A Fossit FLowerR: by B. EH. Dahlgren, Field Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, Leaflet Number 5, Chicago, 1924. Guide books to natural history museums might be roughly classified into two groups—those written for the use of the man in the street, and those planned for the instruction and guidance of the student and the scientific specialist. The elaborate and excellent guide books issued by the British Museum represent the latter type at the high-water mark of excellence. A typical example of the primer type of museum guide has recently appeared under the caption of General Guide to the Hall of Palaeontology, National Museum of Canada. The size and scope of this little three-page folded leaflet adapt it to free dis- tribution. The author has evidently had in mind while writing this leaflet guide the 98 per cent of museum visitors who could not even give an intelligent definition of the word Palaeontology. A generalized section of the earth’s crust with the nomenclature which a century and a half of earth study has developed for its subdivisions is shown on one side of the folded leaflet. The other side presents some of the simpler concepts of strati- graphic palaeontology and refers briefly to the significance of the more important exhibits in the hall. It is refreshing to see a return on this little guide book to the use of the name National Museum in place of Victoria Memorial Museum—the name of the building in which the National Museum collec- tions are housed. The need of a National Museum in Ottawa as in other capitals was urged in a half- page article in The Citizen as long ago as 1883. The frequent use of Victoria Memorial Museum as the official title of the Museum has led to numerous misconceptions on the part of the public concerning the status of the National Museum. This unfortunate name has helped greatly to con- ceal from the people of Canada the fact that the museum in Ottawa belongs to and represents the whole of Canada in the same sense that the British Museum represents Great Britain and the U.S. National Museum the United States. A museum guide booklet recently published by the Field Museum, Chicago, displays a happy solution of the difficult problem of conveying to the general public in an entertaining way much important palaeobotanical information without becoming too technical to frighten away the lay reader. A Fossil Flower is the arresting title which appears on the cover of this booklet. Fossil flowers are even more rare than the forests of “solid stone, so hard that they shivered to pieces the finest-tempered axes .. . ’’ which Sinbad and his companion encountered according to The Thousand-and-second Tale of Scheherazade. So many a browsing reader will no doubt feel con- strained to read the pages with this unusual label. March, 1925] We learn from this very handsomely printed booklet that flowers, in which even the pollen grains are perfectly preserved, have been found in the beautifully fossilized eycads which occur in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The area where the finest of the flower-bearing cycads have been found has recently been set aside by an act of the United States Government establishing the Cycad National Monument. It is due primarily to the foresight and initiative of Dr. Wieland, of Yale University, that this very remarkable locality has been made safe for posterity. His intensive study of the splendidly preserved cycad trunks resulted in the discovery of the perfect flowers which some of them enclose. Cycad flowers were probably blooming on the edge of the Dakota deserts away back in the days when the dinosaurs now exhibited in the National Museum at Ottawa were wading about in the marshes of central Alberta. These oldest known flowers are preserved in the sides of curious globular or bulbous thick-stemmed fossils which are known to miners and quarry workmen as fossil hives, wasps’ nests, or crows’ nests. They are related to the sago palms now living in the tropics. Excellent illustrations of the curious branched stamens of the models of the fossil cyead flowers in the Field Museum of Natural History embellish the pages of this in- structive little booklet, which admirably presents in brief form some of the more essential facts about fossil cyecads.—H.. M. K. THE CULTIVATION OF NEW ZEALAND PLANTS.— By L. Cockayne, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.N.Z. Inst., F.R.S., Hon. Botanist State Forest Service, N.Z.; Corresponding Member Horticultural Society of Massachusetts, U.S.A.; Author of “New Zealand Plants and Their Story’’, “The Vegetation of New Zealand’, etc. (Whit- combe & Tombs Ltd., Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington, N.Z.; Melbourne and London). Price 4/6. Dr. L. Cockayne has given, in a very concise and instructive form, the result of his personal experience of thirty-five years in the cultivation of the native plants of New Zealand. The number of plants treated exceeds eight hundred. The “habitat” or place of dwelling, as Dr. Cockayne calls it, has been given special attention. There are twenty-four well-reproduced photographs; a map, and, as frontispiece, a beautiful reproduction of the Crimson Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium var. Nichollsit). The book deals with the methods of procuring and cultivating the plants; and has chapters on trees, shrubs, herbs and climbing plants suitable for gardens, as well as on ferns for the open garden, on plants for decorating the home, native THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 65 plants for school grounds and children’s gardens, and native plants for town gardening. Dr. Cockayne is to be congratulated on the delightfully interesting way in which he has pre- sented a wealth of valuable first-hand information and Messrs. Whitcombe & Tombs for putting out the book in such good form at a price that will commend itself to the public. There are three short paragraphs that I should like to quote from the author’s introduction: “Though the wild New Zealand plants live in all kinds of situations, and thrive under condi- tions unknown in gardens, it must not be thought that the majority are not amenable to cultivation. Quite the contrary is the case; by far the greater number yield to the gardeners’ skill; only a small minority refuse to change their abode. Yet there is a deep-seated convic- tion to the contrary, notwithstanding the fact, as will be seen, that many species have been cultivated for years. “New Zealanders, as a whole, love their plants. The bush is a delight to thousands, with its multitude of ferns, its stately trees with ropes of lianas depending frem their massive boughs, its white clematis, and its scarlet ratas. So, too, the lovely alpine flowers are a joy to those more venturesome who climb the lofty mountains. In short, many would willingly cultivate the plants of their country, but they are deterred by the reputed difficulty. “Nor is this all, our flower-gardening is, in large measure, an imitation of that of the Motherland, although here the capabilities for open-air horticulture are far wider, and plant after plant, not hardy in Great Britain, can he readily grown. Thus our gardens should surely possess a peculiar stamp of their own, and a national horticulture come into being, with not —only a rich exotic garden flora, but one where New Zealand plants themselves would play no inconsiderable part.” The writer of this review has the pleasure of knowing the stimulating and vital personality of the author of this book, and can only wish that Canada may develop a Cockayne to exploit and extol the possibilities of her native plants, many of which are equally as beautiful and interesting as those of the sister Dominion of the South.— R. Bead. THE . MASCOUTENS OR PRAIRIE POTAWATOMI INDIANS, Part 1, Social Life and Ceremonies, by Alanson Skinner. Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, Vol. 6, Pp. 1-262, Plates 1-8, Figs. 1-2. Nov. 10, 1924, Milwaukee, Wis. Price $2.00. It is unfortunate that the first impression of this 66 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST book should be one of wonder and dismay. The author has jumped at once in medias res and carries the reader quite off his feet. In the introductory chapter he writes of so many things other than his subject and draws so many comparisons that the general reader, unacquainted with the ethnology of the Central Algonkian peoples, can gain but little information. In the first place it is very difficult to gather from the text where the Mas- coutens live or lived. It is only by rather laborious investigation that one discovers that these people are to be found at present on a reservation at Mayetta, Kansas, in central Oklahoma, at Arpin, Wisconsin, and in Old Mexico. One paragraph in the introduction is, however, of interest, as it gives us some light upon the origin of the Mascoutens. It runs as follows: “All the tribes in question (the Potawatomi?) have many traits of ethnology, and some even of actual tradition linking them with the Algonkians of the Middle Atlantic, and even of the New Eng- land sea-coast. The Mascoutens are not lacking in this respect. They tell us in their legends that they came into the world near the sea, and close to the habitations of their ‘Grandfathers, the Delawares’. Their religion, no matter how dis- guised, still harks back to those archaic eastern Algonkian manitous, Fire, Water, and the Sea, with the gods of the four cardinal points and the great controlling deity, the Great Spirit.” The bulk of the volume is taken up with des- criptions of social rites, with lists of social groups, and with the myths of origin of the various clans and functions found in the social organization of the Mascouten people. It is noticeable that the accounts of ceremonies and the translations of myths are rendered in a very free and pleasing manner. The usual constant repetition cf native words is entirely absent, and this makes the body of the book pleasant and easy toread. Any out- line of the material in the text would be a rather lengthy undertaking and would, moreover, be un- intelligible except to students of ethnology. The whole book is a work of reference and as such it is obviously useful, but for the general reader it is rather too special and not explicit enough. Another noteable feature is the absence of any conclusion. The last sentence is part of the description of a ceremony. This leaves the reader wondering if the auther has formed no conclusions from his research or whether he is reserving their presentation for the conclusion of the whole series, for the sub-title tells us that this is only the first volume of a number. As a piece of bookmaking, the volume comes up to the high standard of the Milwaukee Museum publications, both in the typography and in the excellence of the illustrations.—G. E. R. [VoL. XXXIX THE AUK, 1924 This volume opens with an important article— A CONTRIBUTION TO THE LIFE HISTORY AND ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE SCREECH OWL (Otus Asio). By A. A. Allen, plates I-V, pp. 1-16. This provides much food for thought for con- servationists of both the “hands-off” and the ““vermin-control” schools. In June-July, 1921, at Ithaca, New York, Dr. Allen made a detailed and accurate study of the food consumed by a brood of Screech Owls during the final six weeks of their nest life. The results are rather surprising to those who advocate the leaving of nature to find its own balance, irrespective of where the level may come. During this six weeks 77 small birds, not predominantly juveniles, were known to have been brought to the young and the débris in the nest hole produced recognizable remains of many more from previous feedings. The total score for this brood was at least one hundred birds, and probably substantially more. The amount of insect, small mammal and other food was insignifi- cant and could in no way compensate for the destruction of the insectivorous birds consumed. Even more surprising than the unexpected harmfulness of these birds was the small apparent effect it had on the local resident bird life. Though it is assumed that most of the birds were taken in or near the small four-acre home grounds sanc- tuary, the bird population within it was not reduced appreciably. The 42 nesting pairs of birds in this area were all known and watched. Often one of a pair would be missing coincidently with the appearance of a similar bird in the Owls’ menu, but new mates usually took the places of such birds almost immediately. Indeed it seems as if there were an abundance of unattached birds ready for just such opportunities. Unless the second parent disappeared before it could remate, the semi-orphaned brood had very good chances for survival. A census of the sanctuary the following year showed a slight increase in bird population rather than a decrease, in spite of the fact that a number of birds in excess of the whole adult population of the area was known to have been eaten. The conclusions which may be drawn from this evidence are conflicting, but a great doubt is raised as to the expediency of permitting Screech Owls in areas where other birds are especially desired. CRITERIA FOR THE DETERMINATION OF SUBSPECIES IN SYSTEMATIC ORNITHOLOGY. By Frank M. Chapman, pp. 17-18. Dr. Chapman acknowledges the propriety of the use of intergradation as a test for subspecific status but advocates freedom in the application of March, 1925] the principle; and urges that in cases where inter- gradation is difficult or impossible to demonstrate, _ collateral evidence should be used and each case treated according to its own merits. This is a proposal that we heartily approve. DIVING OF GREBES AND Loons. By Chas. W. Townsend, pp. 29-41. Apropos of a paper on the use of wings and feet under water, Dr. Townsend collects an amount of evidence and concludes that the use of feet alone is the most efficient method of avian submarine propulsion, and that the use of both wings and feet is a primitive method of progression and still indulged in by young birds and by old ones when frightened or wounded. THE FORTY-FIRST STATED MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. By T. S..Palmer, pp. 122-134. The meeting was held at Cambridge, Mass., October 8-12, 1923. There was a good attendance and an interesting programme of papers was presented. Four representatives from Canada, three Fellows and one Associate, were present. J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, was elected to the Council. Dr. Chas. W. Townsend, well known to the readers of The Naturalist, was elected to the single vacant Fellowship. 173 Associates were elected. THE SONGS oF LEACH’S PETREL. Townsend, pp. 148-149. A description of the weird night song of the species as heard near Grand Manan, New Bruns- wick, July and August, 1923. NOTE ON THE CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo). By Chas. W. Townsend, p. 150. Reporting the occurrence of this species near Grand Manan, New Brunswick, in the winter of 1923, and the supposition that it breeds nearby. On a trip to the vicinity in question, on July 25, - 1923, Common Cormorants were recognized among By Chas. W. individuals of undeterminable species, but no nests were found. , LEWIS’S WOODPECKER VISITS CHICAGO. By Ash- ley Hine, pp. 156-157. Mr. Hine, late of Edmonton, Alta., now of the Field Museum, Chicago, reports the occurrence of this western species at Chicago. FURTHER NOTES ON THE STARLING IN CANADA. ~ By Henry Mousley, pp. 158-159. Referring to Harrison Lewis’s record of the Starling on the Canadian Labrador coast and adding data on late occurrence near Hatley, P.Q. The Starling is evidently firmly established in Canada now. THE LARK SPARROW (Chondestes g. grammacus) IN NEW BRUNSWICK. By Chas. Ww. Town- send, p. 160. ever dias the capture of a specimen on Grind : THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 67 Manan, New Brunswick, August 13, 1923, and its deposition in the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. Under Recent Literature we note— A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE BIRD LIFE OF NortH Dakota. By Norman A. Wood, University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology, Miscellaneous Publication No. 10, Ann Arbor, Mich., July 2, 1923. A well annotated and careful list of 96 pages. This should be of interest and value to ornitholo- gical observers in adjoining parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. LocAL NAMES OF MIGRATORY GAME BIRDS. By W. L. McAtee, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Circular No. 138. October 13, 1923. pp. 1-95, with 52 text figures. Price 20 cents. Supt. Documents, Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D.C. This is interesting as showing how many and what strange names have been applied to various birds of interest to the sportsman. It is a con- lusive argument for the necessity of scientific and officially accepted common names. NOTES ON SPRING BIRD MIGRATION oF 1914 AT ANTIGONISH, Nova Scotia. By Harrison F. Lewis. Trans. N.S. Inst. Science. XV, Part 2, pp. 119-128. June 30, 1923. An annotated list of larger scope than its title indicates, by our own chief editor. A COLLECTING EXPEDITION TO BONAVENTURE ISLAND, QUEBEC. By George Shrosbree. Year- book Milwaukee Public Museum, 1922, 22D: 22-LT. A beautifully illustrated popular account. THE DESTRUCTION OF WATERFOWL IN THE WEST. By Allan Brooks. American Forestry, October, 1923. An account of the deadly conditions on some of the alkaline lakes of the west, illustrated by photo- graphs. . Wm. C. Adams, Director, Division of Fisheries and Game, Massachusetts Department of Con- servation, writes a letter in comment on and approval of Dr. A. K. Fisher’s Statement Regard- ing Scientific Collecting in the July issue of the Bulletin of the American Game Protective and Propagation Association. The subject “is very important both from the standpoint of the develop- ment of science and from that of its practical application to conservation. It is the latter aspect that the writer stresses. It would be well if this letter could be given wide circulation and had we space we would quote it liberally. Mr. Adams - recognizes the importance of scientific information as a basis for measures of protection and con- ~ servation ‘and the necessity for the collecting of specimens in obtaining it. He deplores the fact 68 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST that enough naturalists are not being trained and that obstacles are thrown in the way of their development by certain short-sighted protection policies. His criticism of the ornithologist is not that he collects specimens but that he has not generally worked in closer contact with regular game com- missions and authorities. In this we think Mr. - Adams is confusing cause and effect. The reason for the lack of co-ordination between naturalist and game warden has usually been the disregard by the latter for the information the former had to offer. Game guardianships have been filled many times by men of good intentions, but it has been seldom that such appointees have had any special knowledge of the animals they were en- deavoring to protect or realized that the naturalist had anything of value to offer. The naturalist, especially the ornithologist, has been more often the object of persecution by game officials than of encouragement. It is certain that once regularly constituted game protection authorities show a desire for exact information the naturalist is will- ing to assist, as has been demonstrated wherever that enlightened policy has been followed. To- day, the biggest and most successful influences for the protection of wild life, such as the Audubon Societies, the United States Biological Survey, the various anti-millinery plumage bills; the inter- national Migratory Birds Convention, and others have been conceived and inaugurated by the speci- men-collecting ornithologist. Mr. Adams makes a plea for scientific assistance in studying the cause or causes of the periodic rise and fall in abundance of the Grouse. It may be said that in response to or coincident with this appeal two such investigations are being undertaken under able scientific ornithological direction. One in the State of New York with the Ruffed Grouse as the object of study; the other in Florida for the study of the Bob-White. When results are obtained, they will probably be of great value to the whole country, where similar problems have to be faced without exact data for their solution. An editorial on p. 202 discusses a campaign recently inaugurated against the Crow by a well known powder company. The Editor is strongly condemnatory. Whether it is wise to entrust vermin control to commercial concerns or whether it is expedient to encourage irresponsible persons to carry guns in the field during the close seasons with the ostensible excuse of killing Crows is [VoL. XXXIX largely a question of administrative policy. That the Crow has increased in some localities so as to introduce a serious factor against the welfare of resident species can hardly be doubted. That the guardedly approving findings of a recent investiga- tion of the economic influence of the Crow dis- regard entirely its egg-eating activities is admitted. That as a species it is well able to take care of itself and is in not the slightest danger of exter- mination under even the persistent persecution. practiced is evident. It is our view that there are many places where the number of Crows can be greatly reduced with benefit to the community but we are equally uncertain as to the best means of accomplishing this end. We do not approve of government bounties at all; they are expensive, inefficient and subject to abuse. It seems useless to hope for paid professional Crow shooters in the present mental and financial condition of the country. In the meanwhile it does not seem very dangerous that ammunition companies should interest local shooting clubs who have the most at stake, to undertake the work at their own expense. That the companies sell ammunition and the shooters make a game of it is not a valid excuse against it when the country in general profits by it and no better solution is at hand.— IP wArcan WHALE BARNACLES.—It is a familiar matter to one who explores the seashore to find plant or animal attached to plant or animal in the most bewildering fashion, particularly in the case of the plants and the more sluggish animals. Usually, however, the vertebrates are free from incommod- © ing overgrowths by other forms. The hump-back whales are an exception, and not infreqeuntly they are found conspicuously dotted with the large whale barnacles. This occurs on both our Atlantic and our Pacific coasts. On the latter the ordinary whale barnacles are frequently accompanied by a stalked kind of soft consistency. These two, Coronula diadema and Conchoderma auritum, have been known for centuries, and were included by Linnaeus in his System of Nature. Nevertheless, descriptions, even of the external parts, of these forms have been but incomplete. I. E. Cornwall has recently (Proc. Calif. Acad. Sc., Vol. XIII, No. 26, November, 1924) given many new details accompanied by figures and photographs: The pecimens were supplied him by Gaptain J. E. Gilmore, of Cachelot, B.C.—A. G. H. Sweet Canada Eleven Bird Songs and a Round by Louise Murphy Author of ‘‘A Little Book of Bird Songs, Rhymes and Tunes fer Tiny Tots”’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto Ee C. Smith & Bro. Typeuriter': 2 Ball bearings in every frictional part of > the L. C. Smith insure long life, light § touch and easy operation > Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited - 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Systems for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes Lowe-Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A Pe D> 0D 0 GE 0 GD 0-0 ED 0 SSD 0-0-0 SD 0-C - ' The Crabtree Co. | Artists and Designers BLUEPRINTERS ENGRAVERS COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS s PHO TF 0 LITHOGRAPHERS Ottawa, Ont. Le nn ee ee ee ee Oe ES LE SS ae OEE O =D 0 ED 0D 0 ED 0 ED 0 ED 0-0 00. 0-0 0 0 0 0-0. —— —_ SS _—_ SSS ES EB CO AL eC: Ray Company G | BEST QUALITY G 46 Sparks St.—Phone Q. 461 | OTTAWA =) SSE SSS SSS SE LOWEST PRICES : | | : 228 Albert Street a | | = Geo. E. Preston & Sons MERCHANT TAILORS We make everything we sell and guarantee everything we sell 217-219 Rideau Street, Ottawa Dr. flack 6. Melis. Dentist to certain of the cognoscent1 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA Telephone Queen 2438 OSE eee ere eee Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers | CAPITAL RUBBER STAMP | Kindly mention The Canadia moccneouccscccacccsccencucccacsccceccenn ganasccsaaceccacecouccsorsscanssscess DISCS CDOT ES OSSCeDe hes cON se SOPOT EEE G ERED eS CEE CSP ROTGoUGGUOCEOREReAessoessaoesoueoRescossSRaaese Te pele Pec coecassossenecccbes so SeDEEDeEECOUdE TUS PDECeD SEES CET eEO ESO DEAESasaaesessoEanGuLasonDSS sae Rubber : Listing Your Specimens SS SK EXPLORATIONS in Western Canada The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club has just published an interesting vol- ume of over 300 pages, entitled: Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A. Canadian Explorer and Naturalist, Assistant Director and Naturalist to the Geological Survey of Canada—1831-1920. This volume is an account of the life of this veteran naturalist. Agriculturists generally, in fact al interested in the development of Canada, will find this book of much interest and value. The edition is limited. The price is $3.00 with 15c added for bank exchange, if remittance is forwarded by personal cheque. Applications for the volume should be made to Mr. Arthur Gibson Birks Building Stamps .6) The more consistent use of rubber stamps will materially assist you in cataloguing the collection of specimens you have spent so much time and trouble in securing. Let us help you. WORKS 175 NEPEAN STREET OTTAWA, CANADA Ottawa, ed onc toe son oso oso seo ane ose ece ees see aon eso seo bes ROAR RRR RRS RE OER E REESE TOOT OTS OERSR ATOR ERE COSESOEESCESESESORSESSOSSES -saeesaeneoseeeseee n Field-Naturalist to advertisers Many More are Wanted on the Subscription Lists The Membership Committee of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club is making a special effort to increase the subscription list of The Canadian Freld- Naturalist and we are asking every reader to assist in making the campaign the success it should be. eae ae We would particularly urge the Secretary of each Affiliated So- ciety to bring this matter up at EVERY meeting and secure as many subscribers as they pos- | sibly can to a Canadian Pub-- lication devoted to the study of Natural History in all its phases. SAN Lae ee, ee ee ee ee Use the blank below and forward : it to the Treasurer. ee ee CUT OFF HERE Mr. B. A. FAUVEL, Honorary Treasurer, Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 321 McLeod Street, — Ottawa, Canada. = Feet I enclose One Dollar and Fifty Cents } as my subscription to The Canadian | Field- Naturalist for one year. : AddrespithVis> AWAT ITO City and*Province._... = : - eo =. - j ~ _ . A a SS ee! Pee Ree nee ie Par Le, | ee ee ea . JRAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF _ MANITOBA eae US canvas '. W. JACKSON; President: J. J. GOLDEN;, . M. SpeEcHLY, A. M. Davipson, A. G y ; Mrs. C. E. BASTIN, MRS. ERSON General Secretary: A. A. McCousrpy, 307 t, Winnipeg, Man.; Executive Secretary: R. M. asurer: Miss HeLEN R. CaNnNnomM; ORNITH- sECTION:—Chairman: B. W. CARTWRIGHT; eee oer SECTION: VE: A. SHIRLEY "Miss GRACE Cisco CHOLOGICAL: SEC: airman: A. A. McCousrey; Secretary: J. M- SOCIETY : (Incorporated) ce-President: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- a D. Cook; Secretary-Treasurer: mee Hex “Public ices Hamilton; | Directors: G. -C. D. CooK; Dr. J. A. DicKSoN; MIss ME. ene Mass Dane R. _MILLs; M. Houton;: M. JOHNSTON; E. MacLocuiin; R R. O. MERRIMAN. ° cess, ion the ‘above Society = the year ending t, 1923, are as follows:— e-Presideni: C. C. PEMBERTON; Secretary: H. T. i ) “Road, Victoria, B.C. Treasurer: Miss IORNTON;, Commitiee:—Miss C. G. Fox, Miss A. F. k, Miss I. CATHCART, WM. DowNEs, A. HALKETT. one Watson AND F. W. ecto Trustees: — dent: ope. ‘Hy. Ganpen Victoria B.C.; Hon. Vice- President: Mr. J. J. GAnTZ, Red Deer; President: Mr. C. H. $1 BLL, Red Deer; ist Vice-President: Mr. G. C. S. CrosBy, eer; 2nd Vice-President: Mrs. W. A. ie Red ; "Hon. Sec. .-Treas.: Mrs. S. PAMELY, Red Deer; Direc- S. Crospy, Miss. E. C. IRvING, Mr. W. A. . K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Mr. B. LAWTON, ae RANDALL, Castor, Mr. F. L. eS . C. McCALLa, Bremner, and Mr. D. M. ings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the f each month except during July and August and 3 September. ‘The annual ee is ote in Red Deer ast Friday : in November. AITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, LONDON, ONT. Eos Pica aeoN: 562 Waterloo Street; Recording © Mr . H. McKong, Worthey Road; Correspond- easurer: EK. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St.; walified to answer questions: W. E. SAUNDERS, 240 - G. WATSON, ale Ridout St. South; J. R. fortley Road; J. F. CALVERT, 461 Tecumseh are ae Hyman St. ; 8. mine e D. » Pres. University of B C.; IHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- HD PERRY; Hon.: Secretary: C.F. Connor, M.A., ‘St., Vancouver, B.C. eetings in the University. Buildings from ‘Gnel e). Say excursions from sident: “Mr. Apam Brown; President: Mr. R. O > reside: W.N. KELLY; 1st Vice-President: A. R. SHERWOOD; _ S. PAMELY, Red Deer, Mrs. G. F. Roor, - Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Treasurer: A. H.- Affiliated Societies Ve PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. Hielciad I. GAMMEL; Hon. Vice-President: W.H. RosBB; President: McI. TERRILL; 1st. Vice-President: NAPIER SMITH; ond. ‘Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; Srd. Vice-President and Curator: Miss EB. G. LuKE; ee Secretary: Miss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. Hart, P.O. Box 1186. Montes P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY PMG Cne ‘Committee: Miss M : ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; Mr. AND Mrs. C. F. DALE; H. A. C. JACKSON; Miss E. Morrow: Miss L. MurPHy; A, MACSWEEN; G.S. Mooney; W. A. OswALD; L. McI’ SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR Wise; Members qualified to answer questions: LL. Mcl. TERR 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., ‘E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; C.N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEy, McGill Daiversitys ‘Montreal; HENRY MousLBy, 274 Girouard Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EpITH MorRROoW AND Miss EMILY LUKE, c-0 Secretary. SOCIETE PROVANCHER ee NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Président: Docrnur S. GAUDREAU; ler Bee Bierce ABBE A. VacHon, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. Bouton; Secrétaire-trésorier: Louis-B. Lavorm; Chef de la section scientifique: A.-A. GopBouT; Chef de la section de propaganda éducationelle: DoctEuR A. DERY; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d’information Scientifique et pratique: DOCTEUR J.-E. BERNIER; Directeure: R.-F. LINDSAY; JOS. MATTE; G.-S. AHERN. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO- GISTS’? UNION % . Officers for 1923 Hon. President: Hon. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: rons KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: L. THACKER, Hope; Secrelary-Treasurer: J. W. WINSON, aenieden Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. Ketso, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz, K. Racsgy, Vancouver; T. PHARSE, Courtenay; W.N. KELLY, Victoria. THE TORONTC FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: HORESSOR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidents: PROFESSOR E. ae ate Dr. A. CosENs, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. GREGORY, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. 7a BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. Nasu; Iibrarian: Dr. Lyman B. JAcKES. BIRD GROUP:— . Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B. SIFTON; Secretary: Miss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUWP:—Chairmanz PROFESSOR WALKER; Sceretary: Wee NorMA Forp, PH.D. MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DyMOND; Secretary: L. SNYDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: —Chairman: SHILLEY *LoGIER; Secretary:. T. B. KURATA. _-PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- ENS. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTER:— Chairman: RUSSELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL Soe - MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of this magazine. By securing every member as a subscriber we can truly make this magazine into one of the leading Natural History publications of America. PEPPERS F OR SALE Back Nambers of The Ottawa Naturalist The Club has for sale complete sets of its publications. Enquiries regarding price should be addressed to the Secretary of the Club, Dr. J. F. Wright, Geological Survey, Ottawa, Canada. : Any memes having copies or the March, 1896 January, February, March and August, 1898, ane December, 1900, issues of The Ottawa Naturalist. and who desires to dispose of the same, is request- ed to communicate with the Secretary. LERERRBR |. bE SSSSESESSSSSESSILIEFS SSS Grant-Holden- Graham Limited Outfitters to — 2g Surveyors & SS Manufacturers of peu & ane Bags WRITE FOR CATALOGUES WRITE FOR CATALOGUES High-Grade Tents “| + 147 Albert Street at oe OTTAWA oe sererrestrrereerrererrerteee Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers : ; eabitiaiehes ; ‘pesesanananeses abeobe50 es a6a5a5a Sate eT es ese Tos me a le or 1o AGA ur Tstastatee Te pesesesse The bic tore Pon Moderate Prices eee Te eee a ota eee eS¢ iene Opticians, Watchmakers ee yah CI -. aes ohn Brass aC aGaG at See sabe. Papers for | abi eatOn shold be ade Ff Mr. Harrison F. Lewis, Parks eae appropriate Associate Editor. Manuscri Ht ‘should be plainly written, [: on one side of the paper only, with wide space b lines and ample margins. It is urged tha at speci that scientific names are legible, properly formed spelled and capitalized. iat, Galley proof will be submitted to h de Ottawa and proof of leading articles to any o er author if requested when manuscript submitted. It € it be corrected and returned to the Editor a Authors of leading articles are ent copies of the number in which they appear application. j Separates of articles as they a appear on any change of make-up val be supp feo at the f If removal of matter on the pages no artiéle or changes of make-up are desired, or if inse extra work are necessary, Special nates ‘will be application to the Editor. AS Applications for separates should he made to t and must reach him not Lie than pide age return cte d proof. ‘ APRIL, 1925 em ul : ih si sy | \ ni “iN oe - LISTS’ CLUB eed at the Ottawa Post Office as Mae class matter ISSUED APRIL 9, 1925 THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS? clus ‘Patrons: : THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL | AND THE LADY BYNG OF \? pt { { j — 1g { Be Ry { j $e | President: HoyveEs LLoypD. 1st Vice-President: G. JA! MILLER. CEERI UE te 2nd Vice-President: None IDI Secretary: ns _ Hon. Treasurer: J. F. WRIGHT,| aint hitie B. A. FAUVEL, (Geological Survey, Ottawa). 321 McLeod St. Ottawa, Ont. | Additional Members of Council: W. T. MAcoun; Miss M. EB. Cowan; C. M. STERNBERG; F. W. WaucH; P. A. TAVERNER; HD. SAPIR: E. M. KINDLE; W.J. WINTEMBERG; R. E _ARTHUR GIBSON: M.O. MATE; R. M. ANDERSON: H. GROH: Miss F. FyLEs; C. B. HH. M. Amt; CLYDE L. PATCH; D: JENNESS; V. W. JACKSON: R. O. MERRIMAN; KERMODE; PROE R. B. THouee THE EDITOR. Editor: HARRISON F’. LEWIS, Canadian National Parks Branch, mone Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa. Ss ee ana Associate Editors: E. SAPIR..... de ty a eS Anthropology A. G. Fineness Bd NR 1M PVE Oe EAITE ocr Gaur an an SOULE: a PCA. TAVERNER tic: Co ae eyo) RoR WUATCHRORDY ook. cet ann Conchology EVE SCUN DILE go toa eee Seal EVE NG OV RTD AIVES oe Ns ROU rato We Geology Ri ML. ANDERSON). ee ee ARTHUR GIBSON...... Ne ES cA Entomology CLYDE VRAT CHE itea Sd Sea CONTENTS. 4706 Notes on the Life Along the Yukon-Alaska Boundary. By M. Y. Williams.................... A Preliminary List of the Birds of the Lindsay District, Ontario. Pee By E. Ww. Calver Notes on Some Summer Birds of the Magdalen Islands. By P. B. Philipp.................. The Hibernation of the Columbian Ground Squirrel. (Concluded) By William AN. Shaw.. Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns. (Continued):..................0. 0005 € In’ Memoriam Andrew: Walker Bleek ise a a ee Re oe ate aes Notes and Observations:— Pare bey ie Stachys germanica L. in Canada. By Herbert-Groh..............2........-2.5. 2 ae Segmentina crassilabris Walker in Manitoba. By Alan Mozley.. eee ee ae gle ee aT ee Nesting of. Richardson’s Owl. By Ri W. Tutts.c02) 00050 og ae ve A pene oss of the Scieoriailed Flycatcher at York actory, Mania: By Hoyes™ ae OVO Re ele a Gals a ERS A AB A HR et i EO ao a rr atone Record of ane Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher for Grand Manan, New Brunswick. By R. W. Tufts The Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) at Guelph, Ontario. By Robert E. Barber...) 6 2 ene oi The White-Fronted Goose in Alberta. By Frank L. Fay ee Ne RABIN LC 26 ie ee t Fiditor’s! IN Obe PEGs be She ccc CPO See SI CAP spec me LD ete ne Pan ie Book Review:— CRA ene Birds and Mammals of the Skeena River Region of Northern British Columbia. Mie Mule. | By PeAsTie © a. date cle St Nass ae aa Re Histories of New Food=Pishes. ) By Budi. $000k pene ee) eat aan i one Be APs. Publications Received. .... AUS GENEROUS A TSU SINT a coon ANNI bite tg ele eG a lesce(ale/ojaph elmle eae ea ere = THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST, oe THE OTTAWA NATURALIST, scent thirty-seven years ago, “to publish the results of ‘original research or investigation in all depart- ments of natural history,” is issued monthly, excepting for the months of June, July and August. Papers, notes and photographs should be addressed to the Editor. Manuscript should b typewritten. Subscriptions cover the current year, except those taken out during last quarter, whe E: they will be applied on the following year, the remaining numbers of current year being sent free. Payments should be made to the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. B. A. Fauvel, 321 McLeod St i Ottawa. 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A list of birds and animals observed by him, after being checked by the identification of specimens collected, was published by Dr. Cairnes!, but no fuller statement has appeared regarding the life of _ that interesting and rather inaccessible region. No equipment of any kind was available for zoological work and the only guns in the party wererifles. In spite of the limitations experienced a number of new occurrences were recorded for the district, the most notable being that of Swain- son’s Hawk. It is the intention of this paper to give such information on the fauna of the region as is con- tained in the writer’s private note book. Identifi- cations have been made conservatively and after comparison with the lists of Bishop and Macoun. Except where specimens were taken and examined, however, subspecific determination is based on geographical probability. The region principally under discussion is in- cluded by Osgood? in his Hudsonian-Yukon faunal district, which ‘‘includes all of the Yukon region from Fort Selkirk to the limit of trees’’. In general this region lies within the northern portion of Yukon plateau, and is characterized by mature topography—groups of rounded moun- tains alternating with wide, swampy river and stream valleys. The drainage is to the west and tributary to the Yukon River. The maximum elevation near the 141st meridian is 4000 feet above sea-level, the minimum being 800 feet at Rampart House. The larger river valleys have an elevation at the boundary varying between 1200 1Geol. Surv. Canada, Summ. Rept., 1911, p. 26. Memoir 67, p. 19. 2U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Biological Survey, North American Fauna. No. 19. October, 1900. Ibid- and 1500 feet, the average mountain peaks rising to 2500 feet. The timber line is approximately at 2300 feet, but there is much variation, and dwarf birch and spruce straggle considerably higher than other species. The common trees, as already described by Cairnes, are: white spruce (Picea canadensis), aspen poplar (Populus tremuloides), balsam poplar (P. balsamifera), northern canoe birch (Betula resinifera), tamarack (Larix laricina), five species of willow, and two of alder. Among the shrubs, the juniper (Juniperus nana), dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa) and ‘‘soapollali” (Shepherdia canaden- sis) are conspicuous. “Blueberries” and red currants are locally abundant. The route followed by the writer was up Kandik River from Yukon River, about 90 miles to the 141st meridian, shovel-nosed canoes or poling boats being used for transportation. The 141st meridian was followed northward by pack-train to Rampart House on Porcupine River, which supplied an easy means of travel to Fort Yukon, Alaska. The trails followed had already been used for two years by the Boundary survey parties, and the larger mammals had probably learned to shun this region to some extent. Caribou and bear were not so plentiful as reported for previous years, and no sheep were seen, although reported common formerly. Following is a summary of the observations made, including some occurrences from the South-: ern Yukon region. Most of the observations were made, however, along the 141st meridian between latitude 65°50’ and 67°25’. BIRDS 1. Gavia pacifica. PAcitric LooN.—One, Porcu- pine River, August 28th., 2. Gavia stellata. RED-THROATED LOON.—One, Kandik River, June 6th. 3. Larus glaucescens glaucescens. | GLAUCOUS- WINGED GULL.—A pure white Gull was seen on Kandik River, May 29th. 4. Larus argentatus. HERRING GULL.—One, probably of this species, on Porcupine River, August 28th. 5. Larus philadelphia. BONAPARTE’S GULL.— One, probably of this species, seen 30 miles below White Horse, May 16th. 70 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 6. Mergus americanus. AMERICAN MERGANSER. —Several on Kandik River, June 6th and 8th. 7. Mergus serrator. RED-BREASTED MERGAN- SER.—Several on Kandik River, June 12th. This species has not been previously reported. 8. Anas platyrhynchos. MALLARD.—A male 30 miles below White Horse, May 16th; a nest and 7 eggs reported below Carmacks, May 20th; common on Coffee Creek, May 25th. 9. Dafila acuta tzitzthoa. AMERICAN PINTAIL.— A pair 60 miles below White Horse, May 19th. 10. Marila marila. Scaup Duck.—One at Carmacks, May 20th. 11. Glaucionetia islandica. BARROW’S GOLDEN- EYE.—A pair 30 miles below White Horse, May 16th; one at Carmacks, May 20th. This species has not been previously recorded, but has since been collected by the writer on the Fort Nelson River of the Liard system. 12. Charitonetta albeola. pair 30 miles below White Horse, Common at Carmacks, May 20th. 13. Histrionicus histrionicus (subsp.?). HARLE- QUIN Duck.—One on Kandik River, June 13th. One on Orange Creek, June 20th. 14. Branta canadensis hutchinsi. HUTCHINS’S GoosE.—One, Yukon Crossing, May 24th, subsp.?; five, Coffee Creek, May 25th, subsp.?; two, Kandik River, June 2nd. One of these, which was killed, measured 24 inches and had 17 tail-feathers. A male killed on Kandik River, June 7th, measured 294 inches and had 16 tail-feathers. The head and neck are in Victoria Memorial Museum. Several on Kandik River, June 8th, subsp.?; one killed on Kandik River, June 9th, subsp.?. Several with young seen on Kandik River, June 13th, subsp.?. 15. Gallinago delicata. 66°41’, August 14th. 16. Tringa solitaria cinnamomea. WESTERN SOLITARY SANDPIPER.—About 30 miles below White Horse, May 16th. One on Bern Creek, July 19th. 17. Heteroscelus incanus. WANDERING TAT- TLER.—Kandik River, June 12th. 18. Actitis macularia. SPOTTED SANDPIPER.— Common on Coffee Creek, May 24th. Several on Kandik River, June 7th. 19. Canachites canadensis osgoodi. ALASKA SPRUCE PARTRIDGH.—Seen 60 miles below White Horse, May 20th. A male taken in Lat. 66°40’, BUFFLE-HEAD.—One May 16th. WILSON’S SNIPE.—Lat. August 7th. A female and three young taken August 18th. 20. Bonasa wmbellus wmbelloides. GRAY RUFFED GROUSE.—A light-colored female taken at Carcross, May 10th. 21. Lagopus lagopus lagopus. MIGAN.—Several taken near WILLOW PTAR- Rampart House. [VoL. XX XIX One sent to Victoria Memorial Museum, August 26th. 22. Lagopus rupestris rupestris. Rock PTAR- MIGAN.—Fairly common along 141st meridian between June 17th and August 4th. Three taken. Very young chicks seen June 24th. Young flying well, July 19th. 23. Pediecetes phasianellus phasianellus. SHARP- TAILED GROUSE.—Seen 60 miles below White Horse, May 19th. 24. Circus hudsonius. MARSH HAWk.—-One in light phase, at Yukon Crossing, May 24th. 25. Accipiter velox. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. — Two at Kandik River, June 1st. 26. Buteo swainsoni. SWAINSON’S HAWK.— This was the commonest Hawk in the country and was observed from 60 miles below White Horse on May 18th to the Porcupine River, August 28th. Birds in dark plumage were com- mon. One female in black plumage shot by Dr. Cairnes in lat. 66°40’, August 14th, and sent to Victoria Memorial Museum. 27. Aquila chrysaétos (2). GOLDEN Tae Probably this species seen about 60 miles south of Porcupine River, August 20th. Not previously reported. 28. Falco peregrinus anatum. Duck HAwWK.— Kandik River, June 11th. Porcupine River, August 28th. 29. Falco columbarius (subsp.?). PIGEON HAWK.—Lat. 66°40’, identification doubtful. Seen at Rampart House, August 27th. 30. Pandion haliaétus carolinensis. OSPREY.— Bird and nest in top of live spruce, 35 feet from ground, Kandik River, June 8th. Pair and nest, Kandik River, June 11th. 31. Surnia ulula caparoch. AMERICAN HAWK Owu.—Dead one seen 30 miles below White Horse, May 16th. Four seen, one taken, lat. 66°40’, August 7th. : 32. Ceryle alcyon alcyon. BELTED KINGFISHER. —QOne, 60 miles below White Horse, May 19th. One, Kandik River, May 29th. One, Kandik River, June 7th. One, lat. 66°40’, August 14th. 33. Dryobates villosus (subsp.?)$ Harry Woop- PECKER.—Probably this species seen 60 miles below White Horse, May 20th. 34. Picoides americanus fasciatus. ALASKA THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.—Three-toed Wood- peckers with white on back were seen 30 miles below White Horse on May 16th and at Carmacks, May 20th. 35. Colaptes cafer collaris. RED-SHAFTED FLICKER.—Seen 60 miles below White Horse, May 18th, and at Carmacks, May 20th. 36. Sayornis sayus. SAY’S PHOEBE.—Several seen about 10 miles north of Black River, August 3rd and 7th. April, 1925] 37. Otocoris alpestris arcticola. PALLID HORNED LARK.—Horned Larks were seen near Orange Creek, June 23rd. 38. Perisoreus canadensis canadensis. CANADA JAY.—Sparingly distributed. Dark young seen on the flats of the Black River, July 6th and 24th. Two specimens taken. 39. Corvus corax principalis. NORTHERN RAVEN.—Orange Branch, Black River, June 19th. Porcupine River, August 28th. 40. Euphagus carolinus. Rusty BLACKBIRD.— Carcross, May 10th. 41. Pinicola enucleator prob. alascensis. PINE GROSBEAK.— Male in mountains near Bern Creek, July 1. A pair seen on July 8th. 42. Loxia leucoptera. WHITE-WINGED CROSS- BILL.—Bern Creek, July 19th. 43. Leucosticte tephrocotis litioralis. HBEPBURN’S Rosy FincH.—A bird probably of this species seen at about 3500 feet elevation near Bern Creek, July 17th. 44. Acanthus linaria (2). REDPOLL.—No white on rump; red of throat and forehead bright. Near Orange Creek, June 24th. 45. Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli. GAMBEL’S SPARROW.—Seen 30 miles below White Horse, May 14th, and at Yukon Crossing, May 24th. 46. Spizella monticola ochracea. WESTERN TREE SPARROW.—Yukon Crossing, May 24th. 47. Passerella iliaca (subsp.?). Fox SPARROW. —One in song on Kandik River, June 11th. 48. Petrochelidon. lunifrons lunifrons. CLIFF SWALLOW.—At Ramparts of Porcupine River, August 28th. 49. Tachycineta thalassina lepida. NORTHERN VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.—Several 50 miles be- low White Horse, May 17th. Common at Car- macks, May 20th. 50. Riparia riparia. BANK SWALLOW.— Probably some of the holes in the banks of the branches of the Black River were made by this species. 51. Dendroica aestiva rubiginosa. ALASKA YELLOW WARBLER.—Yukon Crossing, May 24th. 52. Dendroica coronata hooveri. HOOVER WARBLER.—Birds probably of this species on Orange Creek, June 22-23rd. 53. Penthestes hudsonicus (subsp.?). | HUDSON- IAN CHICKADEE.—Dark birds, probably of this species, were seen near Bern Creek on July 7th, and 10 miles north of the Black River on August Ath. 54. Regulus calendula calendula. © RuBy- CROWNED KINGLET.—Near Bern Creek, July 8th. 55. Myadestes townsendi. TOWNSEND’S SOLI- TAIRE.—One taken near Bern Creek, July 17th. 56. Hylocichla (sp.?). THRUSH.—Common songster on burnt ridges during June and early THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 71 July. Seen up to 3400 feet elevation and as far north as Bern Creek. One immature specimen taken. Probably more than one species present. 57. Planesticus migratorius migratorius. ROBIN. —Comparatively scarce. Seen principally on mountain tops up to 2500 feet. Young half- grown, but flying, seen near Orange Creek, June 24th, and young seen flying, July 1st. 58. Ixoreus naevius (subsp.?). VARIED THRUSH. —The monotonous whistle of this bird sounded all night along Kandik River during late May and early June. Seen in interior to Bern Creek. Two taken, July 1 and July 15. MAMMALS 1. Rangifer (sp.?) prob. arcticus. CARIBOU.— Many antlers on ridges, especially north of Black River. Three fat bulls seen about 60 miles south of Porcupine River. One taken by writer August 20th measured as follows: Length, 6 ft. 5 in.; height at shoulder, 4 ft. 3 in.; between widest points of antlers, 3 ft. 5in.; from tip of brow tine to top of back tine, 3 ft. 5 in.; left antler, 26 points; right antler, 14 points. Trapper reported caribou very plentiful along Black River in winter. 2. Alces gigas. ALASKA Moose.—Generally scattered through country. Five taken for food. A large bull shot near Bern Creek, July 19, had a 60-inch spread of antlers, which were still in the velvet. 3. Ovis dallt. DALL MOUNTAIN SHEEP.—These were reported as common during previous years, and some signs were seen on the mountains. Three young ones were seen by the packers and one was taken. 4. Sciurus hudsonicus. Hupson BAy RED SQUIRREL.—One seen 60 miles below White Horse, May 20th. 5. Citellus (sp.?). GOPHER OR GROUND SQUIRREL.—Common at Carmacks, May 20, also in mountains south of Black River in July.® 6. Castor canadensis. AMERICAN BEAVER.— Beaver cuttings common along Kandik River. 7. Microtus xanthognathus. CHESTNUT-CHEEKED VOLE.—One found dead near Bern Creek, July 2nd. 8. Erethizon epixanthum. YELLOW-HAIRED PORCUPINE.—One in valley of Black River, July 27th. 9. Lepus americanus dalli. DALL VARYING Hare.—Probably this sub-species common along Stewart River below White Horse at least as far as Carmacks in May. One in lat. 66°40’, August 9th.* 3The former are probably Citellus plesius, but the specimens which I have examined from the northern part of the boundary region are undoubtedly Citellus parryi.cR. M. A. ‘The latter is more probably Lepus americanus macfarlani. EaIVIEDAY 72 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 10. Vulpes fulua. Cross Fox.—One seen on Porcupine River below Ramparts, August 29th. 11. Ursus americanus. BLACK BEAR.—Several along Yukon below Dawson, May 28th. One on Black River, July 22nd. 12. Ursus (sp.?). GRizzLy BEAR.—Two seen north of Black River by Dr. Cairnes, July 27th and August 2nd. 13. Martes americana actuosa. ALASKA MAR- TEN.—Trapper on Black River stated that the marten was his main catch of fur. AMPHIBIA Rana (sp.). FRoG.—Heard at Carcross, May [VoL. XXXIX 10th. One reported as having been seen here May 15th. Heard lower down Yukon River and on Kandik River. REPTILES GARTER SNAKE.—One 18 inches long reported by D. H. Nellis, 43 miles south of Dawson. FISH GRAYLING.—Common in The largest taken was 14_ Thymallus signifer. all mountain streams. inches long. Catostomus (sp.?). MULLET OR SUCKERS.— Some seen on the bottom of Black River, July 16th. A PRELIMINARY LIST OF THE BIRDS OF THE LINDSAY DISTRICT, ONTARIO By E. W. CALVERT (Concluded from page 51) 88. Otocoris alpestris praticola. PRAIRIE HORNED LARK.—Common. Rare from Christmas to late January. 89. Cyanocitta cristata cristata. BLUE JAY.— Common resident, local; very common, often abundant in migrations. 90. Perisoreus canadensis canadensis. CANADA JAY.—Frequent during November, 1904; last seen March, 1905. 91. Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos. Crow.—Abundant summer resident, scarce in winter. 92. Dolichonyx oryzivorus. BOBOLINK.—A very common summer resident. 93. Molothrus ater ater. summer resident. 94. Agelaius pheniceus pheniceus. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.—Common summer resident, very common loeally. 95. Sturnella magna magna. MEADOWLARK.— A very common summer resident. 96. Icterus galbula. BALTIMORE ORIOLE.— Common summer resident. 97. Euphagus carolinus. Rusty BLACKBIRD.— Common spring and abundant fall migrant. One observed in Manvers Township, December 22, 1919. i 98. Quiscalus quiscula eneus. BRONZED GRACKLE.—Common summer resident, abundant migrant. 99. Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina. EVENING GROSBEAK.—A female observed May 11, 1914. Several seen during the winter of 1919-20. 100. Pinicola enucleator leucura. PINE GROS- BEAK.—Irregular winter visitor, sometimes com- mon. 101. Carpodacus purpureus purpureus. PURPLE FIncH.—Tolerably common summer resident; CowBIRD.—Common common migrant; often a common winter resident. 102. Lovia curvirostra minor (Red) CROSSBILL. —A very irregular winter visitor. 103. Loxia leucoptera. WHITE-WINGED Cross- BILL.—More numerous than the last, to judge from records. Observed in winters of 1906-07, 1914- 15 and 1919-20. 104. Acanthis linaria linaria. REDPOLL. ter resident, often common. 105. Astragalinus tristis tristis. GOLDFINCH.— Common summer resident, usually scarce in winter. 106. Spinus pinus. PINE SISKIN.—Winter visit- or, often common. 107. Passer domesticus. Abundant resident. 108. Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis. SNOW BUNT- ING.—A common winter visitor. 109. Powcetes gramineus gramineus. SPARROW.—Abundant summer resident. 110. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. SA- VANNAH SPARROW.—A very common summer resident. Win- House SPARROW.— VESPER 111. Zonotrichia lewcophrys leucophrys. WHITE- CROWNED SPARROW.—Frequent migrant, some- times common. 112. Zonotrichia albicollis. _WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.—Common summer resident locally, abundant migrant. 113. Spizella monticola monticola. TREE SPAR- ROW.—Common migrant, often abundant locally; sometimes common in winter. 114. Spizella passerina passerina. CHIPPING SPARROW.—Common summer resident; very common locally, in Lindsay and elsewhere. 115. Junco hyemalis hyemalis. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.—Searce summer resident locally; abun- dant migrant; a not common winter resident. April, 1925] 116. Melospiza melodia melodia. SONG SPARROW. —Abundant summer resident; very scarce winter resident; some young hatched by May 25. 117. Melospiza georgiana. SWAMP SPARROW.— Common summer resident; abundant locally. 118. Passerella iliaca iliaca. Fox SPARROW.-— A tolerably common fall and scarce spring migrant. 119. Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthaimus. TOWHEE.—Frequent migrant; a not common summer resident. 120. Hedymeles ludovicianus. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.—A tolerably common summer resi- dent; common in Cartwright. 121. Passerina cyanea. INDIGO BUNTING.—Fre- quent summer resident, common locally. 122. Piranga erythromelas. SCARLET TANAGER.— Frequent summer resident. 123. Progne subis subis. PURPLE MARTIN.— Frequent summer resident in Lindsay and in several towns and villages; common in Port Perry. 124. Petrochelidon lunifrons lunifrons. CLIFF SWALLOW.—Frequent summer resident very locally; common twenty-five or more years ago (in nineties). 125. Hirundo erythrogastra. BARN SWALLOW.— ~ A very common summer resident. 126. Iridoprocne bicolor. TREE SWALLOW.— Summer resident; very common southward from Lindsay; apprently scarce about Sturgeon Lake. 127. Riparia riparia. BANK SWALLOW.—Fre- quent summer resident in Ops and Emily; com- mon about Sturgeon and Scugog Lakes. 128. Stelgidopteryx serripennis. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.—Scarece near Port Perry; observed only in spring. 129. Bombycilla cedrorum. CEDAR WAXWING.— Common summer resident. 130. Lanius borealis. NORTHERN SHRIKE.— A not common winter resident. 131. Lanius ludovicianus migrans. MIGRANT SHRIKE.—Scarce since 1919; a common summer resident about 1903. 132. Vireosylva olivacea. RED-EYED VIREO.—A very common summer resident; abundant locally. 133. Vireosylva gilva gilua. WARBLING VIREO.—- A tolerably common summer resident locally; common in Lindsay. 134. Lanivireo flavifrons. YELLOW-THROATED ViIREO.—Tolerably common migrant; formerly recorded throughout the summer. 135. Lanivireo solitarius solitarius. BLUE-HEAD- ED VIREO.— Hon. Sec-Treas.: Mrs. S. PAMELY, Red Deer; Direc- Mrs. G. C. S. Crossy, Miss E. C. Irvine, MR. W. A. _ CASSELS AND MR. S. PAMELY, Red Deer, Mrs. G. F. Root, Wetaskiwin, Mr. K. BowMANn, Edmonton, Mr. B. LAwTon, Edmonton, Mr. T. RANDALL, Castor, Mr. F. L. FARLEY, oF: e, Mr. W. C. McCatia, Bremner, and MR. D. M. SINCLAIR, Peace River. ‘ e meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the Tiday of each month except during July and August and aps September. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer he last Friday in November. LWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, oi ‘LONDON, ONT. i: T. D. PATTERSON, 562 Waterloo Street; Recording Mrs. E. H. McKong, Worthey Road; Correspond- etary and Treasurer: E. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St.; rs qualified to answer questions: W. E. SAUNDERS, 240 Ave.; _C. G. WATSON, 201 Ridout St. South; J. R. OD, 355 Wortley Road; J. F. CALVmRT, 461 Tecumseh M. S. DALE, 297 Hyman St. = é © resident: L. S. KLINCK, L.L.D., Pres. University of B.C.; ident: JOHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- dent: FRED Perry; Hon. Secretary: C.F. CoNNoR, M.A., 9-W. 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Treasurer: A. H. N, 2302 York St., Vancouver, B.C. ortnightly meetings in the University Buildings from be: April (inclusive). Semi-monthly excursions from | August (inclusive), _ TION:—Chairman: A. A. McCousprey; Secretary: J. M. . Miss Hmity LUKg, c-o Secretary. pd De listed Séciaties PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. President: 1. Gammen; Hon. Vice-President: W.H. ROBB; President: LL. McI. TERRILL; 1st, Vice-President: NAPIER SMITH; 2nd. Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; 3rd. Vice-President and Curator: Miss E.G. LUKE; Recording Secretary: Miss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. S. Hart, P.O. Box 1185, Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY MousLEY; Committee: Miss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C. F. DAL; H. A. C. JACKson; Miss E. Morrow; Miss L. MurpHy; A, MACSWEEN; G.S. Mooney; W. A. OswaLD; L. MclI. SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY; Members qualified to answer questions: LL. Mcl. TERRILL, 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N -D.G., Montreal; C. N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY, McGill University, Montreal; HENRY MousLEy, 274 Girouard Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EpITH MoRRow AND ‘ SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTCIRE NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Président: DocTEUR S. GAUDREAU; Jer vice-président: ABBE A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-présideni: A-R.-M. BOULTON; Secrétaire-trésorier: Louis-B. Lavoir; Chef de la section scientifique: A.-A. GopBoUT; Chef de la section de propaganda éducationelle: DocTEUR A. Dery; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d’information scientifique et pratique: DocTEUR J.-E. BERNIER; Directeurs: R.-F. Linpsay; Jos. Matte; G.-S. AHERN. THE BRITISH: COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO- GISTS’ UNION Officers for 1923 Hon. President: Hon. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: T. L. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasurer: J. W. WINSON, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. Keiso, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz; K. RAcEy, Vancouver; T. PEARSE, Courtenay; W.N. KELLY, Victoria. THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: PRroressoR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidents: PROFESSOR E. M. WALKER, Dr. A. COSENS, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. F. Grecory, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH; Librarian: Dr. Lyman JACKES. BIRD GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B.Sirton; Secretary: Miss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: Miss NORMA ForD, PH.D. MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DYMOND; Secretary: L. SnyDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: —Chairman: SuHit~tey Locipr; Secretary: T. B. KURATA. PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- ENS. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTER:— Chairman: RUSSELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL COM- -MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. x We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of this magazine. By securing every member as a subscriber we can truly make this magazine into one of the © leading Natural History publications of America. Sweet Canada a ecru ca 5 Eleven Bird Songs and : Round The Cr a btr ee . Louise Murphy 3 ee anh: Author of “A Little Book of Bird Songs, | Ar tists and Designers © Rhymes and Tunes for Tiny Tots’’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. | ‘SLoEraieee 210 Victoria Street, Toronto ne have Re COMMER a ‘ PHOTOGRAPHERS — aa >: PHOTO. L. C. Smith & Bro. L Type writer : a | Ball bearings in every frictional part of the L. C. Smith long life, light ° 2 : in id ee e 22 8 Alb er t St ee Ottawa, Ont. cam Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA S S S S Card Filing Systems for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes lowe -Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist — Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A- 46 Sparks ae Seka | OTTAWA MERCHANT TAILORS We make chaning we sell and papi & cacemetes we sell Dae ‘to gue of the cognoscenti Ue 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA c Telephone Queen » 2438 Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers = 35, SHS VOL. XXXIX, No. 5 MAY, 1925 i EPNATURAI SS SS LM MSSM Ea : >i | ik i uel NATURALISTS’ CLUB ISSUED MAY 19, 1925 Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as eecee. class matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB Jatrons: THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG oF President: G. A. MILLER. 1st Vice-President: NORMAN Crpy pps at: oe r 2nd Vice-President: BK. M. K DLE Secretary: EH GT 3 Hon. Treasurer: J. F. WRIGHT, th iC pak 1 pitas _ B. A. FAUVEL, Nit 148 Third ave UJOON CM OO.UM | 321 McLeod St. Ottawa, Ont. - ; . Ottawa, Ont. ie oh SU ho pace Additional Members of Council: W.T. Macoun; Miss M. E. Cowan; C. M. STERNBERG; H. I. _ Sr P. A. TAVERNER; E. SAPIR; W. J. WINTEMBERG; Ree DELURY; ARTHUR GIBSON; M. O j R M. ANDERSON; ial GROH: Miss F. FyLEs: C.B. HUTCHINGS; CLYDE L. Patcu: #B. D. JENNESS; H. F. LEwis; Hoygs LLoyD; FRITZ JOHANSON: ANDREW HALKETT; Os S.R. WHITE: E.G. WHITE: Rev. G. A. MACDONALD; A. G. KINGSTON; NORMAN LEACH; M McELHINNEY: V. W. JACKSON: R. O. MERRIMAN; W. N. peers C. H. SB le R. M Acting Editor: G. A. MILLER Normal School, Ottawa Associate Editors: BPS APT coe ee la Meus Anthropology A. G. HUNTSMAN...... ......Marine Biolo MEMO NPARPE DS ccc see Ne ieee epee Botany PA. TAVERNER, 2.0. DA0 eee Ornitholo Fh AGATCHRORD, . 1 (x) BIGELOW, N. K., Royal Ontario Mu- seum, Toronto, Ont. BILL, J. Puiutp, 64 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ont. BINGHAM, C. P., 500 Victoria Ave., Westmount, P.Q. BIsHoP, Louis B., c-o L. E. Wyman, Los Angeles Museum, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Cal., U.S.A. Bisset, E. D. R., 2nd St., Beausejour, Man. BLACKADER, Dr. A. D., 236 Mountain St., Montreal, P. £ BLAUVELT, MIss S. 868 East 37th St., Brooklyn, NY. S.A BLIZZARD, W. H., 70 Duggan Ave., Deer Park, Toronto, Ont. BoGart, Mrs. E. B., 147 Borden St., Toronto, Ont. Boston Society oF NAT. His., 234 Berkeley St., Boston, Mass. BOSWELL, WILLIAM, 35 Laporte St., Quebec, P.Q. Bouter, G. R., 57 St. Peter St., Montreal, P.Q. BOUCHARD, GEO., Ste. Anne de la Pocatiere, P.Q. BOWMAN, KENNETH, 9917—113th St., Edmonton, Alta. Boy Scouts’ ASSOCIATION, Can. Gen. Council, 203 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ont. BRADSHAW, F., Chief Game Warden, Regina, Sask. BREAKEY, MASTER ToM, Breakeybille, County Levis, P.Q. BRANDT, CARRIE McGREGOR, 2025 East 88th St., Cleveland, Ohio. BRIGDEN, F. H., 15 Oswald Crescent, Toronto, Ont. BRIMLEY, J. F., Wellington, Ont. B.C. Nat. His. Society, H. T. Nation, Bees 238 Windsor Rd., Victoria, B.C. ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION, J. W. Anson: Sece.-Treas., Huntingdon, BROOKS, Masor ALLAN, Okanagan Landing, B.C BROOKE, ARTHUR A., Salmon Arm, B.C Brown, Miss F. A., 104 Cameron St., Ottawa, Ont. Brown, Mrs. R. D., 388 Main St., Ottawa, Ont. Brown, W. J., 205 Oliver Ave., West- mount, P. Q. BEUAL, R. Ae P.O. Box 235, Windsor, nt. BUCHANAN, Pror. M. M., 75 Heath- dale Road, Toronto, Ont. BUCKLE, J. W., c-o Thos. Robertson & Co. ., 134 Craig St. W., Montreal, P.Q. Bucs F E., Univ. of B.C., Vancouver BuLLER, Pror. A. H. R., Dept. of Botany, Univ. of Manitoba Winnipeg, Man. BoEw ae ARMON, Box 120, Arnprior nt. LapDy BynG, Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Ont. LorRD BynG, Rideau Hall, Ottawa, Ont. CAL. ACADEMY OF SCNCES. San Francisco, Cal., CALVERT, J. FLETCHER, Institute, London, Ont. CALVERT, E. W., c-o J. F. Calvert, 461 Tecumseh Ave., London, Ont. CAMERON, A. E., Univ. of Sask., Saskatoon, Sask. CAMERON, E. R., Ottawa, Ont. CAMERON, D. A., Toronto, Ont. Collegiate Supreme Court, 162 Isabella St., CAMERON, J. H., 355 Dufferin Ave., London, Ont. CAMPBELL, M. M., 95 Broadway Ave., Montreal, 124 Q. Cee LY, d- on 13 Elm St., Toronto, n CAMPBELL, R. H., 255 Clemow Ave., Ottawa, Ont. CARNEGIE LIBRARY, Ottawa, Ont. CARTWRIGHT, B. W., 374 Donald St., Winnipeg, Man. CASSELS, Mrs. W. A., Red Deer, Alta. CHAMBERS, W. LEE, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Cal., U.S.A. CHAMBERLAIN, C. W., Hotel Hemen- way, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. CHEVERTON, Gro. H., Trossacks, Sask. CHRISTIE, R. T., Windsor, N.S. CHURCHILL, ALBERT, 237 Iberville St., Montreal, P.Q. CovE, H. M., 122 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ont. CLEMENS, W. A., Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. COLE, Miss. Mina, P.O. Box 457, Red Deer, Alta. COLUMBIA UNIV. LIBRARY, New York, N.Y., U.S.A. COLWELL, Mrs. L. S., 746 Pine Ave. W., Montreal, P.Q. COMMISSIONER OF DOMINION PARKS, Dept. of Interior, Ottawa, Ont. CONNELL, Rev. Rost., 1057 Chamber- lain St., Victoria, B.C CONNOLLY, C. J., St. Francis Xavier College, Antigonish, N.S. Cook, C. D., 64 Flatt Ave., Hamilton, Ont. Cook, H. C.,, Ottawa, Ont. Cook, G. M., 27 Tod Lane, Youngs- town, Ohio, U.S.A. CORCORAN, JOHN B., 507 McLaren St., Ottawa, Ont. CORNELL UNIV. LIBRARY, Ithaca, N.Y. CORNWALL, IRA E., Box 799, William Head, Victoria, B.C. CosEns, Dr. A., Parkdale Collegiate Inst., Toronto, Ont. Cowan, Miss EDITH, 97 Stanley Ave., Ottawa, Ont. Cox, Pror. PHILIP, 329 St. John St. Fredericton, N. B. Cram, A. S., Lands Patent Branch, Dept. of Interior, Ottawa, Ont. Cramp, Miss BE. B., 44 Sussex St., Rochdale, Lancashire, England. Geological Survey, CRAWFORD, H.: C., Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. CRERAR LIBRARY, The Yohn, Chicago, Tll., U.S.A. Crews, A. C., Toronto, Ont. CRICKMAY, CHAS., -234—15th St. E., N. Vancouver, B.C. CRIDDLE, NORMAN, Treesbank, Man. CRIDDLE, STUART, Treesbank, Man. CROSSLEY, F-., Bashaw, Alta. CROSBY, < Rhinebeck, N.Y., U.S.A. CRossy, G Cas Red Deer, Alta. CUSTANCE, P. cag 6221—19th St. S.E., Calgary, Alta. DAIGNEAU, Dr. P. L., Thetford Mines, P.Q. DALE, CHAS. F., 625 Cote St., Antoine Road, Westmount, P.Q. DaLe, E. M. &., 297 Hyman S8t., London, Ont. DAVIDSON, PROF. JOHN, Dept. of Boueny, Univ. of B.C., Vancouver, B Dawson, W. H., 35 Delisle Ave., Toronto, Ont. DAvis, T. E., 182 Sussex St., Ottawa, Ont. Day, CLAUDE B., Richmond, Cal. DEAM, CHAS., 108 Main St., Bluffton, Indiana, U. S.A. De Lury, Dr. RALPH E., Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, Ont. Wesley Building 126 Des Lury, GEORGE, Alliance, Alta. DeEmpsEY, J. H. C., P.O. Dept., Hamil- ton, Ont. DEMETRIO, REV. C. H., Emma, Lafay- ette, Missouri, U.S.A. DENNISON, Miss H., 27 Elgin Ave., Toronto, Ont. DENT, Miss E. A., 466 Somerset St., Ottawa, Ont. DE Vany, J. L., Annapolix Royal, N.S. DEXTER, JOHN SMITH, Univ. of Porto Rico, Rio Piedras, Porto Rico. Dice, LEo R., Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. Dickey, D. R., 514 Lester Ave., Pasa- dena, Cal., U.S.A. DINGMAN, RUSSELL G., Highland Cres., York Mills, Ont. DosBiz, Mrs. W. J., Weston, Ont. DOooLitTtLE, EB. A., Painsville, Ohio. DUNLOP, JAS., Woodstock, Ont. DustTAN, A. G.. Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Birks Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. Dwieut, J. D., 438 West 70th St., New York City, N.Y., U.S.A. Dymonp, J. R., Royal Ont. Museum of Zoology, Toronto, Ont. Dyson, J. L., Alexis Creek, Chilcotin, Glenwyld, B.C. EASTHAM, J. W., Court House, Van- couver, B.C. Eppy, E. D., 65 Lynwood Ave., Toronto, Ont. EDMONTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, Edmon- ton, Alta. Etrric, REv. G., Oak Park, Ill., U.S.A. EMERTON, J. H., 30 Ipswich St., Boston, Mass., U.S.A. ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH LIBRARY, Birks Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. EVANS, Miss E. L., e-o Preventorium, Queen Alexandra Sanatorium, R.R. No. 7, London, Ont. EVANS, JOHN D., Trenton, Ont. FARLEY, F. L., Camrose, Alta. BARE: H. G., 243 Wright Ave., Toronto, nt. FAUTEUX, A®GIDIUS, 349 Rue St. Denis, Montreal, P.Q. FAIRBAIRN, H. W., 1318 Bank St., Ottawa, Cnt. FAUVEL, B. A., 321 McLeod St., Ottawa, Ont. FELLOWES, K., Income Tax Office, Daly Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. FERRIER, W. F., 52 St. Andrews Gardens, Toronto, Ont. FIELD, C. L., 3 Hampton Court, 355 Mountain St., Montreal, P.Q. FIELD MuseuM, Natural History Library, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A. FINNEGAN, F., Tecumseh Ave., London, Ont. Fisk, H. H. S., Mount Royal Ins., 17 John St., Montreal ,P.Q. FLEcCK, A. W., 500 Wilbrod St., Ottawa, Ont. FLEMING, J. H., 267 Rusholme Road, Toronto, Ont. FLETCHER, J. V., 54 Cotswold Road, Brookline, Mass., U.S.A. FOERSTE, Dr. AuG. F., 129 Wroe Ave., Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A. FOERSTER, R. E., Vedder Crossing ForD, Miss Norma, 96 Dunn Ave., Toronto, Ont. Forpyce, G. L., 40 Lincoln Ave., Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.A. Forest, Miss A. M., Queen Alexandra Sanatorium, R.R. 7, London, Ont. FRASER, Pror. C. MCLEAN, Univ. of B.C., Vancouver, B.C. FYLES, Miss F., Central Exp. Farm. Ottawa, Ont. CAEy: F. A., 480 Spadina Rd., Toronto, nt. GAGNON, T. P., Thetford Mines, P.Q. GALVIN, E. R., Sporting Powder Diy., E. T. du Pont de Nemours Co., Wilmington, Del., U.S.A. GAME ComM., Harrisburg, Pa., U.S.A. GAREAU, REv. C. A., Terrebonne, Leto THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST pei srs C. B., Box 512, Cranbrook, GARTRELL, GEo. N., Summerland, B.C. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY LIBRARY, Ottawa, nt. GILLMAN, Miss, Woodroffe, Ont. GIBSON, ARTHUR, Entomological Bnch., Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. GIBson, A. R., 199 Heath St. W., Toronto, Ont. GoopRIcH, CALVIN, Newark Star- Eagle, Newark, N.J., U.S.A. Gomes LIGNORI, Box 80, Arnprior, nt. Goupiz, Miss Marie J., Alexandra School, Medicine Hat, Alta. GOULD, Harry, High River, Alta. GOULD, JAS. F., Commissioner, Game & Fish Dept., St. Paul, Minn. GouLpiInc, A. M., Dentonia Park, East Toronto, Ont. GRAHAM, M. E.. 33 Baillie St., Hamil- ton, Ont. GRANT, Mrs. M. C., 24 Blackburn Ave., Ottawa, Ont. GRINNELL, J., Univ. of Cal., Berkeley, Cal., U.S.A. Grist, Miss Mary L., 251 Laurier Ave. E., Ottawa, Ont. Grou, H. P., Botanical Division, Can. Exp. Farm, Ottawa, Ont. Gross, Dr. A. O., Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., U.S.A. Gunpy, Mrs. S. W., 73 Spadina Rd., Toronto, Ont. Gunby, Mr. N. F., 16 Oriole Rd., Toronto, Ont. HALKETT, ANDREW, 216 Lyon S&t., Ottawa, Ont. HAMBLY, FRED. J., Buckingham, P.Q. HAMERSLEY, Mrs. W. H., P.O. Box 24, Hafford, Sask. HAMILTON, Dr. B. A., Highland Park, Til., U.S.A. HAMILTON BIRD Prot. Society, Miss R. R. Mills, See.-Treas., Public Library, Hamilton, Ont. HAMILTON, Miss S., 388 O’Connor St., Ottawa, Ont. HAHN, EMANUEL, 32 Adelaide St. E., Toronto, Ont. HauN, Miss FREYA, 9 Washington Ave., Toronto, Ont. HanHAM, A. W., R.M.D., No. 1, Toronto, Ont. Harpy, (G2 77A-; Victoria, B.C. Harpy, Capt. C. P., 300 Bank of Hamilton Bldg., Hamilton, Ont. Hare, C. T., 5 Summerhill Terrace, Montreal, P.Q. Harkin, J. B., Dom. Parks Branch, Ottawa, Ont. HariLow, R. C., Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., U.S.A. HARPER, FRANCIS, Zoological Library. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y. HARRINGTON, A. JEROME, 813 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ont. HaRRISON, W. J., 81 Montcalm St., Hull, P.Q. HARROLD, C. G., 177 Smith St., Winni- peg, Man. Hart, N. C., Western Univ., St. George St., London, Ont. Hart, W. S., 252 The Boulevard, Westmount, P.Q. HAYDEN, J. E., 652 Belmont Ave., Westmount, P.Q. Hayes, A. O., Room 719, Av. Roque Pena 567, (Edificio Banco Boston), Buenos Aires, Argentine. HENDERSON, A. D., Belvedere, Alta. HILLGARDNER, GORDON, 27 Fourgette St., Brockport, N.Y., U.S.A. HopeGson, ANGUS, 714 Pine Ave., Montreal, P.Q. Houpom, Rev. M. W., The Vicarage, Surrey Centre, B.C. HOLLAND, Ray, Editor, "Forest & Stream,’’ 180 Gaylor St., Lears- dale, N.Y., U.S.A. 152 Menzies St., [VoL. XXXIX Hotmes, Rost., 24 Isabella St.’ Toronto, Ont. 5 Hou.tain, C. F., Port Hope, Ont. HoweE.Lit, Miss M. K., Wychwood Park, Toronto, Ont. HowEeELL, Mr. Geo., Wychwood Park, Toronto, Ont. Howarp, C. K., General Tourist Agent, C.N.R., Montreal, P.Q. HUARD, CANON V. A., No. 2 Richelieu St., Quebec, P.Q. Hupson, Pror. G. H., 39 Brook St., Plattsburgh, N.Y., U.S.A. Hupson, H. F., Entomological Labora- tory, Strathroy, Ont. HuGHES, HERBERT F., Dollard, Sask. HUNTER, ANGUS, 512 Wellington St., London, Ont. HuntTsMAN, A. G., Biological Dept., Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. HuRLBuRT, DrR., Civie Hospital, Ottawa, Ont. Hurst, Mr. F., 476 Russell Hill Rd., Toronto, Ont. Hutcuines, C. B., Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. Hutton, W. S., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. INGALL, E. Drew, 129 Cartier St., Ottawa, Ont. ~ INGERSOLL, E., 605 Carnegie Hall, New York, N.Y., U.S.A. j INGLIs, R. A., Div. of Botany, Experi- mental Farm, Ottawa, Ont. INTERNATIONAL INST. LIBRARY, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. JACKES, LYMAN B., Huron St., Toronto, nt. JACKSON, H. A. C., 35 Campbell Ave., Montreal West, P.Q. JAMES, Mrs. FREDERICK, Percé, Co. Gaspé, P.Q. : JARVIS, GERALD, Bank of Nova Scotia, Arnprior, Ont. JENKINS, J. D., Charlottetown, P.E.I. JEFFERY, Miss C. M., 42 Hayman Court, London, Ont. JENNESS, D., Geological Survey, Ot- tawa, Ont. JENNINGS, OTTO E., Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.A. JOHANSEN, F., Vittoria St., Ottawa, Ont. JoHNSON, A. S. JR., Thetford Mines, P JOHNSON, C. E., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. JOHNSON, Mrs. G. E., 70 Flora St., St. Thomas, Ont. JouHNSON, M. G., St. Jovite, P.Q. JONES, NELSON T., RR. No. 2, Port Stanley, Ont. : JULIAN, E. J., 575 Patterson St., Peterboro, Ont. KEALEY, Miss Luuu, 14 Blackburn Ave., Ottawa, Ont. KeELLy, W. P., 371 Walmer Road, Toronto, Ont. KELLEY, REV. N. P., 30 Aberdeen St., Quebee City, P.Q. KENNARD, FREDERIC H., Dudley Rd., Newton Centre, Mass., U.S.A. KINDLE, E. M., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. Kine, W. C., 508 Maclaren St., Ottawa, Ont. Kingston, A. C., 108 Argyle Ave. Ottawa, Ont. KiTtTo, V., 317 Queen St., Ottawa, Ont. KIRKE, E., Geological Survey, Wash- ington, D.C., U.S.A. - KiucH, Pror. A. B., Queen’s Univ., Kingston, Ont. Kurata, T. B., ’'Arcady,’’ Swansea, Ont. La Brig, W., Kamouraska, P.Q. LAING, H. M., Comox, B.C. LANCELEY, W. H., 23 Elmdale Ave., Ottawa, Ont. LANGELIER, GuS., Cap Rouge, P.Q. LAMBERT, Mrs. A. J. F., Carmagh, Sask. + ae LAPINE, ANDRE, c-o Brigdens Ltd., 160 Richmond St. W., Toronto, Ont. May, 1925] ey JOHN, 58 St. Ursule St., Quebec, LATCHFORD, Hon. F. R., Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ont. LAUGHLIN, A. W., 87 Elm St., Toronto, Ont. Law, MRS. G., 251 Sussex St., Ottawa, Ont. Law, J. EUGENE, R.D. 2, Box 629, Pasadena, Cal., U.S.A. LAWRENCE, A. G., City Health Dept., Winnipeg, Man. LAWTON, BENJ., Chief Game Warden, Edmonton, Alta. LeacH, NORMAN L., Fraser Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. Lees, Miss JESSIE, 120 Riverdale Ave., Ottawa, Ont. Less, W. A. D., Camrose, Alta. LeEIn, A. H., Biological Dept., Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. LEONARD, Mrs. R. W., Springbank, St. Catherines, Ont. LERAY, W. J., 154 Booth Avenue, Toronto, Ont. Lett, Mrs. R. C. W., 12920 Stoney Plain Rd., Edmonton, Alta. LEWIS, HARRISON F., Can. Nat. Parks, Ottawa, Ont. Lewis, Mrs. HARRISON F., 58 Gros- venor Ave., Ottawa, Ont. LEwIs, GRAcE S., Dom. Bureau Statis- tics, Ottawa, Oht. LiBrary, St. Andrew’s College, Toron- to, Ont. LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT, Ottawa, Ont. Linpsay, R. V., 61 Brookfield St., Toronto, Ont. LIBRARY, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. LuioyD, Pror. F. E., McGill Univ., Montreal, P.Q. ora Hoyes, 406 Queen St., Ottawa, . nt. LuioyD, Mrs. WILMotT, 460 Queen St., Ottawa, Ont. Luioyp Lisrary, Cincinnati, Ohio, LOCHHEAD, Pror. W., MacDonald College, P.Q. Lockwoop, R. D., 406 Queen St., Ottawa, Ont. LoGIgr, SHELLY, Royal Ont. Museum, Toronto, Ont. LorD, J. S., St. Stephen, N.B. Low, W. J., 16 Highland Ave., Mont- real, P.Q. Lowe, CuHas. W., Dept. of Botany, Univ. of Man., Winnipeg, Man. LUNN, HERBERT, Hillier, Ont. Lyon, W. T., Waukegan, Ill, U.S.A. MACCLEMENT, PROF. W. T., Queen’s Univ. Grounds, Kingston, Ont. MacDonal1D, Rev. G. A. ,215 Sunny- side Ave., Ottawa, Ont. MACDONALD, Miss R. H., 38 Herkimer St., Hamilton, Ont. MacKay, Dr. A. H., 61 Queen St., Dartmouth, N.S. MaAcLaucauin, Mrs. F. E., 452 Main St. E., Hamilton, Ont. MAcNaAmarA, CHAS., Arnprior, Ont. MACSWEEN, A., 375 Jeanne Mance St., Montreal, P.Q. Macowun, W. T., Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ont. Maces, M. J., 603 South St., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. MAHEUX, GEORGES, Dept. of Agric., Quebec City, P.Q. MALcoiM, Miss E., 124 Herkimer St., Hamilton, Ont. MALTE, Dr. M. O., Geological Survey, Museum, Ottawa, Ont. Mann, G. P. G., 163 Northcliffe Ave., Montreal, P.Q. Marcotte, Rev. LEON, St. Charles Seminary, Sherbrooke, P.Q. MARSHALL, J. H., 52 Leonard Ave., Ottawa, Ont. MARSHALL, A. G., 15 O’Connor St., Ottawa, Ont. MARTIN-ZEDE, GEO., Directeur de V’Isle Anticosti, Baie Ellis, Anti- costi. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST MartTIN, A. W., C.N.R. Agent, Port Arthur, Ont. Mason, W. F. H., Court House, Edmonton, Alta. MASSACHUSETTS HorT. Society, 300 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, Mass. MATHER, KIRTLEY F., Denison Univ., Granville, Ohio., U.S.A. McARTHovR, J. C., Blind River, Ont. MeCAN: F., 593 Nelson St., Ottawa, nt. McCauGHEy, Dr. S. G., 142 Powell Ave., Ottawa, Ont. McCu.tocu, Dr. FE. A., 165 St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto, Ont. McDonaLp, D., Deputy Minister, Game & Fisheries Dept., Parlia- ment Bldg., Toronto, Ont. McDoueaut, Nem A., Box 175, Summerside, P.E.I. McELHINNEY, Dr. M. G.,, 252 Lisgar St., Ottawa, Ont. McGILu Univ. Liprary, 65 McTavish St., Montreal, P.Q. McGAHEy, PEARL, 193 O’Connor St., Ottawa, Ont. McILWRAITH ORNITH. CLuB, E. M. S. Dale, Hyman St., London, Ont. McIntyre, J. G., c-o C.N.R.O., 138 Jackson Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. McKEoucH, Dr. Gro. T., RR.. No. 1, Bienheim, Ont. McLacauin, Dan., Arnprior, Ont. McLaing, L.S., Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. McKEnzZIE, Miss K., 41 Fairleigh Ave. South, Hamilton, Ont. McKiIntey, Dr. J. N., 94 Inglewood Drive, Toronto, Ont. McLEop, J. R., 345 Wortley Road, London, Ont. McMILLAN, Dr. G. O., Hamilton Normal School, Hamilton, Ont. MERRYWEATHER, E., Wabanum, Alta. MERRIMAN, R. O., 96 West 2nd St., Hamilton, Ont. MEREDITH, R., 46 Dalhousie St., Quebec, P.Q. MIDDLETON, MRs., 13 Washington Ave., Toronto, Ont. MIDDLETON, Miss, 10 McMaster Ave., Toronto, Ont. DE MIFFOoNIs, H., 355¢e Elgin St., Ottawa, Ont. Mee G. A., Normal School, Ottawa, nt. MILLER, PRoF. W. G., 21 Howland Ave., Toronto, Ont. MILLEN, Miss I.., Hull, P.Q. MINER, JOHN T., Kingsville, Ont. MITCHELL, G. M., 92 St. Peter St., Quebec, P.Q. MITCHELL, JAS., Box 49, Ruthilda, Sask. MissouRI BOTANICAL GARDEN, St. Louis, Mo. Moore, Rev. G. W., D.S.O., 2 Park Villas, Barnstaple, N. Devon, England. Morris, F. J. A., 643 Aylmer St., Peterborough, Ont. Murpry, Mrs. L., 9 Summerhill Ave., Montreal, P.Q. MONTIZAMBERT, Miss TUSTER, 123 Cooper St., Ottawa, Ont. Morris, Rost. T., 114 East 54th St., New York City, N.Y., U.S.A. Morrow, Miss EpitH, 90 Durocher St., Outremont, Montreal, P.Q. Morse, EpwarD S., 12 Linden St., Salem, Mass., U.S.A. Moustey, H., 274 Girouard Ave., Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal, Mounce, Miss I., Central Experi- mental Farm, Ottawa, Ont. Munro, J. A., 1060 St. David St., Oak Bay, Victoria, B.C. Murray, Mrs. A., 29 Murray Ave., Westmount, P.Q. Murray, JAs. M., 406 Simcoe St., Woodstock, Ont. MurpPHy, JOHN, 174 McLaren St., Ottawa, Ont. 127 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. NALDER, R. F., East Kelowna, B.C. Nasu, C. W., Provincial Museum, St. James Square, Toronto, Ont. Nat. His. Soctmty oF MAN., c-o Dr. A. M. Davidson, 6 Medical Arts Bldg., Winnipeg, Man. NELSON, DENYS, Gen. Hospital, Van- couver, B.C. NEWTON, H. E., Box 935, Victoria, B.C. N.Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN, Bronx Park, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A. N.Y. STATE ForEStTRY COL., Syracuse, NEYeS DES. Ae N.Y. State Liprary, Albany, N.Y. N.Y. ZOOLOGICAL Society, 185th St. & Southern Bo., Bronx, New York, INGY.-; S2A- NICOLLS, REv. G. J., 7 Gladstone Ave., Westmount, P.Q. NOBERT, JULIAN, Cluny, Alta. NoRMAL SCHOOL, Brandon, Man. NoRMAL SCHOOL, Camrose, Alta. NorMAtL SCHOOL, London, Ont. NORMAN, ERNEST S., Kalevala, Man. Norton, Mrs. Harry A., Edgewater Farm, Ayers Cliff, P.Q. OBERHOLSER, HARRY C., 2805 18th St. N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.A. O’ DONOGHUE, CHAS. H., Univ. of Man., Winnipeg, Man. Ocitvy, A. S., Civil Service Comm., Hunter Bldg., Ottawa. OLIVER SPANNER & Co., 26 Elm St., Toronto, Ont. é ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, Lib- rary, Guelph, Ont. ORDE, Hon. Mr. JUSTICE, Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ont. OsLER, K.C., H. S., e-o John Murray, Club House, Port Perry, Ont. Pack, ARTHUR N., 1214 16th St., Washington, D.C. PARTRIDGE, J. A., 153 Clendennan Ave., Toronto, Ont. PATTEN, Dan., Midnapore, Alta. Payne, F. F., Agricultura] Station, Paget East, Bermuda. PatcH, CLYDE L., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. A PATTERSON, ARNOTT M., Humberside Ave., Toronto, Ont. PATERSON, A. J., 60 Brock Ave., Montreal West, P.Q. PATERSON, T. D., 562 Waterloo St., London, Ont. PATRICK, JAMES, Yorkton, Sask. PEARSE, THEED, Box 158, Courtney, B.C PEARSON, T. GILBERT, 1974 Broadway, New York, N.Y., U.S.A. PEMBER, KARL A., Woodstock, Vt. PEMBERTON, C. C., 606 Sayward Bldg., Victoria, B.C. : PERKINS, E. H., Box 52, Waterville, Maine, U.S.A. Ss PERLEY, Mrs. W. B., Ojibway, Essex Co., Ont. Puinie, P. B., 220 Broadway, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A. PicHer, R. H., Mines Branch, Sussex St., Ottawa, Ont. PrERSOL, Pror. W. H., 55 Dunvegan Rd., Toronto, Ont. Porsi.pD, Dr. M. P., Disco, Greenland. Ports, T. J., c-o H. Birks & Sons, Winnipeg, Man. PotTER, LAWRENCE B., Gower Ranch, East End, Sask. POWELL, DR., 167 College St., Toronto, Ont. PREECE, W. H. A., 21 Wellington St., Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. : Preston, Miss I., Central Experi- mental Farm, Ottawa, Ont. PRIcE, JOHN H., c-o Price Bros. & Co. Ltd., Quebec City, P.Q. Price, Miss E., 27 Irwin Ave., Toron- to, Ont. PRINCE, PRoF. E. E., 204 O’Connor St., Ottawa, Ont. PRINGLE, F. D., 273 Wright Ave., Toronto, Ont. 128 EROUpEOON Mrs. JOHN, Monkton, nt. PuGsLey, E., 8 Ahrens St. E., Kitchen- er, Ont. PuGET SOUND BIOLOGICA! STATION, c-o Univ. of Wash., Seattle, Wash. DE PUYJALON, L. H., 192 Charlotte St., Ottawa, Ont. QUEBEC SocIETY PROT. BIRDS, Box 1185, Montreal, P.Q. RAcEyY, KENNETH, 3262 Ist Ave. W., Vancouver, B.C. RancH, R. H., Coleate University, Hamilton, N. ag WSS) Rickson, A. O., 264 Bee: Hall Hill, Montreal, P. Q. RANDALL, T. T. E., Box 239, Castor, Alta. Raymo, W. A., 30 St. Mary St., Clark- son, Toronto, Ont. RAYMOND, P. E., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.s U.S.A. REDER, J., R.R. No. 2, Dundas, Ont. REED, GUILFORD W., Bee Frontenac St., Kingston, Ont. ° REED, MONTAGUE, 2660 Park Ave., Apt. 11, Montreal, P.Q. REFORD, Mrs. K. S., 260 Drummond Ave., Montreal, P.Q. REYNOLDS, Dr., 445 Colborne St., London, Ont. RoBB, WALLACE H., Cazenovia, N.Y. ROBERTSON, A. D., Western Univ., London, Ont. ROBERTSON, CARL T., 1626 Hollyrood Rd. N., Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. ROBERTSON, C. N., c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805 Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, P.Q. Rocers, Miss M., 11 Fourth Ave., Ottawa, Ont. Roper, Rt. REv. J. C., 140 Bay St., Ottawa, Ont. Best Miss E. G., Box 34, Pakenham, nt. Ross, F. Donaup, P.O. Box 370, Quehec, P.Q. Ross, R. B. JR., 367 Metealfe Ave., Westmount, P.Q. Roper, A. W., 254 Oliver Ave., West- mount, P.Q. Ross, W. A., Vineland Station, Ont. ROWAN, WM., University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. Rowe: T.C., 27 Gwynne Ave., Ottawa, nt. RoyAL CANADIAN INSTITUTE, 198 College St., Toronto, Ont. Buse M. L., 224 Driveway, Ottawa, nt. RUSSELL, G. DINGMAN, 98 Woodlawn Ave., Toronto, Ont. SIsteR RutuH, A.S.Y.D., St. John’s Convent, Major St., Toronto, Ont. SAmpsoN, D. A., Fertile P.O., Sask. SANSON, N. B., Banff, Alta. SATTERLY, J., 269 Davenport Rd., Toronto, Ont. SAVAGE, JAS., Athletic Club, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.A Sarue E., Victoria Museum, Ottawa, nt. STATTEN, TAYLOR, 14 McMaster Ave., Toronto, Ont. SAUNDERS, W. E., 240 Central St., London, Ont. SAYLOR, L. G., Kelowna, B.C. SCHANTZ, ORPHEUS M., 10 South Lasalle St., Chicago, Ill, U.S.A. Scott, R. Brucn, 214 Poplar Plains, Toronto, Ont. Scott, Rev. C. T., 127 Westminster Ave., Toronto, Ont. Scotr, C. W., 2760 Hutchison St., Montreal, P.Q. Scott, Miss Mary McK., 183 Waver- ley St., Ottawa, Ont. ScoUe, Ws L., 383 Stewart St., Ottawa, nt. SEATH, L. A., 329 Victoria Ave., West- mount, P.Q. SEQUIN, C., Haileybury, Ont. SETON, Ernest T., Lake Ave., Green- wich, Conn., U.S.A. SHAW, J. A., 448 Lansdowne Ave., Westmount, P.Q. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST SHaw, W. T., State College, Washing- ton, Pullman, Wash. SHEPPARD, R. W., 24 John St., Niagara Falls, Ont. SHERMAN, Miss A. R., National, via McGregor, Iowa, U.S.A. SHIRAS 3RD, GEO., Stoneleigh Court, Washington, D.C. SHuTt, F. T., Central Exp. Farm, Ottawa, Ont. SIFTON, Dr. H. B., 10 Rathnally Ave., Toronto, Ont. SincLaIr, D. M., Red Deer, Alta. SMALL, Dr. H. B., 150 Laurier Ave. W., Ottawa, Ont. SMARDON, Miss S. L., 369 Redfern Ave., Westmount, P.Q. SmitH, A. G., Wainwright, Alta. SMITH, FRANK, Natural History Bldg., Urbana, Il), U.S.A. SmITH, HARLAN L., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. SmiTH, NAPIER, c-o Bank of Montreal, Verdun, P.Q. SNELL, C. H., Red Deer, Alta. SNYDER, L. LS Royal Ont. Museum of Zoology, Toronto, Ont. SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU CANADA, Jos. Matte, Sec.-Treas., 18 Ave. Mais- onneuve, Quebee City, P.Q. OPER, J. D., 10527 85th Ave., Edmon- ton, Alta. SowTEerR, T. W. E., Cont. Surveyors Office, Dept. of Interior, Ottawa, Ont. Speck, F. G., Univ. of Pennsylvannia, Museum, Univ. of Pa., Philadel- phia, Pa. SPEECHLY, Dr. H .M., 209 Enderton Bldg., Winnipeg, Man. SPREADBOROUGH, WM., 859 Phoenix St., Victoria, B.C. SPENCER, J. G., Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of B. G., Vancouver, B.C. Sprot, G. D., R.M.D. Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island, B.C. SquirES, Mrs. NaTHAN C., Frederic- ton, N.B. STALKER, MArRy, Montreal, P.Q. STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON, Pullman, Wash., U.S.A. STAPLES, OWEN, Hogarth Ave., Toron- to, Ont. STEPHEN, REV. Bro., Longueil, P.Q. STERNBERG, Cuas. M., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. STEVENS & Brown, 4 Trafalgar Sq., London, England. STEWART, D. D. A., Ninette, Man. STEWART, Mr. JOHN, 28 South St. Halifax, N.S. STEWART, D. D. A., Ninette, Man. STEWART, R. M., Dom. Observatory, Ottawa, Ont. STEWART, RONALD, Comox, B.C. Stour, Rev. M. L., St. Alexander College, Ironside, 12{8). STRANG, Y. Ross, 282 Grande Allée Quebec City, P. Q. STRICKLAND, E. H., Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. SWALES, B. H., ‘U.S. National Museum, Division of Birds, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Swirt, H. F., 110A Grand Boulevard, Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal, P.Q. Symes, P. B., 338 Kent St., Ottawa, Ont. 17 Essex Ave., TatuaM, C. O., Editor, “Rod & Gun,”’ Woodstock, Ont. TAVERNER, P. A., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. Taytor, A. W., 68 Yale St., St. Catherines, Ont. TayLor, L. E., Kelowna, B.C. TEMPLE, PETER, 438 Gladstone Ave., Toronto, Ont. TERRILL, LEwis M., 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, P.Q. TuHackerR, T. L., Little Mountain, Hope, B.C [VoL. XX XIX THE LIBRARY, Geological Museum, Oslo, Norway. TuHoMa~S, R. M., 298 Garry St., Winni- peg, : THOMPSON, STUART, 52 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ont. THOMSON, PrRor. R. B., Botanical Laboratories, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont THORNE, H. M., 0 McGill St., Mont- real, P.Q. THURSTON, J., 613 7th Ave. W., Calgary, Alta. TISDALE, PAUL, Kenton, Man. TopLey, Mrs. W. J., 272 Somerset St., Ottawa, Ont. TORONTO FIBLD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB, W. Gregory, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto, Ont. TOWNSEND, Dr. CHas. W., 98 Pinck- ney St., Boston, Mass. Turts, R. W., Wolfville, N.S. TURNBULL, J. F., Box 1097, North Bay, Ont 48th Ave. West, TURNBULL, Th. D., Vancouver, B.C. TYRRELL, J. iB. Room 534, Confedera- tion Life Bldg., Toronto, Ont. U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE LIBRARY, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY LIBRARY, Dept. of Interior, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. : UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, Berke- ley, Cal., U.S.A. UNIV. OF CHIcaco, Gene Library, Chicago, Ill., U.S UNIV. OF HARVARD eae Cam- bridge, Mass., U.S.A. UNIV. oF ILLINOIS LIBRARY, Urbana, Ill., U.S.A Univ. LAVAL BIBLIOTHEQUE, Quebec City, P.Q. UNIV. OF MANITOBA LIBRARY, Kennedy Street, Winnipeg, Man. UNIV. oF MICHIGAN LIBRARY, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.A. UNIV. OF MONTREAL, Botanical Laby., St. Denis St., Montreal, P.Q. UNIV. OF PENNSYLAVNNIA, The Library 34th St. & Woodland Ave., Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. UNIV. oF OHIO, The Library, Columbus Ohio, U.S.A. Univ. oF ToRONTO, The Library, Toronto, Ont. UNIV. OF TORONTO, Dept. of Geology, Toronto, Ont. VANCOUVER Nat. His. SOCIETY, c-o C. F. Connor, 3529 2nd Ave. W., Vancouver, B.C. VAN Horne, Miss, 513 Sherbrooke St. W., Montreal, P.Q. VEBERT, E. P., 40 Robert Ave., Outre- mont, P.Q. WaILes, G. H., 43837 Willow St., Vancouver, B.C. WALLING, EVERETT L., Commissioner of Birds, 1022 Hospital Trust Bldg., Providence, R.I., U.S.A. WALKER, BRYANT, 1306 Dime Bank Bldg., Detroit, Mich., U.S.A. WALKER, Dr. F. M., 67 Alcina Ave., Toronto, Ont. WALTER, MRs. E. F., 626 Victoria Ave., Westmount, P.Q. : WALSHAW: KENNETH, Grenfell P.O., ask. WARDELL, Miss E. B., 94 Gloucester St., Toronto, Ont. WARREN, Dr. B. H., 220 West Market St., Westchester, Pa., U.S.A. WARWICK, F. W., 36 Blenheim Road, Galt, ‘Ont. WASHINGTON STATE COLLEGE, Pull- man, Wash., U.S.A. WATSON, EH. B., Entomological Branch, Dept. of Agriculture, Birks Bldg., Ottawa, Ont. Wuite, Ep. F. G., 185 Wurtemburg St., Ottawa, Ont. Wuitr, G. R., 185 Wurtemburg St., Ottawa, Ont. May, 1925] WHITAKER, R. J., Grand Lake, Nfld. WHITE, JAS., Snelgrove, Ont. WuHitk, J. H., Faculty of Forestry, Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Waite, Mrs. P. B., 72 Fifth Ave., . Ottawa, Ont. WHITEHEAD, A. B., 302 Grande Allée, Quebec City, P.Q. WHITEHOUSE, F. C., Can. Bank Com., Nelson, B.C WIickHAM, Pror. H. F., State Univ., Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.A. WILLEY, Pror. ARTHUR, McGill Univ., Montreal, P.Q. WILLIAMs, Dr. M. Y., Univ. of B.C., Vancouver, B.C. Witson, Miss ALicE E., Geological Survey, Ottawa, Ont. “WILSON, Miss E., Acacia Ave., Rock- cliffe, Ottawa, Ont. WILSON, F. H., 26 McGregor St., Montreal, P.Q. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST WILLIAMS, C., 310 Brunswick Ave., Toronto, Ont. WINCH, F., Sporting Powder Div., E. T. du Pont de Nemours Coy., Wilmington, Del., U.S.A. WINCHESTER, H. S., 35 Willard Ave., Ottawa, Ont. WINSON, J. W., Huntingdon, B.C. WINTEMBURG, W. J., 32 Grosvenor Ave., Ottawa, Ont. meer: A. A., R.R. No. 2, Ilderton, nt. Woop, C. RoDNEY, Magomba Estate, P.O. Cholo, Nyasaland, Africa, via Cape Town. Woop, Miss KinG, 29 Alcina Ave., Toronto, Ont. Woop, Cou. WM., 59 Grand Allée, Quebec City, P.Q. WOOLCOMBE, ReEv. G. P., Ashbury College, Rocekcliffe Park, Ont. OME: Wo., 102nd St., Edmonton, Alta. 129 Wricut, A. H., Zoological Dept., Cornel Univ., Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.A. WRIGHT, HaRLow H., 568 Mclaren St., Ottawa, Ont. WRIGHT, J. FRANK, Victoria Mem. Museum, Ottawa, Ont. Wricut, Miss Etta, 176 Lansdowne Rd., Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, Ont. WRicutT, Miss S. E., 317 Queen St., Ottawa, Ont. YEOMANS, Miss N. A., 137 Isabella St., Toronto, Ont. YOUNG, REV. C. J., 1726 Fifth Ave. W., Vancouver, B.C. YOUNG, C. H., Victoria Mem. Museum, Ottawa, Ont. ZOOLOGICAL MusEuM, Oslo, Norway. ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM, Copenhagen, Denmark. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, Regents Park, London N.W., England. be SLFHLSFLHSHHSIHHSH G44 & Lyman’s Limited MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS Importers and Dealers in CHEMICAL AND ASSAY APPARATUS 344 St. Paul St. West, Montreal %, TESTED SEEDS J and disappointment from your garden Kenneth McDonald & Sons, Limited : i Seed and Bulb Merchants i: Market Square 9 NATURAL SCIENCE Ward S ESTABLISHMENT Rochester, New York, U.S.A. _Manufacturers of the genuine Schmitt boxes exhibition cases and cabinets, also of the American Entomological Company’s insect pins. Riker Mounts and botanical mounts always on hand, also Riker botanical presses. d Send for our supply catalogue and other lists of interest to collectors. Headquarters for Entomological Supplies and Specimens as Paso oa oa] Gaba bE 10516531685 oa oda BEATA ONA BEATE OS OS OST Ne oe Dee EATS ETE RBBB DAIIDLELADALED ALES ALLE PPLE Inspected Milk Ice Cream Fresh Butter Buttermilk errr rrr rrr rrr eet Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers : CROPS ; i SEEDS PLANTS BULBS £ is Our rigorous system of testing eliminates loss 3 Ottawa, Ont FE grtrrttrrtrtrre rere ey i _ec Uy Copley Co. Photographic Material Scientific Apparatus Eastman Kodaks 132 Sparks Street : OTTAWA TT ; = 0801 13 WW - THE Bank of Nova Scotia Capital.) kc eee $ 10,000,000 | Reserve Fund........ . 19,500,000 Total Assets over...... 237,000,000 FIFTEEN BRANCHES IN OTTAWA AND HULL ‘36m 2 RTT 1 TT >i Xa ee 0% eM ote ote ote ole ote te cme te lecta Sects tae ecte ede Gotecletatevevestesetn Bere %9 29 9 0 0 MO 28 ~ BOSD OCS CIOL OD OS OT M0 U2 2 %0 OS Mo 10 1 OO U2 Mo M0 M0 | Po °, aaa = Ko Se e x 3 a nh ] n ; F ‘t % Con Od e r) 9 eo 3 Se oe 2 {y Oo) 9 e | ei: ‘2 > “ef & AND ° * °° ey y eo. 7 $ 4 t, Ott * 410-412 Bank Street, Ottawa e = S2 oe is Phone Queen 1024 e * M oe ve %. o%, oe he te te ctecte se steciete ede teste seseet Mo Me oe ote ote oe oe oe Om S Peete eo %8 MP UO OS M8 00 Me 19 OS 72 %8 C0 10 U9 00 8 Se O0 %0 OS ome oe Se efe ofeege _ NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF _ MANITOBA 1924 V. W. JAcKSON; President: J. J. GOLDEN; ce-Presidenitss H. M. SpmEEcHLY, A. M. DAVEE ON, A. G LAWRENCE, NORMAN CRIDDLE; Mrs. C. BASTIN, Mrs. _C. P. ANDERSON; General Secretary: A. A. Mobaoanay 307 € R. Depot, Winnipeg, Man.; Executive Secretary: R. M. ‘THOMAS; Treasurer: MisS HELEN R. CANNOM; ORNITH- OLOGIGAL SECTION:—Chairman: B. W. CARTWRIGHT; _ Secretary: C. L. BROLEY. ENTOMOLOGICAL SECTION: _ =Chairman: A. V. MITCHENER; Secretary: A. SHIRLEY ROOKS. BOTANICAL SECTION :—Chairman: C. W. LoWE; Secretary: Miss GRACE CAMERON. GEOLOGICAL SEC- pe, harman: A. A: McCousrey; Secretary: J. M. a. Presideni: THE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION SOCIEFY _ (Incorporated) ‘on. Presideni: Mr. ADAM BROWN; President: Mr. R. O ARRIMAN; 1st Vice-President: DR. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- resident: Mr. C. D. Cook; Secretary-Treasurer: Miss RUBY -R. Mitts, Public Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. A NOTT; C. D. Coox; Dr. J. A. DICKSON; Miss M. E. GRA- Miss Rupy R. MIs; M. Horton; M. JOHNSTON; ‘ RS. F. E, MAcLocHuin; R. O. MBRRIMAN. TURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VICTORIA, B.C. - The a fticdcs for the above Society for the year ending parc 3ist, 1925, are as follows:— i "Rev. R. CONNELL, M.A.; 1st Vice-President: e N. Key; 2nd Vice-President: Mrs. HUGH MACKENZIE; ‘Hon. Secretary: HAROLD T. NATION; Hon. Treasurer: MIss S.M. THORNTON; Committee: G. A. HARDY, C. C. PEMBERTON, a CorNWwALL F.R. G.S., A. R. SHERWOOD, H. Boyce; Audi- tors: Miss aes, M.Sc., WILLIAM Downss. ) ALBERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ‘Hon. President: Mr. J. J. GAETZ, Red Deer, Alta.; Hon. Vice President: Dr. Hy. GEORGE, Victoria, B.C.; President: C. H. SNELL, Red Deer, Alta.; ist Vice-President: Mrs. A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; 2nd Vice-President: MR. S. BLY, skiwin, Alta.; Mrs. J. McMiLian, Red Deer, Alta.; Miss BE. C. Irvine, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. F. L. FARLBY, ’ Camrose, a.; Mr. W.A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. B. LAWTON, monton, Alta.; Mr. K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Alta.; PROF. Rowan, Univ. of Alta., Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. W. F. tRIS, Eed Deer, Alta.; Mr. T. BE. RANDALL, Castor, Alta.; A. C. BRETHOUR, Calgary, Alta.; Hon. Sec-Treas.: M RS. S. PAMELy, Red Deer, Alta. he meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the Friday of each month except during July and August and aps September, The annual meeting is held in Red Deer e last Friday in November. ~ LONDON, ONT. > T. D. PaTTERSON, 562 Waterloo Street; Recording y: Mrs. E. H. McKong, Worthey Road; Correspond- cretary and Treasurer: E. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St.; ers qualified to answer questions: W. E. SAUNDERS, 240 Ave.; C. G. WATSON, oe Ridout St. South; J. R D, 355 Wortley Road; J. F. CALVERT, 461 Wecasen }. M. S. DALE, 297 Hyman St. J “OUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ? . President: L. S. KuInck, L.L.D., Pres. University of B.C.; e mt: JOHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- FRED Perry; Hon. Secretary: C.F. Connor, M. oe 5 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Pua A. H LIN, 302 -¥ ork St., Vancouver, B. C. ~ ed Deer, Alta.; Directors: Mrs. G .F. Root, Weta- Affiliated Societies PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. President: I. GAMMEL; Hon. Vice-President: W. H. RoBB; President: L. McI. TERRILL; 1st. Vice-President: NAPIER SmitH; 2nd. Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; $rd. Vice-President and Curator: Miss E. G. LUKE; Se a Secretary: Miss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. Hart, P.O. Box 1186, Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY Sees Committee: Miss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C.F. DALE; H. A. C. JACKSON; Miss E. Monnow; Miss L. MURPHY; A, MACSWEEN; G.S. Mooney; WwW. A. OSWALD; L. Mel. SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY; Members qualified to answer questions: L. MclI. TERRILL, 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; C. N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY, McGill University, Montreal; HENRY Mous.Lby, 274 Girouard Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EDITH MORROW AND Miss EMILy LUKE, c-o Secretary. SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE : NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Eee en DocTEuUR S. GAUDREAU; Jer vice-président: ABBE A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. BOULTON; Secrétaire-trésorier: Louis-B. Lavotz; Chef de la section scientifique: A.-A. GopBouT; Chef de la section de propaganda éducationelle: DocTEUR A. DreRy; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d’information scientifique et pratique: DOCTEUR J.-E. BERNIER; Directeura: R.-F. LINDSAY; Jos. MattH; G.-S. AHERN. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOCLO- . GISTS’ UNION Officers for 1923 Hon. President: Hon. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: T. L. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasurer: J. W. WINSON, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. KELSO, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz; K. Racry, Vancouver; T. PEARSE, Courtenay; W.N. KELLY, Victoria. THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB PROFESSOR R. B. THomson; Vice-Presidents: PROFESSOR E. M. WALKER, Dr. A. COSENS, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. F. GrmeGoRY, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH: Iibrarian: Dr. LYMAN JACKES. BIRD GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP :—Chairman: Dr. H. B. Sirton; Secretary: Miss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: President: \PROFESSOR WALKER; Sceretary: Miss NORMA ForD, PH.D. MAMMAL GROUP: :—Chairman: J. R. DYMOND; Secretary: L. SNYDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GRO —Chairman: SHILLEY "LOGIER: Secretary: T. B. KURATA. PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- ENs. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:— Chairman: RussELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL COM- MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of this magazine. By securing every member as a subscriber we can truly make this magazine into one of the leading Natural History publications of America. a Sweet Canada Eleven Bird Songs and a Round by Louise Murphy Author of ‘‘A Little Book of Bird Songs, Rhymes and Tunes for Tiny Tots’’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto _L. C. Smith & Bro. Typewriter’ Ball bearings in every frictional part of the L. C. Smith insure long life, light touch and easy operation Ottawa Typewriter Co. 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Mark G. sean Dentist to certain of the cognoscents ROL: 252 LISGAR STREET, sce eae : Telephone aidees: 2038 VAVAVAVAVA IN XN N x N N N X X N N N LS VAVAVARA LAVAVAVAVA igen OCT 13 1925: SEPTEMBER, 1925 _ VOL. XXXIX, No. 6 SVORALISTS CLUB ; Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second-class matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- ELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB pee | x THEIR EXCELLENCIES}THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG OF Vi pa eee G. A. MILLER. ae 1st Vice-President: Noman, vis Ce 2nd Vice-President: Dig: nM ND: Secretary: — Vj CRP Ste ‘ _ Hon. Treasurer: ox ee ed Ajo 8. WRIGHT, hts ait ie fe Se ; B. A. FAUVEL, é 148 Third Ave. (le D CVE @ ~ 321 McLeod St., Ottawa, Ont. ants Ottawa, Onty Additional Members of Council: W.T.Macoun; Miss M. E. Cowan; C.M. Greuneee P. A. TAVERNER; E.SAPIR; W.J. WINTEMBERG; R. E. DELURY: ARTHUR GIBSON; R.M. ANDERSON; 18 GROH; Miss F. FYLES; C. B. HUTCHINGS: CLYDE L. PatcH; H D. JENNEsS; H. F. LEwis; Hoyes LLOYD; Frits J OHANSEN; ANDREW HALKETT; C. E. G. R. Wits; E. G. WHITE: G. i MACDONALD: A. G. KINGSTON: NoRMAN LEACH; McELHINNEY: V.W. JACKSON; R. O. MERRIMAN; W.N. KELLY; C. H. SNELL; I R. JoHN Davipson; L. McI. TERRILL; R. MEREDITH; FRANCIS KERMODE; R. B. THoMSO} Acting Editor: G. A. MILLER, Normal School, Ottawa. Associate Editors: — ‘ Prue VSN TR Se tena bd a oteaenn Anthropology A. G. HUNTSMAN......... ... Marine IOS NDAMID RH Ae ce OR reas aevinee Botany PA, PAVERNER: fo. 5. eee Onna Riek MUATCHPORD. ok Lak mersak Conchology IV SRSIIN DE eee ase i ta ali VNR AIISE Ste hihi aie ee aie gents Geology REM ANDERSON. 3s. 3 aes ARTHUR GIBSON.........- Sasi Entomology CLYDE LL; PATGH V4.2 a ee ea CONTENTS Field Studies ag Growth Forms of Some of the Native Trees of the Environment of Vietori By C) CPemberton, Victoria, Bi. 2 2uii it vi, mnie er ee ne The Acclimatization of the Fox Squirrel at Pelee Island, Ontario. By Hoyes Lloyd...... pei Further Notes on Canadian Freshwater Isopods and Amphipods. By Frits Johansen... The Spider Collections of F. W. Waugh. By J. H. Emerton.......................... A Pleistocene Fauna from the South-Western Mainland of British Columbia. By C. H. Criekmay The Weasels of Southern Manitoba. By Norman and Stuart Criddle CE aiSie Cee ane ue onal than Ea las i In Memoriam—James Ballantyne.............-.---. SON Car Ne ce Ae ‘sn ee eae Notes and Observations:— . : | (ee Unusual Form of Trillium Senate. ay W.E. Saunders lenin. = ene gc deapae: The Increase and Present Status of the Starling (Sturnus palaces) at Toronto, 1925. ‘By Lal. Snyder and Jas. te) Baillie imo. a ae aa hod SM Rok eT SN aaa , ‘The Frog Eats the Bird. By Clyde L. Patch............ SHOR: RR a ol A Duplex Nest of the Phoebe. By W.E.Saunders................:......- Br i The Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina) in Ontario. By Jas. L. Baillie, dir Se ee The Introduction of the Muskrat and the Rocky Mountain Goat on Vancouver Island. By Hoyes lloyds sis vice as ek rene ee UR Ca REA: Sete Canadian Field-Naturalist Publication Fund—Statement.of Receipts. . eee, 3 sae) bi e reuke Victoria Memorial Museum—Field Programme, 1925...................... Se eee 162 The official publications of THE OTTAWA Hiauh NAPOU Ae CLuB have. been issued — since 1879. The first was The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1879- 1886, two volumes; the next, The Ottawa Naturalist, 1886-1919, thirty-two volumes; and these ty have been continued by The Canadian Field-N. aturalist to date. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is issued monthly, except for the months of June, July, and August, Itsscopeis the publication of the results of original research in all departments of Natural History. OCT 13 1925 HOUSES The Habits and Requirements of the Birds have been care- fully studied in the making of our Bird Houses They are made right in every detail—and consequently they are effec- || tive in attracting tenants. 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Rankin, Ltd. : 2, £5 : BUILDERS’ : RS AND : = HOME HARDWARE =; * 410-412 Bank Street, Ottawa Phone Queen 1024 = 1% » oe oe "oe ©. ©, GM 0% 0% Mp o% oMn ota Mactan ctectontetectectosto ciate lata tecte tote testeee, PUAN RO Me Me 90 00 150 90 90 950 1.0 O50 10 10 U0 150 0.0 G0 0,0 M0 0 M0 M8 U0 29 100 MO ON, Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. XXXIX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, SEPTEMBER, 1925 No. 6 FIELD STUDIES OF GROWTH FORMS OF SOME OF THE NATIVE TREES OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF VICTORIA, B.C. 3 By C. C. PEMBERTON, Victoria, B.C. TWINING FIRS A remarkable habit has lately appeared in the fir trees of the districts surrounding Victoria, B.C. It consists of a twining movement whereby the stem: of one fir winds around that of another in the manner of an ordinary twiner. Several instances of this nature have been observed both in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia |Poir] Britt.) and Grand fir (Abies grandis, Lindley). Figure No. 1. I obtained the photograph of the two firs shown in this figure many years ago when I first endeavoured to assemble photographic studies of the growth forms of our native trees. At that time I saw no other instance of anything approaching a twining movement in any of the coniferous trees of this neighbourhood. _ Figure No. 2. Some months ago, however, Mr. L. A. Breun drew the attention of the Natural History Society of British Columbia to a curious instance of apparent twining in a small Douglas fir tree close to the excavation for the new Dry Dock now nearing completion at Esquimalt. Here a slender Douglas fir had bent sharply over to the right and gradually circled upward around the stem of a larger Douglas fir which had been growing close to it. After completing the circle the rotating movement continued at a much sharper curve for about three quarters of the distance around the trunk of the larger tree and the twiner then assumed vertical growth. In this specimen the encircling movement, though on a large scale, is much more like an ordinary twiner than in the grand firs shown in Figure No. 1, and I felt convinced that it was a genuine instance of twining. Since the excavation operations for the dock have commenced, the two firs have died. FIGURE No. 3. Being fully satisfied that both the instances depicted in Figure No. 1 and Figure No. 2 were actual cases where a twining movement had taken place, I sought for other evidences of the phenomenon. Not far from the dock I found the specimen shown in Figure No. 3, in which, although the twining movement is present, it is not very pronounced. A young Grand fir appar- ently had made a partial twine to the left around the stem of a larger tree, which in this case was a Douglas fir. The top of the twiner was evidently soon killed by the excessive shade from the more sturdy Douglas fir and at first it seemed as if the whole tree had been killed. Quite recently, how- ever, a young lateral branch which apparently is of adventitious origin has sprung from the lower part of the twiner and is thriving. This seems to prove that the lower portion of the twining tree which is now exposed to lateral illumination has- remained vital and this retention of vitality may be due to root graft with a large foliage possessing Grand fir which is situated to the right hand of the picture. The adventitious branch is quite small and does not show in the illustration. FIGURE No. 4 In the same neighbourhood I also observed another example of a partial twining movement in Grand fir trees. This is depicted in Figure No. 4, and has several peculiar features. The twiner and its support have apparently a common base and seem originally to have formed one tree. The twiner first takes a slight turn to the right. Afterwards it swings over to the left and evidently in its effort to effect a twining move- ment it pressed against the trunk of the larger tree so tightly that graftage ensued. From this point a ridge running up the stem of the larger tree seems to indicate that the leader of the twiner must have grown vertically along the stem of the support and, becoming grafted as it proceeded, was finally enveloped by the girth increment of the larger tree. Then, at the point where the graftage started, another leader, which may be either an adventitious shoot or a substitute branch leader, had apparently endeavoured to continue to twine. The shade from the forest seems to have killed this new leader for it is now dead and decadent as far down as the point of graftage where it com- menced. The stem of the original twiner, however, remains vital below this graft down to where it springs from the base. There is also a stub of another stem which evidently once grew out from the common base but was subsequently cut off. The stub, however, remains vital and is in process of 132 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX TWINING FIGuRE No. 1.—Grand fir. another tree of the same species. being healed over by a callus formation from the parent tree. The explanation of the multiple leader formation may be that it is a case where the leader of the young fir was destroyed and the lower branches all tried to become substitute leaders. (See The Canadian Field Naturalist, Vol. XXXIX, No. 5, Fig 5, p. 99, Fig 6, p. 100.) One of them may have dominated and now form the trunk around which the twiner has Abies Grandis, Lindley. FIRS Twine to the left by one Grand fir around The ’’Gorge Park”’, Victoria, B.C. .tried to circle. The twiner, in that case, would be one of the competing branches which, being out- distanced in the vertical race, resorted to twining. The stub probably belonged to another competing branch which was also being left behind in the vertical race at the time it was cut away. FIGURE 5 AND FIGURE 5a. In the woodland portion of the new Inter-Municipal Burial Park at Royal Oak, in the Saanich Municipality, I have September, 1925] TWINING FIRS FicuRE No. 2.—Douglas fir. Pesudotsuga taxifolia’ (Poir) Britt. Remarkable twine to the right by a small Douglas fir round the trunk of a larger tree of the same species. Dry Dock, Esquimalt, B.C. recently seen two more specimens of Douglas fir showing a twining characteristic. One of these is shown in Figures Nos. 5 and 5a. Figure No. 5 represents the trees as seen when looking to the eastward. In this the twiner starts on the left. It grows vertically for a short distance. Then it takes a sharp turn to the right and winds tightly THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 133 around the stem of the supporting fir to which it has grafted and is now nearly enveloped by the girth increment of the latter. In fact, only a faint trace of the stem of the twiner can be discerned. Figure No. 5a illustrates the trees as seen looking to the westward and shows on the left the point where the twiner has completed its twine and has emerged from the graftage and then resumed the more vertical direction. This view also shows, on the right, the vertical part of the stem of the twiner before it made its twining movement and became grafted to the stem of the support, as seen in Figure No. 5. FicuRE No. 6. The two. trees seen in this figure are two young Douglas firs which twine loosely to the left around each other. They TWINING FIRS FicurE No. 3.—Grand fir, Abies grandis, Lindley. Partial twine to the left by a small Grand fir around a larger Douglas fir. Esqui- malt, B.C. 34 form the second of two instances which I found in the Royal Oak Burial Park, and to my mind do not appear to have originally been two separate THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX TWINING FIRS FiguRE No. 4.—Grand fir, Abies grandis, Lindley. Partial twine to right and then to left and graftage. Esquimalt, B.C. TWINING FIRS FIGURE No. 5.—Douglas fir, Pesudotsuga * taxifolia (Poir) Britt. Twiner, (left) grows 3 vertically at first, then twines to right and intergrafts with larger tree of same species. Inter-Municipal Burial Park, Saanich, B.C. individual trees, but, on the contrary, have every appearance of being two substitute branch-leaders of a young fir which had lost its primary leader. Mr. Alfred Carmichael has recently pointed out two more cases of twining firs. Both are grand fir. September, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 135 TWINING FIRS FiGuRE No. 5a.—View of trees in Figure No. 5 from opposite direction. Shows end of twine and graft and resumption of vertical growth by twiner. One is situated on the West Sooke road near the Kangaroo cross-road and consists of a fairly large Grand fir which has twined to the right around the stem of a larger Douglas fir. The Douglas fir has, however, recently died. In this instance the stem of the twiner flattens out against the stem of the Douglas fir, near the tops of the two trees, and then ends in a lateral, branch-like TWINING FIRS FigurE No. 6.—Douglas fir, Pesudotsuga taxifolia (Poir) Britt. Two young Douglas fir trees twine loosely to the right. Inter- Municipal Burial Park. Saanich, B.C. 136 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX POSITIVE GEOTROPISM OF SHOOTS INDUCED BY PARASITIC DISTURBANCES FIGURE No. 7. —Lateral branch, or secondary axis of Grand fir apie grandis, Lindley) showing positive geotropism in adventitious shoots of ’’Witches’ Broom” This branch was cut down in order to obtain the picture. growth. The other instance pointed out by Mr. Carmichael is on the Happy Valley road, near its junction with the East Sooke road, and is a case of one Grand fir making a pronounced twining move- ment to the right around the stem of a nearby tree of the same species. Mr. A. H. Maynard has also shown me photographs of natural graftage of stems of Grand fir saplings on his property on West Saanich road, in which the graftage seems to be the result of a twining movement. I have not had opportunity to study these latter growths. The governing influence guiding the movement of twining plants seems to be conceded to be diageotropism. Why some types of plants make sinistrorse and others dextrorse twines, and others again twine in either direction, or even (in a few species) change their direction of twine, is appar- ently as yet unknown. In The Boys’ Own Annual for 19038, at page 51, there is an article, ‘““TWINING PLANTS—Why Do Beans and Hops Climb Differently?” by Mr. Eric R. Collier, in which he says: “Now the shoot of a plant growing in the northern hemisphere, following the apparent course of the sun, would face East in the early morning, South at noon, and West in the even- ing. Thus it would travel in a clock-wise direction. On the other hand, a plant growing in the southern hemisphere, and following the direction of the sun’s apparent motion, would face successively, East, North and West, thus rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. If the history of these twining plants is traced back to their original habitat, it is found that the hop, clematis, pea, nasturtium, vine, honeysuckle and nightshade were all originally found growing somewhere inthe northern hemisphere . . . Also all these plants twine in a clockwise direc- tion . . . On the other hand, however, it is found that the bean, convolvulus, fuschia, asparagus and white bryony all had their original habitat in countries situated in the southern hemisphere, and were imported into Hurope at various times during the last few hundred years... Moreover, all these plants twine in an anticlockwise direction, corresponding to the anti-clockwise direction of the sun’s apparent motion in the southern hemisphere. ‘Finally, the question arises: ‘Why have not these plants changed their direction of rotation, to accomodate their growth to the direction of the sun’s motion in the hemisphere in which they are growing?’ “The answer to this question lies in the fact that the plant: is obeying a vestigial instinct which it has not yet lost. The process of evolu- tion, though sure, is exceedingly slow, and no doubt, at some distant period in the world’s future, these twining plants will finally lose this instinct in the same way that man will probably lose vestigial remains such as the vermiform appendix and the os coccyx.” The stems of firs do not ordinarily require to be supported. Both Douglas and Grand fir belong to the Northern hemisphere and the specimens so September, 1925] far observed indicate that in each species trees may twine either to the right or left. Mr. Collier’s explanation, therefore, would not in these particu- lars apply to twining firs. On the other hand, the twining movement seems to have taken one or more seasons to accomplish. It looks like the heliotropic curvature of the arbutus (See The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol, XXXVI, Fig. 2, p. 22), but in a continuous circular manner, therefore, the resumption of the vertical direction after the twiner has reached a certain height may mean that the twining in the early stages had been occasioned by an endeavour to reach light but that the attainment of this object enabled the tree to obey its normal negative geo- tropism. In my experience the primary axis of sapling Grand fir may in light contests show positive heliotropic reaction to lateral illumination and at the same time assume the dorsi-ventrality of symmetry of a lateral branch. In Douglas fir. on the other hand, the negative geotropism of the primary axis is most imperative and in contests for overhead light the orthotropic shoot may become aborted and then a lateral branch generally re-establishes the vertical lead and radial symmet- try of a primary axis. I have not examined the root systems of the twining firs to see whether root graft exists between the twiner and its support where they are of the same species, or whether root graft is in any way incident to the phenomenon of twining. It is well known that many conifers possess the power of supplying wood-forming material by-~ - means of root graft to the stumps of other trees, of the same species, which have been felled. It also seems that the assimilated sap can be passed on, by secondary root graft, to other more re- ‘mote stumps. (See The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XXXV, No. 5, Figs. 3, p. 85 and 4, p. 86. Fig. 3, however, is in an inverted position). In these cases the food material comes down the stem of the foster tree, along its roots, through the graft and up the stems of the stumps of the felled trees. On these it can form a capping which is said to have amounted, in one instance, to two hundred rings. I submit that it is con- ceivable that a young fir, losing canopy display through crowding, may obtain nourishment from the tree to which it is root grafted, and this food material, being from the base or roots of another tree, may in some way induce a twining move- ment which lasts until the twiner regains full canopy. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 137 I note that in A Textbook of Botany (John Merle Coulter, Ph.D., Charles Reid Barnes, Ph.D., and Henry Chandler Cowles, Ph.D., American Book Company, New York. All II, Page 656, Foot Note No. 1), the authors say: “Recently, evidence of the inception of a twining habit has been discovered in a race of snapdragons, (Antirrhinum Majus), the new form appearing to be a mutant. This form has the characteristic anatomical features of twiners, such as a small pith region, compact vascular tissues, and cortical differences on the convex - and concave surfaces. “Furthermore, the twining varients, however eaused, come true to seed. It is difficult to see much advantage in the changed habit, since the _ new forms are quite as erect and strong as ordinary individuals, and coils often occur in positions where they scarcely can be of use, as at the base of a shoot.” POSITIVE GEOTROPISM IN SHOOTS OF “WITCHES’ BROOM” The adventitious shoots of the ‘‘Witches’ Broom” shown in Figure No. 7 have sprung from the lower side of a lateral branch of Grand fir (Abies grandis, Lindley) and are positively geotropic in direction of growth, as if they were roots. This is contrary to the ordinary rule in fir, viz: that the primary axes of shoots are essentially apogeotropic. The presence of the fungoid parasite, therefore, has in this instance evidently upset the normal correlations and reactions of an autophytic plant. There seems, however, to have been a slight tendency to heliotropiec curving toward the lateral light. I believe that in their lack of geotropic reaction the shoots of this ‘Witches’ Broom” are like partial parasites, such as mistletoe, ete., which, in direction of growth react toward any body on which they germinate in the same manner as the autophyte normally reacts in relation to the earth. I note the interesting accounts of early experi- ments in respect to mistletoe, etc., given by Dr. Lindley (An Introduction to Botany, third edition, Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman’s, London, 1839, pp. 408-409). Although Knight’s opinion is quoted by Lindley (p. 406) I am un- aware whether his experiments with the Klinostat had at that time been made. I have not had opportunity of following up the later research in connection with the subject of geotropic reaction in parasites and partial parasites. Bi 138 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX THE ACCLIMATIZATION OF THE FOX SQUIRREL AT PELEE ISLAND, ONTARIO By HOYES LLOYD N NOVEMBER, 1922, I paid a visit to Point Pelee National Park, and while journeying westward called upon both Mr. J. H. Fleming, at Toronto, and Mr. W. E. Saunders, at London. Mr. Fleming called my attention to the fact that the Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger subsp? occurred on Pelee Island, which was of interest, as this is apparently the only spot where it is found in Canada. The fact of this species being found at Pelee Island was also discussed with Mr. Saunders. In the course of my visit to Point Pelee the question of Fox Squir- rels was naturally discussed with the Super- intendent, Mr. F. H. Conover, who has long taken an interest in the wild creatures of his neighbour- hood. From memory, Mr. Conover at once volunteered the information that the Fox Squirrel had been introduced on the island many years ago, and he kindly agreed to secure any details that might be available at this late date concerning the introduction. These came to me by letter of January 24, 1928, from which I shall quote: “Dear Mr. Lloyd:—I have been casting about for a considerable time endeavouring to obtain definite information in respect to the ‘Fox Squir- rels’ that some thirty years ago were first intro- duced upon Pelee Island by Mr. Charles Mills, of Sandusky, Ohio, U.S. “The definite date cannot so far be given, only approximate. “T am still at work seeking further information in this connection. “Mr. Mills has since died, and as these squirrels were transferred by the American Fishing Club, the older members have passed out. If I can obtain anything I certainly will do so with pleas- ure.—F.. H. Conover.” This information was supplemented later by a statement that Mr. Mills brought these squirrels from southern Ohio, near the Kentucky border After being brought to Pelee Island, they soon became plentiful, but dwindled later to such an extent that Mr. Conover doubted if one could be found by January, 1925. He has a specimen taken at Pelee Island about eight years ago by a hunter. Mr. Saunders saw none on his last visit to the island, and comments on this as remark- able—the time being midsummer. Having survived in this new environment, which is undoubtedly almost identical with that from which it came, for such a long time, it must be considered that the Fox Squirrel became thorough- ly acclimated, although apparently it was depleted by hunting later. It is to prevent the fact of its introduction being forgotten, and to protect future naturalists from thinking the species indigenous, should it persist, that these few lines have been written. FURTHER NOTES ON CANADIAN FRESHWATER ISOPODS AND AMPHIPODS By FRITS JOHANSEN N SEPTEMBER, 1923, I received from Prof. C. H. O’Donoghue, of the Univer- [ez 630] sity of Manitoba, Winnipeg, some vials containing freshwater Crustaceans, which he had collected, in the end of May, 1923, ina pond named “‘Hydra Lake’’, situated at about 400 feet elevation, on the hill above Horswell Bluff, about 14 miles north of Departure Bay, on the east side of Vancouver Island. Among these crustaceans (Copepods, Cladocera, etc.) were a dozen speci- mens (half-grown and adults) of the common, freshwater Amphipod, Hyalella azteka (Saus.). This is apparently the first record of this species from Vancouver Island; but I have already recorded it from the mainland part of British Columbia (Canadian Field-Naturalist for October, 1920, p. 181). I have recently seen specimens of this species, sent from the vicinity of Halifax, to the Department of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, which seems to be the first definite record of H. azteka from the part of Nova Scotia lying south of the Strait of Canso. On August 8rd, 1924, I. collected a number of adults (both sexes) and newborn young of the same species (H. azteka) among algae and stones in the bights below the old wharf on the Ontario side, at Deschenes Rapids, Britannia; and two weeks later I found a great many newborn and half-grown young of the same Amphipod, among Utricularia-plants in Black River, on the east side of Lake Simcoe, Ontario. ; So late as October 19th, 1924, I found both the Isopod, Asellus communis and the Amphipod Eucrangonyx gracilis, exceedingly common among dead leaves and aquatic vegetation in the pond in Major Hill Park, Ottawa, Ont. The Isopods had a length of from } to 14 em., and showed their usual sluggish behaviour; it is perhaps worth mentioning here, that their latin, generic name (Asellus) means “the little ass”, and refers to the September, 1925] coloration of those isopods, greyish above and whitish below. The Amphipods (E. gracilis) were represented by new-born (1 mm. long), half-grown young, and adults, the females carrying dark-blue eggs. The young, particularly the new-born ones, were pale (whitish), with the orange, intestinal tract shining through; in the older ones the margin of the body segments (somites) had the strongest (darkest) coloration. This new record of EF. gracilis proves that in the vicinity of Ottawa, there are at least three broods during the summer and fall, as I have suggested in The Canadian Field-Naturalist for October, 1920, p. 129, the time in the autumn, however, being in October, not in September. Future in- vestigations may show that there new broods are still more frequent, during each season of about seven months (April-October inclusive). From the records of Asellus communis around Ottawa (see Canadian Field-Naturalist for Novem- ber, 1920, pp. 147-48), it would seem that the broods are less frequent, and the growth slower, than in £. gracilis and other freshwater Amphi- pods, perhaps owing to the more vegetarian diet THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 139 of the Isopods. In lakes and rivers, which do not freeze to the bottom during the winter, both the Isopods and Amphipods probably occur all year round, and their broods are therefore more numer- ous than in more shallow water. NotTE—Since this was written, and sent in for publication, I have received from Dr. S. C. Ells, of the Department of Mines, Ottawa, ten adult Gammarus limnaeus, including some females with eggs, collected by him in McClelland Lake, about sixty miles north of Fort McMurray, Alta., in the Athabasca River country, about lat. 57 degrees north, in June, 1924. Dr. Ells kindly informs me that this lake, which is in township 98, range 8, west of the 4th meridian, is in size about 6 by 3 miles, at an elevation of about 900 feet, with an outlet to Athabasca River. These “shrimps’’ are considered a pest in the lake, as they devour all bait on fish-hooks, and clog the lines set there. The only commercial fish in this lake are pike (and perhaps pickerel). This new record of G. limnaeus is valuable; for it shows that the species is as common in the sub- arctic parts of western Canada as further north and south. My identification of these specimens has been kindly verified by Mr. C. R. Shoemaker, of the U.S.N.M., Washington, D.C.—F.J. THE SPIDER COLLECTIONS OF F. W. WAUGH By J. H. EMERTON N THE course of his studies of the language and customs of the Indians, which took him on long visits to out-of- the-way parts of Canada, Mr. Waugh was accustomed to observe and collect spiders, and so became well acquainted with the common kinds and discovered many facts of value relating to the distribution of these animals in North America. In 1916 he visited Nipigon, Long Lake and Manitoulin Island, where he found the then little — known Linyphia nearctica, Linyphia limitanea and Theridion zelotypum near their southern limits in the Great Lakes region. In the following year he collected around Winnipeg and there found Pardosa greenlandica, its most southern station except in the mountains. In 1918 he spent the summer at the Six Nations’ Reservation, near Brantford, Ontario, where he collected largely and found several southern species near their northern limits in Canada, the two species of Argiope, E’peira hortorum, Hyctia bina and E'peira insularis. In 1919 he had a long season at Lac Seul, Ontario, where he collected from June to Septem- ber and made a typical Middle Canadian collection of fifty species, including the western Lycosa beanii and the arctic Lycosa albohastata. His most interesting collection, however, was that of 1921 and 1922 in Labrador. Starting in the summer of 1921 at Natashquan on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where he col- lected the common Lycosidae and Epeiridae, he moved northward to Voisey’s Bay in August and in September and October followed up the Assiwa- ban River as far as Cabot Lake. At all stations the common spruce tree spiders Linyphia phry- giana, nearctica and limitanea were found in the immature condition in which they pass the winter, while Lepthyphantes duplicatus and bihamatus which live near the ground were in the adult condition in both sexes. At Voisey’s Bay occurred the arctic species Pardosa furcifera, Lycosa pictilis and Lycosa albohastata and at Cabot Lake the transcontinental species Hilaira brunnea and Pholodromus alascensis. At Nain, in May, 1922, all the spiders were in the same condition as in September, but after the middle of June all the Linyphiadae and Lycosidae, which wintered immature, were found as adults. The arctic Lycosidae and Gnaphosa brumalis were also mature. The rare Lophocarenum quadri- cristatum, known from the top of Mt. Washington, was also found and in meadows back from the shore Singa variabilis and Tetragnatha laboriosa, common species in New England and farther south. 140 Mr. Waugh’s last expedition, in the summer of 1924, was again to the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at Seven Islands. On May 26 he wrote: “I am getting ready to leave for the field and expect to go during the first week in June. I have my spider outfit packed already and hope to get a nice lot of specimens’. In regard to his methods, he wrote: “In Labrador I beat all sorts of trees and shrubs on a ground sheet or small tarpaulin. I also shook out a lot of moss and lichen on the sheet. A great many of the Lyco- sidae I caught scurrying along the ground. I shall do a lot of looking under stones and such when- ever I have the opportunity again”. He had in mind writing an account of his collections of 1921 and 1922, and in this letter says: “‘I have deferred writing anything about my spider collections for The Canadian Naturalist as I should like to add _ the names of the new species after your article has appeared”’. The collections of the 1924 expedition showed improvement in the absence of immature and over-common species and a larger proportion of those that were rare or new. Among the latter was Ceratinella ornatula, lately described by Crosby from specimens found in the Adirondacks, a new THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST {[VOL. XXXIX Theridion resembling the well-known Theridion montanum and a new Pellenes, one of the jumping spiders in which the males are highly ornamented on the front of the head and on the first and third pairs of legs. Descriptions and figures of these are in manuscript and will appear in a future number of The Canadian Entomologist. This collection contained considerable numbers of Theridion montanum, differens, aurantium and sexpunctatum, as well as the new species, but showed a marked absence of Theridion zelotypum which is so abundant in spruce forests, from Quebec westward through Manitoba. Other collections from the lower St. Lawrence and Labrador have shown the same absence, so it seems probable that this species does not occur in the Labrador peninsula. The collection contained a large number of Lepthyphantes calcaratus, dupli- catus, furcatus and bihamatus which live in the moss and leaves of the forest and were abundant in the Labrador collections of 1921 and 1922. Mr. Waugh returned in September, 1924, as far as Montreal, and there unaccountably disappeared, and nothing has been heard from him since, so it is left to me to write the deferred story about his collections. : A PLEISTOCENE FAUNA FROM THE SOUTH-WESTERN MAINLAND OF BRITISH COLUMBIA By C. H. CRICKMAY FEW years ago (1919) Dr. S. J. Schofield, of the University of British Columbia, then my teacher, drew my attention to a fossil locality which he had discovered. This locality is a road cutting on the Pacific high- way on the south side of the Fraser River, opposite the city of New Westminster. It is 2,100 yards from the south end of the Fraser River bridge and seventy feet above mean sea level (approx.). Collections have been made by me at this place from time to time, and have now been sufficiently studied to permit a brief notice of the fauna and its significance to be published. Since its original discovery, this locality was found by Johnston! who collected there and published a small faunal list in his memoir on this area”. There is some lack of agreement between Johnston’s list and my own. I have failed to find certain of his species, but since I have never seen his material, I am unable to explain this. But in view of the un- certainty, I have used the utmost caution in 1Pleistocene oscillations of sea-level in the Vancouver region, British Columbia. W. A. Johnston. Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, vol. XV, 1921. 2Geology of the Fraser River Delta Map-area, W. A. Johnston. Geol. Surv. Canada. Memoir 135, 1923. identifying the shells, and have marked with an asterisk those species which are common. The names of the species which I have collected at this locality follow’: Strongylocentrotus of drobachiensis Muller. Terebratalia transversa var. caurina Gould. Leda fossa var. vaginata Dall. *L. fossa var. sculpta Dall. Pecten (Chlamys) hindsii var. Jordani arnold. *P. (Chlamys) hindsii var. kineaidi Oldroyd. *P. (Chlamys) hindsii Carpenter. P. (Chlamys) hindsii var. navarchus Dall. Pododesmus (Monia) macroschisma Deshayes. Astarte alaskensis Dall. *Cardium ciliatum Fabricius. C. corbis martyn. *Serripes gronlandicus Gmelin. *Saxidomus giganteus Deshayes. Paphia (Protothaca) staminea var. ruderata Deshayes. *Macoma incongrua Martens. *M. brota Dall. M. calcarea Gmelin. M. inquinata Deshayes. *Spisula (Hemimactra) voyi Gabb. *Schizothaerus capax Gould. Mya truncata Linne. 3Since this was written, Johnston’s material has been examined by W. H. Dall, who finds Pecten islandicus to be present. A ee ao September, 1925] Panomya ampla Dall. Lora cf. fidicula Gould. Admete couthouyi Jay. Chrysodomus liratus Martyn. *Trichotropis cancellata var. quadricarinata A. Adams. Lacuna ef. porrecta Carpenter. L. ef. unifasciata Carpénter. Natica (Cryptonatica) clausa Broderip & Sowerby. Puncturella galeata Gould. Balanus rostratus var. apertus Pilsbry. The present distribution of these species, all of which are living, is in the main to the northern part of the Oregonian and to the Aleutian faunas. There are no species in the fauna which fail to extend as far north as Alaska at the present time, moreover the two varieties of leda fossa are now confined to the Alaskan coast. Many of the species are circumboreal in their present distribu- tion. None range far into the warmer regions of the earth. All of which compels me to believe that this fauna represents an average sea tempera- ture as low as, and probably somewhat lower than, that which prevails at this latitude on the west coast to-day. There are also certain other conditions which it is possible to reconstruct. The shell bed is now seventy feet above sea-level. But the shells are not those of a littoral fauna. The absence of the ubiquitous Mytilus edulis known on the west coast from earliest Pleistocene, the presence of the large Chrysodomus, and finally the profusion of Pecten hindsii and its varieties, all show that the water was not shallow: It may have been anything from 20 to 100 feet deep. This means that sea level was anything from ninety to one hundred and seventy feet higher then than now. Also, it will be noticed that not only is the fauna typically marine, but two forms are present, an echinoid and a brachiopod, which are absolutely unknown in sea water of even a slightly diluted salinity. In view of this it is plain that no fresh-water stream of a size at all comparable with the Fraser could have emptied within a considerable distance (twenty miles or more) of this locality. A pecu- liarity of the fauna is the predominance of pelecy- pods, and large forms. Many of the shells show drill-holes attributed to the predatory gastropods yet in comparison with the total fauna the latter are very rare both in species and even more so in individuals. The correlation of this fauna is a difficult problem. Since all of the thirty-two species are living, it is tolerably certain that the fauna is a late one. But the facts that the two varieties of Leda fossa are not known living nearer than Alaska, and that Trichotropis cancellata var. quadricarinata is not known living nearer than Japan, suggest strongly that conditions have changed greatly THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 141 since the burial of these shells: requiring the lapse of considerable time; so it is safe to say that the fauna is not quite so late as its 100% of living species might suggest. The variety of Tricho- tropis is interesting because it is an immigrant from the north which survived in Japan but failed to do so on the American side. It probably arrived in late Cenozoic or Pleistocene time, but as Trichotropis never ranged as far south as California, it did not find its way into the standard Pleistocene sections. This is unfortunate because it precludes for the present the possibility of dat- ing the arrival of the variety in question on the west coast. But Johnston lists Pecten islandicus which, if present, would be a valuable help. How- ever, in hundreds of specimens I have failed to find a single islandicus* and therefore rather doubt this identification, especially as Johnston fails to list the somewhat similar-looking kincaidi which iscommon. Finally, 29% of the species occur also in the Saanich formation®. This, however, hardly proves a close relationship, especially as Arnold and Hannibal’s lists are compilations without any reference as to sources. It must be confessed, therefore, that the purely palaeontological evi- dence is inconclusive as regards the exact date of the fauna. Perhaps the best idea of the approxi- mate date of it is gained from the fact of the low temperature just proved to be one of the conditions under which the fauna lived This limits it to latest Pliocene or Pleistocene. There is some structural evidence. The rela- tionships of the formations involved are shown in the sketch section: The shells are contained in a bed of fine blue- grey mud about two feet thick. The shell bed is observed to overlie a mass of till which precludes the possibility of it being pre-Pleistocene. It is overlain by a delta deposit of gravel and sand, the age of which is not evident from this exposure. But the top of the surrey terrace lying a short distance above and behind this section is composed of glacial till which presumably overlies the delta gravels though the contact is hidden. The sugges- tion is, therefore, that the gravels antedate this upper till-sheet and are therefore of Pleistocene age, which limits the shell bed and its fauna to a Pleistocene date also. But it is still wholly un- certain where in the Pleistocene column these till- sheets belong. Obviously the problem must now be turned over to the field-worker because it de- pends on the correlation of the till-sheets of the region. So far, this difficult question has been singularly neglected, and yet plainly until correla- tion is attained we can say nothing with any conviction of telling the truth, of the detail of geologic history. 4See note on first page. 5The Marine Tertiary Stratigraphy of the North Pacific Coast of America. R. Arnold and H. Hannibal. Am. Phil. Soe., Proc., vol. 52, 1923. 142 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX THE WEASELS OF SOUTHERN MANITOBA By NORMAN AND STUART CRIDDLE IN BOYHOOD days we shared with others the popular belief that all weasels were harmful. Our father originally believed ’ it and he had been so taught through contact with game-keepers of estates in England where all predatory creatures were looked upon as vermin. Weasels were, therefore, hunted on sight and killed with a persistency only exceeded in the equally unreasonable destruction of snakes. Once, on a date unrecorded, several of us saw a large weasel in a wood-pile and, being possessed with the prevailing belief, we at once gave chase, The hunt was long, but eventually the weasel dis- appeared beneath some log buildings. We had hardly gathered around the hole, sticks in hand, before the weasel emerged with a mouse which it placed at the entrance and then disappeared down the hole, quickly returning again with another rodent, repeating this manceuvre until eventually six were exhibited before us. The train of thoughts to which this incident gave rise was a new one, and we paused in our hunt, but the courage of the animal, combined with the unmistakable evidence of its usefulness, soon created so profound an impression that we ultimately left the weasel in possession of the field and thereafter confined our efforts to observ- ing rather than to killing, the present article being the result of our observations. Our old associates, Messrs. E. H. and C. Vane, though now occupying their own homes, have continued to observe the habits of weasels and, from them we are indebted for many notes. E. Criddle has remained to work with us and much that we record below is his. A younger brother, Talbot, has also supplied us with reports of his experiences and finally, we are indebted to several neighbors who, imbibed with some of our desire for knowledge, have freely contributed observations. The object in writing this paper at the present time, is to counteract several very biased accounts of the economic standing of the weasel which have recently appeared in print. We also hope to induce the same desire for observation and know- ledge which the incident mentioned above created in us; feeling sure that observation will develop a very different idea of the habits of weasels from that which is at present held by the majority of people. Southern Manitoba is inhabited by three species of weasel which may be recognized in life by their various sizes, and from specimen in hand by the following characters: LONG-TAILED WEASEL, Mustela longicauda Bon- aparte.—Tail long, about six inches, black tip extending well back. Total length of male seven- teen inches, female thirteen inches. BONAPARTE’S WEASEL, Mustela cicognanit Bon- aparte.—Length of tail three and one-half inches, black tip short. Total measurement, male twelve inches, female nine inches. LEAST WEASEL, Musiela rixosa (Bangs).— Much smaller than the other two, not greatly exceeding a large mouse in size. Tail without a black tip. All our weasels are brown above in summer time and they turn white in winter so that the weasel of the warmer months later become the ermine of commerce. The black tip, however, is always retained. There is still much to be learned about the breeding habits of weasels due to the skill with which they conceal their dens. It is known that they make their homes in holes; a hollow log, an old gopher burrow or a mouse residence may supply the necessary accommodation and the fur or feathers of their victims are often used to line the nests. There is, seemingly, but a single litter during the year, which is probably cared for only by the mother. A family of young consists of from four to eight members. The hunting is done mostly at night and on this account the animals are seldom seen but the presence of a female frequenting a certain locality is a good indication that there is a family in residence somewhere near. The mother is, indeed, ever watchful in the interests of her offspring and she had been known to show great courage in attempting to defend them. Young weasels, like most juvenile creatures, have a superabundance of energy which they exhaust by innumerable gambols together. In these antics they climb trees and run along fence rails almost as actively as a squirrel, and when fighting they eject a strong musky odour which is very noticeable when a family of youngsters is at play and still more so when two males meet in battle. Whether this scent is of any marked value under such circumstances is uncertain but there is little doubt that it provides some protection against other enemies. As winter approaches, the weasel families separ- ate, and each individual establishes its own head- quarters, which is generally the former residence of some rodent. 'The nest of the former occupant being renovated and used as a sleeping place. There is a store chamber, perhaps some distance September, 1925] . away, in which surplus food is hidden for future use. Stores of mice, etc., are added to whenever opportunity offers, but they are seldom used when fresh victims can be obtained. During the winter of 1921-22 a female long-tailed weasel made her home in the basement of the junior writer’s house and her bed consisted of a bag of feathers, where she evidently slept in com- fort, despite the people overhead. This animal had free access to the summer kitchen, where she made herself very much at home and helped her- self to meat, milk and such other objects as were to her fancy. She eventually became quite tame and would readily climb up the observer’s leg to take meat from his hand. Her store was never located, but her tracks showed that she often wandered more than half a mile away in search of food. About twenty Ruffed Grouse were fre- quenting the nearby woods at the time and most of them made regular evening visits to the house forfood. The weasel, however, appeared to ignore them entirely. Another Long-tailed Weasel took up its residence near the farmyard during the winter of 1922-23 and made its headquarters in a threshing machine. The nest was somewhat roughly constructed and consisted of a convenient bunch of straw and chaff under the cylinder. Well to the back was a pile of approximately three pounds of droppings which were found to contain a considerable amount of the hair of mice and rabbits, but no bird remains were present. This weasel had selected a store chamber some one hundred and forty yards away from the nest. Two bush rabbits had been dragged to the entrance and numerous smaller rodents were taken below ground. The rabbits were buried beneath the snow and eaten as neces- sity arose. This weasel had ready access to all the farm buildings but, in spite of the presence of poultry, confined its hunting to mice and rats. The weasel is a born hunter and among all the carnivorous animals of North America we doubt whether any excel it in boldness and activity. So quick indeed are the animal’s movements that it comes and goes, vanishes and reappears in a manner quite bewildering to the observer. Before the days of enlightenment, we cornered the animals more than once, at least we thought we had, but when the critical moment arrived for moving the last log or digging away the last sod, behold, the weasel was no longer there, having vanished as mysteriously as ghosts are supposed to do. The weasel’s animated nature induces it to wander far afield in search of prey. In summer its actions almost escape notice, but in winter the freshly fallen snow tells a tale that is unmistakable. There one may see the tracks leading in every direction, indeed there might have been a dozen THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 143 weasels present instead of one, judging by those innumerable footsteps. Very little escapes the attention of this animal; at one time following along a bush rabbit’s runway, at another entering the burrow of a pocket gopher or darting at a mouse as the disturbed rodent attempts to escape. It may well be that while we are trying to trace the weasel it is more successfully observing us, because inquisitiveness is one of its characteristics. It is doubtless its fearless curiosity that makes the animal seem tame and there is no doubt that it would be much less frequently seen but for these traits. Its inquisitiveness, indeed, often leads it to destruction not only by dogs and cats but, alas, also by man. The summer activities of weasels are much more difficult to follow than are those of winter and we can only guess at the extent of their rambles by the fact that it is almost impossible to set a trap in the vicinity of a weasel’s abode without catch- ing it within a few days, showing that it enters practically every hole in search of its legitimate prey. Weasels like water both for drinking and wash- ing themselves. A bird trough placed convenient- ly for observation purposes was frequently visited by these animals. In drinking they held their mouths very close to the water and as far as we could see, lapped the liquid up with rapid move- ments of the tongue. As a rule, after drinking, they would merely spring to the ground and vanish amid a bunch of scolding birds, but occasionally we have seen an animal slowly drag itself through the water and follow this performance by some rapid gambols, or a quick run, a method of drying which most of us have practiced in our youth. Weasels have doubtless numerous natural enemies and it is possible that the smaller species are attacked by the larger. Among their more notable foes may be reckoned coyotes, foxes, badgers, hawks and owls. It hardly seems pos- sible, however, that carnivorous creatures alone are capable of reducing weasels to a normal balance and we suspect that they suffer from diseases similar to those known to attack badgers and skunks. The smaller weasels are also affected by the food supply and there is a marked fluctuation in their numbers, dependent upon the prevalence of mice. Man, as we point out elsewhere, is a very important factor in the survival of the weasel and it is largely in his hands whether these animals are perpetuated. His companions, the dog and cat, also play a leading part as weasel destroyers and each has a marked influence in keeping these animals from the barnyard. The fact that weasels frequently kill many more animals than they require for immediate use has 144 : THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST been universally interpreted as a lust for killing— a supposition which we believe to be quite erron- eous. It is true that weasels often kill more than they need, but the surplus is not necessarily wasted because the animals always store it for future use, in much the same way as do badgers, minks or skunks, and with the same object in view as squirrels have in gathering nuts. We have ob- served many such stores, but as far as our observa- tions go, the habit of killing in excess occurs much more prominently in the late summer and autumn months than in the spring. Indeed, we have no records of excessive spring slaughter and this indicates that the supposedly blood-thirsty habit of weasels is no more a lust for killing than is the woodsman’s foresight in providing his larder with meat for the winter months. in this connection that members of the weasel family, when undisturbed, do not leave their victims scattered about, but carefully store them away, and in many instances the bodies are buried ‘with earth or taken under ground in order to pre- serve them. We suspect that this instinct for preserving food for future use accounts for most of the excessive killing by carnivorous animals instead of this latter indicating an aimless desire for slaughter which would unnecessarily deplete the food supply of the future. This instinct, however, does not seem to be as definite as that of some rodents, and there is no doubt that much of the stored meat decays before it can be utilized. The prevailing idea that weasels are alike in their food habits is no more true than is the claim that hawks and owls have identical habits. In- deed, a knowledge of nature will show that similar- ity in habits is not a common feature in allied species inhabiting identical territory. In the case of weasels, size alone should suggest variations in food possibilities and this is fully verified by a study of the animals. The adverse criticism against weasels is based on the same form of evidence as is so constantly employed to condemn predatory birds, namely the occasional killing of poultry or the prominently displayed attack upon some game or song bird. In other words, the every day habits of the animals are overlooked while the casual ones, being more spectacular, are used as a basis for general con- demnation. Before we can arrive at the facts it is necessary to remember that there are three species of weasels involved which not only differ from one another in size, and therefore in capabilities of doing harm, but also in habits to at least as great an extent as our birds of prey. Each kind should thus be judged on its merits rather than collectively on conclusions drawn from observations on different species. It should be noted © [VoL. XXXIX The species that lends itself most readily to popular observation is the Long-tailed Weasel, Mustela longicauda, an animal of great boldness and remarkable agility. Its food habits are much more varied than are those of other species and in killing its prey it is only limited by its power to overcome the animals attacked. Bush rabibts, Lepus americanus, are among the largest of its victims and even with these more young than adults are captured. Nevertheless, mature speci- mens are often overcome and on one occasion the junior writer saw a location where a weasel and a rabbit had rolled down a bank fully seventy feet high, the former retaining its hold on the latter with the pertinacity of a,bulldog. On another occasion, Mr. T. Criddle observed one of these weasels attacking a scrub gopher Citellus franklinii, which it had almost overcome when interrupted. The destructive pocket gopher, Thomomys sp., is another animal that suffers severely from the weasel; this appears to be especially true in winter, when the hunter boldly enters the rodent’s burrow in search of it, and, after killing it, frequently makes the gopher’s residence a temporary headquarters from which to make numerous raids upon other rodents in the vicinity. Innumerable instances could be quoted in which the victims of weasels were rabbits, gophers or mice. The shrill ery of a rabbit in the dark is nearly always due to a weasel’s attack. Indeed, we have often watched the latter at work during the twilight hours. First would come the almost noiseless run of the small rabbit with its characteristic dodging and this would be followed by the appearance of the agile foe which, at times, would leap high over obstacles and at others move swiftly beneath them. Then there would follow intermittent cries of the rabbit as the weasel secured a temporary hold of its quarry, for be it noted that this hunter apparently bites anywhere to begin with and it is probable that the blood made to flow acts as an aid to tracking as well as weakening the prey. Several similar close en- counters might occur before the rabbit would be finally overcome, but weasels are very persistent when they once get into contact with their victims and it is therefore very seldom that the latter escape. In killing, they either penetrate the brain with their teeth, or dislodge the vertebrae behind the head. It is highly probable that some of these pro- longed hunts are due to a playfulness on the part of the weasel, a phenomenon which is parallelled by the well-known cat and mouse performances. Indeed, Mr. Ronald Buckell assures the senior writer that he has witnessed encounters of this sort in England, the hunter being a stoat and the victim a rabbit. The stealthiness with which this September, 1925] member of the weasel family would creep up to the rabbit and nip it and then stand high on its hind legs to watch where it went, was so obviously a matter of fiendish sport as to be unmistakable. Moreover, this playfulness was speedily termin- ated by a vital bite when the ‘stoat tired of its sport. Bonaparte’s weasel is more secretive and less bold than its larger relative, and it is less often found in the haunts of man. We have discovered its home in winter time beneath old straw piles where it doubtless obtained abundant food by devouring the mice that congregate in such places. On one occasion, indeed, on moving some straw, _ we came upon eleven of these rodents, all neatly placed in a heap. We have no record of Bonaparte’s weasel killing poultry, and we doubt whether it ever does so. Doubtless the young of some wild birds are cap- tured, but we must recall the fact that this can only happen during a limited period of the year. At other times, the destruction of birds is seldom possible and the weasel is consequently obliged to turn to mice for food. The Least weasel, or as it might well be termed, the mouse weasel, is such a midget in comparison with the other species that it usually passes un- noticed unless caught in a trap. It is quite in- capable of killing poultry, but, being small, it can readily follow mice down their holes or along their runways. It probably kills some nestling birds, and perhaps extends its bill of fare to insects. The following is taken from the manuscript of an article by the junior writer on Microtus minor. “In 1922, these mice went into winter quarters . in great numbers and their homes were well stocked with food. Three homes were under observation in which all went well until the middle of February, 1923. Then, within a few days, each was taken possession of by a Least weasel and the inhabitants quickly destroyed. One mouse residence near my house was occupied by a weasel for about two weeks, during which time I observed where several mice had been carried over the snow to the home. This mouse residence was examined in April and in it were discovered six dead Microtus minor, one Evotomys, the head of another and at least six or eight other remnants including Microtus drum- mondi, these last remains being chiefly indicated by the hair-lined nest of the weasel. “The homes of twenty-seven other mouse com- munities were examined at this time and all were found to have been entered by weasels, the mice having been killed and partly eaten in each instance. Thus from being an abundant animal this species was reduced to insignificance in the course of a few weeks while all other kinds of mice had suffered severaly from the same enemy.” Supply and demand are prominent factors in governing our weasels’ food habits. The two smaller species, as we have already pointed out are so dependent upon mice for a living that they THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 145 increase or diminish with the fluctuation of these creatures. The Long-tailed Weasel, however, is not so easily checked by the temporary disappear- ance of any particular kind of game. If mice are scarce it devotes greater attention to gophers or bush rabbits and if these are not in sufficient numbers to satisfy its appetite, the animal raids a poultry house as a last resource. In nine years out of ten, this weasel will find sufficient food about the fields and woods, but on the tenth it may be obliged to temporarily turn to domestic animals. It is at such times that the weasel is seen and its deeds recorded. A thousand mice may have been killed in the meantime, but the destruction of half a dozen hens is alone used as evidence of the weasel’s economic standing. In the last twenty years we have permitted weasels to frequent the farm buildings at will and the poultry house has been no exception. In that time rats and mice suffered severely from the weasels, while the total number of poultry taken were six. Many times that number, however, have been killed by rats. When we review our experiences of the past, we are astonished to find what few poultry have been killed by weasels. Our own losses in forty-two years have not exceeded fifteen birds and even these were usually eatable. There have been reports of losses from time to time from neighbors, but on looking into details we find that there are very few farmers who have experienced more than three separate occasions of weasel depredation and the total loss per farmer in the last thirty years does not, we are sure, exceed ten birds. This is surely a remarkably small payment to weasels in general for the great good done by ogee in killing rodents. We wish to point out, too, that only the excep- tional weasel becomes a poultry killer. In most cases apparently it is a fully-grown male that does the killing. There are exceptions, of course, but when we see a large weasel actively engaged in rodent hunting within a few feet of a brood of newly hatched chickens and not even looking at them, we must at least pause to ask if this animal is the enemy that we were taught to believe it to be. Numerous wild birds necessarily fall victims to weasels, particularly in the breeding season when the young are helpless in their nests. It also occasionally happens that a mature grouse or duck is surprised and overcome, but we have not secured much evidence to indicate that adult birds suffer very greatly in this way. Indeed, the only occasion we can recall was when a weasel had dragged a Sharp-tailed Grouse over the snow and even in this instance there was no direct evidence to prove that the bird had been killed by the weasel. 146 FIELD NOTES The notes presented below have been furnished from field observations made in the vicinity of the writers’ home at Treesbank, Manitoba, and jotted down as the incident occurred. They are abbre- viated in order to save space. November 2, 1908.—A Long-tailed Weasel quite white, though bush rabbits are still brown. November 21, 1910.—There is a Bonaparte Weasel about the farm buildings which has free access to the fowl-house. It is rapidly extermin- ating the mice. October 3, 19138.—Observed a _ Long-tailed Weasel with a field mouse which it took down a hole. The former was white. March 27, 1916.—A Long-tailed Weasel still white. July 19, 1917.—T. Criddle saw a Long-tailed Weasel attacking a scrub gopher, C. franklinit. The rodent was in mortal terror and squeaked continuously. Eventually the gopher was thrown on its back and would have been speedily killed but for an interruption. October 29, 1917.—C. Vane writes: “A weasel last night made its way into our fowl- house, the door being inadvertently left open. The weasel killed eleven fowl, some of which were dragged into the yard. All the largest fowls were selected, the pullets remaining untouched though they were in the majovity. Next night the weasel dug a hole beneath the building and killed a hen and two cocks, returning for another during the day, making a total of fourteen in all.” This weasel proved to be a large one, probably an old male. October 31, 1917.—A rixosa almost white. It was evidently hunting for mice. July 2, 1918.—Noted a Long-tailed Weasel with a freshly killed mouse near the farm buildings. This weasel was seen in the afternoon running off with a rat. Two small punctures in the throat were the only evidence of the manner in which its death had been brought about. September 11, 1918.—A longicauda took seven pocket gophers placed near the Entomological Laboratory. It seized the rodents by the middle of their back and held them high while carrying them away. They were stored in an old gopher burrow some two hundred yards distant. One of these animals was tied to supports by both hind legs, which caused the weasel considerable trouble to free, but this was ultimately accomplished by biting the legs through above the string. October, 1918.—Following a severe outbreak of mice in 1916-17, Bonaparte’s weasel increased enormously and very soon reduced the rodents to comparative rarity. This resulted in a scarcity of food for the weasels, which in their turn became greatly reduced in numbers. It is interesting to THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX note that no poultry losses were reported during the period of mouse scarcity. November 9, 1918.—Another Long-tailed Wea- sel about the farm buildings. Mice around the laboratory have vanished. July 11, 1919.—Two longicaudas present. The poultry stretch out their necks and cackle when the weasels draw near, but the latter pay little attention and continue with their mouse hunting. They have been seen running off with rats on several occasions. July. 12, 1919.—The two weasels mentioned above have been joined by three more, the whole probably constituting a family. They have proved quite entertaining with their various antics but they show no inclination to attack our poultry despite the presence of numerous small chicks. August 6, 1919.—A Long-tailed Weasel had a drink at the bird trough this morning and then slowly crawled through the water. It later frisked about as if to dry itself. August 20, 1919.—A longicauda in the Insectary ran at me this morning apparently with a view to intimidating. It uttered a shrill ery while making the attack, but retreated after advancing within two feet. (This weasel remained around the farm buildings well into the winter.) July 11, 1920——There are two large weasels about the buildings which have the usual free access to the poultry-house. Each has been noted with rats and this afternoon one of them was seen running into the woods carrying a rat, followed by two excited swallows. April 2, 1921.—A longicauda seen near Labora- tory. It is still white. April 18, 1921.—The above-mentioned weasel is now brown. May 31, 1921.—Saw a Bonaparte’s weasel cap- ture a Red-backed Vole after a long hunt during which the pursuer never once lost track of its victim. July 31, 1921—A Long-tail drinking. The squeaking of a rat a few days previously had indicated the presence of a weasel. August 21, 1921.—Heard cries of a small rabbit at dusk to-night, which investigation showed was being attacked by a large weasel. The rabbit was later carried to the weasel’s store chamber below ground. October 31, 1921.—A Long-tail almost white. It has been about the farm buildings for more than a month. . February 17, 1921.—Came across the marks of a weasel carting some object over the snow. An investigation revealed a recently-killed pocket gopher with its captor still in possession. November 8, 1924.—Shot a bush rabbit and left it lying. Two hours later the rodent was September, 1925] found to have been dragged beneath a brush pile and partly eaten. Innumerable weasel tracks left no doubt as to the identity of the thief. January 31, 1925.—A Long-tailed Weasel killed three hens last night, and rather severely bit a cock about the neck. This, or another weasel, had been around the farm-yard for some time. (The specimen was a large male.) At least twice within our memory, weasels have made their way into a temporary meat-house where, not satisfied with the ample supply of food available, they have proceeded to hide everything capable of being moved. In this way ox-hearts, suet and other delicacies have vanished down holes or behind boards and logs. In the fall of 1924, Mr. A. Cooper, a prominent poultryman of Treesbank, observed a large weasel carrying a freshly killed rat which it stored below ground and then returned towards the poultry- house, causing no little apprehension to the owner. Within a short time, however, the weasel reappear- ed with another rat which it hid as before. In this way several rodents were accounted for during the afternoon, and Mr. Cooper assures us that the weasel “‘kept up the good work for some days’’. Being a farmer of many years’ standing, Mr. Cooper has naturally lost some poultry through the agency of weasels, but while he remarks that “there are good as well as bad actors among weasels”, he has the practical good sense to recognize the value of an efficient ratter even though it be a weasel. Our sister, Maida Criddle, writes under date of March 4, 1925: “There is another weasel (longicauda) in the fowl-house, a well-behaved one thistime. It came and took a piece of meat out of my hand quite nicely, which it carried down a hole and then came and sniffed all over my mitt to see if there was any more. I thought it had been killed when I visited the farm buildings next day as there was a strong smell of musk on the cat and in the fowl- house, but the weasel was there as cheeky as ever. It got hold of my skirt twice and tried to pull me down its hole. I think it wanted the cloth for a bed, as it was taking straw and other material down the burrow. The poultry were very frightened at first, but they are getting used to the weasel’s presence now.”’ Once while ploughing, we observed a Long-tailed Weasel carrying a field mouse which it dropped, and ran down a hole. The junior writer then picked up the rodent and held it near the burrow, upon which the weasel came out and grabbed the mouse at its opposite end, pulling lustily, actually permitting itself to be dragged from the hole while thus occupied. Ultimately the weasel was per- mitted to retain possession of its prey. On one occasion the senior writer saw a Long- tailed Weasel resting on a tree. It had squeezed its abdomen between a forked limb and was THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 147 hanging thus in evident pain. On being approach- ed very closely it showed some inclination to fight, but changed its mind and moved instead. to another limb, where it again squeezed its body between two branches. There was a most pathetic look upon the animal’s face, almost as if it were requesting assistance. We have no doubt that it had eaten part of a poisoned mouse or gopher. On another occasion a Long-tailed Weasel was caught in a trap set for gophers, and, on being released by Miss M. Criddle, at once turned upon its liberator and bit savagely at her boot. It then moved a short distance away to a tub of water, where it drank thirstily, merely glancing at the observer from time to time while doing so, and then ran off out of sight. Mr. T. Criddle records a similar experience. After liberating a large weasel from a trap, it immediately rushed at him and persisted in its attack with such ferocity that it was three times picked up and thrown, on each occasion to a greater distance, before it finally abandoned its offensive. We have no record of a weasel making an un- provoked attack upon anyone. Hawks are not always the aggressors, as is shown by an incident reported by Mr. H. L. Sea- mans, of Lethbridge, Alberta. Mr. Seamans noted a large buzzard suddenly fly straight up- wards from a fence post, and then alight upon another one some distance away. A little while afterward this bird once more arose in the same manner as before, and presently repeated the performance again. An investigation then follow- ed and revealed that a Long-tailed Weasel was following the hawk from post to post. We should hardly expect a weasel to attempt to capture a bird of the above type. On the other hand, it is possible that these animals might be able to startle a hawk sufficiently to cause it to drop its prey, which would thus provide food for the weasel. CONCLUSION In summing up the evidence for and against weasels, there are three important points to be considered. Firstly, the food habits are divisible into useful and harmful ones, depending upon whether the animal takes rodents or poultry and other useful birds; and secondly, there is the value of the weasel’s fur, which represents an important asset. We have tried to show in the previous pages what the food habits are and we think that even the most prejudiced person must pause on beholding the evidence. One at least of our weasels is almost wholly beneficial, and we have no hesitation in proclaim- ing this species, rixosa, the most useful of all 148 Canadian predators. Of cicognantii, the evidence in its favor seems overwhelming and we are, therefore, confronted with longicauda alone. What is the evidence? This weasel is a perpetual mouser, a hunter of pocket gophers, ground squirrels and rats, an enemy of bush rabbits, a stealer of young birds and a casual raider of poultry-houses. It is a destroyer of fully two thousand rodents for every fowl taken and the possessor of a pelt that surpasses any other weasel’s in value. As an illustration of the value of weasels’ pelts, we would point out that more than fifty-four thousand were secured and sold in Manitoba during the year ending September 30, 1924, representing a value of approximately $40,000. It is evident that early training has had much to do with the prejudice against weasels and that the folk lore of other lands has influenced others as it influenced us in boyhood days. In the past, the trapper has had the lives of these animals much in his own hands, and he has not, we regret to say, always used his privileges in the best interests of posterity. His object has usually been to kill as many as possible, and in this he has been ably seconded by the fur trade which, by advertising and circularizing, have done everything possible to increase the output of furs. No wonder, therefore, that fur-bearing animals are THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX becoming scarce or that noxious ones are over- running the country. It is surely time to call a halt to these proceed- ings. Trapping is a legitimate trade with which we have no quarrel, but there are other interests to be taken into consideration, among which are those of agriculture. It seems to us that the farmer should be considered first in this matter.. We all know of the enormous losses that are caused by gophers, mice and allied rodents. Grain crops, fruit trees and forests are all affected by these creatures. As the carnivorous animals have diminished in numbers, the rodent tribe have increased by leaps and bounds, causing untold mischief in so doing. The remedy is largely in our own hands. Two important considerations are involved in this question, namely, the conservation of useful animals, and the preservation of our crops. These aims can only be accomplished by restoring the balance which Nature originally maintained, but which has been upset by man. Much has already been done with this end in view, but for reasons which we have already indicated, weasels which constitute one of the most important factors have been left out. There are no valid reasons for such a course, but, on the contrary, there is ample evidence to prove that these animals should be protected. IN MEMORIAM JAMES BALLANTYNE Born March, 1835 Died April 6, 1925 An esteemed citizen, and a long-standing and deeply interested member of the OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS’ CLUB, passed from our midst into the great unseen on April 6th of the present year, in the person of Mr. James Ballantyne. Mr. Ballantyne was born in March, 1835, at Newcastleton, in Scotland, and had therefore at the time of his decease entered upon his ninety- first. year. His parents came to Canada in 1840, when he was about five years old, and settled on a farm near Smith’s Falls, Ont., and in the course of Mr. Ballantyne’s career, he developed into a man of versatility and great usefulness, and over sixty years ago became a permanent citizen of Ottawa. As a business man, he engaged successfully in many enterprises; as a public man, he took a deep interest in educational matters, and was intrusted with many municipal and county responsibilities, often consecutive for years; and in the things of the mind, he associated himself as a member of numerous scientific and literary institutions. He was a long-standing member of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, a regular attendant of its excursions and-lectures, and contributed an article on “Our Squirrels’, which was published in the June, 1888, number of the official organ of the club which, at that time, bore the title of the Ottawa Naturalist. And for long he was an auditor of the Club. He was also, for upwards of forty years, a member of the former Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, a member for many years of the Horticultural Society, and for some years a member of the Camera Club; and with great liberality of thought, Mr. Ballantyne was a man broadly tolerant of all who aimed for the better- ment of the world; and all who knew him best will ever remember the efficacious and exemplary life which he led.—A. H. September, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 149 NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS UNusUAL Form oF Trillium grandiflorum.— There is an area of unknown size extending from London to at least eighty miles east along Lake Erie, and some distance south-west, in which this plant shows variations that are entirely outside of the limits set by the authorities. Last year I visited a woods where the aberrant forms are numerous and brought home a number of them which I planted without record, and am surprised to find that some of them are more nearly normal this year. This unexpected state of affairs led me to visit the same woods again on May 10th, 1925, and I am planting some of them in my garden, taking careful note of their individual characteris- tics. Normally, this species has a six-angled ovary, but only one of all these plants conforms to that detail, nearly all the rest having three-angled ovaries, though some of then have none. The normal leaf of this species here is practically sessile, but there are only three of these that are quite so. Of the twenty other plants referred to here which should have sessile leaves, nine have petioles of one-half inch or less, one has petioles about one inch long and five vary from two to four inches. Then there are three amazing plants that have no leaf at all—nothing but the sepals and petalsall in a group. These variations come almost invariably on the plants which depart from the custom of having white flowers, there being only four plants in the whole series that have white petals, the rest having a varying proportion of green; sometimes only a thin light stripe down the centre, in others the stripes become wider and wider until finally the green reaches the edge, and then the end of the petiole is the only part that shows white, and even this does sometimes vanish. It will be a very interesting experiment to try and raise seed from some of these forms, but seed is not frequently met with. I have now in the garden one clump from last year’s planting which grew all together in the woods as though the plants resulted from one pod of seed. This group shows sessile and petioled leaves, also pure white and green and white flowers. The shape of the leaf varies also, some of them are narrow, and some nearly round with an acuminate tip. I shall now refer to a few individual plants. Plant E. with Petioles one-third inch, three angled ovary and white petals, has a rounded leaf, the tip being abruptly acuminate. Plant H. is a particularly interesting one with two stems from one root; the petiole lengths are one-third and one-half inches; one stem has one white petal and two petals that are green in the centre, and the other has one petal white with a thin light green stripe; another petal has a wider, heavier stripe in the centre and the third petal is divided at the centre line, one-half being white and the other half green. Plant O. has two petals and three sepals. The petals have a narrow green stripe and one of the sepals is half white. Plant Q. has only a single leaf, which comes up a long stem from near the root, where it joins the flower stem. There are six without leaves at all. One of these has two of the stamens changed into crinkled petals three-quarters inches long, the whole flower being white. One very beautiful flower picked by one of the party and the root not taken, had six equal petals, each with a brilliant green stripe one- eighth inch wide and it had also six stamens and three sepals. This last flower illustrates in concrete and emphatic form the absolute disregard which this species shows for the usual custom of nature in making all the plants of the species in close resemblance with each other. Gray’s Manual makes the best reference to these unusual forms, as follows: ‘‘Monstrosities are not rare, with the calyx and sometimes the petals changed to leaves, or the parts of the flower increased in number,” but this reference is entirely inadequate. The description of the species should read-something like this: Leaves three, or two or one or none, varying from sub-sessile on the stem to radical leaves with petioles four inches or more. Petals usually three, varying from the usual white, through white with a green central stripe, to a solid green; ovary, usually six-angled, sometimes three-angled or absent —W. E. SAUNDERS. THE INCREASE AND PRESENT STATUS OF THE STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris), AT TORONTO, 1925.— It is well known that the Starling has become established in the Toronto region, but it seems advisable to record the rate of increase and the present status of the species before the local reports become too obscure to bring together. The earliest record of the Starling for the Toronto district is that of Fleming’, who saw a flock of seven flying over his garden in the central part of the city on August 24, 1920. The next recorded observation was that of Harrington”, who mentions having seen a flock of five on De- cember 38, 1922, at Lambton Mills, just west of 1Fleming, J. H.—‘The Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, at Toronto, Ontario’. Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XXXVI, page 15. 2Harrington, Paul—“‘Notes on Prairie Warbler and Starling”’ . Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XX XVIII, page 58. 150 the city limits. About the same time, Mr. E. Brown informed the writers that several pairs were frequenting Cedarvale ravine, in the north- central part of the city. A large winter flock was also noted by Harrington*® (at Downsview, north- west of the city), on December 19, 1923. From this date on, Starlings have been noted by local observers over an increasing area and with greater frequency. The species doubtless invaded the Toronto district from the south and west and became established as a breeder in the rural dis- tricts in that direction. During the winter of 1923-24 members of the Brodie Club repeatedly reported the Starling from the adjacent country west of Toronto, large flocks estimated at one hundred individuals having been seen. On April 26, 1924, Harrington found the Starling breeding at Cooksville, west of the city, and again on the annual field-day of the Brodie Club, May 18, 1924, Starlings were noted as nesting at the same place. An interesting note in this connection is that the birds have established themselves in the hollow, horizontal arms of the Hydro-Electric towers. Such a nesting sit is inaccessible and offers an almost unlimited advantage during the breeding season. On May 25, 1924, a single pair was noted by Snyder as nesting in an abandoned Flicker hole in a dead elm near Pottageville, north- west of Toronto. No other local breeding records have been reported, but the species has increased so that during the winter of 1924-25 it could be seen regularly at several places in and near the city. A flock of one hundred and fifty birds was noted as frequenting a garbage-dump in Cedarvale ravine during the past winter. Stuart L. Thompson collected two specimens on February 9, 1925, near Leaside, in the Don Valley, which were the first specimens to be taken and also the first evidence that they had encircled the city and are now to be found in the more easterly sections of the district. One of the specimens is in Mr. Thompson’s private collection and the other is in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. A third specimen, in the collection of J. H. Fleming, was taken on March 8, 1925, by H. Haugh. These are the only specimens which have been taken in the district that are known to be in scientific collections.—L. L. SNy- DER and JAS. L. BAILLIE JR. THE FRoG EATS THE BIRD.—The bird eats the frog and the frog eats the bird, and that is the way of the wild. In August, 1923, I captured a bullfrog in Grant Lake, near Burbidge, Quebec, which had shortly before swallowed an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Though this bird was fully grown, its beak showed slight indications of juvenility. ‘Harrington, Paul— Ibid. . THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXIX A few years ago I found a bullfrog in the Rideau River that had engulfed a young Baltimore Oriole. The bird had probably fallen from a nest over- hanging the water, as it was not sufficiently well developed to attempt flight. Several captive bullfrogs in the National Museum have swallowed young mice, young water snakes and young leopard frogs, all living, with great gusto, and have shown no signs of hiccoughs as did Kipling’s whale that swallowed the Mariner. I have found the stomachs of frogs to contain such inanimate and unnutritive articles as the cones of the alder, which would point to the conclusion that the bullfrog snaps up any moving object, even, to his sorrow, a bit of red yarn in which a fish-hook is concealed. The cray fish seems to be one of the most desirable of frog foods. In the stomach of a Red-tailed Hawk taken on the Queen Charlotte Islands, I found the dis- membered remains of two toads. In May, 1923, Mr. R. O. Merriman, of Hamil- ton, Ontario, sent in two De Kay snakes labelled, “articles from the larder of a migrant shrike.” These snakes, the larger of which measures thirteen’ inches, have been pierced by a thorn or a barb but are otherwise only slightly mutilated.— CLYDE L. PATCH. A DuPLEX NEST OF THE PHOEBE.—On May 13, 1925, a lady brought in for my inspection a nest of the Phoebe which exhibited what was to me a novel method of circumventing the Cowbird. The nest was built on her verandah and apparently when just about completed, the Cowbird laid an egg in it. The Phoebe promptly proceeded to build a new nest, but instead of making an addi- tion above the first nest, as is the well known habit of the Yellow Warbler, she built the second one alongside the first, and the wall between the two adjoining cavities is completely finished and woven together just as all the other sides of both nests. The result is that each nest is a complete and finished unit although they are connected at the one side where they adjoin each other, and the outer walls of the whole are completely finished and continuous. Efforts of this character in the bird world are sufficiently rare to make this occurrence noteworthy.—W. EF. SAUNDERS. THE HOODED WARBLER (Wilsonia citrina) IN ONTARIO.—As this species is of rare occurrence in this province, it seems advisable to record here, four hitherto unpublished records which have come to my notice recently and also to bring together as many of the old records as possible with a view to establishing its present status as an Ontario bird. : September, 1925] The first published notice of this species in Ontario appeared in A List of Birds of Western Ontario', reporting it as ‘“‘Very rare; only one specimen taken’’. This specimen, I am informed by Mr. Saunders, was taken at Hyde Park, Ontario, about 1880, by John A. Morden. After an inter- val of over twenty-five years, the second authentic record for the province was collected in the Don Valley, Toronto, on May 24, 1907, by Stuart L. Thompson. It is a male and is still in his collec- tion. Five years later, in 1912, W. E. Saunders collected a juvenile female at Point Pelee on August 12. A male, the fourth Ontario record, was taken on Hamilton Mountain, May 18, 1920, by Fred Garrity. This bird was sent in the flesh te H. B. Haugh, of Toronto, to be mounted, is still in Mr. Haugh’s collection and has been examined by me. The fifth. and last record we have of this bird, is a female, collected at Point Pelee, April 23, 1924, by W. E. Saunders. Hypothetical records are as follows: There is a notice, published by Macoun, on the authority of Rev. C. J. Young’, as follows: “A specimen of this warbler, rare in Ontario, was captured at Cataraqui, near Kingston, Ontario, and is now in the collection of a resident there’. Mr. Edwin Beaupre, of Kingston, has informed me, under date of March 2, 1925, that the collection is still extant, including the Hooded Warbler in an excel- lent state of preservation but that unfortunately no data whatever accompany same. The collec- tion, he says, was probably formed about 1890. Under the circumstances, it seems advisable to consider this purely a hypothetical record, since it seems probable that the exact place of capture will never now be definitely known. Fleming? records two specimens in his hypothetical list in The Birds of Toronto, Ontario, which he says were no doubt taken there. There are a number of authentic sight records which must be considered, as follows: Saunders* reported that “some specimens were taken at Rondeau in the spring of 1884 by Mr. (H. P.) Atwater’. Writing to me under date of February 26, 1925, Mr. Saunders emphasized the fact that Atwater did not collect specimens but certainly heard individuals sing repeatedly and saw them. Mcllwraith® reported that he ‘‘once found a young male at Hamilton—towards the end of May’’, and further states that “it was found occasionally by Mr. Norval at Port Rowan”. (A male was seen by B. H. Swales on Belle Isle, Detroit River, on 1J. A. Morden and W. E. Saunders. Canadian Sportsman and Naturalist. II, 1882. 2John and J. M. Macoun. 1909, p. 672. 3J. H. Fleming, Auk, XXIV, 1907, p. 88. 4John and J. M. Macoun. Catalogue of Canadian Birds, 1909, p. 672. . 5Thos. Mellwraith. Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 381. Catalogue of Canadian Birds, THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 151 September 19, 1903, and another male was seen by him there on May 6, 1920°.) In Macoun’s Catalogue of Canadian Birds, is recorded a specimen as having been taken at Woodstock in May, 1916, by J. A. Cole. Mr. Saunders informs me that this record has since proven to be false and that Mr. Cole concurs with him in dropping the record. In conclusion it will be seen that the Hooded Warbler is a rare migrant into Ontario, appearing only about the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The fact that a young bird was taken in the early autumn seems to point to its breeding in the province, but as yet we have no conclusive evidence of its doing so.—JAs. L. BAILLIE JR., Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, Toronto, On- tario THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MUSKRAT AND THE Rocky MOUNTAIN GOAT ON VANCOUVER ISLAND. —In connection with the endeavour of the Club to record all acclimatization experiments in Canada, we are greatly indebted to Mr. M. B. Jackson, K.C., Chairman of the Game Conservation Board of British Columbia, for particulars here related concerning the introduction of these two species. MUSKRAT (Ondatra zibethica)—The muskrat is not indigenous to Vancouver Island, although it seems that there are places on the island eminently suited to them. As they would prove a valuable addition to the fur resources of the island if they sueceeded in adapting themselves to conditions there, the Board had a small numbertrapped inthe Lower Mainland during the past twelve months and they were released at Shaw Creek Game Re- serve, Ucluelet, Jordan River, Port Alice, Hopkins Lake (Merville), and Comox, where reports indi- cate that they have done exceedingly well. It is the intention of the Game Conservation Board to remove a large number of the muskrats from the dyked areas on the lower Fraser River, where they are something of a menace and plant them in other suitable locations. Rocky MOUNTAIN GOAT (Oreamnos montanus). —Although Vancouver Island is apparently an ideal locality for this species, it does not occur there. Through the kind offices of Mr. J. B. Harkin, Commissioner, Canadian National Parks, the Board secured four goats from Banff, Alberta, in January, 1924, and these were released in the Elk reserve at Cowichan Lake, Vancouver Island. They have not been seen since, but it is the opinion of the officers of the Board that they have sought the higher peaks, possibly at Mount Arrowsmith near Barclay Sound. The board is going to make a determined effort to acclimatize the Rocky Mountain Goat on Vancouver Island, because they 6Bradshaw H. Swales. Auk, XX XVII, 1920, p. 463. 152 will provide additional objects of interest, and so that there will be another game mammal for the sportsman. In this connection it should be men- tioned that a vigorous campaign is being waged against the cougar, it being thought that its elimination will aid in the increase of both goat and wapiti—HoyeEs LLOYD. CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST PUBLICATION FUND Statement of Receipts Previously acknowledged.............. $ 325.00 T. L. Thacker, Little Mountain, Hope, 1B Oh Meret ies Manes me rg LOTR ere arty frre 5.00 S. Prentiss Baldwin, Cleveland, Ohio.. 5.00 $ 335.00 VICTORIA MEMORIAL MUSEUM DEPARTMENT OF MINES FIELD PROGRAMME, 1925 Biological Division: Dr. R. M. ANDERSON, Chief of the Division, expects to spend the latter part of the summer and early fall in biological reconnaissance work, principally collecting mammals and birds in eastern Ontario and eastern Quebec, south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Mr. P. A. TAVERNER, ornithologist, will spend the months of June and July collecting specimens along the Red Deer River, in Alberta, with a view to clearing up doubts as to the breeding forms of the localities traversed and particularly to study the red-tailed hawk. He will be assisted by Mr. C. G. Harrold who, during the months of April and May, was engaged in southern Manitoba in securing for the Museum specimens of migrant blue geese. Dr. M. O. MALTE, Chief Botanist, with Mr. W.R. Watson as assistant, is spending the summer in the foothills area of the Province of Alberta from the International boundary north to the Yellowhead Pass. His work is being done with a view to consolidating the botanical knowledge of the region in question, which so far is comparative- ly vague. Mr. C. H. YOUNG is engaged in the collecting of material for the scientific staff of the Museum in selected localities in the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and Mr. C. L. Patch and others will make short collecting trips from Ottawa in the interests of the Museum. Bi THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST MR. HAMILTON M. LAING, through the courtes of the Mount Logan Expedition of the Canadian Alpine Club, was allowed to accompany it for the © purpose of collecting natural history specimens. The area to be traversed is one from which w possess no material and concerning which we have but very vague knowledge. Mr. J. D. SOPER, in the summer of 1924, was despatched as naturalist by the Museum with the — expedition sent to Baffinland by the Northwe: Territories Branch of the Interior Department. He wintered in the North and it is expected he will return to Ottawa when the Interior Department boat makes its prospective trip during the summer of 1925. Mr. W.S. ODELL will, as opportunities presen themselves, collect mushrooms and fungi in th vicinity of Ottawa. Anthropological Division: Dr. E. SApir, Chief of the Division, after <5", el completing some work in the office, plans on engaging in research on Athabaskan and Haid Linguistics at the Hupa Reserve, California, and Queen Charlotte Islands. Me. H. I. Suira will have as his principal work the direction of work intended for the preservatioi of totem poles in the Skeena River district, B This work is being financed by the Department Indian Affairs and the Canadian National R ways is co-operating in the work. Mr. Smith) incidentally carry on archaeological and ethn gical work as opportunities present themselves. Mr. W. J. WINTEMBERG is engaged in archae logical reconnaissance in the provinces of Sask chewan and Alberta. The tentative route | out for him extending from Estevan, Sask chewan, to Edmonton, Alberta, to Macl Alberta, and from thence easterly along the In national boundary to the western boundary « Manitoba. .Dr. C. M. BARBEAU is engaged in intensi study of the folk technology and colonial arts crafts of the ancient French colony of Quebec an vicinity. The headquarters for this work will be on the Isle of Orleans. months. His work will probably be carried on in the Province of Saskatchewan. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF i MANITOBA ae aay is 1924 ‘ _ Hon. President: NORMAN CRIDDLE; President: C. W. LOWE; _ Vice-Presidents: Dr. H. M. SPEECHLY, Dr. A. M. DavIDSON, _ A. G. LAwRence, J. B. WALLIS, B. W. CARTWRIGHT, A. A. _ McCousrey; Acting General Secretary: H. B. WH8STON, Room 307, C.P.R. Depot; Executive Secretary: R. M. THOMAS; Treasurer: J.J. Mort, P.O. Box 1562. ORNITHOLOGICAL - SECTION:—Chairman, C. L. BrouEy; Secretary: L. E. McCatt. BOTANICAL SECTION:—Chairman: ©. W. Lowe; Secretary: Miss Grace CAMERON. ENTOMOLO- _ GICAL SECTION:—Chairman: G. SHIRLEY BROOKS; - Secretary: A. M. Davipson. GEOLOGICAL SECTION :— Chairman: L. G. THOMPSON; Secretary: F. M. OLIVER. _ SHE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION SOCIETY (Incorporated) Hon. President: Mr. ADAM BROWN: President: Mr. R. O MERRIMAN; 1st Vice-President: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- President: Mr. C. D. Cook; Secretary-Treasurer: Miss RUBY R. Mus, Publie Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. ARNoTT; C. D. Cook; Dr. J. A. DIcKSON; Miss M. E. GRA- HAM; Miss Rusy R. MILis; M. Ho.Lton; Mrs. F. E. MACLOGHLIN; R. O. MERRIMAN. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VICTORIA, B.C. The officers for the above Society for the year ending March 31st, 1925, are as follows:— — President: Rev. R. CONNELL, M.A.; ist Vice-President: W. N. KSLLY; 2nd Vice-President: Mrs. HUGH MACKENZIE; S.M. THORNTON; Committee: G. A. HarDy, C. C. PEMBERTON, TRA CORNWALL, F.G.S., A. R. SHERWOOD, H. Boyce; Audi- tors: Miss MockrinGE, M.Sc., WILLIAM DOWNES. Pe on ee a 4 / ALBERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY ‘ Hon. President: Mr. J. J. GAETZ, Red Deer, Alta.; Hon. Vice _ President: Dr. Hy. GEorGE, Victoria, B.C.; President? "Mr. C. H. SNELL, Red Deer, Alta.; 1st Vice-President: MRs- _ W. A. CAssEts, Red Deer, Alta.; 2nd Vice-President: Mr. S. _ Pamety, Red Deer, Alta.; Directors: Mrs. G .F. Root, Weta- _ Skiwin, Alta.; Mrs. J. MCMILLAN, Red Deer, Alta.; Miss E. _ C, Irvine, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. F. L. FARLEY, Camrose, ¥ Alta.; Mr. W. A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. B. LAWTON, ; Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Alta.; PRoF. € W. Rowan, Univ. of Alta., Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. W. F. Harris, Hed Deer, Alta.; Mr. T. E. RANDALL, Castor, Alta.; Mr. A.. C. BreTHour, Calgary, Alta.; Hon. Sec-Treas.: _ Mrs.S. PaMEety, Red Deer, Alta. : oe The meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the __ last Friday of each month except during July and August and _ perhaps September. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer on the last Friday in November. j re — H ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, LONDON, ONT. | : resident: T. D. PATTERSON, 562 Waterloo Street; Recording ecretary: Mrs. E. H. McKoNnz, Worthey Road; Correspond- Secretary and Treasurer: E. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St.; mbers qualified to answer questions: W. E. SAUNDERS, 240 tral Ave.; C. G. WATSON, 201 Ridout St. South; J. R. icLEOD, 355 Wortley Road; J. F. CALVERT, 461 Tecumseh .; E. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St. NCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY President: L. S. Kuinck, L.L.D., Pres. University of B. C.; dent: JOHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- dent: FRED PERRY; Hon. Secretary: C. F. CONNOR, M.A., . 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Treasurer: A. H. , 2302 York St., Vancouver, B.C. Fortnightly meetings in the University Buildings from tember to April (inclusive). Semi-monthly exeursions from y to August (inclusive). F M. JOHNSTON; . Hon. Secretary: Haro~p T. NATION; Hon. Treasurer: Miss ~ ss Affiliated Societies PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. President: I. GAMMEL; Hon. Vice-President: W.H. - President: L. Mcl. TERRILL; Ist. Vice Prasvieds Wee Smitu; 2nd. Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; Srd. Vice-Presideni and Curator: Miss E. G. LUKE; Recording Secretary: Miss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. S. Hart, P.O. Box 1186, Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY MousLEy: Committee: Miss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C. F. DALE; H. A. C. JACKSoN; Miss FE. Morrow; Miss L. MURPHY; A, MACSWEEN; G.S.MOooNEY; W. A. OsWALD; L. MclI. SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY; Members qualified to answer questions: L. Mcl. TERRILL, 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; C. N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY, McGill University, Montreal; H=nry MousLEy, 274 Girouard — Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EDITH MORROW AND Miss EmIty LUKE, c-o Secretary. SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Président: DocTauR S. GAUDREAU; Jer vice-président: ABBB A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. BOuLToNn: Secrétaire-trésorier: Louts-B. LAvorm; Chef de Ia section scientifique: A.-A. GopBoUT; Chef de la section de propaganda éducationelle: DoctEuR A. DERy; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d’information scientifique et pratique: DOCTEUR J.-E. BERNIER; Directeura: R.-F. LInDSAY; Jos. MATTE; G.-S. AHERN. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO- GISTS’ UNION Officers for 1923 Hon. President: Hon. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: T. L. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasurer: J. W. WINSON, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. KELso, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz; K. Racky, Vancouver; T. PEARSE, Courtenay; | W. N. KELLY, Victoria. i THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: PrRoressoR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidenis: PROFESSOR E. M. WALKER, Dr. A. CoSENS, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. F. Grecory, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH: Librarian: Dr. LyMan B. Jackes. BIRD GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B.Sirton; Secretary: — Miss J. G. WRIGHT, PH.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: Miss NORMA ForD, PH.D. MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DyMonpD; Secretary: L. SNYDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: —Chairman: SuHittey Locier; Secretary: T. B. KURATA. PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- ENS. WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE:— Chairman: RussELL G. DINGMAN. EDUCATIONAL COM- MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. We would ask the Officers, and more particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of this magazine. By securing every member as a subscriber we can truly make this magazine into one of the ' leading Natural History publications of America. Sweet Canada Eleven Bird Songs and a Round by Louise Murphy Author of ‘A Little Book of Bird Songs, Rhymes and Tunes for Tiny Tots’? PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto L. C. Smith & Bro. Typewriter Ball bearings in every frictional part of the L. C. Smith insure long life, light °¢ touch and easy operation Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited : 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Systems for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes Lowe-Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to aN Ne: Artists and - Designers — - ENGRAVERS 4 COMMERCIAL ue PHOTOGRAPHERS : PHOT ron : LITHOGRAPHERS _ : fa ee BLUEPRINTERS 228 Albert Street Ottawa, Ont. —e COAL* — o) | : BEST QUALITY > LOWEST, PRICES | 4 . 46 Snake St.—Phone Q. 461 ae ts | _ OTTAWA. ee a ‘Geo. E. Preston: & Sans MERCHANT TAILORS Ro Oe We make everything we sell and _ es 2 guarantee everything we sell : 217-219 Rideau treet, } Ottawa \°aPAPAVAPAPAPAPAVAPAPAPAVAPAPAPAVAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAP Vara Dr. Mark ©. McElhinney 5 Dentist to certain of the BS Ch cognoscentti — 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA rh Telephone Queen 2438 XN N X N N x IN N ie DAE ZEAICCAEZEZPCIEZEAECACCZEZECCICIEAEATCAC CAVA EE OSE AS ena oars ee eet NOV 2 4 rs as ae : 1925 es, _ VOL. chains No. 7 ee OCTOBER, 1925 a D ATURA of Sa are aS SS > MAES AUESAL J) Nr | : \ f' | WM ae name ms | NE | q Ee ORLA 8 LR als 5 \ nel SRARGRALISTS CLUB ISSUED Seta. 30, ae - Entered at the Girias Post Office as HO aoe matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- NATURALISTS CLUB arouse : THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY B VEE ia ai) Ue A. Mrtuer. ec 1st Vice-President: Kahdb (rx xDpLE() () end, Vice-President: Re ye reta = : . Treasurer corte 13 DULL L he oe ee 4s hed Ave. REO scan 821 McLeod 8 Ottawa, Ont. - ; Ottawa, Ont. Additional Members of Council: W.T. MAcoun; Miss M. E. Cowan; C.M. STERNBER .A. TAVERNER; E. SAPIR; W.J. WINTEMBERG: Dedede DELURY; ARTHUR GIBSON; M.O. 1 R. M. ANDERSON; H. GROH; Miss F. FYLES; C.B. HutTcHINGs; CLYDE L. Patc EE D. JENNESS; H. FE. Lewis; Hoyss Luoyp; Frits J OHANSEN; ANDREW HALKETT; | G. R. Waite; E.G. WHITE; G. A. MacDonatp; A. G. KINGSTON: NorMAN LEACH; | McELHINNEY; V. W. JACKSON; R. O. oS W. N. au C. H. oN J Re eh Acting Editor: ee , ence G. A. MILLER, oe a en Normal School, Ottawa. ee Associate Editors: pe SENS GAPIRG Ge Soe: retain Mea Mn Amiinoneiogy A. G. HUNTSMAN.......... E. MO MARE ee Soe. Wier ees ete Botany ON PAS TAVERINER,.:).c.)foe en ae een F, R. LATCHFORD......... AER Bas Conchology — eat INTRA WWD AMSG ose cet at ce incom nouns Geology a ie, ARTHUR GIBSON.........-....-- Entomology CLYDE L. PATCH.... aay ra \ CONTENTS. ae The Christmas Bird Census at Arnprior, Ontario. By Cee NoacNamae ee Further Bird Notes from Southern Vancouver Island. By JA - Munro. pa Another Invasion of Canada. By Henry Howitt............ seit che Onsen eaemeg ee at Lead Poisoning in Trumpeter Swans. By J. A. Munro.........................-4. Uae Extracts From—“Forest Insect Conditions in Northern Ontario? By M. B. lane The European Grey Partridge in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. By J. AS Munro Bare Island, British Columbia. By J. A. Munro SOKO i abner actin: os Sue Oy ty a tae Passenger Pigeons. By William Welshove ys hole eee SE are ES vo A ae ah Ree ae Notes on the Economic Relations of Kennicott’s Screech Owl (Otus asio enn in the N. ic tora Region... By J> A. Munroe. ei 0 ee OF eae oe ee Radio Lectures—Fall 1924 to Spring 1925... 2... 2.) ee ee Sue Grae ane st Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns................. nO Oe Abe casa SS Prosecutions Under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.......................... eae Notes and Observations:— The Introduction of the European Grey Partridge in Manitoba. ay Leyes Lloyd... An Ivory Gull, Pagophila alba, Gunn, Observed at Victoria, B.C. By W. H. oe Pres Christmas Bird Censuses in Canada. By Hoyes loyal ep in ene Bae sae A Case of Disease in the California Partridge (Quail), Lophoriye ealifornicus californ Us Shaw. By WiHAs Preece io Oi Re i os i ae a i Gannets of Bonaventure Island, Quebec. By William A. Duval. ACh tee ete ig Canadian Field-Naturalist Publication Fund. Statement of Receipts. . maa eR ue The official publications of THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB have been: #: since 1879. The first was The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1879-1 # two volumes; the next, The Ottawa Naturalist, 1886-1919, thirty-two volumes; and th have been continued by The Canadian Field-N. aturalist to date. The Canadian Field-Natu: # is issued monthly, except for the months of June, July, and August. Its scope is the Eee #: of the results of original research in all departments of Natural History. HOUSES The Habits and Requirements of the Birds have been care- fully studied in the making of our Bird Houses | They are made right in every detail—and consequently they are effec- tive in attracting tenants. Every golf club or person having a large garden or grounds should have one of our Purple Martin Houses. SEND FOR PAMPHLET Early Orders for Spring Delivery Are Advised The Master Mfg. Co., Ltd. TORGNTOONTARIO SHESSEESESE ELIAS FELELES SESS : Grant-Holden- Graham Limited Outfitters to Surveyors & Engineers : See 5c52 aber t Fine | Diamonds : § Sterling Silver, Fine : § Cut Glass, Electro- ft Plated Ware The Store of Moderate Prices { C. A. Olmsted & Son [H Jewellers, Opticians, Watchmakers and Engravers ! 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The Land of Afternoon By GILBERT KNOX What Some Reviewers Say: But, for all his banter, Gilbert Knox’s sin- cerity is as evident as his courage. The book rings true with an integrity, an underlying se- riousness that must command respect and ad- miration.—“‘Candide” in Toronto Saturday Night. . .. Ll am inclined to the opinion that it does more than draw aside the curtain; it leaves the political machine without a vestige of covering to hide its ugly nakedness. . —J.E.W. in The Calgary Herald. . it will be talked about and alternately denounced as a perverse and malicious carica- ture and praised as a bold and revealing pic- ture .. . there are revealing fiashes of character delineation, and many passages of absorbingly interesting description of persons and scenes, and some shrewd philosophizing.—E.W.H. in The Ottawa Citizen. . its graphic descriptions of the devious party. ...I wish to say in conclusion that I read this story through at a sitting and found it very enjoyable.-—“‘Ivanhoe” in The Winni- peg Tribune. ways of politicians will amuse men of every $ An exceptionally clever satire on Canadian politics and society by a hitherto unknown Canadian author. It draws aside the curtain that shrouds the working of the political machine. rapier-pointed satire and humor to make one think. 352 pages of sparkling Canada from a new and a different angle! From Bookstores or Mailed upon receipt of price THE GRAPHIC PUBLISHERS, 175 Nepean Street, Ottawa Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL: XX XEX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, OCTOBER, 1925 No. 7 THE CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUS AT ARNPRIOR, ONTARIO By CHARLES MACNAMARA OR twelve successive years now Liguori Gormley and I have taken a Christmas Bird Census in the vicinity of Arnprior, and a survey of the figures may be of Unlike an official census of a human interest. population, our Bird Census does not pretend to count every individual bird in the district. Its figures are index figures only, representing the relative numbers of the different species, and not the total number present each year. But the count having always been made under fairly uniform conditions, the figures are comparable among themselves, and give a good idea of the rise and fall of the winter bird population in the vicinity from year to year. Travelling separately, we have always gone over approximately the same territory. Liguori’s route lies towards the west, and mine eastward from the town, and between us we usually cover about twenty miles. Our hunting ground, which stretches along the south shore of the Ottawa River, is mostly rough, rocky country, well wood- ed with both evergreens and deciduous trees, and includes a few fields and clearings, and a couple of beaver meadows with small streams flowing through them. The weather of the twelve Christmases was about evenly divided between clear and cloudy. Two years it snowed. Only one year (1923) was the ground bare. Usually the snow lay three to five inches deep, while on four occasions it ranged from twelve to sixteen inches, and we had to use snowshoes. We have always started out with the thermometer below freezing point, and five times it was below zero, the lowest being 10°F. below. Only twice did it rise above 32°F. while we were making our rounds. From these low temperatures it is plain that our regular winter residents must be real birds of the north. The tide of summer migrants, ebbing southward in the fall, sometimes leaves behind an odd Song Sparrow, or a Blackbird or Robin, which manages to survive in some sheltered place for part of the winter at least. And the remarkably mild winter of 1923-24 (I found dandelions in blossom on Christmas day) bestowed on our cen- sus of that year the unusual records of a White- throated Sparrow and a Tree Sparrow. But all ~ would do much for the birds. these birds, though quite at home here in the summer, are accidental at Christmas time, and have no right place among our winter birds. The only native bird that is known to be a really permanent resident here all the year round is that hen of the woods, the Ruffed Grouse (familiarly: the Partridge). While a good many other birds are to be found here both summer and winter, it is doubtful if the same individuals stay throughout the year. This is a point that bird- banding will eventually clear up, but it seems probable that the summer residents migrate south- ward in the winter, and others of the same species come down from the north and take their places. The Ruffed Grouse, however, rarely moves more than a few miles around in its district. Even under uniform conditions of game protec- tion—or, as it generally is, lack of protection—the number of Ruffed Grouse in a district varies a great deal from year to year, and is supposed to depend largely on the spring weather, a cold wet May and June being bad for the chicks. How- ever t i> may be, adequate protection from hunters In 19138, when we took our first bird census, the Grouse around here were at a low ebb, and we found none at all that year. During the next five years we recorded only from one to three each census, rising to five birds in 1919, perhaps as the result of an extra favourable breeding season. Then, in 1920, part of the census district was declared a Provincial Game Sanctuary, and that Christmas we counted fifteen Grouse, and the next Christmas, twenty- eight. Man, the most destructive factor in their problem of how to live, having been eliminated, they outstripped their natural enemies in increase. But the balance of life was soon restored. The natural enemies, also sheltered in the Sanctuary from human harm, soon caught up. Probably unfavourable weather came in, too. For, in 1922, the number of Grouse was down to eight, and for the two succeeding years it has been five and again eight. This indicates a Grouse population of only about one-third as many as when they were unharassed by other predatory animals as well as man, but about two and a half times as many as the average before the Sanctuary was established. 154 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XX XIX CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUS AT ARNPRIOR, ONTARIO, FOR TWELVE YEARS Species | ais [1014 | 1015 | sre | tr7 | to | 19 | 920 [ras | [oes | a a ei el | American Gokden-eye, oc wianulal fee buolews| ule@ | 2sy/e Wes) eee Ml |Conasa RuffedGrose | 3 ft To | ef [5 isles] [5 [6 Howse | ee ScfecNOwl fe eee ee Coe Soe orleolaeee ance | Great Horned Owls Sef jade [poubut | ojos pt) el fHiry wooapecker UE 2 i 2" es ea ee ee [Downy wooupecrer fez | | fet fs | 4 lal lolala| ete Denes weteetee—_}_f_}_ Ft a Tt American Three-toed Woodpecker Sail se tlewe’ latest liam alapecal esi p RARE lata a Northern Pileated Woodpecker EIS eS Se eh Se ee Blue Joy polis die [sina seel ots] Ball aleve ea iGonada day, 2 8 ee eae American Grows en Swe boiale |r |= | es ee Bomer Gate VO PS a See ae ence smacech ___ emf Jl fea |_[o et | fate a Pine Grosbeak a Finch siike weastaaul aT ORE hs op) al el el ele ae [Redpet ch ti swt tobe | ola Geel ois aa a american Goerineh Se! [a7] ee ees Ae Pine Sion | ft | el 5a| | Se Snow Bunting fot 3 ||| thearal 3 | 57 [reoral | iiidimnaciSareics aoa bala oat aac) le Pte eee ey eee Gola cronnéa ingen [Toto Species | Jes [ie [5 | 5 Tire Lan ee ia October, 1925] While the Ruffed Grouse may be found in much the same haunts at all seasons, a bird more charac- teristic of the winter alone, and the one species that appears in all our twelve censuses without a break is the Black-capped Chickadee. Of course, there are Chickadees here in the summer also, but they are few and wild and mistrustful, quite un- like the flocks of confident little birds we meet in winter calling cheerfully to one another, and often tame enough to alight on the observer’s head or shoulder. Their “phoebe” call properly belongs to the springtime, when even a Chickadee’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. But Liguori’s expert rendering of it always brings an unseason- able answer, even in midwinter. The Black-caps’ duskier, hoarser cousin, the Hudsonian Chickadee, we have recorded in our census only once. It is not such a very rare visitor, but only once have we happened to see it at Christmas time. Another bird representative of winter is the White-breasted Nuthatch. It, too, is here more or less all summer, but is much more noticeable in the winter. The birds usually travel in pairs, and often with a flock of Chickadees, their low- toned, nasal “quank, quank’’ being a familiar accompaniment to the high-pitched “‘chick-a-dee- dee’. The smaller Red-breasted Nuthatch is not so reliable, and while some years it is more plenti- ful than the White-breasted, other years it is entirely absent. Another uncertain bird is the Brown Creeper, which fluctuates in our census from nothing to sixteen. It is, however, very easy to overlook the Brown Creeper. Close pressed to the bark, it zig-zags inconspicuously up tree trunks, always commencing at the bottom, and it takes a keen ear to catch its extremely fine-drawn note. The tiny Gold-crowned Kinglet, which is listed four times, is another bird we may have missed some years when it was here, but it is never numer- ous and belongs among the more unusual winter birds. The Woodpeckers are a hardy family. Of the eight species known in Hastern Canada, our census records five. The Hairy Woodpecker is one of the dependable winter birds, never very plentiful, but always on hand. Of late years, probably ow- ing to the protection afforded by the Game Sanc- tuary, we have been able to include a Pileated Woodpecker or two. Twice we have entered the searce Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, and last Christmas I was lucky enough to come across the rare American Three-toed Woodpecker on the appointed census day. Liguori, being a better ornithologist than I, nearly always contributes the best finds. So when we met in the evening to compile our lists, I announced my American Three- toed Woodpecker with a flourish of pride. Alas! THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 155 he countered with the unique record of two Wax- wings, which, he said, might be Bohemians, but so as not to claim too much, he would put them down as Cedar Waxwings. But there is little excuse for missing any Wood- pecker within a quarter of a mile. A Wood- pecker’s waking hours in winter are all spent hammering a laborious meal out. of a tree, and the blows can be heard a long distance through the quiet woods. If you hear what sounds like a man chopping with a hatchet where no man can pos- sibly be, you may safely put it down to a Pileated working for his dinner. The smaller species naturally do not make so much noise, but even the little Downy’s tappings carry a long way. In contrast with old reliables like the Chick- adees, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers, are the erratic Grosbeaks, whose comings and goings no man can know. In the last twelve years, the Evening Grosbeaks have visited us seven times, generally coming two years in succession with an absent year between. When they do come they appear in the early winter in flocks of twenty-five to one hundred birds, and stay around town until April or May. We have never noticed them far out in the woods. The Pine Grosbeaks, on the other hand, are birds of the open, and do not often come to town. Ash seeds scattered on the snow are a good sign of their presence. - They are rarer visitants than the Evening Grosbeaks, and we have recorded them only four times. The large Finch family (to which the Grosbeaks belong) furnish half-a-dozen other winter repre- sentatives. But some years they do not arrive in time for the census, and a good many years they are missing all winter. Thus there are large gaps in the record of the Purple Finch, White-winged Crossbill, Redpoll, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin and Snow Bunting. Our count of White-winged Crossbills in 1922 was greater than that of any other bird at any time, but we have seen it here only three winters. The American Crossbill also came in the winter of 1922-23, but too late for the census. The Snow Bunting has sometimes been absent from our list because all of the species in a district often con- gregate in a single flock which moves about erratically, and several times we have failed to find them until after Christmas. As there is very little open water here in winter, our duck records are few. Every winter, as long as I ean remember, two or three American Golden- eyes have come to fish in the rapids below the mill dam, but usually they arrive too late for the census. Birds of prey are scarce also, and the few hawks observed were too far away for certain identification. The Northern Shrike is always here some time during the winter, but not often 156 in the right time for us. Twice only have we recorded the Screech Owl and once the Great Horned Owl. Perhaps if we had stayed out later in the evening we would have improved our owl records. There are other well known winter birds that make only intermittent appearances in our lists. The Blue Jay was missing four years, but we feel that when absent in name he may sometimes have been really present in body. Boisterous and un- mannerly as he usually is, the Blue Jay in cold weather is often mute and retiring. When in this mood he slips secretly through the trees, and is hard to find. Thus on Christmas Day, 1924, neither of us sighted or heard a single Blue Jay. Two days later we saw three or four. The Canada Jay seldom ventures this far into civilization. It prefers the boundless contiguity of shade farther north where it is unbroken by man’s desecrating clearances. [Every five or six years, however, a few of the birds may visit us for a month or so, and in 1921 the visit happened to come at Christmas, giving us our only record of the ‘‘Whiskey Jack’. A few American Crows occasionally winter near here in some sheltered wood. In the cold weather they are quiet and dejected, and not at all like THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX the garrulous birds of summer. They stick close to their retreat and rarely travel about the country until spring. A bird that should, but does not, figure in our Census is the European Starling. The first scout of what is likely to be a Starling invasion arrived at Arnprior in April, 1922. He was “‘collected’’, and no more were seen until the 3rd January 1924, when another one appeared—too late for the Census—and survived several adventures around town, (once it was caught in a hen house but escaped) until in April it was joined by a mate. During the summer the pair were lost track of but may have nested here. Our next record is the 5th January, 1925—again too late for the Census —-when six birds were seen. Since then, records are numerous, and two pairs at least are known to have nested. One couple, appropriately enough for birds of the Old World, picked on the cornice of the Lutheran Church as a good site for a home. As yet the birds are relatively few and have attracted no public attention. But tkese are probably only the first trickles of the flood, and in a few years Starlings may be as familiar in this part of the country, and as little welcome, as the English Sparrow. FURTHER BIRD NOTES FROM SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND By J. A. MUNRO Published by permission of The Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Ottawa. Larus glaucescens. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL N JULY 23RD, 1924, through the courtesy of Dr. Chester Brown, of the William fees} Head Quarantine Station, I was taken on ail! the launch Hvelyn to the Race Rocks, some two miles off Rocky Point. The launch stopped fifty yards off shore and we rowed to the largest of the rocks north of the light station. A decided swell on the dead calm sea, but a better day could not have been chosen, clear and hot and still—with a wind it would have been impos- sible to land. The island on which we landed is roughly an acre in extent, there is no soil or vegetation and the jumbled rocks are worn smooth by the surf that, during winter gales, probably sweeps clear over the summit. This is the highest of the Race Rocks, excepting the one on which the light station is built, all the others are submerged during high tides. It was found to be occupied by a colony of Glaucous-winged Gulls estimated at seventy- five pairs, and a few Pigeon Guillemots. As we approached in the dinghy, the former rose and circled the island, rising higher after we landed. Elsewhere, nesting gulls of the same species were observed to show much more solicitude for their eggs than did these birds for their young. Young birds were found in various stages of development from downys only a few days old to half-feathered fledglings, the majority being about four weeks old. Only the youngest downys were in nests; older birds crouched motionless in the numerous rock crevices usually with head lowered as far as possible or else thrust into a cranny too small to admit the body. After being banded they would run over the rocks to again crouch next the first obstacle encountered. When handled, these youngsters cried and bit and invariably regurgi- tated the contents of their au which consisted of young herring. To band young gulls with speed and comfort, two operators are required, one to hold the Reel while the other adjusts the band. Thirty-six birds, were banded, probably a third of the juvenile population. Some nests were fairly substantial and: all were composed of fine twigs, grass and moss; this material having probably been carried from the mainland, two miles distant, for there is no vege- tation on the rock. Three nests containing eggs were noted 1/1, 1/2, 1/3. October, 1925] Two Pigeon Guillemots flew on to the rock several times and several others swam amongst the kelp off shore. We were unable to find either eggs or downy young. Cygnus columbianus. WHISTLING SWAN. A considerable migration of whistling swans took place during the latter part of October, 1924, reports of their occurrence in numbers being received from districts where swans had not been observed for many years. A still larger migration was reported from points on the mainland coast, notably at Sea and Lulu Islands, where the total number was variously estimated at from two hundred and fifty to eight hundred individuals. Cygnus buccinator. TRUMPETER SWAN. It has been known for some years that a band of Trumpeter Swans winter regularly on a group of lakes on Vancouver Island, and in recent years a Migratory Bird Warden has been detailed to guard these birds. No casualties have been reported since this special protection was institut- ed. During the past five years the number of birds in the flock has varied from six to eighteen, but last winter (1924-25) the band numbered twenty-eight—fourteen adults and fourteen cyg- nets*. The lake most favoured by the swans is at an altitude of eight hundred feet above sea level from which it is distant about thirty miles. Of the type characteristic of Vancouver Island, with cold, deep, clear water, it is hemmed in by steep mountains covered with dense coniferous forest. Red cedar predominates along the lower levels and meets willow thickets and alder at the water’s edge. The chief feeding ground is a shallow lagoon lying in a wide, marshy flat upon which is an almost impenetrable growth of willow and alder. This lagoon is fed by a small creek with sufficient current to ensure open water over the feeding ground even during cold winters where the lake itself freezes. Splatter-dock, Nymphea, grows luxuriantly and in the summer the broad, fleshy leaves cover much of the surface with an over-lapping pattern. No doubt the large seeds of this plant are an important item in the winter diet of the swans. Other water plants such as milfoil and various potamogetons do not make vigorous growth, possibly because of the low summer temperature of the water. In the summer of 1919 a pair of Trumpeter Swans nested on the shore of this lagoon and raised two young. It has been reported that one of the pair was crippled and, being unable to leave its wintering ground, induced a mate to remain behind and breed—a story denied by the lucky discoverer of the nest who states that the crippled *That a slight increase has taken place in other bands wintering on the mainland is thought worthy of record also, as indicating a hopeful future for this magnificent bird. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 157 bird had been shot the previous year. This man accompanied me on a trip to the lake several years ago and pointed out the spot where the nest had been situated, on a sandy point, surrounded by willows, at the junction of two arms of the lagoon. He told of paddling his canoe past the sitting bird within a few yards on numerous occasions and at ‘the same time noting the mate on the water a short distance away. Later in the summer, he several times saw two downy young accompanied by one or both parents. Early in November, 1924, two adult Trumpeter Swans alighted on Beaver Lake, part of Elk Lake Game Reserve, near Victoria. On this secluded lake, screened from observation by thick forest growth, these birds tarried until a severe cold spell—December 15th to 26th—covered the lake with ice and forced them to visit the larger, adjacent, Elk Lake, where they remained until February 27th, usually frequenting the marshy south shore, in plain view from the West Saanich Road. Sometimes they could be seen feeding— with long necks submerged the entire length, perhaps dredging for the fallen seeds of the abundant yellow pond lily—but more often standing motionless in the shallows or asleep on the water at a safe distance from shore, with head and neck folded neatly over the back. Frequently I stalked them, screened for a greater part of the distance by thick brush, but could not get closer than one hundred and twenty-five yards. Once I had left the cover they sighted me at once and paddled out two hundred yards or so, there to turn and swim slowly back and forth parallel with the shore. On one occasion, after I had made a long stalk, and taken a number of pictures, both birds rose slowly, with much splashing, and flapped low over the water to the opposite shore, but generally they showed no particular alarm on being approached. Usually while swimming the neck is held rigidly at right angles to the body, but at times there is a swaying movement forward and back in unison with the paddle stroke; the latter made visible by the regular appearance and submersion of the knobby heel-joint, so conspicuous against the white flanks. This neck swaying was performed first by one bird then the other. During two months acquaintance with these birds, not once was heard the famous “brassy trumpet call’’ so often referred to in literature— ‘nor have I heard it elsewhere—in my experience the Trumpeter Swan has been a relatively silent bird. Occasionally a three note call was given, the first two, slightly guttural, being introductory to the third, which is a sustained composite note, first deep and mellow, then rising crescendo—this with great carrying power but seemingly no louder 158 at two hundred yards than at halfa mile. Syllabi- fying bird voices is most unsatisfactory and the results usually intelligible only to their author so the following is submitted with apologies: wgh-ugh- aw-r-r-r-t-h. Sometimes the last composite note is given without introduction, at. other times the introductory ugh is uttered four or five times in succession without the culminating sustained note. To me, the performance resembles Canada Goose talk on a magnified scale. Gallinago delicata. WILSON’S SNIPE. Wilson’s Snipe were fairly abundant during the past winter (1924-25) and in the cold weather of late December a number congregated about a ditch containing a little open water supplied from the Colquitz Pheasant Farm. Through the interest of Game Warden Cummins, in charge of the Farm, it was possible to band nine of these birds. Mr. Cummins captured them without difficulty by simply placing, over a portion of the ditch, a partridge net into which the birds walked at dusk. Accipiter coopert. COOPER’S HAWK. Abundant during migration, much less common in winter and a scarce breeder. Two immature males were taken in quail traps on January 28th, 1925. One had torn to pieces six captured quail but no part of the birds had been eaten; the other had been attracted by an Oregon Towhee, the only bird in this particular trap. This had been killed and eaten. Astur atricapillus. GOSHAWK. During October and November, 1925, a consider- able migration of immature birds occurred and seven specimens were secured. None of these are as saturated as Queen Charlotte Island birds, but THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX average darker than those from the interior of the Province. Zonotrichia coronata. GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. Perhaps the commonest Zonotrichia during migration and probably a regular but scarce winter resident. Specimens were banded on the following dates: immature in first winter plumage, November 20th, 1924; adult female, December 31st, 1924; adult female, January 27th, 1925. Passerella iliaca. Fox SPARROW. While banding Fox Sparrows in the Victoria region during the winter of 1924-25, two dis- tinguishable races were encountered, viz: sinuosa and townsendi; specimens sent to Mr. Harry S. Swarth being so determined. The very dark breeding race fuliginosa was not observed. Sin- uosa was found to be the common wintering race of this region, while townsendi was comparatively scarce and first appeared during the cold spell before referred to in this paper. Thirty-four specimens of sinuosa were banded between November 9th, 1924, and January 9th, 1925, and six specimens of townsendi were taken during the same period. Ohly a small number repeated and usually only for a day or so following the initial capture. Valdez Fox Sparrow, No. 241716, band- ed on November 24th, 1924, and recaptured on January 9th, 1925, was an exception. Pipilo maculatus oregonus. OREGON TOWHEE. While winter banding in the Cedar Hill District the Oregon Towhee was taken in about the same numbers as the Fox Sparrow and frequently both species were found together in the same trap. Thirty-one specimens were handled between November 9th, 1924, and January 31st, 1925. This is recorded merely to indicate the relative abundance of this species in winter. ANOTHER INVASION OF CANADA By HENRY HOWITT N OCTOBER, 1921, a neighbour in Guelph, Ontario, with whom I had been hare shooting several times in that vicinity, persuaded me to spend a day with him hunting what he called “big Jacks” near Galt, which is about fourteen miles distant. We started before dawn in a motor-car with two black, white and tan hounds about eight months old, Nip and Tuck by name, a cross between fox- hound and beagle, of the well-known “harrier” size and type. That season they had proved their ability to tongue the trail of the native hare (Lepus americanus), but they were now to match their wind and wits against a much larger and faster quarry. (2082 My neighbour was armed with a sixteen gauge, double-barreled, hammerless, Ithaca gun, and I with a twelve gauge of the same style and make. We carried number four and five shot shells. Arriving in Galt shortly after daybreak, two friends joined us there with another car and two more hounds of the same useful size. We motored to the Township of Beverly, in Wentworth County about ten miles south-east of Galt, and picked up another hunter at a farm on the way. Leaving the cars on the side of a road, we took to the fields about seven o’clock, the dogs ranging in front, and we slowly walking in a line extending to right and left, each man keeping about one hundred yards distant from the next, but with his October, 1925] eyes on the dogs, lest they should show any of the usual signs of picking up a scent. The grass was faded brown and about eighteen inches long. Before we had crossed the first field there was a rapid ‘“Bang! Bang!’’, and one of my companions ran to a fence corner and picked up something from the ground. It was the largest hare I had ever seen, nearly three feet long from the toes of the front feet to those of the hind, and the body large and heavy, of typical hare shape, the hind legs much longer than the fore, and the tips of the long ears black. It was white underneath, but elsewhere, except the black ear-tips, a mixture of light grey and fawn suffused with reddish brown in parts, but with many of the hairs tipped with black, the result being a protective coloring which blended perfectly with the dead grass of the fields. It had escaped the notice ofthe dogs for the moment at least, and had sprung from the grass where it had been lying, and dashed away at remarkable speed, only when one of our line of hunters had approached within a few feet, but he, although somewhat startled by its sudden rush, had hit it fairly with one or both barrels. We continued our slow march over fields, and fences, and another “‘big Jack” was bagged shortly afterwards. In the afternoon we were joined by two more men and more dogs from Galt, and that day the party shot eighteen “big Jacks’’, and three cotton-tail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus). We met two boys of about sixteen armed with single- barreled shotguns. They were dragging an enor- mous sack, made by ripping open fou. or five potato bags and sewing them together. In it were ten “big Jacks” they had shot that day without the aid of dogs. Subsequently I have enjoyed many such health- ful tramps afield in the cold, invigorating, autumn air and welcome sunshine. “Big Jacks” are usually found in fields, although when chased by dogs they will often run through a wood, and from one wood across fields to another, possibly in an endeavour to get out of sight of the hounds, but I have never known one, when chased, to pause to hide in the shelter of the trees. To hit one which suddenly jumps up a few feet in front of you and rushes off like an express train - requires more skill and coolness than to shoot a native hare (Lepus americanus) asit ambles leisurely along the aisles of cedar. On one occasion, in the same Township of Beverly, if we had not walked out of it, a dog which was near me flushed a “Big Jack” in such a way that I could not shoot without endangering the dog. The “Jack’’, followed by the dog, got through a fence and ran down a road, and was there met by another dog which caught it alive and squealing like a baby. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 159 I have never known a dog to run down a “big Jack’’, which soon leaves the dog far behind, but good dogs will stay on his trail, and I have heard their bugling die away in the distance and then grow louder and louder as the hare circled, as he often, if not always, does. The first I shot was after he had made just such an immense circle. I could hear the dogs coming back, baying furiously and suddenly “Jack’’ came through a log fence not more than twenty-five yards away and straight towards me. I missed with the first barrel, and ‘‘Jack’’, perhaps fearing otherwise I might kick him, turned half left and I fired the second at his flank. - Even then he kept running around in a circle of about eight feet in diameter with one hind leg broken and a iarge patch of blood on his side where more of the shot had struck, fired from a full choke, Ithaca gun, at a range of less than twenty-five yards! I had to kill him with a stick, much to the amusement of two of my companions who had come up too late and sat on a fence and laughed at my efforts. I told them they perched on the fence for fear the hare would bite them. Another morning there were six of us in line crossing a meadow, and the dogs were behind. Through a gate at the far side of the field I could see across a second field, and from beyond it came the sound of dogs of another hunting party, and of a shot or two. Across the second field towards the gate and straight twoards me raced a “big Jack”! I was on the extreme left of our line and waited until he was within about. seventy-five yards, but dare not wait longer because our dogs were coming up from behind us and might spoil the shot. I dropped on one knee and fired. “Jack” turned to his left and ran down the front of our line. I let go the second barrel, and all the others fired both theirs, but ‘Jack’ flew on his way, his speed undiminished, belly to the ground at every stride! Indeed he seemed to spurt at each “Bang!’’. But what are these “big Jacks’, where did they come from, and are they increasing in number? From several reliable sources I have learned that they are descendants of common European hares (Lepus europeus) which, a year or so before the Great War, were imported from Germany by a German and placed on a farm near Brantford about eighteen miles south of Galt, and have been told the names of the man and thefarm. He has long since disappeared. They are much larger than our native varying hare (Lepus americanus), and do not turn white in winter as the latter does. Neither do they burrow like our cotton-tail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). The neighbour with whom I first hunted them tells me they are exactly the same as the common 160 hares of Germany (Lepus europeus) which he has shot there many times. ... A friend with whom I have discussed them was in Belgium during the late war, and, although he has never seen our “big Jacks’’, his description of the size, color, and habits of the hares he shot there is identical with that of our invaders. He described how a comrade and he, armed with rifles, would one stand at the edge of a wood while the other traversed a neighbouring turnip field until a hare sprang up and ran at top speed straight for the wood as it almost invariably did. The last “big Jack’ I shot was in Puslinch Township, Wellington County, but within half a mile of the Township of Nassagaweya in the County of Halton, on September 15th, 1924, and was chased by my beagle out of a cedar swamp and ran at full speed straight across the field where I was standing towards another wood about one hundred and twenty-five yards distant, but this time I knocked him stone dead with one barrel of number six shot at a range of about twenty-five yards. T have never weighed “‘big Jacks’’, but a reliable butcher to whom two we shot were taken to be dressed tells me they weighed nine and thirteen pounds, respectively. They are not as tender to eat as cotton-tail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus). As already narrated, in 1921 the nearest place we could find them was in Beverly Township, in Wentworth County, to which, if the above account of their origin be true, and I think it is, they spread from near Brantford in the adjoining County of Brant. By the fall of 1923 they had reached the next Township of Puslinch in the LEAD POISONING IN By J. A. HE BAND of Trumpeter Swans that regularly winters in a bird Sanctuary of Gray Western Canada, contained eight adults and eight cygnets upon arrival from the north in late October; this being an increase of six over the previous year. About the middle of December a spell of unusually cold weather froze the lake and river mouth-where these swans were accustomed to feed. Because of this, they were forced to leave the Sanctuary and seek new quarters to the north on the open waters of a larger lake, part of the band selecting a sheltered and shallow bay near the south end of the lake and the remainder making headquarters some thirty-five miles farther north. Reports of their subsequent movements during the ensuing six weeks indicated a passing to and fro between THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX County of Wellington, within four or five miles of the City of Guelph, and no Guelph sportsman or naturalist now need go far afield to find them. Have been told they have been observed in Oxford County, which touches Brant County on the other side. On July 22nd, 1925, I was walking near Han- lon’s Creek, about three miles south of Guelph. From beneath the close, low branches of a white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) beside the path, a “big Jack” hopped slowly along a few feet in front of me. I sat down and watched with the aid of field-glasses. Four times the big hare returned as if wishing to get back to the place it had left. It came so close to me as to put my eight-power glasses out of focus and, as I lowered them, was alarmed by the movement and circled to return again and again, but not so close as at first. I carefully searched beneath the cedar but the ground was dry and hard and I found neither nest, form, nor young. Newspaper accounts state these hares bees been seen in the County of Halton, which adjoins Wellington, and one excited sportsman told a reporter they had horns. Evidently he mistook the black ear-tips. In spite of being much hunted, their love of the open fields, scorn of ‘“‘holing up’’, and fondness for the same dress the year round, which renders them conspicuous in winter, they have spread across at least three townships in as many years, and one may imagine what a menace to agriculture they might become were it not for our glorious, frost- biting, sun-dazzling, snow-sparkling, Canadian winters which in large measure cut off their food supply. TRUMPETER SWANS MUNRO these two points. Both these localities had been visited at irregular intervals before the freeze-up and on one such occasion a swan had been shot. The persons implicated in the killing were con- victed of the following offences committed on the same day, viz: killing a swan; having a swan in possession during the close season; killing a pelican and hunting migratory game birds from a power boat. During the period January 22nd to Rabie 12th, 1925, one adult and six cygnets died of an acute complaint which later was determined as lead-poisoning. The first victim, a male, was picked upo n the lake beach and forwarded to the Provincial Museum at Victoria, B.C. The other six birds were found either dead or in a dying condition, and it was reported by the Migratory October, 1925] Bird Warden, who picked up three of the dying birds, that a condition of paralysis was noted in every case. Apparently the wings were first affected, then the leg muscles, and the helpless sick birds drifted with the waves until finally washed ashore where it was an easy matter to pick them up. The specimen forwarded to the Provincial Museum was not available for examination in the flesh, but I was informed by Mr. G. A. Hardy, Assistant Biologist at the Museum, that dissection showed a congested condition of the proventriculus, which, from his description, was thought to be identical with that of the lead-poisoned Mallard figured by Wetmore in Bulletin No. 793 of the United States Bureau of Biological Survey. The remaining six specimens—one adult female, four immature females, and one immature bird not sexed—showed in each case the following indications of lead poisoning, viz: Entire liver stained dark green; discharge of dark green fluid from mouth; diarrohcea, the excreta stained dark green; flaccid cloaca and anus, enlarged four times natural size. Stomach contents of the spceimens first obtained were not examined, the visceras being sent intact, for pathological study, to Dr. E. A. Bruce, Animal Pathologist, and unfortun- ately, owing to a miscarriage of my explanatory letter, this material was not examined at the laboratory for traces of lead poisoning. In this connection, and in reference to a specimen later obtained, Dr. Bruce reported as follows: “T am of the opinion that these birds died from lead poisoning, a fact that might have been ascertained or suspected at an earlier date but for the fact that a letter of yours with the Victoria date mark of the 8th, did not reach me until the 18th, by which time some of the material you forwarded me had - been destroyed. Without the letter in ques- tion I had no information as to location of birds, symptoms or any suggestion that poisoning might be the cause. No particular _ attention was therefore paid to the contents of the gizzard; parasites were searched for with negative results insofar as being the cause of death was concerned, it being remark- able how free from worms these birds were, only three specimens being found from two sets of viscera. “Later, the gizzards in question having been burnt in a wood fire, the ash was examined for the gizard slag, which was then tested for lead with positive results. “The positive test for lead in the slag mentioned confirms the findings made in material secured from a dead swan found buried at Summerland on the 20th. In this bird 451 shot were found (all in the gizzard with the exception of one in the duodenum and a few in the proventriculus which prob- ably reached there through handling); the shot were, I judge, mostly No. 6, some very much worn, and weighing 17 grams. In THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 161 addition, some shot, possibly 30, were spilt in the carcass when eviscerated. A positive test for lead was secured from the liver and kidney. Reinsch test for arsenic was negative, but in view of the fact that shot contains a little arsenic, it is probable that arsenic might be demonstrated by a chemist. “Lead poisoning is further indicated by the kidney, which shows on section a diffuse nephritis, and by the blood which indicates anaemia. Although I have no normal counts of swan’s blood to go by, it is quite evident that the number of red cells is greatly reduced, and many of those present are young forms. Polychromasia is in evidence, but the baso- philic granules commonly found in red blood cells of mammalia suffering from lead poisoning, were not noticed (this was remarked by Wet- more). The liver was stained green through- out and the gall bladder full of thick bile. On section the liver shows bile stasis and some necrosis. All three gizzards examined were full and their contents stained green; all showed some loosening and erosion of the pads. The proventriculus in one case con- tained a little food, the other two were empty “The intestines show evidence of irritation and in places a little inflammation; the mucous surface covered with catarrhal exu- date and the contents greenish in colour and fluid, the latter being particularly noticeable in the cloaca. The vent flabby, and the ceca apparently normal except that some of the contents were greenish in colour.” This is the first instance of lead-poisoning in waterfowl that has been reported from the district, where it is probably of rare occurrence. To account for the heavy mortality from this cause amongst the valuable Trumpeter Swans the following theory is offered. Trumpeter Swans have frequently been observed feeding, or perhaps taking sand, in water from two to three feet in depth, and this is thought to be a constant habit. The feeding grounds which the swans frequented after being driven from their sanctuary comprise areas where duck shooting and to some extent, trap shooting, has been practised for many years and no doubt a large amount of shot is buried in the sand at the bottom of the lake, the greatest amount probably having been deposited at the limit of shot range from the shore. In these particular areas the depth of water at this distance from shore is that at which swans are accustomed to feed and, therefore, these birds would be more liable to pick up pellets of shot than would the diving ducks in feeding farther out in the lake or the pond ducks in feeding along shore. It may be remarked in this connection that no sick ducks have been reported and, as the beaches were being patrolled, any such casualties would probably have been noted. On February 12th the remainder of the flock, six adults and two cygnets, appeared on a small opening in the ice at the mouth of the River where 162 it enters their lake sanctuary and feeding ground. Whether these birds were affected is not known, but no further casualties occurred. When Dr. Bruce and I examined them, through 8X bino- culars, on February 20th, all seemed in good THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX condition and took flight when approached from the shore. Later a number of faeces were collected along the edge of the ice and these Dr. Bruce considered normal. EXTRACT FROM— “FOREST INSECT CONDITIONS IN NORTHERN ONTARIO” By M. B. LUNN Read at a meeting of the Entomologists’ Group, Professional Institute of the Civil Service, March 6, 1925. HE WORK of woodpeckers is undoubtedly one of the major facts in the control of the Spruce Bark-beetle, Dendroctonus piceaperda. Only occasional trees are entirely overlooked by the birds, and in these immense numbers of beetles mature. Woodpecker work’ is apparently begun when the larvae are about half-grown and carried on systematically from then until the remaining beetles emerge in the spring. On trees infested in June, woodpecker work commences about the middle of August and probably reaches its height during winter. The species of woodpeckers observed at work are the Northern Pileated, Hairy and the Arctic Three- toed; the Downy Woodpecker is also abundant in this district but has not been observed on Dendroctonus trees. When heavy woodpecker work takes place approximately all the brood is either eaten or knocked off the tree in the scales of bark scattered by the bird. The Pileated and Arctic Three-toed pry off the bark in flakes to a considerable extent riddling the remainder with holes. If in the larval or pupal stage, the mortality from exposure and abnormal conditions is undoubtedly complete among individuals thus knocked off the tree, while, unless the young adults are nearly ready to emerge, and the weather is very favourable, a heavy percentage of these will die also. Young adults thus exposed in winter probably all die. In heavy woodpecker work on a standing tree, July-August, 1923, infestation, the following numbers of young adults were found to have escaped the birds:— 5 in one brood 20 in one brood 7 6é 6é ce 5 ce ce ¢ 3 ce ce be 12 (3 be 66 il ce ce ce 6 6é ce 6é 20 6é ce ce 4 ce ce ce Totalaeccgu- Wak ee 83 In this tree (No. 5), there were approximately the following numbers of tunnels:— 146 successful tunnels in butt log (16 ft.) and stump; 49 drowned-out tunnels in butt log (16 ft.) and stump; 9 successful tunnels in upper log—16 ft. 116 drowned-out tunnels in upper log—16 ft. In the whole trunk only about five hundred beetles were left from the whole tree. : On October 11, a 15-inch d.b.g.* tree of the June 1924 attack, which had been subject to heavy woodpecker work, was cut, the bark carefully re- moved in small sections, and a count made of the remaining larvae, pupae and young adults. The total number of successful tunnels in the tree were also counted; the result being as follows: ~ Total number of tunnels in 28 feet of infested Total number of larvae, pupae, and young adults remaining in tree............... 6368 Parasitised or diseased larvae.............. 98 Clerid larvae present (in only one instance were these found actually feeding on beetle:larvae): S04. asc. ee ee 21 Assuming that at least one hundred eggs (a low estimate) were laid in each successful tunnel, theoretically over ninety thousand insects should be present in the tree. Heavy mortality among the broods was, however, doubtless due to other causes than woodpeckers. Due to the very short distances between the adult tunnels, overcrowding of the larvae with consequent starvation probably accounted for large numbers of them. One strip of bark, with an area of one square foot, was found practically untouched by the birds. Under this were found two hundred and fifty beetles. Had there been no woodpecker work in this tree, which had an approximate area of eighty-eight square feet of infested surface, there would thus ap- parently have developed about twenty-two thou- sand beetles. It seems a reasonable assumption, therefore, that upon the date of examination the destruction of almost three-fourths of the total brood likely to emerge can be credited to the work of the woodpeckers. Since the birds were feeding on this tree at the date of cutting, in fact fed upon the upper portion of the log at the actual time that counts were being carried out on the lower, and normally feed on Dendroctonus-infested trees throughout the winter, no doubt a considerable proportion of the remaining insects would have been destroyed by the birds. *d.b.g.— Diameter, breast, high. October, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 163 THE EUROPEAN GREY PARTRIDGE IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA By J. A. MUNRO N THE winter of 1917-18, a European Grey Partridge, which had been killed near Summerland by flying against a tele- phone wire, was sent to me in the flesh for identification. As far as known, this species had not previously been recorded in the Okanagan Valley and at the time was unknown to local sportsmen. During the next three years several small coveys became established—the furthest outpost being at Crescent Beach, near Summerland—and their number steadily increased. Since then has occurred a rapid extension of range northward and a phenomenal increase in the number of individuals. So far, the most northerly point reached is Salmon Arm, approximately 175 miles north of the State of Washington, from whence came the original stock. It is understood that no birds have been released in this district on the Canadian side of the international boundary. This hardy bird evidently finds conditions in the dry-belt of British Columbia entirely to its liking, and I am of the opinion that in another decade it will outnumber all the other species of Upland Game birds combined, including the introduced Mongolian Pheasant, which, by the way, is also in a flourishing condition. In the Okanagan Valley, the habitat of the Grey Partridge embraces not only the artemesiae association, where it first became established, but also the dry range land of Pinus ponderosa to at least 4,000 feet altitude and, of course, the cul- tivated lands on bench and river bottom. It is interesting to compare the history of the species on Vancouver Island and the Fraser River Delta where introductions were first made perhaps twenty years ago. Although birds have been liberated at various times since, little invasion of new territory is recorded and only a nominal in- crease has taken place—a condition that perhaps may be ascribed to unfavourable climatic condi- tions. Here, cultivated fields and meadow lands are frequented almost entirely, the heavy coast forest offering no attraction. In the summer of 1924, complaints of damage, caused by this species, to the melon and tomato crop in the southern Okanagan were received by the Game Conservation Board of British Colum- bia, and the economic status of the Grey Partridge became a question of importance. Four speci- mens, taken at Osooyos and Oliver, were secured by the Secretary of the Board and sent to me for the purpose of stomach analysis, the results of which are shown in the following table. For assistance in the identification of seeds I am indebted to Professor John Davidson of the University of British Columbia. STOMACH CONTENTS OF FOUR EUROPEAN GREY PARTRIDGE TAKEN IN THE SOUTHERN OKANAGAN DISTRICT, BRITISH COLUMBIA Sexand No. Date and Hour Condition of Stomach Locality Contents 203 Aug. 17/24 Oliver, B.C. + full 17 seeds, Chenopodium (album?); 100 (est) unidentified seeds of one 6 immature 11.00 a.m. species; small quantity comminuted vegetable matter not identified. . Vegetableamattors sepa tere sian secs aise ers Seiers SSS ieee eae Rae 50% 204 SandiandaGravel evs my ae nie itineraries ene dea ol 50% CS immature Aug. 17/24 Oliver, B.C. 4 full 100 (est.) seeds Echinochloa crusgalli, the majority in fragments; 11.00 a.m. 9 seeds Setaria glauca. Weretablesmattercr ce ere etic eater eects ates a teh) en cea chet etoneReeL 40% 205 SandlandsGrav.eleieny aes stn ats ne ee ee ee 60% CS immature Aug.19/24 Osooyos, 3 full 53 seeds Chenopodium (album?); 150 (est.) unidentified seeds (same 12.05 P.M. B.C. species as in No. 203); small quantity indeterminate vegetable matter. Weoetableanatter etc vi deo lescccnsc Phen ok igo Raine Ree aersua os pecan eens 50% 206 Gravelee tee Ree nee cre oe rea a ere neater Sov ogsocis 50% So adult Aug. 19/24 Osooyos, full Crop: 3 leaves Medicago sativa; 52 seeds Chenopodium (album?): 12.05 P.M. B.C. 112 seeds Polygonum (sp?); 11 seeds Stipa (sp?); 3 grasshoppers (sp?); Weretab lemmaticrc yas riers sues ie en se tees eevcromeete enya event sek 60% BNSC CES Sea eisppe chee arco od sea es a ee ero con aueeon ne a full STOMACH; 21 seeds Polygonum (sp?); 104 seeds Chenopodium (al- bum?); 5 (est.) seeds of Stipa (sp?) in fragments; 51 seeds Rhus glabra; small quantity comminuted vegetable matter; 1 whole grass- hopper (sp?); fragments of several others. Weretablenmeatter ctr yc. cie.tarercicec oie oe iene ue ae ore oR east orerenes ste 40% NSE CES. Rane aa A Pee ahs Sieve tl ate A Poe cs Ln ene eam aie eva 35% An opinion regarding the local food habits of the Grey Partridge formed on such scanty material would have slight value, yet this study does suggest a possibility of its relations to agriculture being beneficial. With the exception of three alfalfa leaves found in one stomach the identified vegetable content, while including seeds of neutral value such as sumach, consisted chiefly of noxious weed seeds. The destruction of grasshoppers indicated by the analyses, may be of economic 164 importance. Possibly the Grey Partridge will prove a control factor of value in this district which is subject to periodic invasions of these insects, perhaps, in this respect taking the place THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, now greatly reduced in numbers in the southern portion of the Okana- gan Valley. BARE ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA By J. A. MUNRO ARE or Ridge Island, forming Reserve Number 9 of the Saanich Indian Tribe, is situated in Haro Strait about five miles east of the village of Sidney on Van- couver Island. The island is approximately a half-mile long, two hundred yards wide, and con- tains twenty-six acres more or less, most of which is rock. The west side is mainly precipitous from the central ridge which has a maximum elevation of approximately two hundred and fifty feet. The more gradual slope to the east shore is covered with soil and supports a growth of various wild grasses, Kamas or wild onion, vetches and other flowering plants. The hollows where the soil is deeper are covered in places with a dense growth of wild cherry, willow, etc., some of which reach tree size, while one small group of Douglas fir and several madronas stand out prominently against the lesser growth. There is no arable land on the island and no fresh water. The following observations were recorded under date of May 14th, 1921, and July 23rd, 1923, when the Island was visited in connection with the enforcement of the Migratory Birds Conven- tion Act. PIGEON GUILLEMOT—Cepphus columba. May 14th, 1921. It was estimated that forty pairs were present, flying in pairs about the island or else resting in small bands on the water close to shore. Some of the latter were performing their mating actions which, as far as observed, consisted of a short rapid flight led by the female with the male in close pursuit, followed by a quick dive, both birds striking the water about the same time to continue the pursuit beneath the surface. No occupied burrows were found and it was evident that egg- laying had not started. Many burrows have been usurped by the Belgian Hares, which were introduced on the island some years ago. July 23rd, 1923. With a tameness peculiar to the breeding season a number of Guillemots sat about on the rocks close to the water’s edge and allowed us to ap- proach within a few yards. Their bright red feet, conspicuous against the grey rocks, were almost as much so when the birds were in flight, for, carried straight out behind, they appeared all searlet stripes on either side of the short tail Small bands rode on the gentle swell two hundred yards or so from shore, others swam amongst the kelp closer in and a constant passage of birds took place back and forth from the rocks to the sea. In the short time at my disposal, it was not pos- sible to spend much time in hunting for nests which are more difficult to find than those of the gulls. Five nests conta ning the quota of two eggs were found, also a number of crevices that showed signs of being occupied. The colony was estimated to contain one hundred and fifty pairs but only a small percentage had commenced lay-— ing. The remains of several eggs, which had been eaten either by crows or gulls, were found on the summit of the island. The breeding crows have all been killed but a few bold marauders still visit the island, in constant peril from the twelve-gauge of the warden. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL—Larus glaucescens May 14th, 1921. It was estimated that seven hundred individuals were congregated on the island, either standing on the rocks, which were splashed with their dropp- ings, or in the grassy hollows. | These, with the exception of three second-year birds which evi- dently were visitors, were fully adult. All ap- peared to be mated and were associated in pairs but nest-building had not started. A close ap- proach was not allowed and the birds when thus disturbed circled over our heads screaming con- tinuously, and then flew to some other part of the island or else settled on the water a short distance from shore, there to rest until we had passed on, when they would shortly return to what was evidently their selected nesting sites. July 28rd, 1923. The first close-up of the island revealed the gulls, hundreds of them, snowy white against the grey weathered rocks. When we landed and walked along the summit of the island, all the nesting birds for seventy-five yards ahead of us rose in the air and circled about the cliff or flew a short distance out to sea. Soon after we had passed, they returned to the vicinity of their nests and the bolder individuals settled on the rocks twenty yards or less behind us. During our walk along the island, part of the colony was always in October, 1925] the air. The wheeling birds went through their varied repertoire of calls, some musical, some harsh, but rarely did those standing on the rocks utter a sound. On the whole, there was relatively less noise in this breeding colony than would be made by a flock of feeding gulls. The short turf that grows in all the pockets of this great rock has been burnt dry and yellow in the summer heat and the stalks of wild onion, with their clustered seed-pods, are dry and brittle. On these open portions of the island is little colour to relieve the neutral grey of the rocks and the seared yellow of the turf save an occasional green willow. All the turf patches are white with gull feathers and the dry grass is trampled flat by the feet of many birds, the projecting rocks—favorite roosting places—are painted with droppings. Amongst the debris accumulated by this thriving colony were found the shells of various molluses and sea-urchins of different sizes—the remains from countless feedings. Here and there also were castings of crab-shells and fish-bones. Nests were found everywhere, and as the eggs were in- conspicuous, one had to walk warily. Many nests in the exposed patches of turf were unpro- tected from the full glare of the sun, others were built close to the shelter afforded by a projecting rock, while a few were more or less concealed by clumps of withered vegetation. On the cliff face itself, wherever there was a grassy ledge, one or more nests were found and practically every sheltered crevice was occupied. Each was like its fellow—a slight hollow lined with tufts of dry grass to which the small roots were still attached. It was noted that nests built on the bare rock had been furnished with a thicker lining of grass than those built in the turf. Five clutches of four eggs were found—no doubt the work of two females in each case—but the greater number of nests held three eggs and others only two or one. A con- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 165 siderable difference in the size and shape of the eggs and a great variation in ground colour and markings was apparent. A few clutches of three included one egg on which the pigmentation was nearly obscured by a light grey wash. Occasion- ally with clutches of eggs of the greenish grey type were single eggs of a warm brown ground colour, heavily blotched with dark umber—probably con- tributed by a different female. We examined about two hundred nests and it was thought these represented one-third of the colony. One gull was incubating eggs thirty feet from the warden’s tent. VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT—Phalacrocorax pelagicus robustus May 14th, 1921. Two bands, estimated at thirty all told, were seen. Apparently none were mated. Indications pointed to their having nested in former years on the rock cliffs at the north-west corner of the island. July 28rd, 1923. Cormorants are nesting in their usual colony on the steep cliff at the north-west end of the island. As we walked to the edge of the cliff, the sitting birds flapped out from nests that were invisible below us on the undercut rock. To our right as we faced the sea, a slanting chimney led to a rough ledge on which were built two nests, and above these, on what seemed most precarious founda- tions, were two others; all held their quota of greenish-white eggs—conspicuous objects against the dark wall of rock. From one of these nests a sitting bird, thought to be a female, was-seen de- parting at close range. She did not fly out with the other members of the colony, but rose on her feet and remained straddling the eggs with long neck curved in our direction. For a few seconds only she hesitated, then carefully slipped off the nest and took wing. PASSENGER PIGEONS By WILLIAM WELSH Kincardine, Ontario A Bruce County pioneer, over eighty years of age. N THE month of May, in the year 1854, A we were landed from a small rowboat on the shore of Lake Huron. We had with us only a few chattels with which to start house-keeping in the wilds of Bruce County. The spot at which we landed was near Pine river, a mile or so north of Point Clark. It was about 3 o’clock in the morning when the boat put us ashore, and as day dawned we saw our surroundings, beautiful in their untrodden grandeur. The clean, pebbly beach showed little sign of civilization. Even the logs and drift-wood bore neither mark of axe nor saw, but were just as they had been torn from spots where nature had planted them. We could see the beautiful, native pines appearing in rows, as if planted by man. This was owing to the fact that the wooded sand dunes ran parallel with the shore. As the day wore on, the pigeons surprised us, they came in such large numbers. But this seemed accountable because of the enormous crop of beechnuts of the previous year, and as the clay 166 land was covered in places with beech and maple it was a grand feeding ground. Where the pigeons came from we could not surmise, but still they came, and all in good condition. Evidently they were coming from the south, where the winter had been spent. A person, who has not seen these flocks of pigeons, cannot comprehend the enormous num- bers flying overhead and continuing for days. They were often so low that guns, stones and sticks were used to knock them down; pigeon soup or pigeon pie was often part of the frugal fare of the settlers. These birds always flew in flocks of hundreds or thousands and to even count the flocks visible at one time was impossible. Standing on the lake-shore, I have seen the flock at times following one another so closely that at least one third of the space seemed filled with pigeons, and this would continue for days. In later years, as the clearings were enlarged, I have seen a flock of hundreds light in a wheat field, with the result that the crop was soon a dead loss. They were, however, easily frightened away. Often the birds would perch on trees in such numbers as to break strong limbs with their weight. There was no care taken in preserving this quiet, harmless innocent bird; the white man was even worse than the Indian in destroying it. While the Indian looked to its food value, the white man thought often only of the sport of killing. What calamity caused the disappearance of such myriads of birds is not known, but the Passenger Pigeon is now extinct. Whether they wece des- royed by disease or whether extensive snowfalls THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXIX or cold weather overwhelmed them is not certain Hawks could often be seen in the flocks and owls must have had good hunting, picking them off at night. The Blue Hawk was then plentiful and easily distinguishable in the flocks. I have seen this bird catch a pigeon in direct flight. This we cannot wonder at when we consider the relative speed of flight of these two birds. — It is estimated the Passenger Pigeon’s flight is sixty miles an hour, the Blue Hawk’s from eighty to one hundred and eighty, when taking a dive. Other animals, such as foxes, coons, minks, weasels and martens also aided in the destruction of the birds. The Passenger Pigeon, like the domestic pigeon and Mourning Dove, laid only two eggs at one hatching. These eggs were laid on a platform of twigs worked into a suitable network. The chicks grew very quickly and in a few weeks were nearly as heavy as the parents. The young were then looked upon as dainties by epicures, and to supply this demand many were taken from the nests. The pigeons built in communities and the extent of a pigeonry might be over a hundred square miles. There was one convenient to our farms, only about six miles away, and this was said to extend eleven miles in one direction and thirteen in another. I did not see any trees with more than twenty-four nests and there were others with perhaps twelve and some with not more than three or four. There was a continual noise when the birds were leaving their nests or returning to them. But this coo-ing was not disagreeable, although slightly plaintive. We are not ever likely to see again such sights as the Passenger Pigeon has afforded us. ; NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF KENNICOTT’S SCREECH OWL (Otus asio kennicotti) IN THE VICTORIA REGION, By J. A. MUNRO HE following data, based on an examina- tion of the stomach contents of thirty Screech Owls are presented to illustrate how the feeding habits of this species may be affected by local conditions; this study, indicating a marked preference for insect diet on the part of the local race—a habit which certainly is not common to the species as a whole. Specimens referred to in the accompanying table were taken in an agricultural district of in- tensive farming, where areas of low-lying bottom land, usually fringed with Sitka Alder, birch, willow and dogwood, are separated by low, rocky knolls covered with Madrona, Garey oak, Douglas fir and Jack pine—both associations being pene- trated by the introduced broom. As much of this district has been under cultivation for over thirty years, its ecologic factors may be considered fairly stable. It will be noted that numbers 174, 175, 178, 179 and 182 are the only specimens in which bird- remains were found. These were taken, during a spell of unusually cold weather, in traps of the ordinary funnel type which were being operated at the Provincial Game Farms to capture quail. Small birds entered these traps quite frequently and sometimes, if captured after the evening in- spection, were imprisoned for the night. Con- fined thus, they served to bait the traps for Screech Owls which, no doubt, were hard pressed for food, the ground being frozen and insects dormant. It may be added that Saw-whet Owls were cap- tured under the same conditions. One point of note is: The pellet of mouse-hair October, 1925] in stomach No. 190 was the only evidence obtained that mammals form an item in the diet of the local Sereech Owl. Small mammals are poorly repre- sented on Vancouver Island; those occurring locally being Vancouver Island Squirrel, Puget Sound White-footed Mouse, Vancouver Island Meadow Mouse, Vancouver Island Shrew and the introduced Norway Rat and House Mouse, both THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 167 free-ranging species in this district. Few oppor- tunities for capturing the diurnal squirrel would occur and shrews, it is believed, are rarely eaten by owls and perhaps should not be considered in this discussion. | But there remain four species, all present in fair numbers, and yet apparently seldom molested by the commonest raptore in the district. STOMACH CONTENTS OF THIRTY KENNICOTT’S SCREECH OWLS TAKEN IN THE VICTORIA REGION, BRITISH COLUMBIA Condition of No. Date Sea Stomach Contents 189 Jan. 14/25 Male Distended 6 noctuid larvae; fragments of large earth worm; quantity of earth mixed with fragments of dry grass and rubbish. 190 Jan. 14/25 Male Distended 5 noctuid larvae; fragments of two earth worms; 1 small pellet of mouse hair quantityof miscellaneous rubbish, chiefly dead grass and earth. 201 Feb. 16/25 Male 2 full A pellet composed of minute fragments of insects (noctuid larvae?) mixed with earth. 115 Feb. 24/24 Female ¢ full A pellet containing fragments of thorax and elytra of carib beetle mixed with fine sand and indeterminate matter. 209 Mar. 9/25 Female +full Paste of comminuted insect remains (noctuid larvae?) and earth. 123. Mar. 10/24 Male ¢ full A pellet containing fragments of elytra and tarsi of carib beetles mixed with earth 124 Mar. 11/24 Male + full Small quantity of earth and fragments of carib beetle. 125 Mar. 18/24 Male + full Small fragments of carib beetie. 55 Mar. 21/22 Male Distended Remains of approximately 80 noctuid larvae. 127 Mar. 21/24 Male + full Fragments of elytra and tarsi of carib beetles. 128 Mar.2 4/24 Female + full Fragments of elytra and tarsi of carib beetles. 61 Mar. 25/22 Male Distended Remains of approximately 60 Noctuid larvae. 129 April 1/24 Male Full 25 noctuid larvae (Huxoa?). 63 April 26/22 Female Distended Approximately 65 noctuid larvae. 133 May 14/24 Male + full Fragments of elytra and tarsi of carib beetles. 139 June 24/24 Juv. Fem. }{ full Integuments of 3 lepidopterous larvae. 142 Aug. 21/24 Im. Male Full Fragments of carib beetles. 143 Aug. 21/24 Female ¢ full Fragments of carib beetles. 144 Aug. 21/24 Im. Male Full Fragments of carib beetles. 145 Aug. 22/24 Female Full Fragments of elytra and tarsi of carib beetle; portions of one cricket (orthoptera). 146 Aug. 23/24 Male Full Fragments of carib beetles. ‘ 147 Aug. 26/24 Im. Male } full oany. of insect eggs (lepidoptera?) mixed with earth and indeterminate matter. 148 Aug. 27/24 Female + full Remains of 3 crickets and 1 grasshopper (orthoptera); elytra of 5 carib beetle (carabus taedatus); elytra of 4 small black carib beetles. 161 Nov.9/24 Male Nearly Empty Comminuted matter (insects). 162 Nov. 9/24 Male + full Elytra of carib beetles and indeterminate matter. 174 Dec. 9/24 Female Distended Remains of two Fox Sparrows. 175 Dec. 9/24 Male Distended Pellet containing bones and feathers of Junco. 178 Dec. 23/24 Female Distended Remains of Fox Sparrow and Oregon Towhee. 179 Dee. 23/24 Female Distended Remains of Fox Sparrow. 182 Dec. 29/24 Female + full Pellet of Junco feathers. SUMMARY abnormal conditions which no small owl could be A study of the stomach contents of thirty Sereech Owls taken during nine months of the year in the Victoria region, British Columbia, suggests that:— 1. The local race shows a marked preference for an insect diet. Species of insects belonging to the genera of Lepidoptera and Orthoptera known to be destructive to agriculture were found in twelve stomachs and comprised forty percent of the in- sects eaten; the remainder being species of ground beetles Caribidae, believed to be chiefly beneficial to man. 2. The presence of bird-remains in stomachs should not be taken as evidence that the local Screech Owl is destructive of small birds because in these instances the birds were attacked under *Allen, Economic Status of the Screech Owl. expected to resist. 3. The four species of small mammals inhabit- ing the region are seldom eaten by screech owls even during the winter months when flesh-food would be expected to figure prominently in their diet. The evidence submitted regarding the economic status of the local Screech Owl is by no means conclusive and possibly an altogether different story might be revealed by an intensive study of nestlings such as Dr. Allen conducted*. But it is considered that a marked predeliction for insects is indicated when such fare is hunted during the relatively barren winter months when probably flesh-food could more easily be obtained. The Auk, Vol. XLI, pp. 1-16. 168 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX RADIO LECTURES—FALL 1924 TO SPRING 1925 - TTAWA is so well provided with lectures O] that it has long been difficult to secure eal large enough audiences to warrant the ee expenditure of time necessary to prepare an address. It was for this reason, and in part because of the inauguration of a comprehensive lecture course each winter by the authorities of the National Museum, that the Club has discon- tinued its time-honoured policy of holding series of Natural History lectures each winter. Radio offered the new possibility of taking the lecture to the audience, and the Council agreed to having a programme of lectures available furnished to each of the radio stations, CNRO and CKCO. Both these stations have co-operated admirably with the Club, and the members of the Club have given generously of their time to make the radio feature a success. The first step was to secure a list of addresses from the members. This was promptly accom- plished, and nineteen titles were furnished each of the two radio stations; the subjects being divided so that topics of more or less local interest were allotted to the less powerful station, CKCO. Sixty-one formal titles for lectures were soon made available. This start gave a large choice to the stations in preparing their programmes. It should be mentioned that the Club has held itself in readiness to furnish short talks on Natural History subjects other than those formally arranged in advance, and on the other hand the stations have always been ready to give announcement to events concerning the Club. Radio station CNRO, the Canadian National Railways, Ottawa, has given a radio address under the auspices of the Club on practically every Saturday night from December 6, 1924, to April 18, 1915. Thishas been the general programme, including a great diversity of subjects, but in ad- dition to it this station has often broadcast talks of more local and special interest, in which cate- gory belong the talks on “Birds of the Week’’. The general programme may be of interest to others called upon for similar Natural History en- deavour, and for the purpose of record it is given here. Dec. 6, 1924—“‘Totem Poles’’: Dr. E. Sapir. Dec. 18, 1924 —‘‘The Earth and the Fullness Thereof’: Miss A. E. Wilson. Dec. 20, 1924—“‘A Day in an Eskimo Snow Hut”: D. Jenness. Dec. 27, 1924—“‘Ten Summers in the Yukon’’: Dr. W. E. Cockfield. Jan. 3, 1925—“‘Sight-seeing along the Canadian National Railways in British Columbia”: Dr. J. R. Marshall. Jan. 10, 1925—“‘Canada and the Migratory Bird Treaty”: Hoyes Lloyd. Jan. 17, 1925—“Fishing and Hunting in the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec’: Dr. T. J. Alcock. Jan. 24, 1925—‘“‘Prospecting in Manitoba’’: Dr. J. F. Wright. Z Feb. 7, 1925—‘‘Some Wild Animals You Should Know”: Mr. Clyde Patch. Feb. 21, 1925—‘‘What We Owe to the Indians’”’: Mr. W. J. Wintemberg. March 4, 1925—“‘The Barren Lands Caribou”: Mr. G. H. Blanchet. March 7, 1925—‘“Shooting Birds with a Cam- era”: Dr. R. E. DeLury. March 14, 1925—“‘Geology in the Development of Mineral Resources”: E. D. Ingall. March 21, 1925—“‘Dinosaurs—the Real Giants of the Past”: C. M. Sternberg. March 28, 1925—“‘Bears in Canada’s National Parks’: Miss M. B. Williams: April 4, 1925—‘‘Dangerous Insect Invaders”: Mr. L. S. McLaine. April 18, 1925—‘‘Mining Taleum”’: Dr. M. E. Wilson. In connection with Dr. DeLury’s lecture on “Shooting Birds with a Camera’’, the Club and radio station CNRO offered a series of twenty prizes to the boys and girls who wrote the best essays of a prescribed length re-telling the story in their own words. Many first-class essays were entered, and several interesting exchanges of correspondence resulted. One pleasing result was the donation of a camera to the competition by the boys of Connaught Public School, Ottawa. In giving this prize, the boys said that they had in mind three reasons, as follows: 1. They were all fond of birds; 2. They had built, and were building, bird houses; 3. They wished to help a good thing along. It was the writer’s privilege, acting with Dr. DeLury, to personally present this prize to the bo who won it, and who came to Connaught School to receive his prize. The entire prize winner list was broadcast by radio and printed in the press. The chief feature of the radio talks from station CKCO, the Ottawa Amateur Radio Association, has been the regular broadcasting of bird news and other natural history notes, under the title of “Birds of the Week’’. Occasionally, when the station CKCO could not utilize this feature, the CNRO station obliged the Club by transmitting these talks, thus preventing any serious interrup- tion in their continuity, which is believed to be important in maintaining the public interest. Since October 18, 1924, when this series was in- augurated, the following speakers have given the October, 1925] number of -addresses indicated: C. EK. Johnstone, 4; H. F. Lewis, 4; C. L. Patch, 3; Hoyes Lloyd, 3; R. E. DeLury, 3; C. B. Hutchings, 2; W. E. Hurlburt, 2; N. Criddle, 1. . In addition to this series, Mr. N. Criddle spoke from this station on “‘Skunks’’, and Mr. H. F. Lewis gave a resumé of his address, “‘Canadian Sea Fowl’, which was the feature of the 1924 annual meeting. One follower of the radio lectures of the Club, Mr. D. Kemp Edwards, an Ottawa lumber mer- chant, gave to the Club some 1,500 bird-houses of kinds suitable for Robins, Tree Swallows, and Wrens. This splendid present was announced through station CKCO, and for several days Mr. Edwards’ place of business was besieged by crowds of children, each wanting a bird-house. They were given to those who had a note from a parent stating that it would be put up in a suitable place. Each house was cut to pattern, and the child was given a printed sheet of instructions telling how to put it together. Wide as is the range of influence from one power- ful station, the influence of the addresses prepared THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 169 by members of our organization at Ottawa will have a still wider effect, for the officials of the Canadian National Railways have requested and received permission to broadcast these addresses from their eight other Canadian stations. The Club has co-operated with these officials as well in securing speakers for the radio stations of the C.N.R. system, which extend from Moncton to Edmonton. The Club has used the radio also in an attempt to keep in touch with distant members. A mes- sage of instructions from several different Govern- ment Departments was broadcast from CNRO early Christmas morning, addressed to Mr. J. Dewey Soper, Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, N.W.T. There was included a personal greeting from Mr. Soper’s family and a few words of good will and best wishes from his fellow members of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club. I hope that this account of the radio affairs of the Club has not been too wearying, but our results show that people are still willing to be attracted by Natural History and radio is one way of telling them of its charms. OFFICIAL CANADIAN RECORD OF BIRD-BANDING RETURNS* (Continued from page 122) In the following returns upcn banded birds, it will be noted that some returns may be thought to indicate, from the date of capture, violations of the Migratory Bird Act cf Canada or the United States. The great majority of returns, which seem to indicate violations, are from birds accidentally caught in traps set for fur-bearing mammals, from birds caught in fish nets, killed by oil, or from birds found dead from unknown causes. Appropriate action has béen taken in connection with the few returns which indicate illegal shooting. HERRING GULL, No. 209,563, young, banded by Wm. M. Duval, at Bonaventure Island, Gaspé County, Quebec, on July 28, 1923, was shot at Castalia, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, about January 15, 1925. CASPIAN TERN, No. 224,034, banded by F.C. Lincoln, at St. James, Michigan, on July 26, 1923, was found dead at Sand Point, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, about October 14, 1924. CASPIAN TERN, No. 224,175, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at St. James, Michigan, on July 26, 1923, was found dead at Upper Prospect, Nova Scotia, on August 28, 1924. The bird had probably died from starvation. _CASPIAN TERN, No. 224,192, banded by F.C. Lincoln, at St. James, Michigan, on July 26, 1923, was killed at Cape Morien, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on August 28, 1924. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, No. 232,115, young, banded by R. Lloyd, at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan, on July 1, 1923, was killed at Lake Verret, Assumption Parish, Donaldson, Louisiana, on November 4, 1924. MALLARD, No. 200,478, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on January 13, 1923, was shot at Oxbow, Saskatchewan, on September 4, 1924. *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Canada. MALLARD, No. 203,355, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on Jan- uary 27, 1923, was killed at North Battleford, Saskatchewan, on September 18, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205,375, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on February 23, 1923, was shot at Last Mountain Lake, Sask- atchewan, on October 29, 1923. MALLARD, No. 205,377, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on February 23, 1923, was shot at Miniota, Manitoba, on October 29, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205,484, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on February 24, 1923, was shot at Kandahar, Saskatchewan, on October 3, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205,466, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on February 25, 1923, was shot at Miniota, Manitoba, on September 15, 1924. MALLARD, No. 203,522, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on March 1, 1923, was shot at a place about eight miles east ef Manitou Lake, Saskatchewan, on October 20, 4. MALLARD, No. 205,676, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 9, 1923, was killed in the vicinity of Island Lake, about four hundred miles north of Winnipeg. Manitoba, on July 25, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205,681, banded by L. V, Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 9, 1923, was shot at Fisher’s Lake, four miles west of Lashburn, Saskatchewan, on September 16, 1924. MALLARD, No. 205,702, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 10, 1923, was shot on the Muscowequan Indian Reser- vation, Lestock, Saskatchewan, about eighty miles 170 north-east of Regina, on October 3, 1924. MALLARD, No. 203,756, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on April 2, 1923, was shot at a place ‘two hundred miles east of the Poplar River Indian Reserve and some six hundred miles north of Selkirk, Manitoba, dur- ing the month of September, 1924. MALLARD, No. 203, 771, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on April 4, 1923, was shot in Tp. 49, Ree. 8, W. 3rd M., Saskatchewan, on October 4. 1924. MALLARD, No. 2382 505, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on April 10, 1923, was shot at Silver Grove, Saskatchewan, about October 10, 1924. MALLARD, No. 232,021, young, banded by R. Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 17, 1923, was killed at the Quiver Club, Mississippi River, one and one-half miles below Hastings Landing, Illinois, on November 29, 1924. MALLARD, No. 232,048, banded by R. Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was shot near Yorkton, Saskatchewan, on Sep- tember 27, 1924. MALLARD, No. 232,053, banded by R. Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 12, 1923, was re-captured at the same station on June iL. 1924, and was shot at Pella, lowa, on November 7, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 204,908, banded by A. A. Allen, at Ithaca, New York, on March 29, 19238, was caught i in arat trap and found dead on Lot 10, Tp. 3, Chandos, Peterboro County, Ontario, on pul 12, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,542, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot at Mad ‘Horse Creek, Salem, New Jersey, on December 27, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202, 547, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1923, was shot in Henderson Harbor, New York, about September 30, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202,646, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 29, 1923, was killed on Cat Island, Mississippi Sound, Mississippi, on November 15, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 202, 653, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1923, was killed at a place two miles east of Killarney, Georgian Bay, Ontario, during the fall of 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,025, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 2, 1923, was shot at a place in Norfolk County, Ontario, six miles from Lake Erie, on November 20, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,034, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 3, 1923, was shot at a place a few miles north of Savanne, Ontario, about April 15, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,072, tamdied by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 4, 1923, was killed at Cape Henrietta Maria, James Bay, Ontario, on September 25, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,092, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 8, 1923, was killed at Jackson Marsh, Waveland, Mississippi, on November 22, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,150, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 17, 1923, was killed at Sand Beach Marsh, Carroll THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX Jownship, Ottawa County, Ohio, on October 21, BLACK DUCK, No. 296,151, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 17, 1923, was shot on Grace Island, Mouth of the Santee River, South Carolina, on January 16, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296, 183, banded by lal. (S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 17, 1923, was shot at New Carlisle, Indiana, on November 10, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,187, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 17, 1923, was shot at McLaren’s Creek, about five miles north of Lindsay, Ontario, on October 23, BLACK DUCK, No. 296,218, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 19, 1923, was killed in the Blackwater River, at Mil- ton, Florida, on January 24, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296, ,247, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 21, 1923, was shot at Lynn Haven, Florida, on Decem- ber 17, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,309, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 24, 1923, was shot at a place eight ‘miles east of Con, neaut Lake, Conneaut Marsh, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, on December 2, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296, 313, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 24, 1923, was killed at Williamstown, West Virginia, on December 21, 1928. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,358, beude? by Hos: _ Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 27, 1923, was killed at a place in Westmoreland County, on the Potomac River, near Popes Creek, Virginia, on December 20, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296, 371, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 27, 1923, was killed at Smith’ Ss Point, opposite Bell. port, "Long Island, New York, on January 15, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296, 401, banded by HGS: Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 28, 1923, was killed on Deals Island, Maryland. on January 9, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,425, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 29, 1923, was killed at Davis, North Carolina, on November 12, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,484, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 30, 1923, was killed at the Byrd Spring Rod and Gun Club, Huntsville, Alabama, on December 11, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,454, banded by HESS: Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 1, 1923, was shot on the Cocolanius Creek, Perry County, two miles east of Millerstown, Pennsyl- vania, on November 27, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,477, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 1, 1923, was killed on Evans Creek, Rome, Georgia, on Je anuary 1, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,491, banded by H. 8S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 1, 1923, was caught in a muskrat trap at Bishop’ S Head, Maryland, on January 238, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 296,499, panded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 1, 1923, was killed at Irving, New Jersey, on Novem- ber 17, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,168, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, October, 1925] 1923, was shot on Rice Lake, Northumberland County, Ontario, on October 20, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,189, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was killed on Hope Creek, Delaware River, Salem County, New Jersey, on November 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,201, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was found dead at Jackson Creek, Chester River, Maryland, on February 17, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,203, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was shot at a place four miles south of Bloom- field, on the White River, Greene County, Indiana, on December 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,206, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 2, 1923, was shot on Lake Butte Des Mortes Marsh. Winnebago County, Wisconsin, on September 26, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,261, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 3, 1923, was shot at Point Pelee, Ontario, on No- vember 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,280, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 3, 1923, was killed at Onancock, Virginia, on No- vember 27, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,286, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 3, 1923, was shot at Havener Pond, Waldsboro, Lincoln County, Maine, about October 28, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,372, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 6, 1923, was killed at Odessa, Delaware, on December 9, 1924. GREEN-WINGED TEAL, No. 296,352, band- ed by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 25, 1923, was killed at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on September 27, 1924. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 171 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 296,384, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on Sep- tember 27, 1923, was shot at Patton Point, Lake Pcugog, Ontario, during the month of October, 4, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 296,387, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on Sep- tember 28, 1923, was killed at a place near Olin, Iowa, on September 29, 1924. GREATER SCAUP DUCK, No. 228,781, fe- male, banded by D. H. Beyea and A. A. Allen at Union Springs, New York, on February 23, 1923 was found unable to fly at Little Lake, three miles north of Barrie, Ontario, on May 8, 1925. GREATER SCAUP DUCK, No. 204,343, banded by Douglas H. Beyea, at Union Springs, New York, on March 13, 1923, was shot on the St. Lawrence River, four miles from Kingston, Ontario, on November 21, 1924. COOT, No. 210,970, female, banded by Herman Battersby, at Oak Lake, Manitoba, on May 31, 1923, was shot at Clear Lake, Iowa, on October 27, 1924. CROW, No. 210,671, male, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on April 22, 1923, was shot at a place one-half mile south of where it was banded, on June 5, 1925. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 218,749, banded by R. E. Horsey, at Rochester, New York, on August 5, 1928, was shot at a place in Lincoln County, Ontario, one and one-quarter miles south of Lake Ontario, and eighteen miles west of Nia- gara Falls, on May 16, 1925. CHICKADEE, No. 56,226, banded by R. H. Carter, Jr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on April 21, 1923, was caught and killed in a mouse trap in the same locality, on February 1, 1925. (To be continued) PROSECUTIONS MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION ACT, BY OFFICERS OF THE CANADIAN NATIONAL PARKS AND ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE Reported during the period: November 13, 1924, to September 15, 1925. WOLFE, Gerald, Grand Desert, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession Semipalmated Plover. Fine: $10.00. MyAaTTE, Adam, Grand Desert, Halifax Co., N.S. Having in possession Semipalmated Plover. Fine: $10.00. EGAN, James T., Lower Water St., Halifax, N.S. Attempting to kill Black-breasted Plover and _ Greater Yellow-legs by the use of an automatic shot gun. Fine: $50.00. Forfeitures: One auto- matic shotgun. Hunt, J. W.. 793 Lawrence St., Halifax, N.S. Having in possession Semipalmated Plover. Fine: $10.00. SIMMONS, Daniel, Yarmouth, N.S. Killed three Black Ducks in close season. Fine: $15.00. LEMAN, Lloyd, West Devon, P.E.I. Killed one Great Blue Heron. Forfeitures: One shotgun. Sentence suspended. BROWN, George, Seal Cove, N.B. Killing White-winged Scoters by the use of a motor-boat. Fine: $10.00. NELSON, Andrew, Seal Cove, N.B. Killing White-winged Scoters by the use of a motor-boat. Fine: $10.00. FRASER, Kenneth, Seal Cove, N.B. Killing White-winged Scoters by the use of a motor-boat. Fine: $10.00. JUVENILE, Seal Cove, Grand Manan, N.B. Injuring Herring Gulls. Sentence suspended. Morse, Warren, Grand Manan, N.B. At- tempting to kill wild ducks by the use of a motor- boat. Fine: $10.00. RUSSELL, Arnold, White Head, Grand Manan, N.B. Molesting wild ducks in close season. Fine:- $10.00. RUSSELL, Arnold, White Head, Grand Manan, N.B. Attempting to kill wild ducks by the use of a motor-boat. Fine: $10.00. Wooster, Brantford, Grand Harbor, Grand Manan, N.B. Attempting to kill Black Ducks later than one hour after sunset. Case dismissed. Morse, Warren, Grand Manan, N.B. Molest- ing wild ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. Wooster, Brantford, Grand Harbor, Grand Manan, N.B. Hunting Black Ducks in close season. Case dismissed. 172 DROUILLARD, Henry, Walkerville, Ont. At- tempting to kill migratory game birds after sunset. Fine: $10.00. Martin, Alphonse E., 10,009 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, Alta. Selling migratory game birds— one Mallard. Fine: $15.00. PHAEL, John, North Sydney, N.S. Attempting to kill wild ducks by the use of a motor-boat. Sentence suspended. CAMPBELL, Dan, North Sydney, N.S. At- tempting to kill wild ducks by the use of a motor- boat. Sentence suspended. EVANS. William, North Sydney, N.S. At- tempting to kill wild ducks by the use of a motor- boat. Sentence suspended. McDonaLtp, E. L., Halifax, N.S. Offering Black Ducks for sale. Fine: $10.00. Asorur, Abraham, Baie St. Anne, N.B. Selling Canada Geese. Fine: $10.00. GILLIS, W. R., Kouchibouguac Beach, N.B. Trafficking in Canada Geese and Brant. Fine: $300.00. Forfeitures: Seven Canada Geese and four Brant. ALLEN, John J., Port Elgin N.B. Shooting Scoters from a motor-boat. Fine: $10.00. | CoMEAU Peter, Tracadie, N.B. Offering Can- ada Geese for sale. Fine: $10.00. LoustgR, Fred, Tracadie, N.B. Offering Can- ada Geese for sale. Fine: $10.00. ALLEN, John J., Port Elgin, N.B. Killed a Herring Gull. Sentence Suspended. Morse, L.. Roy, White Head, N.B. Hunting Scoters in the close season. Sentence suspended. Morse, L. Roy, White Head, N.B. Having dead Scoters in possession in close season without lawful excuse. Fine: $10.00. PALMER, Charles, Tabusintac, N.B. Canada Geese. Fine: $10.00. _ CossaBoon, Geo., Grand Harbor, N.B. Hunt- ing wild ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. COssABOON, Geo., Grand Harbor, N.B. Resist- Selling a an officer in the discharge of his duty. Fine: .00. JUVENILE, Lower Nicola, B.C. Shooting a Swan. Sentence suspended. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX McKENZIE, Russell A., Woodside, N.S. Killing Brant in close season. Fine: $10.00. BREDEAU, Fred, Tracadie, N.B. possession a Sandpiper. Fine: $10.00. LANGLOIS, Arthur J., (Son of Adolph Langlois), © Anderton Tp., Ont. Hunting migratory game birds in closeseason. Fine: $10.00. Forfeitures: Seven decoys. LANGLoIs. Arthur J., (Son of Albert Langlois), Anderton Tp., Ont. Hunting migratory game birds in close season. Fine: $10.00. HILL, Charles, Amherstburg, Ont. Shooting ducks during close season. Fine: $10.00. RYAN, Clarence, Sunnyside, Ont. Shooting ducks during close season. Fine: $10.00. TAYLOR, Thomas, Tilbury, Ont. Shooting Canada Geese in close season. Fine: $25.00. Dorey. Joseph, West Arichat, N.S. Shooting wild ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. WALFIELD, Reginald, Bell’s Island, Lunenburg Co., N.S. Hunting wild ducks in close season. Fine: $10.00. WALFIELD, Leo, Bell’s Island, Lunenburg Co., Having in ae Hunting wild ducks in close season. Fine: 10.00. HISELER, Lloyd, Steven’s Island, N.S. _ Killing Old-squaws in close season. Fine: $20.00. For- feitures: Four Old-squaws. Ducuan, Wilfrid. Shippigan Gully, N.B. Hunting Scoters in close season. Fine: $10.00. Forfeitures: Four Scoters. DucGuaNn, Joseph, Shippigan Gully, N.B. Hunt- ing Scoters in close season. Fine: $10.00. For- feitures: One Scoter. HACHE, James, Shippigan Gully, N.B. Hunt- ing Scoters in close season. Fine: $10.00. For- feitures: Scoters. HAcHE, Edward, Inkerman, N.B. Hunting Seoters in close season. Fine: $10.00. Ross, Laura (Mrs.), Tabusintac, N.B. Buying Brant. Fine: $10.00. : ROSENZWERG, Geo.. Horizon, Sask. Having in possession dead duck without lawful excuse in close season. Fine: $10.00. NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS THE INTRODUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN GREY PARTRIDGE IN MANITOBA.—The Ottawa Field- Naturalists’ Club is indebted to Mr. J. H. Evans, Deputy Minister, Department of Agriculture and Immigration, Province of Manitoba, for official advice that the European Grey Partridge has been introduced in Manitoba. In March, 1924, the Manitoba Game Protective League, Dr. H. J. Merkeley, Secretary, imported 108 of these birds. They were kept at the Manitoba Agricultural College for about a week after arrival so that they could be properly fed and partly acclimatized before being released, and were finally liberated on the farm of Jerry Robinson, at Warren, Manitoba, which is about thirty miles northwest of Winnipeg. The district is said to be reasonably well suited to their needs. The Winnipeg Free Press says that forty-five brace were released, the event taking place on Sunday, April 6, 1924. Motion pictures were taken of the birds and the members of the League and officials who were present. Premier Bracken’s little son held one of the birds to be released.. Arrangements were made to feed the birds until they became accustomed to their new environment. The Winnipeg Tribune and Mr. E. G. White, who was present at the liberation of the newest of Manitoba’s game birds, credit the Assiniboia Gun Club as well as the League men- tioned with sponsoring the acclimatization effort. In the Winnipeg Free Press of March 29th it is said that the birds were secured in Czecho- Slovakia, and that they had cost about twelve dollars a pair. Further introductions are planned and complete protection is being given the species until it has a chance to become established.— HoyeEs Luoyp. AN Ivory GULL, Pagophila alba, Gunn., OB- SERVED AT VICTORIA, B.C.—On 19 February, October, 1925] 1925, a gull believed to be of this species was observed in Victoria Harbour. It was standing on the cabin roof of a small yacht, which was moored close to the Causeway. It was observed for several minutes at close range: in colour it was pure white all over without any shading or marking of grey or black; the eye was dark. The bird was close enough to have been recognized as an albino had it been such. In size it appeared to be slightly larger than the Short-billed Gull, with which it was sharing the cabin roof. It appeared to be standing in a somewhat crouched position, but, after examining the specimens in the Provincial Museum, I have come to the conclusion that this appearance was due to the tarsus being relatively shorter than is the case in species of the genus Larus. I do not know of any records of this species from Victoria, though it has been taken at and recorded from other points in British Columbia. —W. H. A. PREECE. CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUSES IN CANADA.—For some years now The Canadian Field-Naturalist has published a number of bird censuses taken at Christmas time by bird students in various parts of Canada. A limited number of Canadian ornith- ologists take an annual census at Christmas time which is published in Bird-Lore. At present these censuses are not well distributed in Canada, and it is thought that many other bird students would be willing to devote a day to taking a Christmas bird census, if they knew of the importance of this effort. The bird census is the best guide to tell us where our bird population is in winter, and its importance is increased because through the work of Bird-Lore censuses of this kind: are taken throughout the United States. The rules for taking a bird census, as given in Bird-Lore are, briefly, as follows:— The census should be taken on Christmas day or as near that date as circumstances permit: time limits, December 22nd to December 27th except that in the Rocky Mountains and westward the time limits are December 20th to 25th. Each census-taker should send in only one census. A census walk should last four hours at the very least, and an all-day one is preferable. Each re- port must cover one day only. When two or more names are signed to a report, a statement should be made as to whether the workers counted together, or separately. Census area should have a diameter of not more than fifteen miles. Un- usual records should be accompanied by a brief statement as to identification. Fuller details are THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 173 given in Bird-Lore, November-December numbers. The Canadian Field-Naturalist has published in the past those Canadian censuses that have been sent to it, and the hope is expressed that every competent person in Canada will try to arrange to send a bird census this year to our paper and to Bird-Lore, where the results for the United States and Canada are published.—HoyEs Luioyp. A CASE OF DISEASE IN THE CALIFORNIA PART- RIDGE (QUAIL), Lophortyx californicus californicus, Shaw.—On 31st January, 1925, when walking near Mount Tolmie, Victoria, B.C., I saw a California Partridge (o’) picking up grit on the road ahead of me. It appeared to be in a somewhat weak condition and allowed me to walk up to it and capture it without making any great effort to escape. I picked it up at 3.380 P.M. and took it home with me; it expired at 6.30 P.M. The bird was in very poor condition, nothing but skin and bone; this cannot have been through lack of food, as its bowels moved three times dur- - ing the period that I had it under observation. The plumage was in excellent condition. The carcass was taken down to the Provincial Museum, where it was skinned and examined by Mr. G. A. Hardy. The liver was found to be very much affected, one lobe being in a condition so abnormal as to render it incapable of function- ing, the other being in the initial stage of infection. —W. H. A. PREECE. GANNETS OF BONAVENTURE ISLAND, QUEBEC.— In 1923 there were forty-seven nests of Gannets on a ledge in the sanctuary that I had not seen occu- pied by Gannets before. In 1924, there were seventy-two. This year (1925) the birds have extended the ledge by digging away the clay down to the rock, and there are about four hundred occupying that ledge now, although not all are nesting yet. As I understand, young Gannets mate in their second year. A Gannet will locate a place to nest, make a part of a nest, and, in the following spring, will return, complete the nest and lay its eggs..—_WILLIAM M. DUVAL. CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST PUBLICATION FUND Statement of Receipts Previously acknowledged.............. $ 335.00 Dr. E. M. Walker, 67 Alcina Ave., To- PONLOMs voc tees SRR ice eee 25.00 $ 360.00 pind Lyman’s Limited (Established 1800) MANUFACTURING CHEMISTS Imporlers and Dealers in CHEMICAL AND ASSAY APPARATUS 344 St. Paul St. West, Montreal = SEEDS PLANTS BULBS | if Our rigorous system of testing eliminates loss and disappointment from your garden HH # Kenneth McDonald & Sons, iivnitedes 3 Seed and Bulb Merchants =e #! Market Square 2: Ottawa, Ont : $ NATURAL SCIENCE Ward S ESTABLISHMENT Rochester, New York, U.S.A. Manufacturers of the genuine Schmitt boxes exhibition cases and cabinets, also of the American Entomological Company’s insect pins. Riker Mounts and botanical mounts always on hand, also Riker botanical presses. 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CARTWRIGHT, A. A _McCousrey; General Secretary: A. A. McCouBREY, Room Executive Secretary: R. M. THOMAS; Treasurer: J.J. Mott, P.O. Box1562. ORNITHOLOGICAL 2 C. L. Brotey; Secretary: L. E. MeCatt. BOTANICAL SECTION:—Chairman: C.\ EH. Lowe; Secretary: Miss Grack CAMERON. ENTOMO- LOGICAL SECTION:—Chairman: G. SHIRLEY BROOKS; Secretary: A. M. Davipson. GEOLOGICAL SECTION :— Chairman: ..G. THOMPSON: Secretary. F. M. OLIVER. ze _ THE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION x _ SOCIETY (Incorporated) - Hon. President: Mr. ADAM BROWN; President: Mr. R. O ‘MERRIMAN; ist Vice-President: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- President: Mr. C. D. Cook; Secretary-Treasurer: MISS RUBY R. Mitts, Public Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; C. D. Coox; Dr. J. A. Dickson; Miss M. BE. Gra- HAM; Miss RuBy R. Minis; M. Hotton; M. JOHNSTON; Mrs. F. E. MACLOGHLIN; R. O. MERRIMAN. | ‘ COLUMBIA, VICTORIA, B.C. The officers for the above Society for the year ending March 31st, 1925, are as follows:— President: Rev. R. CONNELL, M.A.; 1st Vice-President: W. N. KELLY; 2nd Vice-President? Mrs. HUGH MACKENZIE; Hon. Secretary: Haroutp T. NATION; Hon. Treasurer: Miss S. M. THORNTON;- Commitiee: G. A. HARDY, C. C. PEMBERTON, TRA CORNWALL, F.G.S., A. R. SHERWOOD, H. Boyce; Audi- _ tors: Miss MockripcE, M.Sc., WILLIAM DowNEs. a President: - NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH ALBERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Hon. President: Mr. J.J. Gantz, Red Deer, Alta.; Hon. Vice Dr. Hy. GEORGE, Victoria, B.C.; President: Mr. C. H. SNELL, Red Deer, Alta.; 1st Vice-President: Mrs. _ iW. A. Cassets, Red Deer, Alta.; 2nd Vice-President: Mr. S. _ PAMELY, Red Deer, Alta.; Directors: Mrs. G .F. Root, Weta- skiwin, Alta.; Mrs. J. MCMILLAN, Red Deer, Alta.; Miss E. -C. Irvine, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. F. L. FARLEY, Camrose, _ Alta.; Mr. W. A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. B. LAWTON, Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Alta.; PRoF. W. Rowan, Univ. of Alta., Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. W. F. Harzis, Hed Deer, Alta.; Mr. T. E. RANDALL, Castor, Alta.; Mr. A. C. BretHour, Calgary, Alta.; Hon. Sec.-Treas.: Mrs. S. PAMELY, Red Deer, Alta. _ he meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the last Friday of each month except during July and August and perhaps September. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer _on the last Friday in November. ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, LONDON, ONT. President: T. D. PATTHRSON, 562 Waterloo Street; Recording Secretary: Mrs. E. H. McKons, Worthey Road; Correspond- ing Secretary and Treasurer: E. M. S. Daun, 297 Hyman St.; Members qualified to answer questions: W. E. SAUNDERS, 240 Central Ave.; C. G. WATSON, 201 Ridout St. South; J. R. McLzop, 355 Wortley Road; J. F2 Catvurt, 461 Tecumseh Ave.; E. M.S. DALE, 297 Hyman St. -McILWRAITH _ VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY . President: L. S. KLInck, L.L.D., Pres. University of B.C.; ent: JOHN DAVIDSON, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- mt: FRED PERRY; Hon. Secretary: C.F. CONNOR, M.A., ‘W. 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Treasurer: A. H. 2302 York St., Vancouver, B.C. ightly meetings in the University Buildings from er to April (inclusive). Semi-monthly excursions from » August (inclusive). : } ge 1 i; = Affiliated Societies es re NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF. PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. President: I. GAaMMuL; Hon. Vice-President: W.H. ROBB; President: LL. MclI. TERRILL; 1st. Vice-President: NAPIBR SmitH; 2nd. Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; 9rd. Vice-President and Curator: Miss E.G. LUKE; Recording Secretary: Muss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. S. HART, P.O. Box 1186, Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY Mousitpy; Committee: Miss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C. P, DALE; H. A. C. JacKson; Miss EF. Morrow; MissL. Murpuy; A, MACSWEEN; G.S.Moonry; W. A. OswWaLp; L. MclI. SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY; Members qualified to answer questions: L. Mcl. TERRILL, 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun, Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD, 301 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; C. N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; DR. ARTHUR WILLEY, McGill University, Montreal; HENRY Mous.Ley, 274-Girouard Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EpITH Morrow AND Miss EMILY LUKE, c-o Secretary. % SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Président: DocTEUR S. GAUDREAU; Jer vice-président: ABBE ‘A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. BOULTON: Secrétaire-trésorier: Lovuis-B. Lavotm; Chef de la section Scientifique: A.-A. GopBouT; Chef de la section de propaganda éducationelle: DoctEuR A. DERy; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d'information scientifique et pratique: DocTmUR J.-E. BERNIER; Directeura: _R.-F. Linpsay; Jos. Mattn; G.-S. AHERN. _ THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO- GISTS’ UNION Officers for 1923 Hon. President: HON. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: T. LL. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasurer: J. W. WINSON, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. KEeLso, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz; K. Racry, Vancouver; T. PHARSE, Courtenay; - W. N. KELLY, Victoria. ‘i THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: PROFESSOR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidente: PROFESSOR FE. M. WALKER, DR. A. CosEns, J. H. FLEMING; Secretary: W. F. GREGorRY, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C. W. NASH; Librarian: Dr. LyMAN B. Jackes. BIRD GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H.B.Sirton; Secretary: Miss J. G. WricuT, Po#.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: Miss NorMA ForD, Pua.D. MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DyMOND; Secretary: L. SNYDER. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN GROUP: —Chairman: SHILLEY LoGimrR; Secretary: T. B. KURATA. 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XXXIX, No. 8 NOVEMBER, 1925 = De ae MISA SSS Marsh (A 3 ay iM CLD-NATURA RLASTS CLUB ISSUED NOVEMBER 30, 1925 ; : Entered at the Ottawa Post ‘Office as Seber diclass matter THE OTTAWA FIELD- ELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB ere eg THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG OF VIMY President: G. A. MILLER. ist Vice-President: N crten CRIDDLE. 2nd Vice-President: E. M. Kini. “ pare athe Uw 1G Hon, Treasurer: yas ae ven . By AS FAUVEL, jie ThA d Ave, y3 821 MeLeod St., Ottawa, pipe 6 ate rich: Cee ines * _ Ottawa, Ont. Additional Members és ae W.T.Macoun; Miss M. E. Cowan; C.M. Ssiucueae ie anna ; P. A. TAVERNER; E.SAPIR; W.J. WINTEMBERG; R. E. DELURY: ARTHUR GIBSON; M. O. MALTE; © R. M. ANDERSON; H. GROH; Miss F. FYLES; C. B. HUTCHINGS: CLYDE L. PATcH: H. M. Ami; — D. JENNESS; H. F. Lewis; HOYES LLOYD; Frits JOHANSEN; ANDREW HALKETT; C. E. JOHNSON; | G. R. WHITE; E. G. WHITE: G. A. MACDONALD: A. G. KINGSTON: NORMAN LEACH; MarK G. McELHINNEY: V.W. JACKSON: R. O. MERRIMAN; W.N. KELty; C. H. SNELL; J. R. MCLEOD; JOHN DAVIDSON; L. MclI. TERRILL; R MEREDITH: FRANCIS KERMODE; R.B.THOMSON; E E. PRINCE > Acting Editor: G. A. MILLER, Normal.School, Ottawa. ; 2 i\tes Associate Editors: HA SAPIR Sih ti wick: TPL Saath Grae ae Anthropology A. G. HUNTSMAN... F, ieneeek see M arine Biology — [WLOCO SO. WN Ofte gee a NRA Se ys ao Botany . P. As TAVERNER. ia.) 4 ak Ornithology — WOR, LATCHFORD. 62.502 oh, Conchology EM. KINDEE ioe ......Palaeontology — IVE ON ee MTG PA MIS On at Wi Sk PA ree ee Geology R. M. ANDERSON..........:... ....Zoology ARTHUR GIBSON...... Wa aS Uo Entomology CLYDE Te. PATCH 2! Bae ee Herpetology t : : P ye ; . PAGE January Bird Notes from Mount Tolmie, Victoria, B.C. By W. H.A. Preece............ in a The New Bird Sanctuaries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. By Harrison F, Lewis....2-.). ©.) eae ATT ae Bird Banding Report—September 1924 to March 1925—‘‘Mavisburn”’ Banding Station, Mill — ‘lyon aiiae Bay, Victoria Island, B.C. By G. D. Sprot..... eis heats othe ver kite Re ee 109 47 Squirrels Eating Amanita muscaria. By W.S. “Odell, Obtains csc hor ee eae 5 ee eae 1803255) Field Work in the Lower Arctic Zone. By James C. Critchell-Bullock............... Pa eiets, 4): 1S The Birds of Bird Islands, Nova Scotia.. By Ivan A. Bayley.................4.......-- CS a Saree Observations on the Chinese Starling (Ethiopsar cristatellus). By R.A.Cummins........ 7 CO re Interesting Photographs of Nesting Woodcock. By W.T. Brown, Westmount, Que........... 190 | Official Canadian Record of Bird-Banding Returns (Continued). ..............0..c0 eevee eees Oe ae Notes and Observations:— Jo Resolutions of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club................... pias ceil es eee Lympezxa (Bulimnea) megasoma Say. By F. R. Latchford........................-.45 198 eae Robins Eating Salmon Fry at Andérson Takes British Columbia: By J. A. Munro..... i ee, Meadowlark at Englehart, Ontario. By Jas. iu) Baillie Jr... eae a ee “94 a peroneal, ne Clutches of Eggs of Short-Eared Owl (A800, flammens). By T. E. ee SNA io Raa Sis RN Ry oo eM ce Oe iL) Ae ee rr Harris’s Sparrow in Castor, Alberta, District. By T. E. Rendall Sy at Oi ee Notes of Interest from Castor, Alberta, District; “By Tk. Rendalle, 5 ae ee Pere and PD nor ies Sixth Winter Session, 1925-6. The Natural History Society of ANTICO DA es ey UL MO SR MOSS EONS tHE HRCI cL Sy fev RG eR nner a Book Review—Roosevilt Wild Life Bulletin, Vol. 2, No. 4; Vol. 3, Nos. 1 and2. By ABK. Publications: Recel ved e228 3 ay rey en Nee eo eID ee EL aR SET Ege ce het en : The official publications of THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB have been issued since 1879. The first was The Transactions of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 1879-1886, =; two volumes; the next, The Ottawa Naturalist, 1886-1919, thirty-two volumes: and these # have been continued by The Canadian Field-Naturalist to date. 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O.0 ©, Jo 050 00 o20 050 050 050 084 10 O50 050 080 50 054 10.050 ao 0 oo SaeS Oo, 150 oe 50 efe 050 050 850 0 bs Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers The Canadian Field-Naturalist VOL. XXXIX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER, 1925 No. 8 JANUARY BIRD NOTES FROM MOUNT TOLMIE, VICTORIA, B.C. By W. H. A. PREECE VT IS not intended that the following note- should be regarded as constituting any- thing approaching a seasonal census or Some check-list of the birds of the district indicated in the title of this paper. My oppor- tunities for observing have been too limited to permit of anything so ambitious. It may be, however, that the following gleanings from my note-book will be of interest to those living in less ornithologically favoured parts of Canada, as in- dicative of the numerous species of birds that may be met with here whilst taking a winter walk. All the species hereafter dealt with, have been observed during January of this year. The area here dealt with consists of Mount Tolmie and the country lying to the south and west of it. One expedition was made to the north of the mountain, but the district to the east was not visited at all. THE SOUTHERN SLOPES The Southern slopes are, in the main, covered with scrub oaks. The districts north, west, and south of it consist of open fields, market gardens and orchards; oak trees are plentiful throughout and there are also a number of oak coppices and woods. The oak is the typical tree of the district, though alder, willow and Douglas fir are also to be found. The fact of some eighty per cent of the trees being oaks possibly limits the number of species of birds to be observed in the district. Had I visited the country to the east of the mountain, where there is a considerable tract of conifers, mainly Douglas firs, I believe, it is prob- able that some species not recorded would have been observed and others recorded occasionally would have been found there in abundance. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, Larus glaucescens, Naum. AMERICAN HERRING GULL, Larus argentatus smithsonianus Coues. SHORT-TAILED GULL, Larus brachyrhynchus, Rich. The three species mentioned above were to be seen in quantity on the fields and vacant lots and in the air almost daily. It is quite possible that still other species were observed, but no others were satisfactorily determined. Mr. J. A. Munro, in The Canadian Field- Naturalist, Vol. XX XVIII, p. 148, gives some interesting information about the habits, etc., of Larus glaucescens in this district. WILSON’S SNIPE, Gallinago delicata, Ord.—The only record was obtained on January 1. The bird seen was remarkably tame, allowing me to come “within a few feet of it before taking flight; I flushed it three times from a roadside ditch. On the first two occasions, it flew about fifteen yards and then resumed feeding, but on the last occasion it circled round me and returned to the ditch about twenty yards in my rear. GREY PARTRIDGE, Perdix perdix, Linn.—An introduced species. A covey of eight birds has been observed on the flats south-west of Mount Tolmie almost daily throughout the winter. CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE, Lophortyx californicus, Shaw.—An introduced species. Abundant around Mount Tolmie. Their ‘‘Who goes there’ is quite the most frequently heard call. RING-NECKED PHEASANT, Phasianus torquatus, Linn.—An introduced species. Abundant. HARRIS’S WOODPECKER. Dryobates villosus har- rissit, Aud. GAIRDNER’S WOODPECKER. Dryobates pubescens gairdneri, Aud.—The above two species were only recorded once each during January. Both are common residents on Vancouver Island trees, which would account for their scarcity in this district. LEwIs’s WOODPECKER, Asyndesmus torquatus, Wils.—In The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XXXVIII, p. 176, Mr. J. A. Munro refers to this species as follows: “‘A common summer resident of local distribution” (in Southern Vancouver Island); after which he gives two winter records. In the remarks on the species in the Catalogue of British Columbia Birds compiled by Mr. Francis Kermode and printed in 1904, we find the follow- ing: ‘“‘A summer resident on Vancouver Island’’. My own observations did not coincide with the above statements. I mentioned the fact to Mr. Kermode, who supplied me with the following information. Some twenty-five or more years ago this species only occurred here as a rare straggler and gradually became established as a summer resident, but for some years a number appear to have been thoroughly acclimatized and are now residents, staying here all the year round, 176 There is, however, no doubt that in summer the number of the species is considerably augmente by immigration. I believe that the local distribution referred to by Mr. Munro will be found to coincide with the local distribution of the oak trees to which this species seems particularly attached. It has a great fondness for telegraph poles; on rather more than half of the numerous occasions in January that I observed the species, it was associated with them, the bird either running up the pole or more often perched on the top. At least two birds were resident in the Mount Tolmie district. NORTH-WESTERN FLICKER, Colaptes cafer satur- atior, Ridgw.—Abundant, frequently seen and: even more frequently heard. SKYLARK, Alauda arvensis, Linn.—Originally introduced by the Natural History Society of British Columbia, this species has increased and multiplied so that it may now be regarded as locally abundant. I heard them singing on January 27 for the first time this year and since then have heard them almost daily. STELLER’S JAY, Cyanocitta stelleri, Gmel.—One of our handsomest birds. This species was abun- dant all over the city throughout the fall and early winter, but after Christmas was very little in evidence. Isaw one on January 1, but, after that neither saw nor heard anything of the species until January 30, when I watched a flock of six invade a poultry run only to be forced to beat a hasty retreat before the determined assault of some Ply- mouth Rocks, the rightful owners of the-run. Mr. Munro, in The Canadian Field-Naturalist, Vol. XX XVIII, p. 176, gives some interesting data regarding this species here. NORTH-WEST CROW, Corvus caurinus, Baird. —Abundant and always very much in evidence. NORTHWESTERN REDWING, Agelaius phenicius caurinus, Ridgw.—Numbers of this species were observed on two occasions in company with the flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds, alluded to later. I observed nesting colonies at Lost and Prospect Lakes last summer and there are doubtless similar colonies in most other suitable localities through- out the district. WESTERN MEADOWLARK, Sturnella magna neg- lecta, Aud.—Was seen and heard singing almost daily. First heard singing January 1. The birds here appear very erratic in their habits, in certain areas always appearing in flocks of twenty or more, in other areas always being found singly or in pairs BREWER’S BLACKBIRD, Euphagus cyanocephalus, Wagl.—A large flock numbering many hundred has been around the district throughout the winter. This species presents a case almost parallel to that of Lewis’s Woodpecker, so Mr. Kermode informs THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXIX me; that is to say, the species formerly scarce locally, has of late years become common, even abundant. In the Catalogue of British Columbia Birds printed in 1904, amongst the remarks on this species, we find the following: “‘Not common on Van- couver Island; afew have been taken nearVictoria’’. EUROPEAN HOUSE SPARROW, Passer domesticus, Linn.—This undesirable alien, though present, is fortunately not yet by any means so omnipresent as in the Eastern Provinces. NUTTALL’S SPARROW, Zonotrichia leucophrys nutialli, Ridgw.—One observed January 15 in company with a flock of Oregon Juncos. WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW, Spizella socialis arizonae, Cones.—Not by any means common, but was observed on several occasions. OREGON JUNCO, Junco hyemalis oregonus, Towns.—One of the most abundant winter birds here. Numerous flocks were observed almost daily. Rusty Sone SPARROW, Melospiza melodia mor- — phna, Oberh.—Frequently observed; first heard singing January 238. OREGON TOWHEE, Pipilo maculatus oregonus, Bell.—Can hardly be called common, but can usually be observed in one or two localities. Not quite so attractive, perhaps, as the Eastern race, but nevertheless a pleasure to meet. The eall note seems to me to be rather more guttural and rasping than that of the eastern bird. I would render it as E’rd-zee-ee-ee. : WESTERN HousE WREN, Troglodytes aedon parkmanni, Aud.—Several records, all towards the end of the month. One heard singing January 30. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, Sitia canadensis, Linn.—One record only; January 25. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, Parus rufescens, Towns.—Very numerous, seldom out of sight and hardly ever out of hearing. WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, Regulus satrapa olivaceus, Baird. SITKA KINGLET, Regulus calendula grinnelli, W. Palmer.—Both species fre- quently to be seen, usually in company with Chickadees. WESTERN RoBIN, Planesticus migratorius pro- pinquus, Ridgw.—By no means numerous, though ~ one or two are usually to be seen in the course of a walk. VARIED THRUSH, Ixoreus naevius, Gmel.—This beautiful bird was to be seen quite commonly during the fall and early winter, but I only ob- tained three records for it in January. I consider this quite the handsomest of our winter birds. I do not know who inflicted the ‘‘popular’’ name upon the species, but I’m convinced he can only have known the bird as a skin. It would have been no greater insult to call it a Skewbald Robin or a Parti-coloured Ixoreus. ‘November, 19251 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 177 THE NEW BIRD SANCTUARIES IN THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE . By HARRISON F. LEWIS YRIADS of sea-birds, including valuable Eider Ducks, quaint Puffins, and splendid Caspian Terns, have long found a home on the many islands which fringe the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. During the nineteenth century, they were subject to severe persecution and their numbers rapidly dwindled. In recent years, however, the protec- tion which they have received under the terms of the Migratory Birds Convention Act has enabled the survivors to nest in greater safety and to make good a part of their previous losses. It is expected that they will make even more rapid gains in future, for during the year 1925 the Department of the Interior of the Dominion Government has established ten bird sanctuaries for their benefit. These sanctuaries can be visited with comparative ease, for the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is served in summer by well-appointed and com- fortable steamers, with weekly sailings -from Quebec City, while the eastern end of this coast has, in addition, weekly communication by steam- er with ports on the west coast of Newfoundland. There are no hotels near the sanctuaries, but in most instances good board in private houses can be obtained. Thus some of the most attractive and least known of our sea-birds can be studied in their homes. Permits to collect birds or eggs for scientific purposes are not, however, valid in the sanctuaries themselves. The following table shows in detail the numbers of the sea-bird population of these sanctuaries in 1925. This, of course, is only a fraction of the bird population of this entire coast. The figures given are as accurate as it has been possible to make them; they are in part the result of careful counts and in part of conservative estimates, made by the writer. Shorebirds, such as Spotted and Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers, which nest in some of the sanctuary areas, are not included in this table. SEA-BIRDS BREEDING IN NEW BIRD SANCTUARIES IN GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE, 1925: SANCTUARIES BIRDS Birch | Betch- | Watshi- Fog Wolf Cape |St. Mary] Mecat- | St. Aug-| Bradore Islands | ouane show Island Bay Whittle | Islands tina ustine Bay TOTAL IG OR Rye eresiels occ 5 s'eis 620 300 3,850 400 100 80 500 400 200 6,540 Black Duck........ So, Ree re. 2 2 2 Sus ees es 6 Green-winged Teal. . eke Brat wae 2 wae oe aay ¥ 2 Red-throated Loon.. bce dike ae 10 2 oe 24 AEH ese erste ee ee. BAG 300 en abel 3,000 ws 1,250 aoe = 51,000 | 55,550 Black Guillemot..... aes a sects 60 seus aks 130 100 30 tees 32 Common Murre..... eyes Seve aes 64 314 3,062 3,600 es #5 200 7,240 Razor-billed Auk... . 300 60 20 2,150 40 3,500 50 4,100 | 10,580 Great Black-backed Guill niese. cas s 12 24 220 80 122 70 150 250 40 968 Herring Gull........ 60 200 200 80 100 30 200 100 50 1,020 Ring-billed Gull..... “Re aie eicne 210 ws eee 60 270 Caspian Tern....... ahd we oe 60 Bas 60 Common Tern...... Soy 200 500 56 156 Aretie Tern......... 54 40 50 6 96 Double-crested Cor- MOLANG. occ. cies 750 280 334 1,364 FROMAT Gee: 692 1,364 4,880 1,794 6,068 3,978 9,340 962 328 | 55,300 | 84,706 Birch Islands Sanctuary is the westernmost of these ten sanctuaries and is about 425 miles from Quebec by the steamship route. It consists of two wooded islands, each about a mile across, and one small island, bare of trees. The largest island ’ contains some attractive ponds. The chief breed- ing sea-bird is the Eider Duck, which here usually hides its nest under trees or shrubbery. Mingan, where the steamers call and where accommodation can be obtained, is about four miles distant. Betchouane Sanctuary, about 460 miles from Quebec, contains three islands, the largest of which is densely wooded, while the two others are tree- less. As the table shows, this sanctuary contains quite a variety of sea-fowl, including some hund- reds of Puffins and Razor-billed Auks. These two highly interesting species do not nest in any numbers on this coast west of this point. Accom- modation for one or two persons could probably be obtained at Betchouane, two miles from the sanctuary, but the nearest port of call for the steamer is Havre St. Pierre, about seventeen miles away. Watshishow Sanctuary is a large area, extending some eleven miles along the coast, and including a great number of small islands, which are all practically treeless, but which show great variety of form and arrangement. This sanctuary is pre- eminently the home of the famous Eider Duck, whose abundance here is truly astonishing and whose nests are more readily seen on these bare islands than on the thickly wooded islands farther 178 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST westward. It is a thrilling sight to see hundreds of great black-and-white drakes and their brown mates whirling about like leaves before the blast as one sails into one of the multitude of unin- habited harbors formed by the islands in this area. It is even more delightful to remain quietly in some inconspicuous place and watch the handsome birds sailing about on the blue water, feeding and courting, or resting in groups on the reddish-brown rocks. Visitors to Watshishow Sanctuary must provide their own accommodation. | The nearest place at which the steamer calls is Baie Johan Beetz, about ten miles from the sanctuary and 480 miles from Quebec. Fog Island Sanctuary, consisting of Fog Island and all the islands and rocks within two miles of Fog Island, is about 590 miles from Quebec, 65 from the steamers’ point of call at Natashquan, and 11 from the little village of Romaine. It is a very attractive area, with moss-covered, rocky islands studding the smiling waters in most intri- eate fashion. It contains the greatest variety of sea-birds to be found in any of tthe sanctuaries along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, no fewer than fourteen different species making their homes here in 1925. Remarkable among them are the dashing Caspian Terns, with their scarlet beaks and raucous voices, which are not known to nest anywhere else in the Province of Quebec at the present time, and the graceful, retiring Red-throated Loons, which nest beside small ponds in the moss. This sanctuary is the westernmost place known on this coast where the confiding Common Murres are accustomed to breed. Each pair of these birds hatches each year only a single egg, which is often laid on the bare rock. Thirty-two of their eggs and young were counted in this sanctuary in 1925. There is no accommodation to be had near Fog Island Sanctuary, and visitors must camp outside the sanctuary or live afloat. Wolf Bay Sanctuary is a long chain of islands lying along the western side of the bay after which it is named. It contains an abundance of Puffins and Razor-billed Auks and a moderate number of other species. Accommodation is available here, but the nearest port of call of the steamer is at Harrington Harbour, 45 miles away. Wolf Bay is about 605 miles from Quebec. Cape Whittle Sanctuary consists of a number of islets lying well out to sea near Cape Whittle. While it contains Eiders, Gulls, Auks, Double- crested Cormorants and Black Ducks, the most numerous bird in the sanctuary is the Common Murre. The Murre lays its handsome eggs in the open on several of the islets in the sanctuary, especially on Egg Rock, where 1263 eggs and young, representing 2526 adult birds, were counted [VoL. XX XIX on July 21, 1925. Close to Cape Whittle Sanc- tuary is situated a small colony, the only one now remaining on the north shore of the Gulf of St.- Lawrence, of the so-called “Common” Cormorant. Cape Whittle Sanctuary is about 615 miles from Quebec by the steamship route along the coast. The nearest accommodation is at Wolf Bay settle- ment, five or six miles away. The nearest port of call for the steamer is at Harrington Harbour, 35 miles distant. : St. Mary Islands Sanctuary contains an un- usually large and varied bird population, nesting on four large islands and two small ones. The islands are practically treeless, and are adorned by a large number of small ponds, which are very attractive to the birds. The sea-birds are also attracted to these islands in the nesting-season by the presence there of many large cracks and fissures in the solid rock, in which animated crowds of Murres and Auks rear their young in shelter and comparative security. This is one of the best sanctuaries from the point of view of the occa- sional visitor, both on account of the abundance and variety of its bird-life and because it contains a secure harbor for small boats, with limited accommodation at the light-keeper’s dwelling. This sanctuary is about 12 miles from Harrington Harbour, where the steamers call, and is about 635 miles from Quebec. Mecattina Sanctuary is situated in the large bay between the communities of Whale Head and Mutton Bay, and contains no less than 138 islands, of various sizes, charmingly situated about deep and sheltered waterways. Here was once a great bird population, most of which has long since been destroyed or driven away, although scattered rem- nants of at least seven species still remain. It is expected that, under sanctuary conditions, the bird life will soon become more abundant. The steamer stops regularly at Mutton Bay and accommodation may be secured there or at Whale Head. Mecattina Sanctuary is about 660 miles from Quebec. St. Augustine Sanctuary contains a group of small islands near the mouth of the St. Augustine River. While these islands, as well as others in the neighborhood, are ideally suited to the needs of nesting sea-birds, yet the bird life of all this part of the coast has received such harsh treatment from the hand of man that only a very small fraction of the original bird population now re- mains. It is hoped that the provision of peace and safety within the bird sanctuary and the enforcement of the Migratory Birds Convention Act all along the coast will cause the bird-life in this region to return to normal, with the sanctuary as its chief stronghold. The steamer stops at St. Augustine, where there is limited accommodation. November, 1925] This sanctuary is about 710 miles from Quebec. Bradore Bay Sanctuary contains Perroquet and Greenly Islands, near the western entrance to the Straits of Belle Isle. The most abundant nesting bird here is the laughable Puffin, which usually nests in the shelter of a burrow, which it excavates in the soil. At this point, which was a recognized fishing station early in the sixteenth century, these birds have been subjected to severe persecution from white men for nearly four hundred years. While this brought about a terrible reduction in their numbers, it was surprising to see how many thousands still maintained themselves here when the coming into force of the Migratory Birds Con- vention Act stopped the slaughter. Since that time the nesting birds of Perroquet Island, in particular, have increased markedly in numbers. Owing to the unsatisfactory results of the various attempts to estimate the great numbers of the ever-changing multitudes of birds at Perro- quet Island, it was determined to make a system- atic count of the Puffin burrows on the island, July 8 and 9, 1925, were spent by Game Officer C. K. McLeod and the writer in making this count. By means of little stakes the island was marked off into strips of land of convenient size and in one strip after another the occupied burrows were counted carefully. Each burrow was con- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 179 sidered to represent at least one pair of Puffins. In support of this view it may be stated that each of six burrows which were opened at random for scientific purposes on June 30 contained a Puffin incubating an egg, while old residents, who in years gone by had excavated hundreds of burrows, stated that each occupied burrow contained at least one pair of Puffins, while occasionally a burrow branches into two or three parts under- ground and a pair made their home in each branch. The total number of burrows counted on Perroquet Island was 22,102, representing 44,204 Puffins. A considerable number of Puffins nest on this island among boulders near the shore, where their homes could not be counted, and these are considered to be quite sufficient to bring the total number of Puffins nesting on Perroquet Island up to 45,000. This island is also the home of about 4,000 Razor-billed Auks and 200 Common Murres. It is an exciting experience for one who visits Perroquet Island for the first time to see the huge clouds of birds which sweep about the island like swarms of giant gnats. Such displays are especially striking towards evening or on stormy days, for in fine weather many of the birds are away in search of food during the greater part of the day. Accommodation may be had at Bradore Bay, which is about 775 miles from Quebec. BIRD BANDING REPORT—SEPTEMBER 1924 TO MARCH 1925 ‘‘Mavisburn’’ Banding Station. Mill Bay, Victoria Island, B.C. By G. D. SPROT HE description of my former station (see report 1923-1924) now sold, applies like- wise to my present one, as they adjoin. The land is all ‘wild’, and up to date has but one or two acres cleared. This clearing is being laid out in garden. A small mountain stream flows by the house, its somewhat steep banks being clothed with Firs and Cedars, Maples and Alders, ete., of about fifteen years growth. The conifers only, on the south side, are being cleared off to let in light and air to the stream. The undergrowth of Salmon and Thimble berries ' are being encouraged in patches and other berry- bearing trees and shrubs planted. TRAPS On account of the labour entailed in connection with the clearing of my station, I have had little time to devote to experimenting with traps, but one little addition to the attractions for birds is a small bird-bath placed beside each permanent trap position. If desired, the trap may be set over it. Its cost is from 5c. to 10c. A shovel full of earth is removed, and a few pebbles stamped into the hole, forming a saucer-shaped hollow. This is then covered with an inch or so of cement. — Its size is from 12 inches to sixteen inches diameter. CALIFORNIAN PARTRIDGES I have negative information only to offer on this species, but it helps support my previous sugges- tion (see report 1923-1924) that the species may be found to be intensely local in their movements. Although those previously taken on my old station are seen there almost daily, and despite my efforts to draw them, they have not as yet trespassed on my new station. Their nearest feed table here would be only some fifty yards away from the spot they now frequent and where they get little encouragement. STELLER’S JAYS Are becoming an increasingly interesting study. 260902, banded Sept. 27, 1923, is still present, Although not exactly proved, it appears obvious that this bird is a male, being larger and brighter plumaged than two other birds caught with him at different periods, early and late, throughout the summer and to which he seemed obviously mated. 180 The worn plumage and poor condition of these two females (?) with the immaculate appearance of the male throughout the season, suggested rather that the male does not assist in incubation, and with the presence of the second female, that he takes a different partner for the second sitting - although, of course, but I do not think it, an accident may have happened to the first female in the interval. This male is known when at large by a fringe of white or palest of blue to the tips of the tail feathers. This was first noted in September, 1924, when he was discovered croon- ing to himself on a limb which held what was apparently the past season’s nest. This pale fringe is still present (March 26, 1925), and the bird appears to be cleanly through the moult, which in 1924 and 1925 took place in January. Very noticeable also are the forehead stripes, now appearing longer than formerly, and fading to a very pale blue. The balance of the plumage remains, however, as brilliant as always. Another old friend, 260908, banded October 12, 1923, is likewise still present, and nested close by in 1924. The young Jays first came to the traps on May 27, in 1924. GOLDEN and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS Whilst my house was being built, I rented one near by, and on September 4th, 1924, put out a funnel trap. Although working away from my rented home for the most part of the day, I was able to band before 8 A.M., during the lunch hour, and after 5 P.M., nine jays, ninety-five Golden- crowned Sparrows, eleven Nuttalls’, three Juncos, four Song Sparrows, six Towhees, and got two hundred and twenty-seven “repeats” in about two weeks. Curiously enough, the first spring arrival of the Zonotrichia, noted on the roadside March 31, 1925, was a banded Nuttall’s Sparrow. OREGON JUNCO Several 1923 and 1924 birds have returned again, but this species has been scarce this winter until March 24, when two hundred to three hundred suddenly dropped from the skies onto my freshly seeded grass patch. It was impossible to keep them off, as, like a plague of locusts, they settled within a few feet of us. They appeared ravenous THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XTX and feared nothing. This unusual spring shower of Juncos extended, from my own observation, from Victoria to North Cowichan, possibly over the whole south-east portion of the Island, freshly seeded grass fields being alive with them. They did not, however, stay long, and well over a hund- red were banded before they left, sixty being taken the first day in one funnel trap, in a few hours, not counting “‘repeats’’. Ticks, as reported previously, were again found on over twenty-five percent of this season’s winter resident Juncos. OREGON TOWHEES My work with this species received a rude check, when I was forced to give up banding them on account of continually finding tightened bands. Try what I would, nothing could be done to pre- vent this. Amongst several of the repeats whose bands were all right, were many old friends that had wintered and nested in 1924, and are again repeating the performance this year. They are very local. WEATHER Records of weather are kept in connection with banding, and I find it probable that on Vancouver Island in spring, migration starts—as shown by the movements of sea-birds—and residents mate and start nesting, with the first northerly wind after or about the lst of March. A few days after this, should the wind “back” to west of north, migration receives a check, and earlier than usual, large numbers of “partial migrants” are noted, as Goldfinches, Robins, Bluebirds, etce., being brought to earth by an unfavourable wind. If, however, the wind swings round to east, re- maining so for over twenty-four hours, the same thing occurs, but in addition, a southerly, or return movement may be looked for. It may also be. found that the abundance or scarcity of many species during migration, is, to a great extent, governed by the direction and force of the wind. During spring migration, storms from the south- east may bring fairly common and even uncommon species in fair abundance, whilst the more common species may appear scarce. Anti-cyclonic weather (which is usual here during both the spring and autumn migrations), on the other hand, may mean that birds will appear in their usual numbers on their usual dates, it being a normal migration. SQUIRRELS EATING AMANITA MUSCARIA By W. S. ODELL, Ottawa, Ontario N the 9th of October of this year, when one expected to find only fall varieties of mushrooms, three fine specimens of the deadly Amanita muscaria, or Fly Agaric, in a vigorous condition, were found growing in a small wooded area at Green’s Creek, which crosses the Montreal road about eight miles from the city of Ottawa. On revisiting the place four days later no trace of them could be found. This was surprising, as the woods are a mile from the road November, 1925] on the banks of the Ottawa River, and unlikely to be visited by passers-by. On the 19th, in an open space of another small wood on the bank of the same stream, but south of the Montreal road, six specimens of Amanita muscaria were found in all stages of growth, from the unexpanded “but- ton” to one with a cap two inches diameter. This was an unusual find, as two severe frosts had occurred at this time, one going as low as 28° Fahr. To protect the specimens from more frost, a pine branch and some dried bracken were placed over them. On the 21st, two of the large specimens had disappeared, without the loose protecting covering being disturbed. Careful search at the base of a pine tree several yards away revealed many fragments of cuticle, about one inch long having the bright orange-red coloring and distine- tive scale-like markings of Amaniia muscaria; also many small broken fragments. On a limb of the same pine, within reach and carefully placed . was a portion of the cap, about one and one-half inch square, having the same coloring and scales with teeth-marks apparent at margins and under- neath. These fragments were all collected, leav- ing the base of tree clear. On the 23rd, another large mushroom had disappeared, also without the covering being disturbed. The base of the pine tree was littered with fragments as before, some of these from the cap, and two large pieces, one- half inch to one inch, from the base of the stem. This proved beyond a doubt that a rodent of some kind had been making meals from a mushroom that has been accounted deadly poisoncus to human beings, but that apparently caused it no injury. A short distance from where the Amanitas were found, a large colony of the beautiful coral-pink THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 181 mushroom, Hygrophorus pudorinus, or Blushing Hygrophorus, was growing. Some were just appearing through the leaves and pine needles and others at their full size, two inches across. Many of these showed signs of teeth-marks on the caps. On the trees surrounding the mush- rooms, five plants were placed in notches of limbs. On returning to inspect the Amanitas, these five had disappeared, and seven fresh specimens were inserted in branches and crevices of a stump in such a manner that wind would not blow them away. On the third visit, seventeen fresh speci- mens decorated the adjacent trees, causing them to appear like Christmas trees. Fifteen of these specimens were Hygrophorus pudorinus and two Tricholoma equestre. On my next visit only a few were on the trees, but the ground was littered with small fragments and with many eaten on the under side and margins of cap, leaving the stem untouched. Mushrooms are frequently found during the summer showing teeth-marks on caps; and quite often they may be seen securely fastened in the limbs of trees. Squirrels have been known to eat mushrooms, but the reason for temporarily storing them on limbs of trees is not apparent, since these mushrooms remained only a day or two in the trees and not sufficiently long to be preserved for winter use by drying. The fragments on the trees rule out field mice as culprits; hence, as no chip- munks were observed, but squirrels were many times seen in the vicinity, it may be taken for granted that squirrels ate from both patches of mushrooms. Possibly frost may have weakened the poisonous properties of A. muscaria, or squirrels may be immune to that specific poison. A FIELD WORK IN THE LOWER ARCTIC ZONE By JAMES C. CRITCHELL-BULLOCK PON a return to civilization from any enterprise in the less-frequented parts of have led us to centres of big-game and those regions appealing to the romantic sense of the popular mind, friends, relations and interested persons immediately clamour for some proof of those journeys more concrete than the proffered perusal of a journal, or the inspection of photo- geaphs. Material is demanded that appeals each to the individual or aesthetic sense. No matter which it be, the civilised or the un- civilised, average requests bear a decided resem- blance. Pout But considering the former instance. Generally speaking, the nature and intensity of the interest taken depends proportionately on two main fac- tors. First, did the traveller gain any notoriety or renown during his investigations? And secondly, did he bring back with him specimens or curiosities from the country in which he voyaged. In the first instance, the fact of notoriety will go far to replace the prestige lost for his unseemly lack of imaginative reasoning in not returning with full evidence of his work. But in the second, no matter how exact his descriptions and replete his journal, the facts of his failure to bring out representative collections, or a claim to notoriety, will lower his standing correspondingly with those who visit him for ‘enlightenment on various subjects. 182 I have seen this little tragedy enacted in no less than twenty different countries. And in this country more than any other, is it frequently apparent. No part of the continental world is as remote as the interior of Arctic and sub-Arctic Canada, principally on account of the scarcity of native inhabitants. No regions can compare with these for hazard of existence. No tropical country, central Africa, Tibet, Brazil, or Arabia present such difficulties to the individual naturalist as the Barren Lands of central northern Canada. Yet even in Canada herself, how few appreciate that fact. Indeed, I doubt not that the vast majority are but vaguely aware that 550,000 square miles of continental country lie north of us totally devoid of timber, and except for certain water routes, unpenetrated by man. In fact, to call for a discussion of this vast tract in average European society would serve but to herald a silence as complete as that follow- ng some dumfounding declaration of war. Notwithstanding that many biologists have con- ducted researches in the lower Arctic Zone, except for occasional gleanings from the stray inhabitants of the country, few winter observations have been undertaken at any time. Moreover, even to-day much information is required on summer subjects. Occasionally an amateur naturalist, or sports- man, visits the country. During the summer he proceeds apace, but in all probability makes no unusual discovery. Winter draws close and if he decides to remain, builds his camp somewhere in the timber, probably in the neighbourhood of Indians. Once again the results obtained do not come up to expectations either because of in- experience or the fact that he is working only where observations have been previously made. Expenses are high and unless he has unlimited private means, or is supported by some wealthy institution, a return necessitates the adoption of commercial trapping or trading as a means of re- imbursement, and thereafter his duties about camp are so manifold that intensive study is rendered impossible. Various residents of the country, such as em- ployees of the Hudson’s Bay Company have at intervals contributed much to the advancement of the science. MacFarlane is no doubt the most noted of these, but generally speaking the duties of their profession relegate them to life in the im- mediate vicinity of their posts or the sleigh routes. During the past year, I have resided entirely within the confines of what is generally termed the Barren Lands proper, and during the whole of the winter of ’24-’25 on no occasion made a return to the last woods. Whether I have succeeded in accomplishing what has hitherto never been THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX recorded I know not, but the experiences and the extreme difficulties encountered have caused me to conclude that I am justified in reproaching those who belittle the endeavours of the individual naturalist when he fails to contribute a certain amount of information, or provide the collections that would appear so simply amassed when account is taken of the investigator’s seemingly innumerable opportunities. Empirical knowledge of Barren Land winter life is essential before just conclusions may be drawn. Not as in lower latitudes, where porters, canoe- men, and general coolies are to be obtained for a few piastres or annas a day, assistance here is practically, if not quite impossible, to obtain unless it be imported at endless expense. Winter life resolves itself into a struggle for existence no matter how complete one’s equipment, or how well stocked with supplies. Portages are numerous, the summer season is limited, and with a minimum of paid assistance only a certain proportion of that stock can be brought up before the close of navigation. Thereafter, exceptional weather dis- turbances prevent but a very occasional return to the main base (distant perhaps two hundred miles), and that further governed by the success met with in obtaining sufficient fuel, for the number of sleigh dogs is kept rigidly at a minimum on account of the difficulty of procuring feed, the uncertainty of being able to do so, and the vast amount of time and energy expended in such attempts. Of wood there is none for fuel, it is reasonably certain that little enough can be obtained for building a winter house, much less caches, etc. Again, once the timber is left behind, and the mossy tundra country passed, the nature of the Laurentian Plateau is such that there are little or no peat bogs, or sod banks from which to cut bricks for constructional purposes. Dug-outs and holes in the sand eskers have to be adapted to these purposes. Subsidence is with difficulty provided against, and on occasions does occur, causing not only much labour, but often certain losses. Igloos are out of the question, principally because of unsatisfactory snow conditions, though they are constructed when possible for the dogs. It may be argued that during winter there is so little movement in the animal world that field work comes practically to a standstill. Such may be the case, but Fall investigations must be pro- gressed with to such a late date, and Spring so soon brings with it a return of life that continued residence is of great importance. In fact, I consider it essential if satisfactory records are to be compiled, and this applies equally to all branches of science which it is desirable to conduct November, 1925] in a:zone where travelling is necessarily confined to the few short months of Spring and Summer. -The Barren Lands are in urgent need of atten- tion. The establishment of trading posts along the coast and northwards on Hudson Bay, splitting up migrational movements, providing the natives with modern firearms and the means of penetrat- ing the interior further every year,is bound to have its effect. Some of the Indians that I have met tell me that they are at a loss to account for the scarcity or lack of game in certain districts, and my own observations lead me to believe that the unnatural innovations of civilization are steadily influencing conditions. Only those who have learnt to appreciate the country, vast inhospitable wilderness though it is, ean realize the pity of it. To imagine the caribou (Rangifer arcticus, R.) dispossessed of his magnifi- cent range, reduced from the glory of his massed grandeur to a few straggling bands, the sort of THE CANADIAN FIRLD-NATURALIST 183 ravenous wolves; the noble musk-oxen (Ovibos moschatus, Zm.) as a single vanguard standing stolidly rump to rump fighting off a pack of dogs, while some thoughtless sportsman hurries up to seal their doom. And the same with the other mammals. De- prived of their heritage as scavengers to these huge herds, they will mysteriously disappear, traps and poison will claim their toll, starvation the remainder. A sad picture indeed, but one that I trust will never find place on canvas. Howbeit the Barren Lands would repay field investigation, and I hope that sufficient interest will be aroused permitting work to be carried out on such a scale that that vast arena comprising almost a sixth of the total area of our country may be known and cherished by all Canadians as the world’s greatest game sanctuary. THE (BIRDS OF BIRD ISLANDS, NOVA SCOTIA By IVAN A. BAYLEY YING six miles off shore from Great Bras | d’Or entrance, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, is a little group of islands with an interesting bird population that seems to have escaped the attention of ornithologists. An houc’s journey by motor from Sydney will take us to our point of embarkation and from there look- ing to seaward and just northeast of frowning Cape Dauphin we see the Bird Islands lying out to sea in a long, narrow strip. When we near the islands we find that the south side is comparatively low, rising only some twenty or thirty feet from sea level, and at this side the island can be scaled at some points. On the other hand, the north side of the islands presents a sheer cliff of sixty to eighty feet, beneath which rises a great talus of the large, thick slabs of millstone— grit and soft sandstone—composing the islands. These are piled criss-cross in all directions. We land on Hertford Island. It is easy to land in fine weather among these ' rocks and to scramble over and under them, or to jump from ledge to ledge for a short distance. It is not possible to travel far along the shore in this way without again embarking to reach the next cove for there is no continuous beach to travel upon, but every here and there deep green waves roll right up to the cliff base. It is easier to watch all the performances in a six-ring circus than to observe all the bird happen- ings while we scramble along this rough shore line, which is flanked with tall perpendicular cliffs of sandstone that are whitewashed, in many places, with the droppings of the nesting sea-birds. The next or outer island is Hiboux, and on this is the revolving light which marks these rocks. It has an easier landing place than the first island because this is kept up by the lightkeeper. Along the cliffs of this island, conditions are similar to those on Hertford Island, the sea being dotted with flocks of feeding Puftins, Razor-bills, Murres and Guillemots, which may be seen in companies of from twelve to one hundred on the sea or flying in a dizzy maze backward and forward from their lofty little cliff dwellings. The large rock slabs and detached rock islets along the low southeastern side of the islands are used as a sunning ground for Puffins, Razor-bills, Guillemots and Cormorants. Here in the quiet sunny pools, the young birds learn to swim and to fish, while in the glittering summer sea, a few yards off shore, larger flocks of the older birds love to disport themselves. Some- times the low flat shelving rock, which here in some parts has been washed clear of turf covering, will appear like a patch of snow, being literally eovered by Terns. Quite a number of Guillemots, Puffins and Razor-bills nest along these low cliffs also, though the Guillemots seem to predominate. VEGETATION: On Hertford Island there used to be a few fair- sized spruce and fir trees with trunks about a foot inthickness. These are now dvad, but some wind- stunted spruce remain there, growing very thickly, thus supporting themselves against the violent sea 184 winds, and on this island there is ‘also a consider- able patch of a hardy, tough and thorny wild plum. The slope of the islands generally is south- easterly and consists of a regular grassy plain which is carpeted throughout with a very soft fine hay and in parts is thickly interspersed with straw- berries. In several places the turf along the upper edge of the cliff supports the thick, matted growth of the Common Juniper, which is a curious-looking creeping shrub, with a foliage closely resembling cedar. The wild blue harebell clings to some of the tiny rock crevices with a precarious foothold and a small patch of crowberry and another of bay laurel or waxberry about complete the vegetation INSECTS: A few potato beetles seem to find their way out here by flying across from the mainland and occa- sionally the brilliantly colored butterfly, Papilio brevicauda, is met with here, it seeming to be con- fined closely to sea islands along the coast. Mos- quitoes and black flies are also in evidence. BIRDS: (1) Gavia stellata. RED-THROATED LOON.—Im- mature birds, which are locally called “‘Corbrace’’, are occasionally found from October to December. There is no evidence that this species breeds here. (2) Fratercula arctica arctica. Purrin.—The Puffins are found roosting on ledges of the rock in small companies, darting in and out of their bur- rows or coming back from their sea fishing-grounds, which are within a quarter of a mile or so of the island. As they whirl in groups over our boat, their curious over-balanced or top-heavy appear- ance is noticeable and seems to be caused by the very deep, compressed, and brilliantly coloured bill. Their short tails and bright orange feet spread far apart and, placed far back on the body, give to this little bird an altogether unusual appearance, which brings forth many exclamations of mirth and interest. Once the young are hatched it is a curious sight to see the Puffins carrying in fish for them, for the fish hang cross- wise in the absurd-looking bill and are all spaced evenly apart. The Puffins and Razor-bills hollow out similar little nesting caves in the cliffs but the Puffins also occasionally excavate burrows along the edge of the soft turf covering the top of the islands. Puffins arrive at these islands during the last week of April or in early May and leave to- wards the last of August and, although the islands are only six miles off from the mainland, these birds rarely visit the main, but confine themselves very closely to the island preserves during the summer. There are certainly a thousand Puffins nesting here at present and it is said that in former years, say sixty years ago, they nested here in veritable crowds, associated with Razor-bills, THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST (VoL. XXXIX Murres, and Guillemots. That such a colony of breeding Puffins has persisted in Nova Scotia is unrecorded in the ornithological literature. Audu- bon (1840) says it bred commonly on the islands in the Bay of Fundy. H. F. Tufts (O. N. XXI, 1907, p. 94) records some few as breeding on Sea Island, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. H. F. Lewis, MS., states one pair used to breed on Sea Island, but that it has disappeared as a breeding bird and he knows of no record of its breeding there since 1912. H. Bryant (Proceedings Boston Society Natural History, VI, pp. 114-1238) visited Green Island, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, in the summer of 1856, and found oneegg. Hestates the birds are still quite abundant on the islands near Yarmouth. No doubt, as Dr. Charles W. Townsend says (Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, p. 89), “it is probable that a century ago the coast swarmed with these interesting birds.” (3) Cepphus grylle. BLACK GUILLEMOT.—This species nests commonly in the great jumble of rock slabs at the base of the cliff, more particularly towards the western half of each island, and on the high table rock between the two main islands The hundreds of them there make striking figures with their jet black plumage, white wing patches and scarlet feet. Some allow the boat to approach within a few yards before taking flight, but others leave their nesting ledges for the fishing grounds continuously. There are probably four hundred Guillemot nests on the islands each summer, but it is really very hard to estimate them, as several pairs nest in some of the crevices and many single pairs nest in odd crevices around the islands. Away from the most frequented breeding grounds these birds do not confine themselves strictly to the islands as do the Puffins, Murres and Razor- bills, but may occasionally be found nesting on the cliffs along the mainland coast. They remain on this coast in considerable numbers during the winter, being then in a garb of black or gray and white. The summer plumage of black with white wing patches is assumed in April and they repair to the isands to nest in May. During early April they are sometimes found with a peculiar mixed plumage of the familiar speckled hen or checkered appearance, which is caused by the mature or summer black plumage growing out through this light coloured winter plumage. At this time the white feathers are very loose and easily dropped. H. F. Tufts (O. N. XXI, pp. 236-9) records “Guillemots” nesting on Seal Island, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia; Bishop (O. & O., 1887, XII—2, gives breeding dates for King’s County; while Townsend (C. F.-N., XXXVI, 1922, p. 45) cecords eight or ten pairs breeding in the cliffs of November, 1925] Isle Haute, Cumberland County. Thus this appears to be far the most populous colony in Nova Scotia to-day. (4) Uria. MuRRE (Species ?).—The Murres are not as numerous as the Puffins and Razor- bills. Probably not more than a dozen pairs are nesting here now, though they are said to have been very plentiful in former years. They nest on the higher ledges, some fifty feet above the water. (5) Alca iorda. RAZOR-BILLED AUK.—Rows of Razor-billed Auks can be seen on the permanent cliff ledges, usually about half-way up the cliffs and mostly segregated towards the centre of each island’s high north side cliff, though some pairs also nest on the southeast side of Hiboux Island. These Auks sit like soldiers on parade and present gleaming white breasts, while the backs are black and the wings strikingly barred. Another prom- inent feature is the odd-shaped beak, which is compressed so that the widest part of it is from top to bottom, and there is a striking, clear-cut line of white on the side of the head. The Auks nest on the ledges, and hollow out small caves for themselves in the soft rock by dint of diligent pecking and scratching. As our boat comes up, one lone bird, that might have been a sentinel, is seen sitting on a ledge and then, springing with a jack-in-the-box expression, a companion will pop out beside him and the two will curiously gaze at the visitors. The new-comer will be followed by another until sometimes s2ven pop out of the little hole and sitinarow. This interesting occurrence can be observed in many other parts of the islands. The Razor-bills, locally called ““Tinkers” and “Turres’’, come to the islands in early May and leave towards the last of August. There are probably three hundred pairs nesting here. There does not seem to be any recent published record of this species breeding in Nova Scotia. H. Bryant found two eggs at Green Island, Yar- mouth County, Nova Scotia, and an adult female was caught by a partner—Cabot. This was in the summer of 1856. (6) Stercorarius parasitious. PARASITIC JAEGER. —An occasional visitor with the Kittiwake in October and November. (7) Rissa tridactyla tridactyla. KiTTIWAKE:.— Of common occurrence in October and November. (8) Larus marinus. GREAT RLACK-BACKED GULL.—This species visits the islands occasionally and if any are present these are usually to be found on the smaller islets forming the connecting chain between the two main islands. They do not breed here. (9) Larus argentatus. HERRING GULL.—Her- ring Gulls may be occasionally met as visitors to Tue CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 185 theislands. These breed in spruce trees at Morien Head, some forty miles away. (10) Sterna hirundo. COMMON TERN. (11) Sterna paradisea. ARCTIC TERN.—The graceful Terns nest by hundreds on Hertford Island and also on the high table islet between the two main islands, laying three to five beauti- fully mottled eggs in soft hollows which they have made in the fine dry grass. It is necessary to walk carefully in going through the Tern colony to avoid stepping on their eggs. One wonders how each bird can pick out its own little set of eggs from the array before us and from such a sameness of grassy surface. The Terns appear towards the last of May and most of them scatter in a general manner along the coast about the 10th to 20th of August, though a few remain at Bird Islands till quite late, but nearly all leave for the south during early October. There are probably more than one thousand pairs nesting at Hertford Island. (12) Oceanodroma leucorhoa. LEACH’S PETREL. —Leach’s Petrel breeds in large numbers on both Hertford Island and Hiboux Island, the birds making their burrows in the soft turf of the island tops wherever there is a little irregularity to give astart. For example, in an old stone wall made of loose flat stones, which have been gathered near the lighthouse on Hiboux Island, the burrows are very numerous. They are often found under stones generally, and particularly on the western end of Hiboux Island, where there is a break or fault in the rock formation. At this break the face of the turf covering offers the birds a splendid chance to burrow. They make a tunnel from one to three feet long and a single egg of creamy white appearance, generously spotted with small brown marks at the larger end, is deposited there. When a Petrel is taken from its burrow, it appears very stupid and if it is put down it will not fly but will crawl back into the hole again. The Petrels have an unpleasant habit of spewing nasty, ill-smelling, reddish fish oil over one’s hands. I am inclined to think that both sexes take turns at incubation, as I never found a burrow containing an egg or a young one in which there was not also a parent bird, and I have never found the two parents in a burrow at the same time. The young Petrels, covered with dark gray fluffy down, seem larger than their parents and are grotesque little fellows, for the down projects in tufts beyond the general covering at various parts of their body. None of the Petrels are to be seen in the daytime, but at night one can hear the shrill eerie cries from the islands and then their activities take the place of those of the Puffins and the other birds of the day- time. This species breeds in many suitable localities in the Province. 186 (13) Moris bassana. GANNET.—A few Gannets visit the islands occasionally. (14) Phalacrocorax carbo. COMMON CORMOR- ANT.—Common Cormorants nest on these ‘slands, seeming to mingle freely with the Double-crested Cormorants in matter of choice of nesting sites. It is thought that the nesting of this species is especially interesting, as it is believed that this is the only recently recorded breeding occurrence in the Province of Nova Scotia, and because careful — search has now revealed several statlons in Canada where this bird is still found breeding, recent authors to the contrary notwithstanding. In this connection, Macoun & Macoun, 1909, quote Downs as follows: “It also breeds on the coast of Nova Scotia’. These Cormorants nest principally on the higher ledges near the cliff top on the northern end of Hertford Island, sixty to eighty feet above the sea. Here the cliff is much whitewashed with the drop- pings. The nests consist of a flimsy collection of sea weeds placed on a narrow shelf and sometimes two or three are crowded together on the same small ledge. Here three to five long slim pale green eggs, much encrusted with lime from the droppings, are deposited. This limey coating is very uneven and on some eggs almost hides the real greenish color of the shell and gives the egg a rough appearance. It is not easily washed off. The Ravens often dash down and rob these nests of their eggs when the Cormorants are disturbed. These Common Cormorants are the most numerous in this colony and are distinguished by their whitish throats and white hip patches, and, with specimens in hand, by having fourteen fea- thers in the tail. There are many immature birds present from the year previous and at first these are somewhat confusing, but they can be distinguished by the greyish-white underparts. There are probably one hundred pairs of adult birds breeding here and as many immature roost- ing on the ledges or fishing around the islets. These birds scatter freely along the coast at the © various shag roosts after the breeding season is over and some remain on the coast and among the drift ice all winter. (15) Phalacrocorax auritus auritus. DOUBLE- CRESTED CORMORANT.—The Double-crested Cor- . morants probably comprise about one-fifth of the colony; the mature birds being distinguished on the cliffs by the orange-green throat coloring and the blackish crests on the sides of the head, and also by the absence of white patches on the hip. Specimens in hand show only twelve tail feathers. It is not easy to distinguish the immature birds of the previous season. In looking at these rows of Cormorants sitting on the top of the cliff like THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST > “‘~VoL. XXXIX rows of soldiers it is.odd to notice how they hold their mouths open as if panting for breath in the hot sunshine, but on examination of the beak it appears as if the nostril opening externally is very narrow and they can doubtless breathe more easily with the mouth open. It is believed that this is the first breeding record for the species in Nova Scotia and even records of occurrence are scarce. Townsend (C. F.-N., XXXVI, p. 44) found a few in summer at Advocate, Cumberland County. Mr. H. F. Lewis furnished me with a report which he con- siders credible, of the nesting of this species in Nova Scotia, although he has no personal testi- mony in this connection. Mr. John Crowell, of Seal Island, told Mr. Lewis in 1912, that the species formerly nested on a ledge near that island, and Mr. Wm. Archibald, of Antigonish, reported to Lewis in 1913 that these birds still nested at that time near the mouth of Antigonish Harbour. (16) Mergus. MERGANSER (Species ?).—Nest- ing on grassy slopes of the island. They lay ten to twelve eggs, usually placed under the thick scrubby spruce or ground yew bushes. (17) Glaucionetia americana. GOLDEN-EYE.— Common with the next species in mixed flocks from October to February. (18) Glaucionetta islandica. BARROW’S GOLDEN- EYE.—Common with the previous species in mixed flocks from October to February. (19) Harelda hyemalis. OLD-SQUAW.—This species, locally called ‘‘Cock-a-wee’’, is common throughout the fall and winter, departing for the north about the end of April. (20) Histrionicus histrionicus hisirionicus. HAR- LEQUIN DucKk.—Occasionally small flocks of from four to six individuals are found during November and December. (21) Somateria mollissima dressert. AMERICAN EmDER.—A common visitor in winter, remaining until April or early May. (22) Somateria spectabilis. rare occurrence in winter. (23) Oidemia americana. AMERICAN SCOTER.— Common near the islands in fall. (24) Oidemia deglandi. 'WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. —Common near the islands in fall. (25) Oidemia perspicillata. SuRF SCOTER.— Common near the islands in fall. (26) Erismatura jamaicensis. RupDY DucK.— Of occasional occurrence in October (27) Ardea herodias herodias. GREAT BLUE Heron.—A few of this species occasionally visit along the cliff base. (28) Pisobia minutilla. LEAST SANDPIPER.—A common migrant in August, occurring in flocks of from ten to fifty individuals. Kine EIpER—Of November, 1925] “ (29) Totanus melanoleucus. (GREATER YELLOW- LEGS.—A common migrant, August to October. (30) ‘Totanus flavipes. YELLOW-LEGS.—Com- mon migrant, August to October. (81) Actitis macularia. SPOTTED SANDPIPER.— Nests in grass slopes—three pairs noted. Hypothetical—Numenius ‘americanus. LONG- BILLED CURLEW.—Mr. Daniel Campbell tells me that occasionally they have seen on the island a . few very large curlew having a large bill. He knew them as ““Turkey Curlews’”. These large ‘‘Turkey Curlews” are also observed occasionally at Scatari Island, which is about fifty miles to the southeast of Bird Island, so the fishermen of Scatari tell me. They say that these long billed birds are not plentiful, but that occasionally a few appear in the early flocks of Hudsonian Curlew. The Long- billed Curlew is believed to have been common at Seatari in former years and I think that older residents would readily recognize it if a few appear- ed with the Hudsonian Curlew. If it should prove correct that they occur at Scatari now, I see no reason why they should not appear at Bird Island as Mr. Campbell believes to be the case. (32) Numenius hudsonicus. HUDSONIAN CUR- LEW.—An occasional migrant in August, occurring in flocks of from six to fifty individuals. (38) Aegialitis semipalmaia. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER.—A common migrant in August, occur- ring in flocks of from ten to twenty individuals. (84) Arenaria interpres morinella.: RUDDY TURNSTONE.—A migrant, passing through in flocks of from six to twenty in early August. (85) Halixétus leucocephalus leucocephalus. BALD EAGLE.—A lordly Bald Eagle can often be seen on one of the crags of the islands. (86) Corvus corax principalis. NORTHERN RAVEN.—A few Ravens nest on the cliffs and sometimes the birds become very bold, even steal- ing fish from the lightkeeper’s boat while he is tying the painter to the landing place. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 187 (87) Ceryle alcyon. BELTED KINGFISHER.—A few pairs nest here. (88) Powcetes gramineus gramineus. VESPER SPARROW.—Nesting on the grassy slopes—quite numerous. (39) Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. SAV- ANNAH SPARROW.—Nesting on the grassy slopes— quite numerous. (40) Spizella passerina passerina. CHIPPING SPARROW.— Nesting; quite numerous. (41) Junco hyemalis hyemalis. SLATE-COLOURED JUNCO.—Nesting on the grassy slopes—quite numerous. (42) Melospiza melodia melodia. SONG SPAR- ROW.—Nesting in the low stunted spruce—one pair noted. (43) Hirundo erythrogaster. Numerous. (44) Irodoprocne bicolor. Numerous. (45) Riparia riparia. BANK SWALLOW.—Nest burrows in the turf along top of cliffs—numerous. (46) Dendroica aestiva aestiva. YELLOW WARBLER.—Nests in the wild plum thicket—two pairs noted. (47) Dendroica magnolia. MAGNOLIA WARBLER. Nests in the wild plum thicket—one pair noted. Mr. Thomas Stevenson, the lightkeeper, is act- ing as an Honorary Game Officer and he has a pride in his birds, and I am sure will be glad to help visitors see them. The boat-man is a former lightkeeper, Mr. Daniel Campbell, of Great Bras d’Or. A visit to these little sea-girt islands, the home of hundreds of sea-birds, is well worth while and a study of their home life at close range will greatly increase interest in birds and their protec- tion. It is believed that there is considerable local demand to have this interesting bird life protected fully, perhaps by having the islands made a sanctuary. BARN SWALLOW.— TREE SWALLOW.— OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHINESE STARLING (ETHIOPSAR CRISTATELLUS) By R. A. CUMMINS RGENT demand for definite information regarding the habits of the Chinese Star- ing, so called, has prompted me to publish the following data: I had intended to leave this until a later date, when the results of the examination of a series of stomachs would show conclusively whether or not their presence in British Columbia was desirable. The results here shown are only to be taken as such part of a series ending with the year 1924, and the accompanying sketch indicates their furthest distribution at that date. The date of the arrival of this Starling (EF. cris- tatellus) in Vancouver is generally accepted as 1897. No actual record of their introduction is recorded, nor is the number liberated known. It is supposed that no more than a few pairs are the parents of the Vancouver colony. No trace of inbreeding with its resultant albinism has left its mark on the birds of to-day. About the time of the founding of this colony, large numbers of this 188 species were being imported into Kuropean coun- tries and sold by the trade name of ‘‘Hill Mynahs’’. Those sold in Liverpool, England, bringing about twelve shillings each. It is surmised, as there would be no demand for this species as a cage bird in Vancouver at that date, these birds had escaped from some ship, touching at this port or that some irate skipper had tired of his noisy passengers and put them ashore at the first port of call. Brooks gives the date as 1897, Kermode agrees with this; probably they are correct. It can hardly be conceded that such a conspicuous and noisy bird could live long in a city of a few thou- sand people, without drawing undue attention. One point I wish to note at this moment is the absence of literature on this species from the time of its introduction in 1897 until the year 1920, when Kermode wrote a short but admirable report on this Starling (Annual Museum Report, 1920— Page 20). At that time the Museum only pos- sessed three skins, and it was not until two years later that the first clutch of eggs reached that institution (Museum Report, 1922—page 11, presented by the writer). such a conspicuous bird, whose economic status is so much questioned, should be allowed a span of twenty-five years unprobed. Spasmodie complaints of cherry stealing and nest robbing were heard during that time, but the majority of people having no fruit to lose, looked on the new colonists as an acquisition. Possibly had these birds been dwellers on the farm rather than the city, more would have been noted of their habits in the earlier days. Arriving on the Vancouver waterfront, they established the first roost on the relief work under the cornice of the building at the corner of Cordova and Carrol streets. This roost is at this date the main resort. From this point they spread out each spring breeding, and for the main part returning with the advent of the fall rains, but in the outlying districts, smaller colonies have been founded. Dry roomy shelters are much to their liking and from the cornices, they serenade the assembled loggers and other out-of-works, who usually frequent this part of the city. This rabble of chatterings and whistling usually starts at daylight and is some- times carried into the night. The earliest starlings spent much of their time about the old court house grounds two blocks distant. The head of the statue of justice on the dome was a favorite perch so that any one viewing this could not but notice the birds. The movement of the invaders became as years passed more south and east, noticeably along the main highways. This one lot went to Marpole THRE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST It is remarkable that [VoL. XX XIX via Granville street; one to South Vancouver along Main and Fraser streets; and another to New Westminster along the new Pacific Highway. All nesting cavities along these routes were occu- pied by the advancing host, probably it was the younger birds that kept the lead. Birds collected on the outposts were usually of the previous year. ° Outside the city limits, conditions were ‘perfect; market gardens had sprung up on the flats; Chinese gardeners deposited heaps of manure all the year round, to which as offal feeders, they had always access. Just enough dead trees were left standing for them to nest in. Everything seemed suitable towards their increase. It is to be noticed that they followed the cleared land dependent of the hand of man. The dense forests of Point Grey and North Vancouver had no attraction for them. Their advance is certainly to the south. Those that might go north or east will surely migrate - before cold weather to the warmer coastal pro- vinces. In near zero temperatures the birds suffer and resort to the sheltered sides of manure heaps, chimneys, etc., and on wet days much of their time is spent under the eaves. The nesting of (E. cristatellus) occupies parts of the month of May, June and July, eggs being laid in early May. Quite a long period is passed bet- ween the arrival of the birds at the nesting site and the actual nesting. At this time, the vocal powers are stretched to the limit. Eggs are usually four, clear blue, deposited on a rude nest composed of coarse straw and feathers, a few primaries from a goose or chicken are usually added, and in most cases such things as blue bags, paper wrappers from candies, and pieces of rubber are to be found in and on the ground below the nest. It is not believed that more than one brood is raised ina season. Birds in the juvenile plum- age are rarely collected in late August. Birds in this stage have not the white tips on the tail extremities. The young on leaving the nest family groups are maintained, families joining together till on about the end of August, some of the flocks may number as many as fifty. During the heat of August, the warmer hours of the day are passed in the shade, the foliage of the Elder trees providing them with shelter, and the berries food. Unfit for human consumption, and not suitable as a sporting bird, it is seldom molested except in the fruit season when small numbers are shot in suburban gardens. A few birds are also taken by sharp-shin hawks. One interesting point in their nesting habits is the fact that in many cases when a pair of birds are taken from a nesting-hole, others will resort to it immediately. November, 1925] The writer collected some sixty birds from two stumps containing eight nesting holes in one sea- son Much stress must be laid on the fact that they do occupy the nesting sites of more useful birds. We have witnessed them throwing young tree swallows out of nesting boxes in the writer’s garden. The general habit seems to be to take and hold the site for at least a month before the actual nesting begins. It might be mentioned that they now nest as low as ten feet from the ground. This distance is considerably below that of the earlier nesting birds of ten years ago. An impression one gets is that there are more birds in the district than is actually the case. This is due to the fact that they are so noisy and frequent highways and public grounds, and they never feed long in one place. But should one put himself to the task of collecting any number of specimens, he will soon be convinced that instead of-hundreds only tens exist. From a few pairs in 1897, the colony now num- bers some six or seven thousand, being most numerous where they made their debut, and THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 189 perhaps spreading now at the rate of one mile each year in the enlargement of their range. Out- posts are now within three miles from the Inter- national boundary to the south. Evidently the starlings are omnivorous. Ex- tended investigations over a number of years prove conclusively that they are of no economic value to this province. Taking up work, which has been neglected in the earlier days, and which, in the hope of the writer, may not now be too late to be of value, arrangements were made with the Univer- sity of California, that the writer prepare and supply stomachs, and Dr. H. C. Bryant conduct the analysis. An average of ten birds per month for the last year have been investigated. The writer has also examined some dozens of stomachs, but owing to several deficiencies, it is not proposed to include these in the scope of this paper. The following is a brief review of the analysis to date. The series not being complete, no effort is made to arrive at the percentage on a quantity basis, nor will this be done till the monthly quota is materially enlarged. This is intended for 1925. RESULTS STOMACH EXAMINATION Ethiopsar cristatellus NUMBER OF CHINESE STARLINGS TAKING VARIOUS ITEMS OF FOOD. Month Number of Birds Grain and Fruit Beetles, Etc. Wirar chive ecaciets © sees sie cakan ac barnitee Meets wanes 3 costs What aoe A (Oatihulls) iis 4. cco ere Sees 1 (eaterpillar) : 1 (earth worm) PANU Meer ere. sisters aie Brees ac Sets a NO Fees Benda: «aan era Si(Gats) Poa se ey er er arene 5 (beetles or other insects) 5 (grass) VEcieroperer ate tee sata ehe sc sraretare, «, ates ces MO Cy cette ane A eee A (OALS) aR tere rae eel aA ee 7 (beetles and other insects) 3 (earth worms) RULER DS ecole aye veicicie. sie vaiareTeiaics LOR. seat heusinte aeleieca soe i (OATS) REI ee Cees eee 3 (beet.es and other insects) RI eReeNS ESS Eyre on. oteiala, Dee wee SSR Aas aeons 8 (fruits and seeds)............. 2 (beetles and other insects) CUP USt Rape Se oe Se NORA or Aiki heats aS 3 (Oats) eieptrnic seers ocr 6 (beetles) : 1 (fruit) 4 (Muscidae larvae) 3 (seeds) September............. CTO ats Rc Rannoteian seers GEES nc ola b ES SOG Oe eS 2 (beetles) 8 (Muscidae larvae) OCLOMETMyete eel niece te canoes ee AS ee eee 8 (oats and barley)............. 2 (beetles, etc.) 7 (Muscidae larvae) INovembenctre ct cc's ssi cs oe cee sce Qo rere hele rece ie hace ors A: (Oats) Feciewer eerste ake herein 5 (grass) DECEMBCT 5% resets seters 3 Div eal ofan (Ee sd OO ORO SDS ET COE RAPES OTT PEER 4 (beetles) 2 (Muscidae larvae) Identification of the beetles shows most of them to be dung and staphylinid beetles (Aphedius Sp.) from manure piles. Two species are common introduced forms. In one instance sap beetles were taken by a bird and in another clover leaf beetles. Of 86 birds, 38 had oats or barley hulls in the stomach; 12 had seeds; 20, grass and leaves; 14 fruit; 16, beetles; 26, insects of some kind; 7, Acrididae; 4, spiders; 21, Muscidae larvae or pupae; and 4, small earthworms. This part series of stomachs were taken in the one locality, many of them from the one position, in every case their known feeding grounds were avoided, birds being taken when coming in to rest or at the nesting sites. It being found that stomachs taken during the first hour of the day were invariably empty, no stomachs taken then were used here. Outstanding in the foregoing list is the number of birds taking oats. All of this is undoubtedly waste, as no oats or barley is cultivated within range and must have come from manure piles or around stables. Still, it should be remembeved that grains would form a large part of their diet when available, and that their colonising farm lands must be looked upon with grave fears. Not dwelling on the showings of fruit, it is well known that the birds do great damage to cultivated fruits; cherries, apples and black-berries suffer most; whole crops of isolated cherry trees often being taken. It may also be noted.that they seldom partake of the tent caterpillar nor the cut-worm in any of the stages; these insects being most destructive within their range. Being at the present time wholly dependent on 190 the hand of man for food, there is no reason why the Vancouver colony of starlings could not be exterminated. The annual loss in the economic value of the depleted native bicds must be great in this district; a district in which, owing to the depredations of insect pests, all fruit trees must be THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX sprayed. We need all our insectivorous birds and to these birds the starling is a factor, which is curtailing the increase of those that use cavities for nesting operations. The writer is convinced that we can and ought to get rid of this menace before it becomes too late. INTERESTING PHOTOGRAPHS OF NESTING WOODCOCK Natural Pose of Woodcock on Nest March 29, 1925 We stroked the Woodcock on back and then raised her head and she posed for a photograph. Note image of photographer in bird’s eye. Photographs supplied by W. T. Brown Westmount, Que. November, 1925] OFFICIAL CANADIAN RECORD In the following returns upon banded birds, it will be noted that some returns may be thought to indicate, from the date of capture, violations of the Migratory Bird Act cf Canada or the United States. The great majority of returns, which seem to indicate violations, are from birds accidentally caught in traps set for fur-bearing mammals, from birds caught in fish nets, killed by oil, or from birds found dead from unknown causes. Appropriate action has been taken in connection with the few returns which indicate illegal shooting. (Continued from page 171) RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1914 PINTAIL, No. 590, banded by Alexander Wet- more, at the mouth of the Bear River, Utah, on September 16. 1914, was recaptured near Expanse, Saskatchewan, on April 18, 1916. Reported in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1145, May 10, 1923. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1916 PINTAIL, No. 3748, banded by Alexander Wet- more, at the mouth of the Bear River, Utah, on August 20, 1916, was recovered at Estevan, Saskatchewan, about December 5, 1917. Re- ported in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1145, May 10, 1923. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1917 CROW, No. 23021 A.B.B.A., adult, banded by B. S. Bowdish, at or near Tabusintac, North- umberland County, New Brunswick, on June 22, 1917, was found dead at Paterson, New Jersey, on October 21, 1924. Reported in Bird-Lore, January-February, 1925. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1919 BLACK DUCK, No. 36997 A.B.B.A., banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on Sep- tember 12, 1919, was shot at Deloraine, Manitoba, on October 8, 1924. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED. IN 1921 HERRING GULL, No. 100.696, young, banded by Ernest A. Joy, at Little Wood Island, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, on August 18, 1921, was found dead in the same place it was hatched, on September 10, 1924. MALLARD, No. 37254 A.B.B.A., male, bauded by T. Brown, at a small lake near Whitefish, On- tario, during the spring of 1921, was killed at Whitefish Lake, Ontario, on October 6, 1921. BLACK DUCK, No. 4777, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 20, 1921, was shot in the southern part of James Bay, Quebec, about April 30, 1924. : BLACK DUCK, No. 37327 A.B.B.A., banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on Octo- ber .1, 1921, was shot on Hovey’s Lake in the one southern part of Indiana, on December 9, 924. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 4724, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on Septem- ber 16, 1921, was killed on Lake Traverse, Whea- ton, Minnesota, on September 16, 1924. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1922 COMMON TERN, No. 104,872, fledgling, _ banded by Edwin Beaupré, at a place three miles *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Canada. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 191 OF BIRD-BANDING RETURNS* from Kingston, Ontario. on July 14, 1922, was found alive at Stop 22, Manitou Line, near Rochester, New York, on August 13, 1922. The bird soon died. Reported in the Bulletin of the Essex County Ornithological Club, 1922. MALLARD, No. 102,505, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at Browning, Illinois, on March 8, 1922, was shot at a place twenty-five miles south-east of Camrose, Alberta, about January 25, 1925. MALLARD, No. 102,695, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at Browning, Illinois, on March 11, 1922, wesealed at Kennedy, Saskatchewan, on October MALLARD, No. 228,491, female, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 8, 1922, was shot on Point Pelee Marsh, Ontario, on November 5, 1924. MALLARD, No. 230,298, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at the Sanganois Club, Browning, Illinois, on November 20, 1922, was shot in the vicinity of Gull Rock Lake, Ontario, one hundred miles north of McIntosh, Ontario, on April 23, 1924. MALLARD, No. 230,410, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at Browning, Illinois, on November 22, 1922, was shot near Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, on October 9, 1924. MALLARD, No. 230,418, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at Browning, Illinois, on November 22, 1922, was shot at a place twenty-five miles south- oe of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, on October 24, 1924. MALLARD, No. 230,528, female, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at Browning, Illinois, on November 22, 1922, was caught in a muskrat trap in a creek near Lake Manitoba, Tautes Aides, Manitoba, on April 21, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 101,134, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 18, 1922, was re-caught at the same place on August 31, 1922, and was killed near Chicoutimi, in the County of Chicoutimi, Quebec, on July 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 101,195, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 24, 1922, was killed by an Eagle at Dahlgren, Virginia, during the months of January or February, 1924. The Duck was in a crippled condition when attacked. BLACK DUCK, No. 101,290, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on August 31, 1922, was shot on Grand Island, Mason County, Illinois, on October 380, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 207,549, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 12, 1922, was killed in the same locality during the fall of 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 207,626, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 18, 1922, was killed on the Savannah River, Georgia, about March 10, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 207,642, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 19, 1922, was killed in Lakes District Marsh, Lower Dorchester County, Maryland, on December 5, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 207,771, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 22, 1922, was caught in a trap on the shore of Ostobon- ing Lake, Quebec, during the month of May, 1924. 192 BLACK DUCK, No. 207,938, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 29, 1922, was shot in the marsh of Eastern Branch, Washington, District of Columbia, on January 5, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 207,942, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 30, 1922, was shot in the Township of Ops, Victoria County, Ontario, on September 2, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,432, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 7, 1922, was shot near Bloomfield, Ontario, on Sep- tember 1, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,441, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 7, 1922, was killed on the Tennessee River, near South Pittsburg, Tennessee, on January 27, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,483, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 8, 1922, was killed in Dorchester County, Hollands Island, Maryland, about January 25, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,488, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 8, 1922, was killed near Scottsboro, Alabama, during the month of January, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 102,991, banded by H. K. Job, at Amston, Connecticut, on October 10, 1922, was captured in the woods several miles north of Bergeronnes, Quebec, on May 6, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,522, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 13, 1922, was shot on Deals Island, Somerset County, Maryland, on January 19, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,588, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 20, 1922, was killed at Lloyds, Maryland, on January 8, 1925. : BLACK DUCK, No. 228,603, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 21, 1922, was killed in Westmoreland County, on the Potomac River, near Popes Creek, Virginia, on January 5, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 228,687, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on November 11, 1922, was killed on the Sassafras River, Kent County, Maryland, on January 27, 1925. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 207,575, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 14, 1922, was killed at Wakenda, Missouri, on October 3, 1924. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 207,588, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on September 14, 1922, was killed near Reserve, St. James Parish, Louisiana, on November 20, 1924. PINTAIL, No. 228,650, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 30, 1922, was shot on Lake Maria, Murray County, Minnesota, on September 30, 1924. PINTAIL, No. 228,652, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 31, 1922, was killed at Churchill, Manitoba, during the month of August, 19238. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1923 MALLARD, No. 102,132, female, banded by Allen Green, at Oakville, lowa, on March 21, 1923, was found dead in a slough with a rat trap on its foot in the north-east quarter of Section 28, Township 27, Range 13, West of the Second Meridian, Saskatchewan, during the first week of April, 1925. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX MALLARD, No. 297,710, female, banded by H.S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 21, 1923, was shot on the Cumbahee River, South Carolina, on November 27, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,375, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 6, 1923, was trapped in a muskrat trap on a river running through the north half of Lot 4, Conces- sion 6, Township of Bryce, Temiskaming, Ontario, on April. 13, 1925. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,391, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 8, 1923, was killed on Lake Washington, Washington County, Mississippi, on November 19, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,406, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 9, 1923, was shot on James Bay, near the Attawa- pia River, Ontario, during the month of May, BLACK DUCK, No. 297,415, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 9. 1923, was killed at a place ten miles east of Guntersville, Alabama, about five miles from the Tennessee River, on December 23, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,433, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 11, 1923, was killed at Highgate Springs, Vermont, on October 8, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,444, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 11, 1923, was killed at Back Bay, Virginia, on Novem- ber 18, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,445, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 11, 1923, was killed at Little Woods, Louisiana, on November 20, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,681, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 13, 1923, was killed in Sandy Island Bay, about forty- five miles north of Cape Charles, Virginia, on November 20, 1924. BLACK DUCK, No. 297,711, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 22, 1923, was killed at Oatka Creek, Wheatland, Coy of Monroe, New York, on November 28, 1924. PINTAIL (?), No. 297,377, banded by H. S. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, on October 6, 1923, was shot in Cedar Point Marsh, near San- dusky, Ohio, on November 15, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 109,951, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on August 1, 1923, was caught in a granary at Kenas- ton, Saskatchewan, on August 4, 1925. The band was removed and the bird released. RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1924 MALLARD, No. 203,854, male, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on February 26, 1924, was shot at Hastings Lake, Alberta, thirty-two miles east of Edmonton, on October 4, 1924. MALLARD, No. 232,692, banded by John Broeker, at Portage des Sioux, Missouri, on Feb- ruary 26, 1924, was shot at McNutt, Saskat- chewan, about October 16, 1924. MALLARD, No. 231,950, female, banded by Clarence E. Chapman, at Oakley, Berkeley County, South Carolina, on February 29, 1924, was found dead upon its nest in the north-east quarter of Section 34, Township 47, Range 31, November, 1925] West of the Fourth Meridian. Alberta, on May 138, 1925. _ MALLARD, No. 205,097, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 3, 1923, was killed in Indian Reserve No. 29, Town- ship 53, Range 6, West of the Second Meridian, Saskatchewan, on October 18, 1924. MALLARD, No. 296,789, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 22, 1924, was shot at Middle Lake, Saskatchewan, about November 20, 1924. MALLARD, No. 296,848, female, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 26, 1924, was caught in a rat trap in Sec- tion 1, Township 61, Range 26. West of the Third Meridian, twenty miles east of the Fourth Meri- dian, and one hundred miles north-east of Lloyd- minster, Saskatchewan, on April 25, 1925. MALLARD, No. 296,677, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 30, 1924, was found unable to fly in Section 7, Town- ship 40, Range 28, West of the Second Meridian, Saskatchewan, on November 29, 192-. MALLARD, No. 296,699, banded by L. V. Walton, at Cuivre Island, Missouri, on March 30, 1924, was shot at Balgonie, Saskatchewan, on September 17, 1924. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 193 BALDPATE, No. 202,942, male, banded by J. G. Cunningham, on Lulu Island, British Colum- bia, on April 2, 1924, was killed on Lulu Island Foreshore, British Columbia, on January 9, 1925. PINTAIL, No. 208,103, female, banded by J. G. Cunningham, on Lulu Island, British Columbia, on March 16, 1924, was killed near Cordova. Alaska, about October 23, 1924. Reported in Bird-Banding Notes, No. 14, April 15, 1925. CALIFORNIA QUAIL, No. 260,936, banded by G. D. Sprot, at Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on January 8, 1924, repeated on March 18, 1924, and was found dead near the telephone line in the same locality on March 22, 24. SCREECH OWL, No. 226,136, banded by D. A. Matheson, at Leamington, Ontario, on March 15, 1924, was found dead at Belles Point, on Lake rei short distance from Leamington, on June , 1924. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, No. 83,555, banded by R. H. Carter Jr., at Muscow, Saskat- chewan, on January 14, 1924, was accidentally caught and froze to death on January 24, 1924, in the same locality. (To be continued) NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS NOTICE OF MOTION TO AMEND THE CONSTITU- TION.—Notice is hereby given that the following resolution respecting an amendment to the Con- stitution of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club will be presented to the Annual Meeting of the Club, 1926, for such action as then may be decided. WHEREAS Article IV of the Constitution of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club as amended, provides that the annual membership fee shall be one dollar and fifty cents, and WHEREAS this fee has been found inadequate to meet the expenses of the Club in publishing The Canadian Field-Naturalist, the deficit having been made up by donations of money, sale of back Bepahers, and the use of interest on trust funds, an WHEREAS a slight increase in the annual fee would allow needed improvement in our publica- tion in the matter of quality of paper, illustra- tions, and in other ways, therefore BE IT RESOLVED that the words ‘one dollar and fifty cents’’ be deleted from Article IV of the Constitution, and that the words ““Two DOLLARS’”’ be substituted therefore. Hoyres LLoyp R. E. DELURY. Lymnexa (Bulimnxa) megasoma Say.—While at Cobalt, on September 24th of the present year, -an hour or two of leisure was utilized to visit Sasaginaga Lake, north-west of the town, in the hope that it would afford specimens of this re- markable mollusc, which, twenty years ago, was common in Cobalt Lake itself, but, unfortunately, not collected in quantity before the waters became defiled. : My expectations were more than realized. Large shells were to be seen on dense beds of a small-leaved potomageton in a sheltered bay, and several were easily secured. This, however, was but a prelude. In old prospect trenches, south- east of the lake, and parallel to the shore, the shell appeared in hundreds. They were not as large as those in the lake, being apparently produced from eggs of the pre- vious year, while the lake shells found were three to four years old; but they were in most cases more than 30 mm. in length, and in perfect condi- tion. Large suites were easily collected and are now available for distribution. L. megasoma is unique in the lymnzan phylum. No pond snail found anywhere resembles it in shape or approaches it in lustre and richness of colour. Its only rival in size and elegance of form is L. stagnalis as found in autumn in Brown’s Inlet, Ottawa, and elsewhere in the Rideau Canal. The types of megasoma now in the museum of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, were pre- sented in 1823 by Dr. John J. Bigsby to Thomas Say, the naturalist attached to Long’s Expedition. Say’s description appears on page 11 of the appen- dix to Keating’s Narrative and his figure on plate XV of the same work. The locality is stated to be “Bois Blanc Lake, N.W.T.”’ This lake, as I am informed by Mr. Douglas, of the Geographic Board, is in the Rainy River District, and is now known as Basswood Lake. While stagnalis is found circum-boreally in Asia and Europe as well as in America, megasoma ranges only from Central Canada northerly and westerly as far as the Nelson and through the Northern United States from Lake Champlain to Minnesota, with a few outliers 194 southward in Ohio and Iowa. Near Ottawa it has been found sparingly in but two localities— in Meach Lake, north of the Tilley Cottage, and in the McGoey pond, east of that lake. An im- mature shell from Meach Lake, which I presented to he U.S. National Museum at Washington is remarkable for having a broad, spiral band on the body whorl. Whiteaves has recorded the species from a pond on Nuns’ Island, Montreal, and there is an old record somewhere by Bell of its occur- rence at Hawkesbury. I have found it in the Georgian Bay, in Lake Temagami, and elsewhere northward, but never until recently in quantity. Its occurrence in waters so easily accessible as the Cobalt Sasaginaga Lake (there are many lakes so named in Canada), is of importance owing to the rarity and beauty of this unique species.— F. R. LATCHFORD. ROBINS EATING SALMON FRY AT ANDERSON LAKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA.—Salmon of several species spawn along the shore of Anderson Lake in certain gravelly reaches where seepage occurs, while similar locations lacking this condition are ignored. The eggs are deposited in nests, roughly eighteen inches in diameter, which have been scooped out by the male fish. After the eggs are fertilized, these nests are covered level with the surrounding lake bottom. Spawning takes place in the late autumn when the lake level is relatively high and later on, when the water recedes, portions of the spawning beds are left high and dry as far as surface water is concerned. But the seepage through gravel and sand, which attcacted the fish to that particular spot, keeps the eggs moist and prevents freezing. It frequently happens that when fry emerge the nests are some distance from the water so there the small fish remain, heads close to the surface of the gravel, until liberated by the rising water. In early spring these nests may easily be located through the actions of Crows, Blackbirds, Robins and Varied Thrushes in rolling aside the loose gravel to reach the fry below. Some nests which have been thus des- poiled are marked with bied droppings and so made conspicuous. The above information was submitted by Mr, Aiexander Robertson, who was in charge of the Dominion Fish Hatchery when I visited Anderson Lake on May 11th, 1921. It was then too late in the season to make exten- sive observations, the bird migration being prac- tically over and most of the salmon nests covered by the rising water. At that late date, also, insect life was sufficiently abundant to offer counter attractions to the birds referred to. The only salmon nest located contained approximately 200 Dog-salmon fry; this was partly uncovered and THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX kept under observation for several hours. During this time only one bird appeared—a Robin. He hopped into the centre of the nest and fed eagerly on the small fish, seizing them by the middle and swallowing them head first.—J. A. MUNRO. MEADOWLARK AT ENGLEHART, ONTARIO.—On May 31, 1925, while travelling north on the T. & N.O. Railway to Cochrane, a singing Meadowlark was heard by L. L. Snyder and the writer at Engle- hart, while the train was stopped there. Engle- hart is about 120 miles north of North Bay. This seems to be the most northerly record in Ontario for Sturnella magna, although it will probably be found as far north as Cochrane, where suitable open country and farm-land occurs.— JAS. L. BAILLIE JR., Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, Toronto, Ontario. ABNORMALLY LARGE CLUTCHES OF EGGS OF SHORT-EARED OWL (Asio flammens).—I have had the pleasure, during the present breeding season, of inspecting the nests of seven pairs of Short-eared Owls. Each nest contained the unusually large number of nine eggs. In past years, six eggs is the largest number I have seen. The present year has also witnessed a very large increase in the number of Short-eared Owls nesting in this district, and this increase has occurred at a time when the Short-tailed Field Voles have been unusually plentiful. Have readers of the C. F.-N. in other parts of western Canada noticed a similar increase in numbers of birds and eggs?—T. EH. RENDALL. HARRIS’S SPARROW IN CASTOR, ALBERTA, Dis- TRICT.—On May 15th, 1925, while working in the field, I saw a small bird skulking in a pile of brush. Following my usual custom, I walked across to investigate and found, to my surprise and delight that it was a male Harris’s Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula). I shot the bird and sent it to Prof. Rowan, University of Alberta, for identification and preservation. Unfortunately, the hot wea- ther and the delay in the mail resulted in the bird being spoiled—T. E. RENDALL. NOTES OF INTEREST FROM CASTOR, ALBERTA, DISTRICT.—LEWIS’S WOODPECKER (Asyndesmus Lewist).—On May 7th, 1924, I observed two Crows harassing a smaller bird which resembled very much the European Jackdaw. Two days later I again saw this bird. this time at close quarters, and at once realized that it was a strange Wood- pecker. I shot the bird, which was sent to Ed- monton for identification and proved to be a female Lewis’s Woodpecker. LAZULA BUNTING (Passerinc amena).—On November, 1925] May 26th, 1924, I shot a male Lazula Bunting. The bird was alone and feeding on the seeds of Lamb’s Quarter, by a roadside. PINE WARBLER (Dendroica vigorst)—On June 5th, 1925, accompanied by. Prof. Rowan, of the University of Alberta, while searching a poplar bluff, on my farm, for Warblers, our attention was attracted by a strange song. The singer was eventually shot by Prot. Rowan and proved to be a male Pine Warbler. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 195 VARIED THRUSH (Ixoreus nezvius nevius).—A male in fine plumage was shot by..me on.Septem- ber 11th, 19238. The bird was. hopping and scratching on the ground under a small group of Poplars. ADDITIONAL NOTE ON LEWIS’S WOODPECKER.— On May 9th, 1924, I saw two of these birds to- gether and watched them for about an hour—T. E. RENDALL. Lectures and Demonstrations—Sixth Winter Session, 1925-6 Tas NATURAL HrsTory Socrery or MANITOBA. Oct. 5th—General.......... Sectional Demonstrations and Social.................... Oct. 12th—Entomology...... How Insects are Controlled by Birds.................... W. D. Bird, B.Se. Oet. 19th—Botany..... 0.8. s iprestrysine Manitobarmernycccte ae eee ee tee nee oe Prof. F. W. Broderick Oct. 26th—Ornithology....... Further Light on the Crow and Magpie.................. V. W. Jackson, M.Se. Nov. 2nd—Geology......... HVOluUbiOnian duGeology ater ia soe a Ree er ee Seen ears A. H.R. Buller, Se.D. Nov. 16th—Entomology...... IBCeStan Ge Wasps ie Be ees cy Nace oie o eosne Tone ec chee Ferris Neave, B.Sc. Nov. 23rd—General.......... Fur-Bearing Animals of Manitoba.....................- V. W. Jackson, M.Se. Nov. 30th—Ornithology...... Five-Minute Sketches from Members’ Note Books........ TOE O Ad ase St i ake eee ret Natural History Survey of Vic. Beach................... By Members. TO eye, TAF ae eae Sri eee a Natural History Survey of Vie: Beaeh’. 2.2.52. .225.0 506. Jan. 4th—Geology.......... Mhe:LiurejofPrecious Stones... c.ssene cee eee esas R. M. Haultain. RUearIep OMG Ves os Focic ova crete the L. C. Smith insure long life, light & touch and easy operation Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Systems for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes Lowe-Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers The Crabtree Co. | Artists and ie Designers -BLUEPRINTERS ENGRAVERS COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS : PHOTO: _ LITHOGRAPHERS 228 Albert Street ‘ Ottawa, Oa =a par |COAL“* tro | "BEST. QUALITY LOWEST PRICES | 46 Sparks St.—Phone Q. 461 : a ce | OTTAWA — ff Geo. E. Preston & Sons 3 MERCHANT TAILORS PT Meek es Chis We make everything we sell and guarantee everything we sell 217-219 Rideau treet, Ottawa Br. Have, 6. Me€thinney Dentist to certain of the _ cognoscents 262 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA Rerioee Queen 2438 Ree re 35; 3H Woe SEY OD See ay Sz apd x ae ee as | DECEMBER, 1225 Wiel. i Voht f s iis mu \ ey { hha 9 ISSUED JANUARY 21, 1926 Entered at the Ottawa Post Office as second-class matter _ THE OTTAWA FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB Patrons: cs THEIR EXCELLENCIES THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND THE LADY BYNG OF VIMY i VEE: ee aan ane ah oe lan Eresident: 1G. A> MILLER, { N70 D2 aa (Vid x HANS a * 1st Vice-President: : NorMAN CRIDDLE. 2nd Vice-President: E. M. KINDLE. Secretary: ; Hon. Treasurer: ae J. F. WRIGHT, B. A. FAUVEL, — 148 Third Ave. Ba _ 321 McLeod St., Ottawa, Ont. Ottawa, Ont. Additional Members of Council: W. T. Macoun ; Miss M. E. Cowan; C. M. STERNBERG; H. I. SMITH; P. A. TAVERNER; EF. SAPIR; W.J. WINTEMBERG; R.E. DELURY; ARTHUR GIBSON; M.O.MALTE; R. M. ANDERSON; H. Grou; Miss F. FyLEs; C. B. HutcHines; CLypE L. Patcu; H. M. Ami; D. Jenness; H. F. Lewis; Hoyves Luoyp; Frits JOHANSEN; ANDREW HALKETT; C. E. JOHNSON; G.R. Wuite; E.G. WuiTe; G. A. MacDonaLp; A. G. Kincston; NORMAN LEACH; Mark G. McELHINNEY; V. W. Jackson; R. O. MERRIMAN; W.N. KEeLLy; C. H. SNELL; J. R. MCLEOD; JOHN Davipson; L. McI. TERRILL; R MEREDITH: FRANCIS KERMODE; R.B.THOMSON; EH EH. PRINCE Acting Editor: . : | G. A. MILLER, Normal School, Ottawa. \ ! ~ Associate Editors: CG RP SAPIRG Satis cea kd ee wns Cie Anthropology - A. G. HUNTSMAN..... Ca Marine Biology ; INO. UATUTES sees Pe AS arene Botany P. A. TAVERNER................Ornithology FR ATCHFORD. (0. 5s i ae Conchology EK. M. KINDLE................Palaeontology WE Vi OAV ILETAMS ho Can rn ee ek Geology R. M. ANDERSON...... Bio Vek. .....- Zoology ARTHUR GIBSON................ Entomology - GLYDE L, PATCH 5. os 2 aoa Herpetology CONTENTS can ace : PAGE ‘Nesting of the Canada Goose in a Tree. By D. W. Davison.................. Pr Bird-Banding in Townsend’s Labrador. By Harrison F. Lewis...... tiga tensa ele ee ‘inatats, OB tone Changes in the Status of Certain Animals and Birds During the Past Fifty Years in Central Alberta. Evan) By Frank L. Farley...... ete kas BAe cow scr S occa syns: TINE 55S a Le ee cee Bird-Banding Report for May-June-July, 1925. “Mavisburn” Banding Station, Millbay, V.I., BC MBy GUD: Sprote ne ein Toe Bn PGR IR CUVEE At a ha 2 Wat ae eee Fishes ane Marine Invertrebrates Collected During the Cruise of the ‘“‘Arctic”’ in 1923. By Frits GWANSEN: 2s. r ose ens mane Renee Eat Se Ee Gatate bee Goais ety nee: wea NaS EIEN Liao ss Some Notes on Canada’s So-called Wood Buffalo. By Fred. V. Seibert........ eke Fe eae ee 20am Pennsylvanians Visit Jack Miner’s Sanctuary... 2.0.2.0 0 1. cece eee ees i ey FL) Additional Returns from Birds Banded in 1924............0 0... e cece eee tence eee eee sees 206 — Notes and Observations:— Tufted Titmouse at Hamilton, Ontario. By R. 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Rankin, Ltd. : & = : BUILDERS’ : + AND ¢ : _¢ : HOME HARDWARE 3; 3 = 3 ~ <2 Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers The Canadian Field-Naturalist _ VOL. XXXIX OTTAWA, ONTARIO, DECEMBER, 1925 No. 9 NESTING OF THE CANADA GOOSE IN A TREE By D. W. DAVISON HHILE I was on pa- trol in the central part of Buffalo Na- tional Park, Wain- | wright, Alberta, early in May, I found a Canada Goose sitting upon an old Hawk’s nest in one of the Aspen trees of a deep coulee. The nest was about twelve feet from the ground. A . good photograph was taken of the bird on the nest, but when a closer approach was attempted, the bird flew away toa small pond about a quarter of a mile off. It was possible to get a look into the nest by lashing two ladders, and it was seen to contain six eggs just peeking through a lining of fluffy down. I wondered how the young goslings would get down from the tree, and decided to watch as closely as possible to learn what would happen. The nest was visited on Sunday, May 31st, on which occasion the goose flew off honking loudly, circled overhead and returned almost im- mediately to the nest. She was followed by her mate and together they made a terrible fuss, being evidently much annoyed by the disturbance. The ladder was put up again, and it was found that two of the eggs were chipped and that all would probably be hatched in the course of a few hours. Early: on the morning of June 1st, I returned and, using a stiff northwest wind as protection, approached the nest from the southeast, lying in wait all forenoon, but the Goose never stirred. The Gander came flying to the nest several times, and at about 11.30 A.M. he discovered the watcher and immediately indulged in a most remarkable exhibition, thought to be meant to warn his mate of the presence of an enemy. He would sweep down within a few feet of my head, honking frantically. As it was seen that further attempts to observe events in the Goose family were next to useless, I returned to camp and brought back some visitors with me. As | the party approached the , nest, the mother Goose flew off and the tiny heads of the young birds that were then looking over the edge of the nest could be seen from the ground. The par- ent birds remained on a knoll, about 150 yards off, honking loudly, and finally both of them flew back to the nest. The mother Goose landed on the ground below the tree and the other circled overhead, sweeping down occasionally on the watchers in an un- friendly manner. The mother Goose called softly and a little bit of fluff tumbled over the side of the nest and fell lightly to the ground. The youngster then scampered unhurt under her wing for protection. She called again and the process was repeated until the fifth, which proved to be the last of the flock of fledglings, was safely established under her wing. Then she started heading the parade for the nearest water-hole, which was a quarter of a mile off. She would go ahead, calling quietly, and the little ones toddled after her. The male did his part by limping off in the opposite direction, apparently carrying a lame wing. He finally returned - to the. family and brought up the rear of the procession. They reached the slough safely and the family was reared there in due time. More than two hundred visitors to the park saw the mother bird sitting on its nest in the tree. It is recognized that it is not always possible to tell the male from the female Goose, but in record- ing this story I have put down the male and female according to what I felt was the truth, and I feel sure there has been no error. When the pair are together the male and female are easily 198 distinguishable, and especially so during the hatching season. At this time the male bird’s plumage is very sleek and orderly, while the female has a rather bedraggled look, since she plucks THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST most of the down and feathers from her breast to line the nest. different that I usually have no difficulty in dis- tinguishing one from the other, even at a distance. The voice of the two birds is so BIRD-BANDING IN TOWNSEND’S LABRADOR By HARRISON F. LEWIS A paper read at the 43rd Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologist Union, New York, Nov. 10-12, 1925 N 1915, that well-known and enthusiastic bird-bander, Dr. Charles W. Townsend, of Boston, sailed in a small schooner along the southern shore of the Labrador Peninsula from Natashquan to Bradore, investi- gating the fauna and flora of that little-known region, questioning and photographing the natives, and bathing daily in the icy waters of the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. In attaining the objects of his journey he did not hesitate to navigate the narrow channels among the islands and to pene- trate to the inner recesses of the bays, and he has published a delightful and well-illustrated record of his labors. From this we learn that he it was who inaugurated bird-banding on this coast by banding a number of young Great Black-backed Gulls, from which at least one return record was obtained. We consider that this alone—for it was an epoch-making event, as all bird-banders will agree—fully justifies the term, ‘““Townsend’s Labrador’, which appears in the title of this paper, and which may be expected to supplant the older term, ‘‘Audubon’s Labrador’, because Audubon failed to band any birds here and didn’t like the place, anyway. It has fallen to our lot to continue the work which Dr. Townsend so nobly began, and some of the most interesting features of it will be described forthwith. This is partly because every bird- bander writes a paper like this, and partly because some of these experiences differ from any which we have seen described elsewhere. Picture to yourselves a large rock or small island of smooth reddish-brown granite, peopled by a thousand Double-crested Cormorants and giving forth a vile odor, which only the naturalist prefers to the smell of an automobile exhaust. The sea being smooth, we are able to land and walk among the basket-like nests, taking great care not to slip and fall in the paste underfoot. Crowds of black young raise their heads all about us, their long necks and distended pinkish throat- sacks giving them the appearance of snakes or of beautiful flowers, according to your fancy. The older, feathered ones edge away and may take to the water, but the younger, woolly ones generally "AS 5 5 ESR i a aE ata al ice atl December, 1925] hold their ground, screeching shrilly, and are fair game for the bird-bander. Many of them, in an excess of politeness, deposit their most rec: nt meal before us. Disregarding this, we feint at the nearest bird with our right, seize its head with our left, and are soon engaged in putting a numbered bracelet about its massive leg, while its great, flabby webbed foot holds our left little finger in friendly fashion. A large colony of these un- lovely, though uninjurious, birds is a real test of bird-banding enthusiasm. Their relatives, the Common Cormorants, nest on a dizzy cliff where most of their nests are in- accessible. Three young were banded here in 1923 and, as one of these birds happened to be shot during the following winter, this species has the proud record of 333% of returns from the birds banded. Few other birds can equal this. Young Gulls of various species still form the majority of the birds banded along this coast, as in the days when Dr. Townsend first used them for this purpose. They are very attractive and interesting creatures, especially before they are feathered, and they are comparatively easy to catch, as they generally prefer hiding to running. The species banded in Townsend’s Labrador include the Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Kittiwake. Imagine your- selves on another rocky islet, enveloped in a soft, damp fog, which shuts out all the great unfriendly world beyond the islet and leaves you quite alone with fifty young Great Black-backed Gulls and one thousand million black flies and mosquitoes. You do not have to search for the insects—they will come to you at once and you are sure to notice them—but to find the huge young Black- backs you must look carefully among weeds and tall grass and piles of boulders. When dragged out to be banded, they may be gentle as lambs or may bite and scratch like the Old Nick, according to their several dispositions. Generally all the young birds in one family act more or less alike. If you leave them on their backs, with their feet pointing skyward, they may remain there quietly for a long time—perhaps till a fond parent des- cends to invert them again. An ordinary island covered with well-grown young Black-backs lying in pairs and trios with their legs in the air and their eyes all straining to keep the visitor in sight presents a curious spectacle—and one not found everywhere. : Of the splendid Caspian Terns this region can boast only one small colony of about thirty pairs. It is delightful to band their trim children, while the strong, sharp-billed parents hurl themselves repeatedly at one’s head, like fire-tipped missiles from the vault of heaven, and come within an ace, apparently, of tearing one’s eyes out. Few can THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 199 regard their spirited onrush without flinching. It is better to disregard them and keep one’s eyes on the young bird in the hand, but one cannot help hearing the unfriendly remarks they make, which seem strangely harsh for so fine a bird. These islands have another feathered inhabitant whose appearance is equally pleasing and whose voice is even more weirdly coarse, namely, the Red-throated Loon. It is characteristic of most lovers that they try to make their voices as pleasant as possible, but the sounds which are produced by Red-throated Loons at courting time are such a medley of squawks and howls and un- nameable noises as to give the impression that a very dance of the devils must be in progress. Soon after hatching, their young leave the nest for the small pond beside which it is situated, and there they must remain until they can fly. They can be caught, however, by means of a net or seine, which should be five or six feet wide and forty to sixty feet long, with floats along the upper edge and weights along the lower. This seine must be operated by two persons, one on each side of the pond. The members of the Alcidae which nest along this coast are particularly interesting subjects for bird-banding, as the adult birds may often be caught in their places of incubation. Let us go for a few minutes on a bird-banding expedition to St. Mary Islands Bird Sanctuary, which consists of six rocky, moss-covered islands eight miles out at sea. Here is the home of thousands of sea- birds, including Guillemots, Auks, Puffins, and Murres. Each one of us armed with a long slender stick, selected from the driftwood, we sally forth to where these birds have their homes, some times under boulders, sometimes in large or small clefts in the solid rock. The Guillemots are delightful little birds, like black and white butterflies; although they are of gentle disposition, they sometimes peck harmlessly at our hands when they are being banded. We poke them out from their refuges and band partly grown young more often than adults. The Razor-billed Auks or Tinkers are creatures of quite different mettle. When disturbed in their homes, they display the ferocity of despair. Their powerful, sharp-edged mandibles are capable of inflicting painful wounds and are used with speed and skill. Woe to the bird-bander who thrusts a bare hand carelessly under a rock, thinking to grasp a Guillemot or a Murre, and finds an old Tinker there! When finally caught, these Auks growl like angry dogs and never cease to watch for a chance to strike a blow for freedom. Most of the Auks banded are adults. The Puffins may look like clowns, but they are quite the most resourceful and attractive of the 200 Alcidae of this region, and the most dangerous when attacked. They have long, sharp, curved claws, with which they scratch like cats, and the great power with which they can close their big scarlet beaks enables them to cut a finger to the bone when they get a fair chance. Unlike the growling Auks, they seldom say anything when cornered, but in silence make the most of their opportunities for escape. with a self-reliance and resourcefulness which command our admiration. We do not destroy their burrows in order to band them, but capture only those adult birds which we find incubating like Auks, under boulders and in crevices in the rock. But far the most exciting bird-banding on these favored islands is the banding of adult Common Murres. These birds are gentle, with beaks too weak to bite us, and they are confiding to the point of foolishness. They are incubating in great clefts in the bed-rock, where sometimes hundreds are gathered in one place. The floor of their cavern is covered with an inch or two of greasy filth, with here and there shallow pools of water, and on the rocky walls unpleasant little bird-ticks lie in wait. Werush up to the entrances at top speed, while the Murres ery nervously, “Arruhk! arruhk!’’, and each one tries to shift away from us without relinquishing its grasp on the single great egg between its feet. Who will lie flat in the rich ooze and crawl in to catch what Murres he can and drive the others out? A hardy volun- teer plunges in, and to him the world becomes a wild confusion of whirring wings and flying mud, while to us, without, he himself is nothing but two upturned boot-soles and a series of muffled ejacula- THE CANADIAN FIELD NATURALIST [VoL. XXXIX tions. But we have no time to look at him, for the Murres, abandoning their precious eggs for the moment, come pouring out from the rocks everywhere. They are slow and awkward in taking flight, and yet adept at dodging and.we rush wildly about, seeking to accumulate an arm- ful of them. Be careful not to get in the way of those which do succeed in flying. Last summer an assistant held out his hand to stop such a Murre and was struck fairly in the back of the hand. That long, pointed beak, with all the speeding bird’s momentum behind it, made a great round, red hole, and would have penetrated quite through the hand if the bones had not been too close together. Five or six Murres make a comfortable armful, as long as you do not let them stab your chin. A bright assistant has been known to pile the Murres like cordwood in a corner of the rocks and try to hold 25 or so of them there with his two hands until they were wanted. But the birds objected and insurrection after insurrection caused the escape of many, and the black flies came and fed upon him while his hands were fully engaged until he streamed with gore. O Science! What sacrifices are made in thy name! But all the discomforts are forgotten and we receive the rich reward that sooner or later comes to every bird-bander when we seize the last - Murre’s leg to band it and find there a grimy ring reading: ‘‘204713 notify Biol. Surv., Wash. D.C.” Banded two years ago in this same crack in the rocks! Let the welkin ring! And then let’s move on to the next crack. CHANGES IN FHE STATUS OF CERTAIN ANIMALS AND BIRDS DURING THE PAST FIFTY YEARS IN CENTRAL ALBERTA By FRANK. L. FARLEY iT HAS been my fortune during thirty- three years residence in Alberta, to gather a considerable amount of information regarding conditions relating to the fauna of the partially wooded prairies of Central Alberta as they existed half a century ago. In addition to being of general interest from an historical view- point, an element of scientific value should also be attached to the information gained. The writer cannot vouch for the absolute accuracy of all the statements presented here, but he believes the narrators who made this article possible, had no object in being other than truthful in telling of their experiences, and it is certain that their stories are consistent. It is regrettable that so much latitude as to dates of events has been necessary, but under the circumstances this was inevitable. Many of the famous hunters of the plains have passed beyond, and only rarely is one of these old- — timers to be found, who can tell of conditions as they existed here over fifty years ago. There was a vast difference between the ordinary buffalo hunter and the native who was a keen observer of nature in its varied forms. Had these latter been privileged in their younger days to have associated with present-day students of science, they would have become naturalists in the truest sense of the word. Matthew Cook and the Dumont brothers, Peter and Pascal, were children of nature, all natives of the west, and as such made the observa- tion of wild life part of their every-day interests. Matthew Cook was of Scotch origin with a slight admixture of native blood in his veins. He was born about the year 1840 and lived for many 4 December, 1925] years on the shores of Buffalo Lake, forty miles south of Camrose. The Dumonts were of French- Canadian stock and they as well had a share of the sturdy native blood. They were born between 1850 and 1860, and lived all their days along the Battle River. All three carried on freighting as their occupation, which took them many times over the old trails, between Winnipeg and Edmon- ton. Trading and trapping were included in their activities. Fortunate indeed was the man who, in the years when they had retired from a strenuous life that required a stout heart and hard muscles, could draw these men into a conversation about their experiences along the trail, or on the hunting ground. From them a valuable record has been obtained by way of narrative, but it is significant that the accounts of all three coincide, although given at different times. According to them, Buffalo were plentiful in all the country on both sides of the Battle River until 1875, after which their numbers decreased rapidly. The valley of Meeting Creek, now a prosperous farming district, was a favorite hunting ground for the shaggy monarch of the plains, and it was there that the Blackfeet Indians from the south, and the Crees from the north, met in their regular hunts. The creek derived its name on that account. At times when no buffalo were to be found in the valley, the hunters would move on thirty miles to the south-east, where they were always reasonably sure of locating them along the Red Willow Creek. Elk, or Wapiti, could be found in considerable bands where there were large areas of wooded country, and surrounding Little Beaver Lake there are still evidences of such areas. The Dumonts claimed that many elk were killed there until 1880. At the present time, elk are not uncommon in a strip of country near the old settlement of Victoria north of the Saskatchewan River, but they have disappeared from the south side of the river. Black-tail Deer were everywhere numerous in the woodlands. They have become very rare during recent times in this territory, but with a closed season for five years, the writer believes much of the country would be re-stocked with this fine animal. A hunter named Joe Monroe is said to have killed fifty-five deer during the winter of 1893-94, along the Red Deer River, just south of - Buffalo Lake. The Dumonts killed moose in the vicinity of Dried Meat Hill, twenty miles south-east of Cam- rose. Moose were commonly taken in the timber- ed country surrounding the Hay Lakes, where an _ occasional one is still reported. Antelope ranged the open country north of the Big Bend of the Battle River about 1880, and the last of these animals observed there were a male and female in .1903, about four miles west of Flagstaff Hill. THE CANADIAN FIELD NATURALIST 201 Prairie Dogs were fairly common in that same territory at that time, but disappeared shortly afterwards. Timber Wolves were common when the buffalo inhabited the country. The Dumonts tell of poisoning seven wolves, three red foxes and five coyotes in January, 1872, on Dried Meat Lake, where the creek of the same name empties into the lake. They used for their purpose the carcass of a horse which had been treated with strychnine. For the pelts of these animals they received the following prices: wolves $3; foxes $1; and coyotes, 50 cts. each, all in trade. Grizzly Bears were occasionally met with in the coulees along the rivers, before the country was settled. Between 1870 and 1880, the Dumonts, with their uncle, dug out a den of four two-year- olds, and an aged Grizzly, all of which they killed. This happened late in the fall at the junction of the Beaverdam Creek and the Battle River. About fifty miles north of this location there is a creek known as Grizzly Bear Coulee, and this, without doubt, received its name through some connection with the Grizzly. Caribou were not known so far south, but Pascal Dumont saw them north of the present site of St. Paul de Metis, about midway between Frog Lake and Lac la Biche. The writer found caribou antlers, apparently very old, some distance north of that vicinity in 1919. The appearance of the Magpie in large flocks in this section of the province during the last ten years has been the cause of much discussion. Until 1907, they were unknown north of the Red Deer River. In October of that year the writer observed a pair about six miles north of the town of Lacombe. The following year magpies were reported from the vicinity of Bittern Lake, and from then on, they have gradually become more numerous, until at present they are our commonest winter resident bird. Magpies were very numer- ous during the buffalo days, when flocks would follow the hunting parties and live on the refuse of the hunt. The bird was considered a great pest in those times on account of its habit of alighting on horses, with saddle or harness galls, and per- sistently pecking at the sores until the death of the animal resulted. The only means of saving the horses when thus attacked was to stable or blanket them. With the extinction of the buffalo, the magpies disappeared and the present incursion is the first which has occurred since that time. Passenger Pigeons were very common and appeared in immense flocks up till about the year 1875, when they gradually disappeared. The Du- monts often trapped them, as they were con- sidered a great table delicacy. Pigeon Lake was named due to the large numbers of these birds 202 which nested in the woods surrounding the lake. Little wonder, then, that this country of rich grasses and vetches, watered with many lakes, rivers and springs, was known throughout the world as a hunter’s paradise. All kinds and con- ditions of men from every part of the world struggled against terrible odds to gain admittance. Some were successful, others, who could not sur- mount the difficulties, turned back. With the coming of the railroad, a change took place, and THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX one of the most fruitful agricultural portions of the American continent has replaced what is generally accepted to have been the world’s greatest hunting ground. This transformation has been gradual and perhaps unnoticed by many of the hardy settlers who have earved comfortable prairie homes on its rich surface. But the animals which were hunted, partly for food, for their furs, or for sport, have gone, and their passing has almost been complete. BIRD-BANDING REPORT FOR MAY-JUNE-JULY, 1925 “‘Mavisburn’’ Banding Station, Millbay, V.I., B.C. By G. D. SPROT HAT I have good reason to believe that Crows have cleaned my station of nest- | lings for this season may be judged by the following remarks. Since first taking up banding, I have always had one or two pairs of Steller’s Jays nesting on the place, and, excepting on one occasion, I have had no reason to suspect them of breaking up the homes of other birds. The occasion I write of was in 1924, when, on visiting a Band-tailed Pigeon’s nest for the second time, I found the egg removed, the Jay’s nest being close to it. In 1924, excepting February, my record banding months were June and July. This year, from the numbers of old birds collecting nesting material, it certainly promised to be an equally good season. However, few birds were seen after the second week in June, and until this was written, August 8th, only three young Juncos together with the male parent, visited the traps. Californian Part- ridges, which do not start incubation until the end of June, a pair of Russet-backed Thrushes almost as late, and such birds as Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Seattle, and Western Winter Wrens that build in holes, however, raised their broods as usual. From the above it will be seen that on account of those only that build in holes, and those that hatch late, having raised their young there is little else for me to do but lay the blame of the scarcity of other and more common species on the heads of the Crows, especially also, after the experiences I am about to relate. i In September, 1923, I banded a Steller Jay, 260,902. Constantly repeating since, and nesting close by in 1924, I considered his record sufh- ciently interesting to warrant his preservation. This year he selected a site for the nest about a hundred yards from the house, and all went well until the young were almost fully fledged—young Crows were on the wing by the first week in May. Late on the evening of the fourteenth of May a terrific disturbance in Jay-land called for an in- vestigation, but, being almost dark, only the shadowy forms of two very agitated Jays could be made out close by the nest. The nest was well hidden in a thickly branched fir tree surrounded by others equally thick, and over-shadowed by a large maple, and this was the first knowledge I had of its whereabouts, so that I could hardly be accused of giving away its position, nor could a Crow have located it except by a careful hunt through the bushes. On visiting the spot-on the morning of the fifteenth, a young Jay was found dead not far from the nest. It was thought wise to examine the nest, and on finding four young still unhurt the opportunity was taken to band them. Within an hour, further shrieks from 260,902 and his mate sent us dashing off again in the direction of the nest, where we arrived in time to see a young Jay being carried off in the bill of a Crow. Although closely pursued by the Jays as well as ourselves, the Crow showed no signs of labouring under the weight of the spoil, but the density of the underbrush hindering its flight, the Jay was dropped, falling into the stream, where it was drowned. No further attack was made that day, but on the following day, May 16th, an 8.0.8. from _ 260,902 got me out of bed at 5 A.M. and, armed with a gun, I was soon in the thick of it. This time the raid was made in force and two Crows were secured before quiet was restored. It was not thought advisable to visit the nest, but it was watched from a distance and about 11 AM., 260,902 then on guard on the top of the maple tree, signalled down that the advance guard of the Crow army was in sight, and he pluckily sallied forth to meet them. Picking up the gun, I was in time to keep off the marauders; one nose- December, 1925] dived, the remainder scattered back to the sea shore. On the 17th, I had made arrangements for a mountain climb and did not return until late in the evening, and as all seemed quiet around the nest on the morning of the 18th, the nest was examined and one dead Jay was all that was found. The parents were still present, but being kept on guard, probably this young bird was starved. I hoped that the Crows would now leave us in peace, but late on the same afternoon a Crow was seen silently making its was towards the nest but, seeing me approach, it broke covert, making a fourth dead Crow. On the 19th, Crows were constantly seen hunt- ing through the underbrush, and one being seen on the lawn, a Lutescent Warbler’s nest on the edge of it was inspected, which had newly hatched young the day before; it was empty. I am well aware that the Jay wears no halo when it comes to egg-lifting, but the damage done by the Jays in this area is naught as compared to the Crow, nor does the Jay make a business of nest hunting as does the Crow. Whilst beating THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 208 up their “‘game’’, Crows are very stealthy in their movements, flying low over the bushes, almost “creeping” through the air. Settling every now and then, they appear as if listening, when woe betide the young that call for food. On the 20th and 21st I watched Crows systematieally beating up and down through the woods on a broad front, and there was no doubting their intentions. So silently did they move along, that despite the fact that the Jays were very much on the alert, a Crow would often reach the nest unperceived by them. One could not but admire the plucky efforts of these Jays to protect their young, nor could one but enjoy watching 260,902 as a Crow dropped to the gun, show no sign of fear at the report, but slip from his perch on the top of the maple tree and, with wings closed, dart past like a Kingfisher in an endeavour to strike its enemy before touch- ing the ground. It is very noticeable that Jays are taken little notice of by small birds, all feed together amicably at the traps, but the appearance, or even the shadow or notes of the Crow has the same effect as would those of a hawk. Sufficient proof surely. FISHES AND MARINE INVERTEBRATES COLLECTED DURING THE CRUISE OF THE “ARCTIC” IN 1923 By FRITS JOHANSEN HFORE Mr. J. D. Soper, who, as natural- ist, was attached to the staff on board the C.G.S. Arctic on its cruise in the eastern part of the Canadian Arctic in 1923, left on the trip, I supplied him with instruc- tions and equipment for the collecting of fishes and marine invertebrates, when opportunities presented themselves. Considering that the main purposes of the cruise were non-biological, he did very well indeed; and besides a number of plants, mammal and bird skins and Eskimo specimens, he also brought back in the fall, some fishes and marine invertebrates, secured by plankton-hauls from the ship, and by shore-collecting. These latter I received for the purpose of sorting them out and having them identified by specialists, determining the fishes myself. (A detailed des- cription of the fishes will be found in my account of the fishes of Arctic America, to be published in Rep. Can. Arct. Exped. 1913-18, Vol. VI, Ottawa.) Of the invertebrates, only the Crustacea and Pteropods have so far been identified, and there- fore, there will be further notes on the others. The determinations follow:— PTEROPODS (Identified by Dr. W. H. Dall, U.S.N.M., Wash., D.C.) jaa ee eee col (1) Strait of Belle Isle (off Point Norman, Newfoundland), July 16th, 1923, Surface (water- temperature 40°F.): 3 Clione borealis, Phipps. (2) Davis Strait, 50 miles south of Disco Island, W-Greenland (on the meridian of Disco), about Lat. 68°N., July 29th, 1923, Surface (water-tem- perature 42°F.): 1 Clione borealis. (8) Melville Bay (Baffin Bay), about 35 miles south of Cape York, N.W. Greenland, lat 75°N., long. 47°W., August 4th, 1923, Surface (water- temperature 41°F.): 2 Clione borealis. MARINE COPEPODS (Identified by Prof. A. Willey, McGill University, , Montreal.) (1) Point des Monts, N. side of Gulf St. Law- rence, Que., July 11th, 1923, Surface (water- temperature, 45°F., air 46.5°F.): 1 Psamathe longicauda Phil. (immature). (2) Attached to floating algae (Fucus and - Ascopnyllum) in Davis Strait, lat. 68°N., long. 55°W., July 25-26, 1928, surface (water-tempera- ture, 46°F.): Several Halithalestris cront (Kroyer) (females with eggs). (3) Attached to floating Fucus in Davis Strait, about lat. 65°30’N., long. 55°W., July 27th, 1923, surface (water temperature, 44°F.): Several Hali- thalestris croni (females). 204 SCHIZOPODS (Identified by W. L. Schmitt, U.S.N.M., Wash., D.C.) (1) From stomachs of two Rock-Cods (Gadus ogac Rich.), Godhavn, Disco Island, W. Green- land, July 30th, 1923: Several Mysis oculata (Fabr.). AMPHIPODS (Identified by C. R. Shoemaker, U.S.N.M., Wash., D.C.) (1) Locality, etc., as Marine Copepods (2): Two Euthemisto sp. (2) Davis Strait, lat. 68°N., long. 55°W., July 26, 1923, surface: One Gammarus locusta (Linn.). (8) From stomachs of Sculpins (Myoxocephalus groenlandicus), Gready Island Harbour, east coast of Labrador (lat. 54°N.), July 19th, 1923: Gam- marus locusta and Pseudalibrotus litoralis (Kroyer). (4) Locality, ete., as (3); but from stomach of Gadus ogac: Caprella septentrionalis, (Kroyer), Gamarellus homari (Fabr.), Pseudalibrotus litoralis, Metopa sp. (5) From stomach of seulpin (Oncocottus quadri- cornis), Ponds Inlet, N.E. side of Baffin Island, Sept. 1-2, 1923: Pseudalibrotus litoralis. (6) Locality, ete., as Schizopods (1): Caprella septentrionalis. DECAPODS (Identified by M. J. Rathbun and W. L. Schmitt, U.S.N.M., Wash., D.C.). (1) Locality, etc., as Pteropods (8): One Hymen- THE CANADIAN FIELD NATURALIST [VoL.: XX XIX odora glacialis Buckh. (female with half a dozen, deep-rosa eggs). (2) Locality, ete., as Amphipods (8): coarctatus Leach. (8) Locality, etc., as Marine Copepods (2): One zoea-larva of Decapod (crab?). FISHES (Identified by Frits Johansen, Ottawa, Can.) (1) Antlered Sculpin (Gymnocanthus [Phobetor]| ventralis Reinh.): a 22 mm. long post-larva from stomach of Gadus ogac, Godhavn, Disco Island, W. Greenland, July 30th, 1923. (2) Four-horned Sculpin (Oncocotius quadri- cornis, Linn.): a 20 cm. long female with eggs, from Ponds Inlet, Baffin Island, September 1-2, 1923. (8) Great Greenland Sculpin (Myoxocephalus groenlandicus Cur. and Val.): two females, 31 and 29 cm. long, and two males, 27 and 29 cm. long, all from Gready Island Harbour, Labrador, July 19th, 1923. (4) Rock-Cod or Greenland Cod (Gadus ogac Hyas - Rich.): a 40 cm. long male from Gready Island Harbour, Labrador, July 19th, 1923; and two 33 and 34 cm. long males from Godhayn, Disco Island, W. Greenland, July 30th, 1923. Mr. Soper went again north with the Arctic in 1924, and remained in Baffin Island, to return to Ottawa in 1926. There is therefore every reason to expect still more valuable collections, also in the line of fishes and marine invertebrates, as a result of his more prolonged stay in Arctic Canada. SOME NOTES ON CANADA’S SO-CALLED WOOD BUFFALO By FRED. URING the summer of 1922, I had the pleasure of exploring that area lying between the Peace River, Lat. 59°N. and Great Slave Lake, Lat. 61°N., from the Slave River west as far as Buffalo Lake. In this region are found to-day (1500 to 2000 or more) the only remnants in a wild state of the millions of buffalo (Bison Americanus) which a few decades ago roamed over the great central plains of North America. That these animals have existed in these latitudes from early times and in considerable numbers is evidenced by the reports of practically all the early explorers: Hearne, 1772, Mackenzie, 1789, Harmon, 1808, Franklin, 1825, and many others. All bear wit- ness to the fact that most of this northern country was once inhabited by numerous herds of buffalo as far north as Slave Point on the north shore of Great Slave Lake. The name “wood buffalo’ leads the observer to expect a type of animal somewhat different from V. SEIBERT the plains buffalo. Nevertheless they have the same conformation, the wood buffalo, however, being larger and darker. They are without doubt superior in size, weight and stamina to any other herds now existing. These differences may be accounted for by the fact that they have always been wild, and also because of the shelter and good feeding conditions within their range. A specimen of wood buffalo, now mounted and in the museum at Calgary, weighed, when killed, 2,402 pounds. Samuel Hearne’s notes of the buffalo he encountered south of Great Slave Lake and east of Slave River in 1772 are worthy of note in this connection, ‘They are of such amazing strength,” he writes, “that they frequently brush down trees as thick as a man’s arm; and be the snow ever so deep, such is their strength and agility that they are enabled to plunge through it faster than the swiftest Indian can run on snowshoes.’’ Even when walking with that deliberate and apparently slow tread which is their peculiarity, December, 1925] the speed of these ponderous animals is most deceiving. A man must run to overtake them. Excepting during the rutting season, these animals display a gentle, friendly and curious but not particularly timorous nature. When roused, however, to a fighting pitch, they become exceed- ingly dangerous, rushing at the enemy with irre- sistible force. Nevertheless, their first impulse on being disturbed is to run, which they do with remarkable rapidity. In some cases, they do not stop until they are-at least out of hearing and sight. Others will run merely for fifty or one hundred yards and then stop at the edge of the range of visibility. In these cases, their curiosity overcomes their fear. They face in the direction from which they came and sniff the air for a scent. If they do not scent anything they will often circle until they do, when they will go as fast as ever. The wood buffalo’s sense of hearing does not appear to be acute, neither is his eyesight good. He depends for his protection on his keen scent and on his superior size and corresponding ability to defend himself when forced to doso. His sense of smell is particularly keen. At different times buffalo were observed taking notice of tracks of man and horse a day or two old. On a couple of trips in one locality in the range where the buffalo were numerous, it was later observed that a num- ber of the herds in that district left for a new area. Many of these animals never saw man or horse on these trips but had scented the tracks soon after we had passed and, as a result, had moved to other parts. During the summer, they are found in herds, usually of from twelve to fifty animals, and quite often singly or in pairs. These herds are com- posed of the females, calves and younger animals and are accompanied by one particularly large bull who appears to be the leader. This leader, in every case observed, was a majestic, ferocious looking animal, far exceeding the average in height and size. Due, no doubt, to the presence of the females and younger stock, the herds are of a more timorous and restless nature than the individual animals. The individual animals and even pairs during midsummer are practically _ always bulls and are seldom difficult to approach unobserved. They frequently are found lying down during the warm part of the day when it is quite possible to get within twenty yards and in some cases much closer. One animal was ap- proached to within seven yards, while another was met on an abrupt bend in the trail at five yards and still another at three yards. The general attitude of the individual animals and pairs appears to be that they have little to fear, which goes to show that they are seldom disturbed. THE CANADIAN FIELD NATURALIST 205 The habits of these creatures are. remarkably regular. They generally frequent the same places at similar periods of the year and usually travel the same trails in going from one place to the other. Unquestionably the wood buffalo is with- out a peer as a trailmaker. I have yet to see a human trail locator who can surpass him in this respect. As this is a quality he holds in common with his brother of the prairies, there is little wonder that many of our national highways follow the paths first laid down by the buffalo. In almost every respect, his habits are similar to the buffalo of the plains. He delights to roll, which he does in wallows similar to those of the plains. These are places which he has cleared of all sticks, roots and sod or leaves. He particu- larly loves to roll during July and August, when this gives him relief from the flies. Later, when the flies have gone, he still takes his occasional roll, but he uses these wallows quite extensively for his daily sun-bath and momentary snoozes. Most of these wallows are just large enough for a buffalo to roll in, and yet not a few are large enough to accommodate a whole herd. These later resemble cattle-pens on our western ranches. One such wallow was over six acres in extent. It is perhaps unnecessary to state that the buffalo’s main article of food is grass. He does, however, at times browse on the leaves of the willow and small poplar and occasionally during the winter he will eat caribou moss and the moss hanging from spruce trees. During the spring and summer they seek the dry uplands while in the late fall and winter they subsist on numerous grassy sloughs in which the rank slough grass grows to a remarkable length, often over six feet long. When this is covered with snow, the wood buffalo, like his brother on the plains, “noses” it away even when it is four to six feet deep, as it so often is in that latitude. The habitat of these animals may be described very briefly as of two kinds. One portion, the summer feeding-ground, is a country of sub-surface drainage, limestone overlying beds of gypsum. In certain parts this sub-surface drainage is on such a scale that it may truly be called a country of underground rivers. The beautiful Nyarling as its name in the native tongue implies, flows for eight or ten miles underground. Numerous other streams exhibit the same peculiarity. Many sink holes, some of them sufficiently large to hold a city block, scattered throughout indicate that this sub-surface drainage extends over a wide area. In sharp contrast to this type of country is another type which covers a large area. In this portion, drainage is conspicuous by its absence 206 Numerous grassy sloughs and swamps abound. On the border line between these two types of country are to be found many salt springs. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VOL. XX XIX Wood Buffalo Park, established December, 1922, contains 10,500 square miles and includes all of the known habitat of these animals. PENNSYLVANIANS VISIT JACK MINER SANCTUAKY OME fifteen years ago the conservationist sportsmenofHssex County, Ontario, were first advised by Dr. W. T. Hornaday, of the steady progress being made by the conservationists of Pennsylvania. On April 4, 1925, forty-two of Pennsylvania’s conservationists, many of them grey-haired pioneers in the work, arrived at Kingsville, Ontario, the chief attraction being a visit to Jack Miner, and the Geese on the Miner Sanctuary. Mr. Manly Miner was master of ceremonies, and Dr. R. D. Sloane, of Leamington, was official photographer for the party. The first event was a trip to the shores of Lake Erie by motorbus. Unfortunately the two thou- sand Whistling Swans that had lingered in the vicinity for three weeks and more had left the day previous, their signal for departure seeming to be a northeast blow. The trip to the lake was not in vain, for more than four thousand Canada Geese occupied the sandbar which lies about four hund- red yards off shore in Lake Erie. The party then went to the Miner Sanctuary, where it was estimated five thousand Geese were feeding in the ponds at the rear and nearly three hundred remained in the front pond. In carrying on motion picture photography, the party found that sixty people could stroll within fifty feet of these Geese, and what was stranger still, that the birds would not fly when cornless cobs were tossed among them. After fifteen or twenty minutes of such friendly intercourse, the Geese left for the rear ponds. Other points of interest included the tree planta- tion, where Bob-white finds winter shelter, the great Goose trap where the Geese are caught to be banded, and the great flocks of Geese on the rear ponds. The birds took flight, but did not go away, merely hovering in the air two hundred feet above their human friends. As soon as the people withdrew the Geese alighted. The story was also told of the six captive Whistling Swans that have been brought back to health and strength after their perilous trip over Niagara Falls two years ago. As the Geese left to spend the night on Lake Erie, according to their usual custom, the party of visitors proceeded to dinner at Kingsville; and there, Mr. Borland, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the visitors, presented Mr. Jack Miner with a purse of two hundred dollars to assist in his work of feeding and protecting the Geese. The Pennsylvanians visited the Miner Sanc- tuary again the next morning at five o’clock, when they viewed the flight of ten thousand Geese com- ing in for breakfast. At ten o’clock the party of visitors left Kings- ville for home, having first been impressed by Mr. Miner with the desirability for a winter Sanctuary for these birds in North Carolina. The Essex County conservationists were indeed happy to have had these gentlemen visit them if only for a day, for we have always felt a bond of sympathy with Pennsylvania, especially along conservation lines. The visitors roundly applauded the work for wild life conservation done in Essex County and approved of the splendid co-operation with the Dominion Advisory Board on Wild Life Protec- tion, and the Dominion and Provincial Game Departments. The advances made should aid in bringing, for Canada and Essex County, improve- ment in the supply of wild life, and consequently. ‘better sport for now and the future. More power to our friends from Pennsylvania, and may they long work with us for better wild life protection on this continent. ADDITIONAL RETURNS FROM BIRDS BANDED IN 1924 In the following returns upen banded birds, it will be noted that some returns may be thought to indicate, from the date of capture, violations of the Migratory Bird Act of Canada or the United States. The great majority of returns, which seem to indicate violations, are from birds accidentally caught in traps set for fur-bearing mammals, from birds caught in fish nets, killed by oil, or from birds found dead from unknown causes. Appropriate action has been taken in connection with the few returns which indicate illegal shooting. (Continued from page 193) HERRING GULL, No. 236,752, banded by Geo. W. Luther, near DeTour, Michigan, on *Published by authority of the Canadian National Parks Branch, Department of the Interior, Canada. July 4, 1924, was killed at the Great Whale River Post, Hudson Bay, Quebec, during the fall of 1924. HERRING GULL, No. 321,027, banded by F. C. Lincoln, at St. James, Michigan, on July 18, 1924, was found dead on Bead Island, north shore of Lake Superior, Ontario, on September 29, 1924. COMMON TERN, No. 270,811, banded by W. E. Hastings, in Huron County, Michigan, on July 13, 1924, was killed at Sarnia, Ontario, on September 8, 1924. COMMON TERN, No. 265,931 banded by E. Beaupré, on Salmon Island, Lake Ontario, Ontario, December, 1925] on July 19, 1924, was found dead on the same island on August 19, 1924. COMMON TERN, No. 265,944, banded by E. Beaupré, on Salmon Island, Lake Ontario, Ontario, on July 19, 1924, was found dead in Fire Island Inlet, Long Island, New York, on August 27, 1924. COMMON.TERN, No. 265,946, banded by E. Beaupré, on Salmon Island, Lake Ontario, Ontario, on July 19, 1924, was found dead on the shore of Nest Lake, Prince Edward County, Ontario, about September 1, Weal COMMON TERN, No. 265,947, banded by E. Beaupr*, on Salmon Island, Lake Ontario, Ontario, on July 19, 1924, was found dead on the same island, on August A: 1924. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, No. 232,010, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Last Moun- tain Lake, Saskatchewan, on July 1, 1924, was Killed in the same vicinity, on July 27. 1924. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, No. 232.050, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Last Moun- tain Lake, Saskatchewan, on July 1, 1924, was killed ata place five miles south-east of Van Buren, on Flat Rock Creek, Arkansas, on November a 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,101, female, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. “Anne, Alberta, on July 1, 1924, was shot near Gaston, Oregon, on Novem- ber 9, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,104, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 12, 1924, was shot at the same place, during the month of October, 1924. MALLARD, No. 309,006, juvenile, banded by R. H. Carter Sr., at Muscow, Saskatchewan, on July 13, 1924, was shot at Spirit Wood Lake, North Dakota, on November 5, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,105, female, banded by © Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, ’ Alberta, on July 14, 1924, was shot in the same locality, during the month of October, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,108, juvenile, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 16, 1924, was shot at a place four miles north- west of Onoway, Alberta, on September 24, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,109, juvenile, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 16, 1924, was killed at a place sixteen miles south of Rosebud, South Dakota, on November 2, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,110, female, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 16, 1924, was shot in the same locality, during the month of October, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,118, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Sta. Anne, Alberta, on July 17, 1924, was killed on the low lands near White River, Gregory, Arkansas, on November 15, 1924. MALLARD, No. 313,114, juvenile, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, on July 17, 1924, was shot in the same locality, during the month of October, 1924. GREEN-WINGED TEAL, No. 208,336, band- ed by E. Beaupré, at Cataraqui Marsh, Kingston, Ontario, on April 13, 1924, was caught in a musk- rat trap and found dead in the same locality, on April 20, 1924. BLUE-WINGED TEAL, No. 313,102, female, banded by Paul E. Page, at Lac Ste. Anne, ’ Alberta, on July 8, 1924, was Killed at a place six ‘and one- . fee miles south of Donna, Texas, on December 20, 4. THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 207 PINTAIL, No. 202,945, female, banded by Jie: Cunningham and J. A. Munro, on Lulu Island, British Columbia, on April 4, 1924, was oH at Burlington, Washington, about January PINTAIL, No. 232,092, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 6, 1924, was found dead in the same locality, on J uly 15, 1924 —cause of death unknown. PINTAIL, No. 232,110, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 10, 1924, was killed at Howard, Kansas, on Novem- ber 17, 1924. PINTAIL, No. 232,124, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 11, 1924, was found dead in the same locality, on July ‘15, 1924—-cause of death unknown. SCAUP DUCK, No. 297,766, banded by H. 8. Osler, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, about April 15, 1924, was shot on Aquia Creek, Widewater, Virginia, on January 15, 1925. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 311,165, banded by R. B. Harding, at Sandy Neck, WN. Barnstable, Massachusetts, on June 15, 1924, was shot at Sutton J unction, Quebec, on Septem- ber 2, 1924. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 311,333, banded by L. B. Fletcher, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, on June 15, 1924, was found dead near a small lake about forty miles south of Lake St. John and about four hundred miles from Barn- ue near Van Bruyssel, Quebec, on August 26, 4 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 311,605, banded by S. G. Emilio, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, on June 16, 1924, was caught in a trap at Ste. Hedwidge, ten miles from Roberval, Lake St. John, Quebec, about November 3, 1924. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 311,647, banded by S. G. Emilio, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, on June 16, 1924, was killed at St. Justine, Bois Blane, Quebec, about half way, between Quebec and Montreal, on September 16 24 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 225,374, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 18, 1924, was shot in Hidalgo County, Texas, on December 1, 1924. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 312,242, banded by Willis H. Ropes, at Ipswich, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1924, was shot at Valeourt Ely, Quebec, about August 15, 1924. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 301,301, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian ‘Head, Saskatchewan, on June 23, 1924, was founded wounded at a place fifteen miles south of Deerfield, Florida, on November 27, 1924. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, No. 301,306, fledgling, banded by. George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on July 4, 1924. was killed at Valley City, North Dakota, on Septem- ber 21, 1924. SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, No. 3014, banded by W. H. B. Hoare, at Pillage Point, Yukon Territory, Arctic Coast, on July 19, 1924, was found dead in the same locality, on July 21, 1924. The bird was too young to fly and was probably chased to death by Eskimo children. SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, No. 3084, gbanded by W. H. B. Hoare, at Pillage Point, Yukon Territory, Arctic Coast, on July 19, 1924, 208 was found dead in the same locality, on July 21, 1924. The bird was too young to fly and was probably chased to death by Eskimo children. MOURNING DOVE, No. 264,589, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskat- chewan, on June 12, 1924, was killed by a cat in the same vicinity, on June 30, 1924. MARSH HAWK, No. 301,756, young, banded by E. W. Calvert for H. S. Osler, at Port Perry, Ontario, on June 20, 1924, was captured at Boon- ville, North Carolina, on October 16, 1924. FLICKER, No. 273,579, fledgling, banded by D. A. Matheson, at Leamington, Ontario, on June 8, 1924, was killed by a cat, in the same vicinity, on July 5, 1924. FLICKER, No. 264,605, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 16, 1924, was found dead at a place one-kalf me west of where it was banded, on August 3, NORTHERN FLICKER, No. 264,656, fledg- ling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 27, 1924, was found drowned in a horse trough at a place about two miles south-east of where it was banded, on July 25, 1924. STELLER’S JAY, No. 262,137, juvenile, band- ed by G. D. Sprot, at Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on June 12, 1924, was killed in a rat trap at a place one-half mile south of where it was banded, on August 30, 1924. STELLER’S JAY, No. 262,188, banded by G. D. Sprot, at Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on June 12, 1924, repeated at the same station on September 17, 1924, and was killed in the act of egg stealing in a chicken house at a place one-half mile north of where it was banded, on October 17, 1924. STELLER’S JAY, No. 262,139, juvenile, band- ed by G. D. Sprot, at Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on June 14, 1924, repeated at the same station on June 18, 1924, and was killed in a poultry house at a place one-half mile north of where it was banded, on November 28, 1924. CROW, No. 225,388, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 23, 1924, was killed at Lexington, Oklahoma, on January 21, 1925. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 218,732, adult, banded by G. W. Knechtel, at Kitchener, Ontario, on April 19, 1924, was found dead at a place about three-quarters of a mile from where it was banded, on July 1, 1925. : BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 19,444, adult female, banded by Ralph KE. DeLury, at Dow’s Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, on May 1, 1924, was shot at a place about two thousand feet from where it was banded, on May 17, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 113,354, male, banded by Hoyes Lloyd, at 406 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on May 2, 1924, was found dead in the back yard of 407 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario, during the month of October, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 268,586, adult female, banded by G. W. Knechtel, at Kitchener, Ontario, on May 8, 1924, was shot at a place about one-half mile from where it was banded, on May 20, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 268,587, adult male, banded by G. W. Knechtel, at Kitchener, Ontario, on May 8, 1924, was shot at a place THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST [VoL. XX XIX about one-half mile from where it was banded, on May 20, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 268,137, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 10, 1924, was killed in the same locality, on July 27, 1924. BRONZED GRACKLE, No. 293,468, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on July 12, 1924, repeated at the same station, on August 8, 1924, and was killed by a cat, in the same vicinity, on August 20, 1924. TREE SPARROW, No. 88,205, banded by Reuben Lloyd, at Davidson, Saskatchewan, on April 21, 1924, was found dead at the same place, on April 23, 1924. CHIPPING SPARROW, No. 97,106, young, banded by Nelson T. Jones, at Port Stanley, Ontario, on June 25, 1924, was found dead at the same place, on June 27, 1924. ROBIN, No. 69,928, fledgiing, banded by W. E. Hurlburt, at Toronto, Ontario, on May 24, 1924, was found dead in its nest the next day. ROBIN, No. 216,004, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 7, 1924, was found dead at a place one mile east of where it was banded, on July 24, 1924. ROBIN, No. 216,005, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 7, 1924, hit a telephone wire, and was found dead, at a place about one-half mile from where it was banded, on August 8, 1924. ROBIN, No. 264566, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 7, 1924, was found dead at a place about one-half mile from where it was banded, on June 18, 1924. ROBIN, No. 72,858, fledgling, banded by Claude E. Johnson, at Ottawa, Ontario, on June 8, 1924, repeated at the same station on June 20, 1924, and was picked up dead in the same vicinity, on July 2, 1924. ROBIN, No. 72,859, adult, banded by Claude E. Johnson, at 87 Cameron Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on June 8, 1924, was found dead near No. 1 Os- borne Street, Ottawa, Ontario, on September 23, 1924. The bird had apparently died some time before its recovery. ROBIN, No. 264,579, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 9, 1924, was found dead at a place one-half mile east of where it was banded, on June 20, 1924. ROBIN, No. 72,863, juvenile, banded by Claude E. Johnson, at Ottawa, Ontario, on June 13, 1924, was re-trapped at the same station, on June 18, 1924. The bird was in a very weak condition and appeared to be suffering from intes- tinal trouble of some sort. It expired in the evening. ROBIN, No. 264,641, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 24, 1924, was found dead at a place about one-quarter mile from where it was banded, on June 30, 1924. ROBIN, No. 264,642, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on June 24, 1924, was killed by a cat in the same vicinity, on June 30, 1924. ROBIN, No. 264,686, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on July 5, 1924, was killed by hitting a telegraph wire at a place about two miles south of where it was banded, on July 28, 1924. December, 1925] ROBIN, No. 264,707, fledgling, banded by George Lang, at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on July 12, 1924, was found dead at Kennedy, Sask- THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 209 atchewan, ninety miles south-east of where it was banded, on July 26, 1924. (To be continued) NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS TUFTED TITMOUSE AT HAMILTON, ONTARIO.— On the afternoon of May 28, 1925, while watching birds from the veranda of our home at 96 West Second St., Hamilton, (on ‘‘the Mountain’’), I noticed a movement among the leaves of a maple tree about twenty feet away, and turned my 6x prism binoculars on the spot, expecting to see a Warbler. At first I could see only part of the bird because of intervening leaves, and could note only a light grey belly with a faint rusty streak along the sides. Then the bird moved into plain view, and I was delighted and surprised to see that it was a Tufted Titmouse, (Bzolophus bi- color). As the bird remained in that and another maple tree for about two minutes, I had several clear views of it with the glasses at distances of from twenty to thirty feet, and noticed the grey colour, lighter below, and saw the crest distinctly. I had not previously seen the species in life; but I had previously seen the specimens taken on Point Pelee, which are in the possession of Mr. W. E. Saunders. I know of no other record for this species for this district, and, indeed, think that this is only the second Canadian record.— R. OWEN MERRIMAN. A STARLING NESTING AT HAMILTON, ONTARIO. —On May 5, 1925, Mr. W. M. Paterson and the writer noticed a Starling, (Sturnus vulgaris) enter a cavity in a willow tree with a dark coloured object in its bill, and leave a moment later carry- ing a light coloured object. We took up a closer position, and waited for about half an hour; but the bird did not again go to the tree, though it circled about us at a distance, watched us for some time from small willows on the banks of a ereek twenty yards away, and alighted on and pecked among a dump of hair which had been carted from a distant slaughter house to the banks of this creek. The offensive odour of this dump was very noticeable at the nesting tree. On May 18, Mr. Paterson and the writer re- visited the tree. Knocks on the trunk brought no sound or sight of the occupants, and Mr. Paterson climbed to the entrance of the cavity. As he began to probe the cavity with a stick to determine its depth, a nestling Starling left the nest and fluttered to the ground about ten feet from the foot of the tree. It was captured unhurt, and has been sent in the flesh to the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa. Its general colour was brown, completely feathered, with a few traces of dark down clinging to the feathers of the head- Bill, feet, and iris were dark, the edges of the bil and corners of the gape being bright yellow. The wings were well developed; but the tail was less than one inch long. Further probing of the nesting cavity seemed to show that one or more nestlings remained within; but they could not be induced to leave the nest, to show themselves, or to make a noise, and the interior of the nest could not be reached. The adult birds were not seen on this visit to the nesting site. The willow tree containing the nest stands by itself in an old pasture field which has been sur- veyed for building but in which few houses have yet been erected and none within three hundred yards of the tree. It is about half a mile south of the edge of the ‘Mountain’, which is here the limit of the city of Hamilton, and a few hundred yards west of the much-travelled Caledonia Road. The fork of the tree trunk containing the nest is about five feet in circumference at the entrance to the cavity. It leans to the north; and on the side of the nesting cavity it has neither branches nor leaves for twenty feet from the ground, but on the other side there are small, leafy branches above and below the nest. The entrance to the cavity is a nearly circular knot-hole, two and a quarter inches in diameter, eleven feet from the ground, and about one-third the height of the tree. The cavity, as probed with a stick, is fifteen inches deep. Its entrance faces a little south of east. On the occasion of our first visit to this nest, we saw a flock of ten or more Starlings a few hundred yards from the nesting site. Starlings are reported to be nesting in several church and school towers in Hamilton and in hollow tees near the city; but the writer has not been able to confirm these reports. At least one report (which was not confirmed) was received of Star1- ings nesting in this district in 1924. The fre- quency with which the species has been met with in and near the city during the past year makes it probable that it bred here in 1924, and possibly, but less probably, in 1923 also.—R. OWEN MERRI- MAN. CORRECTION.—In L. B. Potter’s article entitl- ed ‘“‘Notes on Winter Birds”, which appeared in the May issue, ‘“Rusty Black-birds” should have read ‘“‘Redwings’”.—Editor. INDEX 1 om VOLUME No. XXXIX ‘The Canadian Field-Naturalist — 1925 THE GRAPHIC PUBLISHERS December, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST NotEe:—The names of additional birds may be found under “‘Bird-Banding Returns’’. Abies grandis.....: SOT 9S. Ole 102, 132, 138, 134, 136, 137 Acanthis linaria LETCOP UG ie vee Byorenieleenaie Accipiter velox....... 51, 53, 70 COOPEN. Mao. oe eats , 158 Acclimatization Experi- MMOTIGS St. =. le dicen keh Agerigiabrum. ©. . 0... 102 macrophyllum....... 98 Aeris gryllus Le Conte. . 92 Actitis macularia.50, 70, 89, 187 Admete couthouyi Jay... 141 Aegialitis semipalmata.. 187 Agelaius pheniceus cou- PORUS: eee es 176 pheniceus pheniceus. 72 ATRE. SVG OS (ae 50 Alopex lagopus......... 34 Alauda arvensis........ 176 PCO MCOTO DE oe o's wns 185 AIRES LUT ee eee 71 Ambystoma tigrinum (GAREY A) eee ae Sill Amesia latifolia........ 37 Amphipods, Marine.... 204 Freshwater..,....... 138-9 An Eye for Movement. . 110 - Anas platyrhynchos...49, 52, 70 POLO DAS ee RE ee eee 49 Annual Meeting, Ol aS Cer ee 26 Another Invasion of Wanda oe. LDS Anser albifrons......... 52, 87 Anthus rubescens....... 54, 74 Antrostomus vociferus vo- CUCTUS Mi icge More. eG 51 Aplectrum hyemale..... 37 Aquila chrysaétos....... = HU Archibuteo lagopus sancti- OMOIUILTS teehee a 53 Archilochus colubris. . 51 Ardea herodias herodias . 50, 186 Arenaria interpres ma- UESECL ese eee ere Ssh, JAN RAID) Ce © ie se ee 139 Arrival of Birds in Rela- tion to Sunspots. ... 47 Asellus communis..... 138, 189 Asto flammeus...... 51, 53, 194 Astarte alaskensis Dall.. 140 Astragalinus tristis tristis GZ. Astur atricapillus atrica- DLL SE eee Nee teeta 51, 158 Asyndesmus torquatus..174, 194 Auk, Razor-billed.. ...185, 199 Auk, Review by PAT. 26. AMAR tele diez} Bezolophus bicolor...... 141 Baillie, Jas. L., articles * LEN Oe eee Te 149, 150, 194 Balanus rostratus var... 141 Baldpate, The....... Bal taza, WAL Ballantyne, Jas., obit- MLD EN sch eye 148 Barber, Robt. E., ob- servations DY? ae 87 Bare Island, B.C....... 164 Bathyurellus flabellus IBTadleyaee er ere Bayley, Ivan A., article Bait, 2 RUN TBI 181 Beart Blacks. -25 5 5.5 72 GIBZAY Ses ote oe ees 72, 201 Beaver, American...... 71 Betula glandulosa aa rtlnte 69 WeStNifeTU.....as.-.- 69 Bird-Banding in Town- send’s Labrador..... ~ 198 on Vancouver Island 10 Report, Mavisburn Banding Station. ..179, 202 Returns, 18, 19, 39, 54, 82, 169, 206 Returns |e 18, 19, 39 54, 82, 169, 206 Bird Notes from South- ern Vancouver Island 156 Bird Sanctuaries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 177 Birds of Bird Islands. 181. Hatley, P.Q.. ae 128 Lindsay District . - A9, 72 Ottawa Ne eae 16 Porcher Island...... 27 Wellington and Wa- terloo Counties, Ont. 47 Bison Ae Its Relations, AES We aha agit eee 111 Bison eee athabasce. . 45 BIGEETOPY. Ary tec thee 4, 50 IGEASE Sete ee 50 Blackbird, Brewer’s.22, 63, 176 Red-winged ina 4, 72 US yeas AN Pa Blanchet, G. Lily articles Dee ene. SROs 12, 30, 52 Bluebirds. lace aaee 4, 74 Blue Feathers. .... 2-5. PAL BO OOWIAK cso aaskaaccos 4, 72 Bob=wiites . oe. 74, 206. Bombycilla cedrorum.... 73 (HOTU. So oS oe Be oc 74 Bonasa umbellus umbel- LOUD ESHA eee 70 umbellus togata...... 50 Book Review.......46, 87, 195 Botaurus lentiginosus. . . 50 Botrychium Lunaria var. onondagenso........ 38 virginianum........ 37 Bradley, J. H., article by 5 Brant, Black, - ee 22 Branta canadensis cana- CENSUS see cakes: 50 canadensis hutchinst. 70 Bubo virginianus....... 51 Buttalonsrrn gece sac 118, 201 Buffle-head...... 21, 25, 50, 70 Bufo americanus Hol- ROOK See ceil sey: 91 fowleri Garman..... 91 Bulimnza megasoma.... 193 Bunting, Lazuli..:..... 194 Snow.. 4, 23, 24, 58, 72, 154 Buteo borealis borealis... 51 lineatus lineatus.. ... 51 PALI Buteo platypterus ...... 51 swainsoni.......... 70 Butorides virescens vires- CONS tenis crea aE ee 50 Bythinia tentaculata Linn. 4] Calcarius lapponicus lap- OHA: 2 ee 54 DUCLUS eee ee 54 Cave KE. T. W., article LON ese praen A d a Aulice Calypsom tee Lae ee on Canachites canadensis ca- VOC Cant ete ints obec ae ts 74 canadensis osgoodi.. . 70 Canadian Euphyllopoda 105 Canadian Fresh Water Isopods and Amphi- DOUSs ares ee ees 138 Canis tundrarum....... 34 Canvas-back......... 4,21, 74 Corabidae ee eee 67 Cardinalyir eho wi, melt ale Cardium ciliatum Fab- PUCIUSH Mes cee eee oe 140 corbis martyn....... 140 Caribou are ers moe ee (ial Ath Carpodacus purpureus (DUR DUTCUS ee ae 72 Carterocephalus palaemon 38 Castor canadensis....... el Cathind season. one 4, 73 Catostomus............ 72 Cepphus columba....... 164 grylle..... Be wi te es 184 Ceratinella ornatula..... 140 Cerchneis sparveria spar- DONO Reet ae a 51 Certhia familiaris ameri- CONC sete sender 74 Ceryle alcyon alcyon.51, 70, 187 Chaetura pelagica...... 51 Chamberlain, Montagu, Obituanye eee 20 Changes in the Status of Certain Animals and Birds in Central Al- Denbaeen pete core ae 200 Charadrius semipalma- MOLUS sre Oe 50, 53, 77 Charitonetta albeola..... 50, 70 Chasmosaurus belli... .. 108 Chelydra serpentina. . 93 Chickadee........... A, 95) 23, 24, 25, “TA, "154 Brown-capped...... 23 Chestnut-backed.... 176 Hudsonian......... 71 Chloralictus smilacina Robi aera rae ee 37 Chimney Swift........ 4, 51 Chlidonias nigra suri- Namensis........... 49 Chondestes g. grammacus 67 Chordeiles virginitanus virginianus......... 51 Chrysemys m. marginata. 93 Christmas Bird Censuses 173 JACI STTOGE ey ere ae 153 212 Christmas Bird Censuses Comox Valley, Van- couver Island....... 21 Hamilton, Ont...... DP Lake Cowichan, Van- couver Island....... Zl Lancaster, Ont... .. 24 London, Ont....... 22 Ottawa ne oerae sac 24 Snake River, Ont... 23 St. Stephen, N.B.. 24 Toronto.... 23 Victoria District, B. Chrysodomus liratus IMitartiyalige sees 141 Circus hudsonius....50, 53, 70 Cistothorus stellaris..... Citelluse ves as wee ae 71 columbianus........ 56, 79 OUICUCIUUE qn ee 144, 146 Clangula hyemalis...... 50, 52 Clemmys guttata........ 93 Coccyzus erythrophthal- TUS nce ochre fe ede 51 Colaptes auratus borealis 51 cafer collaris........ 70 cafer saturatior...... 176 Colinus virginianus vir- GURUS: 2206005506 74 Coluber c. constrictor. . 92 Columbian Ground Squirrel, Hiberna- GIONYOLS ce hese: 56 Colymbus auritus....... 49 Compsothlypis americana MUSICS ce 63 Oina SBE 73 Conchoderma auritum. . 68 COOt Nate ere cen 21, 22, 50 Copepods. Marine...... 203 Coppermine River... .. 15 Corallorrhiza maculata and Its Varieties in Canadian cramer: 95 TACPUNTIO,. os ca000e¢ Or, Os) maculata var. wnter- MEOW. -.08) 2 Raa ql var. punicea...... 37 ARO pee cheeks ere e 37 @onmorante 1474. 4 24, 67, 1138 Brand bse Common. .:.-:..- 186, 198 Double-crested 186, 198 Pelaci Cr cease ceeen: 21 Violet-green..,...- 2.2 469 Cornus stolonifera...... 37 Coronula diadema...... we exsys Corvus _brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos...... COUTINUS. ........-- 176 Cowbitde een Creeper, Brown...... 4, 22, 23, 24, 74, 154 eee C. H., article Be te Ra RR ROK 140 Cridale, Norman and Stuart, article by... 142 Critchell-Bullock, James Cy raruiclery vere 181 Crossbill ee 4, 72 White-winged. 4, 71, 72, 154 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Croweaenatee 4, 22, 24, 25, 72 ANTNEMONG 650056866 4 North-Western..... 21, 176 Cryptogramma densa.. . . 38 Cryptoglaux acadica aca- UCONN fone eed ae 51 funerea richardsoni. . 51 Cuckoo, Black-billed... 4, 51 Yellow-billed....... 4 Curlew, Hudsonian..... -187 Long-billed......... 187 Cyanocitia cristata cris- UGED A he ee 72 Stellen: soso cane umes 176 Cybele pervetusta Bradley 8, 9 Cyclopterus lumpus..... 90 Cygnus buccinator...... 157 columbianus........ 157 Cypripedium acaule.... 37 passerinum......... 37 Dafila acuta tzitzthoa. 50, 52, 70 Danaus archippus...... 38 Davidson, D. W., article LON ees Meee a eae te a 197 Decapods, Marine...... 204 De Lury, Ralph E., article by. 1... ..- 4: 1 Dendroctonus piceaperda. 162 Dendroica zstiva xstiva..73, 187 zstiva rubiginosa.... 71 cerulescens cerules- CONS AR ee 73 COSIONCO = eee 73 coronata coronata.... 17, 73 RUSCH SR ee Say lion WWOOUG Fis, Sons ucdanes 7 MOAGMOLLO | ae 13, UST palmarum.........- 73 pensylvanica........ 73 SETUGED) sous ee 73, 78 GOSlsoocscccns 17, 73, 195 ! DIRENS sie oa. 73 Destruction of Water- fowl in the West.... 67 Dionne, Charles Eusebe, Obituary, offsneaneeee 61 JOR) of eves eae ae eee ane iat ce 21 Dolichonyx oryzworus. . . 72 Dove, Mourning....... 50 Drepanposetta platessoides — Dryobates pubescens GUGM c oc 305050° 175 pubescens medianus.. 51 villosus harrist....... 175 pillosus villosus...... 51, 70 Duck, Black. 5:.:2... 4, 24, 49 ident are ene: Harlequin. .21, 25, 70, 186. Lesser Scaup....... 50 OldiSquaw-z ena 5s ae- 23, 25, 50, 52, "186 Ring-necked........ 50 IRWIN, a Sooo ce eee 74, 186 SGU Dano cloois sale 21, 50, 70 NWViOOd sear ce. men Dumetella carolinensis. . 74 Duval, Wm. M., article {VoL. XX XIX Eagle, American....... 88 Bald ews .c oc owe poRE SG Goldens.- eee 70 Ectopistes migratorius. . . 74. Hditoriali.... (icc case 41 Hider, American. ...... 186 Elaphe o. obsoleta....... 93 DULUDUNG: | ea se eee Os Woes So Gcatee: See 201 Emerton, J. H., article DY «iu ee 139 Empidonas flaviventris. . 74 MAUNUMUS = eee 51 trailli alnorum...... 51 Emys blandingit........ 93 Enodia portlandia...... 38 Epeira hortorwm....... 139 iNSULOTIS ee 139 Epipactis pubescens... . . 37 lessclalGa ne eee 37 Erethizon epixanthum. . . rial Ereunetes pusillus...... 53 Erismatura jamaicensis. 74, 186 Ethiopsar cristateilus.. 187 Eubranchipus gelidus . 105, 107 Eucrangonyx gracilis...138, 139 Eumecesfasciatus (Linne) 92 Euphagus carolinus. . 71, 72, 76 cyanocephalus Wagl.. 176 Euphydryas phaeton. . 38 European Grey Part- ride: |... eee 163 Evening Grosbeak, Nest- ing Of... :.2/ 22 eee Pall Evoioniyse eee 145 Experimental Farm as a Bird Sanctuary, The. 1 Exploration Into the Northern Plains, North and East of Great Slave Lake.12, 30, 52 Falco columbarws...... 70 peregrinus anatum. 58, 70, 74 Falcon, Peregrine... .53, 7 0, 74 Farley, Frank L., articles by 2). Sao eee 87, 200 Field. Studies of Growth Forms of Native Trees of Victoria, B.C Field Work in the Lower Arctic Zone........ 181 Financial Statement of O.F.-N.C Finch, Hepburn’s Rosy. raul Purple. 4, 22,24, 72,123, 154 Fishes, Freshwater Ha 54, 72 Marine........ 90, 2038, 204 Fishes and Marine In- vertebrate collected during the Cruise of the Arctic in 1923. 2038 Fleck, Andrew Willis, obituary of. keene 84 Blicker.. As f Sete meee 4,22 Boreal 2s. okie awe 51 Northwestern....... Red-shafted........ 21, 70 Flycatcher, Alder. ..... 4, 51 Crested...... ERS 4,51 December, 1925] Olive-sided......... Seissor-tailed....... 86 Yellow-bellied. ..... 74 Forest Insect Conditions in Northern Ontario. 162 HossilePlowers: - 2)... ¢ 64 HEGRaOCOSS, STL 72 Fox Squirrel, Acclimati- ZOGONeOleeee aie i: 138 Fratercula arctica arctica 184 LRT! a rr a U2 ullltrogeaie ) 2005 0 92, 150 Cricket 6 eos Greene wie! ites! 0): 92 HeOVALG 25S. 92 Spring-Peeper...... 92 ROCHA Ne See 2 Cre. 92 Fulica americana....... 50 Gallinago delicaia. 50, 70, 75, 158, 175 -Gallinula chloropus COCIINNANS =) 6215 105). 50 Gallinule, Florida...... 4, 50 Gammarus limneus.. . 139 GianneGrs 22 2 apse 16, 173, 186 Gavia adamsi.........- OUR: Bie tee ate 49, 52 DOCUUC OMe ae aie 52, 69 SIZ Cia ena eee 52, 69, 184 Genus Debased, The. ZAll, Pas Geothyl pis trichas trichas 73 GeOUOPISM ss sy. 4 1... 137 Glaucionetta americana... 186 clangula americana. . 50 islandica.......70, 74, 187 Golden-eye......... Pil Ze ase 24, 50, 74, 154, 186 BartOwesee ..... 24, 70, 186 Goldfinch .4, 22, 23, 24, 72, 154 Goose, Canada...... 4, 50, 206 Habehines= 2 ..5. 5: 70 White-fronted. ..... 52, 87 COMMER Een rats eis ral Gorgonian, A large, from SKAGGS bon abs oat: 5 Grackle, Bronzed... .4, 72, 154 Graptemys geographica. i 93 Creed DUKE eae (2 Grebe, Holboell’s. é 21 iEornedics 298 22.2 ¢.. be 21, 49 Pied-billed. .. . 4, 21) 24 49 Wester) 53 40... 21 Groh, Herbert, article by 84 Grosbeak, Evening...4, 72, 154 Rinee ee ah OAS, Wik. Ales Usa Rose-breasted...... 73 Grouse. 3.8 oS sea nk 115 Gray Ruffed.. 5 70 _ Oregon Ruffed.. 21 Ruffed.4, 22, 28, 24, 50, 154 Sharp-tailed cy euaeae 70 Guillemote- see one 199 CLE bin bi 2 ie el 24, 184 PIS eONsi er. Gee ae 164, 184 Gull, Herring .4, 21, 23, 175, 185 Bonaparte’s. aes os ‘4, 49, 69 Californianne ee 52 Glaucous-winged....21, 24, 69, 164, 175 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Gull, "Great Black- backed...... 23, 185, 198 LVOnyee eae Oe 172 Ring-billed. .. ..23, 49, 199 Short-pilledeee os eis HTS) Gulovluscusa) 4. 34 Habenaria Andrewsit. . . 38 VOECKOR ELIE... PEROT 38 DSUCOMCS Ha eae 38 Halizetus leucocephalus Qlascaniuss eee 51 leucocephalus leucoce- fOOMIS 55 bono sane 187 Hare, Dall Varying..... 71 IDNR OER. sc 4s 8d 6 < 159 Harelda hyemalis....... 186 Sees Francis, article re Haw Broad-winged... 4, 50 Cooper’ Si ean es ae eee 23 Duckeexc. . 3s ie 53, 70, 74 Goshawk » oth, aig Bain 24, 50, 158 Marsh 4, 50, 53, 70 Pigeon sc py see ae 4,70 Red-shouldered..... 23, 50 Red-tailed......... 2, 50 Rough-legged....... 50, 53 SDALLOWAL A eee 4, 51 Swainson’s......... 70 Sharp-shinned....4, 21, 23, 50, 53, 70 Hedymeles ludovicianus.. 73 Henderson, A. D. article LON atcbeee a a ee eee 44 Fler Ons 6 52ers: 22 Black-crowned Night 4, 50 Great Blue... ... 4, 50, 186 Greents.. 54-04, aeeee: , 50 Northwestern Coast. Pale Herpetology of Point Peleesiista a 91 Hesperiphona vespertina DCSPCTEVILO ee nae 72 Heterodon contortrix..... 92 Heteroscelus incanus.... 70 Hibernation of the Col- umbian Ground Squinnele. Misses ee 56, 79 Hilaira brunnea........ 139 Hillgartner, Gordon, ar- THEI lon Meacioinie emwicee = 112 Hirundo erythrogastra.. .73, 187 Histories of New Food- © ISWESM 4 Tada hace ne 90 Histrionicus histrionicus histrionicus. . 187 Horned _ Lark, A Breed- ing Station of the. 26, 45. Howitt, Henry, articles yi ehe fs LE 10, 158 Howell A. Brazier, com- munication biychs. 118 Hummingbird, Ruby- throatedss.2 4... ae A, 51 Hungarian Partridge... 115 Hyalella azteka (Saus.).. 188 Hajciia binges 28 ey Sys 139 Hyla crucifer, Wied..... 92 versicolor, Le Conte.. 92 213 Hiyloctehlana2t.3, 2 71 alicieg aliciz........ 74 fuscescens fuscescens. 74 guttata pallasi....... 74 AUS(CLING pe 74 ustula swainsoni... . 74 Icterus galbula......... 72 Iridoprocne bicolor... ... 73, 187 Isopods and Amphipods, Canadian Freshwater 138 Ixobrychus exilis....... 50 Txoreus naevius........ TAG 95 Jaeger, Long-tailed... .. 52 Parasite nae. 52, 185 Jay, Blue.4, 22, 23, 24, 72, 154 Canada...... 4 70, 72, 154 Oregons ane PALS PAD Steller’ Sao oP IS ey 200 Johansen, Frits, ‘articles Dyas eee 90, 105, 138, 203 Junco hyemalis hyyemals. 72, 187 hyemalis oregonus. 176 JuNCcO.Oreconia sec a 2 2ile 22, 176, 180 Slate-coloured.. A. 225 23. 72, "187 Juniperus nana........ 69 Killdeer Plover.. .4, 22, 50, 112 Kingbird oes 5 GL IS Kingfisher, Belted galls, PAe4p 51, 70, 187 Kan cle tees are Re hale ve (ada DAS Golden-crowned...4, 22, 23, "74,154 Ruby-crowned.. . .4, 71, 74 LGla ». 2 Progne subis subis...... 73 Prosecutions... .......- Son lad Province of Quebec Soci- ety for the Protection Of Birds sine? Pat wee 41 Pseudotsuga taxifolia.97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 133. 134, "135 Ptarmigan, Rock Wee ss ent 53, 70 VALU ON Zeno ier cs theo ove 53, 70 PLCLOPOUS -.acereee os ae 203 Publication Fund...... 44, 117, 152,173 Puncturella galeata Gould. 141 Quail, California....... 21 Quercus Garryana..97, 101, 104 Querquedula discors.. 49 Quiscalus quiscula eneus C2 Radio Lectures. ....... 168 Rails Sona ek sek een 50 Virvinias: ease sale 50 Rallus virginianus...... 50 215 RONG eas ee See. (es catesbeiana Shaw.... . 92 clamitans Latreille. . 92 pipiens Schreiber.. 92 Rand, A. L., article by.. 114 Randall, 4. Eby articles bye cae Cok es 45, 194, 195 Rangifer arcticus....... 32, 71 Raven, Northern....... 23, 71, 74, 187 Redheadaa. i... eee 5 Redpoll.4, 23, 24, 53, 71, 72, 154 RedStartaasee ene 4, 74 Redwing, Northwestern. 176 Regulus calendula calen- GUOR Aa aS 2 71, 74 calendula greene hep satrapa olivaceus.. .. 176 satrapa satrapa... . 74 Report of Council of the O. F.-N. Club...... 25 Reptilesey eke ata 92 Black Racer........ 92 Blanding’s Turtle... 93 Blue-tailed Skink... 92 Brown Snake....... 93 Common Water-Snake 93 Fox Snake......... 93 Garter Snake....... Wi2 O38 Hog-nosed Snake. . . 92 Map Turtle.-......- 93 Milk Snake........ 93 Musk Turtle....... 93 Painted Turtle...... 93 Pilot Black Snake... 93 Rattlesnake........ 93 Snapping Turtle. ... 93 Spotted Turtle...... 93 Riparia riparia..... 71, 73, 187 Rissa tridactyla tridactyla 185 Robin. .4, 22, 28, 24, 25, 71, 74 Western Ee tg EE 21, 176 Hinya fee tee see 194 Roce tonieai Goat.. 151 Rowan, Wm., article by 114 Royal Society, Annual Meeting..........- 112 Rubicola minor.......-- 50 Salamander, Tiger... .. 91 Salmongi ry... 22 5---ce 194 Sandipipetae:. mse as ae 48 Mleutian ssn ae are 21 Baind?s2 5225 sooner 53 Weast cucu aches 74, 75, 186 Rectoralaias 3 see 53, 74 Red-backed...... 21, 22, 50 Semipalmated...... 53 Solitary eraser 50, 70, 187 Spottedmass se eee 4, 88 Stilt. 2... = eee 53 Sapsucker, Red-breasted 22 Yellow-bellied. ..... 4, 51 Saunders, W. E., articles DY . cgn eee 118, 149, 150 S Sekine giganteus Des- hayess. 5 Se sa ea ieee 140 Sayornis phoebe........ 51 SC UUSeer ee eae 70 216 Schizothaerus capax Gould. Sciurus hudsonicus: .... 71 Scoter, American. . .22, 25, 186 “Surf. Pt S22: 25, 52. 74, 186 White-winged atime? Saeed 21, 22: 25, 50, 186 Scotiaptex nebulosa nebu- lOSG REE A Re 51 Segmentina crassilabris Walker. 85 Seibert, Fred., articleby 204 Seiurus aurocapillus.... 73 noveboracensis....... 73 Serapias Helleborine.... 37 Serripes gronlandicus Ginrelin ieee tee ae 140 Setophaga ruticilla...... 74 Shaw, Wm. T., article BY 56, 79 Shepherdia canadensis. . 69 Shrike, Migrant. . Ae Northern. WAL 93, 24, 73, 154 Sialia stalis sialis. eae e 74 Simpson, G. Buchanan, article by: 245. -- 29 Singa variabilis........ 139 Siskin, Pine.... .4, 24, 72, 154 Sitta canadensis........ 74, 176 carolinensis carolin- CNSISNM ELE: aie 74 Skylanki es, ocean 176 Snake—See Reptiles. Snipe scyics eee ne er Walson?s.s: 8 eee 21, 50, 70, 75, 158, 175 Snyder, L. L., articles by.63, 150 Somateria mollissima OPROSSTP ba ho wes oe 32 186 spectabilis.......... 74, 186 Some Remarks on Birds 46 Sparrow, Chipping.. .4, 72, 187 Hnghishee ee 4, 22, Ue European House. . 176 Hel ieee Wea eee A ALG Golden- Seen .158, i80 EMarrisns ian e. aren 54, 194 imicolnysss een 4 INS ee 176, 180 Rusty Song..... PAL, Pry IG Savannah....... 54, 72, 187 SONGAMty eek ee See 4,22, 23, Bd. 73, 128, 154, 180, 187 Swam wis See 4, 72 Tree.4, Doi, 23, 24,54, 72, 154 Vespersy tases Anion UST, Western Chipping... 176 Western Tree....... 71 White-crowned...4, 70, 180 White-throated...4, 72, 154 Spider Collections of F. Wialich seen 139 Sphyrapicus varius VUTTUS. 30 Hi ee 51 SUS PUSH eee 72 Spiranthes cernua...,.. 37, 38 (racist eae 37 Romanzoffiana. ..... 37 Spizella monticola monti- COLD hk, Sree euo4, (2 monticola ochracea.. . 71 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Spizella passerina passer- ANG RARE Pe Te ee U2, pusilla pusilla epee 17 socialis arizonae..... 176 Spring Bird Migration at Antigonish, N.S..... Sprot, G. D., article by Se seer i aa 10, 179, 202 Squatarola squatarola CYUNOSUTAC = 50 Squirrel, Hudson Bay Red sys Ais ee a (Gk Squirrels Eating Ama- nita Musearia...... 180 Stachys germanica...... 84 Sarl. cae e WAZ ZR 2 3P 24, 48, 67, 87, "149 Chinese............ 87 Starling, Nesting of, at Hamilton, Ont...... 209 Stelgidopteryx serripennis 73 Stercorarius longicaudus . 51 PATAStICUS i Gare 51, 185 Sterna caspia imperator . 49 hinindo a era 49, 185 paradisea.......... 52, 185 Sternberg, C. M., articles | Ob Zee en agai aac sae: 108, 111 Sternotherus odoraius... . 93 Storeria dekayi (Hol- brook). 0. ae se 93 Strix varia varia........ 51 Strongylocentrotus droba- chilensise. 5 Abeer 140 Strotactinus salteri (Bill- TGS) a eA 8,9 Sturnella magna........ 194 magna magna....... 72 magna neglecta...... 176 Sturnus vulgaris. ...17, 87, 149 Subscribers, List of..... 125 Summer Birds of the Magdalen Islands... 75 Supplement to the A.O.- U. Check List. ..... AT Surnia ulula caparoch... 70, 74 Swallow, Bank....... 4,71, 73 Barn: a ieee 4, 73, 187 Chel SV Gt seue 4, 71, 73 Northern Violet- greens ie eee 71 Rough-winged...... 73 bigeye rae ee andere 4, 73, 187 Swan, Trumpeter...... 157 Whistling......... 157, 206 Sylvilagus floridanus.... 159 Tachycineta thalassina le- HONOR SS a beeen te oa 71 Tanager, Scarlet....... 4,73 Tattler, Wandering.. 70 Teal, Blue- winged...... 24, 50 Green-winged . Ne ZA® 50, 52 Telmatodytes palustris OUISERES eee 74. Terebratalia transversa var. caurina Gould. . 140 Tetragnatha laboriosa... 139 Thamnophis s. sirtalis.. . 93 Theridion aurantium.... 140 dufferenss a ae 140 [Vou. XX XIX Theridion montanum.... 140 sexpunctatum....... 140 eclotypunie ee 139 Thrasher, Brown....... 4,74 Thrush, Gray-cheeked. . 4, 74 Hermit........... 4, 22, 74 Olive-backed(y24 #7 4,7 Wo00d iran eae ne "4 Thymallus signifer...... 72 Tipularia discolor. ..... 37 Titmouse, Tufted...... 209 Toad, American....... 91 Rowler’s, #32 eee 91 Totanus flavipes. . ..50, 58, 187 melanoleucus..... 50, 187 - Towhee............ 4, 73, 187 Oregon......... Liar 27. 158, 176, "180 Toxostoma rufum..... Bu) 74. Trichotropis cancellatus var. quadricarinata A. Adamsie..- 558 eee 141 Trillium grandiflorum... 149 Trilobites of the Beek-- mantown inthe Philipsburg Region of Quebec: ©.) s4Saaee 5 Tringa solitarius cinna- MOMEUS.......... 70 solitarius soliiarius. . 50 Troglodytes aédon aédon. 74 aédon parkmani.....74, 176 Tufts, R. W., articles by 4h Seas 86, 115, 116 rary Vultures esse Pad Turnstone, Black...... 21 Ruddy. RENE IN A0 5. ZAG Turtle—See Reptiles. Aywvinine His) 131 Tyrannus tyrannus..... 51 UTidi to Seer 185 WSUS casos cee oe 72 americana.......... We richardsont......... 34, 72 Vanessa cardut......... 38 Veery... . 3 See eee 4,74 Vermivora peregrina. ... 73 ruficapilla ruficapilla. 73 Verrill, A. E., article by. 25 Victoria Museum, Dept. of Mines, Field Pro- gramme, 1925...... Vireo, Anthony’s....... 21 Blue-headed........ 4,73 Philadelphia........ 74 Red-eyed.......... 4, 73 Warbling..... Pe Yellow-throated... . 73 Vireosylva gilva gilva.... 733 OliVAacea ee ae 73 philadelphica....... 74 Vole, Chestnut-cheeked. 71 Vulpes fulva sapere seh: 72 December, 1925] THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST 217 Wandering Tattler..... 88 Walsh, Wm., articleby. 165 Woodpecker, Warbler, Alaska Yellow. GL Whale Barnacles....... 68 Northern Pileated.. .16, 23, Bay-breasted....... ArT Whip-poor-will........ ANSE Ss 74, 154 Black and White.... 4, 73 White-fish............. 54 Red-headed.......4, 17, 51 Black-poll. -...... 4, 73, 78 Wilderness, The... .... Al Wren, House.......... 4,74 Black-throated Blue. 4, 73 Walle tara F3..'= Ei cia eas 116 Long-billed Marsh. . 7A Black-throatedGreen 4, 73 Williams, M. Y., article Seattletes: cat set at PA Leta @anadar yn oe. se 4, 74 lo ae teeta 8 SHAE h BERS Seve 69 Short-billed Marsh. . 74 CaperMay.- 2s... 4,73 Wilsonia canadensis. ... 74 Western House. .... 176 Chestnut-sided..... 4, 73 CUTTING: 2130 Ae 150 Western Winter..... 21 Hooded... 2 2 ae. 8A 150 pusilla pusilla...... 73 Wantersc-e ear 4,22, 74 IOOVER cose e val Winter Birds) ..78 5.5 112, 114 Lutescent.......... 203 Winter Crows......... 64 peeenolia cee ee oad ry 73 ee prpore eae = Sore ie ourning.. 2... >. f: Sale ood, Mr. Rodney... . Myrtle....... 4,17, 73, 154 Wood Buffalo......... 45 tat Paes Ea Ree 50, oe ie Sigislonialll (Neen eee 4,73 Wood Buffalo, Canada’s Yell ashes i Morland: 78 Northern Parula.... 73, 89 So-Called. ......... 204 Coe Weare ey ary an elie ee oe ree 73 Woodcock............ 50, 115 Periaitlcvas avs: ooo (ks 4, 39 Woodpecker, Alaska pines... 2. At, eo LOS, Three-toed....... 70 iellow... 53: A, 39, 73, 187 American Three-toed 150 JZenaiduramacrouracaro- Waxwing, Bohemian... 4, 74 Arctic Three-toed.4, 51, 154 linensise2 eee: 50 Wedare soe es. 4, 23, 154 Downy.4, 22, 23, 24,51,154 Zonotrichia albicollis.... 72 Weasel, Bonaparte’s.... 142 Gairdner:ses >... 21, 175 COTONCLO= ee 158 WUC tee Pc gl 142 - Hany. ee th Pes 8) leucophrys gambeli... 71 Long-tailed........ 142 24, 25, 51, 154 leucophrys leucophrys 72 Weasels of Southern Harris's). 121,22, (075 leucophrys nuttalli... 176 Manitoba, .224 2... 142 Lewis’s....... 175, 194, 195 QUETULG ea 54, 194 EXPLORATIONS | in Western Canada The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club has just published an interesting vol- ume of over 300 pages, entitled: | Autobiography of | | | | | John Macoun, M.A. Canadian Explorer and Naturalist, Assistant - Director and Naturalist to the Geological Survey of Canada—1831-1920. This volume is an account of the life of this veteran naturalist. Agriculturists generally, in fact all interested in the development of Canada, will find this book of much interest and value. The edition is limited. The price is $3.00 with 15c added for bank exchange, if remittance is forwarded by personal cheque. Applications for the volume should be made to Mr. Arthur Gibson Birks Building : Ottawa, al = | | | a } a } Sf | [ | | | | Rubber Stamps : Listing Your Specimens The more consistent use of rubber stamps will materially assist you in cataloguing the collection of specimens you have spent so much time and trouble 1n securing. Let us help you. = CAPITAL RUBBER STAMP / i WORKS = 175 NEPEAN STREET OTTAWA, CANADA con $e <8 88S sO806600550000805885605050090000059000880505000050080000008500550000 -sassaeessccnsence®® EPA SGESSUSRESESODSESSESSESSSHOESS EDS ESECOSSESSESSOOSSRSeGCOCOSSOGEESEEDScase SEbecseessessscese® HFRS R OH SOR EESESOERSSES EEE SSEES ESCO SESEESSESHO SSSR SDS SSES ES SSSSSSS SESE OESSSeaSSeeebensoneesee® Kindly mention The Canadian Field-Naturalist to advertisers Many More are Wanted on the Subscription Lists The Membership Committee of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club is making a special effort to increase the subscription list of The Canadian Field-Naturaltst and we are asking every reader to assist in making the campaign | the success it should be. We would particularly urge the Secretary of each Affiliated So- ciety to bring this matter up at EVERY meeting and secure as many subscribers as they pos- sibly can to a Canadian Pub- lication devoted to the study of Natural History in all its phases. Use the blank below and forward it to the Treasurer. CUT OFF HERE Mr. B. A. FAUVEL, Honorary Treasurer, Otiawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, 321 McLeod Street, Ottawa, Canada. I enclose One Dollar and Fifty Cents as my subscription to The Canadian Field-Naturalist for one year. we = a we we we wn wo ww ee ee we nnn NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MANITOBA 1925-26 _ Hen. President: NORMAN CRIDDLE; President: C. W. LOWE; _ Vice-Presidents: Dr. H. M. SPEECHLY, DR. A.M. DAVIDSON, A. G. LAWRENCE, J. B. WALLIS, B. W. CARTWRIGHT, A. A. _ McCousrey; General Secretary: A. A. McCouBREy, Room 307, C.P.R. Depot; Evecutive Secretary: R. M. THOMAS; Treasurer: J.J. Mott, P.O. Box 1562. ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION:—Chairman: C. L. BroLey; Secretary: L. E. McCaLL. BOTANICAL SECTION:—Chairman: C. E. Lowe; Secretary: Miss GRACE CAMERON. ENTOMO- ‘LOGICAL SECTION:—Chairman: G. SHIRLEY BROOKS; Secretary: A. M. Davipson. GEOLOGICAL SECTION :— Chairman: L. G. THOMPSON: Secretary. F. M. OLIVER. - THE HAMILTON BIRD PROTECTION _ SOCIETY (Incorporated) Hon. President: MR. ADAM BROWN; President: Mr. R. O | MERRIMAN; 1st Vice-President: Dr. H. G. ARNOTT; 2nd Vice- __-*President: Mr. C. D. Cook; Secretary-Treasurer: Miss RUBY RB. MILts, Public Library, Hamilton; Directors: Dr. H. G. _ ArRnNotTT; C. D. Cook; Dr. J. A. Dickson; Miss M. E. GRa- 8AM; Miss RuBy R. MILLS; M. HoLTon; M. JOHNSTON; Mrs. F. E. MACLOGHLIN; R. O. MERRIMAN. \ COLUMBIA, VICTORIA, B.C. The officers for the above Society for the year ending _ March 3ist, 1925, are as follows:— _ President: Rev. R. CoNNEIL, M.A.; ist Vice-President: _ W.N. KELLY; 2nd Vice-President: Mrs. HUGH MACKENZIE; _- Hon. Secretary: HAROLD T. NATION; Hon. Treasurer: Miss _ §.M. THORNTON; Committee: G. A. HARDY, C. C. PEMBERTON, Tra Cornwatt, F.G.S., A. R. SHERwoop, H. Boycr; Audi- tors: Miss MOcKRIDGE, M.Sc., WILLIAM DowNES. ‘q : 3 ALBERTA NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY # k i 2 Hon. President: Mr. J. J. GAETZ, Red Deer, Alta.; Hon. Vice _ President: Dr. Hy. GEoRGE, Victoria, B.C.; President: Mr. C. H. SNELL, Red Deer, Alta.; 1st Vice-President: Mrs. __W. A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; 2nd Vice-President: Mr. S. _. PAMELY, Red Deer, Alta.; Directors: Mrs. G .F. Root, Weta- _ skiwin, Alta.; Mrs. J. McMILLAN, Red Deer, Aita.; MIss E. C. Irvine, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. F. L. FARLeEy, Camrose, _ Alta.; Mr. W. A. CASSELS, Red Deer, Alta.; Mr. B. LAWTON, _ Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. K. BowMAN, Edmonton, Alta.; PRoF. _ —W. Rowan, Univ. of Alta., Edmonton, Alta.; Mr. W. F. _ Harris, Eed Deer, Alta.; Mr. T. E. RANDALL, Castor, Alta.; Mr. A. C. BRETHOUR, Calgary, Alta.; Mrs. S. PAMELY, Red Deer, Alta. __ ‘The meetings of this Society are held in Red Deer on the last Friday of each month except during July and August and perhaps September. The annual meeting is held in Red Deer on the last Friday in November. _ McILWRAITH ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, a LONDON, ONT. | _ McLeop. 355 Wortley Road; J. F. CALVERT, 461 Tecumseh __ Ave.; E. M.S. Dats, 297 Hyman St. era? age ee _ VANCOUVER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 4 Hon. President: L. S. KLINCcK, L.L.D., Pres. University of B. C.; _ President: JouN Davipson, F.L.S., University of B.C.; Vice- _ President: FRED Perry; Hon. Secretary: C. F. CONNOR, M.A., M 3529-W. 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.; Hon. Treasurer: A. H. ~‘Bain, 2302 York St., Vancouver, B.C. __ Fortnightly meetings in the University Buildings: from _ September to April (inclusive). _Semi-monthly excursions from _ May to August (inclusive). _ NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRITISH Hon. Sec.-Treas.: | ' MAMMAL GROUP:—Chairman: J. R. DyMOND: Secretar _.L. Snyper. REPTILE, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN: GROUP ENS. eH : Affiliated Societies PROVINCE OF QUEBEC SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS Hon. President: 1. GAMMEL; Hon. Vice-President: W. H. ROBB; President: L. Mcl. TERRILL; 18st. Vice-President: NAPIER SMITH; 2nd. Vice-President: E. ARNOLD; 3rd. Vice-President and Curator: Miss E. G. LuKE; Recording Secretary: Miss H. STONE; Corresponding Secretary: W. S. Hart, P.O. Box 1186, Montreal, P.Q.; Treasurer: HENRY MOoUSLEY; Committee: Miss M. ARMITAGE, Miss E. BENNET; MR. AND Mrs. C. F. DaL_e; H. A. C. Jackson: Miss E. Morrow; Miss L. MURPRY; © A, MACSWEEN; G.S.MoonrEy; W. A. OswaLp; L. Mcl. SPACKMAN; Mrs. W. W. WALKER; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY; Members qualified to answer questions: L. Mcl. TERRILL, 44 Stanley Ave., St. Lambert, Que.; NAPIER SMITH, Bank of Montreal, Verdun. Que., E. ARNOLD, 64 Durocher St., Montreal; W. A. OSWALD. 801 Wilson Ave., N.D.G., Montreal; C. N. ROBERTSON, c-o Ross Realty Co., Room 805, Lewis Bldg., St. John St., Montreal, Que.; Dr. ARTHUR WILLEY, McGill University, Montreal HENRY MOUSLEY 469 Harvard Ave., N.D.G., Montreal, P.Q.; Miss EDITH MORROW AND Miss EMILY LUKE, c-o Secretary. SOCIETE PROVANCHER D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU CANADA Bureau de direction pour 1923 Président: DocTrEUR S. GAUDREAU; ler vice-président: ABBR A. VACHON, M.A.; 2éme vice-président: A.-R.-M. BOULTON3; Secrétaire-trésorier: Louis-B. Lavo1r; Chef de la section scientifique: A.-A. GoDBOUT; Chef de la section de propaganda educationelle: DocTEUR A. DERY; Chef de la section de pro- tection: R. MEREDITH, N.P.; Chef de la section d'information scuntifique et pratique: DocTEUR J.-E. BERNIER: Directeusa: K.-F. LINDSAY; Jos. MATTE; G.-S. AHERN.. ; ‘ THE BRITISH COLUMBIA ORNITHOLO.- GISTS’ UNION Officers for 1923 Hon. President: HON. MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, Victoria; President: FRANCIS KERMODE, Provincial Museum, Victoria; Vice-President: T. L. THACKER, Hope; Secretary-Treasures: J. W. WINSoN, Huntingdon; Directors: J. A. MUNRO, Okana- gan Landing; Dr. KELso, Arrow Lakes; R. GLENDENING, Agassiz; K. Racrey, Vancouver; T. PEARSE, Courtenay; W. N. KELLY, Victoria. THE TORONTO FIELD-NATURALISTS’ CLUB President: PRoFEssOR R. B. THOMSON; Vice-Presidenta: Proressor E. M. WALKER, Dr. A. CosEns, J. H. FLEMING: Secretary: W. F. GREGORY, 151 Ellsworth Ave., Toronto; Treasurer: F. H. BRIGDEN; Honorary Librarian: C, W. NASH; Librarian:| Dr. LyMAN B. JacKEs. BIRD. GROUP:— Chairman: STUART THOMPSON; Secretary: JAMES BAILLIE. FLOWER GROUP:—Chairman: Dr. H. B.SIFTON; Secretary: Miss J. G. WricHT, Pu.D.; INSECT GROUP:—Chairman: PROFESSOR WALKER; Secretary: Miss NoRMA Forp, Pr.D. —Chairman: SuHittey Locier; Secretary: T. B. KURATA. PROGRAM COMMITTEE:—Chairman: Dr. W. A. CLEM- WILD LIFE PRESERVATION COMMITTER:— Chairman: RUSSELL G. DINGMAN. .EDUCATIONAL COM- MITTEE:—Chairman: TAYLOR STATTEN. ‘ : ° RSS Tg We would ask the Officers, and more : particularly the Secretaries, of all the Affiliated Societies to assist us in our task of building up the circulation of this magazine. By. securing every . member as a subscriber we can truly 5 make this magazine into one of the leading Natural History publications - - of America. Sweet Canada Eleven Bird Songs and a Round by Louise Murphy Author of *‘A Little Book of Bird Songs, _ Rhymes and Tunes for Tiny Tots’’ PRICE $1.00 Longmans, Green & Co. 210 Victoria Street, Toronto L C. Smith & Bro. Typewriter 2 Ball bearings in every frictional part of > the L. C. Smith insure long life, light © touch and easy operation > Ottawa Typewriter Co. Limited 191 QUEEN ST., OTTAWA Card Filing Systems 6 for Naturalists As makers of the Library Bureau line of Card Filing Devices in Canada, we are in a position to supply all Naturalists with cards and trays where they can read- ily index all their observa- tions and notes Lowe-Martin Ltd. OTTAWA, CANADA Printers of The Canadian Field-Naturalist Publishers of the Autobiography of John Macoun, M.A Kindly deniton The Canadian Fisla-Nanieaie to datileere (SSS Se] The Crabtree Co.| Artists and Designers BLUEPRI NTERS ENGRAVERS COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS _ : PHOTO: LITHOGRAPHERS 228 Albert sata : oe Ont. | ae SSS SS F COALS © Fazcenvenr BEST QUALITY LOWEST PRICES 46 Sparks St.—Phone Q. 461. : es | OTTAWA) So Geo. E. Preston & Pa ‘MERCHANT TAILORS We make everything we sell and guarantee everything we eell 217-219 Rideau Street, Ottawa vay Dr. ark 6. Mc€thinney Dentist to certain of the cognoscents gets 252 LISGAR STREET, OTTAWA _ Telephone Queen 2438 Ua a te H